Possibly the next morning, I sat up groggily. Next morning... next morning!

I jumped up out of the bed, not caring that I was undressed, and shook Jerome in attempts to wake the Bacca from his sleep.

"Jerome, wake up! It's first testing day!" I winced, but otherwise continued shouting. Damn Jerome was a heavy sleeper.

"'s too early..." Jerome slurred sleepily, pulling the blankets tighter around his body. I groaned, grasping the fabric and yanking it off him.

"You wanna fail?" I growled. He opened one of his chocolate eyes.

"No..." he sighed, slowly sitting up. He ran his fingers through his fur, swinging his legs around to dangle off the side of the bed.

"Come on now, we need to get you brushed and presentable. And I know how long that takes." I smirked, grabbing his hand and tugging him up off the bed.

"Hey, it's not my fault my fur gets so tangled at night." He grumbled, walking stiffly to the vanity and sitting down before offering the brush to me. I smiled, sitting down behind him, where I began to run the brush through the soft brown locks of fur.

"You think we'll do good today?" he asked, working another brush through the fur on his head.

"Of course." I grinned confidently. "We're one of the best teams."

"Don't get cocky, Mitch. You know anything can happen. What if your shoe doesn't get a good purchase on my back in a Springboard? Or what if I overshoot a jump again? What if-"

"Jerome, first, stop rambling. Second, calm down! Those things'll only happen if you think they will. You won't overshoot the jump again. Not after you got your contacts." Who would've thought my Bacca would have a problem with his depth perception?

"And if we're unsynced?" he asked. Well, syncronization was something uncontrollable. If Jerome or I wasn't at full alertness, even if we were one heartbeat off eachother's rhythms, we could screw up, badly.

"You better have your coffee, Jerome." I sighed, finishing with his back and leaving him to complete the grooming as I went and switched on his coffee machine.

"See? Even you have doubts, Mitch!" Jerome frowned.

"Anyone has doubts, Jerome. My grandfather told me that without doubts, we wouldn't have courage." I smiled. Grandpa Hughes was the wisest man I'd ever known.

"My grandfather told me that if you have doubts, you'll end up talking yourself out of it." He muttered.

"Jerome, you and I both know that grandpa Aceti wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed." I giggled.

"Yeah, I guess so." He laughed. He was the one that always joked that the old Bacca was going crazy.

"Just trust your instincts, Jerome. Now open up." I ordered, picking up the fang file. He did so, and I slid the diamond object against his teeth. Only diamonds would do. Bacca fangs were nearly indesructable, and would break any other object.

"Am I the only human that grooms his Bacca?" I chuckled.

"I think so." He smirked. "The other humans don't tend to hang around their Baccas outside of class. I guess that's why so many are usually unsyncronized for the first little bit of their training session. Us... our heartbeats work as one constantly." He smiled, flicking the polishing cloth at me, which I caught without thinking.

"I think you're right there, Jerome." I grinned, rubbing the cloth against the milky white teeth. "There, you're all good." I nodded, standing back up. He dragged his tongue across his teeth.

"Thanks, Mitch." He cooed, picking up and fastening on the leather collar he had to wear to training. It almost disgusted me, really, that they actually make Baccas wear collars stating their partners. It was degrading, as if people looked at Baccas like they were pets.

"Anytime, biggums." I murmured, shaking the enraging thought and pouring him a cup of coffee as he dressed in his regular suit.

"Now, time to groom my human." He grinned, dragging out the washtub. I giggled, setting down the cup and grabbing a bucket to fill the tub with warm water. Once it was filled, I sank into it with a sigh. Jerome set to work immediately, running a washcloth over my skin gently.

I hummed softly as he worked the shampoo into my hair, the feeling of his fingers rubbing my scalp soothing. Finally, I was clean. He had a towel waiting for me as I climbed out, which he wrapped me in before sitting me down and working over my hair with a towel until it was mostly dry. He then carefully combed it until the tresses were somewhat tamed.

He fetched my clothes for me, letting me dress.

"You look great." He smiled, looking me over. I giggled.

"Thanks. So do you." I insisted, running my fingers over his tie. I then handed him his coffee, which he gulped down eagerly.

"Ready for training?" he asked.

"Of course." I nodded, smiling.

A/N: Oooh, training next chapter :3 Sounds Gucci. Anyway, thanks for being patient about the chapters!

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