This was a perfect example of Caelan acting with recklessness. Was this the first time he had hit someone for this-that-or-the-other reason? Absolutely not. Was this the first time Caelan had hit someone that could actually respond in a way that very well could end his life? Regrettably for Caelan, no. Most of the men he smacked around were classmates from college that couldn’t hold their drink or mind their manners around those they thought were attractive.<br/><br/>Caelan only had half a second to respond before he was tackled onto the floor of the shack, Dusty’s seething body holding him down. He gasped for breath as Dusty gripped his throat with his large, calloused hand. “Dusty-” Caelan rasped, growing feverishly desperate for freedom while his attempts to pull Dusty’s hand from his neck were unsuccessful. He responded in a full body flinch with each punch Dusty gave to the floor, hearing the weathered wood almost crack from the impact.<br/><br/>Dusty eventually climbed off of him and stalked outside. Caelan rolled onto his side, coughing hoarsely as his lungs filled with air. He stayed on the ground for a moment longer, listening to the silence of the night as he waited for the sounds of Dusty’s return. When the footsteps didn’t pound across the wooden floor, Caelan hefted himself to his feet. He groaned when the pain of striking his head on the ground finally echoed in his skull. Caelan lifted his hand and touched gingerly at the back of his head. He wiped the small bit of blood onto his jeans and set about righting the table. His wound was only a break of the skin. He’d have a bump come morning, but it wouldn’t be anything beyond what he deserved.<br/><br/>After setting the table up and pushing their chairs in, Caelan grabbed the straw broom and gathered all of the broken glass and food into a pile out of the way. The last thing he wanted to deal with was Dusty cutting his bare feet when he deemed himself ready to come back inside. They’d have to toss the garbage in the morning. Caelan didn’t feel like dealing with it now. He set the broom aside and pulled the cobbler from the stove. He placed it off to the side and draped a cloth over the top to keep the flies from nibbling at it. It would do for their morning breakfast if Dusty didn’t want to dive into it tonight.<br/><br/>He was silent as he blew out a majority of the candles, leaving just enough light for Dusty to find his way to bed. Caelan approached the bed with a sigh of resignation. Part of him wanted to take the trundle to avoid any sort of altercation with Dusty. The other part of him knew that Dusty had told him to take the bed. Would he feel the same now? Caelan pulled back the blanket on the mattress and slid under, choosing  to chance his luck. He would take a few minutes or hours of comfortable sleep over laying on the ground out of consideration for Dusty.