He already wanted to return to his horse as Arthur's gaze fell onto the side of your face that was covered by the scratch.

A strange expression appeared in his eyes. His lips parted to let out a deep breath.

Confused, you tilted your head to ask a silent question.

Without thinking, he slid a hand under your chin to gently guide you to tilt your head in a way so he could have a closer look.

Slowly, the tip of his thumb circled over the rough skin.

"Got into a fight, sweetheart?", he asked, his eyebrows knitted together in a grim manner.

The warm touch of his send shivers through your body.

Goosebumps grew all over your arms.

"No...", you turned your gaze away from him in embarrassment. "Just... a misunderstanding."

Hm...", he pulled back again, leaving a warm spot burning on your cheek. "I sure hope for em' there won't be another misunderstanding anymore."

You put on a smile.

"Don't worry Mister Morgan, that customer doesn't come by often."

He frowned.

"Mister? Nah, don't start with that now. Arthur's fine."

"If you insist."

"I do.", he tapped his hat.

"Then I must insist on my name as well.", you raised your chin. "It's (Y/N). Not sweetheart."

"C'mon. Cut the old Arthur some slack. It's just a habit."

The hint of a smirk found its way onto your face as one of your eyebrows rose.

But it did struck yoh by surprise that he called himself old.

He couldn't have been older than late thirties, maybe early forties. His hair didn't show any hint of grey yet and his beard was also thick and not at all scratchy, which came with age.

"A habit, you say?", you asked and crossed both arms in front of your chest. "Who made you develop such a habit? Your wife?"

He huffed.

"Ain't no wife. Not even a girl or a companion. It's just all me, good ol' Arthur. And Boadicea."

All of a sudden, the spark inside his bright blue eyes faded and a deep, dark emotion appeared.

Regret.

Or was it misery?

It was hard to tell, after all, you only knew home for a couple of hours.

But it quickly dawned on you that this wasn't a good topic to talk to him about.

So you left it.

Understanding, you hummed.

"I didn't want to be rude.", you said in a low voice.

"Don' worry about it, swe-!", he cleared his throat before the pet name could slip off his tongue. "(Y/N). Sometimes life just ain't that simple."

He grabbed the reins of his horse.

"Where will you go next?", you asked, immediately looking at him again as if it could prevent him from leaving.

Arthur hesitated.

"I'm not sure. Dutch wants me to check all the locations before acting on it. Yesterday was just a test."

A soft sound escaped you.

If that was true, maybe you'd have one last chance to earn another favour from the gang.

Karl had told Ginny about whiny bear and wolf caves.

Maybe that was something to look into.

The mountains were close to the mines.

But if that was the case you would need Arthur's help. He might have been a nice fella, but even he surely wouldn't do something for free.

Wouldn't he?

"Arthur?", you asked in a careful voice and locked eyes with him.

"Hm?", shadows crossed his eyes.

"I might need to ask something of you. It would be of good use to you too."

Interested, he tilted his head.

"What are you talkin' about?", he scratched his chin.

While doing so, the short hair of his beard got messed up and moved to all directions, revealing a small scar at the bottom of his chin.

Your eyes got caught by it.

Somehow, it made him look vulnerable.

"I need to check something up in the mountains. Could use a hand. Or a gunman. Whatever you'd prefer."

His lips curled.

A deep sound got stuck in his throat. It made his chest vibrate.

Your fingers flinched. All of a sudden, you felt the need to pressed your hand against him and feel the force of the vibration against your palm.

"Sounds like danger.", he noted.

You nodded.

"I fear so too..."

For a moment, his eyes wandered over you.

It seemed like he took particularly long to look at the side of your face, where the scratch was running.

His hands clenched into fists as he sucked in a shark breath.

But he relaxed again before you could notice.

"You're not someone for danger.", he said, not as a question but as an observation from a man who knew what it meant to live a dangerous life.

"That's why I would need you.", you pulled out a few bills from the envelope. "Payment up front."

Surprise appeared on his face.

"Must be important.", he took one bill and let it disappear in the pocket of his jeans. "I'll take this as a start. We can discuss the rest of the pay after the job's done."

"Deal."

A brighter shimmer lit up inside his eyes. Satisfied, he turned do his mere and offered you a hand.

You took it out of reflex, but didn't know what to do with it and remained motionless for another moment.

Staring at your hand and then at you, Arthur gestured with his head towards the horse.

Unsure, you smiled and shook your head.

A soft sigh escaped him.

Rolling his eyes, he stepped forward and grabbed you by the hips to raise you into the air.

"Wh- what are you doing?", you asked and stiffened in his grip.

"Gettin' ya on the horse.", he said and made sure that your legs didn't get in the way of him as he pulled himself into the saddle behind you. "Or did you magically learn how to ride over night?"

Heat made your cheeks glow.

"I could just get the carriage ready."

He chuckled.

The horse started walking.

"To hell with that damn carriage of yours.", he said amused. "This is faster. Maybe I should teach you how to ride. How bout that?"