Blood Runs Red Here But So Does The Sunset. (p)

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    Levi started down off into the swamp with the smaller of the two. "Ah, dont worry about that. We arent gonna get that close, thats what the scopes for." He assured. He started into the swamps, listening out for anything. He was sure Everette would do just fine.

    Everette was careful to watch his step, he didn’t know what types of crazy creatures were lurking around in the swamp. His boots began to splash in the increasingly moist ground, and he knew from what he’d heard about gators. His hunting instincts kicked in and he quieted his steps, making sure not to splash around too loud.

    Levi was right behind him, repeater in hand. The swamp turbed to a muddy plateau as the came on a little further. "Hey, theres one." Levi directed in a whisper. "Sittin' on shore." He added softly, pointing at the sunbathing gator.

    Everette looked at the gator, and he grinned. He liked the gator, it was so interesting to look at. “How purdy he is,” he commented before raising the rifle up and setting his sights on its head. He made sure his shot would be completely clean so that he didn’t have to deal with an angry dangerous predator, his finger dancing on the trigger. “Sorry bout this, buddy,” he whispered before pulling the trigger.

    Levi watched, all other creatures from within the swamp scurried off from such a sudden sound. The gator was dead, nice and clean. Levi rested a hand on Everette's shoulder, giving it a comforting rub. "Nice job Ev." Now it was time to cut up what meat they wanted and take it back to cool and eat.

    Everette smiled, he was super proud of himself, and it felt even better to have Levi proud of him. He didn’t know how to skin a gator, but he would like to have some boots fashioned out of its skin, that would look so nice. “How do you skin it? I want to keep it,” he told Levi as he walked over and then knelt down next to it, running his hand over the cold scales.

    Levi moved over and unsheathed his knife. "Ill skin it for you, you want it all?" He asked, turning the heavy gator onto his back so he could get the tummy of the gator first and work his way out to the back of it. Hed get as much skin for Ev as he could.

    Ev nodded, he didn’t know how he was going to get boots out of this but he was certainly going to try. Either way, he thought that Levi was a one hundred percent man, and he bit his bottom lip just a little bit watching him do his thing. Just the raw way he did everything was so attractive to him. “I think some gator skin boots would be mighty nice,” he commented.

    "Ah, yea we might be able to get you some made at a tailor." Levi spoke up. He ripped the last of the skin off and then tied it togethet. Now for the meat. Levi moved to a clean part of the gator and cut two slabs from the beast, wrapping them together and stuffing them down into his satchel. He hoisted the skin up over his shoulder. "Ready?"

    Everette smiled at him sweetly and helped himself up, and he gushed about all the different animals he’d like to see one day, or at least see a picture of them all the way back to camp. “If I ever get enough money for it, I’m goin to South America, or Africa, and I’m goin to see all the monkeys and tigers, it’ll be so much fun.”

    Levi chuckled softly, contently listening all the while. "Thats quite exotic." Levi commented. He wondered what was all over those areas too. Big beasts of all kinds. Once back in camp he set the heavy skin down and moved back by the fire to cook up their dinner.

    Everette was content to lay back down on his bedroll and continue talking about everything he wanted to do in the future. “Have you ever seen an elephant before? My mama took me to see a circus before she died and I saw one, and they’re huge! They run in herds over in Africa...and there’s an animal with a long neck that lives over there, a giraffe I think. They’re even taller than elephants are, I think that would be grand to see all of that.”

    Levi sat by the fire and listened with enjoyment. "No, ive been and seen anything like that before." He answered. "I feel like it would be cool, but i dont think its right to do that to animals." He spoke up in reply. "Cagin' em' up like that for our enjoyment. They're wild for a reason."

    “Yeah, and they were real mean to that poor elephant. Whippin him and all. That’s why I’d like to see em in their natural habitat,” Everette explained. “I’d also like to look into the local cultures over there, although they probably don’t trust white folks anymore. It’s a damn shame.” Moonshine came to press his nose into Ev’s head, and he smiled and giggled at that.

    "Yea, we're animals ourselves if you look at it like that." He admitted with a shrug. The first bit of meat finished and he offered it over to Everette on a thick leaf as a plate. "Here you go." He murmured before turning back to the flame and starting his on his own.

    Everette tried a bite of it, and at first he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. It was stringy and greasy, and sort of had a kind of fishy taste that he just couldn’t place. Then again, it was something to eat, so he decided he liked it. He probably ate about half of it before he quit, he was full, and he couldn’t really stop thinking about what happened to him earlier, causing a loss of appetite. No matter how much he tried to distract himself, the thought was ever present in his mind. “I can’t stop thinking about what happened,” he told him after a long silence.

    Levi ate a bit of his once he finished. He glanced over when he heard Everette and paused from his food, setting it aside. He frowned and scooted back over by him. Levi just felt so terrible about it. He wished there was more he could do, but he didnt know what. He offered a hand, just to hold him.

    Everette took Levi’s hand and laced his fingers between his, interlocking them and bringing their hands up to his face to kiss Levi’s knuckles. “I still really want to hurt myself, I don’t know anything else, it’s how I always have coped.” He knew he should stop, but he found it extremely difficult. That part upset him greatly, made him feel weak and helpless.

    "I know, its all that youve been able to do..." He murmured and looked to their hands. Levi frowned. "But, i want to be here for you. No matter what Ev." He replied gently. "I want to help in anyway i can." Levi brushed his thumb over Everette's knuckles carefully.

    Everette pressed his forehead against Levi’s wrist, very content to have him so close. “I don’t know if you can help, I can’t even help myself,” he told him, scooting over closer to Levi to put his head on his shoulder. “I’ve had a bad life. A real bad life. But my mother always told me that God doesn’t give bad lives to people he doesn’t think can handle it.”