"Heian," Ranger grumbled as he stared at the stall door, a bit shocked at the man's sudden appearance.
He hadn't seen him in quite a while, and even before that, the guy tended to keep to himself. He was a Chinese-American who had inherited the neighboring property from his immigrant father when he'd passed. He took after his Dutch mother is some of his looks, but still had the silky black straight hair from his Chinese father, and he gladly kept it long.
His realtor was quite the nosy person and had known the man's father for quite a while.
Ranger had barely said but a few greetings to his neighbor over their few years living next to each other, and even less acknowledgements when Ranger brought his horse back to his own paddock. They did eventually exchange numbers because of the horse continuing to frequent his fields, but now he felt like an idiot for giving it to the guy.
Not like he's ever called you, though.
He paused for a moment, then scowled.
So each of those times I've had to deal with that black stallion, it had been you...
Annoyed and ready to give the guy a piece of his mind, Ranger smacked his hand away from his belly and spun around... only to come face to face with a horse.
"That's not funny. Change back, Heian."
The horse's nostrils flared, taking in a deep breath as it pressed its muzzle against Ranger's hair. He swatted it away, of course, then shoved the door open and stomped out. He could hear it following him at a distance, but he decided to just ignore again. If the guy didn't want to tell him why he was freaking following him around, then so be it. He could take himself home when he got tired of bugging him.
Actually...
Turning, he eyed the animal as it slowed to a stop. Seemingly wary now, the horse flicked its ears and stomped a foot as it remained in place.
"If you're going to hang around here, at least help me with the rest of the chores?" Ranger asked as he yanked up the zipper on his coat, taking a few tries to get it all the way up since it was older and well-worn.
Heian flicked his tail and trotted toward him, stopping with his side to Ranger before snorting with some sort of excitement.
"Yeah, no. I'm not riding you again. My legs still hurt from you trying to kill me," he said as he grabbed the rope still around the horse's neck and began to lead him. They were halfway to the small herd of goats he wanted to use Heian to corral back toward the barn in preparation for a round of deworming when he felt something sift through some of the strands on the back of his head, then gently tug.
Fingers...
Whirling around, he opened his mouth to yell... but it was just a horse again. And said horse was ignoring him, grazing as it slowly walked away from him swishing its tail.
"I'm not laughing."
When Heian continued to ignore him, he sighed and started shooing the goats toward the barn. It was slow going for a while, but when they finally saw the hay feeders in their pens full, they quickly waddled in and allowed Ranger to slide the door shut.
He'd already put all of the items he'd need inside, so he quickly got to work grabbing each animal and forcing the appropriate amount of dewormer into their mouths. They fought him and bleated, but as soon as he was done they just snorted and hobbled back to the hay feeders.
It took nearly an hour until he was done. He would have finished about ten minutes earlier, but one of the smaller goats was a bitch to catch. He'd had to dive into the hay three times before he managed to grab the darn animal.
Now, after they were all finally done, he decided to sit down against the back wall of the stall and just chill out for a few moments. His eyes had drifted shut at some point, but they jerked open when he heard the sound of the stall door being opened and felt a new pair of eyes on him. When he looked to the right toward the door, a tall, decently-built man stood against the entryway, his arms crossed over his slightly tan chest. Thankfully, the guy had decided to snag one of the towels he left in the tack room for when it rained and wrapped it around his waist.
So you finally show yourself.
Instead of gracing him with his attention, Ranger just leaned his head back against the wall and let his eyes close again. He wasn't worried about the man being there. He'd seen his horse in their field plenty of times. If he'd wanted to attack him, he would have already done it a long time ago. Thus, he wasn't going to do anything... especially not acknowledge him, since he'd been messing with him all day.
"You're interesting, Ranger."
The man's deep, faintly-accented voice drew Ranger's right eye open for just a moment before he pursed his lips and closed it, turning his head away.
I have no idea why you keep showing up in our pastures, but the joke's over. Go home.
He heard the man walked closer but refused to open his eyes. It took a lot of effort to hold back, though. His inner predator didn't really like not being able to see the person approaching, but it wasn't really concerned about a horse shifter.
"I enjoy seeing you," Heian finally replied as he sat down beside him.
Ranger did finally look at him then, turning his head toward the man... and nearly falling over with how fast he jerked himself away. The guy hadn't sat down at a reasonable distance. He was nearly right up against him. He thankfully caught himself with his arms and scooted a little bit father away before settling again with a scowl.
"What the hell does that mean? If you needed to talk to me you should have just called or walked over in your human form," he said, utterly confused by the half-naked man he was now facing.
Heian leaned the side of his head against the wall and gave Ranger a half-smile.
"Words weren't necessary."
Ranger glared at him.
Weren't necessary? You were stalking me!
"I apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to see you."
Ranger was just opening his mouth when he faltered, his eyes widening from confusion and shock.
"Wait... what are you apologizing for?" he asked, worried what the answer might be.
His heart was suddenly in his throat.
Heian looked down for a moment, but quickly returned his solid gaze to his own before speaking.
"Ever since you and your brother moved here I've been hearing a quiet static in the back of my mind. I'm not familiar with this kind of thing, because I've never had such a connection with anyone. Not even those in my own family, as that feels different. So I was very confused about the feeling," he said, then continued with a small smile.
"One day, I felt the static getting a little more clear while I was working close to your property, so I decided to shift and walk over. I do apologize for trespassing, multiple times. My curiosity has gotten the better of me."
Ranger blinked, his mind unwilling to register what the man had said.
"You... have a connection?" he asked, dumbfounded.
Heian chuckled deeply, seemingly amused by his confusion. The man's laughter made him scowl again, but when Heian leaned closer, Ranger growled quietly and leaned back. His reaction made the man return to his former position, though his smile remained firmly in place as he lifted a hand and pointed right at him.
"I can hear what you are thinking if I am close enough to you, Ranger."
That had Ranger jumping to his feet, his face turning reddish-white in horror.
"You can't hear me! That's ridiculous. That's only something that can develop between family!" he yelled, his fists shaking at his sides.
Heian let him fume for several moments before he slowly got himself to his own feet. He gently brushed off the dark blue towel he wore around his waist, removing the straw before turning his full attention back to Ranger.
"I can understand your worry. I had a feeling that you wouldn't accept me right away, so I decided to just keep my distance," the man said, clearly relaxed about the insane situation while Ranger was close to hyperventilating.
It had taken him years to simply develop his bond between his brother and mother. Now their neighbor, whom they've only ever even talked to a few times, suddenly has an intimate connection with him?
Heian looked like he wanted to say more, and even took a step closer, but Ranger quickly backed up and let out a serious warning growl as his eyes flashed gold. That reaction got the man to hesitate, then calmly take several steps backward, putting him in the entryway to the stall.
"I'm very sorry for scaring you. I just couldn't keep the situation as it was, though I now realize how much I've misjudged how this would affect you. I've never been very good at interacting with others and seem to be too straight-forward for some," Heian said as he ran a hand through his long hair, draping a small part of it on his front left side.
Ranger quieted his growl as the man retreated, but the action brought forth his shift's aggressive urges. Before he knew it he was stalking Heian step for step out of the barn. His low growling returned as the teeth in his mouth slowly began to sharpen. By the time they got to the barn entrance he was ready to pounce... and for once, he didn't try to fight his shift's bloodlust.
He lunged, aiming a punch at the man's face. A firm hand grabbed his own in a blur, though, easily blocking his attack before he was abruptly spun around, then pulled back against a cold chest and held there.
"I will never intentionally harm you, Ranger. I do hope that my honesty today has earned me your respect in that aspect, at least," Heian said before Ranger felt fingers sift through his hair one last quick time before he was released and nudged forward just enough to make him stumble before whirling back around with bared human teeth.
His aggressive posturing dissolved as he noticed that Heian had retreated a small distance and was looking at him over his shoulder, a long piece of clean straw between his lips that he had likely swiped from Ranger's mussed hair when he'd sifted it through his fingers moments ago. When he noticed him looking Heian simply nodded, but then seemed to realize something and looked down at himself.
Ranger's eyes followed automatically, but he really wished that they hadn't when the man unfastened the towel and tossed it toward him to land at his feet with a knowing grin.
You perverted horse!
Heian raised a hand to his mouth abruptly to try and smother a coughed laugh, but it was obvious that he'd heard his thoughts... again.
Blowing out a frustrated, hissed breath, Ranger swiped the towel from the ground and turned toward the house. He was done with that guy, period!
"Hey Rane, who was that guy?" Walker asked as he hopped down from the ladder leading to the roof as Ranger approached. "He kind of looked like our neighbor," he added helpfully.
Ranger snarled at his brother as he passed, refusing to answer before he disappeared into the house and slammed the door shut.
Fuck that strange guy.
(His name is a play on a word that means darkness in Chinese because of his horse's color. Pronounced Hey-on.)