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At first, he stayed with them because he had to. He was deathly hurt, even his undefeatable ass couldn’t do everything without some help. Vienna seemed ready to help and considering that she was the only one left he knew at least partly well he let her take care of him. Even that yellow-bellied man of hers seemed not to put out with the extra baggage, which was….. nice of him, Kid supposes. At first, waking up from a fever and feeling a man’s hand wash away the sweat with a towel, was mighty strange, but after a while he couldn’t tell a difference anymore and, in a way, it didn’t matter at all.
After recovering enough to do everything on his own, Kid isn’t sure why he is still hanging around Vienna and her lover. Especially while they travel around this deserted wasteland. Probably because he didn’t have anything more important to do, or anywhere else to go, so he might as well travel with people he is familiar with. (Even when they were close Dancin’ kid was never sure he knew Vienna fully. He now knows why he had that feeling way back when). After losing everyone from his crew, he felt lost. Inconsolable. Aimless and completely airless. While Johnny and Vienna both looked and felt fully committed and sure of themselves and their paths before them. (Kid was not jealous. He wasn’t).
Everyone knew why they felt suddenly so fulfilled, but there was one thing Kid wasn’t sure he understood about this situation they feel into by design or accident. Why did Vienna let him tag along? Didn’t his presence annoy her? Or get on her nerves? Why were they so magnanimous? (Maybe because he looked like shit and felt like it too. They could probably see it. Smell it too).
Probably didn’t find the right time to knock him off their trailer and into the dirty sand. Though Dancin' Kid was never much of a thinker, so even if he did wonder, he didn’t dwell on it too much and decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Although being too thankful wasn’t good either, so he should find some middle ground between those two.
“You having trouble sleeping?”
Kid looked up and saw Vienna illuminated by the moonlight. He didn’t say anything but moved a bit to the left so Vienna could sit beside him. She flashed him with a shadowed smile and accepted the invitation. “How are you holding up?”
Dancin’ Kid hated her understanding tone, and he hated her pitying eyes even more. “Everything is well. I just don’t know what to do with my life now,” he suddenly confessed and shut his mouth closed quickly. The truth got out without his knowledge, and he hated Vienna for always digging the truth out of him somehow. Maybe she just knew when he was the weakest and when to strike. “You can stay with us for a while, if you need it. I talked to Johnny-“
“Stop being nice. It doesn’t suit you,” Kid grit out sharply and the night fell into silence. Vienna hadn’t moved nor stopped piercing him with her eyes and Kid hated it. He hated what she could do to him with just her mere presence. “I don’t need yours or your lover’s permission to do anything. Just leave me alone.”
The silence persisted and Kid persisted with it. “Whatever you say Maddox. Just know you are welcome with us, wherever we decide to go and beyond,” Vienna quietly said and quickly went away somewhere in the dark. Dancin' Kid hated when she used his name. It always sounded admonishing and mocking in her voice. Even if driving her away was the point of his cruelty, he suddenly felt guilty and wanted to make amends. But before he could do that, another voice pierced the night.
“Your name is Maddox?”
Kid jerked in surprise and looked over Johnny who stood near the door and had a piercing look directed at him. He huffed at the interloper and said harshly: “None of your business.” The bigger cowboy turned around and dismissed Johnny with his back. However, the bastard did not seem insulted, instead only added in an amused voice: “Whatever you say, Maddox. Good night.”
Dancin Kid felt like murder tonight, but succeeded at reigning himself in. They should both be grateful for his restraint. Either way, fuck them and their strange ways.
He really did know how to dance, Johnny thought, while looking at the Kid dancing his night away in this unimportant country club somewhere in the middle of nowhere and Texas. As soon as they entered the town, Johnny completely forgot its name. Vienna was usually the one in charge of remembering shit like that.
Maybe his dancing was beholden to his partner in a way, because his dancing with Vienna, was mighty different from his dancing with Emma. Was it strange that someone who didn’t know how to play music was a better dancer than someone who did? Johnny and Maddox (apparently that was Dancin’ Kid’s real name. Who knew?) were the perfect specimens to show that theory in practice.
Kid stumbled next to Johnny, who was sitting on the stool near the bar and watching over the dancers. He ordered another whisky even if his legs did seem a little wobbly right now. “Should you be drinking more, Fancy man?”
“Shouldn’t you be dancing with your lover over there and not me?” Kid angrily answered back, however Johnny only raised an eyebrow at that. “Absolutely not. I am a terrible dancer,” Johnny admitted, meeting Kid’s confused glance with another bright smile. He only huffed at that and mumbled something that sounded like ‘Whatever. I don’t like you’, before joining the dancing circle yet again. When Maddox returned to Vienna, she flashed a big smile at him and they continued to dance the night away, while Johnny looked over them with a fond expression.
He really did know how to play that guitar, Maddox thought while listening to Johnny earn their living yet again. Vienna was still set on having another saloon with a gambling table and it seemed that Johnny decided to just follow that plan, while occasionally being able to play the guitar. However, they still didn’t choose a place or a town where they would settle down, so they were just travelling around without any goal in mind.
Maddox was following along, because he was bored and without any other ideas. They argued and bickered a lot, but surprisingly Maddox never felt unwelcome or like an unwanted addition. And that was mighty weird.
“You like what you hear?”
Vienna whispered in his ear, and he shivered at her close proximity. Kid hated how she still had that effect on him. “He’s alright,” Kid acknowledged grudgingly, which made Vienna snicker. “Wait until we get him drunk. That is when his talent really shines,” Vienna shared this information like a juicy secret and Maddox eyed her warily. “You tellin’ me he plays better drunk?”
“Indubitably,” she revealed and leaned away from his bulk to drape on her chair comfortably. Dancin’ Kid wasn’t sure what to do with this sort of information, but when Johnny’s voice crescendos he returned his attention to the man’s performance and forgot all about Vienna’s mischief.
“How are the horses doing?”
Johnny asks while returning with more food from the stable master and Kid only acknowledged him with a nod. “Pretty good I would say. They will survive the journey onward,” Maddox answers, while Johnny makes some humming noises. “That is good. Then how about you?”
Maddox looked over confused at the blond-haired man and shrugs in answer: “I think I am in a pretty good position. So, I will use the time however I want. Or if you want something from me, just ask it of me.”
“I wanted to know how you were doing and if you will be able to survive the journey,” Johnny asks with a half mocking grin. “I am fucking fine, will you two stop worrying. I don’t know about Vienna, but I am older than you, so I can take care of myself,” Kid grits out for some reason feeling irrationally angry. Probably because their worry feels more like pity, which he vehemently hates. “You are older than me, huh? Is that really true?” Johnny asks disbelievingly so Maddox grits out the number, which makes the blond man blink in surprise. “Huh, who would have thought,” he says and gets a pack of cigars from somewhere. “Want a cig?”
He takes it and lits it up, wondering why they can’t leave him alone (and why he can’t leave them alone). “Why do you have cigarettes? You don’t smoke and neither does Vienna.” The only answer he gets is a shrug. They stay quiet for what feels like an hour, but is probably just a couple of minutes, because it usually takes him that much to finish his cigars.
“You should be more open,” John says making Kid look at him in confusion.
“About what?”
“About yourself. Vienna worries. You were friends for a long time, weren’t you? Try to find that same care inside yourself and let her know how you feel. It will make it better for both of you.”
“And what about you? Will it make it better for you? Why do you care so much?”
“Yes, it will make it better for me too. After all, I care for Vienna a lot. And she cares about you. So, by proxy I care about you too.”
“You are just full of shit you know that. I don’t like you,” Maddox grits out, still feeling the shimmering irritation, but none of the explosive anger of a few seconds before. For some reason, the blondies’ words struck a chord, even if he didn’t want to admit it. When he looks over the man, he has a small smile that makes his whole face gentler somehow.
“Yes, I do think I am. However, you should take my words to heart. They really are said with utmost care and worry.”
“Yeah, yeah whatever. Now go somewhere else, you Guitar man.”
“Alright, I will leave you with your thoughts, Fancy man. See you tomorrow,” he announces and disappears into the night, leaving the Kid with the horses and his dark and dreary thoughts.
“Why do you always look afraid when he takes the gun?”
“Because he doesn’t know how to use it. He is excessive and has an easy trigger. Doesn’t know how to control himself. I am glad he became aware of it himself. Makes it easier to control or berate him, if it somehow happens that he takes any gun in hand.”
“I see. So, when we fall into danger, it will be upon us to protect ourselves and him too,” Maddox (Dancin’ Kid) says and finds the look Vienna throws him unsettling. Only many hours later he becomes aware of how strange his answer was. It seemed like he was worried for her. For both of them and like he considered himself a part of them. Or well a part of their group, which was generally strange, he was aware of it himself. He was always more of a lone-wolf type of person, so being so seamlessly connected with two people wasn’t like him. Kid doesn’t know what has come over him. The words just got away from him, and he totally didn’t even think about them before blurting them out. It wasn’t his fault they sounded weird. The whole situation was just weird to begin with. Yes, that was it. Just a weird situation. Nothing to do with him or his overall mindset suddenly taking an 180 turn for the worse.
He should just ignore the whole thing and carry on as if nothing had changed. That is the perfect plan for moving onwards and that is what he will do. And nobody can tell him otherwise.
A gun rolled over to Johnny-boy. He picked it up and aimed. Vienna’s eyes widened, and even in immediate danger, she didn’t seem to care about herself, so she shouted her lover’s name and shook her head in a desperate measure. The bandits seemed to delight in her fear, thinking she was afraid of them, not for them. The Dancin’ Kid saw all of it, however his next actions were not planned in the least. He acted on impulse, almost feeling like another being was controlling his actions and not his own mind.
He got between Johnny and the bandits, slapped the gun away from his hand and shot the two men up front. The others triggered their revolvers and soon a shootout started. Kid toppled John on the floor with his bulk, and they were now lying on the floor behind the saloon stools and waited for Vienna’s move, while Maddox shot everyone in sight. Soon their enemies were dead, while they all lived. Maddox waited for a beat longer to hear if anyone moved or shot anything else, before turning his head to the left and looking at Johnny. He seemed okay physically, though his eyes seemed misted and out of it. However, Maddox decided to first tend to Vienna and then see what was up with the Guitar man.
“You okay, Vienna?”
“Yes, I am fine. You both okay?” she asked back, moving around the flipped tables, broken stools and dead bodies. “Yeah, we are both okay. Right, lover boy?”
They both looked over the fallen man who still didn’t get up. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Saved me? Slapped the gun out of my hand? Everything?”
“Because you would make things more difficult for us. And because Vienna doesn’t like it,” he answered confidently, even though in the moment he hadn’t thought of any reason like that.
“And you don’t really like me, do you?”
Dancin’ Kid didn’t say anything to that. Johnny laughed and laughed, and soon Vienna followed along. Maddox didn’t laugh, but his lips quirked up in brief amusement.
“Do you like me?”
Maddox raised his eyebrows at Vienna. “You know. You always say you don’t like Johnny. Do you like me?”
The Dancin’ Kid was silent. “Yeah, Fancy man, do you like Vienna?” the blond man asked jokingly, which made Maddox scowl in anger. “I like you both just fine. Stop making this a thing.” They both smiled at each other and then sent two shinning smiles toward Maddox. “We like you too. We are glad you are alive,” Vienna said while Johnny nodded his head in the background. The Dancin’ Kid was struck dumb with that statement, not really sure what to say or how to react.
“Don’t know what to say?”
“Uhhh…..thanks?”
Maddox wasn’t sure if what he said was correct, but none of them said anything more, so he supposed he got it right. Vienna and Johnny were nonverbally talking with each other, so Kid had no clue what conversation they were having now. Quite frankly it didn’t matter, he tried to change the subject and soon forgot about this weird exchange altogether.
“You want anything else, Maddox?” Johnny asked, Maddox shrugging in answer. Johnny shrugged back and went away, while Vienna and Maddox stayed behind to guard the horses and their possessions. “You really don’t need anything else?” Vienna now asked and Maddox felt out of the loop. What was this about? Both of them were usually upfront with what they wanted out of him. “No, not really. I am perfectly content with what we have,” Maddox admitted and realized he was telling a complete truth.
They finally found a good enough place to settle down and open a saloon, that Vienna was the boss of. Johnny usually either played music or worked with people who played, while Maddox was a paid bodyguard for the two of them and their bought place. They all lived above the saloon, Vienna and Johnny in one, Maddox in the other room. It was all around a boring and predictable life, but Maddox did not mind it as much as he thought he would. It was cozy and nice to be sure of his place there and his place in the world. Gave him more security than he ever had, which wasn’t that bad now that he thought of it.
“Are you really?” she shrewdly asked and for a moment Maddox wasn’t sure what she meant by it. Then it clicked, and he tried to keep his blush at bay. “Stop talking nonsense you vixen. You already have everything you need,” the Kid blundered, although Vienna’s eyes told another story. ”I think you should think about it more. And also ask Johnny about his opinion on it. I think it will surprise you,” she mysteriously revealed, leaving Kid mightily confused and scared. What will he find on the other side of that question? He won’t know until he asks, so he steels his nerves and settles down to wait.
“Hello, Guitar man nice to see you around and about,” Maddox started and felt like a right pillock. Johnny gave him a strange look and said: “Need something from me, Fancy man?”
Maddox was stumped. What did he need from Johnny? From Vienna? From them both? From himself? He frankly didn’t know. Maybe his hastiness really shouldn’t defy all his future actions. If he only sat down a bit and thought about it, maybe he would know what to answer now. That is what his conscious mind was telling him in this moment.
His unconscious mind on the other hand blurted out without his permission: “Yes, I need a dance from you.” If Maddox wasn’t literally staring at the other man, he certainly wouldn’t have noticed the averted eyes and a dusting of red on his cheeks. Maybe Vienna was really onto something here.
“A dance?”
“That’s right. A dance. They don’t call me Dancin’ Kid for nothing. Want to show you what I got?”
He might have been reluctant at the beginning but now he will finish the path he has set himself on. And the two others with him will go along with it. Maddox was almost certain of it.
“Sure, lead the way,” Johnny finally says and takes the offered hand. The surge of emotions that come up after that action are indescribable, so Dancin’ Kid only focuses on the imaginary music and routine steps. They find their rhythm soon enough, and the experience becomes better than he ever imagined. (Though it isn’t like he ever really imagined dancing with Johnny before, this is more of a recent fascination, that is all).