They weren't about to be followed again unless it was by someone else hoping to make the bounty, Father Choi sitting silently still in the saddle as he heard the shuffled sound of Dee limping back from where he'd retrieved his gun. He'd never seen him angry before, even when he lost his mark he would just be overjoyed that he would get to take chase so the silence surrounding them now was palpable. From a low scrape of a hoof, Chester was telling him that Dee had returned, hearing himself the clatter of a quite possibly broken gun as it was dragged alongside the fortune hunter as he made his return. Pausing for a moment the priest ensured he kept his eyes forward, afraid of what retribution might come if he were to give in and make eye-contact. The moment seemingly passing without further incident as Dee unceremoniously dropped the weapon to the bottom of the side-car before lowering himself in and crossing his arms. Neither of them were now moving, including Father Choi in a quest to get them out from underneath the hot afternoon sun as they both sat staring forwards with more than a hint of bitterness between them. Surprisingly for the priest, he wasn't the one to break first as he heard that usual honey tone now spoken with a curt underlying pitch.

“You could have just said you didn't want me to shoot.” His reaction, however, was even more surprising to himself as his eyes opened wide and he heard himself retort.

“I did.” Turning now he was left staring down at Dee's since uncovered eyes, the narrow slits looking back at him with a more flat searching than aggravated annoyance as he felt his ears heating up to both the high sun and attractive view.

“...I didn't know that's what you meant.”

“What?” He couldn't be so crazy as to misinterpret what 'don't fire' meant, Father Choi knew him better than this and it was disheartening that he would try and fool him otherwise.

“When you said my love, I didn't know you meant it like that.” Or his mind was on something else entirely, the priest's large ears now burning hotter for another reason as he attempted to catch his suddenly fleeting breath. Was he trying to change the subject?, “You could have said something if that's how you feel.”

“H-how could I?” He was an ex-priest, a nervous wreck, surely not Dee's first priority under any circumstances...a eunuch. There were so many reasons why he shouldn't have spoken up, it was unnerving being told that there was one reason he should.

“I would have said it back you know.”

“O-oh...” The sun was no longer the biggest problem for Father Choi's hydration, feeling the affects of romantic reciprocation already playing at his mind and it was barely one o'clock.

“Let's collect tomorrow...If we go back to the homestead you can boil up some more sugar for my lollipop.” With a devilish grin served just for him the priest no longer regretted the possibility of eternal damnation, weakly flicking the reigns and allowing Chester to lead the familiar way home as his eyes stayed only on Dee as if this was his first time seeing him in the flesh. Maybe by the end of the night, it would be.

“Don't tell them you're a sheriff though, or they'll start in on me getting into law again.”

“You were going to be a sheriff?”

“...a lawyer.” When the door to the ranch farmhouse opened, Gianni attempted a smile that didn't seem official, like he was bringing their errant son back to them after catching him out breaking the law. What they didn't know couldn't hurt them, and Sheriff Kwon wasn't about to say no to a home-cooked meal and a comfortable bed after the day he'd had, “Mom, Dad, this is Gianni Kwon, he's a-”

“Train conductor.” Solomon rolled his eyes to the ill-thought out lie, his parents exchanging a glance before his father spoke up.

“Really, after you held up that locomotive last spring?” Okay, what they did know couldn't hurt them, at least this way he didn't have to be so careful about what he said.

“He was...laid off.”

“Oh, did he want a job with the livestock? We've got plenty of space here on the ranch.”

“Mom, he doesn't-”

“Wait, don't say no yet.” It seemed crazy to think about, but from what he'd seen a sheriff's life could be out here, maybe working on a farm wasn't such a bad idea? And besides, he'd found he'd been quite comfortable on the back of that horse with Solomon between his arms, maybe taking an opportunity like this could make for a more interesting re-make?

There'd been a lot of damage caused by a single day's work, but Vincent had managed to cash in his policy and even thrown in a few renovations the company didn't know weren't overdue. So long as Dee and Father Choi stayed at their homestead and Sheriff Kwon and Solomon kept their noses clean at the ranch, he might even be able to make a profit in the coming quarter.