Stress Relief (Grizz x Nom Nom)

Chapter 3

Grizz sighed to himself, Nom Nom had finally settled down and was watching some kind of reality dating show. All that mattered to him was that he wasn't getting angry or trying to break something again.

"Hey, Nom Nom. My bros and I are thinking about having chinese tonight. You up for it?", Grizz offered.

"Ugh. I guess", Nom Nom huffed. Usually he would chinese himself, but he knew that it would be ordered from some place cheap. "Just order me something that doesn't have meat in it. Oh, and some vegetables, too."

"Alright!", Grizz responded, disappearing around the corner again. He figured it was best to just let Nom Nom watch the show and do the ordering himself.

"So does he want any?", Panda asked as Grizz returned to the kitchen.

"Yeah, something without meat and make sure it has vegetables", Grizz repeated.

"Whatever that means", Panda mumbled to himself as he pulled up a takeout app on his phone. Within a few minutes the bears had placed their orders. Grizz decided that rice and stir fried vegetables were the best thing for Nom Nom. He just hoped that he would like it.

In about 30 more minutes the food arrived. Ice Bear and Panda retrieved their food and begun to eat. Grizz picked up Nom Nom's box and walked back to the living room, hoping the koala would like it.

"Hey, uh. Nom Nom the food came back. Here", Grizz said, handing Nom Nom the take out box.

"Oh. Uh....Thanks", Nom Nom mumbled. He checked the food and seemed to be satisfied enough with it. "It's...good enough."

"Great", the grizzly breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back into the kitchen to eat with his bros.

"Did he like it?", Panda asked.

"Yeah, I think he does", Grizz nodded.

"Ice Bear is relieved", Ice Bear added.

The three bears ate their food and chatted among one another. Nom Nom stepped into the kitchen to put the box in the trash. Each of the bears stopped and watched him. He hopped and dropped the box in the trashcan. He turned to the other bear and felt their eyes drilling into him, usually he wouldn't mind it. Being a celebrity you become used to a bunch of eyes on you at any given time, but still their staring made him feel uncomfortable.

"What?", Nom Nom asked the bears.

"Nothing", they responded, going back to their food.

Nom Nom exhaled in annoyance and returned to his show.

Not too long the bears also finished up and went their own separate ways for the rest of the day. Grizz decided to sit with Nom Nom while he watched his show. He sat on the opposite side of the couch, but didn't say anything. Nom Nom looked over in surprise and groaned, expecting Grizz to start talking up a storm, but he didn't. The usually obnoxious bear was just sitting on the couch and looking at the TV, even though it was certainly out of the ordinary Nom Nom wasn't going to complain about it.

The two of them sat in silence and watched the dating show. After about 3 episodes Grizz started to follow along with what was going on and even started to make his own pairings and his own opinions of the cast.

He had no idea what time it was, but he knew it was certainly late. An indicator of such was a yawn from the small koala.

"It's getting kind of late... Do you wanna..?", Grizz asked gently.

"Sure, I need my beauty sleep anyway", Nom Nom shrugged, turning the TV off.

"You can sleep in my room. I'll sleep on the couch", Grizz offered.

"Sure, why not?", Nom Nom agreed. He followed the bear to the bedroom. Grizz opened the door and turned on the light.

"I know it's probably not what you're used to, but I hope it's comfortable at least", Grizz said gently.

Nom Nom stepped into the room and nearly let out a gasp. In the room was wrappers and other papers scattered among the floor here and there. On one of the drawers sat an empty bag of potato chips. Next to it a few cans and bottles.

It's a free room, just deal with it.

"It'll do", Nom Nom said, straining to be polite. "But in the morning could you, clean it up a bit?"

"Oh sure! Of course. I wasn't really expecting company and.... This will all be gone tomorrow", Grizz assured the koala.

"Good", Nom Nom responded, waving a paw in the air. He stepped in the room and closed the door. He grumbled to himself, kicking trash out of his path. Making his way to the bed he jumped up and climbed on. He gave a sigh of relief that at least the bed was neatly made. The koala pulled back the blanket and squirmed underneath. The bed was comfortable enough, but a new problem presented itself. Grizz's scent clung heavily to the pillow, the blanket, and the mattress as well. Nom Nom felt that he should be disgusted, but instead the scent forced him to think about the grizzly. How nice he was, how soft his fur is...and... Nom Nom broke away from those thoughts, thinking he must be losing his mind. But the scent and thoughts of Grizz brought him a calm that helped him drift off to sleep in the end.