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“All right, everyone. Rise up.” John said, his voice heavy. His gaze seemed to be glued to the bottle of dark rum he was holding in his hand, before looking around and eventually locking his gaze with Gale. “To the memory of the gentleman.” He continued.
“To the gentleman.” Gale could only repeat the words, speaking around the clump he could feel lodged within his throat.
That morning they had lost a good man, a brave man, a friend, to a horde of cattle. The early morning shift was supposed to be the safest, that’s what John had said, and he’d believed him - after all he knew what he was talking about as he had been doing this for years by now. Of course what had happened was in no way anyone’s fault - none of theirs at the very least. A wildfire had spread to where they were and had scared the cattle. The fact that any of them were standing there alive and that they had not lost any of the animals was a stroke of luck and a miracle in itself. Still, it didn’t dampen the pain of loss.
Tipping down the mugful of rum, drinking it in one go Gale immediately started coughing from the burning sensation in his throat and lungs. He was no stranger to alcohol, but the social circles back home in England did not exactly offer any chances for anything this strong. Australia seemed to hold more surprises for him constantly.
Once the burning ended, Gale extended the cup he was holding, watching others do the very same. They had been asked to drink the bottle, and he could not in any good conscience let the bottle go to waste when it had been the wish of a dying man.
“I’d say, one more before dinner.” He said, giving an excuse to his offer.
John only smiled in return, the sight of it making his heart flutter in his chest. Gale tried to ignore it, considering that they had only just started to get along with each other properly. The memory of how he’d acted upon their first meeting, when John had been nothing but graceful - even if he had destroyed Gale’s luggage in a brawl with someone, made his cheeks warm up from embarrassment. Thankfully they had reconciled since then. He didn’t want to be on John’s bad side.
Getting his cup refilled, Gale gave a smile of his own in exchange. The burn of the alcohol was still there with a second cup, but it was easier to manage. With a third- and eventually a fourth cup, the warmth of the bonfire felt more comforting, and let his worries slip away as Rosie picked up his guitar-like instrument that Gale couldn’t name even if he tried to. The alcohol buzzed in his veins, the taste of the dark rum sat heavy on his tongue. It wasn’t a pleasant taste, but he wasn't about to complain.
Soaking in the atmosphere, he hummed along to the familiar tune. It was from some movie or another, though nothing he could place. Still, his eyes caught John standing up and walking a small distance away towards a large tree. Even the nights in this country were warm, so walking away from the bonfire most likely didn’t even feel anywhere for him.
With the added bravery from the alcohol running through his veins, Gale got up and followed after. The night air away from the fire felt pleasantly cool against his skin.
"So," John started while leaning on the tree and seemingly tracking his every movement as he circled around the tree. While everyone else was sitting down by the fire, listening to Rosie play music, on the other side of the large tree they had a small bubble of privacy. "Halfway through the journey already."
"Yeah. Didn't really think I'd make it this far." He admitted with a slight chuckle. Sure he'd been the one to decide to join since John had been low on manpower, but that was a decision he had made in the spur of a moment. It had been a stubborn decision he'd made, though not one that he'd found himself regretting. "Must be thanks to the skills of the person leading this ragtag group."
It drew a laughter out of John in response, and Gale couldn't tear his gaze away from the sight of it. The whole situation had been a mess ever since they had first met, but in the same he had come to know this foolhardy, wonderful, brave man. The regret he'd felt about even deciding to fly to this country had long since disappeared.
"You've become pretty good at this through your own skills." John said once his laughter died down. It felt good to hear it from him, to know that he wasn't completely dead weight.
A silence hung between them, but it was comfortable enough. The music changed to something more upbeat, still something that one could dance to.
"They teach you how to dance in England, Buck? To cut loose and enjoy the moment?"
"What kind of question is that?" Gale only laughed in return, answering to the completely ridiculous question. "Sure, they taught me something."
"Show me." The grin on John's face widened as he detached himself from against the tree and approached him with his arm outstretched.
"I'm not exactly the best at this." He warned while taking a hold of the hand. He wasn't quite sure what John wanted out of this, but the alcohol coursing through his system left him from overthinking it.
"That's alright." John replied and continued with a laugh, "I don't even know how to dance at all so I won't judge you for your missteps."
Helping John into the proper position for ballroom dancing and explaining the steps, all the while trying to get him to follow the instructions given proved much harder than he had thought. Not that he minded - John couldn't stop smiling, and he couldn't stop laughing even when the turns were stiff, toes were stepped on and when John fell out of step mid-dance.
"Hold on, hold on." John said, laughing. "Let me try again. I can do this."
"I think you've had too much booze to do this." Gale replied with a laughter of his own.
Still they gave it another go. Their second try wasn't much better than the first one, but John still managed to surprise him by spinning and dipping him.
"Guess I've got some innate talent after all." John said with a grin on his face.
Gale couldn't find a voice to respond, his breathing heavy as he stared up at John. Being helped up, he still couldn't tear off his gaze. The moon was shining bright from the sky, bringing just enough light for them despite being further away from the fire. His breathing settling back to normal, the music that was still playing had changed to something softer, shifting the mood between the two.
With arms still wrapped around his waist and his hands still on John's shoulders, Gale couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away. Their faces were close, and even if his breathing had calmed down his heart felt like it was about to burst from his chest.
Though it hadn't been that long since they had finally put their differences aside, he couldn't help but to admit that there was something about John that fascinated him, something about the way he acted and held himself that was like a magnet pulling him in.
The moonlight seemed to only make him look more attractive.
Slowly leaning in, giving into his desires, Gale's breathing slowed down as his eyes looked up at John's and then dropped to his lips, before closing the gap, their noses slightly bumping into each other before turning to a better angle. It was a soft and slow kiss, a tentative one, where they both gave the other the chance to back out of it, unsure if it was something the other one wanted.
Feeling more emboldened by the minute, definitely something spurred on by the rum they had drank earlier, Gale leaned in to the kiss more. He could feel the arm around his waist tightening slightly and the tickle of John's mustache against his own skin as they both started reciprocating more into the kiss. His mind going blank, his senses were filled with John's smell, the cologne he used with a bit of smoke mixed in.
Leaning their foreheads together, Gale's breathing was heavy as he took in gasps of air. Though a small part of him remembered that just on the other side of the tree were the rest of their party, yet it was something that he ignored, feeling spurred on by the close proximity of John's face, leaning back in for another kiss.
His hands roamed, grabbing onto John's hair to have him closer, and though the kiss was met with more enthusiasm than their first one, it also was cut shorter as the bubble they lived in was burst with laughter coming from the other side of the large tree. They both separated fast, being reminded of where they were, and the company that they were in.
John chuckled as he watched Gale smooth down his clothes in an attempt to hide what they had been doing.
A comfortable silence fell over the two of them again as the only sounds they could hear was the music that was still being played combined with a light drunken chatter and a crackling of the fire. It was nothing like he was used to, but it was pleasant.
"You know, I was actually married once." John broke the silence, his voice soft and quiet, no doubt having been reminded of why Gale was even there in the first place. Gale supposed he was still legally married, filing it in his brain to deal with it when they'd get to a town, to make it official that he was now a widow.
"Bucky—" he started, not entirely sure how to respond to it. But John just shook his head. "What happened?"
"I went off to war." Looking into the dark distance, John continued. "Marched off for Mother England, and by the time I came back, she was sick."
It had been a while, Gale supposed. Still something like that could not be easy, especially with a marriage that must have had love in it. There was a dull ache in his chest as he listened.
"Do you have children?" He asked, wondering if there were any smaller versions of John that he could come across. While John knew all about the distant and loveless marriage that he'd had, having been separated by a distance large enough to kill any marriage - after all he'd been helping with the business on this side for what he understood to be a long time now, Gale realized there wasn't much that he knew of him. It was something that he wanted to change.
"Nah." John answered with a shake of his head. "Guess it just wasn't meant to be."
"Shame." Gale said earnestly, a small smile on his lips. "You would have made an excellent father."
Something between them, in the atmosphere of the night, seemed to change as neither of them said anything. A part of him wanted to say something, to close the distance that had grown between them, but when the music started to end and everyone else was getting ready to get some shut-eye before their journey continued in the morning, the tension between them also dissipated into the air.
"You should get some rest. Got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." John said and gave him a small smile, before walking past him with a small pat on his shoulder.
"Yeah." Was all he could say in response, watching John circle around the tree and walk to his own sleeping spot. John was right of course, there was still some distance between them and the town they were heading towards. But still he had wished that the moment would never have ended.
Running a hair through his hair and dragging it down his face, Gale sighed and started moving also. He really needed to go to sleep before he would do something he'd regret. They still had plenty of time left together.