I don't own digimon.

Story 8

Bottled Up

Larry could see the first sign of trouble well before his vehicle even reached the driveway. Between the door thrown off into the snow, the partially-filled footsteps and the chunks of siding that now sat on the ground, he had a pretty good idea of what awaited within. Didn't make it any easier. How many years had it been?

"Goblimon, whoever the hell taught you that the right way to open a door was to rip it off the hinges!" the handyman announced, trying his hardest to ignore the travesty done to the door. He had distinctly taught his digimon partner the proper way to open up a door. How he managed to forget that was beyond him. Probably picked up back in the digital world from one of his friends.

"Why does it matter?" a voice called out, a snowball following right behind. Doesn't come close to hitting him. "You left me."

Larry muttered something under his breath and headed through the doorway. The rug alone was absolutely trashed, which was nothing on the gashes in the recently painted white walls. He could at least fix that. Whether or not the same could be said about his relationship with his partner, remained to be seen. Not that he would let that stop him from making his way closer to the destruction. Pushing through the discarded food and other things thrown to the ground, there his partner stood. Gorging out on booze and whatever holiday treats remained. Probably not very much, the result of everything having to be transported to a party that he was helping to set up.

"Personally, I would've loved it if you had been allowed to stay." Larry countered and flicked the switch. The lights came on, the little goblin digimon illuminated in the act. Not that this was really going to stop his consumption of the eggnog. "But no, the stupid man that supposedly knows everything was all like 'you're shit out of luck' and then went off to drown his sorrows in booze or something stupid."

Goblimon rolled his eyes. Of course his partner would go with that excuse - one of far too many in order to weasel his way out of having any part of the blame. Some things never changed. Much as you wanted them too, that wasn't how the real world worked. No, you either stood in the way of progress or let it sweep you up. Yes, you could be somewhere in the middle - sooner or later, you would need to decide which end of the spectrum you're on. It was clear that Larry was on the right end - the same place it was when he had left. How pathetic.

"Really? You're not even going to counter me on that front?" the handyman continued and stepped towards his partner. "Or has the eggnog and everything el-"

Goblimon's club brought an end to that question, knocking the handyman back. Time slowed down, his partner's trajectory colliding right with the wall. Dropping his weapon to the ground, he rushed over. This wasn't how he wanted this to go at all. Mad as he had been, this had gone a touch too far. How the hell was he going to fix this.

"No, you're right." he muttered and set his club down. Rushing over to his partner, he dug into his pants. He had to have some kind of cellular device. Or at least something that would enable communications to other people. "There we go."

Pulling the device out, it took a couple of attempts to turn it on. When did people switch over from something that looked like a makeshift to a thin brick? Probably a recent development. Her number should be there. They were dating the last time he checked. Only one way to find out.

Pressing the calling 'button' (or whatever people these days referred to it as), he made sure to hold the phone up a couple inches away. Didn't really feel right. Neither did holding it close.

"Hello, this is Examon speaking." the voice on the other end announced, Goblimon nearly dropping the phone. Wait. 'They' were her

"This is Goblimon. Is Natalie available?" the goblin digimon remarked, waiting a second for a response on the other end.

"Yes. What the hell happened with Larry this time?" Natalie muttered and Goblimon took a deep breath. How the hell was he going to explain this to her? 'Oh hey, I got pissed at my partner and hit him into a wall - knocking him out.' Actually, that sounded right. At least, in a fashion that didn't make him sound like a complete asshole who got stuck in his own head over an argument that he should've long gotten over.

"I hit him into a wall and he hasn't woken up." Goblimon answered, only to get a frustrated shriek from the other end of the phone. Definitely a better way to phrase that. Now, he had the brunt of a possible royal knight to deal with on top of a frustrated ex-girlfriend. What a day this had become. "I'm guessing you're already heading over."

Music echoed out of the phone - a familiar, even if possibly overused tune. Of course that was what played. Always far too loud for whatever situation is. Heck, he couldn't think of a time when the use of the music was actually justified. Let alone something to get excited over. Especially when you have no one to actually digivolve with in the first place. Didn't happen then, probably wouldn't happen now.

"At least we're back together." he muttered and sat down by his partner. Letting out a deep breath, he did one more check. With the rate that Examon could fly, there really wasn't much to worry about. "Guess we have that going for us."

Notes:

Taking a bit of a break from Digital Dungeons, so a couple entries related to the holidays for Tales of the Returned are coming.