“I need you to do me a favor, without being your normal asshole self,” Kave muttered with his arms crossed tightly across his chest. He prided himself in not needing anyone and never to ask anything of anyone. But when facing a weekend alone with his clan, he was willing to try it. One time.

A look of confusion made its way on to his friend and fellow teammate’s face. The other man had tilted his head to the side, as if he was trying to see if this new angle would provide some kind of answer for his actions. After a few moments of this weird staring contest, Kave felt his patience ticking away.

“Say something, asshole,” Kave hissed at the other man. This outburst seemed to bring some kind of answer and a smirk from the other man.

“Well, that’s no way to speak to a guy you want a favor from. Now is it?”

“Jamie,” Kave hissed.

Jamie still had that smirk on his face when he leaned back on the couch, as if this was a spa day. Kave could practically see the other man’s inner lion as he got comfortable, before having to have this annoying conversation. That only made this annoying conversation get more annoying. Kave was starting to question why he thought it would be a good idea to ask the lion shifter. With his own inner beast being a feline, he figured asking the only other one of the team would have been his best bet.

You forgot that Jamie is an asshole.

He is your best friend, though.

Not if he doesn’t wipe that smirk off his face. He will be my dead friend.

“It’s rude to ignore someone while arguing with your inner beast. Tiger not being nice to you today?” Jamie’s tone was full of humor and cockiness. There were few things that his friend loved more than giving people a hard time.

“Bite me,” Kave lamely replied as he watched the foolish grin grow on his friend’s face.

“If you make it worth my while.” Kave chucked a nearby book at his friend, who dodged it with ease.

“Alright, asshole. Let us not forget that I am the one who knows about the Pirates’ first baseman that you tried to eat at the last away game.” A sense of victory filled Kave as he watched the cocky smile fade, when Jamie threw his head back with a loud groan.

“He was so annoying, going on about the lazy lion pitcher throwing fur balls not curve balls at the last game. No one saw me shift, anyways.”

It was Kave’s turn to offer a smirk. “Oh, but I did. I had to practically drag your lazy lion ass to my truck and drive you back to our hotel room before Couch Fras found out we were out the night before the playoffs.”

The middle finger that was directed at him did nothing to ruin his mood. Jamie always gave him a hard time and flipping him off was almost as common as a wave. Normal lion, always having to be a pain, or so Kave always figured. Jamie was the only lion that he ever was able to stand being around.

“No need to sell me out. I’ll do it whatever it is. Felines got to stick together.” Jamie had a truly lazy lion grin as Kave watched him sink deeper into the couch.

“My clan is having their seasonal festival. Each family is supposed to bring a guest. It’s my year to bring someone. Required, no way out of it.” Kave knew his words were like catnip to Jamie. Curiosity always killed the cat.

“I had no plans anyway. Might as well go to a festival.”

That was good enough with Kave. He gave a quick nod.

“I’ll pick you up Friday. Long trip to Missouri,” Kave said as he walked out the door. As soon as he was alone, Kave let out a long breath of air. A wave of different emotions hit him. This weekend might just drive him crazy. That was a lot of asshole lion time.

“Alright, get the hell out of here.” The booming voice of Couch Fras, after hours of slightly torturous training, was a sweet relief.

Jamie watched as the team quickly made their way to the locker room. Normally he would be joining them, listening to the team bickering about practice, weather, or what bar they should hit tonight. But his mind was on the upcoming weekend with a certain tiger. Although rarely did Jamie ever go with them, he just enjoyed offering his own sarcastic ideas to the locker room. His lion enjoyed the interaction that being around the team brought, but he was a relaxed creature that enjoyed home rather than some loud bar. The wolves, foxes, coyotes, and other shifters on the team never could understand why the lion preferred a nap.

“Not my idea of fun.”

The annoyed voice of the team’s catcher and tiger shifter caught Jamie’s attention. Kave stood with his mask tucked under his arm, and a look on his face that Jamie knew all too well. The man that Kave’s annoyance was directed at was the nosy fox shifter, Seth. He had just joined the team, and seemed to decide it was his mission to figure out a way to get Kave out on the town.

A sudden wave of jealousy and annoyance hit Jamie. All that stopped Jamie from going over there was that other members of the team seemed to notice the exchange as well. Not that they would ever tell the man, but many of them liked their lone cranky tiger catcher. He might not be the biggest on coming together but he would always have their backs, on and off the field.