EXTRA

"Simon?" I whispered. He didn't do anything, still dead asleep. It was in the middle of the night. He was mad at me. Both of my brothers were. Of the worst days I've ever had? Today would make top five. I was bored and tried to help them both with whatever they were doing. Theodore was learning how to bake with Clare. She had started to come over and watch us while Dave was out. I asked to help, and she initially let me. It was going fine until Theodore stepped on my tail while holding the cake batter. I reacted how any animal would: I yelped and moved my tail back. But by moving my tail, Theo had slipped and fell off the table. Along with the cake batter. It fell all over him and the floor. I laughed in good humor, thinking we could start over, but Theo took it the wrong way. "You did that on purpose!" he said.

I told him he stepped on my tail, and it was an accident. I said we could start over, but he yelled at me to leave him alone. Definitely a mood damper. I sulked for a while when I decided to check on my mate. Dave brought him home a science kit thing to play with, and he's been at it every waking moment. He said there wasn't much for me to do with him, but I could hang around. Only, he said I wasn't aloud to touch anything. I agreed and decided to rant, but then noticed he wasn't paying attention to a word I said. I groaned and went to leave when I noticed one of his things wasn't plugged in. I told him about it and he half mumbled half snapped at me to fix it. So I did, but last minute he told me to stop. It was too late. Something started bubbling. Another thing started steaming. I was confused, but didn't have time to mull it over before Simon dived at me and threw us off the coffee table.

From behind the couch, you could hear an explosion. Not like explosion explosion, but something definitely broke. When we got back up on the table, a few of Simon's glass containers were shattered, and whatever was in them was splattered all over the coffee table. I winced at every new thing I saw messed up, or destroyed. "Um...at least no one's hurt?" I tried. Simon was quiet for a while. I decided to try and help clean up, picking up glass shards, but my mate yelled at me, anger I hadn't seen before. He told me "Go away Alvin! You already caused enough trouble!". Hearing that from him got me really upset. I set down the glass I had picked up and left. Whatever was previously in the glass tubes was on my paws, and after a while they started to burn. Even after I washed them. I didn't mention it to anyone. I didn't think they'd care.

When Dave came home, I had long since locked myself in our room-to-be. I expected him to shout my name from the tree tops, like he always did, but he just tried to get me to come out. I didn't. I spent a few hours just crying on my bed. I unlocked the door sometime after I finished sobbing, and just fell back in my bed. Simon and Theo came in at one point. Neither tried to talk to me. I knew sleeping with my mate was a no tonight. I slept for awhile, but my paws wouldn't stop burning. I got up to find the package of Simon's kit to check the ingredients, but it was long gone. Which is here I was now. Trying to wake Simon up in hopes he could tell me what to do. "Si!" I tried harder. He swat my paw away, causing me to flinch. Both from mental and physical pain. "Go away Alvin!". I wanted to say what was wrong, but words wouldn't come out.

I decided to leave him alone. Maybe it wouldn't help my paws, but Simon clearly wouldn't care. I slid off his bed and decided to go to Dave. It took me a while because I didn't crawl on all fours, but I made it. Climbing wasn't any easier. "Dave?" I asked. Not wanting to get whatever was on my hands on his face, I brushed my tail on his cheek. "Dave" I called again. He woke up. "Oh, Alvin. Thought you were Theodore". I closed my paws, the burning intensifying. I hid them in my armpits. "What's wrong?" He asked, voice a little horse from sleep. "Well...you know how Simon's kit blew up earlier?". He gave a little nod. "B..before Simon yelled at me, I tried to help clean up. I got some stuff on my paws. I washed it off, but my paws started to burn. They haven't stopped burning. I tried waking Simon up to see if he knew why, but he just told me to go away".

Dave blinked, then moved to get up. I hopped off his chest. I stepped in his open palm as he turned on a lamp near his bed. "Ok, let me see them". I held open my burning paws, hissing at the cold air. Dave blinked a little, and used a finger to move my small paw. "Was the liquid hot when you touched it?". I shrugged. "I just picked up some glass shards that were laying around. They weren't hot". He looked at me. "Alvin, haven't I told you not to pick up broken glass?" he gave me a stern, but soft look. I looked down. "I was just trying to help" I nearly sobbed. I've been yelled at enough today. I don't need to add Dave to the list. What I didn't expect was for Dave to lift me to his shoulder, and rub my back. "I know Alvin". He didn't say anything else. I gripped his shirt, and nuzzled into his shoulder. I haven't had a good day.

I was vaguely aware of Dave getting up and bringing me to the bathroom. I sat down on the cold counter top as he pulled out his first aid kit. I began to feel worried. "Are my paws bad?" I asked. Dave still looked asleep, but he didn't look worried. "No, just some chemical burns. From what, I don't know. Simon's the only one who can answer that, but I have something to help". I watched as he pulled out a small pouch, and as he opened it up. He squeezed a little bit of clear gel on his finger, and moved it over to me. "It might sting, but put this on wherever it's burning". I scooped a little on my paw. He was right. It stung. A lot! I whimpered a little, but continued to coat my paws.

Dave left to get scissors for something, so I just massaged my paws. It helped wherever I touched for a second, then it would burn again. 'Wonder if my brothers will notice?' I thought. I wasn't around most of today, so they wouldn't have, but they might tomorrow. I studied the marble on the counter while I waited for Dave to come back. When he did, I watched as he cut up some gauze. Strips about my size. "Do you know how to wrap this on?". I nodded. Since my biological parents left me as the 'Munk-in-Charge', they taught me how to deal with injuries in the wild. I grabbed each strip, and began wrapping each paw. With how tight I put it, the stinging grew, but I ignored it.

Dave just sat and watched. "You look like you've done this before" he said suddenly. I looked at him and smiled tiredly. "Yeah. Can't expect living in the woods for a few years to go smoothly. Had a few spider bites here and there. Got a few nasty splinters. A thorn every once in a while. You know the deal" he huffed. "I suppose you probably were left in charge after your parents left, huh?". I nodded. Ironic how he said what I had previously thought. "Yeah. Since Simon was born with bad eyes, and Theodore was always nervous, they relied on me to take care of them. No pressure at a week old, am I right?". I saw him huff. He rubbed my back. "Well, I'd say you did a good job taking care of them". I smiled at him and held his hand. He picked me up and carried me to our unfinished bedroom.

"We'll talk about what happened tomorrow. For now, try and get some sleep". I yawned in response. He tucked me in and left. Not before saying goodnight. My paws had just about stopped burning. I played with the cut gauze for a second before closing my eyes to sleep. I needed it.

I slept in pretty late. Dave left for work again, but Clare wasn't here. She probably had work of her own. I did my usual routine in the morning. Bathroom, teeth, ect. But I was debating on a shower. I've been cleaning like normal, but a warm shower also sounded nice. Dave showed us the ropes of the shower when he took us in officially. While I'll always clean myself with my tongue, it doesn't hurt to soak in water for a while. On my way to the kitchen, I bumped into Simon. The shock of guilt was a very unpleasant hit in the morning. I avoided his eyes, and mumbled an apology. I didn't wait to see his reaction before rushing ahead to the kitchen. From here, I could see Theodore eating in the living room, watching Spongebob. I picked at a granola bar as quietly as I could. I didn't want to bother anyone today.

I watched with Theodore from the table. I could see Simon join him on the couch. A part of me wanted to go down there and sit with them, but I kept my body glued on the table. I cracked a smile every once in a while to how dumb the show was, but my overall mood didn't change. 'Yeah, a shower sounds nice right now'. Knowing I couldn't finish the human sized granola bar, I closed the wrapping around it, and made my way to our room to get some new clothes. Dave told us that we need to change our hoodies every day to keep them clean. I thought it was a lot of work at first, but thinking about it now, humans don't clean themselves with their tongue. I grabbed a new hoodie that was on the dresser next to my bed when arms wrapped around me. I flinched, not expecting Simon to be intimate with me so soon.

"Oh, hey Si" I said, choosing not to look at him. I knew if I looked at him that I'd cry, and I didn't really want to cry again. He kissed my cheek before he started to talk. "I'm sorry about what I said Alvin". I stopped what I was doing and stood there, guilt flooding me. Why was he apologizing? "I really liked that set, and was just mad it got ruined. You don't need to avoid me". I still didn't look at him. "It was my fault though" I mumbled. He sighed and turned me to face him. "Alvin, I wasn't paying attention to what you were saying. You asked me to plug in the hotplate and I said yes. It's not your fault, I was just mad and took it out on you. I'm sorry" he explained. He was right. Didn't make me feel better, but he was right. I just nodded. "Ok".

"Hey!" he said, stopping me from attempting to leave. It would have been fine had he not grabbed my paw. The added pressure cause the pain to flare back up again. "Ah!" I had yelped before I could stop myself. I snatched my paw back, rubbing it. I just had to make my injured paws that more obvious, didn't I? I didn't see Simon's face, but I did see him grab both of my paws like they were fragile glass. "What…" he mumbled. I sighed, knowing I had to explain. Why I was hesitating, I didn't know. "Yesterday, I tried to help clean up the broken glass. There must have been some sort of chemical stuff on it. Dave said they weren't badly burned, but he had me wrap them up anyways" I said quietly. I don't know why, but I was expecting him to yell at me again.

I passed a few glances at him. He just looked hurt, like I told him I had cheated on him or something. "Oh Alvin…" he said, pulling me into a hug. I waited a second before I relaxed into it. It felt good being able to hug him without thinking he was mad at me. Just to reassure him, I said "You don't need to be mad at yourself. I should have thought about grabbing broken glass covered in unknown chemicals with my bare hands before doing it". He didn't say anything in reply to that, he just mumbled "How did I not notice...". I got confused before I realized he was mad at himself for not knowing I was hurt sooner. I rolled my eyes. "You would have had you woken up last night, but it's fine. Nothing serious, I promise". He sighed, hints of frustration in it. I broke the hug.

I set my head on his. We stood there for a while, just silently apologizing to each other. Until I said "If it's all the same to you, I'm going to take a shower". I broke away from him. Buuuut, he stopped me, yet again. This time he grabbed my waist and pressed his lips to mine. On instinct, I melted into it. Sometime in the kiss, I set a bandaged hand on his cheek. It still baffles me how I lose track of everything else when we kiss. It's like he has some sort of power. When we stopped, I looked into my mate's sapphire eyes. "Can I join you?". I huffed. Typical. "Is this your guilt talking, or you?" I gave him a steady look before I found myself lifted off my feet. Bridal style. "Maaybe. Besides, I'm in the mood for some redemption". He replied softly. I rolled my eyes. "Yes, cause it's all about what you want" I teased. "One, you've never turned me down before, two, you never could turn me down, and three, I'm in charge".

I think he figured out that those three words are a turn on for me. Everytime he says it, I blush madly and get suddenly shy. He set me down by the bedroom door. "I'll meet you there. I'm going to grab some clothes too". He pat my butt before running off. I just looked at him, a mix of love and frustration, and happiness. A weight left my shoulders. I shook my head before running across the hall. Somehow he just made me love him. I set my hoodie on the floor and started the water. For whatever reason, the water always started cold before warming up. I took off my current hoodie and had a body shiver. I had gotten used to the extra warmth of my hoodie that now it was off, I was colder. Simon hopped inside a few seconds later, shutting and locking the door.

I smiled at him before checking the water again. It was still cold. I turned the warm handle a little farther. The cold water made the air around me cooler, so I wasn't incredibly surprised that I shivered again. I turned to hop down and properly greet Simon, expecting him to be waiting on the floor. What I was not expecting was for him to be right behind me! "Ack!" I shouted, falling back from the sudden scare. Simon tried to save me, but I was too far into the fall and just ended up pulling him down with me. "Whoa!" I vaguely heard before hitting the ice cold water. The drain was plugged, so the water was pooled up and saved us from hitting the tub floor. I was up as quickly as I was down.

"Holy Nuts! This is freezing!" I said, trembling. My mate splashed up next to me. "G..Geeze Alvin, I know I m..make you in the mood, but I didn't know you n..needed cold water to take care of yourself" he said. I kicked more water at him. "And you say I'm cocky!". He laughed and shivered in response. I hopped over to where the water was running, and found the water at the perfect temperature. The one you could just sleep in. I let my body just stand there for a few seconds, warming up. Simon soon joined me. Together, we pulled down the shampoo Dave bought for our fur. I stood still as my mate poured the cold liquid down my back and began rubbing it in. The water was rising and warming at my feet. The feeling of Simon massaging my back and shoulders, along with the warmth of the shower began to make me all cozy.

"You know, the minute I got my glasses, I could hardly take my eyes off you. I thought you were good looking from a distance, but being able to see you close up was even better" Simon told me softly. Even though the running water was loud, I somehow hear him over it. His hands moved from my back to my arms. I wove mine around his and wrapped our arms around my waist. He continued rubbing his paws through my heavy fur, kneading. This massage was better than any of the professionals Ian had hired for us. Way better. "Really? Anything in particular that stood out up close?" I asked, curious. I wanted to know what he liked about me. I turned around to face him. He took a second to get more shampoo in his hand before staring on my chest. I inhaled sharply at the sharp cold of the liquid.

"Out of everything? The first I'd have to say were your stripes. I could always see them from a distance, but up close they looked even more stunning. You out of us three seem to have the most pronounced stripes, and since I've been able to see them up close...they just add to everything I've grown to love about you". He took a soapy finger and, from what I could figure, trailed along one of the stripes from my nose to my forehead. If anything could live in me, I think the world's population of butterflies would be flying all over my insides. Simon continued with both cleaning and talking. "The second had to be your tail. I spent years playing with it and feeling it, but looking at it is a treat of its own". This had me confused. Out of everything visible about me, my tail? "Why my tail? I'm sure that can't be one of the best things you noticed about me".

Simon got on his knees to get the lower half of my body. My breath hitched when I realized this. "Believe me, it wasn't the first thing I'd think I'd notice either, but I did. Call it my primal hormones, but it always taunts me…" he stood up quickly and whispered into my ear "...always just hiding the part of you that I want". If my face wasn't flushed enough, I'm sure I was as red as my hoodie. Those butterflies I mentioned earlier? They were now racing each other in my stomach, making their goal to tickle my insides as much as possible. "S..so we've got stripes and tail. Is that it?" I suddenly spoke, flustered beyond belief. Simon moved his head to look at me. His soapy paw cupped my face, rubbing into the thin fur on my cheek. "Your eyes had to be the very first" he spoke softly. He took a second to brush my wet hair out of my face. Because it was wet, it wasn't standing anymore.

"For me, the closer things were, the harder they were to see. I could vaguely make out a little green when looking at Theodore's face, but with you I could never find your eyes. They seemed to blend in with your fur" he explained, moving back down to clean my legs and tail. This time, he wasn't as intent on seducing me. "When...when I saw you for the first time, I was stunned. Not just because I could see, but because of your eyes" he continued in a daze, like he was looking back on that day. He stood back up, dragging his hands up my sides. He looked at me again, straight into the thing he was talking about.

"I always had...dreams about what seeing you perfectly would look like. Your eyes were never something I could come up with. So when I saw your eyes, the last thing I was expecting was what I saw. I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but they definitely weren't it" My smile crept up on me. "On first glance, they looked like a honey brown. But your eyes are just as expressive as you are. When you're mad or defensive, they almost look orange. When you're happy or excited, they're light like the fur on your chest. When you're upset, or emotional they become dark brown. And in times like now, when I have you just in the right mood…" he said, that seductive, low voice back again. He slowly backed me into the tub wall, his arms cornering me against the wall, pressed right by my face. "...they're deep in color, but shiny and clear so where I can still see you".

I blinked slowly, now stunned in my own way. I had no idea my eyes spoke so much. He leaned in and I leaned up. Whatever sort of serenade he was trying to do, definitely worked. I hadn't realized how quickly he was able to physically analyze me. We made out for a while. How long it had been, I didn't know, but the water was at our chests when we stopped. Well, his chest, my upper arms. Most of the shampoo had been washed out of my fur already. Didn't we still need to condition our fur too? Simon went to turn off the water, but I held him in place. He wanted me in the mood, so now he has to deal with it.

My fur was far from dry, but there wasn't much else I could do but let it air dry. All thoughts of my bad day yesterday were long gone. That shower gave me an extra spring in my step, and I was ready to face the world. Too bad Theodore was still sour about yesterday. "Enjoy your shower?" he spat. While it was Theodore, and he couldn't hurt a fly, that still stung. I sighed heavily. "Theo, it was an accident. I'm sorry". He didn't let up. This was really killing my mood. "I apologized. What more do you want me to do?". He didn't answer. I groaned dramatically. I flicked some water out of my ear. Since Dave worked most days, the three of us were left on our own. Dave didn't like us going out on our own, so we couldn't leave. Deciding that there wasn't much for me to do, I ran over to the opposite side of the couch and laid down. I didn't sleep that much last night because of my paws, so I'll catch up now.

I could feel Simon crawl up behind me and cuddle me. I was about to fall asleep when Theodore started talking. "Aren't you still mad at him?" he asked. I think they thought I was asleep already. "No. Not anymore. I shouldn't have been mad at him in the first place, it wasn't his fault". Theo groaned. "You're just saying that because you like to spoil him". I managed to hold back a flinch. "What?! I do not spoil him!" he snapped back, quietly. "You do! You've been wanting that kit for weeks! It's all you liked to talk about. Then when he does something to ruin it, you let him off easy?". I didn't realize that my baby brother thought that about me. "Theodore, it was an accident. If anything it was my fault. Alvin didn't just do something and it magically broke. He asked me to plug something in, and I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying or asking until the last minute. So it wasn't his fault". It was quiet for a few seconds before Simon continued. "Yes I really liked that kit, and yes I was mad that it got ruined. But for one, had I not realized what he did, when he did it, both of us could have been seriously injured. And two, Alvin actually hurt his hands trying to help clean up. Maybe I do spoil him a little, but this time I blamed him for something that was my fault, and he got hurt from it. I was making it up to him".

My shoulder began to cramp from laying on my side, so I moved my arm a little. I could feel both their eyes on me, but I made sure to feign sleep again. Thankfully, they continued. "Theo, I get you're upset about the cake batter, but why are you acting so bitter? It was an accident". Cuddled up in Simon's arms, I realized he was rubbing my side. He does that when he's either nervous or anxious. "I wanted to make that cake for Dave" I heard him whisper. "I wanted it to be special, but Alvin ruined it and laughed at me. He did it on purpose, I swear he did!" he continued. "Theo...you can always make another cake. I'm sure Dave would tell you the same thing. And Alvin wouldn't do something like that on purpose. Maybe he'd scare you, and you'd fall back in fright or something, but he wouldn't ruin something you were making on purpose".

"But he laughed!"

"It's Alvin. If he finds something funny, he'll laugh. You out of everyone should know that. He most likely meant it in light humor. Like if someone were to fall and that person would laugh with the group. Look, I can't explain his side. I wasn't paying attention to when he was ranting about it, but Alvin makes it known when he does something on purpose. He locked himself in our room all day yesterday, so something tells me that wasn't on purpose".

It was silent for a while, and I was about to give up my eavesdropping when "Ok fine. I'll apologize when he wakes up. But next time when you two are...doing your thing, can you not let the whole neighborhood hear?". I had to bury my face into the pillow to conceal the embarrassed smile I had all of a sudden got. And it took all of my will power not to burst out laughing. Simon didn't hold back. He cracked up laughing, which made my time trying not to laugh that much harder. To try and make it seem like I was asleep, I covered my ears. "Sorry Theo" I managed to make out between my mate's laughing. Though, Simon didn't stop on and off giggling for a while. "Seriously, I don't need to hear that. It's traumatizing". This time I couldn't hold back my laughter.

To cover up the fact that I wasn't asleep, I asked "Please tell me he doesn't mean that like I think he does" in a partially tired voice. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Simon was still laughing. Theo groaned and fell back. "Please just be more quiet!" he groaned. I blushed and laughed too. And faked a yawn. "Not the best way to wake up" I mumbled. My mate grabbed me and kissed my head. "I guess not, but sorry". I stretched my arms, and moved to lay back down, when Theo spoke up. "Hey Alvin?" I raised my head to look at him. "I'm...sorry for being mean". I smiled at him and nodded. Now that that weight is off my shoulders, I fell into a comfortable sleep.

Author's Note: This is just a cute little extra I wrote a while ago, but forgot to post it before my trip, so I'm doing it now. Hope you enjoyed!