GRIM.

     “It’s not assault, it’s getting revenge on you. You started it by teasing me, you big lovable meanie,” Burgh chimed as Grimsley pulled him closer. Humming, he leaned down to give his short husband bunny kisses.

     “I’m just a lovable little bug guy and you know it.”

     “Maybe I did, but that doesn’t give you the right to attack me in such a way,” Grimsley joked, sneaking past the bunny kisses to give Burgh a peck on the lips.

     Burgh felt the blood rush all the way into his face as Grimsley whispered in his ear. He was sure he was about as red as a Tamato berry, if not redder. The bug-type leader was having trouble not squirming in his chair. He hated the way his husband’s teasing did that to him, not to mention how often it happened.

      “Y-you,” he stammered, keeping a tight grip on his leg in an attempt to keep himself under control. “St-stop… stop teasing me! You know what it does to me!”

     As Grimsley walked away, Burgh did his best to not let out a sigh of relief. He fidgeted in his chair for a second, before realizing how defenseless Grimsley would be while making his coffee, as well as how Burgh was going to get his revenge.

     Almost more silent than a Gengar stalking someone’s shadow, Burgh moved slowly towards Grimsley. As soon as the man got close enough, he quickly pulled his arm up, getting ready to hit his target.

     SMACK! The sound of Burgh slapping Grimsley’s ass as hard as he possibly could echoed throughout the kitchen. For a second, Burgh wondered if the neighbors could’ve heard it.

     If he was being truthful, Grimsley was proud of his ability to turn his husband into mush with just a few words. He found himself grinning more and more with each stammered word, and, tease that he was, kept on walking, ignoring Burgh’s pitiful protests.

     Cheerfully, Grimsley waited for his coffee, entirely unaware of the sneaky husband preparing to assault him.

     Just as the coffee maker made its final noise, Grimsley let out a sharp squeak.

     “Y-You!” Grimsley squeaked, whirling around to face Burgh. “That hurt, you know! You’ve wounded me, darling. I shall never recover...” Dramatically, he leaned back against the counter, lifting his hand to his forehead in false agony. 

     Then, dropping the act, he grabbed Burgh’s waist and pulled his husband toward him. “You absolutely ridiculous, sneaky bastard,” Grimsley said, his laugh evident in his voice. “What ever shall I do with you?”

     “If I hadn’t known you better, I wouldn’t’ve been able to tell that you don’t want to go to work.” Burgh sighed, knowing that if he said no, Grimsley would’ve shot those irresistable puppy dog (or kitty cat, to be more fitting) eyes at him.

     “But you know as well as I do that I can’t deny you things when you coat your words with sugar as much as you do. I’d be delighted for you to stay a little longer… I was quite, ahem, lonely last night.”

     “What? Me? Not wanting to go to work? That’s preposterous, you know I absolutely love work.” Grimsley snickered, a huge grin plastered across his face. He stood up from his seat, stacking his since-emptied breakfast dishes before slinking around the table to wrap his unoccupied arm around Burgh’s shoulders.

     “Though, dearest, you wound me. You act as if I don’t want to spend time with you.” Grimsley leaned down and pressed a kiss to Burgh’s cheek. Then, with a cheeky grin, he whispered in Burgh’s ear, “And, I’m sure you were lonely last night. But you certainly won’t be tonight, darling.”

     Burgh had a smug smile on his face as Grimsley hurriedly sat down. “It gets better, sweetheart. They’re the fluffy kind with pecha berries and chocolate chips inside. I’m fairly sure I finally mastered them.”

     The tall man sat across from Grimsley, humming as he did so. He really did enjoy seeing his dearest get excited over his cooking, as Burgh hadn’t been the greatest cook at the beginning of their relationship. After getting a few lessons from the Striaton trio, his cooking had greatly improved. He smiled gently as he watched Grimsley shove the pancakes in his mouth.

     “I take it you like them, right love?”

     Grimsley glanced up from the plate of pancakes in front of him, and then reached across the table to squeeze Burgh’s hand. “You’re too good to me, love.”

     Digging into the plate of pancakes, Grimsley couldn’t help but practically inhale the food in front of him. He hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before because, as was typical of him, Grimsley had come home late the night before. Although, it wasn’t for the reasons typical of him, but was instead because he was at work late training with Olwen.

     That was probably why Burgh was being so aggressively lovey-dovey. He’d probably missed him.

     Once he was done shoveling food into his mouth, Grimsley wiped his face with a napkin and looked up to catch Burgh’s gaze.

     “Dearest. Would you like it if I stayed home a little while today, and go in to work late? I feel terrible that I left you all alone yesterday evening, and I know how much you love spending time in the mornings together...” 

     Every time that Grimsley went to visit Shauntal, it always seemed to be at the most ungodly hour. But they were both at work late, and he figured Shauntal wouldn’t mind. They never did.

     His knuckles rapped once, twice, three times on the ghost trainer’s door.