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Kieran is woken when a weight drops onto his feet. He frowns, blinking the sleep from his eyes when he looks down at the cause. Sat directly on top of his feet is the young boy this gang’s leader had bought in. Kieran was there in Colter when he heard Dutch and his partner had bought the boy back, though over hearing talk of him from other members. He hadn’t met him until now.
“Uh, hey kid…” Kieran whispers, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to himself. He’s relived when that was enough to get the boy’s attention, his head snaping up as if he didn’t expect Kieran to actually speak to him. Bright blue eyes stare up at him, a look of confusion giving way to a wide grin and Kieran winces as the boy lets out a shriek.
“Nono, don’t do that! Please don’t do that!” Kieran hushes him, whipping his head around to see if anyone had heard. He lets out a sigh when he doesn’t see anyone looking over at them.
“Why did you do that?!” He harshly whispers, feeling unnerved when the boy continues to stare at him.
“Arthur?!” An accented voice yells and Kieran looks up to see a long-haired ginger man jog up to the boy, picking him up by the back of his shirt which caused the boy to once again squeal as he swayed mid-air. Was the boy, Arthur, always so happy?
“What you doing with the boy, O’Driscoll”
“N-nothing sir.” Kieran stutters, shifting from foot to foot under the man’s stare. The man laughs and Kieran is taken aback.
“I’m just kidding you O’Driscoll. Ain’t like you can do anything tied to that tree like you are.”
“I ain’t no O’Driscoll.” He whispers, toeing at the ground.
“If you ain’t an O’Driscoll then what are you?” The man asks, lifting Arthur to hold him correctly.
“A Duffy. Kieran Duffy, mister.”
“Well, Kieran Duffy, I would say it was a pleasure to meet you but there’s a reason you’re tied to this here tree and I don’t want to get attached.” Sean laughs as he walks off with Arthur in his arms, looking over the man’s shoulder as he waves a pudgy hand at Kieran.
Kieran sighs, leaning his head back against the bark.
Moving out of the mountains was one of the best decisions they made, it allowed them access to new game, a town full of supplies and more importantly, it gave Arthur a chance to freely and safely roam around the camp without the fear of him freezing in the snow. Hosea sits at the bench near his and Dutch’s tent, watching as the boy makes his way around everyone. The sun at long last warming his body now that they’re out of the mountains, he’s not choking on his breath all the time now either.
The boy is extremely friendly, happy to just be around people whether they’re paying attention to him or not. But recently Arthur had taken a liking to the poor boy Dutch was keeping prisoner for the time being. They both know he’s innocent, more innocent than the rest of them, but Dutch needs to get as much information on the O’Driscolls from the boy and so attached to the tree he’ll stay.
Hosea’s been watching from day one as Kieran stood at the tree, watching as his son and, most surprisingly, Sean grew closer to the boy. It was an odd thing to witness, Sean Maguire trying to act natural as he unknowingly flirts with a man who’s physically can’t escape; Hosea would feel bad for him if the sight wasn’t so amusing.
He watches now as Arthur scuttles around the floor, not yet able to walk properly, full speed towards the man leaning against the ropes. Hosea dreads how long it’s going to take to get the mud out of boy’s clothes later that day but he sighs, putting it to the back of his mind. He could convince Dutch to wash the boy’s clothes? Promise something in return, maybe?
Hosea smirks as he settles back against the bench with his book, he doubts old Kieran will do anything to the boy after all the times Arthur has been his day mate, and even if he were to, he would have a swarm of angry outlaws on his ass in an instant.
A hand touches the back of his neck, he would have jumped if he wasn’t so used to the touch now,
“Mornin’ Hosea” Dutch greets and Hosea leans into the touch with a smile.
“Morning Dutch”
The man takes a seat next to him, shoulders touching.
“What are we looking at?”
“Watching our son make his daily attempt to give poor Kieran a heart attack.” Hosea laughs, nodding his head in the direction of Arthur sitting at Kieran’s feet.
Despite being tied to this tree going on two weeks and eating the bare minimum to keep him alive, Kieran was already liking this place more than when he was being dragged along with Colm O’Driscoll’s gang. They seemed decent enough, friendly even, to an extent. Some of the woman would give him food, some of the men even spoke to him beyond threats. Colm had spoken of this gang enough times that Kieran had a minor grasp of how they were; Dutch Van Der Linde didn’t judge no one by their skin or their background, only by their actions, ruling with a fair hand preaching about freedom. Hosea was his right hand and lead alongside him, and Kieran was certain they were also lovers which gave him some relief to know they weren’t like other fellows who would beat you black and blue for liking other men.
He hadn’t met the boy until they arrived down south, and now, Kieran just wanted the boy to leave him alone. Every day, Arthur had made it his mission to sit with him for as long as a gang member would let him, taking him away only when it came to naps and feeds and the like. Seam visited every so often too, joyfully talking without end and no matter how much Kieran wanted to hate the constant nattering, it was nice to be spoken to.
He’s leaning against the tree, held up by the ropes, long since used to the feeling of them digging into his skin. His eyes shoot open when he hears a happy gurgle from below, he sees the boy sat in front of him, little legs stretched out along the ground.
“Heey Arthur, you should leave, don’t want you getting into trouble now.” The boy doesn’t move, only lets out a happy squeak and wiggles. Kieran stares down at him with a sigh. The same response as every other day.
“God please leave” He pleads, his voice sounds whiney. “I can’t play with y-“
He’s cut off when the boy holds out his hand to show him an egg. The boy had begun ‘giving’ him things a couple days back; food, rocks, pinecones, flowers and now an egg, all made up a small pile near his feet; it was all the same to the boy and he wanted Kieran to have them.
“Thank you, but you really need to leave” Kieran urges, only for the child to stand up and hug his legs with a grin and gurgle.
Kieran sighs, but can’t fight back the smile that pulls at his lips.
“Thank you, Arthur, are you going to leave now?” He asks but Arthur looks up with a happy shriek, rubbing his face into Kieran’s leg as he hugs tighter.
“My my, what do we have here?” Kieran’s head shoots up in fear at the voice. Dutch had never once spoken to him outside of Colter and the fact he is today couldn’t be good. With him, stands a man with a face full of scars, John, if Kieran remembers correctly.
His legs are released with a squeak and Dutch coos as he picks up Arthur. At least someone is happy to see the man. Kieran thinks as he pins himself against the tree.
“Look at your clothes, Little Prince, Hosea’s going to kill us.” Dutch laughs, touching his nose to the boy’s. Then he looks up at Kieran,
“You trying to turn my son against me, O’Driscoll?”
“W-what?! No sir!” Kieran stutters.
Dutch laughs, adjusting Arthur on his hip. Kieran watches as the boy twists around to grab hold of the man’s lapel, sticking it in his mouth; he would have laughed if he wasn’t so scared.
“Are you ready to talk about Colm now, boy?”
“I don’t know anything about Colm! I swear!” Kieran cries
“We’re doing this the hard way then.” Dutch sighs,
“Bill! Charles!” He yells and Kieran watches as two hulking men walk up to them.
Dutch turns away for a moment, “Charles, could you please take Arthur to Hosea and then meet up with John and Bill once out talk is done?”
“Sure Dutch” Charles nods, holds his hands out for Arthur and laughs when the boy wiggles out of his father’s arms. Dutch watches them leave with a smile and then he turns back, face serious.
“Mr Williamson, it seems out friend here doesn’t want to talk. You know what we do to those who don’t talk, boy? We geld them!” He claps his hands together, “Bill get the tongs!” Dutch shouts as he thrusts Kieran’s pants down, exposing him to the cold as Bill laughs, jogging to the fire.
Kieran clenches his thighs together, “This is sick! You’re sick!”
Bill turns around, snapping the tongs together with a manic laugh.
“We’ll just get rid of the little fellas down there and-”
“No!” Kieran shouts as he squirms away from the heat the tongs give off when they get closer to him.
“Please don’t! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” He cries and Dutch claps again.
“That’s what we like to hear. What do you know?”
“I weren’t lying about not knowing about Colm. I don’t know where he is for certain, but I know where he might be.”
“That’s more like it, and you know the way?”
“Yes sir” Kieran winces as his voice cracks in nerves.
“Well, what are we waiting for then?” Dutch takes out a knife and slices the ropes, Kieran almost falls with the sudden lack of support, he pulls his pants back up and stands awkwardly.
“John, take the boy on your horse, you’re riding out with Charles and Bill. If you see Colm there, you kill him.”
With that, Dutch turns away to find Hosea, finding him sat at a table not too far away, Arthur sat on the top with a stuffed horse.
“Hiya Dutch” Hosea greets as Dutch sits beside him. He smiles when he sees Arthur excitedly wave his horse in the man’s face.
Dutch pulls an exaggerated face, taking the horse carefully,
“Is this for me, Little Prince!?” Arthur kicks his legs about with a squeaked giggle at the look on Dutch’s face.
Hosea looks past Arthur to see Charles, Bill, John and Kieran ride out, he frowns when he hears Bill joke about removing his unmentionables.
‘Did you have to threaten to geld the boy, Dutch?” Hosea asks,
“I was just having some fun, Dove.” Dutch laughs
“Bill isn’t going to let it go, you know? He’s going to torture that boy.”
Hosea sighs, mouth pulled into a worried pout.
“Don’t worry, Hosea. I’ll keep an eye on the boy.”
Arthur squeaks and flails the horse around before sticking one of the legs into his mouth. Hosea gently pulls it back with a smile,
“Arthur’s going to have quite the shock after his nap when sees that Kieran is gone; he’s grown quite close to him.”
Arthur wakes up from his nap and sure enough begins jumping in his crib to get Hosea’s attention.
“Yesyes, I’m coming Little Prince” Hosea laughs as the boy raises his arms to be picked up. He looks behind him to see Dutch, who had decided that he could share Arthur’s naptime, still asleep with an arm thrown over his face.
Hosea smiles and quietly lifts Arthur who coos,
“Sshh Arthur, don’t want to wake Daddy.”
Once they’re out of the tent, Hosea places the boy on the floor and follows close as Arthur excitedly scurries off to the tree, no doubt.
He watches as Arthur suddenly stops and looks around, leaving him there for a minute so he could grab some food for them both.
Hosea returns and picks up Arthur so they can sit at the bench,
“kya?” Arthur coos, pointing his hand in the direction of the tree, obviously confused to where his friend went.
“He’ll be back later, Little Prince, don’t worry. For now, you just worry about eating your fruit.”
The boy does eat, but stares in the direction of the tree while Hosea pushes cubes of peach between his lips. He sighs when Arthur turns his head away from the food, placing it on the table and wiping his fingers off on his pants.
“Okay Arthur, are we done? Hm?” Hosea lowers the boy to the floor and watches as he makes a beeline for the tree, plopping himself down with a sad pout.
Hosea leans back with a book, keeping an eye on the boy. He feels bad for him, noticing how Arthur hasn’t moved from his spot clutching his toy horse in his hand while he stares at the ground ahead of him.
He looks back when he hears hooves hitting the ground, sees as Bill and Charles jump off their horses and going in separate directions; Bill for the alcohol, Charles to find Javier. John rides in a couple seconds later, Kieran jumping off as John barely even slows down, continuing to the hitching posts on the other side of camp.
Kieran looks around nervously, hand clasping his opposite wrist and trying to appear small. He’s waiting for someone to come but when no one does, he nervously walks around the outskirts of camp, intending to avoid everyone and sit near the horses. He pauses when he sees Arthur sat in front of the tree.
Despite how much the boy woke him up and never left him alone, Kieran had grown attached and obviously, so had Arthur.
Kieran takes a chance, walking up behind the boy who’s rocking himself with a toy horse, a pout clear on his face. The boy jumps when Kieran picks him up, looking behind him not expecting to be touched. His face splits into a grin when he sees who it is, a happy squeal that makes Kieran wince leaves the boy as Arthur wiggles in his grasp to wrap his arms around Kieran’s neck.
Kieran feels warm when he feels Arthur bury his face beneath his chin, smiling while wrapping his arms tighter around the boy.
Hosea looks up when his son squeals, seeing Kieran hugging him to his chest. He whistles and watches as Kieran freezes and then look in his direction. Hosea smiles, and gives a small nod, watching as Kieran relaxes.
He stands up and walks past the two. Hosea trusts that Kieran couldn’t hurt the boy, always did.
“I’ll find you when It’s time for Arthur’s bedtime.” Hosea smiles as Arthur waves his face in Kieran’s face, leaving them to find Dutch.
It’s dark out, the camp silent when Arthur escapes his crib. He gets through the tent with a giggle, crawling across camp to where he had been taken from Kieran.
He pauses when he sees the horses, knowing that his Daddies don’t like him near them, he slows down as he passes them, quietly cooing when he sees Kieran asleep against a boulder.
Kieran subtly shifts as his unconscious mind registers a weight pressing against his side, then into his lap and against his chest.
Arthur falls asleep like that, tucked tight between Kieran’s bent knees and chest.
This was the first time of many that Arthur had escaped to be near Kieran, near everyone in camp was in a panic when Hosea and Dutch had realised the boy was missing but they soon found him asleep with Kieran and assumed it was Arthur’s way of making sure that the man hadn’t disappeared on him again.