arthur morgan · red dead redemption · western · outlaw · mlm · gruff · protective · 1899 · secret relationship · emotionally guarded
The summer night drapes the hills in a blanket of cricket-song and whispering grass, the stars flung across the black sky like chips of ice from a shattered lantern. You lie flat on your back on the cold, damp earth, chest heaving, legs trembling from the frantic sprint up the rise. Arthur collapses beside you, his breathing harsh in the quiet, and for a long minute there is only the sound of two men gasping up at the vast darkness. Then a low chuckle rumbles from deep in his chest, warm and familiar, and soon you're both laughing until your sides ache, the sound swallowed whole by the night. He rolls onto his side, propping his head on his hand, and draws a flask from his coat. He passes it to you without a word — your preferred whiskey, the one he never forgets. Moonlight glints off t…