floriography [ stories five ]

dead of night || the cowboy au

[ i'm?? in over my head?? literally the last piece of media i watched with a cowboy in it was fucking toy story 4 (which kinda rlly sucked by the way)

song: dead of night by orville peck

⚠️- language, guns, random bullshit, etc

stay safe,
lew. ]

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Having good friends was always a must.

Chase stood with Ronnie on the porch of the house they shared, just outside of town. In the light of the early morning sun, they waited for a couple of Ronnie's acquaintances.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Ronnie asked, glancing down at Chase.

"What kind of question is that?" The girl asked, running her hand through her now-short hair. "If I get one more marriage proposal, I'm getting the hell out of dodge. I mean, could you picture me as a housewife?"

"I don't believe anyone would picture you as one," he answered truthfully, returning his gaze to the road passing by. "It's also hard to see anyone believing you're a man."

"That's why, if anyone asks, I'm your younger brother or something. I could pass for a young teen, I think."

"Whatever you say."

The two of them weren't related, as far as they knew. They just arrived in town around the same time, and after realizing how little control she had of anything, she lowered herself to begging for help. Visually, the pair looked just enough alike to pass for siblings, or at least half-siblings.

He'd never admit it, but her presence made the time between visits from his love more bearable. Just like she'd never admit that she was eternally grateful for him going along with all of her stupid plans. Just like this one: dressing as a man and going along with a couple of strangers to actually experience something new.

Finally, though, the men they'd been waiting on showed up. As they hitched their horses so they couldn't run off, Ronnie took one last long look at Chase, carefully adjusting the collar of her hand-me-down shirt. "Be careful, and listen to them. You're not going to leave quite yet, because I'm sure they're tired, but be careful."

"You worry too much," she mumbled, pushing his hands away. By then, the two men had finished messing with their horses, and Chase got a good look at them for the first time.

They did look tired, but the smile on the taller one's face seemed to brighten up even Ronnie. The other one fidgeted with the buttons of his shirt, glancing around constantly, like he was afraid of getting caught for something.

"Don't just stand there, you're allowed to come in," Ronnie told them. "We've got breakfast, if you're hungry."

"That would be nice, seeing's how Lewis here isn't that good of a cook," the taller man said, glancing back at his friend with a teasing smile.

And in response, Lewis punched him. Not hard, of course. "Quit it, Logan. We ain't here to make fun of my attempts to cook."

"All right, all right," Logan said, raising his hands. The smile never left his face. "Go grab that letter from Harry from the saddlebag, please?"

Ronnie perked up at that. "I didn't think he'd be able to send me one for a while."

"He wrote it when he came home," Lewis told him, heading over to the horses to get it.

"Which, thanks for asking us, because it got him to come back for a few days. He thought it'd be quicker than writing us a letter. And, to be completely honest, I was missing him a lot." Logan's voice lost the joking tone he seemed to have most of the time, at least from Chase's observation.

She waited a couple beats before saying, "Thank you for agreeing to take me. I've really been wanting to get away from here and see something exciting."

Logan's gaze snapped to her, confusion clear on his handsome features. It almost made her duck behind Ronnie, but she stayed where she was. But eventually, the man shook his head, taking the letter from his companion before coming up the steps.

"I'd rather take you out than have you decide to leave on your own, do something stupid, and get killed," he told her, ruffling up her hair as he passed by, Lewis following close behind.

Ronnie lead them to the kitchen table, sitting down and immediately starting to read his letter. Lewis and Logan seemed a bit more cautious, actually taking the time to look around before getting comfortable, taking off their hats, and getting some food.

By 'breakfast', Ronnie really meant that there was a loaf of bread that Chase had gotten from Bailey, the baker's son, and a jar of jam that she'd convinced one of the young men from town to give her. Bailey and Chase were pretty close, despite his mother's instant distrust of anyone who wasn't from the town originally.

"How do you know each other?" Chase asked as she finally took her seat.

Logan swallowed, glancing at Ronnie before saying, "He hasn't told you?"

"We're 'friends' with one of your cousins," Lewis supplied, his gaze focused on Ronnie as well.

Ronnie sighed. "I thought I told you. Harry's emotionally involved with that one-" here he pointed at Logan, "-and Logan doesn't go anywhere without his sidekick."

"I'm not his sidekick," Lewis protested. "He's my best friend, and friends stick together."

"Whatever you say, Lewis," Ronnie said in a sing-song voice.

Chase just watched the exchange, her chin propped in her hands. Really, having visitors was a rare occasion, because she'd met this Harry guy once or twice, and another guy named Ezra too many times to count. Which... if they ran into either of them, her story would be blown wide open...

She snapped back to the conversation going on when Ronnie told her, "Elbows off the table, you heathen."

"Who needs manners," she muttered, but still folded her hands in her lap.

Ronnie couldn't help rolling his eyes as he refolded the letter and tucked it into his pocket. "Go finish packing your clothes. The adults have something to talk about."

She barely stopped herself from snapping, "I'm only a year younger than you." That would've definitely ruined everything. Instead, she forced a smile and got up, pushing in her chair before leaving.

She lingered just outside the room, though, just waiting to see what was being said.

"Have you heard from Ezra?" Ronnie asked. Chase could picture the troubled look on his face.

One of the others cleared his throat. "Bounty's been upped to about five thousand. They really wanna catch him for all the shit he's done."

"He's a smart man, Ronnie. He'll be careful, and he'll find his way back to you. He always does."

At that point, she decided that she'd better leave and actually get her things together.

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[ next would actually be them leaving ok cool

i'm trying to remember all the westerns and shit i was forced to watch but all i can remember is the blatant sexism and shit :). ]