He'd been right about it being a long night, but not for the exact reason he'd thought it would be.
I swear to god, cat!
The match was already half over but he'd fought tooth and nail to keep himself from getting killed over and over again!
"Isn't he Ren? Why is he trying to distract you during a match?" Ammo questioned as he blocked a sixth attack aimed at Grim's flailing character.
There's no way my Ian would distract me on purpose!
"He keeps trying to swat at my controller but when I switch to keyboard he smacks at the keys," Grim growled as he unleashed a massive barrage of magic attacks on their opponent's poor healer, removing him from existence and sending him back to his respawn point.
Ammo thankfully finished off their damage dealer, allowing them to both start attacking their pillar... and giving him a chance to toss Ian's frustrating cat across the room!
The fuzzy feline agilely soared through the air, easily rotating its body to land on all fours without a sound or sign of distress.
It then immediately ran right back to him and jumped into his lap, purring with excitement, evidently ready for another round of toss-a-kitty.
He ended up having to put his character on auto attack so that he could grab the cat again, but instead of tossing it a second time, he grabbed its big fuzzy front paws and lifted them up, forcing it to stop kneading its claws against his chest.
"Listen, you, I'm going to sell you! Fifty cents a pound," Grim grumbled as he shook Ian's left paw.
"Two dollars for this foot," he said, then shook the other. "And three for this one!"
Ian's cat happily purred, not minding the roughhousing in the least as it flicked its ears and whiskers constantly.
Grim flipped it onto its back in his lap and began tickling the shit out of its belly.
"You think you're so tough?! Think you can boss me around?!" he scolded as Ian's cat swatted at his hands and tried to bite his fingers, clearly enjoying their interaction.
Thankfully, he wasn't on a broadcasted voice chat or video right then, so the only person who could hear his angry cooing was Ammo.
"Bro, just get fucking married already, Jesus Christ," his friend groaned as the enemy's pillar fell and the match ended with their victory.
Grim frowned at his friend's words.
"I'm not marrying this heathen! He's been trying to eat me for the past hour!" Grim complained as he continued to try and subdue the feline that was happily wiggling about in his lap, overjoyed with all of the attention.
"He's your simp, of course he wants to eat you," Ammo said with a long sigh worked into his words, as if he were in disbelief that Grim couldn't understand such a simple thing.
Grim was about to tell him to go fuck off as he held Ian's cat up off of him, but when his view suddenly got a lot lower and the big cat slipped from his fingers, he blinked, confused.
Wait...
No.
Ian's cat's paws appeared on the edge of the chair a moment later, followed by its much larger head.
Grim felt his stomach twist into a tight, worried knot.
Be a good boy, Ren. I'm just going to lie here and play dead. Nothing to see here... or nibble on.
Except, of course, the cat couldn't hear him, and it seemed like Ian really was absent as it began to reach forward to tap at Grim's now-fuzzy head curiously.
When he felt that paw press against the top of his head, however, something Grim had never seen his opossum do before, happened.
Not only did it not play dead, but it actually raised its hackles and after a deep breath in, screamed at the top of its tiny little lungs before lunging right at Ian's poor startled cat!
Thus began a chase scene he never thought he'd see as his terrified possum ran around Ian's tiny apartment, screaming at his cat as if their animal's had suddenly been swapped and he'd become the predator!
Ian's poor cat scrambled and skidded on the carpet, then tile, then chair, trying its best to get away from the marsupial charging at him, but no matter where it ran, it couldn't seem to get away from the crazy thing.
They ended up running around for nearly fifteen minutes before Ian's cat finally turned around abruptly, then pounced!
Grim's possum couldn't respond in time, and as the cat landed on him, one paw pressing down on his face, his entire body suddenly seized up as he made a startled gasping sound, then he flopped over, completely still.
Now, with his confusing assailant evidently incapacitated, Ren-cat tilted its head and slowly removed its paw.
It circled his opossum a few times, its tail flicking curiously.
Nothing to eat here, just go ahead and curl up and go to bed...
Of course, things couldn't be that easy.
Soon Ian's cat was settled right up against him, a leg over his shoulder as he began cleaning Grim's poor possum's fur with its sandpaper tongue.
His shift had switched to screaming internally, giving Grim a headache as Ian's cat contently purred.
This is not how I wanted to spend my night...
And yet, that was exactly how he spent his night.
Yawning quietly, Grim stretched his body, surprised by how warm he felt.
My toes are cold, though...
He tried to adjust his body to get his feet under the blanket, but quickly realized that he was stuck.
Why can't I move my lower body much?
His arms and head weren't restrained, but it felt like there was something around his midsection...
Blinking open his eyes slowly, Grim moved his arms a bit, then furrowed his brow.
Didn't I sleep at Ian's last night?
His memory was a little fuzzy, but he could have sworn that he hadn't slept with anyone last night.
He moved his arm again so that he could press his hand against the soft hair he could feel against his wrist.
A quiet purr immediately started up, making him frown and finally look down.
Ian?
Not just Ian, however... naked Ian.
And naked Ian had his arms wrapped around his midsection.
Okay, what happened last night.
Instead of freaking out right away, he pursed his lips and thought back through his hazy memory.
So my possum went crazy, then, of course, played dead.
He glanced at his upper body, and was silently thankful that a blanket was mostly wrapped around his lower half.
Not very many bite marks. His cat must have behaved.
Now that he thought about it, he'd fallen asleep with Ian's cat grooming him. Glancing internally, he could sense his opossum's stress, but it was surprisingly asleep.
Sighing out his remaining worry, Grim closed his eyes again and began sifting his fingers through Ian's hair. He knew that he should be a little more nervous about being naked with an honestly-unfamiliar man hugging his chest, but before he could really let their situation sink in, his fingers brushed against something that had them freezing immediately.
I don't want to look...
Of course, his eyes didn't listen because they knew what they'd see. They were open within two seconds and looking downward, locked onto what his fingers had bumped against.
Take it off.
He immediately reached around to the back of Ian's head and grasped the clasp, but before he could undo it the man made a quiet humming sound, then moved to nuzzle against Grim's chest.
"Ian?" he questioned nervously, unsure if the man was truly waking up or just getting more comfortable.
When the guy didn't respond, Grim carefully undid the clasp on the back of the collar, then slid the item off.
Phew.
Not willing to risk it, though, he quickly pushed it under the pillow beneath his head.
There. I'll just grab it again and shove it in my pocket once I'm dressed.
With that situation taken care of, Grim grabbed his phone and turned the screen on.
Ah, we still have about an hour before we need to be up and getting ready.
He had an early morning class to teach and he knew that Ian worked an earlier shift at his job today.
Deciding to just let him sleep, since their situation would be awkward either way when he awoke, Grim began browsing on his phone, taking some time to answer important emails and check the news.
Eventually he finished what he intended and began to browse Facebook. That lead him to searching for Ian's profile, but to his surprise...
You don't have a Facebook?
He furrowed his brow and logged into his other social media accounts, but none showed any hint of the guy.
Reaching down with one hand, he brushed his fingers against Ian's hair a little.
"Not a computer guy, hmm?"
It made sense, now that he thought about it. Ian had to work so much, what time did he have to kill on social media?
Glancing over his shoulder, he noted Ian's old laptop.
Definitely not a tech guy.
That was fine with him, though. He liked having the nice new stuff, but he definitely wouldn't scrap his nice set up just to get the newest on the market. Ian, however...
He could use an upgrade.
Heck, even an old gaming PC would be better than Ian's current laptop.
Surprised he's so amazing at the game with that old thing.
Thinking about the game reminded him of Ammo, and without really thinking, he lifted his phone up and switched it to selfie mode.
He managed to catch himself right before he took the picture, though.
Not appropriate.
Especially since they were both naked... even though he definitely wouldn't take a photo of anything important.
Ian was also asleep, so he couldn't consent, anyways.
He was just about to set his phone down and close his eyes to rest for a bit longer when he felt it vibrate, signaling that he had a message.
Discord?
He was about to question who was awake so early to message him, but before the thought even finished, he knew who it was.
Ammo: Where's my cute pic? I know you took another picture of him!
He almost had...
Grim: Didn't do it. I'm a decent human being.
Ammo: ...
Grim: Fuck off. Why are you even awake right now?
Ammo sent him a screenshot of the game.
Ammo: To farm you this, you ungrateful slut.
Furrowing his brow, Grim reached up and moved his fingers on the screen to blow up the image a bit.
Wait a second...
Biting his tongue to keep from waking Ian, Grim covered his mouth and wiggled a bit.
He really got it!
Him and Ian and Ammo had been trying to get that item to drop for over a month!
Grim: How the hell did you get that?!
He zoomed back in on the photo, wanting to log in and accept the delivery from Ammo, but not wanting to wake up Ian early.
Ammo: Got lucky and saw it spawn while I was running to another area. I guess the people camping it weren't paying enough attention.
Enough attention my ass.
That darn dragon was camped twenty-four hours a day. There was no not paying attention with him because he dropped one of the best back pieces in the game.
It was also a three percent drop rate, so claiming it was only the first part. It also wasn't an easy kill, especially solo.
Grim: Fuck man, are you sure? I know you could use that, too.
Ammo: Consider it a late birthday present, hun.
Grim felt his heart squeeze in his chest.
As much shit as they gave each other, he really did appreciate Ammo so much. The guy must really like him, too, because he put up with his shit and evidently camped a monster that was nearly impossible to claim, let alone get lucky enough to get the drop from.
And to give that drop away?
Grim: Thank you, man. I really appreciate it.
He really did.
Ammo: You're welcome. Enjoy the rest of your morning with your man. I'm jealous.
Grim raised an eyebrow at that as he saw Ammo go offline before he could come up with a response.
His attention was taken soon after he clicked his phone screen off, too, because now Ian was beginning to wake up, and his adorable little yawn made Grim want to grab his cheeks and ask him why he thought it was okay to be so cute as a guy!
What he did instead, however, was rustle his hair until the man slowly looked up at him.
That sleepy face...
"My friend wants to see a picture of my beautiful husband... is it okay?" he asked before quickly editing his statement.
"I-I mean once you're dressed, of course!"
The fuck did I just stutter for?!
"A picture?" Ian questioned quietly, still clearly waking up.
Grim nodded.
"Ammo thinks you're cute and asked if he could have a picture," Grim said, not daring to say that he'd already shown him what he looked like before.
The light blush he saw come to light on Ian's cheeks made Grim's eyebrow twitch slightly, but he managed to stop it before it was likely noticed.
"He's your friend. Of course he can have a picture," Ian replied with a smile as he finally removed his arms from around Grim's waist and sat up, rubbing at one eye.
It was no surprise that he agreed. He'd played with Ammo some, but their schedules tended to be opposites... which worked perfectly for him.
Another yawn followed a content moment of silence, along with a bit of blinking to clear his vision.
It was too fucking cute.
"We'll do the picture later. Go get ready for work," Grim said as he got himself up, but kept the blanket wrapped around his important bits.
That's when Ian seemed to realize that they were both naked and turned a bright red color as he looked down at himself, then back up at Grim, clearly confused.
"Your cat came out again last night, and my opossum decided to join him. Nothing else happened," he said, lying slightly but not really feeling a need to explain everything in detail. Nothing important happened so he wouldn't waste his words stressing the poor guy further.
Ian took a moment to process his words, then nodded as he slowly got to his feet.
"O-okay. I'm sorry if he caused any problems, though," he replied before quickly doing as told and heading towards the bathroom to get ready.
Grim would have been lying like hell if he said that he hadn't watched him walk away until he was completely out of sight.
Still no ass... even without clothing on.
Even as he thought that, he looked down at his phone, his thumb hovering over his Discord app.
Ammo would take great care of you...
Sighing, he turned off his phone screen and rubbed at his face.
Perhaps it was time to finally meet him face to face.
He knew that the guy was a sweetheart from having played with him for over a year, having met him right after his wife passed away, but he wasn't sure about his own situation right then.
Ian isn't even mine, but I don't want to give him to someone else, either.
Grabbing the collar from beneath the pillow, he slid it into his pocket as he tugged on his clothing, as well as Ian's shirt he'd borrowed, then got busy using what they'd bought yesterday to make them some nice lunches.
I'll talk to him later.
Even if he decided against introducing him to Ian directly, he was still worried about how Ammo had been acting recently. He wasn't a mushy guy and he rarely gave a shit about anyone, but he didn't want his friend to suffer alone if he was getting depressed.