More Than A Little
May. 18th, 2015 01:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katleeptTitle: More Than A Little
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Character/Pairing: Mild Chris/Vin, Nettie, Mary, Ensemble
Rating: G/K
Challenge: #610: Sandwich
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1,634
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, none of whom are the author, and are used without permission.
The early morning sun finds Vin Tanner already hard at work, having broken a sweat long before the sun began its journey through the pink sky. Vin works for a couple of hours longer still, fixing broken boards and nailing new ones until everything is again as it should be. Pausing, he steps back and surveys his work. He wipes a handkerchief across his sweaty brow, confident that this is another problem he's fixed for friends.
"Land sakes, son, but you do work fast," Nettie whistles from behind him. "Come inside and have a bowl of oatmeal before you leave." She tosses him an apple, and Vin bites into it, savoring the taste and crunch alike.
He knows better than to decline any offer from the elderly woman who's threatened more than twice before to bend him over her knee. Still, he can't help saying, "Ain't necessary, Nettie. I'm just glad to be able to help y'all."
"I know you are, son, and I know it's not necessary." Nettie fixes him with a knowing look and patient smile. "All the same, I'm glad to be able to provide you with some vittles."
"I'll have a bite," Vin agrees, "but then I've got to head to town."
"Y'all expectin' trouble?"
Vin's blue eyes sparkle brighter than the sky. "Ain't we always?"
She grins, as well, and nods. "But if we can help -- "
"You already have, ma'am," Vin says, tipping his hat to her. "You always do."
She smiles and leads the way into her home and a bowl of oatmeal that she's kept warm just for him. Before he leaves, however, she's been sure to pack his bags, slipping jerky, leftover pie, and more apples into his saddle bags while he pretended not to know what she was doing. The old woman's kindness knows no end, and although Vin's not one for charity, he also knows when not to argue with a lady.
He tips his hat to her again and promises to check back with her and Casey soon before heading out. He and Peso keep a steady pace, but even so, it's noon before he reaches town. He comes into Four Corners just in time to hear the sounds of a gunfight. He sends Peso on his way and quietly slips into the gun fight, his bullets adding in with his friends' just in the nick of time.
Soon, they have the latest young cowpokes who thought they'd given the Seven a run for their namesakes in custody. Vin and Buck help JD corral the posse into the jailhouse, and Vin watches as the Sheriff pockets the key. He grins as Buck gives the posse a talking to, then follows the other two out onto the boardwalk.
"Any other signs o' trouble today?" Vin drawls, shielding his eyes from the sun as his gaze travels warily up and down the dusty street.
"Nah. Been pretty quiet." Buck begins to walk away, but JD turns as he follows him.
"You comin', Vin?"
Vin grins. "Saloon?" he asks.
"'Course."
"Reckon I could use a drink," he admits, but no sooner has he sat down with his friends inside the cooling shadows of the saloon and they have started their routine card game than Inez begins sitting trays loaded with enchiladas, beans, and slaw around them.
Noting Vin's uncomfortable look, the senorita is quick to inform them, "I'll take no money for these today, senors. They're on the house." She smiles as Vin looks bashful, but then her attention is taken by Buck and his latest pick up line. She rolls her eyes as Spanish spills from her lips. "I swear, Senor Wilmington, you could be dying and I'd give you a drink of water, and you'd still think I was coming on to you. I should make you pay while the others get theirs for free just for having to listen to your pathetic lines."
Buck grins. "You know you love me, baby."
"That line may work on every other senorita, Senor Wilmington, but not on me." Buck laughs and ducks Inez's slapping rag. She stalks off, but not before Vin notices her smile.
He leans back in his chair, watching and listening to his friends as he takes the first bite of his warm lunch. His eyes drift closed for just a moment as he chews. Buck or any man would be lucky to get that woman, he thinks, for she surely cooks feasts fit for the Angels. His companions' laughter slowly bring his eyes back open, and he returns with a smile to the talk and game unfolding around him, although not without tipping his hat again in Senorita Recillos' direction.
Late that evening finds Vin slipping with the shadows through the back door of the Clarion. Mary looks up from her table with a knowing smile even as Vin glances at the setting sun. "I'm sorry, Missus Travis. Didn't mean to interrupt you. Didn't realize I was early." He bows his head.
She dabs at her mouth with her napkin, then spreads it once more in her lap. "You didn't, Vin, and you're not." She indicates the other seat at the little table in the back room of her newspaper office and in front of which waits another napkin, a thick sandwich, and a tall glass of sweet tea. "Please join me. I hate eating alone." She allows her smile to fall into a frown as she admits softly to only him, "Mister Travis and I used to share meals quite often back here when he was busy with the paper." She looks pleadingly up at him. "We'll have our lesson afterward, I promise."
Every movement Vin makes as he edges into the room speaks loudly of his shyness. Mary watches him with a quiet and patient smile that is not broken even as she teaches him five new words that evening and they read another twenty pages in the dime store novel he selected from Missus Porter at the general store back at the beginning of that month. She teaches him with patience and treats him with kindness always, but she can not help thinking that, for all his strength and supposed wildness, the sweet man she has come to know and share many hours with in the back room of her office is much more akin to a frightened deer slowly settling in around the people who are bent on helping his soul mend than any grizzly bear or cougar which most of the locals to which most of the locals would liken him.
She adores his friendship and always finds way to make their lessons last longer. The sun has almost finished setting by the time she lets him out her back door. Vin tips his hat to her. "Are you sure I can't walk you home, Missus Travis?" he asks softly.
She smiles brightly at him. "I am quite certain I can not steal any more of your time this evening, Mister Tanner, but I do thank you for your lovely companionship." She still won't tell him exactly how much it means to her, however. "I'll see you again tomorrow at the same time?"
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." He tips his hat again and starts to take his leave but not before adding quietly, "Thank you for the sandwich, too, Missus Travis."
"Thank you for sharing it with me." She reaches out and tucks another dab of meat into his pocket. "Oh, and take this, too," she adds, pressing another apple into his hand, "for Peso."
Vin smiles bashfully but doesn't argue with her. Just as with Nettie and Inez, he's learned not to turn down her kindness. "Good thing it's for Peso," he murmurs. "I couldn't eat another bite."
Mary laughs and watches him leave before slipping back into her office to finish the work she supposedly still has to do. Vin, meanwhile, makes his way to the stable where he quickly saddles Peso in the quiet dark. Night has set in before Vin and Peso leave the stables, and he's more than a little surprised to find another horse suddenly walking beside them.
"Headin' out?" Chris drawls, his own steel green eyes twinkling in the moonlight.
"Yeah."
"You goin' my way tonight?"
Vin pauses, but as Chris looks at him, he sees something almost pleading in his face, just as he did earlier with Nettie and Mary both. He knows their friendship means almost as much to them as it does to him and they need him more than any of the three of them will ever admit. They need his companionship just as he does theirs. They need his voice to chase away the silence. They need him to fill an empty chair in their lives just as much as he needs to be needed. Maybe, he thinks, maybe they're not the only ones.
"Maybe," he admit aloud, and when he sees Chris break into a smile, he knows where he's headed to spend his night. He'll have a cot beneath him tonight. He'll have walls to keep away the predators and a fire if he wants it. He'll have a lantern by which to see, and most of all, he'll have a friend with whom to share the long hours before dawn.
He pats his stomach when Chris isn't looking. He's still not accustomed to feeling so full as Nettie, Inez, and Mary have kept him today, but it's a nice feeling. It's nice to be more than a little full, nicer, too, to be more than a little needed. Chris smiles at him, and Vin grins back. As they head out together to Chris' ranch, he realizes that he's genuinely the happiest he's been in a very long time and concludes that it's nice, most of all, to be more than a little loved.
The End
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Character/Pairing: Mild Chris/Vin, Nettie, Mary, Ensemble
Rating: G/K
Challenge: #610: Sandwich
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1,634
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, none of whom are the author, and are used without permission.
The early morning sun finds Vin Tanner already hard at work, having broken a sweat long before the sun began its journey through the pink sky. Vin works for a couple of hours longer still, fixing broken boards and nailing new ones until everything is again as it should be. Pausing, he steps back and surveys his work. He wipes a handkerchief across his sweaty brow, confident that this is another problem he's fixed for friends.
"Land sakes, son, but you do work fast," Nettie whistles from behind him. "Come inside and have a bowl of oatmeal before you leave." She tosses him an apple, and Vin bites into it, savoring the taste and crunch alike.
He knows better than to decline any offer from the elderly woman who's threatened more than twice before to bend him over her knee. Still, he can't help saying, "Ain't necessary, Nettie. I'm just glad to be able to help y'all."
"I know you are, son, and I know it's not necessary." Nettie fixes him with a knowing look and patient smile. "All the same, I'm glad to be able to provide you with some vittles."
"I'll have a bite," Vin agrees, "but then I've got to head to town."
"Y'all expectin' trouble?"
Vin's blue eyes sparkle brighter than the sky. "Ain't we always?"
She grins, as well, and nods. "But if we can help -- "
"You already have, ma'am," Vin says, tipping his hat to her. "You always do."
She smiles and leads the way into her home and a bowl of oatmeal that she's kept warm just for him. Before he leaves, however, she's been sure to pack his bags, slipping jerky, leftover pie, and more apples into his saddle bags while he pretended not to know what she was doing. The old woman's kindness knows no end, and although Vin's not one for charity, he also knows when not to argue with a lady.
He tips his hat to her again and promises to check back with her and Casey soon before heading out. He and Peso keep a steady pace, but even so, it's noon before he reaches town. He comes into Four Corners just in time to hear the sounds of a gunfight. He sends Peso on his way and quietly slips into the gun fight, his bullets adding in with his friends' just in the nick of time.
Soon, they have the latest young cowpokes who thought they'd given the Seven a run for their namesakes in custody. Vin and Buck help JD corral the posse into the jailhouse, and Vin watches as the Sheriff pockets the key. He grins as Buck gives the posse a talking to, then follows the other two out onto the boardwalk.
"Any other signs o' trouble today?" Vin drawls, shielding his eyes from the sun as his gaze travels warily up and down the dusty street.
"Nah. Been pretty quiet." Buck begins to walk away, but JD turns as he follows him.
"You comin', Vin?"
Vin grins. "Saloon?" he asks.
"'Course."
"Reckon I could use a drink," he admits, but no sooner has he sat down with his friends inside the cooling shadows of the saloon and they have started their routine card game than Inez begins sitting trays loaded with enchiladas, beans, and slaw around them.
Noting Vin's uncomfortable look, the senorita is quick to inform them, "I'll take no money for these today, senors. They're on the house." She smiles as Vin looks bashful, but then her attention is taken by Buck and his latest pick up line. She rolls her eyes as Spanish spills from her lips. "I swear, Senor Wilmington, you could be dying and I'd give you a drink of water, and you'd still think I was coming on to you. I should make you pay while the others get theirs for free just for having to listen to your pathetic lines."
Buck grins. "You know you love me, baby."
"That line may work on every other senorita, Senor Wilmington, but not on me." Buck laughs and ducks Inez's slapping rag. She stalks off, but not before Vin notices her smile.
He leans back in his chair, watching and listening to his friends as he takes the first bite of his warm lunch. His eyes drift closed for just a moment as he chews. Buck or any man would be lucky to get that woman, he thinks, for she surely cooks feasts fit for the Angels. His companions' laughter slowly bring his eyes back open, and he returns with a smile to the talk and game unfolding around him, although not without tipping his hat again in Senorita Recillos' direction.
Late that evening finds Vin slipping with the shadows through the back door of the Clarion. Mary looks up from her table with a knowing smile even as Vin glances at the setting sun. "I'm sorry, Missus Travis. Didn't mean to interrupt you. Didn't realize I was early." He bows his head.
She dabs at her mouth with her napkin, then spreads it once more in her lap. "You didn't, Vin, and you're not." She indicates the other seat at the little table in the back room of her newspaper office and in front of which waits another napkin, a thick sandwich, and a tall glass of sweet tea. "Please join me. I hate eating alone." She allows her smile to fall into a frown as she admits softly to only him, "Mister Travis and I used to share meals quite often back here when he was busy with the paper." She looks pleadingly up at him. "We'll have our lesson afterward, I promise."
Every movement Vin makes as he edges into the room speaks loudly of his shyness. Mary watches him with a quiet and patient smile that is not broken even as she teaches him five new words that evening and they read another twenty pages in the dime store novel he selected from Missus Porter at the general store back at the beginning of that month. She teaches him with patience and treats him with kindness always, but she can not help thinking that, for all his strength and supposed wildness, the sweet man she has come to know and share many hours with in the back room of her office is much more akin to a frightened deer slowly settling in around the people who are bent on helping his soul mend than any grizzly bear or cougar which most of the locals to which most of the locals would liken him.
She adores his friendship and always finds way to make their lessons last longer. The sun has almost finished setting by the time she lets him out her back door. Vin tips his hat to her. "Are you sure I can't walk you home, Missus Travis?" he asks softly.
She smiles brightly at him. "I am quite certain I can not steal any more of your time this evening, Mister Tanner, but I do thank you for your lovely companionship." She still won't tell him exactly how much it means to her, however. "I'll see you again tomorrow at the same time?"
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." He tips his hat again and starts to take his leave but not before adding quietly, "Thank you for the sandwich, too, Missus Travis."
"Thank you for sharing it with me." She reaches out and tucks another dab of meat into his pocket. "Oh, and take this, too," she adds, pressing another apple into his hand, "for Peso."
Vin smiles bashfully but doesn't argue with her. Just as with Nettie and Inez, he's learned not to turn down her kindness. "Good thing it's for Peso," he murmurs. "I couldn't eat another bite."
Mary laughs and watches him leave before slipping back into her office to finish the work she supposedly still has to do. Vin, meanwhile, makes his way to the stable where he quickly saddles Peso in the quiet dark. Night has set in before Vin and Peso leave the stables, and he's more than a little surprised to find another horse suddenly walking beside them.
"Headin' out?" Chris drawls, his own steel green eyes twinkling in the moonlight.
"Yeah."
"You goin' my way tonight?"
Vin pauses, but as Chris looks at him, he sees something almost pleading in his face, just as he did earlier with Nettie and Mary both. He knows their friendship means almost as much to them as it does to him and they need him more than any of the three of them will ever admit. They need his companionship just as he does theirs. They need his voice to chase away the silence. They need him to fill an empty chair in their lives just as much as he needs to be needed. Maybe, he thinks, maybe they're not the only ones.
"Maybe," he admit aloud, and when he sees Chris break into a smile, he knows where he's headed to spend his night. He'll have a cot beneath him tonight. He'll have walls to keep away the predators and a fire if he wants it. He'll have a lantern by which to see, and most of all, he'll have a friend with whom to share the long hours before dawn.
He pats his stomach when Chris isn't looking. He's still not accustomed to feeling so full as Nettie, Inez, and Mary have kept him today, but it's a nice feeling. It's nice to be more than a little full, nicer, too, to be more than a little needed. Chris smiles at him, and Vin grins back. As they head out together to Chris' ranch, he realizes that he's genuinely the happiest he's been in a very long time and concludes that it's nice, most of all, to be more than a little loved.
The End
