Prompt Response - "Nathan and JD, Eager to Learn"
for Mendax's lovely prompt, "Nathan and JD, Eager to Learn"
ETA - cut tag!! Sorry!
Title: "In Vino Veritas"
"Oh, yes, that's the way," Nathan said, leaning in a little closer. "I've got to write that down – 'A lady pretty as yourself deserves a fine drink' – that's good!"
"I wrote it down!" JD said, crowding in closer, holding a pad and pencil like a newspaper boy. "Ms. Emmaline, how do you spell your name?"
Beside Vin, Chris snorted, almost choking on the whiskey he'd been swallowing. Across the way, Buck turned on JD and Nathan, his face dark even though he was smiling. "Now, boys, don't you have two have something to - "
"You keep telling us you're the Master of Love," JD said, looking from Buck to Emmaline and back. "We want to learn."
"Now ain't the time," Buck hissed, waving a hand as if to shoo them away. "We'll talk later – right now, I'm talking to Ms. Emmaline – and we don't need an audience."
"You won't hardly know we're here," Nathan said, looking so serious that Vin almost thought he was. "You just go on doing what you're doing. We'll stand back and watch the Master at work."
Buck glared at him but before he could say anything, Emmaline pushed back the bar stool she was sitting on and stood up. "I think I feel a headache coming on – all this heat," she said, smiling at JD and Nathan. "I'll leave you three to talk about this."
Buck stood up from habit as he said, "Emmaline, these boys have places to be – don't you let them rush you away - "
"You're a sweet man," she said, touching Buck's chest, "but I really do feel that I need to lie down for a while."
Buck stood, his jaw moving as he tried to find words. Beside him, Nathan and JD both nodded to Emmaline as she flounced away, her skirts rustling.
"I thought you said you were spending the evening with her," JD said as the doors to the saloon swung closed behind her.
"What were we supposed to learn from the 'Master of Love' that time?" Nathan asked, looking back at Buck.
Buck turned slowly to look at them, his temper clear on his face. "What in the hell do you two think you're doing?" he growled, his hands falling to his hips. "I have spent the past month working on her - "
"A month?" Nathan said, his own face scrunching into a frown. "I thought you said she was already eating out of your hand – that was what you said two nights ago. Are you saying - "
"That ain't no way to talk about a woman," Buck said, pointing a finger at Nathan. "I would never - "
"You did," JD said, nodding sagely. "You said Ms. Emmaline was like a bird in your hand, worth two bushes."
"Two in the bush," Buck said, cutting his gaze to the table where Chris was now laughing and Vin was shaking his head, no longer hiding his own grin. "Did you put them up to this?" Buck said, taking several steps toward the table.
Chris shook his head, his laughter slowing, but Vin was the one who said, "You sat right here two nights ago and said you could teach every one of us a thing about women, since you were the Master of Love."
Buck sighed and shook his head, but he moved closer to the table. Nathan and JD followed, both of them grinning broadly behind Buck's back.
"All right," Buck said, pulling out a chair and sinking into it. "You made your point. I exaggerated a little."
"A little?" Nathan said, pulling out another chair and settling. "The Master of Love?"
"You said you could teach us how to have a woman in bed in less than an hour," JD said, sitting down next to Buck. "And you said you and Ms. Emmaline would be too busy over the next few days to be bothered by the likes of us amateurs."
Buck looked at JD, then at Nathan, and finally at Vin. All three of them nodded while Chris grinned.
"How much did I drink?" Buck said, putting his head in his hands.
"Seems like it was more than enough," Chris answered. "Master of Love. You know, he told me that, once."
Vin turned to look at him and grinned. "Once," he repeated. "You steal his girl away from him?"
Chris grinned back.
"Seems like you need some more training, Buck," Nathan said.
"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago," Buck said, rubbing his forehead then dropping his hands into his lap and looking around. "You boys finished making fun of me?"
The chorus of 'nos' and 'hell nos' was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone else in the saloon for a few seconds. As conversation started back up again, Ezra meandered down the stairs and walked over to the table.
"Whatever had we done to merit a visit from the Master of Love?" he asked innocently, setting off another round of laughter and grins. "Slow night in the realm of Love?"
"Ms. Emmaline has a headache," JD announced. "So lessons seem to be over for tonight."
"What a shame," Ezra sighed dramatically. "We have so very much to learn. Perhaps if he could start with a new woman – why the lovely Inez! I'm certain there is much you could teach us - "
Buck pushed back his chair and stood up. "I'm going to bed – alone," he said quickly, holding up his hands as JD and Nathan moved to stand. "Just me and my bed. I think I'm getting a headache, too." He turned to look at Chris and held up one hand, pointing. "He beat me. Follow him around."
Chris shrugged. "I never claimed to be the Master of Love. I got nothing to teach. Guess that still leaves you as the unchallenged champion."
"We'll be ready to start fresh in the morning, Buck," JD called as Buck walked to the door.
"You can share your secrets over breakfast," Nathan added.
As Buck reached for the saloon doors, Josiah appeared before him, taking off his at as he came into the saloon. "Buck!" he called, clapping a hand on Buck's shoulder. "You ready for tonight's lesson? I found a couple of books of love poems in a box at the church – as the Master of Love, I thought you might - "
"I'm going to sleep!" Buck said, pushing past Josiah and disappearing into the night.
Josiah turned and looked at the others, holding up a couple of small, hardbound books as the others laughed.
"I saw Ms. Emmaline out front of Gloria's," he said as he tossed the books on the table and his hat on top. "Said she was planning a quiet night of washing her hair."
"Seems the Master of Love hit a rough patch," Nathan said. "Maybe one of us should take him up a bottle of whiskey – what was that kind you were pawning off on him the other night, Chris?"
Chris waved a hand toward the bottle that sat on the table between him and Vin. "Same as always. He'd already had a couple of glasses of wine, though, at dinner. He can't drink wine."
Ezra grinned, holding out his hand to Josiah. "No, he most certainly cannot. Gentlemen, I believe I have won our little wager?"
Josiah sighed but he was grinning as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a silver dollar. "I don't know whether it's sadder that he doesn't remember that night or that he thinks he actually called himself that."
"Think it's a sign that even if he hasn't said it, he thinks that of himself in his head," Chris answered, grinning again.
"You really stole a woman from him?" Vin asked.
Chris shrugged. "Once, though it wasn't really stealing. I talked to her one night after they'd had dinner and a bottle of wine. He passed out, and she and I spent the evening talking about horses and racing. He thought she'd gone off with me and I never corrected him."
" 'Wine'," Josiah intoned, " 'is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.' "
"Well, that pretty much says it all," Nathan said. "Bet he learns not to drink wine."
Chris grinned, picking up the bottle and refilling his own glass. "Hasn't happened yet. 'Master of Love'. One day, he's actually going to say it."
**Josiah's quote is Proverbs 20.1 KJV.