(no subject)

[quinientos]

This isn't exactly the trip to town that Vasquez had expected.

She'd thought she would come and see these people that Robert had to deal with. True, she didn't think she was going to like all of them, but she also didn't think that she would feel this much rage and fury when she saw how they treated him. They spoke down to him, they ignored him, and they laughed at him. Dressed in her pretty frock and her hair loose, she knows she's supposed to be demure, but it's a very good thing that they'd disarmed her before she got to town. If they hadn't, she'd be in the jail cell because she would have shot someone in her fury.

As it is, they're pulling her off of Doc Holliday, while Aleja spits furious Spanish invective at him, furious at the jokes they've been making on Robert's behalf. "He is twice the man that you will ever be," she finishes, spitting at his and Earp's feet, irritated on Robert's behalf.

Forcing her arm out of the hold, she sneers at the men holding her. "I'm going," she snaps, grabbing her thick fur coat and hauling it on, shoving hat on her head and thinking it's good she came here to see this. Because now, she's not letting Robert come even close to this place after everything that she's seen. She stands in the doorway and waits for him, because she's not leaving without him.

They're never coming back to this place and Aleja is already making plans to never let him work for these two men, not when he deserves so much more.

Comments

[zwaan]

In truth, Robert isn't sure what he expected would happen. Watching Aleja turn into a fury, all dark hair and snarls and anger is nothing he expected. And yet it is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. She's truly a valkyrie as he's read about, a whirling dervish, beautiful and powerful and amazing.

Even as she's jerking on her coat, backing away, he just continues to stare. Managing to blink, slowly draw his gaze from her to where Doc is wiping his face with the back of his hand and coming away with blood.

"What the hell, Robert? You're kin to that shedevil? A little mous..." He stops, looking to Aleja.

"You're really goin' with her?" Earp arches a brow.

Robert pulls of his glasses, cleaning them on his sleeve before sliding them back on his face. Slow and deliberate.

"Miss Ravn, you know you don't want to leave without an escort," he says, moving to her side and offering his arm. "Shall we?"

Inside he is shaking, she may be able to feel it, but for her sake not his own he is able to hold his own and stand up to them. In his own way.

[quinientos]

Vasquez turns on her heel when she hears Doc talking about the mouse word, a warning look on her face like she will bite off his ear or his dick if he tries to go so far as to say it again. Bundling herself up and wishing she'd punched him harder, because the ring would have made a very nice mark.

She takes his arm and holds on too tight, yanking him out into the brisk cold, furious at what he's been dealing with for all these years. "Puta," she curses, when she's out of earshot, wishing she had her guns. "Those are the men you wanted to impress? I don't like them at all, I'm going to come back when they're sleeping and strangle them."

[zwaan]

He stays close to her, not trusting them not to follow or say more in ear shot. So he doesn't mind the hard touch, the way she jerks him around. Not minding in the least, for many reasons.

"They are all I've had," he admits, knowing that it isn't a good answer, but it's all that he has. "If you do at this point, they will come after you more. Isn't that what we're avoiding," he asks in a low whisper.

[quinientos]

She breathes in steadily, the fury building, and right now she's debating whether it would be worth it for that to come loose so she can have revenge, but Robert is right. "Fine," she huffs. "I don't like that you're being so right about this, but fine," she grimaces.

"That means you need to stand up for yourself," she insists. "Next time, when you're here, if you come, I don't want you to take any of their bullshit. You don't need them anymore, you have me."

[zwaan]

"I need them not to come for you," he says, meaning it, his words throaty and tight with emotion. "I will do what I have to for you, and I can't promise we would make it out of there alive."

And he doesn't want her dead. He doesn't want to be dead. Not when he's finally finding a part of life that he can truly enjoy and want to be part of.

His hand tightens on her arm. "I admit, I'm going to avoid them," he admits. "Doc... I can stand never seeing him, standing up to him, even if I know it will get ugly, but Wyatt." Much as he hates to admit it, he knows he'd do a lot for Earp.

"But I will avoid that so it doesn't happen. Promise."

[quinientos]

She would shoot them all in the heart in twenty paces. She knows that most men these days don't think that women can defend themselves as easily, but she trusts in her gun. That said, she's heard stories about Holliday, and maybe that's not a good idea.

"Fine," she says, sharply. "And you don't do anything for that man anymore. Can't you see how little he respects you?" she spits at him with disbelief. "How can you still think he cares about you at all? Mierda," she hisses, before devolving into a slew of cursing again.

[zwaan]

"I don't think that," he admits, his voice low, tight, and his entire body tensing next to her. "I never have. I never believed that. I believed though that..."

He stops though, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter."

He has no idea how to explain to her that he's never had respect from others, and he's just been content to be involved in things, doing the right things for a community that looks down on him for being a gentle man rather than a masculine one.

Not that he thinks he has her respect either, nor does he expect it. Not even before all of this. He's quite aware of the man that he's not, and that he will forever be trying to make a place for himself and not finding it. If he can help though, that is enough.

"We should go by my home and get the things we'll need this winter. After this, they won't be surprised I don't return before the snow begins."

[quinientos]

She wants to know exactly what it is that he believed, because maybe then she could tell him that no man is worth him being less than he could be. She wonders, now, what Robert would be like if he hadn't willingly placed himself in Wyatt's shadow for so long.

That's when she makes the determined decision to find out.

"Let's go get your things and the sooner this town is behind us, the better," she insists. "And then I don't have to watch people glaring at me because I dared to point out the truth."

[zwaan]

Robert has never allowed himself to think such things, and that is part of it. Being in that shadow, being that ma, he never has to think about it. He can e a good man without putting himself out. It's something he's done his entire life.

Right until he put himself out for a beautiful cabin, hiding where she isn't meant to be.

"They're glaring because no one has ever seen a woman act like that. Not in Purgatory especially. Not like that in a saloon. Not even one of the girls there," he points out, and he can't hold back the tone in his voice. Others might be upset but...

"I thought what you did was amazing. Thank you." He's not sure he deserves it, but he appreciates it.

[quinientos]

"If no woman has acted like this before, I pity the women of this town." She's still spitting fury as she hikes up her skirts to walk faster, loose hair bouncing with the determination of her walk, not even sure where she's going, but knowing she needs to get there soon before she lets her anger consume her again.

"I'd do it again," she vows. "You're a good man, Robert," she promises him. "Better than I've ever known. You should be standing up for yourself like this, but if you can't, then I will."

He might give her food and shelter and safety, but she can give him protection and respect.

[zwaan]

"Perhaps they have, but this town is Wyatt's, and Doc is his right hand," he says, though he knows that's not entirely true. Doc does his own thing, and between them the town loves them. Yet Robert does as much but, as with many things, he seeks neither attention nor glory for it.

"This way," he says, gently guiding her by her arm towards his house a bit off the main street.

He almost loses a step when she says that, glancing at her as he leads her to his place. "Thank you. I don't think anyone but perhaps the father at the church has ever said any such thing to me. Thank you."

And it means a lot to him.

"I've never seen a reason to," he admits, stepping forward to open the gate to the walk for her. The house suits him with a small fence, the house maintained in perfect order, showing the hard work he puts into it for no one but himself.

[quinientos]

"Then isn't it lucky for us that we're not in this town?" she replies back, like she might be speaking to an idiot. She knows that Robert knows better, that he doesn't intend to stay with her permanently (at least, she thinks that's what he intends), but as she follows him into his house, she already hates this little town.

"The fact that no one has said this to you is mad," she hisses at him, and wants him to hear that and understand it. "If this is what this town is like, then when the winter is over and it's safe for me to move on, then maybe you should, too."

[zwaan]

"You're only here to get through the winter,' he says, only after he's closed the door and locked it. "Then you'll have put time between you and those that want you, and..."

And the words die on his tongue as he lifts his gaze, turning to stare at her. Until then they had both been on the same page, and then she springs something on him that he isn't sure what to do with.

Blinking, he offers a look that might have been meant to be a smile but fails in all regards, just tight and pained and confused.

"I've thought of it a time or two, but I wouldn't know where I'd have to go. I have no interest in returning to my family back East, and not sure where I would just go and move to start over again." Alone. Some money saved but not a man of much needed skills. Not without a wife and family. "It's a nice thought though, thank you. For all of it. It means a lot, those words you've said."

Springtime

[quinientos]

The snow is finally starting to melt and Aleja isn't so sure she's grateful to see springtime here. Yes, this is what she's been meaning to survive to and having steady company for the winter has meant that she's happy, she's been able to put on the weight that she'd lost in her starvation, and that she's safe. The problem with springtime is that this is when Robert said he might move on.

Her hair has grown out even longer and she's been worrying her ring more often than not. She's going to have to give it back and she's been approaching the idea, even if she hates it more and more. The truth is, after all these months, she knows what she's been denying. Robert is a good and kind man, with more strength than he knows.

She's beginning to fall for him, which is bad news, because she's an outlaw.

When the last of the snow melts, that's when she decides it's time. It's time to give back the ring, as much as she doesn't want to. She waits until it's breakfast and settles oats on the stove, wiggling the ring off to set it down on the table where Robert usually eats. It breaks her heart to do, but it's his and if she doesn't give it back, she never will.

Better that he gets it now, before someone catches her and takes it into their possession. "Breakfast is almost ready," she calls out to him.

[zwaan]

Robert has no idea when it happened, but by the time the deep snow begins to melt and the water rushes through the little creek nearby turning it into a brook, he knows. No, he's known longer than that but he's willing to admit it to himself. He loves her.

He's in love with the way she smiles, how she pulls her own weight, and the way she looks when they're playing chess, and he can't stop staring at her. Laying there in the dark, listening to the soft sound of her breathing, and finding himself more and more in love with her with every breath he heard.

Now every day things change, and it gets closer to spring when he can check in the town and make sure that no one had come looking for her, and then when it was safe, she would go.

So he's stunned when he comes to the table, seeing the ring laying there before where he sits. He had known the day was coming, but he hadn't been ready for it to be now.

"I believe this is yours," he says, picking it up and holding it out to her.

[quinientos]

She knows how hard this is going to be, but she really does care for him. That means that she needs to start putting this divide between them, because if it's safe for her to go on and leave, then that means she's going to need to start with a new life.

"It's yours," she points out, not taking it as she pours the oats into a bowl with some of the fruit she'd managed to find, preserved and dried. "You should have it back, especially now with spring coming. I wouldn't want to take something of your family's." She settles at the table and gestures for him to sit with her.

She might be giving the ring back, but she's not ready for him to leave yet and she's not ready to go either.

[zwaan]

"Actually..." He moves to set the ring down in the middle of the table, not willing to take it. But she deserves to know the truth. "It was my mother's, and she left it to me. I want you to have it," he says, having decided that long ago, even knowing he might not have more with her than this winter.

He doesn't sit though, pacing a bit.

"She would want you to have it as well. She'd have liked you, Aleja, and it will just sit in a chest forever. So please? Keep it?"

Because then, at least, she'll have a bit of him there and he can think about that, about how she played with it, about how much this winter meant to him.

"Does this mean you're planning to leave ... soon?" He can't ask if she's planning to leave him. Just that she's planning to leave. "It... it may be too soon," he says, knowing he's trying and she's likely to see right through it.

[quinientos]

She looks at it warily, not entirely sure that she's ready to put it on. The truth of it is that now that she's feeling something for him, she feels so false wearing it, like she's somehow going to tempt fate. It's enough to make her nerves sing and she palms it, even though she doesn't put it on, but rather, takes off her chain and medallion to add it to that, because she's not wearing his ring.

Not unless he actually asks her to and he won't, not with him going back into town.

"I thought maybe you were going to go ride and check, see if everything is safe." If she had her way, Vasquez would stay here where it's secure and comfortable, but people might start to notice. "With the snow melting, I'm surprised you haven't gone yet." Not disappointed, just surprised.

[zwaan]

He watches as she puts it on the chain and his heart sinks. He knows it means nothing to her, but wanting so much for a few more days of her wearing that ring with them there.

So when she mentions him leaving, he glances at the door and then back to her. Instead he moves to seat himself at the table, facing her. Making it obvious he's not moving for the door. Instead folding his hands before him on the table, staring at her intently.

"Eventually we need to know if anyone has come looking for you, but..." He shakes his head. "I haven't one because I told you months ago that I didn't really want to return. Not after that day, definitely not after..." He pauses, looking around before his gaze comes back to her. "Not after this. With you," he says, managing the last part even as a flush creeps up his neck and along his cheeks.

"I know you're going to leave me eventually, Aleja, but I've known for a while now that I would take all the time I can have with you." He tenses, fearing that with that admission she was going to mock him, scoff at what he's saying. Not that he can blame her. He knows himself. "Because... because I want to be with you."

[quinientos]

That's not what Vasquez had been expecting to hear.

She's a little stunned, honestly, because sure, she'd known that she had him enough in her attention that she could get away with plenty, but watching him admit to this now makes her heart soar in ways she didn't think it could. He doesn't feel differently. Playing with the chain and the ring, she brings it into her palm to start working, a terribly fond look on his face.

She reaches out to take his hand into hers, giving him a pleased look. "I don't have to leave," she admits. "I didn't want to be the reason you were anchored, unable to go, but I don't want to..."

She's struggling, now, to find the right words.

"When you're with me, at night, in bed," she begins, "you should do more than just lie with me. You should touch me."

[zwaan]

They've spent so much time together and all that time had only made him want more time with her. He wants to keep having the things they are, and never even thought to himself about having anything more than this time together.

So when she speaks of not leaving, his chin jerks up, eyes widening. Much as he's thought of this, he never thought he might truly have it. He truly expected her to perhaps hug him, take his horse as he would offer to her and vanish.

Instead she's speaking of not leaving.

"Are you..."

He can't find words, because she's speaking of so much that leaves him speechless.

"Before we talk about this cabin and where you're safe," he says, because that is important to him. Above and beyond so much else. "But are you certain? I swore to you, Aleja, that I would never hurt you as others have. I... I care for you too much for that."

Did he love her? He thinks so. He knows how he feels for her, but he also knows better than to say things that could cause troubles. He's watched his words for years. He could do so again now.

[quinientos]

He's not taking her hand the way she'd wanted him to and she's not being carried off to the bedroom, which is also something that Vasquez had been somewhat hoping for. All in all, this is very disappointing so far. Frowning at him, she wonders if she's said something wrong, but now he's talking about not hurting her.

"The ranger shoved my skirts up and tried to have his way with me and I shot him in the face," she says flatly. "I've been trying to encourage you to touch me more, but you get so stiff and cool. Is this why?"

She's gaping at him in disbelief, rising to her feet to take her bowl to the sink, leaning back against it, wearing a pair of his pajama bottoms and one of the loose linen tops.

"Robert," she says flatly. "If you tried something and I didn't like it, I'd slap you. That doesn't mean you don't try."

[zwaan]

And he realizes that this is perhaps a talk they should have had before he told her he didn't want to leave her. So when she leaves, he rises, moving to follow her.

"Aleja," he says softly, moving to take her hands. "It isn't about you. Nothing about you and the beautiful, amazing woman that you are. It's about..." He stops, not knowing how to say this but knowing it needs to be said. "It's because I have very little experience with women, and I'm, to be honest, terrified of both embarrassing myself and hurting you," he admits.

"Please though, do not think it's not because I haven't wanted to," he admits, earnest and eager in that moment. "I haven't stopped thinking about kissing you since the moment you weren't threatening me with my life," he says, smiling slightly and ducking his head before looking back up at her. "I hadn't meant to drive you away, and the last thing I want is that. I don't care if it's in this cabin, this town, or far away from here," he says, letting the words come now and not trying to stop them. "I just want to be with you."

[quinientos]

She lets him take her hands, lets him lift them up, watching him suspiciously. These are all just words right now, and she's not entirely sure that she trusts them as anything else. In her past, men without experience doesn't stop them from going for what they want and she's been giving him positive signals for months.

Surely, he should be ready to take whatever he can, no? She's letting him know this.

"Then why don't you start showing me how much you want to be with me," is her low, coy tease. "We can talk about where we'll settle after."

[zwaan]

Keeping Aleja in his life has been more important to Robert than keeping her in his bed. Maybe it's desperation, a chance to experience life with her even if she doesn't share the same emotions for him as he feels for her, but he doesn't care. Not so long as he can be with her, hold her close as they sleep and share his days with her.

No matter what his mind has considered, what he's craved just from the feeling of her body near to his own.

So when those words come, he knows what he wants. Her. It's been her for months. Maybe his whole life if he believes in true love and waiting.

There's so much promise in her words. Of a life together. Truly together. Releasing her hands, his hands cup her cheeks, leaning in suddenly, quickly, showing just how much he thinks of this.

Pressing into the kiss, eager and warm, showing in actions how much he feels for her. Even without experience in this, he's eager and in love and pouring all of that emotions into it, for her.