Grim watched as his opponent fell to the ground for the fifth time, ending the special one-on-one match he'd been challenged to. The player had been good, sure, but he hadn't considered the shitty mood Grim was in before the match. 

He often played a tiny bit more carefully when he had Renegade at his side, but without anything to make him hesitate? Even though he'd died twice, himself, he'd beaten Revengor to a pulp more than enough times to earn victory... and quite a bit of donations. 

Evidently, the guy had quite the mouth and loved taunting people as he crushed their hopes and dreams in the game. Granted, he did, too, but even though he'd never admit it out loud, he'd calmed down quite a bit since Ian had moved in with him. 

Just the thought of his man mad his body respond and grow hot, making him tug his headset off and quickly dismiss himself for the regular break they got before the end-of-match interviews. 

Reacting with just a thought...

It wasn't too much of a surprise, though. Since coming back from his father's he'd realized just how fine a line he was walking with Ian. The guy wanted him, which had always been obvious, but now he realized that, somehow, Ian was also considering the possibility of not being with him. 

Granted, he didn't show it very easily and was more than obedient whenever Grim spoke to him, but there were times he'd caught a nervous glance or an unsure response to things that should have been answered immediately with clear precision. 

Splashing water on his face, Grim gave his head a good shake and sighed. 

This is so stressful. 

The sound of the door opening immediately stole his attention and had him hurrying that way. He met Ian right as he stepped inside, then reached up and removed the bag from his shoulder and after setting it on the ground, grabbed the man's chin and pulled him in for a rough kiss. 

Ian returned his kiss and pulled him into a strong hug, eliciting a moan from Grim. He'd never really cared for people trying to restrain him in any way, even though he loved tying up others, but with Ian and his hugs, and hands, and—Grim broke the kiss and mussed up Ian's soft hair. 

"I passed," Ian said breathlessly, his smile shining even in the darkness of the entryway. 

Grim smirked and squeezed Ian's nose. 

"Of course you did! My husband is a genius," he said firmly before pressing another kiss to his man's lips. 

When they separated again Ian took his hand and squeezed it as he walked over to the couch and dropped down, pulling him into his lap for another tight hug. It was strange being in such a position, but again, with Ian, it didn't really bother him the way it would with anyone else. 

Actually, straddling his man's lap gave him just the right angle... 

"How did your match g—" a loud moan broke his sentence as Grim clamped down on Ian's warm ear. 

He felt the man's reaction beneath him immediately and smirked, then leaned away after one more tug on his ear. 

"Good, the cocky bastard bit off more than he could chew," he said right before Ian leaned forward and tugged on his sweatshirt with his teeth. 

"Want to bite me too, babe?" he asked with a chuckle. 

Ian looked up at him with hungry brown eyes, his teeth still firmly holding the fabric of his sweatshirt. 

His silent answer was quite obviously, yes. 

"Unfortunately, I've got to go back and do the end-game interview," he said with a crooked grin, having known that he'd get away with the teasing because of that. 

Of course, he could get away with anything when it concerned Ian. The guy was extremely accepting of the whole consent thing. He could push him to the brink of insanity and he'd still stop if he simply said the word. 

Although, each time he'd done it he'd felt worse and worse about walking away. 

Better stop now. 

He did have to go do his interview, anyways. 

Cupping his loves face in his hands, Grim leaned in for one more kiss before climbing off his lap. 

"I'm proud of you, babe. Let me go get this done, then we can make some dinner together."

Ian nodded and let him go with a blush and warm smile. 

Even though his love didn't make a fuss about him leaving after teasing him, Grim still wasn't very happy about walking away. He was always the one walking away. Teasing, playing around, and saying things that he wasn't ready to finalize in reality. 

Stopping right before the range of his camera, Grim sifted his fingers through his hair and pursed his lips. 

Eh, fuck it. 

Spinning on his heels, Grim walked back into the living room and stopped in front of the couch right as Ian was getting comfortable lying down. 

Now confused and a little worried, he quickly sat back up, only for Grim to grab his hand and pull him to his feet! 

"G-Grim?" 

Marching into his room, he pointed to his computer chair. 

"Sit." 

Ian's eyes were wide as he stared at him, then back to the chair, then back at him. 

"You... want me to sit in your chair in front of the camera?" he whispered, clearly worried that he might be picked up by the mic he hadn't muted. 

Grim nodded, then tilted his head up slightly, a grin on his face.  

"You don't want to?" he asked after a moment of silence, his smile faltering slightly. 

He could see the conflicting emotions on Ian's face and to say that it fucking hurt was an absolute understatement. 

I did that. 

Before, Ian would have jumped into that chair and pulled him down into his lap with the giddiest excitement, overjoyed to show him off to the world and finally have his love claiming him. 

Yet here we are, and he's hesitating.

He wanted to just drag him over to it anyways, but dammit if he could force him. 

"Do you... really not want to?" he said after nearly a minute of silence between them. 

He didn't know that his heart could beat so fast, but Grim knew that he deserved whatever negative might be coming. He'd led him on and on and on. 

Ian was rubbing the back of his neck, a clear sign that he was extremely uncomfortable. So, when he finally did speak, it was no surprise that he said what he did. 

"I-I... don't want to do that u-unless you really want me in th-that way." 

Fuck me. Fuck me fuck me fuck me!

Pulling on his own hair, Grim paced in a circle ten times before finally walking over to his desk and pulling a small container out of the mess there. He then turned and walked back over to Ian, even though he knew that he had likely walked in front of the range of his camera, but he didn't give a fuck. 

"I'm sorry I'm a fucking idiot sometimes," he paused, then ran his free hand over his face, then sighed out his growing frustration before continuing. 

"Okay, most of the time, but I don't want to make a mistake this time. With you."

He could just-barely hear something coming from his headphones, but pushed it to the back of his mind as he awkwardly knelt down, his face burning with nervousness. 

"I'm probably going to make more mistakes and say stupid shit, and we both know I'm going to do stupid shit but, um, I uh..." 

Grim felt his tongue tie itself into knots, making it hard for him to get another word out even as he struggled with himself. Eventually, he reached up with his free hand and lifted the item he'd taken off his desk, then opened it for Ian to see. 

The man's eyes widened to saucers as he stared at the custom made ring before him. He'd had it specially crafted last week by an artist he'd met on the game. He'd requested a rush order the night they'd gone to his dad's, and boy had the girl delivered. Everything on it, from the gold base to the silver and rubies melded into it in the design of both their in-game crests mixed together. 

Thank god the girl had only lived one city over, too. 

In all honesty, he'd known what he'd wanted the moment he told his dad that he would only bring Ian to his party. The thought of standing beside anyone else had made his stomach churn. Of course, he knew that he still had some issues he needed work through, and hadn't really planned to present the ring yet, but at the same time, he didn't want Ian to look at anyone else or feel like he wasn't wanted in that way. 

Ian slowly dropped to his knees on the carpet in front of him, his expression still one of disbelief. 

As the silence between them stretched, Grim's heart began to suffocate him as it pounded against his ribcage. 

He was just about to lower his shaking hands and go crawl into a ball when Ian reached up and gently took the little ring from its container and brought it closer so that the light from the hallway could illuminate it better. 

"Wow... gorgeous," Ian whispered as Grim thought the exact same thing, but his eyes were on his man, not the ring. 

Ian stared at it for another minute before gently removing it from the little holder and sliding it onto his ring finger. 

The guy was literally transfixed. 

"You really want me?" he eventually asked, his voice a quiet, unsure whisper. 

Grim finally felt his body relax a little as he inched closer, then pulled Ian into an awkward kneeling hug. 

"I really, really want you, and I'm sorry that I've made you think, even for a second, that I might not. I know I've got some things I still need to work on, but you're the only one I want to try with. Will you marry me, Ian?" 

Ian lifted his eyes to meet his, then slowly nodded his head, as if using those few moments to confirm in his mind what he'd just heard. 

"Yes. Please, I want to marry you. I-I want to marry you!" Ian replied, his voice cracking as he began to cry. 

Grim quickly sat down and pulled his sweet husband into his arms, intent on comforting him, but before he could even get him into a complete hug, he was abruptly lifted up and carried over to his computer chair! 

"Wh-what are you doing?" he squeaked out right before Ian dropped down into the chair, like Grim had previously asked him to. 

But why am I am in your lap already?!

He'd honestly planned to walk over and settle himself right where he was sitting now, but he'd meant to do it with a swagger, not a blush!

Hearing the MC begin shouting from his headset, Grim swallowed down his nerves and reached as far forward as he could... with Ian's arms wrapped firmly around his middle, and managed to swipe his headset from his desk. 

As soon as he put it on he felt his ears begin to bleed at the volume of the MC's insane screams. 

"Oh my god, Grim! That's Renegade! You have Renegade in your house! You're in his lap! What's going on?!"

Jesus Christ.

Straightening up as well as he could in Ian's lap, Grim narrowed his eyes on the camera and put on his best haughty expression. 

"Of course he's here! He's my husband!" he said, then grabbed Ian's left hand and held it up in front of the camera as his love buried his face in his neck, perhaps a little embarrassed, even though he was sure he was probably elated, too. 

"See the ring, bitches? He's taken, and has been taken! He's mine!" 

The MC was sputtering a bunch of unintelligible nonsense and his profile chat was flying off the hook with notification sounds, but Grim just sat there in his man's lap, glancing over only a few as he held Ian's hand tightly in his own. 

Daddy'sBelt: BOY I KNEW IT! BUT WE ALSO SAW HIS LEFT HAND LAST WEEK! YOU LITTLE SHIT! YOU JUST PROPOSED! 

DumpTruck: Ren! You can do better! Baby don't let him fool you! 

DiviIsAPerv: We allllll know who's the bottom, right? ;) 

MimiIsAPerv: I've got the hidden cameras ready! 

ThatKindOfMilkChocolate: You better invite us to the wedding! (I just wanna lick Ren once before he's taken away to your dungeon!!)

"Wh-wh-when did this happen?" the MC finally managed to ask. 

Grim snorted and smirked, but instead of answering, he leaned back and pressed a kiss to Ian's hair. The sweet gesture had Ian finally lifting his head to stare straight at the camera. 

"I've belonged to Grim from the very beginning," he told their viewers before tilting his head and pressing a kiss to Grim's ear. "I've always belonged to my husband."  

Grim felt his face burn red in response, but he ignored it and kept his smug attitude as he answered a few more questions from the MC, then abruptly turned off his camera at the exact second he hit the mandatory interview time. 

The second it was off he exited the Discord voice chat, then tossed his headset and fell back against his husband's chest with an exhausted sigh. 

I actually did it, Stevey. 

He'd not only come out to his watchers, but also officially claimed his man. 

Turning and curling up in said man's arms, Grim pressed himself against Ian's chest and tucked his head, then channeled his inner opossum and let out a close-mouthed squeal. 

It felt good. 

It had been the first time he'd ever intentionally made any kind of sound similar to his inner animal. 

Ian smiled and nuzzled his hair, a purr starting up to mix with Grim's second stifled scream. 

He could sense Ian's elation and happily let it flood his system as they cuddled in his chair, the game, dinner, and everything else, momentarily forgotten. They would just enjoy each others' company for a while in the now-quiet, dark room. 

He would enjoy his husband's company.