Chapter Text
As soon as he got home, Kyle plugged the USB stick into the family computer to see what Dr. Clarke and her colleagues had put together to help tamers. It was a bit of a disappointment. He’d been imagining a high-tech device that would take over the whole screen and turn it into some sort of Digi-Databank, What he got was a window with three folders: “Digivice”, “Digimon”, and “Procedures”.
The first folder did at least have plenty of helpful info on how to use of the digivice’s arcane-looking keyboard, but it apparently had only handful of pretty basic modes, like one to see Coyomon’s status, and one to see a record of portal activity. The coolest one would show whatever Coyomon was looking at on the device’s screen. He could already think of plenty of ways that could come in handy.
The Digimon database was very interesting, but it wasn’t exactly professionally edited. The photos varied widely in quality and the write-ups erred on the side of ‘insufficient data’, except in the “Notes from Tamers” sections, which had the opposite problem. He really doubted that Flarerizamon’s flames actually “burned at 5000000 degrees”. Coyomon seemed very curious about the Digimon photos, asking questions and even claiming that some looked ‘familiar’, though he couldn’t give any specifics.
The final folder was also the smallest, containing just one file: NodensRecommendations.doc. “Nodens” was apparently the new name for the group that monitored Digimon contact, and the file read like the most boring of the pamphlets in the school counselor’s office.
“Take Digimon incursions seriously, trust your partner, build connections with other tamers, yeah yeah yeah…” Coyomon was curled around his legs at this point, and Kyle was idly petting the Digimon, until he opened a new section and his hand froze in place. “Oh heck no, I am not doing that.”
Coyomon looked up at him. “Rrrr? Bad stuff?”
“Look here!” Kyle said, pointing at the computer screen.
“Squiggles?”
Kyle read it out loud. “Communication with authority figures, such as parents, can be a vital tool. If you believe they are trustworthy, you should consider telling them about your situation as soon as possible.” He shook his head. “Like it’s that simple.”
Coyomon blinked at him. “You said you didn’t want hiding…”
Kyle shook his head. “I don’t! But also they don’t understand anything about me! They’d probably want to take you away, they barely let me play the card game!”
“Rrr, yeah. They sound bad then. Not… trust…y?”
“Trustworthy? I mean… I dunno… They’re not bad, they’re just parents and every time I tell them something honest about myself, it seems like it stresses them out more and makes them feel like they have to do more stuff to protect me.” He shook his head again. His body was starting to feel tense.
Coyomon nodded, pressing his head into Kyle’s hand. “Protecting Partner-Kyle is important! So… not bad?”
Kyle rubbed his own face with his other hand, trying to work out how to explain. “I dunno! Half the time they do stuff that makes me feel worse.”
“Like yesterday? New… school… thing?”
“Yeah! That’s the perfect example.” All the words he couldn’t say to his parents started spilling out. “Like I need to go to a larger school to get a ‘better social environment.’ Like I can just ‘learn social skills’ if I try hard enough. But then also I’m supposed to be careful about ‘how I express myself’ when I get there.” His hands were shaky as he made finger-quotes.
Coyomon blinked at him. “I dunno a lot of those words, but it sounds hard and that’s sad.” He nosed at Kyle’s leg, and Kyle reached down to rub Coyomon’s head again.
“Yeah… It’s just… there’s a lot they… don’t want me to share…” He trailed off, his breathing shaky enough that it was hard to talk. “This sounds like last night all over again, doesn’t it?” It didn’t feel the same, though. For some reason, everything felt worse, now.
“So… we should just go to the Digital World, like you said then! In a week, right? That’s not long, is it?”
“Y-yeah… Next week, yeah…” He tried to focus on having that place to escape to, a thought that had seemed so hopeful just yesterday. Now he wondered how viable an option it was. He’d imagined being able to slip away whenever he had a spare moment, off to an open world of digital landscapes and (hopefully) friendly monsters. Now it seemed much harder. It was possible that they could open a nearer portal in the process of getting a partner for Bryan or June, but that still seemed like a toss-up, not to mention possibly weeks more of waiting. Dr. Clarke had suggested training with Coyomon to figure out how to get around faster, but that wasn’t a sure thing either, plus it didn’t seem like something he could be subtle about.
Kyle’s heart started to race. There were times when nothing in his life felt like it fit, like he was surrounded by walls of uncomfortable circumstance or incomprehensible rules. His parents’ expectations, the endless complications of school, and now even the details of being a Digimon Tamer. He just wanted to pound on those walls until they shattered, but it felt more likely that they’d crush him, first.
Coyomon jolted upright, hackles raised and sparking slightly with electricity. “What’s wrong?”
“I… they… Rrgh!” Kyle curled in on himself. “I dunno what to do,” he said. “I dunno what to do, I dunno what to do.” He repeated the phrase over and over, barely even aware of his words as the feeling of trapped confusion kept washing over him. The computer screen and overhead lights began flickering and Coyomon’s eyes and fur started to glow more. The fuzzy feeling of electric static spread over Kyle’s skin wherever he was making contact with the Digimon.
“Blast it apart?” Coyomon suggested, a growly edge to his voice.
“Y-“ A spark from Coyomon’s fur caught him by surprise, snapping him to clearer awareness of what was happening around him. “-No!” Kyle squeezed the Digimon, who pressed back against him. “I mean… not like that.” The charge in the room started to diminish as Kyle did his best to calm himself.
“How then?” Coyomon asked. “Want to help you…”
“Just… Stay here for a bit…?” Kyle slid out of his chair, and onto the floor. His muscles felt like jelly, as they always did when he got overwhelmed. Coyomon kept himself pressed close, a soothing weight. Kyle held tight to Coyomon and focussed on that sensation, and on breathing deeply. The Digimon watched over him, attentive and uncharacteristically patient. Kyle remembered hearing about emotional support animals, and suddenly understood the idea clearly.
…And then his calm was shaken by his dad’s voice at the door. “Did the lights flicker up here too?”
“Augh! Huh? Oh! Y-yeah, a little!” Please don’t ask if I know why. And PLEASE don’t open the door…
“Strange. Sky’s clear. Maybe something fell on a power pole.” His dad’s voice paused, and Kyle squeezed Coyomon close, his muscles starting to tense again.. “Seems okay now at least. Dinner’s in a few minutes, then remember it’s game night. Your pick!”
Enforced family time. Away from Coyomon. “Oh. Right, uh, okay! I’ll be… right down!”
He heard his dad’s footsteps down the hall, and took a few more deep breaths, still leaning on Coyomon. His calm was quickly returning, but the problems remained. “I’ve only been doing this two days and it already feels like it’s gonna kill me.”
“Rrrr? What this? What’s hurting you?” Coyomon’s ears lowered. “Me…?”
“What? No! Oh, crap, no, bud.” Kyle smiled slightly. “You’re great. I can’t remember ever calming down this fast after… something like that.” He slowly sat up, and Coyomon stayed close, sitting on his haunches. “I wish you could be around whenever that happened.” He frowned. “And I’m awful at keeping secrets. It’s like it hurts.”
Coyomon’s head tilted. “So… don’t?”
Kyle looked up at the computer screen, still showing its facile advice, then back to Coyomon. “Heh. You too, huh?”
“I don’t want you to hurt, Partner-Kyle. You think telling them would hurt more?”
“I… have no idea. When I told them about being gay, that was… kinda like this actually. I was really upset, and they knew something was wrong because they always know what’s wrong, and they started guessing and they hit the right thing and it all sorta exploded out of me.”
“Exploding is bad! …What’s gay?”
Kyle barked out a laugh. “Let’s talk about that later. But I mean… I don’t think it’s worse now. It’s different, but at least I feel like it’s something I can do something about.”
Coyomon was nodding along. “So…”
“So yeah. I have a chance to tell them about something in a less… exploding way.” He sat there for several more moments, thinking through all the things he could say. Finally, he stood up. “Okay, bud. One last time into the digivice. I’ll tell you when to come out.”
Coyomon shimmered into his hiding-place, and Kyle walked out the door, heading to dinner.
Dinner was chicken and dumplings, a nice simple comforting food that helped Kyle keep himself at ease as he kept thinking through what to say. However, he apparently seemed even more quiet and preoccupied than usual; it was only a few minutes into dinner that his mom addressed it directly. “You okay, kiddo? Looks like something’s on your mind.” How did other people always know that sort of thing just from facial expressions?
He looked up from his food, feeling his stomach flutter. This is how it had started last time. Time to try something different. “Actually… there’s something on my mind. Something happened at school the other day—“
“Was it those bullies again?” his dad asked, frowning.
“No—I mean, yeah, kinda always, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” He took a breath. He was ready. He hoped. “I… found something. Sort of… someone.”
The bafflement on his parents’ faces was easy even for Kyle to read, but he pressed on. “This is gonna seem like a lot, but it’s a good thing, I promise.” He pushed himself back from the table to make room. “Coyomon, come on out.”
Pixels flowed out from the digivice, and the canine form took shape at the end of the table. “Hi, Partner-Kyle-Parents! I’m Coyomon… Oh, he said that.”
Silverware clattered against plates, and chairs scraped against the floor as his parents gaped.
His dad was first to speak. “Is that… a… Po—“
“Digimon,” Kyle interrupted. “The ones that are real.” That was a bit too blunt, he realized, and he tried a smile to break the tension.
“Is it… tame?” his mother asked.
“Dr. Clarke said Partner-Kyle is my Tamer!”
Kyle nodded. “He’s a bit… excitable, but he does what I say.” He reached out to pat Coyomon’s head. “I’ve had him since… well, yesterday technically, and he’s been fine so far!”
Coyomon nodded rapidly. “Partner-Kyle is great!” Then his attention turned to all the food on the table. “Are you going to eat that?” he asked, muzzle pointing toward Kyle’s dad’s plate.
“Coyomon, no! We’ll get you your own food.” The Digimon nodded eagerly, ears perked and tongue lolling. Kyle looked to his parents. “Um, can I? He kind of… eats a lot, and looks like there’s enough for leftovers?”
Both his parents were silent for a long moment. Coyomon, to his credit, just sat and waited, though his eyes were locked on the food.
“All right…” his mom said, finally. “Use one of the plastic plates, though.”
Kyle nodded. “C’mon Coyomon, follow me!” He walked to the kitchen, the Digimon close on his heels.
His father spoke up now, sounding more concerned. “Does this mean… that thing is coming back? The red… quantum… internet… glitch? Or the other big monsters?”
Kyle was ready for that question, and he shook his head as he returned with one of the unbreakable plates. “Definitely no more world-ending red blobs,” he said, leaving the other part unanswered as he filled Coyomon’s plate with food.
His dad didn’t follow up, fortunately; his mom asked a question first. “How did this happen? Did it come from your cards?”
Kyle set down the plate, and shook his head. “No, mom. He came from… well, there’s a whole world of them out there, and sometimes…” …sometimes people want out of this one so badly that it breaks through… “…it breaks through.”
“But why you?” she continued. “You have enough to deal with already!”
Kyle winced at that, but it was obvious what to say. “Coyomon helps me with that, mom. He’s always there when I need him, even when other folks can’t be, and when he’s around, I feel… better. He helps calm me down if I’m freaking out, and makes me want to explore, and learn, and not be anxious all the time. I mean, mostly what I’ve been anxious about since Monday is what’ll happen if you found out, so…”
His mom and dad were quiet again, but he was pretty sure their expressions were more thoughtful this time, less tense.
“How will you deal with him at school?” his dad asked.
Coyomon looked up from his meal, muzzle smeared with stew. “I can go inside the digivice!” In a flash, he was gone, reappearing just a moment later.
Kyle nodded. “It worked out fine at school today!”
“Kyle, that’s one day!” His mother was shaking her head. “How can you be sure about anything after just one day?”
“Mom, I’m never sure about anything. Everything’s overwhelming and out of control and Coyomon helps things be… less that. I can’t explain how I know that already, but I do. It’s like he… fits me.”
Coyomon nodded eagerly. “Partner-Kyle made me, and I chose him! I won’t cause trouble.”
Chose me? That was new.
“Made you?” his dad asked.
“Yeah I kinda had some drawings of what Digimon I thought would be good for me. Y’know how I like coyotes. All adaptable and stuff.” Kyle smiled slightly, looking to his mother. “You did say I needed to learn to adapt to the new school.”
“This isn’t exactly what I meant.” she said.
“I don’t understand a lot about this,” his dad said, “but I’m glad you told us. Though I wish you’d done it before sneaking an animal around our home.”
Kyle managed to keep himself from correcting the label of ‘animal’, and instead just nodded contritely.
“It… he… mentioned a Dr. Clarke,” his dad continued. “Is that an adult who knows something about this?”
Kyle nodded. “We talked to her today. She works at JMI. She sort of helped invent Digimon or something? She gave us some info on how to take care of him and stuff.”
“I see.” His father paused, and looked at his mother. Some sort of parental telepathy must have passed between them before he spoke again. “We’d like to talk to her ourselves, and hear more about this—“
“Oh! Yeah! I have her number, that’s no problem.”
“…before we make any permanent decisions. But for now…” His father glanced at his mother again, who paused, then nodded slightly. “…For now, just… be careful.”
His mom nodded again. “Don’t let him distract you from school. Don’t tell anyone—“
“I already told June and Bryan. I mean they’re as much into Digimon as me, so they’ve been really helpful.”
“…Don’t tell anyone else, and just give us some time to think through all this.”
Kyle nodded. His parents certainly didn’t seem overjoyed, but it had gone much better than certain other discussions. “Okay. Yeah. Thank you both, really.” He smiled. “Can we still have game night?”
Coyomon looked up from his meal again. “Oooo? What’s game night? It sounds fun!”
Kyle chuckled nervously. “Lots of games are better with four players…?”
His dad snorted out a laugh. “Well, it’s your pick tonight. See what we have.”