Archive of Our Own

They clumped together tightly, bordering the tree line with other various brush you didn’t know the names of: prickly bushes and long stalks of mysterious grasses, short shrub-like flora with small round leaves and a mixture of what looked to be poisonous berries dotted the spaced between.

You pushed back the undesired plants, thankful for your leather riding gloves that sheltered your skin from the thorns. Getting a better look at the wild carrot greens, you noticed their stalks appeared smoother than you remembered. Maybe they shed their prickles this time of year, you mused as you gripped the base of a plant with both hands. It was stuck fast in the ground, the close root systems seeming to be pulling against you in the other direction, but with a few determined yanks, you managed to free the root. Now aware of the effort required, you picked a few others from the ground with relative ease, however the last stalk you chose was exceptionally stubborn. The muscles in your shoulders flexed and you grunted with frustration to pull it free. With a final cry of effort it released from the ground and all the force you’d applied sent you flying back on your rump. The breath was forced from your lungs as you collided with the forest floor in a solitary “oof”.

It took a beat to gather your senses, but with a laugh at your own expense as you stood, you muttered, “that horse better appreciate these.”

You heard a chuckle behind you as Javier approached, rifle in hand. “You ah, got a little mud on you amigo.” He laughed as he looked from your forehead to your backside.

“Yeah yeah,” you dismissed as you gave your butt a dusting off and swiped the same dirty arm across your dirty forehead, helping only a little. Javier snorted and you rolled your eyes and laughed. Dirt didn’t bother you like it did him.

Satisfied with your modest harvest, you collected your bundle of plants in one hand. You were glad for the greens, though you knew you’d have to snap them off eventually, their purple spotted stalks made carrying them much easier.

Your horse snorted and tossed their head as you approached with a smile. “Hey! I got you something you might like!” You cooed as you chose an offering from your selection. You dropped the others and dusted some of the dirt off before bringing it to your horse's mouth. Before it could accept the root, you were startled by a sudden, gruff, shout.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Arthur bellowed from where he stood tending to his own horse.

Taken aback by his abruptness, hands now held up in mock surrender, you stammered, “I- I found these in the woods. Wild carrot? You know?”

“You idiot, that ain’t wild carrot, it’s hemlock!” Arthur scolded as he crossed the distance in a few long strides and smacked the plant from your hand. Your eyes went wide with shock.

“Hemlock…?” Did I seriously almost poison my horse? Your vision swirled as the reality sunk in. You had no idea they looked so similar. Arthur just saved a life.

Your horse snorted impatiently, clearly still eager for the treat. Arthur reached into his satchel to provide the real deal to your waiting steed, who accepted it readily. “Ah... I’m sorry.” Arthur apologized as he looked at your stunned face. “I had to stop ya though.”

“Y- yeah. No, um, thank you for that. I just uh…” you chuckled once before casting your gaze to the grass below, “I feel like a fool.” You confessed. The embarrassment churned your gut. The shame that burned in your chest compelled you to run off and hide. But instead you swallowed the feelings down and tried in vain to convince yourself you were over it. Lesson learned, right? Why did I have to make that mistake in front of Arthur though? Your face burned.

Arthur’s ice blue gaze swept over you in the short moment of pause, though you couldn’t meet his eyes. He noticed the dirt and sweat that plastered you and your horse, and the heat on your cheeks, and he sighed. “Looks like you two had a hard run of things... Here, lemme help you brush down your horse.”

You blinked your gaze back up to him, “You don’t have to-”

“I know.” He cut you off, as he pulled out his brush. “But your mount seems mighty uncomfortable, this’ll make quicker work for you both.”

“Thank you, Arthur.” you mumbled appreciatively as you began swiping your own brush down its flanks.

“Listen,” Arthur started after a few drawn out moments of grooming, “I think it’ll be good for you to learn the difference between the plants. Avoid any future catastrophes.” He smiled as he peered over your horse’s back, “when we’re finished here, let’s hit the trail together. I’ll show you what to look for.”

Your heart fluttered rapidly. “I- I’d really like that.” You managed as you kept your eyes focused on your task.

Arthur’s offer was a dream come true, there was no denying it, but you tried to remind yourself he was just being friendly. The man had a rough past and an injured heart… but a deep part of you yearned for him despite the unlikelihood that he would ever return the feelings. You craved his presence, and you’d take it however he’d offer it to you.

“What sort of trouble was you in anyway?” Arthur asked, snapping you out of your daydreams.

“Uh… Trouble? Me?” You laughed nervously, still feeling flustered.

He blinked flatly.

“Okay yeah... there was some trouble.” You confessed. “I thought I had a handle on a coach job- just a small one! Full of wealthy looking folk, no guards… Well, turns out their guards were lagging behind. I didn’t have much of a choice but to run…” you admitted bashfully. Arthur grunted a laugh.

“Ahh,” he sighed with a dismissive wave of his hand, “I’m just glad you didn’t get yourself shot.” His voice was surprisingly sincere, you glanced up to meet his eyes, they softened as they looked at you. He blinked and cleared his throat before adding, “-you know, pulling a dumb move like that.”

You laughed in spite of yourself, shaking off the moment you probably just imagined. You’d been pulling plenty of dumb moves that day. You suppressed a sigh and said, “I wish I was more like you, you always seem to know the right move.”

Arthur scoffed, “I know a damn lot of people who’d disagree with you there. Ask anyone in camp and I’m probably the biggest fool they know.”

“You ain’t no fool!” You said loudly before a flush of butterflies overtook your chest.

You chanced a glance to see his face had taken on a pink-ish hue, “ah shut up,” he laughed softly. Nerves sparked to life in your stomach as you tried to focus on the task at hand, staying quiet before you embarrassed yourself further.

~~~

After a while your horse was brushed out and dry, the sweat wicked away by the mild afternoon sun.

“That oughta do it.” Arthur said approvingly before placing the brush back in his satchel. He offered you a nod and walked back to his horse to mount up. You turned to grab your own saddle. “Nah, give your horse a rest!” He called over. You stood, puzzled as he approached.

“Should I take someone else’s…?” you ventured slowly before you registered Arthur’s outstretched hand. “Or- I-” Your eyes flashed wide as you glanced between his eyes and his offer.

“Come on, ride with me.” He said smoothly. You blinked the surprise from your expression and agreed quickly, accepting the help up onto his horse’s rump. “We don’t got far to go,” Arthur explained, but he rolled his shoulders as if he was shaking off the very same nerves you felt.

You tentatively placed your hands on his sides but when you heard no objection you gripped a little tighter. He was built solidly, with just a little give to his skin to make him feel as if he’d be soft to cuddle. The thought brought the flush back to your cheeks and you said a silent prayer as he pushed his horse into a canter, swiftly leaving any witnesses to your awkwardness behind.

Arthur brought you to a large open field, the breeze was subtle, the weather was fair and golden sunlight beamed happily down on the expanse of land. It took only moments to spot the telltale signs of wild carrot. Beautiful lace-like flowers flashing white in the light.

Arthur pulled his horse close to a small cluster of them and dismounted.

“See these here?” he asked as you followed. “You’re looking for the buds to be tightly grouped, like this. Hemlock has more spaces between the flowers.” You were listening and learning, but unable to stop yourself from glancing at the man. His two-day stubble, the way his mouth worked as he talked, the deep rumble in his chest as his voice drawled smoothly. He looked up at you and you quickly nodded as if in understanding before snapping your gaze back to the plant.

Not poisoning my horse is the priority, you reminded yourself.

“The stalk should be hairy lookin’, and in the middle of the big flower should be a small purple one, see?”

“Oh, yeah…” You said, focusing as hard as you could despite the distraction Arthur posed in your mind.

“I usually do a little drawing of plants when I learn about ‘em. Helps me remember all this stuff.” He laughed as he patted his satchel, surely securing his journal. “Now why don’t you pick one of these, see how the root looks.”

“Yeah, I can do that!” You said confidently, remembering the way you yanked the hemlock out earlier. You gripped the base with both hands and before Arthur could stop you, you tugged hard. The greens snapped clean off, leaving the root buried securely in the earth. You were knocked off balance by the excessive force you applied and toppled from your haunches to your ass once again. Only this time you’d done it in front of Arthur. “Whoops…” you mumbled as you tugged your hat down a little, hiding your shame.

“I shoulda known that would happen,” Arthur chuckled as he stood and offered you a hand to rise to your feet. “Hemlock is more stubborn, but with these you only need to give a twist and a pull. Here, lemme show you.” The pair of you walked to the next one where Arthur encouraged you to squat down with him again. “Give me your hand.”

With a quickened breath, you obliged. He formed your grip around the base of the plant, and closed his hand over yours. His hand was warm, even through your glove. You wished you’d taken the damn thing off, if only you’d known this would happen. He glanced up and when his ice blue eyes pierced your own you felt a headrush, altogether overwhelmed by the reality of the situation. You tried as subtly as possible to mask your shaky breath as Arthur gripped a little tighter and twisted your hand. The plant loosened. He then guided your hand up, freeing the carrot from the earth. You smiled dreamily at him and his hand lingered on yours just a second longer than you expected before he released you.

“See, that wasn’t too hard, you go get that other one.” It was his turn to tug his hat down bashfully as you stood to your feet, unable to wipe the goofy grin from your face.

Using the technique he showed you, you freed the last carrot from it’s earthly confines and snapped the greens easily off.

“You should hold onto that, compare it to the ones you have back at camp.” Arthur informed you as he casually stretched out his muscles and cleared his throat. If you could read him right, and you figured you could, he felt something too when your hands touched.

You followed him back to his horse and with a modicum of courage managed to say, “you know, I’d love for you to teach me more sometime…”

Arthur chuckled and offered you a smile. “Yeah.” He nodded, “I’d like that.” He mounted up before you could see the redness return to his cheeks.