Nuzzling into his soft pillow, King gave a content sigh and stretched his legs, his toes nearly reaching the other end of the couch. He hadn't slept so well in a very long time, so he was hesitant to wake up just yet.
His stomach, on the other hand, couldn't ignore what his nose was smelling, making him sniff once, then twice, as it sent the information it was receiving to a sleepy brain for processing.
Pancakes...
And eggs, and something else.
Tugging the blanket higher, he snuggled into it, then inhaled again.
Baron's scent immediately entered his nose, rousing his mind further as it mixed with the scent of breakfast cooking.
I like it...
That short sentence, the same one that he'd thought several times the previous night, sprang to mind again as a smile slid onto his lips.
He moved his body a little here and there, an arm reaching forward, a leg inching backwards. Of course, there would be no Baron, because he was the only person who would be at his home cooking the breakfast he was smelling, but his mind hadn't caught up to that fact just yet.
Baron...
About a minute later he finally realized that the man had gotten up. King stretched a little more, then slowly opened his eyes. Normally, he'd reach for his phone to check his gaming profile and social media stuff, but for once, he completely ignored it and pushed himself up.
His eyes immediately went toward the kitchen, and after a few blinks and a yawn, Baron's blurry image came into view. The man's back was to him as he worked over the stove, allowing him to look to his heart's desire... which was beating quite quickly for having just woken up.
Baron worked for a few more moments before setting his pan aside, then putting down his spatula and turning around with a knowing smile on his handsome face.
The man's eyes stayed on him as he walked over, making King's sleepy mind realize that he was completely shirtless. He looked away quickly, but then slowly allowed his eyes to return to the person now standing right in front of him.
His heart in his throat, King tried to speak, but wasn't able to get any sound past the lump. He tried to swallow it down twice, but he couldn't manage the task.
"Good morning, love," Baron finally said quietly as he slid onto the arm of the couch.
King leaned back just enough to give the man room, but he immediately wanted to lean closer again. Baron seemed to understand, because he slowly scooted closer until he was able to slide down onto the couch cushion.
The moment he was situated King slid into his lap, straddling his legs before Baron's arms slid around his waist and pressed him close.
"I made pancakes and eggs. There are also a few fried fish for your baby," Baron said, making Rexy perk up in his mind, startling King enough to make him lean back.
Baron loosened his arms so that he could move freely, but still kept them gently clasped behind King's back so that he wouldn't fall.
"Rexy... is back?" he asked, though it wasn't really a question.
His otter stood on its hind legs behind his eyes, eager for the fried fish it had heard were part of breakfast.
"Yes, sweetheart. Our animals switched back," Baron said as he gently brushed a length of King's bangs behind his ear.
"I suppose they can switch when we're sleeping beside each other," he added, making King blush and nod his agreement.
He hadn't minded when Baron had borrowed his Rexy, and he definitely hadn't minded babysitting Prince, but he sure was glad to have his other half back now.
Smiling, King leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Baron's neck, settling in before closing his eyes.
Hey sweet Rexy. How was your little vacation? Are you feeling alright? he asked as he focused inwardly as he faintly sensed Baron begin to rub his back like he had the day before.
His little otter ran up to his ethereal form, squeaking in excitement, asking to be held. It was odd for it to want attention, but King didn't dare decline as he sat down and welcomed his baby into his lap for some cuddling.
While he loved on his sweet otter, he felt Baron nudge his cute nose into the crook of his neck, making King automatically tilt his head slowly to the side, offering more room.
Baron accepted and after a moment, was pressing his lips against the warm skin there, nudging at King's mind that something was a bit odd. He heeded the faint warning from the strange sensation a few moments later and pulled himself out of his thoughts, opening his eyes.
Oh.
His heart began to race again in his chest as he realized what Baron was doing, but right before he was about to open his mouth to question him, he realized that he'd made room for him previously when he'd tilted his head.
I hadn't been paying attention, but...
He wasn't sure if he minded such intimate attention, though. Nuzzling had been fine, and he was definitely getting used to Baron's hands, especially since there wasn't one grabbing his butt right now, but... the sucking motion he could feel against his neck, along with the intermittent scraping of teeth against his skin made him uncomfortable, and he wasn't sure if it was a bad uncomfortable, or just a nervous uncomfortable.
Baron paused in his attention a moment later, seemingly considering something. Soon, he was leaning away enough to look King in the eyes, but all King could focus on were his slightly reddened lips.
"Sorry, I should have asked before I did that. You leaned your head to the side so I thought I read the situation correctly," Baron said, his face turning an adorable shade of pink King hadn't seen on him before.
Reaching up, King pressed his fingers against the slightly damp spot on his neck, his own face warming.
He was just about to try speaking again as he lifted his gaze back to Baron's nervous one when they both suddenly jumped at the sound of a loud knock on their door!
"Sh-shit! That's my mom!" King hissed as he quickly scrambled out of Baron's lap!
"Wait, your neck!" Baron called out to him, his voice strained with worry.
King came to a skidding halt in front of the door, then turned on his heels as his face burned as bright as a chili pepper! He quickly ran past Baron as the man hurried to the door, bolting for his room!
He expected to hear his mother immediately begin talking, but the only sound that met his ears as he quickly wrapped a scarf around his neck was a faint rustling.
Hmm?
Confused and a little worried, King hurried out of his room, only to stop at the entrance to the hallway and simply stare.
His mom was there, but she definitely wasn't what he was paying attention to right then. Not even Baron was looking at her, because his attention was completely focused on the little girl he was hugging tightly in his arms as he sat on the carpet.
Everything was absolutely silent for nearly fifteen minutes before the little girl in Baron's arms slowly looked up. Her eyes were soft and warm, just like her father's, but what King saw there when their gazes met made his stomach hurt.
She's just a little kid, but her eyes feel like they have already seen too much.
Sniffling a little, the girl pressed her nose against her daddy's shoulder and spoke with such a quiet, nervous voice that King almost didn't hear what she was saying.
"Is he Mr. King, daddy?"
Baron slowly lifted his head, then looked over his shoulder until their eyes could meet.
Awww...
The guy's face was covered in tear stains and looked like quite the mess, but his smile was blindingly bright.
"He is, sweetie. That's Mr. King," he said, his voice just-barely managing to keep itself from cracking.
When the little girl lifted her head to stare at him, King cautiously walked forward, then sat down beside them. He expected the little girl to shrink back a bit, but she only fidgeted for a moment before reaching towards him.
King smiled calmly and reached up, gently taking her little hand in his own, then squeezing gently.
"Nice to meet you, sweetheart."
The little girl looked at their hands, then back to King's face as she remained comfortably held within her father's arms.
"You're really pretty."
King watched Baron's face change the slightest bit, as if he were trying not to grin but about to fail miserably. Unfortunately for him, his daughter immediately turned to look at him, though she refused to let go of one of King's fingers.
"Daddy, isn't he pretty?"
Baron gave a faint chuckle as he looked over at King again, then back to his daughter.
"He sure is, my sweet Tili."
King got a bit distracted as he watched the two begin to talk about things that happened since they'd been apart. Tili even brought him into the conversation a few times, clearly not wanting him to be left out.
When he noticed his mom sit down beside him, however, he quickly gave her the majority of his attention as she leaned close to whisper.
"I tried to contact you guys but your phones were either off or on silent. CPS did a welfare check and while her mother passed, there were a lot of issues that she needed to fix and since I'd contacted her previously about visitation, she decided to have one of her girlfriends bring her over to me this morning without any warning because she was heading this way on a trip."
Wow, what a piece of shit.
"It's already been documented and I sent Baron a text about it, as well as you," she said, then pinched his arm.
"Turn your phone on."
It had probably died since they'd gotten distracted last night and fallen asleep without plugging them in, but that was no excuse, so he simply nodded his agreement.
"I have to go now, and I'm not sure when I'll have to send her back. Is it okay that she's here for now?" she asked, being very clear that he might be stuck with a plus one for a bit.
It made him a tiny bit nervous, but at the same time, the girl seemed really sweet and Baron was over the moon that he was finally able to see his daughter. He was pretty sure that the guy wouldn't try to force him to help take care of her in any way if he wasn't comfortable.
"Yeah, it's fine. Thank you for bringing her by, even though you weren't able to reach us."
His mom nodded, but before she could stand up she looked him over, then raised an eyebrow as she tugged at the winter scarf around his neck.
"Ah, mommy had one of those marks before, too. She said it was a bug bite and that she taught the bad bug a lesson," Tili said, drawing King and his mother's attention to her for a moment before they looked back at each other. Baron was looking away, not daring to meet either of their gazes.
King could tell that his mom was considering giving him a quick lecture, likely about protection and such, since he had never really dated... or randomly let someone put a hickey on his neck, but she ended up releasing his scarf and simply sighing, then standing up.
"Make sure to charge your phones. I'll likely be calling you guys soon," she said simply.
Baron nodded as his daughter finally slid from his arms. He looked a little nauseous now as he turned his head back to facing forward, but thankfully his mom didn't bother him about the hickey.
"Yes ma'am."
The moment she left King turned to face Tili, who had been gently tugging on his scarf enough to reveal the full hickey.
"You should put medicine on it. Does it hurt?" she asked as Baron lifted a hand to delve into his hair and tug, clearly stressed about the situation.
I gotta admit, I wasn't really intending to show my mom a hickey when she dropped off your daughter, nor had I planned to obtain one in general, but...
Reaching up, he gently took Tili's little hand and smiled.
"It doesn't hurt, and honestly, I kind of like the bug that gave it to me, so I won't get mad at him," he said, making the girl's eyes widen as she thought about what he said.
"Really? You aren't mad at him? It looks like it hurt," she said as she glanced at it again, but didn't try to touch anymore.
King gave a quiet chuckle before slowly standing up, then reaching down to lift the little girl into his arms. It was strange for him to actually pick up a child, since he'd never really had a reason to, but it felt natural at that moment.
"I'm not mad at him, and I promise, it doesn't hurt at all. Now that we have finished that discussion, I think your daddy was just finishing up making breakfast. Are you hungry, sweetheart?"
Her eyes immediately lit up as she looked toward the kitchen, the bruise completely forgotten as she kicked her little feet in excitement.
"Did daddy make pancakes?!" she quickly turned her attention down to Baron as he watched her, looking up with still-worried eyes. "Daddy, did you make pancakes?! I missed daddy's pancakes so much!"
King smiled down at him, trying to stay as calm as possible, hoping that some of his emotions were able to drift into the other man like his own did to him sometimes.
"A-ah, yes, yes I did," Baron finally replied as he got to his feet and walked into the kitchen.
King followed on his heels, and the moment Tili saw the big stack of pancakes on the stove, she squealed with excitement! He was about to tell her that they needed warmed up, but when Baron grabbed one and folded it in half, then handed it to his daughter with a careful smile, Tili gladly accepted it!
She didn't say a single word about it being cold. In fact, she didn't say anything until she was completely done with the big pancake.
"I missed... daddy's pancakes."
Before King knew it Tili was bawling!
Baron quickly took her from him and began to rock her gently back and forth as he pressed little kisses to her hair.
"It's okay, Tili. Daddy's here and he'll make you all the pancakes you could eat," he said quietly.
King watched, getting more and more anxious because, evidently, he was terrible at kids crying. Adults didn't bother him much, unless it was Baron, but...
Before he could figure out what to do, his vision slowly lowered until he was looking way up at them.
Uh...
"Mm, Daddy?"
The girl had spotted him and immediately stopped crying.
Rexy, why did you take control? She's going to want to pet you and your arm and leg...
His heart would literally break into pieces if Rexy ended up biting Tili.
"Ah, that's Mr. King's animal. His name is Rexy," Baron said as he carefully sat down on the tile floor with Tili in his lap.
She seemed to want to move closer, but he held her well enough.
"He doesn't really like to be pet, so we are going to wait and see what he does, alright?" Baron told her, earning her attention for a split second before she returned it to the adorable otter in front of her.
When Rexy only continued to stare, Tili looked up at the stove, then pointed.
"Does he like pancakes?"
Baron fought back a grin and shrugged a shoulder.
"I'm not sure, but I did make some fried fish that I think he might want," he said as he stood up again and had Tili grab the little plate he'd put the fish on before sitting back down again.
The moment Rexy realized what the little girl was now holding out to him he quickly inched closer, then took the long fried fish between his paws, then quickly transferred it to his mouth. As soon as he had a good grip on it he retreated, then began crunching away happily.
Hmm, you're using your left side decently well, but I can still feel a little pain.
The thought that being in Baron's mind for a while might have healed his baby had King looking at the man in a new light. An even brighter light than he'd already normally saw the man cast in.
Rexy quickly finished off the treat, then inched closer and squeaked. Tili happily offered him another fish, but after he took it, she tried to grab him, making his fur abruptly stand on end as he tensed.
Baron quickly grabbed his daughter's hand and withdrew it, making her look over her shoulder, clearly understanding that she shouldn't have tried to grab at him.
"Tili, sweetie, King might look super tough and strong, and he is, but he also got hurt very badly many years ago. His otter, too, got hurt. He broke his arm and leg very badly... you wouldn't want someone to randomly touch you after being in pain for so long without your permission, right?"
The little girl looked on the verge of tears, but after a moment she sniffed twice, then gave an understanding nod before turning her attention back to Rexy.
"I'm sorry Mr. King and Mr. Rexy. That wasn't nice of me."
Rexy looked up at her midway through his fish, surprising King, to give her another squeak and a twitch of his whiskers. He finished off his treat a few moments later, then, instead of taking the next fish presented to him, he carefully climbed up onto Baron's leg, then turned around to settle into a little spot.
He's... not actually hurting much. I think he would be okay if she gently pet his back, King thought to Baron carefully, hoping that he was reading his animal correctly.
"I think he's saying that you can pet him a little, but we'll only do along the back, okay? And gently," Baron said as he took his daughter's left hand in his own.
Tili hummed her agreement, then, so gently that King could barely feel the pressure of her fingers, carefully stroked Rexy's smooth fur.
His otter tolerated the attention for nearly three minutes before it hopped out of Baron's lap and wandered off back into the bedroom. He could hear Tili and Baron talking quietly but King was forced to get himself dressed before he could rejoin them since Rexy had evidently decided to relinquish control abruptly.
Thanks for not doing it in from of his daughter.
His otter scoffed at him, as if to say 'you really think I would do that?'
His attitude made King chuckle, then smile as he finished tugging on his shirt, completing his simple outfit.
I think this will work out just fine.
His otter already liked Tili, and it was their biggest obstacle.
"Mr. King, help me wash daddy's face? He has snot on his nose!" Tili yelled near the bathroom, drawing his attention over to them with a faint laugh.
Baron returned his smile as King walked forward and into the bathroom with them. Since Tili was still in Baron's arms he grabbed one of his clean hand towels and lightly dampened it beneath the spigot, then handed part of it to Tili.
"Let's do it together so we don't miss a spot, okay?" he asked, earning a stern nod from her in agreement.
They carefully cleaned Baron up, making the guy laugh a little here and there, especially when Tili tugged on his adorable nose and King grabbed an ear.
"One more towel," King said as he tossed away the dirty one, then wet the new one just enough before handing one side to Tili.
They both got busy again, but as Tili wiped over everywhere again, even though the guy was pretty much clean now, King only pretended on his end, because he was much more focused on something else.
He looked from Baron's lips, up to his adorable nose, then finally stopping on his eyes.
Those eyes burned into him, then lowered until they landed on his lips. He hoped he was reading the cues correctly, because, before he could let himself chicken out, King leaned forward as he lifted his side of the towel just enough to shield their faces.
Their lips pressed together for the briefest moment, then separated, leaving Baron with a delighted smile while King took a step back and looked away, releasing his end of the towel. His face was burning like a raging fire and as he lifted a hand to his still-tingling lips, he couldn't stop one thought from playing over and over inside the inferno of his mind.
His lips were so soft...