Chapter Text
The morning sun shone brightly on the man’s blond hair. They were just on the verge of a grayish tone, and the sweat made it look darker in places.
Clive didn’t know who the man was, but his father spoke warmly to him in the distance. Offered for the man to come to their house. Told Joshua to stay in his bedroom, told Clive to sit with them by the dinner table. Asked for the servant to bring some cold water for them to drink.
He looked to be in his late 20s, maybe early 30s. The sun had marked his skin, to Clive he seemed almost golden in his tan skin and blond hair. Piercing green eyes seemed to be always observing, attentive. Not in an impolite way, but with a certain curiosity.
“I’m sorry to show up like this, Elwin, you were the first person to come to my mind”, his voice startled Clive, made him flinch, made his guts coil and swirl like snakes. It was deep, hoarse, very masculine and lower than he expected. It brought out sensations Clive only recently started to pay attention to. “You were my only trusted choice.”
“It’s fine. Did you come through the town?”
“Nay. Through the back roads. No one has seen me.”
“Good. How may I help you, brother?”, Clive frowned at his dad, curious on why he would call someone who was not Uncle Byron a brother.
“Last job didn’t go as planned, you see. I need to lay low for a while. I understand you have a family”, those green eyes fell on Clive, the snakes got more agitated. “So I deeply apologize for disturbing your peace. Even a bay in your stable would do me good, Elwin, I am in no place to ask for more.”
His father looked at him too, making Clive squirm a little on his seat. He patted his son’s hair, very tenderly, very fatherly.
“Clive here is fifteen already, he understands men have their duties, don’t you, boy?”, Clive nodded at his father’s question. He understood the concept of duty, but didn’t understand what that had to do with the handsome man in their house. “Joshua just turned ten, but will understand in time too.”
“Hah, it’s been that long, hm?”, the man smiled fondly, Clive’s heart skipped a beat. He looked away from him. “It feels like it was yesterday that you left to take care of your wife and newborn. I suppose Clive was the little one at home then?”
“He was, yes. Time flies, kid, time flies. You aren’t even a kid anymore, and here we are.”
Both men laughed, the stranger adjusted himself on his chair and thanked the servant when brought him his cup of water. He drank it eagerly.
“We have a small shack in this property, the last overseer we employed lived there years ago. It’s currently unoccupied. You can stay there for a while.”
“You are very kind, Elwin, thank you very much. I promise once things calm down I’ll be on my way.”
“I trust you will, Cid.” Cid. His name was Cid then.
The sun was low and the crickets were already chirping by the time Clive parked the old trusted truck in the driveway. He jumped out and closed the door with a bang behind him, while Jill got out from the passenger side, ready to help him unload the truck bed.
It was mostly canned goods and other supplies for the main house, enough to last a good month or so. Also supplies for Jill’s cabin for when she didn’t want to or couldn’t have her meals with them.
“Hey kids, need any help?”, Clive’s uncle opened the door to the house, standing on the porch while watching them. He had been spending the summer with his brother and nephews, enjoying playing the rancher role with his family.
“Nah, you are going to throw your back out and I’m not in the mood to drag an old man around”, Clive barked, laughing when Byron feigned taking offense. “Don’t worry, uncle, Jill and I can handle it.”
And handle it they did, with Jill helping stacking the grocery boxes in Clive’s strong arms and herself throwing a bag of dog food over her shoulder before following him. Torgal was already barking and jumping excitedly around her.
“At least lose a few pounds before making us drag you around, Mr. Rosfield”, Jill laughed too, following Clive into the house and straight to the pantry area besides the kitchen.
“I swear to god Elwin raised you both with the damn pigs, rude little piglets”, he huffed, himself holding his laughter, crossing his arms as he entered the house too.
“Jill was raised with the horses, uncle, the way she kicks”, Clive chuckled, coming back from the pantry to grab more things left in the truck. A yell of I heard that! came from the pantry.
In no time they emptied the truck, and Jill volunteered to take it to the garage before joining them in the house.
During summer, besides Byron, Joshua visited from school too, spending the time helping around the farm as he could or just riding horses with Clive or with their dad. That day was no different, and soon enough Clive heard the sound of their boots on the porch and both men opening and closing the front door.
The brothers hugged tight, even if they had seen each other in the morning. Elwin hugged Clive tight too, patted his face.
Joshua went up to his suite to wash himself before supper, something Clive was eager to do too but decided to stay a bit with their father.
“How was it in town? Any news?”, Elwin sat on the old recliner with a sigh, throwing his head back and closing his eyes.
“No, everything seems to be quiet, though Otto sent you regards”, Clive said, sitting on the couch near his dad, leaning forward. He knew his dad and the general store owner were long time friends. He also knew his dad funded a lot of the loans Otto administered.
“Ok, noted, I will try to say hello to him before my trip.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Old”, Elwin blurted out and both men laughed. “Tired and sore. But a good night of sleep and I’ll be good. How are you, son?”
“Not so old and not so sore, but very tired”, Clive grinned, yanking another laugh from his dad.
He took his bath when they were done with the conversation, soaking in the hot water and letting the knots in his muscles relax and disappear before reemerging.
Clive got down just in time to see the table being set by the housekeeper, thanking her when he sat down near Jill, who had just bathed herself as well.
The supper went just fine, lots of easy conversations and banter. Rodney, his father’s right hand man, joined them as well, having found a fine pleasure in bothering and joking with Byron.
Things were a lot better now that his mother didn’t live with them anymore, Clive thought, relaxing in his seat and considering if he should open one button of his pants to let his bloated stomach rest better after dinner.
“How did you meet my father?”
Clive looked back over his shoulder, watching Cid as the man walked behind him after they had lunch together.
“We were partners. Once. Did some jobs together”, Clive knew the man wasn’t telling the whole truth, but he also didn’t feel like he had grounds to grill him further.
“You seem a lot younger than him.”
Cid laughed. A gorgeous laughter, hoarse just like his speaking voice. Clive whipped his head back to stare at the path in front of him, hiding his flushed cheeks. “I am, lad, I am. I was but your age, maybe a tad older, when we run business together. Your father was kinda like a mentor to me in a way.”
“A good one?”
“A good one, aye.”
Elwin had asked Clive to show Cid the shack he had mentioned. Elwin himself was gathering supplies and would meet them there.
The walk wasn’t very long, maybe fifteen minutes or so, but it felt like dragging. Time was acting weirdly around Cid.
Cid.
“Is Cid your name?”
“Hm, a nickname. Name’s Cidolfus.”
“What kind of name is Cidolfus? ”, Clive blurted out, barely noticing what he did before feeling an overwhelming shame wash over him. Cid laughed again.
“I’m not from around here, lad. Where I’m from we have all sorts of names.”
“I’m terribly sorry, it came out wrongly.”
“No offense taken, no need to apologize, Clive.”
The way Cid said his name raised gooseflesh all over Clive’s body.
The shack was a simple thing, rustic, a kitchen area with wood burning oven and a small dinner table for two, right next to a bedroom area with a single bed. A flimsy curtain kept both somewhat separated.
The windows had been recently changed, and now could be kept closed or open without worrying about water coming in when it rained. No electric light had been set up there, still a very rare commodity around the area, but there was an oil lamp available.
Near the shack was an outhouse, with a makeshift shower and latrine.
“We are sorry it isn’t better, it’s really been a while since someone lived here. We just tried to keep it clean as Joshua and I used to play here sometimes”, Clive muttered, watching the man look around.
“Worry not, lad, this is already much better than I expected, truly. A roof over my head and a bed for a good night of sleep.”
Clive looked at him. Looked at the bed.
His ears turned red. He averted his gaze.
“Father will bring you water and some food. I reckon some bedsheets and basic things like soap and oil as well”, he said looking at his own boots, afraid of looking at the man again and feeling his body’s reaction. “Would you like anything else?”
“Not really, lad, this is already great. Thank you most kindly for bringing me here”, Cid sat down on the bed, its creaking echoing in the small place.
Elwin showed up with Rodney on his tail, both men bringing bags and boxes with grains, canned food, dried meat and the things Clive had mentioned.
“Clive, wait outside for a second, will you?”, Rodney said, the towering man gently pushing Clive out before closing the door after him and Elwin entered the shack.
Clive frowned but didn’t argue. He would try to pry information from his dad later anyway.
He sat on a nearby rock, the now afternoon sun blazing over his head. Summer had barely arrived and he was already done with it.
Whispers came from the shack.
Then a tense interjection. Rodney’s.
Back to whispers. Some low laughter.
Clive shifted on the rock, looking back at the shack. Curiosity ate at him in more ways than one.
What were they talking about?
Who was Cid?
What kind of job did he do with his father?
Did Cid fancy men like himself?
Clive shook his head, eyes back to the horizon over his father’s lands. Boys had been caughting his eyes for a while now. He had been trying to ignore it. He really had been.
But this kid from his grade at school stole a kiss from him and since then it has been hard to ignore how good men looked.
Especially older men.
The door opened, creaking even more than the old bed. Clive looked back to see his father and Rodney stepping out, arms now free for what they carried.
“For now stay around here where people won’t see you, once I make sure it’s okay you can help a bit around the farm and eat with us at the house”, Elwin was saying, turning around to shake Cid’s hand.
“Sounds good to me. I won’t cause you any trouble”, Cid nodded respectfully at Elwin.
“I sure hope you don’t”, Rodney didn’t seem as friendly as his dad with the stranger. With Cid.
The walk back to the house was a silent one.
“Do you have everything you need for the trip?”, Clive asked for what felt the thousandth time, closing the passenger door of his dad’s car, crouching beside it to look at him.
“Well, I thought I did, but you keep asking and now I’m worried I don’t”, Elwin rolled his eyes, laughing at his son. Clive smiled timidly.
“Sorry, just want to make sure you are all set. Rodney will drive the whole way?”
“Yes, I don’t trust Byron behind the wheel. But I’ll make sure we stop regularly so he doesn’t get too tired. It’s just over the state line.”
“It’s around six hours anyway, dad. Be mindful.”
Rodney walked up to the car, messing with Clive’s hair before going around to sit on the passenger side, having put the last of their luggage in the trunk. Byron came right after them, taking his place in the backseat.
Clive got up and did the same path, bending forward on the driver’s window to talk to him this time.
“Take care of dad, will you? Call home if anything happens. You can leave uncle Byron in a ditch.”
“I heard that, you little shit!”, Byron’s voice came barking from the car. Clive laughed.
“Yes, Mr. Rosfield”, Rodney rolled his eyes at Clive, grinning at him. “Stop acting as if we are teenagers going to a carnival, it’s just a quick business trip.”
“I’ll treat you as the old farts you are then. May the Founder go with you both and come back alone, you grumpy fuck”, Clive laughed at the man, slapping the roof of the car.
“Now, would you kindly go fuck yourself, kid?”, Clive barely heard Rodney speaking with his father’s laughter roaring so loud, the man also chuckling himself. “We will call you when we arrive at the hotel.”
“Thanks, sir. Have a safe trip.”
Clive watched, hands on his hips, as the car raised dust going down the path towards the ranch exit till it disappeared in the distance. They would be gone for only a couple of days, but Clive felt weirdly like dad and son roles got swapped and he was now the dad worrying over it.
He walked into the house, it was still early, they left without even waiting for the breakfast, but he would have it before going on his morning routine. Joshua was still asleep, so it was only him and Jill eating and talking. About life, about the tasks to be done in the ranch, about the visit Clive needed to do to another of his dad’s farm, about how summer arrived earlier than expected.
This year they had some new farm hands to help the crew they already had, but still it was a lean operation, mostly a family business, with just seasonal help when cattle needed to be moved around and during harvest.
Originally he wasn’t even supposed to be there.
Clive had decided early he would just run away after reaching his eighteens. His mother hated him, it was clear the family business was to be left only for Joshua. And honestly he didn’t mind it that much, he would rather just work with his hands and keep his head down. But it got so much at some point he was ready to just leave it all behind.
Joshua would be better without him. His dad too.
But then his mother left their lives, and suddenly the reasons for him to run weren’t there anymore.
Elwin had left it pretty clear for both sons how he saw them. Clive had the brain and arms for practical things, for daily operations and knowledge of how things were run. Joshua was really good at his studies, really good at economics and had a knack for investments and business opportunities. He wanted both of them working together in the future, and not just one or the other. Which was great for the brothers.
Jill had been living with them since she was a teenager, Elwin raised as her own after her father passed away, and she too would have her part in the family business.
So for now Clive helped his dad around with Jill while Joshua was off at college, learning everything he could and gaining the trust from the people he needed to.
Clive enjoyed the ranch life.
When Jill went off to take care of the horses for the day, Clive handled his duties, took care of organizing and documenting the bills to be paid. Joshua woke up and got ready in time to join him in a horse ride around the perimeter of the property, which wasn’t a small area at all .
“Enjoying being home?”, Clive asked his brother as they rode under the morning sun, adjusting his hat to be able to look at him.
“A lot, I miss the quiet, and the beauty”, Joshua smiled, red cheeks matching his ginger hair tone. “When I was younger I found it boring, but nowadays I just… love it very much.”
“Don’t you prefer the big city?”, Clive laughed, eyes squinting slightly.
“Ah it has its charms, I like the different food there, and the nights are waaaaay nicer than in the countryside towns”, his brother showed a grin that made Clive understand what kind of night he meant, and himself ended up grinning.
“Already working on getting an heir, Josh?”
“Just having fun, brother. Isn’t this why dad sent me to university?”
“Looks like I should’ve gone too.”
Both brothers laughed loudly as they rode, and their conversation moved to other topics.
They rode through the meadow, down the rolling hills of their family property, till they reached a small woodland area near the limits area.
It was a calm grove that got thicker towards the center, the soft sounds of water running echoing around.
“Hey Clive, this is where that creek runs, right?”, Joshua’s voice rang through his head, startling him out of his thoughts and nostalgia.
“Here, now you go around, loop, and… aye, good job, lad.”
Clive grinned with the result of his knot, after painstakingly learning how to do it with Cidolfus. Rodney had been trying to teach it to him for years to no avail.
He tried throwing the small lasso he created on the fence post, pulling it hard when it landed. It tightened around the post perfectly.
Clive was all smiles.
“Thanks, Cid.”
“No need to mention it, lad. Enjoy it.”
Cid had been living in that old shack for more than a month now. Only recently he started leaving more, joining the Rosfields for some of their meals. Rodney had also started taking him to his work in the land and to help with the cattle. Work which Cid didn’t complain about not even once, even when the older man was clearly trying to teach him a lesson or just put him through the wringer. Cid didn’t care, or if he did he didn’t show.
Sometimes Clive was allowed to go work with him, ride his horse with him while he rounded up the cattle like Rodney had told him to. Other times Elwin would put him to take some supplies to Cid’s shack while Anabela screamed at the top of her lungs she wanted Cid out. And Clive too.
His mother wasn’t much of a fan that they had one of his dad’s old fellows living in the ranch during summer. Well, Anabela wasn’t much of a fan of anything besides herself, and by all accounts if she hated something or someone, Clive instantly felt like he should like that thing. Or that someone.
And he sure liked Cid.
Cid was everything Clive never knew he liked in a person. In a man. He was discovering a lot about himself during that summer. Every day was a conflict in his head if he wanted to go see Cidolfus or if he wanted to hide in his bedroom, too embarrassed and self conscious to see him.
Talk about teenage infatuation.
Sometimes he preferred to just keep company to Joshua and play with his baby brother, out in the hills or by the stables, away from Cid. Out of sight, out of mind.
But that never lasted too long as his mother was keen to not let Joshua spend too much time with him anyway.
The hot summer days when the men worked shirtless dealing with angry cattle work were especially hard on the teenager, brain making connections it hadn’t before. Cid’s tan body, broad chest covered with thin blond hairs and sweat running down to the hem of his denims made Clive feel things he wasn’t aware even existed before. The way he held the ropes he used to lasso steers. The way he walked and laughed with the other workers.
The way he washed himself down by the creek.
Clive had really tried to not. He swore to at least three different gods.
But he had noticed it. On the very hot days, Cid would bathe in the creek by the grove instead of the shower in the outhouse by his shack.
The first time he saw the man’s clothes strewn around on the grass when he rode by, he tried to keep it out of his mind. Then, another day, Cid himself mentioned about bathing in the creek every now and then while drinking with Elwin and Rodney, and Clive heard it.
If Clive got caught, he would have said it was an accident. He was just riding his horse, trying to cool off after his mother was a pain in his ass. Saw Cid there and was just curious if someone else was there too.
It was not because he wanted to see him naked. The expanse of his back, marked with thin scars here and there. One of them looked like a small gunshot wound, Clive would realize later. Also, it was not because he wanted to see how his wet body glistened under the sun, or how the water cascaded from his hair down his back and rear. It was a nice rear, not a big one, sure, but well sculpted, well defined.
Hiding behind the small tree didn’t help much in terms of good angles for viewing, and he wasn’t keen on risking Cid seeing him so he was extra careful. His breathing was extra heavy, lips on the verge of bleeding from how much he chewed on them, concentrated on each and every inch of Cid’s body.
Clive didn’t need much touching over his clothes before coming while biting his own hand, muffling any sounds, and he bolted at the first sign of the bath coming to its end.
As far as Clive knew, through the next few weeks until Cid left the property, he never suspected a thing.
The sun was going down when Clive circled back home, Joshua having gone earlier to rest a bit as his lungs were acting up. Gav, one of the new farm hands, met him halfway and they walked the rest of the path sharing a banter. He was a good kid, and a fast learner, the best tracker Clive had ever seen. During hunting, he could always rely on Gav to pinpoint the perfect places and targets.
Torgal ran up to both men, playful and with a stick in his mouth, which Clive promptly grabbed from him and threw away, motivating the pup to run like hell after it.
When they got to the main house, after walking past the barns and stable, Clive found Jill standing on the porch, hand on her rifle as it rested against the rail, concealed from whoever walked up from the driveway towards the front of the house. She looked intently somewhere past the trees that lined each side the dirt path, eyes squinting and brows furrowed.
“What’s up?”, Clive said, voice low, gesturing for Gav to stay back to the side of the house and climbing the steps up the porch.
“Someone is coming up by foot”, she said quietly, eyes unmoving. “It’s a man, I don’t recognize him.”
Clive’s eyesight wasn’t nearly as good as Jill, he couldn’t figure out shit from where they stood. She was a sharpshooter, he trusted her.
He scratched at his patchy beard, nervous, thinking.
“Here, boy”, he clicked his tongue towards Torgal, who came up to him. “Go, boy, is it a friend? Go, boy, go!”, the well trained pup broke into a quick sprint down the dirt path, raising clouds of dust.
They waited in silence. They weren’t expecting any visits.
Joshua did have friends who would visit them later in the summer, but it wasn’t the right date nor would they have come by foot.
Clive finally was able to discern better the figure as Torgal sped towards him. A man for sure, and seemed to have a bag with him. At first the dog seemed standoffish, and then curious. The man seemingly reached out and pet Torgal without hesitation.
When he started running back home, Torgal was wiggling his tail.
Jill raised her eyebrows, Clive furrowed his.
“Torgal knows the person.”
“I don’t know any person that Torgal knows that would have come here by foot instead of by horse or automobile”, Clive muttered under his breath.
“Well, either that or the man is a beastmaster. Choose.”
“ Well, Jill, I’m not a fucking clairvoyant”, Clive groaned, going down the steps to meet Torgal. He scratched the hound behind his ears, muttered a good boy at him. “I’ll go meet the guy up.”
“No, wait here.”
“I’ll meet him”, Clive repeated, jogging inside the house and then leaving it quickly while adjusting his belt and gun holsters around his hips. A heavy pistol made the belt sag on his right side. “Eyes trained, Jill.”
“Always. Be careful.”
Clive started walking, energetic step after energetic step, feeling the anxiety and anticipation of a conflict rising in his stomach. Torgal barked and followed him closely, still pretty relaxed and showing no signs of aggression, but clearly understanding his master wasn’t as relaxed as himself.
The nervous gestures started quickly, the adjusting the hat, the scratching his chin, the rolling of his shirt sleeves. The man’s figure was getting slowly clearer, but it was a long path and it still wasn’t enough to clearly distinguish the man.
But the man’s eyesight seemed better than his, as he was the first to talk, shouting from afar.
“Elwin?!”
Clive sighed, facial expression still closed off. It was common for some people to confuse him for his father, even more now that he neared his thirties. It wasn’t surprising to be confused for his father with the distance between him and the man.
“Not Elwin! Who are you?”, he shouted back, unsure if the wind would let the other man hear as it went against him.
“Elwin! Here to see Elwin!”
Ok. The man knew his father. Clive relaxed somewhat. And his voice sounded familiar.
He looked back, being greeted by the lovely sight of Jill pointing her rifle, supporting it against her shoulder.
Ok then.
Another eternity walking and he could finally see better. Battered denims, boots, a cotton shirt and cowboy hat, with a heavy bag over his shoulder.
Clive had a feeling, a chill running down his spine.
“Hey”, the man tried again, and now his voice was pretty clear. “Hey there, Elwin?!”
“No, I’m not Elwin! Who are you and what do you want with my dad?”, Clive picked up the pace as Torgal went back to running towards the man.
He seemed to pause, which in turn almost made Clive pause too. Instead Clive picked up the pace
“It’s Cid!”, he said, now bending to pet Torgal once more. “Hah, wait! Wait! Son? Clive?! ”