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YOU SHOULD have left— you should have taken Diego's offer of riding with him instead of Gyro and Johnny, even if you weren't sure Diego was being all that genuine. It was better than being treated like shit by Johnny and being on the receiving end of Gyro's flirting. After being so close to normalcy with the men you had grown so fond of, this complete switch back to what you had been dealing with at the start of your friendship was soul-crushing.
The thought of leaving them came the second Johnny had disappeared behind the flaps of his tent. You stared at the ground, unable to think of anything besides leave, leave, leave before Gyro's outstretched hand came into view again, interrupting the mantra that had wedged itself into your head. You looked up (albeit so quickly you were pretty sure you had cracked your neck), meeting Gyro's eyes as he grinned down at you.
If you weren't already frowning, you would have done so again, avoiding the calloused hand that remained in your peripherals. How was Gyro smiling at you like Johnny hadn't just thrown you off of him? It wasn't like you had fallen onto him on purpose and you knew should have gotten off of him faster instead of gawking at him but you had never meant any harm. Before you could even tell Gyro off, your hand was in his and you were back on your feet.
"Relax, bellissima," Gyro chuckled as you stumbled into his arms, knees weak from being pulled up so quickly, "I'm not going anywhere, nyo-ho~" You held back a grimace and wriggled out of his grasp, locking your hands behind your back so as to not strangle him. Gyro simply grinned at you as you forced a smile, unable to form a sentence that didn't express your weakening patience with him.
"Er- Real funny, Gyro," you forced a laugh, grabbing the edges of your hat and pulling it down lower on your head. You didn't dare turn your back on him, smiling as wide as possible while Iron Maiden packed up your things behind you. Hopefully, once you were all on the road, Gyro would stop the annoying flirting and lead you all to the next checkpoint without a hitch.
"Why don't you grab Johnny? It'll be dawn soon," you started when Gyro didn't make a move to pack his things, instead staring at you while you kicked at the dirt. It was odd— he had this grin on his face but it didn't meet his eyes, almost as if it was all some big charade. Was the flirting not genuine? Somehow, just the thought of that alone made you go cold. Gyro's face fell just the slightest bit and he finally turned to look at the tent, then back to you.
"If you insist, tesoro."
The second Gyro made his way into the tent, you rushed to Thunderstruck, head spinning. You tried your best to keep your hands from shaking while you adjusted the headstall and the noseband, making sure they weren't too tight or too loose on Thunder's head. But every adjustment you tried to make just didn't seem to work with your trembling fingers. Every buckle seemed to slip under your fingers more than usual but soon enough, Thunder was ready to go.
The low murmurs of the voices you knew belonged to Gyro and Johnny made you turn back around, letting Iron Maiden load up your belongings onto Thunder. You met Johnny's eyes as he followed close behind Gyro who faltered for a moment before smiling at you. You needed to leave as soon as you could. You didn't wait any longer and then hopped up onto Thunder's saddle as Iron Maiden adjusted the last of your things.
