Unshaken

The Hesitance of Hygiene

The next morning, Liam opened his eyes with a slight headache. He knew the coming days were going to be very busy. He climbed out of his tent and saw only a few others up. The sun was on the verge of rising. He walked to the coffee pot and made himself a cup. He listened to the wind and birds of the plains. It calmed him. He checked his map and rode northeast up to the Lower Montana River to clean up. He saw a waterfall up ahead and knew it was the perfect spot. Each side of the river had ridges on each side for privacy which made it an even better choice for him. As he rode up, he saw Sean in the river alone washing himself off with the current of the river. "Little English, came for a wash too? Go, come back later. The king needs his time to bathe." Sean said. Liam rolled his eyes, slowly furrowing his brow for a moment. Sean saw the confusion in his eyes. "Nah, kiddo, be my guest. We're friends, right? Come on in, the water's fine." Sean said with a chuckle.

He looked to his right to see Sean's clothes on the river bank. He contemplated it for a moment. He knew early in the morning nobody would be around to bother him and if he came back any other time the chances were greatly heightened. He shrugged and took off his boots and shirt, then moving to roll his pants up. He started to slowly wade into the water. Sean had went under water and came back up. He looked at Liam in confusion, "Now why are you washing with your pants on, Parker?" He asked. Liam held his breath at the question. He realized Sean was fully nude. Liam had always bathed by himself and had never really been around other people, especially with no clothes on.

"Uh, it's just that- that I'd be..." Liam got out with a stutter. "What? Naked? I'm as naked as a Jaybird right now, kiddo. Ain't nothing wrong about it. Ain't like the girls are around. We're both men here. Both got peckers, eh?" Sean asked. Liam's face turned red. "I- I don't know, I ain't never bathed around nobody before." He said, rubbing his neck. "Don't be a prude, Little English. Get your ass in here and wash yourself, you dirty bastard." Sean said with his signature mischievous laugh. Liam thought about it for a moment. It was a perfectly normal thing and he was making it a big deal.

"Alright, but don't look til I get in the water." Liam said. Sean rolled his eyes and shook his head, then turned around. "Alright then, come on in. We ain't got all day." Sean said, turning his back. Liam hurriedly slipped off his pants and bottom half of his union suit off and waded into the cold water as quickly as possible. As he got to where his knees were underwater, Sean flinched as if he was going to turn around, causing Liam to plunge his bottom half into the water in a swift motion. Liam looked up, water splashed on his face to realize that Sean had actually not turned around. Sean was trying to hold in his laughter. He pushed himself deeper into the water towards Sean and splashed him.

"You asshole!" Liam yelled, splashing the cold water at MacGuire. Sean turned around and splashed Liam back, laughing harder now. "Oh, I scared you! Didn't I, ya little prude." Sean snickered. "No, you didn't." Liam lied, a smile cracking on his face. Sean clicked his tongue and started to scrub his hair. Liam plunged himself underwater, came back up and started to do the same. He felt weightless without clothes on in the water. "It sure is freeing being like this. Feel like I'm flying or something." Liam said. "Yeah, you really been missing out on all the fun. Gangs do this all the time. Creates a bond, ya know?" Sean asked. Liam shook his head. "Yeah, right." He said, scrubbing his torso. "I'm serious. There's a lot you don't know. You only been riding with us for some months now. You'd be surprised at the things you ain't been told." Sean said, wiping his face. "Like what?" Liam asked. "That's a secret." Sean said, going underwater again.

As Liam continued to wash himself. He saw another figure come visible over the ridge. He lowered himself into the water. It was John, with Charles following behind him. "Y'all beat us to it." John said. Sean laughed. "That's what happens when you're young, you old timers." Sean nagged. "We ain't much older than you, kid." John said, taking off his boots, Charles doing the same. Liam looked around in confusion as the two started to take their clothes off without hesitation. "Y'all do this a lot?" Liam asked. "What, wash? It's quite a normal thing, ya know? Works wonders, it does. You should try it sometime." Sean said sarcastically. Liam rolled his eyes and went to washing again. He saw John and Charles fully nude coming into the river and looked down not to invade their privacy. Charles noticed.

"No shame in having a body, Liam. Everybody's got one. Clothing used to be seen as a symbol of slavery to some people." Charles said as he and John went underwater. Liam had never thought about it that way. "This is new to me is all." Liam admitted. "Well it ain't gonna be. If we don't start bathing more we'll have Susan breathing down our necks." John joked. "Don't want that." Charles agreed as he bathed. He noticed how John made sure not to go past a certain point in the water, then vaguely remembered Arthur picking at him about not being able to swim.

As the four cleaned themselves, Liam took the time to relax and soothe his aching muscles. He looked at his chest hair and compared it to the other men, his was blonde while Sean had red, John having black and Charles having almost none at all. Sean and John were on pale side while he had a darker tan skin tone, and Charles being brown. It was all new to him. He had never really thought about how vastly different bodies were. He slicked his hair back and noticed the sun had risen significantly in the East. The men stood in the water and talked for a little bit before getting out and drying off.

As they walked out of the water, Liam had started to become self conscious again. He turned his back towards them as he walked up the bank. "Ole' Prudish Parker." Sean joked. Out of nowhere, Liam felt Sean pinch his bare butt. Liam jumped and turned around to push him, unintentionally exposing himself. His face turned red again. "Liam. It's normal. We all got the same nethers. Ain't nothing to worry about." John said as they stopped mid-walk. He fully faced them. His hands to his sides. "You know what, you're right. This ain't as big of a deal as I'm making it." Liam said as he let out a breath, following with a small laugh. The men smiled at his relief. "Loosen up a bit. It's natural. Besides, I'd kill to look like that." John said as the four walked to their clothes. That comment had boosted Liam's ego a little bit, though he'd never reveal it.

The four rode back to camp after drying off and getting dressed. When they arrived, the women were on a wagon ready to ride to the river too. John gave them a thumbs up and Sean a whistle, followed with scoffs as the wagon rode off towards the river. Liam had never realized it was a normal occurrence. It had felt nice to be clean again.