"Uh Chris? You can get off me now. They're all gone.""Huh? Oh yeah. Right. Sorry about that, Vin." Chris Larabee eased himself up off his companion's body and rolled over to sit on the edge of the bed.
"It's just... you ain't no featherweight ya know. You're heavier than ya look." Vin sat up as well, feeling that maybe he'd been a bit abrupt. Wasn't Chris's fault, after all. It was all the work of them damn... "Damn fic writers!" Chris jumped to his feet and began pacing back and forth alongside the bed.
"What I want to know is where the hell they come up with this shit! Because we looked at each other? I look at my horse, too. Doesn't mean I want to fuck it!" Chris stopped pacing and looked - uh glanced - uh - awww helll. He damn well looked at the tracker. You gonna make something of it?
"Ain't what I heard, cowboy." Vin couldn't resist the dig. His ass was still sore and Chris was standin' there complainin' about things?
"Real funny, Vin. You been hangin' out with Buck a little too much lately?" Chris knew how to do some digging of his own.
"Uh... where are Buck and the others? Thought we was supposed to all hang out in the saloon later and watch the game." Vin firmly repressed all memory of the previous night with Buck. He'd hated every minute of it, just like he hated doin' it with Chris. And Ezra. Well, ok. He really did hate doin' it with Ezra. And doin' it with JD was just plain embarrassing.
"We are," Chris replied shortly, narrowing his eyes. Had Vin looked a bit dreamy eyed after he'd said Buck's name? No. What the hell was he thinking? He was starting to sound like those damn fic writers. Getting all jealous over Vin. It wasn't like he enjoyed fucking the tracker. Or Buck. Or Ezra. Well, ok. Fucking Ezra hadn't been as bad as he'd thought it would be. But that hadn't meant he'd enjoyed it for chrissake. Right? And he still cringed every time he thought about his few encounters with JD.
"You boys about through in there?" The door opened and Buck strolled into the room, followed by the remainder of the Seven.
"You ever think about knocking, Buck?" Chris demanded, scowling.
"Ain't like either one of you got anything I ain't seen before." Buck shrugged his shoulders, glancing sideways out of the corner of his eye at Chris's nekkid body. Yep. Just like he remembered. Not that Buck had liked doin' his old friend or anything. Nope. And doin' the purty tracker had just meant that much more time that he'd had to spend away from the comforting arms of a woman. And don't even get him started on all the time he'd been forced to spend with Ez. Buck certainly hadn't enjoyed those encounters, no matter how good Ez smelled when he was wearin' that fancy French cologne. Buck was a ladies man. Yes sirree Bob. That was his story and he was stickin' to it.
"I believe you somehow managed to miss the point, Mr. Wilmington. As usual." Ezra buffed his nails against his red coat and then held them out for inspection as he spoke.
"That ain't what you said the other day. I do believe your exact words were "Oh Buck, please fu..."
"Now Buck, you know we agreed not to use what was said in those fics against one another. We're all on the same side here." /Or we would be if anyone ever cared to write about me for a change./ Josiah was a bit indignant that he was so often overlooked. He might not be the youngest or the handsomest, but he had experience to offer in their place. It was discrimination pure and simple, that's all. And if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't actually want to fuck any of his friends, he'd have those fic writers in court so fast it would make their heads spin. But since he didn't want to fuck any of his friends... Had he said that already?
"Indeed, Mr. Sanchez. Thank you for the timely reminder, my friend. I would've hated to embarrass Buck here by tellin' everyone what I heard him sayin' to Mr. Dunne the other evening."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Ezra. Me and Buck were nowhere near each other the other night." JD still tended to be in a state of denial about certain things.
"Now you know them fic writers are a sick lot when they start puttin' me and the kid together like that." Buck shuddered and glanced quickly at JD before looking away and shuddering once more for good measure.
"Oh, like you're a prize, Buck? I could do a lot better than you. And I have, too. So there." JD might've been in denial, but he was also young and insecure and not about to take an insult lying down. He took too many other things lying down, it seemed to him. Ooopps...his denial was slipping a bit. Happened every time he looked at one of the others lately. And Chris and Vin being naked wasn't helping any. Not that he needed help. Because there wasn't anything to deny.
"Better? Let me tell you something, JD..." Buck had a reputation to defend, dammit. He was the best and the kid here had to be made aware of that fact.
"All right. That's enough you two," Chris barked. Stalking over to the chair, he grabbed a pair of pants and threw them towards Vin. "Put these on." He'd seen Buck and the others sneaking glances at the tracker. Maybe they liked what these fic writers were doing more than they were letting on. He'd just see about that!
"Mr. Larabee, is it safe to assume that you will be donning your customary apparel, as well?" Ezra's voice was a bit stiff and if Chris didn't put some goddamn pants on in the next five seconds, something else was going to be stiff, too. What the hell did their leader think he was doing standing there stark naked like that? Had he no decency? No shame? Hadn't he seen the way Vin was staring at him when he wasn't looking? And why wasn't he putting his clothes on? Did the man require an engraved invitation? Ezra could feel the sweat begin to roll down his back.
"I'll get dressed when I'm good and ready," Chris scowled around the room. Let Buck and Vin see what they were missing. Except they were too busy making cow's eyes at each other. Damn them, anyway. This was real life, not a goddamned piece of fanfic. They could talk about women and sleep with women and look at women... So why the hell weren't they all out doing that? Chris grabbed his pants. They needed to get down to the saloon. Right now.
"So now you got a problem with nudity, Ezra? You predjudiced about that, too?" Nathan cornered the gambler, glowering down at him in righteous anger. This didn't have a thing to do with the way Ezra had been ignoring him lately. No. This was about civil rights and liberties. Uh huh.
"Oh stuff it, Nathan. You and Josiah hardly ever get picked on by them fic writers. Nathan's got a beautiful girlfriend and Josiah always gets to sit back and spout off meaningless shit. You guys have no idea what kind of stress we're operating under, here," Buck came unexpectedly to the rescue.
"Well maybe that's because we're the only two real men in this room and those fic writers know that. Ain't that right, Brother?" It was Josiah's turn to come to the rescue.
"More like the ugliest and the world's most boring, ya mean," Vin muttered. He had put his pants on and was crawling around on the floor looking for his shirt.
"You might want to reconsider those words, my friend," Josiah rumbled, taking a step closer to the tracker.
"Guess I'm too boring to patch you up next time you get your fool self hurt, then. Maybe you'd better ask one of the other fellas to do it. Since they're so interesting and all," Nathan said huffily. He was not boring. He just had his head screwed on straight was all. Something these whisky swilling, sassy talking heathens wouldn't know nothing about!
"That's enough," Chris ordered, stepping protectively in front of the tracker. "I think we all need to go have a drink and watch the game. Be men."
One by one the others nodded their heads. Be men. They could do that. Couldn't they?
THE END
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