Mummymon takes Selkie back to Alice's place in the dead of night the next night. To his intense relief, he finds Alice there, completely recovered from her illness. Mummymon goes a little overboard telling her how glad he is that she's ok, that her friendship means so much to him, etc etc. Alice shares her similar feelings and goes a step further, suggesting she's glad he hasn't been thinking so much about 'Amanda' lately, and puts the move on a suddenly uneasy ol' Mumm... Alice's heart shivered. Mummymon stared at her, looking almost frightened, and didnt move a muscle as she reached into the small gap between collar and brim, and touched his face. His heart was beating hard and his chest was tight with confused fear and excitement, her soft hand gentle and feather-light, fingertips tracing the shape of the blank side of his face. He had never, never been touched like that... He reached up and closed a hand around her wrist, pulling her hand away. He swallowed hard, trying to get a hold on the feelings that were fluttering around inside him. "No, Alice... that's not... what we are." Alice looked at him with darkened eyes, a little crushed, as he walked to the door. "Aren't you curious? What it's like, to be loved... James..." The false name jolted him out of his confusion. She didn't really know him at all. "Of course I want to be loved... and so should you." He gave her a smile through the open door, a little sad, a little knowing. "Keep looking."   He returns to the cabin only to be greeted by Arukeni's harping about his late return. She smacks him over the head and storms off in an Arukenimon-fashion. Mummymon rubs his head and wonders if he was right to refuse Alice... This is the next night, and he's gone to visit Alice once again. She still hasn't given up on him, not by a long shot, and is trying to talk it out. Mummymon's resolve is a little less strong than last night. The look on Alice's face when she had opened the door and found him there hit him much harder than he'd imagined it could. Absolute joy dampened moments later with sobering, disppointed restraint. He was used to being the one whose emotions were whipped around by the whim of others.. not the other way round. It unnerved him to see how he was affecting Alice. And.. flattered him. He had a sudden vision of himself locked in a passionate embrace with the human. A small jolt of pleasure ran through him, and he shivered, not knowing what to think. That wasn't right... He loved Arukenimon... He couldn't really help having thoughts like that sometimes, but he didn't think it could be right to... to enjoy them... He sat down again, suddenly feeling very bleak. He had liked it better when everything was simple, just him and Arukenimon. He was happy with her, even if she didn't love him. But this was different, new, and it confused him. Of course he liked the human, she was the best friend he had. But Arukenimon... Arukenimon was just right. Despite everything, she was right. She completed him. And he could never stop trying to win her. Never. The ferocity of his own thoughts stopped him suddenly. Maybe he was obsessed... Alice addressed him again. "James. I'm not going to play stupid games with you. Or with myself. Look, it's simple, I've fallen in love with you because you're the most wonderful person I've ever met. There, I said it. Now you can cut me off and leave again, or we can sit down and talk about it." She sighed heavily, blowing her breath out in exasperation. "That said, I apologize for what I did last night. That was uncalled for. And completely unfair to you." Mummymon put his face in his hand. Could this get any worse? He hoped it wouldn't. "I can't... I don't want to do this." He looked up at her and felt his heart cringe at the pain on her face, the pain he knew, tear for tear. He knew she didn't have any choice, either. Love- and thinking the word made him feel awful- struck on its own, without mercy. Why did this have to happen to her? "I'll only hurt you. Because I... I'm sorry, I really am... and if I could change it, maybe I would..." He really didn't want to say it, and had to hold tight to himself to do it, his arms folded protectively around his waist. "I don't love you." Alice sighed, saddened, but not ready to give up. "I'm not asking you to forget about her," she said, "but she doesn't want you." She winced inwardly, not wanting to pull such cheap shots, but if that was what it took... "There's no reason we can't try." He looked at her, still hurting, and thrown something of a curveball. "But I... don't..." She didn't come any closer, but the look she gave him could have made a dead man cry. "We don't have to be in love to be... more than just friends," she said quietly. Mummymon wouldn't have looked any more blank if someone had taken his brain out. Suddenly she realized she'd gone too far... That she had offended him. Now he thought she was just a slut. And maybe she was, throwing herself at him like this. Especially when she knew he didn't want her, like she hoped he would accept, accept and use her... She was mortified, wishing she could take her words back. She knew perfectly well that it would never even occur to him to use someone like that. "I'm sorry," she relented, true remorse in her voice, "I shouldn't have said that. It's just wishful thinking. I'm not at my best right now, I'm afraid." She thought about that for a moment and added another "I'm sorry." "No, I understand." Mummymon looked almost wise, looking down on her. "If Aru... If Amanda would let me get that far before she threw me at something, I'd make the same offer. I'd throw myself at her in a heartbeat." Hell, he'd be her slave... "And it doesn't matter what she thinks of me, as long as I can be near her." He looked into Alice's eyes, forgivingly. "Do you suppose it would kill fate to just be nice for once?" She smiled up at him bravely, tears pooling in her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of him, but then he smiled back, affectionately, and opened his arms wide, and she realised it didn't matter. She accepted his invitation, leaning gratefully into him with a lonely hug. His strong arms closed around her, gentle and warm, and she fought a short battle with her ego before releasing her emotions, raw and snuffly, into his chest. She was amazed at how wonderful it felt... Acceptance. Simple, friendly support. She squeezed him harder and caught her breath after a while, but he didn't let go of her, so she didn't either. Just being hugged felt so good. "It's not because I'm not in love with you- It's because I am in love with someone else." Mummymon didn't want to be so blunt with his words, but he didn't know how else to say it. "As hopeless as it is. I don't know how to explain it, exactly, but it's far too strong to ignore. I know it sounds like I'm not facing reality, but I just have to follow her as long as she'll let me. And I don't mean to... to belittle your feelings for me, but I really do think you're just..." it took him a second to think of the right word, "infatuated with me. Any sweet guy would do. I'm just the only one you've met recently, I guess." "Well, you're the only one I convinced myself I might be able to get, anyway. I find a guy like you, tangled up with a girl who won't give him the time of day... Tell me how I'm not supposed to want to free him from her clutches and make him happy?" Mummymon grinned despite himself and was glad Alice couldn't see his face at the moment. He was feeling... protective of her, he realized, in an almost brotherly way, and found her feelings for him increasingly endearing. He felt a bit bad about that, wondering if it was too patronizing, as if he was thinking of her as a child, but then he remembered how good it had felt to have her support when he was bawling his eyes out a few weeks ago, and decided being cuddled now and then didn't really make anyone less of a person. Alice pulled away suddenly, jumping to her feet. She grabbed the front of his jacket with both hands, hauling him up off the couch and glaring at him with only a hint of playfulness in her eyes. "You have to get her, James. Or I'll go nuts. That said, I really must try this just one last time..." She pulled him down to meet her, and this time he let her, though he didn't know why. Maybe because this time it wasn't meant as a beginning, but as an end. He meant for it to be chaste, he really did. Short and sweet, even friendly... But it felt so nice, not even hot really, but just nice that he let the moment stretch on far longer than it should have. Without even realizing he was doing it, he brought a hand up to stroke under her chin, but when she deepened the kiss in response he was jarred back into reality. He let her go like she was made of hot lead and practically shot backwards a few steps, hitting the wall, absolutley horrified at himself. Alice grimaced. "I guess I shouldn't have done that, either." She looked up with her huge eyes, guileless. "But you let me. And I wouldn't take it back for the world." He was cowering against the wall, taken completely off guard by this latest reversal, near tears yet again. "You shouldn't take advantage of me," he wailed quietly. "I'm... sorry," she said. "No you're not. You might not want to hurt me, but you're happy to do it if it gets you what you want." He looked at her as his anger overtook his pain, and her heart shrank at the intensity of his emotions. "You don't love me." "You kissed me back," she hissed, hurt. He scowled at her, his tears finally spilling, and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Alice was astonished. He'd shown teeth in that look of anger, actually flashed ivory as a threat display. She wandered to the couch and sat down heavily. "Selkie," she muttered, "I think I wrecked everything."   The next day, Mummymon calls her from a payphone to try to figure things out. It doesn't work as well as he'd hoped. "No!" Mummymon cried into the phone, almost shouting, trying not to. "Can't you understand? I love her, and I want to be faithful to her, and it doesn't matter if she cares! Don't try to seduce me until I've given up! Is that so hard?" "You had to think about that, didn't you? You didn't know that last night, did you?" "Just because I couldn't think to say it to you, I'm lying?" "You felt guilty, but you didn't know why. Maybe you still don't know why. You just attatched yourself to the reason you wanted it to be." "No!" "Tell me one thing..." "WHAT?" "Why are you still here?" "...What?" "You know I'm going to try to talk you out of her. So why do you listen if you don't want that?" He roared and wailed, wild-eyed, on the edge of a full-blown tantrum. "Because you're my only friend! I don't want to lose that! If you'd just stop trying to jump me, then everything will be like it was! I don't want to lose you! But I love Arukenimon! Please, please, can't you just leave it alone?!" "Arukenimon?" Alice asked. Mummymon cursed, and Alice winced on the other end of the phone. She'd never heard him use language like that before. "Is that her real name?" She'd known he was using aliases, but she'd managed not to press him about it till now. It was too good a slip. "...Yes." "Is James-" "No, it's not really my name. I thought you'd guessed ages ago." "Well.. I'm still curious." "...Fine then. It's Mummymon." "Mummymon?" she repeated, a little too incredulously. "I didn't name myself," he said, stung. "Won't you come see me? It's so hard to do this over the phone.." "I won't. I- I can't trust you right now. I know you'll keep trying." "Did you hate it that much? It sure seemed-" "Stop," he hissed. "Of course I didn't hate it. I don't want to kiss you, because I love someone else. It's simple. It doesn't matter that it felt good." He stood up a little straighter, realising in his own mind what it was that he was trying to say, and feeling oddly proud. "There's more to me than that." Alice tries to follow him home... At this point she knows about Arukenimon and the Digital World, but not about Oikawa or any of what they're actually doing. So.... When she finally put the phone down, Selkie was there, looking back at her with interest. She reached down and pet her, a little listlessly. "Oh, girl.. I'm being a jerk to him, aren't I?" Selkie broke her gaze, looking noncomittedly at the floor. She chuckled. "Yep. But I don't know what else to do- I mean, I can't just give up on him... He should know that... Unless he really doesn't believe me..." She scowled, picking up a book from the end-table and then tossing it back unopened. She looked at Selkie again, pretending the dog was following more than her tone of voice. She watched her for a long moment, thinking, just thinking. "Selkie..." she ventured, "You know where he lives, don't you? You stayed there for days." Selkie perked up a bit, and then perked up even more when Alice got up and went to get the leash. "Let's see how good your memory is, girl," she smiled, unlocking the door. She knocked on an unfamiliar door, wondering if it was the right one, wondering what would greet her. She was hoping for Mummymon, hoping to see him again, if nothing else, even if he wouldn't let her in. After a second knock, the door opened briskly. It wasn't Mummymon. It was a woman- the woman, she realised, beautiful, all in red, eyes hidden, pale as death, and surrounded by an air of general irritation. Amanda... Arukenimon. They stared at each other in silence. Arukenimon shifted her weight impatiently. "Yes?" Alice strategized. "I need to talk to you." The Digimon narrowed her eyes in suspicious confusion. "And you are?" "Nobody important. You don't want Mummymon, do you?" There was a strained, cold silence. "Well, do you?" "So," Arukenimon said, leaning back and crossing her arms, "You're the reason he's been so insubordinate lately. I should probably kill you..." "Do you want him or not?" She chuckled. "It doesn't matter whether I want him. He's mine." "He's in misery over you." "I know." Alice paused. She had been secretly hoping that Arukenimon was a total bitch, so that she could feel justified in telling Mummymon to forget her. She hadn't expected her to be this bad. "Well... I do want him. Is there anything I can offer you in exchange for him?" Arukenimon laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "How very cute. He doesn't want you, does he, you poor thing?" That stung, though she tried not to let it show. Arukenimon laughed again, and Alice bared her teeth in a grimace of disgust. "No, he doesn't want me. He refuses to look at anyone but you." Arukenimon's laugh quieted into a chuckle, as she registered the near-hatred in the human's eyes. She'd been bored with Mummymon's adoration for a long time, but this new facet of it promised to be deeply entertaining... Another woman was jealous of her. A woman who obviously had no idea what she was picking a fight with. Arukenimon wondered what it would feel like to finally kill one of these weak, obnoxious creatures... Oikawa had forbidden her to interfere with any humans not directly involved with the plan, but surely this one had to be destroyed, since it had come sniffing around and all... She was almost amazed at how stupid Mummymon had been. Arukenimon reached out with inhuman speed, grabbing Alice by the collar, dragging her inside and slamming the door on her startled dog. "You knew you were looking for trouble when you came here," she smiled, pinning the human against the wall easily with one slim arm. Alice was trying to look outraged, but fear was easy to see in her face. "Or maybe you didn't. Let me explain something to you... Mummymon is an idiot. You obviously think he's something special, but when it comes right down to it, he was stupid enough to lead you here, to die. Maybe he didn't think you'd try to follow him; maybe he thought I wasn't ruthless enough to dispose of an intruder." She smiled again, and Alice wanted to punch her right in the teeth. "He does have a bit of a blind spot with me..." "What in the HELL is going on here, Arukenimon?!" Arukenimon let go of the human, reflexively backing down a little at the tone of her master's voice. "An intruder. I was going to incapacitate her for you." Oikawa scowled a little in pained annoyance. Well, he supposed things had been running so smoothly lately that something was bound to crop up and break the streak... "That's assault, my dear. We do not need that kind of attention." "And if we killed her? Who would ever even look our way? It's not as if we know-" Oikawa broke in. "For goodness' sake, Arukenimon, stop threatening the girl. It's not as if she came here on purpose." "Yes she did! She came here for Mummymon! She wants him," she drawled, smirking. Oikawa rolled his eyes. "Just because you want him doesn't mean everyone else does, you know. I assure you that by human standards..." Before Arukenimon had the chance to shriek a denial, Oikawa caught on. "Don't tell me Mummymon's been seeing this girl?" "Excuse me," Alice piped up, "but I only came to try to thank the man who found my dog. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Arukenimon rolled her eyes. "That's a lie. When she showed up at the door, she was trying to convince me to give Mummymon to her." Oikawa regarded Alice for a long moment, and outside, Selkie barked plaintively. Oikawa reached for the door and pulled it open. The moment she saw him, Selkie dropped to the ground with a token snarl, looking away. He shut the door on her again, scowling, rubbing his forehead in consternation, releasing a long sigh. He would never have believed Mummymon would lie to him... But he'd seen the strength of emotions in the woman's eyes when he'd guessed the truth. He didn't know what the dog had to do with it, but one thing was obvious when he looked... Arukenimon was telling the truth; this woman had come here for Mummymon. What in hell had he been up to? Alice saw the cold in Oikawa's eyes; realised he didn't buy her admittedly feeble lie. "I.. don't want to get him in trouble..." she said quietly, breaking his gaze. "No?" Arukenimon smirked, "Well, you've just let us know he's been sneaking around behind our backs to see you... What did you think would happen?" Arukenimon chuckled again, maliciously. "Maybe you would make a good match for him after all. You're obviously as brainless as he is." "Arukenimon," Oikawa admonished, and then adressed the intruder. "Yes, he is now in quite a lot of trouble. If you care about him as much as you seem to, you will go home now and never come back. I'll allow him to see you sometimes-" "What?!" Arukenimon snarled, "You can't be serious-" Oikawa shot her a look of pure danger, and she relented. He continued, "but if you ever come here again, or if you involve anyone else in this, you will never, never see him again." He took a step back into the house, fading into the shadows. "It's the price you pay for loving something that's not of your own world." He fought down nascent tears, his teeth set, trapped in the memory of being banned from Hiroki's house. He knew letting this woman go was dangerous, that allowing her friendship with Mummymon to go on was stupid, but he.. he just couldn't do that to someone... He shook it off, moving deeper into the house. It was time to get back to work. Arukenimon stared the woman down, getting angrier and angrier as the truth of the situation sank in... Oikawa was being utterly unreasonable, and Mummymon... Mummymon could be happy with this girl. If he had any sense, he'd forget her and love this human instead. He'd forget her.. forget her and leave her, leave her alone... A cold wave crashed over her, making her chest tense up, as she realised she did not want that to happen. Mummymon belonged to her and always had- and nobody was going to take him from her. She let the rage simmer for a moment and then let it out, backhanding the human with a wonderful sharp crack. Alice stumbled against the wall, her ears ringing with the blow. She was amazed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been hit like that. She blinked back tears of surprised pain, raising the back of her hand to her split lip in astonishment- Arukenimon struck her again, with the same hand, balled into a fist this time, an uppercut that made her bite the hell out of her tongue and nearly cracked her jaw, her head snapping back and striking the wall. Alice flailed, disoriented, trying to jam it through her mind that she was under attack. "ARUKENIMON!" Oikawa's voice thundered, outraged, and Arukenimon dropped her fist, looking back into the house with surprise. Oikawa was standing there, radiating anger on a level that eclipsed Arukenimon's hot rage entirely. "WHAT did I just tell you?" "I only hit her a little- We don't want her coming back here, do we?" "A little? Look at her, Arukenimon. Humans can't take abuse like you can." Arukenimon obediently looked down at the bloodied and disoriented woman. He was right. The same blows would barely have managed to dent Mummymon's spirit. Alice was trying to stand up and make it out the door, but her head was spinning hard enough to make it very difficult. Someone pulled her arm around their back and helped her to stand, and she leaned into them, blinking hard, trying to get things back in focus. The door opened and he helped her out- the man, she didn't know his name... She was in a car.. a station wagon.. Selkie was beside her, and they were in the back seat. Someone was talking to her- who was it? They wouldn't stop talking... no, asking... and demanding that she stay awake to answer. She tried to respond to the blurry questions. "I'm.. yeah.. I live in Odaiba... It's not far..." "Where exactly?" "Uh.." the world was coming back into focus for her, and she tried to work out where they were. "Yeah, keep going this way. It'll be a while yet." She couldn't get the taste of blood out of her mouth, and her tongue hurt like hell. And what was she doing in this car? She had a vague memory of being helped inside... Arukenimon must have hit like a truck. But who was this? Arukenimon had obeyed him.. almost. And he had... No, it wasn't just her imagination, he had told her she could see Mummymon again... but he was in trouble. "He never told me anything..." Oikawa glanced at her, and though his eyes were still black and bottomless, they were no longer cold. "I know. He would never purposefully betray me. You used the dog to follow him." "I just want him to be happy... "Then don't torment him. He loves Arukenimon, and he'll love her till his last breath. It's not a thing anyone can change. And despite his doubts, she does love him back; it's just that she... Well, to tell the truth she's not the most well-adjusted person on the planet- I doubt if she even realizes it. But he does like you- he's disobeyed orders just to spend time with you. And he does want a friend." He took her up to her apartment, careful not to be seen, and helped her inside. He offered to help her clean up and stay awake for a while, since she was probably concussed at least a little, and shouldn't let herself fall asleep. She asked for Mummymon, and that was when Oikawa realised he hadn't seen his Digimon all day. He frowned. "Trust me- I know exactly what you're going through. But even if you love him- especially if you love him, you can't punish him for not loving you back. And if you can't bring yourself to come to peace with that... then I'm afraid I'll have to agree with him- You don't really love him." He looked at the ground, his heart heavy. "To tell the truth, it's best if you don't. I'm not denying your pain- an unrequited crush hurts. But I can tell you, unrequited love..." He trailed off as he realised he was starting to choke up, and he really didn't want to go into such a display in front of anyone. He had never dropped his barriers for anyone but Hiroki, and he sure as hell wasn't going to start now, with a total stranger. But as he felt unshed tears recede beneath a dry, black veil, he was surprised to find how dead and barren it left him. He hadn't felt so... inhuman since he was a boy, since before Hiroki had ever come into his life and made him open up and live. He hadn't realised, hadn't noticed, that he was returning to that state. He hadn't wanted to or tried to shut back his emotions from himself since then, even when Hiroki left him- why on Earth was he doing it now? She didn't respond. She had fallen asleep. He shook her shoulder gently, but she still didn't respond. He shook her a little harder, then harder, and cursed. She was completely limp, her head lolling back , her mouth open. He found himself staring at her long, white, bared neck. Oikawa opened his eyes with a start. He was laying back in the soft cushions of the big armchair, his mouth tasting faintly of metal. He shot off the couch, looking around wildly. Alice hadn't moved. Nervous and frightened, even trembling, he forced himself to chuckle. How silly, letting himself drift off in a stranger's house like this. He really had to stop neglecting his rest so badly. No wonder he felt so.. strange... not much more of Selkie has been written yet.. except this scene, where Arukenimon.. um.. reminds Mummymon who it is he's obsessed with.