Walker winced slightly as he felt his brother's sudden pain through their bond, making him turn to look toward Heian's farm.

That didn't seem like it was pleasant.

Of course, he knew that his brother would be fine, either way. Heian would take good care of him, even if he did something stupid, as per usual, and hurt himself.

I should start cooking dinner.

Marsh had helped him with his work around the farm for most of the day, then went to check on Nekosi and do a perimeter check. Since he hadn't come back yet, Walker thought that he might surprise him with something yummy when he does return.

Maybe Nekosi will have calmed down enough to join us, too.

It was wishful thinking. He knew that the bear was too aggressive to trust yet, but he could still hope. With a small smile on his face, Walker got busy washing, then cutting up vegetables. Since they'd eaten meat almost everyday that week, he decided to do something a little more simple with stir fried vegetables and garlic bread. It didn't exactly go together, but he doubted that either bear would mind.

After about an hour of work he had everything cooking and all the timers set. It was good timing, because he heard a hesitant knock at the door a few moments after he hung up his apron.

"Coming!" he yelled as he hurried toward it, having a feeling that it was Nekosi. He checked the peephole first, remembering not to just trust the bear, even if he was still a young kid.

To his surprise, the guy was in his human form.

Still need to be careful, but I'm going to see what he needs.

Walker slowly opened the door, feeling a little better about the kid on the other side since he hadn't even tried to come in when it had been unlocked.

"Hey there, Nekosi, what's up?" he asked with a warm smile as he held the door open.

The guy looked extremely nervous, but thankfully not aggressive. He also looked... like he was covered in honey.

Oh no. He'd found Heian's hives.

"Um... they hurt," Nekosi mumbled, confusing Walker for a moment before he noticed the little dots crawling all over the boy's body.

Oh shit, fire ants.

Without thinking, Walker grabbed the boy's sticky wrist and quickly tugged him toward the downstairs bathroom. Nekosi let out a startled grumble in response, but thankfully didn't shift or try and attack him.

"Here, get in the tub," Walker said as he helped Nekosi over the edge, careful to make sure he didn't trip.

He could already feel a few of the ants that had traveled to his own body beginning to bite, but he did his best to ignore the pain as he took the sprayer head off its holder and began rinsing off the boy. He was whimpering by that time, trying to brush the ants off, but he'd gotten so much honey on himself that it really just smashed some and pissed off others.

"It'll be okay. Lift your arms for me, please," Walker said as he worked as quickly as he could.

The poor kid even had the biting bugs mixed into his hair.

"Here, sit down for me please," Walker said as he stepped right into the shower with him, ignoring the fact that he was now soaking his pants and stepping on squirming ants.

When Nekosi slowly sank to his knees Walker quickly rinsed his hair out, making sure to spray all the way down his back to remove the ants that were being washed out of the strands. Thankfully, as time went on he saw less and less of the demonic creatures, but there was no doubt in his mind that the kid was going to have quite a few red marks from all of his bites that were going to itch for a while.

Walker? Why is Nekosi in the house?

Holding back a fidget, Walker glanced toward the open bathroom door. Marsh was walking toward them from the living room, a rare scowl on his face that, somehow, seemed scarier than any face his bear had ever made.

Nekosi seemed to sense him, too, because he quickly looked up, then curled up against the farther corner he could reach near the spigot and averted his eyes. Walker wanted to tell Marsh to wait at the entrance to the bathroom and that they could talk after he finished helping Nekois, but he could tell that Marsh wasn't interested in talking. As soon as he stepped inside the small room he let out a surprisingly loud growl. The sound made Nekosi hunch into a shaking ball on the porcelain floor of the tub.

"Why are you in my den, boy?" Marsh snarled, just barely holding back his animal as it flared in his narrowed eyes.

Walker knew that Marsh wanted a response from Nekosi only, but this den didn't just belong to him.

"Marsh, stop it."

Marsh's eyes widened abruptly at the command, then turned to him. He didn't really feel comfortable commanding situations, but there was a line that he wasn't going to allow either of them to cross if he could help it.

"He didn't come in here on his own. All he did was knock on the door and tell me that he was hurting," Walker said as he returned part of his attention to rinsing off the last few remaining ants from the shaking boy's reddening skin.

"If you can behave, you can stay, but he's not doing anything bad so you need to stop scaring him," he said, sending a pointed look to Marsh over his shoulder before turning back to Nekosi.

I don't like him here. He's dangerous.

Walker pursed his lips and sat back on his heels, lowering the shower sprayer.

"Sit up for me, please," he told the boy.

You were dangerous, too. He can go back outside after he's feeling better, but he's going to need to have his bites treated first.

He could feel Marsh's frustration growing, but to his surprise, he then felt it slowly dissipate as he took a step closer and knelt down next to the bathtub.

"Nekosi, sit up," he ordered.

The boy, who had previous ignored Walker's request, likely because he was afraid of Marsh, quickly sat up but kept his head and eyes downcast.

Come to think of it, a lot of dirt came off of him while I was cleaning off the ants...

Marsh seemed to catch onto his thought, because he reached in and grabbed Walker's arm, guiding him to his feet, then out of the tub before turning back to Nekosi.

"You remember how to take a shower, Nekosi?"

The boy quickly nodded.

"Wash yourself, then come out after drying off and wait," Marsh said before tugging Walker from the room and shutting the door a little louder than necessary.

Knowing that Marsh was still upset, Walker allowed him to guide him up the stairs after he quickly turned off the oven and stove. They ended up in their room before he opened his mouth to try and speak. Except, he wasn't given the time to get a single word out because Marsh had grabbed his hair and tugged him down for a kiss.

The kiss itself had been somewhat expected, but when he felt Marsh's lower lip quivering against his own, Walker gently reached up and grasped either side of his face. He then guided Marsh's head backwards just enough to be able to see his moistening eyes.

"Marsh..."

His little bear was so horribly stressed by what he'd done that he was crying in front of him.

"I'm sorry, my bear. I should have gotten a hold of you before opening the door for him," Walker said as he lifted his thumbs to softly brush away the tears still coming from Marsh's watery eyes.

He wanted to promise that he'd be more careful, and he really would try, but if such a situation happened again, he couldn't see it playing out any differently. Those ants were no joke, and considering how many had been on the boy? He wouldn't have waited. No matter the amount of time.

A faint chuckle from Marsh drew Walker out of his nervous thoughts.

"My Walker is a beautiful human."

Huh?

Before he could figure out what Marsh meant Walker was on his back on the bed with his bent legs hanging over the edge.

Marsh...?

"I can't make Walker do what I want him to," he said quietly, his voice still the slightest bit off due to his drying tears.

Walker considered speaking, but he couldn't find any words to say right then, so he decided to remain silent as Marsh reached forward with one hand and gently settled it against his cheek. It only remained there for a brief moment, however, before it slowly slid backwards into his hair.

"I'm glad that I can't, because I don't ever want to force you to do anything," Marsh said as he leaned down and just-barely pressed his lips to the edge of Walker's lips.

"But I'm mad that you risked yourself for someone else. For anyone else," he said as he leaned away just enough to move his head a little to the side, then lean back down, pressing his forehead and nose against Walker's.

Walker, in response, reached up and slowly wrapped his arms around Marsh's bare middle.

"You weren't wearing clothing outside again..." Walker whispered as he fought with himself about his wandering hands. One wanted to go south, while the other wanted to take the safer route north.

Honestly, he was still not a fan of touching, but he also didn't want to fight himself about it. It was such an odd feeling to stare up at someone leaning over you on the bed you've shared with them for months, clearly wanting to love you, but still having that little voice in the back of your mind and that feeling just beneath your skin telling you that it just didn't feel the way everyone told you that it should.

"Does it bother my husband that I don't wear clothing sometimes?" Marsh asked as his lips curved up into a smile that Walker couldn't help but tilt his head up to connect his own lips with.

"Outside," he rasped in response, a bit surprised by how scratchy his voice had suddenly become.

Marsh deepened the kiss but seemed like he was being more playful than serious as he gave a few quiet giggles that made Walker unable to hold back his own smile even as they continued to explore each other's mouths.

He was so focused on just trying to nip at Marsh's darting tongue that he didn't pay much attention to where his hands were going as they got a better grip on the frustrating man settled overtop him. He was even still wearing his damp pants but at some point, Marsh had somehow gotten his shirt off.

My hand...

It was happily settled on Marsh's warm backside, gripping the soft skin their firmly.

"I-I'm sorry, I—" his words, and the action of moving his hand off of Marsh's backside were both halted abruptly when his mouth was sealed.

I'm not upset about where your hand is, but is Walker alright with this? Marsh asked through their bond as he carefully deepened their kiss. It was much slower than their previous ones, but there was absolutely no playfulness to it this time.

He found that he really didn't mind the attention. At least, not from Marsh.

He suddenly remembered that Nekosi was waiting for them downstairs right then, but his worry was erased the moment Marsh's lips began to travel downward, taking his time nipping his skin every few inches.

He will wait, Marsh thought to him as he continued his journey farther south. By the time he got close to the waistband of his pants Walker had lifted his own hands up to grip Marsh's messy, soft hair in tight fistfuls.

May I taste my husband... below the waist?

Marsh's words immediately made Walker press one of his arms over his eyes as his face burned. He didn't even want to answer such a perverted question. It made him feel dirty, but Marsh was being so careful, gentle, and understanding. He always had.

Licking his lips nervously, Walker took a few careful, deep breaths, then replied just loud enough to be sure that he was heard.

"Y-yes."