milliways_bar | (no subject)

Oh, that's no good. Baze approaches the bar with his usual light tread, and settles his armored bulk on the stool next to Yamato. The Guardian orders surprise tea, and recieves two cups of Minty Rose, one of which he nudges towards the young man.

"Thanks," Yamato says, without looking.

He does take the tea, at least, and sips it gingerly.

Oh, he took it! That's great. Baze drinks his own tea, enjoying it immensely--and feeling slightly guilty about enjoying something in the presence of someone who's clearly not enjoying anything right now.

But what to say? Baze has no idea.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

There. He'll probably get a no, but that's okay. At least it opens up the dialogue.

Yamato takes another sip of the tea, milling it around in his cup a little.

"There isn't much to say."

Beat.

"Gabumon's gone. Reborn by now, probably."

Actually, Baze thinks there's a whole hell of a lot to say, like how and where and why Gabumon has gone, and if he's been reborn, what killed him.

But those things aren't important if Yamato doesn't think they are.

"Can you go to him?"

"Maybe."

Koushiro seems to think they can. Koushiro rarely lets himself be wrong for long.

"But he wouldn't remember me even if I did. And if I did, eventually he'd have to fight again."

"So you're not even going to try?" Baze says, frowning, as if the corners of his mouth are tugged down by tiny hooks. "Fighting again... Doesn't he get a say in whether or not he fights for you?"

"He'd never say no. Even if he didn't want to, he'd fight the moment he thought he had to. We're too alike."

He sips his tea again.

"Most of the others don't want to go, either."

Baze indulges in his tea again--which has turned sour in his mouth. He frowns down at the cup.

"I'm sorry," he says eventually, tempted to reach out and squeeze the young man's shoulder. Baze doesn't; Yamato never did seem like the touchy-feely type. "That's terrible. No wonder you're down in the dumps. What do you need? Is there anything I can do?"

"There isn't anything anyone can do right now," Yamato says, lifting a shoulder in a terse half-shrug. "Not unless someone here has a time machine."

He tilts his head slightly, surveying the bar. "How long's it been here? It's been about three weeks in my world."

"I don't know," Baze says, draining his cup of tea and setting it on the counter for a refill. Bar obliges, much to his delight.

"Sorry. It's been a few weeks at least, maybe a couple of months. Are you and your friends still dealing with Infected Digimon?"

"No, they -- there was a reboot. All the Infected were scrubbed of corrupted data and sent to be reborn."

He takes another sip.

"Gabumon and the others were all Infected. We didn't realise until they went berserk."

"Oh," Baze says, his heart sinking on Yamato's behalf. "I'm sorry. Did you ever figure out the source of the Infection?"

"It was Meicoomon," Yamato says, staring at the Bar. Then: "A new member, Meiko, had joined our team when this all started. Her partner, Meicoomon, was the source of the Infection, and she knew all along. We still don't know exactly what the Infection was, though."

Baze creases his forehead. "Koushiro still hasn't figured it out, huh?" the Guardian says, his frown only deepening. "I'm sure he will, given enough time. Though... it doesn't seem pertinent anymore, really. Hmm. What happened to Meiko and Meicoomon after everyone was reborn?"

"Meicoomon must've been rebooted too. I've not seen Meiko since. None of us have."

He rubs the back of his neck.

"I'm not -- If it'd been Gabumon, I don't know if I'd have told anyone, either."

"You really would have put everyone at risk?" Baze says, offering Yamato an incredulous look. "What she did was deeply irresponsible. If I were you, I'd consider her at fault for what happened to Gabumon and the others. If she'd come clean, she could have helped to contain the Infection."

"She wanted to protect her partner. From what she said, they've been together almost as long as we've been with ours. All she knew about us is that we were soldiers with a lot of kills under our belts," Yamato says. "Fear makes everyone fuck up."

"Ain't that the truth," Baze grumbles, folding his arms. "Why did she join you in the first place, if she was afraid of you?"

"I suppose she was lonely. And I suppose once Infected Digimon started showing up in Odaiba, staying away from us wasn't an option. It's a small place. Smaller when you have a Digimon partner and we think you might be at risk."

The fact that she lied to them all still doesn't sit right with Baze. He's a fundamentally honest person himself, so it's always a surprise when someone lies. He harrumphs.

"How did she conceal the Infection from you all? Wouldn't Meicoomonn have gone berserk?"

"Meicoomon was weirdly asymptomatic, right up until the moment she went crazy," Yamato says, taking another sip of his tea. "We don't know why."

"So how did Meiko know she was Infected?" Baze says, also taking a drink of his tea. He's never had rose-flavored anything before, but he recognizes the scent from Oswin.

"I didn't ask. She must've found out some time before she met any of us," Yamato says. "It -- makes some things make more sense. Why she never wanted to let Meicoomon out of her sight, why she never let her fight."

"If you get the chance to see her again, I'd ask her how she knew," Baze says, shaking his head. "You are more forgiving than I am."