"Photobomb!"
Grizz's body hit roughly against Panda's side in a sort of hug-tackle that he usually did when he wasn't watching just how strong he was. Panda's claw slipped and hit the photo button on the screen of his phone just as a bright flash went off and momentarily blinded the two of them. It probably didn't help that Grizz also forcibly mashed his lips into Panda's cheek, causing him to both cry out from surprise and the fact that his sunglasses fell right off his face.
"Dude c'mon I'm just trying to make a status!" Panda whined when Grizz squeezed the grip around his arm. It was clear he wanted to come off annoyed, but the end of his words couldn't hide the start of his giggling. In this tiny part of the back of the bus where the windows didn't properly reach Panda was fine with Grizz being cuddly and kissing him because it was unlikely anybody would see. Grizz took advantage of this. Mostly since it was going to be difficult to keep himself off Panda. He would do it, of course, but he wasn't going to enjoy it as much as he enjoyed this.
"You just look really cute all concentrated on filters and lighting and all that," Grizz said with a wiggle of his paws against the rumbling floor of the bus.
"Man, it's all blurry," Panda mumbled when he looked at the picture. It was slightly unfocused and with his glasses half falling off. Grizz's face was mostly a blur of color he had swooped in so fast. "I just wanted to post my new scarf."
Panda's paw went down to the orange and red scarf around his neck to tug lightly at the tassels.
"It looks totally great on you, bro," Grizz said when he gave the scarf a bit of a tug and pulled Panda's paw away. "Now quit messing around with it you look awesome. Totally cute enough to brag to everybody that I'm dating you… N-Not that I'd do that anymore unless you said it was cool, Pan Pan!"
Grizz made sure to add that last part quickly, and it resulted in Panda giggling with managed to loosen how tight his chest felt from letting that desire slip.
"How about I just post this and we can brag online?" Panda asked.
Grizz smiled and nodded his head, burying his muzzle into Panda's neck and kissing until he got a giggle and squirm in payment. Even then, he wanted to stay there and just take in Panda's warmth.
Today was a big day for not just Panda, but the two of them. It was their second attempt at going out in public together and working on Panda's anxiety. This time he wore a bright and flashy scarf which Grizz was glad of, because last time he had said at least a hundred times getting ready he didn't want to stand out. Panda decided today that he wanted to try holding Grizz's paw when they walked through the mall and checked out some of the local clothing stores having autumn sales. Grizz was determined not to push him, and the few times Panda had let his guard down and showed how nervous he was Grizz reassured him. He was getting good at saying the right things to make Panda feel better, and it made him happy. Just in case of emergency he had made sure to have everything set for an emergency romantic comedy movie night when they got back home. In case of double emergency, he had bribed their brother with washing the dishes to make Panda's favorite dish that night.
"Hey, it's got a like already," Panda giggled when scrolling through his phone. Grizz kissed his cheek and he blushed along with that laugh.
When the bus began to roll to a stop the muscles in Panda's arm clearly tightened. He was still smiling, but he stared at his phone without really looking at what was on the screen. He glanced out the window to the sight of the front entrance to the mall and let out a long sigh.
"It's busy today," Panda mumbled.
"Hey, we can totally still just go look at stuff. I'll keep like three whole feet between us if that'll make you happy," Grizz said with a smile. Panda looked to him and then gave him a quick kiss.
"I-I think I can do it," Panda said nervously but with conviction. Grizz felt his chest swell with a sense of pride somewhere between his inner big brother and just Panda's boyfriend in general.
When they got off the bus Panda was already latching himself onto Grizz's arm. It was clear he was nervous by the way he was squeezing and staring more at the crowd around them over anything else.
"It's really busy today," Panda mumbled. "Do you think the sale is that popular?"
"Dude, c'mon," Grizz said when he hooked his arm around Panda's own and pulled their bodies together. "Hey uh, I could like totally talk about this game I was playing last night. Orrrr you could talk about the sale and what you wanna buy. Just focus on that, alright?"
"O… Okay," Panda nodded slowly. "Uh, I saw a lot of sales for this one sweater that…"
The two of them went forward together. Grizz could feel the uncertainty and nerves flow through Panda with each step they took. Sometimes he trailed off from whatever he was rambling about when somebody who stared at them got to close, and other times he stopped talking all together for long periods of time whenever he got distracted. Grizz tried to squeeze his paw to reassure him, it usually worked for a while for at least getting him talking again, but by the time they were five feet into the entrance it was clear Panda was a little shaken by the vast size of the crowd.
"You feel nervous?" Grizz asked when he tugged gently on Panda.
"A little," Panda nodded. It was a clear understatement. He pushed himself against Grizz when a larger man and woman passed them and stared at them. Grizz felt his own chest tighten realizing today might have been a bad day. The place was clearly crowded more than usual. Last time they had gone during the evening when it was desolated. If this were another situation Grizz would have tried to kiss him and calm him down, but of course that would have the kneejerk opposing reaction here.
Instead of letting go of Grizz, Panda wrapped both arms around one of Grizz's own. While it was clear he was still a bit nervous and staring down at his paws to avoid eye contact with any of the crowd he was at least going to Grizz instead of away. He kept putting his paw over his chest to feel his heartbeat.
"Hey uh, which store was it?" Grizz questioned, having to speak up to be heard over the crowd's collective noise.
"Wool and Cotton Emporium," Panda said, raising his paw to point in a direction before stopping short. "It's the… wait is that a line?"
At first Grizz didn't get what Panda meant until he looked up and saw very clearly at the store across the mall Grizz was pointing at had a massive line. It didn't look to be heading into the store itself, which is what made it seem so odd. Grizz frowned and tugged Panda along past the fountain near the center to attempt to get a better look at it.
"Oh, are you kidding me!" Panda snapped, and loudly.
"Huh?" Grizz looked over to Panda who had pulled out his phone with a disgusted kind of look on his face.
"Dude, this sucks," Panda grumbled when handing over the phone to Grizz. "Nom Nom's here doing signings. He's drawing crowds to the stupid store."
"Oh, really?" Grizz asked when he saw Nom Nom's picture on the screen of the phone. It made his chest feel warm just how cute the koala looked. "That's awesome!"
"No, not awesome!" Panda snapped when he took back his phone. "That guy's a total jerk! If he sees us he'll probably just make fun of us and get angry or something stupid."
"Pffft, c'mon Pan Pan," Grizz said with another insistent tug towards the line. "We know the guy! He's not ALL bad. I mean, look how cute he is!"
"Maybe we should just leave," Panda mumbled. "Go to a market or something and hold hands there."
"No, you really wanted to look at that stuff, right?" Grizz asked. "C'mon let's at least go inside. I'm sure Nom Nom wouldn't mind if we just said hi, right? I mean, I could totally get his autograph."
"Gross, why would you want that?" Panda grumbled, but began to follow Grizz without much hesitation.
When they approached the store, it was clear now many people in the line were clutching things for Nom Nom to sign. From books to toys to just papers they all looked excited. Grizz felt a bit of thrill in his chest as he went closer and closer, spotting a table just outside the entrance of the store with two men in suits standing on either side of it. He spotted the Koala at the table currently signing somebody's t-shirt and handing them a button.
"Hey Nom Nom! Buddy!" Grizz shouted when they got closer. He stood on the tips of his toes and waves excitedly. He could feel Panda shake slightly still clinging to him.
"Grizz, what are you…?"
One of the bodyguards suddenly stood out in front of them and put his hand on top of Grizz's head. Grizz cried out in shock but was pushed back a good foot.
"H-Hey, what the heck?" Grizz cried out.
"Oh, are you kidding me?" Grizz could clearly hear Nom Nom grumble when he looked over the side of the guard and saw Nom Nom catch light of him. "Let him go, Travis."
The guard suddenly let go of Grizz and let him through. There was a slight tug from Panda as the other guard stood in front of the next patron and body blocked them so Grizz could walk up to the table.
"Hey man!" Grizz said.
"Please don't get too chummy with me," Nom Nom said with a roll of his eyes as he lifted a button and put it into Grizz's paw. It read 'A dollar for a paw' on the front, and then the logo of the store sign above them. "I wanna know why you two niche bears are here."
"Grizz we should just go," Panda mumbled when he shook Grizz's arm and glanced behind them. "The people are annoyed we cut."
"What, we like totally didn't cut!" Grizz snapped. "We're just Nom Nom's buddy!"
"Never call me that," Nom Nom said when he shook his head slowly. "I would have had Travis escort you away SO fast if I knew what was good for me. But no, my agent says look nicer in public! Stop harassing people you don't like! Talk it out! Ugh!"
"Grizz," Panda mumbled into his ear with another tug. "This guy's a dingle, let's go."
"Look I booked this signing months ago, alright?" Nom Nom snapped when he hit his paw to the table. "You guys barely scratch the surface of the viral chart and you think you can just come here and upstage me? Bit of publicity, is that it? Quit mumbling there, dark eyes. Y'know I have some cream for those dark circles. If I actually liked, you I'd give you some."
"Dude, what is your deal?" Panda asked. "What are you even talking about?"
Grizz's first instinct was to open his mouth and settle the feud growing between the two, but even he had to admit that something was… off about Nom Nom. He seemed mean. Meaner than usual, even. He was putting in too much effort of engaging them just to insult them and poke random jabs. This wasn't like him, as usually he just tried to shove Grizz and his brothers off and move on.
"Don't play dumb with me," Nom Nom said. "Look just because you had a cute little sneeze video everybody talked about for a week doesn't mean you can just make a comeback, bear! What's this thing you have now, cute little progressive stunt?"
"H-Hey, that's kinda mean," Grizz said, holding up his paws to Nom Nom in defense. "Seriously, we have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ugh, Travis!" Nom Nom shouted.
The guard who grabbed Grizz turned around and suddenly pulled a large tablet from his suit pocket and handed it to Nom Nom. The koala grumbled as he typed something out quickly and then slapped it down right in front of the two on the table. It was… Panda's social media page. The site which he used mostly to post pictures on.
"W-What the heck?" Panda snapped.
"This!" Nom Nom grumbled. "Look just because you sometimes get a hundred likes on your cute little niche kissy market doesn't mean you can come here and play with the big leagues, bears! You can't just go from cute sneezing to cute romance it doesn't work like that!"
Nom Nom hit both of his paws down onto the table hard enough for the buttons to rumble. Travis, his guard, walked over and rubbed at his brow with a cloth while the Koala breathed in to recover.
"Um," Grizz said, touching the screen just as Nom Nom snatched the tablet away from under him.
"I've had my agents track you ever since that stupid competition!" Nom Nom said when he pointed to Panda. "You fell right back to being irrelevant like you were supposed to. Internet moves on unless you keep doing cute stuff. But now this past month you've been posting all that stuff with him!"
Nom Nom's claw pointed to Grizz.
"Now you're CONSTANTLY hitting a hundred likes each picture! Haven't you noticed your increase in likes? Followers? Anything? C'mon this is simple!" Nom Nom said angrily.
"Dude, we haven't been doing anything like that," Grizz said when he felt Panda's arm squeeze around him. "Pan Pan just posts that stuff cause…"
Grizz trailed off. He wasn't about to go and say that it was Panda's way of showing off the two of them as a couple. Even now he could think of lying in bed cuddling Panda as he went through all the photos of the day asking Grizz what his favorites were and posting them. He always looked happy whenever they got attention.
"Cute romance stuff is totally in right now," Nom Nom said. "Especially two guys? Public eats that up! It's progressive, and for some reason they still think you two bears are cute. I mean look at this you posted a video of Grizz in the shower singing while you giggled off camera! Quality couple stuff."
Panda took a slight step back and seemed to almost shield himself with Grizz's body as he squeezed the arm of the other. Grizz could tell his face was growing flushed when he looked over his shoulder.
"Hey, man, c'mon," Grizz said. "Pan Pan isn't here to rip on you or upstage you or anything."
"What is it with you two anyway?" Nom Nom asked. "What, Panda couldn't find a girlfriend so he finally lowered his standards and started dating you? What, all that talk and rambling about not having a girlfriend and falling in love with girls and just suddenly he's over it and dating you? Psssh! If you ask me he lowered his standards just cause he was desperate."
"T-That's… not…!" Grizz trailed off, his chest suddenly tightening horribly, horribly so. Panda squeezed his arm so tight it was beginning to hurt.
"Grizz…" Panda mumbled. Grizz looked over his shoulder. So many people were staring right now that Panda seemed to almost be trembling. After a few seconds of squeezing his arms suddenly loosened and he split from Grizz.
"Pan Pan!" Grizz called when Panda went past the crowd and into the store with little warning. He looked back to Nom Nom. "Dude, what the heck?"
"Look, just when you decide to step up your game and play with the high leagues maybe then you can have a signing of your own," Nom Nom said as he picked up a pen and pointed it at the two. "I bet you anything he's gonna leave you if a pretty girl gets interested in him, so learn the game quick."
Nom Nom picked up a button and tossed it at Grizz.
"Here, donate to charity. Travis get him away."
The guard was back for Grizz and grabbed him by the arm, but Grizz went the rest of the way himself and slipped out of his grip to go into the store. It was busy and bustling, but he didn't catch a sight of Panda. His chest was… hurting… Nom Nom's words were stuck in his head and spiraling quickly. He didn't know why he didn't just listen to Panda and avoid him. Right now, his heart was pounding. He feared of where Panda went and the fact that he had just let him slip away like that.
"Pan Pan?" Grizz called, accidently bumping shoulders with at least five people when he went through the store. He checked the men's clothing first, then autumn wear, then women's clothing. He didn't find Panda anywhere which made his heart pound even faster. It was a small store, and he was positive he had seen Panda run inside. He called out his boyfriend's name again and this time felt his own shoulders tremble. His breath came out heavily, and shook slightly.
When he looked up he saw the changing rooms. Several doors all with open spaces under then where he could see the shoes of patrons. He saw a pair of black paws under one of them, and he rushed over to it. He felt his forehead touch the outside as he settled slightly and knocked.
"S-Still changing!" Panda stuttered. It was clear from the tone of his voice he was already crying. When Grizz focused, and listened under the crowd he could hear sniffling on the other end of the door. It made his chest somehow twist more than before. It became hard to breathe.
Grizz should have been more worried about Panda. He kept telling himself this again and again. The thought of Panda crying in there alone without him really did hurt his chest more than he could stand but it was outweighed heavily by a pressure on him that was difficult to forcibly let up. He didn't realize it until now, but he was scared. His body was trembling a little, even. When he blinked, his eyes stung. He wanted to turn the knob and enter to comfort Panda, but it was almost as though a wall not a door separated them and he couldn't find the strength to turn the knob. One single question consumed his every thought. A question he knew Panda was in no state to answer.
"It's not true, is it?" Grizz mumbled, so quiet that only he could hear. "What Nom Nom said isn't true, right?"