Chapter Text
Duncan has been in the custody of his auntie’s widowed husband Arlan Pennytree for around twelve years now. The old man was never big on staying in one place, that’s the reason why Dunk didn’t get the opportunity to really study or to have any stable friendships.
This all changed five years ago, when Arlan got a steady job at Fossoway farms as a ranch manager. Since then, Duncan has been catching up on school. He did go to the nearest school even before their stay in one place wherever Arlan had a job, but the exhaustion of traveling and not having friends took their toll and Dunk began getting worse and worse grades as the years went on.
They had some hard times together besides the schooling and moving stuff, especially when he presented as an omega at seventeen. Not only was he woefully unprepared, Arlan was too. The old man was a harsh beta who grew up around other betas, yet he was still accommodating and didn’t start treating Duncan differently after the fact.
Thankfully the last two year of high school he managed to get actually pretty good grades compared to what his teachers though he could achieve, truth be told the only person who believed in him other than Arlan was Raymun his only friend, so it felt like a world shaking achievement.
He was able to get a scholarship for university; his dream of become a veterinarian was closer every day. What he wanted to study was kind of a no brainer, a similar line of work as the old man’s was all he wanted since having the man as his guardian. Living away in a dorm was strange, while the farm was only around two hours from his university; they decided that traveling four hours every day simply wasn’t ideal. After three years of hard studying, helping on the farm during the summers and breaks, he was happy and content.
Sadly, good things don’t last long and his dream had to be left behind recently.
“Duncan, you need to come to the hospital now!”
“Raymun why? What happened?”
“It’s Arlan, he fell from his horse, were at the Ashford hospital.”
The hospital was a thirty minute walk away from his campus, but Duncan managed to make it in ten.
A bad accident, Steffon forgot to close the stable doors for the night, it was early morning when a thunderstorm came, the horses freaked out. One of them ended up pushing his old man onto a rusty old pitchfork on the ground when he came to check on them, he was found two hours later pretty much on deaths door from bleeding on the cold ground.
He was stable, but not only did the fall make it so that he will need to use a wheelchair or a walking stick for at least a year, but he will probably need help for the rest of his life. The infection from the rusty fork wasn’t life threatening either, but it also weakened an already withered man.
Arlan was still out cold by the time everything was explained to Dunk. Raymun was freaked out from the whole thing, he blamed himself. While Simon Fossoway, Raymun’s father was getting the paperwork for a workplace accident done, the fall was completely Steffon’s fault; he even gleefully admitted it to Raymun.
“Fucking cunt.”
“Raymun, he’s your cousin, mind your tongue son.”
“Just ‘couse he’s my cousin don’t mean he ain’t a cunt dad. What does uncle say?”
“He’s saying that Arlan will get a hefty sum for his years of hard work and that he doesn’t have to worry about getting back to work, he’ll find someone else to fill for him.”
“Really? That’s all? Not even a sorry?”
“Son, please, I’m doing everything I can. The stable has camera’s I already called for the footage, if I can prove that Steffon was the one to cause this, they’ll have to pay the Pennytree family.”
“Sorry to ask this Mr.Fossoway, how long will that take?”
“I don’t want to make you sad Duncan, but it could take half a year or maybe multiple years for the settlement. I will represent Arlan, he has been a great worker and you a great friend to Raymun, but maybe it would be best for the both of you to leave somewhere better for him for the time being.”
“Where would we even go? I mean I only have two years left from getting my degree, but I can’t support a move.”
Simon took a deep breath; Raymun looked like he was going to throw up.
“I’ll call around, can’t make any promises, but I’ll try. Go back to your classes, sit down with the head of your sector at the university and ask them about your options if you had to move.”
“I will do that, thank you.”
Duncan gave a forehead kiss to the old man before he left, he wished he could have remained there longer, but now he had to be the head of their two people house, can’t disappoint the old man.
As he was leaving the door he felt the tears well up in his eyes.
“Duncan?”
“Yes, Mr. Fossoway?” Dunk looked back while whipping his tears.
“If you need help, call us. You are family; I just want you to know.”
“Thank you, I’ll remember it, goodbye.”
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Speaking to the appropriate people at university didn’t help much, they were very sympathetic to Duncan’s predicament, but being a vet took a lot of on-site practical classes, which he exceled at, but that can’t be done remote. They recommended going to a different university and transporting his credits and finished classes over there.
Since it was only a week into his seventh semester, he wouldn’t need to panic; he can still put the year as inactive and not lose half a year from his scholarship and restart it somewhere else. His teachers were all willing to give him letters of recommendations both for his next university and for any job he wanted.
All very nice people, his classmates too, that’s why it was so hard to have to leave. Mr. Fossoway probably knew why it had to be done, yet Duncan still didn’t think leaving was the best, but he would need to decide until the end of the week.
Where would they even go? Arlan’s been around Westeros with Duncan, but it didn’t seem like the old man preferred any place over another. Duncan would need to get a job, the new place, the wheelchair, the treatments will cost an arm and leg, and he will not put that on Arlan too, he cannot.
Then his phone buzzed, Raymun❦.
“Hey, man. How ya holdin’ up?”
“I’m fine, just kind of scared.”
“Yeah, I get that. Listen, my old man called around a bit, I did too. I got a call back from somewhere around Storm’s end, they recently had to fire their help on a farm that one of the big families owned, something about stealing jewellery from their mansion or whatever. They are willing to hire you.”
“I’m incredibly grateful that you got that for me, but I don’t know if I can afford moving both of us there, and what about university? I can’t go back if I live far from a city.”
“Man, I’m telling you, I’m the greatest friend ever. They are giving accommodations as well, and if the old man recovers you can go back to uni too, the farm ain’t far from the city, around the same distance as our farm is from Ashford.”
“What’s the catch?”
“Well, it would be a catch for others, but won’t be for ya. Remember the jewellery thieving I told you about? Yeah, they don’t ever want to see a farmhand or a rancher near their mansion, that’s all. Everything else is free game. They will take you as soon as Monday. How about that?”
“Tell them, I’m thinking on it, and it’s up to my old man.”
“Will do, big boy. Goodbye.”
“Bye, Raymun. Thanks again.”
“Love ya man!”
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Paperwork, mountains of it. Duncan has read through them and signed the one’s he needed to sign. The old man is still yet to wake up, but the fight for the settlement already started on Simon’s front. He was not letting a damn thing slip by.
Two days after the accident Arlan awoke, Dunk must have looked like a ghost since the old man jumped up at his visage.
Rude.
“Where am I boy?”
“Hospital Arlan, you had an accident.”
“It was no accident, that fucking ginger cunt wanted me dead, I swear it.”
After Duncan managed to calm his foolish beta guardian from destroying the whole place, he explained everything that transpired in the last few days.
“Kid, you stupid? The last thing I want is for you to drop out. I’ll find another job in Ashford and you’ll go back or let the seven strike me down.”
Overly confident words from a man who looked like those white dogs that have been dying for over twenty years.
“No you won’t I won’t let you. They have no proper care for someone with your condition, you need a city physical therapist, otherwise you have no chance for moving on your own.”
“Dun-“
“Please, let me do this one thing for you. All I ask of you is to go to the therapy sessions in Storm’s End, then you will make me happy. I can finish my vet degree once you are better then you will take over for me. Okay?”
“Heh, this is the first time you spoke back to me since you weren’t even mine… Fine, we’ll go, but don’t let me be the thing that holds you back, when push comes to shove.”
“You have never held me back.”
“Oh, Dunk. That’s the only thing I have ever done.”
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Raymun was truly the greatest friend ever, he drove their stuff to Storm’s End in his own car, since Duncan could only fit himself, Arlan and a few boxes into their car. And Raymun even rejected getting paid back, no matter how hard Duncan tried to make something work.
“You’ll pay me back when you’re a horse doctor or something, big boy.”
“Then you better pray we make it out here.”
“Don’t act so defeated, you guys lived on the road for years, I’m sure you two could have made it through Aegon the firsts army if you would have wanted to.”
“Thanks Raymun, the old man won’t say it, but he appreciates you too.”
“Is the apple boy still here? Tell him to fuck off.”
“Aye, I’m sure Arlan is very glad to have seen me. Goodbye Dunk and good luck, call me if you need me.”
“Thank you again, and thank your dad for me too.”
“Yeah he also told me that he’ll call when he got somewhere with the whole shebang.”
Duncan waved to Raymun as he was leaving. Now he just had to introduce himself at The guard station? or something that was in front of the mansion up from the farmland, that’s where he’ll get the key and the instructions, as the lady on the phone said.
“Hello? This is Duncan Pennytree, I’m supposed to be here for the ranch job.”
“Yeah kid, wait a sec I’ll come out.”
A short, but wide bald man stepped out from the small building. He had a big bushy beard made up of gray and black patches.
“Name’s Steely Pate. I’m the other ranch hand, sort of. I’m more of a fixer than an animal handler; I will deal with the framing side while you do the animal feeding and other shit. Come, with me.”
“Wait I have to get my, guardian?”
“You have like a big dog or something?”
“No, he’s like my adoptive father, he is incapacitated right now, I’ll have to wheel him around.”
“Ahh, aye. They didn’t tell me that, but now it makes sense how Barry got a new rancher so quick. The old man need physical therapy right?”
“Yeah, and this is the closest one was to us.”
“Shitty luck boy, at least the job isn’t too crazy, they’ll watch you like a hawk for the first few weeks or months, but they’ll cool of, it’s the whole daylight robbery thing that got the whole house acting crazy.”
“Aye, I heard.”
“So you a beta or?”
“Why does that matter?” This line of questioning always made Duncan nervous, it was written on his papers, but no one could tell from just looking, and he barely had any scent or omegan appeal anyway.
“No reason, just want to make sure you ain’t an alpha. Lyonel sometimes ends up territorial around them.”
“Should I be worried?”
“I mean you’re tall, and you look sturdy, but if you don’t anger the beast it won’t attack.”
Dunk nervously chuckled at that, what the fuck?
“Yeah, I try not to make a big scene so I think I’ll be fine.”
“Just don’t try to blend in too much, he’ll notice that to.” Does he notice everything, the seven hells? “Ehh, don’t worry too much thought, he doesn’t come around often, and you won’t be around the mansion, so you’ll be fine.”
They reached where Arlan was parked down, at the bottom of the almost mountainously steep way towards the mansion. Another great thing here was the fast that it was mostly even ground, and there was a bus stop around the corner, Duncan will have to check out how often it goes to the city and if a wheelchair even fits on one, or he’ll have to drive into town with the car.
He really didn’t want to waste gas money, but for Arlan’s recovery, he would.
“Hello Mr.Pennytree, I’m Steely Pate, I’ll be the other ranch hand with Duncan.”
“At least you look like you know what you are doing, unlike my boy here. He is green as grass, he’ll need help.”
“Arlan-“
“I still remember when he-”
“What my old man means to say is that he hopes you’ll take care of me, I’m still somewhat new to this after all. I mean I did always help on one ranch or another, but never alone.”
“I’m sure you’ll do well kid. You got the strength for it at least, that much I can see.”
“Aye he does. I still don’t know how he grew so tall.”
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The day went fine after that, not a lot went wrong on the first few days. Bringing Arlan to the physical therapy classes was a bit of a pain in the ass, but otherwise, Duncan liked working on the farm. The animals took to him easy, and he did have help just not every day, every moment, which he preferred to be honest.
Even during the first two months there were barely any problems, other than Arlan’s tantrums of course. Dunk knew it was just the frustration of not being able to walk, but it did grate on him sometimes.
The house at least was mostly accessible to Arlan, no high doorsteps or small doorways. The shack itself was sweet. Bigger than Duncan and Red’s dorm room that’s for sure. A big bathtub, not big enough for Dunk, but still big, a small shower in the corner with a place to sit. The kitchen was quaint, but plenty enough for two people.
Duncan actually gotten pretty good at preparing things from small produce and the groceries he got while Arlan was training his legs.
Overall it was fun. The only thing that made him anxious was the whole university thing and the prospect of anyone from the mansion visiting.
From Pate and other people who came to the farm he found out that the whole stealing thing was actually more than just stealing. The man who previously worked in the same position as Dunk not only stole necklaces, he stole necklaces from the mansion owner’s dead wife. Lady Baratheon and her wife were a great love according to an older lady who came to gossip sometimes.
It is said that Sybell Baratheon the current leader and head alpha of house Baratheon completely changed after her beta wife Meera died. She became colder, and made her favour towards her younger son Orys well known.
“They are too much alike you see, Lyonel and Sybell. That’s why they can’t manage to be close. The alpha will reject their alpha child even if they are the heir usually. Sad truth of the world. Orys should be glad he hasn’t presented as anything yet, gods save us if there is another Baratheon alpha.”
“I’m very glad that my old man is a beta then.”
“Well he has other problems, for one he’s an old coot.”
“I heard that Joanna! You fucki-“
“Ignore him please, and have a great day. Bye!”