Stress Relief (Grizz x Nom Nom)

Chapter 2

Panda and Ice Bear were sitting on the couch watching a documentary about volcanoes. The tv displayed an old footage of a volcano smoking.

"This is making me panic", Panda whined, clutching onto the pillow he was holding.

"Ice Bear isn't afraid of lava", Ice Bear challenged.

"I'm not too sure about that", Panda smiled a bit, feeling better from Ice Bear's comment.

The relative peace in the cave was quickly broken upon Grizz almost kicking the door from the hinges with Nom Nom firmly held in his paws. He gently set the koala down and proceeded to lock the door along with covering any nearby windows with curtains.

"Grizz? What the heck are you doing?!", Panda asked his eldest brother. He got up from the couch to see Grizz frantically closing window curtains. "Uh? What are you doing? And what's he doing here?", the panda asked referring to the koala.

"You guys....", Grizz panted. "You guys. We have to hide Nom Nom!", Grizz said frantically. Without explaining any further Grizz rushed to the curtains and took a quick peak between them, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"Whew. I think we lost them", Grizz let out a sigh of relief.

"Grizz what is going on? Again, why are you doing any of this?", Panda demanded, pointing a the front door and curtains.

"Look, bros. The truth is that Nom Nom needs our help. He has a stress condition and his fans are--", while Grizz was explaining the situation the koala stepped away and walked over to the tv. He scoffed at the sight of the living room. The TV was almost completely useless and the couch was clearly made of cheap material. The whole cave was the exact opposite of what he was accustomed to back at the mansion. But there was no way he would go back there. And there was no way he was going to watch this boring documentary.

Sitting on the couch and picking up the remote, he flipped through a couple of channels. Of course they were all the most basic that you could get. He found a breaking new report and hoped it something interesting at the least.

"Fans are still on the hunt for Nom Nom: the internet sensation. He was last scene returning from his private vacation and it was not long before fans were crowding outside the property to welcome the star home. But things soon got out of hand when the fans got out of hand and began to storm the property. The whereabouts of Nom Nom is unknown and a full on investigation is taking place. In other news in seems that a new internet sensation is quickly climbing the charts. A puppy that sounds like a kitten. Now that's what I would call talent. Back to you, Chet.", the reporter finished.

"--He has to stay here. If those people got a hold of him they would tear him limb from limb", Grizz pleaded.

"I don't know, Grizz", Panda pondered.

"Ice Bear isn't sure, either", Ice Bear said.

"Come on, bros. It'll be just for the night", Grizz said, hoping that would be convincing enough.

"A week", Nom Nom spoke up.

"Huh?", Grizz and Panda asked in confusion to the koala once again making his presence known.

"I'm staying a week", Nom Nom turned off the TV and hopped off the couch. "If they want to abandon me for some puppy then that's just fine with me. I'm sick of them anyway!", the koala ranted, walking towards the three bears.

"I gave so many years of my life to pleasing them. They have no idea how stressful it is to be cute day in and day out. But I take one vacation and they all lose their minds. I almost died because of them!", Nom Nom yelled, throwing the remote to the ground.

Ice Bear and Panda looked on in pure shock. Neither of them had no idea how to react to this or what to do.

Grizz quickly picked up the screaming koala and held him close to his chest until he calmed down and fell limp. Grizz put him down and Nom Nom, feeling embarrassed by others being witness, smoothed his ruffled fur. "I'm, uh, sorry about all that", Nom Nom apologized, crossing his arms. He really wasn't but he needed a place to stay.

"Okay, Grizz. We'll let him stay. But he is purely your responsibility. If he breaks anything, it's all on you", Panda explained firmly with Ice Bear nodding behind him.

"Alright", Grizz agreed. He looked to the Nom Nom who looked back up at him, in that moment Grizz felt what he was sure was some kind of protection over the koala. He knew there was going to be sometimes he would have to vouch for him. But he was Nom Nom's friend and support animal. This is what he has to do.