The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Varric]

"Well... not a lady at the moment, are you?" he asks with a smile, watching Carol carefully. "Wanna- dog, I will put you in a tree- learn?"

[Carver Amell]

"Yes," she whispers, moving to scoop up the puppy and cradle him close. 

[Varric]

Hunter still wants that rabbit but he's happy enough to be distracted by cuddles and Carol's sweat-salt neck. Shaking his head, Varric moves on. "Right. I'm no expert, but if you use a ranged weapon, only makes sense to learn how to skin and dress your basics- game bird, rabbit and wolf. Got your belt knife on you? Just going to demonstrate for now, but I'll go over proper grips for it too."

[Carver Amell]

Her eyes widen slightly. He's going to let me try? Not just show me, but let me do it? "Y-yes sir!" she chirps, putting the pup down to take her knife off her belt. 

[Varric]

Five minutes later, Hunter is sulking on a lead tired to a tree nearby and Varric has gutted the rabbit. As he explains why he did what he did how he did it, he glances at the young woman. "Alright, good. Now, you can use most of the guts and offal for things, but not many are easy to do while traveling. Doubt any of us know how either- Marian has some skill at cooking, but not rough cooking. And New Girl is elven, so like as not, she doesn't known much about cooking meat. So best use?" He flicks his eyes at Hunter. "Some here, some for... Little Shine. Liver is great, heart and lungs are fine. Intestines, bladder, gall and anything you aren't sure about can be tricky, so best to just bury that."

[Carver Amell]

Carol nods, still quite silent. It's an odd silence -- it's not the sullen refusal to be present she normally gives him, but a rapt, wide-eyed attention. She hangs on his every word; he can almost see her file them away, making sure she's understood. She doesn't ask questions; she doesn't dare. But she gives him, unasked for, all her attention and every scrap of intelligence she has. 

[Varric]

She's never had a mentor or role model or... anyone really. A sister, but that can't be the same, not at the same age. Ja-Ja, but that's a very different thing, even if he wasn't an evil piece of shite. Need to talk with Shiny about this. "Alright. You want to pay off the furry one's patience with the heart and then give the other back leg a shot?"

[Carver Amell]

"Yes, sir!" she chirps, and reaches forward, scooping up the heart like it's nothing, just a bit of treat for Hunter. It's fascinating, really, to see how things are on the inside of animals, to guess what her own organs must look like. Her textbooks were... sparse on details, trying to spare her 'delicate' constitution from images of what these things looked like. 

She moves to the dog, holding the treat high. "Sit," she commands, in as firm a voice as she can muster. 

[Varric]

Hunter spins in a circle, trips on the lead and sprawls across the ground. In a heartbeat, he's up and panting, tail wagging furiously as he strains to get to his person. Before she can repeat the command, he suddenly stills, staring at her. Then plops his butt on the ground and barks twice.

"Your dog is weird," Varric comments, laughter in his voice. "Like he's working on a delayed fuse. Cute though."

[Carver Amell]

"Hunter is perfect," she says, with a lopsided smile. I know how you feel, dog. "Good boy." 

She crouches, offering him the treat -- making him take it from her hand, instead of tossing it on the ground. Please love me -- please be the one who does, who won't betray me or leave me. Please just love me.

[Tethras Clan]

Hunter neatly takes the offered treat with joy, clearly enjoying the treat. Then even more joyfully nuzzles her throat and shoulder, just so very glad to be able to reach her after being so cruelly parted for an entire ten minutes. My person! Love love love mine! My person! Happy! Play! Mine! Hunter's person! I'm Hunter! My person!

[Carver Amell]

By the time Carol returns, her stew is cold, of course. But she feels better. More content, more alert, more... balanced. Further from the edge, as Varric would say if she expressed any of this to him. 

And more determined to speak to Merrill. "Hey," she says, as she gets close. 

[Merrill]

The elf is exactly where he left her, even down to still holding the bowl of stew. She tenses a little when Carol speaks, head lowering over her bowl. "Hello," she whispers a few seconds too late to be normal or polite.

[Carver Amell]

"Not hungry?" asks Carol, glancing at the stew as she resumes her spot. 

[Merrill]

She's eaten about half it- most of the vegetables, some of the rice and a few bits of the meat. But given her malnourished state, she should have devoured the whole thing by now... "N-nosir, this is very nice. Thank youssir," she mumbles rapidly.