snake oil

for @Callahan ; using prompt: You come across an orchard of apple trees. Scattered on the ground are a few rotten apples. In the distance there is a stag who is staggering from the fermented fruit and doesn't seem to notice you.

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janus hadn't realized he was napping on a tree until the leaves around him shook, and the branch underneath him broke. a grunt echoes past the tree line as he falls with a glorious thud. his nostrils suffocate when he did. a sharp smell envelops the man, it dances in his mind. janus ain't a fool — he recognizes exactly what this potent smell was.
rotten fruit. wine, the refined may call it. and just right beneath his feet. they were ruined now, unless he was desperate enough to link the fermented mud the mushed apples made, but there was no need. this orchard was made of apples, and he wasn't alone in this bar.

a broad-chested stag with grand antlers makes a fool of himself, stumbling through the clearing. a deer of his age and stature should've known better, but all men have their vices. but this vice would mark the end of this stag, and many more days for janus until his own vice would claim him. instinct still makes him careful. perhaps a drunk fool of a stag would be more dangerous than one with his head still in place. he keeps to shadows, reaching high ground and waiting.

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The outlaw had grown to like waking up in the grove, the bountiful prey and open spaces reminding him of home. The golden light of the sun in the mornings was the same he'd see from camp while he sipped on a steaming mug of coffee, the soft birdsong bringing in the day. Cal missed the freedom he had of moving around as he pleased, only returning to the gang when he was needed for a job.

As the man wandered through the orchard, there were two things he never thought he'd see, a buck piss drunk and a wolf fallin' from a tree. His head fell to a tilt, brows furrowing at the sight. The buck would be a quick kill, but the stranger wouldn't. Callahan watched the stranger slink off to higher ground, perhaps he too planned to take advantage of the weakened buck?

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Cal watched in amusement as the shorter male made quick work of the buck. Despite being in position to help, Callahan could tell this feller was more than capable of huntin' on his own. The outlaw settled on his rump as he simply watched with mild interest, olive eyes studying the man's movements. He was a strong hunter, smart too.

A small smirk graced the man's face as he thought up a proposition. He has the potential to be a valuable addition to the gang, so long he could be convinced to tag along.

“I ain't fixin' to take it, partner. You earned it.” Cal hummed, though he did find it somewhat amusin'. He was a thief in the past, but in this world, he decided he wouldn't give in to them urges. He'd push 'em back, ignore 'em for as long as he needed to. “Well, what’s your name, partner?”

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janus ain't quick to take a man at his words. callahan's promise wasn't enough to rip the bard away from his prize. his tongue swiped the red off his lips, and he'd reach for one of the fruits. food and a drink never hurt a man. only what he did with it. but janus didn't care if drinking infront of this stranger would be a mistake. he also ain't ever been one to think ahead.

“it'll be bard to ya.” he took the first bite at a morsel of fruit and then a mass of meat. smacking his lips, his own dull green eyes observed the man before him. “who are ya to ask?”

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