#morston fic

[murdknux]

chapter 4 of this thing 🫶

[sweet-by-and-by]

Full of Cheer - Arthur Morgan x John Marston

gif credit

summary: John finds Arthur’s festive spirit a little lacking as he struggles to move on from the past. 

A gift for @yeehawpurgatory for the @rdrevents 2022 Secret Winter Exchange

pairing: Arthur Morgan x John Marston

a/n: For those whose Christmases are a little harder some years ❤️ Happy Holidays everyone

1907 was gone as quickly as it had come, and Christmas was in full swing at the Marston’s.

The moon hung high over Beecher's Hope, its residents blissfully unaware of the night chill. A fire roared in the stone hearth, filling the teeming ranch house with a warmth that matched their festive spirit.

Smiles were shared all around, faces warm with drink in celebration of the folk that gathered. It was a long journey for Charles and Sadie both, coming from opposite ends of the country to spend the holidays at the little homestead.

Laughter swelled again at a wry quip from Charles, sending Uncle into a fit of defensiveness that only made everyone laugh harder. Chairs had been dragged in from the living room, wooden legs scraping against the floorboards as they took their seats at the feast Abigail had prepared for them.

The sounds poured out of the house merrily, falling on deaf ears of the resident that sat alone on the big wooden porch.

A star-filled sky stared down at him; great luminous bulbs against the inky-black night. The wooden chair creaked as Arthur leaned back, taking a long drag off the cigarette that rested between his lips. The cherry glowed bright, just as bright as the stars, smoke filled his lungs. Pulled at the edges that never felt quite right after his illness.

His gaze fell to survey the ranch, searching for any signs of trouble hiding beneath the cover of dark. Not that he’d find any. But the spot on the porch, his preferred scout location, offered a sense of comfort that relieved the fears long embedded in the back of his mind.

Old habits die hard, he supposed.

The quiet of the night was interrupted by the sound of the front door squeaking hinges. Heavy boots thudded across the wooden porch, their occupant given away by a stride that Arthur would recognize until his last breath.

“John,” he greeted gruffly. The man nodded as he settled into the seat by Arthur’s side.

Arthur reached into his chest pocket to grab another cigarette, holding the tip to his own before passing it over wordlessly.

“Doctor says you ain’t supposed to smoke these things no more,” John chided pointlessly, his fingertips brushing against Arthur’s as he took the offered smoke.

The older man scoffed, returning his gaze up toward that big, dark sky. “Already gotten more time than I should have, no use getting greedy,” he huffed.

They fell into silence, nothing but the burning of paper and howl of coyotes in the distance, yelps that reminded the world they were there.

“Been out here a while,” John finally said. “Got Abigail all worried.”

Arthur only grunted in response, offering no explanation. His gaze was pointedly fixed as he continued to scan the horizon.

“Been out here the last couple of nights too,” John tried again. “Everyone’s sittin’ down to eat. Abigail’s got a plate set out for you.”

“Yeah, well I ain’t been much company as of late,” Arthur relented. He grabbed his hat from its place on his knee and placed it atop his head. Rising to his feet, he kicked at John’s boot where it rested on the wooden porch. “C’mon,” he motioned. “Let’s check fences.”

John held back his protest that they’d checked fences hours before and lifted himself out of his chair. Arthur grabbed the repeater leaned against the railing and the two men started towards the front gate.

The horses nickered as they passed the stables, tempting Arthur to abandon his chore and take solace in the privacy of the barn. Should have known better than to stay close to the house, where prying eyes could linger on him. He tossed a longing glance at his mount, the desire to tack up and ride away without a word of explanation making his fingers twitch.

 Pushing those thoughts away with a frown, he returned his attention to the task at hand. They worked in darkness, both aware of the futility of the job. But neither brought it to the other’s attention, walking the perimeter under the guise of purpose. 

When they’d put some distance between themselves and the house, Arthur broke the weighted silence.

“I ain’t trying to worry Abigail,” he said roughly. “I just…ain’t trying to ruin everyone’s Christmas spirit.”

John listened patiently, keeping his stare on the fence line as he waited for Arthur to continue.

“Christmas…it’s not like it used to be when we were kids. Nothin’ seems ‘merry and bright’ anymore. Not after everything that happened. I…,” he paused. “I miss them.”

John let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, nodding solemnly. “I understand,” he said. “I miss them too.”

“D’you remember that year Hosea sent Dutch and I out to get a tree? Said it was important that camp had a big ol’ tree to decorate for you and Tilly.”

“Sure,” John answered. “Bessie adored it. Looked just like the Christmas cards, she said.”

“Right,” Arthur smiled. “‘Cept Dutch didn’t quite tell the whole story that night. We’d been looking for hours for the perfect damn tree. Kept passing over some decent ones so that Dutch could find one that was just right. Couldn’t tell me what it’d look like when I asked, but he promised he’d know it when he saw it. So we kept looking and looking. Dragged those horses probably 15 miles trying to find the thing! 

“Eventually he found it, but it was right in front of some poor bastard’s house. ‘Course Dutch said he had plenty of fine trees and shouldn’t mind sharing. So we waited until they left and started cutting it down. Had it just about finished when the old coot comes flying out the front door, waving his shotgun around and just hollerin’! I’m half-stuck beneath a damn spruce tree while Dutch’s trying to spin some yarn so the fella don’t shoot us right then and there!”

Arthur’s laughter bubbled over as the story unfolded, the sound like music to John’s ears after so long without it.

“What the hell did he do?” he asked.

“He convinced him that we were sent out by the town’s orphanage to find the perfect tree. Said we were lookin’ to lift the children’s spirits or something like that. Even helped us load the thing out and sent us back on our way, damn near ready to anoint us saints!”

“Sounds like Dutch,” John laughed, his smile wide as he shook his head. “Never could figure out how he came up with that nonsense. How come I never heard that story?”

“Dutch asked me not to tell anyone,” Arthur admitted, scratching his chin through the greying hairs there. “We were so young, you remember how everyone used to worry.”

“All that seems so long ago,” John said somberly, his voice heavy.

“Sure does,” Arthur agreed. “A lifetime ago.”

A thousand memories flashed through their minds, the faces of loved ones lost dancing amongst the stars.

 “It ain’t just them I miss this time of year,” Arthur added, the lightness of the story not enough needed to lift the heaviness in his heart..

“I miss the rest of them too,” John agreed. “Susan, Javier. Hell, even Sean.”

“Eliza and Isaac,” Arthur added, his gaze far beyond the horizon.

John frowned, hesitant about his next words. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “Should’ve remembered.”

“Don’t be,” Arthur dismissed, ducking his face beneath the brim of his hat. “Weren’t your wrong to right. But God, some days I look at Jack and can’t help but think about him. He’d be damn near a man now, same as your boy’s coming to be…Watching the two of you work this ranch together fills my head with all kinds of foolish dreams. Hell, I should’ve buried those next to them long ago.”

John knew there wasn’t much he could say that would bring Arthur peace. Arthur would never allow those wounds to heal; keeping them open as some kind of penance for the sins he believed he’d committed. Instead, John closed the distance between them and raised his hand to grip Arthur’s shoulder.

“Dreams ain’t foolish, even if an old fool’s the one dreaming ‘em. Just because you ain’t in the dirt with him, don’t mean you can’t dream for him. Do them things for him. You live, you work this land with us. You carry him with you so he works it too.”

Arthur took in a shaky breath, placing his hand on top of John’s and squeezing tightly. Their fingers interlaced, the feeling of scarred knuckles against rough calluses keeping him grounded.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“‘Course. Now come up to the house before Abigail drags you up there herself. Not sure who I’d be more scared of barging out here; her or Sadie.”

“Aww, they mean well enough. Least they’ve got Uncle to pick on for now.” Arthur chuckled, slinging the rifle over his shoulder and starting back towards home. “Abigail cook up that charred beefsteak again?”

“She did,” John winced.

“Christ, I thought she’d forgotten how to do that to beef.”

“Cattle across America hoped she had,” John teased.

As their boots thumped back up the steps of the porch, Arthur glanced over his shoulder to take one last look out at the homestead. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, an honest one for the first time in days.

Their homestead.

[0039pf]

dear followers, today i offer you the good boah. tomorrow? who knows... (wip)

[choco-1601]

Seeing how dead the morston tag is in ao3 it was obv that whitecoyotes was carrying the tag for a good while. Too bad shes gone

[maleficore]

I think Arthur would totally be like a large dog that is not aware he's not a lap-sized anymore (much to John's delight)

[porqueeee]

Chapters: 6/10 Fandom: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: John Marston/Arthur Morgan Characters: John Marston, Arthur Morgan, Dutch van der Linde, Hosea Matthews, Eliza (Red Dead Redemption), Isaac Morgan, Mary Gillis Linton (Red Dead Redemption) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Angst, Age Difference, Slow Burn, Relationship Study, Character Study, Shaving, Huddling For Warmth, Sexual Tension, Animal Death

Yo! New chapter, finally.

[imashmoore]

Happy #morstonmonday! Since i am sadly incapable of writing or drawing anything worthy I thought I’d give some more fic recs :)

All credit for these go to the amazing writers who have made me cry, laugh, rage and get a little too hot under the collar 🥵

Happy Reading!

[sentanixiv]

What a fool he had been. All because he had been too close to see what lay before his eyes.

- Blackwater (by gaslight)

A tribute to one of my favourite Morstons of all time. <3 Here's for you, @gaslightwestern

[murdknux]

chapter 3 uhh smut warning!!!

[morgstny]

I dunno if I’m a sick and twisted cyclepath or what but the idea of Arthur relenting to John’s constant pleas to finally be able to fuck him just for John to jizz .5 seconds after the first thrust is something extremely personal to me

[f1zzlest1ckzz]

read my fic or ELSE

[choco-1601]

Saw this fanart of morston with rdr1 John and rdr2 John and it unlocked smth in me that I didn't know I had. Now it got me thinking of a possible 3some where Arthur fucks rdr John and older John fucking rdr2 John in return. Or both of the Johns servicing Arthur as in both bottoming for Arthur. Both r submissive but rdr2 John is more submissive than rdr John.

[assless-chapstick]

yk when you have an idea for a fic and you start writing it in your head and it's so like 🔥🔥🔥 you're like hell yeah

and then you go to work and on your break you're like hell yeah I can't wait to read more of that great fic

that I haven't written yet and now have to write I guess... .... ........ .... .... .. . . .

[maleficore]

And then they had *shudders* gay sex........

[yeehawpurgatory]

Chapter 17 let’s go!!!! I hate editing sm I’m so sure there’s still issues and typos but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[danger-r-98-5]

The first of several upcoming Christmas Advent Works (that might not get finished in December) The advent is the idea of the wonderful @sentanixiv​ an event between friends with she, me, and our local chaos gremlin @emmithar-blog and has been great fun thus far!

Go check out their amazing works and general awesomeness!