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It was easy to tell when the spring was approaching and as always the pride looked forward to it. The absence of their werebear always felt hard towards the end of the winter, when he’d been hibernating for so long, preferring to be left alone to sleep than be a part of society in the cold winter months. Although both Cloud and Squall slept close but not too close, it wasn’t the same, especially during the day when they had to spend time without him taking part in everything.
Now though, there were buds poking up through the snow, the evenings were just starting to get brighter and there was a sense of excitement in the air that was impossible to ignore.
For the matron, it was a difficult time of year. If they weren’t adopted while they were young, it meant that they went through their teenage years at the home and it was not an environment conducive to careful upbringing during turbulent times. It was why the home that the boys stayed in was exclusively male with separate premises for females but even that left its own problems.
With so much testosterone, especially around the time the females would be coming into heat meant that a great deal of the adolescent boys had a great deal of energy and few places to expend it until they learned to better control themselves and their new urges. Squall especially had been getting a bit rough, getting into one or two fights. The matron tended to overlook it as long as no-one got hurt, viewing it as a reasonable way to burn off the energy that would be more satisfying than running it off. Any more… intimate displays were stopped as soon as they started, much to the sexual frustration of the younger adolescents.
Having Angeal back with them after his period of hibernation would help the three of them burn off the excess energy.
“Is he awake yet?” Cloud asked, not for the first time as he hovered on the edge of the bed, beneath which their bear continued to sleep. He was jittery with excitement and despite being in his human form, Squall would have practically been able to see his tail wagging if he’d not been under the bed too.
Rolling his eyes and rumbling out an affectionately exasperated ‘no’, Squall continued his vigil. Angeal would wake any day and Squall spent almost every minute waiting for his pridemate to wake, moving only when he and Cloud went to eat.
Cloud remained in his customary place on top of the bed, bouncing a little on the mattress. “How about now?” he asked.
“No,” Squall replied with a soft huff. “I’ll tell you when he’s awake, calm down.”
“Aw, but Squall, I wanna knooow.”
“You will when-“
Squall cut himself and the end of his sentence was finished by the soft sound of a huge yawn and other sleepy bear noises. The bouncing on the mattress above their heads became more intense.
“Is he awake now?”
“Yes. Shhh,” Squall urged, watching the sleepy bear coming around. He let the raven gather his wits about him somewhat before the lion scooted closer, pressing close and reassuring the waking bear that he was close. No doubt Angeal would be grumpy and hungry and with that in mind, Squall told their wolf pridemate to go fetch a hearty plate of food.
Before the weight had left the mattress above them, Squall found himself grabbed in a bear hug and tugged amongst the blankets and cushions of his bear’s nest. Rubbing his cheek against Angeal’s head, Squall made soft purring sounds and nuzzled gently. “Morning bear.”
“Mornin’ lion,” Angeal replied sleepily, still slightly reluctant to rise from his deep sleep. He had the brunet lion tucked up close and partially squashed beneath him but if the lion was bothered by it, he gave no indication. In fact, he made the bear smile by scooting closer so that the bear was practically laying on top of him, the pair of them squashed beneath the bed.
“Ready to face the world again?” Squall asked quietly.
“No,” came the slightly disgruntled response, which was punctuated by the low rumbling growl of the bear’s empty belly.
Smirking in amusement Squall wriggled out from beneath the bed, more because Angeal let him than because he’d made the effort, and then turned, waiting for the raven to join him.
Slowly, blinking owlishly in the light dimmed by the closed curtains, Angeal emerged from beneath the bed and stood, stretching even as his stomach growled again in demand for food. It was only when he had stretched sufficiently and relaxed, hunching slightly that he realised that his lion friend was wearing a slightly satisfied look and apparently just enjoying the sight of his friend’s awakening. A closer look at the brunet revealed that Squall was actually giving him an appreciative once-over.
Angeal gave him a questioning look and Squall only nodded at the bear’s body.
Even with his shirt and pants on, it wasn’t hard to Angeal to realise what Squall had noticed and raising his hands to his cheeks confirmed it as much as it could be without a mirror.
Their chubby little bear wasn’t so chubby any longer.
A gasp from the door alerted them both to the return of their wolf and Squall immediately darted forward to steady the tray of food that Cloud had fetched for Angeal. Taking it out of the blond’s hands, Squall watched in amusement as the wolf moved a little closer, mouth open in shock.
“Geal! You’re sexy!” he blurted, clapping his hands over his mouth when he realised what he’d said and going pink.
Grinning at the blond, Angeal pulled up the bottom of his shirt to have a look and prodded gently at his slim tummy, grinning wider when it made the wolf make a soft noise akin to a whimper. Babyfat gone, their werebear was trim and… extremely hungry if yet another rumble of his stomach was anything to go by.
Looking amused and slightly smug, Squall handed over the tray of food as Angeal settled on the edge of the bed and took a seat beside the raven, so that they could begin telling the bear of everything that had happened while he’d slept.
For a long time, Cloud continued to stand there, staring at their werebear in astonishment.
“Geal’s… hot…” he murmured, moving to join them on the edge of the bed in a bit of a daze.
Giving him a playful shove with his shoulder as Cloud sat on his other side, feeling more than a little pleased with himself too, Angeal hushed the blond so that he could listen to Squall’s eager telling of their winter days while he ate, beaming happily when Cloud helped in the telling, even if it was without tearing his eyes away from the adolescent werebear.
Part of him couldn’t wait to show off to everyone at the home just how sexy his alpha had become. And Gaia, how hot would he be in the months to come?