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The suffocating July heat. A bright red bandanna, the glint of a golden star pinned to a vest, the quiet clop of hooves somewhere outside. The tap-tap-tap of a heeled boot against the wooden slats of the saloon floor.
Perhaps it’d appear peaceful to an outsider, but for the sharp-eyed and even sharper-tongued Sheriff Ningguang, it all spelled danger. Imminent danger. And she would not fall for the illusion.
“So?” Ice clinked against the side of a whiskey glass as Beidou swirled it in her hand. “Is my offer satisfactory, Sheriff?” She accented the last word with a wicked grin and a dangerous gleam in her eye –an expression Ningguang knew all too well. It foreshadowed nothing but danger and unnecessary risks. And perhaps, some excitement as well, fast and unrestrained and ever so sweet- but that was far too sacreligious a thought for one who had sworn to uphold the law. Ningguang firmly shut the feeling away. There would be none of that reckless indulgence while she was still sheriff. Not while she still had a town to protect from this wild, scheming bandit and her wild, scheming posse.
The legs of the saloon chair creaked as Ningguang pushed it back and stood with a closed-mouth sigh, hoping beyond hope that the strange sparks of anticipation she felt weren’t visible on her face. Her reputation was on the line here. One crack in her carefully-built composure, and the world would know how much she yearned for such a different life than the one she had. In place of stiff, choking laws, freedom. The ability to leave, untethered by rules and regulations– paradoxically, a lifestyle which none other than the wanted criminal she stood in front of flaunted effortlessly.
She narrowed her eyes at the cunning expression Beidou still wore, letting the pay for their drinks fall on the saloon table with a dusty clatter. Perhaps this rendezvous had been a mistake. Looking back, jumping at the first opportunity she had to talk man-to-man with Beidou had been unnecessarily hasty. They had all the time in the world, didn’t they? It was almost as if it moved slower in this one-horse-town. Even so, her lack of judgment and forethought– however damning it had been for her emotions– didn't matter. In the end, they’d both walk out of this with no more dirt on their hands than what couldn’t be helped, and with exactly what they wanted. Justice, and- and whatever it was this woman across from her was after.
“I reckon we have a date, Beidou. Make sure to be there.” She growled out, voice low and threatening. She would die before letting Beidou think she had the upper hand over her.
Beidou laughed in reply. “Oh, I will Sheriff Ningguang, mark your words, I will.” Her eyelids lowered down, hooding a sly, brilliant eye. She scratched a nail across the face of the table, flashing that same dangerous smile of hers.
“But I do wonder. When the time comes, will you?”