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Niki doesn’t host guests often, aside from the occasional appearance of the other bees. His apartment would be considered small even before Rinne moved in, his parents having lacked the oversight to get him a place he could grow into. Needless to say, he isn’t at all expecting it when on an otherwise unnoteworthy evening, Mika bursts through the door, hoisting a full bag of who-knows-what over his shoulder. He locks giddy eyes with Rinne and smiles, all teeth.
Niki shoots a confused glare at Rinne, silently begging the question ‘hey, what the fuck?’. But before Rinne can give a half-assed explanation, Mika dumps the contents of the bag unceremoniously, and a rogue tennis ball bounces into Niki’s foot as he gapes at the pile of dog supplies and toys currently scattered across his living room floor. Mika bounces up and down on the balls of his feet, excitement pouring out of his small frame.
“I brought it all like ya wanted, Amagi-senpai!”
“Mika-chan,” Niki greets, “What’s going on?”
Mika cocks his head. “Did Amagi-senpai not tell ya…?”
Both of them turn to look at Rinne, who’s already crouching on the ground, digging through the pile. His hand emerges with an orange nylon collar, twisting it around to look at it from all angles.
“Niki’d look cute in this one, don’tcha think Mi-tan?” He unclaps the plastic clip holding the collar closed, and lifts himself back up on his feet, closing in towards Niki.
“Rinne-kun, what’s going on! Tell me!” Niki backs up, holding his arms in front of him defensively. Rinne puts his hands up, collar still dangling from his fingers.
“Hey, hey! Nothin’ crazy, just a playdate!”
Mika watches awkwardly while he fits his own collar around his neck—purple, with a proper metal buckle, unlike the one Rinne has chosen.
Niki’s worried expression falls, and a confused one quickly takes its place. “Uh, playdate…?”
His eyes dart to Mika in his collar, and wide eyes stare back at him. Niki doesn’t really know what's going on here—like, at all—but for as anxious as he currently is, he’d rather he take the brunt of whatever Rinne has set up here instead of leaving Mika to clean it up. Clearly, Rinne hasn’t given either of them the full picture, and Mika is such a sweet little thing, it wouldn’t be fair to just…
Rinne cocks an eyebrow and waggles the collar in his hand, hardware clanking together.
Niki, cornered by his own self-imposed sense of responsibility, gives in.
“Okay, so… dogs…? I’m guessing?”
Mika’s excitement is back tenfold, and Niki swears he sees the other boy’s hypothetical tail wagging. “Yeah! S’fun, trust me!!”
Rinne smiles, something confident and only a little bit unsettling, as he grabs Niki’s wrist and pulls him towards the pile still on the floor.
“So, I like this purple collar, ‘n these are my fav’rite ears!” Mika is speaking at roughly one thousand words per minute, digging through the heap of gear to show off his sizable collection.
Niki gives Mika (god does he love that boy) his full attention, so much so that he doesn’t notice the headband placed on his head and the collar wrapped around his neck until a plasticky click echoes through the room. He confirms what exactly is happening when his own curious hands venture to his head to find fur waiting for him.
“These are cute on ya, Niki.” Rinne bites his lip, taking in the sight.
The ears are brown and flopped over, though not loose like a cheap costume, and the orange of the collar matches almost perfectly with the orange undershirt Niki is so partial to. Niki tugs at the collar adorning his neck, and he feels himself blush despite the innocent nature of it all. Rinne can make almost anything seem dirty.
Mika, who had already looked fit to burst upon opening the door, is quick to assume position as soon after Niki is finally geared up. He’s on all fours, ears atop his head, small frame shaking in excitement. He smiles at Niki and barks.
Not like a half-joking bark, but an actual lifelike dog bark. Niki’s eyes widen. What?
Rinne, after taking a moment to tug loose the band keeping Niki’s hair tied, clasps his hands together and grins. “Ain’t he cute? Me ‘n Mii-tan’ve been plannin’ this for ya, Niki.” He nods towards the ground. “Your turn.”
Niki smiles an uneasy smile, still feeling out of place in this situation despite the collar around his neck. But with two pairs of pleading eyes on him, Niki has no choice but to obey. He looks down, hiding his embarrassment, and lowers himself onto all fours.
“What a good dog!” Rinne calls his name, shrill and chirpy, like an owner would call their pet to come inside. His hand ruffles Niki’s hair, and Mika bounds over almost immediately to soak up some of the attention. His tongue is almost lolled out of his mouth, and he pushes it out to give Niki one long lick up the cheek.
Niki’s nervous smile falters, though Rinne and Mika seem even more excited for what's to come. Mika barks again, trying to get Niki’s attention. Truth be told, Niki does think it’s cute, and it’s not like this is the most malicious thing Rinne could have planned... It's weird, that’s for damn sure, but ultimately it isn’t hurting anyone. Plus, disappointing a cute, eager boy he’s invited on multiple occasions into his home isn’t high up on Niki’s list.
“Speak? Can ya speak?” Rinne nods towards Niki.
“Woof, haha!” Niki exhales a breathy laugh. The absurdity of the situation is dawning on him, and he feels like falling into a fit of giggles. What is going on? “Bark!”
Rinne’s grin drops, and Niki is a bit shaken by the sudden intensity of his expression. “No, no. A real bark. Show ‘im, Mi-tan,” he motions towards Mika.
Mika speaks, a real imitation of a bark, just as he had done before. His expression is one of joy, not shame. Niki’s eyebrows furrow, and he looks up uncertainly at Rinne, who only prompts him with another nod of his head.
“C’mon, boy,”
Niki barks, weak and shameful, a poor imitation of an actual dog. A genuine bark isn’t a noise he’s made probably ever, and it shows in his shyness.
And as if a switch was flipped, Rinne’s serious expression is gone just as quick as it had appeared, and the man seems elated.
“Too cute! That's my Nikiii~” He lovingly scritches the underside of Niki’s chin, and Niki can't help but lean into his warm touch… until he remembers that, no, this is weird, and shameful, and so many other things, even if it feels good when Rinne loves on him. He pulls away and looks down.
Mika, who seems to have forgone human thought altogether, paws at Niki, wanting to play. He nips at Niki’s hands planted on the ground, making him wince in discomfort. Rinne sends the tennis ball from earlier flying past them, sufficiently distracting Mika who turns to chase after it almost immediately, pouncing on it with a playful noise.
Rinne grins, and tosses Niki a squeaky toy, expecting him to catch it. Instead he yelps as it hits his face. He definitely wasn’t expecting anything to be thrown at him, so catching it midair was the least of his concerns. He seethes as Rinne laughs.
“Dogs are supposed to catch, Niki-chan,” The honorific makes Niki wince—in anger or something else, he isn’t sure. “Let's try again, ‘kay?”
“Rinne-kun, I-”
Rinne makes a buzzer noise.
“Nope. Wrong. Dogs don’t talk.” He laughs, but the look in his eyes is sharp and demanding. “Man, I’m starting to think you've never even seen a dog!”
Niki shuts his mouth, anger apparent in his face, and he begrudgingly dips down to take the toy into his mouth. He bites it experimentally, and his teeth hit the squeaker, gaining Mika’s attention back from the tennis ball. The other boy bounds over and attempts to swipe the toy from Niki’s mouth.
Rinne has his phone out, once again taking pictures of the two boys playing. Though, it’s less playing and more of Niki trying to get Mika to back off. Mika’s play style is rough and in your face to the point that Niki can’t help but be overwhelmed.
While Niki is distracted by Mika’s attempts at play, Rinne makes his way over to the kitchen. A small bone mold is set out, seemingly something Mika brought, and Rinne rummages around in cabinets looking for a mixing bowl.
Niki hears the commotion in his kitchen, and begins to stand up, inching closer to the source. His humanization efforts are fruitless, though, as Rinne notices him standing up immediately and once again makes the odd buzzer noise with his mouth.
“Nuh uh! Dogs don’t!” Rinne snaps and points to the floor. “Four on the floor, doggy.”
Niki rolls his eyes and stomps, crossing his arms as he glares at Rinne. “No, Rinne-kun, I don’t wanna keep doing this!”
Rinne’s expression falls once again and he brings himself towards Niki. He places his hand on the other boy's shoulder with a grip far too tight for Niki’s liking, and pushes him back down onto the ground. Despite his somewhat scrawny appearance, Rinne is strong, and Niki succumbs easily.
Niki recognizes this mood, in the look Rinne gets in his eyes. The all too thin, hollow look that feels like it could rip Niki apart from the inside out. Rinne’s dominance is usually casual, never so overt and heavy, but Niki knows to obey when his boyfriend gets like this. He reassumes his previous position, four on the floor, and looks up at Rinne with the slightest furrowing of his eyebrows. He isn't happy about it, yes, but he knows that a little bit of shame is better than not giving Rinne what he wants.
“Good boy! Go play with Mi-tan!” His voice is high pitched and teasing, but Niki chooses not to dwell on it.
At the mention of his name, Mika’s head perks up from the toys he was distracting himself with. His hair is messy, strands misplaced, and despite everything happening, he’s struck with a pang in his chest. Mika looks so cute and happy.
Niki shuffles over on all fours, and gives Mika a nervous smile. Mika doesn’t pick up on it, though, and pounces on Niki looking to play rough. He licks long swipes up the nervous boy’s face, and pants hot breath to fill what little space there is between them. Niki whines, and Mika growls playfully. There really is no reasoning with him.
Niki cranes his head to try and see what Rinne is doing in the kitchen, but Mika suddenly takes him into a sloppy kiss. Niki yelps, but is unable to pull back, so he doubles down on the kiss instead in an effort to distract himself. Kissing is always something Niki has enjoyed, whether cute and chaste or all tongue and messy, so he finds it easy to lean back into something he’s familiar with. He hears an obnoxious, unmuted camera shutter sound from the kitchen, but can no longer bring himself to care. Mika’s tongue swirls inside his mouth, and he closes his eyes to try and enjoy himself amidst the anger and fear.
The oven beeps, catching them all off guard, and Niki nearly throws Mika off of him to scramble to the kitchen (on all fours, of course). He catches himself panting, from both the prospect of food and the makeout sesh he just had with Mika. Rinne laughs, definitely at Niki, but embarrassment is the farthest thing from Niki’s mind once he catches a whiff of what Rinne is pulling from the oven.
Dog treats. Safe for human consumption, Niki assumes, but dog treats nonetheless. They seem to have a graham cracker and peanut butter base, going by the smell. Niki puts on his best puppy dog eyes, peering up at Rinne from the ground.
“You want some, boy? Can you do some tricks for me? Can you speak?” Rinne waves the treat in the air tauntingly.
Despite his better judgment, Niki whines, pouting slightly. He wants the treats Rinne has made so bad it feels like he could die. He stamps the ground impatiently with his paws—hands, his hands—and lets out a noise not unlike a bark.
Rinne grins and tosses the treat towards Niki, and Niki snaps it up midair. It's good, sweet, but not overly so, and Niki wants more.
At this point, Mika has bounded over and is currently headbutting Rinne’s legs, vying for treats. Rinne laughs and steps back from the two boys, brandishing a treat in each hand.
“Alright, roll over,”
Mika is quick to obey, doing a quick barrel roll and getting back upright on all fours. Rinne leans down and offers him the treat, and Mika takes it, seemingly all tongue, and Rinne’s hand comes back slobbery. He chews contentedly, crunching on the dry treat.
Normally, Niki would be shy. He would be embarrassed and shameful. But with food on the line, he’s stubbornly hyperfocused on the task at hand. He methodically rolls over, not nearly as enthusiastic as Mika, and returns to position.
Rinne smiles. “It ain’t so hard now, is it?”
He leans down to give Niki his treat, pressing it against his mouth sensually. It’s still warm from the oven.
“Gentle, boy,”
Niki parts his lips, taking the treat in his mouth just as Rinne asks. He bites it in half slowly, making eye contact with Rinne.
Rinne grins and narrows his eyes, not at all shy about his excitement. He lets Niki have the other half of the treat remaining in his hand. Niki doesn’t quite understand why he’s so receptive to Rinne’s commands after hating them for so long, but he isn’t going to complain about suddenly feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
“Good, good! Can you give paw?”
Niki looks down at his two hands on the ground, debating if he will really resign himself to treating them as paws, but before he can sign his life away, Mika butts in between the two and shoves his own into Rinne’s outstretched hand.
Rinne laughs and once again gives Mika his treat, an ordeal just as messy as before. Niki’s hand is hovering midair, and the look he gives Rinne is a mix of nervous and embarrassed.
Rinne waggles the treat in his hand tauntingly. “C’mon! Ya want it, don’tcha? Beg!” He pulls the treat away from Niki, and Niki holds himself back from whining.
All at once, the reality of the situation hits Niki and it’s like he's finally resurfaced above water. Beg? Rinne wanted him to beg? In front of Mika. Even after all of this, everything Mika’s already seen, he hates the thought of embarrassing himself more than anything. What's worse, Niki was seriously thinking of doing it. He pulls himself back from Rinne and falls into a sitting position, poised to stand, instead of staying on all fours. Rinne frowns at the sudden change in Niki’s attitude.
Niki scowls. “Don’t think you'll trick me with some food, Rinne-kun.” His voice feels odd in his throat, like it isn’t quite right.
Rinne matches Niki’s expression, the tension between them quickly mounting. “Niki, I’m not gonna say it again. Get your ass on the ground. Yer my dog for today, alright?”
His voice is strangely calm and unnerving. Niki’s instincts tell him to run away or at the very least to listen. But his internal geiger counter of shame is screaming at him to disobey. To give Rinne a real piece of his mind.
“I’m not comfortable with this! It’s weird, and you didn’t tell me about it at all beforehand, and it's just you and Mika-chan getting off on some fetish I’m not in on! I don’t want to!” Niki realizes he’s rambling, but his pent up discomfort fuels the fire behind his fit.
Rinne rolls his eyes, a bratty move somehow made scary by the man behind it. “What’s the issue? You know I do this because I love you, right? I just want what's best for ya. I don’t see how this can make you ‘uncomfortable’,” He mocks Niki with air quotes, “You belong to me, simple as.”
Niki swears he feels his blood boil. “No! I don’t, actually!” He scrambles backwards on his ass to get away from Rinne and find purchase to get himself up from the ground. “Why do you just do things to me?!”
Rinne stops walking towards Niki, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. Niki shuts his eyes, wincing in anticipation, but before anything can happen, they both hear a bark and a whine from the living room, reminding them of Mika’s presence.
Rinne opens his eyes, and they dart between Niki and Mika. He shoots Niki a nasty look before speaking.
“Behave, okay?”
Before Niki can respond, Rinne is walking away to go give Mika company. He grumbles, quietly so Rinne can’t hear, and takes a second to collect himself. He’s said his piece; he knows that playing along for the rest of the day will just make things a lot easier.
He hears the two, but can't see them, a steady flow of cooing, whines, and panting filling the room. Niki swallows his shame and gets back on all fours, inching himself around the counter to get in sight of the two.
Rinne’s eyes meet Niki’s and they narrow, matched with a smug grin. Rinne is currently giving Mika the petting of his life, letting him eat what remains of the homemade treats from his hand. Mika’s spit shines on Rinne’s fingers, and Niki feels the distinct pang of jealousy in his chest.
Niki will throw himself under the bus time and time again if it means he’ll have a full belly by the end of it. So, he swallows his pride and brings himself to the two in the center of the apartment.
“Learned your lesson, huh?” Rinne mocks, looking down at the boy on the floor.
Rinne’s words bring Mika out of his trance and his eyes excitedly fall upon Niki. Mika tears away from Rinne in order to get right back in Niki’s business. A slobbery Mika in his face is the last thing Niki needs right now, but Niki stays put. Mika bats his hand at Niki, still looking to play.
Rinne smiles and falls backwards onto the couch, finding a comfortable spot to sit and watch the two. Niki attempts to play with Mika, to indulge him in his zoomies, but Mika is just so much livelier than Niki that it’s hard to keep up. Mika pushes against him, runs around him in circles, continues to bat and swipe at his hands. Niki feels for the first time in his life what he thinks might be overstimulation.
Niki groans internally because Rinne would never let him hear the end of it if he voiced his concerns out loud again, and swipes back at Mika. Mika smiles wide and jumps into his playing stance, arms out in front of him and back in the air. He growls playfully, and Niki gives a weak attempt at a growl back.
Mika yelps in excitement at the reciprocation he’s worked so hard for. He spins around to grab a toy between his teeth, a rope toy for tug of war, and bumps the other end up against Niki's face.
Niki’s eyes flash up to Rinne, full of uncertainty, and the man simply nods and raises his eyebrows with an encouraging smile. Mika growls again, less playful than before; he’s obviously grown tired of Niki’s indecision. Niki gingerly takes the other end of the toy between his teeth, bites down hard, and tries to stand his ground against the determined way Mika immediately starts to tug.
Niki finds himself getting caught up in keeping the toy to himself, wanting to win the game in an attempt to gain some sort of control over his own situation. A growl slips out of him, surprising both himself and Rinne, the latter of which can’t keep his elation to himself.
“There we go, what a good boooyy~!!” Rinne is grinning like a fool.
Despite Niki’s thoughts on the situation, he feels himself blush at the praise. Rinne leans forward to pat Niki on the head with a , and Niki relishes in the touch. He lets up on the toy, and Mika goes flying back. He lands on his back, dazed, and Rinne bursts out in an obnoxious laugh. Mika flips himself back upright at the sound and he runs around Rinne’s legs.
“Hey, Niki-chan~ If ya play fetch with me I’ll make ya dinner, ‘kay?”
Niki turns to look at Rinne, a shining look in his eyes. He would much, much rather make dinner for himself instead of trusting Rinne in his kitchen, at the very least he knows that the man isn’t completely incompetent (thanks to him) and isn’t at high risk of burning the apartment building down. And Niki is hungry, a few measly peanut butter biscuits weren’t nearly enough.
He begins to nod, though opts to nudge a tennis ball towards Rinne instead, hoping to earn his good graces and maybe a slightly bigger serving for himself. Rinne bends over and grabs the ball, giving it a light toss so he doesn’t break anything in the room.
Niki stalls, despite how willing he was only moments ago, and weighs his options. It’s dinner vs. making an absolute fool of himself. He knows his temper will only worsen if he isn’t fed, though, and he’d rather Mika not be audience to that. The boy hadn’t done anything wrong, even if he is in part responsible for the situation Niki’s in. Soon enough. he’s launching himself towards the ball, swerving around Mika who’s happily distracting himself with a bone. He grabs the ball in his mouth, and trots back to Rinne.
Rinne sticks his hand out, and Niki drops the ball in it. He ruffles Niki’s hair, letting his fingers trail down to scratch behind his ears.
“Such a good boy, huh? Wanna go again?”
The tone of Rinne’s voice excites Niki despite his shame. He can’t help the way he’s built and the simple joy he finds in being praised, being loved. So Rinne does just that, tossing the ball a little farther, and grinning as he watches Niki dart after it. He goes through the same song and dance a few times, and soon enough the ball is back in Rinne’s hand.
But before Rinne can reward him with pets this time, Niki’s stomach growls, forcing a whine out of the boy. He musters up his best puppy dog eyes, and shoots Rinne with a look that he knows (hopes) he can’t say no to. Rinne gives him a sigh that blessedly lacks any actual annoyance, and gets himself up off the couch.
He points to Niki.
“Stay.”
Niki dutifully sits back on his haunches to wait, hoping his posture might win him some hypothetical brownie points. Mika pops his head up at the commotion, the ears atop his head flopping over with the movement. Mika isn’t food motivated whatsoever, but he wants whatever special attention Niki is getting, so he abandons his bone and places himself firmly next to Niki, awaiting the same reward for doing nothing.
After a little rummaging in the kitchen, Rinne comes back with two bowls. What's inside Niki can’t see, but at that moment it hits him that he’s going to be made to eat whatever it is out of a bowl on the floor. Like a dog. Dread sets in, and for the first time in his life, he debates saying no to food.
Rinne places the bowls down in front of each of them and Niki examines their contents with a worried frown. It’s the chocolate cereal that Rinne loves, the one that’s always circled and underlined in red pen on the grocery list. Niki’s not sure what he was expecting, knowing Rinne’s cooking ability, but he supposes dry cereal isn’t the worst thing to be eating from a bowl on the floor.
Before Niki can get too comfortable with his fate, though, Rinne turns back around and grabs a carton of milk that he had previously set out. He leans down to pour into each bowl, and Niki watches with a sense of mounting anxiety. Dry cereal is one thing, but milk makes the situation ten times messier. Ten times more embarrassing. Niki’s face is going to be soaked, and Rinne’s going to relish in it.
“Take it!” Rinne announces, breaking the two boys from their hold.
Mika, despite his general rowdiness, opts to calmly eat from the bowl instead of diving in. Niki looks up at Rinne, worry cutting lines into his expression, and the man simply nods in the direction of the bowl.
Niki sighs, and looks down at the chocolate pieces floating in the milk. He carefully brings his head down to try and eat as cleanly as possible, but is unable to find a position where milk doesn’t get all over his face.
Though with food this close—close enough to see, smell, and almost taste—his worries about cleanliness and shame suddenly feel a million miles away, and Niki is dangerously close to throwing them out completely. The room is silent save for Mika’s gentle laps at his bowl.
Niki caves. He dives into the bowl, milk splashing over the sides and into his hair. For some reason, it feels as if he hasn’t eaten in months. He chomps down on the chocolate puffs before sipping at the milk and coming up for air. Milk drips from his chin and hair, and he looks up at Rinne for some kind of approval.
Rinne is watching, voraciously, and makes immediate eye contact with Niki when the boy looks up. He kneels down, getting closer to Niki’s level, and grabs him by the chin. He sweeps his thumb through the milk on Niki’s face, spreading it farther, before pressing his thumb against Niki’s wet lips. Niki complies, the intrusion neither hated nor welcomed. His tongue laps at the digit in his mouth, something that Niki is familiar with, and Rinne bites his lip.
“Yer a messy pup, huh?” He murmurs, quiet, something only for the two of them to hear.
Niki knits his eyebrows together, opening his mouth wide to show Rinne his own thumb on his tongue. Rinne pulls his hand away, and Niki, despite his frustrations, mourns the loss of contact. Of course, he’s still pissed at Rinne for this… whatever they were doing, but he can never say no to physical intimacy. A drop of milk falls from his chin. The rest, on his cheeks, in his hair, has already begun to dry and crust over. It’s a gross feeling, one that makes Niki want to crawl out of his skin, but Rinne’s touch and the look in his eyes makes it easier to endure.
The sound of Mika pushing his bowl around pulls the two from their spell only moments before those mismatched eyes are right in Niki’s face again. Mika sniffs at him, leaning in to lick some of the milky mess from his face and making Niki wince in surprise at the unexpected contact.
Rinne laughs under his breath.
“Good boys… Cleaning each other up, huh?”
It was then that Niki broke through his metaphorical shame barrier. It hits him, all at once, that these two want this of him. Him, not anyone else in the world. There are far worse things than his boyfriend forcing him to act like a dog, so he should be happy, really. This thought is what pushes him to lean into the puppy schtick and reciprocate Mika’s licking, enjoying the way his tongue glides along Mika’s skin and the shimmering in the other boy’s mismatched eyes. Cute.
Niki hears a sharp intake of breath from Rinne and grins against Mika’s cheek. He moves closer, dragging him into another kiss. He’s already here, he might as well put on a show. He knows it’ll get Rinne going, and despite the way it nags at him that Rinne is the reason he’s in this situation, Niki still finds himself eager to please him. He pushes his tongue past Mika’s lips, and the other boy whines something fierce. He laps at the inside of Mika’s mouth, savoring the taste and the sharp points of Mika’s canines.
Niki pulls back for a breath, spit stringing between the two as he looks up at Rinne with teary eyes. When he started tearing up, Niki doesn’t know, but he feels unfamiliar emotion well up within him.
Rinne crouches between the two and takes Niki’s chin in his hand, cooing softly.
“It’s alright, cutie. Yer bein’ such a good boy… Can you speak for me?”
Despite his eventual submission, Niki loves to stir the pot, so he growls lightly and nips Rinne’s thumb. Rinne’s eyebrows shoot up and a sly smile crosses his face.
“Oh, so you need to be trained some more, huh?” He questions, tone lightly threatening.
Niki whines, and if his puppy ears could actually move, they would be flat against his head. No more training, thank you. He licks Rinne’s thumb in an attempt to kiss it better.
Rinne smiles, and he catches Niki’s bottom lip between his index and thumb as he pulls back. He turns to Mika who is still waiting patiently, and pets the top of his head, ruffling his hair. Mika preens, mouth agape slightly. If he had a real tail, it would definitely be thumping against the ground.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about ya,” Rinne coos, stroking Mika’s hair back. Mika looks up at him with bright eyes that aren't all there.
Rinne lifts himself back up to standing, and he calls for the two boys as he makes his way over to the couch. Mika immediately jumps up on the couch, positioning himself right up against Rinne as soon as the man sits down. Niki finds a spot at his feet, looking up at the two.
Before Niki can get comfortable, though, Rinne procures a bone from between the couch cushions, holding it out to Niki to take. Niki’s eyes light up, happily taking an end into his mouth and running off to go find a place to enjoy it at. Niki doesn’t love anything more than eating, but chewing is a close second.
Finally, there's a moment of peace in the apartment. Rinne isn’t prodding at him, opting to instead switch the TV on, and Mika seems to have fallen asleep curled up next to Rinne. Niki knows that there are far worse fates out there than laying on the ground and chewing a bone. So, somehow, in some attempt at convincing himself that he’s been overexaggerating all this time, he’s glad he’s doing just that.