Raccoon Thirteen

(Still working on Crow but this one keeps sneaking in between XD)

"All set?" King asked as he turned at hearing Baron's footsteps approaching from the hallway.

The man appeared a few minutes later, but King immediately knew that something wasn't quite right.

Rexy... you brat.

Walking over to the clearly uncomfortable man, King gently took his hand and led him back into the warm bathroom. He could have told him that he'd already warned him about Rexy bossing him around, but the guy clearly didn't need to be poked at. Thus, he simply had him sit down on the closed toilet seat and grabbed a clean, soft towel.

"He really likes it when my hair is wet," Baron said after a minute of awkward silence.

His words had King smiling as he continued to work on drying the guy's surprisingly thick, soft hair.

"He does, but there's a time and place for everything, and I'm not letting you go out with wet hair with how cold it is outside," King said firmly but gently.

His tone drew the man's attention as he looked up at him, then, thankfully, returned his smile with a cautious one of his own.

"You're very sweet."

King's hands paused abruptly as the towel stilled in Baron's hair.

I-I...

He was going to argue that he wasn't really sweet to most people, but then bit his tongue. Saying that he was only sweet to Baron wouldn't help their delicate situation.

Instead, he thought for a moment, then gave him a toothy grin as he abruptly mussed up his hair enough to make the man quickly but carefully swat at the towel!

King gave out a playful laugh as he jumped back just in time to avoid getting swatted, himself, though his actions still earned him a much deserved look through Baron's now-messy bangs.

I wish I could take a picture of him right now...

That thought distracted him just long enough for Baron to score the upper hand and, before King could do a single thing about it, he was lifted up like a three year old and nearly smacked his head on the ceiling before Baron settled him in his arms.

I'm going to die.

His heart was beating so fast!

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts again that he didn't even realize that he was being carried until he was unceremoniously dropped onto the sofa with a surprised squeak!

His hands immediately moved to cover his burning face as he heard Baron laughing so loud that his ribs were likely to hurt very soon if he didn't calm down.

While he was embarrassed from constantly being distracted, King couldn't help but move the fingers covering his right eye just enough to allow him to peek at the other man.

As he'd expected, Baron was nearly doubled over, holding his belly as he began to calm his laughter a bit.

I... made him laugh like that?

No longer minding his embarrassment much, King slowly pushed himself up, then leaned against the arm of the chair and rested his head against his hand.

He waited patiently with an intrigued look on his face until Baron was finally able to straighten and wipe the tears from his eyes. That's when the man noticed him watching and gave him the cutest smile.

"Sorry, are you okay? I got a little carried away. I'm not used to my raccoon being able to control me so easily."

Ah, that actually makes sense now.

He had been pretty shocked when Baron had picked him up, but if Prince was influencing him then it made perfect sense.

Leaning forward, King settled his arms on his knees and returned his smile.

"That's alright, I know he loves being tossed onto the bed, so he probably just wanted to simulate that for me," King said, chuckling a little at how the situation had actually played out, though.

Baron nodded sheepishly as he rustled his hair, the blush King had expected to eventually show up finally coloring his cheeks.

"Ready to head out? I'm starving," King said as he finally got up and walked over to take Baron's hand without a second thought.

He was about to pull him right out the door when he realized something and took a quick detour to the couple of coats hanging up nearby.

After only a moment of consideration, he took down a light brown puffy coat and helped Baron into it, even though the man clearly didn't need the assistance.

Once that was done, King opened the door, only to have a coat abruptly settled on top of his head!

He quickly wrestled it down into his arms and was about to say that he wouldn't have a problem with the temperature outside, but the look on Baron's face told him to just put it on.

Okay, okay.

Sliding his arms into the coat, King adjusted his long-sleeved shirt within it, but froze mid-reach towards the door handle when Baron reached forward and zipped up his coat for him, then even pulled the little turtleneck part together and sealed it with the intended Velcro, leaving only King's wide eyes visible.

He was about to tell the guy that he didn't need to bundle up this much, but he bit his tongue again as Baron leaned forward and pulled the door open and a rush of chilly air rushed into his apartment!

Holy crap, it wasn't this cold yesterday!

"There's a cold front moving in," Baron said as he took King's hand and tugged him outside, giving him just enough time to lock the door before leading him down the stairs.

The guy wasn't kidding! It felt like it was getting close to freezing outside, and in the middle of the day, too!

Not wanting to be outside any longer than necessary, King quickly unlocked his car and slid in as Baron got in on the passenger's side. It wasn't nearly as nice as his mother's, or as new, but it got him from point A to point B and had been reliable, so that was all that mattered to him.

Baron only glanced around the inside for a moment before fastening his seatbelt and turning his attention to their surroundings.

"Want to just go to the mall? There's a grocery store nearby, so we can grab food after we get some gifts?" King said as he got his car pulled out onto the road.

Baron turned his head to look at him, but King couldn't look at his expression while driving. He was a very cautious driver, though he didn't go super slow or anything, but just needed to focus a little more than most.

"Presents? I thought we were just getting something small for my daughter?" he asked, confused.

King was silent for a minute but he couldn't hide his grin as they turned into the massive mall parking lot.

"It's your birthday, Baron," he finally said as they found a pretty good spot and hopped out.

Of course, Baron quickly met him at the back of the car and began walking in step with him.

"But I don't need anything. I don't even celebrate my birthday."

He had no doubt about that considering how his wife apparently treated him, but...

Reaching over, King hooked an arm around one of Baron's as he tugged the guy forward a bit faster than they had been walking, forcing him to hurry along or risk being dragged.

"Well I celebrate birthdays, and since it's yours, we're going to go have a bit of fun and find some things that you want, not need," King said as he looked over his shoulder at the exact time a strong gust of wind rustled his dark hair.

The sensation of warmth he felt from Baron's mind at that moment made him truly feel like what he was doing with their situation was right. He'd been right to take Prince home, and he'd been right to give Baron a chance.

"Wh-what's that look for?" Baron mumbled as he lifted the fabric of his own borrowed jacket up to cover up to his cute nose as they stepped through the automatic doors.

King unzipped his jacket since it was warmer inside, then suddenly stepped in front of Baron and grabbed his other hand, forcing him to stop in front of him.

"It's for you! Now, what do you want to eat?" he asked as he turned a little and pointed at the big sign they'd stopped in front of that listened all of the stores in the mall, including the food court.

It's been a while since I've been here but man, the Chinese is so good, and the burger place. The pizza was great, too...

A light chuckle drew his attention to Baron as the man stepped up beside him.

"What about here?" he asked as he raised his hand and tapped a finger against an unfamiliar restaurant.

Vietnamese and Thai?

He'd never had either, but he wasn't going to argue.

"Sure! Let's go there," he said cheerfully as he began tugging Baron towards the food court, only for the man to quickly overtake his long strides with measured ones of his own until, somehow, he was leading him by the slightest margin.

I'm... really not used to someone having legs as long as mine.

Of course, that didn't mean that Baron was going to win!

King quickly sped up, nearly having to jog a little to overtake the man's pace, only for Baron to speed up again with a slight smirk on his handsome face!

You!

King tried to speed up again, then again, but no matter the pace he set, Baron easily surpassed it by just enough to make his competitive side itch!

By the time they finally got to the food court both of them were panting quietly and while Baron was simply grinning, King was frazzled and trying not to blush as he worked on catching his breath.

A faint squeeze to his hand was the only notice he got before Baron started walking again, but instead of competing, King allowed himself to be led along like a tired puppy that had finally given up trying to nip at his new leash.

When they stopped a minute later, he looked up, in a bit of a daze.

He quickly realized that he didn't know any of the dishes he was seeing on the menu. Even the seasoning on their descriptions was lost on him.

I have no idea what to get...

To his surprise, Baron stepped forward and easily ordered himself a meal and a few sides, then had King pay before he could even process what was going on. Then, not a moment later, he was being led away.

"H-huh? W-wait your food?" King stuttered, confused.

Baron slowed to a stop in between the pizza restaurant and the Chinese one, then looked at him with a gentle smile.

"They said it will take a few minutes to make. Why don't you get something you'd like?"

But, don't you want us to order from the same place? You wanted to go there...

Baron lifted his free hand and settled it atop King's hair, then rustled it gently.

"I wanted to go there and I got what I wanted. I don't want you to get something you might not like, though. I got a few extra small dishes and you're welcome to try any that you'd like, but I want you to get what you know you'll enjoy eating."

King pursed his lips but didn't argue. After glancing between the Chinese and pizza place a few times, he went with the simpler option: Pizza.

Soon they both had their meals and a table in a quieter part of the sitting area. King easily downed one slice of his pineapple and mushroom pizza, but then his curiosity began to set it as his stomach settled a bit.

The first thing he tried was a shrimp spring roll. It had come with a dipping sauce, but he found that he preferred it without. It had been simple and a bit familiar, since he did eat Japanese food sometimes, but the next item he looked at was definitely not something he'd come close to eating before.

It looks like an egg pancake...

"It's a rice flour pancake with pork, chives, and turmeric," Baron said as he cut a small piece from the pancake and offered it to King with his fork.

"Want to try?"

I have no idea what turmeric is.

That didn't stop him, though.

Leaning forward, King took the small piece of pancake from the fork with his teeth, then cautiously chewed it.

Uh...

It wasn't bad, but he wasn't sure if it was good, either.

"Here," Baron said as he reached across and pressed a napkin to King's lower lip.

"I won't be upset if you spit it out."

His mom would have definitely been upset, but since she wasn't there, he gratefully accepted the napkin and spit out the strange-tasting pancake, then washed away the flavor with a sip of his soda.

He wasn't deterred, however, and quickly leaned closer to another dish, earning a light bit of laughter from Baron as he nudged it towards him.

"Those are fried mung bean and sesame balls. Definitely a different taste than the pancake."

Reassured that it would at least be different, King took one of the little balls, then popped the whole thing into his mouth.

Oh.

This one was great!

"We have a winner, hmm?" Baron said as he nudged the plate closer to King.

"Help yourself, hun."

King didn't argue and gladly devoured another yummy ball of goodness. He nearly ate the entire plate of them before he managed to catch himself right as he was reaching for the last treat.

He quickly nudged the plate back to its original spot closer to Baron, then picked up his other slice of pizza and used it to fill his mouth.

I can't believe I ate all of his bean things.

They had tasted so good that he'd just eaten them like mini donuts!

"Don't worry about it. I liked watching you enjoy something new," Baron said as he lifted a spoonful of soup to his mouth.

King watched him a few times as he finished off his pizza.

I think that's papaya and I know I don't like papaya, but it smells good...

"Want to try?" Baron asked with a knowing smile that made his dark eyes shine softly.

"It's cooked papaya, fish sauce, ginger, spinach, and a few other odds and ends."

That still didn't sound that great, but he really did want to try it!

"Want me to go get you a spoon?" Baron asked, looking like he was about to get up and go get one either way.

"I-I can just use yours if you don't mind," King said without a second thought. When his mind was focused on food, that was all he saw.

Baron didn't seem to mind, so he simply dipped his spoon back into his soup, then lifted it towards King's lips. It was accepted immediately, even though King still had his doubts on the flavor.

Oh my gosh!

He could still definitely taste the papaya, but as Baron leaned away, taking his empty spoon with him, King couldn't help but lick his lips in between chewing.

The bowl soon found its way into his hands and, without thinking, King downed the remainder of the soup in seconds.

So good!

Once it was completely empty and back on the table King finally realized what he'd done and blushed.

"I-I'm sorry, I've been eating all your food," he stuttered, embarrassed.

Baron didn't seem to mind at all, however, as he was all smiles while cleaning up their dishes to return.

"It's totally fine. I got more than enough to eat and I'm glad you enjoyed some new things with me."

Oh...

Unsure what to say, he helped Baron clean up, then went back to the restaurant Baron had ordered from and got himself another two orders of the fried mung bean treats.

They were hot and absolutely delicious so, of course, he made sure that Baron actually got several this time around as they finally began their walk through the mall.

Hmm, he definitely needs some of his own clothes, so that should probably be our first stop.

Thinking back to what the man had in his suitcase, King deduced that he wouldn't want anything formal. At least not right away. Sneaking a few glances at the man walking beside him nibbling at a mung bean bun, he couldn't help but think that he could just keep borrowing his clothes forever, because he looked really good in them, but that clearly wasn't plausible.

"How about here?" he asked as he took the man's free hand in order to get him to slow down in front of the shop to their left.

Baron finished his treat and licked the tips of his fingers as he stopped, then turned.

King felt a nervous hint of emotion come from the man, but then it seemed to mellow out.

"Am I not a little too old for this kind of clothing?" Baron asked after a moment of silence.

King tilted his head, eyeing the man from head to toe again.

Definitely not too old for it.

"You're only thirty-err, thirty-one, and you have a great body. You'll definitely look good in this stuff," he said honestly, making Baron raise an eyebrow at him before he returned his attention to the shop in front of them, then awkwardly took a step forward.

Thankfully, there were was a decent range of people shopping inside, further placating Baron's worries as he slowly began sorting through racks of shirts.

Since he seemed pretty focused on what he was currently doing, King let him be and wandered over to a display for pants.

Hmm, he's wearing mine right now, but they might be a tiny bit too small once he's back to his normal weight.

He grabbed a size up for each color of cargo pants he was looking at, then went over to a display for jeans. Two pairs of those were added to his arms before he realized that they'd need a cart.

"Here, I got this for us," Baron said, drawing King's attention over his shoulder as he turned to see the little shopping cart the man had found.

"Ah, perfect!" he said as he gladly relieved his arms of the weight of the clothing, then quickly tossed in a few more pairs of pants.

"Planning a wardrobe change?" Baron joked as he held up one of the pairs King had chosen.

He only put two items in for himself.

One pair of pants and one long-sleeved shirt.

He glanced up at Baron with an eyebrow raised.

"Wh-what? Is it too much?" the man asked, completely serious.

Is it too much, he says.

The guy had thousands in his account right now and King had heard his phone beeping every other hour, which was a notification letting him know that money was still being added to Baron's account he'd made.

Not that he was going to let him pay for a single thing to begin with...

With a blank face King turned and grabbed more stuff, then took hold of the end of the cart with one hand as he grabbed Baron's with his other. He then proceeded to tug the man along as he put item after item into the cart until it was a literal fabric tower on wheels!

By the time they finally stopped next to the changing rooms, Baron's face was bright red.

"Alright, time to try some stuff on. It doesn't matter which color you choose as long as you grab one of each kind to make sure they fit correctly," King said as he quickly pulled out seven different pairs of pants, four shirts, and four pairs of shorts.

Baron nearly disappeared under the mountain of clothing he shoved into his arms!

Thank god they don't have a limit on what you can try on here.

He could sense Baron's emotions jumping all over the place, but the guy wisely decided not to bother trying to argue and silently went into the open stall.

King followed him halfway in before he realized what he was doing and quickly took a step backward.

"Um, just let me know if you need a second opinion or any help," he said quickly.

Soon after the door was shut and he nervously wandered back to their cart a few paces away, then started chewing on a nail. He could sense Baron considering each item, but time after time, the man refused to step out wearing anything.

Pursing his lips in a pout, King leaned on the cart and sighed out his nose.

I just wanna see one thing, at least...

He knew that he was being a brat, which was why he wasn't saying anything out loud. He just... might have had ideas in his head about Baron asking for his opinion since it had been so long since he'd gotten new clothes.

Nudging the toe of one sneaker against the carpet, King continued to pout until he heard the door to the dressing room inch open, immediately stealing his attention and making his face light up as he saw Baron peeking out from behind it.

"U-um, could you see if this outfit looks good? It's the only one I'm not sure about," the man asked quietly.

Yes!

King cleared his throat and hurried over.

"Of course. Let me see," he said calmly as he stepped into the dressing room, then gently slid the door closed.

When he finally turned around again, he couldn't help but lift a hand to his lips to keep his smile hidden.

He's so handsome and cute!

The guy was wearing a pair of dark blue boot cut jeans that hugged his hips perfectly without being too tight or too loose. They didn't quite match the shoes he was wearing at the moment, but that was something he intended to solve next anyways.

Lifting his gaze, King didn't skip a single inch of the man's body until his eyes finally landed on the shirt he was wearing.

Oh.

Now he couldn't hide his smile any longer.

Stepping forward, he deftly undid the mismatched buttons on the striped plaid shirt, then just as easily buttoned them all back up. Once done, he took a step back and grinned contently.

"Looks perfect," he said honestly, then turned to see that Baron had already sorted out the remainder of the clothing.

Looks like most of it fits, good.

"Alright, if that's the last one go ahead and change back to what you were wearing and I'll pay, then we can go get you some new shoes," King said as he stepped out and quietly closed the door.

He was all smiles when Baron finally came out and happily paid for everything that fit before they grabbed their bags and headed toward the shoe store.

Baron seemed a bit more nervous in that place, making King question him about what brands he liked. The answer he got wasn't a surprise anymore.

"if you haven't picked out your own shoes in years, do you remember what used to be comfortable?" he asked as they walked through the aisles after having set their bags down nearby in view.

The man shook his head, looking quite embarrassed.

"Okay, well, no problem. Do you like the ones you're borrowing from me right now?"

Baron looked down, then nodded a little.

"Okay, those are Puma, they're over here," he said as he took Baron's hand and tugged him along.

He was soon pulling boxes off the shelf in all different colors as Baron hurried to try each shoe on. When they started, the man's expression hadn't been all that favorable, but the longer they spent in the store, the more he got into trying out shoes.

"These ones would look really good on you," Baron said as he pulled a bright blue and pink pair of shoes off the shelf and proudly showed them to King.

Those aren't bad...

With a smile he gladly took the box, then nudged his own shoes off before sliding on the new ones.

Oh, I really like these.

He quickly decided that he was getting them and slid his old shoes into the box they'd come in so that he could wear them out.

"They're comfortable, right?" Baron said as he slid on the same color pair with a content smile.

They look really good on him, too.

"Okay, so we're definitely getting these. How about those, too?" King said as he pointed at the two boxes of shoes Baron had also liked.

"They're running a buy one get one half off, so we can get four."

Baron nodded, not willing to argue that he was getting three pairs to King's one. He simply gathered the three that he wanted, then added King's box to his stack before they headed to the check-out desk, grabbing some socks along the way.

Once they finished with that they returned to his car to put their stuff in the trunk before going back inside. He could tell that Baron was running out of steam, however, so they didn't dawdle as they made their way to the children's store at the end of the mall.

Once inside Baron immediately began looking through things, clearly focused on finding something that his daughter would like.

King could sense his enthusiasm and overall determination and smiled, but then glanced to the side as a bright neon sign caught his attention.

Ah...

"Hey B, I'm gonna go next door for a minute. I'll be right back!"

Baron looked up and nodded, then returned to his task, leaving King to hurry to the other store. It was thankfully not busy and he was helped immediately, making it easy for him to get what he needed done before Baron was finished.

By the time he'd returned to the other store Baron had picked out some little things for his daughter.

Ah, that's a cute coat.

There were also little unicorn socks and a small rainbow bracelet.

"Those look good!" King said as he gladly paid for the items, then handed the bag to Baron.

"We'll mail them out on our way home," he said as they finally headed out of the mall.

It was still chilly outside, but not enough to warrant zipping his jacket up again.

"Oh yeah, this is for you. Happy birthday, Baron," he said with a smile as he stopped on the sidewalk and handed the man the small bag he'd been carrying.

Baron seemed a little surprised, since they'd already bought so much, but he sincerely thanked him and took out the small rectangular box inside.

He could immediately feel a bunch of emotions come from the man when he realized what it was, but the most prevalent one was panic. While he didn't understand, King still reached out and gently pat Baron's soft hair.

"No one knows the number to this phone but me, and no one else has to know it if you don't want them to. I just wanted to make sure that I'd be able to contact you in case we can't be together at some point," he said honestly, hoping to calm him down a little.

The man took a few moments before he seemed to come around, his emotions relaxing enough to release him from his worry and finally look up to meet his eyes.

King wasn't sure what he expected to happen next, but when Baron slid the phone back into the bag, then stepped forward and wrapped him in a tight hug, he couldn't have possibly hoped for a better outcome.

The man was silent the entire time, but that was perfectly fine. And when he finally leaned away again, King couldn't help but rustle his beautiful hair a bit.

"I think I'm about ready for a nap. Wanna hit the post office, then go home for some rest before we call your daughter later?"

Baron didn't hesitate to agree with a few nods.

"That sounds great, and thank you so much for taking me out today."

King was about to respond that it was no problem at all, but his words got stuck on the tip of his tongue as he noticed something behind Baron's eyes.

He'd seen Prince looking out at him a few times since he'd known the man, but those eyes...

Hey there, sweet Rexy. You're helping Prince take care of B, huh?

No wonder the man's previous panic hadn't compounded into something worse.

The light behind the man's eyes flickered slightly, then faded, making King grin as his otter retreated to likely wander about the man's mind as it normally did.

"You're very welcome."

They were quiet for the remainder of their walk, then the drive to the post office. By then it was pretty obvious that Baron was really sleepy, so they quickly got their package shipped to his sweet daughter, then got home just in time for King to get him to his bed before he passed out completely.

Phew.

He honestly wasn't really tired, but he knew that Baron was still recovering from his personal struggles and would need a lot of rest. That's why he'd suggested going home for a nap.

Hmm, what to do...

He knew that he couldn't game with the guy sleeping right next to him, so in the end he simply decided to settle on a spare blanket on the floor and mess around on his muted phone until he, too, unintentionally, fell asleep.