Burn It All Down (Western AU)-Doc Ock (Raimi) x AFAB Reader

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Sunlight filtered through the trees as you woke up, Otto was already taking down camp. "Y-You didn't wake me up." you yawned.

"You had a long day and... I didn't want to wake you." he admitted.

You blushed and looked down "...T-Thank you but tonight I'm taking the first watch."

"Well, we have a while until tonight. How do you want this all packed up?" he gestured to the pile of supplies next to the wagon.

"You should have woken me up I could have helped-"
"It was the least I could do-"
"The least you could do? You saved my life I should be-"
"You are helping me. Now how do you want this to be packed?"

You huffed as you got up, "I-I got it, you can hitch the horses."
"...I don't know how to hitch the horses," he confessed.

"One second, I can show you after this." you shoved everything into the wagon, to be honest, you didn't have a lot. You just couldn't leave the wagon, no matter how old it was...

Your Pa tossed you a paintbrush, your arm jerked out as you managed to catch it. You scowled at him "You could have hit me with that!"
"My daughter? Never!" he scoffed, handing you a cup of blue paint, you looked down at it.

"You just handed me a cup of paint, why didn't you just hand me the brush?"

"Because it builds character." he dipped his own brush into the cup and swiped it along the new wagon the two of you had just finished. "Now that you're eighteen you can start courting-"
"I'm not interested in anyone Pa! I-I just want to work on the ranch, with you, Ma, Jess, and the baby sister that's coming!" You argued.

"It's Ma, Jess, baby BROTHER-" he started to correct your grammar.
"We don't know if it's a boy-"
"We don't know if it's a girl either-"
"Well, I think it's going to be a girl." you sniffed.

Your Pa sighed "Well, in three months we'll see who's right... There's that Johnson boy-"
"Pa!" You warned, he held his hands up.

"Alright, alright! You can work on the ranch... but your Ma is set on you settling down-"
You bit your lip "...for now at least. Don't you want me here?"
"Oh, oh dear of course we want you here! I... I suppose we just assumed that you would do what other girls your age are doing-"
"I do what other girls my age do! I embroider, sew, knit, c-crochet even! I draw, write, host parties, I even started that literary society! I've been doing everything that was expected of me!" you angrily painted the wagon, and your Pa sighed.

"Those things... They're just hobbies darlin-"
"I could make a living with those hobbies, sell them to Sue-"
"You can't buy property, you can't-"
"That's why I'll stay on the ranch, the Lord knows you need my help!"

Your Pa bit his lip and sighed. "I shouldn't have let you run wild... taught you all that stuff-"
"But you did." you pointed out.

"I-I just want you to be happy."
"I am happy, right here, right now with all of you. And admit it, I'm the best ranch hand you have!"

Your Pa chuckled as he continued painting, the two of you talked about the upcoming hunting trip you went on once a month as well as a multitude of other things. The sun beat down, but you both continued painting, laughing and talking.

Your fingers absentmindedly chipped at the peeling blue paint, you missed him. As... Misinformed as your Pa had been, he genuinely cared about you, and it was these moments that you missed the most. You couldn't help but feel as if he was helping you through this journey, if you hadn't had the wagon you never would have been able to get so far already. You traced your fingers around the faded 1860 on the left side and sighed... the wagon was ten years old.