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Jinu huffs at his bangs. His eyes feel heavy and he curses himself for drawing the short straw earlier. First watch sucks.
And Baby stole his fucking gum, 'doesn't have an oral fixation' his ass.
He chews on a dry bit of straw, side-eying the make-shift encampment his partners were set up in. No overhead canvas or tent, not in the budget. It didn't feel like it'd rain tonight, and weather forecast didn't mention anything. Just a clear, moonlit night.
Full moon even. He can see for a good four miles out in any direction, and adjusts his stetson to keep his field of vision clear.
And then he hears something.
Polyester bedroll fabric crinkling and soft familiar grunts from one boyfriend.
Jinu rolls his eyes. Really? Maybe he shouldn't be surprised that Mystery fell asleep first. He'd been handling the birthing cows and those heifers were a pain to keep calm and soothed.
But if Baby was going to fuck him, he really couldn't wait 'til their boyfriend was awake? Jackass.
He sits up and stretches, debating on whether to interrupt or join Baby when he heard something else.
He goes still, breath held uncomfortably in his lungs on the inhale he stops part-way through. His brown eyes dart this way and that, trying to locate the source of the sound...
It's deathly still again. Silent, other than the squeak of his partners fucking around.
It's why they were out here, camping. Something had been attacking their rented flock and owned herd. It came silently like a shadow in the night, and drained blood out of their animals. It could take out two to three sheep in a night, and a longhorn over the course of a night.
Mystery suggested it might've been a wild animal, but he and Baby argued that an animal would've ripped the beasts apart.
Baby pointed out it could be a blood-sucker, like vampire bats. And Mystery countered that a swarm of vampire bats wouldn't go unnoticed, even if they did see the odd bat here or there. There also weren't enough puncture wounds to say that flocks of bats were draining their animals.
Jinu, sarcastically, suggested that it was the pair of brothers on the neighbouring farm, Abby and Romance. If they lost too many heads, they wouldn't be able to go to the auction to broker deals with wholesalers and butchers.
It made sense!
And somehow he is the asshole for not supporting either of his boyfriends in their more wild-theories?
That he chooses to ignore how such an action is super dastardly and that the method of slowing draining blood without leaving messes is... It isn't a perfect theory but it made sense.
The squeaky polyester rubbing sound has stopped, and Jinu huffs. He taps his watch, the glowing-face telling him it is just after midnight. Time for a shift switch, and he crawls his way over to the bedrolls to shove at Baby's shoulder. "Hey. Your turn."
"Tch. I didn't sleep."
"Yeah but you got to cum. Now do your fucking job."
"Aw, Jiji feeling left out?"
"Shut up." He shuts his eyes closed, collapsing next to a pants-less Mystery, and fell into a dreamless sleep.
He's shaken awake what feels like a few minutes later, and rubs at his eye. He squints at the pinks and pastel oranges streaking the dawn-lit sky.
Then he looks to his boyfriends, and, by their expression, groans in exasperation.
Another night without answers. Fuck.