WOLFISH ⊳ arthur morgan x reader

Ch. VIII

You reckoned looking for a white horse in the middle of the mountains with a snowstorm raging around you wasn't the smartest thing you'd done, but alas, not the stupidest either.

Arthur was shielding his face with his forearm as he looked around, squinting to be able to make out something around him. You spurred on your horse towards him just a little, closing the distance between the two of you, which brought you a strange kind of comfort. You checked for Lobo, and were more than glad to see him padding right beside your hose, keeping up with you in spite of the snow that reached up to his chest.

"We ain't gon' find anythin' like this!" Arthur shouted over the howling wind. You were inclined to agree, but at the same time...

"So we came all this way for nothing?" You paused, surprised with how wrecked your voice sounded from continuously inhaling the cold air. "I'm not going back without that damned horse!"

"You got a death wish, woman?" Arthur shouted at you. For the first time since you'd met him, he sounded genuinely concerned. Angry, almost. "Because unless that's the case, we should head ba—"

You practically lost your breath the moment your eyes landed on a silhouette behind him, far enough to be barely recognizable but just there if one squinted enough. A horse.

You put your hand on his shoulder and brought your index up to your lips in the hopes of getting your point across. Arthur flinched away from your hand on him, seemingly taken aback by the sudden contact, but recollected himself before you could even think of asking him about it.

Instead, heeding your instructions of keeping silent to the T, he furrowed his brows and gave you a questioning glance.

"There." You whispered and pointed behind him. Curiously, his gaze followed, and the moment he instinctively lowered himself you knew he'd seen it too. "Think that's the one?"

"Here's hopin'." He carefully dropped down from his horse, then gestured for you to stay. "I got this."

"I think you're forgetting who the horse catching expert is—" You retorted, but he ignored you, retrieving a lasso from his satchel, approaching the white silhouette in an almost panther-like fashion.

Sighing to yourself, you crossed your arms and propped them against the back of your horse's neck, deciding to watch him. With just a glance at Lobo, you already knew he'd perfectly understood that he should stick with you.

The snow crunched under Arthur's boots while he got closer and closer, just within the right range to throw a lasso at the arabian. You could see him tense, readying himself—

The horse's ears perked up. Before you could blink, it was already galloping off, leaving a disappointed Arthur standing in the snow, rope still tightly clutched in his right hand.

"Shit!" He cussed. You took the reins from his horse, spurred yours on in the slightest, guiding Arthur's steed to trot behind you. You caught up to him, smirk playing on your lips as you looked down at him.

"Should've let the expert handle it, cowboy." Your smile was a combination of cheeky and prideful as you watched him mount his horse again.

"Experience ain't worth shit if the damned thing runs off the moment it spots you." He retorted, rolling up the rope before storing it back in his satchel.

"So you're giving up, is that it?"

"You wish, wolf hugger." His tone both mocked you and tempted you to a snarky response. And you being you—well, you didn't even think of refraining.

"The only thing I wish is for you to let someone capable handle the job."

"Maybe I shoulda let someone capable handle the job when you was gettin' mauled by a wolf, 'n see how that woulda gone."

Silence. You couldn't even dream of coming up with an answer good enough to rival that. So you lowered your head instead, preoccupying yourself with looking for the Arabian's tracks. Luckily, it didn't take you long to find them.

"Let's track down the horse. It can't have gotten too far, and I reckon the storm can't last for much longer either."

"Well, don't look at me, you're the expert." Arthur mocked.

Damn him.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The storm had calmed, subsided into nothing but a peaceful snowfall around you, even going as far as allowing rays of sunshine to peek through the clouds. No trace of the violent weather from less that fifteen minutes ago.

Neither you, nor Arthur bothered talking, the both of you focused on the task at hand: tracking down the white Arabian. Besides, you couldn't say you minded the silence. Not at all, in fact. Steeds leisurely walking beside each-other so that you could both allow Lobo to keep up but also keep an eye on the tracks, you could almost call it relaxing. That was, until-

"The hell do you think you're doing—!" You almost jumped off your horse when Arthur leaned over to pull its reins for you, bringing it to a brusque stop.

"You're so focused on the damn tracks you don't see what's right in front of ya?" He whispered, and you followed his gaze towards a hill.

The white Arabian!

Now that you could properly see it, its white coat bathed in the warm afternoon sun, you just had to stop for a moment to marvel at its beauty. It was practically one with the snow, like some kind of mystic forest creature that controls the weather, or has the power to breathe ice, or—

"Staring at it ain't gonna tame it, y'know."

"Neither does scaring it off." You retorted, slowly getting off your horse. That earned an amused huff from him. "Stay here. And make sure Lobo does too, if you'd be so kind."

"Sure."

Arthur actually listened, surprisingly.

You felt his watchful eyes rest on you. You weren't one for getting too easily embarrassed or shy, but for some reason, him watching made you...hyper aware of every single mistake you could possibly make. Wether that was advantageous or not, you failed to tell.

Snow crunching under your boots, you approached the horse, and immediately shifted into a stance of submission the moment it laid eyes on you. "Easy there." You cooed, stopping for a second. It neighed uneasily, but didn't seem to plan on taking off. Not yet, at least. "Easy."

When it returned to only watching you without showing any signs of nervousness, you took another cautious step forward. "Shh."

The weight of two gazes was now on you, and God, did it take a lot out of you to not allow yourself even the smallest mistake. Another step. "That's it."

Not more than five meters away now, a tremor went down the animal's spine, causing its white fur to tremble like snowflakes in the wind. A pretty sight you would've gladly stopped to take in for a bit longer, if it weren't for the rush of anxiety Arthur caused to well up within you. That damned man.

"Be good now. I'm not gonna hurt you." You explained, palms up in submission, closing the last bit of remaining space between you and the Arabian. You reached out to its muzzle, allowing it to sniff your gloved hand, then slowly brought it up to its forehead, petting it ever-so-lightly. It neighed, but only made a minimal movement of pulling away. "That's it." You praised. The other hand was gingerly placed on its jaw, drifting lower to its neck, giving it another pat. "Good. Stay like this for me, will you? Won't take long. Promise."

You slowly reached for your satchel and retrieved some rope, trying it over its muzzle loosely, then over its forehead and neck, creating some makeshift reins.

That was over with, at least. But the fun had only just begun: breaking it was next. A glance in Arthur's direction confirmed he was very much aware of that as well.