#justteddyq

[everythingheard]

with Teddy ( @justteddyq ) ▌from here.

For a moment in that beat of silence, Joshua wondered if he had pushed Teddy a little harder than some might be liable to think he should have. Still, regardless of the answer, he didn't regret it. Despite the fact that his words were far from soft or gently reassuring, Teddy had decided to crack that vulnerability open to him — though he was uncertain of the reason, whether because they both knew what it was to be burdened with guilt they hadn't earned since their earliest memory or something else. When a reply finally broke through the din of the saloon, noise that had almost faded into the background of his consciousness amid the close tilt of their heads and their conversation, a faint grin crept across Joshua's face. "To hell with 'em," he affirmed.

As Teddy's teary eyes lifted to meet his, he felt a strange stirring in his chest, like a single plucked guitar string. "Alright, alright. Don't get all weepy on me." Joshua lifted his hand to graze the back of his still-curled fingers against Teddy's cheek to brush away a wayward tear that had spilled over before it could reach the other man's chin. There was a second in which he was oddly compelled to use his thumb to wipe away what traces of it remained, before he returned his palm to the top of the bar instead. But everything left something behind, didn't it? And the longer you held on, the greater the endurance of its remnants. Some people eased it with something they enjoyed, or someone; that latter notion recalled to mind the manner in which Teddy had seemed to find romantic feelings for Emma Cullen absurd. What about it was so preposterous? She was beautiful, with a fire that seemed nearly alight behind her eyes. Had Teddy come to view her so much as a friend that it wasn't even noticed? A question to mull over, though his attention persisted on his companion's more recent words.

"Still stings after you let it go, but at least you're not carryin' it 'round with you. It's easier to figure out what you wanna do with both your hands free." He gave a brief nod of his head. "Even when I wonder 'bout whether all the shit I'd been told's true, I'd rather figure it out for myself than listen to someone else's voice screamin' it in my ear." Oh, Joshua hardly counted himself as a good person, but he'd be damned if he ever let anyone push him around again. Not like that. Whatever he was or had turned out to be now, he had only been a kid then; a kid who had run from a remorseless asshole just to find another one, wishing the whole time for someone to simply tell him that they were glad he existed at all. He had probably been too young when he realized that until he dropped that figurative hot pan, he would never have anything else.

Then, Joshua paused, his lips parting slightly as he considered Teddy's countenance not for the first time that night — thinking. When he spoke again, it was so quiet as to almost be under his breath. "But maybe some voices are worth listenin' to."

[mettleborn-a]

@justteddyq

Pushing the door shut with one foot once Sam was inside, Teddy was about to lead the other man to the sofa he’d vacated until he felt those familiar rough hands cradling his face. Sam’s fingers were frigid, but he wouldn’t dream of pulling away, because the man was still looking at Teddy the same way he had on the day he’d left. When that look was followed by three simple, sincere words, Teddy returned the firm kiss immediately. Part of him felt stupid for doubting Sam’s feelings, but that doubt also didn’t vanish, anxious thoughts spinning out wilder ‘what-if’s. He tried to focus on the feeling of the other man’s chapped lips against his, but then the kiss broke so Sam could shrug out of that frost-crusted coat. He needed to stay busy. If his hands moved enough, maybe his mind would slow down.

After guiding Sam to the sofa so the bounty hunter could sit, Teddy turned to the fire, stoking the embers at the bottom and adding a fresh piece of wood. It was encouraging to feel Sam’s touch so frequently, though his stubborn anxiety insisted it might just be because the other was cold. Harder to dismiss were the words that accompanied those hands, explaining what had happened and promising never to be gone for so long again. Teddy turned back around when he heard that pained noise, and consequently saw the genuine emotions on Sam’s face as the latter talked about dreaming of ‘coming home’. Home. This, Teddy, was ‘home’ to Sam. God, he really needed to stay busy or else he’d start crying. Sam had dealt with enough, Teddy didn’t want to make the man contend with comforting a goddamn moron like him.

A gently insistent hand rested fingertips on the bounty hunter’s chest, while Teddy knelt to remove Sam’s boots for him. That wasn’t enough business, however, to stop the tears he wanted to avoid from welling in his eyes. He lowered his gaze to his work, and ignored the drop that escaped down one freckled cheek, hoping - perhaps in vain - that Sam would ignore it too.

=====================

The distance and time spent apart has been hard on them both it seems and Sam feels a distinct kind of guilt for allowing it to go on as long as it did. He has brought home a great deal of money from such a difficult bounty, but the true cost of that trip is what weighs heavier on him now. He is not a young man by any means, one of the oldest that still remains in this business and while that does make him more experienced, it also means he often ends up pushing himself too hard, in an effort to stay ahead of those that would seek to use their youth to trump his expertise. This, it seems, is one of those times; made obvious from the way he is grimacing and groaning every time he moves, due to the bruising at his back and what he suspects may be a cracked rib. There is no disguising damage like this as simply being saddle sore.

Catching sight of the leftover track of a glistening tear, tracing down Teddy’s face, the old bounty hunter leans forward, to wipe at it with a rough calloused thumb.

“Don’t you go worrying about me now, couple of days rest and I’ll be right as rain.”

Reaching for Teddy’s hand, he encourages him to sit closely. Sure, it hurts a little, but it’s worth it for just a taste of the closeness he’s missed these past few months. Glancing out the window, he watches as thick snow continues to fall, smiling as his body finally begins to thaw, causing heat to blush in his cheeks.

“You been okay here, all on your lonesome, nothin’ happened, everything quiet like?”

[frontierbound-archive]

@justteddyq​

It isn’t often Samuel finds himself sneaking around a farmer’s residence, licking his lips like a wily old fox, but, having eaten nothing but dry cured beef for the past few days – the chicken coop and the thought of the eggs that reside inside it, are admittedly a little too tempting to ignore.

Approaching, he glances back at Diego and while the horse’s expression does not change, Samuel shrugs his shoulders anyway; a silent indication that he knows the act he’s about to perform isn’t exactly right. Still, surely it’s not stealing if he leaves some money behind, right?

Just as he reaches the coop, he immediately stills, his eyes settling on the rear end of the farmer who is busy tending to the chickens and until this moment was obscured from sight. However, rather than it being some hairy old timer, one Samuel would likely expect to threaten him with a shotgun or chase him with a pitchfork, this farmer is in his 30s, much like Samuel and much to Sam’s surprise… handsome. Luckly for the bounty hunter, handsome is something he can work with, something that might even secure him some free breakfast.

“Nice eggs.” Samuel’s stare does not shift over to the farmer’s hands, but instead lingers a little on his behind. His smile is not a lewd one, but rather one of friendly amusement.

“Don’t suppose you could spare a couple for a bounty hunter that ain’t eaten nothin’ but shoe leather beef for two days?”

[everythingheard]

with Teddy ( @justteddyq​ ) ▌from here.

A return to Rose Creek wasn’t an outcome Joshua had paid much heed to before today. It wasn’t a conscious choice, but rather a result of his predilection for forever moving forward. Dwelling on the past rarely did anyone much good, in his mind ( though his own nightmares didn’t appear to subscribe to the same philosophy, as they were keen on consistently dredging up memories he’d attempted to diffuse in a variety of manners that never lasted as long as he’d prefer ). Perhaps, in his own way, that was why Joshua was compelled to return: to prove to himself that he could, and that it didn’t matter. When he and Jack had arrived at a junction with two towns of a roughly equal distance away, one of which was Rose Creek, he hadn’t allowed much time to mull over the decision before heading in the direction he’d been down before, that’d altered his life in the most irreparable of fashions — for both better and worse in turn.

He wasn’t certain of how he felt as he rode into town, though he’d be damned if he ever permitted his countenance to betray him. On the contrary, Joshua maintained his usual self-assurance, with just the proper hint of nostalgia of one returning to someplace familiar. The town looked superior to when he’d left it: the buildings were upkept as opposed to hollowed out, the people casual instead of cowering indoors in fear. Of course, his own lengthy stay throughout his recovery in the aftermath of the battle with Bogue’s army had borne witness to some alteration, yet it’d prospered all the further since then. Naturally, Joshua was inclined to ascertain whether or not the saloon had fared the same; wasn’t it only right that he revisit every avenue in town?

Plenty of folks recognized him, yet it was Teddy’s incredulous acknowledgement which amused him the most. “Right in with the questions, huh? Nothin’ like how nice it is to see me or that you wanna buy me a drink? If I didn’t know any better, I might start to think you hadn’t missed me at all.” A grin captured his visage as he spoke that final sentence. The sincerity which marked the other man’s bearing was what had struck Joshua during their time in one another’s company, and it was still present now; it was an unusual quality to run across, at least in his experience, but it suited Teddy’s demeanor and quiet determination. “Right now, I’m only plannin’ to stay a few days — Jack needs the rest and Rose Creek was closest.” Although he wasn’t certain if anything specific was intended by ‘ everything that happened ’ ( the battle itself? the excruciating injuries he’d sustained that left him scarred? both? ), he decided to merely address the first option, the one that all of them had endured that day. It was all he was open to entertaining at the moment. “Not gonna hold your town accountable for Bogue bein’ a piece of shit.” Joshua’s lips curled briefly at the sentiment, as if he’d just sucked on a lemon. 

Then, levity crept onto his face again as he nudged Teddy with his elbow. “C’mon, you’ve gotta have a drink with me.” There was a strange reassurance he liked about the fact that, in spite of everything, Teddy maintained that same sort of genuine nature. Not many people would. “You’re a whiskey man, right?” Even if Teddy wasn’t inclined to down much, Joshua was more than capable of drinking for the both of them.

[frontierbound-archive]

continued from x

@justteddyq

Teddy’s breaths were unsteady and somewhat labored. When his eyes opened, the details of the nightmare already began to fade from his mind, leaving only the panicked fear it had induced. The bullet scars on his chest and outer thigh ached, subtle yet distinct, though he didn’t know why. All he could pin down was blazing fire and some sort of odd, unpleasant pulling sensation, something to do with hands. Hiding his face in the crook of Sam’s neck, he clung close to the other and felt a vague sense of relief that he was whole. Or, that Sam was? He couldn’t be sure.

Either way, it crested his swell of mixed emotions and caused a quivering sensation to build from Teddy’s stomach up into his chest. He bit down hard on his lower lip to contain a couple sobs, and realized his throat felt a little raw and his cheeks were already wet. Damn. He’d probably made noise, enough to wake Sam up. “…Sorry,” Teddy managed, his voice quiet and tight. He didn’t lift his head from the other man’s neck or loosen his grasp, not yet. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

=================

The room is dark, confirming it is still the dead of night, though white light can be seen casting strips of illumination through some faint cracks in the curtains, allowing the moon to shine some light upon them, enough for Sam to see the expression of panic on Teddy’s face. 

Immediately pulling Teddy to him, Samuel holds him tightly, one hand pressing firmly on his back, the other now softly combing though his hair. Pressing his forehead gently against Teddy’s own, Sam presses a chaste kiss against the tip of his nose as he rocks him slightly.

“Shhh...it’s okay, I don’t mind none. You were kickin’ like a mule, knew somethin’ had to be on your mind.”

What that ‘something’ is, Samuel isn’t rightly sure, but he won’t pressure Teddy to talk about it, could be what happened at Rose Creek, could be something else, could be a bad crop of beans for all Sam knows. What does matter, however, is that Teddy feels soothed by his presence, rather than embarrassed in any way. 

“You’re okay, I got you...I swear Teddy, if Satan himself came piling through that door, I’d take him down, ain’t nothin’ gonna harm you ever again, I promise.”