Pyre awoke without his cuddle buddy. He wasn't quite sure what had actually gotten him up until he looked over toward the door and saw Fen holding up a huge bag of food. 

"I thought that you might want to eat it while its hot," he said before disappearing out the door. 

Yawning, Pyre rubbed at an eye as his mind mumbled a response that seemed to slip past his new filter app. 

I want to eat you hot. 

To his surprise, he didn't feel any kind of awkward sensation from his words, which made him get up faster than he normally would. 

Err, I still need a shower. 

He wandered out of the room, intending to turn toward the bathroom, but the smell of sweet and savory wrapped a rope around his heart and easily won the fight. 

Fen looked up as he approached, making Pyre wonder where his Gin bear was. 

"I already gave him his. He's studying, since we were all out earlier," Fen said, making Pyre glance back toward Gin's room. 

"I got you a few things. We'll finish whatever you don't end up liking," Fen said as he set out several containers. 

Pyre quickly set to opening them all, and when it came to the bag of egg rolls, he quickly plopped one into his mouth, letting it hang out the side like a cigar as he continued his work. It was hot as hell, but even just the outer shell of it tasted so damn good. 

He really did buy quite a lot...

There were four different containers of entrees, as well as two different kinds of rice and one massive container that contained nothing but vegetables and cashews. He knew that he might startle the guy a bit with his decision, but Pyre actually reached for the steamed vegetables first. They had a light sauce on them that tasted like garlic and soy, making him drool a bit as he downed them in record speed. 

"I'm kind of surprised that you went for the vegetables first," Fen finally said after Pyre had eating over half the container in five minutes. 

He slowed himself down at that point, knowing that his stomach was still hesitant on keeping certain foods down. In fact, he set it back on the counter, giving himself a chance to see if it would be accepted in general, or if he might need to run to the bathroom for something other than a shower. 

"Vegetables give me the most energy. If I'm going to eat, I'd rather feel fuller, longer, than simply enjoy the flavor of something else a little more," he said with a slight shrug. His father also hated the taste of them, so if he ever managed to snag any from the food bank, they were the few things the man wouldn't eat. 

Fen nodded in understanding as he picked up a small fried thing called a crab rangoon. 

Oh? Crunchy...

He really liked crunchy stuff...

Seemingly catching his thought, Fen reached into the bag again with his free hand, then offered the little fried ball to him. 

God, I really wanted to just take a bite out of his...

Internally grumbling about Fen's cursed venom problem, Pyre took the proffered food and, after a quick nibble at one of its edges, took a decent bite. 

Oh, wow. 

It was a little sweet, but mostly savory. And the crunch? 

I think I'm gonna c— "There's dipping sauce for it, too," Fen said, cutting off his impure thought just in time. "It's a little too sweet for me, but you might like it." 

Pyre glanced over by where Fen had gestured as he spoke, noting the faintly colored orange sauce. He dipped a tiny edge of a new crab rangoon into it, but after a swipe of his tongue, he made a face that had Fen laughing quietly. 

"Too sweet for you, too, huh?" he said as he got two plates down from the cabinet and handed Pyre one. 

"Take whatever you'd like. There will be plenty of leftovers, too, so don't worry about saving any one specific thing."

Hell yeah. 

Pyre added a few more scoops of the vegetables to his plate, two more crab rangoon, and then a small portion from each of the other containers. He might not be able to actually eat it all in one go, but he could definitely put what remained on his plate away for later. Throwing perfectly good food out was definitely not going to happen with him. 

He was just about to grab his fork and head to the dinner table when he realized that he was getting shorter and shorter. 

You were just out most of the day...

Slowly sitting down on his bum, Pyre let his ears droop and twitched his tiny nose, trying not to let himself get upset. It wasn't working...

"Hey now, it'll be okay." 

Strong but gentle hands lifted his little panda up into Fen's arms. The cuddles helped, but it was hard for him not to be depressed after shifting twice in one day. He didn't mind his panda much, but there had been no need to change again so soon, had there? 

"Shifts can be stubborn sometimes," Fen said as he pressed a kiss to the top of Pyre's head... right before he, too, began to slowly descend to the floor. 

Uh oh. 

Pyre hurried to get off of Fen's snake as it squirmed its way free from his clothes. 

There are so many innuendos with this situation. It's a good thing I'm stuck as a panda right now and don't have an audience. 

There was a pause for a moment before he felt his face warm beneath his fur. 

Well, except for my captive one. 

Fen's snake stuck its tongue out a few times, tasting the air before it glanced up toward the counter way above their heads. 

I could climb and get it, but then we'd be eating off the floor. He, of course, didn't mind that at all, but he knew that Fen probably wasn't a fan. 

Pyre tilted his head this way and that as he hobbled over to one of the barstools set up on the other side of the counter. He carefully gripped one of the crossbars near the bottom and pulled it out a few inches, being careful not to accidentally have it fall on his head. He could hear Fen's tail rattling in warning not to do it, but since he didn't verbally say anything, Pyre went ahead anyway.

Okay, chair's out. 

Climbing it was definitely the harder part. It was made of smooth, coated metal, so his claws slipped quite a bit trying to reach up to the padded seat for an actual grip. He'd been just about to reach it when he slipped for the fourth time and plopped back down to the wooden floor with a squeak. 

Darn it. 

He was about to try again when he noticed Fen's snake beginning to coil around the chair, heading up toward the seat. 

Oh? 

When it stopped with its head looking over the edge down at him, Pyre tilted his head again, confused. 

Climb my scales. It should be much easier. 

He hesitated for only a moment before carefully beginning the task given to him. It was a bit awkward, at first, since he'd never actually climbed a snake... just sucked on a few, but once he got his footing, it was actually pretty easy to scale the scales. 

The second he was high enough he hopped off Fen and hurried up onto the counter. There, he waited for his man to finish his own ascent before they both made their way back to their dinner. 

I think we burned off most of what we'd just eaten during that little climb, he thought as he took a seat in front of his massive plate of food and reached his paw right into a small stack of long noodles. After trying, and failing, to not make a gigantic mess, Pyre decided to just have at. Besides, he hadn't taken a shower yet anyways. 

He ate a good portion of his noodles and veggies before glancing sideways at Fen, only to pause with his sauce-soaked paw halfway to his mouth, holding a big piece of delicious chicken. 

Oh. 

Setting his food down, Pyre got up and walked the whole eight inches over to where Fen was nudging around a piece of shrimp mixed into a bed of thin noodles and carrots. 

You want the shrimp, but not the noodles?

It took Fen a few moments to respond as he lifted his head away from the dish and turned to look at him. 

He wants the shrimp. I'd like it all, but he just seems to want meat... and I don't want to just pick it out because I'll get venom on everything. 

Oh, he could help with that. If anything, Fen could finish the rest of it later, too. 

I got ya, he said as he sat down next to the container and began digging out each piece of shrimp with his sticky paws. They already had other sauce on them, but his snake didn't seem to mind at all, because the pieces disappeared a second after he set each of them down on the counter. Snaky actually finished all of the shrimp after only a few minutes, making Pyre switch to another container. This time it was beef, and considering how fast Fen's snake took each of those pieces, it liked it even better than the shrimp. 

They were just finishing off that container, too, when Gin walked in and paused by the counter, which had somehow, suspiciously, gotten covered in quite a few different flavors of sauces... and there might have been a small mountain of noodles between Pyre's bear's legs since he'd found it easier to pick out the meat for Snaky by doing that. He'd still eat it later, anyways...

"I... think it's bath time," Gin said as he awkwardly reached over the food disaster and picked up a very sticky Pyre, whose panda refused to release its last handful of beef and noodles. 

Hey now, we were busy having a moment there, he grumbled as he heard Fen's snake slither about behind him. By the time he was settled into Fen's bathtub and the water was turned on, he noticed Fen's snake slither into his bedroom.  

A few moments later and his human self appeared wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a long dark red hoodie. He even had the hood up, silently telling Pyre that he was still feeling pretty cold, even after being able to shift back. 

Why don't you just let him out for a bit longer? It's bath time, and I know I accidentally, maybe-intentionally, put a bit of sauce on your head. 

Fen paused in the doorway and took his hoodie off, frowning when he reached up and found that his hair was, indeed, quite sticky now. 

"You're a brat," he grumbled as he walked forward. 

He wasn't sure exactly what he intended to do, but when he actually did shift back to his snake form, Gin seemed just as surprised as Pyre. 

"You... did you do that on purpose?" he asked as he watched Fen's snake slowly climb into the warm tub of filling water. 

It ignored him, though, and instead began swimming about happily, soaking up the heat and abrupt second bout of freedom. 

Pyre decided to respond for him, giving a nod as he pointed one saucy paw toward Fen's head. 

"Oh... you got sauce on him. I'm still kind of surprised he allowed his snake back out to wash it off instead of just washing his hair like normal, but if he's happy, I'm happy." 

You went a little deep on that last bit, hmm? 

He felt Fen question those words in his mind, but he didn't bother responding. He wasn't going to say what Gin wasn't comfortable with yet. Instead, he turned toward the chilling snake and lifted one tiny, dirty paw. Just when Fen's snake looked up at it, Pyre sent it flying toward the edge of the water with all of his might! 

And that is when he realized that his panda truly was the most useless animal shift he could have gotten. The splash from his paw wouldn't have even bothered a fly... 

I'll trade you, Fen. You take the adorable fluffy panda and I'll be the awesome venomous snake. 

Right as he finished that thought he felt something beneath his fuzzy bum and tail, but before he could look down it moved abruptly, making him flail his paws in the air before he flopped backwards into the water!

Gin thankfully helped him upright again, then wiped his eyes with a towel to clear the water from them. The moment he could see again Pyre narrowed his glare on Fen's snake. The animal was in the far corner, its head tilting as it watched him. 

You...

The snake's response to his grumble? It flicked its tongue out, holding it there for just long enough for Pyre to realize that Fen actually had control of it for that tiny, little moment. 

You!