Opossum Fifteen

He could hear his heartbeat.

He could also hear Ian calling himself a pervert over and over again as he internally freaked out about sitting in his lap... in front of Grim's streaming camera.

It was off, of course, but he couldn't help but think about what it would make his man think if he turned it on.

"You sure you don't want to play our next match from right here? I think you'd look pretty darn sexy on your man's lap," Grim teased, enjoying himself far too much.

"I-I don't think it would be a good idea," Ian stuttered, stumbling over his words, then nearly swallowing his tongue as Grim nonchalantly slid his left hand up and underneath his shirt to play with his belly.

It was beginning to take shape after going to the gym every other day for the past week and a half. Of course, the guy did manual labor, too, so it wasn't taking much to get some progress.

In fact...

Grim added his other hand and contently began feeling him up a bit.

Definitely getting there, just a few more week—his thoughts were cut short as Ian promptly gasped a near-mute squeal and bolted out of his lap and into the bathroom!

Grim watched him go with a raised eyebrow, then felt that brow twitch as he heard quiet splashing, then watched as a damp Bubba was scooted out of the room, looking rather dull, in all his uncaring glory.

"I-I have to pee!" Ian then yelled as he shoved the door closed, then turned the shower on not a second later.

In the shower...? Grim thought as his smile turned into a knowing smirk.

Leaning back in his chair, he grabbed his controller and got the game booted up. He could sense eyes on him, but he knew that Bubba wasn't going to move from the bathroom door when he could hear the shower running.

When his character was ready to go and he still didn't hear the shower turn off, however, Grim pushed himself up and walked over.

Without thinking about it, he reached down and pet Bubba's head as he stopped in front of the closed door.

After a minute, he lifted his free hand and was about to knock when he heard something that made him hesitate, his knuckles just an inch from the wood.

He's...

It was incredibly hard to hear, at first. The patter of water from the shower swallowed nearly all extra sound, but as time went on, he began to hear something that made his own heart fidget in his chest.

Ian was panting, but clearly trying to hide it behind the spray of the water.

He knew that he should walk away and let the man take care of his situation in private, and possibly chill out a bit on teasing him so much, but right as Grim took a step towards Ian's room, intent on getting his computer up and running for their match, he heard the faintest whisper that froze him in his tracks.

"P-please, Grim..."

Swallowing, Grim slowly looked towards the door.

He could feel Ian's heart somehow beat faster as his panting got a little louder, but what kept Grim frozen in place were the continuous whimpers calling his name.

Fuck...

He'd never even thought about doing a guy, but he couldn't get his darn feet to move! He couldn't even force himself to think about getting Ian someone to break the current spell he was under, either!

The hell is wrong with me?!

As he intentionally listened to Ian jack himself off in his shower, groaning his name, Grim felt his own frustration grow... but along with the sexual tension coursing through his body, he also felt an uncomfortable anger.

He wasn't used to not being in complete control of a situation.

He should have been able to walk away, but he couldn't.

Well, there was one person, or at least, animal, that could, however, and did.

What finally snapped him out of his horny daze was the sound of the refrigerator being clawed at, startling him into a panic as he hurriedly ran into the kitchen to prevent another great lettuce heist like what had happened three days ago!

"Bubba!" Grim hissed as he quickly leaned over and wrapped his arms around the ever-so-slightly annoyed, overgrown rodent.

It had managed to get the fridge open and was just reaching for one of the new bags of lettuce they'd intentionally put out of reach when he'd caught it at the last second.

"You little shit, you just ate a bunch earlier," Grim hissed as he dragged the mediocrely slow-motion flailing capybara away from its treasure.

He eventually ended up lifting it up into an extra large booster seat they'd found at a local thrift store Ian had wanted to explore. It somehow managed to fit Bubba, with a few modifications, and since it hadn't figured out how to get out of it yet, it was a good time-out spot for the little vagrant.

Of course, the time-out came with a frustrated glare and disgruntled nose twitches, but it was a small price to pay to save part of their meals for the week.

...the gas you had, too.

Followed by constipation, which poor Ammo had to deal with as a human.

"Here, this is all you're getting for right now," Grim said as he pulled a large carrot out of their vegetable drawer and handed it over.

Bubba still didn't look happy, but he took the carrot nonetheless and began to gnaw away at it in his big highchair.

...much better.

Grim looked towards the bathroom as he heard the fractured thought.

When the bathroom door finally opened, he was pretending to wipe dry a dish he'd already washed a few hours ago.

The simple workouts are definitely doing him some good.

While Ian closed his eyes to finish rustling a towel through his hair, Grim calmly looked over the remainder of his body not covered by the simple pair of kitten boxers settled on his hips. He'd given them to the guy as a gag gift but, of course, Ian now treasured them.

If he were telling the truth, the little cats running around with balls of yarn and wrestling each other somehow matched his cute personality perfectly.

He's staring...

Grim internally rolled his eyes as his possum inched its way closer to his eyes, cautiously curious about the cat shifter's return from the land of the wet water.

Of course I'm staring. Even though I'm not gay, I know a nice looking bitch when I see one. Good thing I put that collar on you or we might have had a lot problems at the gym other than just Harrison being annoying.

And the guy had been annoying, but only when they'd brought Ammo along, which was only two other times.

Speaking of Ammo, he was slowly getting better control over his grief, with Bubba's help, but he still needed some extra love here and there.

He was also going home more often than staying over, but Grim still made sure to call and check on him each night that he was away.

Ian's attention turned towards Bubba as Grim watched him walk forward after settling the towel around his bare shoulders.

"Oh my god you look so cute," he told the large rodent as he walked over and wrapped him in a big hug.

Bubba immediately began whining quietly about how he was starving to death and he never got fed... even though he still had a bit of carrot hanging between his teeth as he nibbled away at it. Not to mention the orange bits and pieces woven into his furry beard.

"It's alright sweetheart, I know you're hungry but you have to wait for dinner," he told it in a cute baby voice that made Grim roll his eyes.

Reaching forward, he was about to grab the waistband of Ian's boxers and tug him away from the inflated gerbil when he just-barely caught himself and yanked his hand back right before Ian looked over his shoulder and grinned at him.

Uh, stop making my heart itch.

His possum screamed for good measure, making him internally flick its nose.

And you, hush.

It hung its head and slowly scampered away, giving out little muted yells in the process.

"Oh hey, Grim? I figured out how to do something recently," Ian said cheerily as he turned to face him completely and lifted his hands up to grasp either side of the towel still hanging around his neck.

"Show me," Grim said as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter by the stove.

Ian's face turned a little bit pink as he looked at his feet, but he quickly regained his composure and lifted his eyes back to him. Except, when his gaze settled back on his own, Grim raised an eyebrow... at the same time his possum gave out the loudest ear-piercing scream from deep within his mind, forcing the sound to echo throughout his brain and rattle his skull!

The reason for such an overstated reaction? The adorable cat ears now settled atop Ian's soft hair.

Ammo had them for a bit, too, you noisy little fucknugget!

That didn't stop it from suddenly running back up to the forefront of his mind, bringing its impressively-loud voice with it.

It was so loud, in fact, that Grim couldn't even pretend to speak, because he wouldn't be able to hear what he said. So instead, he simply walked forward and settled his hand on Ian's head, patting his hair and new ears gently.

He hadn't really touched Ammo's when he'd been borrowing Ren, but now that they were on Ian's head, he happily squeezed them a bit... even though it made his possum nearly have a heart attack in his mind.

Well, at least until it ran screaming down his arm and suddenly just... vanished.

Um...

The startled look on Ian's face as his cat ears abruptly vanished told him all that he needed to know.

Shit.

Ian looked to the left, then right, then left, down, right, left. He was going nuts, and Grim couldn't blame him.

You little bitch, get back here before I skin you! he cursed, embarrassed that his useless shift was now running around in Ian's mind!

He couldn't tell what was going on with either it or Ren, but it was clear that they were definitely not getting along.

Reaching up with his free hand, he settled his palm against Ian's face.

"Come back here, you," he told his opossum sternly, trying to sound nice out loud, at least.

He could sense Ian's panic through whatever kind of bond he'd formed with the guy, but no words were coming through as the man stepped into him, clearly seeking some help with the no-doubt crazy animal now tormenting him and his other half.

Grim held him in a gentle hug, frustrated that he couldn't do more to help bring his useless shift back.

He was just about to try closer physical contact when he felt something dart up his arm and disappear into the back of his mind!

About damn time, you useless piece of—an angry hiss cut off his words immediately, then a swat against his brain had him jumping back, breaking contact with Ian.

The fuck? Did I just get man-handled by a pussy?

Another angry hiss confirmed that indeed, he had.

Why didn't you chase him back in here? Aren't you an animal that hunts opossums? he questioned Ren, a little frustrated that the thing had evidently run away instead.

Ian's cat didn't seem interested in being reprimanded, or talked to in general anymore, because it gave him one final growl, then settled in to begin cleaning its paws in the comfortable silence of his mind.

Grim inwardly scowled, but didn't seem able to do much else right then, so he glanced back at Ian, who in turn was looking to his right with one hand held against his likely-aching forehead.

Hmm?

Grim turned his attention to what he was staring at... just in time to watch as Bubba gave out the most exaggerated sneeze of all time that sent bits of carrot sailing all over themselves and the kitchen.

He then belched and wiggled his nose contently.

What... what is even going on with my life right now?