Your best american girl
Ocxcanon: gyjo x river
Part 1
Please take a peak at the Disclaimer, there aren't really any trigger warnings for this part? Ether way anything that needs to be stated is there
Coins fell onto the counter as two scared hands hurried to count them, trying to keep too many from falling on the ground after they were so clumsily dropped.
"Sorry, sorry... ah... there, that should be all of it... oh, wait," the young man with wavy brown hair leaned down to pick a fallen coin off the ground before standing back up and smiling, his hat falling over his eyes, obviously being a bit too big.
"That's it!" The man behind the counter had a raised eyebrow. He's seen plenty of weird folks drop in the past few days, so this one wasn't any different, nor would he be the last. Still though, every time he can't help but give them a look.
"Are you sure you're prepared for this? You seem a little..." The teller looked the young man up and down, scrawny with ill-fitting clothes that didn't seem to fit his demeanor, dark, despite the bright smile,along with a poncho that hid most of him.
"I'm just excited, that's all! Don't worry!" His voice still sounded young, with a bit of a forced deepness to it. The man behind the counter couldn't help but wonder if he was even old enough for this race.
The teller shrugged, passing him a paper. It wasn't his place to question it; the man said he was 19, and who's he to start poking?
"Sign your name here, here's your badge and number... and we'll get your fingerprints and your horse's muzzle print before the race..." The younger boy nodded, passing the paper back, just to get another look from the man.
"River? Sure you're ready for this race? It's a long one." The man's smile faltered for one moment. It didn't seem like doubt, more like he was holding in frustration, an exhaustion at being questioned.
"course I am, I've been training for it! So don't worry about me. Thanks for the help!"
He had a grin spread across his freckled face as he went straight for his beloved horse and his friend who had come along to support him. "It was enough! I had plenty! Look! 672! That's my number!" A shorter woman, Jay, stood by a brown horse with a white diamond on its snout.
River was already running out with the items; he could hear the teller mumble something under his breath about rude young people always being in a rush. He didn't care to look back, though, not even at the strange man who had been waiting behind him.
Its ears didn't move despite the passing sounds, only nosing its owner when he was close, earning a pat on its nose. The woman held an amused expression, the excitement on his face being infectious.
"Calm down... I know you're excited, but you still have two more days... you need to make sure you have what you need and make sure you're rested." The woman had her arms crossed as she spoke in a motherly sort of tone.
“The first race will be short, but the others may require camping out, so you need a sleeping bag, food, hygiene items-” she continued, listing off everything she knew the younger man wouldn't have thought over properly. “I know, I know… I got all of that-” “Food.” “I have-” “For you, not Prince.”
River frowned, reaching back to rub the back of his neck as his eyes focused on a suddenly very interesting speck of dirt on his boot. "…only had enough money for his…" Jay sighed at the man, going to flick his forehead. "I'll get you some food to take with you at the finish line for the first race. You should be fine for now…" Before they could continue their conversation, a commotion broke out, prompting River to try to see what was happening.
"Ignore it-....damn it." Jay tried to keep his ever-wandering mind on his current task; unfortunately, that was a task in itself. She followed after him as he pushed through the crowd, eyes sparkling with curiosity at whatever was happening. In front of them stood a tall, blonde man with long hair and a patchy beard; his stance alone conveyed the confidence he held in himself. His hat covered his eyes in a speckled shadow, his green eyes focusing on a man being restrained.
"…What do you think happened?" River was standing on his toes, trying to peek over the others in front of them and get a look at the man on the ground. "Something that isn't any of our business, River, let's go." "Wait, what's that ball thingy…" He reminded her a bit of a puppy... anything interesting he just had to see himself, even if it could be dangerous...
Jay let out an exasperated sigh. The man on the ground was yelling some nonsense about joining the race at the blond man, who barely seemed to react to his threats. He seemed completely unfazed, at most a little annoyed that his time was being spent in such a way.
"Give him back his gun. I withdraw my complaint. Let him go."
River had finally pushed his way through to watch, Jay staying at his side with worry on her face. She'd only known the young man a few years, having found him alone along a path nearly starved while the horse with him was full and happy, and yet she already knew of his endless curiosity about anything new and exciting.
"If they have a shootout, we need to leave; stray bullets could-" She was watching the man on the ground as he groveled and spoke about it all being a joke. However, River had focused on something else. "He's not using a gun, look."
River seemed mesmerized at first; he couldn't help but be excited at all the strange and interesting people this race had attracted. The thief had started to beg for his life once the men holding him ran off, and River couldn't help but find the scene amusing. Soon enough, though, the thief was aiming his gun. He seemed ready to fight now that he assumed the other man wasn't paying attention. His gun never went off, though, as his arm was twisted back around when a steel ball hit it.
"How'd he do that...?" Now Jay was the one mesmerized, her eyes widening as the ball spun into the thief's arm, going so far as to turn his own arm back towards him to shoot himself. She hadn't even noticed how River had frozen up suddenly. "......I changed my mind, let's go... now... please?"
Jay looked up at River, whose eyes were no longer focused on the man with the balls. They were wide, scared…? Worried? She couldn't quite place it, As they stared at someone else. Jay looked where his eyes were focused. A man with blonde hair in a wheelchair had forced his way through the crowd. “What is-” Jay didn't have time to ask before she was grabbed and dragged away.
“The hell? First you want to watch now you're dragging me off? Make up your mind….” jay followed river onto the horse, holding on as he started to ride to the campsite. “Gonna tell me what that was about?” “.......why is he here…..?” the question made jay raise her eyebrow.
Rivers' voice was soft, the same tone he used when he was scared or had been thinking to hard, not something rare to here, but given his excitement it was unexpected.
Rivers grey eyes stayed focused on the path, lost in his own thoughts as jay kept proding for some form of awnser. That damn bastard would haunt him forever…in his mind, his life…four years had passed…and yet….here he was again...
River shook the thoughts from his head before smiling at Jay once more, seemingly perfectly fine. "Everything is fine! You'll help me set up and pack, right?"
Jay knew something was off, but for now she wouldn't pry. "Of course, I will," she said. She didn't know much of what had happened before meeting River, only that he was an orphan working on a ranch from a young age. It wasn't hard to deduce who the man was; apparently he was pretty famous in America for a while, not that she would know, as that was before she moved here.
"That was that Johnny Joestar guy, wasn't it? He was on that old newspaper you kept..." Jay couldn't help but pry a bit; if she didn't, she'd be left curious. "...Who's to say...could be...or just could be another blonde man." River's answer was vague, and yet it told Jay all she needed to know.
"...Well, once you start the race, you won't have to worry much about him..." For now, this was all she'd get out of the man. "Focus on the race, don't let someone shake you up." "That's the plan..."