toplvl | hitchin'

"Nah, spit mud town, not much in it except the basics." he said "But yea, got a place up north, just sold off a couple horses, heading home but its a few days away so, motel hoppin' is necessary."

He declined the water, indicating an already opened one in the left side cupholder, but thanked him all the same.

"What about you? What you doin' way out here?" he asked, turning his music down so they could talk.

Spit mud town, Eli repeated the words in his head, enjoying the other's vernacular. He put the extra water bottle away, pausing before answering the question. "Oh, I've just been traveling across America. You know, meeting new people." He left out the part of trying to avoid the authorities.

"Can't afford a car?" Arthur asked "Don't get me wrong, I enjoy taking my time over the country but walkin' is rough, especially out here"

If the weather didn't get you, the wildlife could be pretty unforgiving. Snakes, pumas, bears in the less flat areas, also the locals of course. He didn't have his gun purely to keep horse hustlers away.

"Hm? A ca? No." he looked out the window as the sun was vanishing over the horizon and the stars were beginning to appear in the darkening blue sky above. "I typically stick to cities. Buses, Uber. But, not really an option out here." If he really wanted to, he could have attempted to settle long enough to buy a car, and he had honestly considered stealing one on more than one occasion; he was already a wanted man, so grand theft auto didn't seem like that big of a deal. Still, it had apparently been enough to keep him from actually going through with it.

"I've been pretty lucky so far though, most everyone I've met has been really nice."

"Yea ain't seen an uber in years." he chuckled. He went to the city when he needed to but...he didn't often need to considering all his supplies were orderable either right to his ranch or to the local store to pick up. "Well I hope that streak don't run out."

Up to speed, he put the cruise control on, enabling him to just focus on keeping the truck on the road, eyes wandering to the sky. Always a beautiful sight, seeing the sky shift like that.

"So, the motel in Valentine, you've stayed there before?" Honestly, he wasn't in the least bit picky when it came to accommodations; just about any bed beat no bed. Eli was just trying to carry on their conversation. Being on the run, he did meet all sorts of different people across all types of walks of life. The cowboy, as he was referring to Arthur now in his thoughts, seemed like the strong silent type. And yes, he did find himself checking the stranger out periodically as they made their way down the long empty road.

"Yea its a nice midway point. Nothin' glamourous but even a simple bed and hot shower after a long ride is better than nappin' in the car overnight." he said

He pretty much was considering what he did and how he dressed, though he didn't drive cattle, not much need for it these days anyway.

"Where you from? Northeast?" he asked

Arthur definitely wasn't wrong; sleeping in a car overnight was pretty awful - too hot, too cold, feeling like a cop might knock on your window, or a stranger could break in and hurt you or at least rob you - all reasons not to do it if possible.

"Oh, heh, actually I'm originally from Sydney. Australia that is. But, guess I've been in the states long enough to have lost my accent." He did tend to stick to the northeast; big cities, coastline.

Accounted for the subtle accent.

"Quite a ways" he nodded, popping the headlights on as it grew too dark to see the road.

"Sounds like you've been hitchin' for awhile"

"One way or another, yeah." His mind rushing through a series of flashbacks over the last couple years. "Settling down can be-" about to say troublesome, then problematic but decided instead to change his sentence altogether, "-it isn't really for me."

He took another drink of his water and looked out across the open road they were heading down. "Really quiet out here." There were no signs of other cars, and prior to seeing Arthur's, he hadn't seen very many others either.

"Yea, felt about the same way for a long while, doesn't pay enough though, so, sort of had to." That and a heap of medical bills forced him into settling in for some kind of consistent work.

"Not much for miles, prefer it that way to be honest." he said, "Concerning when you do come across someone. You wonder how they got there" he glanced pointedly to him but then chuckled then motioned to the sky. "Can see the Milky Way out this far without lights." he clicked the headlights off, plunging them into darkness but then when their eyes adjusted, the purple sky above seemed to alight with millions of stars already showing.

It revealed the almost completely flat landscape with distant blue hazy mountains and hills and the occasional scrub of a tree silhouetted against it.

"Oh, I understand. I'll settle for a little while, work odd jobs. Serving or bussing tables, bartender, barista, some other stuff from time to time."

He goes silent again, turning back to the window, but smiled as he clearly knew Arthur's statement was in regards to him being out there in the middle of nowhere. He might want an answer, but for now at least he's not getting one, instead he follows his motion to the sky.

"Whoa." Without any artificial lights around, the sky lit up and he found himself not wanting to blink. He stared up in awe at the beauty of it. "I can see why you don't want to leave sir."

"Arthur, or Mr. Morgan, don't need to be that formal." he said, turning the headlights back on.

"Ain't easy them jobs. Tried a couple, ended up punching a customer at one because he grabbed one of the teen girls. Management didn't like that much so they kicked me." he snorted dryly.

His temper could get the better of him when folk treated one another like piss.

Eli's vision was pulled back into the truck as the headlights came back on. He noted the correction and would try to be at least a little less formal.

"I, have definitely wanted to punch a few customers, or managers. Some of their expectations are really insane." Still, compared to what he'd endured in London and DC, a couple of upset diner patrons wasn't the worst thing.

"So this motel we're heading to, does it have one of those cool beds that shake when you put a quarter in a machine?" A relic of the past he'd come across at a few places he'd stayed at.

"Agreed. And not for very much money neither" he said, not in the least bit unhappy he left that sort of work behind.

"Ah, no, its dated but it ain't that dated" Arthur chuckled "Didn't even know them things were still around."

"Damn. Those are actually nice." Eli grins. Arthur's not wrong, finding a bed like that was very much a rarity. They drive on, the silence of the empty countryside at night surrounding them.

"Hey, um, thanks again. I, didn't realize how far out here I was." H definitely would have been camping, that or utilizing some other means of transportation.

"It's all right, just glad I could help." he said with a warm smile.

Within a few minutes, the lights of civilization came into view and Arthur pulled into the motel. He got out with a groan, back and shoulders cracking from the long drive and he moved his legs about, stiff from it all before gathering his things.

"Wanna go halvsies on a room?" he asked, guessing he didn't have much money and he was always looking to save a buck where he could.

Saving money was definitely a good idea for Eli. "Oh? Yeah, sure, that sounds like a good idea."

A few minutes later and they have a motel key and are headed inside. The motel was very standard. Clean, but the air inside was a bit stale - the motel didn't get a lot of business. Eli sat his bag down and sighed as he sat and then laid back on the bed.

A second later, he realized that there was only one bed. No couch or anything else even, just one full-size bed. He mentally shrugged it off, not thinking anything of it; but maybe Arthur wasn't comfortable with that. "If you want, I can go and get a separate room. I mean, I have been told that I tend to hog the covers."

Arthur dropped his bag and opened up a window, the night air was cool and even the town smelled better than the room did.

He dug through his things for clothes, intent on a shower as he'd been on the road for a few days, plus dealing with horses. Then noticed the lone bed. Could tell him to scoot, but...

"Up to you." he replied simply before disappearing into the bathroom to wash up.

The shower was tiny for him and more than once he bonked his head or an elbow-a muffled swear could be heard at one point-but the water was hot and at the end of the day that mattered more. He emerged, towel around his hips and stood in front of the mirror, running his fingers through his beard and decided to avoid shaving it for now. Arthur returned to the bathroom to put on a pair of red flannel pants before emerging, rubbing his hair with a small towel to dry it.

"All yours." he announced.

With Arthur stepping in to use the shower, Eli had some time to think the situation over. While most would say it was foolish of him to get a ride let alone share a room and bed with a stranger - Eli mentally debated against the imaginary others offering their warnings.

First, he wasn't helpless - most didn't know that looking at him, but he knew it and that's all that mattered in that regard. He didn't get any sort of negative vibe from the man, he came across as good-natured and genuine - besides, if Arthur was going to try and attack him or something, he would have had plenty of time to do so while they were out in the middle of nowhere. At the end of the day, Eli's life consisted of nothing but strangers really; moving about constantly and all, so it didn't bother him like it might others.

And yeah, sharing a bed with a handsomely rugged man didn't exactly sound horrible either. And if all of that wasn't reason enough, it would also save them both some money and Arthur didn't seem to mind. So, when Arthur stepped out of the shower; "Think I'll just crash here, I don't take up much space. If you're-" he lost what he was about to say as he looked at the nearly naked man, turning into a full on staring session.

Arthur stared back a moment then looked down at himself. "What? Somethin' wrong?" he asked, doing up the ties on his pants before heading over to his things.

He found his phone and pulled it out, along with what looked like a battered leather journal, which he also retrieved before sitting on the bed only to get back up and fiddle with the AC a moment, turning it on to pump some fresh air into the muggy dank smelling room.

He snapped out of it. "no, no, just, got lost in thought." He stood up and decided a shower would definitely do him some good too. He certainly didn't bump the ceiling, the shower was on the smaller side for sure, but so was Eli so it actually worked out very ell for him. He sighed, happy the cowboy hadn't used up all of the hot water.

Not too long after, he stepped out in only a pair of boxers and socks. "Man, didn't realize how much I needed that."

The other's behavior earned a strange look but he shrugged it off and went about his usual routine, checking his phone for messages, answering what he could, then opening up his journal and sketching, jotting down his adventure thus far today.

When he stepped out, Arthur too looked at him a little longer than he should have, trying to keep his eyes up as he spoke

The younger man was...rather good looking...

He shook the thought from his mind and went back to writing for another moment before putting the journal away and picking up his phone again, wondering if it was too late to order anything.

Valentine wasn't a big truck stop place but a few were open twenty four seven so he started to put in an order for burgers.

"Hungry at all? Burger place is open." he said.

"This late? Heh, man, thought was only in the city." Genuinely surprised that out here there were late night places; "A burger sounds great." he wasn't sure if this place delivered or they'd go and get them, so he asked, "Should I put some pants back on then?" He also noted Arthur's journal, but figured he'd ask him about it later perhaps.

"Truck stops usually have twenty four seven food as they come in at all manner of times." he said, finishing up his order. "Nah, looks like they'll run it over to the motel. Good news for both of us" he chuckled, not in any hurry to get dressed again himself.

He set his phone aside and picked up the remote to see what the local news had to say on the TV.

"Oh, you need a ride any further or you off after tonight?" he asked.

hitchin'

hitchin'

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