Stress Relief (Grizz x Nom Nom)

Chapter 10

Nom Nom woke up early the next morning. That feeling from last night still clung to him. He couldn't explain why, but the koala felt pretty chipper that morning. The daylight outside signaled to him that it was late in the morning, the sun had already risen. That's when the smell of breakfast hit his nose. It smelled amazing, just as it had the day before. 

He arrived in the kitchen to see the bears already eating their breakfast. "Hey, Nom Nom!", Grizz greeted. "I was just about to wake you up."

"That's okay...", Nom Nom dismissed. He wondered if Grizz was still thinking about what he said last night. Even thinking about it again made Nom Nom feel bad. "Uh, what are we eating?"

The bears were taken off guard by this question and looked to one another. 

"Ice Bear made toffee pancakes", the polar bear explained. "Made some for Nom Nom."

The koala's ears wiggled in excitement, he never had something like that before and it sounded pretty good, too. But he still played it cool, found his spot at the table and met with the stack of still-warm pancakes on a plate on front of him. He took a cautious bite of it and blinked in delight. "Whoa. This is good!" All three of the bears smiled at the warm comment. 

As time went on during Nom Nom's hiding the koala grew more and more comfortable and even a bit friendlier with the three bears. Before Grizz and Nom Nom knew it they had finished the TV show they watched together and actively searched for a knew one to fill the spot. Panda had even convinced Nom Nom to watch an anime with him. 

"So is he the one who killed the alpaca or...?", Nom Nom asked Panda while they watched.

"Naw, I think that's just what they want us to think", Panda thought aloud. 

A few days later Nom Nom watched Ice Bear cooking dinner. It was like magic in motion. The koala was completely enamored by the polar bear's movements. Ice Bear even let him the taste test a cake he made. Ice Bear never seen Nom Nom gush about anything, it caught him off guard but he was happy to hear it anywhere. 

Nom Nom found Panda struggling on a dating site and couldn't bear the sight of  it anymore. He stepped in and gave the panda bear some celebrity tips and pointers on how to beef up his profile and even what to do if they agree on what to do if Panda gets an invite to meet. 

But of all the bears in the house, Nom Nom grew closest to Grizz. They had found a new show to watch, they laughed at it, got mad over it and sometimes even cried about it. The two had made an agreement to share the bedroom but Grizz laid on the floor, leaving Nom Nom on the bed. 

On a warm day Grizz and Nom Nom were done watching the latest episode of their show and begun to flip through channels once again. It was an annoying thing to do, but they had so much fun watching TV together that even after the show was over, they didn't want to just stop there. 

They stopped on a new channel with the headline of NOM NOM FANS OUTRAGED. The reporter lady said something about Nom Nom's fans going into a frenzy, leaving no stone unturned until they find their idol who abandoned them. 

Grizz looked over at Nom Nom and prepared to say some consoling and encouraging words. But Nom Nom simply picked up the remote and switched the channel. 

"Uh, Nom--", Grizz was about to ask if he was okay, but the koala quickly cut him off.

"It's alright, Grizz. I don't really care about...that anymore. Let's just watch this instead", Nom Nom suggested, referring to the movie that was playing on the screen. 

"Oh, okay...", Grizz was worried about Nom Nom still but knew the best way to actually make Nom Nom feel better was to just watch the movie with him.

The movie they watched was an action thriller, it was a movie neither of them ever saw before. About thirty minutes into the movie Grizz reached over, wrapped his paw around the koala and pulled him in close. It took him a few moments to realize just what he had done and he was about to apologize, but to his own surprise Nom Nom said nothing. In fact, he laid closer and even dared to lean against the bear.