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The night wind was howling through his ears, the coldness of it forcing itself into his bones and marrow, chilling him to the bone. It was autumn, around 8:52 pm in the evening, and already real cold. It had been windy all day, but the wind had been kind so far, until it started to get late, as it always did. The gunslinger patted his horse, in order to let it know there was no stopping for tonight. After all, he was carrying some real fine and dandy load in the satchel he strung up to said horse saddle, and it had to be delivered before noon in a week- at the big old city closest to his usual station.
He was looking forward to seeing it all, as this would be the first time he would venture to such a high and mighty place. And he wouldn't have the least of time to waste either, as the ride over there would be easy enough, considering Betsy and her stamina and endurance. And- the fact he figured it was best to sleep in the noon instead of night, as he had so far in his 17 years of life, not had a good nights sleep while out travelling. Only day- as then everyone was busy with their own, and rarely stopped to see whatever's camped out in the hills.
Make sure to neglect lighting a fire, and you'll be ignored just fine.
The gunslinger kept to the roads in the darkness, having no light to look with. He just used his night vision, guiding Betsy to make sure she stayed on the road.
So far in his three days on the road they've been fine, so why would I go any worse tonight?
A sharp turn, and into a forest he turned. A sharp turn as well- but it didn't bother Betsy too much. They kept on riding, Jesse taking off his hat and securing it around his neck to avoid it being knocked off by branches or such. A good while into riding, poor Betsy went haywire, however. She heard someone talking, a light suddenly appearing, and Jesse doing his darnest to keep himself on the horse as she stood up, afraid of whatever was in the light.
Jesse cursed- making sure that he was heard as he consoled the poor girl, and managed to calm her down fine. He trotted on over to the light, and as he pulled up to the side of the road to meet whomever carried the light, a foreigner met him, staring up at him while looking an awfully hostile. He was holding a bow and arrow, but not pointed at him, rather, he was just holding it ready to shoot.
"Well now-... You scared my Betsy, good fella." Jesse sat more casually, leaning slightly down to let himself be heard. "Mind explainin' what you're doin' out here this late in the evenin'?"
The young man stood staring still, looking like he was from Asia somewhere. Jesse had no idea how to pin-point it, however, so he just didn't bother to think about it anymore.
"I am lost."
Jesse expected more of an answer, but as he got none, he simply sighed, looking over the man a little better, slightly leaning down to do so. And as he did, he got the lantern way too close to his face, and retreated quickly, rubbing at his eyes as he was far from used to any sort of light as of currently.
"Well- ain't that swell. Good luck- good sir."
As Jesse almost started to go again, the young man grabbed his boot with his hand, dropping the arrow he was holding in order to do so, and letting it fall gently down on the ground. Looking to the hand and back at the foreginer, Jesse saw that it had been bandaged up, in a poor way, most likely just done so in order to quit bleeding. This didn't make Jesse any more sure about whatever man was in front of him.
"Please- take me with you." The man said, a desperate kind of voice coming from him, yet he actually sounded more angry than desperate.
"Nope- ain't takin' a stranger from another country on my Betsy. Get off me."
"If I tell you why I am bandaged- will you allow me?"
"Hm- a smart fella- ain't he..."- Jesse thought to himself, and smirked, leaning slightly in to the archer.
"Go on, then."
The man sighed, his expression staying as it did.
"I was betrayed back in my home country. Now I am wandering to find my purpose, and regain my honour..."
Jesse's smirk simply grew. He so wanted to laugh at that ridiculous story, but a part of him actually believed it, so it was actually that which stopped him from doing so...
"Where are you from- then? China-?"
"Japan."
"Name?"
The young man tensed up, staring at Jesse's boot in order to avoid eye contact. He even bit his lip.
"Real name- don't be goin' an' figurin' out a new one in your head."
"Hanzo Shimada." Hanzo interrupted Jesse as he spoke, and nearly snapped his words at him.
Jesse didn't like that too much, but started to try to remember if he had heard that name before. While he did he took a good look over the young man, who was now unbuckling a chicken that was hanging from his belt, at the same time as he blew some of his very badly cut hair out of his face.
"This... Will be your payment." Hanzo said hesitantly. Jesse simply scoffed at the half plucked chicken, and scooted forward, holding out a hand to the archer. He had no recollection of the name, so he figured it would be fine.
"Come on up an' tell me where you're headed off to-."
Hanzo seemed to not have expected Jesse to agree to helping him, so it took him a small second to react- putting the chicken back in it's place, and taking Jesse's hand, climbing up on the horse and settling behind him. His clothing was apparently hiding a few features of the man, as he was rather muscular and well trained, Jesse could feel that very well while Hanzo placed his hands on his shoulders.
"Nah- that won't do." Jesse said as he made Betsy trot forward, Hanzo was already slipping off. "Wrap them arms 'round my waist."
Hanzo was hesitant, but did so after a while, keeping some distance between them.
Jesse chuckled, and kept up that speed.
"Jesse McCree- at your service."
"Jesse McCree..." Hanzo repeated, looking wondering at the man's hand, just laying calmly in front of him with the reins rolled around them.
"It is nice to meet you."
"Same to you- archer. Now- mind puttin' that chicken in my satchel? Can't have the rancher you stole it from seein' it."
Hanzo was busted, but it didn't phrase him that much. He simply did as he was told, and actually managed to not steal anything from Jesse's satchel. He had whatever he needed himself after all, perhaps except for water, but it wouldn't be such a big problem for him to get later. It was autumn after all, so it rained occasionally around these parts. Most of the rain had been a god-sent for Hanzo, as he had been pretty dirty in his wanderings. And often he have had to hide away from bandits and others, even lawmen. They were weary of strangers travelling alone in these parts, and it would seem most were. But sitting behind Jesse like this would most likely mean he would get a little less mockery pointed at his way, as it did indeed seem like they were friends at this point, even if it was far from the truth.
Jesse started galloping again, making sure to keep the speed consistent, and not seeming to be paying that much attention to Hanzo. Hanzo wasn't making his presence too much known either, as he was quite so tired, the clock very soon turning to be around 11 in the night. But he had a feeling from Jesse's reaction to the light that he was planning on riding all night, so Hanzo steeled himself to stay awake, but damn, it was hard.
They rode for hours, and at the end of around 4 hours, Hanzo laid his head against Jesse's neck or something, not caring that it was bouncy as hell, and just let it rest for a moment or two. Jesse tried to shake the archer off, as this would look all too wrong if someone passed them, but he was lucky enough to that it wasn't a single sound around them all night.
Around 7 or 8 am the gunslinger started to feel tired, as well as he started to feel it was risky to be out on the road, so he slowed down, and went on into the hills, Hanzo curiously looking around them as they did, and almost not managing to stay awake by this point. He was still young, and always had been to bed at reasonable times. His strict routines had always been upheld, after all.
Once Jesse found himself a good spot, he hopped off his horse, Hanzo doing so as well, and stumbled forward due to his tiredness.
Betsy was tired as well, so she actually settled down instead of standing, waiting for Jesse to collect something for her to eat.
He got some dried out grass, pulled up some apples from his bag, and placed it in front of Betsy, and settled down on the ground near a few rocks. Hanzo had already sat down, still feeling the bounce in his body from the ride, and had simply watched Jesse go about.
As Jesse had sat down, he looked towards the archer, finally.
"Why do you sleep in the morning...?"
"Ain't nobody botherin' you 'round then. All are gettin' up themselves, or ridin' off somewhere. Ain't no stoppin' to look to the cowboy in the hills then."
Hanzo nodded, thinking it was a smart enough move. He sighed, laying down himself, and trying to not feel like things was too uncomfortable. He just about passed out, sleeping very heavily. Jesse himself didn't go to sleep, he rather watched the young man lying there, and started to wonder why the hell such a guy like him was around here. The first place someone would go wouldn't be America...
As well- Jesse had a bad feeling about sleeping with Hanzo around. He could most likely easily kill him with that bow and arrow of his, and with those muscles he surely wasn't just a usual guy...
To get these things off his mind as the poor man felt just about exhausted, he went on over to the archer and poked him, getting no reaction other than a hand trying to swat his hand away.
Hanzo was deeply asleep, which Jesse got confirmed as he could open up his eyelids and not get a reaction.
So Jesse returned to his place, pulled his hat over his eyes and tried to get some shuteye.
It luckily went well, as in around 6-7 hours later, he blinked his eyes open, and put his hat back on his head, looking around for Hanzo while he was sitting up, stretching his back and everything in the progress.
Hanzo was sitting together with Betsy, feeding her another apple, apparently having been awake for a little while, as said horse was rather calm around him.
"Mornin', you damn horse whisperer. Did I tell ya to feed her?" Jesse said as he got up, sounding slightly annoyed.
"I will pay you with an apple. Do not worry." Hanzo replied, patting Betsy a little as he got up to stand with Jesse.
Jesse walked up to him, but did pass him.
"I'm expectin' a payback with interest. A glass of damn whiskey."
"I cannot pay you back that."
"... And why not? Are you against alcohol or somethin'?"
"I am too young looking to be able to buy you that." Hanzo sounded sort of regal as he spoke.
Jesse's frown turned upside down quickly, and he pulled out an apple for himself.
"Not 'round these parts you are. Just show 'em your money and point to me, and you got yourself a whole bottle."
"... I understand." Hanzo said, perhaps with a bit of revelation in his voice. "In that case- fine."
"Better be..." Jesse said and leaned up against his horse, whom had stood up as soon as Jesse got up.
"So- archer. How far are you goin'? I'm headin' to the big town a weeks ride from here- so you got many places to hop off."
"I do not know. Perhaps the next town you stop at."
Jesse ate up his apple, as he was a quick eater, and gave the rest to Betsy.
"You got no idea where you're headed? That ain't a good plan, archer. Especially considerin' how you look."
Jesse climbed up on Betsy.
And before Hanzo could say anything, as his expression showed that he was very offended, Jesse spoke up.
"Just be fixin' that hair of yours and you're golden- I'd say. Ain't nobody goin' to even care to talk to you when you're lookin' like that."
"I-... I do not know how to cut my hair."
Jesse held out a hand towards Hanzo.
"Well- got some scissors. Might as well do it to get you on your way when we stop later."
"I'd rather do it myself." Hanzo said as he climbed on up.
"Nope- I'll do it. Ain't no fun wastin' Betsy's energy on dead weight anyway."
"Whatever do you mean!?" Hanzo sounded damn offended by now, a frown on his face, and actually neglecting to hold around Jesse. It made him almost slip up again as Jesse rode out to the road again.
"You'll be shot on sight lookin' like that if you're plannin' on headin' out alone...! Foreigner's ain't much welcome- like I told you, and even less when they look like shit...! No offense!"
Oh- all the offense was taken. But Jesse did have a point, so Hanzo simply sighed, making sure he stayed on the horse and rode out together with the gunslinger.
"McCree?" Hanzo had to speak up due to the galloping.
"Shoot!"
"How old are you?"
"17! Ain't no older. How 'bout you then, archer?"
"I am 18."
"That's a real big surprise!" Jesse found himself snickering, and actually being glad he had managed to "find" someone around his own age. After all- not many young-lings was out on business all by themselves...
Hanzo simply acknowledged it in his own head.
And so they inched closer and closer to the nearest town, the road long and lonely. They didn't talk much, as it proved quickly to be sort of hard in the speed that Jesse was keeping. As well- there wasn't really much to be said between them.
The hours flew by as the landscape did, and around 4 pm the two of them trotted into a town. Jesse parked up Betsy by a water trough, and let her drink up. Hanzo was looking around curiously, already finding eyes firmly planted on him. He didn't like it, not at all, but a friendly poke on the arm by Jesse made him look away from them, and right back at said man.
"Don't be starin'. Either you're challengin' 'em to a duel or you're irkin' 'em to fight you."
"I understand." Hanzo said, looking back to Betsy, and so to Jesse.
"I wish to cook my prey. Where can I do this?"
"Well- ask the good ol' butcher if he can fry it up for you. He'll want some money, though, so make sure you ain't using whatever you owe me."
Hanzo nodded, and headed off into town by himself, walking with his head high, yet somehow avoiding staring at whoever stared at him. Jesse made sure Betsy was nice and comfortable and went into the towns watering hole. He decided to play some cards there, win a few games and let himself be nice and comfortably stuffed while going to the big city.
Within an hour Hanzo came into the place, while looking around for Jesse. Once he spotted him, Hanzo ordered himself a glass of whiskey and said it was for paying some debts, so the transaction went just fine. Hanzo put Jesse's glass beside him and pat his shoulder, taking a quick look at his cards.
"Here."
"Thank you kindly...! Your debt's been paid." Jesse said with a chuckle, taking a huge swing of his glass. Hanzo sighed, and went ahead to sit and wait for Jesse while sipping some water he luckily got from the bartender for a quarter.
Once Jesse's game was done with, he left the table and headed to sit beside Hanzo.
Once he did, Hanzo looked towards him, his expression uncertain.
"... You do not need to keep me company."
"Was thinkin' we'd head out, if you're still with me. Won a bit too much in that game, and they didn't like it." Jesse was even as kind that he brought his glass with him, but it was mostly for self defense in case the loser's at the card table wanted their money back by force. And he did indeed need it, as the men from the card table got up from their seats, eyes digging into Jesse's back. Jesse grabbed Hanzo's, turned around as if he was practicing acrobatics and threw the glass at them, dragging Hanzo along as he ran out of the building, a gleeful grin on his face as he ran. Hanzo was frankly ready to run already, so he tracked along, finding the whole situation ridiculous, yet kind of fun. They ran to Betsy, Jesse quickly getting her reins free and started tracking along with her, getting up while she was moving, and held out a hand for Hanzo to get up too. Hanzo quickly got on, although he stumbled, and they galloped off, the losers trying their darnest to shoot at them as they went.
All the way Jesse was laughing, oh man, he had a lot of fun. Hanzo found himself smitten by the laugh and did chuckle, before laughing as well.
"Damn- sore losers ain't they?" He said, his voice sounding an awfully mocking.
"Indeed they are." Hanzo sounded entertained, and took a little look behind them, soon not seeing much of the men running towards them. They were most likely natives of the town, since they had no horses close enough to catch up to Jesse.
They rode hard, the atmosphere seeming kind of different between them.
As they laid a good distance behind them, they slowed down to only a quick trot, to let Betsy calm down a bit.
"There you go- girl... Ain't no more gunshots." Jesse coo'ed to her, patting the side of her neck in a firm manner to calm her down as best as he could.
Hanzo was looking around them as they rode, taking in the sights. They weren't far from civilization, another few hours of riding and they would cross another town. He figured it would be best to split from Jesse at their next stop, considering he had just cheated in a card game, and Hanzo guessed he would have a bounty on his head from being associated with him by noon tomorrow.
Jesse started to feel an awfully hungry, so he soon pulled off the main road and to a smaller one, just following it until they found a small cabin near a lake. They avoided the cabin like it was surrounded by a poisonous cloud, and instead circled around until they found a nice spot to settle down for a quick meal.
Hanzo got off first, and Jesse followed, getting himself some jerky to eat. Whatever meat it was he didn't really mind, as long as it tasted well. He settled on a rock beside the water and started to eat, looking over the water, enjoying the sights.
"Guess we're cuttin' your hair here." Jesse said, talking with food in his mouth.
Hanzo felt a bit annoyed about it, but considering the distance between them it didn't annoy him too much. "Please do not decide things like that for me." Hanzo replied, looking towards Jesse. His words wasn't meant in a negative way, and Jesse somehow managed to pick up on that fact.
"... Yeah- sorry. Wanna do it 'round here? Goin' to be easier if we're usin' water."
Hanzo appreciated that Jesse took his words to mind, even though it was half-assed. "Yes. Now- I do not want any length taken off. I only want it symmetrical."
"Gotcha." Jesse said and turned to face Hanzo instead, looking at him, kinda studying how his hair was cut. It felt more like Jesse was adoring Hanzo's face for said man, however, so he got slightly flustered and looked away, furrowing his brows.
Jesse did find himself think Hanzo did look good, as the lightning from the sun going down behind said man bathed him in a certain light that made his features stand out a bit more, and be more noticeable for Jesse, whom rarely did notice how people looked. He was too busy with everything to truly stop and appreciate things usually, especially to look at others. It was so bad he rarely even remembered faces...
Once the gunslinger was done eating, he got up and collected his scissors from his bag, and looked to Hanzo.
"Mind takin' the seat I had a moment ago...?" He spoke in a joking formal manner, and it even managed to get a chuckle out of the archer. He took his seat, and Jesse started his work, finding it sort of surprising how the archer trusted him.
Said young man was wondering about this too, as right now, the gunslinger, whom he had no idea where came from or his background, was very close to his face with a scissor, which was very dangerous, in all sort of ways one could see it. But Hanzo just didn't think about it, and he knew very well why by now. The young McCree was a handsome man, and suited Hanzo's tastes very well. He found that he would allow himself to enjoy the company of this young man for a little while more, before he would have to go. Things couldn't be between them, and he had realized that by the time he had to run off with him like they did.
Jesse did feel the same way about Hanzo, except he thought more about the usual things... But he did know that things would never be between them as well, and that was because he would have to return to his gang later.
The gang wouldn't take him seriously at all, and perhaps even kill him if he came back with a boyfriend. It would be impossible to hide their relationship as well, as Jesse knew himself that well. He wouldn't be able to stop kissing Hanzo. Be it on the cheeks, on the lips, or anywhere else.
Jesse's mind started wandering, and even so, he managed to stay concentrated enough to cut Hanzo's hair nice and evenly. Jesse sometimes stroked his fingers against Hanzo's skin. cheek, and the whole thing felt sort of intimate. Jesse tried to minimize the touching, however, to try to not let Hanzo get the wrong idea. But it was futile, for every ghost of a touch Jesse managed to do got Hanzo flustered. Soon the gunslinger was finished, and Jesse fished up some old sunglasses and let Hanzo use them as a mirror. It just about worked, and Jesse's work seemed to have been good, as he received a genuinely happy smile from the archer.
"Thank you. It looks much better."
"You're welcome." Jesse said, making a joking bow as he spoke, with a silly smile. Hanzo kept his smile, and so put his hair back in a pony tail, using a hair-tie, as well as pulling up a long, yellow piece of cloth, finely woven. It was light as silk in the wind, and it damn well amazed Jesse.
"... Mind me feelin' that cloth of yours? Ain't never felt silk before...."
Hanzo seemed surprised about that fact, and nodded. Jesse touched the silk, feeling it between his fingers.
"Damn- that's real soft and smooth."
"Indeed. It is the finest silk my father could get."
"You came from a real rich family- then. Lucky bastard." Jesse chuckled, his smile genuine.
Hanzo found himself chuckling briefly as well, and pulled out some hair to let it hang in his face. "I was..."
"Well- let's get back on the road." Jesse said, and got up. For a moment Hanzo thought the gunslinger was going to go up to him, but Jesse went straight to Betsy, who was waiting for them to finish. He put everything away, having just held on to it while listening to the archer talk. Hanzo was already at his side, and managed to get up on the saddle without much help now.
Jesse followed, and they rode all night- Hanzo finding himself tired in the later hours, and leaning his head on Jesse's head again. He started to get hungry too, so that didn't help his drowsiness. And today Jesse actually didn't mind Hanzo staying like that.
They stopped in the morning hours, Jesse tired, but not as much as he usually would be. He found himself a good place to stay after making sure Betsy had whatever she needed, and looked to Hanzo, who was sitting a little while from him. Just to try it, since he wanted to, he held out a hand, actually sort of hoping the man wouldn't see him in the darkness. But he of course did, and got up, Jesse's heart skipping a few beats or two as Hanzo approached him, settled down beside him, and actually laid his head down on Jesse's shoulder.
Jesse stared wide eyed into the darkness, kind of frozen, but... He relaxed a bit. He did ask him to, in a way... And if he didn't do anything-...
Jesse sort of nuzzled the archer's forehead, not really finding any way to move his hand that Hanzo was lying on.
They kept silent, especially Jesse, as he had yet to even remember what he was supposed to be doing, and just laid staring out into nothing, not really believing the situation.
But he snapped back to his senses, and let his hat lay over his face to shield it from the light, and fell asleep after a few moments.
The next morning Hanzo woke up before Jesse, and gently shock the gunslinger awake.
"Good morning." He sat over him, slightly leaning over him. When Jesse tipped up his hat, the archer was met with a tired, yet flustered face. "Good mornin'..." It made said archer chuckle, a small blush on his face. He got up, and went on to Betsy to avoid eye contact, yet again.
Jesse got to his feet quickly, finding that he sort of missed the warmth of Hanzo by his side. But- he would just have to miss it. He went to join Hanzo by Betsy, and climbed up on her once he got up.
"Time to head on out?" Jesse asked as he held out his hand to Hanzo again, the man taking it and getting back on the saddle. They rode for maybe an hour before they got into town, the whole place busy and teeming with life. It would be a good place to split off, the both of them thought, actually.
Once Betsy was parked beside a water trough yet again, Jesse turned to Hanzo, who was keeping his full attention at Jesse this time. Hanzo gestured with his head for Jesse to follow him, and so the gunslinger did. They ended up behind the train station in town, out of sight from anyone in town. Jesse had no bad thoughts about the situation, not at all, in fact. He simply got one hell of a smile, maybe even knowing why Hanzo brought him here.
Hanzo put a hand on Jesse's slightly buttoned up shirt, pushed him against the wall of the building, and leaned in, kissing him on the lips. It was a brief, yet slow kiss. A true goodbye kiss, to say the least. When Hanzo pulled away, Jesse followed for a short little while, the kiss lingering on their lips with a sad, bittersweet after taste.
The look they gave each other said everything that needed to be said, so Hanzo let go of the gunslingers shirt, and walked away without looking behind.
Jesse watched Hanzo go, and it hurt so bad he held a hand over his heart.
Damn- he wouldn't be forgetting that Hanzo Shimada fella for the rest of his life...
Neither would Hanzo. He left with his head in the clouds, and such a strong want to go right back to him. But it just wouldn't be, and... They did tell each other with their looks that they would meet again someday... So both Hanzo and Jesse kept to that hope, as they went on their own way.
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The glass of bourbon tasted like hell. Jesse knew this, yet he swallowed it down, since it was the only thing he had left.
The card game he was winning was boring as hell- most card games in a big city was boring, since the losers rarely pulled their gun on him.
Now the final card was laid on the table, and Jesse got all the cash laid lazily around. He collected everything, now having secured himself dinner. Even after 20 years he still had the old habits, winning a dirty game and running off. It never helped his bounty, but by now, he couldn't be bothered. He was such a good shot them collectors never got to him alive.
Jesse McCree had made a name for himself, after leaving Deadlock forcefully by those marshals Morrison and Gabriel. He figured it was time to atone for what he had done, seek redemption, so he had been taking off jobs and stopping robberies like hell. Yet, certain things had stuck to him since his Deadlock days, as he had little to no choice in keeping it. But he did let it lay low before the damned marshals started fighting and ran off to get themselves killed.
Jesse got on out of the building, quickly returning to his horse. He had yet to name this one, as he tended to go through a few these days. Not that they got killed, he just switched them up with buying and selling to avoid being recognized as well.
As he settled on the horse, he trotted on to another part of the city, just to disappear for a little while. Things settled easier in cities, after all.
He parked his horse up, letting it wait by a gunsmith, and went to smoke a cigar or two in the park. It was nearing evening, and Jesse was tired, having ridden in from being out on a bounty hunt. So he figured he deserved a little break.
Minutes in, someone approached him, Jesse looking up to the man while tipping his hat up as he did.
He found himself with a big smile, nearly dropping the lit cigar in his lap.
"Well- I'll be damned..."