Daisy's Song is a good enough episode, but strange compared to where things would end up. Simple example: Duke boys in sunglasses? Never happen (neither would Bo in a red shirt, but I only needed the one example). And Boss running a scheme in Atlanta was interesting, too. At least the boys' rougher edges made them more likely to just cut to the chase already.
Anyway, this one takes place after the episode (I think most of these early season one vignettes do, because there's no right place to put them within the episode) and got named Ham Sandwich if only because it's really hard to come up with 126 titles -- the vignettes are comparatively easy.
"You know that girl, Dodie?"
Maybe he did and maybe he didn't; depended on why Luke was asking, what rumor was going around town, and who exactly she was. "Mmmm?" Best to be careful where his cousin was concerned. Luke could make a rattlesnake trip over its own feet.
Got a snicker for his efforts. "The girl your eyes was glued to at Starr's office."
Oh, yeah. She was blonde wasn't she? Couldn't be sure, but he knew she was well endowed in other areas, and hadn't exactly been shy about putting those endowments pretty much up into his face… he bit his lip and felt the corners of his mouth turn up at the memory. She would've—oh yeah. Yeah.
Luke's snickers turned dirty, then into a full-out, head-tipped, belly laugh at him.
"What?" She hadn't looked at Luke that way. Luke and his superior sour grapes. "What?"
"She's got a boyfriend already." Oh, Luke was so proud of himself.
As if her being with someone else would diminish Bo's chances with her. "So what?"
"So," Luke sputtered, clearly still quite pleased with his oh-so-smart self. "It's Boss Hogg."
"Now you wait just a dang minute!" Sounded great, strong and angry enough to shrink Luke back down to his own size. Except Bo had nothing to follow it. And look at Luke over there, waiting that dang minute, all the patience in the world to wait two dang minutes if that was how long it took Bo to come up with the other half of that threat.
Two minutes of silence and Luke was face down in laughter this time, right hand smacking the kitchen table, and it was just a good thing for him that their uncle was off tending to whatever old men tended to.
"At least she ain't had to resort to the likes of Mabel," Bo snapped through the heat rising in his chest and neck. "At least she don't think hooking is a step up from me." Damn it, he'd been on his way to the refrigerator, this close to a ham and cheese sandwich, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato on top. Why was he stuck halfway across the old scarred floorboards, probably red in the face, finger pointing at Luke? Who was still laughing, just maybe not quite as hard.
"It ever occur to you," oh, he might have had to stop laughing in order to talk, but there was still a troublemaking smirk across Luke's face, damn blue eyes twinkling above it with just a bit too much glee. "That it takes a whole town to keep Ruby interested after just a few weeks of being with me? She still ain't found half the man that I am anywheres yet."
The laughing thing seemed to be contagious, because Bo was doing it now. Wished he could sound as convincingly amused as Luke when he did it, but he could hear the high-pitched, silly, edge to his own forced giggle. "If you say so, Luke."
"I say so," Luke assured him with a calm nod and a dirty grin. "Meanwhile, Dodie offers herself up to the likes of—"
"Don't matter none." There it was, that cool confident sound. Wished it wouldn't abandon him at all the wrong moments. "She just ain't had me yet. Once she does…"
Damn it, Luke was laughing again. "You'd seriously," head back and laughing. "Take her after him?" He hoped Luke pulled every damned muscle in his neck, shoulders, chest and what the hell, gave himself a bloody nose with all that ridiculous noise he was making. Smug bastard over there wiping at his eyes like they were tearing. Bo would make him cry in a minute. (Just as soon as he figured out how.) "Ain't you ever going to get around to getting them sandwich fixings fetched?"
"Nope." No, no and no, he wasn't going to get a damned thing for his ass of a cousin, even if it meant that he had to starve, too.
Didn't seem to bother Luke a lot; he just shrugged and got his lazy self up, heading toward the refrigerator. Bo sidestepped into his way.
"What about River Pines?" he asked, standing tall as he could without resorting to his toes, and making his cousin look up to him. "All them girls around that pool there, they couldn't even see you; they was too busy staring at me."
Luke stood back from him, just far enough that he wouldn't have to tip his head back to meet Bo's eyes, and folded his arms across his chest. "How would you know? You ain't never looked so high as their eyes."
Would've been fine, could've walked away, except for that look on Luke's face, those flat lips and squinted eyes that just knew too much for their own good. Shut up, Bo might have said, but didn't. Because it wasn't the words that pushed him over the edge, it was the way Luke stood there, so sure he could take Bo, so confident that he'd never have to eat his own words. Maybe he'd rather eat Bo's fist. And if Bo ever threw it, Luke might have had to.
Shoved him instead, two steps back and the old stove rattled behind Luke's backside. Take that. And Luke did, took it just fine, took it with a smile. Took it and turned it around, shoving Bo back into the middle of the room. The back of his thighs hit the kitchen table and didn't even slow Luke down. Table thumped off the old wooden shim that had been there since Jesse's boyhood, probably, and just came along for the ride, abandoning its chairs here and there, stumbling and bumping behind him until it hit the sink. Luke wasn't satisfied with that, never knew when to quit. Kept shoving, maybe trying to bend him backwards over the edge. A couple of good, hard pushes and Bo's slippery boots were sliding right off the floor as he found himself mostly prone across the table, pinned by bruising fingers digging into his upper arms.
One of these days he would learn not to let these things come to tests of strength.
"Luke!" he complained. Wondered just how long Jesse planned on tending to things, and whether they'd have time to clean up the place after he—
Had every plan in the world of kicking Luke's legs out from under him, when that smirk turned from mean just this side of devious, something in the crazy blue of those eyes that was too intense to bother fighting against.
"You ain't half bad to look at though," Luke admitted, before letting him go. Backed off a few steps, eyes leaving a burning trail up and back down Bo's body as he sat up from where he'd been pinned. "Not half bad." Then he turned on his heel and headed for the living room. "Fix that table, Bo."
No way in hell. He was not fixing a damned thing, except maybe Luke's attitude. Pushed himself off the table, slip-sliding on the same floor they'd skidded around in sock feet as kids, got a decent grip and propelled himself at Luke's back. Both arms around his smug cousin in a tight grip, trying to bring him down. Felt Luke's body harden under his own, all the resistance the man could muster, but Bo was bigger and heavier, and had the advantage for now.
"Cousin," Luke grunted around the effort of staying upright. "Don't be starting something you ain't ready to finish." Like it wasn't already too late, like Luke hadn't already started it.
Breathless already, Bo's answer came out close to a pant. "Oh, I'm ready." Used his right knee to slam into the back of Luke's and they were falling. Had to sacrifice one arm to keep ahold of Luke, while he used to other to break their fall. Got lucky that they missed all the furniture on their way down, but the floor was hard enough to leave a few bruises.
"You ain't got no idea what you're talking about, cuz," Luke panted as he squirmed around, finding leverage where he could.
Bo had no plans of letting him get away, though. Got hold of his shoulder, knees on either side of Luke's hips. It was a shame his cousin was still face down, might have been nice to look at his face right about now. Then again, the feel is his hind end under Bo's crotch was pleasant enough.
"Yeah," Bo agreed. "But I'm ready anyway." Luke's laugh underneath him was dark, but the vibration was quite appealing.
"Well then, first," Luke said as he pushed against Bo's grip, forcing enough of a shift in his weight that Luke could turn over underneath him, "You got to fix the table."
Maybe. Eventually. After he got tired of the rhythm of their hips and the way Luke's crazy blue eyes were at half mast…