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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Callahan simply watched the man with a mask of indifference, though his curiosity was itchin' to ask him how he knew that the buck was drunk. Hell, he didn't even know how he knew. It was an odd sight, but it seemed everything was possible here.

“Pleasure.” Cal paused, then decided it wouldn't hurt tellin' the man his name. “The name's Callahan.” He hummed in response, his pale eyes turning to study the grove. Cal was surprised he hadn't found the apples sooner, but at the time, he had other things to worry about. Mainly the trouble that was makin' its way through the glade and the girl he'd decided to bring along on his journey. “Just a traveler. Not here for trouble.”

Callahan thought about warning the man about the fellers that'd be passin' through, but opted to stay silent. He sure acted like he could handle himself, so might as well test the theory.

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the man was noble — too noble. yellowed teeth twisted at crimson meat. janus' beady eyes searched the trees, the dirt, anything before reaching the man. just a traveler, he says. damn right, he's half the size of this shit-faced buck!

he nudges his bloodied face into the carcass and steps aside. “too much for me to eat.” so you can have some, i guess. janus licks his chaps, though cares little to clean the rest off his weasel muzzle. “where ya travelling to? if ya don't mind me pryin'.” he cocks a brow, scratching at the scruff of his chest — he ain't expecting callahan to not answer his question though. his answers are payment for janus' most generous donation.
maybe it'll give some direction on where the hell is he.

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Cal simply watched with mild interest, unable to make heads or tails of the stranger. He weren't trustin', that much he could tell. Had them shifty eyes, always lookin' around. Never quite relaxed. And that was somethin' he respected, knowin' himself the dangers it could bring.

The man gave an appreciative nod before taking a bite from the deer's thigh. At Bard's question, Callahan paused to look up at the man. “West. Far away from here as I can get.” He replied, eyes looking to the horizon. While he enjoyed the glade's sereness, it weren't for him. It weren't home. and with hope, he could make one for himself out west, just like he had in the past.

“Are ya wantin' to come? Wouldn't mind havin' the company.” He tilted his head to look at the man. Callahan already had Miss Bunny and Rhett comin' along with him. Wouldn't hurt to include another with them.

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misc skill ; recruiter

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