SENSE OF PRIDE // PATROL, O

[freddie]

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— fred walked with his hands in his pockets, relaxed, as he led this patrol. patrols had merely become part of the routine at this point. things were looking bleak enough already for the lodge, he supposed; last thing they needed was more trouble. still, he couldn’t deny the slight pang of hunger pitted in his stomach. when would anyone in flintlock get to have a full stomach again? when would fred and will finally find those assholes and give that group the painful, torturous death they deserved?

as they walked past a pine tree, fred moved the branch out of his face. then - “heads.” - let go of the snow-covered branch for all those behind him to deal with, snow flying everywhere. “honestly, it’s all your fault for letting me walk in front of you.” it was paired with a laugh so warm and hearty that you would think he was actually so joyful. boisterous laughter after such a small, inconvenient move- typical freddie.

at least it was something to distract him from the bleakness of flintlock’s current condition. maybe he could head to los santos later and beg molie for some food -- he wasn’t too proud to beg. his lips quirked at his own humor in that last statement. definitely wasn’t. “well? anyone got a story to tell? anything?” he looked over his shoulders at the others and quirked a brow. “i have a couple stories, but--” they weren’t suited for most audiences, that’s for sure.

[RORY T.]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: #494949; font-family: karla; font-size: 8pt; letter-spacing: 0.2px; word-spacing: 1px; margin-top: 10px;"]rory still isn't a fan of patrols.

rarely do they give him the anticipation a teen like him needed to be engaged. instead , they were the same — a time waster if you asked him — waking up at the asscrack of dawn to just stare out at a bunch of trees until the sun rose and like clockwork , there was a rotation. in all honesty , he'd be willing to do just about anything else at this point but hey; he reaps what he sows.

at least freddie was here , if nothing else. he was far more entertaining than anyone else in this patrol. rory was still jaded , trudging quietly behind the others with his hands stuffed in his pockets when he heard a yelp of surprise. one of the men , notably taller than him , nearly bowled him over. well , that was enough to alert him — "what the fuck , man?" he growled. the man , visibly annoyed , snorted. "blame that asshole." he muttered , gesturing towards freddie , who led the crew , demanding a story to be told. the last thing he needed was to get into a fight , even worse , over something someone else caused.

"how about a joke instead?" rory weaves his way to join freddie , falling just little ways behind him. once there'd been a man that he knew , possibly in bluestem , that harbored jokes like the fuckin' encyclopedia. he told them so much that rory couldn't help but recall a joke or two. he never thought he'd ever use them , but here he goes. clearing his throat melodramatically, his eyes lifted into a smirk. "why can't a nose be 12 inches?"

[freddie]

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— fred liked to think of himself as an avid storyteller. during patrols he would ramble about one thing or the next, hoping to get at least someone entertained by his dumb stories. more than anything, he enjoyed having all eyes on him- hence why he walked in the front, doing reckless things to try and get some well-deserved attention.

”how about a joke instead?” he turned his head towards rory, watching him weave his way to the front. his lips twitched into the hint of a smile. “i like the way you think.” if there was anyone who at least went along with fred’s humor, it seemed to be rory. at least the other man tried to be a source of entertainment on these long, sometimes tedious patrols. some people around here could learn a thing or two.

“why can’t a nose be 12 inches?” he rose a brow then and looked through the group to see if there was anyone else that knew the joke. surely he wasn’t the only one that didn’t know the punchline. he looked back towards rory. “this better be a good one,” he said, his own lips pulling into an entertained smirk. his gaze lingered momentarily before he looked ahead again, absently kicking up some snow as they walked. “why can’t a nose be 12 inches?”

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Aw, fuck. Not another one of Freddie’s stories.

Thomas’ expression said it all as he grumbled quietly to himself, trudging through the snow with his hands shoved in the pockets of his coat. Whose idea was it to allow Freddie of all people to lead today’s patrol? Eddie should’ve known that he was only stroking this guy’s ego every time he allowed him to lead one of these; soon he’d assume some lordship title to claim some feigned royalty status with this level of self-entitlement. Thick brows bunched together as he slowed to an abrupt stop, a branch swinging back and smacking a couple of people up ahead. Thank god Tommy disliked Freddie’s mindless rambles enough to stay to the back of the patrol.

Rory swooped in to save the day. No stories today, but a joke from the younger man instead. Tommy twisted his head to look over at Alfie as the younger brother peered over towards Rory with parted lips before speeding up to walk alongside him. ❝ A nose can’t even get that long! ❞ ❝ That’s the point of the joke- ❞ Tommy muttered, defeated, raising his brows as Alfie looked over his shoulder at Tom. ❝ I don’t know how long twelve inches is, but that sounds long. ❞ He retorted back, lip curling. ❝ I don’t doubt that for a second; you barely know how long half of that is. ❞

Alfie’s face was blank momentarily, visibly mulling over Tom’s words for a long moment before his eyes sprung wide open. ❝ Hey! That’s- ❞ ❝ So what’s the answer then, ‘eh? ❞ Tommy uttered as he looked back towards Rory, Alfie shaking his head before huffing with disbelief.

[RORY T.]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: #494949; font-family: karla; font-size: 9pt; letter-spacing: 0.2px; word-spacing: 1px; margin-top: 10px;"]rory is unable to retain his pride at freddie's approval. holland might've not approved of these jokes as much, but at least he finally found someone who did. there with him through his drunken idiocy and now his average jokes

rory was gaining an audience , it seemed. not only was it freddie expecting an answer , but tommy and alfie was expecting one as well — alfie seemingly perplexed by the fact that it was a joke. thank god, tommy was there to do the talking for him. he wouldn't be the one to spare someone from their stupidity, but he's willing to give alfie the benefit of the doubt. tommy ridiculed him enough. rory only wished he'd picked a better joke.

"because then it'd be a foot!" he'd exasperated the answer , in hopes it might make it any funnier. eyes casting upon his audience , he smiled — only slightly. "you get it , right?" if rory didn't harbor common sense , the joke might have also been lost on him. he wasn't ever taught measurements— but from the self-explanatory-ness of it, twelve inches was a foot? and they had feet. he hoped someone got it at least.

[freddie]

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— how bold of thomas to assume that fred hadn’t yet claimed some feigned royalty status at this point. it didn’t take merely leading a couple patrols for fred to start to believe that way. ed could promote him, demote him, do whatever he wanted and it wouldn’t waver the confidence that oozed off of freddie. it took some kind of man to be so outwardly confident and optimistic at all times.

besides, he liked to think his patrols were only the most exciting ones. was that being a bit too full of himself?

he huffed a quiet chuckle beneath his breath at tommy’s remarks towards alfie, eventually bubbling over into more boisterous laughter. “jesus, tom,” he said while he sobered, shaking his head to himself. with that joke, tommy had slowly but surely earned himself the title as fred’s favorite stirling-moray brother.

perhaps all the anticipation for the punch-line had been what made it fall flat. maybe it was because not everyone here understood basic measurements - fred included, though he pieced two and two together to figure it out - but for some reason, not everyone getting it was what made it so damn funny. the joke had made his lips twitch upwards, nodding to himself. but the visible pause from some had him turn his head over his shoulder, slowly starting to laugh again. he placed a hand on rory’s shoulder as he sobered, huffing, “i liked that one! got any more?”