Raccoon Six

The next couple of days flew by in a blur. Prince thankfully settled into apartment life much easier than King had thought he would. He was also gaining weight well and even began to get little bursts of energy where he would run around the living room like a crazy puppy for a few minutes here and there.

While they had settled in as unexpected roommates, King had been going over paperwork for his upgraded contract. It was quite a big deal, so he'd taken a few days to figure out the ins and outs of it.

He was basically going to be paid enough to easily manage his current finances and begin to start really saving. It was a dream... that was finally coming true. In fact, he'd signed the electronic papers last night, and now, with the confirmation email in his inbox, he was more than a little giddy for his streaming session later.

As Prince finished one of his little zooming sessions and wandered into the kitchen, panting quietly and eager for something to nibble on, King was already busy preparing their meal.

He'd been cooking quite a bit since Prince still needed to gain weight, and while he could technically still feed him pizza and junk food, he wanted to make sure that the little raccoon got the best that it could.

And besides, his mom had bought a crazy amount of stuff for them and he really disliked wasting food, or shirking her kindness. So, cooking it was!

I definitely prefer in game cooking to real life cooking, though.

In his game you just clicked a few buttons and had a bunch of food, but real life? He consistently spent at least an hour each night chopping food and preparing snacks for them. Even though he tried to make more than he thought they would eat that night, it never seemed to end up being enough.

Feeling a gentle tug on his pajama pants, King looked down with a smile.

"Hey there, P. Ran out of energy?" he asked as he reached down and handed the little guy a turkey, cheese, and lettuce wrap.

The little raccoon eagerly took the proffered item and sat down, chomping away at it right then and there.

King made one for himself after filling a small container with eight others. Leaning against the counter, he checked his social media account and grinned.

"I haven't posted on here since the day I found you. I probably should do another picture," he said as he quickly switched his phone to camera mode.

He thought about taking one with Prince, since the little guy was a part of his life now and that would definitely get him a lot of feedback, but he decided against it rather quickly.

He wouldn't take advantage of Baron like that. Especially since he had no way of consenting to such a thing.

"Just me this time," he said as he lifted the phone up and, after mussing up his hair just right, snapped a photo.

Okay, I look pretty darn good.

Turning the phone around and leaning over slightly, King smiled as Prince glanced up at him, done with his snack.

"Don't I look handsome, P? You found yourself a really cool dad."

The raccoon flicked an ear and tilted its head, then completely ignored the phone and stood up to tug on King's pants for another snack.

"...kids these days don't understand," he said, grinning at his stupid joke since he was more the kid than Baron.

Instead of handing him another lettuce wrap, King straightened back up and quickly typed out a little post for his picture.

Having noticed that the lettuce wraps were in the background of it, he decided to make a joke about it.

Late morning snack. Eating healthy... save me.

After attaching the photo, he posted it, then closed the app. He'd glance at responses later.

A little huff near his feet told him that someone was getting impatient for another snack.

"I hear you, I hear you," he said as he simply leaned over and picked up his little friend, then reached over and grabbed another wrap for him.

"Here you go, you impatient bum," he said with a chuckle as Prince eagerly accepted the item.

He then took another for himself before wandering into his room. Once there, he set Prince down on his bed, then finished off his own snack before changing clothes into a pair of running shorts and a T-shirt. It was a little cold outside for such an outfit, but it would warm up just fine after he ran a bit.

He should be fine alone for just a short run.

There were plenty of toys around and Prince normally napped after running around, anyways.

"I'm going to go on a quick run. I'll be back in less than an hour," he said as he reached over and pet Prince's fuzzy head.

The raccoon didn't seem interested in responding, so he figured that it was fine. It would be a good test to see how well he handled being alone for a bit.

Smiling, King took his leave and walked back into the living room. He was just pulling his shoes on by the door when he heard a loud squeak, then the scrambling of paws on the carpet.

Uh...

There was soon a little shaking ball of fur firmly locked around his right leg.

Okay... I guess running isn't going to happen just yet.

Leaning over, he carefully unwrapped Prince from around him, then lifted him up into his arms.

A walk should be fine, though.

"You want to come on a walk with me?" he asked as he unlocked the door and opened it, allowing a cool breeze to drift inside.

Prince didn't really seem to understand, but he clearly understood that he would be left if he didn't come, so he held onto King's shirt tightly as he chattered nervously.

"A walk it is."

Stepping outside, King locked the door, then headed down the steps, being extra careful that his bad leg didn't give him trouble since he was carrying a little added weight.

"No problem," he said happily once they were at the bottom of the steps.

Now then, which way to go.

He normally ran over the bridge, but considering his walking buddy today, he decided to turn right and head towards the park instead.

It took about fifteen minutes to get there, and thankfully by that time, Prince had calmed down quite a bit.

Standing on the corner, King lifted one leg at a time, bending them backwards a little to work out the pain the brisk walk had caused.

Not too bad.

He was just about to cross the street northward and continue past the park when he felt Prince tap a little paw against his chest.

"Yes sir, how may I be of assistance?" he joked playfully.

When Prince noticed that he had his attention, he quickly gestured toward the playground on the other side of the street.

"You want to go over there?" he asked, a bit surprised but not unwilling.

When Prince wiggled a little in his arms, then waved in that direction again, King smiled and turned.

"We can go over. There aren't many people anyways, so it should be fine."

The moment they began crossing the street towards the playground area Prince began wiggling and chattering. He made all sorts of excited noises right up until they came to a stop right next to the equipment.

Then he started to shake.

Hugging the little guy closer, King walked around the equipment, glad that there were no little kids running about right then.

"You wanted to come play, right? It's okay, you're allowed to," he said, trying to get him to relax again.

He even tried to set him down on the equipment but still hold one of his little hands, but the poor guy immediately screeched and scrambled up along his arm, scratching the whole way until he was able to get back against his chest!

Uh... I'm really confused.

Figuring that their particular adventure with the playground was over, King began walking away. Evidently, however, he'd guessed wrong. No sooner had he turned around and taken a few steps, that he suddenly began to hear Prince go through an entire repertoire of vocalizations fit to make him deaf!

Holy crap!

Turning around right away, King quickly jumped up onto the lowest metal platform and rocked Prince until he was able to calm him down.

"We came back. We're on the little playground, see?" he said several times until he noticed Prince finally look around again.

That's when he started shaking once more.

What is even going on?

"You wanted to go on the playground, right? But not alone? I'm here with you and I'm standing on it with you," he said, trying to keep him calm.

It took nearly five minutes before Prince was able to stop shaking, but King waited somewhat patiently the entire time. He wasn't good at standing still when he'd previously decided to move, so stopping on any of his walks or runs made him a bit fidgety.

Thankfully, though, his patience finally paid off and Prince began looking around curiously.

"It's fun up here, right? No one is here to bother us and we can climb around as much as we want," King said as he took a little step forward, but didn't ascend to the next platform yet.

Prince shook a little in response, but calmed down much faster than before.

"Look how fun," King said quietly as he turned around and took another step, then took another one before turning again in order to stay on the small platform.

"Do you want to go a little higher? I can carry you and we can play together," he said as he took another step, putting them back beside the next platform.

He watched Prince eye the higher area curiously, then waited nearly three more minutes before his little paw reached out to wave in that direction.

"Alright, ready to try it with me?" he asked as he slowly lifted one foot up and placed it on the coated metal.

He felt a little shiver in response from Prince, but soon the little guy was cooing and waving more, clearly eager to try and go higher.

"We got this, bud," King said excitedly as he finally took that step and lifted them a few inches higher.

The shaking began again, but this time there was also excited chittering and cooing.

"We're already so high up, see?" he said as they both looked over the ledge.

Granted, they weren't really that high up, and if he set Prince down, he wouldn't even come close to being as high as his counter at home, but in his arms? It was pretty high for the little guy.

"Want to go up again? We have two more steps before we get to the cool tunnel."

This time, Prince was ready with an excited squeak and wave of his paw.

"That's my sweet guy," King said cheerfully as they stepped up again, then one final time, putting them about four feet off the ground.

"Here we are, all the way at the top!" he exclaimed as he squeezed his raccoon, then turned to face the bright red tunnel.

It was a bit worn from age and use, but it still looked plenty sturdy to be able to hold his weight.

"Want to crawl through it with me? It looks like fun and I think there's a little set of monkey bars on the other side," King said as he sat down in front of the tunnel and settled Prince in his lap, giving the raccoon the option to choose what it wanted to do.

Seemingly feeling more secure in their situation now that they'd been on the equipment for a bit, Prince didn't hesitate for too long before he waved toward the tunnel, signaling that he'd like to go in.

"Want to try walking in yourself? I can be right beside you holding your hand if you'd like," King said, trying to help his little guy gain some more confidence.

He honestly didn't think that Prince was ready for such a big step, considering his previous nervousness, but when the little raccoon inched its way out of his lap and managed to stand on the little platform all on its own, King couldn't help but feel truly impressed.

"Look at you, sweetheart!" he exclaimed with a big smile as he slowly followed Prince as he inched his way into the big tunnel, looking back every single second to make sure that King was following him.

"I'm right here. I promise I'll be right behind you."

Prince managed to get through nearly half the tunnel's length before he finally ran out of determination and hurried back to him!

King, of course, quickly took his little outstretched hand, then squeezed it gently.

"You did so well, bud! Let me help you with the last half, okay?" he said cheerfully as they slowly continued together.

The moment that Prince stepped out onto the other side his energy seemed to skyrocket and he began spinning in circles, cooing and squeaking like a deranged dog toy!

Such an adorable little guy.

King sat at the exit to the tunnel and just let Prince have his little victory celebration. And boy did he celebrate!

I don't think I've seen you with so much energy before, normally you fall asleep after your little zooming sessions, but you're still going strong right now.

It wasn't until a solid four minutes had passed that Prince finally scurried back over to him and climbed into his lap.

"All done, sweetheart?" he asked before getting to his feet with his raccoon clinging to his shirt.

Ouch.

His leg was beginning to give him problems again, but that was no surprise since he'd just squat-walked all the way through that little kiddie tunnel.

Good exercise... probably gonna regret it later.

Hearing a little snort, King looked down at an expectant Prince.

"What was that for?" he asked right before Prince turned a little and pointed at the monkey bars they had wandered upon.

"You want to go on those, too?" he asked as he walked over and reached up to grab hold of a bar.

When Prince didn't try to move or reach for the bars in any way, King figured that this task was squarely set on his own shoulders.

"Alright, hang on tight, okay?"

He hadn't really been on a set of monkey bars since he was a little kid, but he was willing to give them a try. It was no surprise, however, that after his first few swings, his left arm began to burn with pain.

Pushing through, he managed to swing for a couple more bars before he was forced to let go and drop down to the ground. The landing jarred his bad leg, too, eventually bringing him to a sitting position as he hissed in pain.

Thankfully, Prince seemed to have settled down and was even nuzzling against his hair making a quiet purring sound. He didn't seem to mind that he couldn't complete the obstacle.

Sorry bud, just need a few moments.

Prince waited patiently, giving him enough time to finally unfurl his tense body and heave out a long sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that, P. I overdid it a bit," he said as he carefully got himself back to his feet.

Once he was finally standing straight again, Prince chattered quietly, earning a pat to his back as they began their slow walk back home.

He'd intended to talk to him along the way to keep his mind off of the pain radiating from his left side, but before they could even get to the street corner, his little friend was fast asleep, snuggled in against his chest without a care in the world.