Adelaide, Noa & Rodeo // Bonfire
Things aren't going well tonight, but Rodeo knows how they could get worse.
He avoids his sister while he makes his rounds through the officers, easily disguising his anxiety for preoccupation so that he can put off facing her. Derision and distaste from his officers, he can handle. It hurts but it's not something he was unprepared for and it ain't gonna get under his skin too much. But if his baby girl gives him a reaction anything like what he's gotten so far tonight, Rodeo is fairly certain it will snap him clean in two for fucking good. It's not outside the realm of possibility, either. He knows his sister, and he knows she isn't a fan of motivational speeches or rallying cries or earnest expressions of honest intent. To her, everything that came out his mouth earlier probably sounded at the very least mildly laughable. He's never considered himself a public speaker, but this role has forced his hand. This is who he needs to be. This is what he needs to do.
Still, he feels ridiculous. He's no fuckin' Churchill and he's fairly certain they ain't gonna be quoting him in any history books. If his words held any kind of gravitas at all, Rodeo sure as hell isn't gonna be convinced of it. He doesn't want to face the one person who can make him feel like a fraud faster than all the others, but after Sonny, after the texts from Vic, after Teagan and Marina, after everything in between, she's his only hope for a reprieve. No matter how ridiculous she might have thought he sounded, Rodeo knows his sister's love and loyalty will still be there.
Rodeo picks his way through the crowd until he spots Adelaide by her hair. It's always been the best way to find her-- when she was small, she could never get lost in a crowd with all that shining copper on her head. Rodeo's eyes fall on Noa beside her as he starts to approach, and he's glad to see Adelaide getting along so well with Sharps. Noa is a goddamn treasure and Rodeo is glad that he gets to share that with his baby sister, that she can know the value of Noa's friendship firsthand. The two women are removed slightly from the immediate revelry, sitting on a picnic table as they chat and sip their drinks. Rodeo heads their way, but he doesn't stop when he reaches them.
"Y'all stay put," he says, touching a hand to his sister's elbow and leaning in to kiss her cheek as he passes. "I'll be right back. Don't go nowhere. Don't make me hunt y'all down."
His words are playful, joking, teasing. His heavy heart is hidden somewhere beneath them. He cuts across the camp to his trailer, fetching what he had meant to give Noa at some point tonight. When he returns he has a file folder under his arm, and he sets it down on the table beside his bottle of Jack Select. "Now. Let's get to what you two been conspirin' about all night. I reckon you two puttin' your minds together could be a dangerous thing. I never known two sharper heads in all my days. Y'all could take over the world in an hour or two if you put those brains to it."