FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

They said that when a digimon finds their destined partner, something amazing is born.

It had been the actions of those people, children really, that had united man and mon to beat back the worst of their kind and prove that coexistence was possible.

It had been many years since. Digimon had become something unremarkable to daily life. Some old comers would chuckle to themselves at times, pondering on stories from their youth about how different the world would be if magic and excitement was real.

It was real.

And the world was still moving along. Humanity had taken some time to adjust to the notion of the digital aliens bearing awesome power out of the most action packed anime or comic book.

It helped that most of them were very friendly or very cute.

It helped that many digimon were born out of the creation of humans themselves and carried similar ways of thinking and acting.

It helped that the first impression had been a positive one.

It helped that they were too powerful for humans to destroy them easily.

It helped that digimon believed everyone held a place in the world, a person to be by their side. No matter who it was. No matter what they looked or acted like. There was always a place to belong.

There is tension still. Fear from those who have witnessed the power of digimon from afar, who had not known the kind of bond that gave others the strength to turn the tide. Voices shout across packed rooms of identical suits and identical faces.

Today, digimon are a sight hardly unusual. Perhaps in some outback and rural places a digimon might turn a few fearful eyes, but throughout the world they could be found. Many came to Earth, seeking safety from the Digital World, seeking their partner, seeking something.

Many did not. Much of the more powerful ones remained within their own world, having seen how much damage the struggle of power could cause to their own home let alone the relative fragility of Earth.

Some did not.

The world is exciting, but it is still the world you would recognise.

---

Damion sat on the couch, gazing blankly at the screen as a colourful ad played with humans and digimon dancing around looking ridiculous.

He had a soda in hand, a non-brand cola, legs crossed as he stared at the moving screen. The drink had hardly been touched and condensation had built, pooling down onto the stained arm of the couch.

He wore his best clothes today. An unstained black t-shirt and grey jeans where the holes could not be seen unless he was bending over.

It was a special day after all.

The clatter of keys at the door had him perk up for the first time in thirty minutes, he turned his head as the door swung open and Kess walked in.

Kess, a classic kotemon. Looked a little like a samurai wearing clothes just too big. Well, he used to. He had the sleeves cut a while back when he started working at Arena Gas. Fumbling with cash and cards wasn't a good look.

He still wore his mask at any time he could. The bosses at work allowed him to keep it on despite having a no-headwear rule, since it was a natural look for the digimon and they were maybe too embarrassed to ask if he actually had a face under there.

He did. He just felt more comfortable wearing the mask, leaving just his glowing yellow eyes visible. If anything, it made him a good night-shift worker, very creepy to see late at night lurking behind the counter.

If they knew he had to sit on a stool just to see over the counter they may not be as worried.

“Hey," Kess said as he entered.

“Hey," Damion replied with similar enthusiasm. “How was the night shift?"

“Long," Kess groaned, a hand slipping under his mask to scratch at his face. He generally kept it on, even here at home. Damion had asked him why, one time.

“I just feel normal wearing it." Was the answer given and he didn't press the matter. If there was one thing that could be said of them was they always had gotten along.

Kess was, after all, his 'destined partner'. It was kinda funny that they had met at school, Kess had been born on Earth, and he was part of the crowd that didn't see the need to search for some nebulous destiny junk.

Yet, the moment they'd met eyes over the school greeting on the first day, they just had to know each other. What even was the so-called destiny anyway? They got along and they liked it.

And wasn't everyone so very jealous? That had been fun, kings of the schoolyard.

Digimon's families weren't quite the same dynamic as human ones. Still, Damion envied Kess' history with his.

“Happy birthday," Kess said next. Damion tried to smile, at least he could say the day was made better by Kess remembering that.

“Pity we don't have a cake," Damion said. “I could make a wish to land this job."

“That's what you'd wish for?" Kess asked, stripping off the additional uniform that he had to wear. Damion's eyes lingered on him a moment when his head was turned but snapped back to normal when Kess looked back.

“I dunno. A million dollars? An actual job might be more likely, I should have enough karma to get that."

“Karma? Wishes? I didn't think you believed in that stuff?"

Damion didn't. He'd always teased the other kids when they talked about birthday wishes, shooting stars, and destined digimon meetings.

“I could use anything right now," Damion replied.

He was twenty-two today. Five years since he'd taken on a new, independent, lifestyle. Just him and Kess against the world. That'd made affording college a little bit impossible in the short run, but he didn't care about college anyway.

The final grades for his year assured him that he never cared whatsoever.

Kess opened his bag and brought Damion a muffin. “I snatched this from work," he said, offering it out. It had a single candle in it.

“You stole it?" Damion asked, a little impressed.

“It would have been thrown out anyway. I thought, why not? You need to eat something anyway, you need to be at the top of your game today!"

Damion nodded, not feeling hungry in the least. He did have to be at his absolute best today.

They were running out of time to pay the bills and Kess just didn't make enough money at a gas station to keep the lights on.

It was a constant annoyance he'd rant about over some beers, how he was paid so much less than even the kids still in high school. Damion couldn't say anything he hadn't already said at this point in time.

“It's shit."

“Bastards."

“It's not fair."

“You work ten times as hard as anyone else."

“Racist assholes."

It was all the same conversation and same responses.

Damion couldn't hold a job down but he had to. He just had to get this one and keep it. It was his birthday and he had an interview, that meant today was his day. He was owed some good fortune. If only for today….

Damion stuffed the muffin in his mouth. It was a little dry but it was delicious. His stomach clenched in a mixture of nervous nausea and hunger as it received something besides cheap soda.

“Is that what you're wearing?" Kess asked.

“Yeah? It's the nicest I've got."

“Black and grey? Come on, I'm sure we've got something better."

He dragged Damion up, even when he tried to resist halfheartedly, and into his room. At least this apartment had enough space for them to have their own rooms each.

Kess spent a good thirty minutes making Damion try different combinations before stubbornly insisting he wear his school pants rather than the grey jeans.

“They barely even fit!" Damion complained, struggling to pull them on.

“Maybe if you look just the slightest bit pathetic they'll take pity on you," Kess said, helping yank them up.

“Oh, yeah, thanks."

Kess sighed. “Sorry. I just. We really need this, the pants are nice, it looks like you're putting in some effort to look good and that's what matters. You've got this, Big D!"

Damion blinked before snorting. “You haven't called me that since high school!"

“Well, maybe you need a little high school pep up," Kess suggested. His head tilted slightly as he looked Damion over. “Confidence, right? Be confident, but not an ass."

“I'm never an ass."

Kess had no face that Damion could see but even then he could see the flat stare he was receiving. It was all in the eyes.

“Okay. Confidence. Damion and Kess, Digidestined!"

Kess' eyes rolled but Damion was smiling. Just as planned, a subtle little appeal to 'the good old days' and Damion had some energy in his body again.

That and the muffin.

“You've got this," Kess said. “Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

“Nah, get some sleep. You'll wake up to celebratory pizza!"

“Calm down, you won't get offered it today. Just, knock it out of the park."

Damion fistbumped Kess and he was out. He took his bike, failing to wear a helmet, and rode his way across the city.

He planned to get to the grocery store early, which he was pretty sure showed eagerness and willingness to go the mile, or something like that. He'd read a lot of suggestions online about how to appeal to interviewers, it was all circling around in his head.

Firm handshake, eye contact, no wait it was no eye contact for too long. Or, did you want to appear dominant?

“Watch it!"

Damion yelped as he nearly crashed into someone and nearly swerved off his bike. He managed to stabilise himself, skipping a foot across the pavement before he was back in control.

He arrived five minutes early.

For the interview, he was sat in front of an older man with a thick moustache and a woman of indeterminable age with a clipboard. She could have been twenty five or sixty five, it was hard to tell.

“Thank you for coming today, Damion."

“Uh, thank you for having me!" He made sure to sound enthusiastic. And maybe a little loud. They had shared a handshake, firm and long as he flicked his eyes to the man's face and back.

“What makes you want to join us at Delly's Grocer?"

He needed money. He knew that wasn't the answer to share, however, he'd looked into grocer interviews. “I'm committed to giving people the best and easiest time possible while finding what they're looking for."

“What qualities do you think a grocery store clerk should have?"

“I think customer satisfaction is very important, because of the impact customers have on a store's future. When someone is happy they're more likely to come back."

“Do you have any experience as a grocery store clerk?"

“A little, I worked a lot of little jobs when I was in high school."

The interview was going well. Damion felt his heart slowly recede from a hammering to merely a sprinter's rate.

Soon enough, an important question came up. “How did you find the listed position?"

“Oh, well, Kess found it and showed it to me." He was given an expectant look and knowing elaboration was important, he continued. “Kess is my digital partner, a kotemon which have these funny masks and glowing eyes and, well, that's not important."

“You have a digital partner? One of those 'destined' digimon?" The question came surprisingly sharp from the man. The woman flashed him a brief look Damion couldn't discern.

“Uh, yeah. We met in high school and we've been friends ever since. It's not as weird as the whole 'destined' thing makes it sound, I think really that's just a translation thing. We just clicked really well, best friends since. He's cool, he works too."

There was a silence that stretched a second or two too long before the questions returned to what they were before. Only, there was a strange tilt to them.

“How would you handle conflict with a customer? Knowing, of course, you don't have a digimon to fight for you."

Damion blinked twice, flat footed by the tension that had begun to fill the room. “Well… I'd get the manager."

“I see."

Asking if there was an issue with Kess was right on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say it and swallowed the words bitterly.

“You know when I was your age we didn't have any of this digital nonsense," the man pointed out, moustache twitching.

“Okay?"

“What does he do? Lay around the house?"

“He works. I said that already."

“Is there any other reason to keep him around?"

Damion was beginning to flush at the bizarre left turn to the topic of this interview. He was saved from snapping something out when the other lady spoke up.

“Markus," the woman said primly. “Stay on topic please."

Markus frowned but he did as requested. “Are you able to work alone or only with a partner?" The emphasis on the word partner rubbed Damion the wrong way.

“I can work alone, it's not like Kess and I are joined at the hip. He didn't come with me today."

“Keep on topic, please." He echoed his partners own words with a flash of self-satisfaction and Damion felt his face twitch.

The rest of the interview went that way. Discomfort filling the room and leaving Damion twitchy and the woman looking like she'd rather be anywhere else at the moment.

It wasn't much longer before it ended. An interview scheduled to be an hour, over in nineteen minutes.

“Thank you for coming in today," the man said stiffly. He took Damion's hand in a brief shake, more like a squeeze, and then showed him the door.

He caught a sympathetic look flashed at him by the woman and then he was out on the street again. The look in her eyes filled him with a violently nauseated feeling and he felt his stomach cramp.

He coughed a little, making his way to his bike. Unlocking the chain and pulling himself on it. He felt dizzy for a moment, the look in her eyes stuck in his head.

It reminded him of how his mother looked when daddy dearest was showing him the door. Five years ago today.

Damion shook his head, angry tears hit his eyes but he refused to even acknowledge them and booked it on his bike.

Halfway home he wished he'd stolen something from the store.

When he reached home he was just so very angry. Angry at everything. Angry at his parents for throwing him out at seventeen. Angry at the bastard grocery manager who seemed to have a shitty attitude towards digimon. Angry at the woman for doing nothing and just letting it happen and would let him be rejected without a whisper in his favour. Angry at everything.

Unfortunately, the only person around he could be angry towards….

“FUCK EVERYTHING!" Damion shouted as he slammed the door open. Kess, asleep in his room recovering from the nightshift, jumped and fell out of bed and cursed.

He dragged himself up and out of the door, spotting Damion pacing a hole in the ground.

Perhaps if he wasn't exhausted he might have said something kinder.

And yet, today was not Damion's day. “You screwed it up?" Kess snapped. “What the fuck did you do?"

“I FUCKING DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Damion shouted back. “It was going FINE until I mentioned I was friends with you and the fucking cunt was some racist boomer piece of shit and he started acting all shitty and I just fucking KNOW I'm going to be rejected again and FUCK!"

He threw a cup and it shattered on the wall.

“Don't fucking smash things," Kess snapped again. “We're short enough without needing to fix the damn walls!"

“SHUT UP, KESS!" Damion yelled. “I DON'T WANT TO HEAR A FUCKING WORD!"

“Fuck off," Kess growled. “You're not going to throw a damn tantrum like a child, clean your fucking mess and stop yelling."

Damion strode to the remains and grabbed the shards in his hands.

“Fuck, what are you doing?"

“I'm cleaning up."

“Don't grab that stuff with your hands, I'm not paying for your medical bills!"

“FUCK! KESS! Is that all you care about? How much I'm fucking costing you?" He shoved it in the bin, but now his hands were bleeding.

Kess covered his face as Damion glowered at his hands for daring to be so fragile.

“Well?" Damion asked. “Are you going to say something?"

“What do you want me to say, Damion?" Kess responded.

“Fucking ANYTHING!"

“What even is there to say?" Kess gestured at his hands. “You're too much of a fucking child to grab the shovel and brush you just HAD to grab with your hands. You know I didn't tell you to pick it up with your hands and you shouldn't have smashed it in the first place! Look!" He gestured at the hole in the wall. “The landlord will freak when she sees that!"

“It's allllll just money," Damion said mockingly. “Isn't it?"

“Damion."

“Isn't it?"

“Damion!"

“ISN'T IT!"

“It wouldn't BE just money if you got a FUCKING JOB ALREADY!" Kess shouted back. “It's not MY fault you can't keep a job for more than a week."

“Fuck. Off!"

Kess turned to stomp back into his room but Damion cut in again. “I said FUCK OFF!"

“What?"

“GET OUT!" Damion pointed at the door. “Get out. I'll no longer be your fucking problem. GET THE FUCK OUT AND DON'T COME BACK!"

Kess stared at him for a moment, just a moment, then he did as he was told and silently walked out.

The fury surging through Damion's body snuffed out the instant the door clicked closed. He froze completely, going as stiff as a board, his body refusing to obey his demands.

Part of his brain, the part that had led to him exploding on Kess was saying that this was all a misunderstanding and that Kess was just going for a walk to give them some time to cool off.

It took him nearly ten minutes to hit the fear that Kess might not be coming back. He finally moved, tearing the door open and yelling, “KESS!?"

No response.

He ran through the corridor of the apartment, shouting Kess' name and then out onto the street.

He could have gone left or right and there was no sign which way he would have gone.

He ran around the block calling for Kess. He had his mobile and tried to call Kess every minute but it went to voicemail each time. He bolted back home, still calling. The phone rang inside and for a desperate moment he hoped Kess had already come home.

But he wasn't.

His phone was in his room, ringing incessantly as Damion's hand slowly slipped from his ear to his side, his phone slipping out of his fingers.

“...Kess," he whispered, tears hitting his face.

His partner, his number one, the one person who had stuck with him through thick and thin. Followed him into this life of stress and fear, of where their next meal would be coming from, of if they would have electricity next month, food, a place to sleep.

Kess stuck by him through it all. He could have gone off on his own, left like everyone else did. But he hadn't. He hadn't budged even when the burden of keeping them fed and the lights on was on his shoulders alone, against a workforce that treated him lesser and a so-called friend who just drank soda or beer all day and laid around 'looking for work'.

He hadn't left until he told him to leave, because why the fuck had he even stayed this long?

Damion's tears grew more intense until he was sobbing into Kess' bed, hyperventilating as he began to go back into a full-blown panic attack.

Where would Kess have gone? The gas station? When was his next shift?

Damion ran out of his apartment again, leapt onto his bike and rode two hours across the city to the gas station.

Kess wasn't due to work for another three days.

Damion didn't even know his work schedule.

Feeling like even more shit he biked around in vacant hope he'd just stumble across the kotemon somewhere. The city was vast, however, and he was nowhere to be found.

Damion was terrified. Digimon were tough, sure, but not everyone was so friendly and he was just a rookie digimon. A human with a gun or even a knife could be more than a match for one, let alone one with a digimon themselves.

Damion knew bad people could have digimon. He did, after all. Kess hadn't just stood by as he demeaned all the kids who didn't have a destined partner, he'd been just as much of an ass as Damion was.

Until that other kid, Chris, had met the veemon. They got knocked on their asses once and things were never the same. Kess hadn't wanted to throw around their weight anymore and Damion cared more about him than anyone else, so he went along with it.

Then his parents found out about it all. They already hated him, it just gave his father an excuse. Once he was seventeen, that was it. On his own.

“KESS!?"

The kotemon could be anywhere, anything could happen to him. He was distinctive, however.

Damion turned his bike and rolled to a police station. “I want to report someone missing," he said, looking like a wreck with bloodshot eyes and tear-tracked cheeks. “We had an argument and he left and he doesn't have his phone and anything could be happening. His name is Kess, he's a kotemon."

They took his report and assured him they'd look into it.

A kotemon would be distinctive.

A kotemon was also a digimon. Damion knew the police wouldn't care as much. They might be like the store manager and dismiss him, or they might think a digimon could handle themselves a little longer than a lost human.

And so he continued. Rolling around the city, returning to a few old haunts they had enjoyed years ago, calling for Kess.

He had to return home eventually, still hoping maybe Kess would have realised that Damion was just a stupid idiot who didn't mean anything he said and would be home to chew him out for being a stupid idiot.

He wasn't.

Damion couldn't sleep the whole night, laying in bed wondering just what he had done and what had become of Kess. Where was he sleeping tonight?

He had no job or anything to do. At some point the next day he had a polite rejection email from the grocery store but he didn't care. He just wanted to see Kess. He'd tell him he was sorry. He'd grovel on his hands and knees if that's what it took. He didn't mean it.

“I didn't mean it, Kess," Damion muttered, eyes feeling sore from the lack of sleep. He knew he'd have no luck biking randomly around the city. He could wait until Kess had to work next, but what if he didn't even show up to work? What if something HAD happened to him?

He needed help. Help from someone who could actually do something. Who might actually care to do it.

That made this idea he had a really unlikely one, but he had no other choice.

He used Facebook messaging to reach someone he never imagined he'd talk to again.

“I know you got no reason to even hear me out on anything, but, Chris, I really need your help. Kess' vanished on me and I've got nowhere else I can turn to. Please. I'll do anything."

Chris Dilla and his partner Vee the veemon. No smear campaign about lame names had ever touched him once they were together and the one time they pushed for a fight, Vee handed Kess his ass, and knocked Damion down in the process.

Chris Dilla, the poor kid he'd singled out for no reason in early school. Bullied him for years upon years. He couldn't even remember why he'd singled him out so much. Maybe because he had good parents and nice friends and didn't care about Damion being the coolest kid in school.

“...Seventh Corner Cafe. 1PM. Meet us there."

It'd take him almost that entire time to bike, at a fast pace, but Damion did it. His muscles ached, his stomach gnawed itself in hunger, he was sweating but cold.

He made the trip across the city and walked in on wobbly legs.

He recognised him immediately. It was impossible not to remember the face of the guy you pushed into the pavement day after day. Chris had a scar on his face from it, a reminder of what he went through. It was the first thing Damion saw and guilt hit him like a bullet.

Vee was sitting next to him, still in that oversized hoodie. It looked… characteristic. Baggy and probably comfortable.

The veemon's eyes were sharper than Chris', who were icy and focused on him.

“You look like shit," Chris said, immediately as he got closer.

“I feel like shit," Damion said.

“That's a start, I guess."

Damion hesitated but Chris gestured and he sat down. There was some water in front of him and he took it, taking a long needed gulp of water.

It caused him to cough, he thumped his chest but that hurt so he stopped.

A silence broadened between them. No one was blind to the problematic history the three shared here. Chris didn't look sympathetic and Vee's expression was only a step below a snarl.

Damion chewed the inside of his cheek, trying to find words but for once they had just completely failed him. He bitterly wished words had failed him yesterday, maybe he wouldn't have screwed everything up so royally.

And they just stared at him, waiting for him to say the first word.

Damion's eyes tried to flick up and stay on Chris, but he couldn't hold it for long. It felt like another job interview, only both interviewers hated him.

“This is pointless," Damion muttered, head bobbing down in defeat. “Fucking pointless."

“Why'd you come if you think that?" Chris asked sharply.

“I got no other choice, Chris!" Damion said. “I've looked and called yesterday and today, I went to the gas station, I went to the police, but no one's gonna do shit for me. I've fucked it all up."

He beat his head on the table. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

“Stop hitting yourself," Vee said, speaking up finally. There was a slight tinge of something to his voice, like he was calling out Damion for something.

Damion grimaced, face pressed on the table. That was one of his favourite things to do, slap Chris with his own hand telling him to stop hitting himself.

Damion felt Chris' hands clasp over the table. “I'm here," Chris said. “Even though there's no reason I should be. You asked me. You said please. But do you think that's enough?"

“What do you want?" Damion growled. “I don't got any money but if you want my shit go ahead. I don't care about any of that."

“You'd give up your stuff for Kess?" Vee asked.

“Wouldn't you?"

“For Kess?" Vee's face wrinkled.

“That's not funny."

“Well, I'm laughing."

“I want to know what I should help you?" Chris asked, hands still clasped.

Damion stared up at him, misery suppressing any anger he might have felt otherwise. He wasn't in school anymore, life had hit him in the balls and never let up.

“Kess is all I got," Damion's voice shook slightly. “I thought you would sympathise with how it feels. Imagine if you lost Vee?"

“And if I came to you, asking for help for Vee?" Chris asked, the sharpness cutting through Damion like a knife.

His eyes flicked down, shame all over again. He fell silent.

Chris' face slowly pulled into a frown as Damion languished in silence.

“I'm sorry," Damion muttered softly.

“What?"

Damion might have grimaced, but he had said it so softly, as if it was a shameful secret admitted on his deathbed. “I'm sorry," he said louder. “For bullying you. For making everyone treat you like I did. For taking your friends away. For hitting and pushing you around. I'm sorry." His voice turned raw. “Please, Chris, please. I. I can't. Do this without Kess. He's all I got, he's just, I just. Please."

The cold and distant expressions they were finally cracked and they shared a very meaningful look.

“Are you sorry about Kess?" Vee asked.

“Fuck, of course I am! I didn't mean anything I said!"

“What did you say?"

“I don't remember. I just… I was just so mad and he was there, because he's always there for me. I just screamed at him until I told him to get out and not come back but I didn't mean it! Fuck, I'm not any different from my fucking dad throwing me out."

He beat his head gently on the table again. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

“Damion, stop," Chris said, grabbing his head to stop him.

“I can't fucking stand myself at the moment," Damion said. “I don't even know why Kess stuck around so long. I'm a deadbeat loser dragging him down. I get it. I get it, alright? No one knows how big of a loser I am than me. But I can't do this without Kess, I lo-"

He stopped himself short.

Vee's ear twitched. “What was that?"

“...nothing."

They shared another look. Damion pulled himself up, not looking at either of them. “Whatever, I know you don't have to do anything. Thanks for the water."

“Hey." Chris caught his arm and pulled him back down. “Finish what you were just saying."

“I don't have to tell you an-" He stopped again. Chris and Vee had placed their hands on the others, resting them on the table. He stared at the joining a moment then up at their faces. “...you two?"

Chris raised an eyebrow, Vee's eyes challenged him.

“...fine, I love Kess. But I was too much of a coward to tell him."

Damion closed his eyes, bracing for the jeers. All the times he'd called Chris and Vee dirty digifuckers, insinuating their relationship behind closed doors. A big laughable projection on his part.

The jeers didn't come. He forced an eye open, they weren't looking too amused at him but Vee then tilted his head at something behind him.

Frowning, he turned to look and-

“Kess?" Damion said, feeling the air get knocked out of him.

Kess was standing there. He had an arm over his chest, the other resting by his side. He had his mask on of course, but there was something to his eyes. He'd heard it, hadn't he?

“He showed up at like 3AM," Chris said, but Damion was barely listening. “Stayed with us for the night."

“Guess I forgot my phone," Kess said softly. “Couldn't think of anywhere else to go, heh, guess we kinda think alike."

Damion's stomach was clenching again, but this time in effort to stop himself from crying in relief. Kess was here. Kess was okay. Kess. Kess. Kess.

“Kess, I'm so sorry," Damion said. “I'm a fucking idiot, I know, I didn't mean anything. You were just there and I'm so sorry."

“Stop calling yourself an idiot," Kess said, walking up. “I'm sorry for making you worry. I asked them not to tell you either, I wasn't sure how much you said was real or not."

Damion began to work out everything about how none of it was meant but Chris stood up. “Okay, you two want a ride home? I think it's best if you talk about this somewhere that isn't a public cafe."

“Y-Yeah, sure, thanks," Damion managed.

Chris drove them, it felt odd being in the backseat of a car again. They rode in silence. It wasn't a comfortable silence. One apology didn't undo years of bullying and harassment, but Damion still thanked him when they arrived.

“For keeping him safe, everything. Thanks, Chris. You're… so much better than me."

Chris' expression was complicated, he took the handshake. “You're only as good as you try to be," he said wisely. He nodded and drove off.

The moment they were inside, Damion pulled Kess into a bone-crushing hug. “I'm so, so, so sorry," he said.

“Air, please," Kess wheezed. The hug loosened and he hugged him back. “I forgive you, asshole."

Damion barked a brief laugh. That lightened his chest significantly, a playful little insult was their language, it really meant Kess was okay.

“So," Kess began, still held in the hug. “What was that about loving me?"

Damion froze. Froze a moment too long.

“Ah, well, you know. We're bros. Bros can love each other. I love ya, bro."

“Right." Suddenly Damion felt his balance get shifted and in a moment he was on his back on the couch and Kess was sitting on his chest.

The scaly lavender tail thumped one of his legs as Kess' eyes pierced him from behind the mask. “Bros before hoes?" he asked.

“...yeah?"

“What happens when we got no hoes?" Kess asked, wriggling a little.

“Um." Damion felt his face reddening.

Kess was wriggling over… his crotch.

“How come you were afraid to tell me, bro?" Kess asked lightly. “What's wrong with a bro loving another bro?"

Damion was getting redder.

“Unless… you were thinking of something else?"

“W…what do you want me to say?"

“The truth. We've known each other long enough."

A hand touched his shirt, still the same black shirt he wore to his interview. His birthday suit.

Damion took a long, nervous, breath. What did one say to your best, and only, friend when they were asking you just how much they really were to you.

“I didn't want to make it weird," Damion admitted. Kess' hand had brushed one his nipples enough that it had hardened under his shirt.

“What if I like it weird?"

Damion couldn't help it, he snorted. He could have sworn Kess smiled at him. And then all the tension left his body, Kess already knew, why was he afraid to say it?

“I guess… I love you more than a bro. I kinda think about you being naked in bed with me a lot."

That second half just sorta slipped out. Kess nearly slipped off him and Damion was mortified at himself. But not mortified enough to try and take it back.

“Hahaha! Damn, bro , I was expecting it to be a little more romantic than that." He grabbed the top of his shirt in both hands. “But, Vee told me their little story so, if anything, that's still better than them."

“Of course we are," Damion said automatically.

“Good thing he gave me some tips," Kess murmured, leaning over him. “I wasn't ever sure, but you never did have a girlfriend."

“Neither did you."

“I already knew who I wanted," Kess admitted.

“Oh… it's me, right?"

“Dumbass, of course it's you." Damion reached up, grabbing the fabric of Kess' mask. He hesitated, wordlessly asking permission. Kess nodded and leaned his head back slightly, letting Damion's fingers dig under and begin sliding it off.

Kess had a specific type of dysphoria centred around his face. It left him reluctant to even try and use the human bond to digivolve in case the form he became didn't come with a socially-acceptable mask built in.

The only person he'd ever willingly shown his face to was Damion, and even then he still preferred to keep the mask on. The only time he regularly, sometimes, took it off was to sleep or shower.

On some particularly pathetically yearning days, Damion would peek at him asleep just to see his face. He never took a photo, however. He never would knock that boundary over so recklessly or selfishly.

Now, however, Kess was letting him remove his mask and it slid off easily. The kotemon's face was similar to that of Vee's, reptilian with a pointed nose although lacking a horn there. Most of the rookie reptiles held similar features, but kotemon hid theirs. His eyes were the same, glowing orbs in pits of darkness.

So, it felt extra special to press their lips together. Even in his fantasies, Kess often had the mask on. It's how he knew him best.

Kess made a sound of approval into his mouth, Damion's fingers brushing across the soft scales of his cheeks, mapping his face out with his touch.

The kiss grew a little more intense, Kess pressing back eagerly. Their mouths opened, noses huffing out a heated breath before their tongues began to probe each other.

Damion quickly learned that Kess' teeth were a lot sharper than his. He could probably cut his tongue on them. He didn't care but the surprise gave Kess a moment of power to push him down.

The kotemon began to strip him. Only great restraint kept him from slicing his shirt apart with his claws. They had to break the kiss to slide Damion's shirt off.

“Watching you put those on," Kess muttered against his mouth. “Just made me want to see you take it all off again."

“Is that why you had me try on so many different pairs?" Damion asked.

“Maybe a little."

He chuckled and stood up, letting Kess grab at his pants. His hands brushed over his bulge, pressing pleasant pressure into him and causing him to moan slightly.

“What?" he asked when Kess looked up at him. “I ain't been taking care of it myself lately," he defended.

Kess' expression, it felt magical to be able to see it in more than just his eyes, quirked into a cheeky smile and he pulled his pants down, letting Damion kick them off.

Damion grabbed him before he could get his underwear. “You're wearing too much too," he said, sliding Kess' short sleeved sleeping shirt off. Kess kept a pair of rather short shorts on when not wearing his armoured getup.

“Now, I'm nude," Kess complained. “And you aren't."

“Gonna make me take my socks off too?"

“I'll eat your socks if you don't take your dacks off right now."

He looked ready to start grabbing unmindful of his claws and so Damion obeyed. He smiled and tried to do a little tease, sliding his fingers under the rim, pulling each side down slowly and separately.

Kess clearly enjoyed it because he didn't growl at him, and between his legs his slit was flushing, a peek of his tip making itself known as he stared at his destined human with all the hunger he'd tried not to feel for years.

Finally kicking his underwear off, Damion pressed Kess back onto the couch, manhandling him and pinning him slightly. “Fuck, you're sexy," Damion said, laying kisses on Kess' shoulders.

“Ah, that tickles!" Kess squirmed, trying not to giggle.

“I knew it," Damion said, momentarily victorious. Kess paused before cursing. “I always knew it."

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it? Tickle me and I probably will take a lot longer to suck your dick."

Damion looked like he was thinking about it for a moment. Then he began to stroke Kess' muscles, squeezing his biceps and running down his chest.

“We look good," Damion said, all that bike riding.

“You look sexy," Kess replied, tail tapping Damion's abdomen.

“So do you," Damion replied, stealing another kiss out of Kess' mouth. They began to make out again as the human pressed down over the digimon, sinking him more and more into the couch cushion until it nearly had him swallowed up.

“Ack, help!"

Damion couldn't help but laugh as the most visible part of Kess was his dick and his tail. He grabbed the digimon's cock in one hand, giving him a groping squeeze before grabbing his tail with his other hand and pulling him out of the grasp of the couch.

“I'm really relieved you didn't pull me out by my dick," Kess said, flushed on his back.

“I thought about it."

“I know you did."

Damion smiled at him, hand sliding up and down. It was funny how casual this felt between them, it didn't feel like a massive change had happened between them. Something Damion had feared over the years he stressed over this, Kess felt the same not that either was saying it.

“Hey, Kess?"

“Yeah."

“Can I suck your dick?"

Kess' expression turned to a fondly amused smile. “Go ahead, bro ."

“Are you gonna call me that every time I have your dick in my hand?"

“Maybe. Suck my cock, bro."

Rolling his eyes, Damion leaned in. He was nervous, although doing well in hiding it. He'd never actually done this before. His tongue poked out haltingly, and he gave the tip a quick flick expecting either magic or horror to touch his tongue.

All things considered, kinda tasted like skin. Slightly salty skin. Emboldened a little, Damion wriggled his fingers around Kess' cock, feeling it twitch in his grasp. A bead of precum bubbled to the tip of his tapered cock and he licked that up too.

Again, it didn't exactly blow his mind but a low thrill was building in his belly. He took another lick before leaning over, breath ghosting over Kess' cock. The fact that it was Kess' . That was thrilling to him.

Kess released a huff of pleasure that sent a tingle through Damion's body and he wrapped his lips around his tip. Kess murmured a moan, there was a twitch his lips felt and his mouth felt a little warmer, tasted a little more.

He pressed down as far as he could go, gagged as the tip slipped suddenly into his throat and coughed for breath. He wouldn't let that stop him, however, once he had his breath and Kess' hand in his hair, he was sucking him down again.

His tongue dragged underneath Kess' cock, pressing it up against the palate of his mouth and rubbing it back and forth. Kess gasped out with that one and Damion kept doing it until Kess' hand met another hand in his hair and took control of his head.

He pushed him back, Damion sucking, until his dick popped out of his mouth, a few spurts of precum splashed against his lips and ran down his chin as the kotemon took some needed breaths.

“Just… a moment," Kess breathed. His cock was twitching hard a few moments before relaxing. He pulled Damion's head onto his cock himself, hilting himself until Damion gagged again.

He moaned approving words as they rocked in motion together, sinking Kess' pointed cock as far as it could go before Damion gagged, getting a little further every time until Damion's nose was buried in Kess' slit.

His legs wrapped around his neck, breathing hard as the entirety of his cock was taken by the partner he cared for most. His cock flexed, causing Damion to grunt and Kess pulled back, sliding his cock out and letting his partner breathe.

“How's it taste?"

“Like dick." Damion wiped his mouth.

“Do you even know what that tastes like?"

“I used to be pretty flexible." Damion smirked and stood up, he was hard too, Kess' glowing eyes trained straight on the spire of flesh in front of his face. His mouth popped open slightly.

His tongue was a pale blue and Damion's eyes trained on that for a moment. A spark of something entered his eyes and he stood and stretched a moment.

“Wanna see how flexible I still am?" he asked. Kess' cock bobbed excitedly as he tried to look cool.

Damion manoeuvred him sitting along the cushion rather than against the backrest. “Mind if I sit on your face?" Damion asked.

“You think I mind getting between those at last?" Kess' cock was bobbing urgently, showing his excitement even if he was good at looking cool otherwise.

Damion grinned and got into position, knees sinking on either side of Kess' face before leaning over himself. “Think I can suck your cock like this?"

“You flexible enough?"

Damion pressed his butt on Kess' face in response. He gasped in pleasure, a thunderstroke of it when Kess' tongue brushed against his pucker.

“Ah," he voiced, surprised at how sensitive he was down there. Kess chuckled and Damion moaned, even that felt good.

It felt better as the flexible tongue of the kotemon traced a line around his entrance before pressing insistently against him. Kess began to devour his ass as Damion scrambled to return the favour.

Turns out, he was flexible enough to still reach Kess' cock with his lips. Kess had to thrust up to slip into his mouth, no longer able to reach his throat, but that gave Damion the chance to really practice his oral work.

Kess always said having your oral demonstration up to par was important. He might have even meant it like this in a cheeky no-homo way.

Damion began to grind back, Kess' tongue penetrating him as he sucked on Kess' cock. The two were moaning together, Damion pressing urgently down against his tongue as it breached his walls.

It ached a moment, then the heat of the tongue began to wash the pain away, leaving pleasure in its wake. Kess' cock was spilling precum so much he was losing it to Kess' thrusts, the bobs of his head matching Kess' eager thrusts.

Kess' teeth were scraping his butt, his tongue pressing long and firm further into him. Damion grasped Kess' cock with a hand, stroking down what he couldn't reach with his mouth, his cock slick from spit and precum spilling down it.

His fingers slipped into Kess' slit as jacked him downwards, Kess whimpering into him as the sensation. Damion tested it, sinking a finger to the knuckle into his slit.

Kess' cock suddenly jerked and then he was cumming.

Kess mashed his head against him, tongue fucking his hole and his moans rattled Damion's body. His body flexed in a fluid motion, shoving as much of his cock into Damion's mouth as he could as he unloaded, body jerking with each spurt.

From the angle, Damion could barely swallow anything before he was losing it, the taste not registering, only that Kess was shivering in orgasm, shuddering as years of tension were sent down his throat.

He kept sucking until Kess pulled his tongue out of him, almost squeaking with overstimulation. Damion let up on him at last, his hand covered in Kess' cum. His own cock throbbed untouched against Kess' chest, spilling his arousal across his scales.

“D-Damn, Damion," Kess panted. “Off, my neck hurts, you next."

“My throat hurts," Damion retorted, grinning dopily as he rolled off Kess. Their couch was the nicest bit of furniture they had and they were descrating it.

Kess jumped on him, half-hard cock splatting against his chest and their mouths met again.

“You taste-"

“If you say like ass I'll throw you off the balcony."

“Hmm."

“And I won't catch you."

“Well, now I don't believe you."

Kess nipped his lips, he pressed Damion back until he was sitting on the couch, naked together besides Damion's socks of course.

No homo was still up for grabs.

Kess grinded Damion's cock against his scales, catching and sliding against his muscles, sliding between his legs as his own member hardened up again against Damion's chest.

They hugged, tongues dancing against each other as hardness pressed and prodded against the other. Damion's hand snuck in between them to grope Kess again and Kess leaned into it before breaking their embrace.

His face was coloured deeply, a blush unable to be hidden by any mask. Damion's lips were bruised and almost bleeding from Kess' teeth, eyes dark in arousal.

Kess slid off him, letting himself flow almost like water to the cheap shag carpet. He laid on his back, tail flipping between his legs and failing to hide his arousal at all. He eyed Damion and Damion's eyes raked over him, taking in everything he tried to avoid looking at before.

Without a word but certainly a smile, Kess rolled onto his hands and knees and raised his tail, giving his rump a slow, inviting, shake.

“Can you fuck me, Damion?" Kess asked breathlessly.

Damion's hands met his rump, taking it in a hand each and squeezing before spreading him apart. Kess moaned softly, tail holding as high up as he could to expose himself so completely.

“...give me a sec," Damion said and then stood.

“Wha?" Kess asked, shocked at Damion running off. “I just did the sexiest thing ever! How are you not railing me right now?"

“I needed this." Damion returned from his room, holding a bottle of lube. “I'm not rawdogging you, bro ."

Kess might have been unimpressed at his own joke being returned on him, but there was a glimmer of gratefulness that Damion had thought of that when he hadn't.

Damion really wasn't dumb, he really truly wasn't.

Kess flinched when the coolness touched his butt and grunted when Damion pressed a finger in with a soft, “This okay?"

“Yeah."

A single finger scraping his insides was joined by a second and then a third. Damion gave his buttcheek a kiss and his pucker a swipe with his tongue before shuffling up, knees reaching Kess' feet.

He jerked his cock with the lube rolling over it, Kess gave another teasing shake of his hips. He stilled when Damion grabbed his rump to steady him, then began to tease his entrance with his cock.

“You like that?" Damion asked, trying to sound sultry but just sounding unsure.

“Love it," Kess replied. His tail twitched anxiously. Damion started so much thicker than Kess did, even just the catch of his cocks head felt large. “Just… rail me, don't make me beg."

Damion grabbed his tail by the base with his other hand and began to grind his hips forwards, pressing his cock against the give of Kess' flesh. His cock began to slide in before popping out, Kess hissed in annoyance but Damion took it slow, breaching him slowly before his cock popped it.

“Ah!"

“You alright?"

“Fine! You can… just ram it in."

Damion did not. He took it slowly, guiding his dick in slowly, testing the tightness of his partner. He moaned soft compliments to Kess' strength and sexiness.

“Love you so much," Damion murmured, leaning over him as he shuffled a little closer. The warmth from the humans skin warmed Kess' body, easing the ache as more and more of him was entered.

Kess moaned urgently as he was slowly made love to. He whimpered, pleading Damion wordlessly to take him rougher. He almost couldn't handle the gentleness more than he could have handled the roughness.

He was teetering on the limit, it felt too good without any sharp pain. “D-Damion," Kess gasped and then pushed himself back.

He sheathed Damion into him fully, joining man and mon in a single motion. Damion gasped, gripping Kess tightly as the digimon moaned in relief.

It hurt so good. Just good enough to stop him from teetering over and ruining the fun with his oversensitive body. He moaned, Damion stopping in place to let him adjust, sighing in pleasure as he was massaged from every angle by his partner's tight walls.

Kess was gripping him so tightly that he could feel his heartbeat and Kess could feel his. The throb of his cock could be felt in Kess' stomach, each twitch poking another button of pleasure in him.

Damion was the next to move, sliding himself back and pushing back into Kess. Kess' moans were music to his ears and Kess began to move as well.

They both began to grind against the other, out of sync. Kess had a smirk on his face, head raised up and eyes meeting Damion's. There was a hint of challenge in his eyes and he jerked his hips back firmly.

Getting the challenge, Damion gripped his hips and steadied him by the tail, pushing him back and then rocking into him several times. Kess' challenging expression shivered until it broke into pleasure and he submitted to the pleasure for now, Damion's needs in control.

Damion began to ram into him harder, his balls slapping off Kess' slit, the digimon's cock swinging between his legs and splattering the carpet with precum.

Needs were taking over, it was getting less gentle but any ache in Kess had faded to pleasure by now. Their hips were crashing together, seeking the pleasure the other could bring them, hilting into the warmth that was between each other.

“D-D-Damion!" Kess called, voice growing louder with every exhale. His back was arching, he was pressing against him this time in tune, their hips smacking together loudly in the small living room.

Each ram of the human's cock was pressing over something magical inside Kess and he knew he was hitting that limit again that couldn't be denied.

Damion, sinking into the warm, wet, pleasure of his most loved partner felt his fingers begin to ache as they gripped Kess' flesh as tightly as he could to stop himself from cumming in the next second.

“Fuck! Kess!" Damion cried. He dropped his tail, grabbed his hips and pulled Kess into him, fucking him over the ground on his knees, pulling him back and forth with feral horny need.

Kess held onto Damion, his hands sliding back up and behind his neck to hold on, his cock jumping in the open air. He rested his head in the crook of Damion's neck as, then, it all struck too much intensity.

Damion was cumming in him. The deep moans of his partner, the thrusts growing sloppy, the throbbing and warmth being deposited inside of him. He was cumming inside him! Kess yelled out, not caring if anyone heard them as he sprayed his load across the carpet, Damion's thrusts pulling him into him with hard slams.

Damion was fucking him until he was growing soft and couldn't ram into him anymore, cum dribbling out of him and down their legs where the mess had accumulated.

They were panting hard for breath, together. Damion wavered a moment, unsteady, before finding the strength to stand up, carrying Kess up with him.

“I'm tired," Damion murmured and carried him to his room. “Sleep with me, please."

Kess knew that he should probably insist they shower together first… but he didn't sleep either. “Okay."

Damion laid him down gently before wrapping them around in his blankets, pulling him into a tight hug that was returned and the two fell asleep listening to the others' breaths.

---

“Think it'll really be a good idea?" Damion asked as they walked.

“It's gotta be. What else do we have to try?"

“You got me there. How much longer?"

“Check your device." Damion had it in hand. The sign that they were partners together, the digital device with a lot of apparent functions but Damion could never make heads or tails. It seemed to do what it wanted to.

“There's nothing coming up on it," Damion pointed out, showing it to prove it.

The eyes of the masked digimon flickered into a frown. “Odd." He looked around. They had gone to a public park in the city, knowing there was a digital gate here.

The plan was obvious. Earth wasn't working for them, so why not try and see what the Digital World had to offer?

They had to use a portal to get through, however.

One that was supposed to be here.

Damion was frowning. “Do you have a bad feeling?"

Kess slowly nodded. They stepped closer and Damion glanced around, the park was empty and it was the middle of the day in a city.

“Let's go," Kess said. “We can find somewhere else. Let's go before-"

Too late.

A shockwave blasted leaves off trees and knocked them over. A second shockwave knocked trees out of their roots and Kess barely managed to catch his blade and draw it to cut a falling tree in half before it splattered them. He staggered as the ground shook.

“What's going on?" Damion shouted over the sound of wind rushing around them. Suddenly, the shaking around them stopped.

And it all went silent.

“Damion-"

A pillar of light burst out close by to them, so bright it blinded them both and they both flinched, trying to cover their eyes from the blast of light so bright it eclipsed the sun.

They began to run, feeling their way around, a hand in paw until they could see again and the light disappeared. All of it. The sun had been actually eclipsed and this was far from a natural phenomenon.

Digging his phone out, Damion found articles already popping up as some sort of emergency was hitting the entire planet at once.

All of a sudden, digimon were not able to digivolve.

And the digital gates had vanished.

Kess met Damion's eyes and said, “Call Chris."

Damion nodded.

“All circuits are busy, try again later."

Damion cursed and tried again.

“All circuits are busy, try again later."

He growled, still going.

“All circuits are still busy."

“This can't be happening."

“The circuits are busy."

“Huh?"

“BUSY!"

Damion lowered his phone from his ear, looking very perturbed. “Whatever's going on… come on, Kess. Let's get somewhere safe."

Hand in hand, they ran off.

---

Thanks to Cal for commissioning these!