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Mike was just trying to light their campfire, bashing two rocks against one another once again after maybe twenty tries now.
"You need some help?" Bing had asked, just watching him.
"I got it." Mike rejected the offer, annoyed as he kept sliding them as harshly and quickly as he could.
Finally, there was a spark, a tiny flame spawning on a twig. Mike sighed in relief, dropping the two rocks back onto the ground.
"Oh, you actually got it! Nice job." Bing encouraged as Mike was making sure the flame didn't die on them.
"No thanks to you." Mike had said once he knew the fire wouldn't put out.
"I asked if I could help and you turned me down, not exactly not my fault here." Bing smiled.
"Sure." Mike said, grabbing his bag and pulling out two cans of beans, a pot, and his trusty knife.
"Since you're so pissed, why don't I take over cooking duties tonight and let you relax?" Bing asked, a slight sparkle in his eyes knowing exactly what Mike was gonna say next.
"No, you always ruin it-" Mike started, before being interrupted by Bing.
"Because I never cook it to the right time?"
Mike just looked at Bing with a blank expression, while Bing smiled widely at him, looking smug.
"I'll do it right this time, just let me try." Bing pleaded, though his face said he knew he was gonna get what he wanted.
"Fine, but this is your last chance." Mike rolled his eyes as Bing got up and walked over to where he was. Mike had handed him all the equipment, getting up himself with his bag and taking Bing's seat as Bing took his.
They were silent as Bing had set up the equipment, Mike just watching while Bing was focused on just getting it done. Soon enough, Bing had placed the cans on the pan, sitting back now and just watching over them.
"So, are you willing to tell me about any of your adventures now?" Bing tried clearing away the silence.
"None of them are any of your business." Mike simply replied coldly.
"Oh c'mon! You always come up with lame excuses like that! You can't even spare me one little story?" Bing looked disappointed.
"Fine. Here's one: One time, I went into a town's bar for a drink and came out with an annoying deputy who won't stop following me." Mike told with a smile.
"Hey, that's about me! And I'm not annoying!" Bing got mad, his lip pouting out ever the slightest.
"I beg to differ." Mike looked away from him cooking, enjoying this.
"Well, whatever! Can't you just tell me one real story? Please?" Bing begged.
Mike scoffed, thinking about whether he should or shouldn't. He didn't want to tell a story, but he knew the other man wouldn't shut up about it all night and he just did not want to hear it. So, he sighed. "Alright, but then you shut up for the rest of the night. Deal?"
"Deal!" Bing squealed, excited again, no annoyance in his tone nor face suddenly.
"Alright." And with that, Mike thought of what tale to tell. Maybe the one about how he saved some poor lady from being run over by a train? No, that'd require too much talking. Perhaps one about surviving a shootout in a bar? Eh, too much action to describe it all. Then, he remembered a nice one, smiling as he began to tell the story, Bing listening intently.
…
Mike had just rolled into a new town, one on the borders of the country it was residing in. It looked much more alive than he expected, seeing plenty of trading and selling, people riding in horse carriages, and all the other details of a town made for marketing.
He walked through the main path, keeping his eyes in front of him and not lingering too much on the people, just trying to search for anything that might have water.
Then, he saw a stall selling water, and headed over straight away, relieved it was so close to the entrance. The shopkeeper had smiled at him once he made it over, Mike not giving one back.
"Well hello there sir! I see-" The shopkeeper started, his friendly banter being interrupted by Mike, cold as always.
"How much to fill up ten bottles?" Mike asked.
"... That'll be a penny each." The shopkeeper seemed ticked off his usual rhythm, but went right back to it, smiling as he took up whatever bottles Mike handed him, filling them without any complaints.
Finally, after they'd all been filled and put away, Mike searched for his pouch, not noticing how quiet the town had gotten as he gave the ten pennies over to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper just nodded his head in acknowledgement, the smile gone.
Mike was a bit unsettled by how the shopkeeper had changed his tone so quickly, but ignored it, turning around and noticing how deserted the place looked now.
Many of the shops were closed now, and those that were open seemed quiet and isolated now. Many of the people on the streets were gone, except for a handful, him being one of them.
He made his way to one of the only shops still open, hoping to get some food, before he noticed a man was holding the poor lass running the shop at gunpoint. As he walked over, he heard what the man was saying.
"Listen lady, I don't care about what the money's for, just hand it over or I'll have to take it from your corpse!"
Mike made it over, just watching the scene, right behind the man. Eventually, the man noticed the woman staring behind him at something as she gathered the money, turning around to see Mike, gun pointed at him now.
"Hey, you got a problem pal? Move along or I won't be afraid to shoot you." The man threatened him, Mike noticing the deputy's badge on his shirt before turning his attention onto the man's face.
"Why don't I give you my money and you leave this poor woman alone?" Mike offered.
The man was stunned at the response, but then smiled. "What are you, some hero? I can easily take money from you both, so run along before I accidentally pull this here trigger."
"I'm not just gonna let you steal this poor lass's money." Mike stated, hand resting above where his gun rested.
The man saw it out of the corner of his eye however, quickly pulling the trigger.
The universe was on Mike's side that day though.
The gun had jammed, leaving Mike the time to quickly pull his own gun out, and shoot the man right in the stomach. The man had fallen down from the force, the grip on his gun gone as he sat, covering his wound. Quickly, Mike put his gun to his head, shooting once more.
The man's body fell over, Mike standing over him before putting his gun away. He then looked at the poor maiden, who looked shocked at the body in front of her shop.
Mike just pulled his pouch out again, putting a few coins on the counter. "For your troubles." He simply told her as she continued staring.
And he was back to being on his way out of the town, ignoring how quiet it was still and how he saw people just watching him in awe as he left, back on his journey after another normal stop.
…
"While walking out, I wondered how often that must've happened for the whole town to know, and if I had enough food to last me until the next town. I should've rightfully died that day, but I didn't. So, now I know not to just pull my gun like that, just in case next time God isn't so merciful to me." Mike finished the story.
"Wow." Bing said under his breath, looking at Mike in awe the same way he remembered all those townsfolk did.
"Quit gawking." Mike told him, even if he did enjoy the staring.
"Ah, sorry, just… That's an amazing story!" Bing proclaimed with a smile. "You almost got shot and died, but you were lucky and you killed that man! That's a real miracle right there!"
"I suppose it is. God is very generous when it comes to giving me those." Mike remarked. "But hey, you're supposed to keep your end of the deal, so shut up about it, okay?"
Bing ignored him, touching one of the cans and immediately pulling his finger away, sucking on it. "They seem like they're ready." He stated.
"Didn't I just say to keep your yap shut?" Mike questioned.
"Oh, you already know I can't do that! I promise I'll shut up when you sleep tonight though." Bing said as he took the pan off the fire, letting the cans cool down.
"... Fine." Mike commented. "You cooked them longer than you usually do."
"I was too busy listening to your story to realize the time." Which was half the truth, but Bing wouldn't say the other half of it.
"You need to get a hold on that attention span of yours…" He mumbled to himself. "Are the beans ready to eat?"
"Let me see." Bing grabbed a can, feeling the slight burn, but it wasn't hot enough to need to put it down. "Yep, all good to go!"
Mike was relieved they were finally gonna eat, watching as Bing grabbed the knife, opening their cans through stabbing them open. Then, he handed a can over to Mike.
"You got your spoon, right?" Bing asked, grabbing his bag and pulling his own out.
"I do." Mike said, confident as he grabbed his bag, searching in it. Then, he got confused as he continued searching. "... Not. Damn it, did I leave it behind with our cans last time?"
"You probably did." Bing brought up, not helping the situation. "But, hey, you can just share my spoon if you wanna!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mike questioned.
"Like, I take a bite, you take a bite, we take turns!" Bing explained with a smile.
"That's one of the stupidest ideas I've heard you have." Mike said, not believing the idea.
"Hey!" Mike said, a bit hurt by it.
But, even though the idea was stupid, Mike did not want to resort to eating with his bare hands nor just shoving beans into his mouth. So, he took him up, although he sounded slightly embarrassed about it. "But I suppose it'll work…"
"That's the spirit!" And with that, Bing got up and walked over, sitting down right next to Mike, taking a bite of beans before handing him the spoon with a smile.
Mike took the spoon, not returning the smile as he took a bite himself. And he noticed how it was for once exactly how he liked it, a small smile forcing its way on his face as he handed the spoon back over to Bing.
"Heyyy, what's the smile for?" Bing asked, taking another bite.
"Nothing. It's for nothing." Mike forced the smile down.
"Awww, okay." Bing handed the spoon over.
Mike took another bite, before mumbling out as he handed the spoon over. "... I noticed you cooked it right this time."
"Yeah, I know you don't like it like I do, so I thought this time I'd make it like you always do." Bing admitted, taking another bite.
"Oh." Mike muttered at how nice that was, before shaking it off, because no it wasn't nice, Bing just wanted the chance at cooking again and they both knew it. "Well, just be glad you did because you now have the chance at cooking again since you showed me you can do it properly."
"Whatever you say boss." Bing handed the spoon over to him.
"I'm not your boss, nor anybody's." Mike said, grabbing the spoon.
"Got it…" Bing smiled. "... Boss."
Mike just rolled his eyes, shutting up as he took another bite.
They stayed silent after that, just enjoying the peace and the meal, taking turns passing a spoon. It wasn't until they were almost done with their cans Bing started up again. "Y'know, I think I remember hearing something about sharing spoons once."
"What was it?" Mike asked, finishing up his can.
"Oh yeah, a woman once told me." He grabbed the spoon outta Mike's hand once he saw he was done, looking at it with a smile. "She was talking about her husband and how they shared things often. She also told me he wasn't the affectionate type, but the only way he did show affection was through sharing things. He told her once that when they shared a fork, they exchanged spit, like an indirect kiss. I think it's cute."
And when Mike looked at him, he looked back with a wide smirk, taking the spoon and shoving it in his mouth without any beans.
Mike quickly looked away, heating up as he did. Hot embarrassment was apparent in his tone as he talked. "DID YOU SHARE YOUR SPOON JUST TO FLIRT WITH ME!? BECAUSE IT'S NOT WORKING!"
Bing just laughed. "I was just joking, Mike! Calm down!" He stuffed his happy face full of beans.
"Well, don't pull the rug under me like that again, okay!? I really thought you were trying to get a flirt on me!" Mike yelled, obviously mad again.
"And what if I was? What would you do? Give me a kiss about it?" Bing was laughing again, while Mike crossed his arms.
"I'm never sharing a spoon with you again…" Mike said.
"Fine with me, you just gotta eat your beans straight from the can next time though." Bing teased.
"I will. I'm going to sleep now, male sure you kick out the fire before you go to bed." Mike said, laying down, hands under his head as he curled his legs into himself.
"Okay old geezer." Bing snorted slightly at his own joke, Mike just ignoring him and his own buzzing thoughts on the indirect kisses as he closed his eyes, letting darkness take over to push him into a new day.