singillatim | (closed)

The elbow gets Francis a soft, fond noise and Raju smiles at him for a second before crouching in front of the bag of beans, scooping some into a couple cheesecloths and cutting bits of twine to tie them into bags.

"Mhm," he says while he does it. "This should help with their supplies. The snow helps, too; we can pack things that need cooking without worrying about when they'll find the water for it. Do you want to pack anything else? Anything that isn't food? I know there's some rope downstairs in good condition, unless someone's used it. Maybe other things."

As long as Francis is packing something, after all, he'll be doing something. When he stops is when the tension likely sets in.

Rope would be good, canvas for makeshift tents, kindling and matches. He thinks about all the useless things they hauled from the ships and then looks back on the very practice pile they’ve assembled.

“Come fishing with me,” he says suddenly. “That way we can pack them something fresh.”

Raju looks surprised, but: "Of course," he says, carrying the bags of beans over to the rest of Francis' supplies. Of course he'll go, if it will help at all. The way to the one place he thinks Francis might go for it is a bit of a walk, too, and not always an easy one — unless the fish bite quickly and he isn't looking for many, he might not have much time afterward before the sun sets.

"I don't know how much help I'll be. Do you want to talk with your men first, bring all this over? I can meet you somewhere later."

He’s sure Raju will be more help than he realizes. He considers the proposal - yes, it’s probably for the best if he speaks to them first - then nods.

“We’ll have some daylight left if we meet in two hours. Lakeside? There are some huts on the ice that make it less punishing.”

"Mhm." In the meantime, Francis speaking with his men might not be easy. Raju steps closer to him, puts a hand on his shoulder, slides it to the back of his neck and smiles faintly, sympathetic. He waits a moment that way. Then he slides his hand back down to Francis' shoulder, pats it, and steps away.

"I'll find you there. And do look downstairs for them before you go. Always good to have some extra rope."

It's two hours later, roughly, and Raju is waiting. He doesn't come down here often, unless he's feeling restless enough to want the steep, tricky paths down and then back up again. He puts a hand above his eyes to block the light and maybe see the paths better, trying to watch as best he can through the trees. Ridiculous to worry. The man was a captain in the navy, that isn't a job for the frail. But it must only have been something like a month since Francis broke the ribs, and there must be a reason he isn't going along into the mines even feeling the way that he does about it. If Raju spots Francis coming down he's going to hurry back up to meet him, whether the man needs the help or not. Better to be sure.

Long after they part Crozier's still thinking of how steady Raju seems to make him feel. He asks the right questions, is both thoughtful but also practical, dependable in a kind of way that makes him think of Ross or Blanky. As embarrassing as the bout of anxiety had been, Raju had been just the right person to push him through it.

He walks to the waterfront with his fishing accoutrements strapped to his back out of necessity. He's sure in his step, less slow than he might be were he navigating this same path in the darkness, even humming a quite tune just for the hell of it. All that happy-go-lucky meandering pauses slightly when he hears movement in front of him, but it returns once more when he lays eyes on his friend.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting," he calls out to him.

"No," Raju answers with reflexive politeness, thoughtlessly, as he hurries close enough to look Francis over from toe to head. Still a bit away but Raju's eyes have always been good, and he slows to focus on looking. He can tell Francis' posture is speaking of confidence, not pain, and he seems to be moving well. Good.

Only then does Raju realise what he's said and snorts at himself, alert expression melting into a smile. He starts moving closer again, his steps more easy than hurried now, the line of his shoulders relaxing. "Yes you have, and it's damn cold out here. I think standing close to all this ice is making it worse. What is it you've got on your back there?"

He isn't sure why Raju seems to be looking at him so intently, but whatever he saw must have passed inspection. He shakes his head with a smirk and starts back down the path to the edge of the frozen lake.

"Fishing equipment. Some bait, a basket, my knives. You know, you could have waited for me in one of the fishing huts if you were that cold. I hate to think you were freezing out here on my account."

He's clearly very concerned and not at all teasing his friend for being overly dramatic.

Talking with his men must have gone well. Raju recalls that it'd been Francis who'd started joking back in the Community Hall, and that it had helped; if he'd come down this path on edge or worried or anything else Raju wouldn't have minded, but helping keep his mind off things this way certainly won't be a chore.

"So then I could be freezing right on top of the ice." Raju makes it over to Francis, puts his hands in his pockets, and starts walking back beside him, close enough that the shoulders of Francis' coat and Raju's blanket brush against each other. If it wasn't for the extra layers, he'd be able to feel their shoulders touching; another thing to resent the cold for. "You're right. That's a much better way to spend my time."

“Mhm,” he hums noncommittally. “Better than anything else you were doing.” He pretends to overbalance to one side, pushing against him gently with his arm in-step.

He’s less aggrieved about the whole plan than he was at the beginning of the day. They’ll keep each other safe, and Jopson’s agreed to join him on the trek out to the mouth of the mines. They’ve got each other; there’s no reason to worry.

Raju snorts an amused noise, smiling over at Francis for a moment at the contact. “You aren’t wrong.”

Even aside from the joke, he isn’t wrong. Raju fills his days as best he can, but it always feels like busywork. Less often during the past week, at least.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing here worth complaining about. And Francis seems to be enjoying the complaining, anyway.

“But that says more about this town than the ice,” he goes on. “Weren’t you saying it was actually warm in that, ah, the…”

The last time Francis corrected him about the right word was a while ago. In the moment before he moves on with the teasing, Raju looks annoyed; forgetting eats at him a little.

“…The place you used to live in. These fishing huts don’t have proper floors, do they? Now you get to prove how warm the ice is.”

Crozier doesn't look at all bothered by Raju forgetting. "The ice hut?" he supplies, smiling good-naturedly. "They don't have proper floors, but they're not nearly as insulated as the ice huts."

He does consider apologizing, but he doubts Raju's truly annoyed at the cold. Maybe only actually a little annoyed.

"But the fishing itself will distract you from the cold, I swear it."

"Will it? Fishing always seemed to involve a lot of sitting in one place waiting for something to happen." He eyes the lake and the huts, idly gauging the distance and letting himself sway enough with his step to bump his shoulder and bent elbow back into Francis' side, belatedly. He realises he's smiling a little. "But I don't mind the company, so I suppose I can make do. Do you do this often down here?"

His eyes crinkle in a silent laugh as Raju playfully knocks back into him. It almost feels like a lighthearted outing and not an attempt to gather life-sustaining rations.

"Not as often as I did when I first arrived. Now that I've gotten the lay of the land I stick to my traps and foraging." Fishing one-handed can be...tricky at the best of times. "But when I don't feel like trudging out and about I'll come down here for a spell, so long as there aren't many people about."

"Oh?" Raju looks down to watch his feet as they skid a little over the rocks along the steep path, then looks back up at Francis, still ready to grab at him if he seems less steady, but focusing just as much on teasing him. "I thought you weren't avoiding everyone any more? Afraid too much companionship will scare off the fish?"

Not that Raju has any room to talk there, in his own way. But it's too useful a way to tease Francis to bother reflecting about it.

“I should clarify, I’m avoiding certain people. They’d most certainly scare off the fish. But…” He gives a bit of a surprisingly spry jump over a patch of rough rocks. “Although preferred companionship can create too much merriment. Not good for such a solemn occasion.”

“Solemn,” Raju repeats as he watches, pleased to see Francis navigating the trickier land here so easily. It was hard to know before he’d seen it whether a path like this was something worth being concerned about. “Is that what you are? You could have told me. I would have brought my mood down to match.”

“Solemn,” he says again, nodding Very Perfectly Seriously. “You’ll have to stop with all that damned smiling before we get out onto the ice. I’m too grave for merriment.”

The joke’s a little on the nose - he is fairly serious most of the time, and grave, and too melancholic for his own good at times - but it’s still funny.

Raju ducks his head, his halfhearted try at stopping that damned smiling only compressing it into a smaller area.

“Why don’t you try to be worse company then? Go on and help me. Snap at me for something I haven’t done, or… I don’t know, whatever else your men used to complain about behind your back when you were at sea.”

Whatever else the men would complain about - probably being a cold, miserable drunk, but that’s a little bleak for their lighthearted exchange.

“Ah, I can’t. Sadly I was only ever vexed by incompetence, and you’re lacking that particular trait.”

"You're terrible at this," Raju complains, visibly pleased. He doesn't look away from the fishing hut ahead, as if not looking will make his smile less obvious. "How am I going to get rid of this damned good mood now? You might have to settle for it until you decide you do want to try insulting me."

“We’ll see how annoying I’ll find your endless good mood, mn?”

He nudges him again playfully and pauses as the approach the water’s edge, scouting the small collective of huts out on the ice. His eyes eventually land on the suitable fishing hut - not too far away from the shore, but still somewhat isolated - and he nods vaguely towards it before starting out.

At the nudge Raju looks over at Francis, still looking pleased, then falls behind as Francis starts forward. He lifts his foot over the ice, pauses, looking down at it, and then starts forward after him, still looking down at the frozen lake like he's trying to see to the bottom.

"How—" He pauses as his feet skid, catching himself only by virtue of having switched his old shoes out for something scavenged and more suitable, then looks back up at Francis again, deciding not to try so hard to catch up. "How thick is it? This ice?"

Crozier doesn’t reach out when Raju becomes a little unbalanced, wanting to spare his dignity some, but he does walk closer to him. “A few meters. The ice doesn’t crackle or buckle under foot — you can feel that, can’t you? We’re quite safe.”

“Mm.” Raju keeps studying the ice, half to watch his footing and half curiously, not noticing any lost dignity at all. He’s in too good a mood with company that, at this point, knows him too well, and at least he’d caught himself.

If it were anyone else walking beside him maybe he would mind, a little; even after staying upright his walking isn’t easy or graceful. He moves gingerly over the ice like a strong gust of wind would take him down. Maybe it would.

“It must never melt. You cut through all of it first before you fish?”

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