Later that night, the gangs took the crazy mechanics' advice and went to the saloon. The place was howling with drunks, a few whores here and there, and a band up on the stage prepping for their next song. They find a couple of tables not filled with passed out drunk ranchers. Skinny scanned the saloon and muttered to Butch, "Don't feel like I woul' wanna trus' any o' these bastards, boss. They seem like the kinds that'll rip ya off in no time." "Course you woul' feel that way, Skinny. Jus' don' look damn suspicious," Butch replied. Freighter quietly commented, "I think he jes' too damn worried 'bout his own health, if ya ask me." Butch smirked in agreement.
The band on stage got everyone's attention with a little skit.
"Well, it seems that we'll keep our show going with some more original music!" said a tall black and silver cladded member. "So what do you say, Jon?" "Oh yes! Definitely," said Jon. "You know. Now that I think about it: Jon. Remember when we were in New York recently for our one show?"
"Oh yes. Hey, Rabbit!"
Rabbit, the lanky one, turned to Jon.
"Flep de flep? Lep yep de yep. You ready?"
The black-silver cladded member looked back and forth from Jon and Rabbit in confusion while the saloon began to laugh.
Rabbit nodded.
"Well yep yep. De lep yep. Yep yep?"
"Jon those aren't words. They sound like words, but they're not words."
"Sorry I was having a relapse of yesterday."
"Where you also didn't say anything."
The band kept on with their comedy skit, but soon Frank tapped Blake on the shoulder and motioned with his finger to come outside. Once Frank went out the door, Blake hesitantly stood up and was soon out the door. The last thing she heard was "Well Rabbit's sick and Jon's...weird. We're the only normal ones here. Mike's weird and Sam... Sam's weird..."
Blake went outside and found Frank leaning on a support beam, arms crossed. Blake smirked. "Ya know I shoul' be the one in tha' posture, not you," she joked. Frank just shrugged and replied, "Yeah, well... I guess so, too. But there's somethin' I kinda wanna ask ya-"
"Does have ta do wit' anythin' from Clarton earlier today?" Blake figured. Frank nodded and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. That..." The two soon started slowly walking away from the entrance of the saloon. "Yeah. I'm really sorry 'bout blowin' up on ya like that. I... I kinda had some issues wit' that in my past that... I really don' feel comfert'ble talkin' 'bout," she said while sheepishly smiling. He looked at her with a sympathetic look. "Oh, really. Sorry ta hear 'bout that," he said. Blake shrugged and replied, "Yeah, well... That's all in th' past. I'm kinda over it, ya know?"
The two stopped at a bend and carried on with their conversation. "Yeah, I git it. But ya know, I been hearin' 'round the guys that..."
While Frank was talking to Blake, Japhet kept watch of the two.
Along with a spirit man.
Lamia leaned over to Japhet and muttered, "I don't know about you, but me thinks these two might have a little thing for each other." He looked over to the bird and raised his eyebrows. "If you know what I mean." Japhet turned to him and cocked his head to the side. Lamia grinned.
"...An' as far as I know, that's what they've been sayin' ever since then."
"I don' blame ya. I've been hearin' Jake actin' like a complete prick about us an'-"
Suddenly, Japhet began to beat his wings at Frank. Frank panicked and yelped a bit; Blake's eyes widened a bit but stayed perfectly still. Japhet got Frank to lean on top of Blake and swooped back on the railing behind him. Frank caught himself and opened his eyes and saw how close his face was to Blake's and blushed from embarrassment. Blake blushed as well and raised an eyebrow. Frank awkwardly apologized but didn't move. Blake sheepishly chuckled and said, "Yeah, uh, lil' too close to my personal bubble there..."
Lamia couldn't believe his eyes and facepalmed himself from the scene. "Oh for God's sake..." he muttered. Lamia finally collected himself and had a pissed off look as he came up behind Frank, Japhet cocking his head side to side. Frank couldn't act fast as Lamia took his head and shoved it to where Frank's lips crashed onto Blake's. "Kiss, goddammit!" he muttered through his teeth doing so. Both their faces turned red from the sudden action along how wide their eyes became. Lamia withdrew and stood by Japhet with his arms crossed, saying, "There!" and awaited what would come next.
When Frank's lips crashed onto her's, Blake felt her heart stop. She wanted to what she did earlier that day... But she didn't. She actually liked it this time. She could sense that Frank did too.
Soon enough, Frank and Blake fluttered their eyes closed and deepened their kiss. As they kissed, Frank wrapped his arms around her waist and gently pushed her against the wall. Blake had her hands against his chest and ran them up and had them around his neck in no time. Frank couldn't help but smile as they kissed while Blake licked his bottom lip. Frank let her tongue in and allowed her to roam his mouth. Blake got on her toes and thought that would help him, only... that made Frank assume that she wanted to be hoisted on his hips. Once he lifted her, she broke the kiss and gave him a sly look along with her smirk. Blake used her finger and lifted the brim of his hat and raised an eyebrow. She muttered sarcastically, "Pff. Asshole~." Frank smirked back and replied, "My pleasure~." and kissed her again. She returned the kiss as she held on to him tight.
As they kissed, Lamia smirked in success and muttered to Japhet, "Well, my dear avian friend. It seems as though our plan has worked just fine~." He held out his to the bird and Japhet placed his talon in his hand.
Not much longer, Lamia and Japhet looked over; and saw something they weren't expecting. He grinned and said, "Oh, the looks on their faces when they see them~." and materialized.
...
...
"Did 'nyone else see where Blake an' Frank went off to?" Butch said over the band. The gangs looked around and just now noticed the two were not in the saloon. "They-they w-were h-here jes' a wh-wh-while ago. I-I dun-n-no where th-they are n-now," Scuzz stuttered. "I think they went outside," Freighter said. Butch looked over to Freighter and asked, "Ya sure?" He nodded in reply.
Butch then turned to the other end of the table and ordered, "Could 'ny o' y'alls check if those two youngsters 're out there?" Jake raised both his eyebrows and got up saying, "I'll be yer canary~. No problem~." He turned around on one foot with the other out straight. He walked like a cowboy cassanova, obviously oblivious to the look of annoyance on Butch. Jake talked to himself while finding them. "Well since I was the only one who actually saw them walk out and have their... 'lil' talk', I guess it wouldn't hurt ta check up on 'em- AWHOAAAA!" His jaw felt like it dropped to the floor when he found the two not too far away from the entrance, his boss on Frank's waist; and against the wall; and their lips were touching. With a toothy smile (and maybe a girly giggle), he walked back to them, but never said a word.
"Wha' the Hell's that look for?" Butch asked pointing to Jake's face. Jake quirkyly replied, "...Well. If it were Christmas time, I'd be sayin': 'You are not gonna believe who I found under the mistletoe~!'" "The Hell ya talkin' 'bout?!" Butch's chair scraped the floor. Jake kept on smirking and walked backwards to the entrance. "Why doncha see for yerself~."
...
...
"...Ya think anyone's gonna find out 'bout us?" Frank asked in between kissing. "I got my way o' keepin' a secret... An' keepin' my guys quiet~," Blake replied. "Hope yer righ'," Frank muttered. He was then able to slip her scarf off and move his lips down her neck. Blake leaned her head back and bit her lip. Her hands were curled up a bit as she fought the urge to push him away due to her traumatic past experience with this. While Frank started to lightly suck on her neck, Blake opened her eyes and accidentally saw something she shouldn't have.
Now with wide eyes, Blake gently yet quickly slaped Frank's face. "F-Frank! Frank knock it off! Quit it! Stoppit!" she said through her teeth. Frank pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. "Wha's the problem, Blakey~?" he asked flirtatiously. He ignored how red her face was and the look of 'You're an idiot!' that went along with it. She placed her hand on his head and forced him to turn to her gang and Butch's gang right at the entrance. Frank yelped and accidentally dropped Blake on her butt; and immediately his face turned a deep red. Blake got back on her feet and joined Frank in coming up with an excuse for their make-out session.
"I-uh-we...Ah-he-he jus'-"
"It-It's not wha' it l-loks like! Sh-she-"
"G-gg-gaaaaaaah-I-um-uh-"
"Ahm-W-weeell-erm-uh-"
But they aren't dumb. The whole gang resisted the temptation of laughing at their naiveness. With no excuse to come to mind, the two said in unison: "IT WAS THE BIRD'S FAULT!" and pointed to who they thought was Japhet was only nothingness. They snapped their heads to his former location and quickly realized he was gone. They were dumbfounded. "'The bird's fault', eh~?" they heard Butch say. They couldn't turn to him. "An' the last time I heard, y'alls said chus was only 'friends'," Jesus said. "Perhaps-a friends with-a benefits~," came from Edgar. "ED!" Blake pouted. Now they couldn't help but laugh, minus Frank, of course.
"Hey!" Everyone turned to the direction of Marty's voice. "Hey guys! We got ourselves a train ready ta head outta here, y'all can-" He noticed Frank and Blake's faces and the fact that they looked like they got caught doing something unexpected. He lifted a finger and pointed back and forth between the two. "...Y'all official?" he asked. Blake groaned and facewalled.
She heard the men laughing.
...
...
"C'mon! We'll take this car. Y'all can take th' one by where th' horses are," Blake said. Butch agreed. Half of the gang slipped into the cars while the other half loaded the horses in another. Blake was about to hop in with her gang before she heard: "Wait. Blake." She turned around and saw Frank coming up to her. She hesitated and stepped down from the car and waited for him to come up.
"What now?" she asked. "Um, well, nothin' really," Frank replied. Blake rolled her eyes. "Then what?" she demanded. "Well, I- … Oh wow!" he said. "What?"
"Y-Yer eye…! In this kinda light…" Frank muttered. Blake blushed. "W-What abou' it?"
"...Uh, it's… kinda stupid, though, but… It's like a ruby. Though it ain't nothing compared ta this one-" and he parted her hair out of her right eye. "-Like an aquamarine. Shinin' in the sunset."
All Blake could do was stare at him blankly and blush. This was the first time she ever felt flattered by someone. "Uuum… Th-thanks… I guess…?" was all she could say. Frank chuckled. "Well, 'nyway. I- I didn't git ta say that when we-"
"Nah I think I get it, Frank. Don't need ta say so."
To break the awkward silence they stood in, Frank put his hand under her chin and got her to look up for a kiss. The two were in complete bliss until- "Ey! We need ta start movin'! Would you love birds get in?!"
Blake broke the kiss and the two turned to Barrett, who was leaning out of one of the cars. "Fer God's sake, Barrett! Whaddya want?!" Blake said in a pissed tone. "Well wese waitin' fer th' rest o' y'all. Where Ray an' Jesus?" asked Barrett. Then Frank spoke up again: "Oh, righ'! Theyse still in th' saloon. Alon' wit' tha' Walli guy. They'll catch up, they said." "Well Hell I ain't gon wait no longer," Blake retorted. "W-We- You ain't?"
"Hell knowin' Walli, the lil' guy can chat up a storm, an' nothin' can stop him," Blake noted.
"Well, tell yer lil' hunchback Aussie ta high-tail his ass now!" Barrett exclaimed. "Well tell yer lil' mouth ta SHUT IT and git YER ass in th' damn car!" she fired back. Barrett gave a sign, saying to himself "Whatever..." and slipped back in the train. As soon as Blake was about to hop in her gang's train, she commented, "Are those guys always like that, Frank?" He nodded. "Mainly him an' Jesus. Th' others do their own thin'." Blake smirked. "Seems like they cain't get a hold o' themselves." "Seems like it."
...
...
"Well swing a little more, little more o'er the merry-o! Swing a little more, a little more next to me! Swing a little more, little more o'er the merry-o! Swing a little more on the Devil's Dance Floor!"
"BWAHAHAAAA!"
Coming out of the saloon, Jesus, Ray, and Walliwitz sang a drunken tune and danced like a trio of chickens with their heads cut off. They were laughing their heads off as well while drinking whatever booze they had brought along. Then Walliwitz said drunkenly, "Ya know... You guys are li'e my bes' buds, ya know~?"
"Same goes to you, Walli!" Jesus replied.
"An' I looove ya guys, too!"
The trio just stood there looking at each other before bursting out laughing.
Walliwitz walked a little faster than Jesus and Ray. Just as he was chugging down another round of booze, Walliwitz heard some people talking: "...And what about the girl?"
"Blake? She should in the train by now."
Walliwitz stopped drinking and put his bottle down as soon as he heard his boss's name. The rest of the trio caught up to him, laughing. Walliwitz put his hand up to make them be quiet. "What is it-"
"Sshh! Git down!"
They ducked down.
"Wha's gotten inta you so sudden-"
"Shut it! Listen."
They listened.
"Now look 'ere, Mr. Joe, sir. If-if we do our job, c-can you actually let us go?"
"Heheh. I'll put that into consideration."
"Walli. Who's talkin'?" Jesus whispered. "I-I dunno-" He leaned enough just to see inside the shop. It was Marty and Sid. "It's the crazy mechs!" Ray nodded. "Okay. But who's this Joe guy?" he asked quietly. All Walli could give was a shrug. "Dunno. Never heard o' the guy. But apparently he knows Blake somehow."
"Yer boss?"
"Yup."
They continued eavesdropping the conversation. "Y-You say stuff like that but I don't they truly happen, you know wha' I mean?" they heard Marty say. "...Are you saying that I am lying?" said Joe. "W-Well not neccessarily. I-I mean we-"
Joe's voice sounded angrier this time. "You know the deal! Years ago you two nitwhits agreed to luring her to me if she ever came back here! Now do your half of the business, or else I'll send you two straight down to Hell! Just like your 'Pappy'~."
Ray, Jesus and Walliwitz shuddered by his tone of voice. Joe finished: "Is that understood?" Marty and Sid nodded; but then Sid spoke up: "Though, with all due respect, Joe, this plot's a lil' ridicu-"
"And WHAT-" Joe suddenly grabbed Sid by the throat with his... Well what the trio thought was his hand but was actually a scorpion-like pincer. "-did I tell you idiots about timing the kill?!" And he slammed Sid against a table, parts and splinters flew around him. Walliwitz, Jesus, and Ray flinched.
As Joe kept firing threats at the poor mechanics, Walliwitz suggested to sneak across and hopefully not get caught. Walliwitz went first; then Jesus; and lastly Ray. "I need her blood by the time the full moon rises to its highest in order for him to have his filling-" Just as Ray crossed, he lost his footing and accidentally dropped one of the booze bottles by the entrance. The bottle breaks. Joe, Sid, and Marty turned their heads towards the door. Walliwitz panicked and covered Jesus's mouth, who then reacted by covering both Walliwitz's and Ray's mouths. They sat there breathing rapidly through their noses and bug-eyed.
Joe cocked his head like a curious dog and raised an eyebrow. He only took one step forward. Joe then just shrugged off the feeling and said to himself: "Thought I heard something. Was probably nothing." He went back to discussing the plot; Ray motioned with his hand to get out of there. Before any of them could move, large numbers of spiders and scorpions began to appear and crawl up towards them. Jesus began to panic; Ray tried to squish them; Walliwitz became petrified. "So, as the deal goes: You bring me the girl, I'll let you two go. If not, you will most certainly suffer the consequences…" and with that, he disappeared into thin air. Marty and Sid gave out a sigh of relief.
…
…
"Freighter! How long have those deadbeats been in tha' damn saloon?" Blake asked aloud. Freighter got up and paced around and replied, "It's only been ten minutes, boss. Just relax." She rolled her eyes. "Ya know me damn well how tired I get waitin on tha' lil' slow poke. The guy cain't keep stoppin' an' smellin' the roses," she stated. "Hey! Jus' quit whinin'. They'll get here soon enough," said Jake.
"Whinin'? I am not "whinin'". I am complaining. Do you want to hear "whinin"? This is whinin'! Ooohhhh! This corset is too tight! Can't you loosen it?! OH! It hurts! Why didn't you clean it first?! It's gonna leave a stain, and so's the vest! Why do I have to button it?!-"
"Okay. Okay! We get it!"
"...I thought so-"
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"GIT 'EM OFF! GIT 'EM OFF!"
"I THINK ONE JUST WENT UP MY PANTS!"
"BAJAR, ENGENDRA DEMONIOS DEL INFIERNO!"
Heads turned to the source of the screaming. "What. The. Fuck?...," Blake muttered. From the distance, everyone could see Walliwitz, Ray, and Jesus running around like chickens with their heads cut off. "Is.. I-Is th-tha' W-Walli? A-an-"
"Si."
"Wha' have those ding-bats got themselves into now?"
Blake jumped out of the car and yelled: "Walli! What the hell did you do?"
But Walliwitz just ran, shoved her out of the way, and jumped in the car. He found a spot and curled up in fetal position, still shaking after the scorpion-spider infestation. The other gang members watched Ray and Jesus jump into the other car and tell Butch to get the conductors to start the engine and leave town for good. Blake returned to the car, Japhet perched on her shoulder. They all kept staring at Walliwitz like he was a bat out of Hell. She pointed a finger and raised an eyebrow. "What the hell was that all about?" she asked Edgar. He just shrugged. "Only an idiot would know."
Sometime later, the train jerked forward. "Looks like we're takin' off!" Blake announced. "You think the others noticed?"
Her gang turned to Jake due to his stupidity.
…
…
"Ray! Jesus! Wha' in the hell was that damn commotion?" Butch yelled at the two curled up outlaws. "It-It was disgusting! Damn spiders 'bout damn bit me!"
"S-Si, senor! Ask tha' Walli guy!"
"I'll ask you two idiots-"
Soon enough, they felt the train jerk forward. "Looks like we're headin' out, boys!" Butch said. "Good! Let's get th' hell outta this town!"
"Not gonna risk seein' them spiders."
"...Now yer jes' bein' a buncha damn pussies."
Ray and Jesus just shrugged.
...
...
Blake took her hat off as she took a spot on the floor and let Japhet nest in it. "Might as well get some sleep while we travel. Pro'ly gonna need it," she said. "W-W-Wait! Sh-shoul'n't someone be, uh, be on watch, er s-s-somethin'?" Scuzz thought aloud. Freighter nodded. "He's right on that. I'd say I'll stay awake an-"
"Freight. You really don' need to. An' Scuzz... I like the idea, but I think with us bein' on a train, I don' think it's really neccesary. Y'all just sleep," Blake interrupted. Scuzz hesitated before eventually going to sleep like the others. "S-Sure it ain't worth th-the risk..." he muttered. "Whaddya mean by that?" Blake asked. Scuzz was silent. "J-J... Just sayin'," was his response. Blake reacted with a raised eyebrow.
...
...
For the past 10 minutes, Blake was still wide awake. It's not that the noise of the train had kept her up (minus the snoring men in the same car), but the fact that when Walliwitz told her about the scorpions and spiders attacking him. She didn't think that many would be in this part of Texas. The thought soon went out of her mind as she tried to actually sleep.
Blake took her hat off and let Japhet nest in it. She didn't need to use her coat as a pillow like she usually does. She curled up into fetal position and tried to sleep, but only had numerous thoughts running in her head. She stared into space until she eventually fell asleep.
And the night was going to be a long one.