Staring at the phone he was holding above him, Ranger tilted his head on his pillow for the fifth time. He'd received a few notifications for the dating apps he had, and the woman he'd been pursuing actually replied to his last message, finally.

He just... didn't feel like dealing with any of it right then. He'd napped most of the day away after his morning chores, but still felt a little tired.

Pulling up with groceries in a second, Rane, came his brother's thought, pulling him out of his daze.

Gotcha, I'm coming.

Slipping out of bed, Ranger slid his phone into his back pocket and hurried down the stairs. He felt it vibrate a few more times as he stepped outside, but didn't bother checking it as he began helping his brother unload the car. He saw Walker get out and expected him to start helping, but when he went to the other side and picked up an out-cold Marsh, he understood that he'd need a minute.

His mother showed up on his second round, grabbing the huge pile of clothing from the back of the car.

Surprised he actually got his bear to try things on.

He knew that Walker wouldn't just buy a ton of stuff without the guy checking to see if it fit.

Wonder what the price tag was for you, bro.

He could feel his brother's annoyance at his question in his thoughts, but the guy didn't bother with a reply before returning to help finish unloading. Ranger brought in three loads before returning outside, only to see his mother taking in the last few bags and Walker locking up the car.

Shrugging, he fished his phone from his back pocket and raised an eyebrow as the screen lit up abruptly, showing him a brand new text.

Neighbor: Again, you are not dressed for the weather.

Ranger's eyebrows narrowed as he stared at the message.

How the hell do you know?

"Because I'm enjoying the view, even though I'm upset that you might get sick again with your shirt off in forty degree weather," came a voice from in front of him, drawing his attention up and over toward the fence.

Heian stood leaning forward against the firm wooden structure, a dark brown cowboy hat tied around his neck, resting against his back. He wore a pitch black dress shirt and faded, dark gray jeans. His hair was perfect, of course, and it seemed like he'd braded a small portion of length on each side and tied them together behind his head.

Do those two lines of braids go all the way down his back?

Why had he even thought about that?

"What are you doing here?" he finally asked as he took a step forward, but refused to walk all the way up to the guy.

Heian gave him one of his dazzling smiles, but Ranger just scowled.

"Your mother invited me over," he said as he easily hopped the fence, then walked up to Ranger. "And the braids were requested by my daughter. It's one of the things she prides herself on."

Ranger pursed his lips and sighed away his frustration.

"They look really good. I'm honestly impressed. I can't do anything like that."

And he had definitely tried before, too. Women loved it when you could interact with their kids well. He... sucked at it.

"I'm sure she would love to teach you sometime," Heian said before he began walking past him, slipping his hand into Ranger's and gripping gently as he headed toward the house.

Ranger tried to tell himself to pull away, but his shift was already poking its head up, having scented the man. When they stepped up onto the porch, Ranger did lift their entwined hands.

"Hands, Heian."

Heian lifted them a little higher with a curious grin, then leaned down to press a kiss to the back of Ranger's before releasing it as the door started opening.

"Ah ha, there you are, Mr. Li! Ranger, come help prepare dinner," his mother said as she ushered them inside.

Ranger slipped off his shoes and hurried up to his room to put a shirt on, even though he was a little warm inside when the fire was going in the living room. When he started back down the stairs, he noticed Heian standing near the dining room table with Marsh sniffing at his raised arm.

It looked like the taller man had tried to offer him a handshake, but Walker's bear didn't seem all that interested in pleasantries. Marsh nudged his nose along the man's arm, then into the side of his hand before slowly opening his mouth.

Thankfully, Heian caught on quickly and moved his hand away before Marsh could take a bite. The bear shifter looked confused, at first, then stared up at Heian with a frown.

"Sorry, sorry!" Walker said as he rushed into the room and quickly scooped up Marsh.

The guy seemed so out of it that he didn't even appear to notice that he was no longer on the floor until he caught Walker's scent. That had him immediately beginning to nuzzle his face into the guy's hair, a content growl purring from his chest.

"That trip to the store completely drained him. His bear is a bit more in control than normal right now. I'm going to get him settled in upstairs, then I'll be down to help out," Walker said as he turned and hurried away, making Ranger and Heian's gazes follow them up until they were out of sight.

That... was strange.

"I agree. That's the first time someone's tried to eat me without at least asking for my name first," Heian said from right behind him, making Ranger jump and spin around at the same time.

The action drew the man's eyebrows up, as well as his lips.

"Quite the reflexes, my sweet cat."

Bristling, Ranger was about to correct him on that my comment, when his mother walked over and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the kitchen.

"You behave. Mr. Li helped you a lot. The least you can do is cook for the man," she said in a hushed tone that wasn't exactly quiet.

The chuckle he heard from the man made him want to go to town on the huge scratching post he had in his room, but he bit back his frustration and got busy chopping vegetables and making a sauce on the stove.

He could feel eyes on him the entire hour he was helping his mother, but he didn't dare sneak a glance over toward the dining room table where he knew that Heian had seated himself to watch.

"You have quite a lovely place here, ma'am. I see that you have horses. Is that your main business?" Heian asked after about twenty minutes of content silence.

His mother, always the eager one to start chatting, had been biting her tongue so that she didn't bother him, but now that he was the one opening up the channel for some small talk, she was all in!

And thus began the stories about everything. No one was spared. Thankfully, when the embarrassing childhood stories started up, Walker was the first one to take the hits, starting with when he tried to shove a green bean up his nose in kindergarten because another little boy had told him that it was a new way of eating vegetables so that you didn't have to taste them. Of course, now he loved everything fruit and vegetable, but it was still a great story.

There were a few others about Walker as he grew up into the fine handsome man that he was now, but the waiting only made Ranger's stomach twist into knots. He chopped all the vegetables at twice his normal speed, then got the meat simmering and seasoned in each of the necessary pots.

His mother finally finished sufficiently embarrassing her first son, so now it was on to Ranger. She began with the time when he was four and first shifted into a baby smilodon. He'd been getting picked on because of his scruffy mop of hair, and eventually, his shift had decided that it had just had enough.

That was the only fight that another person was able to easily break up where his shift was involved... only due to its cub size at the time.

Heian did not need to hear about it, though, or the other stories he knew were coming. The second he was done with everything entrusted to him, Ranger ran over to the other man and grabbed his wrist, yanking him out of the chair, much to his mother's dismay, and pulling him up the stairs. At the same time, Walker was finally coming down, a tired look on his own face... along with a few nibbles on his chin and neck.

Not gonna ask.

Once at the top of the stairs, he took a left and went past his brother's room, then pulled Heian into his own. He shut and locked the door a moment later, knowing that his mom would likely try to come up and pry them out at some point to continue her list of stories.

"That was quite an entertaining show. I really did want to hear all about you, though," Heian said with a slight hint of humorous upset to his words as he calmly walked around the room, immediately noting the giant scratching post with a grin.

The man wisely kept whatever comments he wanted to say to himself, then turned to examine the rest of his room.

"You're very neat," he noted as his gaze traveled across his clean floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, hardwood dresser, and freshly-made bed with dark blue blankets and pillows. He nodded, as if giving his approval. "I like it very much."

Ranger felt his cat preen itself in his mind, but he refused to let it get the better of him again.

"I didn't do it to gain your approval..." he grumbled as he walked over to his bed and sat down with a tired sigh. The man really did wear him out without even trying.

Heian suddenly dropped down beside him, making Ranger jump and scramble backwards onto his bed. To his surprise, Heian immediately followed him. He tried to move back farther, but soon he was out of space, and of course, right as he got to the other edge of the bed his right hand slipped, dropping him to his back against the blankets.

There was soon a hand on either side of his head, and a light curtain of dark hair gently brushing his left cheek.

It really does feel as soft as silk...

He didn't know Heian all that well yet, but he definitely felt like this response from him was a bit out of the ordinary. His eyes also looked a bit off, as if there was something else staring at him through them.

A loud bang on the door had both of them startling as his mother shouted; "Ranger, get your butt downstairs and be social for once!"

They both heard her footsteps clomp away a moment later, but neither dared to move. Well, Ranger couldn't, at all. They had both reacted defensively to his mother's abrupt banging against his door because their previous position had already been awkwardly tense. Ranger had responded by turning onto his side and lifting his arms to shield his face, while Heian honestly did the exact opposite.

He dropped his upper body and reached over to cradle Ranger's shoulders and head, tucking his right cheek against his hair, acting as a shield toward the nonexistent danger.

They both took several minutes to calm their breathing, then Heian finally seemed to get ahold of himself and carefully unwound his arms from around Ranger, then slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

Another moment later and he was swinging his right arm and leg over him, allowing him to sit normally on the bed beside him with a deep sigh.

"I'm very sorry about that. I lost control and my horse's instincts took over," he said quietly, clearly frustrated about his mistake. "He doesn't normally do that... ever."

Ranger slowly pushed himself up once his own heart had calmed down. He wasn't really sure what to say in response to Heian's words, so he just reverted back to his normal attitude and shrugged.

"It's fine. I freaked out a bit, too. My mom can be scarier than any predator... even my own."

Heian laughed at his words, a smile forming on his lips as the sound quieted.

"I suppose we should head downstairs before she comes back up. She might try knocking the door down if we don't hurry," he said as he stood up, then turned to offer Ranger a hand.

For once, he accepted the help, and on their way out of his room, he might have tugged on just a few soft strands of Heian's hair as he followed him silently back downstairs.