Please enjoy this very not serious fic that I wrote in two hours.
"Hey, Charles, you busy?" Sean asked.
"No."
"Could you sneak into Arthur's tent and take all his boots?"
"Why?" Charles asked.
"Because I'm going to play an April Fools' Day prank on him!" Sean said.
"A what?" Charles said, raising an eyebrow.
"You don't know April Fools' Day?" Of course the always serious Charles wouldn't know there was an entire day of the year dedicated to pranks and mischief. Charles had been with them for a few months now, but he always kept to himself. Sean rarely got more than a word out of the man, always busy hunting or doing chores. Even rarer was a smile. Honestly, what had he been thinking, asking Charles? Sean filled Charles in on the holiday and some of the better pranks his da had pulled over the years, hoping a bit of pranking would be enough to get to know him.
"So, the prank is we're taking all his boots?" asked Charles.
"Oh, you of simple mind," Sean said, shaking his head. "No, we're going to replace his boots with these!"
Sean held up the black and white monstrosities he'd ordered from the local trapper more than a month ago in preparation for today. While shopping for a better hat for himself, Sean discovered that the trapper was willing to make a variety of boots, including ones out of skunk carcasses. Really, it looked like the wearer was shoving their foot up the skunk's ass, it's face staring up with at them with blank, dead eyes.
"And why do you need me for this?" Charles asked.
"Because you are the best at stealth," Sean said sheepishly. "Arthur is such a light sleeper, I'd never be able to sneak in there without waking him up."
"That's true," Charles said immediately.
"Hey!" Sean said.
"What's in it for me?"
"The joy of pulling one over on old Arthur Morgan!" Sean said. "You see, Arthur is the perfect target for something like this. Miss Grimshaw wouldn't take too kindly to it, not that I wouldn't mind pranking her, but she'd lecture us to death and then give us more chores. Mr. Matthews, well, he'd get you back ten times worse and you'd never see it coming. Arthur will get annoyed, but as long as the prank is harmless like this one, he'll take it in good fun. Last year I switched Boadicea with a donkey, and that didn't go too well. This year will be perfect!"
"You switched Boadicea with a donkey?"
"Yes! And I was real nice about it, too! I took her down to the stable, paid extra for the care package, and how did Arthur thank me? By tying me to a tree for four hours!"
Charles made a small noise. Could it have been a chuckle? "I think you deserved that," Charles said.
Lenny suddenly made a beeline for them from across camp, whispering, "Is it done?"
"Not yet. Charles?"
Charles glanced between them, then sighed. "Fine. But you better not put any blame on me if Arthur isn't happy."
Charles took the ugly skunk boots, sneaking into Arthur's tent. A few minutes later, he returned with both arms full of boots, some that Sean had never even seen the man wear. "Who knew Arthur Morgan cared so much about fashion!" he laughed, quickly hiding the boots in the the girls' wagon.
They didn't need to wait long for the results. A muffled, "What the-" came from Arthur's tent. Soon, he emerged, wearing the skunk boots.
"April Fools, old man!" Sean shouted.
"Very funny, Sean," Arthur said. "Now where are my boots?"
"You'll get them back tomorrow. You have to wear the skunks all day!" Sean said, tensing up to run in case Arthur went for his lasso like last year.
But instead, Arthur laughed. "I think the joke's on you this year. These are actually really comfortable. I might keep them!"
"Sure, but no one will take you seriously with those on!" Sean said. Almost as if on cue, Javier walked by, his eyes widening in horror at the boots.
"And you got Lenny and Charles in on this, too? Guess I know who I have to get back at by the end of the day," Arthur said.
"I just needed Charles to sneak into your tent without waking you up," Sean said.
He wondered if Charles would be angry at him for confirming his involvement. But instead, Charles nodded along with a slight smile on his face. "At least they don't smell like skunk, right?"
"Hey, don't go giving Sean any ideas!"
"I would never!" Sean said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "And it was only Charles. For you, anyway. Lenny, well…"
From the large tent across the camp, Dutch bellowed, "WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE THOSE?"
"Run!" Sean said, grabbing Charles and Lenny by the arms and cackling as he led them into the woods. Charles was mildly annoyed, probably wondering what trouble Sean had gotten them into with the boss, but Lenny was laughing. Sure, there would be consequences later, but it was worth it! They got away just in time, too, because Dutch threw back the tent flap a second later, barefoot and only dressed in a union suit, holding up a second pair of skunk boots.
"SEAN!"