He couldn't sleep. 

The entire left side of his body was pulsing in pain. He'd overdone it on his run, but likely made it even worse by lugging the raccoon and its suitcase up a flight of stairs. 

Groaning as he turned onto his back, King finally opened his eyes and stared up at the hazy dark ceiling of his new room. A quick glance at the clock hanging on the wall near his door told him that it was close to two in the morning. 

Mom would just now be going to bed after watching her crime shows...

It was odd not to hear the television going, and he knew that she wouldn't check in on him and see if his injuries were bothering him or not, either, because she wasn't there anymore. 

Rolling to the right, he slowly pushed himself up with his good arm, then carefully rotated his body until he was able to sit with his legs over the edge of his bed. He'd already taken his strongest pain killer before he went to sleep, since he knew that it would be bad, but it just wasn't doing enough. 

Maybe a bath will help. 

Standing up, he made sure to make at least a little noise in order to not startle his guest, then slowly made his way to the bathroom, limping the entire way. Said room was larger than most of the other units, as the apartment had several made specifically for handicap individuals who needed holding bars or space for wheelchairs.

He qualified because he was legally handicap, and he even had a wheelchair for when his leg refused to hold his weight, but he was stubborn and refused to even take it out of his closet unless he absolutely had to. 

By the time he got inside he was panting quietly, struggling with the radiating pain. 

You can't take another pill. Just soak for a while. 

Carefully sitting down on the toilet with the help of one of the metal bars fastened to the wall, he relaxed there for a few moments, then reached over with a shaky hand and switched the plug for the drain to closed, then started the water. 

As he waited for the tub to fill up, movement caught his eye and drew his attention towards the hallway door. 

Barron was sitting there, leaning on his back legs, his little stuffed otter hugged in his arms. 

"Hey there, little guy. Sorry I probably woke you up. I'm not feeling that great tonight," he said just loudly enough to be heard over the running water. 

The raccoon tilted its head, then took a little step closer before lifting the stuffed otter a smidgen. The gesture brought a smile to King's face. 

"You like him? His name is Otterbahn, like the road in Germany that doesn't have a speed limit for some of its length," he said, earning another head tilt in response. 

He was beginning to think that the human Baron really was no longer there. Well, he literally wasn't, but he also wasn't sure if his human mind was even present in his raccoon form at the moment, too. 

Hmm...

"Hey Baron, can you come here?" 

The racoon flicked an ear, then nervously took a step closer. 

Does it understand, or is it actually him? 

"Come here, buddy," he tried again, wanting to see if it would come any closer. 

To his surprise, the little guy did walk a few paces more, but when it slowed to a stop about three feet away, it began to cower and shake a little. It even tucked its head and looked away, showing clear signs of stress and submission. 

Okay, you're scared of being close to me, but you understand what I was asking of you. 

He thought for another moment before turning back around to turn the water off for the bathtub. Deciding not to bother the raccoon for a few moments so that it could calm down a bit, King carefully got himself into the tub, then settled himself down against the back with a long, tired exhale. 

His eyes slid shut soon after as the pain slowly began to ebb. He heard Baron move around a little here and there, but never come close enough to make him worry. In fact, the raccoon seemed quite busy outside of the bathroom, prompting him to blink open one eye curiously. 

What he saw nearly made him burst into a fit of laughter! He was able to just-barely contain himself, but come on! His new friend was literally being the stereotypical raccoon right then. 

I guess you were still hungry, huh? 

Baron was currently tugging his entire bag of trash he'd somehow managed to pull out of the closed garbage can, across the living room floor. He might have been pretty upset about it, too, if he wasn't so tired already. 

"I would have made you another sandwich if you were still hungry, bud," he said, humor in his quiet words. 

Baron froze in response to the sound, then perked his little ears up as he got up on his back legs and looked around. The moment he saw that he was being watched he darted back toward the suitcase and out of site... only to return a moment later and settle little Otterbahn in front of the garbage bag, then disappear again. 

Did you... just try to put the blame for the trash on my stuffed otter? 

When he didn't see Baron for a few more moments he leaned on the edge of the tub and opened his other eye. 

"Oh Baron? Won't you come here for a moment?" he called, his voice sweet with a hint of humor hidden beneath his words. 

It took the raccoon a few seconds to respond, and when it did, King really couldn't help but laugh! The little brat hadn't made a sound, but it did finally peak its head around the corner, only to twitch its nose, then look toward the trash and stuffed otter before ducking back out of sight. 

"Baron?" he called again, a sleepy smile settled on his face. 

The raccoon appeared a moment later, and this time it stepped into full view, then got up on its hindlegs before glancing over its shoulder at the bag of torn trash. 

"I'm pretty sure that was you, bud," he teased.

If a raccoon could look indignant, Baron absolutely was. Considering how he was responding, though, he doubted that he understood the full situation. 

At least he has some understanding of positive and negative. 

"Well, if you don't want Otterbahn, why don't you bring him here so he doesn't get dirty?" he eventually said, forgetting about the trash situation since he'd teased him enough about it already. 

It seemed to take his friend a moment to realize what he was wanting, but when he finally did, Baron quickly hobbled over to the stuffed toy and picked it up. However, instead of giving it to him, he hugged it closely and turned around to sit down, giving him his back. 

"Oh? I thought he was the one who messed up the trash? Now you're going to protect him?" 

Baron didn't respond. Instead, he began grooming the little stuffed otter as the tip of his fluffy tail flicked here and there. 

Grinning, King settled himself back against the foam pad he'd previously fastened to his tub and relaxed for a while longer. Eventually, he closed his eyes again, and didn't realize that he'd actually drifted off to sleep until he heard a faint plop sound that had him quickly blinking open his heavy eyelids some time later. 

Where...? 

He soon realized that he was still in the bathtub, and the water had gone quite cold. Sitting up, he looked around as his vision cleared, only to notice that something had been dropped into the tub at some point. 

Reaching over, he picked a very wet Otterbahn up out of the water, then looked at the raccoon standing on its back legs near the open bathroom door, clearly observing the situation. 

"Thank you for waking me up," he said honestly as he set the stuffed animal on the ledge of the tub, then carefully got himself out after flicking the drain back to open. 

Baron flicked his ears and continued to observe him, seemingly a little more relaxed with his slower movements. Not wanting to stress him out, though, King continued his cautious pace, both for himself, and for the raccoon. 

By the time he'd managed to tug on a pair of pajama pants he was well and truly exhausted... but he had something he needed to do first. 

Turning back around, he carefully leaned down and picked up his stuffed otter. When he turned back to face the hall, Baron was a few steps closer, clearly nervous about the stuffed animal's future. 

"I'm just going to toss him on a light cycle in the dryer with my towel so that his fur doesn't get ruined by the water," he said, earning a confused head-tilt from Baron before he slowly trudged out of the bathroom and toward the little laundry area. 

The raccoon followed him the entire way, making sure that his stuffed friend was still okay. 

When King finally got to the little room he quickly tossed the towel and stuffed animal inside the dryer, then set it for the quickest, and coolest cycle it had. 

"Alright, it will be done in a bit, but I think it's finally bed time. We'll get him tomorrow morning," he said as he turned off the light and slowly wandered back through the apartment. He did grab the trash bag and return it to the can, too, as well as pick up the little bit of trash that had been spilled out, but that was all he had the energy for.  

He could hear Baron following him again as he returned to his room, but he hesitated at the doorway, then looked back toward the laundry room. 

"He'll be fine, I promise. We'll get him out tomorrow," King said before dropping down onto his bed with an exhausted sigh. 

He was ready to pass out just sitting there, but when he heard a little squeaky, crying sound, he forced his head to lift and his tired eyes to focus. 

Baron was finishing turning in a circle as he let out another whimper and stared back down the hall. 

So tired...

Forcing himself to stand, King felt his left leg nearly give out, its weakness warning him not to take another step or risk falling. 

Dammit. 

Grudgingly, he listened to his body and sat back down, then reached forward with a shaky hand. 

"Baron, come here." 

The raccoon immediately turned its attention to him, then hunkered down by the door and put its head on its paws.  

That's cute, but I'm beginning to understand your body language, and I can tell that you're not just going to leave this alone. 

He was going to feel bad for it, but there was nothing he could do. He had to get some rest. So, leaning forward a little after tugging on a soft sleep shirt, King made a come here gesture with his hand, while at the same time saying "Baron, you need to come here, please."

The raccoon was full-on shaking now as it inched closer, dragging its belly along the carpeted floor as if it were training in boot camp. He knew that forcing him to come closer wasn't very nice, but there wasn't much else he could think to do. 

Once he got within reach, he slowly leaned over a little more and picked him up. 

Uh... you're a lot skinnier than I thought you'd be. 

The fur made him look quite fluffy, so he'd thought he was in good health. 

I'll make sure to make you extra food tomorrow. 

Once he had him settled in his arms, he waited a few minutes to allow Baron to calm down. 

"See? It's not so bad, right? BahnBahn will be back tomorrow, but for tonight, how about just holding onto me?" he said as he gently pet the little raccoon's back. 

When those nervous, dark brownish-black eyes finally looked up at him, he gave a small smile in return, then carefully scooted into his bed. Baron adjusted his little paws several times in response, making him glad that he'd tugged on a shirt before picking him up. 

Once they were in the center, he slowly laid back until his head hit the pillow. His mind immediately began to drift off at that exact moment, giving him only a few seconds to reach down with his free hand and tug the blanket up enough to partially cover himself and Baron. 

His fuzzy friend seemed quite a bit more restless than himself, but there was nothing more he could do. He honestly half expected him to just climb out of bed and walk out the door to go watch Otterbahn spin in the dryer, since he'd left it open, but when he felt Baron move a bit here and there, then wiggle beneath the blanket a little more before he stopped moving completely, he grinned. 

"...you're a good boy," he whispered into the darkness. 

He heard a quiet little squeak a few moments later, supposedly affirming that he was, in fact, a good boy, but before he could even really process the sound, he was fast asleep.