#how their own breed is meant to herd

[justagalwhowrites]

Yearling - Ch. 12: Animals

Joel makes sure Bambi stays safe from Simon. A continuation of Yearling ch. 1-11 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Canon-typical violence (torture and death.) No use of Y/N. Minors DNI 18+ Only 

Length: 5.5k 

AO3 | Chapter One | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

August 29, 2023

The howl was distinctive. Three shorter cries and one longer one. 

You knew what that meant. 

Your morning rounds to collect prey from traps had been fruitful - netting you two rabbits so far - and you’d been able to forage for some vegetables and roots, too. It was getting to be late enough in the summer that you knew you needed to start preserving more. Winters were harsh and lean. You no longer struggled like you had 20 years ago, back when you were barely out of your teens and still trying to figure out how to safely cook let alone survive an apocalypse, but it still took conscious effort to not starve to death when the cold weather came. Today’s harvest would help with that. 

But only if the intruders on your land didn’t try to take it from you. 

You clicked your tongue at Nike and gave her ribs a gentle squeeze before urging her into a trot and then a canter toward the source of the howling. 

It didn’t take you long to find, responding to the howl with your designated whistle, starting low and ending high. The dog howled again and you were able to tell where she was, finding her before too long. 

Your other dogs had beaten you there. It looked like Ruger, one of your Belgian Malinois, had been the one to find the three men and one horse who had wandered onto your land. She was standing, teeth bared, in front of them, keeping watch for her sisters. Gattling, the other Bel Mal - both from the same litter, given to you a few years back by a man who’d taken up breeding and training attack dogs at the end of the world - had them at the back. The herding dogs - Venus and Juno - were at their sides, pushing the men closer and closer together. 

You raised your shot gun. 

“Who the fuck are you and why’re you on my land?” 

“Why don’t you lower your weapon,” the man on the horse smiled. “Then we can have a nice, civilized conversation.” 

“Don’t need one,” you replied, giving a short, sharp whistle. The dogs pressed closer. Ruger snarled. One of the men on foot jumped. You whistled again, the dogs’ attention back on you. 

“Ruger, Gattling,” you said. “Savvy.” 

They took off, back toward the cabin and your horse paddock. The men watched them run for a moment. 

“Assuming you’re Texas?” The man ignored the remaining dogs at his feet, using the name you’d picked up in decades of trading with passers by. “Heard you trade for horses, was wondering if you had some you’d be willing to part with and what the going rate would be?” 

You looked him over, the horse he was riding. You knew that horse. 

“Looks like you already got one of mine,” you said. “But I know you didn’t get him from me. What did you do to Jennifer.” 

Your gun was still up, leveled at the man on horseback. 

“Got the horse off a girl who got bit,” he said before he smirked and shook his head a little. “She sure was a pretty thing, though.”

You adjusted your grip on the gun and bit back a snarl. You’d liked Jennifer, she was a sweet girl. She’d left the Kansas City QZ as it falling apart, too young to remember much of life before the world ended. She’d reminded you of yourself at the start of the end of the world, figuring out how to be on her own while learning how to survive. She’d stayed with you for a few weeks after she’d stumbled upon you when she got separated from a group. You taught her some things, like how to trap and track animals, what to avoid when foraging. She’d left looking for a settlement you’d heard rumors of near the coast. You’d always hoped that she’d made it. Apparently she hadn’t. You didn’t know if it was infected or the men standing in front of you that did it but it didn’t matter. You knew you didn’t trust them. 

“When.” 

“Few weeks back,” he said. 

“She who told you about me?” You asked. 

He smirked. 

“Not exactly,” he said. “Been looking for you for a while. You’re a hard woman to find.” 

“Plan to stay that way,” you said, finger drifting to the trigger. “I’ve got four rounds in this, don’t remember the last time I missed. You can turn, go and forget you ever found me. Or, I can kill you. But you’re not leavin’ with another of my horses. Up to you.” 

The men looked at each other for a moment before the man on the horse gave you a nod. 

“We’ll be on our way.” 

He tipped his hat to you and you kept your gun trained on him. You gave another whistle and the remaining dogs backed down and you watched them until you couldn’t see them on the horizon anymore. 

It was just two weeks before someone found you again. 

His name was Mitchum. 

July, 2026

Joel’s hand was on your skin when you woke up. 

You’d drifted back into consciousness instead of shocked into it, your body relaxed and enveloped by his. His breath was warm against your head, his nose in your hair. His fingers were pressed into your skin, making little indentations on you in the shape of him and you were acutely aware of his hips and stomach and chest, his legs curled around the back of you. 

It was an odd feeling, strangely connected and disconnected to your body all at once. You could feel the blood moving through your limbs and the heat of Joel against you but your skin was almost numb. You weren’t in pain, in spite of being slammed into Ares’ stall door and thrown to the ground. You didn’t want to move, didn’t want to disturb this quiet peace that had settled over you. 

But as you slowly settled back into yourself, you realized something. There was an unfamiliar sensation between your thighs, slick and cool. You frowned and slowly slipped your palm into your shorts. You delicately traced your slit before bringing your hand in front of your face, fingers glistening. 

You stared at them for a second. You were wet. Something over night had made you get wet. 

It had been years since you’d last been wet because you wanted someone. Everything had been protection, your body trying to preserve itself, to make it hurt less. This was different. You weren’t sure how you knew but you did. Your face got hot. 

There was a tightness in you, you realized as you became more aware of your body again, a heat that you weren’t quite sure what to do with. All you knew was that Joel didn’t feel close enough to you. 

Just as you were thinking that, considering pressing yourself back against him so you could feel the outline of him more clearly to see if that eased the ache, his grip on you tightened and he gave you a gentle squeeze. His breathing shifted against you and he pressed his face closer to you. You quickly pressed your fingers into the leg of your shorts, wiping them clean. 

“Joel,” you said softly. 

He adjusted at your back. 

“Mornin’,” he sounded tired, only half awake. You swallowed past the knot in your throat. His nose nuzzled into your hair. You hesitated for a moment put pressed yourself back against him, the aching tightness in you easing at the contact.You focused on the feel of him for a moment, all firm but gentle. You weren’t sure how long you lay there like that with him when his hold on you loosened. 

“You OK?” His voice was gruff but tender, quiet. You pressed yourself back a little closer and his hand sank deeper into your flesh. You nodded ever so slightly. “Good.” 

His hand spread a little more against you and your smaller hand went over the top of his, a low, soft whimper slipping from your lips. 

“Bambi,” his voice was low and warm. 

“Yes?” 

“Should…” he took a deep, shaky breath against you. “Should go find Maria.” 

“Yes,” your voice trembled as you said it. 

“S’it OK if we stay like this another minute?” he sounded strained. You pressed your hand against his and he gasped quietly. “I just… I want…” 

“Yes,” you breathed, cutting him off. 

He held you like that for a few minutes, both of you silent outside of your quiet, needy breaths. 

“C’mon,” he said eventually, pulling his hand away from you. “Should get moving.” 

You separated from him slowly, reluctantly, and went upstairs to get changed. 

It felt like you should be grateful for the distance. A chance to reset your mind after it had been clouded by his proximity all night. But, even as the heat and tightness in you faded, you still felt like he was too far away. You wanted him closer. 

You shook yourself mentally and checked the bruise at your side before you gently cleaned between your legs. You put on Joel’s most recent shirt over a t-shirt before heading downstairs. 

“Ready?” Joel asked, sitting politely on your couch. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. 

“I can’t figure out Ben’s role in all this,” Joel said, his hands in his pockets as the two of you walked through the hazy dawn toward Maria and Tommy’s. “Simon’s a piece of shit but…” 

“I met him once,” you cut Joel off. “Before.” 

He turned to look at you so quick it made you jump a little. 

“He hurt you before?” He asked, his voice low and dangerous. 

“No,” you said, though you weren’t sure that was entirely true. Someone had told Mitchum where you were. He was on the last group to come through. “But he wasn’t happy with me then, either. He and his buddies showed up on a horse I’d trained, they either took him from a dead woman or cut it away from her. So I told them they wouldn’t get any horses from me. They didn’t like that much.” 

You hadn’t remembered him until that morning, just an ominous familiarity hanging over you whenever you looked at him. But you knew him. He’d been one of the two men on their feet, your dogs had nearly taken him down at the ankles. 

You didn’t tell Joel about your suspicion, that he’d sold you out to Mitchum when you’d refused to give him a horse.

Joel nodded slowly as the two of you came up to Tommy and Maria’s front walk. He knocked on the door and you could hear the shrieking toddler laugh from inside somewhere. You smiled at the sound. 

It took a minute for Maria to open the door, William on her hip. 

“Not a great morning,” she said, a little frazzled. “What’s up?” 

“We got a problem,” Joel said, his hand going to your lower back as he stepped a little closer to you. “Can’t wait.” 

***

Joel fought to keep himself under control as you told Maria and Tommy everything that had happened the night before. How Simon and Ben had cornered you in the stable, how Simon told Ben to watch how he marked you so they could pass your death off as an accident, how they’d trapped you in the stall, willing to wait for one hoof to come down on your body in just the right way. 

He clenched is fist. His blood was hot. Someone had tried to hurt you, pulled you away from right beside to him and tried to kill you. 

“Know where they are now?” Maria asked, her face hard. 

“If they got a lick of sense they took off,” Tommy said, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes raked over you again and again. “No way they stayed in town.” 

Maria nodded. 

“Joel, Tommy, go out and bring them back,” she said. “You’re two of our best trackers, I trust that you’ll find them. And when I say bring them back, I mean bring them back. They’ll face trial and punishment assuming they’re found guilty. You’re not judge, jury and executioner here.” 

“They ain’t gonna come quietly, baby,” Tommy frowned. “May not have another choice…” 

“Don’t get yourselves hurt but do what you can,” she said. “Take some horses and track them down as best you can. If you haven’t found them in two days, come back.” 

You wrapped your arms around your waist and clenched your jaw and Joel stepped a little closer to you. You leaned into him. 

“Lemme grab some stuff,” Tommy said to the two of you. “Meet you at the stables in half an hour.” 

Joel walked you to the stables and you insisted you were fine to be in there alone, already going about the work of getting his and Tommy’s horses ready to go. He reluctantly left you to it, going home to quickly pack a bag of his own before going back to you. 

Being that far from you made him uneasy. He was certain Tommy was right, that Simon and Ben had left town. But it made him nervous. You were in danger and he was leaving you alone. He was about to leave you even more alone than he was now. It felt wrong. He should be close to you, protecting you. 

But this was better, it would keep you safer. He knew that. He just had to convince himself of it. 

You were finishing saddling up Tommy’s horse when Joel made it back to the stables. He wordlessly started working on his own, the two of you putting the tack on together. 

“I’m gonna go check their houses,” Tommy said, mounting his horse. “See you up front in a few?” 

He gave Joel a meaningful look. Joel narrowed his eyes at him. 

“See you there.” 

Joel gave Tommy a moment to get out of earshot before he turned to you. Your arms were crossed tightly over yourself again, your eyes wide and doe-like. You looked afraid. It made Joel’s chest hurt. 

“Hey,” he said gently. Your wide eyes met his for a moment before tracing over his face. “Nothing is going to happen to you…” 

You frowned, your eyebrows knitting together. 

“What?” Joel frowned, too. 

“You think that’s what I’m worried about?” You asked. “Joel, I don’t want you going out there and getting hurt because of me, I…” 

He stepped closer to you and you went silent, looking up at him. 

“Bambi,” he said softly, looking into your eyes, into you. “Nothin’ is going to happen to me.” 

“Joel…” 

He completely closed the distance between you and you dropped your arms to your sides so the front of you was just inches from the front of him. His hand slowly, delicately, came to your face and cupped your cheek, his thumb against your cheekbone, his fingers wrapping back and down around the column of your throat. It felt like he was holding the entire world in his palm, your wide eyes soft and earnest. 

“Not going to let anyone hurt you, Sweetheart,” he said, voice quiet. “I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to keep you safe.” 

He leaned his head toward yours, slowly and deliberately, giving you every opportunity to pull away, You didn’t take it. Instead, you stayed stock still and your breath caught in your throat with a quiet little gasp when he pressed his lips to your forehead, his nose in your hair. He kissed your soft, smooth skin for what felt like an eternity but nowhere near long enough. Joel pulled back from you ever so slightly, his forehead dropping to your own, his nose brushing yours. You closed your eyes for a moment, your breaths coming in shuddering little pants, your lips so close to his it almost hurt.  

“I will protect you,” he whispered. “I promise you I will.” 

Joel met Tommy at the main gate, feeling your eyes on him as he rode away, and the two of them set out, silent, into the foggy morning air. They started by circling the city, finding the footprints in the mud that gathered around the fence that surrounded the town. 

“Fuckers,” Tommy muttered, looking up and Joel as he did. “Think we can track ‘em?” 

“I’m not comin’ back ’til we do,” Joel said, his voice dark. 

The tracks disappeared into the woods and, once the two of them were far enough away from Jackson, Joel looked at Tommy. 

Joel had come to admire his little brother in the years since he’d come to Jackson, not that he would admit that. 

For a long time, he’d felt like more of a father to Tommy than a brother. Joel was just six years older than him but, once their parents had both died, it felt like he had to step up. Sarah was barely a year old, Tommy was just 17 and on the verge of flunking out of high school. He had to pay the rent and put food on the table and make sure his brother didn’t drop out and keep a baby alive. It was like he was treading water at best, damn near drowning most of the time, but he’d kept it together. He’d all but begged Tommy to join the military, do something that would keep him out of prison and keep his feet on the ground. 

And then the Gulf War started and Joel spent years horrified that he might have gotten his brother hurt, gotten his brother killed. 

Tommy came back different. Instead of getting picked up for shoplifting, he started getting picked up for brawling. Joel had to bail him out again and again, ended up on the hook for Tommy’s rent after he cosigned for his apartment, needed to help him figure out a new car after Tommy wrapped his around a tree. Eventually, he told Tommy that he needed to get his shit together. He could either start working contractor jobs with Joel or he’d be on his own. Joel couldn’t keep letting Tommy derail things for him and Sarah and it killed him to give him that ultimatum. 

But Tommy managed it. Mostly. He still wound up in trouble sometimes. Joel still had to make sure he was actually fucking eating real food and not just jerky and candy from the gas station or pick him up at the jail after a scuffle. But he was getting close, so damn close, to having the life Joel knew he could have if he just tried for it when the world ended. When Joel’s world ended. When Sarah died. 

Things devolved then. Tommy was his only reason for living, for a while. There were times he wasn’t enough to stick around for but Joel just kept on living, anyway. He often wasn’t sure why. 

They did bad things then, when Joel stopped caring. They hurt innocent people, killed innocent people, helped people even worse than them gain power and control in the increasingly dangerous and chaotic hellscape that had once been the United States. A lot of people suffered because of them. But they’d survived. For better or worse, they’d lived. 

Joel wasn’t sure why, for a while. He supposed it was stupid to believe there was a purpose for it all, like the universe was suddenly going to succumb to reason after everything that had happened, but it felt like there had to be something. 

Now, he knew why. 

He had Ellie, of course. And now you. That was reason enough. But Tommy… Tommy had managed to actually make something of himself in spite of everything. He’d found Maria, made a place for himself in Jackson - and actually made the damn place better - and he’d become the father that Joel always knew he had the potential to be. 

It threw Joel a bit, sometimes, that Tommy was the one who looked out for him. The one Joel needed to come to for help. He didn’t like it, that loss of control. But there were times he still needed his brother.

Times like this one. 

“I know what Maria said…” Joel began but Tommy cut him off. 

“They ain’t comin’ back to Jackson.” 

Joel was silent for a moment. 

“You know what you’re sayin’, Tommy?” 

“I’m sayin’ that we’re going to handle this shit the way we used to,” Tommy said. “Wasn’t always right but it was always a way to protect what matters. And she don’t just matter to you, Joel. She might be your girl but I care about her, too. She already feels like family. She might be a pain in the ass but she’s my pain in the ass. Anyone wants to fuck with her will have to go through me. 

“Besides. Can’t have men like that around Maria and William and Ellie. Ain’t safe. I’m sure they’ll put up a decent fight ‘fore we kill ‘em. Won’t even be a lie, then.” 

Joel nodded once. 

“Good.” 

They tracked the men through the day, the two of them clearly hadn’t stopped after fleeing the day before and it was close to nightfall when Joel started noticing signs of them slowing down. Footsteps were dragging through the brush and the mud, leaves were crushed or stripped away from places where branches had been grabbed for support. 

Joel was on edge, the hair on the back of his neck on end when Tommy gave a short whistle. When Joel looked at him, he indicated with his eyes what he was concerned with. A tree just off the trail, a lower branch snapped like someone too big had tried to use it to leverage themselves up. Joel nodded slightly and only once. They had to be close, very very close. He slung his rifle off his back and tucked it against his body where he could quickly aim and fire it. He had the sense that it wouldn’t be long until he needed it. 

Joel was right. 

It was only a few minutes later that, with a desperate wail, Simon leapt at Joel, a knife clutched in his ruddy hand. Joel reacted quickly, swinging the butt of the rifle around and slamming it into the man’s head. He dropped like a stone to the ground and Joel and Tommy quickly dismounted as Ben charged forward. Joel raised his rifle and shot him in the hip, the man screaming and falling to the ground, writhing in pain. 

“Stick with him,” Joel said, nodding to Ben. “This one’s mine.” 

Simon was still shaking off Joel’s hit when he dropped a knee to the prone man’s chest, ripping the knife from his grip and pressing it to his throat. 

Part of Joel knew he shouldn’t take any pleasure in this. That hurting and killing someone - even someone like Simon - should take something from him. And it did once, what felt like long ago. But it didn’t anymore, not when hurting and killing would keep you safe. He liked keeping you safe.

Simon’s hands clawed and Joel’s arms and he ignored it, cocking his head slightly as he looked at the man below him. 

“You got a few options here, Simon,” Joel said, his voice flat. 

“Fuck you,” he spat. 

“Not one of ‘em,” Joel replied. “You ain’t making it out of this alive, you decided that for yourself when you put hands on her…” 

“Your obsession with that fucking cunt…” 

Joel curled the hand not holding the knife into a fist and brought it down quick and hard on Simon’s face, making him cry out. Joel felt the man’s nose collapse below his knuckles. 

“You only got so many breaths left,” Joel said, flexing his fingers, knuckles stinging. “Wouldn’t waste ‘em making shit worse for yourself. Cooperate and I’ll give you a quick death. Don’t and I’ve got all night.” 

“Fuck you,” he panted through gritted teeth. “And fuck her, too.” 

Joel sighed and grabbed Simon’s nose roughly between his fingers, making him cry out. Joel twisted it sharply, harshly, to the side, almost pulling his flesh apart. He could feel the cartilage moving under his touch, the gush of blood, the thrashing of the man below him. It was satisfying, this form of justice. He was doing something, he was making sure that he wasn’t going to fail with you. It felt, maybe not good, but right. 

He released Simon’s nose and grabbed a fistful of his hair, forcing him to look up at Joel. 

“Haven’t done this in a while,” Joel said, a little breathless. “Thinkin’ I should make the most of it, what do you think, Tommy?” 

Joel looked over at him. He was standing over Ben, gun trained on him. 

“Just thinkin’ that we needed somethin’ fun to do tonight,” he said. 

Joel smirked. 

“Just thinkin’ that, too.” 

“Wait,” Ben said, his hands up by his face in surrender. “Wait, please, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, I just don’t want to die here, please…” 

Tommy looked at Joel who shrugged. Joel had no intention of letting him live. Neither did Tommy. Ben didn’t need to know that. 

“We can work somethin’ out,” Tommy said, gun still aimed at the man on the ground. “Answer my brother’s questions and we’ll talk.” 

“You workin’ with anyone else in Jackson?” Joel asked. 

“No,” Ben said quickly, voice panicky. Joel bought it. He was answering too fast and was too afraid for it to be a lie. “No, it was just us, just the two of us, I thought it was too far but…” 

Joel looked down at Simon. 

“That true?” 

Simon just panted for breath and glared up at Joel. He thought for a moment and pulled the knife from his throat and put the tip of it against his eye, a fraction of an inch away. 

“Asked if that was true,” Joel said. “Better have a fuckin’ answer.” 

“It’s true,” Simon said quickly. “It’s true, it’s true. There wasn’t anyone else involved, just us, please…” 

“Anything you left behind that’s going to hurt her?” Joel asked, looking back toward Ben but keeping the knife near Simon’s eye. 

“No,” Ben said quickly. Again, it rang true. “No, we thought… we figured the horse would do it and it wasn’t like we’d planned it for long, we thought it would look like an accident, please I’m begging you…” 

Joel delicately pressed the tip of the blade into Simon’s bottom eyelid. His breathing picked up but he stayed still as a tiny bead of blood appeared on the knife. 

“He telling us the truth?” He asked. 

“Yes,” Simon said quickly, eyes shut tight. “Fuck, yes Miller, we just decided to, please…” 

Joel nodded before pulling the knife from Simon’s eye. 

“Why’d you do it?” He asked as the man slowly, cautiously opened his eyes. “Why did you decide to go after her?” 

Simon looked afraid now. Like he finally, truly understood what was about to happen. He swallowed and Joel watched his throat working, aware for a moment that it was one of the last times his body would perform that function. 

“I didn’t have shit after the outbreak,” he said, starting to hyperventilate. “Everything I knew, everything I loved was gone and then I had my place here and she took that from me. She fuckin’ took it and she disrespected me at every goddamn turn and I just…” 

“She didn’t take a damn thing,” Joel was talking through gritted teeth. You hadn’t even wanted Simon’s fucking job and he’d tried to kill you for it. “You lost it by being a fucking idiot and you tried to take it out on her.” 

He seemed to recognize then that there was no merciful way out of this. There never had been. His face twisted into something rage-filled and hateful, snarling up at Joel. 

“She doesn’t belong here. She’s barely even fucking human, she’s more like those goddamn horses! She’s fucking feral and I was the only one willing to try to break her…” 

Joel let out a roar as he brought his fist down on Simon’s face again and again and again, until he was barely breathing, his features nothing but bloody pulp. 

“Joel,” Tommy said as Joel panted, his hand damaged and coated in red. “Just finish the fucker.” 

Joel nodded once, pulling his knee off Simon’s chest and sitting back on his heels, thrusting his knife low in the man’s stomach. Simon managed a grunt of pain but nothing else as Joel dragged the knife up through his innards until he met his breastbone. He stood up, looking at the man’s mangled body. 

“He’ll die slow,” Tommy’s gun was still on Ben. 

“Better than he deserved,” Joel said, stalking over to Ben and jerking his head so Tommy stepped to the side. He went down on one knee near Ben’s head, a perverse proposal. “Another few questions, just for you. Then we can talk about a deal.” 

There wouldn’t be a deal. 

“Please,” Ben whimpered, blood coating his stomach now. His skin was pale. 

“You knew her,” Joel said. “From before. That right?” 

“Yes,” he nodded quickly. “Yeah, I did. Traveled with some guys for a bit, heard she’d trade for horses. She wouldn’t trade with us, pissed off the others, made life fuckin’ difficult for a while and I didn’t think he was going to try to kill her, please, I swear I didn’t think it was going to go that far, I promise I won’t even look at her again, please.” 

“Before,” Joel said, fighting to keep calm, remembering what you’d told him that morning. It felt like so long ago now, waking up next to you, feeling you in his arms. You trusted him. You trusted him to be near you, to touch you, to protect you. You didn’t trust anyone else but you trusted him. “Before you came to Jackson, when you tried to trade with her. You do anything to her then?” 

“Told some folks where to find her,” he said. “That’s all.” 

Joel nodded. 

“Anyone else you know outside Jackson know where she is?” He asked. 

“No,” he said quickly. “No, haven’t talked to anyone since I got here. Please, I promise I won’t…” 

Joel thrust the knife into his throat before he finished his sentence, his eyes going wide in shock before he went limp. Joel watched Ben’s blood pool on the dirt, soaking into the soil at first before collecting in a thick puddle, dark and warm on the ground. He pulled the knife free and wiped it on the man’s jeans before he stood, putting it away. 

Tommy looked up toward the darkening sky for a moment. 

“Head back about half a mile then stop for the night?” he said. “Put some distance between us and the bodies ‘fore the animals get to ‘em.” 

“Yeah,” Joel nodded. “Sounds good.” 

Joel and Tommy agreed on a story as they set up camp for the night, one that was almost the truth. The two men jumped them. They’d had no choice but to shoot them. Unfortunate but Jackson would be safe. 

Getting back to town was faster than getting out of it, no longer needing to actively track the men and instead just find their way back home, and the sun was still up when they reached the gates. 

Joel wasn’t expecting you to be at the stables when he got there. It was late enough that you should be at the mess hall for dinner or home and he had every intention of settling his horse down as quickly as he could before finding you but he didn’t need to. You were curled up in a corner of the stables near the tack, your eyes closed, head resting against the stable wall. You were in the same clothes you’d been wearing yesterday. Joel frowned. Hadn’t you been home? He unbuckled his saddle and put it away before kneeling next to you, taking your face in his large hand the same way he’d done the morning before. You startled, eyes shooting open, afraid for a moment before softening when you realized it was him. 

“Joel,” you gasped it, throwing your arms around his neck, your whole body following, nearly knocking him down. He hesitated for a moment before he wrapped his arms around you, holding you close to him. “I was so worried, I didn’t… I’m so glad you’re back.” 

“Me too, Sweetheart,” one of his hands went to the back of your head, holding you gently. 

“Did you…” you began, but he cut you off, still holding onto you. 

“They’re dead,” he said. Your breath caught for a moment and he pulled you closer. You were soft and warm and whole and alive. He’d kept you safe. He hadn’t failed you, not this time. “Not going to hurt you again.” 

“Joel…” your voice trailed off, sounding sad. He pulled back from you enough that he could see your face, your eyes searching his. He brushed your hair back. 

“C’mon,” he said softly. “Let’s go home.” 

Next Chapter

A/N: FERAL JOEL

FERAL JOEL

FERAL JOELLLLLLLL :D

And everything else about this chapter, too 😌 Seriously, these two are sooooooo close to stuff happening. So so so so so so so so close, I promise they are.

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[nebularanger-art]

Devil May Cry Furry AU Pt 1: The Sparda Family

Part of my Furry May Cry series of images. All designs are okay to draw, so long as I'm credited and tagged.

When it comes to drawing Devil May Cry characters as furries, the popular species choices for the Sparda family tend to be carnivorous, especially as canids/felids are the default choice of animals people go to for furry character designs. I, however, am someone who prefers ungulates as my go-to choice of mammalian species.

While Sparda is still a demon, the mortal form he takes on is meant to resemble a red deer, as stags are depicted to be guardians/leaders of the forests. Though, his size and antlers makes him look more like the extinct Irish elk. Eva, meanwhile, is a horse (albeit one without a distinct breed); An animal both quaint and unassuming, yet majestic and prized. And it ties into the Sparda twins being...

Unicorns. A creature long sought after for their elusiveness and the power they hold. (Technically they're actually hippocerfs, but I needed an excuse to make them unicorns.) Them being half-deer ties isn't as important outside of explaining why they have horns, but the horse symbolism reigns (get it) even stronger here so I'll list off how they tie into Dante and Vergil.

Dante:

Travel. Horses are the oldest mode of transportation besides our own two feet, and combined with them being used in myths as passages to and from the underworld, they fit right in with Dante traversing through literal hell and back.

Humanity. Horses and humans have had a long link with each other that almost rivals dogs in terms of just how much love we give to these animals.

Vergil:

Power. Horses are often seen as a commanding animal that demand your attention, from a status symbol by the royal to a vehicle for soldiers in war.

Death and demons. Did you know that the "mare" part of "nightmare" used to be literal? There's also the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and more specifically Death with his pale horse

Going back to Vergil for a bit, let's look at V and Urizen specifically. V is technically a white horse, but the ink grafted onto them from the Nightmare demons they host gives them the appearance of a zebra.

Urizen makes it as obvious as possible that he's a stag through just how monstrous his antlers are. Not only are they representative of the Qilphoth tree he was desperate to seek, but they're also based on "monster" deer antlers that result from either hormonal imbalances or intentional breeding for deer hunting farms to create the ideal trophy. (Don't look that up if you're squeamish btw)

Now as for Nero, he (and by extension, his mother, the Lady in Red) is a roe deer. Though not the same species, he represents the side that his father Vergil most idolizes: The deer side, the demon side, Sparda.

Of course, Nero didn't know this even though he knew he stood out from the rest of his "herd", The Order of the Sword. This is also a reference to Bambi, who lives his life as an ordinary roe deer but eventually realizes that he's the son of the Old Prince. I'm talking about the original book, by the way; The Disney movie throws away half the story and turns Bambi from a European Jewish roe deer into an American whitetail deer of indeterminate religious status.

[elvhenfaer]

“You said his name was Ghilana, is that correct?” Dorian asked in earnest.

“Mmhmm.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’d be something like ‘Guide’,” I told him. “It’s an excellent name for this Hart in particular, he’s trustworthy.”

“Magnificent,” Dorian said as he reached forward and patted Gil’s neck, “And what’s yours called?”

I smiled broadly, answering, “Elgar’nan. Spirit of Vengeance, God of Destruction, the All Father. Pride of Arlathaan.”

I scratched him behind his ears as I listed his titles. I rather thought he liked hearing about himself.

But Dorian looked insulted, “You’re on 'Elgar’nan God of Vengeance' and mine is called Gil?”

I laughed quite heartily at his indignation, nodding my head.

“Of course, that’s no shame upon you, Gil,” he said to his steed, “you weren’t the one choosing names either.”

“You know Dorian, I’m a little surprised you don’t recognize Elgar’nan. His kind roam wild in Tevinter. Left there after the Elvhen exodus, before the expansion. He might be descended from the very Hart the real Elgar’nan rode,” Elgar’nan bleated, shaking his shaggy head. He liked that part of the story, I must’ve told it to him a dozen times on our walks together.

“I’ve read the history, and I’m fascinated to meet a living piece of it,” he nodded at Elgar’nan when he said it, obviously amused at my Hart’s display of personality. “Alas, I spent most of my time in cities, I’ll admit that I’m mostly unfamiliar with Tevinter’s more natural areas.”

“You!?” I feigned shock, “Unfamiliar with the wilderness!?”

He’d already pursed his lips and started lolling his head like he was unamused, “Yes, I know, hard to believe.”

“Clever arse,” he muttered at me, “How did you end up with him, then?”

“I saw him listed on that board Dennet puts together of available mounts in the barn, before we left for the Emerald Graves. But no one breeds them, I’m fairly sure we bought him from poachers. Trappers. Sorta thought no one should really have him....” he was meant to be free with his herd. Sort of like me, a Dalish without his clan, stuck somewhere he didn’t belong.

“Are you suggesting that you’re riding a wild animal right now? That he literally was one of the Harts roaming around Tevinter?” the mage asked incredulously.

I shrugged, “Might’ve been Northern Orlais.”

He huffed in disbelief, “How…?”

“I’ve been working with him. Every day. We take walks, I give him treats, talk to him,” my tone was nonplussed, surely what I’d done wasn’t difficult.

“Oh?” there was a glint in the Tevinter’s eye, “And what do you two talk about?”

“Mostly how he should leave the damned nugs alone,” I directed more towards the Hart himself than to Dorian.

————————————————

I wanted to do these sketches because Elgar’nan the Hart is so important to Amheotil. Excerpt from this chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39354045/chapters/112813885

[ccghastly]

The Van der Linde Fellas as Hybrids

Arthur:

Some kinda Mastiff Dog.

He's big and playful, knows his own size and he's not afraid to use it, very family focused, will protect his pack if its the last thing he does.

His ears are a bit raggedy, his tail was cropped. Used to drool a lot as a pup and Hosea does not let him live it down, playing with Jack always makes his tail wag. Growls and grumbles a lot, but often doesn't mean anything by it.

John:

Raccoon

Greasy trash panda, stealing other peoples shinies and taking no responsibility.

Screeches at Arthur 24\7, will not admit to being chased up multiple trees by him when they were young. Has little caches of stuff absolutely everywhere. If you lose him, he's where he's not meant to be, look in the place you'd least like him to be first and there you will find him, very confused on how Hosea always finds him so fast.

Hosea:

Maine Coon

Blends into high society, hates strangers, likes being in the company of his family, an excellent hunter, very motherly towards his boys.

Spends his evenings before the camp's fire, bushing out his fur. Drags Arthur and John over to be groomed if they get too close, Arthur gets too close suspiciously often, John is suspiciously far away. Very charming, knows how to sway his tail just right to make people notice him, also knows how to blend in and appear like any other average domestic breed.

Dutch:

Says he's a raven but is actually a shiny cowbird.

Kinda detrimental to those around him but not maliciously, promiscuous with no set partner, offloads much of the physical work onto others, a conman that knows how to fit in.

Is very proud of his iridescent plumage, flirts and preens incessantly, flares his wings when trying to make a point and be dramatic. Once accidentally set his tail feathers on fire when preening too close to the campfire, pouted in his tent until they grew back and Hosea stopped laughing.

Bill:

Some kind of cat, I lean towards a Lion.

He's grumbly, likes a lot of naps, will pitch in if asked but leaves most of running around to his pride, a big boy, patrols his territory.

His mane is kinda scraggly and the gang does indeed make fun of him for it. If there's a sunbeam he's napping in it. Hates the cold. Loves snuggles and physical affection but will die before admitting it.

Sean:

Husky

Has a flair for the dramatic, loud, listens to no one unless it benefits him, enjoys 'singing'. When it's time to work, it's time to work. Can't focus unless he has a job to do, works well with others.

Tail wagging & tongue out 90% of the time. Constantly trying to tackle Arthur into play fights. Sheds like a mf and gets offended when called out about it.

Micah:

Vampire Finch

You know he's up to nothing good but you can't seem to stop him before he does damage. Picks away at people until they're too exhausted to fight back.

Enjoys eating his meat as bloody as he can get it, preens more than you'd think but his feathers are still constantly a bit ragged. Struts around camp with his feathers fluffed out to look bigger, loves to poke and pick at people then fly off when they retaliate. Constantly lands rudely close to hitting people. Will dive bomb you.

Charles:

Mustang

Protects his herd, can roam alone but prefers company, not afraid of hard work. Knows when to pick his battles. Quiet, but says a lot if you know how to read him.

Enjoys taking the time in the morning to carefully braid his mane. He's a big boy and is very conscious of that fact. Careful with every movement. When alone together will stealthily scritch Arthur's ears to watch his tail wag, does accept retaliatory scritches, mutual grooming is the ultimate act of friendship.

Javier:

Ornate hawk eagle

Flashy and fancy but gets the job done, strikes hard and fast.

Preens his wings a lot, hates when his feathers and crest get disorderly, says it feels wrong. Dutch has him fly up and scout the way. Coordinates outfits so they match his plumage.

[aelfgiure]

The soft knocking on the door to my cottage woke me from a sound sleep. "Hello? Is this - is this Tempus Fugit?"

Ah, that explained it. I tossed on a robe and shuffled across the room, rushlight in hand. The person on the stoop looked harried, exhausted from whatever they had been up to, or fleeing. "This is the right place? I hope?"

I grinned at them. "First time doing outtime work?" I waved them inside, made sure the door was barred. This was the sort of thing they burned people at the stake for doing, after all, and that's not how I wanted to go, yikes. "Tempus has indeed fugited, and in all sorts of directions like a herd of cats. What do you need, repairs or replacement?"

They sighed with relief when the door in the cellar opened into a large, well-equipped repair shop, with assorted models of temporal transports lined up along the far wall. "Just a couple of parts, then I'll be able to get back to the Institute."

Ah, one of those guys. Stuffy as all get out, usually, but they paid their bills and would sometimes drop off souvenirs after a rescue, so I didn't mind them. I helped them look up the parts, along with the tools they needed to do the repairs, had them sign and thumbprint the invoice, and sent them on their way with my best wishes and a sandwich of bread and jam. I was about to head back to bed when the communicator sounded it's 'attention' chime. That's always worth responding to, and quickly.

"Agent Tiffany here, go ahead."

"Theophania, glad you could reply so quickly. We have to evac that era. Stand by for pick up."

"Shit! Central, I just gave parts and tools to an agent from the Institute, do they know about the evac?" I had picked up the handheld commlink so I could pack everything I wanted to take with me while I got the briefing. "Is this going to be a full pull out or just a fall back and regroup for a bit sort of thing?"

Let's see, the pottery was lovely, and the glass things, into the furniture that could be knocked down and used as crates, right. Clothing was easy, only a couple of outfits, some damn nice boots -

"It's a medical situation. Pneumonic plague popping up where nobody expected it to be, not in this year."

That gave me chills. I had to pull myself together after hearing that, trying to repress my knowledge of what that shit would do to this place. "Understood, Central. So, I'm going into quarantine from here, right?"

There was the rueful chuckle on the other end of the comm, and I felt a little better. "You know the drill. This time you can bring your livestock, though, instead of leaving them to your neighbors. You've done a bang-up job with those heritage breeds, the geneticists want to take samples and see how well they do on the Homestead line."

Okay, that meant that there would be a flurry of major activity here, holy crap. That also meant -

"Central." I had to swallow a lump in my throat before I could continue. "The village. Is it - are you going to sterilize it?" A sanitary way of saying that the village was going to be wiped off the map completely, leaving only rubble. Brutal but efficient, sometimes necessary to mitigate worse things from happening down the line.

"Not this time. It's going to be a relocation, over to Heritage. We're moving the town and village and all, and using the incoming plague as a reason for the quarantine and lack of travel between places." Their plan was reassuring. I'd spent a decade here, and had grown fond of the people here, become part of their lives. "They'll get vaccinated and vetted through Purgatory, and when they wake up it'll be in their own homes, with their friends and animals and all, from the Lord to the louse."

That expression made me laugh. It meant that everyone was coming along, with a few bugs thrown in for good measure. My friends here were going to be all right.

"After your quarantine, would you be up for reassignment for a bit? Cassandra is about to go on maternity leave and we'll need someone to cover for her. She's stationed at Regulus IV, 2492, you'll have a good time."

I hesitated, because while the idea was nice, I did love my cottage, my cats and cows and herb garden -

"They've got ice cream," they wheedled, "oh yeah, you'll get your own coffee technology. Bonus to your wardrobe allowance, so you can kit out in style this time," There was a pause, and then they added, "and indoor plumbing. No more running to the privy in the pouring rain."

Welp, that settled it. Call me weak, but hot and cold running water on demand was a luxury beyond compare. I'd almost forgotten what that was like.

"Oh hell yes, Central!" I could hear the Moving Team assembling in the barn, getting everything catalogued for the transition to its new location. The transition to an advanced tech post was going to be an adjustment, but easier than the other way around. Plus, I had quarantine to look forward to enjoying. All in all, not a bad reassignment. Not like my last one, that was damn near fatal - huh. I had to ask.

"Is this your way of making up for that dinosaur nonsense?"

There was a long pause. "We had the astronomy team do a thorough check this time. No asteroids are incoming to your next location."

Secret bunkers full of time machine repair equipment are placed throughout history by time travelers just in case someone gets stuck in the wrong time. You are tasked with manning one of these bunkers

[petsvillage]

Do you feel like ripping out your own hair because of your pet's messy, matted, or scraggly hair? Pet hair can be an ongoing source of concern when it strews over your otherwise spotless floor. Not only can matted hair be unhealthy for pets, but it may also annoy both owners and troublesome pets. But how can one approach such difficult issues? Are there any creative solutions? The effects of matting You might assume that a knot is just a knot. Despite our attempts to act casually, pet hair matting has more detrimental effects than one may think.  

It hurts to have matted hair Hair that is matted, particularly pelted hair, presses firmly against the skin. Naturally, this will be very painful. As soon as possible, remove the pellets.  

Impacts Blood Flow The mats are constantly tugging and twisting. The persistent pulling will hinder blood flow to other body areas and impair circulation.  

A parasite's paradise Fleas and ticks, for example, live in matted hair. You must eliminate them right away because they conceal, spread, and eventually sting your pets' skin with painful bites.  

Limits range of motion Mats restrict pet mobility, especially when they're close. Moth mats will keep food and liquids out of the moth's reach.     How Not to Matte Dogs with long, curly, or even fine hair frequently get matted. Groomers refer to hair that is near the skin as "pelted" when it is neglected.   When hairs tangle and wrap around one another, matting occurs. If left alone, they will eventually gather loose or dead fur and create dense, pelted clumps of hair. They typically show up in high-friction locations.   Be aware that some dog breeds have hair that is tangled in cords. Pet owners who own Komondors, Bergamasco Shepherds, or Hungarian Pulis will know this. These ties were originally meant to serve as camouflage for the dogs when they were herding sheep.  

Consistent brushing Regularly combing or brushing your pet's hair might help avoid matting. Nevertheless, even with such careful attention to detail, mats may still cause owners trouble. Choose the right kind of brush to help you get over this frustration.  

Remove the harnesses and use rolled collars. Of course, tangling occurs in places you seldom ever consider or visit. The answer? Consider them more frequently.   This entails taking off collars when your pet isn't out for a stroll. By doing this, matting around the armpit region is avoided. Tangling around the neck can be avoided by wearing a rolled collar.  

Schedule regular appointments for grooming. Not only does grooming fulfill the desire for a flawless appearance, but it is also essential for optimal health.   Uncomfortable, overgrown nails or hair can make it difficult for a dog to stand straight. Fleas and other vermin make mats their home.   A groomer can shave thick melts and give your pet a tidy look, but he can't untangle them.  

Keep your dog's fur short. Cutting your pet's hair short is another method to stop them from shedding. It is recommended to give a single-coated dog a short haircut, while a double-coated dog should have a somewhat longer cut.  

Taking Regular Baths Depending on how active your dog is, giving it a weekly or fortnightly bath is essential to its health. The accumulation of debris and grime on the skin may lead to matting. If your pet is active, give them more frequent showers.  

Look for parasites Mat formation is facilitated by parasites. Check on your pet frequently, especially if they spend a lot of time outdoors. Stopping Shedding For most animals with fur or hair, pet shedding occurs naturally, and it's challenging to totally stop shedding. You can, however, take action to control and reduce shedding. The following advice may help lessen your pet's hair loss:  

Consistent grooming Regular brushing will help your pet remove dead and loose hair. You should use a brush that is suitable for the type of coat your pet has (e.g., slicker brush, bristle brush, or deshedding tool). Brushing should be done at least a couple times a week, depending on the breed and type of coat.  

Eating healthy A nutritious, well-balanced diet helps maintain a healthy coat. Make sure the proper nutrients, such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, are given to your pet. These types of nutrients promote healthy skin and reduce shedding.  

Taking a shower Using a light pet shampoo to bathe your pet might assist in getting rid of loose hair and preventing matting. But excessive swimming can deplete their skin of natural oils, so bathe them sparingly (usually every 4-6 weeks for dogs, less frequently for cats).  

Shampoo that Reduces Allergens Certain specialty shampoos and conditioners are made to help with allergies and lessen shedding. Seek advice from your veterinarian.  

Managing the environment To get rid of loose fur from your surroundings, clean your house and wash your pet's bedding. Allergens in the air can also be decreased by using air purifiers equipped with HEPA filters.  

Consult a veterinarian. In rare cases, excessive shedding may be a sign of an underlying medical condition such as allergies, parasites, or hormone abnormalities. See your veterinarian for a checkup.  

Add-ons Certain supplements, including flaxseed or fish oil, might lessen shedding and enhance coat health. Before introducing any supplements to your pet's diet, speak with your veterinarian.  

Temperature regulation You can reduce your pet's tendency to shed by keeping their skin and coat hydrated in dry situations.   Seasonal Changes: During seasonal shifts, a lot of animals shed more. Recognize that shedding will increase in the spring and fall, and modify your grooming regimen accordingly.  

Neutering or spaying Spaying or neutering a pet can sometimes reduce shedding, particularly hormone-related shedding. This option should be discussed with your veterinarian.   Recall that minimizing shedding requires patience and consistency. Different breeds naturally sweat more than others, and not every pet will react in the same way. Reducing shedding and maintaining a cleaner environment can be achieved by using these suggestions and tailoring them to your pet's individual requirements.       Bringing back the luster in your dog's coat Like human hair, a dog's greatest asset is its coat. Years of abrasion, rubbing, and mishandling will dull its luster. This is how to make things work again.  

Emphasis on a high-protein diet.   An inadequate diet is frequently the cause of a dull coat. Proteins support its restoration. Since 90% of a dog's coat is made of protein, a diet low in protein seriously jeopardizes your dog's health. When choosing dog food, protein should be the primary ingredient to take into account.  

Consistent Brushing   Regular brushing helps keep your pet's coat free of loose hair, dirt, and debris. Additionally, it increases the skin's natural oils, which improves the fur's gloss. The kind of coat on your pet will determine what kind of brush or comb you use. Depending on your pet's breed and level of activity, you may need to modify its bathing routine. Make sure you give your pet the best shampoo and conditioner for their type of coat. Avoid overdoing the showers, as this can remove natural oils from your skin. An oatmeal bath is suggested by some experts as a way to encourage the natural oils found in your pet's hair.  

Desiccation:   After giving your pet a bath, make sure their coat is totally dry. Use a blow dryer, particularly if the hair is long. Wet fur may matting and fading of luster.  

[fkyumerica]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-WowH0liGfE does she herd

facts about dalmations, oh my god get her to leave

did boy george/amber have the ugliest fucking wife inners and outers

he said it

is her whole body utters for him wtf

marilyn manson officially fucking did it

electrocuted us to steal mcdonalds

and enter in to fuck with his mom and elderly to steal all their money

and the worlds

henry ford is caught

went with 8 girls

then

he was 15

"new town panties"

dont let him surf

started skate boarding to knock out all their teeth

stupid right didnt know i did it

and to them i knocked out all their teeth, now first person they see they will attack and already dead haha i steal your wife

he is his own dad

and fucks his mom

to calm her down to leave

and gets her fat again

family orgies, smells like old people

and the old look is it too mom take off your wig

it will save you, now i wear it and hit old people

sky scraper

The Ride of the Rohirrim live in concert - The Return of the king Barcelona

jo just goes in there and shoots everyone

he pierced my ears and did my hair

that guy isnt the kurgan

he is heartless-kurgan

i dont care

do it

he wants gay old monster orcs to live

im not gonna let them live

each shit came on the ground

gum dots?

really

them?

i ride each of their horses to kill them after

cant run

anddd

we fuck her too

other side

drugs poltergeist cant get up

spirits hold them down

andd

what

they shit on me to give me armor

chariot

those guys were with gandolf the whole time

they burnt giant dads

tried to make their sons gay

i went in the castle and shot men off them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9JR5-ZecCQ he locked us out of our trailers to smash them in half

he always tried to kill alden

showed up as the guitarist once for ac/dc

and i dunno he likes metallica gay right i'll leave him there

i'll let it happen too old ones rape him

pointed at that group instead and move them forward, burnt

but its anyone wild anyways

he would just lie

that guy would get attacked evveryday

the neighbor

it might be clifford

ow ow ow in trailer park boys

did they break my tooth of because of them

probably, small

wheres the dinosaur

what present are they taking and using already

to attaack

and kill, her instead

so we got a dinosaur win a fight

kill her too, say it twice they will send more again

From the shitposting community on Reddit: How to give a kid PTSD

jimhoslovat, meant here are some to mate too and mate your offspring too then they get it they say it

every fkng day i had to kill those people

there it is got that woman oregnant and 5 girls, kidnapped him, she's with him

body bag

kevin/mike/tony was his fake name then he was anthony tscolas and anthony hernandez

and what girls too posted it on my blog

and the video of the apartments they lived in

got two women

let him in when they were asleep

kids need a home stay the night then it happened, she already mated with their dad and hey two women they were stupid it was their wives

of their dads and they were old

looks like her

thanks for the video

what a hooker

points with his thumb hey come oveeer here

and was jeffery's dad

mike's

and

josh's

yea i can stick it in there

judge book

every morning

the website

conquer all

and the boy lives just to be a hooker GET ME OUTTA HERE

I can live there because I saw a car go from here to there and I know its my family living next to me

Shes dead? We’re gonna fuck her  to him to be alive CRAZY GREAT  BREEDING LOVe then him then him then him then him

Their moms got  boys since, Spanish didn’t have a boat to save them, France stole it for it, gay love

Only this group would know the answer to their family feud, that is the show, then they say it after

I FUCKING HATE THAT BITCH IM GONNA GO INSIDE AND FUCK HER, grandma is down the street

And why, cause shes got a gross cunt go fuck him he will clean it

Half English half irish I get it, and wait in the sky scraper for old people after, after she lives in it too wtf sit I n the lobby tired I got 4 houses, fred durst. Now he wont be mad at me walked over there he fucked deedee or wtf is not fucking her I got a trend black tshirt right no hats no we’re you, surprise your family with a pregnancy they wont care

I think he told it to that other boy or he was fucking her after, goes for that

I think you did chris, for them to go at me

Scottish army then she got a wedding too, make him look bigger or show up, pregnant by two boys and one guy, Barolo, wedding singer, anyones shit (son)

The wedding singer, fred durst after, or elvis from the wedding, gotta look at a egg nest after and see if I cry, no I left her too, old ladies kissing him he can come back and her mom ripped her face off now we got three in an army keep making them scream after then walk them up to other womens privates and talk to those women from the front we do it gay

mary sue had marilyn manson(switches charles manson in the court room so her son gets out it was keep switching one in to escape prison and a court trial fake judge throw it out what note)when she slept with that older man, same one

[doberbutts]

rythen

Admittedly my knee jerk reaction to outdoor dogs is negative, but that's because I grew up in an area where most outdoor dogs don't get human interaction except for food/water, and sometimes shelter (it didn't get very cold, but summers were regularly 100+). We had a puppy living next to us that got played with only for a couple hours on the weekends but was otherwise always outside. But I also wonder, are there breeds where no human or other dog interaction is okay?

According to Cortez, the Aztecs kept the ancestor of chihuahuas in hutches, like rabbits.

There are a fair few breeds designed exclusively for estate guardianship, where the only positive human interaction they get is being fed or given medical care.

Livestock guardians are designed to spend large amounts of their lives, if not their entire lives, outside with their herd.

There are a fair number of breeds and landraces that come directly from feral dogs living on the fringes of human civilization, who have developed alongside humans for decades or even centuries.

Again, this is largely a cultural debate. In some places, the idea of a dog that lives inside of your house is a massive shock- dogs are meant to be outside in the courtyard or garden and not in your living space. In some places, the meaning of property lines blurs as the surrounding culture doesn’t really practice land ownership in that manner, and the dogs are expected to come and go and comingle with each other and the humans that share their lives with them, but they don’t really go inside the house unless they’re sick or old or injured.

I think the majority of dog owners shouldn’t have a dog. Indoor or outdoor. In the 15 years I worked as a dog trainer I’ve met people who keep dogs completely opposite to the way I personally would, and their dogs are happy and content in their lives. I’ve met people who keep dogs similarly to how I do and their dogs are miserable. Would I have a 100% outdoors only dog? No, I like my animal companions to hang out with me in the house, though I am deliberately fencing my yard this summer to allow the dogs more outside time even when I don’t personally feel like being outside myself.

I have a neighbor whose dog is usually outside, and honestly? The most annoying part of this dog is that he’s never actually contained and thus he’s in my yard picking fights with my dogs more often than I prefer (which would be never). So do I have a problem with him being outside or do I have a problem with him being improperly contained? Honestly he’s usually just dicking around his owner’s lot or hanging out on the front step and sunbathing, their door is open so he can choose to be in or out as he pleases and he chooses out. He’s well fed and groomed, he’s old but spry, and- as said- I think if his owner had a fence or tie-out to keep him in his own backyard he would be a 100% nonissue. 

"And, finally: the people who neglect the dogs they keep outside will often also neglect that same dog of kept inside (...)" yeah, this would be exactly the reason the initial post was even made - it was in response to a Beagle that had been chained up outside completely neglected. The original post was just taken wildly in bad faith and spread around (plus the author is even saying that they could have worded things better because disabilities make it hard to word things perfect (I do that too tbh so this is probably not even worded great lol))

I know what the original post was about. I did do some level of investigating.

Again I repeat: all animals should have food, water, and shelter. All animals should have secure containment. This is the problem, not that the dog was kept outside. Beagles are hunting dogs, I don't really bat an eye at a beagle kept outside as long as it is kept responsibly. Despite not being an LGD, I don't see any problem with a beagle being outdoors. They're meant for it, in certain climates.

Others have engaged with the post how they will. I did not feel the need to add to it. However the overarching sentiment became about whether outdoor dogs were acceptable animal care, and the answer like always is "yes, if..."

[felidthing]

people rly look at dogs bred over centuries or whatever to do specific jobs, doing those jobs, and think theyre being abused

[blueboyluca]

ok here’s all my rambling thoughts about the future of dog breeding. ignore if it pleases you!

caveats: i am not a dog breeder. i am not involved in dog breeding in any capacity. i have a strong interest in the dog–human relationship and the continuation of that relationship. i own purebred dogs. i have absolutely no animal-related academic qualifications.

so. i think the future of dogs is to move away from dog BREEDS. i think dog people really struggle with this. purebred fans struggle because they instantly have a negative response because they adore their specific breed. mixed breeders also struggle with this because still the focus is on BREEDS and mixing them. and then you have all that shelter dog rhetoric which seems confused in itself by the desire to continue to have dogs but the opposition to dog breeding of any kind (pure breeding is bad but mixed breeding is also bad and registered breeders are unethical but backyard breeders are also dodgy).

i have read lots of different dog books. some published before the real Victorian dog breeding explosion (early to mid 1800s) and some published much later (mostly the 90s to now) exploring and documenting the origin of the dog and the current use of indigenous or primitive dogs. so there are people doing what I’m saying ALREADY, TODAY, AND FOR ALL OF DOG–HUMAN TIME (see: landraces).

but what all this has told me is that the real focus should be TYPES. to look at this, you really need to put aside the concept of dog BREEDS as we know them today. dog BREEDS today are defined by hyper specific breed standards that list in extreme detail what the dog should look like and, to a lesser degree, how it should behave. put that aside.

according to Kim Brophey there are 10 families of dogs (i like her categorisation, it makes sense to me). they are Natural Dog (or spitz), Sighthound, Scenthound, Toy Dog, Guardian, Gun Dog, Terrier, Bull Dog, Herding Dog and World Dog (or pariah). using this as a base, then we would jump into TYPES.

so for example. in early sheep and cow centred Australia (early 1800s on), they needed to come up with dogs that would suit the climate and the work. this meant they developed regional variations of Herding Dogs, taking collies (a type) and bobtails (a type) and anything else they had, and refining that into a heeler (type) and a kelpie/koolie (type). it makes sense to me to have these kinds of variations around general principles of environment, working style, temperament, coat, size, ears, tail – that's how it's always been done! with TYPES, you could still end up with hundreds of variations. but the key difference to what we currently operate under would be that TYPES have no hyper specific breed standard and they can interbreed whenever necessary while maintaining a general look/working ability.

take one of the breeds i own – papillon. under this proposed model, dogs that look like this would be Toy Spaniels. and when you go looking for a breeder of Toy Spaniels, different people would breed slight variations – up ears or down ears, shorter muzzle, longer muzzle, taller or shorter. however, the focus would be maintaining an open gene pool and producing healthy dogs while still having a general type and a range of reasonable predictability. that is the key difference here. no standards, no stud books. no discussion about “freaks of nature” because a dog bred with another dog. the sport of conformation would have to also radically change in this scenario. but it’s not like you can’t evaluate structure and form of any dog. if conformation must continue, it could change.

contrary to most dog people i tend to run across, i don’t think we should get more specific when thinking about dog breeding, i think we should get less specific. i understand that some scenarios require specificity, but for the most part we as humans should accept that dogs are as varied as we are, with general predictable traits. and our approach to dog breeding should probably be, IN MY VIEW, to find the dog TYPE that is most suitable for our situation, but still accept the individual characteristics within each dog and that no dog is totally predictable nor should this be expected or desired.

so what i am saying is not NEW. it’s just what people did before the Victorians got weird about it.

[newtonsheffield]

Me lowkey shipping Miles and Emily...

Me toooooooooo

Emily who's just a shy girl who finds her Mama a little exasperating especially her attempts to nudge her in Miles Bridgerton's direction. And she finds that especially exasperating because she does think Miles is very handsome, and he's kind, and she's heard him say before that his father intends to give him and his brother a portion of land and he'd like to breed horses and she just... she thinks she'd like to one day be married to a man like Miles.

She's seen how different Mr and Mrs Bridgerton are from her own parents, how they're always together smiling and laughing with one another, how Mr Bridgerton's eyes light up when he sees his wife and she wonders if Miles would be the same with his wife. If he would be gentle and kind and smile at her the way he did when he returned her glove and her bare fingers brushed his.

"I'm sorry." She whispers one day after her Mama had shoved her in his direction yet again, three weeks after she turned eighteen at the harvest festival, her cheeks burning as she stared down at the skirt of her dress. "You must have other people you wish to spend time with and I promise she means well."

"Oh I don't know about that." Miles' voice was a little curious, startling her.

"She does mean well she's- She's different from your mother and she-"

"Oh no!" Miles Said quickly, his eyes wide, gently brushing his hair back from his eyes the inky curls shining in the sunset. "I meant that I wasn't sure there was anyone else I'd rather spend time with, I- My Amma can be- I- I'm making an awful mess of this, actually."

"An awful mess of what?" Emily felt her brow furrow resisting the urge to chew her nails

"I had- I had come here tonight with the intention of asking you if you might like to dance." He cleared his throat awkwardly, tugging at his waistcoat. "With me, I meant. If you'd like to Dance with me, tonight."

"Oh!" Emily's breath caught in her chest, her cheeks burning as she stared at him in surprise.

"Of course you don't wish to." He looked horrified, bumping into Mrs Merrington in his attempt to back away from her. "I'm sorry to have... forced unwanted attention on you, that was never my intention."

"I would!" Emily blurted it out, loud enough for the entire village to hear. "I would like to dance with you. Tonight."

Miles froze for a second, before a bright smile broke over his face and his eyes lit up in an expression that stopped her heart for a second.

"I-I- excellent. Shall we- we'll just wait for the next dance to start then." He said quietly, offering his arm a little awkwardly.

Her cheeks burned as she took it, "Yes, we'll wait for the next dance."

"He did it!" Emily heard Miles' brother Edmund crow from a short distance away where he was currently herding their cousins with Lady Lucinda.

"Neddy!" Lady Lucinda hissed irritatedly. "Hush or I'll tell your Amma on you!"

"You never would." Edmund grinned.

Miles smiled a little awkwardly. "In hindsight it might have been a mistake to practice this conversation with my brother."

And he spun her off towards the dance floor with laughter on her lips.

[angrelysimpping]

how do you think bull!remy will treat his babies? do he just hide their bull features and raise them to be farmers or do he like send them to school or something

See, I was thinking about that, and I'm not quite sure.

Bull!Remy's more invested in his hybrid offspring than regular Remy.

One solution would be to have the fluffy babies growing up hidden away, somewhat. Let them run around in the fields when they need too, but keep them separate from the rest of the herd. Only Remy can look after them. His house is described as a mansion, so it might be possible for Remy to have certain parts of the his home sectioned off, meant for the family unit and no one else is allowed to enter. Keeps his children there when they're not outside. Just until they're old enough to hide their features.

Or maybe he straight up claims them as his own offspring. No secrecy involved. Yes, he bred his favorite cattle, what of it? He said he'd only ever let them breed with the best, and it just so happens that Remy never found a bull worth breeding them. So, he took it upon himself. He never outright admits that he's a hybrid himself and treats his children with a level of separation when in public.

[rpmemesbyarat]

A little ago, I wrote THIS RANT about animals in fiction and the tendency in media to depict predators/carnivores as ridiculously aggressive to the point of actively evil and prey/herbivores as placid, gentle, and even downright tame by nature. . .and how that’s a lot of bunk. I would like to continue this with some other things I’m tired of regarding animals in media. Note that this does not apply to media where the animals are MEANT to be anthropomorphic to some degree (ex: All Dogs Go To Heaven, Redwall, etc) or to works that aren’t meant to be taken as terribly realistic. I’m talking about works that present these behaviors as very realistic, natural animal behaviors. Even in the context of fantasy, sci-fi, and other fiction, you can often tell by the tone how serious you’re supposed to take the world---for instance, Maximus the horse in “Tangled” is fine by me, but a horse acting the same way in something like ASOIAF would seem really off. Anyway, here are some peeves of mine--

ANIMALS AREN’T MONSTERS See the linked rant above. ANIMALS AREN’T ANGELS The other end of the spectrum from depicting animals as so vicious that they’re actively villainous, some people go full-on idealistic in their depictions of animals, carnivores included. Indeed, favorites of this type of writer tend to be large majestic carnivores like wolves and big cats and orcas, along with the more attractive herbivore species like herds of wild horses or flocks of swans, perhaps “cute” ones too like bunnies; rarely are slugs, weevils, weasels, pigs, or “vermin” type animals given much praise. Much ado will be made by these writers about how nature is good because it’s natural, how all species live in harmony, how humans should imitate animals in all things and how the world would be so much better that way, how animals are so much better than nasty rotten evil people and would NEVER commit acts like theft, rape, or cruelty to children. What a bunch of malarkey. This is JUST as wrong and dangerous a mentality as the notion that some animals are consciously evil. While I’d much prefer to defend maligned animals (especially very misunderstood and unjustly demonized ones like sharks), the fact is sometimes it’s also necessary to point out that lots of commit atrocious acts that have nothing to do with hunting for food. Plenty of male animals will kill the young of their own species to bring the females into heat again so THEY can mate with them. Lions are most famous for this, but you see it many other species such as zebras, grizzly bears, and more. Ducks, otters, seals, dolphins, and a certain type of penguin are all HORRIFICALLY rapey to a degree I won’t detail here, but it’s absolutely disturbing. And with how smart dolphins are, they damned well likely know what they’re doing too. It’s normal for hamsters to devour their young when under stressed, or just nibble off a limb or two if peckish for some protein. Hyenas begin killing each other as babies, and only a percentage make it to adulthood because of that. And speaking of killing/eating babies, while it’s true that predators typically pick off the old/weak/sick from the herd, they ALSO very commonly go for the cute little babies too. And then there’s the stuff that isn’t “evil” by human standards, but also isn’t majestic, glamorous, or inspiring either. Chimps throw their poop.  Male giraffes drink the urine of female giraffes to determine if they are at the optimal point in their cycle for breeding, and will often headbutt the abdomen of the female to try to force her to urinate. The koala population is riddled with chlamydia, and they fight each other all the time, leaving each other covered in scars and open wounds, which only helps to spread said chlamydia. Hippos spin their tails to spray their poop all over the place. Animals aren’t evil, but they’re not good either, and certainly not angelic morally superior beings. They’re animals, and morality just doesn’t apply to them. They’re amazing, beautiful, wonderful, and inspiring. . .and also gross, nasty, and frequently pretty fucked up. ANIMALS AREN’T ALL DOGS Dogs are the animal that most people are most familiar with, and many people mistakenly use their behavior as the baseline default for dealing with other animals. Heck, one of the most common reasons that many people seem to dislike cats, in my personal opinion, is that they’re expecting doglike behavior from them and take it as “unfriendliness” or “aloofness” or “snobbery” or whatever else when cats don’t act like dogs, and in fact have a totally different communication style because THEY ARE DIFFERENT ANIMALS. See: People being upset that cats will show you their bellies and then bite you if you touch it, because when a DOG does it, it means the dog WANTS it touched, so therefore the cat is maliciously tricking you. . .instead of you not understand that a cat isn’t a dog and the same signals mean different things from it. This expectation often carries over into fiction. Horses, cows, rabbits, big cats, and reptiles all get this treatment. Wolves and foxes get hit particuliarly hard with it, the reasoning being that since they’re members of the canine family, they must act just like domesticated dogs, especially if they’re raised from birth as a pet. . .no, no they do not. They have some similarities, but they are absolutely NOT the same animal, and don’t at all have the same urge to please humans that drives so much dog behavior. This also frequently carries over into wolf-based fictional creatures like werewolves, in which case my opinion depends on how it’s presented. If it’s presented as coming from “natural wolf behavior” then no. But if it’s like in Discworld, where werewolves act doggish because dogs are a mix of wolf and human, that angle I absolutely love! Speaking of fictional creatures, I see dragons depicted like this a good deal. Ditto for dinosaurs and other extinct animals like smilodons. While TECHNICALLY we don’t know what extinct animals acted like, and TECHNCALLY a fictional species can behave any way you like, it seems a little lazy to me to just go “it’s a really big dog” and also detracts, in my opinion, from the “wow” factor of these creatures. If you want to write about owning a dragon or a dinosaur that’s domesticated, putting thought into how such a creature would behave and why will take awhile, yes, but the result will feel probably feel far more realistic, immersive, and interesting for your reader. After all, horses and cats are domesticated too, and THEY don’t act like dogs; why would an animal that’s even LESS related to canines do so? Dogs got to be the way they are through literally THOUSANDS of years of selective breeding by humans. They’re an extremely unique animal. While depicting realistic animal behavior isn’t necessary in works that are aimed at children or are meant to have a more lighthearted tone, when it comes to works that are trying to take a more serious approach (even in a fantastical setting) accuracy is better. ANIMALS AREN’T HUMAN This one seems obvious, right? But as with “Animals Aren’t All Dogs” and “Animals Aren’t Angels” a lot of writers will treat animals as if they’re essentially humans wearing furry skins, with humans morals and values. Again, as stated at the beginning, I don’t mean “talking animal” stories like Beatrix Potter stories or The Wind in the Willows, which are tales in which the animals are very deliberately anthropomorphized, and do things like wearing waistcoats and having tea. Or films like “Oliver & Company” and “All Dogs Go To Heaven” where the animals do speak (even though humans can’t understand them) and have very human personalities. That’s a genre unto itself and it’s fine, and I in fact *love* all the works I just gave as examples. They’re not what I’m talking about. I mean when our heroine in a fantasy book a wolf familiar, or a trained falcon, or a horse. And unlike the aforementioned stories, this is supposed to be an animal that is no different from the wolves and falcons and horses in the real world, with perhaps some enhanced intelligence. And yet, this animal has a very human attitude towards the world, and not only understands human concepts easily but shares them. The wolf, rather than wondering why their human is so against being seen in the nude, will leap to attack any man who dares sneak a peak without ever even asking why the idea is attractive to a human man in the first place. The horse, whose natural inclination is to just piss and shit wherever it happens to be when the urge hits, acts ashamed upon dumping a load in the palace foyer. The falcon, whose diet is based upon small mammals, passes up the cute sweet bunnies easily available to it and only feeds on mean, nasty weasels and stoats. You COULD explain this by saying, if they have a mental bond (which is common in fantasy) that the human’s feelings and desires are influencing the animal. That’s a pretty solid explanation for all these examples. But that’s rarely the case. In a lot of stories, this is just presented as the animal’s natural behavior in a work that otherwise veers very realistic (as opposed to, say, a Disney film like “Tangled” in which the horse behaves in some unrealistic ways, but it fits the setting tone) Animals don’t share human values and their behaviors aren’t always palatable to humans, as discussed before. Some are; many people admire animals that will fight viciously for their young, because a parent defending their child is congruent with our own values. But a great many animals will abandon, kill, and even EAT their own young if their baby is weak, sick, or deformed in some way. Some animals, such as the quokka, are even content to let a predator have their offspring because hey, they can always make more if they survive. This is appalling to many people, because it’s very much NOT in accordance with our values. But it doesn’t make these animals bad. And there’s no reason an animal would adopt human values just because it hangs around a human enough (I had a cat for years, he did NOT stop killing small animals just because I hated it) or because something upsets the human they care about. Ask ANY pet owner---and pets are typically domesticated animals that are easily trained, so imagine how much more removed from humanity a typically wild animal will be, even one raised in captivity. I’d like to see more “tame” wolves and wildcats in fiction that don’t obey their tamer’s every command, but do things that REAL pet wolves and wildcats will do in real life. Like, say, go after smaller creatures when tempted, like a noblewoman’s nearby cat or the live chickens for sale at market, and cause their owner some real trouble because of it. Or worse, direct physical or emotional damage to the hero---like the bear cub that the hero nurses back to health kills his beloved dog! I’d also like to see some telepathic animal companions that don’t actually give a shit that their master was stood up at the ball, because they don’t have a concept of human romance. They may feel sympathy as far as they are able that their human is sad, but their advice probably is just “mate with someone else” And I’d like to see our heroine’s beautiful magical white stallion kill a foal in front of her because it was born with a bad leg, and then act like nothing happened while she reels in horror lamenting how she could have healed it. Animals are wonderful. Animals are fascinating. Animals are frequently in many ways better than people. They’re also frequently horrific, gruesome, and, to our perspective, disgusting and cruel. In many cases, the same animal is BOTH. And this isn’t bad, because they’re NOT humans. Don’t make them have to behave like humans in order to be treated as “good” by the story, because that’s not a concept that should be applied to animals in the first place. Let animals act like animals. ANIMALS AREN’T MACHINES Animals have to eat. They have to shit. They have to rest. Yet horses in fantasy never seem to tire, they never have any problems with grass colic or eat plants that are dangerous for them, they never had any quirks or hangups, they’re immediately trusting and obedient to a new rider the moment they’re obtained, they only get injured or spook at the single most dramatic moments when the story requires, and they certainly never take a dump UNLESS it’s at the perfect comedic moment to punctuate a point or humiliate a villain. I’m pretty sure these horses are robots. Similarly, I’m pretty sure that the big glamorous dogs and majestic panthers and clever cats and tiny dragons that accompany so many heroes and who never trouble their master for food, or attention, or cause any problems, or run away during long stays outdoors, and may go unmentioned for chapters on end despite supposedly being at their master’s side the whole time. . .are all actually animatronic stuffed toys and puppets. You don’t need to derail the story every time an animal goes to the bathroom, of course. It’s the same reason that you don’t need to mention every time a character does that; it’s unnecessary, we can assume it happens. But in the case of critters, it does make it seem a little more real to work something like that in once in awhile. It reminds the reader this is a flesh-and-blood creature, not a moving doll. It makes the story more immersive, and it can also add drawbacks to animals that are useful or impressive power fantasies. For instance, a pet dragon is super cool, but it delays travel for days while it’s shedding its skin. Not to mention the cost to feed it must be MASSIVE, and if you just let it go hunting on its own, someone will probably shoot it! Let your hero worry about these things, and have to find solutions for it. It doesn’t need to consume the story, and in fact doing so will probably annoy the reader because they want to get back to the action, but a mention of this kind of thing here and there will go a long way.

[readyplayerhobi]

La Douleur Exquise

; Horse Hybrid!Taehyung x Lovebird Hybrid!Reader

; Genre: Fluff, angst, smut

; Warnings: Penetrative sex, dirty talk, unprotected sex, creampie, impregnation kink, filmed sex

; Word Count: 14.9k

; Synopsis: Taehyung is in love with his best friend. The problem? He’s a stallion, a horse hybrid who’s basic instinct is to collect a herd of women to protect and procreate. His best friend is a lovebird hybrid and they mate for life. He knows it’s pretty much impossible to be together and that you’d end up hurt, but what happens when he finds out you love him just as much?

; A/N: So, my first fic in like...two months? I started this fic in early July and honestly...I just wanted it finished. If it seems a bit disjointed or something then it was very stop and start...I hope you all enjoy it anyway and that it doesn’t disappoint or anything! It’s taken a WHILE for me to get back into writing (honestly, I almost left lol). Please reblog if you enjoyed and leave me comments and asks!

-

“Oh...fuck. Fuck, you’re so big, mmm,” The girl on her hands and knees in front of Taehyung moaned, her ass wiggling in desperation as he thrust his hard cock into her soaked pussy. “Harder, please. Please, fuck me harder.”

He hissed as she clenched around him, his entire length disappearing with ease inside her as his hips moved rhythmically. Large hands groped at the globes of her ass, squeezing them and spreading them wide to give the best view possible. Grunting, he slapped at one cheek hard and smirked when she yelped, jerking slightly.

“Such a pretty girl, so pliant and willing, hmm?” Taehyung questioned, his voice low and brusque as he moved hard enough to cause the room to be filled with the sound of skin slapping on skin. “A greedy pussy, so eager for your stallion to get you in foal, aren’t you?” 

She moaned in response, her face unseen to him but her body reacted by squeezing around his cock once more. Running one hand along her spine, he hummed in delight before leaning forward and biting down on her shoulder. It was instinctual, something deep in his genes telling him to hold her steady while he filled her up and impregnated her.

His other hand moved down to her clit, the bundle of nerves still soft and silky with her excitement but also swollen hard with her impending orgasm. Years of experience let his fingertips find the exact spot he needed, swirling them in quick circles and making her cry out even louder, hips bucking beneath him.

“That’s a good mare,” He panted, trailing his nose along her neck slowly. “Come for me, come on, you can do it. Tighten that pussy around me and I’ll breed you as you want.” 

Her orgasm hit seconds later, body convulsing tightly around him and he grunted, hips jerking forward even more rapidly. She was whining, a babbling mess beneath him as he continued to stimulate her, the effects being just as pleasurable for him too until he too came.

Pressing into her hard, he felt the slight resistance of what must be her uterus against the tip of his cock but she didn’t complain of any pain. One of the benefits of being a fellow horse hybrid was that a mare was biologically compatible with the large cock stallions had. One hand held her hips steady, making sure she didn’t move away as his balls convulsed rhythmically, each time causing his cock to twitch as he continued to ejaculate inside her.

She was breathing hard now, her body covered in a fine layer of sweat that caught the light perfectly and he hummed in appreciation, finally feeling the end of his orgasm. Slowly, he pushed himself upright and licked at his lips as he gave a few, shallow thrusts to wring out his final moments of pleasure and also make sure she got all of his cum.

“You were a good girl for me. We’ll get a nice colt or filly from you.” He mutters, stroking along her back appreciatively. Her skin was darker in certain patches and lighter in others, a result of her American Paint Horse breeding. It was pretty and he let his fingers trail along with the colour distinction.

Finally, though, he pulled out. The noise as he did so was extremely wet, but that was nothing compared to the rush of thick, white cum that slipped out of her used pussy. Pursing his lips, he looked it over carefully before dragging his fingers through some of it and pushing it back inside her. It didn’t matter, stallions were renowned for the large amount of semen they produced and she was probably filled inside.

“And cut!” Called the director, his voice interrupting the silence of the set. Taehyung let out an immediate sigh of relief and sat back, his cock rapidly softening now that the scene was over. His co-star sat up with a groan, stretching to get out the kinks in her back from the position she’d been in for the last ten minutes.

As she did so, the trickle of cum once more became a torrent, slipping down her thighs to collect on the bed. She didn’t pay attention to it and he didn’t say anything, the two of them used to scenes like this by now. Wheein was a consummate professional and one of the best in the porn industry, just like Taehyung.

“That was a good scene,” She complimented him, smiling in gratitude to her assistant who brought a robe that she used to cover herself up with. “Even if the whole ‘dirty talk’ is a little overdone nowadays.”

Taehyung rolled his eyes in agreement, grinning as he accepted the cleaning wipes from his assistant. Without a care in the world, he began to wipe his cock clean as he continued on his discussion with Wheein. She was quickly wiping down her thighs and between her legs as well. They’d both clean up more properly when they went to their dressing rooms but he wouldn’t be seeing her again after this.

Not unless they worked on the same set again.

“Right? It’s so fucking cringe. I wish they’d hire someone who’s an equine if they’re going to write a script featuring two of us. Who even talks like that?” He muttered, tugging on his robe and tying it closed before slipping his feet into the sandals provided to him.

The laugh Wheein gives is sweet, making her entire face light up. She really is a beautiful woman and her body is equally divine, only made even better by her kind and bubbly personality. Not that she’d been able to show that during this scene of course.

It struck Taehyung that she’d probably make a good mare for his herd. Despite the fact they were lamenting how lame the script was that they’d been given, there were some truths to what they’d filmed. A stallion like Taehyung would actively seek out fertile mares from good stock for his herd to breed with.

The better quality the mare’s breeding, the better his foals would be. 

At least, that’s what horse hybrids were meant to do. Wheein would probably even agree to it if he asked. He knew that she wasn’t in a herd already and she’d made it pretty clear to him that she’d be open to something outside of their work if he wanted. His deeply-rooted instincts demanded that he take her home and breed her properly, but he just sighed deeply instead.

He may be a horse hybrid, with all the possessive and protective instincts that provided him as a stallion, but he had no actual interest in living his life like that. Which is why he makes a little more small talk with Wheein before leaving to go to his dressing room. The shower he takes is quick, making sure to rub viciously at his body as he tries his hardest to remove any scent of the mare he’d just fucked.

Hybrids were something that had been created long ago. So long ago, no one knew how they were made anymore. The knowledge had been lost in the Hybrid Revolution, three centuries ago when hybrids had refused to be slaves for their human masters anymore. Ever since they’d been treated as equals to everyone else in society.

That didn’t mean that they’d integrated fully of course. Hybrids of different species more often than not stayed with each other or mated with humans. It did happen though, but the differing instincts meant it often was better for a hybrid to simply stay within their species.

Something Taehyung had always found amusing though was the fact that even within their species, a lot of hybrids would only mate within their own ‘breed’. Wheein was a pure American Paint Horse, coming from a long line that could be traced back to when the humans had been breeding horse hybrids for manual labour, protection services and sports purposes.

Back then, the humans treated hybrids exactly like actual horses. They had a studbook and would breed stallions to certain mares to produce characteristics they wanted. Placid nature, easy to work with, intelligent, quick to learn and so forth. When they’d been released, the breeds had continued on the studbooks to this day.

There were plenty who didn’t follow that ideology, of course, Taehyung’s parents were not the same breed after all, but a lot seemed to put stock in being ‘purebred’. It was just another way to act superior in his opinion.

Besides, his parents may not be from the same breed but he was still technically a breed all of his own. His mother was an Arabian while his father a Thoroughbred, meaning he was a breed called an Anglo-Arab. That was considered a breed in its own right, though perhaps not as prestigious as either of his parents.

Whatever he didn’t care about all that. Taehyung had no real interest in following the cultural norms of his heritage. And the reason for that was waiting for him back at his apartment. The thought of that spurred him into cleaning up even faster, making sure he was squeaky clean before pulling on the clothes he’d removed earlier in the day.

Glancing in the mirror once finished, he sighed deeply and looked himself over. A quirk of his kind was that they looked distinctly hybrid in ways that didn’t match others.

A dog hybrid may have the ears of a spaniel while a cat could have the tail of a Persian. Horse hybrids didn’t have any of their animal counterpart’s physical characteristics though, no tails or ears or anything like that. But their animal genes had manifested uniquely in their skin and hair.

If someone was a bay then they would have brown skin in a range of shades while their lower arms, legs and the space around their mouths and nose would be even darker and their hair a luscious black. Taehyung blended a little better than most other horse hybrids, but for others like Wheein, it was more obvious. Her skin was covered in patches of alternating dark and light while her natural hair grew in white and dark brown.

He knew that certain breeds had distinct characteristics as well. An old high school friend was a Friesian with coal-black skin and the most luxuriously thick, wavy black hair. One of his Taehyung’s siblings, on the other hand, had a Lipizzaner mare in his herd; her skin and hair was snow white. It certainly made them easily identifiable.

Taehyung wasn’t quite so obvious. His palomino colouring was visible; pale white hair that was a little too long and softly tousled matched with rich golden skin. Broad shoulders tapered down into a slim waist, currently covered in a loose white button-up. His hair was still wet, dripping onto his shirt while his strong thighs and calves were contained within equally loose-fitting tan trousers. 

He didn’t look like someone who’d just filmed pornography, but then again, what did that look anyway? Just a person? Still, he felt a small sense of satisfaction at how well he was going to blend. The last thing he wanted was to go home and have it look obvious what he’d just been doing, even if it was his job.

Chewing on his lip, he grabs his leather cross shoulder bag and exits the dressing room. He promised to get takeout tonight, and he wasn’t going to renege on that deal.

-

“I have food!” Taehyung calls out, placing the bag of takeout he’d just picked up on the kitchen counter before shrugging off his jacket. By the time he gets back from hanging it up, you’ve already emerged from your bedroom and are pulling plates out of the cupboard while trying to see what he’d gotten.

“What did you get? Chinese?” Looking up at him with a raised brow, Taehyung’s heart stutters for a moment at just how pretty you are. There’s not a trace of makeup on your face right now, you didn’t bother when you were at home, and yet you were still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

Like him, you were also a hybrid. The two of you had met in the first class of freshman year in college and had quickly become best friends, despite the differences between you both. He’d also fallen deeply in love with you at some point, even though he knew nothing could happen.

Just as he was driven by the instinct to have sex with multiple women to form a herd, you were driven by your instincts. Only yours were dictated by your lovebird genetics, which meant that you were strictly monogamous. As in, once you entered a relationship and truly fell in love with them then you would never have another relationship.

The antithesis of a horse hybrid then. Taehyung had long known that it meant he would never be able to be with you the way he wanted. You craved monogamy and it simply wasn’t in his genes.

So he’d stayed your best friend, and for the last five years since finishing college, he’d also remained your roommate. The two of you shared a mid-sized apartment in the city centre, close to the university that you worked at as a music professor and within easy driving distance of his workplace.

“No, there’s a new Ethiopian place that’s opened close to work. Seokjin was telling me about it it’s a vegan restaurant and I thought it’d be cool to try it out. No idea what you’d like, or what I’d like, so I just got a bunch of things to try.” Smiling at you, he starts to pull out the carefully packaged food and chuckles as you ‘ooh’ at it all.

“Oooh, I’ve never had Ethiopian food before. I’m excited.” And then you turn that blinding smile onto him and he has to let out a deep breath as slowly as possible to stop himself from doing something silly. He’s long been used to his feelings yet you still make him feel like a teenager again.

Once everything’s out, the two of you take it over to the little table that’s set up between the kitchen and the living room and lay it all out. You quickly dart over to the fridge and grab some water for the two of you before settling down and humming in excitement as everything is unpackaged.

Like Taehyung, you didn’t have many physical attributes of your animal side. Which would have been exceptionally strange given the difference between humans and birds. What you did have though, were black irises to match your pupils and the most exquisitely beautifully coloured hair. The front was a blend of peach, yellow and red which slowly morphed into the familiar lovebird green.

It was all-natural and incredibly pretty, suiting your face and personality so well. The original purpose of lovebird hybrids had been as companions due to their loyalty to their partner alongside musical pursuits. Not everyone was great at music but more often than not, lovebird hybrids tended to excel at singing.

Taehyung loved to hear you sing. Or play the piano or any of the other instruments you’d learnt how to play over the years. You were practically a prodigy when it came to the musical arts and he would forever be in awe of just how talented you were.

Your singing was one of the reasons he’d fallen for you so quickly; your buoyant and always effervescent personality had made him determined to befriend the sweet lovebird hybrid in his class. But it was your singing that had truly captured his heart.

The sweet sound of your voice could be as light as a dandelion seed on a summer breeze or swell as loud and strong as a hurricane. He’d been immediately fascinated the moment he’d first heard you sing and it had never let him go. Taehyung genuinely couldn’t imagine his life anymore without hearing your singing around the apartment; from the quiet songs when you were concentrating to the ones you belted out when you were in a happy mood.

He loved it all. As cheesy as it would sound, he just knew that his life would be dull and quiet without his music-obsessed, colourful, chatty best friend. Which was why he couldn’t give up the small hope of something with you. It was a tiny chance, but as long as you remained unattached then it was there all the same and he would grab onto it tightly.

“Did your shoot go well today?” You distract him out of his wayward thoughts with your question and it takes a few seconds of it to truly penetrate his mind and for him to understand. Almost immediately though, it causes him to twist his lips as he begins to spoon out the food he wants from the containers onto his injera, Ethiopian flatbread, that covers his plate. He hated talking about his job to you. It was like a reminder of what he couldn’t have every time.

But he was a big boy, so he took in a deep breath before looking back at you and giving you his trademark boxy smile. 

“It went okay, nothing went wrong which is always a good thing. Wheein was nice and very pleasant to work with, good at her job. The script was just as bad as I originally thought.” Snorting at the memory, he takes a mouthful of food and chews thoughtfully as he takes in the new flavours.

“Let me guess...full of lots of over-the-top horse innuendos and dirty talk?” Chuckling to yourself, you take a drink of cold water before tilting to your head to look him over carefully. Taehyung pauses, unsure of himself for a second before quirking his brow at you.

“Yeah, something like that. I shouldn’t be complaining really...no one watches what I make for the dialogue.” He’s very aware that there’s a slight pout to his lips as he looks back down at his plate, missing the way your expression changes to one of sympathy and protectiveness.

“Well...true I guess, but you’re a great actor outside of that. And I’m not just saying that to you because you’re my best friend TaeTae. You’re genuinely good.” Now he does look at you, taking in the way you look at him with concern and he feels a flare of guilt rise in his stomach. Taehyung would never let you know that the only reason he’d started to work in the pornography industry during college was so that he could satiate his desires without dating multiple women or accidentally creating a herd.

The fact that he was still doing it, seven years after beginning, was because he still held out hope. He knew that he could’ve been something better, entered the world of television or film acting, maybe even theatre. But it would have meant having to flaunt an unending trail of women in front of you.

At least he had a valid and acceptable reason for fucking so many women as a pornstar. The fact that he had no emotional connection to the women who worked alongside him now was a bonus, allowing you to see that he was more than capable of leaving his work in the studio.

Giving you a tight smile, Taehyung nods his head in appreciation. “Thanks, chirp. I appreciate it. And I know, but I think it’s too late now. Too old, you know?” 

“Pfft, no way. There are loads of actors who didn’t start their careers until they were older! And no offence, but you’re a guy so you’ve got the kind of lifespan that most women aren’t allowed. You’re only twenty-nine!” The outraged response from you is almost immediate, the piece of injera almost flying out of your hand at your reaction.

Thankfully, you’d just eaten the vegetable wat that you’d scooped up already so there wasn’t any risk of the floor or wall being decorated with Ethiopian stew. That would just be a waste of some good food in Taehyung’s opinion.

But that was irrelevant. 

What was relevant was your vehement defence of Taehyung and his talents. The two of you had had this conversation many times over the years and yet it never failed to make him smile. You were adamant he could do better and he knew that he could too. But he didn’t want to. Despite how good his acting was, he had no real interest in actually taking it up as a career outside of porn.

He didn’t care for the lifestyle or travelling or fame. Porn worked well for him at the moment. It satisfied his instincts, it paid well enough and he had a manager that ensured Taehyung only received the best directors, co-stars and films.

What Taehyung would love to do, was to work in fashion design. He loved putting together interesting and unique looks while also thinking up ideas for clothes. His best friend, Jimin, had started a clothing brand of his own a few years ago thanks to the money his parents had loaned him. It was doing pretty well so far and Jimin was constantly sad that Taehyung wouldn’t join him.

The older man, he was only two months older but that meant everything to Park Jimin, had tried everything he could think of to lure his best friend into his company. From offering a creative director role to his sub-brand that would operate almost independently from the parent brand, Calico. And Taehyung had promised him that he’d accept one day.

He would as well. Just not yet. It wasn’t time yet. 

“Thanks. Anyway, how was your day? Didn’t you say you had some exams this morning or something?” His segue into another conversation works like a charm and you happily begin to complain about the exams that you’d given your freshman students today. It still boggled his mind that you’d willingly insert yourself into college life again, even if it was in a teaching role but you seemed to thrive in the social aspect of it all.

The two of you continue to talk until there’s no food left, every single piece happily was eaten. Admittedly, most of it was eaten by Taehyung as he had a far larger appetite than you did. It was even bigger today given the workout he’d done during his work hours but you’d been content to hand over what you didn’t want to eat anymore.

Or rather, you’d been content to feed him what you didn’t want. Something he’d had to get used to very early on in his friendship with you was that you retained the instinct to feed those you were close to. That’s what you’d told him anyway, though if he was to be entirely honest he hadn’t seen you feed anyone else before.

Then again, none of the friends you both shared in common was the kind of people who would accept being fed, no matter how much they liked you.

It’s a few hours later that you’re both ready to go to bed; eyes sleepy and movements slow after watching three episodes of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina while curled up beneath the couch blanket as you both digest your food. Taehyung could have happily fallen asleep where he was, the warmth of you not close enough for him to feel but your scent strong enough to lull him into a peaceful slumber.

“I’m going to bed.” You say loudly, causing him to jerk awake quickly as you push the blanket off your body and stand up. It’s not as quick as you’d normally be but the stretch you give combined with the extraordinarily big yawn lets him know you’re pretty tired.

Not a surprise. It was after 11 pm now and you’d been up since 5:30 am to make sure you had everything set for your classes. A slight wobble as you lose your balance causes him to jump up, resting a hand on the small of your back gently to provide careful assistance while he reaches for the remote with his other to turn off the television.

“Careful, you’re gonna hurt yourself.” Taehyung chuckles, kicking away the blanket which had also become tangled around your feet. A quiet hum from you lets him know that you’re more tired than he’d initially thought.

Not saying anything more, he runs his free hand through the pale blonde strands of his hair as he directs you towards your bedroom. The door is closed to the outside world, unlike his, but the interior is familiar to him once you open it up.

One of the habits you had that came from your lovebird side was that you liked to nest. Which meant your bedroom had everything you loved arranged exactly how you wanted it. Your bed was a canopy style, completely cocooned away from the world except for the entrance. He’d been in once or twice to wake you up when you’d been late for something and he would admit to being fascinated by just how dark and...comfy it all looked.

Soft sheets, multiple fluffy pillows and more covered the top of your bed. He’d love to see what it was like to sleep in it one night because it looked like it could easily be one of the comfiest nights of sleep he’s ever had. A bonus would be if you slept next to him.

One of the more fortunate, or unfortunate depending on how you looked at it, aspects of his heritage was that Taehyung could sleep anywhere. He’d even been known to sleep standing up, which meant that he wasn’t that bothered about what his sleeping space looked like.

Taehyung knew it was something of an honour for him to be even allowed in your bedroom, to be honest, given how protective and territorial you got over your own space. It had been amusing for him to realise this at first, particularly given he wasn’t particularly bothered when it came to his own physical space but upon realising you wouldn’t let anyone else in, he’d used it as a badge of pride.

To himself, of course. No one else would care or even be surprised that your best friend and roommate was the only person allowed in.

Shaking his head, he wishes you goodnight before closing your door quietly and heading to the bathroom for his nightly ritual. The downside to being a porn actor was that he had to follow a proper skincare routine to make sure his skin looked the best. Because obviously, people were paying attention to his beautiful face instead of his massive dick.

Not.

Still, it helped to book more shoots. He had a ‘statuesque’ face that appealed to women or something. So he went along with it and had, admittedly, fantastic skin as a result.

The last thought before he finally fell asleep was that he was pretty sure the oversized black sweatpants you’d been wearing were his.

-

Taehyung doesn’t get to see a whole lot of you in the next few weeks. He’d ended up having to travel for a shoot that lasted a week and by the time he got back, you were on a much-needed vacation with your friends. As such, he was getting a little grumpy at the lack of interaction with you.

Which was entirely the reason that he’d almost jumped on top of you when you’d finally walked through the apartment door; three long weeks after seeing you last. You’d let him know that you’d be coming home today and he’d had to wait as patiently as he could on the couch, pouting at the fact you hadn’t accepted his offer of going to the airport to meet you.

But with everything in the apartment turned off, he’d used his superior hearing to the best of his abilities and had listened as hard as possible for your footsteps. After so many years, he knew exactly what you sounded like when you walked.

So when he finally heard that familiar beat, alongside the rolling of the wheels on your suitcase, he’d leapt up. There may even be a hole in the wall from how forcefully he’d yanked the door open, his excitement causing him to not pay attention to his strength for a moment before he’s giving you the biggest and brightest grin he possibly can.

“I missed youuuuuu!” Whining loudly, Taehyung wraps his arms around your waist and lifts. The squeal you let out soon dissolves into laughter when he spins you around, mentally marvelling once more at how light you were while his sense went haywire with you so close again. He could feel the softness of your hips as he lets you down, smell the soft peach of your shampoo along with the slight hint of sweat after so long travelling. 

It was perfect, and something deep within him relaxed.

You were home. You were safe.

“I missed you too, Tae! Can I please actually come in?” Your laughter is sweet, infectious as always and he stands to the side to let you enter the apartment. Without even asking, he gently takes the handle of your suitcase from you and lifts it with no complaints, heading over to your bedroom.

Given he’s not facing you anymore, he doesn’t see the way you practically swoon at the sight of him using his strength so casually. Or the way you almost drool at his broad shoulders in the plain white shirt he’d thrown on today, the muscles working in a way that made your hands twitch.

“Did you have a good time? Please tell me that Yeji doesn’t have some embarrassing story again this year,” While your yearly vacations with your friends were mostly for sunbathing and catching up, he knew that you all enjoyed re-enacting some college years and that copious amounts of alcohol were drunk. “And I’m not saying about you, I mean just embarrassing full stop. I’m still feeling secondary embarrassment over two years ago.”

“A story which will forever remain buried, thank you very much. But no, we were good this year. Or rather, we weren’t good but I think we’re starting to get a little too old to be drinking so heavily, you know? We can’t recuperate the same way and I get hangovers way too easily. I do not have the physiology to cope with their drinking levels!” There’s a slight whine to your voice, making him smile in amusement as he moves over to lean against the doorway of your room.

While he was fully welcome into your space, he knew that you liked it to be your own. Especially when you’d been away for a while.

“Well, I mean...you are a lovebird. I don’t think there are many alcohol-tolerant birds out there.” That gets him a subtle glare, your pretty lips puckered into a pout. It’s an innocent action, something that shouldn’t bother him in the slightest, and yet his heart stutters and his stomach twists on itself.

What he wouldn’t give to kiss you.

Shaking his head, he tries to force the thoughts out of his mind. Honestly, he was perfectly fine when he was away from you. But when you were around, it was like you were all he could think about. Still, it was hard not to when you looked at him so fondly.

“True. There’s no need to point that out though. Salt in the wound much? Anyway, it was fun. They kept trying to get me to swim in the sea but like...no thank you. Water is for drinking and washing, not for swimming around in.” You’re crouched down, unzipping your suitcase and pulling out the dirty clothes before separating them into the individual bins you have.

Unlike Taehyung, who simply separated his clothes when it came time to wash them, you were very tidy and had bought fancy clothes hamper with three sections. This was probably why Taehyung would accidentally end up with a shrunken shirt or pink underwear from time to time. You paid far more attention to that stuff.

“Swimming is fun though.” Is all he responds with, standing back when you carry the laundry hampers past him. Putting the colours into the washing machine, he watches quietly as you add everything before turning it on. It was fascinating how you’d only been home for less than ten minutes and yet you were already cleaning things up.

Not that he’d made the apartment untidy or anything. It’s just you had a different idea of what was clean to him.

“Okay but, you can say that because you’ve got those shoulders to cut through the water. Not to mention you’re strong anyway. Not so fun for the rest of us. And I don’t mind swimming in a pool. Where I can see the bottom and the size is posted. The ocean though? That’s huge. No thanks.” Smirking, he flops down onto the couch and sighs happily when you push him up before sitting down yourself, letting him rest his head on your thighs.

There was no convincing you though and Tae gave up on the argument pretty quickly, not that he was trying too hard. One thing he’d learnt long ago was that you were perhaps the most stubborn person he’d ever known. It was an endearing trait, most of the time.

“Did you audition for that role?” Your question is innocent, soft fingers trailing through his hair that would have him purring if he was a cat hybrid. Instead, it was just making him get the urge to groom you in turn, his fingers twitching with the need. Ignoring it, he forced himself to just enjoy the touch.

“Yeah. Not sure if I’ve got it though. I got the feeling they weren’t looking for someone like me in the role.” It wasn’t surprising really and he wasn’t offended by the producers of the film he’d gone for. Even porn wanted specific people for specific roles sometimes; it would be silly to think he could get every role he went for.

Not to mention exhausting.

“Well, they’re missing out then,” You say, scratching his scalp until he hums in delight. “Anyone who doesn’t want you is missing out.”

Your words make his heart jump, his breath stuttering as he inhales and wonders if there’s a double meaning to that. But you’re too busy watching the show that you’ve started on Netflix to notice Taehyung’s existential dilemma. Part of him is glad, but there’s another part that wishes he was brave enough to bring it up.

He chooses not to engage with it though, instead just sighing and letting himself relax into the cushions of the couch. It’s nice to be surrounded by your scent once more and to feel your warmth.

“I appreciate that, Chirp. But I’m not letting it get me down. Sometimes they just can’t handle all this.” Gesturing half-heartedly to his body, he’s pleased to hear you laugh at his joke. The sound is sweet, even if the two of you lapse into a comfortable silence after that. 

You’re too busy watching your show while he’s half dozing off, eyes closed and breath getting deeper as he starts to drift away. It’s comfortable on the couch, with the temperature just right and his body perfectly relaxed. Which means it’s unsurprising that he falls asleep pretty quickly, completely unaware of anything that’s happening around him as he sleeps.

-

Taehyung is more than a little disoriented when he finally awakens; the room dark and silent with the lights and television switched off. Frowning, he blinks rapidly before rubbing at his eyes with a hand while sitting up. Stretching his arms out above his head, the groan he lets out is one of relief as stiff muscles relax and a few bones crack.

Reaching out to the coffee table blindly, he grabs his phone and winces when the bright light almost blinds him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been hugely blessed with the better night sight horses had. Well, he could see better than humans but nothing amazing. Didn’t make it any better when he was subjected to bright light suddenly though.

“Ah, fuck.” He curses, squinting until he can finally focus on the screen. It’s not too late, but it’s a good two hours or so since you’d finally gotten home. Frowning, he just sits there for a moment as his mind finally catches up with the fact he is awake.

Yawning loudly, he finally pulls himself up and decides he should probably go shower before collapsing into bed. Taehyung hadn’t even realised he was tired, but it could have been the comfort of knowing you were back and safe. It wasn’t like he was some over-protective asshole who needed to know your every movement - more that he just felt more content when he knew you were okay.

Walking to his room, he’s scratching at his exposed stomach lazily when he hears the sound of your voice. The door leading to your bedroom is firmly closed but there’s light at the gap on the bottom. His enhanced hearing means that he can easily hear everything you’re saying, which is nothing new.

Over the years though, he’s learnt to carefully block out anything you’re saying when you’re in your room. You deserved your privacy, even if he couldn’t help the fact that he could hear everything perfectly.

And that would have been exactly what he would have done right now. Just carried on through to his bedroom and continued with his plans. Only he can’t help but stop when he hears the familiar syllables of his name. Taehyung knows it’s wrong, but the way you said it is different than normal.

He can’t help but listen, expression curious and his head tilting without even realising it. Your conversation is one-sided but he pays careful attention, still in the middle of the hallway.

“-you know Taehyung, he’s always being attentive and sweet. It’s just his nature, he’s like that with everyone. Yuna...it’s just Tae. He hugs everyone, you’re looking too much into it,” There’s a longer pause now, presumably your best friend talking extensively to you. “Come on, isn’t that what you always tell me? We haven’t seen each other in a while, it’s not surprising he got all touchy.”

Taehyung frowns, lips twisting as he begins to understand a little. Or at least, he thinks he does. If he’s right, Yuna thinks that he likes you. His cheeks heat up as he realises how obvious he’d been with his feelings, even though you make a good argument against it. But you’re wrong and Yuna is very much right.

He does like you, and he’s not quite as touchy-feely with everyone else. Taehyung isn’t even sure how you got that opinion. The only other person he’s remotely as affectionate with is Jimin, and that’s only because he’s known the calico cat hybrid since they were babies. Tae’s mom had worked with Jimin’s mom for decades now, which meant they’d grown up with each other.

“Yuna,” Your whining now, voice going high pitched and your words getting longer. “I thought you were the one who was telling me that I need to get over Tae! And now you’re telling me he’s obviously into me? Make up your mind, woman! Do you want me to ignore my feelings for him or consider telling him? And no, you can’t backtrack in a week or so like you always do. This is serious. I’d be humiliating myself by telling him.”

It’s almost like the world has paused around Taehyung. For a second, he almost feels dizzy and has to rest a palm against the wall as he sways. Your feelings...for him? Did he hear that right? Was he twisting your words into what he hoped you were implying?

Before he can contemplate it anymore in his mind, you go on to say something that shatters the norm for Taehyung.

“It would be humiliating Yuna, you know that. You know what I am, we’ve talked about this. God, I can’t tell Taehyung I love him because then that’s it, I’ve sealed my fate and I won’t be able to get over him. It’s already hard just trying. Having him know? I can’t, not when he can’t give me what I want.” There’s a pain in your voice and his heart twists, stomach bubbling in a way that almost makes him want to vomit as his world changes.

You love him. You.  Love. Him.

“It’s not his fault Yuna, we’ve gone through this so many times. I have my instincts and he has his, I’m not going to get angry at something we can’t change. Please...can we just talk about something else? Something that’s not going to make me cry and spend all night thinking? We agreed that we’d try to get me over this, dammit.”

That’s the last thing Taehyung hears as he walks quickly back to his room, having decided that he’s heard far too much of a conversation he clearly shouldn’t have heard. Guilt roils in him, flooding his veins as he flops down onto his bed and stares at the white ceiling of his room. He feels dazed and confused, not sure what he’s meant to think about this sudden change in events.

Taehyung being in love with you was something he’d long ago accepted. But he’d also accepted that nothing would happen from it because of what you wanted in life. Finding out that you wanted him too was game-changing. It was also heartbreaking to know that the only reason you both weren’t together already was because of his instincts.

Suddenly, he sees his career in a whole new light. What was a coping mechanism for him to reduce his innate desires and allow him to give you all the best bits of himself, was probably pure pain for you. The knowledge that you loved him was both exciting and, surprisingly, horrifying.

He knew that love birds would only have one partner, and from what he’d read over the years it meant they only really truly loved one person. If you felt this strongly for Taehyung then did that mean he’d stolen any other choices from you? He’d been holding back to make sure you had a chance to be happy but had he just made it worse?

Swallowing thickly, Taehyung realises there are tears in his eyes as he wonders if he’s ruined everything. The logical part of his mind knows that it’s not his fault if you’ve fallen in love with him, just like it wasn’t your fault he’d fallen for you. But he certainly hadn’t done anything to truly push you away, to try and get you to find someone else to fall in love with and enjoy a happy life.

Had he been selfish? 

Rolling onto his stomach, he buries his head into his pillow and lets out a yell. It’s a good job your hearing is only on the level of a normal human because he was positive the extended noise he made would have brought you running otherwise. And he needed to think right now.

There’s probably a solid ten minutes of silence in his room as he lays there, unmoving while his mind races through all his options. If he admitted that he’d overheard you, then he would probably embarrass you. Taehyung would jump at the chance to finally date you, but he knew that you wouldn’t be able to cope with his career.

You were supportive of him now, but you weren’t in a romantic relationship with him. And he doubted you would be comfortable with the knowledge that he was coming home to kiss, cuddle and have sex with you after having done the same things with random women earlier in the day.

If he was honest with himself then Taehyung knew that he wouldn’t be happy with that too. Despite how he was raised, his mom had been one of many mares in the herd his father had kept over the years, he wanted to be the one for you. Which meant he wouldn’t be content to do things with other women that you only wanted to be done.

He wanted the traditional relationship that many horse hybrids would wrinkle their nose at.

So, he had to figure out how to navigate that.

Lifting himself, he grabs his phone and opens up Google. Taehyung didn’t know many horse hybrid’s who wanted to have a monogamous relationship, but he had met a few over the years. Racking his brain, he tries to remember what they had talked about when he’d queried how they could cope with only being with one partner for life.

Despite his interest in the topic, he’d been young at the time and had still very much enjoyed sleeping with as many women as he could. His feelings for you hadn’t quite become what they were today, so he hadn’t listened too intently. Taehyung regretted that now. Tapping his lips for a moment, he contemplates what to write before he begins to type his request into the search engine.

Horse hybrid hormone inhibitors.

-

It’s three weeks later when Taehyung finally feels comfortable and knowledgeable enough to make a move. He’d made an appointment with his doctor the very next day after overhearing your conversation. He specialised in hybrid care, in particular those for equine hybrids like Taehyung along with the rare donkey or zebra.

Which meant he wasn’t all that shocked at Taehyung’s unusual enquiry. He probably got the occasional query from an equine hybrid about how to be monogamous. It was rare but not unheard of after all. What had shocked him though, was the fact that it was Taehyung asking it.

Kim Taehyung, the infamous porn star who had built a living on his ability to fuck his way through multiple women on camera. Who had his damn fanbase based almost purely on his cock for god’s sake? It was embarrassing to think about, but he’d known what he was getting into when he’d signed the contract in the first place.

He wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t enjoy his job because he did. Taehyung hated that he did, but the sex with many women helped to alleviate all those deeply held instincts and urges within him. Still, now that he knew about you he had no intention of carrying on with his career. Not when he had a chance.

Which was why he’d admitted his feelings towards you to the doctor. Something he’d never thought he’d end up doing, but once everything was out in the open then his doctor was far more understanding of Taehyung’s request. Even encouraging of it. Taehyung was pretty sure that he found the whole story a little sweet and romantic.

Either way, they’d worked out a plan for him to make his life easier if you accepted him. Medications that he would need to take to reduce the overwhelming instincts that drive his hybrid nature and would allow him to engage in monogamy. The idea of that was unbelievably exciting and he’d begun to take his medication only days after the appointment.

After that, he’d gotten together with Jimin. Their weekly hangout usually occurred in a bar, a restaurant or sometimes just hanging around one of their apartments. His best friend had shrieked with delight when Taehyung had explained his predicament and what he was doing to go forward with.

Which had led him to finally asking Jimin if that job offer was still on the plate if everything went right. Taehyung wanted to finally pursue his dream of being a fashion designer and it was so tantalisingly close. He was on the verge of finally having the life he’d always wanted. Hopefully with you.

The first week of being on the medication, which reduced the high levels of testosterone he produced and helped to inhibit his base reactions, had been rough as hell. Taehyung had been on the verge of calling in sick for the first time to a shoot, his body struggling to cope with the change in his body. But he’d pushed through and two weeks later, here he was.

Nervous as fuck and waiting for you to finally come home. 

Everything all depended on if you’d accept his request to start a relationship. A serious, romantic relationship that was entirely monogamous. If you said yes, then he had a lawyer all set up to break his contract and a contract just waiting for him with Jimin.

Although really, he’d be quitting his job no matter what happened. He was tired of the porn scene, even if he’d met some wonderfully kind and talented people there. Taehyung had finally decided that he would be moving on with his life and accepting the job with Jimin.

It was up to you whether you wanted to be alongside him, and in what capacity.

The pizza he’d ordered for you both arrived at the same time you came home; a large box of vegetable pizza held in your hands and amusement in your pretty eyes. It makes him smile brightly to see you happy, knowing that you’re pleased he’d taken care of dinner tonight. Especially as it was from your favourite pizzeria; six different kinds of cheeses combined with peppers, onions, eggplant, tomatoes and spinach.

Your favourite kind of pizza, alongside a bottle of red wine that he’d already filled a glass with to let it breathe. The amusement soon turns to suspicion, your brow rising as you kick off your shoes and shrug off your coat.

“What’s all this about?” Gesturing at everything, you settle onto the couch next to him with your legs curled up beneath you. Taehyung bites his lip, sighing softly before reaching out and opening up the box. He doesn’t explain for a few minutes, just letting you both eat a slice of pizza while he watches his beer on the table.

He felt like a teenager, his stomach fizzing with a combination of excitement and nerves that almost makes him feel nauseous. Maybe he shouldn’t be eating right now, but he hasn’t been able to eat all day so far. There would be no use in making himself ill. It would be mortifying for him to throw up all over you.

By the time you’ve eaten two slices, Taehyung has only managed one. But he’s decided that he’s waited long enough. It’s time.

Taking in a deep breath, he lets it out slowly before clearing his throat. After so many years of being friends, he knows that he can talk to you about anything. There are many memories that he’d much rather forget that you’d seen of him, such as that awkward time when he’d had an upset stomach and hadn’t been able to get to the bathroom quick enough.

Not his finest moment and you’d gagged more than once but hey, it was all a bonding experience. Right? Or was that just his opinion on it? 

Still, Taehyung found himself pausing; his words sticking in his throat even as he mentally told himself to pull it together. You’d seen all his low points and his highpoints, he did not doubt that you would treat his question with the respect it deserves. But it was still a worry that you might turn him down.

Maybe you’d finally found someone else and wouldn’t want him anymore. The thought made his chest hurt, but he had to know. He had to get the answer to the question that had burned in his thoughts for years now. If you rejected him then he’d be hurt but he’d get over it, especially if it meant you found your happiness.

So why was it so hard to get the words out?

“Hey, are you okay?” Your shoulder bumps into his, pretty face dipping low to catch his eyes. He should have known that you would have realised there was something wrong, or that he wasn’t quite being himself. The way you look at him with such worry and concern makes his anxiety melt away, causing him to smile before he nods.

“I have something to ask you. I mean...you can say no. Please don’t worry about that, if you don’t want to then tell me no. I’ll accept it, I promise. You know I’d never try to force you, right?” He winces, realising that he’s messing this up already given the way your brow creases in confusion. “I mean, god I’m fucking this up. I’m sorry. I just...I have to be honest with you. I accidentally overheard your conversation the other month. I didn’t mean to, it was when you’d come home after your vacation and I’d fallen asleep so I was going back to my room and I overheard you.”

Taehyung is babbling, and he realises that when you gently press a finger to his lips. It would be nice to say that you didn’t look bothered, but there was fear on your face that made him feel sick.

“I believe you.”

Your words are so soft and he almost hums in delight as you run your fingers through his hair, grooming him without even realising. It makes him smile, both at your steadfast belief in him and how you always want to be touching and cleaning him in some way. His fingers itched with the desire to groom you in turn.

He restrained himself, fully aware that if he did then it’d just end up being one half an hour of you both trying to clean each other. The perils of two social hybrids who both have a culture and instinct for grooming. Not what he wanted right now.

The reassurance you give him, combined with the unwavering belief in your eyes, convinces him to just say it. To just get it out and lay his cards on the table. He was nervous, sure, but he’d been nervous many times in his life and he’d overcome all of those moments.

“I heard you say that you like me. In a romantic way. I was really surprised at hearing it, mainly because I didn’t think you’d ever looked at me that way before. Not when I’m the opposite of what you’d want in terms of a relationship. But I want you to know that hearing it made me the happiest I’ve been in a while. Because I like you too. And I have done for a while now. Years.” He says it all with a carefully neutral face, watching you carefully to see if he can gauge your reaction.

For a moment, your expression is a perfect picture in neutrality. The Switzerland of faces, giving nothing away and not letting him see anything that’s going on in your head. It’s frustrating for him when he’s probably feeling too much, but he doesn’t push. Just waits to see what you’ll say.

“What?”

Okay, so perhaps not the eloquent acceptance of his feelings that he’d expected. But it’s not an outright rejection. He can work with this, there’s potential here. 

Licking his lips, he takes a deep breath before carefully shifting until he’s facing you on the couch. Your eyes are so wide, shining in the light and making him think it looks like you hold the secrets of the universe deep within. He can’t help but smile at it, at how young and innocent you look.

Smile at the tentative hope he thinks he can spy.

“I like you, Chirp. Like, like you. Probably would use a stronger word if I wasn’t already afraid I’m scaring you away. I know that I’m not what you’d want in a partner, which is why I’ve never made a move over the years. But I’ve always hoped, which is why I never got a herd of my own,

“I love being around you, I love hearing you sing and laugh, I love talking to you, I love hearing you talk to others, I love how you’re so affectionate and always want to groom me along with chatting my ears off. I never said anything though, because most of all, I valued our friendship. And I knew that you wanted someone who could be your life-partner, something I wasn’t sure if I could be.” Taehyung pauses, twisting his lips before looking down at his hands.

“But then I heard you talking and I realised that there might be a possibility. A small one maybe, but I knew I had to at last try. Something I want you to know though is that everything I’m about to tell you that I’ve done has been done for myself because I finally realised that I have to move forward with my life. So, firstly, I talked to my doctor and I’ve started some medication that helps to inhibit my instincts when it comes to relationships and sex.” Pausing, he eyes you to gauge how you’re taking the news.

The head tilt you give is very birdlike, causing him to chuckle without even meaning to. He can’t help it though, not when you look so sweet right then with your bright hair and big eyes.

“I don’t have the urge to have sex with lots of women or make my herd anymore. We talked about it extensively and decided this would be my best course of action to allow me to have a healthy, monogamous relationship. Because of that, I’ve also quit my job and taken up the offer Jimin’s been giving me for years now.”

Despite the fact he’s mid-confession to you, the excitement in his stomach at that very moment is more to do with the fact he was going to finally have his dream career. That he was going to be doing a job which he’d been wanting to accept for years.

Understandably, his words cause you to suddenly gasp in delight before you’re clapping your hands eagerly. The excitement and happiness are purely for him finally taking proper control of his life, ridding himself of the pornography career that he’d enjoyed but hadn’t loved. Something you’d known for a while now.

“Oh my god? You’re going to work with Jimin?! You took the job! TaeTae, I’m so happy for you!” Even though he’d just admitted to you that he was near enough in love with you, your emotions were purely focused on the fact he’d taken the job. Feeling your approval and genuine joy at his life change, he can’t help but give you a wide, boxy grin even while the apples of his cheeks turn a soft rose.

“Thanks, I think Jimin was more excited than anyone to be honest. Pretty sure he’s already organising a design space for me in his building alongside an office. Makes me feel kind of bad for waiting so long to take him up on it but I feel like I’m finally at a place in my life that I’m truly ready for that career change.” That seems to remind you of what he’d told you earlier, about his medication.

Your elated expression slowly fades and he watches in trepidation as your brow creased, the mood dimming. Were you unhappy with his choice? Taking a deep breath, he holds it for a moment before letting it out slowly.

“I want you to know that there is no pressure on you. For anything. I’m going to continue taking this medication because I want to focus on my new career without having to worry about any urges taking over. The side benefit to it means that...well,” He pauses for a moment. “I can have a proper relationship. Or at least, the kind of relationship that you’d want. If you want that. With me.”

There’s complete silence in the room and Taehyung feels the sudden urge to grab another slice of pizza and start eating. Just for something to do with his hands and to distract himself.

He doesn’t push though, just lets you process what he’s told you. It was a lot, so he wasn’t even particularly expecting an answer tonight. If he were being honest, then he wouldn’t be surprised if you took yourself off to your room for the night. Or even went to one of your friends to talk it over with them.

But as usual, you surprise him. You may be small and dainty compared to him, light as a feather and full of cheer, but your personality has always been big and bold. Which is why you tackle the topic head-on.

“I didn’t mean for you to hear, you know that right?” Is your first question and Taehyung nods quickly, reaching out to encompass your much smaller hand with his own. There’s nothing too familiar about the gesture, just a squeeze of reassurance to let you know he understands and isn’t mad or anything.

“I know. It was entirely my fault. I should’ve carried on as soon as I heard that you were talking but I just heard my name and...well.” He trails off, giving an awkward smile that causes you to smile in return. The gentle pressure on his hand makes him realise that you’re now trying to assuage his fears that you were annoyed.

“Hey, it’s okay. You may not have too many physical features of your animal side but you’ve got plenty of their abilities. We both know that you can’t control the fact that you can hear much better, so I don’t blame you. Nor do I blame you for stopping to listen. Especially when you realised what I was talking about,” Now it’s your turn to look abashed, gaze skittering away from his and down to your still joined hands. “I’d have done the same thing if I heard you talking about me.”

Swallowing, Taehyung wonders how he’s meant to respond to that. He didn’t know what he’d say anyway as his stomach feels like it’s full of butterflies suddenly. Really big, horrible butterflies that are making him feel nauseous. 

“So yeah, I’m not angry or annoyed over that. Please don’t worry too much. If anything...I’m kind of glad. Because it means you’ve confronted this head-on and now we both know how we feel about each other. Which is that we like each other. A lot. In case it wasn’t clear, I like you too. Really like you. But I also thought it wouldn’t work because I know what I want and need from my partner in my life and I knew that your instincts clashed with that. Again, not your fault. You can’t deny nature and I tried to make sure that you never felt like I was.” There’s a hint of something in your voice but Taehyung can’t figure it out.

Pain? Embarrassment? Worry?

Whatever it is, he doesn’t get a chance to query it because you forge on. The sweet lovebird he’d known for years seems to be wavering between shyness at talking about your feelings and determination to have everything laid out.

He can understand the feeling.

“You know, I’ve fantasised about this for years, but now that it’s happening-”

“You don’t know how to communicate what you’re feeling and it’s all way more awkward and not nearly as romantic or sexy as you’d imagined?” Taehyung finishes for you, biting his lip as he grins broadly. You snort in amusement before nodding, playing with his fingers for a minute or so as you try to rationalise it all in your head.

“Did you go on whatever that medication is...for me? Like...because you wanted a relationship? With me? I know you’ve said it’s also because you wanted a career doing something you’ve always wanted but…” Trailing off, you can’t seem to look him in the eyes.

Carefully, he uses his free hand to lift your chin until he can see you. There’s a brief moment where you try to avoid his gaze before you give in, staring back just as deeply. Nerves, fear and hope are warring within him and he imagines that he can see it reflected in your own eyes.

“I’m not going to say no because overhearing your conversation was what spurred me to talk to my doctor. Finding out that you liked me back and that I might have a chance with you made me want to try to make sure you get the best of me. I knew that there are horse hybrids out there who have monogamous relationships and who are happy, but I didn’t think that would be a possibility for me. And given what I was doing for my career, I thought it was just better to carry on as I was,

“But then when I was talking to him about it all, I realised that it would help me in other aspects of my life too. Yes, I could finally offer you the kind of relationship that you want and that I want to have with you, but it would also let me leave behind the porn and start focusing on what I want to do. You know that I’ve never really been one of those stallions who wants a herd and the porn helped me to get rid of those urges without giving in to them properly. I looked into it for you, but I took it for me.” Licking his lips, Taehyung realises that he feels lighter.

Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he realises it’s because of what he’d told you. He’d been convinced that he was doing this to have a chance with you in the way he’d always dreamed of, but it was startling to realise that it was having such a positive effect in the rest of his life. For once, he was no slave to his instincts and had full control over himself, his emotions and his desires.

Just the thought of never having to do another film filled him with joy and happiness.

“Good. I wouldn’t want you to have changed yourself for me. But given that you have...what does it mean? Tell me.” Those pretty eyes, so big and wide, watch him intently and he gives a small half-smile as he shrugs with one shoulder.

“I mean...it’s basically like an inhibitor I guess? Reduces the amount of testosterone I produce, makes me less reactive to the scent of mares in heat and all that. There’s a whole bunch of medical stuff that I don’t understand but I just know what the doctor told me. It’s safe, it’s been tested many times before, and if things don’t work out, then I can come off them and be back to my old self. It just means that I won’t have the desire to have a herd or to...well sleep with multiple women, you know? Let’s be monogamous, a one-woman man. Finally.” Chuckling to himself, he runs his fingers through his pale hair so it’s out of his eyes.

“So...we could be together? Like...in a relationship? Just me and you?” 

“Yeah. The doctor said that as long as I’m on the medication then I’ll be like any other human or hybrid who doesn’t have a poly instinct. Not that there’s anything wrong with that obviously, but it means we can be together. In the future, if you want to be in a relationship or something...then if we decide to have kids or to not have them, I can get gelded and that’ll get rid of the instincts permanently.” Now your eyes widen in horror, hand covering your mouth as you gasp loudly.

“Gelded? They’d castrate you?” There’s a glance down from his face to his groin from you and he can’t help but laugh at the thought. Even if it does make him want to cup his balls protectively.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay! It’s okay! It’s just a vasectomy. Because I’m a stallion, it’s called being gelded. After that, I’d be officially known as a gelding. No longer able to have babies and with no real instinct to make my herd anymore.” Thankfully you look relieved at that and he wants to tease you about being so worried about his testicles. But instead, he just feels happy that you don’t tease him in turn about talking about potential babies already.

That’s a good sign.

“Okay. Okay...so, let’s think about this logically. I mean, is that being too cold? You admit that you like me back and you’re on medication to allow us to be in a relationship and I’m saying we need to think logically?” Taehyung pauses you with a finger to your lips, a smile on his own before he carefully wraps his arms around your shoulders.

He makes sure to give you plenty of time to make sure that you can pull away if you want to if you’re not comfortable with this, but you don’t. Instead, you almost seem to relax into him and link your arms around his waist. You can probably feel his heart beating through his chest, the muscle working extra hard while he feels a little breathless.

It’s not the first time he’s held you, but it feels different this time. There’s something more intimate about it and he can’t help but take a deep breath in, enjoying your scent.

“It’s fine. I’m kind of glad because I’ve made a complete mess of explaining myself here. So at least one of us can think more logically about it.”

“You didn’t do a terrible job. I mean...I’m certainly not going to vote for you or anything but it wasn’t bad. My question to you then...are we dating now?” And just like that, Taehyung’s breath is taken away. To the point, he almost chokes on his spit and ends up having a coughing fit.

Directly into your face, ruining any hint of romance.

Yep, he’d truly fucked this confession up. Taehyung was just lucky that you’d known him for so long that it just made your nose wrinkle as you wiped at your face with your shirt, grumbling lightly before pushing his shoulder.

“Gross.”

“Sorry! I wasn’t expecting that though! I mean, you just straight up asked. I was expecting like...more talking and exchanging feelings. More awkwardness.” Leaning away from him, you give him a very droll stare that makes him wince. Well, at least it was awkward now.

“Sorry for not living up to those weird expectations I guess? I just figure that we’ve spent long enough dancing around each other, right? I don’t want to waste any more time or have any more miscommunication so if it’s too abrupt for you then I’m still not sorry. I like you, Kim Taehyung. And given what you’ve told me, and what you’ve done for me, I want to finally have that relationship I’ve been wanting for so many years.” The authoritative tone in your voice is more attractive than he’d expected, causing his brow to rise. 

Feisty.

“Okay. Yes. Yes, we’re dating. Together. We’re together. Boyfriend and girlfriend. I need to shut up.” Clamming up, he forces his mouth to shut and for his muscles to remain still. In reality, he wants to jump for joy and scream out that this was happening. Even if part of him is embarrassed that he’s incapable of talking now.

It’s all worth it though when you give him a huge smile, so big and bright and full of happiness.

“You’re cute, you know that?” Now he’s blushing; cheeks high and a delightful rose as he tries to contain his smile. He’s supposed to be cool, the epitome of an educated man who is extremely experienced around women. And yet here he is, acting like a teenager getting his first girlfriend.

“Not what I normally get called.” You’re the one who looks a little shy at that, your eyes darting away from his as you bite at your lip. There’s a hint of nerves to you now and something else, something he can’t quite figure out. The way you wiggle slightly in place has him frowning in confusion, wondering what’s made you suddenly so quiet. This was the behaviour he’d been expecting from you, so it felt a relief to finally get it but also strange given how confident you’d been.

“What’s wrong? Where’s my bold girlfriend gone?” Gently poking your waist, he tries to ignore the thrill that rises inside him when he calls you that. It was going to take some time to get used to it.

Thankfully, it also manages to breakthrough whatever shell you’d suddenly formed around yourself. Grasping his hand with your own, you let out a soft whine as he continues to prod at you and he quickly intertwines his fingers with your own. For a moment, he’s too busy staring down at your hand in amused awe to remember what he’d asked you.

“Your hand is tiny, you know that?”

“No, you just have huge hands. All of you is huge, just like all of me is small. The difference between a horse and a lovebird.” Now it’s your turn to push at his stomach, a small smile on your face. Taehyung grins at that, but he grins, even more, when he catches your eyes flicking down to his lap.

It all clicked into place in his head, from the way you got shy at him saying he’s not normally called cute to the way you call him huge. You’re not wrong; Taehyung is massive when compared to you. Denser bones add to it at all, allowing him to lift and move heavy weights with ease whereas you’d developed a lighter bone structure that was more reminiscent of birds.

Taehyung had never broken a bone before, whereas you had to be careful doing certain things. But the size difference between you both was made even more obvious when he thought about sex. He was bigger than most human and hybrid males down below, and he wondered if there was something wrong with him that the knowledge you knew that turned him on.

Not that you’d ever seen him naked or anything, but you weren’t stupid. He was infamous in the porn industry for a reason.

Which suddenly made him consider something, his head tilting slightly as he narrowed his eyes at you.

“Have you ever watched my stuff? Like my films or anything? I know for a fact that some of them are on those free porn sites.” Biting his lip, he watches closely for any positive sign. One of the benefits of being a horse hybrid was that he was highly attuned to microexpressions in others.

Originally meant to watch out for danger and keep himself safe, it was more useful for getting an idea of where a conversation was going. It also made Taehyung feel very stupid that he’d never noticed you were in love with him before.

He doesn’t need to have any extra abilities to read your face right now though, not with how you look almost like you wish the floor would swallow you whole. You can’t even meet his eyes and it delights him.

“You have!” 

“No! I wouldn’t do that, you’re my best friend. That’d be weird.” Taehyung can sense the distress in your voice and he forces himself to tone down. He had no issues with the idea of you watching his stuff; if anything it was a turn on. But this relationship was so new that it had barely been born and he didn’t want to push your boundaries just yet. 

Still, he felt like he had a right to know.

“Hey, listen to me, it wouldn’t bother me if you did. I actually would find it a turn on to know you’ve watched me. I hope you weren’t upset though, I only did all of that to satisfy my instincts so that I could enjoy my time with you. But I made those films and videos for people to enjoy. If you got off to some of them that I’d consider it a job well done. Don’t feel embarrassed if you did.” Using his free hand, he lets his fingers trail along your cheek. It’s warm beneath his touch, the blood rushing in response to your tumultuous emotions and he reassuringly runs his thumb across it.

“You’re...you’re not bothered by the idea of that?” 

Taehyung chuckles at your disbelief and shrugs genially, making sure to portray an aura of calm and serenity. The only thing that bothered him about the idea of you watching his videos was that he was already sporting a semi at the very thought of his supposed ‘innocent’ best friend watching him railing some mare.

Which should be a terrible thought, but it just meant that he was all the more experienced for you. There would be no doubt in his mind that he could show you a world of pleasure that you’d never even imagined; as pompous and egotistic as that sounded.

Sex was his area of expertise though.

“I mean...I knew it was a risk when I started. I make porn. Porn is available freely on the internet and I fully expected some of my friends to be at least a little curious. Plus, there’s the whole ‘horse hybrid’ thing going on. I don’t tend to get embarrassed easily around sex. If anything, it’s kinda exciting knowing that you’ve seen some.” You’re giving him a look of pure confusion and he can’t help but laugh heartily. 

Oh, he loves you. He loves how befuddled you are at his refusal to adhere to your expectations. Given how reserved you were normally about sex and relationships, it was delightful to shatter your illusions surrounding him and make your perusal of his work sound like a benefit rather than something to be ashamed of.

“So...what did you think? You’ve never given me a rating before, so I’m curious.” Once more, your eyes dart away from his and he has to stifle a snort at how you suddenly find the wall so interesting. The artwork on there was nice, he’d picked it out himself, but it wasn’t that nice.

He doesn’t push though. What he wants is for this relationship to start on trust and honesty. So if you want to trust him enough to be honest about your opinion then he’d accept that. If it was still too early for you; he’d accept that too.

“It was good. I mean, I haven’t watched much. It was years ago and only a few minutes before I felt weird. Like I was spying on you. That’s it though! I swear I haven’t seen anything else. It felt like I was...perving on you or something.” Grasping at his hands desperately, you give him such big eyes that try to get across your honesty.

It makes his lips quirk in amusement and he links your fingers together once more, squeezing lightly. For a few moments, he considers how to respond to you before deciding to just go for it. Which means he slowly leans forward to you, eyes flicking down to your lips and giving you plenty of chances to pull away and leave.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a little bit of a relief, knowing you’ve seen at least something. But most importantly...can I kiss you?” Taehyung swears you deflate, your entire body seeming to relax with a deep breath you let out.

He’d be worried if it wasn’t for the huge grin that you have painted on your face now, the delight making your skin almost glow with health and happiness. It’s a beautiful look and he feels like he’s enraptured once more, falling in love with you all over again. At least now he has an outlet for these mushy feelings.

“Finally!” 

There’s only time for Taehyung’s eyes to widen in shock before you’re shaking your hands free of his own and grasping at his shirt. With a surprising amount of strength, you jerk him forwards and his lips crash against your own. That’s the only way to describe it, as it kinda hurts. His lips mashed against his teeth a little and his nose bumps against yours, causing him to whine.

You let him go almost immediately, looking intensely embarrassed as you rub at your mouth and nose. He does the same, making sure that there’s nothing wrong with his beloved nose while licking at his lips to soothe the dull ache. But then he can’t help but laugh, the sound bright and rumbling up from his chest as he contemplates what just happened.

Every time that he thought you would zig, you instead zagged. Over the years, he’d learnt to go with the flow with you in regards to this with his friendship but for some reason, he’d never quite realised that it would be much the same with a romantic relationship. You defied his expectations and made him feel like he was constantly on his toes.

He loved it, including when almost headbutted him with your first kiss.

“I am so sorry-” You start, your eyes wide and worry emanating from you. He shakes his head, trying to stifle his amusement before reaching out and cupping your face with a gentle touch.

“Okay, how about we try this again but...a little slower this time, yeah?” Keeping your face steady, he inches forward until he can feel your warm breath on his cheek. You’ve already closed your eyes in anticipation and he has to squash the desire to grin, instead fulfilling both of your wishes by pressing his lips against your own.

It’s a soft and gentle kiss at first, exploratory and uncertain. Neither of you knows how to kiss the other properly, or what the other likes, and so you both simply...take your time. Taehyung’s thumb strokes along with the softness of your cheek while your hands flatten against his chest, palms hot where they rest.

He’s kissed a lot of women in his life; some he’s proud of, some he’s not and some he doesn’t even care about. But this is the best kiss so far. Even as slow and unsure as it is, it’s still the best.

Because it’s you.

There’s more than a hint of inexperience in your kiss and it doesn’t surprise him. He knows that you’ve at least kissed a few people before, but you didn’t have a huge amount of experience in it. Instead, it’s just enough that he feels comfortable but not enough to have you take the lead.

So he does, instead. And given how bold you’d been earlier, he takes the initiative to be bold this time as well. 

With almost minimal strength required on his behalf, he slips his hands down to your hips and grips them tightly, lifting and depositing you onto his lap without breaking the kiss. He doesn’t even make a noise as he does so, your weight nothing to him.

His ancestors had been bred for heavy lifting and pulling, after all.

What he doesn’t anticipate though, is the way you moan into his mouth or how you wiggle slightly at his action. Pulling from you, one brow lifts as he looks you over inquisitively. His question is silent, but you understand it immediately. There’s nowhere for you to look now, not when you’re so close to him.

So you stare at his chin instead, carefully avoiding his eyes as your hands move to play with his soft hair. The blonde strands are almost golden instead of platinum in the soft light of the nearby lamp, just visible in his vision from where you stroke them.

“I forget how strong you are sometimes.” The words are muttered and he gets the impression that you’re hoping he doesn’t hear. And that he won’t query it further. But he does, of course, he does.

“Do you have a strength kink, Chirp?” 

“Wha-no! That’s, why would I-” Spluttering, you lean back a little and take a moment to shuffle until you’re more comfortable on his lap. Your legs are on either side of his now, comfortable in their almost kneeling position but most of your weight is on his legs. He takes the opportunity to wrap his arms around your waist and tug you closer, enjoying the warmth you give him.

“It’s cool if you do. I can fulfil that. Not yet though, if that’s okay. But I need you to know something right now. I don’t want us to have sex right now. Not yet. Since being a teenager, I’ve been obsessed with sex. An unfortunate side effect of being a stallion. For the first time in my adult life...I don’t feel an insatiable need for it. And it’s kinda nice. I don’t want us to start our relationship with sex. I want us to explore each other and our relationship first and then introduce sex. I need to learn that sex is something intimate and between only us now. I’ve spent too long viewing it as work.” He tries to make sure that his words are carefully said and that he’s not rushing them, but now he’s the one a little nervous.

You’d been far bolder than he’d ever expected and now he was worried that you might expect sex from him immediately. It was an easy, even acceptable, assumption to make given what he was and his career. But he didn’t want that. As he’d said, he wanted to start this relationship with love and trust.

Lust could come later.

There’s no answer from you for a moment and he sighs, letting his hands awkwardly stroke at your sides in an attempt to give them something to do.

“I’m sorry if that’s not what you were expecting. Or not what you wanted. I’m a little surprised you’ve been so forward with me and-” A soft fingertip presses against his lips, causing him to quieten instantly.

Smiling softly, you lean forward and kiss him. It’s just as chaste as the one previously, only you’ve controlled yourself a little more compared to your first attempt. He takes solace in it though and now his body is the one deflating. There’s a silent acceptance in that kiss.

When you finally pull away from him, he finds himself chasing after you. It’s an odd sensation for him to do that without any intention of going further but he finds that he likes it. There’s no doubt that you can feel what’s going on in his pants; he can’t control everything after all but just because his body is saying yes doesn’t mean his mind is.

And you accept that. He can tell instantly, from the reassuring smile you give him and how you embrace him so warmly and carefully. 

“It’s okay, Tae. I’ll admit to being a little disappointed but I can understand your reasoning behind it. And I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to. I know you’d do the same for me. I guess it’s just going to make it better when we finally do get to it, right?” Teasing him, you stick your tongue out and poke at his cheek.

Almost immediately, his nose wrinkles and your laugh lightly. For a moment, the sounds are almost like chirping and he can see your lovebird origins so clearly. That was to say nothing of the fact that you were now subconsciously grooming his hair, fingertips running through the platinum strands and getting rid of any unfortunate kinks or knots.

“Thank you.” He whispers, letting his hands wrap around your waist until he’s hugging you. It takes minimal effort to have you plastered against him, head resting on his shoulder as he embraces you so tightly. You smell heavenly, and he wonders what he did to be given the chance to be with you after so many years.

“Can we go on a date though? I mean...like now?” Tilting his head back, he frowns before looking at the table and the pizza boxes.

“What? Where? We’ve already eaten?”

“Okay, but I’m kinda horny and you’re kinda horny and I think we both need to talk a walk and cool down. So...how about we have our first date? I’ve been waiting a while for this, Kim Taehyung.” Your smile is so big and bright, dazzling him and making his stomach flutter.

He doesn’t even realise he’s nodding until you practically launch yourself from his lap, rushing over to the door and chattering away. If he was being honest, he had no idea what you were talking about as you quickly pulled your shoes on and sorted out your bag.

Taehyung didn’t even care, because he’d done it. He had the girl he’d been in love with for years, who he’d been certain he had no chance with. You could regale him with a thousand and one tales and he’d listen to them all with a content smile because he was yours, and you were his.

[wandas-sunshine]

Good Measure (Kinktober Day 13)

Kinktober Schedule

Prompt: Breeding

Pairing: Thor x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2,361

Warnings: Unprotected sex, almost oral, fingering, drinking mentions, really tacky dirty talk

A/N: Listen,,,I don’t think this is so good because I don’t write for Thor and I don’t write breeding really but uhhhh I love it and hopefully you do too. Also thank you all for being so incredibly patient with me trying to get these out to you.

You’d never given much thought to having children. You supposed it would happen one day. As the queen of Asgard you were expected to produce at least one heir to the throne, not to mention that your husband was the god of fertility among other things. But it was never anything you’d discussed.

So of course it was a shock to find that longing swirling deep within you. You were in the middle of a party, a huge Asgardian celebration of yet another battle won. You were nursing your drink, listening to a couple of the warriors talk about their first battles. The stories always flowed as the drinks did. With every refill they got louder and louder, more boisterous. It always made you smile, but someone was missing.

You looked up, scanning the room for your love. Through the night you’d seen a few children running around, weaving between the legs of their elders. It reminded you of when you and Thor were children, chasing one another around when you were meant to behave. But mostly you were surprised to see them surrounding Thor.

They all watched the warriors with stars in their eyes. You watched on as your husband scooped a small girl, no older than four or five into his arms. He hoisted her easily over his head, and she giggled brightly. His interactions with the small herd of kids was effortless, and it made you fantasize about a future where you had a few of them running around.

The longer you let yourself watch them, the more you felt that ache deep inside of you. You could see it, you holding a baby while he played with a little boy, one that looked so much like him. You exhaled deeply. You needed it.

You didn’t think that’s where your mind should have been, not in the middle of this crowd. You were flustering at the thought of being full with your King’s baby, of growing heavier, bearing his child for the entire world to see. A swirling heat blossomed in your core.

Thor looked up at you, whispering something in the girl’s ear and pointing in your direction. You bit back a desperate groan. You needed him. The child beamed and waved at you. You waved back. You had never needed anything the way you needed that. How did he have the audacity to play with children that way when he...well, he didn’t really have any idea how badly you wanted one now.

You downed your drink and excused yourself from your friends. You needed some air, needed to clear your mind. You weaved through the crowd until you had made it out into the wide open corridor.

This wasn’t the time to fuss over your desperation. You were like a horny teenager and it was, quite frankly, pathetic. You smoothed your hands over the front of your gown and rested your back against one of the pillars.

“There you are, my love.” Thor’s voice boomed through the quiet hall, and you turned to look at him. He had a brilliant grin on his face as he scooped you into his arms. You relaxed against his chest and snaked your arms around his shoulders. “Is everything alright? You’re thinking.”

 He reached up to trace your jawline. You nibbled on your bottom lip before looking up to meet his eye.

“I want to have a baby.” You stated, running your hands down over his broad shoulders to rest against his chest. “Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

A low growl rumbled through his chest, and the hand he’d left on your waist traveled lower to rest at your hip. His eyes closed, but you were sure they’d gone dark, stormy with lust. You were familiar with the look.

“Say it again,” He requested, voice low and rolling over you. You felt a shiver run through you.

“I want to have a baby.” You tipped forward to kiss his neck. “I want to carry your child. Please, my king.”

The thought of you growing with his heir forming in your belly was hard enough to resist. And with you begging like that?

He scooped you up without any struggle, marching the two of you up the obnoxious amount of stairs until, finally, the two of you made it to your bedchamber.

He settled you back on your feet. Carefully he guided you into the privacy of your room, closing the door behind you. You backed towards the bed, and Thor watched, scanning his heavy gaze over your body. You wondered what was going on in his mind.

Then he was stalking closer, like a hunger with his prey. You giggled as you scrambled back. But he was quicker, wrapping his arms around your waist. He pulled you into him once again and captured your lips with his.

The kiss was hot and fast, but by no means rough. His hands trailed your sides, firm and heavy while his mouth worked against yours. You were intoxicated, drunk on the taste of his lips and the mead he’d been downing all night. He pushed the draping fabric of your gown off your skin, and you let it fall around your ankles.

He stepped back, hands gliding over bare skin and leaving sparks of electricity in his wake. He hummed, taking in every delicious inch of you. He shed his own clothes, piece by piece until he was just as bared and vulnerable as you were.

You settled onto the oversized, plush bed, opening your legs for your lover to settle in between. He slotted himself against you, his mouth finding yours again like a man starved. His tongue dipped past your lips, meeting your own in a dance of pure admiration.

Your fingers carded into his hair, holding him close to you. You kissed until he had you breathless in his arms. As you chased your breath, he slurred sloppy kisses from your lips, to your cheek, to your jaw, down your neck. You closed your eyes, relishing in the heaven of affection he was raining down on you.

He continued his ministrations, praising every inch of skin with his lips. All the while, his hand traveled lower, tracing your ribs and giving your hip a squeeze. Finally, his palm rested against your tummy.

“Gonna put a baby in you,” He half growled, having to close his eyes at the sheer thought of it once again. You felt a shiver run through you, a wave of anticipation that settled in a pool of arousal in your core.

“Yes please, my King. Please,” You whined pathetically. He hadn’t even touched you properly, and you were already a desperate mess beneath him.

His hand dipped lower, fingers brushing your already drenched core. He made a soft, proud noise as two of his thick digits teased between your folds. Your hips bucked towards him, but it did no good.

“Calm down, my love. I have to get you ready.” He dipped his head, catching your nipple between his teeth. You purred when he gave it a tug.

He took his sweet, sweet time on your body. His fingers pulled away from your core, fingertips wet with your desperation for him. He rested his fingers against your lips, and you ever so obediently took them into your mouth.

He pressed his fingertips against your tongue, sliding them deeper into your mouth. You squeezed your eyes shut as they slipped into your throat and back out. You looked up at him, bobbing your head on his fingers and sucked his fingers the same way you would his cock if you were given half a chance.

Once he was satisfied, with the lubrication of his fingers or the show you’d put on you couldn’t be sure, he pulled his fingers out of your mouth. Your spit glistened against his skin as he settled his hand between your thighs.

You squirmed impatiently, finally earning his touch. He slowly circled his spit-slicked fingers around your clit. You mewled beneath him, your head falling back against the pillows. Your reaction only spurred him on. His fingers slipped lower, teasing your entrance.

“Thor, please. Please, I need you.” You whined. A smile lit up his face, and he effortlessly plunged his fingers into you. You gasped, your hand flying to his bicep.

“So wet for me already.” He praised, and you rolled your hips towards him. Of course you were ready for him, he was the only thing your body needed. “So tight.”

His fingers worked you open, pumping into you nice and slow, and scissoring you open for him. His free hand teased over your bare skin. He quirked his fingers up into you, finding the spongy spot on your walls that had you leaking your arousal around his fingers.

“Right there, I’m so close,” You pleaded with him. He didn’t speed up, just watched the way you bucked and writhed at every touch, the way you chased your pleasure.

It was a slow build, waves of tingly warmth spreading through every limb. Your legs were trembling around him, and the coil in your stomach was so tight it was nearly unbearable.

“Thor,” You all but wailed, coming undone to the steady glide of his fingers inside of you, and the quick flick of his thumb on your clit.

The pleasure was still thrumming through you with every beat of your heart as your lover shifted even lower. He pushed your legs wider, settling his upper body between them.

“You smell so sweet for me,” He hummed, nipping at your inner thigh. You huffed. You most certainly didn’t have the patience for that, not when his cock was an option. You tossed your head back and whined from the back of your throat.

“No, please, my king,” You begged, pushing your hands through his hair and giving it a tug. He hummed, almost sound disappointed at the idea of not getting to eat you out for the rest of the night. He ducked his head forward, dragging his tongue through your folds to bump against your clit. You whimpered.

“I guess that can wait.” He smirked and sat back on his heels. You squirmed, propping yourself up and dragging him in to meet your lips.

He kissed you deep. His scent, his weight, his taste; He closed in on you, invaded your senses. You moaned into his mouth, and finally, he pulled away to line his manhood up with your eagerly awaiting core.

When he did sink into you, after what felt like ages, it was agonizing. His hips moved slower than ever, feeding his incredible length into you inch by inch. He was damn near splitting you in half, and you clutched at him like your life depended on it. Once his hips finally were flush against yours, you were convinced he had filled to the brim and then some. You swore you could feel his tip all the way at your cervix.

Your nails dragged down his back, and your legs hooked over his hips, allowing you to grind up against him. A moan caught in your throat at the sheer depth, you never grew accustomed to it.

“Please fuck me,” You whimpered. And with such a desperation in your voice, he had to oblige. He drew out of you almost entirely, staying there until you almost burst into frustrated tears. Then he was sinking back into you.

His thrusts were slow at first, but earth shakingly deep. Every movement he made was pointed, aimed entirely at making you cum around him. Your wet, warm walls clenched around him, sucking him deeper. Skin stuck to skin, and the room echoed with the obscene sound of his hips meeting yours, of your wetness around him.

He pressed his hand down just above your pelvic bone, feeling every movement of his cock inside of you. He groaned, his head lolling forward and his hair falling in a curtain in front of his face.

“Feel that? Gonna plant my seed right in here,” He growled, leaning down to nibble at the sensitive spot on your neck. “Gonna look so beautiful carrying my child.”

You moaned, murmuring needily as he drew you to the edge. The only thing you could comprehend anymore was the way he felt inside you, on top of you, under your fingertips.

“I’m gonna cum,” You squeaked. He slipped his hand down to where you were connected. His fingers slipped through the mess you’d made, dancing over your already sensitive bundle of nerves.

A cry of his name passed your lips like a desperate prayer, and you writhed beneath him. He fucked you through your second orgasm straight into your third. His hips worked expertly into you, your head spinning from the overflowing pleasure. You were grateful when you picked up on the telltale signs of his orgasm. You weren’t sure how much more you could cum.

His thrusts became sloppy, and his grip on your body became bruising in the best way. He hiked one of your thighs up even higher around his waist, and your breath caught. How could he possibly get deeper? You practically purred underneath him, your lips latching onto his neck, nipping at the skin.

“Please, my love. I need you to fill me up.” You begged quietly. That was all it took. He pulled your hips up into his, releasing deep inside you with a harsh grunt.

The both of you stayed where you were, catching your breath and drifting back to reality. His lips met yours again, but this kiss wasn’t fast, it wasn’t hungry. It was just a moment of shared adoration.

He pulled out of you slowly, and a mixture of your release leaking out of you and onto the bed. Neither of you paid it any mind as he settled beside you. You curled up to his chest, your fingers brushing over his bicep. He smiled down at you, and you smiled back up at him.

“This one will take.” He stated with a confidence that only a god could have. “But maybe once more. Just for good measure.”

Tag List: @dragonofthenorth0726 // @vozit // @realgaytrash // @i-love-books-so-fricking-much // @nikkiofasgard // @duvetsandpillows // @creamofweep // @underratedmisfit // @buckmesidewaysandcallmesteve // @call-me-baby-gir1 // @littlegasps // @hi-my-name-is-riley // @hinata7346​ // @mikariell95​

[fullofsunsetwhispers]

I know Bessie is Bessie but do the Baileys give all the farm animals names or just her?

The only canon name confirmed by the series is Bessie. Only Bessie.

Although, if you want to count Chronicles as canon, there is also a goat named Molly.

If you want to know my take on the issue, tho.... It's weird NOT to give names to animals you take care of. Unless these animals are kept for meat. Then in order not to get attached, these animals remain nameless. Baileys own a beef ranch. The cattle raised there I presume is destined either for cattle slaughter or breeding. (yeah too delicate a matter for a kids' show but it's the only reasonable explanation). Because Clay confirms in 'Big as Texas episode' Bessie is THE ONLY MILKER. That means, Baileys used to have more milking cows but they changed the business. I think having a large beef ranch is more profitable than making a living out of selling milk bottles. Idk if these male cows are named. The best option is - they have earrings with numbers in order to differentiate them somehow.

But in the series, we see other animals on Bailey Farm.

For example, hens. (so I do believe there are roosters somewhere too AND LITTLE CHICKS!!! cute little yellow balls strolling!!! )

And taking into consideration, in the same episode Clay, Kimiko and rai are given 3 horses, I am more than certain there is a stud on Bailey Farm.

I can even accept XC's idea that Baileys own a couple of goats too. Oor there is also a possibility that Daddy Bailey takes care of the beef ranch while Grandpappy Bailey has a herd of milking cows and goats.

(on another note, I had an idea while writing it - what if Clay's hometown is further away from Grandpappy's ranch? Like, in other parts of Texas? That would explain why there are major differences between XS and XC ranches)

And as my personal headcanon, Momma Bailey takes in a lot of stray cats and dogs and Jesse keeps somewhere snakes and geckos hidden. Because daddy Bailey considers them vermins so he would never allow Jesse to have such pets.

What I'm getting at, tho - each chicken, cat, dog, horse, or goat has a name. I'm not sure how would the cattle be treated but there are two options - 1. they do have names 2. they are labeled with numbers. Old Bessie is an exception because she is meant to be left alone in that 'killing for the meat' business.