Red Dead Redemption II Preferences and Oneshots 2

Charles Smith: Back Pain

Charles Smith X Female Reader

Summary: Ever since Charles came back from a bad hunting trip, he hasn't been himself, you try your best to fix it.

Word Count: 1200

Charles has been a little unlike himself recently. He has been so irritable, getting annoyed by the slightest thing, even snapping at people instead of just walking away like he usually did. Charles was usually quiet around the camp, seeming more neutral about everything than anything but you noticed him sitting around camp with a grimace on his face. You knew that this wasn't the Charles that you knew so well.

You had wondered what was going on with him, what had put him in such a foul mood. You thought back to when you first noticed the change in Charles, then you remembered that he starting acting different when he came back from a hunt last week.

Charles had mentioned that it hadn't gone well, which was also unusual for him. At first you assumed that it had just put him in a bad mood, which you understood, but you knew that Charles wouldn't let it bother him for so long. So, it had to be something else.

It was later that night, when you stepped into your tent, that you realised what was affecting Charles so much.

As you stepped into the tent that you shared with Charles and let the canvas close behind you, you saw him stretching his back out. He was shirtless, probably in the middle of getting changed. He reached his arm across his chest, placing his hand on his opposite shoulder as he rolled his shoulder and let out a small grunt.

"Why didn't you tell me that your back was hurting?" you asked with a small sigh as stepped further into the tent, slipping off your jacket and tossing it on top of the chest that you kept your clothes in.

"I thought it would be fine by now" Charles confessed. Normally he would have heard you step into the tent but he was too preoccupied with trying to work the aches out of his back and shoulders that he was even a little surprised by your presence.

"Well you clearly thought wrong, you should've said something" you told him with a sigh as you walked up to him, not giving him time to turn to face you before you ran your hands up his bare back.

"It's fine, really. Just...a lot of tension" Charles assured you. He figured that the aches and pains would sort themselves out if he just gave it time, it wasn't the first time a rough hunt had left him in a similar way.

"Still...is this why you've been in such a foul mood recently?" you asked, your hands gliding up to his shoulders.

"Have I been in a foul mood? I haven't noticed" Charles rolled his eyes, his voice thick with sarcasm but you didn't take it personally.

"There you go again, relax will you" you chuckled to yourself, letting your hands sooth down his arms.

"I'm sorry" he apologised, hanging his head in shame. He didn't mean to be sarcastic with you, you deserved better than that.

"It's alright" you assured him, understanding. "Seriously though, you should have told me. This is something that I can help you with" you told him with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Charles asked as he turned to face you.

"Lay down on your front and relax" you ordered softly, gesturing towards the bed.

Charles only nodded, a small smile on his face, as he stepped away from you and did as you said. Once he was laying on his stomach, you carefully climbed onto the cot and straddled his hips, placing your hands in his back.

You started on his shoulders, gently rubbing them, earning a pleased hum from Charles that made you smile. Your nimble fingers started to work slowly down his back, not leaving a part of it untouched. You made sure to work out all of the knots that you found, focusing more on where the most tension was. Beginning to feel his muscles relaxing under your touch.

As you felt his muscles relaxing and felt him sinking into the cot, Charles let out a relieved groan that made you smile again.

Charles had given you massages before, he was an expert with his hands and always managed to work out any tension you had built up. It was nice to be doing the same for him, it was a fair change.

You continued to work up and down his back for a while, making sure to get every knot and every bit of tension. You kept working for a while longer, losing track of time but eventually you decided that you were probably finished. Honestly, you could do this all day. You had to keep reminding yourself to stop drooling over the shirtless man, you were meant to be helping him. Focus!

"Is that any better?" you asked, your hands still gliding up and down his back, occasionally applying some pressure.

"Actually, it's much better...thank you, you're really good at that" Charles admitted, doing his best to look over his shoulder at you to give you a smile.

"I know" you smiled proudly, lifting yourself up on your knees to give Charles enough room to turn around and lay on his back. "I'm sure it wasn't as good as your massages though, the things those hands can do" you teased, making Charles laugh. You just thought it was nice to see Charles relaxed and smiling again.

"Oh yeah?" Charles asked, raising an eyebrow at you, as his hands smoothed up your thighs and up your waist.

"Yeah" you nodded, your hands now resting on his broad chest.

In one swift and calculated movement, Charles wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you down to lay on his chest, making you laugh until your lips met his. Instantly silencing you.

One of his hands settled on your back, holding you against him, while his other hand cupped your face gently as he kissed you. You rested your elbows either side of Charles' head on the pillow.

You couldn't help but let out another laugh that was also cut short as Charles flipped you both over, quickly capturing your lips with his own once again. You had no problem with the change, only wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him a little closer to you.

-----

The next morning everyone started to notice the change in Charles, he was back to his old self. People didn't feel the need to avoid him or fear getting snapped at. Charles wasn't a man that you wanted to anger so he could be quite intimidating when he was in a bad mood.

Charles felt bad for the way he had been acting, mostly because it meant that he was in a bad mood even when you were around. So, he decided to take you out of the camp for the day. Just taking you somewhere quiet to get away from everything and to spend some time together, his way of apologising even though he made sure to actually apologise multiple times. He knew that he definitely should have gone to you sooner about his back, you did wonders on it.

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