She watched as Rickshaw finally made an appearance and walked over to where the bulk of people had been gathering. Isaac was still perched, happily sharing his berries with some guy who'd walked over. She wasn't sure of his name only that he knew Daisy's name and Daisy turned into an absolute mess of tail wags that racked her entire body. Victoria couldn't help but grin about that. When Rickshaw started giving out orders her attention shifted completely to him. Only to be rewarded with.... hunting duty. Not only that, but to have her partner be told to show her how it's done. The amount of self control it took not to wrinkle her nose and roll her eyes should have been admirable.

.

She stuck around long enough to witness the Lapdog (Aiden) giving her a look. What had she done? Ever since Isaac brought her to the camp he'd been giving her glances and not in the good way. Looks that made her reconsider the brothel. Tia did roll her eyes at that and walked towards Willow. The barefooted slaps on dirt told her that Isaac wasn't too far behind her this go around. When was he ever? Tia lead Willow through camp, telling Daisy to stay as she made her way to fins Silver.

.

It was one face that she semi knew and she kind of liked the woman she'd been paired up with. Irish blooded at first glance. You could spot those red locks from a mile away. "Come on, let's get this over with," She said with a small huff, mounting her mare in a swift and practiced movement. "I'd rather not have rabbit again tonight," The dirty blonde said, clucking her tongue for the horse to pick up speed to put some distance between them and camp. The ride was mostly silent, save for the occasional input from Isaac who hadn't been given an assignment. Victoria hadn't been hunting in these woods before. She had heard the creatures in the night though so she was sure they were there. Tia momentarily looked to the sky. With a turn she faced her assigned partner with an expectant expression.

.

He was more than happy to share his berries with Slicker who had approached by greeting Daisy who couldn't have been more happy about the extra attention. "Sure did. Dragged Miss Smith out to help me but all she really did was eat them as we picked," he said, glancing to see if she'd noticed. She didn't. She had her eyes trained on Rickshaw and Aiden as they made their way across to assign people jobs for the day. Isaac listened as each were given jobs to do, ignoring the fact that he hadn't been given one.

.

Tia did though. So he said a quick bye to Slicker and took his berries, following Tia as she went to get Willow. His own gelding followed him across the camp, occasionally (and quite lazily) reaching for a mouthful of grass. Victoria and Silver had been assigned hunting duty. Isaac knew how to hunt, but rather for berries. His brother was more of the meat kind of guys. So as he mounted and followed Tia away from camp, he hoped for the best. Isaac looked at the sky and shook his head, "Eight ten and it looks like it's going to storm," he offered up, brushing it off how Tia looked to the sky but didn't say much else. She'd always been like that though. Chosen what and who and how to listen to people.

.

Drove her adoptive parents mad.

.

Noticing Tia's blank expression, Isaac grinned. "I know deer tracks and I know bears like berries, that's about it," he said, turning his attention to the ground. "If only we had a hunting dog. Instead we have a mutt who cuddles and licks rocks." He said, watching as Tia released a few huffs of laughter. "I say we go for venison though. It's a lot and could even last us a few days if we're careful and find some extra berries and stuff as well. And has anyone checked the rabbit traps lately? You may be tired of it, but I love me some Peter Cottontail."

Lilah Brown | 32 | Member | Mentions: William, Rickshaw, Slicker, open

Lilah contiued to stir the grits but stopped once the strokes became harder. That's when she knew it was done. William came by and greet her, 'Mornin' Lilah.' "Good mornin'," she replied with sleepy smile. Her voice had a southern twang to it with some rasp in the mix. She grabbed the pot and put it on a nearby metal table before grabbing a bowl to eat and sat by the young man. She ate silently as she looked back at William. He looked all dirty already and she was going to say something about that as well as offer him some grits when Rickshaw strutted his way to the fire. He looked to be in a grumpy mood so she just ate and minded her business before he gave the orders. Lilah looked back up at him as he gave everyone orders and she nodded with a smile. She was on horse duty. She looked down at her bowl for a second when he kicked at the fire to bring it down a little. She had forgotten how he was about fires and yes, people could find them if it was bigger and left burning for too long but she had made sure it was small. The grits were good though so she had no regrets.

Now to tend to the horses. Sure, they weren't the best smelling creatures but she enjoyed being around them. She finished up her grits before washing the dishes and cleaning out the pot. Once she was done, she headed to the stables.

By the stalls, Lilah saw William and Slicker, who were both getting ready to head into town, she gave them a nod with a smile before making her way to the supply closet. She grabbed a lead and led every horse, one, sometimes two at a time into the small pasture so she could muck out their stalls as they ate grass. She let every horse outside except for William's and Slicker's. She grabbed a wheelbarrow and shovel before starting to muck out their stalls, the smell was awful but she didn't complain. Once the stalls were clean she put in some new clean hay on the ground, this took a while to do. She wanted to get the hard and gross part out of the way. After she was done she rolled the manure filled wagon out of the barn and added the contents to the pile that was from the previous days.

Lilah climbed up on the fence and sat down to take a short break and breathe in some fresh air. Shiloh, her horse, walked slowly up to her and she stroked his face. "Hey there boy, guess I outta feed ya'll soon. Ain't that right?" Lilah told him before filling the outdoor water trough, horses started coming by to drink. After a while she returned each one into their stalls and locked the gate behind them.

With that Lilah returned to the supply closet; in there was a bucket that she filled with water. She went into each stall and poured the water into their watering toughs. She wasn't afraid to get in there. Some horses were moodier than others, so she would be careful around horses that were known to bite or she wasn't too familar with. She had been bitten before and yeah it hurt but it didn't change how much she loved them. She knew not to stand behind them and to come up to them slowly to avoid scaring them. When she tended to her horse Shiloh, she went into his stall, dodging the manure that was mixed in the hay on the floor. She patted him on his dappled grey back before pouring water for him. He started to drink it as she went out of his stall. Once she was done giving them water, she went and got their food which was mixture of hay and barley.

“Slicker” | 22 | Male | Homosexual | Member

M: Issac (Dir.), Victoria (Dir.), Rickshaw (Dir.), William (Dir.)

Slicker happily giggled as he pet Daisy. Smothering her with gentle kisses, Slicker was too distracted by the lovable dog to even reply to Issac’s inquiries. Small words left his lips such as “fluffy,” “cutie,” and “wigglebutt,” in a giddy, high pitched voice that could be heard at random from having his daily dog time. Daily wagging her whole fluffy, multicolored body. Slicker began to pout instantly as Daisy trotted away to follow her owner—Tori or maybe Tia, was it?— and left Slicker behind.

Slicker could remember when he had a dog. It wasn’t long ago really, maybe only a few years back before he joined Rickshaw and the others. With a black, puffy body, a kissable face with gray hairs, and muddy paws that tracked dirt onto the wooden floors of his family’s rickety house, Boody was the best damn dog Slicker could have asked for. Daisy was a look like Boody, a mutt-like dog bred for these untamed and untapped lands with fur and energy for days. Even in his old age, Boody clung to Slicker's sides through the fields, through the town, and through whatever mischievous Slicker got himself into. Gee whizz, he missed that lunkhead. Such a dumb, lovable, yes, but also very dumb, dog deserved the greatest in the world. Slicker still resented his family and hoped they would burn in Hell for what they did to Boody.

Slicker groaned loudly as he heard Rickshaw’s orders for him. Of course Rickshaw wanted Slicker to go into town. Slicker was not one for making plans, but today was the one time he had something planned. There was a stream nearby and his clothes and hair were in a desperate need for a scrub. Not to mention his sore arms which would absolutely be cured by a day in the stream. He hadn’t told anyone about this either so it would have been a nice break from everyone, but nooooooo Rickshaw just had to send him to town. Worst part was that he was being sent with William. There was nothing wrong with him— in fact, William was a perfectly fine guy in multiple ways of the term— but Slicker was not in the mood to babysit. Slicker was about to flip him off and boo his leader when he heard Issac give Slicker a brief goodbye.

“Issaaaaac, don’t leave me to go do chores!” Slicker whimpered, desperately trying to avoid his duties as he pretended to flop dead on the ground. “I would rather die!” Slicker rolled onto his back, squinting his eyes at the sun. Slicker tried to block out the light for a moment before groaning loudly as he sat up. Slicker boosted himself to his feet and dusted himself off “Fucking fine. I’ll do these stupid, idiotic— oh, Slicker! Go to town on the one day you have important plaaaans!— I can’t believe I have to—!” Slicker kicked at the dirt grumpily before stomping off to his tent, muttering angry swears under his breath as he threw open the flap to his tent and grabbed his gun holster. Slicker poked his head out of the tent, adjusting his belt and scratching his chest as he shot a faint glare William’s way.

“Ain’t you gonna at least wait for me to respond, lunkhead?” Slicker sneered with a tiny scoff, stretching his arms out as he stalked behind William. Slicker continued to act like a whining child until he saw his tiny pony, Snapple.

“Heyyya, girlie,” Slicker mumbled happily as he wrapped his arms around her head. Snapple snorted softly, spawning snot onto his shirt, before rubbing her head into Slicker in desperation to get her head scratched. Slicker chuckled as he rubbed and petted his pony gleefully. “How’s my precious doing?~” Slicker fed her sugar cubes and Snapple ate them up, licking Slicker’s hands for more. Sugar was an expensive luxury and Slicker did not mind paying for them in the slightest for the only horse Slicker could ever ride. Quickly tacked up, Slicker ran his hands soothingly over Snapple at every step of the process. Slicker glared at William as he spoke, still fitting the bridle.

“Gee whizz, does it look like I’m done to yah, pretty boy?” Slicker asked with a huff as he finished the last of the latches. “Honestly, use those eyes of yers before you open yer mouth, ya grind.” Slicker sighed before pulling himself onto his much smaller horse, his eyes threatening murder if William dare bring up how much taller he was on his draft compared to Slicker on Snapple. Slicker pat Snapple after mounting but didn’t take his eyes off William. “Now, I am ready. Ya just have to be patient. Tell me you brought the money to buy supplies.”

William Brant | Male | 19 y/o | Member | Mentions: Slicker (Dir.) Rickshaw (Ind.)

William had to hold back a sigh as he waited for Slicker to finish tacking his pony up, the man was painfully slow. But complaining didn’t seem to make him hurry up so he kept quiet.

“Honestly, use those eyes of yers before you open yer mouth, ya grind.”

The one-eyed man rolled his eye slightly at the comment before pushing a finger inside the empty socket where his left eye should have been and moved it around a bit. He wasn’t ashamed of the fact that he was missing an eye, nor did he care when people said anything about it. Right now though, he was questioning whether he was the half-blind one of the two, it wasn’t exactly something that was easy to miss.

“Use your own damn eyes, you idiot,” he replied, pulling his finger back out and grabbing the reins with his left hand. William turned his head and got ready to finally leave camp now that they were both in the saddle. Just as he was about to click his tongue and urge his horse to start walking, Slicker asked about the money.

He turned his head around and looked at the man on the palomino with a sigh. The brown-haired male stayed quiet for a few seconds, it would be a lie to say that he hadn’t thought about getting the money because he had, but then he’d chosen not to, hoping that Slicker would have done it instead but that seemed to have been to expect too much. If you wanted something done, you always had to do it yourself, he knew this and yet he’d chosen not to, only to have it come back and bite him in the ass.

For a second he considered just not getting the money and robbing the store instead but given how on guard Rickshaw was, and had been the past few days, drawing attention was the last thing they wanted, so he quickly pushed that thought away.

“Can’t believe you’re gonna be slow and expect me to do everything,” William muttered quietly as he got off Scud, quickly walking off to go get the money while muttering about having to do everything himself.

It wasn’t that William was annoyed with Slicker, well a little perhaps, but today was also just a bad day for him. He’d slept poorly, Basia had thrown him, because of a damn rabbit, and he still hadn’t eaten any breakfast! On top of that, he was stuck with a blatherskite like Slicker.

Once the young male had gotten the money for supplies and put it in his satchel he made his way back quickly. He didn’t bother to even glance at Slicker before swinging himself up onto his roan, clicking his tongue once and having the mare start to walk before he was even fully seated in the saddle. William grabbed the reins once more and glanced down at the pair next to him.

“Is that lil pony as slow as you? Because if so then I hope you enjoy the view of my back, I ain’t gonna hold Scud back and wait for you, this’ll take all day then,” he told the other male, once more, not waiting for him to reply before clicking his tongue again and having his mare start trotting.

Despite what William had told Slicker, he did ride slightly slower with his seat, making it so that Scud shortened her steps and moved at a slower pace than what she usually would. Her rider kept his eye on the palomino, watching if it could keep up. If Slicker and his horse couldn’t keep up at this pace then he would actually follow through with what he’d said and leave them behind but part of him also knew that it wasn’t Slicker’s fault that he was in a bad mood so he couldn’t be too cold towards him. He did at least have to try and get along with him, who knows, maybe he wasn’t that annoying of a person after all?

“Slicker” | 22 | Male | Homosexual | Member

M: William (Dir.) + Rickshaw (Ind.)

“Yuh knew what I fuckin’ meant.” Slicker huffed, cringing a bit as he watched the man before him stuff his finger into his eye socket. Slicker was not the kind of guy to be squeamish around a lot of things, but just the sight of William having his finger in his eye socket gave Slicker the shivers. It reminded him all too much of a bad memory… one he wished he could have forgotten. “You didn’t hav’ ta do that either… and you’re getting me all jiggy so cut it out.”

Slicker bit his lip as William hesitated to speak, waiting in silence for William’s answer to the question of money as he arched an eyebrow. William stared at him and Slicker stared back. The silence was growing awkward at this point. Slicker began to smirk as William just continued to silently stare, opening his mouth to make a sly comment until William actually responded.

“Gee, well did you think that for maybe just a second I wasn’t tryin’ to make you do— I wasn’t even— I was just askin’ if yah had money, dammit!” Slicker shot back, cupping his hands to his mouth as he called after William who was already stomping away. Slicker watched him go for a moment before groaning as he pet Snapple with a grumble. “Why do I even try with a man like him?” Snapple snorted, turning her head so that her muzzle nearly touched Slicker’s boots as Slicker scratched her face. “I know! He’s such a thoughtless windbag. Rickshaw must have a screw loose for pairing me with him.” Slicker huffed, taking his hat off to comb a hand through his hair. “I wonder who shoved a stick so far up his ass this morning.”

Slicker quickly silenced himself as he saw William approaching.

“Finally you’re doooone,” Slicker spoke in a mocking tone in an attempt to mimic William earlier with a teasing chuckle. Slicker smoothed his hair out of his face and placed his hat back on his head. Slicker gently tapped his heels against Snapple’s side, smiling as the tiny pony instant waddled forward.

Slicker’s smile instantly fell as William commented on his pony.

“Oh, I see how it is.” Slicker snickered despite his expression being dark. Although William’s words were not flat out insults, anyone saying harsh words to his pony would get the same thing back twice fold. “You think that Snapple— the gang’s fastest horse— is going to slow you down?” Slicker laughed. “Wow, I know you are trying to claw at any way to come back at me with another weak insult of yours, but this is a new low for you, Willie. All I am saying is, if you’re going to try to be crafty and flirty with our little back and forth and back and forth we have going—” Slicker gave a soft clucking sound before Snapple sprung into a trot, easily passing Scud and then some all while flipping William off with the sly, cat-like grin of a man on his way to gleefully commit arson and chaos— “at least make correct insults!”

While William was in a bad mood, Slicker knew for a fact that he was not making it any better.

*~*~*

After easily beating William to town, Slicker dismounted Snapple proudly and shot a smug glance at William; meanwhile, richer folk we being towed around in the back of their Victoria carriages in their razzmatazz hats, kids rushed about with loud laughs and giggles as a bony gray dog followed after them at their heels with excited yips and barks, and the sound of an old piano that poured from the saloon filled the dusty streets. Openshaw was always such a delight to be in for Slicker. As he observed the town with the reins of Snapple in his hands, he could see five men huddled around a table. Two of them had pale white skin that seemed to have spent little to no time working in the sun with their neatly pressed suits and perfectly twirled mustaches, the other two were drunker than Stefan sipping schnapps and snoozing on Sunday, and the final was a cocky skunk who was winning all their money.

Those five would make for the perfect opportunity for Slicker to earn more than one simileon.

“Hey, pretty boy,” Slicker called to William as he strutted over to him wrapping an arm around his waist, “why don’tcha go be a good little boy and run the errands for us, eh?~ You do all the work and take care of our horses, and in retuuuuurn I will make us a little cha-ching!” Slicker chuckled, not waiting for an answer as he dipped his hands into William’s satchel and pulled out the cash before slipping away from William. Slicker hummed before splitting the cash and shoving half of the original bounty into William’s chest all while getting uncomfortably close to his face. “How about you hold up your end of the bargain now, ‘kay?” Slicker giggled, poking his nose before spinning on his heels and walking away with a smirk. “Have fuuuuun!~”

For a few minutes, Slicker watched over to the five men playing poker, leaning against the side of the saloon as they played. The drunk men did not even acknowledge or notice Slicker, one being so drunk to the point of him passing out on the table; however, the rich men took worried glances to Slicker as if begging him for help to win the game. The man farthest from Slicker puffed a fat cigar, his overconfidence present on his sleeves. As soon as the round was over, the man who seemed to have been winning most of the money gave a cocky grin as his eyes flicked to Slicker.

“You gonna watch us play all day?” The man asked coyly, taking the cigar from his teeth as he eyed Slicker up and down.

“I don’t know… I’m not exactly good at playing cards,” Slicker replied, lying through his teeth as he made an innocent expression. “Gee whizz, I guess playing one round won’t hurt, huh?” Slicker gave a light shove to the drunk man in the stool, watching him tip over and spill onto the floor before taking his seat at the table. A wicked smirk appeared on Slicker’s face. “Deal me in will ya?”

Vera | 26 | Female | Heterosexual | Member

M: Lotte (Dir.), Aiden (Dir), Rickshaw (Ind.), + Nawaji (Ind.)

Vera had been a part of the gang long enough to have become close friends with Slicker; however, she had made very few companions outside of him.

Even though Vera frequently hovered around Lotte while she cooked, always trying to see if she could be useful, as soon as Rickshaw gave her a task, Lotte wordlessly avoided Vera, giving no acknowledgement of her presence. Vera’s shoulders slumped as her eyes trailed to the ground and she scratched nervously at the burn scars that clawed up her neck like wounds from a beast. Involuntarily, she dug her nails into her neck until a beaming smile returned to her lips. Vera knew what she could do! Vera could help by gathering supplies for Lotte to cook. Yes, that was a brilliant idea! Vera looked around for a moment before pausing.

Vera had no idea what Lotte needs in order to make breakfast.

“Is okay, it is okay!” Vera mumbled to herself as she paced a little. “If I were Lotte, what would I need for breakfast??”

Vera continued to ponder over this idea for a moment. Maybe she could get pots and pans? Even after all this time she had spent in camp and with the rest of the gang, she had no idea where they kept the cooking equipment. Honestly, Vera had no idea where anything was in camp because she just followed Lotte or Slicker or whoever else around and paid little attention to the things she did unless she was told to do so. Maybe she could ask someone where all the pot and pans are? Well there was… Stefan?

Vera glanced at Stefan and narrowed her eyes.

No. There was no way Vera would ask him for help. Stefan was way too drunk or too hungover or both. Even at a distance, Stefan reeked the smell of alcohol. He’d be about as helpful as a chicken with their head cut off.

What about Nawaji?

Nawaji seemed to be preparing meat so Vera didn’t want to bother her. Maybe Nawaji was helping to make breakfast for everyone so annoying her would be unhelpful. If she wanted to help Lotte make breakfast, she would just be a hindrance by interrupting Nawaji if she helped.

Well, Aiden is usually very helpful?

While Aiden was currently speaking with Rickshaw, Vera was determined to ask for his help. He definitely had to know where the pots and pans were. Vera shuffled over the tent where she had seen Aiden enter before and waited patiently for him to exit, picking at her scars and fidgeting with her bandanna.

Roxie Sweet | 24 | Female | Newcomer | Mentions: Ollie (Dir.)

-

“Are we there yet?”

Those same annoying words she had heard all day, and the day before that, and the day before that.

Roxie turned her head and narrowed her eyes angrily, looking back at her horse that was now trotting up beside her, a man riding on top.

“No, we aren’t Ollie. Be more patient. We could have been there two days ago but all you’ve done is complain.”

“Shut up Roxie, you know this shit hurts. Ain’t my fault I’m like this right now.”

She sighed and looked up at the man, who was plastered in bandages, looking quite pissed. It had only been two weeks since he’d gotten the injuries, and she could tell they were obviously very painful, but they had been holding the two up a lot. A one day trip from PurePoint to Openshaw turned into three days, having to take a lot of breaks to allow Ollie to rest, even though he’d hardly walked.

Roxie had gotten tired of his complaining and tried to walk ahead of them, but her horse Bessie wouldn’t let her go too far. The feisty mare didn’t seem to appreciate Ollie’s grumbling either, and Roxie could see why.

They’d been heading to Openshaw in hopes of finding something new to do since they’d technically retired from their old job. She was just glad they were almost there since she would finally be free from Ollie for a while. Stupidly, it was Ollie that insisted they go to Openshaw, even though he was badly wounded.

“What are you even going to do when we get to Openshaw?” Roxie asked. “You're practically useless right now.”

“I can still walk, I still have both my legs. Can’t say the same for my eyes, but I can at least try.”

“Yeah right, you ain’t doing shit. If you pass out somewhere I ain’t coming to save you. At least take Gwynn with you if you want to go places.” Roxie looked back at the two dogs that trailed behind them. A smaller mutt, and a large border collie. Maggie and Gywnn were two good dogs, Maggie being Roxie’s and Gwynn being Ollie’s.

Roxie then looked back in front of her, a familiar line of trees appearing in her vision. “Haha, finally! We’re almost there Ollie, we’ll be free from this Hell soon!”

“Thank god, that was rough.” The man sighed impatiently.

“It surely was.” Roxie chuckled. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

-

Ollie Bright | 31 | Male| Newcomer | Mentions: Roxie (Dir.)

-

Ollie sighed with relief as they got through the trees. He could see Openshaw over the hills, and was glad they were finally there after having to camp two days in the snow-covered Deadrise Mountains.

Roxie hopped back on top of Bessie, and clicked her tongue. The horse took them down the hill and towards the town, their dogs running behind them.

When they entered, children were running around, men doing their work, and women going about their day, shopping and doing chores. Roxie hitched Bessie on a post outside the local saloon.

Ollie tried getting off the horse on his own, but ended up having Roxie help him down. “Thank you.” He frowned, wishing his wounds would heal much faster. He had bandages covering his whole back, but you couldn’t see them through his shirt. Though he did have a few bandages on his arms, and around his neck. He also had a wrap around his right eye, covering it since he’d recently lost it, like the rest of his injuries.

“I’ll give you five dollars to go and spend on whatever you want, but use it wisely. I’ll use the other five to go buy food or something.” Roxie said, handing him a few dollars.

“Alright. I’ll just go to the saloon then.” He replied.
“But you don’t drink? What are you going to do there?” The red-head questioned him.

“I don’t know. Look for jobs, buy something to eat. I’ll figure it out when I’m in there.” he answered. Ollie turned to his dog Gwynn, a mostly white, but also pale yellow and black spotted Border Collie, and patted her on the head. She barked happily, and stood protectively, her floppy ears alert for sounds of danger. “I don’t know if they would allow her in the bar.”

“Honestly, with the way you are now I think you’d be perfectly fine taking her in. You're a bit ragged looking.” Roxie said, picking up her dog Maggie, who nuzzled her neck.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll just bring her with me then.” He replied sarcastically.

“Be good Bessie.” Roxie smiled, taking an apple out of her bag and giving it to the mare. Bessie took the apple gingerly from her hand and started chewing on it.

Roxie slipped her own money in her pocket and said goodbye to Ollie before running off, her small brown mutt, Maggie, in her arms.

Ollie waved her goodbye before heading to the doors of the saloon with Gwynn bounding merrily next to him.

He pushed open the doors and walked inside, looking around. Several tables dotted the room, and he didn’t really know where to go. Drunks sat at one table, a group of older folks sat at another. He didn’t really see an open table, even though it was so early in the morning. Some people sat eating breakfast by themselves, or with friends. A game of Poker was going on at the other end of the bar. Going to saloons by himself always gave him an uneasy, unwelcoming feeling. Though he was glad he had Gwynn with him. The big-eyed Border Collie wagged her tail and nudged his leg with her nose.

Ollie pet her on the head, continuing to look around at the tables, hoping he could find something to do.

William Brant | Male | 19 y/o | Member | Mentions: Slicker (Dir.) Roxie (Dir.)

A soft smirk formed on the man’s lips when he saw how Slicker reacted at him commenting on the speed of his horse. “You should have told me all I had to do was say somethin’ bout your pony to hurry you up,” William called as he watched the man flip him off while passing him and Scud easily, rolling his eye slightly at how childish the man was.

Scud wasn’t fast, she was faster than most drafts but she was no race horse. Basia, being a thoroughbred, would probably have been able to keep up with the palomino better but he would have also run the risk of being thrown into the nearest tree, again. The brown-haired man sat calmly on his mare, allowing her to fall into a canter and pursue Snapple and Slicker. While her speed was nothing to brag about, she had the most amazing gaits and William could just sit down and follow her movements comfortably, watching Slicker on his horse in front of them.

*~*~*

Once the pair had reached town, William quickly dismounted, keeping his head down slightly as he led his mare over to a hitching post and giving her a pat on her neck. He turned around to look at Slicker when he heard his voice. His face flushing red when he felt the other man’s arm wrapping around his waist. The act caught him so off-guard that he couldn’t even find the words to tell him off, instead he stood staring at Slicker with an open mouth as he spoke.

“H-hey! What are y-“ William quickly started when the man snagged the money out of his satchel, however, he got quiet again just as quickly when Slicker pushed half of it into William’s chest and his face close to William’s own. The male blushed even harder as he nodded slowly, simply just agreeing to what Slicker had said.

For a few seconds the one-eyed man stood still, staring after Slicker as he proceeded what had just gone down and tried to regain himself. What was going on in the head of that man? It was one thing to fool around and joke like that in camp, there people knew what he was like, but in the middle of town?!

“How the hell is a fool like you not dead yet?!” He finally called out after Slicker, shaking his head a bit before glancing around. He noticed some kids staring, now if it was because of the little show Slicker had just put up or because William's lack of an eye was hard to tell, possibly a mix of both. Whatever their reason was, William didn’t like them staring so he glared at the kids, causing them to quickly look away and start whispering to each other.

The young man looked over at Snapple, grabbing the reins of the pony and tying him next to Scud who pinned her ears slightly and swished her tail as she looked at the other horse, threatening him not to get too close. With a sigh, William pulled an apple out of his satchel, grabbing the hunting knife from his belt and cutting it in half, handing one half each to the two horses. “It’s my last one so you two gotta share,” he mumbled, putting his knife back before scratching the palomino’s head, “Lord knows you deserve it for being able to stand that cra- Scud!”

The roan had grabbed hold of his shirt with her teeth and jerked him back before quickly letting go when her rider raised his voice at her as he turned and looked up at her. “You can’t be jealous that I’m talkin’ to another horse,” he muttered as he scratched her head a bit, “You two be good now!” He then told them as he started walking away.

It was of course annoying that Slicker left him to do all the work while he went and had fun but at the same time, it worked out pretty great for him. William needed to go to the post office, or rather, he wanted to go to the post office, and he definitely didn’t want to drag Slicker along on that. As he walked, he kept his head down ever so slightly, the man should be used to it by now, but he wasn’t, the way people would gawk at him just because he was missing an eye. It was usually worse around kids and richer folk who weren’t even used to seeing blood, and it was bothersome.

Pushing the door to the post office open, he looked up, getting eye contact with the man behind the counter. It wasn’t his first time at the post office so as he walked over to the counter, he saw the man turn around to look for his mail. William leaned on the counter while waiting for a brief moment before being presented with a letter which he grabbed with a slight nod. “Thanks Hank, I’ll see you soon again.” The two men said their goodbyes before the younger one of them left the post office once more, putting the letter in his satchel to read later.

He started off towards the general store, making a quick stop by the horses to check up on how they were doing and to grab Scud’s saddle bag to put everything in. The brunet hung it over his shoulder as he continued towards the store. To say that he was a fan of having to go out and buy supplies would be false as he always struggled with what to get but like always, he would just have to figure things out it seemed, especially since Slicker ditched him.

He walked into the store, greeting the clerk with a nod before he started grabbing what he thought was necessary, canned foods, coffee, some vegetables and so on. When he went to grab some apples for his own horses though, he bumped into something, causing him to quickly turn his head to see what, or who, it had been that he’d bumped into. William was slightly surprised to be met with the sight of a taller woman with red hair and bright blue eyes, a rare combination that he’d never seen before.

“Excuse me ma’am,” he mumbled, just about to turn his head away again when he noticed the dog that the stranger had and a bright smile formed on his face. “Hello there, aren’t you a cute one?” The young man looked at the dog’s owner again before asking, “Is it friendly?” Animals had always been a weakness of his so when he was present with the cute-looking brown dog, he of course wanted to pet it but he’d rather not get bit doing so.