(no subject)

[e_delmar]

Ennis Del Mar's been a stubborn bastard from the day he was born, and he'll be a stubborn old bastard until the day he dies. Maybe longer. Which'd be why, once things'd calmed down with Sallie and all, he went stormin' out of the house, intent on takin' a walk on his own for once.

It's slow going, ain't no doubt about that, and he can't help his foot draggin' a little that way it does when he's gettin' tired.

click, woooosh



click, woooosh



click, wooo-


There's a clinking sound as his foot hits something metal and small, a can. And maybe he can't help smilin', neither, as he picks it up and sets it on a fencepost off in a quiet corner.

Comments

[river_meimei]

Sallie pointed her out the back door and said (visibly exasperated, and worried beneath it) to try out thataway, that Ennis was out walking like a gorram stubborn fool.

River's watching the grass and the sky as much as the figure near the fencepost, but she's drifting unerringly towards Ennis.

[e_delmar]

Ennis ain't payin' attention to much but the metal in his hand and the weight in his pocket and the words in his head.


Could if you had to.


And he sits down nearby under a tree, eyes squinted nearly shut against sun or pain or both.

[river_meimei]

Maybe he'll notice, eventually, the sound of boots rustling through grass, coming towards him.

Or maybe he won't. But if not, he'll probably notice when a shadow falls across his face, blocking the sun, and the soft footsteps stop.

[e_delmar]

Can't really help but notice when a person's standing over you like that, so his face goes up, even if his hands're in his pockets. His eyes go from her to the can and back again.

[river_meimei]

River smiles at him.

Just a little; faintly sad, and maybe shy.

[e_delmar]

"Found a can."


Simple words, all he says, 'cause anything else, ain't words to say.

[river_meimei]

River follows his glance to the can.

It is, indeed, a can. Although River appears to find it an especially fascinating one.

[e_delmar]

"Ain't the same."


Ennis feels the need to point this out, even if it may's well be close enough.

[river_meimei]

River glances at him, confused.

[e_delmar]

"As back home."

[river_meimei]

Her face relaxes.

Seriously, "There's metal."

Polish, says the can in faded letters of spotty red, above half a Blue Sun logo. The rest is torn off.

[e_delmar]

Ennis nods, once, twice, and pulls out from his pocket the Colt .45 he's had for months (years) now.

[river_meimei]

River looks down at his hands, and the object in them.

Her expression doesn't change immediately -- he might be holding a stick, or a second can, or a handful of loose change -- but slowly, very slowly, her focus sharpens.

When she lifts her eyes to Ennis's face, there's a cool consideration in her gaze that wasn't there before.

[e_delmar]

"Always said I couldn't do it."

Can't do it.

Cheater.

Crybaby.



Didn't last long.

[river_meimei]

River watches his face -- mostly; her gaze goes wandering a little, because this is River -- and listens.

[e_delmar]

"He's wrong."


And if Ennis notices he wasn't talkin' in past tence, he don't show it.

[river_meimei]

Soft, "I know it."

River's hardly one to complain about unclear verb tenses and antecedents. And maybe she understands anyway; or maybe she doesn't, but she comprehends what's underneath.

[e_delmar]

Ennis hears her, or may he don't, but either way he nods, and his hands reach down to pick up the gun. They shake -- seems they don't do nothin' but, lately -- and he has to support his right hand with his left, like he's holdin' a rifle or somethin' instead of just a semiautomatic.



But then the shaking's stopped, just for a moment, and there's the ting of metal against metal and that can ain't on the fence no more.

[river_meimei]

And River grins at him as if he's just won a goal or the whole tournament, as if they're dancing together, the kind of quick flash of a grin that makes her whole face light up.

[e_delmar]

Ennis looks pleased, almost like he weren't sure he could do it, but he coughs, and he turns and grins at her.

[river_meimei]

"Told you," River says, smug as the

(you are such a brat)

little sister she is, and she's still grinning at him, happy and proud and a little conspiratorial.

[e_delmar]

"Guess you did."

He's still grinning, and wondering just how long it'd take him to get the can set up, maybe further back.

[river_meimei]

"Always right," she informs him, just as smug and maybe even more impish.

[e_delmar]

He raises an eyebrow, a laughing smile on his face and he nods his head towards the fallen can.

"What I gotta do t'get you t'set that up?"

[river_meimei]

River considers that.

"We'll call it a donation," she informs him cheerfully. "This time."

She takes her time about it -- bending to examine the can, turning it over in her fingers, setting it very carefully in the exact center of the fencepost and then examining it a moment more before she turns to Ennis for approval.