a bloody knife and a smile

[rhyfelgri]

CHARACTERS: Enfys, Fenris, and the helpless, unresisting body of Garrett Hawke.
LOCATION: Just on the edge of camp.
WARNINGS: Enfys.
SUMMARY: ...has a cunning plan.


What does 'doing his eyebrows mean', Fenris hadn't asked, possibly knowing that he'd see for himself soon enough: Hawke is much as he was in the short video, though at some point between putting it up and Fenris arriving, she's found time to pick a few flowers and put them in his beard. One, jaunty, sits in his hair like a hat at an angle. And to answer that unasked question-

She is plucking them, sedately. She draws back to examine her handiwork with a theatricality that says she's perfectly aware of the audience she hasn't acknowledged, and then - with great precision - removes one last hair.

Perfect.

Not that Hawke will appreciate it or, probably, even notice the tidy up job.

Comments

[judex]

The look Fenris gives her when he arrives could mean one of two things. First: it might mean he has grown a little fond of Garrett Hawke's face, excess of hair included, and doesn't approve of her altering it. Second: it might mean he doesn't approve of anyone doing anything fun, ever, at all.

"This isn't funny," he says.

She can draw whatever conclusion she wants.

He's wiped the blood from beneath his nose, but there's still dried, flaking evidence. The rest of him is normal: black ship-issued clothing, bare feet, hair getting too long to be practical. He drops to one knee next to Hawke and tosses aside his jaunty flower-hat without pause or ceremony.

[rhyfelgri]

It is, though.

"I mean," she says, reflectively, studying them from where she stands, "it is a bit funny." It's not really worth making videos and pictures on the limited history of their cobbled network, but if she can find some paper...probably not worth using it to draw a picture of this, either. On the other hand, what the fuck else are they using it for? Whatever.

She sits down beside Fenris - not too close. It isn't that she's miraculously learned to appreciate social cues (though his are in thickly drawn black ink, or lit up like neon, or just generally exaggerated enough even her thick arse can't miss 'don't social me'), it's just that on the rare occasions they've thus far interacted, she's more or less found it easier to deal with him the way she approaches a professional interaction.

Not that anyone glances at her behaviour and thinks as much. She is, after all, sprawled casual at her safe distance, resting back on her hands.

"In some stories," she announces, "tis only true love's kiss will wake sleeping beauty. And I don't have any better ideas yet. I mean, if he's out long enough, I'll get some, obviously, but it's worth a shot."

[judex]

Fenris shoots her a look that does not leave room for anyone to believe that he considers this even a bit funny. It would be a bit funny if Hawke were not eerily comatose but instead asleep, maybe, or passed out drunk. Fenris isn't made of stone. But at the moment he's mostly made of worry, so: No. He doesn't watch her sit, but his nearest ear angles to follow the sound of it with habitual hyperawareness while he waves a hand in front of Hawke's eyes, in case maybe she forgot to try that in her haste to skip straight to dick drawings and--

Kissing. Right. Fenris isn't stupid. He frowns at her for a long moment while he decides whether or not to pretend that he is.

"Varric isn't here," he says. It's a joke--one she may or may not understand, depending on how much Hawke has told her, and he doesn't care either way. He's telling it for himself. And he's stepping back, for that much more distance between him and Hawke. "I'm not kissing him. You're welcome to try."

She is not, in fact, welcome to try.

[rhyfelgri]

Her laugh is short and sharp, but easy enough. As easy as it ever is, the knife always palmed inward. Enfys and true love, yeah, that always ends so - it ends, anyway, just ask her ex husband. Maybe in another ten years he won't be the self-inflicted wound she still carries around, but maybe she'd care less about Hawke's drama if that were the case. He's got a shot. And persistence, and what looks like hope if she squints just a little bit.

Those are things worth preserving. Hopefully he stays preserved, or else this is just her riling up some elf who's going to be looking for a convenient target in a bit.

"I'm not," she says, not unkindly.

[judex]

Soften is the wrong word for what Fenris' face does, but his gaze does lose its sharpness, so it's only the flat of a blade instead of the edge. It drops to the ground before returning to Hawke's frozen face.

The flowers in his beard remind Fenris of Merrill. They're stupid. He leaves them alone.

"Maybe we should move him somewhere less open," he says after a moment.

[rhyfelgri]

"Yeah, all right."

She squints at Hawke's form for a few moments before settling on, "I can lift him easy, but he's going to be fucking awkward." What with the not bending. "You up to steady his legs? I'll swing him over."

Her shoulder, she means.

[judex]

"You can lift him easy," Fenris repeats, intonation particularly flat.

He's strong--shorter than she is, built narrow and lanky, but coated in lean muscle. He might be able to carry Garrett Hawke on his back for some undefined distance before dropping him like an enormous, hairy bag of flour. He would not be able to swing him over anything, shoulders included. So Fenris looks at Enfys for an obviously skeptical length of time before he's able to set aside his disbelief and nod. Sure. He'll steady his legs.

[rhyfelgri]

In the face of such blatant disbelief, Enfys

does nothing, really, unfazed. She'd be skeptical, too, she reckons, and there's no need for any pre-game posturing when she's about to just do the thing. It's a bit of a heft, but, like she says - she lifts him with relative ease, only a grunt and a moment where she's obliged to try and find her center of gravity again. Hawke's weight doesn't appear to drastically inconvenience her, but she does widen her stance in preparation of Fenris doing his bit.

Bit awkward if she were to topple just because of the angle.

"All right," she says, bracing herself. "Where to, bossy?"

[judex]

That's--all right. She can lift him easy.

"Toward the ship," he says, because as far as he knows they have not yet all agreed on cardinal directions. He doesn't have any argument against bossy, but, you know. Try being kept on a literal leash for a few years and see if you don't enjoy giving a few orders once you're able.

One benefit of Hawke's rigidity is that Fenris can sort of use him to steer.

"Did you see his dog anywhere?"

[rhyfelgri]

"Gone for a wander I can only assume," without glancing around, it being sort of important she not misstep in case Hawke breaks where he doesn't bend upon hard landing. Setting out in the vague direction of 'toward the ship', she does dip just enough to pick up the bag she'd brought with her, as well.

There's a thoughtful pause.

"Dog doesn't mind me. I could go look, in a bit."