These are platonic, but can be read as shippy if that's what someone would like. I'm thinking of doing Platonic Abigail and Arthur, Mary-Beth and Arthur, etc. Not sure yet. Also, I have never written this much for Tilly before. I should be writing more for her, though! However, I'm sorry if I didn't do a good job! If you feel like I can improve, let me know.
*Arthur associates the color yellow with Tilly. Yellow is associated with happiness as well as nature, with the sun, sunflowers, and marigolds. Tilly also wears yellow, so he associates the color even more with her. If there’s something yellow, he’ll think of her.
* Tilly is one of the only people who can make Arthur behave. While we know she can be a moral guide for him, chastizing him if he starts to kill indiscriminately, generally harm others, waste animals, etc., he’s likely to listen to her. However, I mean in the sense that he needs to take care of himself. He will do it - but very reluctantly. She can also keep his ass down if he needs to be cared for in camp if he’s sick or wounded.
*Arthur knows that Susan can get into anyone’s hair, but he knows that the women *especially* get the rough treatment. After the time in Valentine, he was reluctant to take Tilly out of camp again in case the Foreman brothers were around and tried to harm her or kidnap her. However, he is more prepared this time, and he realizes that it’s not fair to keep Tilly at camp because he thinks he’s saving her. However, he’s more likely to take her to places in nature, such as beautiful meadows he’s found, or a hill with a beautiful view. He’ll pack picnics for both. He’ll lie and say Grimshaw did it, but Tilly knows better.
* Arthur may not know much about hair, but he learned long ago that African Americans have very different hair in texture than white people. He felt awkward at first, but he asked Tilly to teach him about her hair. He’s helped Mary-Beth with her hair before, why not Tilly? Tilly was stunned, not only was a white person asking, but a white man. She almost laughed in disbelief, but when she realized he was serious, she tried her best. It was a bit awkward at first, as how do you describe hair, how to manage it, and how to style it? But she managed, and now Arthur sometimes assists with combing her hair or braiding it.
*As much as he liked Tilly's dresses, he knew how cumbersome they could be - or he could infer that. With Tilly leaving camp more often, especially in the wilderness, he asked if she wanted to dress like Sadie, who wore trousers. Tilly found the idea exciting, but was mostly practical about it. The shopkeepers were quiet and unobtrusive after Arthur glared at them. He didn’t even have to threaten them. Tilly bought a pair of dark brown trousers and a backup pair of black trousers as well. Tilly very much appreciated the freedom.
*Arthur has gotten into arguments on Tilly’s behalf against Grimshaw. He knows Tilly is a strong woman who is more than capable of defending herself, but it was always refreshing to have someone support you. He would sometimes convince Grimshaw to lay off of Tilly if she were being too much of a drill sergeant or even lessen her chores, but that was unfortunately on rare occasions. If Grimshaw says something racist, Arthur is quick to call her out, but Tilly has to remind him sometimes that she can take care of herself.
*He taught Tilly how to play poker, and she’ll join the others in the games. She’s scarily good. No one can tell when she’s bluffing. Everyone who normally plays poker has lost money to her. John has lost the most.
*Tilly is one of the women who knows Arthur’s sizes and has saved up to buy him a few things, or she’ll buy the sewing patterns to make Arthur a shirt /pants,/etc herself. She never realized how massive he was until she started making him clothes.
*Tilly has asked for self-defense lessons from Arthur. It surprisingly didn’t take her long to convince him, as she thought it would. Once they started leaving camp more regularly, he knew that anything could happen. Tilly already knew how to shoot, and she wasn’t afraid to stab someone if she needed to, but why not improve? He helped improve her shooting, of course, but what he really wanted was to improve her dodging and learn how to escape from someone’s grasp more easily. He was always too worried he’d harm her during practice, but Tilly insisted on his not holding back. (Arthur did anyway) However, she learned how to improve her punches, how to escape basic holding back, and basic self-defense. Now she was tied with Karen and Abigail for self-defense.
*Rainbows are their “special” thing ever since Tilly found a rainbow in Horseshoe Overlook. Every time he sees a rainbow, he thinks of her, but when it rains, he and Tilly both look for them together. (Javier sometimes joins in as he loves rainbows as well.)
