I always wanted to be a cowboy

[Anonymous]

As much as he had been looking forward to spending all that time in close quarters with Blaine, this was really fucking sweet. There was something about the frontier cowboy had appealed to Christian and now he was dressed up as one. His blond hair, the dyed hair stood out too much, was slicked back and under his cowboy hat. Button up, vest, rugged pants, boots, everything. Christian looked every inch the cowboy.

He blew out smoke in Gabe's direction, grinning at his cousin, "Alright cuz. According to the data, we gotta get here." He pointed to the map they had spread out in front of them. There was a long way to go. In order to avoid looking suspicious, they had to arrive planetside rather far from their target. Not many ships landed in the frontier, at least not ones from space.

"We had better pick up a ride and supplies." They had most of what they would need, including one tent. Gabe would just love that when he found out. But they should stick to fresh food as long as they could, use the preserved stuff later.

[Rhi-Rhi]

It was kind of surreal being able to just...walk around outside without a mask. Gabriel felt a little naked as a result, actually, and couldn't quite stop holding his breath whenever a dust cloud rose, half expecting it to be filled with toxic fumes and poisons that would kill him in one sniff. The worst it did here, however, was make him sneeze.

In fact, he was discovering allergies he didn't know he had; he'd gone his whole life without having to deal with them but apparently all this fresh, natural air was having a blast with him.

Still, he was excited! He'd never been to Edanith before and it was both a little intimidating to be in enemy territory and hella fun to be in a new country experiencing new things and, well...

Cowboys.

The cowboys cinched it.

Even if he was stuck out here with Christian.

The key to any successful mission was dressing for the occasion. You wanted to blend with the natives, look like you belonged, make sure you didn't stand out like a sore thumb.

So Gabriel had lost his usual colorful attire, shed the neon-accented bondage pants and silkscreen character T-shirts and spiky bracelets and plastic wrist-bands. In their place he donned a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, flannel button-up, vest, blue-jeans, boots, gun holster and--because he just had to--spurs that jingled when he walked.

Never mind that he'd never rode a horse in his life, much less touched a pony outside a petting zoo as a child.

Face scrunching up in annoyance, Gabriel plucked the cigarette out of Christian's mouth and ground it under his boot. "Stop that, that's gross," he said, waving the excess smoke away before scooting his chair closer. They were in a small restaurant, a hole in the wall place that allowed smoking--much to his dismay--and served way too much cheap beer.

"Anyway," he continued, "I think I saw a general store across the street."

[Anonymous]

Christian just pulled out another cigarette, "Hey now. Is that anyway to treat your favorite cuz?" He lit up, leaning back and out of reach of Gabe's grabbing hands. He had been on Edanith before, and while it still awed him, he was able to keep up an aura of nonchalance and act like it was no big deal. Had to keep up the image and all.

"We should get you a tissue. Because if I see another snot bubble, I'm shooting you." He drained his beer, so much richer than the stuff back home, "That'll cover food. I think there was a place selling trucks back toward the hotel."

Christian wanted a big truck. A really big truck.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel flushed and grabbed a napkin, holding it up to his nose. "Not my fault everything here's so...real," he said. "The smoke's not helping, either. Wait until we're outside at least, that crap's so bad for you."

Turning to the side, Gabriel blew his nose and sniffled, then gave Christian a sidelong look. "Trucks? Seriously? Uh, hello? Horses? I can't use spurs on a truck."

[Anonymous]

"Oh? Well, I must admit that I am shocked to learn that you know how to ride and care for a horse. Now, when exactly did you learn to do all this?" Christian could ride and actually liked too, not well, but he could stay in the saddle just fine. But he wasn't very good at the whole taking care of the animal part and actually putting the tack on? He was clueless.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel arched an eyebrow at Christian and gave him a look like he was speaking crazy. "Uh...Christian? I know how to ride a freakin' dragon. If I can ride, clean, and load up a dragon, I'm pretty sure I can handle a horse."

[Anonymous]

"Well, all right then. You can go get a horse and feed and tack for it and I'll go get my truck. But you can't keep anything in my truck and no riding in it." Christian smiled brightly, exhaling another stream of smoke at Gabe.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel hissed in annoyance and waved the smoke away, coughing. "I think I will. Can't be that different from riding a dragon. Just smaller." He shrugged and finished off his soda, then rose to his feet--and buried his nose in the napkin again to cover up another sneeze.

"If I'm gonna dress like this, I'm gonna go all the way, not just be some poser."

[Anonymous]

"Uh-huh. You have fun with that." Oh. This was going to be fuuuun. Christian stood, dropping some money on the table and headed out the door, "We'll leave first thing tomorrow." He wanted to make sure Gabe got a full day of riding in.

He managed to find a truck, a sort of dusty red brown, huge and able to drive over just about any terrain. And air conditioned and pollen proof. He lounged in his seat, smoking as he watched Gabe, "Remember, you ain't getting in this truck."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel managed to get his hands on a pretty palomino gelding named Storm, as well as the equipment for it--though he'd had the stable hands saddle him up. He'd watched closely to try and figure it out, but it didn't look that difficult to do. They made it look easy and, well, if he'd handled dragons then a horse should be nothing.

Come morning, he was so ready to go!

Standing by his horse and packing his supplies into the saddlebags, Gabriel waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I know," he said. "You enjoy your cancerous clunker there."

[Anonymous]

"I will." Christian waved and started off. He wouldn't go too far, but it was fun leaving him behind. They didn't get to make it very far before night fell, as the horse couldn't go very fast. And Christian was annoyed at having to drive so slowly.

He parked and began unloading the truck, "Well Gabe. Better get that horse taken care of."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel realized a couple hours into the trip that this had been a bad idea.

Mounting the horse had been tricky, the stirrups swinging and feeling unstable, and it had taken several tries to get into the saddle. Once there...well, it was quickly becoming apparent that horses and dragons were two totally different animals, literally and figuratively.

For one, the horse wouldn't do what he wanted it to do, and telepathic goading did nothing. Then, when he finally got Storm to pick up his pace from an amble to a trot, Gabriel gave a yelp and had to cling on hard because it felt like he was going to get jolted right off.

Needless to say, the ride was not a smooth one. He felt every bump, step, and jostle and had to keep squeezing his thighs to feel like he wasn't about to just topple out of the saddle. He didn't think he'd relaxed for a second of the ride and it was only pride that kept him quiet.

A little too quiet. After a while, he was too miserable to even bitch.

When they reached camp at the end of the day and Christian parked, Gabriel practically rolled off the horse and his legs nearly crumpled out from under him when he landed. He had to grab onto the saddle to keep upright, butt sore and thighs aching and back hurting. He was sweaty and hot and felt gross and dirty, covered in dust and smelling like horse. For a few seconds he just stayed there, not really wanting to move.

Then Christian spoke and he let out a low groan. "What?"

[Anonymous]

Aaaaah. That was some mighty fine misery. Christian paused, leaning back to savor it. It did wonders for his mood, "Ya gotta take care of the horse. Get us settled for the night, then come help me set up. How did you like your first day in the saddle cuz? We got another long day tomorrow."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel bit back the string of curses he wanted to snarl at Christian--mainly because he wanted to cry when Christian said 'long day' and 'tomorrow' because he felt if he went another day, he'd completely lose his ability to have children. Or feel anything down there. Ever again.

He wiped dust off his brow. "You go set up," he growled, Christian's cheer only adding to his misery.

[Anonymous]

"Oh, now, that is just unfair. Why should I have to do all the setting up? Or will you be doing all the set up tomorrow?" Christian batted his eyelashes at Gabe.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"I am gonna stay right here and never move again," Gabriel said, letting his head hang.

[Anonymous]

"Whaaaat? But I could swear I recalled you telling me that you were up for this." Christian moved closer, slapping Gabe on the back, "Something about posers I think?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel went stiff at that slap and let out a sharp curse. "Oh, shut up."

With a groan, he slowly stood upright, grimacing, his legs trembling. Well. Now he was learning why cowboys always walked bow-legged. "I didn't say I wasn't up for this."

[Anonymous]

"Well, best take care of that horse. Not fair that it has to suffer for you being an ass." Christian gestured to an area a little ways away, "Take it over there and take care of it. I'll set up camp, but just this once. After tonight, we split duties and that is an order."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel let out a sigh of relief and snapped a sloppy salute, feeling far too boneless to much effort into anything. "Yes, sir."

Taking the horse by the reins, he walked awkwardly toward the area Christian had pointed to, a small, clean stream snaking through the place. He lead the horse to the water to drink and then just sort of stared at it, trying to figure out where to even begin.