themainframe | 01 [video]

[When the D-Terminal turns on, all that shows up is the face of a Keramon chewing on something long, black, and appearing to be made out of leather. It attempts to say something, but since it has something in its mouth, whatever words it says is mumbled and cannot be understood. Thankfully, there's someone else there.]

Keramon, it is rude to speak with your mouth full. Please try again when you're done.

[It drops whatever it was chewing on and looks past the screen apologetically.]

Sorry, captain. Was tryin' to tell ya that I got it workin' for ya.

Ah, I see. Thank you, Keramon.

[The D-Terminal is turned around to reveal Aizen kneeling on the ground in front of Keramon wearing a rather strange outfit and showing that the thing Keramon was chewing was in fact Aizen's left hand.]

My name is Sousuke Aizen and I am in need of some assistance. Keramon and I have been attempting to remove the bindings on me ourselves without success, so if anyone could lend us some sort of cutting implement, it would be appreciated. I would also like to ask if anyone knows where I could get a pair of glasses. Mine were broken and I would like to have them replaced as soon as possible.

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[John gives a snort of amusement at the mental image, but he's already looking through a kitchen drawer and grabbing the sharpest knife he can find.]

Wow, that must have been embarrassing. I'd ask why someone would put something like that on you, but I'm not sure if I want the answer to that.

[There's some things that should stay behind closed doors after all, but apparently the digital world didn't care what people were doing when it pulls them in.]

I can be there soon, a knife should be better than a pair of teeth at least.

It was quite embarrassing and I believe it's for the best if you didn't ask.

[There a small hint of relief on his face at that.]

Thank you. Anything is probably better than my partner's teeth at this point. They didn't have much of an effect on it.

Yeah, I can imagine.

[He pauses by the door of his apartment, the D-Terminal shifting as he picks up a pretty big ~~and ridiculous~~ looking hammer. He wonders for a second before removing the strap that attaches it to his backpack and just slings the strap over his shoulder instead, giving a nudge and his Salamon jumps up on his shoulder to half sit in his hood.]

On my way, shouldn't take too long. So what's your name anyway?

Take your time, we're not going anywhere. My name is Sousuke Aizen. What is yours?

[That joke was just lame enough to get him to laugh.]

John Egbert, nice to meet you Sousuke.

[Is it weird to say nice to meet someone when they're wrapped up in bondage? He guesses it kind of is, but whatever.]

So your Digimon called you captain, do you like own a ship or something? Or I guess it can be for the military too.

It is nice to meet you as well, John.

[There are probably stranger situations to say nice to meet someone in.]

The military would be the easiest answer I could give, but I stepped down some time ago. Even though I am no longer hold that position, there are some who still call me by that rank like my former lieutenant. Since a lieutenant is much like a captain's partner, it was fitting to allow Keramon to call me that.

Makes sense. Are you gonna give him a nickname? There's multiples of Digimon, so it'd probably get confusing in a room with more than one Keramon.

[He doesn't understand why people aren't naming their Digimon. Seriously, he never understood that about those monster partner animes. Isn't calling something by it's species kind of rude? Kind of like when Karkat insisted as referring to them as human after their names.]

A nickname? [He sounds kind of baffled by that.] Well, I haven't exactly thought about it, but if he wants one, he can have one.

[He's from a series where even soul swords name themselves. Giving a partner like that a name is something that makes no sense to him.]

Well, you should tell him to think up a cool nickname for himself then. I found they can be picky if you try to make one for them.

[He shuts the video off after that, Salamon asking him if he's still on about that, geez. It's not his fault that John picks really weird names. After a brief discussing on how the names he picks are so not weird, he makes it back outside the terminal quick enough and gives a wave.]

Hi Sousuke!

[Aizen's moved from kneeling down next to his partner to standing up, Keramon hanging over his shoulders like a strange cape. When he sees John arrive, he gives him a small smile and generally looks somewhat happy to see him.]

Hello, John.

[Sorry, he has to pause and take a second to take all this in. A guy in a bondage outfit with a tentacle monster draped over him.

This is not what he wants to be thinking about, holy shit ew. Nope, noping the fuck out of those thoughts and just smiling because that was not just a thing that crossed his mind.

He just walks over and looks up at him holding up the knife he brought.]

So, you think you can get them off or want me to try to do it?

[If only Aizen knew what John was thinking. Because then he would be enjoying the trauma. Since he's an awful person like that.]

I will need some help freeing my hands, but other than that, I believe I can undo the rest on my own.

[Trauma that will only get worse over time the more often he spaces out to just stare at Keramon.]

Got it.

[Salamon looks over John's shoulder as he checks out just what kind of material it is, judging how much force needs to be applied to be able to cut it without over swinging and probably hurting someone.

It takes a moment because he's being careful, but after he makes the first pierce the rest of the bindings on his hands are easy enough to cut off.]

There we go, that wasn't so hard.

[Good thing they're going to be rooming together and then John can spend even more time around Keramon.

Aizen doesn't act differently when John finally starts cutting at the bindings, merely keeping his eyes on the knife. Just because people here don't seem to know him doesn't mean that he's going to let his guard down or not be cautious.

When John's done cutting the bindings off, Aizen flexes his fingers to loosen them up.]

Thank you very much for your assistance, John. I should be able to get the rest off by myself.

[John smiles brightly at his accomplishment before handing the blade over handle first.]

No problem dude, it kind of would have been a dick move to keep you standing out here like this. If you've got no other plans, I could show you the way to the apartment complex they set everyone up in.

[Keramon could easily show the way, but John's still getting used to the whole Digimon as more than just cute (or creepy as hell) little pets to carry around.]

[Aizen takes the knife gently from John and then starts to work on carefully cutting the rest of the bindings off.]

Still, I appreciate it. I don't have anything else planned at the moment, so I wouldn't mind if you showed me the way there.

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