he feels noah's fingers flutter around his hand. the sensations tingle him in more ways than one as the tips of his ears grow red. kyle gives in to his reservations, awkwardly taking the invitation and holds his hand.

he lets his vision wander somewhere else though, not wanting to let noah see him getting flustered over something as minor as hand-holding. while he tells himself that he's going to look for anything remotely close to a shape of a mushroom, he has his heads above clouds, too distracted to even notice noah's attack.

"ack!" he curls his body away from reflex, but it doesn't escape noah's grasp. kyle retaliates by grabbing noah's wrist and dragging it underneath his shirt. "noah, heel!"

kyle wonders if it does the trick of calming him down.

he starts to panic, unable to start another topic if the previous one dies from his action. he mumbles, trying to keep it going. "i w-w-wanna hear more about mushrooms... or something..." not like he had any interest in traditional medicine, but childhood stories were always nice to listen to.

a second one sounds.

"ack!"

teasing him was a mistake, though he supposed it was effective. somehow. his expression turns to an awkward smile, satisfied with how the nature walk was going when he usually hates to do it if it doesn't double as dog walking.

the hold breaks. kyle feebly claws the air once as he subconsciously chases after noah's hand. he decides to follow him at the base of the tree, squatting down to his level as he observes the fungi growing underneath.

kyle physically cringes when he sees him take a bite. "no thanks. one of us has to be alive in case you get sick." he plucks another one and studies it up close.

he doesn't know much about mushrooms, but the edible ones were usually brown or white and poisonous ones were often depicted with bright colors in cartoons and anime.

"you'd probably get diseases even if it's edible. why'd you eat something you pulled out from the ground?"

kyle watches in horror as noah swallows the piece of mushroom. he lunges forward, observing noah's face up close.

"wait, you really..."

he finds him perspiring and visibly uncomfortable. kyle wasn't sure on how to proceed. at best, the only first aid knowledge he has were about injuries and wounds and fractures. he gets nervous and starts to do the first thing that comes to mind.

his hands force his mouth open, not unlike when one of his dogs get something inedible in their mouth, and sticks a finger in an attempt to fish it out. human mouths were much smaller that dog mouths, however, and kyle realizes he cannot follow the same procedure with noah.

"what do i even do? should i bring you to a hospital? i don't think i trust your mother's remedies anymore."

he rubs his back with his hand while the other grabs for his phone and starts to dial for an ambulance. "i, uh..." kyle starts to panic. this was different from when he has to fight dangerous pokemon. he feels useless.

the sound noah makes when he regurgitates his lunch makes him sick had the visual for it not turn out as unappetizing. he stops himself from gagging, though he still grimaces at his view while he rubs noah's back.

"how do you even survive as a bodyguard..." he muses out loud.

he stops dialing the number and the call doesn't go through. kyle pockets his phone before assisting noah back to his feet. hating nature and loving the indoors was a big mood. he's happy noah has seen the light.

kyle stares at the mess he left on the ground. he knows how much noah loves his shoes, and seeing it dirtied makes him feel bad for him. his voice turns sympathetic from the dead cold tone he used when he denied the offer. "can you even walk?" he asks.

he'd probably carry him if he can't.

kyle sweeps noah off of his feet and carries him on his back: swift enough that he can do it before noah can complain, but steady enough that he won't feel throwing up again.

"that's a no, then," he responds cheekily, flashing him a smile.

he hums a tone of the theme of one of his favorite anime of the season as he follows the trail back home. the woods near verdanturf was his playground as a child, so he supposed he doesn't hate it as much as the other woods. he'd have to give it deductions though for making noah sick.

kyle gives noah a preemptive answer even before he can say anything. "ya. just go sleep or something. i got you." silently, he prays that he does not throw up again. he doesn't verbalize it however, learning his lesson of teasing just noah earlier.