Guns and Flames (RDR2)

9 - Those missing two men

They went behind their tent and made sure Charlotte and the others weren't seeing or hearing them.
"Did you give her your only knife??" -Arthur whispered with a surprised face.
"Yeah, why?" -John replied with a puzzled look on his face.
"Wasn't that knife precious to you...?" -he asked now with a slightly sad look.
"I can always buy more knives. Anyways, I've got something far more precious than that knife." -he said with a loving smile on his face. Arthur knew what John had meant and just patted his shoulders with a wide smile then went back to Charlotte.

Leaving John alone, and eventually, he has finished eating the food.
"Hey, uh, how are you feeling?" -he asked awkwardly.
"I'm good. Why do you ask?" -she asked confused.
"It's just that I thought I'd ask you about it. By the way, have you read the newspaper article that was saying something about-"
"Are you keeping something from me? Because you're talking too much nonsense right now." -she interrupted Arthur.
"I-...no, I'm not hiding anything from you." -Arthur stated.
"I can see it in your eyes, Arthur. Don't try anything funny now." -she crossed her arms. Arthur was about to reply but then the two other men got back.
"Hey! We're back!" -said the blond-haired man with a bossy attitude.
"Yeah, I could've done it on my own, you know?" -said the other guy who had black hair, like John, but instead it was tied into a ponytail. They both hopped off their horses grabbed the animals they hunted down and were about to make their way to Pearson's table.

"Welcome back, Javier." - Arthur greeted him. "Not you though, you could've been lost for all I care." -he pointed at the other man, the blond-haired one.
"Hey now, what's with the sour face?" -he asked like he wanted someone to hit him. "And this is her you was speaking about? Or should I care to even mention that John was high up in the clouds about-"
"You're talking way too much, Micah." -Arthur said while gesturing at Micah to get lost.
"Okay okay. Jesus, leave a man be." -Micah said while walking to Pearson's table to put down the deer.
"I'll be right back, just going to put this down." -Javier said with a deer on his shoulders.

In the meantime Charlotte was staying silent, mesmerized by Javier. She felt her face turning red as soon as he glanced at her. Arthur glanced at Charlotte, noticing how she was looking at Javier.

'Oh shit, John's not gonna be happy about this one.'

"Hey, um, what's the yelling about, Arthur?" -John walked right into the conversation.
"It's just Javier and Micah. They're back from hunting. I'm surprised Javier hasn't shot off Micah's head, to be honest." -he replied to John, before rolling his eyes.
"They did take a long time, didn't they?" -John asked. Arthur nodded in silence. Meanwhile, Javier came back to the group.
"Oh, so this is the person you mentioned before, John seemed really-" -Javier wanted to say but he noticed Arthur's eyes narrowing and shaking his head slightly, indicating to leave those stories for another time. Javier was confused so he just stayed silent there. John looked at Javier with a puzzled look on his face, and then at Arthur.

Meanwhile, Charlotte still stood there like a tree, frozen into the ground.
"Hello, my name's Javier, as you've probably heard." -he said while trying to reach for her hand for a handshake.
"H-hello, I'm Charlotte...!" -she replied with a tiny shake in her voice. Afterward, all of them started talking after one another at the table as they, by now, had sat down.
John looked at her when she was talking with Javier and he noticed that this wasn't the way she was acting before.

John fell into silence and just stayed out of the conversation.
"John, you alright?" -Arthur questioned, being worried.
"Yeah. I'm fine..." -he cleared his throat- "...excuse me for a moment." -he added, then stood up from the table and walked away.