“I don’t like your panda.”

My eyes widened as I turned my head, directing my attention from the book on my lap to the man sitting next to me on my sofa. “What?”

“That stuffed panda you’re always snuggling with. I don’t like it.” Kris folded his arms across his chest, the corners of his mouth drooping into a frown that was barely deeper than his infamous default facial expression.

“You mean Tao?” The large plushie animal, a gift from an old friend, was currently back in my bedroom lying atop the mess of sheets littering my bed. “Why not? There’s nothing to dislike about an adorable, fluffy, squishy panda.”

Kris shifted into the sofa cushions, extending his long legs onto the nearby coffee table. “It’s weird that you’re so attached to it.  It’s just a toy.”

I couldn’t help but snort at this. “Says the man who sleeps with a stuffed alpaca next to him.”

A rosy blush tinted Kris’s cheeks. “Only sometimes. You, on the other hand, cuddle with that thing almost every night.”

I closed my book and wondered what my boyfriend was getting at. “Again, it’s an adorable, fluffy, squishy panda; how could I not want to cuddle with it all the time?”

He mumbled something under his breath.

“Sorry, what was that?”

More mumbling.

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. “Kris, are you jealous of Tao?”

“No!” He added a huff as if that would convince me otherwise.

“Oh my God, you are! You’re jealous of my baby Kung Fu Panda!” 

Kris folded his arms even tighter, and I noticed his pout before he defiantly turned away. “No I’m not. And is the nickname really necessary? Kung Fu Panda?”

I cocked my head to the side, the tip of my index finger tapping my nose as I thought. “I mean, it’s not his only nickname. There’s also ‘AB Style’ –“

“What does that even mean?”

“- and he likes taking long walks on the beach by himself-“

Kris grumbled, “You have got to be kidding.”

“-and even though he’s a big bear that could look scary to some people, he’s actually a total sweetheart and on the sensitive side – What?”

Kris was now staring at me blankly. “Unbelievable.”

“I don’t see what the problem is.”

 “You’ve given it ridiculous nicknames and a personality, and you think this is perfectly normal?”

I felt my eyebrows crease in annoyance. “First of all, it’s he, not it. Secondly, they aren’t ridiculous. And thirdly, I don’t know or care about whether it’s normal. That’s just the way it is, and you’ll have to accept it.”

Kris gave me a look of incredulity before getting up and walking away from the couch. I heard his footsteps get fainter and the bathroom door close. Having an idea, I sprinted to my bedroom.

Soon enough, Kris returned to the living room. “Seriously?!”

“What?” I made my voice as innocent as possible, though it might have been muffled by the synthetic fur of the panda I held close to my face.

“I’m starting to think that you love that thing more than me.”

I echoed his earlier words with a smirk. “Only sometimes.”

His mouth dropped open in apparent shock. His features contorted into a strange array of muddled forms, and I could tell that he wasn’t completely sure how to react to this turn of events. I set Tao aside, making sure that he wouldn’t fall off the edge of the cushy piece of furniture and deciding that I’d done enough jesting for the moment. “Kris?”

He kept standing there like a tall, blonde, handsome human goldfish. In slight concern but mostly amusement, I sighed, standing up and meeting Kris where he stood. I reached up, poking his cheek before laying my palm against it, it with my thumb and leaning up to leave a quick kiss on his lips (which had finally closed). “Come on, I’m only joking. Of course I love you more than Tao.”

His massive hands grazed my waist and brought me closer, placing his chin atop my head. “Really?”

“Of course. Now stop being a giant jealous baby-“

“I object to that.”

“-and come back.” I grasped his hand and lead him back, and we resettled on the couch. Kris nestled into the cushions and I nestled into him, basking in the warmth of his body and embrace. My gaze drifted over to Tao who was at the opposite end of the sofa, his glassy brown eyes and stitched smile facing me. “Oh, and Kris?”

I felt his hand absently smooth my hair. “Yeah?”

“If you wanted to cuddle more, all you had to do was ask.”

The hand stopped.

Busted.