Chapter 13: Crossing thoughts

~Alej’s POV~

As she continued to stare at the stack of files that was growing before her blue eyes, Alejandra couldn’t do much but sigh tiredly at the intense work-day that was certainly going to be today.

It wasn’t anything worth of immense worries as she had planned to go through this little issue one way or another for that very week, the rewards much more important that the difficult predicament.

Her office was now bustling with activity as Tootsie and other subordinates were quickly leaving numerous reports by her desk; papers that were coming from the group of technicians sent to study the state of the company’s workers and machines

The progress behind this important project she was trying to pass through for the sake of bringing a new boost to the sales was appearing positive.

Just like she had expected from her earlier calculation, but she would need much more to convince the rest of the leadership to approve those changes.

The presence of the numerous evidence over the large improvements the businesswoman had planned all within such an arduous upgrade was meant to show some enticing data to the still-neutral board of directors.

Her company was going fast and well with its growing rate, but the constant whining coming from the few individuals that held some of its major shares was now starting to take a dent at her patience and integrity.

There were already impressive results from her hard-work as she had spent so much time to make sure all her changes were to bring the optimal outcome from the various concerns brought up in the last two to three reunions.

But nothing had seemed to produce any satisfactory reactions from any of the members of this group, only some minor praises that tended to bring up some flaws within the development itself rather than complimenting the overall success.

At this point, Alejandra was well-aware that these were just attempts to undermine her decisions within the company, beyond the mere formality and work-logic that professionalism dictated.

It has been subtle at first, barely perceivable as they had bothered to keep themselves from revealing their cards so quickly and without a proper base to start with this kind of harassment.

And now she was so sure that the problematic behaviors displayed by those from the board were actually blatant probes to verify her integrity, where any of her current weaknesses lingered and where the best place to strike to gain control over the company was.

They were so quick to ignore that while the young woman had focused the brunt of the direct hard-work early on and had left some of the bureaucratic details to other associates, she had also dealt with worse people than them with her past experience and that she had seen corruption before trying her hand at something as ambitious as trying like building something from scratch.

This just wasn’t her first rodeo, nor was she naive that everything was truly stable even with the unquestionable growth registered in the last few months, far exceeding their expectations.

The young woman started to hum quietly as her fingers began tapping at her desk, trying to distract herself away from the non-negligible tower of documents piling up and from the negative thoughts that right now were annoyingly pressing within her mind.

Alejandra still had so much to do today, trying to get distracted from the burden and with the wrong topics too wasn’t something she truly expected to do in these occasions.

A yawn was building up behind her lips, but she fought it back with some efforts.

It was still fairly early in the morning and even a few hours spent going through the regular duties of CEO, she was still far from completing the backbone of today’s rare situation.

Her mind was soon gearing up for the mechanical job that was about scanning through the documents and compile with the proper signing the entire burden ahead of her.

With her dark-inked pen held tightly within her palm, the Cow Prime began trying to deal with the first round of paperwork for the day and… it went pretty well until the first break, enjoying a brief pause away from what was supposed to be the main issue for the rest of the day.

She had initially forgotten that the bulk of the tower was made by simple data that didn’t require any major reading from her, thus making it a little more easy for her to quickly go through the files.

The entire documentation having checked beforehand either by Tootsie or by one of the other subordinates going through the reports prior to handing it to her.

With a quiet hum building up within her throat during the activity, the young woman started to carefully blitz through the intense session of signing, her attention never straying away from the important bits of each single file inside the ‘tower’.

While it was substantially easy to sign the already-verified papers, the quantity of the issue made it up for the intensity of the overall situation and so she was forced to deal with quite the continuous signing without much time to rest.

After four hours of constant signing and with lunch break giving her some reprieve from the still-growing pile, Alejandra decided to spend some time sipping at the cup of warm coffee her assistant had brought to her office while carefully nursing her hands as her fingers were starting to get sore at the lengthy writing session.

Tootsie was staring in silent surprise as she noticed that the already-signed tower had grown to a noticeable level.

It was far from reaching the height of the one that was left unfinished, but it was still enough to warrant some wide-eyed reaction from the Mouse Prime.

The blonde blinked back to reality the moment she noticed that her boss was looking at her, her cheeks reddening and her violet eyes widening in possible embarrassment for just that very moment moment, concluding with a fake cough to divert the attention away from the awkward reaction.

“S-So, I think the pace is going well for us, ma’am,” The Mouse commented carefully, her voice sounding just a little nervous. “Do you think we are doing alright considering the tight schedule we have?”

The Cow Prime hummed positively, gracing a nod at that legitimate question while she let the coffee bring some energy back to her tired mind.

Time was very limited and Tootsie had been one of the few ones that had been working hard to produce the material she was currently reviewing, of course the girl should get some little morale boost for her loyal work.

“Considering that this is the major obstacle for our first target in this month,” Alejandra muttered placidly, looking genuinely proud of how the signing was going. “I think the pace is more than acceptable with the expectations.”

The bright smile appearing on the girl’s face somewhat lifting up her spirit, a small smirk replying back to the other occupants’ expression before the woman glanced once again at the insufferable amount of paper still left to do with a little huff.

“Still, we will have to keep up this pace for the rest of the day if we want to deal with this first obstacle.”

The comment was quick to deflate both Primes, yet Alejandra’s confidence over their success didn’t waver even once at this very thought as some counter-thoughts did make their presence known in her consciousness.

They had faced worse cases than this and she wouldn’t be lying in thinking that this particular predicament didn’t come anywhere close to the immense concerns that were placed upon the creation of the company from so little money and opportunity.

Yet they had managed through it all with sheer willpower and undeniable pride, never backing a second from the real prize and... now they had this new phase they needed to deal with to finally unleash more of the potential held within the corporation.

Will it be an easy feat to accomplish with the pressure continuing to build up because of some vultures within her own organization trying to undermine her authority?

Of course not, but she couldn’t certainly just lie down and let everything crumble apart because of the non-negligible odds encircling around them.

And that is why it was best for her to keep up a tough and analytical mask in front of this threatening scenario, not just for herself but for the company and those that believed in this project like Tootsie.

Something that will surely leave her stressed and tired by the end of the long day, but it was one of the displeasing setbacks the woman was willing to take, especially with how high determination was running nowadays.

She couldn’t help but also remember how she regained some confidence from doing so little, such a simple activity that… actually granted her some incredibly-needed positiveness.

The lovely lunch spent at Diana’s home had been a refreshing way to bring some relief within her private life; the turmoil within her over the unpleasant encounter of some time ago having slightly reduced as the young woman knew that some chances to mend the division was there to be taken.

All because of some interest she had over the current only worker at the farm owned by her surrogate mother.

Matt Newcastle was still a unique individual compared to many other candidates she had the chance of personally met in her rising career in the dairy business and it wasn’t just because of the fact he was a human.

If she pondered over the vast range of tasks his place in Las Lindas would entail, both as an official worker and as a helper around the house to lessen Randal’s own duties with his mother, Alejandra could say without much hesitation nor too kindly that he had been a grand boon to the declining farm.

The steady growth wasn’t the same as Alexandria, but there was a peculiar skyrocketing variable that just brought surprise and confusion over the economics behind such a recovery.

He had been there to take the burden without sporting any visible discomfort over the unfair starting point he was forced to deal with, while also masterfully hiding some of the uncertainty directed at the owner’s health.

The young man had been quite pleasant during the occasion by avoiding to intercede in the conversation she engaged with the older Prime, the food prepared by him was by far one of the most delicious treat she had the chance of trying around and it was nice to finally spare some words with Randal after so long.

With the little time the young woman was supposed to maneuver around, proper delicacies were an oddity to experience on a normal work-day and some mass-produced snacks were used to fill her with some energy during lunch times.

Coffee was quality content, there was no denying of that, but she couldn’t just drink only spare herself some coffee when she felt tired.

Not only for its unhealthy effects after over-drinking it, but also because of the inherent distaste it could bring if taken so frequently and so vehemently to counter the usual need for energy.

Sipping once again from her cup, Alejandra found herself staring at the digital clock carefully sitting by the edge of her desk, blue eyes widened just a little at the realization that the pause was going to end in less than ten minutes from that point.

Ending the content of her cup, Tootsie was already done with hers and she quickly took hold of both mugs, biding a quick salute before leaving the office to deal with the used cups.

The woman sighed in her lone moment of solitude, some cracks finally appearing on her mask as she contemplated the stress she was unfortunately facing against.

Maybe it was the very visit that had sparked this sudden distaste towards the negative effects of being an active workaholic with how her job required her utmost attention;

It’s been an avalanche of memories, of happy and sad ones that had greeted her the moment she had first seen Diana after so long.

Alejandra could remember some months ago when she had been reunited with the kind lady, her mind awed by how little the lovely woman had changed after so many years; Then in the span of a few months, Alejandra was forced to accept the bitter reality of things… again.

His surrogate ‘mother’ was on her way to her grave and nothing could be done about it.

The late stage of her illness made it impossible to cure, Randal had told her as much privately while she was brought by the entrance, away from Diana’s heightened ears.

The news had struck a terrible note within her brain, something about the death of the last parent-like figure giving her the worst of aches from within.

It’s been sometime that her father had died, she could remember well those moments of quiet sadness and sorrow but…

Diana Linda had been her mother, ignoring the lack of any blood-connection between them, and she couldn’t help but find it difficult to stomach the fact she was on her way to conclude her life because of that sickness.

She had taken care of her in her childhood, always brought her to be at equal standing as her two children without ever asking anything out of her that wasn’t for her own good.

Bravery, wisdom and… tenacity.

Harsh moments of her life had been won all thanks to her teachings about how life itself worked, Diana sparing her just from some details, most of those being ugly bits about rare occurrences, things that she wasn’t supposed to even see or know about.

And now the woman was going to… disappear, the means to avoid this sudden situation having long been denied by the stubbornness coming from Diana herself.

Her sickness could have been treated in time, the older Prime having been aware of the situation long before it escalated to this point of no return but she had so willingly ignored it for no apparent reason.

…

But then again, there was actually a reason that could have brought the kind woman to this point.

Alejandra had long departed from Las Lindas when she first heard from Randal about Mora’s escape from home, her brain having to reboot multiple times in consideration regarding this specific impossibility.

Sure, there were some quarrels left unfinished between her and Diana’s eldest daughter, but those were quickly forgotten as she considered how this very predicament didn’t sound logical or even possible with the attachment the fiery girl had for her home.

Heck, Alej could remember how she would stubbornly try to stay back at home for school trips outside of her hometown, her connection to the farm having been the strongest among the young trio they formed with the Collie Prime.

‘Yet people can change’, her mind had been quick to point out, the accusation sounding more and more true as Mora failed to answer any attempts to reach out, closing up even to Randy.

That is why part of her had been interested in trying to contact her personally, genuinely interested over the fellow Cow Prime’s well-being.

Animosity could be forgotten, especially since the reasons behind it didn’t warrant the utmost hatred out of her.

Yet she didn’t feel the words coming to her about how she should handle that very situation.

Should she sound pitying, sad and sorry or calm when dealing with the runaway?

The hesitation did cost her the chances of check on the young woman as Mora ended up disappearing after a year of wandering still within Gossamer.

Worrying to a fair extent, but the constant refusal from her way to Randal’s constant attempts at getting a call going was more than enough to confirm that she was fine and possibly kicking people around.

Still, the young woman can’t certainly confirm that Mora was truly the cause behind Diana’s sudden acceptance of this illness having been far too distant from that house to know what truly had been going on while she hadn’t been there.

But now that Matt was there? Something did change, there was no reason to doubt otherwise.

Something about his posture, his optimistic but still somewhat cynical look at life, the way he sounded so confident and boisterous…

It all rang so familiar and not, her mind failing to truly grasp at the curious similarity and difference the young man had compared to Mora herself.

Both were stubborn, both were determined to an incredible fault and…

Both took different paths in their own lives.

While Mora was driven to search over the world by unsolved questions, Matt was pushed away by the horrible and cold answers life had decided to give him about pain.

A curious parallel that stemmed away the moment parents were brought up.

How odd, the Cow Prime couldn’t help but muse over as the last moments of the pause struck.

Just as Alejandra reached the culmination of this little pondering, her sight was taken by a smiling Tootsie holding her… agenda?

Blue eyes blinked at mirthful purple ones.

“Something you need to tell me, Tootsie?” She asked quietly, confused over the new development but the Mouse Prime’s amusement didn’t seem to fade before this tone as she opened the agenda and brought up the weekend, the pages of Saturday and Sunday completely empty of any appointments.

“Since we are going to have a busy week, I thought it would be convenient for you to see if that kind Miss Linda can accept us at her home,” The blonde mentioned with a giddy tone. “I bet she would let us come if you were to ask and… you would recover from this nightmare week.”

Blinking at that sudden proposition, Alejandra couldn’t help but start pondering over it as she could do with spending some time back in Gossamer, especially with her relationship with Diana still needing some more time to be brought back to its original level.

She slowly nodded, but then paused as she realized something in Tootsie’s proposal that sounded a little off and she was soon narrowing her eyes at the giddy-looking Mouse.

“Tootsie, I reckon that you wish to be invited to the place too,” The CEO mentioned, causing the younger woman to tense up in surprise and minor embarrassment. “Can you please explain why?”

The girl blinked and… sighed happily.

“Miss Linda is one of the kindest ladies I had the chance to met, to think that she would know so much about people and… she is so funny,” Tootsie started to explain her thoughts, her grin resurfacing. “I mean, she can lighten up any occasion with her tales and I loved the cuisine. The place was also amazing to enjoy once or twice in a while.”

“And you wish to join me once again for the occasion?”

She quickly nodded, looking as eager and happy about this possibility, enough to bring Alejandra to a very simple dilemma.

Should she allow her to come by? Would Diana truly mind her coming too?

Considering the previous case, the blonde had behaved fairly well.

She had avoided going too far with the familiarity and didn’t try to poke at any of the little limits Alej had set over her presence there.

The owner of Las Lindas would undoubtedly accept her for another lunch, the Cow Prime having showed some positive reaction to the bubbly personality the Mouse was known for and it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine the two bonding even more.

Concluding her lengthy thoughts with a hum, her blue eyes were once more at the waiting expression on the girl’s face.

“I will ask if she would mind or not,” She conceded, continuing before the girl could squeak at that success. “But if she says you can’t come, I will have to abide by her request. Understood?”

The blonde nodded quickly and seemed to twitch in her standing pose before accepting the silent dismissal from her boss.

Alejandra groaned as she softly facepalmed at the situation, the quirkiness of her loyal subordinate and the developments of the last few days.

The next visit was surely going to bring some more clarity over some of her doubts, but she was unable to guess if those would be positive or negative ones.

Hopefully, lunch would still be as lovely as last time.

------------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-----------

~Randal’s POW~

It was a pleasant afternoon that greeted both Randal and his mother, the coziness coming from sitting by the long sofa while they watched some reality shows’ episode.

The woman had been happy to spend some time out of the bedroom, enjoying a little more how soft the pillows of the grand furniture in the living room were compared to the ones back in her room.

There was much to see on the TV, but what was there was enough to make the quiet time spent there fairly enjoyable compared to doing nothing in this specific time.

It was still a little early to start preparing some dinner with Matt still going around with his shift as he concluded the last bits of taking the new fruits and placing them in the proper baskets by the barn.

The very place had been in disarray until three days ago, when the human had returned from his early walk to town with some tools needed to repair the little building that he had bought with his own money.

This last detail had been the main cause for Diana to get annoyed at the young man, saying that he could have asked for some help to buy the instruments only for the woman to be told that it was a ‘gift’.

The little comment warranted a huff and two hours of relative silence from the Cow Prime as she had tried to keep herself quiet around Matt… only for her attempts to be foiled by the dinnertime, when a slightly tired human mused over the remaining issues within the reparation’s efforts left to deal the following day.

The woman had butted in with some advice over the matter, stopping herself just a little too late to notice the little smile plastered on their faces.

Yes, the Collie had been enjoying a certain degree of partnership with Matt as the two ended up cooperating while dealing with the older Prime’s attempts at teasing.

It was all well spread-out to not overwhelm Diana, Randy having made sure that exaggerating would only bring unneeded anger out of the usual calm woman as he managed to get a promise out of the human to agree in taking some hits once in a while instead of rebuking everything thrown at him.

In the end, the resulting clashes would turn comical and quite amusing to either witness or be part of.

Diana wouldn’t fail to spare them some giggle even in ‘defeat’, the woman enjoying so much butting heads with them and the ensuing ‘conflict’.

Still, there were some curious moments like earlier that morning when Matt was ‘gifted’ a brand new phone by some mysterious contact.

Someone that he made clear to Randal that he knew their identity and that he could trust them, to which his mother had agreed by saying she knew about them too, causing the human to appear surprised and confused at this sudden proclamation.

The giggles that followed that half-confession did little to assuage that kind of confusion, but nothing else was said about the suspicious knowledge displayed.

The day continued uneventful and the Collie was finally enjoying some time to rest from the little economic work he had to do about the bills, the bank’s notices and the other fees about the farm.

The money arriving from the growing work by Matt was giving them some room to breathe, but it would take so long to get everything settled down without having to face some judicial issues.

Two of the debts pending upon the land had been paid off, easing a little the interests pushed by the bank’s officials and giving them more ways to pull a good recovery from the ruins of the current state of things.

Good news that had formed with the soon-to-be closure of the second week since the young man had joined Las Lindas, this development being more than enough to bring some hopes for the next week as profits were indeed blooming with the hard-working human.

People were elated with the return of the farm’s products and some of the former clients were now returning to try the ‘revival’ of the activity.

A major success that promised a lot if the pace was kept constant and unwavering for some more time, just enough to finally bring an end to the debts.

Ending this little parenthesis away from reality, Randal continued to silently enjoy the current episode of the gameshow being displayed by the TV as the contenders were eagerly trying to win over the various challenges proposed by the wacky man hosting this program.

It was just odd to see something this interesting but also highly-competitive to bring this much amusement, yet his mind just needed some time away from dealing with logical and simple things.

A yawn passed through his lips and his brown eyes slowly lifted up to the small clock set above the TV.

5:56

Randal blinked, his attention now taken by the hour as he confusedly tried to make sense at the current lack of something usual at this time of the day.

Another blink, this time he tried to give priority to his ears as he tried to perceive any discerning noises that could notify of Matt’s entering inside the house and…

There was nothing. The human had yet to return inside.

A frown settled on his face as he slowly adjusted himself in the couch, the sudden action causing his mother to look at his way.

The woman frowned, sporting a worried look at the strange uneasiness appearing on his face.

“Is something wrong, Ranny?” The Cow Prime asked carefully, but definitively tense.

The Collie gave a little shake of head. “Nothing to worry about, just surprised that Matt has yet to join us.”

After saying this, the younger Prime stood up from the sofa and stretched a little.

“Maybe he lost count of time while at work,” He supposed quietly. “I will go and see if he is returning already.”

The woman nodded, slowly relaxing at the explanation and her green eyes returning to the TV.

“Then please, do make sure he returns back for dinner if he isn’t already.”

Randal returned the nod, walking out of the living room and by the long corridor that led to the entrance before walking outside the main door.

Glancing outside, he was greeted with the ample size of the farm and… no one nearby that he could see from there.

There was no sight of the human in the general proximity, nor he could see him anywhere near the fields he had been working on until a few hours ago.

Rather, his attention was taken by the dim light coming from the barn which meant that some activity was happening in there, the most probable chance being that the young man having surely lost some time trying to put the new vegetables in the new disposition.

It had been an occurring problem for Matt as he would end up turning out late to the house because of the newer system adopted requiring some more time to get everything well sorted out.

Even after a few days gone by, it was one of the main issues that hindered the young man by the end of the day.

The path to the repaired building was quiet and uneventful, only a calm breeze reaching his ears as the Prime didn’t bother to look around, his attention fully taken by the light coming from the barn.

Then… he felt someone talking and he got confused, his pace increasing but keeping quiet as to see what was going on.

His worry increasing as the voice turned clearer the more he came closer to it, slowly distinguishing it as Matt’s.

Finally, as Randy got close enough to look at what was happening inside, he heard a loud noise.

Someone slam their fist on one of the thick wood pillars keeping the structure up, the sturdy thing tanking the blow without sporting any major damage to it as the furless hand pressed right on the spot it had it.

“What do you mean that you can’t do that?” Matt said loudly and… in Italian?

The Collie had heard just a little of the language, but it did have some similar accent to Spanish.

His extended arm connected his knuckles at the section of the wood that had been hit, visibly some little damage having actually been committed against it while his other hand was holding his new phone close to his ear.

He had thought that the human would have had to call some individuals he was friends with, maybe to make sure they knew he was doing fine and well.

Yet from the way things were escalating, it was sure that this wasn’t the case. Not at all.

The Prime’s ears twitched attentively at the buzzing whispering coming from the device, words impossible to decipher from afar and thus denying half of the ongoing conversation.

“No! You said that you had contacts with people capable of treating the worse cases of cancer, so why is this case more difficult?!” The young man continued to yell, just a few words managing to get within Randal’s mind; the translation offered little, but the more the human spoke, the more he gained some insight over the subject of that heated discussion.

“So you mean to tell me there is no treatment to that? That there is no way to get someone to bring some cure or even a- no, I know that you have studied Medicine and- No, it’s not even that, just… listen,” Matt continued quietly, his tone softening and growing melancholic now.

The Prime mutely continued with his eavesdropping, his ears completely attentive of the words leaving the human’s mouth as he witnessed the situation unfold and escalate to a softer note.

“I didn’t mean to sound disrespectful, you know that I don’t want to yell or anything but,” The human paused again, this time drawing some more time before continuing. “But this person does need help- I know that you are giving me the best answers, but please tell me that this isn’t everything, maybe there is someone specialized that can- I… I understand.”

A sigh left the young man lips and he turned his stare at the ground, the call ending there as the device was promptly moved away from his face and back to one of his pockets.

Then the human started to lean on the little pillar he had previously punched and slumping against it, eyes closing as he seemed to think about what had just happened.

“Why are things so complicated...” He finally muttered in English, concluding the curious scene and urging the Prime to finally move in. “I can’t… I need to call either him or… or even her-”

Randal was cautious, slow and mindful of the turmoil visible from Matt’s tense body as he started to approach the unaware individual, thinking properly how to deal with this specific circumstance.

The young man went still as Randal reached out for his shoulder and landed his hand over him, giving it a careful squeeze.

His head turned slowly as surprise and panic visible in that precise moment, but he didn’t jump nor shy away from the contact.

“R-Randal?”

There was a smile on the Prime’s face, there was a lot of things that needed to be told from both sides.

“Do you fancy a little walk?”

Matt merely blinked at the sudden suggestion, looking still nervous and pale at the fact he had been caught during the call. “I- Well...” He closed his eyes for just a second, then opened up and nodded. “Yes.”

They both left the barn, silence reigning for sometime as they noticed the current time of the day in this part of the world.

The sun was still visible over the large hill by the end of town, the day was coming to an end so that the night could come and bring the proper time to rest for some people and to party for others.

Matt’s shoulders were tenser than before, but he was keeping up with the slow pace as he continued to walk closely beside the Prime.

“Who were you talking to?” The Collie finally asked, his tone moderated for the sake of not bringing more discomfort to the younger interlocutor. “You sounded quite nervous while talking to him.”

The human blinked and sighed. “An old friend, he owns me some favors about some stuff I helped him with back in Uni,” He explained curtly. “He is a good doctor, one of the best ones in Europe and he has some big contacts.”

“You wanted to seek some specialized doctor’s help for mom, that’s what I could catch from what you were saying to-”

“You understood me?” The young man almost tripped at the little development, Randal giving a little nervous smile about it.

“Actually I understood just a little from that, Italian sounds close to Spanish with some words and… I did grow up with Diana, I know a bit about Spanish,” The Collie admitted sheepishly, then he blinked and let his simple expression fade in a serious one. “Still, I think you were talking about helping mom with her sickness. What were you trying to do with this? I thought I had said-”

“I...” Matt blinked, his tension slowly melting at the quiet chat. “I was trying to find something to help. I can’t just let go of the fact that there has to be someone that could still save her and… I don’t want her to go.”

There was some silence and Randal sighed. “No doctors can treat that advanced state, there isn’t much to do about it.” Another pause, the Collie sighed. “The only thing we can do is trying our best to lessen her suffering.”

“But what if there is a chance?” The young man continued, desperation gripping from his throat and into his words. “What if there is a way to cure her and-”

“Matt.” Randal stopped walking and so did the human, the latter’s eyes widened as the Prime narrowed his brown eyes at him.

He was going a little far, his panic was starting to sound more and more erratic the more he spoke and… that was concerning.

But Randy didn’t want to see this conversation, he didn’t need to deal with this kind of false hopes once again, realism having long reached and settled in his mind over the situation.

It wasn’t nice, but there was little to do about it except giving his mother the proper care she deserved in her last days.

And while the Prime was only trying to find some peace in that very moment, the human looked as much nervous as he could get over the matter.

Matt had already seen Randal react getting angrily before and the expression now present on his face looking fairly similar to that one of fury and distrust that had appeared back a week or so ago.

A myriad of thoughts seemed to wash over him as his face paled once again, mortified over the subject itself and the gloom surrounding it.

Tension was palpable in the air and he would be lying in saying that his expectations were disappointed when, instead of walking away from him and before he could say anything else, the Collie took a step towards him.

His expression was undecipherable, difficult to understand and giving Matt even more reasons to be concerned by this development.

Then another step was made, then once more, but before the human could have reacted to this approaching, his mind failed to truly register what was going on as a pair of arms wrapped around him and pulled him into an unexpected hug.

There was silence at first, a tense and confused one as the young man’s face was now being pressed on Randal’s shirt and Matt’s eyes were still wide open at the shocking situation.

It was in that moment that the human’s ears caught the distinct heartbeat through the Prime’s chest.

It was calm, it was relaxed and… there was no anger.

What was going on?

“You are possibly the greatest moron I’ve encountered so far,” He replied quickly, a huff leaving his lips as he glanced down. “And that is something that took me so long to confirm.”

I frowned, my own eyes looking up at him, confusion triplicating at that comment.

“What?”

He sighed. “You are always trying to help around without wanting to get anything back, you don’t want anything back and… that is why I think you deserve some genuine words from someone that is concerned about your selfish attitude.”

…

“What?!” Matt asked even stronger, getting a snort from the Prime.

“You are always trying to help everyone, you always try to avoid people’s help and… that is unhealthy.”

The young man tensed up again. “I don’t-”

“You are hurting yourself by trying to lift this burden on your own, even though you are connected to it so lightly.”

There was a sigh, the Collie’s hold tightened carefully to not hurt the younger man.

“You care for Diana and mom cares for you too but you can’t just try to work alone about it, I don’t want you to work alone about it.”

“B-But I-” The human tried to jump in, only to be interrupted once again.

“Matt, what I’m trying to tell you is that you aren’t alone anymore and you shouldn’t be trying to ignore everyone’s concern about your own happiness and state of mind,” Randal continued, ignoring the feeble protesting. “I can see that you are trying to keep yourself away from others, how you are trying to help mom for… being kind to you and- and I’m glad for that, I really am, but you should also watch over yourself, you are important.”

Matt’s mouth opened, something ready to breach within this discussion but then Randal concluded his own speech.

“You matter,” The Prime hummed quietly. “You matter to mom, you matter to me, you matter to those friends in town and I bet even Alej thinks you matter as a person.”

The human tensed up again but instead of keeping his guards up, he slowly melted in the embrace, finally giving up with keeping everything bottled up.

“I’m sorry,” He half-whispered. “I’m just… I’m just trying to-”

“Help, I know and I appreciate. Mom appreciates this too, but we both care that you don’t forget about yourself,” Randal pressed on, determination filling his voice. “We both care for you. Those friends that you encountered here in town? I can say for certain they all care too and would be concerned to see you going through this unfair path.”

“I’m sorry” The human’s own arms were soon lifted and wrapped around the Prime, but the young man didn’t concede any tears to that meaningful sentence, rather preferring to enjoy the silence in that simple instance within time. “I’m sorry.”

It’s been a while since there has been something like this in Randal’s life.

It’s been so long since he had to confront someone like this and it was bringing back some curious memories from his past here in the farm.

Then, Matt looked up with a tiny smile.

“Randy.”

The Prime blinked and nodded, slightly surprised at his voice but deciding to not press him about it.

“Yes?”

The young man’s smile widened. “Did you forget to shower today?”

…

Randal blinked, his eyes narrowing at the cheeky expression on his face and… huffing at the unexpected playful remark, taking some offense at the fact the ‘moment’ had been broken without any notice nor warning.

“Really Matt?”

The human chuckled, trying to get out of his hold but failing as the Prime was much more stronger than he was.

Soon his expression fell back to confusion as a mirthful smile appeared on the older man’s face and… Matt was promptly pulled back closer in the embrace, his face pressing even more on the shirt.

“Nooooo.” The human exclaimed with an over-dramatic voice, getting some chuckles going for Randal as he enjoyed the hug a little more before letting out the still smiling human.

“That was unfair,” Matt said, drawing a long sigh as he dusted himself. “Like really, you need that shower badly.”

“It’s kind of late for that-” The prime stopped as the young man pressed his index on his nose.

“You shall get a bath or I will personally clean you up,” The human continued, ignoring the protest.

But then Collie blinked and frowned at the ultimatum. “M-Matt, I know it’s sounds weird but what you just said did sound quite weir-”

“Considering how you are behaving and how emotional you made me?” Matt interceded once again. “I think I will ignore the innuendos because it’s for the greater good.”

Randal gulped nervously. “Don’t I get a choice?” He asked cautiously, getting a smile a response.

“Nope~!”

Soon, the two would return back to the house, with Diana witnessing a sudden mirthful clash between the two that would see her son being sent to the bathroom for some ‘much-needed showering’.

She asked if everything was alright, trying and failing to hide the twitchy smile forming as the young man decided to bless her with the aftermath of the talk rather than with the whole discussion.

The woman was confused, quite so, but the comedic gold for her to see unfold was enough to buy her silence.

Instead of asking for more, the Cow Prime merely giggled as something did truly happen outside, something a little more than his so- Matt was trying to tell her about.

Randal did find a brother that day and… that very thought would last to him for a long, long time.

--------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d-----------

AN

I think there are errors here too, you should start much earlier than that.

Tomorrow I will have a look and fix, maybe even add, some more stuff. I’m just tired right now.

And you better be getting a long nap after uploading this, mister. I don’t want anyone to see you overworking.

Mh.

And don’t ‘Mh’ like this, you know very well that… wait, what are you looking at.

Uh? Oh, you mean this photo? Nothing, it’s nothing-

It’s ‘something’ if it gets you chuckling like this. What is it? Some blackmail material about someone of the cast?

...Maybe.

Oh? Now you got me interested. Tell me, who is it? Taffy, Randal, maybe Diana?

No…

Show me already! I demand thee! There!

N-No, wait-

Finally! Now, let’s see who is the lucky lad or- lady. Oh my… you did find this, didn’t you? Hehe~

I mean, it’s not like it was hidden or something-

But it’s quite unique in its nature, not many have seen it and… what do you think about this?

The fact you were adorable as a child? Or the fact you grew up in China?

Both- Wait, did you just call me cute?

You were cute, now you are gorg- I mean, let us return to the plot-

Listen here, mister, I want to know EVERYTHING now~!

L-Later!