Warnings: Slash (T.J. Perkins/Noam Dat), Fluff, Ye Olde Times.
As much as Noam would like to complain about being on land for any length of time, because he loves being at sea, he is enjoying the snow. His dad is pissed about a million things, not that anyone who doesn't know his dad would be able to tell, because his dad is the sort of man who smiles in the face of adversity, but if you know him you can see it, and right now his dad is pissed. The preacher had promised to pay them as soon as they docked, and then he'd promised as soon as they'd arrived at this manor, and now he's saying he'll pay as soon as he's back in the New World. There's a good reason his dad usually refuses to help missionaries, and what's happening now is exactly it. Men of god are only godly in that they too make promises they can't keep.
"Well, I guess we're stuck here until Pastor Styles is finished, son." His dad sighs, and rubs the back of his neck. "Don't get into any trouble. I'll find out where we're staying, and…" He trails off, and sighs again. "Just don't break and or steal anything, okay?" He ruffles Noam's hair, and trudges after the pastor with a resigned set to his shoulders.
"No faith in me, huh dad?" Noam chuckles to himself, and turns his gaze to the manor's grounds. He supposes he can explore the area for the time being, and then maybe see if there's anything he can do to help to kill time.
Wandering around in the snow is fun, but it gets boring after a while. Noam's already covered what feels like miles around the manor's estate, and he's wound up at the farmyard. The sounds of cold animals fill the air, and one of the chickens seems to have confused him with someone who has food for it.
"I've nothing for you, chickie. Shoo!" Noam flaps a hand at the chicken, and it looks at him balefully. "I've no food, so stop looking at me like that!" He flaps his hand at the chicken again, and this time it pecks at his shoe. In fright, he jumps back, and from behind him there's a giggle.
"No need to be so jumpy. She just thought you were me. Who are you?" A boy a little older than him is standing a lot closer than Noam had expected, and grinning at him.
"Noam." He sticks his hand out for shaking, and the boy takes it, shaking it firmly.
"T.J. You're new here?" The boy sets a large pail down, and starts throwing handfuls of seeds out from it. "Here, help me out, newbie." Noam does as he's asked, and starts tossing handfuls of seed to the chickens. The one that had attacked him seems to have forgiven him now that he has food for it. "So how come you're just starting now? I could have used your help earlier in the month."
"I'm not…I don't work here." Noam smiles awkwardly at the older boy.
"What are you doing here then?" T.J. looks at him in confusion, and picks up the bucket. "The ducks now."
"My dad sailed the preacher here, and now we've gotta wait to get paid." The exact details aren't something Noam has, and they're not exactly something he wants to trouble his father for. His dad is annoyed, and the best thing to do when Captain Colt is annoyed is to leave him alone.
"Your dad's a ship's captain and he doesn't have the money to get a place for you to stay? What kind of captain doesn't have money?" T.J. scoffs, and juts his chin to the mostly frozen over pond where a few miserable looking ducks are bobbing along in tight circles.
"The pastor wants us to sail him back to the New World. If he wanted my dad could get us a place to stay, but this way we're saving money, and making sure that that damned pastor doesn't sneak off without paying us." Noam snaps, and tosses a handful of seed out towards the ducks.
"A man of god isn't going to rip you off." T.J. laughs, and Noam sighs dramatically.
"You don't know enough about the church clearly." He laughs as T.J. looks scandalised at him.
He spends the rest of the morning with T.J. although at lunchtime he's stuck with his dad at the Family's table. His dad looks bored and annoyed, which means he's being extra nice to everyone, because his dad is rubbish at letting other people know he's annoyed. After lunch, Noam's free to wander around the estate some more. He supposes he shouldn't bug T.J. again, but he finds himself hanging out near the farmyard where the other boy's working anyway.
The branch Noam had climbed up into gives him only a second's warning before it breaks, and he tumbles into the snow bank beneath the tree. He hears a loud chuckle, and then T.J. pulls Noam up out of the snow bank. He brushes the snow off his hat, then rights one of the scarves around his throat with a rakish grin on his face.
"You okay? That was quite an impressive fall." T.J.'s hands linger on Noam's shoulders for a little too long, and Noam's sure he's probably blushing like a girl, which is ridiculous because T.J.'s not that handsome, at least he's not until he smiles just like he is in that moment.
"Yeah. I'm alright." Noam looks down at the ground, and hopes that T.J. doesn't comment on his blushing like a stupid girl, because he's not a girl, or blushing, it's just that it's cold, and he can't lie to himself, so how does he expect to fool T.J.?
"You sure? I don't think your dad would be pleased if you got all beat up on your first day here." T.J. pats Noam's shoulder, and keeps walking. "I need to herd the chickens back into their house if you wanna help me."
"Sure." Noam quickly, and carefully, trots along after T.J., hoping the older boy won't mention the fact he's blushing like an idiot.
"Have you even seen a chicken before?" T.J. asks as he starts herding the chickens towards their coop.
"Yeah. Why?" Noam awkwardly chases after one of the stray chickens, and shoots T.J. a confused look.
"You live on a boat though… Your dad isn't Noah, is he?" T.J. laughs, and clucks at the chicken that's ignoring Noam.
"We don't keep animals on the ship… Well, there's the cat, but he doesn't count. I'm not always on the ship anyway. I've seen all kinds of animals! This one time we were in Africa, and we saw lions, and elephants, and there was this one hippopotamus that tried to kill a man. It was kind of amazing." Noam grins at T.J who looks at him dubiously.
"A hippo?" T.J. scoops the last chicken up, and places it inside the coop.
"Uh-huh." Noam nods, and leans against the coop. "It was huge. There's no way that Noah would have fit two of them on his stupid boat, or two giraffes… I said that to the pastor, and he told me that unless I repented I'd burn in hell… Then dad told him we were Jews, and the pastor started praying for us. It was hilarious." Noam laughs, and T.J. raises his eyebrows.
"Your dad sounds weird." T.J. shrugs, and pats Noam on the shoulder. "Thanks for the help. You wanna help me tomorrow?" Noam nods with what he hopes isn't too enthusiasm.
The pastor's sermons are as boring as him just talking, and Noam's glad that his dad let him sneak out early. He'd decided last night that before they get started on T.J.'s job that they're going to have a snowball fight. He's never had the opportunity to have one before, and he's grasping this one with both hands.
As soon as T.J. approaches the barn, Noam fires a snowball at him. Briefly a man T.J. calls Wade interrupts their war, but it doesn't hamper them overly. Eventually, after the snowball fight is over, Noam finds himself leaning against a wall breathless but far happier than he's been since he first arrived to dry land. T.J. grins over at him, and holds out a hand.
"I think that was a draw." He shakes Noam's hand, and pulls him into a hug. Not knowing why he's being hugged, but not willing to refuse, Noam returns the hug awkwardly. "You wanna make sure that Mister Wade fed the cows properly?"
"Sure!" Noam's got no other plans for the day and really, he's not going to object to spending more time with T.J.
"Hey…" T.J. calls out to Noam as he enters the barn after him. "Look up." T.J. points up, and Noam notices the mistletoe hanging above the door. "I guess we should." T.J. presses a kiss to Noam's lips, and wanders off to check the hay, leaving Noam grinning like a fool.
As requested by moiself.
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