So You Think

(Took almost an hour to eat breakfast. Everyone wanted to pet Pepperjack lol)

He hadn't meant to fall asleep. Actually, he hadn't meant to try to track down Del, or mess with that scary guy from the club. I don't want any of this. Mina whined in his head as he began to awaken. It was obvious by the strong scents that he was in the bed Del and Buck shared.

As soon as his stiff limbs began to obey him, he pushed himself up, fighting with the heavy blanket until he was able to throw it back and take a gasp of fresh air. Panting quietly, Mina looked around the room, squinting slightly when he glanced out of the slanted window above the bed.

It's morning. God, I slept with him all night.

He was just moving to climb out of the big bed when he felt a strong arm wrap around his waist and pull him backward against a hard chest that was partially covered by the blanket. Without thinking Mina squeaked out a growl, drawing a deep chuckle from Del.

Tilting his head back, Mina bared his teeth up at him as he looked down, having scooted back a bit to sit up.

"Good morning, kitten. Shouldn't you be singing my praise for not locking you in the crate all night for annoying me, again?" Del asked, a smirk on his face as he lifted his eyebrows sarcastically.

"Lock me in the damn crate next time my idiot shift decides to find you." He said, elbowing Del in the side so that he could sit back up.

Before he could move any further he felt a big hand ruffling his already-messy mop of hair and huffed, sending a glare over his shoulder.

"Your kitten is so much nicer than you. It was ogling me while I was stripping in the forest. It knew what it wanted." He said, drawing a chuckle from the man who had been sleeping beside him.

Seemingly spurred on by the laugh, Del grinned and began moving toward Mina, the action making the blanket slip from where it had been settled around his belly.

No. Nope! Mina thought as he scrambled from the bed, stumbling right onto the carpet before his lion abruptly took over.

No! No, let me switch back! This isn't fair!

His kitten immediately tried to run right into Del's arms, but Mina focused as hard as he could and managed to stop himself after taking three restrained steps forward.

He is not going to be our mate! He's a horrible person. Wake up you stupid cat! He yelled at his shift, who just sent a hiss through his mind as it fought him harshly for control.

"Oh? Looks like you can finally resist him a little?" Del said as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and leaned forward, reaching out a hand.

"Come here, Claws. You know you want me." He teased.

Of course, Mina's kitten didn't care in the least that he was intentionally being goaded. He loved that Del wanted to offer him any kind of attention. His minuscule control slipped in seconds as his lion gleefully bounded up into Del's arms.

"Del, why do you torture that poor boy?" Buck asked as he finally rolled over at the same time Del turned toward him, crossing his legs on the bed.

He shrugged, holding Mina's kitten up with a grin. "I don't know. If I have to deal with his little fuzzy self stalking me all the time, I might as well have fun with his human form, right?" He said as he noticed Mina's eyes glaring at him through his lion's.

Buck sighed and shook his head before getting out of bed and nodding toward the bathroom.

"Go shower. You two snuggling together all night got you sweaty." He said as he began tugging on a pair of dress pants. "I'll take care of things for a while."

You do smell, and my lion loves it for some reason. Go wash. Mina thought.

Del frowned at Buck's words, but knew that he did smell a bit.

"Not my fault this guy was like a literal furnace beneath my blanket." He said as he got out of bed, but refused to let go of Mina's kitten.

Wait.

When he started for the bathroom with him still in his arms, Mina wrested control of his lion back and began struggling.

"Nope. You need a shower, too. If any of us smell, you're definitely the worst." Del said as he quickly shut the bathroom door, then let Mina's kitten drop to the floor in a heap of scrambling paws.

The second he managed to get his legs beneath him again, Mina turned toward the door and began clawing the piss out of it. He wanted nothing to do with Del, and especially nothing to do with seeing his anatomy again!

"You really are trying my patience already, Claws." Del said as he came up behind Mina and scruffed him with one hand, turning and lifting him high enough for him to see the man's frustrated scowl.

Let me go!

His thought accompanied flailing paws with claws that he tried to catch in Del's hand. The guy was smart, though, and remembered his habit for stabbing him with his tiny daggers.

Instead of drawing blood, Mina was tossed into the cold shower as Del laughed and slid the glass barrier closed before he could scramble out.

You are a monster!

"Maybe you'll learn to stay away from me from now on." Del said as he stood on the slightly raised ledge of the outer part of the shower and reached over the top.

Don't you even think about it. Mina thought as he backed up as far as he could to get away from the water.

Del's hand wrapped around the removable showerhead and tilted it at him with a dark grin. Mina scrambled around the small enclosed space, but couldn't get out of the spray for more than a second here or there. He slipped on the slick tile several times, too, earning himself a few bumps and bruises before the water finally stopped.

So cold.

He hunched over in the back corner as his tiny body shook from the frigid water and stress. His lion had finally relinquished control, but only because it wanted to stay warm. It even seemed like it was mad at him for making Del upset enough to spray them with cold water.

I hate you both so much. He thought as his body slowly returned back to his human form.

As soon as he could, Mina scooted further into the corner and brought his knees up to hug them closer. He knew that he should grab a towel and dry off his shaking body, but he didn't want to be any closer to Del.

He barely noticed that the guy had already left the bathroom, and didn't even look up until he heard the door open and someone walk in.

Buck?

The deer shifter's appearance was blurry through the frosted glass of the shower, but it didn't stop Mina from hissing when he got closer. At least his lion wasn't obsessed with him, too.

When the glass door slid open, he didn't even try to move. His muscles were beginning to ache from shivering so hard and he wanted nothing to do with Buck.

The moment a heavy towel settled over his head Mina finally made his body move enough to grab it and hold it tightly around himself. It was hot, as if it had just been sent through the dryer.

Del hadn't been gone long enough for Buck to know that he needed to warm up towels for me...

"I'm sorry, Mina." He said as he added a second towel and began gently drying his cold hair. "He told me what he was going to do before he did it. His mind was set, but that gave me the chance to at least warm up some towels for you." He said, making Mina sniffle and sink down into the towels.

That barely made up for the torture he'd just had to undergo. Buck seemed to be able to tell that he wasn't buying his terrible excuse, because the man gave a quiet chuckle and stood back up, then stepped aside to reveal something sitting on the sink counter.

Clothing?

"He figured that your lion might find him again, so we went and got you some clothing for when you shifted back. We weren't quite positive on your size, but they should at least be decently comfortable." He said before giving a dismissing nod and stepping out the door, closing it behind himself with a quiet click.

When he was sure that Buck wasn't coming back, Mina leaned his head back against the cold tile and sighed. He was grateful for the towels, but they didn't calm his erratic heartbeat or tamp down his fear of Del. The man might have thought that spraying him with the cold water was funny, but when he stretched that activity out for several minutes, it became torture.

Shivering again, he finally pushed himself up on shaky legs, wincing when he felt a few bruises throb uncomfortably on them. There was also one on his left cheek, but he ignored them all as he stepped out of the shower and slowly finished drying himself off.

When he let the cooled towels finally slide to the floor, his attention turned toward the sink. He briefly caught his reflection in the mirror and pursed his lips. His eyes had black streaks underneath them and the bruise on his cheek was starting to make itself known.

You need to get over him. He's going to kill us, even if it might be by accident. He told his kitten, who, for once, had no real rebuttal. It hadn't expected Del to do what he had, and it was very much not a fan of water.

Sighing, he looked down at the clothing they'd gotten him. He really didn't want to put it on, but he couldn't exactly walk out of the building butt naked. Shifting back to his lion was also not going to happen... even if he could do it intentionally.

Grabbing the pair of boxers, he unfolded them, shook them once, then tugged them on. The elastic in the waistband had them fitting snugly on his hips.  the pair of light grey sweatpants he noticed next did look comfy... He tugged the tag off and slid them on, grinning as the soft fabric warmed his chilled skin.

They were a bit long, but thankfully not to the point of tripping him. The shirt was last, and was white with a simple cartoon image of a grumpy lion cub on the front.

You would.

Rolling his eyes, he pulled it over his head and looked back in the mirror.

Not terrible.

After trying and failing to flatten his messy hair a bit, then relieving himself and washing his hands, Mina stepped out of the bathroom. He wasn't surprised to see Del sitting on the bed, but he was surprised to see that his hair was wet and he'd changed clothes.

He used a different shower?

His eyes lifted from the phone he'd been staring at to meet Mina's. They were cold, but their normal predatory gleam was dimmed.

Mina didn't expect an apology as they stared at each other, and he didn't get one.

When Del silently got up and slid his phone into his pocket, then headed for the door, Mina waited a few moments, then slowly followed. He kept a decent distance until they got to the elevator, then paused altogether.

Del stepped inside, then turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

Not happening.

Mina glared and took a step backward. He'd wait.

He saw anger flash in the man's dark eyes, but he seemed to reign it in, because instead of charging off of the elevator, which he was having to keep the doors open with the red stop button, he stepped closer to the side near the panel and gestured for him to stand on the other side with a nod of his head.

After a brief argument with himself, Mina slowly walked over the threshold and moved to the back corner, facing Del. He was still second guessing himself when the doors finally slid closed and Del turned to face him with his hands in his front pockets.

Several floors past before he finally spoke.

"Does that cat of yours hate me now?" He asked quietly.

Mina pursed his lips as he thought about it. He wanted it to hate him, more than anything, but it was just confused and a little wary.

"No."

Before he could do more than yelp from surprise, Del had pressed the emergency stop and was shoe to toe with him, his right hand lifting toward his bruised cheek as he leaned on his other arm against the sleek steel wall over his head. Their position might have seemed hot to someone reading a romance novel, but Mina would bet what little money he had left that the main lead in that story wouldn't be growing claws from his fingertips as his eyes flashed a golden-red.

Even his lion cowered back in his mind, leaving Mina trying hard not to shake as he felt Del's hand settle roughly against his cheek. The sharp claw on his thumb pressed just beneath his left eye, making Mina's breath hitch as he tried to lean further into the corner.

"You are a very frustrating inconvenience." Del growled, his beastly rumble easily coming through his human mouth.

With a shaky hand, Mina carefully but slowly reached behind his own neck and fumbled with the clasp on his collar. He still didn't quite understand how it worked, if it did at all, but the look in Del's eyes was definitely not a good one.

He's going to kill me.

His fingers became frantic when the man's lips pulled back slowly into a feral smile with sharpening teeth. Right as Del began to lean in closer, a low, echoing growl coming from his snarling mouth, Mina managed to finally break the clasp on his necklace. It dropped to the floor with a tiny clink from the bell.

He tried desperately to control his breathing as Del paused, likely because of the necklace randomly falling more than anything else, but then Mina noticed the changes begin to occur.

His teeth slowly started to retract at the same time his claws shrunk back. Mina felt his held breath slowly exhale as Del's eyes faded back to their normal hue.

Thank god. He thought as he slowly slid down the wall until he was sitting on the hard floor. He let his eyes close as he began focusing on calming himself down, but right as he was finally starting to relax a tiny bit, he felt a puff of warm breath brush against his face. The sound of several quick sniffs right afterward had his eyes opening quickly.

"Del?" He whispered, shrinking back a little as the man, who had silently crouched in front of him , leaned in closer and took a deep breath, undoubtedly drawing in his scent.

Mina licked his lips nervously and darted a glance around Del. The elevator was clearly no longer moving, but he couldn't just sit still while the guy did... whatever the hell he was planning to do.

With the rest of what remained of his determination, Mina darted to the left, ducking under Del's arm. He was surprised that he actually managed the action, but he wasn't even able to get both of his feet under him to stand up before he was spun around and his back was slammed down against the hard floor.

The impact made his head pulse with pain, but he was able to push back the few black dots that danced before his vision. Blinking a couple times, he saw Del's blurry image come back into focus. His beast was back in his eyes, but the aggression from before wasn't.

I don't understand.

Del actually looked a little confused, too, but that didn't stop him from pinning both of Mina's wrists to either side of his head with a quiet growl, then leaning down to claim his mouth.