It's companionable, working quietly together. Richard isn't practiced, the way Ellis' father and neighbors had been once, but he's focused. And he's a good sport, as Ellis is aware this is probably not how Richard would choose to spend an afternoon.
And the final result is neatly assembled, sturdy. After a coat of paint, it'll be a fine home for whatever chickens he can scrounge up.
"Thank you," he says, as he watches Richard line up the ramp. "Next time I have to carry luggage into the guest rooms at the Gallows I know who I can ask."
It is true that Richard would not elect on his own to spend the entirety of an afternoon building a house for chickens. It is also true that if he did have some other plan established for himself, it was very likely along the lines of sampling something he brought back from the jungle and spending the remainder of his waking hours drooling on himself at his desk.
“You’re welcome,” he waits to say, until everything is aligned and he is creakily stood back up straight. Bones pop at the base of his neck and the butt of his spine. Sweat has seeped dark through his temples and under his arms, in spite of the lack of ‘heavy lifting,’ as it’s defined by Ellis the Warden.
“Please feel free to call upon any other able-bodied denizen of Riftwatch.”
There's still minor things to be done, but most of it can wait. The chicks aren't in residence yet, so there's time. Ellis scrubs his palms on his tunic, having given it mostly up for lost. It'll be bound for the laundress.
"I feel as if I should offer you help with something. This has taken up a fair amount of your time."
Richard has been a good sport. That should count for something.
Richard arches a brow, tired, sidelong, still skeptical to his core.
But as offers go, the one that follows is well-timed, given how recently the subject of significant favors was raised in Dick Dickerson’s thoughts. Normal people, when faced with such a proposition, will take a moment to think, if they don’t dismiss the sentiment out of hand.
“Will you agree to saw my hand off in the event the chantry calls for the capture or execution of rifters?”
Richard asks, plainly, and shows the hand in question, palm out to expose the splinter of otherworldly green embedded in the heel. It’s quite not as filthy as Ellis’ paw, but he has hand prints of his own he'll have to contend with, once he’s back at the Gallows.
When he'd made the offer, Ellis had anticipated something like accompanying Richard on an errand rather than casual dismemberment.
Between them, Ellis takes the proferred hand. Maybe not Richard's intent, but Ellis takes hold of his palm as if to size up the job. His thumb presses into the center of Richard's palm.
"Aye," Ellis says after a moment. "I'll take it off for you."
A neater solution than the Joining, perhaps. It at least has higher odds of survival, if Ellis does his job right.
Dick, who is technically the taller of the two of them, quails almost imperceptibly at contact, shrinking in on himself by the measure of half a nervous scoff, only to iron it out entirely in the time it takes him to breathe in again. Yes, good. Ideal, even, to have the first person you ask agree, particularly when you’ve already seen the force of the follow through on their swing.
“Then you can call me for help any time you need it.”
He closes his hand around Ellis’ press, gentle, very normal thanks, with a normal amount of eye contact, and takes a confident step back, evidently galvanized by this reassurance.
“I should start back before dark.”
In particular, it has galvanized him into breaking away to collect his satchel so that he can leave.
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yada yada yadas past construction
Date: 2020-08-26 03:45 am (UTC)And the final result is neatly assembled, sturdy. After a coat of paint, it'll be a fine home for whatever chickens he can scrounge up.
"Thank you," he says, as he watches Richard line up the ramp. "Next time I have to carry luggage into the guest rooms at the Gallows I know who I can ask."
Big news for Richard, now considered reliable.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 05:08 am (UTC)“You’re welcome,” he waits to say, until everything is aligned and he is creakily stood back up straight. Bones pop at the base of his neck and the butt of his spine. Sweat has seeped dark through his temples and under his arms, in spite of the lack of ‘heavy lifting,’ as it’s defined by Ellis the Warden.
“Please feel free to call upon any other able-bodied denizen of Riftwatch.”
no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 01:05 am (UTC)A compliment, surely.
There's still minor things to be done, but most of it can wait. The chicks aren't in residence yet, so there's time. Ellis scrubs his palms on his tunic, having given it mostly up for lost. It'll be bound for the laundress.
"I feel as if I should offer you help with something. This has taken up a fair amount of your time."
Richard has been a good sport. That should count for something.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 08:06 am (UTC)Richard arches a brow, tired, sidelong, still skeptical to his core.
But as offers go, the one that follows is well-timed, given how recently the subject of significant favors was raised in Dick Dickerson’s thoughts. Normal people, when faced with such a proposition, will take a moment to think, if they don’t dismiss the sentiment out of hand.
“Will you agree to saw my hand off in the event the chantry calls for the capture or execution of rifters?”
Richard asks, plainly, and shows the hand in question, palm out to expose the splinter of otherworldly green embedded in the heel. It’s quite not as filthy as Ellis’ paw, but he has hand prints of his own he'll have to contend with, once he’s back at the Gallows.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-01 02:14 am (UTC)Between them, Ellis takes the proferred hand. Maybe not Richard's intent, but Ellis takes hold of his palm as if to size up the job. His thumb presses into the center of Richard's palm.
"Aye," Ellis says after a moment. "I'll take it off for you."
A neater solution than the Joining, perhaps. It at least has higher odds of survival, if Ellis does his job right.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-01 04:19 am (UTC)“Then you can call me for help any time you need it.”
He closes his hand around Ellis’ press, gentle, very normal thanks, with a normal amount of eye contact, and takes a confident step back, evidently galvanized by this reassurance.
“I should start back before dark.”
In particular, it has galvanized him into breaking away to collect his satchel so that he can leave.