Chapter Text
"Arthur!"
Charles stalked across the camp leading taima with him. Arthur told him the night before that he had plans to go out hunting. Arthur extended an invite to Charles, who had been feeling slightly restless at the new camp in clemens point so he gladly took the opportunity to get out for the day.
" you weren't planning on leaving without me I hope?" Charles raised an accusatory eyebrow at the man across from him. Arthur was placing his saddle back on his horse. Tightening the straps and checking it was secured right.
" Course not, as a matter o fact Mr Smith I was about to go wake you myself" arthur Rose easily in the morning, Charles recalled that after one particularly sleepless night he had spotted Arthur up and about before the camp had even begun to stir. He watched Arthur smile at his cup of coffee and wander the camp before downing the cup and setting to any undone chores. Charles was also a early riser though it was only by habit.
"well I'm awake now" he mused as they both hoisted themselves up and settled into their saddles. Arthur smiled looking back at Charles over his shoulder "Well then! I reckon we can be on our way" Arthur patted pike's neck muttering something meant only for his prised pony as they set off out of camp.
As ugly as the residents of Rhodes and the wider area of lemoyne were, the land itself was quite pretty. The paths they followed ebbed and curved around low hills that were peppered with wildflowers. They passed a small mound of earth with two doe grazing lazily on top. Arthur slowed to gaze at them and Charles did the same. A beat passed and the two deer raised their heads in unison. Staring boldly right back at the pair before Turing tail and disappearing into the small patch of trees nearby. Charles watched Arthur release a breath he had been holding before urging the white Arabian horse on.
When Arthur had brought that horse back to horseshoe overlook, Charles observed the pure wildness in its eyes along with the sheer beauty of it. White as snow he had joked and arthur had laughed. Arthur explained how he had found the horse up in the snow while hunting big game and Charles wondered how he had ever even spotted the horse at all. " I almost didn't see her, but when I did I looked at her for some time before I decided I wanted to try my hand at taming her... She sure put up a fight charles! Bucked me off first and ran off, had to find her by following her prints and I didnt even notice her when I did get close! She nearly ran me over Charles! I got her eventually though" Arthur rarely rambled like that and Charles could never complain when he did. It was nice seeing him excited about something for once. He deserved happiness Charles had thought to himself. He still firmly believed it, even if Arthur didn't.
They rode to an area near dewberry creek and Arthur dismounted, praising pike and giving her a treat before he retrieved his bow and looked expectantly to Charles who followed suit Retrieving his own bow from taima and patting her neck gently. Arthur had already started giving the area a once over from where he stood, he paused glancing at Charles and tightening his grip on his bow. It was the same bow Charles had given him back in Colter. Charles felt warm knowing Arthur had spent all this time using it and honing his skills, which at this point were very good for someone who had only recently started hunting with a bow. Arthur squinted at the small wooded area before turning back to Charles
"over there seems good a place as any to see if we can pick up the trail" Charles hummed in agreement as they walked towards the trees. The area was pretty open save for the trees that offered some cover for any wildlife. Arthur seemed to have spotted something in the grass as he crouched to examine the dung. Arthur grinned up at Charles, he commented on how fresh it looked. They followed the trail at a crouch and while it wasn't a hunt that required two people they happily tracked the animal together.
The coyote sniffed at the earth near a large Bush. Its fur was black with flecks of gray disturbing the coal colouring. A barely audible whisper graced Charles ears "you want the kill or will I?" Charles could feel Arthur's breath on his face as they crouched in cover to converse. It warmed him to his core being so close, shoulders pressed together. "I don't mind arthur... You found him so you can have the honor if you'd like"
Arthur shuffled forward leaving Charles with a soft pat on the back as an answer. Charles watched as Arthur lined up his shot, focus written into face as he pulled the string tight and swiftly released it in a singular motion. They arrow hit and the coyote went down with a yelp but died before they could even reach it. Arthur stood first, aproaching the animal and crouching before it. As Charles neared he found Arthur running a hand through it's fur. He looked slightly sad but the look soon gave way to a warm expression as he noticed Charles. Charles studied the fallen form when he felt Arthur's hand lightly grasp his wrist, pulling Charles into a crouch beside him. Arthur placed Charles hand on the fur of the coyote muttering something about how soft it was. And soft it was, Charles had killed coyotes before but it was usually in defence and he hadn't taken the time to appreciate just how beautiful the fur was, it shimmered with the sun as Charles ran a hand down its length. Arthur watched appreciating the pelt in kind before pulling his hunting knife free as Charles retracted his hand and stood to call their horses. They stowed the small pelt on pike and began to ride towards the nearest trapper making idle conversation between the long silence they both enjoyed.
This wasn't their first hunt together, recently they had hunted a gorgeous buck. Arthur was in fact wearing a vest crafted from the bucks pelt. Charles had admired the craftsmanship and taken particular enjoyment in knowing he had helped Arthur acquire it. It suited him well, he wore a white dress shirt underneath, often Arthur ran his hand down the vest smoothing out the fine fur. When Charles had commented on how well the vest framed Arthur, he had hid his face beneath his hat. Charles swore he saw the beginnings on a blush and cursed the hat for hiding it from him.
Arthur wasn't wearing a hat today, it was instead hidden in pikes saddle bags and Charles had an unobstructed view of Arthur's 'ugly mug' as Arthur would often call it. Charles felt brave for a moment chasing the feeling and speaking without thinking.
"So when we sell this pelt are you gonna buy something new? Whatever it is I bet it'll look just as good on you as that vest arthur"
Arthur had been gazing up at the clouds and his head snapped towards Charles with alarming speed. Just as Charles had hoped, a blush crept across Arthur's face and he panicked having nothing to hide it behind.
"what?"
Arthur's reply was quiet
Charles hadn't thought this far so he just smiled and doubled down on the statement
"you heard me."
"ah well em... I don know if yer right but thank you?... Thank you Charles. Thats uh nice a you I guess"
Charles noticed the small smile that stayed on Arthur's lips as they continued towards the trapper near annesburg, it wasnt really the closest but neither of them really wanted to go into saint Dennis. Arthur had told Charles about his time there after he had rushed a man to the doctors there when the stranger fell off his horse mauled half to death by god knows what. Either way neither of them enjoyed large crowds of people and the ride to the annesburg trapper was relatively straight forward.
As most journeys with Arthur were, the trek was not without it's detours. First a man stumbled out of the trees, Arthur slid off his horse and called out "You again?!" the man let out a pained laugh as Arthur handed him a bottle of medicine and warned him to be safe as the man gave his thanks and promised to repay the kindness.
Near Emerald ranch Arthur spotted a dreamcatcher, he stopped to admire them and Charles wondered how long it had been there. Arthur didn't give him much time to think as he began rustling around in his bag pulling out his map. Charles was close enough to see Arthur draw a small dreamcatcher on the map where they had found it.
Arthur caught Charles staring, his face softened to a small smile as he handed the map to Charles who took it carefully. Charles had gotten glimpses of Arthur's map before but there was so much more to it than he thought there would be. Small animals were sketched into areas of the map, Charles recognised a deer in the area they had found a good high quality deer population. With that Charles pieced that these were where Arthur had found good game. He noticed some more intricate drawings on the map too. Arthur then leaned over and pointed at the other dreamcatchers drawn on the map
"these are all the other ones I've found... They're real pretty and I like making note of where those kinda things are yaknow"
"Arthur this is by far the most interesting map I've ever seen"
Charles began to fold it back up placing it back in Arthur's hand
" talk me through it some day will you?"
"oh um yeah if you want"
"good"
Charles led them on now and they made good headway. Reaching the trapper by nightfall. Arthur took the pelt off his horse and brought it round to the familiar man.
" Now this my friend is a fine pelt, I can make a lot with this."
" glad to hear it, how much are you willing to give me fer it then?"
"mm well how's $22?"
"sounds good"
Charles watched the exchange from short distance, he never really bothered going up to the trapper since he was content to hang back and let Arthur handle it.
Arthur turned his back fully to Charles blocking his view of their interaction before Arthur laughed and walked away from the stall waving a goodbye and nodding to Charles as they mounted and looked for a spot to camp at. They found a small clearing and set about preparing their bed rolls and lighting a fire. They heated some beans and ate in silence, Charles lay on his back and watched the stars. He listened to the gentle crackle of the fire, he heard Arthur stand and go towards the horses. Charles tilted his head and watched Arthur walk. Arthur had taken the vest off and was now in just the dress shirt and ranch pants, there was a faint outline of the vest on the white shirt and Charles couldn't help but quietly admire Arthur as he pulled something out of pike's saddle bag.
Arthur spun on his heels to face Charles and walked towards him with a faint smile. He crouched beside Charles who remained laying down, quite comfortable as he was.
" I got something for ya"
Charles dragged his eyes from Arthur's worn out boots up to his eyes gazing at him as the outlaw spoke
" since yer so fond of the outfits I get from that trapper fella"
"for me? That's nice of you Arthur"
"I know it is" Arthur drawled with a smug tone
Charles held in a gasp as Arthur held his hands for the second time that day, now taking Charles hands and gently slipping some soft gloves onto them.
Arthur smiled down at him as Charles tried to fight the growing blush on his face, he sat up almost butting heads with Arthur to admire the gloves on his hands
" these are.. real nice arthur, I mean it... thank you."
"they're soft right?"
"mmh"
Charles looked up and suddenly felt just how close they were sitting, Arthur was still crouched and looking down at the gloves with pride. His eyes bore dark eyebags that worried Charles, when he let out whatever breath he was holding, Arthur was close enough to feel it. He glanced up, now too becoming aware of the close proximity.
They sat there, frozen but not panicked. Still and condisdering as their eyes wandered shamelessly across each other.
Arthur reached his hand up placing it on Charles' chest. Charles pushed forward brushing Arthur's lips with his own as Arthur's hand slid up and around his neck to settle gently in his hair.
Charles leaned his weight back and arthur followed him forward chasing the all to brief kiss. Charles tugged Arthur towards him by his shirt, while he raised his head to initiate another kiss. Which Arthur took to eagerly, parting his lips and letting Charles crudely and desperately deepen the kiss.
They broke apart letting themselves breathe and recover from the sudden escalation. Arthur stood and hurried towards his bed roll and looking back to Charles before placing his much closer to Charles'.
"is this okay..?"
"perfect arthur"
"ah okay good, I'm just so fucking tired" arthur smiled and sighed as he laid down on the freshly placed bedroll.
Charles stood and lay down next to him, shoulders touching as they both cast their eyes to the stars above.
"tough week arthur? I thought you seemed tired yesterday... Dutch is working you too hard, hell you're working yer self too hard too arthur..."
"...."
"did you hear what I said arthur"
"... yeah. I uh I'll try take more rests or something"
"good" Charles huffed knowing it was a hard task getting Arthur to rest properly especially when he would spend so much time outside of camp as he did recently
Arthur sucked in a breath and took Charles' hand in his own and Charles couldn't help his smile when he did.
" Charles I'm sorry for stopping"
"what?... Oh right, its okay arthur I'd feel better if I knew you were rested anyway." Charles couldn't lie he was kind of disappointed but arthur looked so tired. Charles felt arthur press up against his side and whisper something that was lost in Charles shoulder. Charles twisted around and held arthur close. He listened to Arthur's breathing and let it lull him to sleep
When Charles woke he found Arthur up and already making coffee. He stood beside pike sipping from the cup and patting the loyal mare. Arthur looked in good spirits and shot Charles a smile when he noticed he'd woken up.
" ready to get back on the road!" he was teasing Charles there was no doubt about it but it was all in good natured fun so Charles replied in a similar tone
"oh absolutely Mr Morgan"
They made quick work of tearing down the camp and getting back on out on the road. They chatted most of the way, arthur letting pike wander close to taima only for them to bump into each other and put some distance between them again.
They had neared clemens point when Arthur stopped and stared at the grass and bushes with pure annoyance twisted onto his face.
"you good?"
"I wanna check something gimme a minute"
Arthur slid off his horse and walked carelessly into the brush
Charles dismounted too leaning against a near tree
"Careful arthur there's some gators there!"
"I see em alright. YOU KNOW WHAT I ALSO SEE!"
"What?" Charles called back amused at whatever Arthur was up to
"Six whole bunches of FUCKING OLEANDER"
Arthur stomped back with sure enough six bunches of oleander sage
Charles was confused and amused now
" okay... What wrong with that"
" I rode all the way to lagras from horseshoe overlook to find this stuff and nearly got eaten more than once and I only found two!!"
Charles couldn't help the laugh that escaped him now
" Don't you laugh at me Mr Smith!"
" sorry arthur... Its funny though" Charles grinned and Arthur just looked at little less annoyed because of it.
" why'd you go do all that for some oleander anyway?"
" Well cause!... Cause... you asked for some for yer arrows"
" I see" Charles smirked at Arthur who looked real embarrassed. Charles looked up and down the road, satisfied they were alone, he quickly kissed arthur. Leaving him a little shocked as Charles mounted taima, leaving Arthur scrambling onto his horse to catch up.