Oregonal Sin

When he saw her at the saloon, in spite of his complete lack of sexual interest in her, he handed her a drink with a warm smile. He pushed the other, empty chair at his table out with one foot so she could sit and catch a break and her breath.

John hadn't started looking for Richard until afternoon. Even then he was fairly subtle about it -- just keeping an eye on the stables and keeping an ear open for Ginny's gait. When he finally heard it he came out to greet the... gunslinger.

Dan carried a rocking chair out his shop and on the small porch in front it. He'd made it himself, nothing fancy, but sanded smooth and dark stained. He grinned and settled into it so he was watching people on the main street

"There we go, display of goods and sociable to boot," he remarked, waving.

John was glad to see Doyle. He had an easier time communicating with the school teacher than a lot of the town -- at least the man knew how to read, and that saved John a lot of effort with communication.

Of course there was always mouthing words, which usually worked, but when clearing up communication nothing helped more than being able to *write it down* and get it cleared up in a hurry. Definitely beat the hell out of a lot of hand gestures and frustration.

'New kids?' he asked as he handed Doyle a cup of coffee. Seemed like everyone was tripping over new people these days. It wasn't so long ago that they *were* the new people, but it still made John feel like they were being invaded. Which was fun, in a way -- new blood, new news -- but was also just a little bit paranoia inducing.

Or maybe that was just him.

Having given his knife to the stranger, Richard needed to get out of town. Needed to be somewhere he wasn't wondering what might happen to the knife - or the stranger - until he saw them again. It wasn't until well after dark that he figured that out, though, swinging out of his bed and buckling his guns on.

Heading out now, he could be in good hunting grounds before dawn. That meant stopping by the livery stables for his horse, pushing the door open quietly. No need to disturb John from his sleep.

John's stable had had some room in it yesterday evening, but come morning it was full up.

It was full up and John was about 2/3 of the way asleep when the sun came up. He got his morning feeding and cleaning done, got cleaned up a bit and then more or less staggered his way outside, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and headed for the hotel and a cup of coffee, dammit-all.

He ran into someone on the boardwalk just outside and squinted at them to see if they were a customer or not. It was early enough that there was some question -- enough for him to pause and look them over, anyway.

Hell, this early in the morning and with as little sleep as he'd had, he'd have had to look twice at his best friend.

He was still getting that cup of coffee. With or without company. Preferably with.

Fine clear afternoon. Late summer, early autumn, well clear of noon, the town square was busy with folk running errands, going about their business, meeting up...whatever it was they felt the need to do on a sunny weekday afternoon.

Opening time on another day. Didn't make much odds if it was a weekday or a Sunday, save some of the girls started shifts late on Sundays but this one was a weekday. Heavy bars lifted away from the doors to let people in, Jax behind the bar, Gemma's girls ready and willing for company or custom. Or both.

Open for business.