-sigh- I missed writing :')

Well I'm finally back from my hiatus, lots of stuff happened rip. Sorry if this chapter's kinda weird I edited most of it whenever I was in waiting rooms fsgf Remember you can check my insta( soniana_draws ) for art and news about my fics! I talk a lot(and I say a lot) about them in my stories.

oOo

Shaun's fourth day on duty came with the realization of how complicated a secret identity was to have.

Most of the time it was fun. Being someone completely new and doing things he wouldn't dare to as a normal sheep was something he wouldn't get tired of any sooner; but details slipped, so quick and in such big amounts that it was hard to keep it all up.

First it was the leaf blower, already a huge clue he failed to hide. The second slip, the one who could easily give him away, was Shaun's need to cheer his friend up being stronger than the one to keep his secret.

After all the things that had escaped Shaun's mouth yesterday, it was obvious Bitzer was going to suspect something. The moment Super Sheep appeared to patrol the farm and sign an autograph here and there, the intense stare of the dog became obvious enough that the hero had no option but to take a seat over the fence to talk.

What would Bitzer think if he found out it was really Shaun who said all that? Said sheep failed to hold back the nervous smile that for some reason came with that thought. Heh, that would be a little embarrassing.

Through taking a little insistence from the hero's part, Bitzer ended awkwardly spilling the beans about his uneasiness. There was no mention of him feeling replaced, which was good, but the whole deal indeed was about the dog finding the coincidences of the leaf blower odd.

Those weren't just coincidences, Shaun knew, but he couldn't tell Bitzer that. So he had to lie, about the leaf blower, about the carrot on the first day...

About being okay, when the usually comforting sight of Bitzer relaxing at his words(at his lies), now only settled an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

In the sudden need to find a distraction, Super Sheep looked around the farm. He smiled at the dog at spotting one, and with a bleat gestured to the flock enjoying their day on the field—Did he mind telling a little about the flock Super Sheep was saving? They looked nice.

The question got a tired yet amused sigh out of Bitzer. Judging by how all the items in his list were always checked out by this time of the day, and the way the dog leaned his forearms over the fence, this was going to be a long lecture.

Bitzer first whuffed, lifting his paws to show eight fingers, one for each sheep he had under his care. The biggest sheep in the field was the first he pointed at— That was Shirley. She may look relaxed eating grass most of the time, but the moment you lost her off sight...

Bitzer showed him some scribbles on his checklist. One page alone barely covered all the food she had managed to steal from the garden and thefarmer's shopping bags that morning. Shaun failed to hide his chuckle when Bitzer glared at her totally unfaced demeanor. Classic Shirley.

Next was Timmy's mom. The dog moved his arms as if rocking a baby—She was very motherly, but-

He pointed at Timmy, who was playing with his teddy bear next to her. Bitzer pretended to hit his own paw with a rolling pin, then leaned to whisper to the hero— If you ever messed with her son, be prepared to deal with her bad temperament.

Both shared a short laugh at the various anecdotes the farm had of that.

All were things Shaun already knew so far. Timmy being a ball of energy(and quite the troublemaker, they couldn't lie) but an sweet kid overall; Nuts a kind guy who was just a little crazy sometimes; Hazel their shy but enthusiast mechanic; the twins being quite the pair of athletic guys ready to follow any shenanigan on sight...

And that left one sheep. Shaun lifted an ear ready to hear what Bitzer had to say about him, but when no answer came, he turned back to the dog. Bitzer seemed distracted, looking around for something. Making a noise to call his attention, the sheep in red counted with his hooves until reaching the number seven, then shrugged and bleated in a questioning tone—Bitzer had told him about seven sheep, what about the 8th one?

Bitzer huffed and rolled his eyes, in such a way that Shaun couldn't hide his frown to. What was with that reaction about him?!

The dog whuffed again, this time pointing at a broken fence, a mess of paint over the barn's entrance, and then the pool, now having its access blocked by criminal tape— The last sheep had...quite a tendency for destruction as Super Sheep could see.

Shaun frowned even more, but noticed his ears lowering as well. He crossed his arms and looked away, refusing to listen anymore. Those were things from a week ago! Yeah, they were his fault, but it didn't hurt any less that Bitzer described him like he was a pain in the neck.

Just then, when Shaun was about to leave Bitzer saying bad things about his so-called best friend alone, he heard the dog's voice turn soft.

The dog continued talking, unaware of the dilemma of the sheep at his side as he gestured at other things in the farm. One of the fences Shaun had helped to repair a couple days ago, the paint cans he had helped him with the day Bitzer was with back pain, the flock in general...

In less than a minute, Shaun forgot about anything bad as Bitzer kept the words going. His gaze was lost in the distance, arms once again resting over the fence in a relaxed motion—As reckless and with the tendency to give him gray hair as he was, that one sheep was fun to be with, a lot of help for him in so many ways. He didn't know what would be of him without Shaun always being there for them.

From that spot, with the settling sun adorning his face, Shaun noticed how tenderly his friend was smiling as the words flowed out of his heart— They were best friends for a reason and Bitzer really, really appreciated having someone like Shaun in his life.

It took the sheep a while to notice how silent he had fallen. He just remained there, wide-eyed until Bitzer lifted his head in realization of how much he had really said. That short moment of mutual staring had felt so eternal, so oddly out of that reality, that Shaun had to remind himself he could willingly look away.

He covered his face. He was grinning behind his hoof, felt his face go warm suddenly.

And out of all the reactions to have to that, Shaun started laughing. Softly first, trying to hold it in until he could no more. His laugh, now running loose and loud in the air, cleared their awkwardness instantly.

Once Shaun managed to calm down, he brought one of his legs up to hug it, the other still hanging over the fence. With a calm bleat, he smiled-sort of smirked- down at the dog—Sounded like they were really close.

Bitzer seemed to take a long moment to snap out of his thoughts, out of whatever that still had him staring at the hero. His tone was desperate as he left the fence to wave his paws, whuffing for his life to deny things—It wasn't like that! Not that way! They weren't-!

They weren't what...? Uh, that wasn't what Shaun was hinting at, both of them knew that already. Or rather Shaun did, it was Super Sheep who he was trying to convince. Just why was Bitzer so nervous about a stranger misinterpreting that kind of thing?

Knowing when Bitzer was embarrassed was easy. The dog avoided eye contact, sometimes blushed or even stuttered when it was really bad. Super Sheep couldn't help but smirk at seeing those exact things happening in front of him. This reaction only got Bitzer to explode.

Even when Shuper Sheep waved it off, his friend was already stomping, crossing his arms and giving him his back, quickly going on a rant that sounded more silly than upset— Ugh,he was just like Shaun! They would definitely get along.

This time Shaun bit his tongue to avoid laughing, not because of not wanting to upset his friend for real, but because Bitzer suddenly seemed to go back to a previous train of thought. The dog looked at his watch, then grabbed his checklist for the second sheep-counting of that day. He frowned at what Shaun guessed was his doodle and it was then that, for the sake of his cover, he knew the hero had to interfere.

Super Sheep stood on the grass, pushing his cape back for dramatic effect, then got closer to tap the checklist. When that got Bitzer's attention, the hero bleated as he pointed at his puffed chest with his thumb—A missing sheep? No need to worry! He'll find it in no time.

This didn't seem to convince Bitzer, as it was sheepdog's problem to make sure all his sheep were okay. Hm, there was a thing the heroine in his comics did whenever the security guard insisted on following her, what was it...?

Ohright, compliments! Also Bitzer's weakness.

Mimicking his idol, Super Sheep got closer to softly push the dog's hat down, his playful tone coming out more naturally than expected— Aww,so hardworking! But even the best sheepdogs deserved some rest once in a while, didn't he think so?

Bitzer flinched at that, clumsy paws barely managing to lift back his hat and voice quivery—P-perhaps...?

And just like that, there was no more insistence from the dog's part. Super Sheep gave his hero salute and ran away from there. He was distracted however, having taken a while to notice the portable toilet he used to change was in the opposite direction.

The hero shook his head and went towards the correct path. What had him so distracted? As strange as it sounded, it was Bitzer, how he usually wasn't shy with compliments specifically. Not with Shaun, the farmer nor any other habitant of the farm at least. Only strangers could get that kind of reaction out of the dog.

Inside that narrow space that was his changing room, Shaun found himself staring at his mask, that small red cloth that turned him into someone else, now on his hooves.

And then he felt it. That sensation of discovering a new way to cause some mischief building up inside him. But it didn't quite go all the way up to his grin as usual, and instead became a soft smile as part of it stayed fluttering in his belly.

Brow arched, Shaun bought a hoof to cover his smile. How weird it was tha the wanted to see his friend like that again?

—

One. Two. Five. Eight...

It were nearly ten minutes of frowning at his watch until the missing sheep finally showed up, breath heavy and his wool rustled as if he had just run a marathon. Obviously, Bitzer was all but content.

He could barely open his mouth before Shaun waved a dismissive hoof to any possible question. As an explanation, he simply bleated and gestured pointed at some trees far away, then picked up a drawing of Super Sheep Timmy had forgotten on the floor as to say 'someone else took care of it so it's okay'.

Bitzer made a face. This was everything but okay.

Seriously, 'got distracted and accidentally wandered off'? That had to be one of Shaun's weakest excuses, and the sheep most likely knew it by the way his grin widened in a failed attempt to be convincing.

Once again, the dog couldn't even mutter a word before a wooly body rushed past him to close the barn's door for the day.

The worry underneath Bitzr's frown finally allowed itself to come out. Something was going on with that sheep, and Bitzer couldn't believe he took this long to notice, what kind of sheepdog was he?! Getting distracted like that,

What, or rather who, had him like that the past few days wasn't difficult to guess. How could someone he barely knew know exactly what to say to cheer him up? Be so easy to talk to? Bitzer didn't know what came over himself to say such personal thoughts to that guy of all people, nor where all that had come from.

Perhaps the fact that for some reason, he had barely talked with his best friend that week. The absence of shenanigans or little pranks happening around was already noticeable and Biter...missed that. Not the chaos of it, but the part of fixing everything and Shaun's infectious laugh making Bitzer forgive him for the time being over and over again.

In a strange way, spending time with the hero after he himself spilled his own personal thoughts yesterday, reminded Bitzer of the friendly aura he shared with his partner-in-crime-and-fix. Less the winking and sweet talk and...just all that seemed to be happening between them, of course.

Bitzer shook his head. Shaun was Shaun and Super Sheep was Super Sheep. Different issues to deal with.

With a determined frown, Bitzer tapped his checklist with his pencil and drew a red circle around the doodle of his best friend. Starting tomorrow, he was going to pay special attention to Shaun to guess what he was up to.

The hero putting hat over eyes came to mind then, and Bitzer sighed. A difficult task already, but his job came first.