Clean. Need to clean...

Ranger's cat had seemingly been in control for a while as it continued its normal morning grooming session. He habitually licked his arms, shoulders, and sometimes his hands and the upper part of his chest a few times a week in the morning before his human side came around to halt the embarrassing behavior.

His rough, sandpaper-like tongue was hard at work cleaning warm skin. For some reason, what was beneath it kept moving and shifting as if this was the first time he'd cleaned himself. It was odd, but his mind was too foggy trying to wake up to notice anything off.

"Let's not go lower," came a voice beside and slightly beneath him, its sound rumbling from beneath his traveling tongue. "At least not until you're fully awake."

What?

Ranger tried to wrestle his cat back, but it adamantly refused to stop its task. It never let him stop its grooming sessions. It was one of the rare times that it could hold back his human form for any decent amount of time.

Frustrated, Ranger tried to at least open his eyes, but he had no luck as he felt his body scoot upward a bit, then tilt his head to lick at something that had to be near where his pillows were, but it sure as hell wasn't himself.

Wait a minute. Last night, Heian stayed over...

"I'm sorry, Kit. I can tell that you're not in control of this, but I've already tried to stop him twice. You've got some nice teeth, even without your beautiful cat's larger ones. It seems like he's determined to lick me clean from head to toe. I stopped him from going too low, though," came Heian's response to his thought.

Kill me now.

He felt fingers sift through his hair as a deep chuckle reverberated through his hands where they rested on different parts of Heian's body, as well as a small portion of his upper chest.

"I would say that I'll pay you back to make this right, but I'm not really sure what else I can help you with besides perhaps some more work and maybe cooking dinner?" Heian offered, making Ranger want to nip his nose.

It isn't your fault. I should have remembered that this happens often.

Heian was silent for a short time before he replied honestly.

"Well, I can't say that I'm upset that you forgot. I only feel bad because this isn't really you doing it."

You would be okay with this if it was me? Ranger asked, incredulity and disbelief mixed into the thought.

"Absolutely, and I'd lick you back, too."

Ranger wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he remained silent until, finally, he felt his body relax against Heian's and slowly opened his blurry eyes. He could feel the man still sifting his fingers through his hair, but he didn't mind. It actually helped him clear his head to have some sort of tactile stimulation to focus on.

"Sorry," Ranger finally whispered as he noticed the large swaths of red across Heian's chest and upper abdomen. His cat had clearly been having a good time with a new target to groom.

He felt a few pats to the top of his head before Heian's arms wrapped around him and squeezed gently.

"It was a surprise, and I never imagined that I'd one day feel the equivalent of rubbing sandpaper all over my upper body as a wake up call, but I can't say that I'm upset about it," Heian said as Ranger tilted his head to look up at the man.

He felt his cat stir beneath the surface at seeing the man's face whom he shared a bed with all night, but like hell he'd let it take control again. With his luck it would probably shred both of their pairs of pants and then do several kinds of physical education activities that weren't taught in gym class.

"I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to any kind of activity with you, with or without pants, but your stomach has been growling quite loudly for a while now. If it would be alright, may I borrow your kitchen to make some very late breakfast for us?" Heian asked as he carefully sat them both up, making Ranger quickly roll off of him or risk having his left hand slip too far south.

"Sure," he mumbled as he hurried out of the bed and made his way down the hall.

He quickly relieved himself, washed his hands, then scrubbed his face. Once done, he let Heian have a turn as he headed toward his brother's room. He knew that he'd been using the guest one downstairs, but he could sense that he was upstairs, now.

Guess they finally switched rooms.

He started opening the door as he began speaking, "hey bro, why didn't you wa—" his words were cut off by a quiet, yet ferocious growl as he saw Marsh's eyes and teeth flash in the faint light allowed in from the window in the hallway. The guy was partially on top of his brother, his body already forming a crouch, anticipating a need to attack, yet being careful enough not to wake Walker.

And that answers why you didn't wake me up before I started preening our neighbor. Got it.

He quickly but silently closed the door, then awkwardly walked downstairs. Without realizing it, he began pacing near the table, unsure if he was supposed to help, or just sit, or go outside and start chores... or why the hell were his brother and Marsh sleeping in the same bed again?

"Kit."

Hearing the nickname, Ranger stopped walking in circles and looked up just in time for a soft towel to gently start patting his damp face and hair.

"I think you forgot to dry yourself off a bit," Heian said as he made quick work of the few patches of moisture on his face. Ranger mumbled something incoherent in response as his eyes looked over Heian's upper body.

My cat really did a number on him. Even his face is red on the left side.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," Heian said as he handed Ranger the small hand towel to finish drying himself, then walked past him into the kitchen.

"Is there anything I shouldn't use in here?" he asked as he opened the refrigerator and looked around.

It was odd seeing the man in his kitchen, but he didn't hate it.

"You can have whatever you want," he eventually said, making Heian straighten and raise an eyebrow with a stare that made Ranger's face heat up.

He quickly turned and went to sit down on the couch, tucking his feet beneath him before turning on the television to just have something to focus on that wasn't the man beginning to cook in his kitchen.

After about five minutes, he couldn't seem to calm his mind and hopped off the couch to head back upstairs.

Taking a shower.

He figured that the guy would probably hear the words, and he really didn't feel like talking with how much of a mess his emotions were at that moment.

After grabbing a change of clothing from his room, he went into the bathroom and got the water started. It was closer to evening than morning, so thankfully the hot water tank didn't struggle too much to warm up the shower.

Heian's was instant, and a little startling.

The random thought made him shrug as he stepped under the spray and got busy cleaning himself. He wasn't one for long showers since they rarely had enough hot water, so after about seven minutes, he was ready to step out... except that he'd forgotten to restock the regular towels in the bathroom and Heian had grabbed the last hand towel.

Crap. Walker? Walker, wake up!

When his brother didn't respond, he leaned sideways against the cold tile wall and sighed as he yanked the curtain closed again.

I'm not gonna do it. I'm not asking Heian to bring me a towel from the laundry room. I'm not.

After a few moments of contemplation, he stepped out of the shower and carefully inched open the door. The smell of sausage and bacon cooking brought saliva to his mouth, but now wasn't the time to be drooling over meat.

He's cooking. Just go grab one from your room. Reusing one once won't kill you.

Without letting himself hesitate, he licked his lips, then bolted from the room... only to suddenly have a huge, warm towel suddenly wrapped around his middle, as well as a set of familiar arms. The momentum he'd had made him swing, but Heian easily managed his weight before softly sitting him back down on his feet after a slight spin in the air.

"You..." Ranger stuttered out, shocked and confused.

Heian finished tucking the towel in around Ranger's waist before leaning back with a warm smile.

"I could hear your thoughts, but I remembered that when I'd grabbed that hand towel before that it was the only one in there. When you said you were going up to take a shower, I found the clean ones sitting on top of the drying and threw one in it to warm it up for when you got out."

He was speechless.

"Breakfast will be done in just a few moments. I made bacon, sausage, eggs and pancakes from scratch since I couldn't find a mix. If there's anything else you'd li—" Ranger pressed his lips hard against Heian's as his hands grabbed two fistfuls of the man's perfect, soft hair and yanked him closer.

He felt Heian's hands settle on his waist as things got more heated, but he ignored them as he focused on fighting his mouth for dominance.

Well, he ignored them until he felt one move over the towel, then suddenly grab his backside. He broke them apart with a surprised yelp, the action making Heian release him with an impish grin.

"Sorry, sorry. I was, uh, just checking for a tail. I thought that your cat might have snuck in there," Heian said with a tone that screamed, I totally just wanted to squeeze your butt.

Ranger bristled, but he wasn't mad at the guy's words, but at himself, because he knew that his cat hadn't pushed any part of that.

Sending the man a deep warning growl as he walked by him toward the stairs, he got about three steps down before Heian spoke.

"I absolutely don't mind if you dine with me in just a towel, but you might, perhaps, want to put on some clothing?"

He was going to scream.

Spinning around, Ranger stomped back up the stairs, throwing a hiss to Heian, who looked like he was on the verge of busting out laughing, as he walked by. He almost slammed his door as he closed it, too, but caught himself right beforehand. He didn't need to wake up his brother, and in turn, gain even more ire from his ferociously-awkward teddy bear.

Sighing out a huge breath, he leaned back against his door as he heard Heian head back downstairs to finish getting their food ready.

"I know I'm going to ask myself, for the billionth time, what the hell is wrong with me... but I know the answer now."

He leaned forward, putting his head in his hands and groaning.

"I freaking like this guy."