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Sat around the campfire in their desolate camp, Hosea and Dutch succumbed to boredom. Golden hour gave the trees that surrounded the camp a warm hue, the green leaves almost becoming yellow in the light. Out of nowhere, Hosea sprung to his feet and made his way towards the small tent he called his own, leaving Dutch with a perplexed look upon his face. After plenty of rummaging through his belongings, the older of the two men backed out of the tent with a wooden box. A worn wooden box at that. Hastily making his way back to sit next to Dutch at the campfire, Hosea wore a bright smile and had that same soft glint in his eyes that he had whenever he had come up with a decent plan. Setting the box between them, he opened it up and started arranging the carved pieces of wood on the stained wooden checkerboard.
“You ever played chess before?” Hosea questioned Dutch, who was yet to wipe that puzzled look off of his face.
“No, but I'm assuming I'm about to.” A smile plastered on his lips, he relished in Hosea teaching him new things. Whether that be how to shoot a deer so that you can get the best quality pelt, or how to con someone so perfectly that by the time they realise you’ve conned them you’re already on your horse and bolting away.
“You know me all too well.” Hosea shook his head and chuckled to himself, continuing to set up the board before returning his gaze to Dutch. “I expect you know how to play though?”
“I can’t say I do, I'm afraid. Would you teach me, Old girl?” Hope glistened from his eyes.
A soft smile pulled at Hosea’s lips followed by a slow nod. “If I must.” he replied, his voice laced with sarcasm. This was something that Dutch had to learn as well, being a conman meant that Hosea could make almost anything that came out of his mouth seem genuine.
Following their agreement, Hosea explained each and every chess piece to Dutch. He tried his best to feign a stoic front, but this was seen through by the dark haired man, he had heard the stories of how Hosea’s father had gifted him the boardgame one of the few times he had seen him as a child. It didn’t take long for him to crack that same excited smile that the young man had grown used to.
“So this one can only move diagonally, right?” He asked, prodding the castle which granted him an unamused huff from Hosea who had been explaining the game for at least twenty minutes now. Dutch knew the answer really, but he found such amusement in seeing Hosea get worked up. Finally, with all the pieces in place they were ready to begin their first game, Hosea thought it was best to remind Dutch of the placement.
“Remember that this one-”
“I’ve got it!” Dutch retorted, no real venom behind his words. With a few cracks of his knuckles Dutch was ready. “Seems easy enough. I’ll beat you, I’m sure of it.” He nodded in a prideful manner, letting his ego take over once again.
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say, cowboy.” With the flick of the other man’s hat he leaned in slightly, not even attempting to hide the smirk he wore. “I tell you what, you win this game? I’ll give you a kiss.”
Dutch’s expression faltered for a second, it was one of those moments where he didn’t know whether to believe the conman or not. Was that a challenge? He didn’t know, all he knew was that he was going to treat it like one.
“That a threat or a promise?” He teased, leaning forward a bit to the point their noses were almost touching. The other man pulled back with a quick tut and moved his first pawn, starting their game off strong. Dutch moved one of his pawns, then another was moved, then another, then a horse, then a bishop. Competitive was Hosea’s middle name, but he was holding back. Dutch sure wasn’t, so why would he? He didn’t want the other outlaw to have the upper hand on his first game, but here he was making miniscule moves on the board, Dutch was taking more of his pieces on almost every move he made.
Before they knew it, their game was meeting its end. The dark haired man found his smile growing by the minute. His queen had made its way across the board, Hosea had only a pawn in the middle of the board and his king, no defence tactics were available but deep down he knew he had done this to himself. With one swift diagonal move of Dutch’s queen across the board, Hosea’s king had nowhere to go. One way he was being trapped by a castle, another way trapped by a bishop then the others would give the queen a quick and easy victory.
“Checkmate, my friend!” The younger man called out, a sharp grin almost clouded his vision as he threw his arms into the air. His eyebrow arched slightly as he playfully shoved Hosea’s arm. “Think I recall you saying you’d give me a kiss if I won, or am I imagining things?” A scoff involuntarily left Hosea’s lips as he gathered his thoughts. Was it the fact that Dutch had won or the fact that he might give in that left him speechless? He couldn’t quite decipher it.
“You didn’t really think I meant that, did you?” He was a man who invariably lived up to his words which made his question seem rhetorical.
“‘Course not, you’re all just talk, Hosea.” Leaning in a bit closer and that grin of his didn’t leave his face for a second. If he had even the smallest chance to tease Hosea, he would take it in a heartbeat. That was until Hosea shot him the most baffled look his face could manage.
“You know damn well I live up to my words, Dutch.” that confused look shifted to one of humour. “If I didn’t know better I’d assume you wanted me to kiss you.”
“I could say the same about you.” Still his smirk stayed strong
“What gave that away then?” Hosea gained a grin as Dutch lost his for a moment.
“You don’t mean that.”
“Says who? What do you want to hear? I just think you’re hoping for that kiss, cowboy.” He brought his hand up slowly and placed it on Dutch’s cheek, giving the other man enough time to swat his hand away, but he didn’t. He stroked his thumb over his cheekbone and looked at him with that familiar sparkle in his eye. Dutch soon had that smile on his face again as his hand slipped to Hosea’s knee and his body inched closer to Hosea.
“You know me all too well.” He mimicked the older man's words from earlier before giving in and leaning over the chessboard completely. Knocking over the pieces on the board in the process, Hosea leaned in closer to catch the dark haired man in a soft but honest kiss. After his moment of adrenaline passed Dutch kissed him back, this was shortly followed by a quiet hum of approval that left his lips as he melted into Hosea’s touch. The blond haired man carefully brought up his other hand so he could cup both sides of his face, making Dutch realise he had practically stayed stationary apart from moving his mouth to return the kiss. And with that his hand shifted from Hosea’s knee and snaked its way up his back, he didn’t want this moment to end. He was enjoying it, it seemed that the other man was enjoying it too so surely it would happen again, right? Before he could gather his thoughts entirely, Hosea pulled back with a content huff, resting his forehead on Dutch’s to keep him close, a small giggle escaping him. Dutch did the same. Dutch felt the same.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this.” The younger man dropped his head to Hosea’s shoulder with a gentle smile that might be stuck on his face for eternity.
“You can say that again.” Hosea held him tighter than he ever had.