assassinwithahairpin | (no subject)

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Texas was blistering hot, in a way that Park Bokyung had never known in Korea or in western Washington. He'd been traveling for four days, exhaustion starting to set in. The horse he had was a skinny thing--bought from an Arapaho tradesmen when he'd crossed through Colorado for more than Bokyung had really been able to spare, but it was a resilient thing. He could commiserate with that.

He came into a small town, unsure what it was called or where he was on the map. It didn't really matter. He wasn't near enough the Rio Grande to really orient himself. Just passing through scrub and sand and a hundred miles of blue skies in every direction.

People were staring. Bokyung was used to that, and so he paid it no real mind. He approached the boarding house and left his little Arapaho mustang at the post as he went in and inquired for room. The matron at the front said there was none but to try and saloon, as it might be more to his style. He highly doubted that, but unhitched his horse and went over to the saloon instead.

It was an effort to ignore the stares. Hadn't any of these men ever seen an Oriental before? There were rail tracks laid not too far from here--he knew from crossing them--which meant they must have seen some variety at some point. Unless it was a rare track laid by Irish and Germans. But Bokyung doubted that.

The music in the saloon did not stop when he stepped in. Nothing did. That was certainly preferable.

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He looked over at Bokyung and huffed a quiet laugh. "Go to sleep," he said. "I'll stay up a bit. I wake easy, anyway."

Granted, that tended to depend on the night, but Bokyung didn't need to worry about that. Goodnight was less worried about being eaten and more worried about being robbed.

"I'm fine," Bokyung assured. He huddled his arms around his knees and ducked his head briefly to smother a yawn. In an hour or two, the exhaustion would fade, and he'd be fine. He just needed to push through. Then, he could sleep an hour or so before they left camp, and be competent enough for riding.

"Go to sleep," he insisted gently, accent a bit heavier. "You'll be alright. Ain't anything gonna happen in the night." But he'd seen men riding tired and he really didn't want to witness Bokyung falling out of the saddle and landing on a rock.

Bokyung grumbled softly, but settled back against his saddle a little more. It didn't take much time at all before he was dozing lightly.

Goodnight stayed up for a while, watching the fire and listening to the soothing sound of the horses nearby. Within a couple hours he had drifted off, slumped down against his saddle.

At least it was a quiet night for him, relatively still and silent. It was the early hours of the morning when he stirred again, woken up by the chill.

Bokyung was still curled up against his saddle. He was shivering slightly, tucked only into his clothes with no additional blanket or anything.

Goodnight got up as quietly as he could and draped his top blanket over Bokyung. Yeah they were going to have to see to that. Nights were only gonna get colder, even if they were sticking to the south.

That done, he worked on building the fire back up. Maybe coffee and breakfast would help. And maybe he kept looking at Bokyung... just to make sure the shivering subsided.

The shivering did die down, and though Bokyung didn't rouse, he was awake. He laid there, watching Goodnight through mostly closed eyelashes, still trying to figure out what the play was here. There was no reason for Goodnight to be taking him in like this, unless he intended to turn him over for the bounty and keep it for himself. Bokyung found he would not blame him. But he did wish that Goodnight would stop acting like this was anything other than bringing him in.

While the coffee brewed Goodnight checked on the horses. He untethered both of them to bring them down to the river to drink. He was hoping they'd hit a town or something before the end of the day. At this rate he'd take a few half-finished buildings in the middle of a plain. But he needed to restock - he'd missed his chance skipping town so quickly with Bokyung, but he didn't need people getting curious.

He was also starting to work through what exactly he needed to do to pull this off without a hitch. He might need to call in a favor or two, but it'd be worth it. He didn't want to kill this man, nor did he want to actually turn him in. So they'd have to get creative.

Goodnight was startled out his thoughts when his horse lifted her head and promptly dropped water all down his neck, which prompted a shove and a string of cussing in Cajun French. The mare did not seem remotely perturbed.

Under the blanket that Goodnight had flung on him, Bokyung snorted at Goodnight swearing and rustling about down by the creek. He was far enough away that his quiet laughter was only for himself. He couldn't understand the words that Goodnight was saying, but he understood the tone well enough.

There was no putting off getting up now. He slid off the blanket and folded it, and then headed for the trees to take a piss while Goodnight kept swearing at his horse.

Goodnight came back up the small ridge in time to see Billy coming back from the trees. He returned the horses to their scant grazing, still grumbling about his wet shoulder.

"There's coffee, and breakfast is probably done," he said to Billy.

Bokyung held up the small tin cup he was holding in both hand, signaling that he had, in fact, found the coffee. It tasted like dirt. No, dirt tasted like things. This just tasted a bit like misery.

He nodded and promptly sat down on the edge of his bedroll. He wasn't quite awake yet, and maybe the coffee wasn't much but it was at least as good as a punch in the face to get the blood moving.

"I should warn you I'm not much of a morning person."

Bokyung shrugged, and continued to sip the misery-coffee. He was often simply ready to go. He had to be. So the extended time around the campfire was a bit strange to him. But he didn't know where they were going, what the plan was. He couldn't get them going when he wasn't the one taking the lead here.

Goodnight eventually served up breakfast and ate quietly; for a moment it seemed like he could well go back to sleep where he was. Once they'd eaten and the morning chill had burned off, he got up to clean their dishes. "Kick out the fire, will you? Let's get moving."

His aim was west, to California; but he was hoping they would hit a town before the end of this day. Tacking up the horses was a quiet affair for him, as much of the morning had been.

Bokyung was much more relaxed in the quiet. He ate, dealt with the fire while Goodnight washed the pots and dishes clean, and then tacked up his little Arapaho mustang.

He was much swifter about it than Goodnight, likely due to having much less complicated tack and no extra accessories--bedroll, camp gear, and that sort of thing. He sat astride his horse, staring at the horn of his saddle.

Goodnight was quiet through the morning, only perking up once the sun was higher. Not quite noon, but certainly not early anymore. "Do you cook at all?" he asked, breaking the long stretch of (perhaps companionable) silence.

They were back to speaking. Bokyung was going to miss the quiet. "Better than you," he said mildly, still looking down at his saddle.

He huffed a laugh. "Well alright then. That's your job, now. We'll restock when we hit the next town and see what you got."

Bokyung bobbed his head in ascension, because there was no point in any objections. He didn't care, either way. It was simply a fact. And if they managed to get something beside salt pork and biscuits and beans, he would definitely do better. There was only so much you could do with those three.

Goodnight became his more talkative self as the day went on. He talked about books he read, recited poems he could remember, and just generally filled the silence before succumbing to it again. And when he was quiet, he seemed... alright. He didn't attempt to prod Billy into conversation if there was a lull; maybe he'd just accepted his traveling companion's silence.

They passed other riders at some point in the day - not close, and Goodnight was fine with keeping his distance. But it was a good sign, like seagulls.

"We might actually get beds tonight."

As other riders began to appear, Billy actually started to perk, a little. He didn't look at anyone directly, in case there were other people like Goodnight looking for someone with his face--or who just didn't like his face--but he put on a look of confidence that seemed to fill out his oversized riding coat.

"I'd ride until we did," Billy said, nodding a little.

"Well look who showed up," he chuckled, taking a good look at Bokyung as he sat up, looked a little more lively. "You wanna pick up the pace and see what we find?" Goodnight had kept them at an easy-but-ground-eating pace all day, letting the horses rest as much as they could. They could stand a little run.

Bokyung looked at Goodnight, then at his horse. Then, without a single word or warning, he dug his heels in against the mustang's sides and let the horse leap forward from a long walk into a speed, ground-chewing canter. They rode well, for all he was exhausted and the horse was thin. And, maybe, he was teasing a little bit.

"Oh I see how it is," he said to thin air before he nudged his mare to catch up with the little mustang. The ground was flat, enough that he felt safe letting her have her head. And maybe he stole glances at Bokyung as he rode; at least he had the pretense of trying to beat him, even if they had no destination.

Still, he pulled his mare up after a mile or so - Goodnight would rather not walk to town if she got tired before then.