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The car came to a sudden stop, tires screeching loudly. "Careful" Charles warned on the passenger seat, his right arm was grabbing the door handle so tightly his knuckles had turned almost white. "Relax, Charles, you know me. I'm a skilled driver."
The other man slipped the door open and got out. "It's not you I'm concerned for." He said with a head shake turning one last glance towards the car. It looked surprisingly well for what it had been through in the past, there was merely a small scratch a stray bullet had left on the hood one time when Arthur, Dutch and Hosea where being chased by a revival gang, probably the O'Driscolls, he remembered them pulling into the warehouse Dutch had rented not too long ago, Arthur in the back with his gun drawn pointing it out of the side window back to where they came, Dutch and Hosea in the front both with their guns drawn as well. They had made it out alive, barely. " 'M fine." Arthur had grunted that night when Charles had tended to his wounds, a cut above his brows from the splintering glass and a bruised arm from god knows what. Charles had sighed and put the band aid he was holding down.
"You may not care about yourself, but I do. So please do us all a favor and try to stay out of trouble." He had fallen silent when he realized his words. "I- I mean-" Before he could go on, Arthur had pulled him towards himself and into a passionate kiss. It must have been the adrenaline, Charles told himself afterwards when they were lying in the other man's bed and he was cradling a hand through soft brown hair. Yeah, the adrenaline.
Their lives were filled with adrenaline, that's why it was good to take the day off for once. "You sure this is a good idea?"
"Sure." Arthur said in that typical Arthur way and waved him off. "It'll be fun now come and try to cheer up."
Their feet kicked the gravel underneath them, making small dust clouds in the dry heat. It was the middle of summer, the perfect time to visit a fun fair. Charles could smell the scent of cotton candy and popcorn from afar and he heard lots of different noises like the loud booming music coming from the music boxes and the laughter of people. Maybe Arthur was right and he should try to relax, he thought.
The two men walked in silence for some time, just taking in their environment. It was loud and overwhelming and Charles couldn't shake the feeling of being watched off, but he was happy. The rides looked tempting and so did all the small huts filled with stuffed animals, toy guns and what not. "So what do you want to do first?" Arthur asked his blue eyes meeting Charles dark ones. "Uhm, I'm not sure. We could-" He turned towards the nearest hut, that was designed to look like an old western saloon. "Let's try that!" He pointed out hearing Arthur chuckle deeply. It felt good to hear his friend starting to loosen up. Friend? Partner? Lover? Whatever it was the two of them were.
"Charles? You coming?" Arthur called already in front of the fake shooting range, holding a plastic gun in his hand. "What? Your trying to shoot me a prize?" Charles laughed. His laughter died in his throat when Arthur pulled the trigger again and again shooting dozens of tiny stars off the wall. "Whoa" Charles had to admit, he was impressed. Arthur was skilled with all kinds of guns, thanks to Dutch and Hosea. The two had pretty much raised him like fathers. "What do you want?" Arthur set the gun aside and looked at Charles in a questioning way. "What?"
"I shot you a prize, now pick." Charles couldn't help the warm feeling of affection that spread in his belly. His eyes roamed over the rows of plushies. "Mhm, I'll take the horse." He said, point towards where his eyes had landed. It was a medium sized plush horse, really pretty with white fur and black dots all over it's body, making it look like a dalmatian. Arthur crooked his head, scrunching his eyes against the sun, and smiled. It looked adorable. "Alright, we'll take the horse right there!" Dutch's right hand told the poor cashier who was still pretty bamboozled over Arthur's skills. "Sure." He mumbled and quickly got to work, freeing the horse of it's restrains before he handed it over to Arthur who handed it over to Charles. "For you."
"My hero." Charles joked, stroking over the soft dotted fur. "It still needs a name." The brunette said jokingly. Charles was silent for a moment. "Taima" He decided to which Arthur nodded. "It's nice, what does it mean?" He could feel a warm hand on his back pulling him closer. "It means crash of thunder." Arthur looked at him with utter adoration and for a moment Charles wasn't sure if he was going to kiss him or not. But they stood in the middle of a fun fair and god knew who could be watching them right now. Their relationship was still fresh and kept a secret, Charles wasn't sure if Dutch knew. Hosea did, the man somehow knew about everything that was happening in their gang or maybe Arthur had told him, he wasn't too sure. "Do you want to go to the ferris wheel and watch the fireworks?" He pulled Charles forward, navigating them through the crowded street.
"My my, mister Morgan, I didn't took you for the romantic type." Charles joked earning a grunt. "Shut up, I'm not."
"Maybe a tiny bit?" Charles coaxed and Arthur gave in. "Fine, maybe a tiny bit." He paid the money for their tickets and the two men entered the small round gondola sitting opposite each other. It was colder up in the air, the sun was starting to set slowly as they waited for the fireworks. "You cold?" Arthur asked, the man was wearing a thick leather jacket, no wonder he wasn't cold. "A bit." Arthur huffed. "Should have taken a jacket with you."
"Fuck you!" He said half hearted. "Fine." The brunette held up his arms in surrender. "Here." He peeled out of his jacket and handed it over. "Arthur I can't-"
"Take it." He jiggled the piece of clothing in front of Charles face. "Can't let you catch a flu because of me." Hesitantly, Charles grabbed the jacket and threw it over his shoulders. "Thanks."
He took a deep breath, inhaling Arthur's familiar scent. He looked up to see that the other man was watching him with an amused look on his face. "It suits you." He said in a tone so gently Charles wasn't even sure it really belonged to the other man. "I- oh look, the fireworks!" They hastily turned their heads to watch the colorful lights swirling through the air and explode over their heads. Somehow somewhere in-between, one of Arthur's hands found Charles knee. It stayed there, stroking the soft material. Charles melted into the touch, the fireworks suddenly seemed unimportant. "Hey Arthur? Thank you."
He was waved off. "Nah, it's fine."
"No seriously. Thank you for everything your doing for us. I- you really are what keeps this gang together." Arthur shook his head.
"Dutch holds us together." Charles raised an eyebrow but decided not to comment. The hand traveled up his leg before it was interwined with Charles hand. "Everyone's busy watching the fireworks." The brunette said more to himself. Charles catched up rather quickly with what the other man was trying to tell him. He leaned in for a rather quick kiss, his free hand went into Arthur's hair. The ferris wheel started again with a sudden rock that forced the two men apart once more.
After that, they decided to call it a day and head back to the car. "Let me drive." Charles proposed earning a grunt. "Nah, I don't know, wouldn't feel right to let you drive."
"Why not? Because it's your car? You think I'd accidentally crash your car-"
"No because I want to make this a nice date." A what? Surely Charles had misheard that. "A d-date?"
"Yeah… is.. that not what this is?" Blood came rushing into Charles cheeks and he was glad for the darkness creeping over the horizon. "I- I guess it is."
"Good." Arthur opened the passenger side and motioned for Charles to get inside. "Now let me be a gentleman for once and drive you home." Charles allowed it, if only because he knew Arthur secretly loved being a gentleman. "Alright. Thank you."
"Told you, there's nothing to thank me for."