Yeehawgust Day 14: Howling at the Moon
This is the one I was most excited for this week (and of course it’s the last one)
Javier and Tayen had been together for almost a month now, the two settling into their new relationship comfortably... well as comfortable as outlaws can.
They’d often eat dinner together at the fire, leaning against each other as they swapped stories or heard someone else regale them with a tale. Dates would consist of robbing stagecoaches or going hunting, and when they could manage to get a little privacy they would steal kisses in the woods: Tayen giggling and nervous while Javier patiently guided her through everything.
Tonight was a similar kind of night, dinner had been served (if you could call it that), and the two sat close next to the fire, leaching off warmth from the fire and each other. However, Javier also had his guitar in his hand, idly picking the strings, letting the music guide him into a little tune.
“Anything you want to hear me play, amor?” Jaiver asked, kissing her cheek which caused her to blush (as it did everytime). She moved away, shrugging and smiling.
“Nah... What about that one... El Coytito?” She spoke the name unsure, unable to remember if that was the name of the song or not, but judging by Javier’s smile she guessed she got it right.
“Ah si that’s a good one!” Javier laughed and situated himself at the fire, then he began strumming with earnestness and was soon filling the night with song. Tayen for the most part understood the song, her Spanish was getting better, but sometimes the music would go too fast and she would not be able to keep up. But she did not really care about knowing the lyrics, only listening to the beat and to her boyfriend’s voice serenading her underneath the stars. For a moment, despite being in the middle of camp, she could pretend they were alone, out in the middle of the Heartlands with no one around, just her and her amor, dancing and singing in the night.
The song reached its end, and she knew what was coming next. At the last strung of his guitar Javier let out a howl, like the coyote he was just singing about. Tayen joined him, her voice able to almost perfectly mimic the howl of such a coyote.
“Orale Tayen!” Javier cheered. “Do that again!” He strung the last couple of notes, leading her in. Tayen blushed, becoming aware of the others, but she shoved that aside as she let loose another perfect howl into the night. Javier’s laughter soon joined, “You sound perfect carina! How’d you manage to mimic a coyote so well?”
Tayen shrugged, picking at the dirt beneath her with a stray twig. “Spent a lot of time on my own... or riding... heard a lot of noises and I’d try to copy ‘em. It’s how I got so good at my owl noises too.” She looked back to Javier, expecting... well she didn’t really know what she was expecting. But him smiling like some lovestruck school boy was not it.
“You impress me every day, mi alma. You can do so many amazing things.” He kisses her cheek again, turning his head to the sky and releasing another howl, loud and uncaring.
Laughter bubbled in Tayen’s chest, just expecting him to do it once and then stop, but he kept going. And the howl was infectious, she tilted her head to the sky and howled along with him.
Some others decided to join in, despite not knowing what was going on. Mainly Sean and Lenny, who were just happy to cause noises in camp and get the older members grumpy. But those like Charles watched on with a smile, knowing the importance of Tayen being comfortable enough to make such noises, to have such vulnerability. He quietly let loose a howl as well, though no one was around to hear it.