Acorns and I Love You

Part 11 Unexpected Guest

Friday evening Kip was fussing in his new room. He needed it to be perfect. Even though he wouldn't let Jiro enter, it needed to be perfect if he ever saw it. So he'd be impressed, that's all. A squirrel drey was like a wolf's den and a birds nest and Kip was making his. He had covered the walls with soft things and filled the space so it was cramped and cozy. There was a significant stash of food in the corner with its own mini fridge. Kip filled the room with dark reds and glowing stones for light. But nothing ever seemed right. Everything was in the wrong place or there wasn't enough light or there was too much. Jiro wouldn't think it was perfect so it wasn't good enough. Those thoughts drive him to keep arranging and rearranging the space. But why was he trying so hard when he wouldn't show Jiro his room? Kip needed a grasp on his emotions. Kip had been careful not to let Jiro know how deeply he cared for fear it would drive him off but he had also made bonds with him because he could not resist. He also did things on instinct without realizing it. Like this need to make the perfect drey and his tails desire to cover Jiro. To his delight, Jiro hasn't once shook off an advance but it also made it all the more harder to resist pushing further if he didn't stop now when Jiro eventually pulls away this deepening bond will leave him heartbroken. Again but this time even worse because this time Kip's choice had responded back. He strode across the room to his most protected draw and pulled it open. Inside was a small pile of acorns all one Jiro had given him. Each one brought back a different memory. Each one a treasure and delight. Jiro had been so sneaky when giving them to him. Making sure no one else could find them and that Kip was surprised every time. With each acorn Kip gained more hope for a mutual connection and the fear that without one he'd be lost.

A light knock at the door broke his compilation. Jiro was at the door. He quickly closed the drawer and opened the door part way using his tail to hide the room that his body could not. "Dinner's ready" Joe tried to look around Kip but there was no use. Jiro gave up trying to look around the bushy tail and made his way down stairs. Kip followed, finding his usual spot at the table. The normal conversations followed. Ash was being extra clingy to Tami because he was going away for filming tomorrow.

After dinner they both went back to Joe's room and Kip couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. They sat sitting up in the bed, Jiro leaning back into Kip. A single red tail lay over their laps and Joe's hand lay on top of that. Kip's attention was on Jiro's hand and where it was placed. This didn't break any bounds. He wasn't petting just resting but there was intimacy even with this.

They were settling down and Kip was still chatting away when Argent appeared. Kip jolted a little bit. "That's what I forgot" Kip face palmed. Joe wasn't a bit surprised. "You forgot about me?" Argent said, sounding a bit miffed. "I was expecting a challenge upon arriving but it seems I was wrong" Kip was picking up the annoyed tones from Argent. Which is valid, how could you forget that one of the Five was visiting. Or was it Sven? Argent was staring at them now with an exasperated look on his face. Turning to Kip Argent said "You sure made yourself comfortable. Scooch" They both shifted allowing for a peevish Argent to find space between them. "Have you been trysting?" Kip's face beamed red and he quickly responded "No! Nothing like that!"

"What does trysting mean?" Argent shot a look at Kip. "Well? Aren't you going to explain to your partner." Kip didn't know what to say, they weren't so why was Argent pressing. "We're not!" Argent had an amused look on his face. Oh he was being played with. Argent was making fun of him. "If you say so squirrel." Joe was all kinds of confused. Argent was laughing and Kip was being defensives and for some reason he felt like it had something to do with him. "Anyways shouldn't we get to business I don't want to waste on of the Five's time"

"Seven" Argent corrected shortly. "And yes I'm sure you want go back to what you were doing as soon as possible"

"Hey!" Kip yelled, Argent didn't even react, instead he reached for each of their hands. Joe pulled his hand away. "What exactly are we doing? No ones explained"

"I'm going to check Kip's progress and he bonds between you." Argent reached out his hand again. This time Joe placed his hand lightly on top. But Argent was running into a problem: the minds of these two boys were too much. "Tsk. Try to empty your thoughts' ' He couldn't find their connection as easily as before. There were too many things in between them. "Secrets" he whispered. They then both became more closed off. Oh something had to change if he wanted to look inside their souls. "How about you focus on finding each other. Like you do for tending that will give me an opening." No longer sitting on top of each other, Argent saw a red tail reach around Joe. Giving Kip another look it was easily interpreted as 'I didn't mean physically'. Finding Joe's presence was easy; he was open to Argent. He could feel Kip's presence on the outskirts of Joe's. So Kip was reaching out to Joe but not to Argent. "Trust Kip, it's the foundation" Joe's hand reached out and found Kip. He gave Kip a small squeeze. "It's okay Kip we can trust him, I mean we trusted him this far." At his Kip slowly opened up but still slowly with fear in the air.

It came into focus then. There were significant bonds to Joe. Kip was bond building and still was. He was afraid Joe would find out but that didn't make sense because these bond's were mutual. Did they build bonds without knowing each other's true feelings? Oh these two are exhausting they definitely needed to go betweens but now it's too late for that. Maybe some sage advice will get Kip and Joe to be more proactive. "What's the verdict Doc?" Kip was trying to play it cool. "You haven't gained as much as I expected. I'll still open the bracelet a little more but less than what I had planned. Is there a place we can speak in private?" A guilty looking Kip responded "yeah.. My room" Kip got up but Joe was still holding him. "Is everything alright?" Genines concerned. Kip was feeling guilty but neither could he explain or lie to Jiro. "He's just a little embarrassed his soul is a lot smaller than yours and he knows it" Argent always found a way to smooth things over. It was true that Kip was embarrassed about being small but that wasn't the main negative emotion that was bringing him down but if Jiro bought it he'd take the out. Joe gave Kip a hug, one of those reassuring hugs and Kip hugged right back. Together he could take on the world or an even scary task facing Argent Mettelbright. Kip didn't want to leave but he could feel eyes burning in the back of his head telling him it was time to talk. He let go all the while, still lingering as much as he could. "You should go to sleep, we'll be up for a while" Argent advised. "Sure" Joe wanted to go to Kip but he knew he couldn't now. Being left alone he didn't know what to do. It was always harder to sleep without Kip. Even so he tried, only to find himself a familiar garden. A fox dream.