☆Genre: Fluff(?)
AU: Wild West
The men spat bits of the tobacco they chewed on the floor, even though there was a spittoon right next to them. The saloon was at its busiest hour, the bartender continued to pour drinks as laughter echoed. Men smoking, drinking, and playing poker was the main scenery through the windows. The young man hitched his horse, he pat her one more time as he wrapped the leather rein around the hitch pole. He had been hunting up in the mountains for quite a while, he left at sunrise, now, the sun was slowly going down. He looked to the side as he saw a wooden sign, "Silver Point". The saloon was quite close to the entrance of the town, Silver Point was in fact one of the biggest towns at that time. "Wait here girl." The young man said quietly as he walked away from his horse. Upon opening the door he saw an empty seat in front of the bar, he made his way towards it. He sat down on one of the dark red leather barstools and rested his elbows on the bar table.
He looked to the side and noticed a calendar hanging on the wall right next to the shelves where all the liquor was stored. August 1865, he wasn't quite sure which date it was today. "Luke! Oh, I haven't seen you in ages my boy!" The bartender exclaimed in his southern accent as he rushed to the young man, he turned around and faced him. "Hi Thomas!" Luke smiled. Thomas was an old family friend, he was like an uncle to Luke. "Let me guess, whiskey?" Thomas asked, the young auburn haired man nodded. "Okay." Thomas smiled as he turned around and got a small shot glass as well as a bottle of some of the most fine whiskey in town. Thomas was currently 53 years old, he had black hair and a black moustache that was slowly starting to turn white. Thomas and Luke's father had known each other since they were practically children, Thomas would often come around to family dinners and even events.
Luke tapped his fingers on the fine wooden bar table as he waited for his drink. He had been hunting up in the mountains for half of the day, he was never really fond of it. In fact, he hated it. He was quite a pacifist, and he never wanted to harm any animal. However, he didn't really have much of a choice. His family wasn't exactly the richest, hunting and keeping a farm was the only thing keeping them alive and well-fed. Luke hated the taste of meat, he would feel guilty every time no matter how many times he had shot a deer, or skinned a wolf. Most times, he'd end up vomiting after dinner. The taste of meat was absolutely disgusting to him, the guilt of him ending the poor animal's life didn't make it any better. "What about that gunslinger that's on the loose!? He could easily kill us all if he pleases!" Suddenly, Luke's head perked up as he heard a distant conversation between two men slightly farther away from him. The two men leaned on the back of the bar table, two pint glasses filled with beer in their hands.
The two men looked like your average outlaws. Dark brown stetson hats, undone vests, work jeans, and gun holsters around their hips. "Oh come on Joey, the guy couldn't be that bad." The red haired man stated proudly as he waved his pint glass around. "Have you not heard a thing about him? They was talkin' about hangin' him!" The other man yelled. "What'd he do that was soooo bad?" The red haired man asked, receiving a disappointed look from his friend. "He-" - "Here you go." Thomas interrupted as he loudly placed the glass of whiskey on the bar table in front of Luke. "Huh?" The young man flinched as he snapped out of his daze. He turned around and saw the glass in front of him, "Oh, thank you." He said. "So, how have things been on the farm?" Thomas started, Luke took a sip of the whiskey and placed it back down on the bar table. "Not..so good." Luke sighed. Thomas crossed his arms over his chest, he was aware that the Peterson family did struggle from the start. "What happened?" He asked.
Luke blinked slowly as he looked down at his glass. "Ma and Pa are struggling financially again." He started, "Pa got in some trouble with a loanshark recently." He added sadly, not taking his eyes off of the glass. "Perhaps I could lend him some money?" Thomas suggested. "No, he won't accept that." Luke quickly denied as he picked up the shot glass again. "I'm scared Thomas. I'm scared he'll get himself killed, that loanshark has come knocking on our door many times asking about the money." Luke explained as he frowned, looking up at the bartender in front of him. Thomas pondered, "Hey, have you heard about that one wanted gunslinger?" He mentioned as he turned his head to the side. "I overheard someone talking about him earlier, but I didn't get much information." Luke answered as he leaned his head into his hand. "His name is Alexzander Wickham. He's about 21 I would say." Thomas explained. "Recently, he was involved in a massacre in a town nearby. You ever heard of the town Siva?" He asked. Luke nodded, "He slaughtered half the town, he's a feared gunslinger since he's won a lot of duels before. And, he's committed quite a lot of other crimes."
