I need this now!
I maked a small fanart collage for a western Wolverine and Rogue.
Then I started to write a little summary for an AU western story that could go along with the fanart. My summary got away from me. As in all you need to do is flesh it out some with dialogue, longing, and heavy breathing and you have a story.
Marie has been left alone after the sudden death of her father. The small ranch is nestled in a little valley between mountains, days from anywhere. She fills her days doing her and Pa's work and inventing chores when it gets to quiet. During the long summer days she spends more and more time on the range keeping an eye on the cattle and exploring.
Late one afternoon as she is swinging back toward the cabin, she spots him. At first she can't believe her eyes. It's been months since she has seen a horse and rider, even longer since she has been this close to another person. Marie has a moment of panic, stories of females all alone filter through her brain, before she realizes something is wrong. The horse is aimlessly grazing and the rider is slumped in the saddle. On impulse she gathers the horses reins and leads it back to the cabin.
The rider is tall and muscular and she struggles to get him off the horse and inside. The man has been shot twice; though neither wound in life threatening if cared for, he has lost a lot of blood. It seems inappropriate to her that she should be undressing this man and caring for him. There is no one else to do it so she goes about the task averting her eyes as much as possible while she cleans and baths his wounds. When she is finished and has him resting in the bed, she hangs his well-used pistols and gun belt on the bedpost within easy reach.
Marie suspects he is a gunfighter or at least a man with a reputation of being good with a gun. Possibly an outlaw. Thankfully he doesn't appear to be the type to file notches on his pistol.
The next few days she stays near the cabin changing his bandages and somewhat successfully trying to feed him broth. The first night she had thought about sleeping in the loft, but was afraid she wouldn't hear him if he needed tending to in the night. So she had settled down on the floor. That only lasted half the night before she took over a small portion of the bed after waking up for the third time, as he talked while in the fits of a fever.
His mutterings were less now that his fever had broken. Marie found that she liked having him around. Even unconscious, he is better company than the milk cow and chickens.
When Logan finally comes to for long enough to piece together where he is, he's grateful. That is until he notices that it was a little slip of a girl that brought him back from the edge of death. Not only was she continuing to take care of him, but she also did all of the work around the place. He was determined to be up and about as quickly as possible so he won't be a burden.
Still some nights he awakens with a start, reaching for his gun, momentarily unaware of his surroundings. The quiet breathing of the girl nearby brings him back to the present and calms him.
When he feels well enough; Marie bashfully gives him his clothes, washed and mended, looking better than any time since they were new. Logan tires easily and still needs his bandages changed daily. It bothers him that he takes pleasure in the feel of her hands and the way her cheeks flush as she takes care of his wounds. Even more annoying is how he has become accustom to three meals a day and listening to her read aloud in the evenings.
The first time he is able to saddle his horse and mount up without assistance is bittersweet. He sees the worry in her face and assures her that he will be back for supper. He spends the next few hours making a circuit of the valley, lazily pushing a couple head of cows closer to the home range.
The following weeks fall into the same pattern. He knows he's strong enough to leave, but is reluctant to go. He tells himself that he is helping her get ready for the winter; once the wood is stacked and enough meat put up, he'll ride on.
Yet, the first snow catches him off guard. They wake up one morning to a world of white and he knows that he will be there until the spring thaw. That night he moves his bedding into the loft. The winter will be too long for them to continue sharing the bed like they have been.
They fall into an easy winter routine, continuing on much as they had with one exception: privacy. The cabin had seemed big enough when a body could step outside to give the other privacy, but now… It didn't help to be up in the loft listening to the sounds of her bathing.
Logan was short tempered those days. A drifter with no right to be thinking of her like he did. He had nothing to offer any woman but a sorted past that would eventually catch up with him.
Then I started to write a little summary for an AU western story that could go along with the fanart. My summary got away from me. As in all you need to do is flesh it out some with dialogue, longing, and heavy breathing and you have a story.
Marie has been left alone after the sudden death of her father. The small ranch is nestled in a little valley between mountains, days from anywhere. She fills her days doing her and Pa's work and inventing chores when it gets to quiet. During the long summer days she spends more and more time on the range keeping an eye on the cattle and exploring.
Late one afternoon as she is swinging back toward the cabin, she spots him. At first she can't believe her eyes. It's been months since she has seen a horse and rider, even longer since she has been this close to another person. Marie has a moment of panic, stories of females all alone filter through her brain, before she realizes something is wrong. The horse is aimlessly grazing and the rider is slumped in the saddle. On impulse she gathers the horses reins and leads it back to the cabin.
The rider is tall and muscular and she struggles to get him off the horse and inside. The man has been shot twice; though neither wound in life threatening if cared for, he has lost a lot of blood. It seems inappropriate to her that she should be undressing this man and caring for him. There is no one else to do it so she goes about the task averting her eyes as much as possible while she cleans and baths his wounds. When she is finished and has him resting in the bed, she hangs his well-used pistols and gun belt on the bedpost within easy reach.
Marie suspects he is a gunfighter or at least a man with a reputation of being good with a gun. Possibly an outlaw. Thankfully he doesn't appear to be the type to file notches on his pistol.
The next few days she stays near the cabin changing his bandages and somewhat successfully trying to feed him broth. The first night she had thought about sleeping in the loft, but was afraid she wouldn't hear him if he needed tending to in the night. So she had settled down on the floor. That only lasted half the night before she took over a small portion of the bed after waking up for the third time, as he talked while in the fits of a fever.
His mutterings were less now that his fever had broken. Marie found that she liked having him around. Even unconscious, he is better company than the milk cow and chickens.
When Logan finally comes to for long enough to piece together where he is, he's grateful. That is until he notices that it was a little slip of a girl that brought him back from the edge of death. Not only was she continuing to take care of him, but she also did all of the work around the place. He was determined to be up and about as quickly as possible so he won't be a burden.
Still some nights he awakens with a start, reaching for his gun, momentarily unaware of his surroundings. The quiet breathing of the girl nearby brings him back to the present and calms him.
When he feels well enough; Marie bashfully gives him his clothes, washed and mended, looking better than any time since they were new. Logan tires easily and still needs his bandages changed daily. It bothers him that he takes pleasure in the feel of her hands and the way her cheeks flush as she takes care of his wounds. Even more annoying is how he has become accustom to three meals a day and listening to her read aloud in the evenings.
The first time he is able to saddle his horse and mount up without assistance is bittersweet. He sees the worry in her face and assures her that he will be back for supper. He spends the next few hours making a circuit of the valley, lazily pushing a couple head of cows closer to the home range.
The following weeks fall into the same pattern. He knows he's strong enough to leave, but is reluctant to go. He tells himself that he is helping her get ready for the winter; once the wood is stacked and enough meat put up, he'll ride on.
Yet, the first snow catches him off guard. They wake up one morning to a world of white and he knows that he will be there until the spring thaw. That night he moves his bedding into the loft. The winter will be too long for them to continue sharing the bed like they have been.
They fall into an easy winter routine, continuing on much as they had with one exception: privacy. The cabin had seemed big enough when a body could step outside to give the other privacy, but now… It didn't help to be up in the loft listening to the sounds of her bathing.
Logan was short tempered those days. A drifter with no right to be thinking of her like he did. He had nothing to offer any woman but a sorted past that would eventually catch up with him.