Zummi and Gruffi
       
       It was a very late night in Gummy Glen. The vast majority of the keepers of the glen were asleep, working off a day of adventure and excitement. The only gummi bears still up at this hour were the perpetual night owls, or, more accurately, the ones that never slept. That meant that the common room was the domain of Gruffi, busy with work, and Gusto, the bear that wouldn’t leave him alone. “Man, I tell ya’, Gruffers, you really need a night off.” The blue furred bear was keeping himself busy while Gruffi worked, sitting the wrong way on a chair and just staring at the frustrated craftsman.
        
       Gruffi, for his part of the conversation, had been repairing furniture and trying to ignore his company for the better part of half-an-hour at this point. He had just finished hammering in a chair leg when he finally decided he couldn’t avoid talking any longer. “A break from you, maybe. Don’t you have anything better to do, Gusto?” He glared at the Gusto for just a second before turning his attention back to setting up the common room table.
        
       Gusto was undeterred. “Nah, everything I wanna do tonight’s right here.” He smirked and shot Gruffi a wink. Gruffi shook his head at that, at least acknowledging that he saw the wink. “Come on, Gruffamundo, you keep going like this you’re gonna wear yourself out.” He followed Gruffi, turning in his chair as the other bear started toward the next piece of furniture. “If you’re gonna do that anyway shouldn’t it be doing something that’ll lead to a good night’s sleep?”
        
       “A well organized home does lead to a good night's sleep.” Gruffi slammed the second-to-last chair into place at the table abruptly. Then, he stomped up to Gusto and crossed his arms, eyeing the chair he was sitting on. “Maybe if you would help me out here already we could both get a good night’s sleep.”
        
       Gusto perked up abruptly at that, raising an eyebrow. “Really? You promise?” He crossed his legs conspicuously and leaned on the table.
        
       Gruffi just stared at him for a moment, just long enough for Gusto’s smile to widen a bit. Then, he rolled his eyes. “Ugh! Put it away when you’re done, okay?” He shook his head, completely ignoring Gusto’s charming smile, and stormed off after that. “I’ll check it when I’m done in the kitchen.”
        
       Gusto kept up following Gruffi with his eyes, but didn’t get up just yet. His mind was running too fast for his body to think of keeping up. “Man, I swear it’ll take some kind of magic to make this man get the message.” He tapped his chin for a whole second before realizing what he had said. “Ah! Augustus, you genius, why didn’t you think of that before?!” He snapped his fingers and stood up, practically bouncing toward the library in excitement.
        
       —
        
       “What’s all this about, Gusto?” Zummi yawned, just barely waking up. He had just about gotten his glasses on when Gusto threw open the door to the library and pulled him in. “Is gumthing wrong with suffi? Uh… something wrong with Gruffi?” He tripped over his words first. Then he tripped right over Gusto.
        
       The blue furred bear reached out his foot and sent Zummi stumbling right into his favorite stool in front of the great book of Gummi. The whole while he had the most excited grin he could muster on his face.”I told you, buddy! We’ve got a job to do!” He grabbed the old bear by the shoulders and steadied him to read. “Old Gruff’s on the warpath tonight! If I don’t get him to settle down he’ll wear himself out. Poor little thing.” He steadily started to massage Zummi’s shoulders. “Normally I’d setlle him down myself, but I was thinking; I bet there’s a great spell in there that’ll do the trick to help him out easy as pie!”
        
       Zummi glanced over the book, only barely reading it. “Oh, uh, really?” Just to be extra safe, Gusto guided the old bear’s arm and his vision. Sure enough, right in the middle of the page they were on, there was a spell for relaxation. “Oh, what do ya’ know? There it is…” Zummi rubbed his eyes a bit more and pulled in closer to the book. “Helps a Gummi relieve his tension… perfect for long nights…” He tried to read it over, though he only got a snippet or two between yawns.
        
       And Gusto was doing anything but helping. He shook Zummi’s shoulder excitedly, keeping the older bear from reading more than a sentence or two straight. “So?! What do you think, Zummi, old pal? Think you can do it?” He was grinning ear to ear as he thought about it. The idea of Gruffi, totally relaxed, was hard to imagine, but if he had read the spell right he would be getting exactly what he wanted out of the bargain. As excited as he was, he didn’t even wait for Zummi to give him the go ahead. “I’ll go get the old, overworked stick-in-the-mud then! You just hang there and get those magic fingers ready, okay?!”
        
       “Well I-“ Zummi was about to protest, but before he could, Gusto was already gone, bouncing off in a flash to grab Gruffi. He left Zummi reeling when he did too, shoving the old bear out of his seat in the rush. Zummi barely caught his glasses before he fell over and lost them. He did manage to lose both his hat and the stool in the fall though. By the time he managed to find both of them and get back to his feet, Gusto was already back and pushing Gruffi through the door.
        
       “I told you already, Gusto! I don’t need any help to relax! It’s just a few extra chores for the night!” Gruffi wasn’t exactly struggling while Gusto shoved him. He was stiff and needed a push, sure, but he went along with the blue-furred bear anyway, even if he could easily overpower him. Gusto took that as a good sign.
        
       “And I told you, it’s not natural to be up this late working on wood by yourself!” Gusto laughed and squeezed the stiff bear’s shoulder. Gruffi shook him off, but didn’t do much to stop him from grabbing right back on outside of rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. “Come on, at least give it a try?”
        
       “There’s nothing to try, for Gummi’s sake!” Gruffi shook his head before sighing. His eyes lingered on the stool while Zummi tried to set it back up. One of the legs was shaky. “And, you know, if you two would stop messing around this would go a lot faster.” He stomped away from Gusto and grabbed the stool from Zummi’s paws for a look.
        
       Concerned, Zummi waved his paws and smiled. “Oh, uh, sorry about that, Gruffi.” He set his paws on the stool and yawned. He tried to take it away and set it back down, but, Gruffi held it surprisingly tight. “Uh, you know it can wait until tomorrow, Gruffi. It’s nearly midnight.”
        
       “That’s what I’m saying!” Gusto broke in, slamming his hand on the stiff bear’s shoulder again. This time, Gruffi still didn’t resist, but he noticeably tensed. It was enough to compel Gusto to start rubbing, a futile effort to calm him down. When it was immediately clear it wouldn’t work, he rolled his eyes and appealed to Zummi. “I tell ya’ Zummster, he’s going to wear himself ragged at this rate!”
        
       Gruffi glared at Gusto for a moment, though that didn’t last long. His attention turned back to Zummi after a moment that the old bear took to pause. “Hmm… well, I suppose it can’t hurt to try.” Zummi glanced over at the great book. He seemed just a little bit unsure still.
        
       Then Gruffi took the stool out of his paws, and Gusto smiled ear to ear while he watched the old bear stumble. “Don’t bother with any of that cockamamie magic, Zummi. This just needs some good old elbow grease.” He was about to throw Gusto off again then and get back to work. 
        
       But Zummi had already started casting his spell. “Tumsion, uh, rumeese, numow!” A wave of his paw and a flash of light struck the trio by surprise. Most importantly though, it struck Gruffi squarely in the chest. “Oh! Uh, whoops!”
        
       Gusto felt Gruffi tense up powerfully as he braced for an impact of some sort. Nothing came though. There was just a soft warmth that washed over all his muscles and waved up and out through his fur. After that, there was nothing. So much nothing, in fact, that he couldn’t stop himself from easing up. “Heh, uh… what was that, Zummi?” Gruffi laughed, but he wasn’t sure why.
        
       The bear on his shoulder had an idea though. He could feel the stiff muscles under his paw easing up right away. “Ah! There’re those magic fingers!” He laughed too, giving Gruffi a light squeeze and a few good rubs.”I think that might have just done the trick, Zummi!” He was positively glowing when he set his other paw on Gruffi’s hip to check, sure enough, he was loosening up there too.
        
       “Oh! Well, are you okay, Gruffi?” Zummi looked just mildly concerned. After a second, Gusto wasn’t just holding on to Gruffi, he was holding him up. Gruffi almost sank into the other bear’s arms, all his muscles totally relaxing.
        
       Surprisingly, he actually seemed to enjoy it too. “Uh, I’m okay, yeah.” He mumbled, nearly slurring the words, smiling the whole time he fell against Gusto. To Zummi’s even greater surprise, he even seemed to deliberately drop himself against the blue-furred bear. He laughed again, this time more obviously nervous. “S-sorry, just feels like I can’t hold myself up all of a s-sudden…”
        
       Zummi smiled at the confirmation that he was fine and glanced back at the great book. “I guess it just relaxes all your muscles. Hehe!” The old bear yawned again, letting himself relax too. Maybe now they could all get some sleep.
        
       At least, that’s what he thought until Gusto got his attention again. “Heh! Not all of ‘em, huh Gruffamundo?” When Zummi turned back to them, Gusto had already started working his own magic on the formerly-stiff, old stick-in-the-mud. His paws had wandered just a bit forward ahead of Gruffi’s hip, grabbing onto his belt. And with his wandering paw drawing Zummi’s eye, it was impossible to ignore what he was referring to. Gruffi’s tunic was starting to tent.
        
       And he was barely even complaining about it. “Gusto…” He groaned and shifted, but all he really did was push himself more against the blue bear behind him. “Zummi’s right there…” That was all the complaint he could muster, even once his belt dropped and Gusto started groping him in earnest, he didn’t do anything more than blush and close his eye.
        
       He didn’t even have a comment to push against Gusto’s counterargument. “Ah, come on, Gruff-of-my-eye. Zummo deserves to see some art in motion once in awhile too, doesn’t he?” He laughed, grinning ear to ear as he pulled Gruffi to a seat on the floor. His paws kept wandering too, feeling all of the warm tension just oozing out of the usually tough bear’s body. “Oh, man, this is pretty as a picture, if I could capture this moment!” Soon enough, those paws had wandered under Gruffi’s tunic to the one part of him that had gotten much more stiff than before the spell was cast. 
        
       “Um! I-I-” Zummi caught his breath, realizing just then that he hadn’t been breathing for a few seconds. When Gusto finally lifted the tunic, he snapped back to reality just long enough to realize he shouldn’t be seeing what he was seeing. “I-I’ll lust jeave-j-just leave you t-tw-t.” He nearly tripped over himself while backing away from the pair.
        
       Once again though, Gusto gave Zummi that final push to fall right onto his rear. “Ah! C’mon, Zummo, don’t leave just yet! Wouldn’t be a performance without an audience right?” He leaned in close to Gruffi, setting his chin on Gruffi’s shoulder and smiling at the older bear. Then he gave Gruffi a nice good squeeze that got the brown bear groaning. “Gruffi doesn’t mind, do ya’ buddy?”
        
       Astonishingly Gruffi didn’t fight the idea. “Zummi…” He even opened his eyes to look at his friend, and when he did, he blushed, even smiled almost.
        
       Zummi fell right on his rear when he saw that look. “Uh! G-Gruffi, I-” He was blushing bright as a gummi berry himself. He couldn’t even hope to think about what to say. He could barely think of what he wanted to do in this situation. All he could do was bury his face in his paws and try to ignore his own tenting night-gown. 
        
       Thankfully, Gusto still had enough to say for all three of them. “You know, Zummi, my man, Gruffi’s really got the hots for you.” He rubbed himself giddily against Gruffi’s back as he yapped on. Another paw slipped under his tunic and started rubbing up his chest. “You should hear him talk about you sometimes. And the toys man, the toys! Why if he called my name out half as much-”
        
       “Gusto…” Gruffi groaned again. There still wasn’t any real protest, but he did press his weight more roughly against Gusto to shut him up, particularly running his face against the blue bear’s. Cheek to cheek, it was harder for Gusto to talk It worked for all of a second. Gusto couldn’t resist giving turning the old stick-in-the-mud’s head and giving him a kiss when he got close. Thankfully that did manage to shut him up for a second.
        
       Well, in truth it lasted more than a few seconds. Zummi was stunned by how long it lasted in fact. Gruffi just let Gusto shove his tongue in his mouth without an ounce of resistance. He actually looked like he was welcoming it. He opened his mouth and his tongue moved gently out of the way. The whole while Gusto’s paws kept wandering. Zummi noticed they’d left Gruffi’s penis alone now, wandering over his hips and thighs instead.
        
       He swallowed hard, watching that stiff dick pulse. It was way bigger than he’d ever imagined it would be, not that he’d imagined it all that much. He wanted to feel it. “Uh... th-this wasn’t what I expected, Gruffi, b-but…” He gulped down a sea of spit before he could force himself to continue. “I guess I’m kind of responsible for this, huh?” Cautiously, he smiled at the brown bear and crawled toward him. Before he knew it, he’d set his paw on Gruffi’s hip right alongside Gusto’s.
        
       The pair breaking their kiss to look at him nearly wore down his courage, especially since Gruffi looked at him so uncharacteristically shyly. Gusto kept him tripping forward though, putting on a sarcastic tone and smiling over Gruffi’s shoulder. “Aww, sure if that makes you feel better. Go ahead and take responsibility, Zummi.” With another laugh, he grabbed the old bear by the paw and pulled him in closer, crossing that final boundary for him, setting the old bear’s hand right on top of Gruffi’s dick. 
        
       Zummi’s mouth felt like it went totally dry when his paw cupped Gruffi’s erection. Gusto was very insistent, not just guiding the paw there but also making sure Zummi closed his fingers around it. It was beating, steady and rigid. Zummi could feel his friend’s heartbeat through it. At this point, he was far past being cautious, but he was still very slow and careful as he squeezed it and pulled closer. “Wow, Gruffi, you’re uh, pretty imp-p-presive.”
        
       “Don’t I know it?” Gusto encouraged the compliment and kept pushing Zummi further. His hand crawled up the old bear’s arm and encouraged him to move. Zummi followed the advice of the little push, lightly rubbing on his friend. He also took Gusto’s lead by setting his other paw on Gruffi’s hip. Now that he was this close, he couldn’t stop himself from admiring the other bear’s toned body, running his paws over Gruffi’s leg and squeezing it as curiously as he rubbed the cock.
        
       Gruffi finally started to complain properly then. “Ugh, G-Gusto… Zummi!” He was practically collapsing into Gusto now. Paws were running over his legs and chest, squeezing and teasing him. Gusto even had his nose on his shoulder. Try as he might though, he couldn’t tense his muscles, they just relaxed and shuddered under the assault. “Q-quit teasing already…” He laughed involuntarily, a big breath escaping him when Zummi’s paw wandered down to cup his ankle.
        
       “S-Sorry, Gruffi…” Zummi smiled up at his friend and paused, but he didn’t take his paws off. For once Gusto didn’t seem to want to let him. The moment he paused, Gusto set his paw back on top of his, making sure it kept squeezing Gruffi’s cock. More than that though, he was honestly enjoying himself too much to stop. He was blushing wildly and his whole body was flushed with warmth. “I… uh… c-can’t help it…” He leaned in closer; almost enough to be nose to nose with his friend, and he laughed too.
        
       Then, he leaned in just a bit more and turned his head in for a kiss. It was almost instantly overwhelming. He couldn’t breathe, he was so hot. All he did was hold his breath as Gruffi breathed shakily into his mouth, but it was so utterly wonderful it left him shaking. It didn’t even last long. Gusto’s wandering paws tickling Gruffi and directing Zummi put an end to it quickly when he gripped Gruffi’s chin and gently pulled Zummi’s paw off of the stiff cock it had settled on.
        
       When Zummi pulled away to get a sense of what was happening, he was too dizzy to do much more than settle in. He squeezed the thighs his paws had wound up on and just smiled. “Huhoo… h-how long has it been?” The old bear started to shiver.
        
       “It’s gonna be a lot longer at the rate you two are going…” Gruffi shifted a bit. There was enough strength coming back for him to at least move a bit, but he couldn’t really do much more than set his paws on top of Zummi’s. His legs twitched, trying to put in some effort, but the most he could manage there was bending his knees a little.
        
       Luckily, Gusto was happy to take care of him. “Aww, our Gruffum’s is getting a bit impatient isn’t he?” He teased Gruffi a bit more, walking his paws daintily up the other bear’s legs before grabbing those raised knees. “What do you say, Zummi? Are you really ready to take responsibility for this little masterpiece?”
        
       “I, uh, what do you mean?” Zummi blinked, trying to pull his attention back to reality and failing. It was actually somehow harder to after Gusto properly got his attention. With a wink, the blue-furred bear lifted Gruffi’s legs, making his point clear by setting them around Zummi’s hips. With Gruffi’s warmth suddenly pressing against his lap though, the old bear was too overcome to properly put two and two together. “Oh! O-oh my…”
        
       Zummi leaned back, barely holding himself steady on shaky knees. The only thing that kept him stable at all was the weight that was now pressing down on him. He was suddenly aware of how hard he was. He squeezed his legs together, feeling the tip of his erection brush Gruffi’s fur nearly sent him spiraling. Gruffi’s expression just made it worse. When he felt Zummi brush against him, he winced. He also squirmed a bit, as much as he could. Zummi wasn’t sure why at first. Well, now he knew why, but he worried anywat
        
       Gusto kept him on track though. “Let us know if we’re getting close.” He leaned forward, pushing Gruffi further on top of Zummi with him. Zummi could feel him tugging at Gruffi’s legs through his grip on Gruffi’s thighs. In spite of his hesitation, he swallowed his doubts and started helping them along.
        
       They struck home after just a bit more shifting. Zummi felt it, wincing at the feeling of warm flesh brushing against his tip instead of fur. Gusto didn’t need him to say so though. He got the message when Gruffi moaned. “Ugh, Zummi!” He wasn’t quite able to yell, but the name came out breathily. “S-stop the teasing already!”
        
       “I’m t-trying, Gruffi.” Zummi did his best to shift himself and Gruffi around enough to get in position, but now he was moving from shivering to shaking, and his position didn’t allow much control anyway. Besides that, it was hard to concentrate enough to aim with the warmth, especially now that his own dick was pulsing. “Sive me a gecond, I mean give me a second!” He managed to shift his legs out from under him, enough to give him a bit more purchase, but not enough help him aim. 
        
       All the while Gruffi kept wincing above him, more with each time they got close enough to brush against eachother properly. He still couldn’t bring himself to move. Even if he could, the desperation he was feeling right now wouldn’t have served him any. He groaned angrily at that, complaining to himself. “Why can’t I f-focus…”
       
        The only one possessed of any faculties at that moment was Gusto, and he wasn’t any help. He enjoyed the show, and he shifted Gruffi around a bit himself in a counter to Zummi’s efforts at first. Mostly it was just because he wanted to see Gruffi groan, but he had started this with plans for the other bear after all. “Keep up that beautiful work you two.” He hummed, getting himself into position right next to Zummi. “Oh yeah, that’s doing it for me.”
        
       Zummi stuttered incoherently then. Feeling Gruffi so close to his most intimate spaces was hard enough, but then suddenly being struck by the feeling of Gusto’s hard dick was too much. He shut his eyes and bit his lip to swallow a gasp.
        
       And that was the moment Gusto finally chose to cooperate. First he brushed against Gruffi, getting his lick in and feeling the warmth of the bear’s ass against his own dick. That made him far too eager to keep just playing. So, with just a little extra guidance, the trio set Gruffi firmly on top of Zummi’s dick. To Gusto’s pleasure and Zummi’s surprise, it went in surprisingly easily.
        
       At least, it felt easy to Zummi, for Gruffi, even if the dick practically slid in, it was still an absolute shock. He let out the loudest groan yet, and for just a brief second the strength in his muscles surged back before he was forced to relax again. It lasted just long enough for him to throw his arms around Zummi’s neck and lift his tail up, reflexively trying to pull his friend deeper.
        
       That wouldn’t be the last time they managed to get that reaction from him though. Lost as he was in the overwhelming feeling of warmth and intimacy, Zummi managed to open his eyes long enough to see the look on Gusto’s face. The blue-furred bear’s paws walked over his own before moving backwards to Gruffi’s rear. “Oh man! I have got to get in on this!” He was drooling when he pulled just an inch closer, brushing against both Zummi and Gruffi again.
        
       Gruffi almost got the spirit up to protest. “G-Gusto…” That went away when he dropped a bit lower onto Zummi though, silencing the both of them with a shared moan.
        
       “Ah, c’mon, Gruffamundo, what’s all that practice for if you never challenge yourself, huh?” He teased Gruffi and winked at Zummi before lifting the brown bear up just a bit higher. Zummi couldn’t stop himself from smiling back, even laughing a bit. He’d expected to feel cold when Gruffi pulled away, even slightly, but the warmth from Gusto just added to that intimacy, even when he briefly slipped entirely free from his friend.
        
       It was that feeling that drove him to keep going in spite of his reservations. “Oh d-dear… Take a deep breath, Gruffi…” He hugged tight to his friend, knowing Gruffi was about to return the favor.
        
       For his part, Gruffi just followed the instructions. His chest heaved heavily against his lovers once, then twice. Then, with Gusto’s blessing, he dropped again, tensing his muscles briefly before being forced to relax again. He was thankful for the spell then. Practice or no practice, he would have never relaxed enough to handle that level of fullness otherwise. He barely handled it even with the spell, gasping out his deep breath immediately as he was stretched well beyond what he’d been stretched before. 
       
       It should have been painful, maybe it even was. His ass twitched and strained against the cocks as they squeezed harshly into him. With the spell’s support though, it was enough of an ease to just focus on the fullness. Or, maybe that was just his desperation. Feeling the warm pressure of two bears pressing against him was intoxicating. He had to focus on the relaxing warmth of the spell just to keep himself from losing it at that feeling.
        
       Zummi and Gusto had no magical support to hold on to. Zummi in particular was taken so aback by the tightness that he didn’t even think to follow his own advice. He was left utterly breathless in a second. In another second, he was left completely without any sense, his eyes rolling back and his dick pulsing wildly inside of his friend.
        
       Gusto lasted a bit longer, enough to sink backwards and take Gruffi further down with him. He also managed to catch a breath before letting it out in a long, giddy sigh. “Oh yeah! That’s it!” He couldn’t keep up his jabbering as he came though, finally biting his lip with that one last exclamation as he let loose inside of Gruffi alongside Zummi.
        
       Gruffi himself came shortly after. Still groaning, he sank further onto his lovers, shaking the whole way as the tension seemed to surge back into him and the feeling of the stretch somehow beat out the feeling of being filled. Gusto and Zummi helped him along through the tension with what little sense they had that remained in that moment, their paws tickling his fur and pressing against his back. He tried to thank them, but just ended up sighing their names over and over again. “Zummi… G-Gusto…” By the time that tension finally released, he was gasping so much he couldn’t make sense of the names anymore.
        
       Then, the tension finally broke entirely, and all three bears totally relaxed. Gruffi still shook a bit on top, and Zummi managed to keep his posture enough to hold on to his friend, but they just sat, completely at ease.
        
       Surprisingly, it was Gruffi that managed to get his strength back first then, in spite of everything. After the three spent a minute catching their breath, he spoke up first. “So help me, Gusto…” He didn’t manage to finish his sentence. He also didn’t manage to finish his movement. After Zummi started to soften up, the brown bear was able to lift himself out of the hug, but he didn’t manage to get much further than that, collapsing on his side next to his lovers before even taking a proper step.
        
       From there, all he could manage to do was turn and glare at the blue-furred bear. He couldn’t do anything to stop him from admiring the view. “Ha! Now there’s a pretty picture, am I right?” Gusto held up a hand to his eye, though he himself was too exhausted to finish the frame with the other hand he was still leaning on. “Could use an extra coat of paint though.”
        
       Gruffi groaned properly for the first time in quite a while, almost managing to growl. “Ugh, you’ll keep me up all night at this rate.” He rolled his eyes. “As soon as I can feel my legs again…”
        
       “That’s the idea, Gruffamundo.” Gusto laughed, dropping his hand and leaning back properly again. In spite of his claims he was actually still busy catching his breath too. All he could do was tease.
        
       That gave Zummi a chance to speak. He took a moment to catch up with the other two in breathing, but he had managed to catch himself just short of falling over alongside Gruffi. “Y-you really should have told me that was some sort of spex sell, I mean, sex spell, Gusto.” He nervously adjusted his glasses as he turned to look sympathetically at his well-worn friend.
        
       Gruffi avoided his gaze, blushing.
        
       “Huh? Oh! No worries about that, Zummi. That was just a relaxing spell, didn’t I tell ya’?” Gusto laughed and shook his head. “This stubborn little guy just wouldn’t break down and let me get him into bed for a massage! Don’t you worry, he’s always like this when he loosens up.” He shot Zummi a wink, then turned and shot another at the prone bear. “Isn’t that right, Gruffamundo.”
        
       “I swear, once I can feel my legs.” Gruffi twitched again, now actively avoiding the eyes of both of his lovers. His ass winked at them instead, still pulsing aggressively, stretched and trying to relax. 
        
       Gusto scoffed at comment and returned the wink. “Heh, yeah. I’ll look forward to it.”
        
       Once more, Zummi was too stunned to even start making sense of what he’d just heard. He blinked, adjusted his glasses, and glanced quickly from bear to bear. Eventually, Gruffi wagered a glance back at them both, and Zummi noticed that he and Gusto shared a similar smile.
        
       Without really knowing what else to say, Zummi stuttered out the only thing he could think of. “Y-you know, my room’s a bit closer than Gruffi’s. M-maybe we could just make it there for tonight?”
        
       To his surprise, Gruffi and Gusto turned their shared smile towards him affirmatively. “Eh, why not? I guess I’m not getting any more work done tonight anyway.” Gruffi shrugged and shook his head.
        
       Gusto nodded, and then shot another wink at Zummi. “Work with me, Zummers, and we’ll make sure he’s not working anymore tomorrow either, eh?”