Mud and Gold [Arthur Morgan] [RDR2]

➵ chapter vi

The peaceful moment he found himself cherishing dearly was short lived, much to his dismay.

The weight of her head lifting off of his shoulder carefully snapped Arthur out of his entranced state, feeling her warmth fading as her body moved away from him just a tad, but enough for him to notice the sudden, and subtle chill that hit him in the shoulder, and arm. 

He quickly turned his head towards her, his eyes trained on her figure as she awkwardly sat up. She tightly wrapped her hands around the tin cup as she placed them on her lap, her eyes fixated on the thin line of steam erupting from inside the container.

"Sorry," she mumbled, smiling bashfully at him, allowed him only a few seconds to see her blushing face before she turned it away. "Um... Thank you for the, uh, coffee... Again."

Arthur couldn't quite explain what had happened, but after a few seconds of pondering, he got to the conclusion that she must've realized how close they both had been just until then. Even after everything they had gone through together already, she still acted so timidly around him. It was adorable, that he thought.

And he couldn't help but chuckle at her shyness. "No problem."

A somewhat comfortable silence fell upon them as they both went to sip from their cups. He watched her all the time, how she brought the brim of the cup to her rosy lips, and sipped quietly the warm drink. She licked her lips quickly, clearing her throat softly, and Arthur caught the sight of a small smile tugging at her lips before she looked away—she had probably noticed his attentive stare.

He smirked briefly at her reaction as he stood up, content with how everything had turned out. Now that he knew (y/n) was completely fine, he could go on without worrying too much.

"Glad to know you're okay," he spoke quietly. "Ya should rest some more, though. Jus' in case."

(y/n) met his gaze then. She looked up at him, and flashed him a sweet smile. "Okay," she nodded, shyly looking away.

Arthur chuckled lowly before he turned to leave the tent, feeling quite satisfied.

There was something about this beautiful girl that drew him in, as if invisible strings pulled him toward her. Maybe her smile, or her timid mien, or the way her eyes sparkled when she was excited, or curious. Arthur found himself adoring all these small details, these small things that made her so unique in a way. He wanted to see more of her, to be the one that could know her like no other—yet, that implied a lot more than the cowboy allowed himself to have, or give.

Arthur pushed those thoughts aside, and reminded himself that he could only admire her from afar. He had promised himself he'd not make the same mistake a third time—not only for his sake, but for hers as well.

Only then did he notice he still continued standing right by (y/n)'s tent. He had not moved since he had closed the canvas behind him, leaving her alone in there. Thinking about her had made him lose himself in his own chaotic mind.

The outlaw shook his head, and focused back on reality; many things had to be done.

- ━━━━━━ ↼♔⇀ ━━━━━━ -

Time seemed to fly, though that wasn't new to Arthur.

He had left the camp to hunt something for Pearson, not only to bring something to eat for the gang, but also to help himself clear his head. He did lose track of time, however, and arrived back at camp as the sun began to set.