Through the door strode a small girl, whose gait would’ve been confident were it not for the bloody piercing just above her navel – and it was all too obvious that it wasn’t the kind of navel piercing that was all the rage in the human world – which she clutched and tried hard not to focus on. Supporting her was a Gabumon, bearing three half-healed vertical cuts down his belly.

“Hello, my Tamer could do with seeing a doctor right away!” said the Rookie to the desk clerk, with a noticeable hint of urgency. “She just took an arrow wound right where it hurts – and though it’s not that deep, she also happened to take some pretty nasty burns there too, which don’t exactly help! Oh, if I hadn’t-”

But his Tamer hastily cut him off by muzzling him with her hand – it must be hard enough for him to bear the guilt of accidentally injuring his own Tamer without having to recount it to a stranger. “Yeah,” she continued for him, “and… my partner also got a harsh scratch from the Spiral Claw of a Peckmão. My Special Bandage card took care of it for the most part, but c’mon” - here, she removed her hand to point to the still-visible scars running right down the middle of Gabumon’s blue and pink belly markings – “do these look fully healed to you?”

Grace nodded. "I'll have you both good as new in a minute," She smiled pleasantly. She took Zoe's arm and put it around her shoulder, propping her up gently. She then lead her into a room.

---

Not much later she lead her out of the room. A bandage was wrapped around the spot of the injury and she had applied something to lessen the pain.

"Okay, she's much better now but it may take a little time for her to heal completely," Grace said to Macio. She then lead Macio into the room.

---

She came out shortly after with Gabumon and he looked, just as she said, 'as good as new'. The scratches were no longer there, not even a scar remained. "There you go," Grace gently patted Gabumon on his head. "You're both all better," she smiled.

Macio’s face mirrored the smile of the friendly nurse, however before he could appreciate her affection too much, Zoë – who had always possessed a somewhat jealous streak – pushed her hand away as gently as she could, took a springing step back toward the door, and beckoned for her partner to follow. What Grace had said about the wound taking a while to heal was true, however Zoë could clearly feel the energy flowing back into her body already. I guess this is how Macio feels every time I use Special Bandage, huh? she mused.

“Gee, thanks much!” chimed the grateful young Brazilian on her way out of the clinic, her Gabumon close behind. “Professional medicals, eh? What would we do without some?” At this, Macio could only roll his eyes at her placing English words out of order – but he too was appreciative of the patch-up job Grace had done, and so issued her a cheerful wave and a bright, sharp-fanged grin on his way out.

“So, we may have beaten our first Champion and acquired a means of Digivolution – but today’s adventure isn’t over yet,” the Gabumon said in a reminding, but not nagging way, as he and his Tamer strolled in the direction of the Shopping Centre.

“Next mission: hunt down the Digital World’s branch of Blockbuster’s, and embark on a night-in of the lifetime with O Rei Leão!” chuckled Zoë, very obviously in anticipation of all the good times she and her Digimon would be certain to have not just that evening, but far beyond it.

((Jeez! Some of my better writing since I started here – that goes for both my posts – wasted on such a dinky little thread… :O.o:))

((Been a while, eh? :^,^: This follows on directly from Sea of Friends.))

The scenery around the pair gradually became clearer, the indecipherable blur giving way to flat, grassy fields; as her head cleared up from the sudden rush of blood, Zoë realised she could make out the no-mon's-land between the Plains and the City she'd once traversed on the same Digimon she rode now. Just as before, her ever-faithful partner, Macio, was behind her, and the riders were filled with joy despite one of them requiring medical attention - but this time, Zoë wasn't in it alone. In her arms was the flabby, trembling, yet extremely comforting form of Julien Mackensy, the rightful rider of Icarus the once-Peckmon.

The Horusmon slowed up even more as he entered the City limits, and his passengers were greeted with a sight for sore, wind-stung eyes: Grace Medical Clinic. The last time Zoë had been here, she was dropping off wounded civilians from an assault on the nearby Park; for Julien, it had been when he was helplessly hobbling along after a Digimon had poisoned him, just as one had today. With Zoë so giddily happy and Julien so uncharacteristically upbeat, both seemed like a lifetime ago.

With a quiet clack, Icarus's talons made contact with the sidewalk just outside the Clinic - and to the surprise of Zoë, Macio and especially Julien, it was right there and then that the boy's new Digimental leapt back into his D-ban in the form of crimson energy. Icarus shrank into the much smaller Falcomon before his riders even had a chance to dismount, scattering girl, boy and backpack into an impromptu dogpile.

"Sorry, guys," Icarus groaned from under the weighty Tamer still sitting on his lower back; Julien took the hint and stood up, allowing his partner to breathe comfortably again. "But if you'd just held brand new forms long enough to fight a Perfect and fly from the Beach to the City that fast, I think you'd devolve to Child without warning too."

If humans could 'devolve to Child,' Zoë thought, stifling a giggle as she picked up the jet-lagged Tsunomon who'd rolled out of her bag. It'd be so... interesting if they could. I do wonder what Julien looked like when he was my age... I bet he was cute. She looked up at her newest human friend, noticing with a jolt of concern that the shirt - her shirt - he'd wrapped around his neck to protect his wound seemed to have come clean off during the flight. Zoë sighed, knowing she'd miss her favourite green top, but it was just a reminder of the seriousness of the situation.

"Don't scratch it, Julien," Macio cautioned from Zoë's arms, seeing the male human reaching up to try and relieve the itch. "The shirt-bandage protected it from the wind, but really, we've already left it too late to treat it..."

"Better late than never, I guess," was Julien's valid but weakly-delivered excuse. "Aldough... please go in ahead of me. I don't vant anyone to see me like dis." He shielded his doughy, pasty torso with both arms and hands; he'd known upon departing that there wouldn't be time to get dressed if he wanted medical attention as soon as possible, but that didn't make the circumstances any less embarrassing.

Zoë and Icarus both nodded, but Macio just glowed - figuratively and literally, to Zoë's surprise. The horned Baby II wriggled and leapt out of his Tamer's grasp, and by the time he'd hit the ground, he was standing on the yellow, clawed feet of a Gabumon - a species who could identify all too well with Julien's wariness of others seeing his body. The flight over here may have been stressful, but at least it had given Macio a chance to physically rest and regain his energy, and he fully intended to use that energy to shield Julien from prying eyes as he had from hungry sea-dwellers.


"Nurse?" "Grace!" "Nurse!" three voices gabbled as they entered the lobby of the Clinic. At first glance, none of this party appeared at all hurt - but on closer inspection, the human girl, Gabumon and Falcomon were forming a protective ring around the tallest of the four, a barely-dressed boy.

"Julien here caught part of a Calmaramon's Nero Corso," Icarus explained.

"The poison must've been on his neck for at least... fifteen minutes now," Macio elaborated, surprised at just how quick Horusmon's flight had been.

"Eet happened on the Beach, so... try and ignore dat he's een his swimming suit," Zoë did her best to excuse Julien's mode of dress.

"Please," was all Julien had to offer. Please treat my burn, or please don't stare at me more than you have to? Both were certainly applicable.

"Not to worry, this way please," Grace ever so gently took Julien by his elbow and guided him into the depths of the office for treatment. She gestured for his companions to follow. Into one room they went, where she guided Julien to sit on a padded bed. Chairs, of a hard plastic style and stunted style that one might find in an elementary school sat around the edge of the room for the wounded tamer's companions to sit on while Grace worked.

"This may sting a little," she said, pouring some liquid onto a cotton ball and dabbing it on Julien's burn. It would nullify any traces of the corrosive venom, and sterilize the skin to lower the chances of infection. She then applied an ointment that would help to accelerate the healing and minimize scarring. "There you go," she said, smiling warmly at him.

Julien was all too glad to follow Grace's lead; behind him Zoë, Macio and Icarus accepted her invitation, pleased to have visual confirmation their friend would be alright. Macio in particular cringed at how much Julien shivered at the nurse's gentle touch - but Julien himself, unseen by Grace or his friends, just smiled at the irony.

I finally conquered my fear of swimming, in the ocean no less, and I still recoil from a little stinging ointment.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," said Julien as he turned around and returned Grace's smile - not just from gratitude, but relief as the pain on his neck finally faded, not completely, but enough to give him some peace of mind. "I promise to take it easy," he parted on a joking nod to the last time he'd been here - actually taking Grace's important three words of advice was a bit of an oddity, it had seemed, but doubtlessly a positive one.

"I'd say 'see you soon,' but... you know," Zoë sheepishly said her good wishes as she and Macio excited the room. "Thanks for everytheeng!"

Julien was about to take his leave, too, but was stopped by a feathery three-clawed hand taking his own. That sent a jolt of joy through his body - it wasn't every day Icarus was the one to initiate physical contact between them - but he found himself even more touched when he looked down and saw the reason for that.

"Don't forget this," the Falcomon said, a smile stretching his beak as he held up a brown tie-dye T-shirt twice his size, and therefore partly dragging on the floor. A quick glance at Zoë confirmed she was wearing her backpack once again - she must've taken Julien's shirt out and handed it to Icarus at some point. A gesture of the girl's kindness rather than that of the Digimon, but there was no denying something so seemingly small made Julien feel closer to his partner than ever.

He couldn't take the shirt and slip it back on fast enough, and grinned all the way out of Grace's office.


"Well, I guess... dis is where we part?"

As Zoë realised this, all three of her friends hung their heads to various depths - oddly, the one to point out the day had to end sometime seemed to be the only one happy about it. Even she had her eyebrows pressed together in melancholy, though.

"Vhat... vhich of floor of vhat apartment complex do you live in, Zoë, Macio?" Julien asked, filled with hope whatever the answer. The one he got only lifted his and Icarus's spirits even higher.

"The bottom floor of uneet A," the girl piped up, puffing her chest out at an accomplishment as small as being among the first to inhabit the building.

"I guess," said Icarus, "that means it'll be easy for us to come and visit, right?"

"It sure vill. Icarus and I are on the fifth floor of the same building." Julien's head spun with various plans to hang out with his newest friends and Icarus's oldest ones, but they got cut off when Zoë lunged in for a hug - a hug Julien was all too happy to return, and which Macio and Icarus had joined via their Tamers' waists and legs before long.

"Just send me a message on the D-ban, and we'll come runneeng up the stairs," Zoë promised, causing Julien to chuckle at her correct guess regarding his dislike of strenuous activity and heights. She must've been paying him close attention throughout the day. "Any time. Eet would be especially nice if I could come over and even out your hair for you."

"I-if you'd let her," Macio excused Zoë's presumptuousness.

"Of course I vould. After vhat happened today, I guess it could use a touch-up." In truth, Julien hadn't trusted anyone but his grandma to cut his hair in years - it wasn't vanity so much as the close physical contact, and that made him realise he shouldn't've thought that way. Short hair had been a small price to pay for the confidence he'd accumulated in just one day - maybe he'd regret it later, but at that precise moment, Julien would happily pay for Zoë's friendship with every lock on his head.

"Shall we walk each other home, then?" Macio proposed, reluctantly breaking up the group hug.

"Of course." A beaming Icarus began not to walk, but fly in the direction of the apartment complex shared by the quartet, relishing even five more minutes in the company of his closest Digimon friend, his first human friend... and his best human friend, a sentiment those three couldn't have shared more.

(Short by my standards and very simple, but with that, all my pre-warp stuff is done. :¦D:)