dakota

Prompt: Reader stumbles upon an herbalist on a solo adventure and gets some useful information on a new plant that can aid a certain cowboy in relieving some stress.

Content warnings: Drug use, smoking, vomit, violence, hunting, peer pressure(??)

Takes place at Horseshoe Overlook, not proof read

You’ve been running with the Van Der Linde gang for a little over a month. Hosea had caught you red-handed, trying to pick-pocket him. In your defense, he seemed like an easy target. An older, gentle looking man alone in a packed saloon? Usually things go off without a hitch. Luckily for you, Hosea was actually impressed by your skills, particularly with your innocence act when you got caught. You spent the night talking and drinking with him, swapping sob stories, and by sunrise you were following him back to a secluded camp on the outskirts of town. There was a mix of reactions from the rest of the gang, mostly you were welcomed, but a few members had their reservations about you, and some still do. When you drunkenly stumbled into camp following closely behind Hosea, you laid your eyes on the most beautiful human being you’ve ever seen. Arthur Morgan. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the cowboy’s stunning beauty that made your stomach do flips, resulting in you emptying your guts in front of practically everybody. But you heard Arthur’s low, raspy chuckle for the first time.

“You alright there?” Arthur questioned you, one eyebrow slightly raised.

“Oh yeah, I’m wonderful…” You replied, bracing yourself with a hand on a tree trunk. Your face was flushed red from a mixture of alcohol and embarrassment.

Luckily, since that first day you’ve redeemed yourself with most of the gang. Most importantly, you’ve redeemed yourself with Arthur. You tagged along for a homestead robbery and shot some bastard right between the eyes when he was on top of Arthur, choking him.

“Are you okay?” You called to Arthur, running over to him only a split second after discharging your gun.

Arthur shoved the corpse off of him and caught his breath, “I am now… Thanks to you.” he said, sitting up.

“Oh, it’s no big deal…” You tried to keep yourself cool and collected and slid your gun back into your holster.

“No big deal?” Arthur repeated your words as he looked up at you, his knee bent and his extended arm resting on his knee, “You saved my hide, that ain’t “no big deal” ‘round here.” He stood up with a slight grunt and gave you an approving slap on the back before walking over to his horse. “Yer alright, kid.”

You couldn’t hide the smile that crept onto your face. A weight you didn’t know you’ve been carrying around had been lifted. Getting Arthur’s approval of being part of the gang meant more than you thought it would.

Since then you started seeking out Arthur’s company more and more. You’ve developed a stronger bond with him, but have been careful to keep your attraction to the cowboy to yourself. You had a good friendship, and you didn’t want to screw it up.

Currently you were out hunting alone. You had a knack for getting perfect rabbit pelts with a bow Charles had given you. So far you got three rabbits, but you needed one more to have enough material to make a pillow cover. Plus, Pearson always appreciated the meat. You took out your binoculars and surveyed the field, looking for any rabbits in the distance. You spotted your final prey of the afternoon. Sliding off your horse quietly, you grabbed your bow and started to sneak up on the rabbit. You got into position and took aim, drawing your bow back. You let out your breath slowly and released your arrow, getting another pristine kill. You rushed over to grab the rabbit and stow it on your horse. Just as you were preparing to hop back on your horse to ride back to camp, a figure in the distance caught your eye.

You grabbed your pistol from your holster and started to approach a stranger a few hundred feet away.

“Hey there.” You greeted the stranger, cautious but not in a mood to spill more blood if it wasn’t necessary.

The stranger turned his head and gave you a wave, “Hello! Beautiful day out today, isn’t it?” He had a white horse with him that had bushels of herbs stowed on it.

You slid your gun back into its holster and got within a few feet of the man, “What’cha gathering?” You questioned, looking at the plants wrapped in burlap and sitting on the back of the horse, it looked the same as a patch of plants growing from the earth near the man.

“Some medicine.” The stranger bent down and picked a flower off the plant, “This plant does wonders for feelings of anxiety and stress!” He presented a funny looking green flower bud in his hand.

“Really?” You questioned him, inspecting the plant. You did have a lot of feelings of anxiety recently… “D’ya just eat it?”

“Oh, no no. This works best after it’s been dried. You smoke it, just like tobacco.” He explained to you. “Here, I have some ready to go!” Turning his back to you, he rummaged through a bag on his horse and handed you something that looked like a cigarette.

You took it from the man and inspected it and gave it a sniff. “It kinda smells funny.” You observed aloud.

“Ah, a small price to pay for the medicinal properties.” The man secured his goods on his horse and hopped up on it. “I should be going now, but I highly suggest setting aside a few hours when you smoke it. It can make you feel… funny.”

“Funny?” You looked up at the stranger, “Funny how?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, but it’s also a good idea to have a friend or two around. Come find me if you need more!” The man commanded his horse to get going, leaving you slightly bewildered.

“Huh…” You carefully tucked away the cigarette and mounted your horse. On your ride back to camp, you thought of a particularly stressed cowboy that could use some medicine to help with that.

You arrived back at camp in the late afternoon. Camp was bustling with the women finishing up chores and Pearson putting the stew on the fire. You hitched your horse and grabbed your rabbits and slid the cigarette in your pocket.

“Got a present for you!” You called to Pearson, holding up the rabbits.

“You got perfect timing, kiddo.” Pearson praised you.

You laid down the rabbits on his workstation and got to work on skinning them. “You seen Arthur around today?” You questioned the cook.

“Saw him this morning… I think Dutch said something about him going into Valentine.” Pearson was always in earshot of whatever Dutch was hollering about, so he knew just about everything. “You sure spend a lot of time around him…” He hinted at you.

His comment made you whip your head towards him. “What are you talking about? I spend a normal amount of time with everyone..!” Your defensiveness was definitely not helping your case, and neither was a faint dusting of pink across your cheeks.

“Okay…” He dismissed you, not convinced by your shitty excuse.

You huffed slightly and collected your rabbit pelts and took them over to your tent and hung them up to dry.

Your tent was situated next to Lenny, he was one of the first members to make you feel comfortable and welcomed. You often had guard duty with him, and the two of you always end up slacking off and get a tongue lashing from Mrs. Grimshaw. Plus, your tent’s location gave you a great view of Arthur’s wagon. Right as you were about to start bitching and whining to Lenny about what Pearson had said, you heard the clap of horse hooves approaching camp. You turned your head to see Arthur, feeding his horse a snack and giving it a pat on the neck. Seeing Arthur lightened your mood by tenfold. You watched him as he exchanged a few words with Dutch and then headed over to his cot. Now that he was a bit closer, you noticed a bruise starting to form on his cheekbone and that he was covered in mud. You walked over to him just as he was sitting down.

“You okay, Arthur?” You asked him, concern laced in your voice.

He lifted his head slightly to meet your eyes, “Yeah, it’s nothing.” He always dismissed his own issues. Sure, maybe it was stupid to ask if he was okay when he clearly looked like shit, but you still had to ask. You looked him over now that you were standing only a few feet from him, he looked more tired than anything.

“Go get cleaned up, and I’ll wash your clothes.” You instructed him, you learned quickly that you need to insist he takes care of himself, or else he won’t do a damn thing for his health.

“Naw, really I’m fine.” He began to protest, slightly waving a hand in dismissal.

“Arthur.” You said sternly, giving him a glare. “Get your ass cleaned up, and I’m going to wash your clothes.” You instructed him once more.

Arthur furrowed his brows and met your glare for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and standing up, shrugging off his coat that was caked in mud. You gathered Arthur’s clothes, along with his boots and weapon holsters and headed off to the wash basin to get them clean. You kneeled down on the ground and began scrubbing his clothes clean. You lifted your head frequently to fixate on Arthur. It’s the first time you’ve seen him without 3 or more layers of clothes on. Arthur was slightly bent over at a barrel of water, washing his face in just his union suit. Other men around camp would often walk around in their union suit, especially early in the morning, but you never gave them a second glance. Arthur, however, was another story. He was quite more muscular than you had imagined, and his ass looked perfect. You tore your eyes away from Arthur and forced yourself to focus on getting his clothes and gear clean. You were definitely smoking that funky cigarette later, and dragging Arthur into your shenanigans as well.

A few hours later dinner had been eaten and much to your dismay, Arthur had changed into some real clothing. The sun had set not long ago and things were quieting down around camp. People were retiring to their tents, sitting around the fire, or getting ready to swap look-out shifts. You spotted Arthur smoking a cigarette, leaning on a tree at the edge of camp. You approached him, excited about the plans the man didn’t yet know he was getting roped into.

“Hey.” You greeted the cowboy nonchalantly. “Your clothes should be dry by morning.”

Arthur gave you a nod as he flicked the butt of his cigarette off to the side and blew out some smoke. “Thanks. Ya didn’t have to do all that.”

“I don’t mind.” You assured him. You looked up at the stars, trying to think of a plan if Arthur rejected your offer of smoking something a stranger gave you in the middle of the woods… Maybe you’ll leave that part out.

“Uhm, I got something for you- well, us. Something for us to share.” You glanced at him, becoming nervous all of a sudden.

“Well, aren’t you full of surprises? It my birthday or somethin’?” Arthur joked, making himself the punchline.

“I dunno, is it?” You chuckled softly.

Arthur shook his head with a smile playing on his lips, “Luckily, it ain’t.”

You reached in your pocket and took out the home-made joint you got earlier in the day. “I was out hunting earlier and I found some plants. Kinda like tobacco, but different.” You explained to him.

Arthur squinted his eyes slightly to get a better look at what you were holding. “Ya just picked some plant and made a cigarette outta it? Seems kinda… odd.” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn’t want to offend you, but this seemed idiotic.

“When you put it like that, you make it sound like I’m trying to kill ya.” You turned your body towards him, trying to seem more serious. “It’s not just some random plant though. It’s medicine that helps with stress. And you are the most stressed cowpoke I know.”

Arthur looked at you for a moment. He could tell this meant a lot to you, for some unknown reason. He glanced at the “cigarette” in your hand. He’s probably put worse in his body, “What the hell.” He states, taking the joint from you and lighting it with a match.

A smile spread across your face, glad that Arthur is letting himself relax a bit. You watched as Arthur inhaled the smoke. He suppressed a few coughs and blew out the smoke, knitting his eyebrows together at the strange taste.

“How is it?” You ask him, extending your hand toward him asking for him to share the smoke.

“See for yourself.” He passed the joint to you as he focused on not coughing like a kid trying to smoke for the first time. You brought the joint to your lips and inhaled, only to start coughing right away. “Jesus christ.” You shoved the joint back into Arthur's hand as you brought a hand to your mouth to cover your cough.

Arthur looked at you with a tinge of concern, “You sure this is safe?” He questioned you.

After taking a few deep breaths you had collected yourself, “Yeah… Yeah, I’m sure it’s fine…” You dismissed his concern. “Medicine isn’t always enjoyable, y’know.”

“I guess…” Arthur took another inhale of the joint, more prepared for the effects now. This time he only cleared his throat slightly before passing the joint back to you.

You decided to take two puffs this time, wanting the effects to start to kick in so you didn’t feel like such an idiot around Arthur anymore. Not used the smoking as much as the cowboy next to you, you still coughed a bit. You passed the joint back and forth a few more times.

“So, it’s just ‘sposed to make you… relaxed?” Arthur questioned, starting to think that this “medicine” was a sham.

“That’s what the guy told me.” You shrugged.

“Guy? What guy?” Arthur looked at you.

“Well… I was out hunting and there was this guy and he had these plants. And he said they help with stress and it might make you feel funny.” You confessed.

“Feel funny?” Arthur questioned you, glancing at the joint that was practically finished by now.

“Yeah…” You didn’t know why he was repeating everything you said. You snatched the joint from him and took the last drag of it.

Before Arthur could reprimand you for taking drugs from a strange man in the woods, a voice rang out from the other side of camp, “God dammit, who the hell let a skunk in here?” John’s voice called out.

You froze, hearing John’s voice. You had forgotten that it wasn’t just you and Arthur alone outside. You sniffed the air, and then the joint, which did indeed smell similar to skunk. You tossed the butt over your shoulder quickly and glanced at Arthur, biting your lip to hold back a laugh.

Arthur was frozen as well, only his eyes shifted to meet your gaze. He had a dumbfounded look plastered on his face like he’d just been caught in the act of something deplorable. This caused a giggle to form in your throat. You put your hand over your mouth to try and keep quiet, unsure of why exactly you were trying to keep quiet.

John had wandered over to where the two of you were standing. “You guys seen a skunk ‘round here?”

You couldn’t hold it in anymore, you let a string of laughter escape your lips. Suddenly, you heard a low chuckle start to fill the air and you turned your head to see Arthur laughing as well. Of course this only caused you to laugh louder, you raised a finger to point at Arthur in surprise. You’d never heard him laugh like this before. Arthur placed a hand on his stomach and started to laugh properly now, not just a chuckle.

John was left baffled, “What the hell is wrong with the two of you?” he muttered more under his breath as he turned to leave you be.

Your laughter was booming now and your knees were starting to feel weak. You lightly slapped Arthur’s shoulder and pointed at John as he walked away, “He…he thought there was a skunk!” You wiped away some tears that were forming in the corner of your eyes.

Arthur’s laughter matched yours, surely the two of you were disturbing the entire camp by now. “What a jackass!” Arthur mocked John and placed a hand on your shoulder. Your face began to heat up, and both of your laughter began to die down.

You were down to letting out a laugh occasionally now as you looked up at Arthur, his features dimly illuminated by the moonlight and the lanterns around camp. He was absolutely gorgeous. He broke your trance when he spoke up, “Hey, are you hungry?”

You took a moment to tune into your body and hunger cues, but once you did your stomach growled, “Yes!” You gasped as you answered him, like he was a genius for figuring this information out. “We should go to Pearson’s wagon.” You proposed.

“I like that idea.” Arthur agreed with you, pushing his weight off the tree he had been leaning on and wandered over to Pearson’s wagon. He glanced around to make sure no one was around before rummaging through the wagon like a raccoon.

“Here.” He gave you some bread rolls, cheese, and apples.

“Ooooh.” You cooed at the haul Arthur had passed to you. “Let’s eat by the fire.” You began to wander to the fire pit before waiting around to hear his answer. “Yeah, okay, sure.” Arthur grabbed two beers from a crate nearby and joined you by the fire. He plopped himself down on a log, almost falling backwards.

You giggled at his lack of balance, “Be careful.” you warned him as you ripped off a piece of bread and placed some cheese on it and ate it in one bite. Arthur popped open the beer bottles and took a long drink of one.

You grabbed an apple and took a large bite. “Oh my god.” You moaned at the taste of the fresh apple in your mouth. “Oh my god.” You repeated yourself, mouth full of unchewed apple, “You gotta try this.” You held up the apple to Arthur’s mouth, somehow ignoring the shade of pink his cheeks had turned.

Arthur placed his hand over yours and guided the apple to his mouth and took a bite. You had finally begun to chew the food in your mouth, “So good, right?” You asked.

Arthur nodded and took another long drink of his beer, trying to distract himself from the sound you had made and the feelings it stirred deep inside him.

“Mh, good idea.” You said when you saw the beer bottle. You snatched it up and took a drink from your own bottle. You handed Arthur a roll with a piece of cheese in the middle, and the two of you happily stuffed your face in silence for the next few minutes.

Once all the food was eaten, and you took the last swig of beer, a wash of tiredness rushed over you and you let out a yawn. You scooted closer to Arthur on the log you were both sitting on, close enough so the outside of your thighs were touching.

“ ‘M starting to get tired.” You announced.

Arthur looked down at you, “Ya wanna lay down?” He was starting to feel tired himself, especially after the day he had.

You nodded in reply, “Here.” You got up and grabbed a tarp and laid it down by the fire and also grabbed a blanket. “A bed!” You proudly presented your shotty excuse for a bed.

Arthur chuckled slightly, “Alright. Well, get in.” He stood up, getting ready to retire to his own bed.

“You’re coming with me.” You enlightened Arthur as you grabbed his hand and led him to the makeshift bed. You sat down and tugged him down with you.

“What’re you doing?” Arthur questioned you, looking down at his hand that was being held by yours.

“Goin’ to bed, silly.” You told him like it was obvious. You let go of Arthur’s hand and lightly pushed him down so he was laying. You scooted right up next to him and laid down as well. You rested your head on his chest and pulled the blanket over the both of you. You made yourself comfortable at Arthur’s side, draping your arm on his stomach and closed your eyes. “Goodnight, Arthur.” You said, already half asleep.

Arthur accepted his fate, too stoned to protest or think about the consequences of everyone in camp seeing him like this in the morning.

“G’night.” He replied to you, lazily placing a kiss to your head as if this had been his routine for the last 10 years, before drifting off to sleep.

You awoke to the sound of murmuring. You blinked away the sleep from your eyes and adjusted to the harsh light of the sun. An unfamiliar presence was pressed up against your back and you heard a soft snore. Once your eyes adjusted to the daylight, you could see some camp members gathered around you, with knowing looks on their faces.

“I told you they’d get it on!” Sean’s voice rang through your ears.

Suddenly, the events of last night flashed through your mind and your cheeks were quickly heating up.

“Arthur! Get the hell up.” Dutch said as his figure was towering over the two of you.

Arthur’s hand that had been lazily resting on your side suddenly gripped you and pulled you close as he jolted awake, “What the hell?” Arthur groaned as he was ripped away from a peaceful sleep.

You reluctantly wiggled yourself out of his grasp and sat up.

“There is work to be done.” Dutch stated. “We ALL,” he paused to give a glare to the crowd that had gathered to gawk at Arthur and you, “have work to do.”

With Dutch’s warning, the small crowd dispersed with a murmur. Arthur had gotten his bearings now and sat up with you, a blush creeping onto his cheeks as he put on his hat.

By which I mean, asks used to be WAY more of the tumblr economy. They used to be more common to send, and receive, and see. They were integral to the collaborative, forum-like behavior of old tumblr communities, not even to speak on the HUGE number of ask-blogs that used to exist to only be interacted with in ask-form.