Chapter Text
Kyle’s world was a blur, as humans and digimon wandered through the bushes and small trees in front of his house. Many were on their phones or digivices, trying to get in contact with someone. Others were talking amongst themselves, with more than a few tamer pairs huddled together, giving and seeking comfort.
Kyle himself was still standing up, his body feeling both weak and tense as his brain tried to sort through what felt like billions of thoughts, fears, and complications. Finally, even standing felt like too much, and started to sink to the ground.
“Partner-Kyle!” Coyomon’s voice came out of the haze, and the digimon nosed Kyle in the thigh. “Cactus!”
“Huh?” Kyle startled, looking down at his partner, and the tiny spiky plant that he’d almost sat on. “O-oh, right.” He shifted position, settling down safely in the dirt and desert grass nearby. “Th-thanks, Coyomon.” The words came slowly, forced out almost by rote.
Coyomon laid his head in Kyle’s lap. “Okay, Partner-Kyle?”
“I…” Now words entirely failed him. He’d felt it before, the press of too many things to say, and too much uncertainty about which ones were right. He just shook his head, and pulled his partner closer.
“Yeah…” Coyomon said softly. “Here if you need me.” The digimon settled against Kyle, quiet as well.
In this state, Kyle felt hyperaware of all the conversations going on around him, with little ability to do anything about any of them. June was on the phone with her parents. Josh, Chelsey, and their partners were discussing something about colors that Kyle didn’t understand. Bryan and Hielomon were talking soothingly in Spanish to a couple younger kids and digimon who Kyle didn’t recognize. Every conversation made Kyle wonder if he should help, if there was anything he could do, if he ought to be doing something other than sitting here overwhelmed, but the press of all of them at once ensured there was nothing else he felt able to do.
After a few minutes, a voice cut through the haze of racing thoughts and uncertain expectations. “Hey Kyle…?” June was speaking to him softly, with Bakumon floating nearby. “We know this is all a lot, but you might want to tell your parents what happened? It’d be pretty rough if they came home and got surprised by all this.”
Given something specific to focus on, Kyle’s thoughts crystallized. His parents? Coming home? What time was it? A quick look at his phone showed that it wasn’t even noon yet. Everything had happened so quickly.
June was still talking. “My mom and dad are on the way to help shuttle folks, but given how many of us there are here, it’s gonna take a while.”
Kyle’s head filled with new questions, but June had given him a task, and that seemed important. He started to type a text to his mother.
hi mom. u should know
He stopped typing. How could he even explain this? Thoughts mounted up inside his head again, and he looked up at June wordlessly.
Coyomon raised his head too. “Partner-Kyle is having a hard time talking right now.”
Kyle nodded rapidly, relief flowing through him.
Bakumon bobbed up and down in a nod of her own. “I told you,” she murmured to June.
“Right. I’m sorry.” June was quiet for a moment. “Here, give me your phone, I’ll take care of it.”
Kyle handed her his phone with a grateful sigh, and curled around Coyomon again. He still had so many questions about what was going to happen, still with no idea how to get them out.
Bakumon was still watching him thoughtfully. “Kyle, would you like to know more about what’s going to happen?” she asked.
Kyle looked up, and smiled slightly. So many other times like this, he’d wished someone could just read his mind, so he didn’t have to sort through how to express himself when there was already so much else going on. Now he actually had that. He nodded to Bakumon.
“We have nineteen tamers here who need to get back home somehow. We’ve decided we should not go back through your gate for the time-being, since there may still be Digital Defenders scouting around the jungle. However, we don’t think they know the way to June’s gate, so we’re planning to use that one to get other people home. But that means we need to get everyone to our house. Including Youkomon, so they can scout first. June’s parents and Dr. Clarke are on the way, but since it’s a half-hour drive, it will take some time to shuttle everyone.”
It was a good plan, as far as Kyle’s jumbled mind could tell. June was still typing away on his phone, and after a moment she looked to him, frowning. “Your mom wants to talk to you,” she said, just as the phone rang.
Kyle winced, and shook his head rapidly, but June just held the phone out to him with a whispered “Sorry.”
He took the phone, trying his best to scrape words together. “H-hi Mom…”
“Kyle! Are you okay? What happened?”
“I… I’m okay.” He didn’t feel it, but it was the thing to say. “D-Digimon stuff. At home. Lots of kids here. Help?”
“June told me some details, but I don’t understand. There are other digimon kids there? Why?”
“I-I… we… had to… I don’t know…” His mom was always so focussed on what she wanted to know. Couldn’t she hear that he was struggling? Coyomon nosed him, giving a familiar concerned look, and Kyle realized what he should actually say.
He paused long enough to collect all the focus and words he could. It was too long for his mom to stay patient. “Kyle? Are you still there?”
“Mom, I’m really… overwhelmed right now and… it’s hard to talk.” His speech was halting, but at least he was putting sentences together. “Can you please… come home to help? Other people can… explain more.”
“All right, Kyle.” Her voice tone had changed, less exasperated and more concerned. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“I’m giving this… back to June,” he said, and handed over his phone without waiting for a response.
Once the phone was out of his hands, Kyle felt a wave of fatigue crash over him, and he slumped onto his side. It wasn’t just the overwhelm of uncertainty anymore, it felt like those few sentences had drained every last drop of mental energy from him. All he could do now was sit there and hug his partner. The ground wasn’t even particularly comfortable, but the idea of moving anywhere else felt like it’d be even worse.
The world flowed by around him, as if through a haze. June still had his phone. He hoped Josh and Betamon and Bryan and Hielomon and everyone else were okay, but he didn’t know what else he could do.
At some point, Kyle felt Coyomon’s nose on his face. “Partner-Kyle? Can I help?” He didn’t know how to answer, so he made a sort of shrugging motion where he was laying.
Coyomon watched him with those big electric blue eyes. “Rrrf… Do you want to… not be here?”
Kyle started to shrug again, then stopped, and nodded. Certainly he could think of plenty more comfortable places to be, he just wasn’t sure how to get there.
“Your room?” Coyomon suggested.
Kyle nodded again, even though it felt like an impossible puzzle to navigate into the house and up to his room.
“Okaaaay… It’s not too far, Partner-Kyle. I can help.” He felt Coyomon tug gently at his sleeve. “Just follow me,” his partner said, voice muffled by the fabric. Kyle reached back for Coyomon, and felt a gentle pulse of energy flow into his body. Not enough to feel normal, but at least enough to make standing up feel achievable.
Kyle wobbled to his feet, and Coyomon helped make sure that his hand was secure on the digimon’s collar, half-buried in soft fur. “Okay, Partner-Kyle, here we go.”
They took a few steps. Kyle focused more on the ground below him, knowing that seeing anyone else might just be overwhelming again. He heard movement and voices approaching, but Coyomon reacted before he could. “Partner-Kyle needs to be in his room. He’ll be okay.” Kyle nodded weakly, and followed his partner’s lead.
Eventually, they made it to the door, then up the steps, then down the hall, and finally into his room. Kyle collapsed on his bed, and Coyomon followed him up and sprawled on top of Kyle, a soothing pressure.
“Thank you Coyomon,” he said softly. In here, with no one else around, talking finally felt possible again, at least for those few words.
“Care about you, Partner-Kyle,” the digimon said, nuzzling his face.
“You too, bud.” Then he lapsed into silence again, letting the warmth and weight of his partner slowly soothe the chaos that was rattling his body and mind.
Again he wasn’t sure how long he laid there, but he started feeling better and better… right until he heard a knock at the door. Suddenly, tension shot through his limbs, and words seemed impossible again. Was that his parents? Someone needing something else? More bad news?
“Hey… It’s Josh… Can I come in?”
Coyomon looked at Kyle, and Kyle thought for a moment before nodding.
“Kyle’s still having a hard time with words, but you can come in!”
“Oh, uh, okay.” The door opened, and Josh and Betamon stepped inside. “Nice room.” The other boy smiled at him.
Kyle looked back, not sure how to react, not even sure what expression he was making. It was good to see Josh, but at the same time, it was another sort of overwhelming. There was plenty he wanted to say, and ask about, but the words still weren’t coming.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Kyle realized he had another option. He pulled out his digivice and started to type.
Kyle&Coyomon: Is everyone okay?
Josh had already pulled his own out when he saw what Kyle was doing, and started to type in return. Kyle quickly tapped out another message.
Kyle&Coyomon: you talk, i type
Josh nodded, and smiled again. “I mean, they’re as okay as can be expected. Lots of parent calls and stuff.”
Betamon climbed up on a chair so he could more easily join the conversation. “June’s parents just got here, they’re starting to take folks back now.”
Kyle&Coyomon: Good. Sorry I cant help
Josh stepped forward, and sat at the foot of his bed. “Hey. It’s okay. You’ve been through a lot.”
Kyle trembled slightly. His overwhelmed brain hadn’t even gotten around to sorting through what had happened just before they left the digital world. There still seemed to be too many immediate things to worry about.
Kyle&Coyomon: Why you here?
The question seemed to confuse Josh for a moment. Betamon was faster to reply. “For you!”
Josh nodded, then. “Yeah, y’know, to… check on my boyfriend?” The thought almost made Kyle smile, but it seemed like there must be other more important things going on outside.
Kyle&Coyomon: I'll be okay. You can go help.
Josh frowned slightly. “Well, you looked like you need help too.”
That was hard to accept, even after Coyomon nodded from his place on top of Kyle, and nosed his face. “You do, Partner-Kyle. It’s okay.”
Kyle&Coyomon: I don't even know how you can...
Coyomon’s ears perked. “Rrrr, I do!” Josh, Kyle, and Betamon all turned to look at him, with various looks of curiousity. “Partner-Kyle, you think downstairs is okay? Could watch cartoons, maybe have some snacks.”
After a moment of thought, Kyle nodded, and Josh and Betamon both smiled. “That sounds fun!” chirped Josh’s partner.
Kyle felt Coyomon’s weight shift on top of him as the digimon stood, getting ready to lead the way downstairs. “Betamon, you help get pillows and blankets?” This was a whole new side of Coyomon. Kyle was happily stunned to see how much his partner had learned about him in just a month. “Josh, Partner-Kyle is gonna need hugs.”
Kyle almost wanted to protest, and he dreaded even looking at Josh to see the other boy’s reaction, but Coyomon continued to explain. “Squeezing is good and relaxing. I can’t do it good when walking.”
At that, Kyle nodded, though he still kept looking downward, his gaze fixed until he felt Josh step close, and heard the other boy speaking softly. “Of course I can help with that. That makes sense, plus I think just about anyone could use a hug after all that.”
Kyle felt Josh’s touch on his shoulder, firm and comforting, almost as good as Coyomon. He leaned into the pressure, and felt Josh helping him up. Soon Josh’s strong arms were wrapped around him. “Let me know if this is too much. I’ve been wanting to get close to you for a while.”
“It’s good. Me too.” Kyle surprised himself when the words came, naturally and without effort. “Thank you, Josh.”
“Any time, Kyle.” Josh smiled at him as they all headed downstairs.