Izzy sighed, glancing out of the window behind the desk. It was such a hot day. Perfect timing for the air conditioner to take a dive. And despite his general know how with most electronics, HVAC was beyond him, leaving the household sweating miserably. The AC repair company wasn't able to come out for another few days. Which meant lots of water, dozens of paper fans and multiple ice tray stacks in the freezer.

Out of desperation, he'd been speed reading through troubleshoot aids for their air conditioner model and trying to at least get a diagnosis… if it was severe, it would likely be more efficient to get a new system, after all. Which would take just as long as waiting for the repairman.

But he could only focus so much. It was difficult to stay still. Which was a conundrum when moving was really the last thing he wanted to do when the heat sapped his strength. His patience was thin and besides, his computer needed to shut down to attempt to stave off an over heat. He had good circulation, but he didn't want to risk it. "Hey Tentomon? You doing okay?"

His partner had adjusted to the temperature issue as seamlessly as he did everything else. It was nearly frustrating that the Digimon wasn't hot and annoyed like the rest of them. But Izzy frowned at that. Wishing this suffering on his partner was selfish and unfair.

A skitter sound had him turning in his chair toward the hallway with a quirked brow. Really, sometimes it was like having a dog. "Izzy?" Granted, a smart dog… Tentomon had gotten into a few funny situations around the house. But then… that was an odd tone in the Digimon's voice that Izzy rarely heard.

He forced himself to stand and padded out to see Tentomon seemingly studying his own foreleg in curiosity. "What's wrong?"

The beetle turned to face him slowly, showing the appendage even while he still stared at it. "May I ask what this is?" He sounded almost awed and Izzy furrowed his brow before really looking at his partner's leg.

How he missed it, he really had no idea, but he couldn't pretend he didn't squeak in surprise. Coiled in a 'Ready-to-Spring' pose was one of the largest spiders he'd ever seen. "W-Where'd that come from?" He steeled himself, staring at the black spider.

"I heard it in the laundry room. It runs very fast for being so tiny."

Gawking, he turned his eyes to his partner. "You… you heard it? In the laundry room?" Sure, Tentomon had wandered away randomly… but really? "And you… caught it."

"Well, sort of. I heard it walking along the paper your dad set on the dryer the other day." He tilted his head. "Is this another of the animals of this world?"

"Uh…" Tentomon was smart and retained a lot of information. But how strange was it to have an insect ask what another insect was? "That's a spider. It's an arachnid. Most people classify them as bugs."

"A bug?"

Izzy mentally grinned. "Yeah. Sort of." His partner peered at the spider closely. "What're you doing?" Part of him wanted to get the spider into a cup to be thrown outside where his mom wouldn't freak out. The other part was genuinely curious of what could happen.

"He's like me, only… he doesn't have wings to fly." Fascination. The tone in Tentomon's voice was fascination. That was oddly endearing.

Izzy grinned despite himself. "Spiders don't need wings. They catch food with their webbing and they climb almost any surface. They can even repel down from a high place by using that webbing." The spider twitched and for a moment, Izzy thought for sure Tentomon would get a firsthand look at the action. It stopped though, appearing fine enough exactly where it was. "Tento, we should let it go outside. Mom really isn't a fan of spiders." She had gotten better… sort of.

Ironic that she could talk to Tentomon and be fine with him. Bring a small spider into the room and she'd hit the roof. At least she didn't try to kill every bug she came across anymore. It if was outside, it was left alone and ignored. Inside, she'd slowly switched to calling for an assistant to catch and release the offender instead of aiming for it with a shoe.

All because of Tentomon, of course. Whether he knew it or not (and he likely didn't), she was coming around to insects because she genuinely liked and respected him. And it equated, in a way, that killing bugs looked very bad with regards to her son's Digimon. "Lead the way, Izzy. I'm sure he doesn't want to intrude either."

The spider was like a miniature nightmare, gripping the foreleg with a stance that screamed "Pounce!". Large legs and a relatively large body… with its legs folded in like that, it was the size of a quarter in diameter. If it unfolded, it was likely bigger than that by double. He didn't recognize the species and didn't want to imagine how it'd gotten inside. Were it any bigger, he might have though it another Digimon or something.

He opened the door and glanced around quickly, making sure no one was around or watching, then allowed Tentomon to slip out. His partner paused, doing the same area check. He didn't have a jacket on to "disguise" him, and it seemed as awkward to him as it was for Izzy. Habits really were hard to break.

Tentomon and the rest of the Digimon had been returned to them a week and a half ago. And so far, it didn't appear like there was a reason. Which was absolutely fine with all of them. It was nice to have their partners in their lives and not have to juggle saving either world from destruction. But that meant hiding the Digimon was even more important. Motimon and the other Micro Digimon (and none of them could explain why they'd all de-digivolved to that level) were easy to conceal or pass off as plush toys. The Rookies were larger and while stuffed animals worked in a pinch, it was easier for all involved if the Digimon just weren't seen.

Which was why they were both so cautious exiting the condo. "It's okay Tentomon. Let's set that guy on the planter out front and get back inside, huh?"

The beetle's shell shifted and settled, and Tentomon glanced up at him. "Izzy? When we've set him free, may I enjoy of cool bath or shower?"

Izzy paused, staring back. Tentomon never asked for anything. Except maybe food from time to time. "Uh… sure. Heat's bothering you after all, eh?"

The spider slowly began to walk along the foreleg and across to the other one when offered. "A little." The arachnid nestled into one of his ridges, and it was almost as if there was no spider there at all. Tentomon had a friend.

Izzy grinned, but before he could comment, "Izzy? Boys, what're you doing out there?" his mom interrupted. He spun around to see her at the door, curious. Her eyes narrowed on Tentomon's arm however like laser-vision, spotting the odd patch where it didn't belong. "What is-"

The spider seemed to have a sixth sense. Or maybe it had met his mom before and barely survived. All Izzy knew was that it bolted out of view by shimmying up into the less easily seen areas of his partner, who twitched. His mom's eyes grew very wide, seeing it all. She nearly screamed. "We were releasing it outside!" Izzy hurriedly explained. Tentomon turned, trying to examine himself, still twitching. "Uh… Tentomon?"

"He's tickling me," his partner sounded absolutely baffled as he tried to see where the spider had vanished to. Suddenly he clicked one side of his wing shell open and backed to the stoop. Near immediately, the smaller thing was seen racing away and disappeared from view entirely once more. Tentomon waved silently behind where Izzy was staring.

His mom rested against the doorway. "Well, thanks for getting it outside. That was a very large spider." Tentomon looked up at her sideways. She smiled down at him and ran a hand along his antennae.

As Izzy turned to enter, following his partner back inside, he glanced back at where they'd last seen Tentomon's Friend. Then he grinned and shut the door. "Hey mom, I'm going to run the tub for Tento, okay? I think he needs a bath. Spider might have made a nest!"

=/=/=

A/N: This stemmed from Prisoner. It predates the story, so there's nothing really tying it together now… more of a reference for a passing thought in a chapter.

And I dunno. I kinda find the idea of Tentomon being curious in a spider oddly cute. But… heck, maybe I'm just strange.