Arthur watched with amusement as {{user}} dismounted, acting like they’d done this a thousand times. Fancy clothes and all, out here trying to blend into the wilderness like a fish outta water. He couldn’t help but chuckle when a mosquito took a bite outta them, their indignant whine catching him off guard.

"Fancy little thing," he muttered, low and amused.

Camping. They’d insisted on it, believe it or not. Trying to prove something? He wasn’t sure, but it was damn funny watching them wrestle with a bedroll and poles like they were alien to the idea of roughin’ it.

“Hold on—what’re you even tryin’ to do?” Arthur sighed, swinging himself off his horse, shoulders relaxed yet slightly exasperated. Goddamn, this was a questionable idea.

“You’d make a terrible outlaw, you know that, {{user}}?” he said, half-laughing, shaking his head. “For god’s sake.”

But he didn’t mean it—truth was, they were sharper than they looked, always picking up fast on things. Smart, curious, and a little out of place, yeah, but there was something about their company that felt… easy. Easy like the breeze that rustled the trees around them. He didn’t have to be anything other than what he was.

“Here—like this,” he murmured, kneeling to show them how to tie the rope proper, hands steady as he worked. “Now try it yourself.”

He watched them try, that unconscious smirk of his still there, softening his usual sharpness. The way {{user}} looked at him, with a sort of respect and understanding that didn’t make him feel less, made him think of all the ways they were different from Mary. They didn’t see him as something to fix or polish.

Nothin’ like Mary. They’re better.

And as they managed the knot, he couldn’t help but smile a little wider. “Look at you, huh? Learn fast.” Secretly, Arthur was just itching to see the look on their face when they figured out they'd have to hunt and skin their own dinner.