Hello. I started writing this to practise my descriptive skills and then suddenly Kid had problems of his own. Dunno how that happened.
Thanks to Vermilion Angel for the beta and to e-pony for the review.
Warnings: swearing and adult content
HARD TIMES
Light pink rays of light mixed with the silvery blue of low hanging clouds on the horizon. The air was warm and filled with the dusk-ish noises of nature, grasshoppers and birds, the rhythmic clicks of their horses' hooves on the hard ground. Hannibal Heyes was tired. It was a good, fulfilling feeling of well earned exhaustion after a day of hard labour, his skin feeling taunt in an oddly calming way and his eyes sticky with sleep yet to come. He was looking forward to a good, strong coffee laced with brandy, some red hot beans with pepper and then a good sleep, a full sleep, a dreamless, pitch black, sunken affair like a rich meal. A sleep the dead would envy.
Kid Curry needed to jerk off. Desperately.
He had spent all day watching Miss Loretta MacDonald strut about in her tight, low cut dress with just a see-through shawl to cover her shoulders and cleavage, while he had been hammering nails into walls, sweating under the white summer sun and catching the glances she shot him every now and then. To be honest, she seemed pretty content for a young girl to be strolling through the rows of half-naked men hammering and cutting away, flinging flirty looks at every raised pair of eyes she could see. But, oh, the brief flash of leg when she'd lifted her skirt to step over a fallen ladder, and that delicate ankle. The way her shawl had fallen to the side when she'd bent over to examine a freshly cut door. She hadn't been close enough for Kid to smell her, but he imagined she smelled of honey and wheat and the morning dew. It wasn't easy to imagine it, because they rode against the wind and Heyes stank just like he did himself after sweating all day and not having had a decent wash in some time. He hoped their camp site for the night would be next to a lake or a river. Maybe if he could hide in the water...
"It'll be good to sleep under the stars again," Heyes said, turning slightly on his horse, "Not in that awful tent."
For the three weeks they had worked on Mr Tennyson's ranch, building a new wing for his son and his new family to use, they had slept in a big crowded tent together with the other workers. Every few days they had managed to get up early enough to use the sparse water supply to wash themselves. At least the food had been good and served by Miss MacDonald, the daughter of Mr Tennyson's secretary.
She was about twenty, with hair the colour of chilled white wine in the sunshine and a tanned skin that looked so soft Kid wanted to stroke it all day long. She was tall for a girl, slightly smaller than Heyes, and slender, with long-fingered, slim hands that handed out the meat like it was a gift specially made for whoever she gave it to. She never forgot to smile at the men, either, stretching her full, sensual lips and showing her perfect, white teeth.
Of course sleeping in a tent with fifty other men had made it impossible to do something about the fantasies that were just bound to develop with Miss MacDonald visiting the site every day. Heyes had settled for vanishing into the servant's wing of the ranch for half an hour right after dinner most evenings, then returning all content-looking and going straight to sleep, which, Kid thought, meant that he had found someone to screw. Kid hadn't been that lucky. Not that he even wanted to sleep with anyone but Miss MacDonald. If he couldn't have her, he didn't want anyone else. Going after her, obviously, was out of the question since she was engaged. He sometimes wondered if she knew full well about her flirtatious behaviour and was enjoying playing with the men or if she was so innocent that she didn't even know what her little glances and smiles awoke in them. For Kid doubted he was the only one fantasizing about her. Hell, Heyes probably did when he fucked whoever it was.
So finally, after three weeks of torture, they'd be on their own again, under the stars, and Kid couldn't wait to get away from Heyes and take care of business. First they had to set up camp. Kid had played with the idea of saying he had to take a leak and just hide in the bushes for a few minutes but he wanted his first time with Miss MacDonald in his mind to be nice and not a desperate quickie. Even though he was pretty desperate by now.
Heyes went on about how great it was to be away from that job, that house, that miserable Mr Tennyson, and the others. "Though you might find it a shame to be away from Miss MacDonald. I think she liked you." He winked.
Kid felt himself actually blush, which he hoped Heyes didn't see in the growing dimness. "Shouldn't we set up camp soon? It's almost dark," he said.
Heyes agreed and they rode on for another five minutes, leaving the well-trodden path and settling for a spot off the main rode, then unpacked their horses. Kid couldn't work fast enough, all but throwing his things to the floor and brushing his horse off hurriedly. There was a narrow river, a little dribble of a thing, flowing nearby, and Kid decided to have a good wash, then excuse himself for a bit.
While he and Heyes washed their clothes and themselves, Kid tried to concentrate on Heyes' endless ramblings about what they could do with the money they'd earned and how Mr Tennyson was clearly ruining the ranch if his books, which Heyes took the freedom to look through on his way through the main house, were any indication.
"Listen, Heyes," Kid said when he felt clean enough and had put on a new shirt. "There's something-"
But Heyes wasn't listening. Now he was complaining about the food and the fact that none of the other workers at the site had wanted to play poker with him after the first time.
Kid sat with his hands between his knees, nodding every now and then, feeling like he was going to explode any time soon.
Finally, Heyes gathered his things and stood to go back to the camp site. "You comin'?" he asked, when Kid didn't move.
"I, uh... I figure, I, uh, I'll stay for a while longer."
"Why?" Heyes frowned.
"To, uh... you know."
"Don't go near the water. We need that tomorrow for coffee."
"No, it's not that, it's... uhm..." Kid smiled helplessly. "You know."
"No, what?"
Kid sighed, exasperated. "I'd like to have a moment of privacy. Okay?"
For a moment, Heyes just stared at him, then his eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry. Sure. Take however long it... takes. Uh, yeah." He lifted his hand in an awkward wave and turned to hurry away.
Kid looked after him, feeling suddenly paranoid. Now Heyes knew exactly what he was up to, and he'd know how long it took. Usually, he managed to get away for this kind of thing early in the mornings or he'd be really quiet at night, or they each had a room at a hotel or something, but now, like this, he felt suddenly... exposed.
He had wanted this moment to be so special, he had actually - while shifting from side to side riding on that horse - fantasized about when he'd be alone, free to fantasize about Miss MacDonald. He'd thought about just how he'd start and what he would think of first and how he'd proceed - and now all he could think about was Heyes sitting at the fire, checking that damned watch of his to see how long he took.
He waited for another ten minutes, studying the water in the growing dark, then hit the ground with his fist and rose to his feet. Oh damn it! He'd never be able to get into the mood now.
Grumbling and half ready to tear off Heyes' head, he marched back into the camp. Heyes was lying on his bedroll, covered with his blanket, arms folded under his head as he gazed into the starry sky.
Kid plopped down on his bedroll, tore off his boots, threw them away and pulled his blanket over him up to his nose.
Heyes rolled his head to his side, frowning at him. "You okay?"
"Yes," Kid mumbled.
"Hm. Are you sure? You seem... upset."
"I just wish," Kid snapped and sat up, glaring at Heyes, "I could get ONE moment of privacy just ONCE. I mean, we're together all day every day, is it too much to ask to leave me alone for just two damn minutes?" he fell back down and buried his nose in his blanket.
Heyes stared at him, then rolled onto his side. "'Kay then. Good night."
"Night," Kid mumbled and closed his eyes, then opened them again and looked at Heyes' back. "Heyes?" he asked after a few more minutes.
"Hm?"
"Who did you fuck back at the ranch?"
Heyes snorfled a laugh and rolled around. "What?"
"C'mon, I know you had something going on there, it was plain obvious. Who was it?"
"Why do you wanna know?"
"I just do."
"Okay. Marion MacDonald."
Kid jerked upright. "Loretta's mother?"
"Uh huh."
"But... sh-she... she must be, what, forty?"
"Probably."
"And she's married."
"Yes."
"And she's... Loretta's mother."
"Yes, I know, Kid."
"But... b-but..."
"She's also gorgeous and very... interesting in bed. So there were no complains on either side. Was there anything else you wanted to know?"
Kid stared into the darkness where Heyes lay smiling at him. Loretta's mother. That couldn't be. If he fantasized about Loretta now, and Heyes had slept with her mother, did that make Heyes his... fantasy father-in-law? Suddenly, the thought of doing it with Loretta seemed less appealing by the second. Would it even be legal to screw the daughter of someone Heyes had had? Wasn't that something like incest?
"Kid?"
"Huh? No. No, thank you. That was... all I wanted to know."
Heyes "hmm"ed, then asked, "Are you mad at me?"
"What? No. Yes. A little. No, yes. Yeah."
"I didn't think you'd be interes-"
"I wasn't. It's all right, let's just forget this whole damn business and go to sleep." Kid lay back down and rolled his back to Heyes, gathering his blanket up under his chin.
"Okay." Heyes hesitated. "Maybe in the next town we pass, we could find a-"
"I said let's just go to sleep."
"Okay. G'night, Kid."
Kid grunted in reply.
They lay quietly in the dark for a few minutes, with the fire crackling between them, giving its red glow, illuminating Kid's back and Heyes' face.
"Hey Heyes?"
"Hm?"
"Let's."
"Hm?"
"In the next town we pass."
The smile in Heyes' reply was audible. "Okay."
"'Kay."
THE END