halfamoon | Day 8: Food and Drink - Magnificent Seven - Ezra/Inez, Chris/Mary, JD/Casey, Ensemble

Title: Full
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Ezra/Inez, Chris/Mary, JD/Casey, Buck/Blossom, Buck/Inez, Josiah, Vin, Nettie, Ensemble
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Nothing brings people together like good food.
Word Count: 1,998
Written For: Half A Moon Day 8: Food and Drink
Warnings: N/A
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Author's Note: Looks like I need a fandom tag, please and thank you! :)

Inez smiled as she poured piping hot sauce over freshly folded enchiladas. She had seen perhaps too much of the world while she had been on the run from Don Paolo. Regardless, of all the places through which she had passed, she had noticed a few things remained the same, one of them certainly being that there was nothing that could bring a village, or any group of people, together like food.

She heard the saloon doors open and knew exactly who was entering her little establishment even before Nettie's young niece called out from behind the kitchen door, "They're here!"

"Come, pequeño," she said, gesturing with her dark head to the platters of food before her. "All you have to do," she instructed Casey while passing the pot and spoon to her, "is pour the sauce over the enchiladas."

Casey nodded but yanked her hand back when she touched the pot's handle. "It's hot," Inez said, refraining from snorting at the girl's naivity. "It just came off the fire."

Casey nodded, grabbed the hand towel Inez had also offered her, and then wrapped it around the pot's handle. Inez watched for a moment as Casey began to carefully pour, then hurried to the front. She burst through the kitchen door with a brilliant smile, greeting the guys and rapidly pouring their favorite drinks to perfection. She took extra care with sliding JD's to him, as she always did, but this time, Bucklin ventured too close right after JD's hands closed around his mug.

Buck's mustache wiggled on his handsome face as he laughed out loud. "Milk?!" he exclaimed, clasping JD's shoulder and almost making the young man spill his drink.

"Shut up, Buck," JD growled out of the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, you gonna make me?" Buck taunted, gesturing playfully at the Sheriff. He narrowed his blue eyes at him. "You must be real good and strong, with all that milk in you."

"Give the niño varón a break!" Inez chided him, slapping the towel she'd grabbed in case JD's milk had spilled over her dark shoulder.

"Niño va-varón?" Buck repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?" His grin was already falling into a pout, and Inez smiled triumphantly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she teased. "JD has good sense, a better head on his shoulders than the rest of you, especially you," she chided him. Her brown eyes blazed. "“Quien come con cordura, por su salud procura!" She sashayed away as Buck pondered over her words and fretted, again, that she might be developing feelings for his younger partner. Inez winked at JD who blushed adorably and tilted his head a little further down.

"Yeah," he muttered, "I won't be swaggering around, making a scene, because I've drank too much!"

"Do not let them bother you, JD," the Preacher said, reclining on his stool with his own bottle of whiskey. "Milk's good for the bones, and good for the soul."

And it would, Inez knew as she returned to the kitchen doors and gestured for Casey and Mary to bring the guys' dinners, keep the young man from following in his grandfather's footsteps. JD had once related to her how terrible of a drunkard his mother's father had been, and the demise of the old man that had nearly cost his mother her position at the house where she had served throughout his childhood as a maid. Since then, Inez had made certain to always cut the boy off from his drink when he was beginning to imbibe too much and was always quick to serve him milk as JD had humbly requested. They'd both tried hard to keep the other Seven from finding out for the very thing that had just happened. Buck would have teased him relentlessly if she had not stepped in, and likely, too, so would the others, if Josiah had not also spoken up.

But now the guys were quickly forgetting about the fact that their youngest drank milk, which the ladies of the town were only too happy to oblige. They had started a silent campaign, each farmer's wife bringing her a new pitcher of fresh milk several times a week. The men may not have known, but the women did, and they all supported their protectors, including the only one of them who had dared to take on the badge.

Inez watched, biting her bottom lip to keep in the smile that threatened to beam over her face and give away their plan, as seven ladies stepped out from the kitchen. Mary and Casey led the procession, and Chris was almost as adorable as JD as the two of them set their trays of sizzling enchiladas before their men. Inez wondered who would snag the others and tried not to feel a pang of jealousy at the little gal who set a plate before the gambler.

"What, darlin'," Buck asked, his mustache twitching, "you ain't gonna feed me?"

"Buck Wilmington!" Blossom exclaimed heatedly, her large bosom heaving with her disappointment. "Ah'm standin' right here!" She stomped her foot, and Buck acted swiftly to keep from having his enchiladas dumped over his head rather than served properly to him.

"No, you're not, honey," he denied, sweeping her off of her feet and into his lap, "you're right where you belong, in my arms! Come on, darlin'," he cajoled as she kicked like a mule, "you know I gotta mess with Inez. It wouldn't be right otherwise, but you're my favorite!" He buried his face in her low cleavage.

Inez rolled her eyes and was about to step back to the kitchen when she noticed the tracker sniffing the air. Vin glanced at Casey, a bite of enchilada held in the air just before his chapped lips, "Casey, your auntie have some apples comin' due?"

Casey grinned from ear to ear. The girl, still wearing her pigtails, really was adorable, and JD and she made the perfect, cute, little couple. Her smile was also contagious, and Inez called back to the kitchen, "Come on out, Nettie, Gloria, they're on to us!"

Vin promptly laid his fork down. Beside him, JD was distracted from his meal by making moon-eyes at Casey, while Buck, on the Kid's other side, was making quite the display with Blossom, her petticoats flying every which way. JD didn't even blink an eye at his best friend's behavior; he didn't seem to notice at all as he stared at Casey blushing as red as Ezra's jacket. The gambler, always the cunning, Southern gentleman, was delicately adjusting the cuffs of his long, white sleeves with a look of great concern on his handsome face. He recognized the girl who had served him, but he had also noticed that all the women of Four Corners, what few there were, seemed to be present. "As enchanting as this display of servitude is," he pleaded quietly, "please tell me mah mothah is not hidden somewhere amongst yoah number."

Chris, Josiah, and Nathan were the only ones rapidly shoving her enchiladas into their mouths, but she didn't care. This was a very special occasion, made clear as Nettie and Gloria burst from the kitchen. They carried desserts they had slaved over that morning, a large, deliciously frosted cake which Gloria Potter was as known for in their area as Nettie Wells was known for her apple pies. Inez found herself actually emitting a rare giggle as Vin Tanner's sky blue eyes shot round in his childlike enthusiasm over the pie Nettie set right before him. The kindly, old lady set the other two pies at each end of the counter while joining the widow Potts in the beginning strands of "He's A Jolly Good Fellow".

The men were thrilled by the ladies' efforts. Vin shoveled enchiladas into his mouth on double-speed and was already reaching for the pie Nettie had placed before him by the time the women had finished their song. Josiah leaned back in his chair, grinning broadly. Nathan, at least to Inez, seemed to have the expression of a little boy, too, only this one was asking if he could eat now as they finished. Buck took the song as his just due while bouncing Blossom on his knee. JD was slowly eating while still exchanging doe eyes with Casey. Only Chris and Ezra seemed confused by the display of appreciation.

"Why?" Chris asked, his keen, green eyes flitting between Inez and Mary.

"Don't you remember, Mister Larabee?" Mary asked, after unconsciously wetting her lips. Inez was proud the newspaper woman had spoken up. She seemed so brave when it came to people who didn't really matter, or to her own son, but where the gunslinger was around, despite the obvious feelings of adoration he returned for her, she was nearly as shy as Casey.

"Remember what?" Chris asked. His eyes remained on Mary's as he forked another bite of enchilada into his mouth.

"Ah believe Ah may," Ezra remarked, settling his sleeves. Inez noticed how he touched his fork's wood handle, but then he moved to raise his glass instead. "Today is an anniversary of some sorts?"

"Why, it's the anniversary of the day you men first came together, first came to us, the day when Chris -- I mean," Mary licked her lips again, "Mister Larabee and Mister Tanner met while saving the Doctor."

Nathan grumbled around the food in his mouth.

"We know, we know," JD muttered, his eyes still not moving from Casey's. Inez almost laughed at the Kid as he accidently struck his mug with his fork. "You're not a doctor."

"But you are," Ezra acknowledged, raising his glass, "a very good and honorable man, and Ah, for one, am proud to call you mah friends."

"Brothers," Josiah added, lifting his whiskey bottle.

"Los siete magníficos," Inez enthused as Ezra toasted them all.

"To us," he announced, and then winked. She felt warm underneath his gaze, but she knew she was surrounded by other women. Had his wink been meant for her? She could not be certain, but when he grinned upon lowering his glass, she felt truly wrapped up in his warm smile, including the sparkle of his gold tooth. She felt hot from head to toe as she moved to refill his glass. He lifted it for her and silently brushed her wrist with his jacket sleeve as she poured his drink.

His eyes met hers as they so often did when they were alone in the saloon late at night. Ezra was always the last one to leave her at night, and he no longer seemed to hold her owning the establishment against her. "Thank you," he whispered softly where only she could hear. He lifted his glass and drank it down again. She beamed, feeling as young and foolish as Casey and JD and every bit as shy as Missus Travis, as he lowered his glass, his eyes remaining steadfastly upon hers as he lowered his glass again. She refilled it without a word, but her hands trembled slightly.

"Nothing brings people together like good food," Josiah spoke in his deep, booming voice. He leaned back in his chair and patted his belly briefly, but then reached for cake.

"Nothing, Reverand," Mary found her voice again though her eyes were still on Chris', "except brave and kind souls."

Chris finished his last bite of enchilada. Mary refilled his drink, then ventured to ask, "Can I cut you a piece of pie or cake?"

"Pie," Vin said through a mouthful of Nettie's famous apple pie. "You want the pie."

Chris grinned and steepled his fingers before his chin. He inclined his head toward Mary. "I'll take the pie," he said, his grin filling his face.

Inez realized that, though she'd not eaten a bite before in her preparations for this moment, she felt quite full. Looking around them, she understood why. Her life was full, and she was blessed by everyone there.

The End