he didn’t mean to be away for so long . and he certainly hadn’t meant to cause dutch any worry . it’s been weeks since his run-in with the o’driscolls , and he’s still nursing the pains that come with healing , the aches that return and fade without mercy . but he returns to clemens point when it’s late , when most of the camp has turned in for the night , and the world , for a moment , does not set the weight of its expectations on his shoulders . when he finds dutch by the fire , he approaches , silent for a long time as he stands , warming his aching joints and watching as the flames lick the air .
❝ glad to see our lil family’s still here . ❞ he speaks with forced uncertainty , still unwilling the broach the topic .
@onlyappetites . ' Family , Arthur ? It's all we have after everything is said and done . ' / hi there !
❝ i know , ❞ sighs arthur , staring at the small carton box next to dutch . he seems to take a moment to consider something before finally kicking his feet and approaching to sit , still widely alert . ❝ i know , dutch … i ain’t gonna pretend i knew much ‘bout family when you ’n hosea first found me . in fact … i kinda thought i wouldn’t have one . that was fine with me . i was a free kid livin’ in a world without rules . that’s what i thought . ❞ he had learned to run on his own in the few years after his father died , never staying in one place for long . being that he was so young and had so many gaps in his knowledge , he hadn’t considered himself an outlaw , either . only a child trying to survive .
but he could have returned sooner . he hadn’t . ❝ i guess i still got some’a my old habits even now . just don’t know about ‘em till you tell me otherwise . ❞ he leans over his thighs with a pained grunt , feeling lighter now for the admittance , to swipe a thick blade of grass from its roots . ❝ how’s long’s it been now with y’all ? twenty years ? twenty years you grown this family . ❞ the fire crackles quietly , slightly muted , as though to allow them the quiet of their conversation . arthur plucks the grass into small segments , watching it now . ❝ you know i’ll ride another twenty years with you . ain’t nothin’ gonna tear me away from here . colm didn’t say nothin’ to me worth listenin’ to . a few threats here and there , but nothin’ important . you know i’ll always be part’a this family , dutch . ❞
╰ ゜REQUESTED. / 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐.
