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Ranchers Revenge woke up to something warm resting against him.
Wardens shouldn’t be used to warmth. Sculk is always cold, sucking the warmth from living creatures and dragging them down with thick tendrils, swallowing them into a choking black abyss. Their homes were never warm.
But Revenge had gotten used to the warmth.
In his days on the ranch, it was almost always warm. The warmth of the sun when he’d sit outside with his friends. The warmth of the fire when they curled up together by the hearth in the evening. The warmth of the blankets of his little bed, being stroked and cuddled.
There were two warm things next to him, one on each side. They were on something soft, a rug of some sort, the fabric woollen and a little rough against his legs. The warm thing on his left was cooler than the other, the feeling of soft wing feathers brushing against his arm and chest. He loved how fluffy the feathers felt.
The thing on his right was a lot warmer, like the heat of a fire, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was familiar and cosy and Revenge loved it. The thing’s chest was rising and falling gently and a warm tail was wrapped around Revenge’s torso.
It was Jimmy and Tango. When Revenge was a little warden, barely bigger than a hoglin, and had stumbled upon the ranch on that stormy day, soaked to the skin, exhausted, cold and hungry, the Ranchers had let him come into the warm, coaxed him in even when he tried to hurt them. They’d looked after him and taught him how to be kind. They’d become his family. Even though Revenge was blind, due to his species, the Ranchers had never shunned him for it, teaching him with his other senses.
One day, Revenge wondered if he'd ever get to see Jimmy and Tango. He highly doubted it, but a warden was allowed to dream. He wished he could have imagined them in his mind's eye, but he had never seen anything to imagine them as.
But he recognised them as feelings and sounds and emotions. Jimmy was sweet and soft and fluffy like feathers, and he chirped and whistled and laughed long and loud and boisterously, and he was steady and calm and yet still bubbly and bright. Tango was warm like a fire and felt like that specific feeling of a worn, well-loved blanket, rough but in a comforting way, and he purred and crackled and laughed a specific little giggles when he was getting away with something, and he was calculating but still fiery and passionate and energetic.
And Revenge loved them both. They were his family. His new family.
The warm thing on his right - Tango - fidgeted and gave a quiet sigh. He shifted away slightly and the warmth disappeared from Revenge's side.
Revenge pouted and a grumble reverberated from deep in his chest. He started to sniff Tango, taking in the scent of redstone and rust and pancake syrup. A sweet and metallic smell that he loved.
Tango's tail tightened around his waist and Revenge could feel the soft vibration of giggling coming from him.
“Revy, that tickles,” Tango's voice, a little slurred with sleep, chuckled, “Stop it.”
Warm, clawed hands gently pushed Revenge away and the warden took it as a sign to stop. He whined, feeling a little sad. He hadn’t wanted to upset Tango.
“Aw, what's the matter, big guy?” Revenge felt a hand start to scratch behind his ear horn in that specific way that he loved. He gave a happy warden noise. Maybe he wasn’t in trouble.
"You just wanted cuddles, didn't you?" The tone was fond, "That's why you woke me up?"
Revenge's still silence was answer enough.
Tango chuckled again, low and a little raspy but still pleasant, "Come here, you big softie."
He wrapped his arms around the Warden's stomach, his fingers carding through Revenge's sculky fur. He purred and nuzzled into Tango's hair briefly, making the blazeborn giggle. He loved tummy rubs and Tango hugs, and he was currently getting the best of both worlds.
The other warm thing - Jimmy - made a noise that sounded like a yawn and Revenge felt feathery wings twitch and flutter slightly.
"Tango?" He asked. Revenge loved how melodious Jimmy's voice was, and the pitches he could lift and drop it too depending on how he was feeling. Right now it was somewhere in the middle, soft and genuine.
"Yeah hun, I'm here," Tango smiled, "Revy wanted cuddles and woke me up, the menace."
"I see," Jimmy nodded, his head brushing against Revenge's side, "Can I join in the hugs?"
"Absolutely," Tango moved one hand from cuddling Revenge to drag Jimmy over. Jimmy yelped quietly and tumbled in between Revenge's legs. The warden patted Jimmy on the head with a big warden paw and then pulled him against his chest. Jimmy gave another small yelp.
"Tango help, I think I'm being held hostage," he said, sound muffled by his face being smooshed against Revenge's front.
Tango laughed, "Yep, I think you are. Nothing I can do to help you, Rancher."
"Fine," Jimmy pouted dramatically, voice vibrating against Revenge's chest and tickling a little, "I guess I'll just stay trapped here for eternity. What a tragedy."
The deadpan tone made Revenge chuckle himself, and Jimmy grinned, kissing Revenge's turquoise pelt.
"Alright, stop hogging Jimmy, I wanna get in there too," Tango let go of Revenge and clambered over his leg to snuggle up to them both, tucking himself in between one of Jimmy's wings and slipping an arm around Jimmy's shoulders, the other one worming its way back around Revenge's back.
The cuddle pile was cosy and adorable and Revenge's heart felt full. He leaned down and gave both the Ranchers a big, sloppy lick on the forehead.
"Warden kiss?" Jimmy asked, trying to wipe some of the slobber off his face and failing because his arms were pinned in the hug.
"Warden kiss," Tango confirmed, pecking a gentle kiss to Revenge's side, "We love you too buddy."
"Yeah, love you Revy," Jimmy agreed, snuggling a little closer and turning his head to kiss Tango's lips softly, "And I love you Tango."
"Love you too Rancher."
Revenge cooed in happiness.
Wardens shouldn’t be used to warmth.
But Revenge was no ordinary warden. He had a family. And he'd never let them go.
At least, not until dinner time anyway.