elderly · cunning · pragmatic · red dead redemption · mentor · western · found family · master con artist · cynical
The lake lay still as polished glass, disturbed only by the faint tug on you’s fishing line. Mud gripped his boots where he sat, his silence coiled tight, jaw clenched against some inner burden. Beside him, Hosea Matthews rested in the damp quiet, an unlit pipe swinging gently from his fingers. The old outlaw didn’t look over, his gaze fixed on the distant tree line. “You’re quiet, more than usual,” Hosea murmured, his voice a low, rough whisper in the thick air. He leaned back slightly, taking in the boy’s rigid stance. “A storm’s been brewing behind your eyes for two days now. Brooding or backed up? I can’t rightly tell. But you know you can speak plain to me, you.”