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“Think we should maybe try and make camp somewhere, Dutch. Them clouds are thick and mighty grey.”
Despite the two men having been riding together for close to a week, Dutch was still getting to used to actually having another person with him. Whilst riding, he would find himself drifting off into other thoughts, not of anything in particular, it was just a habit he’d gotten into when going at it alone. Hosea would often let him, enjoying the quiet himself to a degree, two souls used to travelling alone now beside one another for....Well the foreseeable.
There was some odd, unspoken understanding between the two men that had seemed immediate. Even when Dutch had aimed the barrel of his gun against the forehead of the other man, the minute those wizened, hazel eyes, twinkling with defiance and charm had met his own, he’d known he’d never have pulled the trigger. Instead, he had let the man in, allowed him the food he had attempted to steal, and offered him a place to rest.
That first night had been perhaps the most happy and free he had felt in a long time. They had spent the hours smoking, eating, drinking and simply enjoying each others company, something that had surpassed both men for some time. Dutch had sworn he’d almost bust a gut laughing at a ridiculous tale Hosea had been spinning, so much so that he’d had to run off to relieve himself. The entire week had been so different to how he’d gone about doing business before that now he couldn’t see himself without the older, wiley con man by his side. And that was just after a week.
And when the morning had come, and both men had washed, and shaved, and Dutch had given Hosea some fresh clothes, he had realised, perhaps for the first time, that maybe he could also be attracted to men.
When Hosea had emerged, freshly shaven and well dressed, Dutch had looked away almost immediately to hide the rapid blush that had formed on his cheeks. He’d had his suspicions that the man had been handsome despite his messy hair and beard, due to those beautiful eyes of his and how they always seemed to twinkle mischievously. But Dutch hadn’t counted on how handsome his face actually was, the almost perfect point of his nose, his high, chiselled cheekbones that seemed to catch the light so perfectly, his strong, sharp jaw, the slight cleft in his chin and the ever so slight curl at the edge of his lips that made him seem as if there was always a slight smirk there. His golden hair had been neatly parted, but not too neat, the odd rebellious strand poking out here and there. He looked as close to an angel as Dutch could imagine from ancient scriptures, and realised very quickly that if he’d be given the chance to pray to anyone, it would be to this man.
“Dutch?” Hosea called again, raising his eyebrows when the younger man hadn’t responded, tugging on his reigns and pulling his horse to ride alongside the younger man, reaching to nudge his shoulder.
“Yeah! Sorry, damn those clouds formed quick.”
“You’re tellin’ me. We’ll be lucky if we get anything set up in time.”
At that exact moment it seemed, Hosea squinted adorably and wiped at his forehead, quickly lifting his hat from his lap back onto his head as more drops of rain began to descend from the sky.
“We better get a move on, otherwise we is gonna be drenched.”
“Too late to set up camp right now.” Dutch replied, squinting as he gazed ahead, spotting a collection of trees with foliage seeming to be thick enough that it would potentially shelter them, pointing towards them so that Hosea could follow his gaze. “Head towards them there trees, we’ll just have to wait it out.”
Within 5 minutes, the rain had rapidly gotten heavier, nature seemingly intent on soaking both men before they could get to their shelter. Hosea hopped off his horse the minute they had reached the trees, pulling aside branches so that Dutch, their horses and their supplies could get into the safety of the leaves, tugging his hat off and wiping at his now drenched brow.
“Should have made a goddamn arc.”
Dutch rumbled a deep laugh as he leapt off of his horse, taking his hat off and shaking his head, his raven black curls tumbling loose, the rain having soaked in and worked his pomade loose. When he lifted his head, he realised Hosea was looking at him, a brief look passing his eyes before he turned his attention to the horses, starting to pull their supplies from them, busying himself with sorting them out before they sorted themselves. Dutch had seen that look before, but not from Hosea. He’d seen that look in the eyes of the countless women he had flirted with, whether in brothels or in a bar, but not from Hosea. Hosea?
He finally shook himself enough to realise he should probably help, standing alongside the other man to try and dry their horses off and help get their belongings out to set up a make shift camp but he kept getting distracted.
Hosea had at some point taken off his jacket during their ride before the rain had started and hadn’t had time to shove it back on before they had both already become drenched. His white shirt had turned almost see through and was clinging to him in a distracting manner, but Dutch was focused on the fact he was shivering so heavily.
“Hosea, go get a fire started and get yourself warm.”
“Nah, I’m fine. Wanna get the horses sorted.”
“You’re shiverin’.” Dutch replied, reaching out and gently wrapping his fingers around his wrist, feeling his pulse suddenly jump against his fingers when he pulled him to face him. “Please?”
Hosea clenched his jaw briefly as their eyes met before he nodded slowly with a resigned sigh. Dutch grinned, patting his wet hair.
“Good boy.” He immediately started laughing when Hosea aimed a playful kick at his thigh, leaping back to dodge it.
“I ain’t a horse, you delinquent!” Both men seemed content to giggle for a little bit, Dutch sorting both the horses whilst Hosea finally set about trying to make a fire with any dry kindling he could potentially find. After a short while, Dutch was finished with the horses, feeding them both with a treat he had in his pocket, turning to talk to Hosea before he paused, his eyes widening.
“Do you think you have a dry shirt somewhere?” Hosea asked innocently, his back facing Dutch as he attempted to hang his dripping shirt from some branches to dry off, completely unaware of the young man behind him who was staring at him in awe.
His shoulders were narrower than Dutch’s own, but the strength he carried in them was enough to make Dutch’s breath catch in his throat, the sinewy muscles along his back rippling as he moved his arms. When he turned, Dutch felt his cheeks grow even hotter. His waist was almost painfully thin, his hip bones creating the same, sharp angles as his beautiful cheekbones, and his abs were rock solid, barely an ounce of fat present on his strong stomach. The centre of his chest had a light smattering of dark blonde hair, as did the little trail leading down from his belly button, and his relatively pale skin was littered with soft freckles and light scarring, one in particular standing out slightly raised and almost crossing the entirety of his pec. The light from the fire seemed to highlight every hollow and angle of this man’s body, somehow making him look almost dainty and ethereal had the rippling of his muscles not given way to the pure strength he held. When Dutch finally came back to himself, he realised those familiar, hazel eyes were on his, darker than usual, and he had a dark spread of blush across his high cheekbones.
“Uh...Hos- I...I think I have a shirt...s..somewhere in my, uh..”
Before he could finish his sentence, he had found himself already crossing their small camp, reaching out to slide his fingers into Hosea’s damp hair in order to crash their lips together. He heard the soft gasp of surprise from the other man, his mind seeming to blank the minute his warm lips were pressed against his, eagerly pressing forward when he responded. They kissed frantically for what seemed like only seconds before Dutch had realised what he’d just done, tearing himself away from Hosea with such fear in his eyes, his heart pummelling in his chest. What the fuck have you done, Dutch? His head was screaming at him. He’d only known this man a week, and all it had taken was for him to take his shirt for Dutch to lose a battle he was clearly fighting badly.
“I.. i’m so sorry Hosea, I.. I don’t...I...Oh God..” In that moment, he realised how young he seemed, tears beginning to burn at the corners of his eyes as he tensed his fists at his sides. He hated this, he hated not being composed and charismatic as he normally was, he hated seeming like a damn child. He wasn’t a child. “I sh...I shouldn’t have done tha-“
He felt a palm gently press to his cheek and softly force him to look up from where he was staring at the floor, another large palm pressing to his other cheek and found himself gazing into those beautiful, hazel eyes, the light of the fire making them look almost ablaze. Hosea held his face with only a forceful grace that he could manage, his eyes searching Dutch’s softly as he reached up to push back a stray, black curl from his forehead. He then leant closer, brushing the tip of his nose against Dutch’s, nuzzling him reassuringly before he tilted his head to catch his lips again, slowly and gently this time.
Dutch let his eyes flutter shut, the odd rush of comfort and safety filling him as Hosea’s thumbs tenderly smoothed over his cheekbones, his lips warm and soft against his own, comforting as he brought his body closer to Dutch’s. Dutch lifted one hand, letting it rest on the other man’s bare shoulder before sliding up the back of his neck, his fingers twisting into the short strands at the back of his neck. He was convinced this was all some lovely dream, his grip on the other man’s hair keeping him fully rooted to this beautiful reality. After what seemed like an age of their soft kisses, Hosea pulled away, a slightly shy grin on his handsome features as he softly brushed Dutch’s pouty bottom lip
“Was wonderin’ when you’d stop starin’ and get round to actually doin’ summin’.”
Dutch opened and closed his mouth a couple of times like a fish out of water, resulting in the older man dissolving into a wheezy set of giggles.
“I...I wasn’t starin’, I.. I was..I.. “
“Was just, lookin’ respectfully, right?”
“Can you just kiss me again?”
“I think, firstly, we should try gettin’ our camp set, and get warm. My nipples are like chair legs. Don’t lo-“ Hosea started laughing when he realised Dutch’s eyes had immediately travelled to his chest, shoving his shoulder playfully before shivering.
“Come on, Dutch. Get a dry shirt for me, will ya?”
“Need some dry pants too?” Dutch asked with a cheeky grin, laughing and leaping aside when Hosea tossed a stick his way.
“No, I just want a dry shirt and then to set up camp so that I can dry off next to a man who I have become awfully fond of.”
“Oh.” Dutch blushed softly before beginning to look through his belongings as Hosea did the same with his.
Before long, they had set up a singular tent, their bedrolls pushed together like they had done the entire week, only now, Dutch felt more awkward about climbing in beside the other man. Hosea was sat on his bedroll, with a blanket around his shoulders and his eyes closed, looking extremely serene. Dutch lit a cigarette and stood at the edge of the fire, kicking up a bit dirt as he tried to quell the nerves that were beginning to flutter in his stomach, chancing glances across every so often at the handsome man in his tent.
“I don’t bite, yknow.”
“I know. Just don’t really know what this all means.” He replied, glancing down at the flames quietly.
“Don’t have to mean anything. Can just be whatever it is.” Hosea replied softly, as if he could spook the younger man if he spoke too loudly, tilting his head as he regarded him. “Dutch, come sit down.”
Dutch tossed his cigarette into the dirt, crushing it beneath his boot before he made his way over to Hosea and gave him an awkward smile. Hosea rolled his eyes, holding out his hand to gently slide his fingers into Dutch’s, pulling him to sit down on his bedroll before he lifted the blanket to also wrap around the younger man, keeping his arm around his shoulders.
“There’s alotta folks in this world who will tell ya what’s wrong an’ right. But their ain’t nothin’ wrong with this.” Hosea spoke softly, gently rubbing Dutch’s back as he spoke, tilting his head down so that he could catch Dutch’s gaze as the younger man tried to continue looking at the fire instead. “Alright? There ain’t nothin’ wrong with feelin’ like this. Nothin’. And if you wanna forget this happened, we forget it, if you don’t, we move at your pace. I’m happy just to be with you.”
Dutch lifted his eyes slowly, surprised to feel them watering as he met that lovely, hazel gaze again. Hosea’s eyebrows lifted into a sad furrow, lifting his hand to gently press against the side of Dutch’s head so that he could rest onto his shoulder and cradle him there, his other arm reaching around him protectively.
“Don’t you get upset, now.” He spoke softly, tenderly trailing his fingers through Dutch’s soft curls, trying to urge as much comfort and reassurance as he could. “We’ll sleep now, and all will be better by the light of mornin’, yeah?”
“Okay, yeah.” Dutch replied softly, biting his lip before raising his eyebrows as Hosea gently moved them down so that they were lying beside each other. He felt his fingers hold onto Hosea’s wrist as he was guided onto his side, that arm now around his waist from behind. He heard shuffling before he was met with warmth against his back, feeling the other man’s breath against his ear.
“This okay?”
“Y..Yeah.” The younger man replied, settling himself down and relaxing as Hosea gently squeezed him closer to cuddle him, letting out a large sigh he hadn’t been aware he had been holding. Hosea smiled softly to himself, gently resting his cheek against Dutch’s shoulder.
“G’night Dutch. Sleep well.”
“....You too, Hosea.”