He needed to stream in a few hours. 

They'd stayed up most of the day and night getting Prince's character leveled and through some of the more important missions. King managed to stay up until about three in the morning, but since they'd both been woken up by Baron's nightmare very early the previous morning, he'd eventually run out of stamina.

Stretching out against the sheets, King tried to remember how he'd gotten into bed, cause he knew that he'd fallen asleep in his chair sometime around when Baron's character had gotten to level sixty-eight. 

Hmm? 

Something smelled really good. 

He was just pushing himself up into a sitting position when his phone began to ring, clearing his mind a bit as he reached over to answer it with a gruff "hello?" 

"Ah, sorry if I woke you, King!" 

Huh? 

"Mr. Lawson? It's rare for you to call me directly," he said, wondering why the guy in charge of his contract with Finality was calling him instead of just sending an email like he usually did. 

Hopefully he didn't want to talk about that time Baron had accidentally shifted on camera. 

"We've been notified that you've been playing with a specific character on your time off from streaming yesterday and I just wanted to ask you about it," he said, making King raise an eyebrow as he looked up at the sound of his bedroom door quietly being opened. 

Uh.

His mind blanked as he swallowed down a mouthful of saliva. 

Yum...

Licking his lips, and forcing his eyes away from both Baron and the two large plates of food he was holding, King crossed his legs on his bed and focused on his call. 

"Um, yes, Prince ended up changing to his human form again and we decided to play around a bit on the game for fun," he answered honestly. 

He knew that just playing with a random person would never be an issue, so it was clear that Mr. Lawson was just trying to be courteous and build up to what he wanted to really ask him about. 

"Ah! So it really was him. Okay, well that's good then. I wanted to ask if, instead of matching you up with a teammate for today's stream, how about you bring Prince? Do you think he'd be comfortable playing?" 

How about I not? Just because he played with me a bit doesn't mean he's ready to do person versus person content. Nor does it mean that he wants to. And furthermore, even if he did actually want to, there is no way in hell that I'm going to ask him to be on camera with me! 

Inwardly seething, King scowled at his blankets until he suddenly felt a warm hand settle atop his head, snapping him out of his frustration in an instant as he lifted his eyes up to Baron's. 

The man was leaning over him the slightest bit, a gentle smile on his handsome face. 

"Is everything alright, King?" Mr. Lawson asked. 

Blinking out of his daze, King quickly cleared his throat and replied into the phone.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I got distracted. Um, I don't think it would be a good idea to force him to play on camera," he said, not willing to argue that point. 

He was the streamer and he, himself, was in the contract to do it. There was no mention of Prince or Baron in the writing, so as far as he was concerned, Mr. Lawson had zero control over him. 

"Oh no, not stream. Definitely not that. Even I wouldn't want my face to be shown so abruptly. And I definitely wouldn't ask you to force him to play, either. It was just a thought since you already played together earlier. Your followers seem to really like him already." 

Oh, he definitely knew that. Even though he'd tried to keep Baron's character away from the majority of people that were determined to follow them around yesterday, there had been no way to keep him completely isolated unless they went into an instanced dungeon on their own. 

"Ah, yes, they do," King replied simply as he watched Baron sit down on the bed beside him, waiting patiently as he continued his conversation. 

"Then um, I just wanted to remind you that today was your match-day for donations. The day you chose this month to have us match the amount you earn on your stream later." 

Oh, right. I did pick today. 

It was a little thing the company did to help some of their rising streamers gain some extra money. They basically offered them one day a month where they would match whatever they made from their followers and deposit it directly into their account. It was basically a big push of motivation on both the streamer's side and the audience side.   

A lot more people tended to donate on match-days because they knew that their money would go twice as far as it normally did. 

"Alright, well I have to make a few more calls so I'll let you go now. If you have any questions or concerns, or want to change something before the match tonight, just toss me an email and I'll get back to you right away." 

King nodded and said his goodbyes, then hung up his phone and tossed it aside. 

Food! 

He was promptly handed one of the two large plates by a quietly chuckling Baron. There was a huge bacon, mushroom, and cheese omelet on the left side, two extra pieces of bacon on top of it, and two huge chocolate chip pancakes on the right!

Overjoyed, he immediately dug in as Baron handed him a fork, barely stopping in between bites to suck in enough breath to devour another forkful!

He was completely done with half the omelet and one full pancakes before he felt a gentle touch against his shoulder, drawing his attention up and back to Baron. 

"Here, sweetheart."

King hurried to swallow down his mouthful, then parted his lips as Baron pressed a cup gently against his bottom one. 

Within moments he'd downed half the glass of water without even taking it from the other man, having clearly been thirsty but too distracted with eating to realize that he'd been brought a drink, too. 

Once it was lowered and set aside, he swallowed his last mouthful of water, then grinned as Baron returned to his own meal of pancakes and scrambled eggs. 

Ah, he has a few strawberries, too. 

There hadn't been many left in the package in the fridge to begin with, and he really wasn't a strawberry person anyw—Prince immediately perked up in the front of his mind and gave a surprisingly-loud squeak right between his ears!

H-hey! What was that for?! King questioned, wincing as the raccoon continued pacing and squeaking. 

 "Here, sweetheart." 

Blinking out of his thoughts, King automatically opened his mouth so that Baron could press a small strawberry against his tongue. 

"He loves strawberries. I hope you don't mind." 

Slowly closing his mouth to begin chewing, King realized that Baron had been right. He was so used to Rexy in his head, who wasn't a huge fan of the fruit, but would tolerate it well enough, but he hadn't thought about what Prince would want him to eat. 

"Your otter didn't seem too happy when I was putting strawberries on our plate out of habit. I'm so used to feeding Prince's tastes to at least try to keep him satisfied while he's cooped up in my mind..." Baron said with a small smile. 

"I hope it's okay. You don't mind eating them for him, do you?" 

King quickly scooted closer after shaking his head. 

"Of course not. I'm just not used to eating them that often because Rexy isn't a huge fan of them," he said after he finished chewing, then swallowing the strawberry. 

Baron gave him an adorable, relieved smile, then lifted another strawberry up to King's lips. 

"I'm glad."

King paused for a moment, the faintest hint of pressure against his lips from the new strawberry. 

It had taken him that long to realize that Baron was willingly, and even with a smile, feeding him not only breakfast, but hand feeding him strawberries! 

His face immediately began warming as it caught up with his thoughts, but before he could begin worrying about anything, Baron tilted his head the slightest bit, then smiled a little wider, revealing a small portion of his beautiful white teeth. 

Without a single word King opened his mouth and accepted the second strawberry, then chewed and swallowed before a third was presented to him. 

As he chewed the new one, he tucked his right leg and turned his body to face the other man a little better. Prince was completely focused on each strawberry, and whenever King began to worry about the slight awkwardness of the situation, the raccoon would simply placate him with quiet cooing or chatter, distracting him until another strawberry was presented. 

It wasn't until there were no more strawberries left to give that he finally snapped out of his daze and stood up, then turned and reached for Baron's now-empty plate. 

"I'll take them to the kitchen," he said, wanting to help since Baron had cooked for him. 

The other man gladly handed over his empty plate, then downed his remaining water before setting their empty cups on top. 

"Thank you. Go ahead and shower first since you're going to be on camera," Baron said as he followed behind him. 

Instead of following him all the way to the kitchen, however, he redirected toward the suitcase they'd pushed against the wall in the living room. 

"Do you mind if I throw some things out that I don't want?" he asked as he knelt down beside it. 

King joined him a moment later, having dragged his trashcan right over. 

"Of course not. Toss whatever you want." 

He was a firm believe in not cluttering up spaces, and if there was emotional baggage attached to said clutter, all the better to be rid of it. 

"Thank you. If it fills it up I'll run it down to the dumpster," Baron said, his voice the slightest bit off as he began sorting through the items of his past life. 

King stayed with him for a few moments, but then seemed to understand that he wasn't needed right then and decided to just go wash up. 

When he entered the bathroom, however, he stood there, stunned for a few moments. 

He'd... cleaned it all. 

Every single surface was scrubbed until it sparkled, and even his shower, which he thought hadn't been too bad, now shone like the sun! 

He was surprised, shocked, and honestly impressed, but as the situation sunk in, he began to feel nervous and looked over his shoulder at the man silently toiling, kneeling over a suitcase full of pain. 

Turning his head, King looked at himself in the mirror. He wasn't sure what he could do to help the man relax again. 

Can he really be relaxed all the time, though? Even I stress out a lot sometimes, especially when I'm remembering the crash...

His eyes widened when he noticed an adorable fuzzy baby staring back at him through his own eyes. 

Prince! Let's go!

Seemingly having read his mind, Prince suddenly took over! He stretched and shook out his coat first, then slowly turned around until he had Baron square in his sights. 

You know him best, bud. Help me help him out, okay? 

 Prince twitched his whiskers and puffed out his chest... then promptly scrambled into the kitchen! 

W-wait! You're supposed to go over to him, not run in here!

Inwardly groaning, King watched through the raccoon's eyes as it easily climbed up onto the counter, then hurried over towards the basket of fruit his mother had filled when she'd come over. 

His little grabby paws easily yanked out a banana from the stack and began peeling it with a few nips. Well, he peeled some of it. 

Uh, how can you eat the peel? It tastes so starchy. 

Prince didn't seem to mind at all as he chewed loudly, mashing the sweet fruit between his jaws without a care in the world. 

This isn't what was supposed to happen, and we just ate dinner. You're going to give me a stomach ache during my stream, he told Prince, trying to get through to the brat. 

Of course, he knew that it was pointless, and when Prince finished off his banana and decided to reach for an apple, King resigned himself to having to puke when he was eventually allowed to shift back. 

Except, right before Prince's banana-covered paws could grab his next treat, he was picked up, earning a squeal of surprise from him as he reached with both arms towards his lost prize!

"You've had enough, little one," Baron said in a despondent tone as he held Prince against his chest, seemingly not caring about getting some leftover banana on his shirt. 

"Come help your daddy with some things," he said as he brought the unwilling raccoon over to his suitcase. 

He was just getting started again, with one hand, when his phone chimed beside him on the floor with an incoming text. Pausing his unwanted task, Baron reached over as Prince turned his head, curious about the sound. 

With the raccoon's eyes on the screen, King was able to read exactly what Baron was. 

Anne: Thank you for signing and emailing those papers back to me quickly. Your wife declined to sign hers, so I've already filed a petition to continue with the divorce proceedings. She has twenty days to bring forth her reasons for refusing. 

What? 

King felt his heart drop into his stomach as Baron's emotions flooded his system with confusion and misery. He was confused about why she'd decline the divorce after having already currently having custody of their daughter and taking his money, but he didn't try to figure that part out right then. 

Prince, I need control back please!

The raccoon seemed to grow more distressed the further Baron sank into his panic, making King feel even more stressed!

Wait a second...

Doing his best to push through the growing clouds in his thoughts, King focused outwardly until he felt the faintest brush of Baron's mind. 

Okay, there you are. 

He pressed his subconscious closer and felt a chill seep into his bones, but still, he pressed on. 

My sweet Rexy, please let me in!

His otter took a few seconds to respond to his request, but thankfully it wasn't completely overwhelmed by Baron's emotions. 

It was, however, extremely stressed and not very happy, at all. 

Before he even managed to settle himself into a sitting position, Rexy was in his arms, whining and pawing at him like a lost little pup. 

Of course, he hugged him tightly and immediately started whispering soothing words to him. 

"It'll be alright. Your new daddy is just overwhelmed. Let's calm ourselves down first, then share our peace with him, hmm?" he said as he gently pet his sweet otter. 

Rexy squeaked quietly in response, but it didn't take him long before he stopped wiggling around anxiously. Then, after another minute passed he looked up at King in the darkness, his gentle eyes still stressed but clearly much calmer now. 

You were with me when the crash happened, and every night I couldn't sleep afterward. 

His otter was a master at calming him down in stressful situations, but now that the tables had been turned, King couldn't help but realize how lucky he was to have such a strong other half. 

"Let's take care of your new daddy the way you took care of me, too, alright? We'll help him together," King said with a cheerful smile for his baby. 

Rexy gave his head a good shake to settle his fur, then squeaked as he tapped a paw against King's chest. King immediately responded by lifting his little one up above his head. 

"Such a sweet little otter! I'm so glad that you're no longer in pain and can enjoy your life again, too!" 

Rexy squeaked and wiggled happily, making King smile... but as he watched his otter, he could see something else at the edge of his vision. 

He continued to cheer Rexy up and, in turn, the clouds around them began to disperse back into the darkness. 

When the person at the edge of his vision moved closer but out of his line of sight after a moment, King wasn't worried. 

He also wasn't worried when he felt that person appear behind him a few seconds later. 

Nor was he worried when shaky arms wrapped around his middle and someone pressed themselves against his back.   

"Your new daddy is so sweet and takes such good care of you. I'm glad that you got a chance to stay with him for a while," King said honestly as he lowered Rexy back down to his chest. 

His sweet otter immediately wiggled its way up to put his paws on his shoulder, drawing King's attention as he followed him with his eyes just in time to see Rexy press his little nose to Baron's. 

The man's blurry face suddenly became completely visible, then the rest of his mind quickly became brighter and brighter until King blinked his eyes open, then sucked in a deep breath before sighing it out slowly, relieved. 

They'd managed to get Baron back to himself, and now he was back in his own body, too. 

Thank you, Prince. 

Letting his body finally relax completely, King looked across the room with his chin resting on his arms as he processed their current situation. 

His arms were wrapped around Baron's neck, but that was no surprise. 

He could also feel the man's arms tightly wrapped around his back and waist, holding him painfully close. 

That was also expected, but after a few more moments of quiet contemplation, King realized something that he'd forgotten about. 

I just shifted back from Prince...

His face immediately began to burn as he took note of where Baron's hands actually were. 

The one on his back was gripping his side tightly, but it was plenty high enough to be appropriate. 

His lower one, however...

It's... literally less than an inch from my bare ass! 

As his mind turned into a crossword puzzle written in a foreign language, King heard a few chimes from Baron's phone, making him abruptly turn his head and lean back slightly so that he could read what his mom had texted him.

He expected Baron to move his lower hand to reach for the phone, if not for any other reason than propriety, but to his disbelief, he removed the higher one and used it to pick up the phone. 

Anne: She submitted her reasons quickly but none of them will be valid in court. I also got a few dates set up that could work for your daughter to visit. I'll send them in an email and you can pick whichever one works best for you. 

Anne: I've also been working on getting your remaining money back to you that she stole through your father's will. She agreed to return half of it willingly after I presented evidence that she'd changed the will illegally, but I'm not interested in half. 

I'm going to be busy for the remainder of the day, but feel free to call me tonight if you have any questions or, of course, you can always text me back or email, too. Have a good day and tell King I love him... and to behave. 

King felt his eyebrow twitch. 

She's telling me to behave when he's got his hand nearly on my ass!

"You're going to miss your chance to shower if you don't go now," Baron said, snapping King out of his thoughts as he looked up and over towards the clock he'd hung on the wall. 

Oh shit!

Scrambling out of Baron's lap, King ran for the bathroom, no longer caring that he was completely naked! 

He heard Baron's light laughter following him into the room, and when he stopped in the open doorway and glared over his shoulder at the man still sitting on the carpet, he was surprised to see him staring right back at him with a content grin on his face. 

King wanted to chastise him for having nearly grabbed his ass earlier, and also for staring so openly right now as he chuckled quietly at him, but when he finally parted his lips to speak, the only thing that happened was the edges of them tilting upward as he matched the man's grin, then shook his head as he turned back around to face forward and nudge the door mostly closed. 

It was a simple signal to Baron that, even though he was going to take a little time to himself to shower and relax, he was still willing to be available if he was needed. 

He wouldn't shut him out, no matter the day or time. If he needed him, he'd be there.