Word Count: 744
Archive: DarkMagick.net, Apollymi’s Grimoire, and Archive of Our Own. Anyone else wanting it, please ask first. I’ll probably say yes, but ask first…[endsection]
Greeting Sam Chisolm as the old friend he was, Goodnight didn’t expect to find himself slightly… distracted by the other man who was apparently part of their little band. Especially not with his cher Billy and his coeur Joshua clambering off their horses just behind him.
But there he was, a tall rangy-looking Mexican who had likely been sleeping rough for far too long, and with no one to watch his back if the way his hand was hovering over his revolver was any real indication of the matter. The man was handsome in that rugged way that some men could pull off nicely, and a manner that Goodnight had never really been all that interested in… prior to this exact instant.
The Mexican wasn’t making eye contact with anyone, he noted even as he asked if his friend remembered Billy—which he did, judging by his warm smile and the handshake he offered—and Joshua distracted himself with removing the tack from their three horses despite how he should have been staggering about given the amount he’d been drinking on the trail. Rather, the new addition to the group was alert and distrustful, although he seemed to hesitate briefly when his gaze slid over either Billy or Joshua or Goodnight himself.
Never heard of a quad match before, he mused to himself, noting that his partners looked just as confounded as he felt; hell, Joshua was counting on his fingers as if that would change four to three if he worked at it long enough.
And yet, as the stranger’s eyes flitted around at them again and made contact at last with his own, Goodnight felt the same jolt of knowing he’d felt with both Billy and Joshua, and he glanced over his shoulder to give his partners a short nod.
Apparently they were to be four. And his mind was already calculating the logistics and how much fun that was going to be for him.
Goodnight eased his ways through introductions with the widow Emma Cullen, who was apparently also matched with Teddy given the way he gravitated to her, and his presence was thus explained: two young widows who wanted righteous vengeance for their loss, and Goodnight couldn’t blame them. He’d long known that if something happened to Billy, he would burn the world down to avenge him, and even though he’d only just met them—literally for one of them—he knew he would do likewise if harm befell Joshua and the man who Sam had finally informed him was Gabriel Vasquez.
He was definitely going to have to do something about that five hundred dollar bounty. Most likely mention it in short order to his parents and wait for them to buy it out… if he didn’t do it first.
Joshua slipped up on one side of him, Billy on the other, and the younger of the three casually draped an arm over his shoulders. “So,” he asked in a quiet voice, “how the hell are we gonna play this? He’s so… twitchy.”
“Wanted men usually are,” Billy replied dryly, obviously remembering how long he’d spent looking over his shoulder in fear of a bounty hunter showing up for him.
“While my instinct is to just all of us go talk to him,” Goodnight said honestly, “it would be far wiser, I believe, to handle him with care and caution. And Billy and I as a unit are likely too intimidating, especially given my history.”
“That’s true,” Joshua noted. “Suppose I should go say hi, break the ice a little, huh?”
“That was just what I was thinking,” the eldest of their unusual triad replied with a smile that, apparently, Joshua just had to kiss before pulling away to cross the way to where Vasquez was watching them all from the corner of his eye.
“He’s going to be a good addition,” Billy said, slipping behind him with ease and wrapping both arms around his waist. Goodnight hummed an agreement and leaned back into his oldest partner. “The next two days, though, Goody…”
Goodnight huffed an annoyed sigh. Two days’ ride to Rose Creek barring any lengthy delays, and a newly formed triad bond singing for attention. If he somehow didn’t talk the widows Cullen and Sam into going to collect a shit ton of firewood so he could become… better acquainted with his newest mate, then he was like to explode by the time they arrived.
[section=Footer Notes]16 January 2017Translation Notes:
(All translations are taken from Google Translate or Adora’s shaky remnants of French)
French:
Maman – Mamma
cher – darling
coeur – heart[endsection]