Chapter Text
Arthur sighed as settled onto his mattress. After being out all morning, running errands for the gang, he was exhausted and wanted to get a little rest. That plan would’ve been perfect if most of the people in gang knew that more people than Arthur could do stuff.
“Arthur!” Pearson called. “Hey, Arthur!”
“What is it?” Arthur spat in response. He scrubbed his face with his hand and pushed off of his bed.
“Well, folks are hungry, Mr. Morgan.” There was a slight guilt to Pearson’s voice, but not enough to let Arthur know he actually cared. “We don’t have enough food to go around. I’m barely scraping by right now, and no one’s happy about eating whatever we have thrown into a pot.”
“So you want me to go hunting for you?”
Pearson nodded. “Please.”
“Fine.” Arthur walked away. He’d go and kill whatever animal he found first and take it to Pearson quickly, so he could get back and actually rest this time.
—
Arthur grunted, placing a deer and two rabbits on Pearson’s table. “Here.”
“Thank you, Mr. Morgan, this should be enough for.. a few days, probably.” Pearson started skinning the rabbits.
Arthur was on his way back to his tent when Dutch stopped him.
“Arthur!” Dutch yelled. “Arthur!”
Arthur rolled his eyes discreetly. “Yes, Dutch?”
“I need you to get out there and make some money, Arthur!” Dutch gestured vaguely with his hands, which told Arthur all he needed to know about what kind of mood Dutch was in. “We are not doing well right now, and I need everyone putting in their fair share!”
Arthur was about to argue back, tell Dutch how he’s been out for the gang all day, but he bit his tongue. He knew fighting with Dutch always ended up useless in the end unless Hosea was around. “Alright. I’ll go.. I don’t know, I’ll go find something to do.”
“Watch your tone.” Dutch scoffed.
Arthur chose to ignore him this time, and he was leaving camp for the third time today.
—
After hunting a bounty and a bit of fighting with the bastard, Arthur was now exhausted and sore. But finally, he was back at camp, he had put most of the money he got from the bounty in the donation box, and now he could finally get a moment of peace and quiet to himself, and he could finally get the chance to-
“Mr. Morgan!” Ms. Grimshaw barked at Arthur, wearing a disapproving look on her face.
“Ms. Grimshaw,” Arthur greeted. “Can tell you’re in a lovely mood today.”
“Don’t be like that. I need you to do some chores around here, Mr. Morgan. It seems everyone is slacking today.”
“Slacking?” Arthur thought, hoping it wasn’t aimed at him. It was true that not many of the male members did chores around the camp, choosing to donate money or food instead, the girls were always busy, busy, busy, rarely getting a moment to themselves with Ms. Grimshaw over their shoulders. He hoped Susan wasn’t aiming it at the girls either. “Right..” Arthur sighed. “I’ll get on it.”
“Thank you, Arthur.” Ms. Grimshaw turned back to the rest of the camp. “At least someone’s willing to do some work around here!”
While Arthur did do a lot of the work and was trying not to smile at someone appreciating him at least a tiny bit, he felt a little guilty about taking credit for it. Everyone else did help, and most of them they did all they could for the gang, so Arthur cringed at Ms. Grimshaw scolding everyone.
Heading over to where the hay for the horses was kept, Arthur decided this would be his last errand of the day. He’d fall asleep before anyone else could send him to do something, and try to get away early in the morning to get at least half a day to himself.
—
Tilly had been watching it all. From the morning tasks, to the hunting, to the money-making, to the chore-doing, she witnessed almost everyone older than Arthur boss and order him around. She was tired of him being so hardworking, and worried that he was gonna work himself to death. ”He really lets everyone walk all over him, doesn’t he?” Tilly thought, sadness and amusement mixing together.
She would’ve intervened a long time ago, if she could. Would’ve invited Arthur to a game of dominoes, or just talk with him, but she knew that was a bad idea for both herself and him when Ms. Grimshaw was around. She seemed to be in a more sour mood than usual, and Tilly didn’t want to push her luck and get chewed out, so she kept to herself and continued with her chores.
Though, if anyone else asked Arthur to do something, Tilly might just intervene.
—
Arthur let out a long, relieved breath as he sat down on his bed. There was nothing else to be done, and he could finally get a moment of peace, right?
With Micah around, that was wrong.
“What’s wrong, cowpoke?” Micah asked sarcastically. “You tired from a long day’s labor?”
“You poking fun at me for doing what I was told to?” Arthur raised an eyebrow, not bothering to open his eyes. Micah usually went away if you ignored him long enough, but Arthur had basically no patience left and Micah was amazing at getting people mad.
“Of course not, Morgan.” Micah snickered. “I’m sure you’ve been such a good boy, rolling over for everyone.”
Arthur opened his eyes. “Excuse me? I haven’t been rolling over, I’ve been working. That’s more than I can say for you.”
“Oh, come on, Morgan, even I know you’re not as dumb as that.” Micah sneered, and Arthur wanted nothing more than to shoot that look off of his face. “You’re the camp errand boy, because you’re obedient. You rarely ever put up a fight when one of your dear superiors march you around. It’s pathetic.”
“At least I actually listen to orders, Micah. And at least I actually got something done today. What did you do, besides lean against Dutch’s tent, get in his mind, and sharpen that knife of yours?”
“I did plenty. I always do plenty, and I don’t disappear for days or even weeks at a time without an explanation, like you do.”
Arthur didn’t really have an excuse for that, seeing as how he really did disappear to do small things for himself and reappear just before anyone could start worrying. No one ever did start worrying, except maybe Hosea, and even he has gotten used to Arthur just being gone sometimes. He really hoped that wouldn’t backfire on him one day, in case he was harshly injured and stuck in a situation he couldn’t get out of, with no one coming to save him. He tried not to think about that.
“Speechless now, are you, cowpoke?” Micah laughed and stalked away before Arthur could respond. That’s all Micah ever wanted, really. To get a rise out of Arthur or whoever else he’s pissing off and leave before they could get a rise out of him.
He finally rolled onto his side to try and get some sleep, but Micah’s words were lingering. He was right; Arthur disappeared without even having to explain himself. Arthur got away with stuff that would get others disciplined or yelled at, and it wasn’t fair. Now he was tossing and turning, thinking about everything Dutch or Hosea has excused just because Arthur was Arthur.
It was late when he got up to head to the saloon. Even if he woke up hungover in the morning, alcohol usually helped him sleep.
“Where’re you heading, Arthur?” Charles asked.
“Out,” Arthur responded, cursing himself for sounding ruder than intended. Charles hadn’t done anything to him, and Arthur could tell the man took it a little personally when he didn’t offer to come with him.
“Ah. Okay.” Charles nodded and went back to making arrows. “Be safe.”
“Right.”
”You’re such a goddamn fool, Morgan,” Arthur thought.
—
Tilly observed Arthur as he walked out of camp. He looked tense, and he had snapped at Charles which usually never happened. She knew that Arthur always worked hard for the gang, but more duties had been put on him since they fled from Blackwater.
“Hey, Charles,” Tilly said, sitting across from Charles by the fire.
Charles hummed in greeting. “You’re up late, Miss Jackson.”
“Well.. I’m worried about Arthur.”
“Me too.” Charles put his arrows aside. “He’s been out doing stuff for the camp too much, he’s burning out. Not that anybody else is noticing, though. Wish I could do something about it.”
“Maybe you can,” Tilly suggested. “You know he likes you. Take him out hunting or something, give him a break from running errands. I’ll try and get Ms. Grimshaw to lay off on him for a bit.”
Charles chuckled. “Alright. I’ll try.”