It had happened again. 

And again. 

And again. 

Every other night for the past week King had been woken up by either excess weight, warmth, or, as was most common, a mixture of the two. 

Tonight just happened to be one of those nights, but he knew better than to move much now. The first time he'd woken up was because Baron had finally resurfaced... and slept on his bad arm. 

He'd only really put those pieces together because two nights later, it had happened again. Thankfully, he hadn't moved as much that time, giving him the chance to actually assess the situation. 

That's when he'd realized what was happening. 

Unfortunately, when he'd tried to very quietly and very slowly open his eyes and look to the side, he'd moved his arm the slightest fraction. The next moment, the weight pressed against him had vanished, returning to Prince's meager six or so pounds. 

Okay, just keep calm and be careful, he told himself this time as he slowly began tilting his head to the right against his pillow. The faint outline of short, messy hair soon entered his vision, though it was hard to determine its color with such minimal light. 

He's really here...

In all honesty, he'd expected himself to be pretty freaked out by a random naked guy sleeping in his bed every night, but he just kind of felt... relieved? 

It was a relief to see that Baron was still in there, though it was clear that he wasn't quite conscious yet. If he moved too much, or made even the tiniest sound, the man would retreat back into his fuzzy counterpart. It was clearly a defense mechanism that his subconscious had created... and it hurt King's heart just thinking about it. 

When he finally finished turning his head, he couldn't help but smile. 

There you are. 

The man was curled up against his side, with his forehead pressing against King's shoulder. 

I can't quite see his face with his bangs covering most of it...

He knew that if he so much as sniffled too loudly, Baron would disappear, though. 

He sleeps so lightly, as if he has to worry about everything and anything trying to hurt him. 

Unable to help himself, King slowly lifted one arm and reached across his chest. Right as his fingertips brushed against the man's soft hair, he noticed Baron's form blur. 

Wait! 

It was too late. 

Right before his eyes, Baron shifted back to Prince, leaving a groggy, confused raccoon in his place. King immediately tugged that fuzzy baby into his arms and hugged him tightly, whispering little reassurances until he was rewarded with Prince's content, quiet purrs. 

"I'm sorry, bud. I didn't meant to scare you," he said quietly as he slowly rubbed his back. 

Thankfully, it didn't take long before the little guy was asleep again, leaving King to his thoughts. 

He was just falling back to sleep when the light weight on his chest suddenly grew again, drawing his blurry eyes open once more. 

He... changed back again? 

His hand had just-barely stopped rubbing Prince's back, and without thinking too much into it, King carefully continued the action at its previously pace. This time, however, it was along smooth, warm skin instead of thick, soft fur. 

Are you comfortable again, sweetheart? 

He made sure to keep his hand moving at an even pace as the man rested against him. This time, however, his face was much closer since his head was now resting atop his right shoulder. Unfortunately, it was tucked again, only allowing him to see dark hair and... 

His nose is so cute. 

He couldn't see all of it, of course, but what he could see was absolutely adorable! 

Wait a second. Why am I fangirling over some random guy's nose? 

His mind immediately reminded him that it was Prince's nose, but then seemed to fumble, itself, as it registered that Baron was the human version and Prince was the animal. The animal was obviously adorable, but the human? 

He was about to tell himself that Baron was not adorable, and in all honesty, he couldn't even see the guy right then besides his dark hair, but his mind couldn't seem to put two and two together. Or, really, that it was putting two and two together. 

Prince was cute and Prince was Baron, so Baron was cute because Prince was cute and he was Baron. 

I... my head hurts. 

Instead of dwelling on whether or not Baron was cute any longer, since that didn't seem like a good line of thought, King calmed his thrumming heart and closed his eyes again, allowing his body to relax and finally drift back off to sleep. 

The next morning he awoke to a snuggly Prince, with Baron nowhere to be seen. 

It was honestly for the best, though, since his mind was still a bit confused about what had happened the previous night. 

You already saw his face on his license, so what's the difference?

Groaning, King reached up and rubbed at his face with his hands, unsure of how to answer his internal dilemma. 

His dramatic morning was interrupted by a tap against his arm, then a damp lick at the same spot a moment later. When he still didn't respond, a loud squeak was Prince's follow-up. 

"Alright, alright. I'm up," King grumbled as he slowly pushed himself up into a seated position, then yawned. 

He had a Prince in his lap a second later, chattering away about how breakfast was late even though it was only... He glanced at his phone. 

Oh, darn. It is late. 

It was already noon. 

"Ah, sorry bud. Let's get you some breakfast," he said as he picked up Prince and sleepily walked into the other room. 

By the time they got to the kitchen Prince had told him all about how he was being starved to death with late breakfasts and lunches forgotten until dinner time. He honestly hadn't heard the little guy chatter so much in days. 

"Here, you little turd," King mumbled as he reached into the fridge and got out a turkey and lettuce wrap. 

Prince quickly took the proffered item with both paws, then inhaled it in less than five seconds. 

I... have I been underfeeding you? 

It was clear that Prince had gained weight and was likely around eight pounds now, up from the five or six he'd previously weighed. 

How much is too much though? he thought as he handed Prince a second wrap, then got one for himself. 

His phone rang right as the fridge door shut, and considering the familiar ring tone, he didn't hesitate to pick it up. 

"Hi mom," he said with a little push of enthusiasm. 

"You're just waking up, aren't you?" his mom replied, having read him like an audiobook. 

King blushed as he leaned against the counter, holding Prince in one arm as the raccoon worked on finishing off King's wrap... that it took without him even realizing it. 

"Uh... what's up, mom?" he said, skirting around her words with a smile. 

She only sighed in response, though he could sense that she was likely shaking her head, too. 

"I wanted to see if you'd like to go shopping again. Do you guys have enough food still?" 

Oh. 

Turning, King opened the fridge and freezer, then blinked dumbly. 

"Uh... We are almost out of everything, though I don't remember eating this much," he said, then looked at Prince as the little guy finished off a piece of lettuce with mustard on it. 

Wait a second... You little shit. My wraps have mustard on them!

It had taken him that long to notice that Prince had taken his food. 

"Oh, can we get some fish, too? Rexy came out a few days ago an—My baby came out?!" his mother shouted, interrupting his words and fracturing his eardrum!

He could hear her revving her engine not a second later. 

"I'm coming over right now. Be ready in five!" 

Then the call dropped. She'd hung up on him. 

"Uh... I guess it's time to get ready to go," he said awkwardly as he grabbed a fourth lettuce wrap from the fridge. He'd intended to eat it this time, finally, but Mr. Grabbypaws had other ideas and promptly swiped at it, too. 

I can't with you today. 

Shoving the last wrap into Prince remaining hand, King went to the cabinets and reached up for a candy bar. He hadn't had one since Prince had been there because they'd just eaten the same thing most of the time, but now that the brat wasn't shari—A poke against his chest drew his attention downward until it fell upon the last lettuce and turkey wrap. 

"You kept taking mine..." he said as his eyes narrowed distrustfully. 

Prince looked away, chomping on the last bits of his own wrap before tapping the remaining one against King's chest again. 

With a roll of his eyes, King accepted the last one and quickly put it between his teeth, then put the chocolate bar back up in its spot before closing the cabinet and heading toward the bathroom. They finished their morning ritual of bathroom time, washing hands, and King styling his hair a bit, then he got dressed in a pair of black cargo shorts and a personally made football jersey from one of his sponsors that had KING printed on the back and the #1 on front. 

It was a bit corny, to say the least, but it was also super comfortable and made of some pretty nice fabric. His fans also loved it, so he tended to wear it at least once in a while during a live stream. 

A loud knock on the front door had them both jumping a tiny bit before he quickly tugged on his shoes and hurried to get it.

The moment it was opened his mom rushed in with her arms completely loaded with literally everything!

"My baby is back!" she said with so much enthusiasm that King had to let go of Prince so that he didn't get clawed as the raccoon quickly retreated to a safer distance. 

King then helped take the items from his mom, not realizing that she'd brought over all of Rexy's toys, beds, and other random doodads from when he was younger until he'd glanced inside the boxes. 

She... kept it all? 

He couldn't even remember seeing any of that stuff when he'd lived with her. She must have put it in storage... and he was honestly glad for that. It would have hurt too much looking at the items she'd gotten for the half of him that he'd lost day in and day out. 

"Are you able to shift back to him when you want yet? Can I see my little baby?" she asked, hope shining in her eyes so brightly that he felt bad for having to tell the truth. 

"Um... not yet. He came out when I was giving Prince a bath because he was playing with his old toys. He got jealous, but was still in a lot of pain," King said as he went to retrieve Prince while his mom calmed down from her previous excitement. 

"He hasn't come out since then?" she asked once he'd finally coaxed Prince back into his arms. 

Shaking his head, King walked back over.

"Where did you want to go this time? The same store?" he asked as his mom stepped out the door, giving them some space so that Prince could calm down a bit, too. 

"No, let's go to the fish market downtown, and I'm sorry, Prince. I didn't mean to scare you," she said as she took a handful of something out of her pocket, then offered it to Prince as soon as King got the door locked and turned around. 

Pretty soon his Prince was snacking on blueberries like a true royal. 

At least he's not scared anymore... and I see that mom is back to her old ways of carrying around snacks in her pocket, though I'm sure those were brought more for Rex than Prince.  

"He looks like he's gained some weight," his mom said as she led him down to the car.

King was just about to go around to the passenger's side when his sleeve was tugged, making him stop abruptly and look over his shoulder. 

"He goes in the back," she said before stepping to the side so that King could look in the back seat. 

Uh...

"No buts. He's too small to safely sit in your lap everywhere," she said, making King purse his lips but do as she wanted. 

Strapping Prince into Rexy's old car seat wasn't hard, but the moment he walked away and slid into the passenger's seat? 

King winced at the volume of the tantrum but a stern look from his mother told him that Prince would just have to get used to his new seat. 

Thankfully, the market wasn't too far of a drive, and within twenty minutes he had a rather cranky raccoon unfastened and back in his arms. 

Unfortunately, now Prince was pouting and grumbling, clearly upset even as they tried to offer him grapes, lettuce, and even some pretzels. 

He was having none of it and threw each item on the floor with an angry huff. In fact, there was another plump green grape just about to be launched, but right before it could go sailing through the air, the little hand holding it paused abruptly. 

King slowed to a stop as he noticed Prince's sudden change in behavior, allowing his mom to wander ahead as she continued to pick out fresh fish in the hopes of spoiling both Prince and her baby Rex. 

"You okay, bud?" he asked as he gently turned Prince in his arms so that he could see him better. 

When they came face to face Prince quickly dropped the grape and tucked his face into King's shirt, making him chuckle a little and pat his fuzzy back. 

"It's okay, sweetheart. I didn't like that seat when I was little, either," he reassured him, trying to make him feel a little better about his fizzling-out tantrum. 

His mom came back up to them a moment later with a cart full of different fish, shrimp, clams, and even a few giant snow crabs!

He immediately sensed his otter perk up within his mind at the delicious cart of goodies. 

Prince even cooed as he looked at that cart, a little nervous but also clearly excited. 

"You want to look what mommy got you?" he asked Prince as he walked closer and gently set him in the cart. 

At first he looked so confused and nervous that King nearly picked him back up, but then a lightbulb seemed to switch on and he turned in a circle, in awe of the bounty surrounding him. 

Prince quickly went for the huge crab, easily tearing the package that held it. Pretty soon he was crunching away as King grabbed the cart and began following his mom again.  

Pretty soon their little snacking raccoon was surrounded by towers of fresh vegetables and fruits. His mom also found several sauces and fresh pastas that would work well with the seafood, giving them more options to make besides wraps and raw snacks. 

Well, he probably could have made other things with what he'd had, but his cooking skills were limited to boxed pizza and eggs. 

By the time they were at the check-out counter Prince had gorged himself on that poor crab and was now clearly ready for another nap. 

"Want to grab him while I ring this stuff up?" his mom said as she made sure to take the now shell-filled package from the crab Prince had already eaten and hand it over to be scanned. 

Nodding King quickly but gently took his chubby raccoon out of the cart, then hugged him to his chest as his mom took care of the groceries. 

I think you're about to go into a food coma. 

"Hey mom, can I go get him in the car?" he asked, wondering if he could have her keys. 

His mom didn't even hesitate to toss them to him, earning his thanks before he walked out of the store. Prince was already sound asleep by the time they got there, making it easy to settle him into his car seat. 

Soon his mom was there, too, and King quickly helped her unload the groceries into the trunk. They talked quietly on the ride back home, then he got Prince tucked into bed as his mom put stuff away in the fridge and freezer. 

By the time he came back into the living room everything had been put in its proper place and his mom was waiting for her mandatory hug. 

Grinning, he walked forward and accepted, wrapping his arms around her gently. 

"Thank you for helping me so much, and him," he said as she pat his hair gently, then leaned away. 

"Of course, sweetheart. I've looked into his situation a bit more, too, and I'm fairly comfortable in saying that he was a good man who got some very poor treatment. I don't have the full story yet, as I can only assess information that I am given, or that is legally accessible to me, but it looks like his wife took advantage of him and his family. I'm going to continue to look into things, but please still be careful around him. He was desperate enough to consider suicide. When he shifts back, he will still likely be struggling to cope with things," she warned, making King nod. 

He's definitely struggling.

Thankfully, he'd been hiding in Prince instead of panicking in his human form. King doubted that he was doing it on purpose, but his subconscious seemed to know that he wasn't ready to face the world again just yet, and that was perfectly fine. 

"I promise I'll be careful," he said honestly, though decided against sharing that the man had actually already made an appearance... several times. 

Since he wasn't actually conscious for those situations, though, he didn't feel a need to share them with her and cause more stress. 

"Alright, good. If Rexy comes out again, please tell me, okay? Sooner this time?" she said, her eyes practically begging him. 

Now I feel bad. 

He had waited because he wasn't sure if his otter would bother staying close to the surface anymore, but to his surprise, it had been quite active within his mind ever since the day it had come out. 

"I promise I'll let you know immediately the next time he shows up. I'm sure he'd love to see his mom again after so long." 

She nodded and sniffled, then gave him one more hug before heading out. 

King closed and locked the door behind her, then turned around and ran a hand through his messy hair. He still wanted to do a practice session later on stream, and maybe goof around a bit with his watchers, but... 

Maybe I'll try cooking something before that. 

He definitely wasn't a cook, but he quickly managed to find a simple-enough recipe that he could use a bag of the fresh pasta with, as well as some of the shrimp. 

Pretty soon he was busy in the kitchen, his focus completely taken by his current task.