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It was a cool, quiet evening. Most of the gang had already turned in for the night, apart from Hosea and Arthur who were still comfortably seated by the campfire. They both had a warm cup of tea in their lap, situated firmly by their hands as a second source of warmth, and were chatting nonchalantly amongst themselves.
Admittedly, the only reason Arthur was still awake to begin with was because Hosea couldn't sleep. He'd been on his way to his cot to begin winding down for the evening after a long and tedious day out when he noticed the older man still curled up on the ground around the campfire with one of his favourite books in hand and his knees brought close to his chest.
Instead of returning to his cot as he'd planned, he turned on his heels and sat down on the ground right beside Hosea, leaning up against the log they had firmly set in place there when they first moved to Clemens Point. "What you still doin' up, old friend? You're usually one of the first to turn in for the night."
"Can't sleep," Hosea sighed wearily. He allowed himself to finish the sentence he was currently reading before gently shutting the book up and setting it down on one of the crates beside him. "Want to, but every part of me is resisting. Thought I'd sit up and read a book instead... what about you?"
"Well, I was gonna try and get some shut eye but..." Arthur shrugged. "Think I might keep you company instead. Want somethin' to drink?"
"You don't need to keep me company, dear boy."
"Maybe I want to."
Hosea didn't quite know how to respond to that. The last thing he wanted was for Arthur to lose any more sleep than he already oftentimes did, but he also knew that he was just as stubborn as him. So, instead of protesting, he simply went quiet and took the cup of tea that Arthur handed him some time later.
"You got home late tonight," he pointed out as he took a small sip of his drink. "D'ya ever get up to anything interesting while you're away? I hardly ever hear you talk about your adventures."
"Didn't think anyone was interested."
Hosea hummed lowly, raising his shoulders in a slight shrug as his eyes examined the campfire blazing on in front of him. "Well, I'm interested right now."
Arthur found himself smiling a little. It was very rare that people showed any interest in the things he got up to if they didn't benefit them. So, he was pleasantly surprised to hear someone asking about the things he got up to, even if he didn't consider them to be exactly shareworthy. "Okay. Uh... I helped an elderly lady bring her supplies back to her family today. Her and her husband invited me back later in the week to have dinner with them and their kids, which I think I'm gonna take them up on.
"I, uh, also went searching for a copy of that book Jack always talks about," he admitted. As he reached into his satchel and rummaged around for a moment in search for the book he'd found earlier that day, he heard Hosea turn away from him and yawn tiredly into his arm. "Wild West Heroes, I think It's called... I ain't really sure, but he told me all about it back when we was fishin' together."
"Ain't that sweet," Hosea hummed as he took the book from Arthur's grasp to take a look at it. "Almost sounds like you ain't just a cold-hearted killer after all."
"Wouldn't go that far," Arthur joked, watching the older man with a quirked eyebrow as he started to flip through each page inside the book. "I just like to help people on occasions, is all... ain't nothin' more to it than that."
Hosea shook his head with a deep chuckle. "If you say so, Arthur."
A rather comfortable silence settled between them after that conversation came to an end. Arthur could see Hosea getting increasingly tired as the minutes drifted by, but still, he sat up and tediously scanned through each page of Jack's book until he reached the very last picture. Then, as he set it down on the same crate that held his own, he let out an annoyed, gruff groan and leaned back against the log behind him. "What do you do when you can't sleep?"
"Me?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Well, I ain't really had that problem in years... but when I did, I always had you."
"How you mean?"
"When I was a boy and I would have those nightmares about my daddy, you always wrapped me up in a blanket and cradled me by the fire until I fell asleep. Surprised you don't remember. There were nights where you never left my side. You risked ruinin' your back for me over n' over again... I never forgot about it."
Hosea smiled. It had been so long ago now but those memories, faint as they were, were still some of the fondest. Holding Arthur, feeling his weight against his chest and his arms so tight around his neck - those were feelings he'd never forget.
"I remember," he nodded. "We haven't done that in a long time."
"I don't have nightmares as much anymore," the younger man shrugged. "Plus, I don't know if you could even hold me the way you used to anymore."
Hosea cackled at that. "I would still give it my best shot if you needed me to. I'm sure you would have more luck at carrying me than I you, though."
"So, am I," the younger man agreed with a chuckle.
Arthur began to ponder on the topic of conversation as their chatter started to die down again. He thought back on how safe and loved he felt whenever Hosea would cradle him in his arms after a nightmare. How just the feeling of him rocking them both gently as they sat there and the fire keeping him warm was enough to lull him back to sleep in a matter of minutes. He remembered Hosea spending entire nights with him at a time, either sleeping in one of their tents or even against a tree, just to make sure he felt safe.
This gave him an idea.
The younger man waited patiently until Hosea was distracted and less likely to ask where he was going before he crept up onto his feet and disappeared for a moment in the direction of Dutch's tent. Hosea was tiredly leaning back against the log behind him, his head laid right back and his eyes shut tight in a desperate attempt to escape reality. He was so caught up in his own frustration of not being able to rest that he couldn't help the quiet yelp that left his lips when Arthur gingerly scooped him up into his lap in one swift movement, a grin curved on his lips.
"When did you put the blanket around me?" he asked curiously, having glanced down and noticed Arthur gently tugging the blanket he'd wrapped around him a little more snug around his body to make sure he was warm. "Did I miss something?"
"You missed me leaving for a few minutes, yeah." Arthur chuckled at the tired, confused look on the older man's face, and he paused for a moment to make sure everything was alright with him before gingerly bringing his head to his shoulder in a warm hug. "I thought you might like to be held for once. We don't gotta do it for long if you don't want to. Just... I was thinkin' about how you always had me fallin' asleep in minutes when you hugged me. Thought it might be worth givin' it a go."
"I'll take a hug any day, dear boy," Hosea murmured, slightly readjusting himself in Arthur's lap to make sure his back wouldn't hurt if he fell asleep before pressing himself further into the younger man's hold with a muffled and rather content sigh.
He had to admit, this wasn't the worst idea he'd had.
The two sat there in silence for a little while. Arthur, in a fruitful attempt to make this as pleasant as possible for the both of them, did everything that Hosea had ever done for him during those moments; rocking them both gently, rubbing his back with the tips of his fingers, letting him completely rest against him, until the man was half asleep, face pressed up against his shoulder and his arms loosely wrapped around his waist.
"R'ya warm?" he eventually murmured lowly, unable to help the gentle smile that appeared on his lips when Hosea hummed contently and gave a small nod as a response. "That's good..."
"Could just pass out right here, y'know."
Arthur lifted his shoulders in a subtle shrug. "You can if you want. I ain't goin' nowhere any time soon."
He felt Hosea smiling against his shoulder. "Maybe I shall."
Within another twenty minutes, Hosea was passed out cold against his chest, just like Arthur had hoped. He'd been focused on the fire still burning in front of him, though it'd started to die out from not being stoked in a while, but the moment he noticed Hosea's breathing start to shallow and his body falling limp, he slightly readjusted them both before carefully hauling himself onto his feet.
It was a miracle he'd managed to do it without hurting himself or Hosea.
"Let's get you to bed, old friend..." he mumbled halfheartedly, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from staying up so late finally beginning to catch up to him. With that, he tiredly stumbled away from the campfire and off to his own tent, completely dismissing the way Hosea grumbled lowly to himself in his sleep and unconsciously tightened his grip around the blanket that was wrapped around him.
Instead of bringing the older man back to his own bedroll, Arthur wandered right past it and slipped inside his own tent before gingerly setting Hosea down in his cot. He didn't even think about where he was going to sleep that night, too focused on finding somewhere comfortable for Hosea to sleep, even if just for a single night.
"I guess I'm sleepin' on the ground tonight," he mumbled after a small moment of silence, more to himself than anyone else as he gathered up his union suit and his pistol. With one last look at the man sleeping peacefully inside his blanket, he shook his head with a low chuckle before quietly exiting the tent to find Hosea's bedroll.