Stars twinkled in the dark sky of early June. A symphony of insect song and bullfrog croaks rang through the air. Footsteps joined them momentarily as a set of heavy wooden doors rattled shut. The dark outline of a man stood at the doors as he pulled a chain around them and grabbed a thick brass lock. A matching brass key sat in his lips, held by his canines. The man wished it was something more tasteful, like a cigarette. He flicked the key into his palm and clicked the lock shut, dropping the chain to hit the doors. A horse huffed somewhere inside. The thought of a cigarette intrigued him.
As he went fishing in his pocket for the soft cylinder of tobacco, a noise sounded to his left. He gestured his head up and scanned the area. Damn coyotes. He moved his hand to the holster on his belt and reached for his revolver, moving his foot forward. He watched for a moment longer, then sighed. Nothing tonight. He turned back around as his blood pressure settled. He jumped back when he turned his head, his back hitting the door. "Shit!" he cursed sharply.
Before him stood a tall man draped in a poncho. His hat sat over his growing hair, shadowing his scarred and scruffy face from the moonlight. Not that it mattered, as his eyes seemed to be a slice of the glowing moon themself. They did that sometimes. He stared down at the other man, who stared up at him. Despite his eyes looking tired, they were wide as they looked up at the taller man. His mouth was drawn in a straight line for a moment longer before he sighed. "Christ," he said, leaning up. "Ya' scared the hell outta me, big guy." He dusted off his shirt, despite it not being dirty at all, and straightened his collar.
The taller man only stared down at him, eyes narrow. The tired-looking man offered an awkward laugh, looking away. "Heh..." he started to inch left of the man, "You sure do like to stare a lot..." he trailed off, a nervous smile spread on his face, joined by a nervous blush. He blinked through a strand of brown hair that sat in front of his eyes. He swayed his head to move his messy brown hair and reached a hand up to scratch at his stubble. "So, uh..." he peeked up for a second at the glowing eyes that never looked away from him. "...can I help you with something?"
The taller stared a moment longer before looking at the doors behind him. He stepped forward, not paying attention to the way he was only pinning the shorter man. He sniffed the air and pushed at the door. He narrowed his brows when they did not open. He looked down at the cornered man, confused. The man swallowed. "I just, uh, locked em' up for the night." he answered, not needing the question to be asked. He slipped from under the man's body and stood next to him, coughing awkwardly. "Did ya need somethin?" he asked.
The taller man hummed an annoyed noise and leaned back from the stable doors, glancing at the lock. His eyes moved down to the brunette across from him who still held his nervous posture. "Sorry..." he said quietly, "didn't mean to scare you..." he trailed off. The shorter of the two seemed to perk up when he spoke. "S'alright," he said, smiling softly to maybe comfort the soft-spoken man. "Did you need a horse? Or maybe somethin' else?" He held his tongue from asking more questions. He didn't wanna overwhelm him.
He picked at a thread on his poncho and fiddled it between his fingers. He was nervous. He remained quiet for another moment before pocketing the thread and looking at a pebble on the ground. "Lucien?" he asked, quieter than before. The tired looking man, Lucien, leaned forward. "Yeah?" he said, voice rising in expectation. They remained silent for a while longer before Lucien raised a brow when there was no answer. "Uh, Ingrid, somethin' wrong?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
The taller man, Ingrid, looked around cautiously. His eyes trailed around for a moment longer, landing on the saloon across the dirt road. "Home?" he asked quickly. Lucien followed his gaze across the road to the saloon. He looked up at Ingrid, worry rising. "I was about to head home, if you wanna come with me." he offered. Ingrid nodded, eyes still stuck to the saloon.
