The match was already getting crazy! 

Baron was doing his best keeping his partner alive with as many cure spells as he could manage, draining his magic points over and over again as Renegade cut through their opponents one by one. 

The man was thankfully keeping a close eye on his magic points and whenever one of their opponents tried to distract them so that the other could sneak around and kill him, Renegade would easily intercept them. 

He really is very good. 

Rexy yawned in his lap where he'd settled a few moments ago. 

It's very hard to make him upset, too, since he just plays for fun. Don't worry about making mistakes, King thought to him.  

That made Baron a little less nervous as he casted a paralysis spell on one opponent before sending a high power cure spell to Renegade. 

The man was fighting using mostly ranged weapons, with the most interesting one being a set of chains. He had multiple versions of push-back abilities, which sent his opponents flying away from him, then he'd hook them with a chain and slam them into whatever surface he wished. 

Once the target opponent's feet were off the ground, they were at Renegade's mercy. 

It was honestly a really cool set of skills. 

Most people don't use chains as their main weapon because it's really hard to get the combos correct, but he's a master at them. 

Clearly. 

Baron watched as another one of their opponents, the healer, was slammed into a tree, their remaining hit points dropping to zero in an instant. 

 So cool...

He was just staring at the dissipating enemy's body when a chain suddenly wrapped around his waist, yanking him backwards and out of reach of an oncoming attack just in time to save his hide! 

"Careful hun," Renegade said calmly as he wrapped his second chain around the other player's neck, then yanked it back abruptly, dealing critical damage and stunning them long enough for Baron to cast one of his few remaining high damage spells, inferno. 

"Good job," Renegade said as they watched their opponent fall to the ground. 

Baron nodded and immediately got busy setting his buffs back up. Once he was done Renegade added an invisible spell to him, then sent him a message on their private text channel. 

Renegade: Stay right there, I'm going to push one of them towards you. 

Baron read over the text, then nodded again as he did as told. 

Get a binding spell ready, these guys are still a lot stronger than you with your current gear, King thought to him as Rexy climbed back up against his chest.  

Baron immediately did as told, and added a gravity one, too, just in case. 

Soon enough there was a marker showing up on his radar, approaching quickly. 

Just one? Isn't Renegade leading him here? 

King replied immediately, he's probably using a cloning technique. Controlling two people at the same time isn't something most can manage, but he's very good at it. 

Right as King finished his thought a copy of Renegade bolted past him, making Baron immediately focus his full attention on the person that burst out of the underbrush in front of him a moment later! 

The bind spell that he cast a second later, however, was fully resisted, leaving his invisible spell to fall off. 

"Oh crap!" he gasped out as he quickly switched to casting gravity!

His opponent was already heading for him, but thankfully the gravity spell managed to stick, reducing their speed and giving him just enough time to run out of range, then recast his binding spell. 

Yes! King cheered as it landed, binding his opponent in place. 

Baron quickly changed to casting his inferno spell, then followed it up with a blizzard for the kill!

"Alright! Nice job," Renegade cheered, making Baron grin from ear to ear as there was a notification signaling that their other opponent had just been killed, too. 

"You too,' Baron added as they regrouped again, then went after their enemy's pillar together. 

They managed to get it down to the halfway point before their opponents caught up to them, but to Baron's surprise, Renegade told him to keep attacking the pillar as he, himself, went to deal with both their enemies. 

Not being one to argue, he did as told, but kept an eye on his teammate as he swung his chains, knocking both their opponent's over before following the attack up with a severe lashing. 

Renegade was taking damage, too, of course, but he was managing to keep both of them at bay well enough. 

Baron did his best damaging the pillar, but when he saw his teammate's health drop into the danger zone, he quickly switched his job abilities, then pressed the button for a single enhanced heal before casting his strongest cure spell!

That added about half of Renegade's hit points back, giving them both plenty of time to complete their goal and topple the opponent's pillar!

"And there you have it, folks! Renegade and Prince have won Prince's debut match! What an amazing team they made!" 

Baron leaned back in his chair as Rexy climbed up his chest, earning a tight hug and a kiss to his fuzzy forehead as a reward. 

You did really well, B! 

"Let's also give a big congratulations to Renegade, because the system has tallied up the points for this match, and without further ado, I'd like to present to you all, the new number one player of Infinity, our emperor, Renegade!" 

Oh wow. 

"Congratulations!" he said happily, glad that the guy had made first place as a result of their match. 

He was also very glad that he hadn't been told about his possible promotion in rank until the match was over! The amount of stress that would have caused... he definitely would have made a lot of mistakes!

I'm not surprised he's rank one now. That's so cool that you got to play in his promotion match! King said, making Baron chuckle a little as he hugged Rexy to his chest with one arm. 

"Thank you for the excellent match," Renegade replied respectfully. 

Baron smiled and nodded. 

"Why did you accept a match with a complete novice as your promotion match, though?" he asked, honestly curious why someone would put their rank on the line for a newbie. 

"Your rank is very low because you just started, which means that when someone of higher rank gets paired with you, they'll get more points for taking the risk. Since I was originally ranked fifth before our match, taking a complete novice as a partner boosted my points a great deal. I also watched your last match with King, so I knew you had potential. You saved me having to play a few extra matches, thank you." 

Oh, that makes sense. 

"Well, thank you for taking a risk on me, and I'm glad I could help you out," Baron replied, then reached up to turn his mic off and stand up. 

You're supposed to let them know that you need a minute before the match interview, King thought to him, making Baron hesitate as he stepped out of view of the camera. 

"Oh, right. I totally forgot about that," he said as he quickly sat back down and turned on his headset again. 

He ended up doing the first interview, then they asked a few questions for both him and Renegade before they were finally allowed to log off about twenty minutes later. 

No wonder you're always tired after a match. 

After making sure that all the equipment was turned off, Baron leaned back with a drawn-out sigh. 

He was just hugging Rexy and leaning in for a kiss to his forehead when the otter suddenly vanished, leaving a naked King in his lap. 

Even better. 

He gladly gathered his love up in his arms, then peppered kisses on his soft hair until King tilted his head up for a mouth to mouth kiss. 

They spent the next five or so minutes giving each other attention before King ran out of steam and settled his head against Baron's shoulder, panting quietly. 

It was good timing, because only a few moments passed in silence before Baron's phone rang. 

"Hello, Ms. Anne," Baron answered immediately as he gently held King against him with his free arm. 

"Good afternoon, Baron. I called you because I got a request from your wife," she said, then added before he could begin to stress too badly, "she wants to meet face to face and discuss a possible agreement to scrap the divorce proceedings." 

Baron felt his heart squeeze in his chest, but before he could begin sweating, warm arms wrapped around his neck and snuggled in close.

His tensing body relaxed a little as he forced himself to take a calm, deep breath, then slowly let it out from his nose before responding carefully. 

"I'm willing to meet face to face, but please draft up a paper version of the divorce documents so that she can sign them at that time. Would you also be able to look after Tili while we talk?" he asked, knowing that his wife likely wouldn't trust King to watch her. 

Heck, his wife would probably try to use their daughter to keep him under her control, but he wasn't interested in a life with his wife anymore, and he was going to make that very clear. 

"That won't be a problem. I'll set something up for this coming week and make sure that all the necessary paperwork is ready," she said. 

"I've also sent a few pieces of mail to you for signatures. The bank released more of the money she took, but I need you to sign for those portions because they were in specific accounts. You should be getting that mail soon, and I can pick them up when I come by with her." 

...to tell him? 

Baron blinked, a little surprised by the sudden partial thought from King. He normally heard the majority of his thoughts now, so it was a bit odd to have one cut off. 

He finished his call with Anne and hung up a few moments later, then wrapped both of his arms back around King as the young man tried to snuggle in closer. 

"Did you have something you wanted to tell me, love?" he asked, curious. 

 Should I re...

Baron leaned down a little and pressed a kiss to King's soft hair. 

"It's okay if you don't want to say it. I'm just curious. What did you want to save up for, by the way?" he asked as he reached forward with one hand and grabbed hold of the mouse for the computer. 

"Ah, I made twelve thousand for that stream. How much more do you need for what you were saving for?" 

He felt King lift his head a little, then settle his chin on his shoulder. 

"Two thousand, to be safe," he eventually said in a quiet whisper. 

Ah, only two? He was pretty close. 

"I'll give it to you," Baron said as he returned his free hand back to King's body. 

It was hard not to just grab his backside, but he knew that they were having a serious conversation right now, so he had to behave. 

"I was planning this before you came, so don't worry, okay?" King eventually said, making Baron frown and furrow his brow. 

"What is it, sweetheart?"  

He tried to keep his heart steady, but it still skipped a beat here and there as it slowly began to fill with nervousness.

King had given him access to the account he'd made for him, so he definitely wouldn't be without money if he wanted him to go, but that wasn't what was bothering him. 

He never thought he'd want to be around another person again besides his daughter, but after living with King for the past several weeks, he couldn't imagine just letting him go. 

"I was planning on buying a house..." King finally said, making Baron's eyes jerk open wide. 

What...? 

He took a few moments to process what he'd said, then his lips slowly turned upward into a beaming smile as he squeezed King like a stuffed animal!

"Babe, I'm so proud of you! That's amazing!" he said with so much enthusiasm that the nervous worry he felt from King nearly completely flew away right then and there as the young man slowly leaned back in order to see him better, straddling his lap. 

Such a beautiful man, Baron thought as he looked him over once, but didn't allow his eyes to linger for too long before lifting them back to meet King's shining ones. 

"I've been looking into some things I want to have with it, and I think I've found a few nearby that would be really nice," King said, suddenly looking a little bashful as his cheeks turned red. 

"U-um, would you want to go look at some? I-it's going to be my first time doing this kind of thing, so I'd definitely be open to suggestions," he said, mumbling his last words as if he was somehow being rude by requesting help with such a task. 

"I would love to help you, sweetheart. I've bought a house before, so I know the general ins and outs. I also know what to look for when checking for issues," he said, glad that he was finally going to be useful for something important. 

The big relieved smile that King gave him just then made his entire life worth living. 

I don't regret it now...

His life the past few years had nearly brought him to kill himself, but now he didn't regret any bit of it, even as he was still having to deal with his toxic wife. He had gotten a brilliant and sweet little girl out of his traumatic situation, and now he was being given the second piece that had been missing from his heart.  

All of those struggles and stresses brought me here. 

He felt Prince sneeze quietly in his mind, making him mentally grab his little nose and give it a gentle squeeze. 

You too, love. You saved me and gave me so much, even after I kept you locked away for so long. 

He owed his sweet raccoon the world. Unfortunately, he didn't own the world, but he did have enough money to buy him a strawberry a day for the rest of his life... and then some. 

Prince wiggled excitedly at the thought of a daily treat. He wasn't one to hold grudges, and since he'd been spoiled quite nicely the past several weeks, he was more than happy with his current situation. 

"So um, want to go look tomorrow? I've actually already contacted the realtor and she said she's available," King said, his expression now eager with excitement. 

Baron honestly shared it. 

"Absolutely, let's go see what's out there tomorrow."   

They paused their conversation for a moment as King kissed him briefly, then reached up and mussed up the guy's gorgeous hair. 

"For today, though... I was thinking grilled cheese, tomato soup, and maybe some scratch-made strawberry cake for our fuzzy kids?" Baron said as he finally reached down and squeezed King's warm butt. 

King nipped his ear, earning a moan before hopping out of his lap and tugging on a pair of loose shorts. Baron followed him, first with his eyes, then with his body. 

His inner raccoon was quite close to the surface, making him more handsy than usual. Of course, he still paid attention to King's cues, but the guy seemed content to let himself be groped a bit. He did stop once they actually started cooking, and scrubbed their hands, but they goofed off more than anything as they worked together to get their lunch ready. 

King ended up taking over the grilled cheese and simmering soup while Baron split off to get the cake ready and in the oven. 

By the time everything was done and the cake was cooling on the counter, with dripping frosting because evidently you have to wait for it to be completely cool, they had gotten themselves more than a little covered in flour and frosting and there was even some cheese in King's hair.  

Ignoring the mess they'd made, they sat down at the little table Anne had brought them, though it didn't take King long to settle in Baron's lap. 

Taking the man's actions as a tentative signal that it was okay to touch more, Baron focused the majority of his attention on squeezing King's legs as his love fed him bites of sandwich over his shoulder every minute or so. 

In all honesty, he was much more hungry for some simple physical contact than he was for food. King seemed to realize that rather quickly, too, because he didn't bother to tell him to eat more, and he also didn't talk a whole lot. 

By the time their meal was actually done, King had eaten about eighty percent of it... and Baron had cuddled him from behind, snuggling against him, peacefully content. 

Of course, as soon as they were done eating Prince took over, then high-tailed it to the counter and literally dove into the strawberry cake! 

Uh... glad I didn't make a big one. 

It was evidently just large enough for one gluttonous raccoon...

He doubted Prince would even share it, too, as he shoved big handfuls into his mouth, almost as if he'd been starved for the past week!

King was just getting up to try and remove him from the temptation before he ate too much and got sick, but before he could even walk around the table he was suddenly fuzzy, too. 

Soon Rexy was standing beneath the counter, looking up with the hopes of being given some cake. 

There was no way it would be able to climb up, but when Prince noticed him, he simply twitched his frosting-covered whiskers and snorted before going back to stuffing his face. 

Prince, sweetie, won't you share? He probably only wants a little, anyways, Baron told his shift, who continued to ignore him. 

It's okay, we can spoil Rexy once Prince eats himself into a coma, King thought to him, making Baron smile sadly as the little otter whined. 

He was about to agree when he noticed Prince reach to the side and promptly drop a chunk of cake right onto Rexy's head!

King's otter squeaked indignantly, then shook the crumbs from his fur before glaring up at Prince. 

Prince tilted his head back and chewed loudly with his mouth open, making an absolute mess, ignoring the otter's glare. Baron couldn't be mad, though, because he hadn't felt so much happiness from his raccoon in years. 

It also began sharing a little better as it got more full, eventually leaving them with two very stuffed animals.    

Thankfully, Rexy didn't have nearly as big a sweet tooth as Prince, and he soon allowed King to have control back so that he could curl up for a nap in his mind. 

Already half asleep, Baron watched through one slightly-open eye as King quickly cleaned up what he could, then dusted the crumbs from his raccoon, wiped his paws and face, and lifted him up into his arms. 

His eye slid closed soon after, but he still felt himself being carried, then snuggled. 

"Get some rest, B. I'll be here when you wake up," King said as a gentle hand began to run along his fur, the gentle rhythm it soon settled into soothing his aching belly. 

It seemed a bit odd being cuddled in King's arms again instead of the other way around, but he definitely found himself enjoying the attention, and soon after that, his raccoon drifted off to the sleep, taking him with it into a warm, comfortable darkness.