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Jimmy hadn’t seen Tango for a while.
Normally this wouldn’t be worrying, Tango likes to go mining or off to gather resources, but they have gotten a routine down in the time that they’ve settled into the Ranch as soulmates.
Most days when nothing goes wrong, Tango will wake up first and feed the animals. After, he’ll check on the crops while Jimmy wakes up and makes breakfast for the two, and they’ll talk over their plans for the day. (Jimmy’s proud to say his cooking has gotten better, and he’s found it’s been easier to make tasty things after so much trial and error.) After the breakfast chat their schedule varies until sunset, when Jimmy will feed the animals their nighttime meal and Tango will cook dinner. Sometimes they’ll read, and sometimes they’ll tell stories by their fireplace, but it’s always together.
But Tango didn’t come to breakfast yet.
Which is fine and all, sometimes he gets too caught up making sure none of the chickens have scaly leg mites or lice, and Jimmy will go down and find him fussing over their legs and feathers trying to figure out if they are carrying the parasites or not.
But Tango’s not in the basement with the chickens. Or in the cow pen, or by the fields. He’s not by the walls, or the goat pen, or on the wooden balcony hanging over the ravine-
Jimmy’s chest feels tight.
Logically, he would’ve heard if something had gone wrong even if he is a heavy sleeper. But he couldn’t stop the thoughts of fire, betrayal, accidents, and so much danger in the world outside the ranch.
“Tango’s fine. I would’ve felt him get hurt if he wasn’t, he’s just.. Somewhere I didn’t check. Surely.”
Jimmy could only wait a few more seconds, pretending as though he was focused on eating the scrambled eggs, before he gave up and tugged his boots on to go find his soulmate.
He checked in their cold storage for the excess grain, meat, and eggs, he looked across the ravine towards Scott and Cleo, he even poked his head into the mine to see if anything had been shifted from the day before.
Nothing.
Except.. Hoofbeats?
It sounded as though there was a horse out and about, the sound of hooves hitting the dirt coming from outside the ranch walls.
Jimmy peeked out, and there was Tango. His buddy, his soulmate, his rancher.
But he was doing something odd. Tango was holding a long rope attached to Oreos halter, and holding a thin stick in the other. Oddest of all, instead of rearing or tossing her head, Oreo was trotting in a circle around Tango as though they were doing some secret dance that only they could hear the music to.
Jimmy stood and watched, mesmerized. He only spoke up when Tango brought the horse to a stop, and asked her to come to him and allow Tango to rub the stick along the horse's neck and back.
“Having fun?”
Oreo barely flicked an ear back towards Jimmy, her focus on Tango unwavering, but Tango’s attention was caught quickly. “Jimmy! We’re almost done, am I late?”
“It’s not a big deal.” Jimmy purposefully left out his earlier anxiety. There's no need to worry him. “What ya guys doing out here?”
That prompted a smile. “I figured I’d work with Oreo on some groundwork. She hasn’t been getting a very balanced workout, what with all the back and forth stealing nonsense.”
Tango went back to running the long stick along her hindquarters and sides, watching her carefully.
“So… what’s it do?” Jimmy wanted to word it better, but couldn't.
“Lunging, where she goes in circles, is mostly for exercise. So that’ll help her build muscle, and help her balance too. The circle’s kinda tiny right now, so it means she has to be more careful when carrying herself and transitioning. But I also wanna get in some desensitization, and respect exercises. That’s just good for her in general.”
Jimmy hummed in response, not fully understanding but not wanting to take his soulmate's attention from his four legged partner. He settled himself against the rough bark of an oak tree, happy to just watch and be there in the moment with them.
Tango kept rubbing and tapping on her with the stick, going over her back and legs, even under her belly. Jimmy had to stifle a giggle when he saw her lick her lips, tongue poking out for a moment before Tango decided to start the circles again.
It was.. Strange, the way Tango was carrying himself. Almost tilted to the side, and peering out towards the horse. He raised a hand and pointed the opposite way from where he was leaning.
Oreo licked her lips again, ear flicking back to catch the sound of small wings from behind her.
Tango made a clicking sort of noise with his mouth, clear and loud enough to carry a good distance. Oreo seemed to know what to do this time, turning and walking away from Tango just enough to have her body parallel to his own.
Tango straightened here, continuing to watch the horse carefully as she made her way around him.
Oreo made two circles at a walk before Tango clucked? At her again, this time three or four in a row. She knew what this meant too, and picked up speed until she was back at the trot, legs moving in diagonal pairs, and catching more air then covering ground. Oreo stretched her long neck down, still moving at a good pace, before carrying her head level with her body.
This continued for a while longer, with Tango asking for her to stop, and come to him, then resume the circles or ‘lunging’. Sometimes he wouldn’t even reverse directions, and would just send her off the way she had come from. He finished it off with a few circles each way at a walk, before dropping the stick he only ever waved to collect her attention again, and leading Oreo over to Jimmy’s rather comfy tree.
“You’ve been real quiet, what’s happening in that big brain of yours?” Tango was soft in every way, demeanor, tone, and expression.
“Just thinkin’. You know a lot about this all.”
“Yeah, it was a hobby of mine for a bit. Helped Bdubs out and learned quite a bit from him.” Tango stroked Oreos face.
Jimmy smiled and leaned towards him. He asked, “So… What’s next?”
Tango’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do ya mean?”
“Like, what’s next on the list? After lunging and the, uh, desensing?”
Tango’s laugh rang out through the clearing, and he looked at Jimmy with fondness in his eyes. “It’s desensitization, and next? I suppose we’ll do some trail rides up and down the hills. Helps strengthen their joints. Might work on collection first though.”
Jimmy nodded, pretending he knew what the hell Tango was talking about. “Yes yes, the collecting. Mhm, very important.”
“You’re a goofball.” Tango’s smile was warm, and Jimmy’s chest ached.
He had really lucked out in the soulmate department.
“I’m not a goofball, I’m the best cook there is! So you better come in soon for breakfast, okay?”
“You’re the bestest. I gotta put Oreo away first though, and get her fed first.”
Jimmy looked at Tango, really looked at the way he stood next to the spotted horse, the way his eyes crinkled in the corners when he looked at her. “She deserves it.”
“She really does.” Tango was so absorbed in everything about Oreo, and Jimmy knew that he loved her.
She deserves Tango, and Tango deserves her.