"The investigation starts tomorrow, bright and early"
And it had. Woody had come to knock at Buzz's door sometime just after the crack of dawn, and as they left the saloon to go to the office, Buzz had to catch the just waking Ken to cancel the wake up call he had scheduled,
Woody had taken out the huge stack of files he had on each of their targets, and the deputy would've been impressed by the sheriff's upkeep on paperwork, if there hadn't been so darn much of it.
Jessie came around at a more reasonable hour once the rest of the town had started to get up, and she couldn't help but watch them with a teasing smile as they moved sluggishly, blinking furiously to keep their eyes open and focused on the pages before them.
Once she had left, the two quietly agreed that the next day they wouldn't start quite so early, not that they would admit to Jessie that it was due to her mockery though.
Over the proceeding days, Buzz found that his mornings instead became filled with another activity- the riding lessons that Jessie had suggested,
He met her outside of the stables each morning and with her help took out her own mare along with a smaller white coloured pony, the one which the man had already ridden before, during the unsuccessful chase of Bazooka Jane.
"Oh, I know you" the deputy had said with a smile, taking the offered reigns that Jessie was handing him, and watching the blond horse move slowly from the shed,
"I guessed he'd probably be the best horse for you to work with, he's calm and-" she paused and looked Buzz up and down with a smirk, "-well, he's a little short too",
The man blushed deeply and gave an awkward cough, gripping the reigns a little tighter, "What's his name?" he then asked, trying to regain his voice,
"Buttercup" she answered, tossing a saddle over the horses back, and grinning at him,
That had shut the deputy up again.
Since, they had spent the past three mornings riding out in the open,
Buzz learnt the basics of saddling up Buttercup, and then how to ride confidently. He still wasn't sure about the saddle-sore, which was still an issue, but not only did he think that there was likely very little that could be done in regards to that, he also didn't want to mention it to Jessie of all people.
0o0o0
"You doing alright over there?" Jessie asked, frowning over at Buzz,
His expression was somewhere between tired and pained, while he was also left wincing in the sun, overall it was a very unflattering look, "I'm fine" he nodded, adjusting his position on the saddle once again, and gently patting Buttercup's neck to calm him- not that he was un-calm anyway.
"Well okay then" she replied from atop her own horse, her look rather unconvinced, "We should probably head in now, Woody will start to wonder where you are" she then said, shielding her eyes from the light and looking over to the station stables which weren't too far a field from where they were,
"Sure" Buzz nodded.
Jessie tugged the reigns in her hand a little tighter, and her horse turned bared right, heading for their destination slowly,
The deputy followed to her side, his head hung a little as sweat dripped over his collars from the back of his neck- he was glad he'd brought a spare shirt with him today of all days, the sun was unbearable and he'd all but soaked through his first one.
"So, it's been a week now" the redhead said after a minute, "What do you think of Andy's town?",
Buzz looked over to her and managed a smile, "I like it" he said with a nod, "It's a good little town, with nice people, good air, and perfect quiet",
"'Quiet'?" Jessie repeated, her brow furrowing,
"The city is so loud, there's always something going on" he replied, shaking his head, "But here, there are moments so silent you can really hear yourself think",
The redhead chuckled softly, "You're kind of an old soul, aren't you?" she asked,
Buzz blinked and then smiled sheepishly, "I suppose",
"It sounds like you were always meant to be here, if you like the quiet so much. Think you'll stay?",
He paused again and thought on that question a little harder.
He hadn't really considered the idea that he would be in Andy's town to stay, but at the same time, he didn't think about leaving. In all honestly, he didn't see any trouble with staying, it was as good as any place, if not better,
He smiled softly, his dimples showing, "If y'all think you'll keep me",
To his great surprise, Jessie's cheeks seemed to darken a little, and her lips parted to let out silent shock,
She hadn't been expecting that.
The tip of her tongue slipped out to dampen her top lip, but she found that it instead trapped her lip against her teeth, and she was left biting it for a moment, before she finally took in a deep breath and shrugged, "We'll have to ask around, won't we?"
Buzz laughed in response, and then took no surprise as Jessie clipped her heals into her horse's sides and went ahead to get to the stables first,
She still teased him mercilessly, and often left his questions either answered defensively or not answered at all, but he was quite sure that she was at least warming to him.
When he slid off his horse, Jessie had already put her own away, and offered to take Buttercup in for him,
Buzz nodded his thanks and instead went to his bag, which was waiting just inside the door. He opened the leather satchel and took out the folded shirt from within, draping it over a railing built into the wall as he began to peal the t-shirt he already wore from his body. The fabric clung uncomfortably to him, but the moment he pulled it away, he was glad of the air that his skin was met with, even if it was still warm, it felt less muggy against his burning flesh.
He inspected the sweat soaked shirt in his hands and frowned- it would take an awful amount of attention to get it back to how it once was, it probably could've done with some darning too. He wrinkled his nose at the idea of asking Ken to do that when he took in the washing though, he would be far too eager,
"Think Woody's eaten breakfast today?" Buzz asked, looking over his shoulder to Jessie, who was feeding her mare an apple from her hand,
She turned and paused, looking at him in silence,
He raised an eyebrow at her and picked up his shirt, threading his arms through his sleeves but not quite starting on the column of buttons that would fasten it, "What?" he asked, confused by her sudden quiet and odd expression,
"Hmm?" she asked, looking back to her horse quickly, and rubbing its nose.
He sighed, "Do you think Woody had breakfast this morning? He didn't yesterday, or the day before",
"Who can say?" Jessie replied quickly, "Button up your shirt and we'll go find out",
Buzz blinked at her and put his hands to the buttons swiftly, "Yes ma'am" he nodded,
"Oh, stop it" she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.
The two of them then left the stable together and started towards the station entrance,
Inside the air was far, far cooler, as each of the window was still covered by thick curtains, it was an ominous sight to say the least, or it would be, if either of them could've seen all that far into the room at all.
They paused together in the doorway and Buzz raised his eyebrows quizzically at her,
Jessie shrugged and stepped ahead, moving towards where Woody's desk sat,
The deputy begrudgingly followed her, his eyes quickly becoming accustom to the dark.
He could now see the figure slumped across the sheriff's desk, their head and arms slotted perfectly between stacks of files,
"Woody" his sister said with a sigh, reaching out a hand to touch his wrist,
The man jumped at the contact, and his torso shot up until he was upright in the chair,
"What's happening?" he asked quickly, looking worried, his eyes open wide in panic.
"Nothing sheriff, it's just us" Buzz replied, stepping a little closer to the desk to be in sight, and giving his superior a look of concern,
Woody sighed and placed his hand over his forehead, "Sorry y'all, I- I was just resting my eyes",
"Sure" Jessie replied, looking sceptical, "You eaten this morning?",
Her brother blinked, "Morning?" he asked softly,
"Yeah, I just got in for the day sheriff" Buzz replied, his eyebrows furrowing, "Have- have you been here all night?",
The brunette looked about, staring into the dim room with great confusion, "I guess I have",
Jessie let out a sigh which turned into a growl, "How can you look after the town when you can't even look after yourself?" she asked, skirting around the desk and grabbing one of his arms, beginning to hoist him to his feet with her insistent grip, "Come on, we've got to get some food in you",
"Stop fussing Jess" he frowned, but allowing himself to be hauled up, "Fine, fine, a quick breakfast, then back to work" he nodded, "You coming Buzz?",
The deputy made a small noise of surprise,
"Of course he is, come on" Jessie then said before he could answer, practically dragging her brother out of the office.
Buzz sighed and dropped his bag off at his desk, before following the two out into the hot sun again,
They made their way to the saloon as usual, Woody and Jessie only getting into a brief fight on the way, as he waved her off from trying to help him stay upright.
As expected, the saloon was quite busy, with at least two dozen people sat about, all eating breakfast together- some patrons of the hotel like Buzz, whom he now knew on sight, but many others he did not,
"Damn" Woody grumbled, looking at all the filled seats,
"There's space at the bar" Jessie said, pointing to a row of free seats, "Come on"
They weaved between the tables and the people and sat themselves down, the men at either side and Jessie in the middle as she had insisted.
Despite the many, many customers, it wasn't long before Barbara came along with her bright smile and asked what they wanted,
Once again, before a decision could be made by anyone else, Jessie ordered up three plates of the fullest breakfasts they had, helpfully adding that it would go on Buzz's tab.
The woman nodded and swiftly left, going to find her husband who was apparently making everything to order himself,
"I already ate this morning" Buzz said once she had left, frowning at Jessie,
The redhead shrugged, "I'm sure you'll manage" she replied, glancing over her shoulders to the other patrons. It wasn't long before her eyes locked on one place amongst the people in particular, and her expression once more became unreadable, "Gimme a sec'" she said softly, before sliding off from her seat and again dipping into the sea of people,
Buzz turned in his seat to watch her go,
She seemed to know everyone, probably because in a town like this, everybody knew everyone, but in the time the deputy had known her, he hadn't seen her talk to all that many of them. He briefly thought that she was probably heading to talk to some cowboy he didn't know, someone who had been out of town working,
He frowned.
Jessie didn't go to any of the many cowboys sat eating their breakfasts though, she instead went to an odd couple that were sat at a corner table. Neither the man, nor his wife looked particularly hospitable, and the scowling expressions they gave the sheriff's sister when she approached seemed to confirm that,
Words were exchanged between them, and soon all three looked frustrated.
Buzz couldn't help but be curious, he had never even seen this couple about town, as far as he knew, but they did look a little familiar he supposed. What left him all the more intrigued was the way in which a disagreement had seemed to have started between them so easily, and so early in the morning no less.
"Hey sheriff?" he asked, turning to the man in question,
Woody shifted on his stool, and his heavy eyelids flung open again, "Yes?",
Buzz sighed softly and looked back across the saloon, "Who's that that Jessie's talking to?",
Bleary eyed, the other man turned away from the bar and looked for his sister in the crowd- the red hair made it easy,
"Oh" he said with a shrug, "That the Potatohead's, Mr and Mrs" he replied, now far more interested in Barbie, who was fast approaching with three well filled plates,
"What would they- oh thank you" Buzz said, nodding to the woman as she placed down his own second breakfast, "What would they be talking about do you think? Jessie and the Potatohead's?",
Woody blinked and looked up from the sausage he had already taken a bite of, "Haircuts?" he suggested, "They're the barbers remember, Jessie's probably just booking a cut",
The deputy frowned, that was definitely as unsatisfying as answers came.
He slowly took up his fork and began to prod at the food on his plate, only half appetized by what lay before him,
"Don't play with your food" Jessie then said, suddenly sitting back on her stool and taking up her own cutlery,
"Oh, Jessie" Buzz said, nodding to her.
He briefly glanced over his shoulder again, looking to where the Potatohead's were sat,
To his shock, they were staring fiercely over to him in return, or to Jessie at least,
"Everything alright?" he asked, looking back to the redhead,
"Sure, why wouldn't it be?" she replied, placing a large piece of steak into her mouth,
He shrugged softly, and felt the tips of his ears burn with a blush, "I don't know, it just seemed that you and the Potatohead's had a heated argu-" he faltered and licked his dry lips, "-a heated conversation" he corrected,
"And?" Jessie asked simply, arching one eyebrow at him,
"Well- well what were you talking about?",
She silently stared at him for moment, before taking up the cup of milk that Barbara had poured for her, "Haircuts" she answered, taking a long drink from it,
"Haircuts" Woody repeated, shovelling his breakfast into his mouth,
Buzz sighed and turned to his own food, finding himself even less hungry than he had before.
0o0o0
At seeing his almost full plate, Woody had asked Buzz if he was planning on eating anything, at the answer of 'no', the sheriff had then asked if he minded him taking the food. Despite being the one who would pay for all of it, the other man thought that at least it would get Woody to eat, and he allowed it.
Jessie finished her own plate quickly and then excused herself, having been entirely silent as they sat together.
When Woody was half way through his second plate, Buzz asked to leave too, wanting to finish some errands before the other man needed him at the station,
He was mostly focused on his breakfast, but he acknowledged the request and waved Buzz off.
The deputy made his way up to his room and immediately sat at his desk, taking out an unused piece of paper and pencil,
His mother had finally responded to the first letter he had sent to her on arriving in Andy's town, and he saw no better time than now to answer it… but what to actually say was lost on him.
Buzz propped up his chin on his fist, and leant heavily against his desk, his eyes gazing out of the window instead, and watching the quiet street below.
It was still morning of course, so while the dirt road was cast in the bright sun light, it was effectively empty of a single soul, not that it was ever that busy at all,
While the police station was just out of sight from where he sat, he could still make out some of the places along the way, most of which hadn't piqued his interest, save for the Potatohead's barbers, which was the only place showing any sign of life.
Of all people, it was Jessie who was stood outside of the place, her hands in her skirt pockets as she milled about, apparently waiting for something,
Mrs Potatohead came out from the doorway a moment later, but the redhead ignored her, and instead only reacted when Mr Potatohead joined his wife.
Mr Potatohead did not look happy to see her, and as it had in the saloon not much earlier, an animated argument began, with both parties gesticulating as they spoke,
Jessie then shook her head ferociously, but neither Potatohead was having any of it, and with a few final words, punctuated by a few sharp points in the woman's direction, the conversation was over.
The Potatohead's returned to cover of their shop, and Jessie, head now hung, meandered slowly out of sight, seemingly heading for the stables,
Buzz frowned, perhaps he was wrong, perhaps the people were not as nice as he had thought and perhaps, the town was not so quiet.