Hosea Matthews X Female Reader
Request: You meet Hosea for the first time. Hosea tries to scam you but you're only pretending to fall for it because you like him and want to tease this stranger.
Word Count: 2480
You walked into the high class saloon, smoothing out the skirt of your expensive dress. This wasn't your usual attire but it helped you look like you belonged in places like this. You are a con-woman and a thief, you had to look the part if you wanted to get people to trust you. You glanced around the room and saw a few tables filled with well dressed men playing poker, a few men sat at the bar, other men sat around tables drinking and talking, other men were talking with some women over by the stairs.
You walked further into the busy room and headed towards the bar, you took a seat at the end of the bar and observed the room. The bartender walked over to you and you ordered a drink with a polite smile, returning your attention back to the room when he walked away. You thanked the bartender for placing your drink down in front of you before you glanced over to the door of the saloon.
Two men walked into the saloon and looked around, much like the way you did when you first entered. Your interested peaked when you saw them look at you, they hadn't noticed that you were able to see them and that you were watching them. Both men were well dressed, one had slick black hair and the other man was a little older with short greying hair.
They were talking to each other and seemed to be arguing about something. The black haired man gestured towards you, obviously forgetting that he was meant to be being subtle. The older man shook his head and seemed to be talking in a calmer manner than the other man. The black haired man sighed and rolled his eyes before giving up, he nodded before walking over to the bar. The black haired man sat on the far end of the bar, as far from you as you could sit.
You turned your attention to your drink as the older gentleman approached you. You took a sip from your glass and pretended to just spare him a quick glance. For somebody rather quite older than you, he was very attractive. He had a kind look in his eyes and a face that you could trust, of course you didn't fall for any of that. As soon as the pair walked in you knew that they were up to something. The man leaning against the bar beside you as he ordered a drink for himself, he kept to himself as the bartender placed his drink down in front of him. The man thanked and paid the bartender before taking a sip of his drink.
"Excuse me, Miss" the man finally spoke. He pushed himself off of the bar and turned to you with a kind smile. You smiled back at him, trying not to look too sympathetic since he had definitely chosen the wrong person to talk to this afternoon.
"Yes?" you asked as you looked up at him, keeping a polite smile on your face.
"I don't mean to bother you but...do you know this area well?" the man asked, obviously pretending to be hesitant to 'bother' you.
"I do" you lied as you nodded at him, your smile never fading.
"You see, I'm looking for my friend. I know that he came here but I can't seem to find him" he explained, his facial expression saddening for a moment.
"Is your friend over there looking for him as well?" you asked, gesturing towards the dark haired man at the other end of the bar.
"Oh yes, well he says he is. I will be honest with you Miss, he isn't much help" the older man shook his head with a sigh. You gave him a sympathetic look, as if you were actually buying any of this.
"Well, perhaps I will be able to help. You seem like an honest man so I will do my best to be of use. What does your friend look like?" you asked, resting your elbow on the bar and leaning towards him with a look of sympathy and interest on your face. He seemed to be buying you act even if he wasn't buying yours.
"Short, dirty blonde hair. Only a little taller than me. He hasn't got many distinguishing features but he would certainly look out of place around here" the man described his friend and you held back a small laugh, that could describe many men in town.
"You seem to fit in just fine. If you don't mind me asking, how are you friends with somebody who looks like they don't belong?" you asked, raising an eyebrow. You weren't sure how deep his fake story went and you were ready to subtly pick holes in it, hoping to make him stumble.
"You meet some interesting characters when you travel, Miss" he assured you, smiling politely.
"So you're a traveller? Fascinating" you hummed as you twirled a strand of your hair around your finger.
The man opened his mouth to speak but before any words could leave him, his friend at the other end of the bar smashed a bottle against the bar. Everyone turned to look at the dark haired men as he clumsily stood from his bar stool. You and the man beside you watched his friend as he began arguing with the bartender. His speak was slurred and he was stumbling slightly but you had a feeling that it was fake. You had to applaud the pair on their acting skills, unfortunately you were just too experienced in this area. You kept a straight face as the dark haired man was escorted out of the saloon.
The man beside you sighed and shook his head. "It seems that I will be continuing my search alone" he sighed as he looked down at the bar.
You weren't sure if this was part of the act or the plan they used to cancel their scams, either way you weren't letting him get away that easy. You didn't even know this man's name but you liked him and you enjoyed messing with him. "I could accompany you if you'd like...I wouldn't mind helping you look for your friend" you smiled, taking on the role of the helpful stranger.
"I appreciate that, Miss. If you will be spending your afternoon with me I suppose you should know my name, Hosea Matthews" the man finally introduced himself and something within you knew that he was telling you his real name. He held his hand out for you to shake.
"Y/N L/N" you smiled, telling him your name, as you shook his hand.
You stood from the bar and Hosea offered you his arm, like a real gentleman, but you declined the offer before you both walked out of the saloon. You didn't want to take his arm because you didn't what to let your guard down or get close enough to him for him to pickpocket you. You knew why he had approached you. You were dressed in a way that would have anyone believing that you were wealthy enough to be carrying a large sum of money with you. You also assumed that they saw a young wealthy woman and thought she would be easy to fool, it wouldn't surprise you since that was one of the personas you would put on to pull of your own scams.
You had planned to make some money tonight with a con of your own but this seemed like much more fun. You knew that Hosea was trying to work a con on you but something about him drew you in anyway.
"What would your friend be doing somewhere like this? Y'know, because he doesn't belong" you asked, referring to how he had described his lost friend earlier.
"I believe he had some business in town" Hosea explained to you and you just nodded.
"Well that sounds rather...shady, but I'm sure you are already aware of that" you laughed softly, hoping that he wouldn't think about what you were implying too much.
"...yes, I suppose" he nodded with a soft hum, he noticed him glance at you but he seemed to brush it off.
"If your friend is in town on some...shady business, I don't think we are going to find him on the main street" you pointed out as you both continued to walk along the main street of the town. You hadn't been in this town much but you had already visited the backstreets were questionable people went about their questionable business.
"You know where we might find him?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at you. Hosea had definitely noticed that you weren't what he expected. You knew where illegal business in the town took place and you didn't seem to be even slightly bothered about showing him the way, Hosea definitely had his suspicions about you.
"I might" you winked at the older man before taking a turn and beginning to walk down a dimly lit alleyway between two buildings. At that point Hosea knew that you weren't the type of woman that he and Dutch had expected you to be. You seemed very comfortable with disappearing into a secluded area with a man you had only just met.
Hosea was suspicious of you but he was genuinely intrigued by you, you weren't what you seemed and he wanted to find out more. He glanced around to see if Dutch was anywhere near by. He saw Dutch on the other side of the street watching you both, they nodded at each other before the older man followed you into the alleyway.
"So, who was your friend in the saloon?" you asked casually, still making sure to keep a safe distance between you and Hosea. You weren't going to let him steal from you now.
"His name is Dutch. Like I said earlier, he was meant to be helping me but I guess a bar is just too tempting to him" Hosea explained, and you were still sure that he was lying to you but you never mentioned it.
"Yes, I have known a few men like that" you nodded, trying to keep the conversation somewhat friendly to convince him that you were falling for it. You knew that he would figure out that you were acting eventually, he seemed like a rather intelligent man. "Your friend, the one you came here looking for, are you sure he is worth the effort?" you asked, raising an eyebrow at him but still smiling politely.
"I am certain of it" he nodded. There was a strange amount of sincerity in his voice that made you wonder if his imaginary friend was based on a real man he knew.
"You seem to be the only one looking for him" you hummed, turning your attention way from him as you approached the end of the alleyway.
"We all need somebody to look for us at one point or another" Hosea shrugged, making you smile slightly. "Who's looking for you?" he asked, catching you off guard slightly.
"Excuse me?...nobody is looking for me, I am not lost" you assured him, looking back at him with a furrowed brow.
You were about to step out of the alleyway but didn't get the chance. You gasped as you felt Hosea grab your arm and pull you back into the dimly lit alleyway, he pushed you up against the brick wall and held you still by both of your biceps. You never expected Hosea to be a violent man, well, at least not to women even if he was trying to con them.
"Who are you?" Hosea asked, his face suddenly hardening as he held you against the wall.
"I could ask you the same thing" you shrugged, a smirk making its way to your face.
"How long have you known that I was lying?" he asked, his grip on your arms loosening slightly but still holding you in place.
"Since you and your friend stepped into that saloon" you told him honestly, laughing slightly at the look of annoyance on his face.
"Why did you pretend to believe us?" he asked, his grip loosening again and you assumed that he was slowly seeing you as less of a threat.
"My own entertainment? I've got to say, Hosea, you caught my attention and you were rather fun to mess with" you smiled at him.
"You're a con-artist, aren't you?" he asked as he released your arms and stepped away from you slightly.
"Con-artist and thief" you nodded, dusting off your skirt dramatically.
"You were trying to steal from me?" Hosea asked, his face hardening again as he stepped towards you. For the first time since you met Hosea you were actually a little intimidated. You were sure that he wasn't going to hurt you but he seemed to loom over you as he back you up against the wall behind you.
"Actually, I hadn't decided yet but you can't complain since you were planning to steal from an innocent woman" you shrugged, smirking up at him.
"There's nothing innocent about you is there?" Hosea asked, chuckling lightly as he hung and shook his head at you. You laughed along lightly, confident that he wasn't angry with you.
"Hosea" a male voice called, causing you both to look towards the new man. You smirked slightly when you saw Dutch approaching you, as sober as you thought he actually was. "What's going on?" he asked as he walked towards you both. Hosea stepped away from you and you stepped away from the wall as you both looked at the other man.
"Turns out we were trying to con each other" Hosea explained, amused smiles appearing on both of your faces.
"Quite the actress" Dutch nodded, seemingly impressed.
"You haven't seen anything yet" you assured him, smirking slightly. The pair caught your interest but you would admit that Hosea had your attention more than Dutch did.
"We could use a talent like yours. We have a camp filled with men and women, you would fit right in" Dutch told you. You were definitely hesitant. You weren't stupid enough o just blindly follow these two men.
After asking a few questions and some convincing from Dutch and Hosea, you agreed to give their camp a chance. They seemed trustworthy, Hosea more so in your opinion. Dutch smiled and nodded before turning and walking away, expecting you both to follow him. Hosea offered you his arm and this time you took it, looping your arm around his with a gentle laugh before he guided to you towards their horses.
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