Cin was angrily kicking up dust when she heard a voice from behind, shooting a glare over her shoulder before recognizing it for Laura. Immediately she slowed her stride, expression easing and some of the tension she seemed to have been carrying around easing out of her narrow shoulders. Cin had looked up to Laura from the minute she and Des had joined up with the gang, often finding whatever excuse she could to tag along with her or run some of the easier errands together. Kacey was strong sure, and a leader there was no doubt. But Laura was nice, and friendly. Her first female friend really, sure Des had done his best but there were somethings you just never wanted to talk about with your surly surrogate brother that you needed a girl to chat about.

"You're a part of it sure, your sis runs things and you get to go into town whenever you want." Grumbled Cin. Less angry, sure. But no less indignant over the matter. Still she wouldn't risk snapping at Laura, she recognized the gesture for what it was and was glad actually for the excuse to get some shooting in. "I just make sure Des put's his boots on the right feet and watch the packs whenever you guys go running off for the fun stuff. A monkey could do that. The spic could do that. Hell my damn horse could do that!"

Huffing she kicked out at a rock, watching it clatter of the path before tucking an errant strand of hair back behind her ear rather forcefully. "I could be the best damn shot here and Kacey still wouldn't let me go with you all. You heard her, I'm a half cocked child more likely to get someone hurt then actually get shit done in her eyes."

Kacey let out a sigh as she watched Cin storm off. She hadn't meant to be that harsh, but unfortunately her mouth had a way of making everything she said be like a dagger to whomever received her words. Kacey had just been moving to go after her when Laura had brushed by her, casting a glare at Kacey. Cin reminded her very much of how Laura had been as a young girl, headstrong, jumped onto things, no filter. She knew what it was like to suffer and have a hard life, yet still managed a sort of naivety. Kacey had often gone off on Laura like that, giving her long winded lectures, and often earning the same response as Cin had given. The glare Laura shot in her direction informed her that her sister must be thinking along the same lines as her. She had always scolded herself for being harsh on her sister, always promised herself she'd do it differently next time, try to be nicer about it, let her win a little bit, just something, but then Laura would get on her nerves, Kacey would snap, and cycle repeat. Needless to say, Kacey was now in a fairly foul mood and lost in her thoughts, causing her to barely hear what Des had said.

"I'll think about it." She responded before turning in the direction of Pegs. Animals had always been the one thing Kacey found comfort in, because they loved you completely unconditionally. They didn't care what you said to them, they'd just sort of stare at you for a second before returning to whatever they were doing. And if you did get them mad, just bring them food and all is forgiven. It was so much more simple than all the complexities humans had to them. Plus, caring for the horse gave her an excuse not to talk to humans.

"Heya Pegs." Kacey greeted, the horse responding with a low rumble as her owner drew near. The horses were pretty much left to wander in the valley, as they had the only way out blocked off, and the horses knew where the food was, so they'd never had an issue with horses running off. The few horses that were flight risks stayed in a makeshift corral not far from where the other horses were grazing.

Going over to her tack, Kacey started rummaging through her saddle bag, taking out what she wouldn't need, putting in what she would, and doing general maintenance on the gear to make sure everything was in order.

Poor kid... Alex thought as he watched Cin. Seeing Kacey go off on someone was never enjoyable, unless it was Maverick. Kacey had a way of making her words tear into people, and it was especially annoying because she was usually right, if not somewhat askew with how she went about it. Maybe one of these days, their strong and composed leader would learn how to let herself soften slightly. He knew she usually let herself rot in guilt after yelling at someone, but he didn't know how to help her, so he could only watch and sigh as the scene unfolded.

"Hey, Emily. You wouldn't happen to know anything about all of our cups being broken, would you?" He asked, turning to look at her. He didn't really have any evidence, but she was the only person he hadn't asked about it, and no one else really acted as thought they were guilty. Plus, he really wouldn't put it past her to break some dishes if someone pissed her off. She seemed a bit... Hot tempered.

This group had a lot of problems, there was no denying that, and Alex hoped that maybe one day they would all learn how to live with each other without that ever nagging desire to shoot someone. Granted, they were all a bunch of criminals, so it wasn't as if they were all one big happy family living together just for the heck of it, but he really wished that it didn't seem as if almost everyone was always at someone else's throat.

Emily had, for the most part, been minding her own business. She only half listened to Kacey ripping into Cin. Honestly, she only half cared. Sure, it was always bad to hear her snap at some poor schmuck, particularly when it was one like Cin who'd take it too much to heart. When it was Emily she snapped at she just shrugged and walked away or even chuckled or, in a couple of cases, snapped back. She'd spent her childhood around stern figures snapping at her and between that and the lack of care for her life her selfishness hid she wasn't intimidated by being scolded much. Not that she was scolded at too much nowadays. Sure, she's a pretty bad person (she'll admit that with ease) but she's loyal enough to her group to follow orders.

Eventually Emily turned to walk away, and even took a couple of steps. She had to get her stuff for the next day collected together. A handkerchief and small bottle of chloroform she pinched a couple of towns back and her small handgun. she did have to be ready if things got messy. However, she lost her chance to collect these objects when Alex caught her attention. Emily gave a slight sigh. For the most part Emily liked Alex, he was straightforward and creative, Emily liked that, but some of the things he did did bug her. Like his obsession with the bloody cups, Emily didn't care about the bloody cups, that's probably how she broke the bloody cups. That and although she was built like a model with her extremely tall height for a woman she wasn't made for her long legs, obvious in the slight clumsiness she held on occasions, even when she was sober.

Inside a voice silently muttered 'Shit, he knows' but Emily just sighed and turned on her heel to face him. Honestly, Emily didn't care if Alex knew it was her but she did have to put her master lying skills to use somewhere, besides, just because she didn't care too much about being scolded doesn't mean she liked being scolded. "Well, hello to you too Alex," Emily replies, with the usual coy smile that seemed to permanently sit on her lips some days. "Honestly, no. I don't know what happened to the cups and I don't really care. I don't know if you've noticed but I prefer drinkin' from a bottle," Just to prove her point she tugs the cork from her bottle of whiskey and downs a large mouthful before offering he bottle to Alex.

With a nod Laura listened as Cin vented out her thoughts. She chuckled softly when it was implied that Des couldn't even put his boots on the right feet. It was clear that the girl was exasperated by the whole ordeal, and that was a feeling Laura could relate with. "I may get to go out and help the others with jobs these days but two years ago, when I first joined, I was far more incompetent than I've ever seen you be. At least when it came to this way of life. Kacey left me at camp so many times I thought I'd go crazy, was damn near to leaving in fact." She recollected. As the two came up to the makeshift range Laura stopped and began to load the rifle. "Then one day while everyone else was out on a job it was just me and a man named Leroy left at camp. Next thing either of us knew a group of renegade Indians were right up on us, with intent of scalping Leroy, looting our goods and horses, and dragging me off with them." She paused and sighed. Raising the loaded rifle to her shoulder she fired five quick rounds off, each finding it's target in the empty cans lined along a ridge. "Leroy didn't make it that day unfortunately, but I did. And our camp, money, horses, and earthly belongings were all saved because I was there and had finally developed the skills to defend myself. For your sake I hope you don't have to prove yourself like that, but just try to keep in mind that staying behind isn't punishment, it's an important job. I think you're real close to earning your spot on a job, just try not to give up." As she concluded she held the rifle to Cin for her to take with a reassuring grin and nod.

Cin took the rifle when it was offered, taking a moment to just weight it in her hands before digging a handful of bullets from one of the pockets in her long coat and loading them. Bringing it up and pressing the butt to her shoulder, she sighted down the barrel of the gun and fired three shots with a steady pause between each. Two of the three were rewarded with a soft 'ping' when they hit their marks and sending emptyy cans tumbling back over the ridge line.

"Two years ago I was robbing a horse farm with Des." She said shortly, firing another three and swearing softly when this time only one hit it's mark. "I was his partner. We we're doing fine. I never got left behind and we never messed up. We hit stores, breeders, trains, cattle, you name it we raided it." Three more, finding their marks and causing Cin to grunt briefly in satisfaction.

"And now what? He's got a new fancy partner and I'm demoted to damn campfire babysitter while you all get to do the job I've been doing since I could ride!" Her aim was affected by her still rising temper and the shots missed again, leaving Cin with no more bullets and a sour scowl on her face when she let the gun drop from her shoulder. She held it back out to Laura, looking the woman's way only briefly before averting her eyes back to the red dust between her worn boots.

"Dezzy would never leave me behind if he could avoid it." She mumbled, still frowning at the dirt as if this was all it's fault. "Now he does it ever time Kacey says jump. He just asks how high and leaves me to sit and wait like a kid or something."

"You'll think about it?" Des was going to let it lie there, ignoring the fact that Kacey seemed to be walking away from him and following after her pointedly. "Better do more then that. Damn well more." He had had similar conversations like this with Kacey before, but was getting a little tired of feeling like he wasn't being listened to. Desmond understood the importance of defined leadership and status in a gang like this, but being heard was just as important. especially when it involved Cin. He wasn't going to get brushed off again just because Kacey didn't feel like having this conversation right now.

"Listen, I've seen enough of your work with this crew to know your legit. Hell I've done enough work for you to see that. But Cin? Shes young yeah, but she's no idiot. And she ain't your sister either. So stop shafting her like she is and start treating her like a member of this damn gang and not an accessory." He didn't raise his voice, dropping it instead and speaking in a tone little more then a growl as he glared at Kacey from beneath the brim of his hat.

"You might've gotten away with that shit when it was Laura you were kicking in the dirt, but Cin isn't gonna take it lying down. You ain't blood to her, and sooner rather then later she's gonna walk. And if she walks I walk. And you'll be out two riders cause you can't stand having someone talk back to you with good reason. Hell, solid shame right there."

An overwhelming urge to punch this boy in the face flared up in Kacey as she glared stared at him, waiting for him to finish his rant, while she simultaneously planned her counterargument. Her fists clenched, and it took most of her self control (albeit, there wasn't much left after the earlier events) to remain calm while she listened. She wanted to snap back at him, lose her control and yell at him like she'd been having people yell at her lately, but instead she forced all of her arguments down. She had to admit his argument wasn't completely invalid, and that just pissed her off even more. God dammit she really did not want to have this conversation right now.

After a very long pause, she bit the inside of her cheek, a habit she had formed over the years that was a telltale sign that she was pissed off but trying to consider her words carefully, she stepped closer to him and kept her voice low.

"You know what? Fine, she can come on the next heist. But if she screws up and gets herself, or someone else killed, I blame you. God knows I really don't need to lose you because frankly you do good work, but if it comes to the safety of the rest of the gang or you, I will choose the gang. It's my job to keep everyone safe, and I seem to do that job fairly well. Yeah, I'm a shitty people person, and I know you and your sister hate my guts, but at least y'all are alive to bad mouth me behind my back. But you get one chance to prove that your sister can follow orders in the middle of a shootout, and I won't take responsibility if one or both of you comes back tossed over a saddle." Kacey stated, honestly surprised that she'd managed to soften what she had been planning to say as much as she did. The original idea of what she had been planning to say had been something along the lines of her killing him herself, but she was glad she went a different direction.

"And don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do. And definitely don't bring my sister into these conversations, because you don't know shit about it. Now leave me the fuck alone." His comments about Laura had hit a soft spot that had taken a beating that day. Her sister was mad at her, she felt guilty, she was pissed off, her dead kid's birthday was a few days off, she was upset, and had reached her limit. An emotional meltdown was on the horizon, but she was trying to keep it in check and this conversation was not helping.

Alex narrowed his eyes at her, not fully believing her words. She didn't sound like she was lying, but then again, lying was her thing and she was very good at it. Nevertheless his alarm bells were going off, and he had learned to trust those alarm bells. "Mhm." He hummed, staring at her for a moment before continuing. "You're sure you didn't smash them in a drunken rage, or something? Because quite frankly, you're the best suspect, mate."

Mostly he just wanted compensation so that he didn't have to pay for the replacements out of his share. Even though they all shared the money, everyone had a sort of budget that they were assigned according to what their jobs were and how much money they had, and he was trying to save his up so that he could buy a few things that might improve everyone's lives just a bit. Granted, there wasn't a whole lot to be done, be a few replacement covers, pans, and some candy couldn't hurt too terribly much. However, at the rate he was going, he was going to have to sacrifice one or all of these things because of the god damned cups.

Emily cocked her head. Alex had a point, even of she wasn't the culprit she'd be the first and easiest to blame. "I'm sure I'd know if I broke them in a drunken rage, don't you think? Or maybe I wouldn't but if I was that drunk I wouldn't consider myself accountable," she replied calmly, smoothly, hiding any panic from her voice. Well, the lack of panic, Emily didn't really care if he found out, this was a game to her, a test of her deception skills.
'Could be a test off your seduction skills' toyed the part of her mind she usually listened to but she left it for now.

She shoved the cork back into the bottle. "I mean, half of us 'ave dogs and shit anyway, who's to say a person did it?" She points out. "Now, are you done playing detective with me? 'Cus I have a heist t' prepare for," she says, continuing the calm composure. Honestly, part of her was done with talking about the stupid cups but part of her was finding this rather entertaining. Sure, it doesn't seem like a very engaging game but stuck stranded from most of the outside world one of Emily's favourite 'activities' was not really available unless both parties wanted to ensue all the awkwardness until one left the gang and she was running out of resources for her other favourite activity (yet still drank from her supply as if she had lots to spare) so she liked to resort to another activity she enjoyed, messing with people.

"Oh I don't know shit about it?" Des didn't seem ready to back off yet, even though he'd gotten what he wanted. Cin was to come along on a heist, finally. Hopefully that would be enough to calm her. Even if things went back a pace afterwards, there was the chance Kacey would see Cin's potential though and start giving her a bit more responsibility in the gang's actions. But right now, he didn't see her as the gang leader. He saw her as petulant and throwing a fit, and he didn't have the patience for that. Des wasn't one to willingly suffer those he called fools.

He didn't back down, instead stepping forward and growling,

"Blood or not, that girl is my sister much as Laura is yours. You telling me you wouldn't go toe to toe for her much as you pretend otherwise? Not buying it, I'm calling bull. And I'm not askin you to take responsibility for us. We may run in your gang but you don't own us. Cin'll prove she's useful herself, I won't have to do nothin. And all you gotta do? Is stay out of her way when she steps up. She ain't your sister, she's mine, and I'm not gonna let you kick her down because that's how you got Laura under your boot or whatever the hell other reason you might have."

He stopped rather abruptly, already turning away from Kacey and scowling in annoyance with his own inability to keep his mouth shut. "Say the word when you wanna move out." He said in a louder voice over his shoulder, already walking briskly in the direction he had seen Laura and Cin head off in to go shoot. "We'll be ready."

Oh hell no. Oh hell no. Anger washed away whatever tears had been threatening to spill, and now she was running on pure bitterness and hate. Kacey didn't let him get very far before grabbing his shirt and turning him to face her, using the momentum of him turning to add to the already powerful slap she had built up. She may not be the tallest, most intimidating person, but she was strong, and a blow from her was not something one could shake off very quickly, especially one that was fueled by anger. It wasn't the most mature thing she'd ever done, but at the moment she didn't really care. Kacey was far past her breaking point, and her temper was at an all new level of foul, and someone was going to pay for setting her off.

"Listen here you little bitch. I don't give a fuck about your relationship with your sister, or how close you are. You don't know shit about my relationship with my sister. You don't know what we've gone through, what kind of shit we've had to get past with each other, and you sure as hell don't know how I treat her. You think I kick my sister around? That I force her into things? Yeah right. No one can tell Laura what to do, especially not me. She made that very clear a long time ago, which is something you'd know if you could get your head out of your ass long enough to look around and see how things function around here. It goes something like this: I give the orders, everyone else follows the orders, if someone has a problem with the orders they can discuss it with me, but they don't forget who they're talking to. I don't "own" you, but you work for me, and you will never talk to me like that again or you will get a hell of a more than a slap. I'm not in the mood to deal with an asshole that's obsessed with his sister, so shut up and go get ready for the heist." She finally finished, shoving him away.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alex stared at her for a long time, trying to place what was off about what she was saying, and then it hit him and he smirked. "You see, Emily, the problem with lying to someone you know is that they know you well enough to learn the signs that you're lying. For instance, you get this little glint in your eye whenever you think you have someone where you want them and you start playing with them. Which means you're lying about the cups, which means you owe me $5." He replied with a grin at himself, for finally figuring out what was setting him off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a heist to prepare for." And with that he walked off to go get his stuff ready, satisfied that he had solved the mystery of the broken cups.

He heard someone arguing, and looked over just in time to see Kacey slap Desmond. Oh shit... The last time he'd seen Kacey go off like that, it had been when Maverick had blatantly disobeyed her orders. He had definitely deserved it, and generally Kacey didn't lose her temper unless someone did something earning it. However, Des didn't seem like the type to push people's buttons. Unless they got into a fight about their sisters, which was completely possible. He sighed and shook his head at them, watching the scene unfold.

And his seeing through her lie her usual coy smile turned into a frown. "But I always have a glint in my eye," she argues with a sigh. Shit, Alex had her. This was not a good blow to Emily's esteem as a liar. She usually flies under the radar with ease, even with her friends and family but, in saying that, Alex was one of the most observant of the group. "Well my thoughts on the bloody cups still stand, Alex, I don't give a shit 'bout 'em, and I ain't got money to spare. Why don' you just steal 'em, or do you need me to do that?" With that Emily sighs and shakes her head. She turns to her stuff and jogs toward it to set down her whiskey, an argument heard in the background, no biggie, they were rather common. That was when a loud SLAP echoed through their plain, making Em jump.

Quickly she turned and, clumsily, ran over to the argument, to see Kacey ripping into Des, gripping his shirt. Poor bastard Emily thought simply. Sure, Des was one of the easiest people for her to clash with but the wrath of Kacey was more to face than she'd wish on him. Emily wasn't the most peaceful of people but she did know when someone needed a cool down, and Kacey needed of bad. "Alright, cowgirl," Emily says as Kacey shoves Des, "You need to calm down, did you wanna go shoot some shit or somethin'?"

As Cin poured out her frustrations Laura's face softened, she felt compassion for the girl. The situation was aggravating and unfair, that was something she could sympathize with. It took effort to stave off the desire to wrap Cin up in a warm hug. "You're right, you should be included. At least I think you should be." Laura spoke up after Cin had finished shooting. "You're are a capable woman, and we'll make Kacey see that." She said with a determined nod. Extending her arm she gently placed her hand on Cin's shoulder. "If nothing else you've got me to back you up. And once I set my mind to something there's no stopping me!" A big smile came across her face as she spoke the words. Her commitment and determination were some of her strongest parts. Though some simply called it hard hardheadedness.

Laura's attention was grabbed by the sound of raised voices, and they didn't exactly sound happy. Her expression went flat and her heart quickened. "I think we ought head back now..." She said in a low and serious voice. The two women went back towards camp with a purpose in their pace. As she drew closer Laura could tell that whatever discussion was unfolding had escalated, but she was unsure what exactly was being said. No more had they entered the camp than she saw Kacey grab Des and slap him across the face. "Shit" she mumbled under her breath as she dropped the rifle and ran towards the them. It wasn't exactly clear what had happened but she an innate feeling that it had to do with Cin's situation. Her main objective in the moment was to just get to Kacey and keep her from doing something even worse. In the back of her mind though she knew that had her sister wanted him dead he'd be bleeding out right now.

Des didn't budge when he was shoved, digging in his boot heels and glaring at Kacey with a clenched jaw. Practically growling he took a step towards her, not seeming too have been discouraged by the insults and the physical berating he had just received. he didn't see Cin and Laura running to intervene from behind, to focused on, in his opinion, the jumped up bitch who had just slapped him to try and put him in his place. Desmond didn't loose his temper often. Sure he was smartass who called people out on their shit at a moment's notice or stirred the pot. But rarely did he actually get emotionally involved in a fight like this one.

"Listen here, bitch," he started with a snarl, "As I said, you don't own me. And I ain't scared of a slap and a few bold cusses. Words are words. You think that's what it takes to kick me into line with the rest of your little followers? You gotta 'nother think coming. And I don't need you. Next time you-"

"Des!" Cin came to a slipping stop next to him, basically running into him and her boots sending up a cloud of dust as she nearly collided with him. Grabbing his arm she tugged, keeping her eyes on him as she pulled with all her weight away from Kacey. This didn't need to go any further, she was sure enough damage had been done. Des tended not to hold back when he got quiet angry, and Cin didn't want to risk Kacey putting a bullet in him for his temper.

"Hey Des, I got a few more rounds why don't you try to teach me that trick shot again huh?" She suggested, not giving up on tugging him away from the woman even when he did give a step or two. Tearing his eyes away from Kacey to look down at Cin. He wasn't stupid to what she was doing, no matter how much he wanted to finish his sentence. "C'mon, I bet I get it this time, lets go huh?"

Before Kacey could respond to Emily, she saw Laura come up out of the corner of her eye, and then Des got in her face. As he spoke her fists and jaw clenched as she tried to control her temper and not hit him again, but every word just pushed her closer and closer to absolutely losing it. She was a bit surprised (and had she not been so pissed off she might have even been impressed) that he'd actually stood up to her. Not even Maverick did that very much anymore. Probably because he knew Kacey had several very good reasons to shoot him, which she was reserving for a time when he did something completely unforgivable. Blackmail was a very useful thing. But she didn't have anything on Des, and that just made her more infuriated.

She cast a glance at Cin as she slipped between them. The tone of her voice made Kacey's temper calm slightly, and a sigh left her. She didn't want to ruin this girl's day yet again by continuing to fight with her brother. Instead, Kacey turned all of her attention away from Des and looked at the girl.

“Cin, you still can't come on this heist, but you can come on the next one. Now make sure you're brother stays out of my face for a few hours.” She stated before turning on her heel to get away from everyone as fast as possible without making it look like she was running away. It was unnerving that pretty much everyone had seen her lose her temper. Everyone had seen her snap. Everyone had seen that she had a weakness. Something that really irked her was that everyone was watching like they were worried she was going to shoot Des. Kacey had always known she was a hard ass, sure, but did they really think of her as a tyrant who would shoot someone over a disagreement? The thought of causing him lasting damage had never crossed her mind, though she may have wanted to punch him. Was Des right? Did she trample on everyone? Was she a bad leader? Did she just force everyone to do what she wanted? Was she just like her husband?

Get a grip on yourself. A little voice whispered, and she knew it was right. She had to pull herself together and plan for the next day.

Now that the fireworks were over, Alex let out the breath he had been holding. It was pretty easy to see when Kacey was on her last nerve, and they were past that point now. Honestly he was kind of proud of her for not completely bashing Des's face in. It was no one person's fault, from what he could see. Something had been getting to Kacey for the past few days, Des had a good reason to talk to her but may have gone about it the wrong way, Kacey over reacted, causing Des to react and making her over react even more, and it was just a vicious cycle that needed to be stopped by a third party. He was very glad when Cin stepped in between them, knowing neither of them would risk hurting her to take a hit at the other.

For a split second he thought about going after Kacey. He knew what was wrong with her, but he'd already had a discussion about her son a few days prior. Obviously it hadn't done it's job of consoling her, but how exactly did one console a mother who had lost her child? He'd tried to get her to tell Laura about what had happened, knowing her sister would have a better idea of what to say than him, but she had refused to tell her. Alex could only guess why, but he imagined it was because Kacey wanted to forget the whole ordeal had even happened, and telling other people reminded her that it had been real.

“You alright, mate?” He asked, going up to Des instead. “Somehow I don't think that's the first time you've have a girl slap you.” Alex added jokingly, in an attempt to lighten the mood somewhat.

Maverick was never one to shy from an argument, but he did have enough sense in him to keep from others' business.

Previously, the insults tossed in his direction meant absolutely nothing and bounced right off him. He had half a mind to snap back at Emily and possibly Laura again but now that Kacey had presented a solid plan for tomorrow Maverick instead chose to focus his energy on prepping. So that's why his had his rifle and ammo laid on on a tarp before him. (The gun was empty of course so there was nothing to worry about as he inspected an polished the thing while Dodger continued to doze beside him.)

Maverick was never one to shy from an argument, and he did have enough sense in him to keep from others' business, but now that precaution no longer applied.

His trigger was Kacey yanking Desmond and physically pulling him back into their fight, the pair at it like a couple of rabid coyotes fighting over bunny corpse scraps. Verbally, of course. (Why couldn't she leave it alone when the first time he walked away?) Had things gotten physical from Desmond's side then Maverick sure as hell was going to put him in his place. Cinnamon getting an earful was one thing -it didn't bother him but his mutt seemed agitated by the heightened tension in the group- but this? Maverick understood he was never going to be a favorite within this group, and he and Kacey would likely never get along, but he wasn't going to tolerate insubordination. Not for loyalty to the Johnson matriarch but rather for his duties to the gang as a member. Together they were a pack, a force to be reckoned with. Without structure they were no better off than a band of renegades who raided and raped as they pleased and God knows those fools were getting what they deserved whenever the authorities ran another ring to the ground and hanged each and every last one. Maverick couldn't care less about who ran things around here so long as it worked and things moved along smoothly like a well-oiled machine. A rule he always stuck by; never mess with the group dynamics unless there was a common enemy. Maverick got his feet under him and started to rise.

Thankfully it was over as quick as it started once Cinnamon stepped back into the picture. Maverick let out a breath of relief and gradually relieved himself from the tense position he crouched at. Dodger whined with unease and shook out his coat before promptly trotting off. Maverick didn't call the dog back, nor did he pursuit. Instead he grabbed his rifle and went to go collect his horse. "I'll be atop the ridge keeping an eye out, if anyone needs me." Maverick made his announcement loud and clear but had no specific target in mind. Without further ado, he mounted his horse and rode off.

---

Céline caught herself feeling more annoyed than agitated by the group's outburst once things blew over. Was this always how they chose to handle disputes around here? The young lass had only arrived towards the end of the argument but she'd gotten quite the earful. Wasn't too difficult to piece together what happened but that didn't make it any more excusable. And what was wrong with staying back anyway? She would much rather avoid the stress of a bank heist on any given day so Céline had no problem whatsoever with being left behind to watch over their camp. With a sigh, she removed the last of the burdocks from her little pony's mane before giving the animal a gentle pat on the flank. Dandy snorted and plodded off to do... whatever it was horses do. Céline dusted off her hands and tossed the annoying little fur stickers to the ground.

Aside from Kacey, Céline hadn't really ever made much of an effort to get to really know anybody around here. The only real solid conclusions she'd come to so far were that; she and Cinnamon were the youngest two present, and Maverick was an asshole. Angel was a bit on the sketchier side of the scale but she decided to try her luck. Where'd he say he was from again? Now that she really thought about it Céline wasn't so sure the man had actually ever given a proper introduction for himself while here. But then again she hadn't really been here all that long. Thankfully that accent gave her something to go by. She had never given any indication of polylingualism before (always too paranoid) but she figured this was safe enough. "Is yelling supposed to be how we show affection around here? That 'tough love' attitude?" she inquired in Castilian tongue. The question was innocent enough but depending on his answer it may explain some things. Give her a nice heads-up to boot.

Having spent most of this time simply standing in silence and observing the ongoing argument, Angel found himself mildly amused over the whole situation. It seemed a bit silly to him, and then it seemed more funny than anything as their callous leader gave Desmond a resounding slap across the face. By that time, he'd turned his back to and distanced himself from it by a bit just so no one would see the toothy grin across his face. It crossed his mind, briefly, that things might escalate. He considered intervening, but also decided it wasn't necessarily his place to do so. Whatever extent this group knew each other, he certainly knew everyone the least - likewise, everyone knew him the least. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he'd watched a gang turn on itself while standing idly by. And from the looks of things, unlikely to be the last either...

As he stood there listening to the argument, hearing how the escalation was prevented by the timely arrival of the sister, Angel casually shuffled his feet in the dust and looked around. There was still a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth when he noticed the approaching... girl. Angel thought to himself for a moment, wondered if they'd even been introduced - probably - as he couldn't recall her name. He blinked and puckered his mouth in slight annoyance at himself. If there's a name he should have remembered in this group, it had to be this one's. He still didn't.

As the girl spoke up, it caught Angel by (delightful) surprise that she was speaking in spanish. English was hardly an unpleasant language, but of course the vaquero preferred his language. It was also, in his opinion, a far more beautiful language - but he was admittedly biased. Angel waited for a few seconds, staring curiously and unabashedly at Céline, before responding in his mother tongue:
"I think they're working out some... tension, so to speak", a wry smile slowly appeared on his face, "I wouldn't worry about it too much, I'm sure they'll kiss and make up eventually." A chuckle escaped with the final sentence. He turned away briefly before turning back and proceeding to inquire noticably playfully:
"Where did the little lady learn to speak spanish and what other secrets is she hiding, hm? Perhaps her name?"

She was almost uncomfortable with the stretched silence and began to feel the warmth of a blush dust her cheeks. But then Angel asked about the origins of her second language and Céline was able to relax now that the creepy vibe she was getting from his disappeared. 'Oh', she thought. His tease had also helped and she couldn't help but chuckle with him. She hadn't realized how much she missed home until now, it was nice to be able to speak her language again. Sure Céline was fluent in English but it was not her first language nor was it the primary tongue spoken in her household. That would depend on which parent she was speaking with but English was only really ever used during formal conversations around guests or for the servants.

Angel's answer was a relief to hear. Céline had assumed as much but it felt good to have some sort of confirmation; it was a small reassurance albeit enough to soothe her nerves. As long as nobody killed each other then it would be relatively easy for her tolerate regular outbursts such as these. Céline supposed that, considering the type of people this group consisted, this was a small price to pay. 'Almost too easy' she mentally noted. "My name's Céline, sir. I am sorry to disappoint but my father was the Spaniard of the family so the mystery dies there." Truthful enough; hopefully Angel would be satisfied with that information. "What about yourself? Any secrets I should be wary of?"