Not conversation and stuff, because Murphy still talked like a twat all the fucken time, but... Connor missed his twin's face.
Sometimes he got scared that he'd forgotten what his sibling had looked like, the mirror couldn't show him and it was the first time he really started to care that they weren't identical. But he had photos and his memory: You don't just start forgetting the thing you woke up to every morning for thirty years of your life just like that.
"Oi! Murph! Will yeh stop worrying the feckin' sheep?"
"I'm not worryin' them." Murphy replied calmly, his ear twitching and those words the only acknowledgement of how he was still paying attention to his brother.
He was rather still though, the tip of his tail moving sharply every now and then as he did his best to get closer to the sheep. Later on he could point out that he was simply making sure that they were safe, that no other predators were around. But the truth was, getting as near as possible always gave him a thrill as only a few things had in his whole life.
"Yeh fucken are!" Murphy's reasonable tone just pissed Connor off more. Every stupid movie he'd ever watched was right. Foxes just have smooth, relaxed voices that sound like they're the most reasonable person in the room. Or the field. And they're a fox....
The sheep didn't agree though. Their bleats were getting louder by the minute as they sensed that something dangerous was near.
"C'mon Murph! We don't want them ta start droppin' their lambs early jus' because yeh think it's funny!"
"I don't." Another short answer as Murphy's sways his tail in annoyance, sharply, almost like a whip cutting the air. It's his brother's attitude that bothers him. Can't he see that he's not doing any harm here?
Lowering his body, the tall grass does a good job at hiding him, even though the sheep are quite aware of his prescense near by. He just wants to get closer... Only a little bit closer.
Connor makes an annoyed noise. It wouldn't be so bad, but the thing that worries him most is that Murphy doesn't seem to care what he is now. There are other farmers in the area, and they do. No farmer would think twice about shooting a fox with wolves colouring, that's upsetting the sheep.
Whistling, Connor calls Hannibal, his sheep dog, to his side. Another whistle and a flick of his hand and the collie dog is racing towards Murphy.
If the familiar whistling signal wasn't something Murphy was familiar with, then the sound of those paws hitting the ground and quickly approaching would be enough to alert him. His ears twitched nervously as they caught these signals before he even twisted his body, his eyes going wide and his ears now lowered in shock, almost covering the back of the Irish silver fox's head.
Before Hannibal is half the way to catch him, Murphy bolts away, running through the flock and making the sheep run in different directions, shocked.
He might be an animal, but he's no ejit. And he's no traspasser in a farming land. Soon enough he's cirlcing their land, going back in the direction he came from as Hannibal little by little gets closer. Soon enough Murphy spots his twin again...
Connor can only facepalm as Murphy bolts straight through the flock and sends them scattering in all directions, including towards Hannibal. The sheep heading towards the sheepdog come to a skidding stop as they realize that they're no safer in this direction, turn on the spot and then gallop off again on the tails of the rest of the flock.
Hannibal won't hurt Murphy, he's become like a familiar litter-mate to him, all three of them sharing the bed on cold nights. But right now, he's working and if the master wants the fox rounding up, that's what he's going to do.
His instinct begs him to run, go hide in a few abandoned dens he's found in the area, even in the one he's started digging himself, at the side of the cottage where they live.
But his human heart is even more conflicted. He loves the dog too, but his ego wants to fight it, same way he's fought drunk, larger ejits at a bar too. But this is not drunk arse, this is Connor's dog.
So Murphy runs straight to Connor instead, launching his tiny self onto his brother.
Connor barely has time to register the dark blur that suddenly appears through the long grass, disappearing in intervals, just the sound of rustling getting nearer, before appearing again. Of course, he catches Murphy, he'd never not catch his brother.
Hannibal appears shortly after. He stops at his master's feet and barks once, his tail wagging as he looks like he did his job well.
"Good boy." Connor smiles, then whistles again so that the dog goes tearing off after the scattered sheep.
"Why can't yeh be more like that?" he asked his brother.
"I'm not a fucken' dog!" Murphy scoffs, wriggling out of his brother's hold. Christ, he wasn't sure of what he was somedays.
As many memories as he had of his past life as a human, that's all it seemed sometimes. Something he had left well behind. Exploring places, smells and prey out there was far mote interesting these days.
He didn't intend to bite Connor's ear like he just did, for example. It wasn't strong enough to draw blood, but enough to make his point.
"Oof!" Unlike the cats he used to like so much, Murphy was unable to fall on his paws under his fox shape. So, he landed on his side, trashing his legs about his fur fluffing up in annoyance as he got up once more.
Though part of him felt guilty to see his twin land so badly, part of him was still angry at his throbbing ear, and it took some control not to kick at the bastard while he was down. Connor would never kick a hurt animal, but he would kick his brother.
"Don't go stalking around the fucken fields scaring the sheep an' askin' ta get shot at then!"
"I wasn't doin' anything to the sheep!" He huffed, shaking dirt off his fur as he got back on his paws. "And no one is goin' ta shoot me. Yer just bein' a prick."
He wasn't done playfighting, so, pouncing over Connor, he headbutted his twin, taking his jumper in his mouth and pulling on it.
"Yeh was makin' them nervous! An' if yeh couldn't see that yer a fucken ejit!" He waved his arms at the field in general, before whistling and crying out in a deep voice to the dog "Come-bye!"
His attention was torn from the job he'd come out to do by the sudden yank on his jumper. Gritting his teeth, he swatted at Murphy's nose.
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Not conversation and stuff, because Murphy still talked like a twat all the fucken time, but... Connor missed his twin's face.
Sometimes he got scared that he'd forgotten what his sibling had looked like, the mirror couldn't show him and it was the first time he really started to care that they weren't identical. But he had photos and his memory: You don't just start forgetting the thing you woke up to every morning for thirty years of your life just like that.
"Oi! Murph! Will yeh stop worrying the feckin' sheep?"
Reply
He was rather still though, the tip of his tail moving sharply every now and then as he did his best to get closer to the sheep. Later on he could point out that he was simply making sure that they were safe, that no other predators were around. But the truth was, getting as near as possible always gave him a thrill as only a few things had in his whole life.
Reply
The sheep didn't agree though. Their bleats were getting louder by the minute as they sensed that something dangerous was near.
"C'mon Murph! We don't want them ta start droppin' their lambs early jus' because yeh think it's funny!"
Reply
Lowering his body, the tall grass does a good job at hiding him, even though the sheep are quite aware of his prescense near by. He just wants to get closer... Only a little bit closer.
Reply
Whistling, Connor calls Hannibal, his sheep dog, to his side. Another whistle and a flick of his hand and the collie dog is racing towards Murphy.
Reply
Before Hannibal is half the way to catch him, Murphy bolts away, running through the flock and making the sheep run in different directions, shocked.
He might be an animal, but he's no ejit. And he's no traspasser in a farming land. Soon enough he's cirlcing their land, going back in the direction he came from as Hannibal little by little gets closer. Soon enough Murphy spots his twin again...
Reply
Hannibal won't hurt Murphy, he's become like a familiar litter-mate to him, all three of them sharing the bed on cold nights. But right now, he's working and if the master wants the fox rounding up, that's what he's going to do.
Reply
But his human heart is even more conflicted. He loves the dog too, but his ego wants to fight it, same way he's fought drunk, larger ejits at a bar too. But this is not drunk arse, this is Connor's dog.
So Murphy runs straight to Connor instead, launching his tiny self onto his brother.
Reply
Hannibal appears shortly after. He stops at his master's feet and barks once, his tail wagging as he looks like he did his job well.
"Good boy." Connor smiles, then whistles again so that the dog goes tearing off after the scattered sheep.
"Why can't yeh be more like that?" he asked his brother.
Reply
As many memories as he had of his past life as a human, that's all it seemed sometimes. Something he had left well behind. Exploring places, smells and prey out there was far mote interesting these days.
He didn't intend to bite Connor's ear like he just did, for example. It wasn't strong enough to draw blood, but enough to make his point.
Reply
"Yeh fucken cunt! Why did yeh do that?"
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"Don't get yer fucken' dog ta chase me!"
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"Don't go stalking around the fucken fields scaring the sheep an' askin' ta get shot at then!"
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He wasn't done playfighting, so, pouncing over Connor, he headbutted his twin, taking his jumper in his mouth and pulling on it.
Reply
His attention was torn from the job he'd come out to do by the sudden yank on his jumper. Gritting his teeth, he swatted at Murphy's nose.
"Let go! This is yer jumper yeh furry retard!"
Reply
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