Chapter Text
The ocean is definitely the most beautiful thing Daisy has ever seen. The glittering blue waves crashing against sapphire sea foam in a dazzling cacophony of sound unlike anything the young woman heard anywhere in Ogreton or the rest of Drakkar. A large bluish-gray creature breaks the pattern of the waves. Barnacles like those that appear on Barnabos litter along what seems to be the underside of the animal’s mouth while more natural looking nodules are on the upper lip. Flippers with white edges and more of these nodules crash along the waves. Daisy makes eye contact with the relatively small and dark eyes of the animal as it spouts water from its flat head. She leans dangerously over the ship’s railing to get closer to the magnificent beast she’s never seen before. The animal continues their breaching which gives the mute woman an almost full body picture of what swims before her. A large hand grabs the back of Daisy’s coat before she can fall into the salty depths.
“Everything alright?” The familiar monotone of Jornir rumbles from behind her. The animal’s tail crashes against the water as it fully disappears under the water.
Daisy watches as the creature disappears fully into the depths before responding, “ What was that? ”
The firbolg moves next to Daisy, “The whale?”
“ W-E-Y-L ” The mute woman finger spells in awe, “ W-E-Y-L” She spells the word faster.
“W-E-Y-L?” Jornir confirms with an enthusiastic head nod from Daisy, “Oh, that’s not how it’s spelt,” The druid pauses as his large fingers attempt unfamiliar motions. Despite the time the group spent with Daisy and the other vassals and the fact that they can understand the hand codes, none of the original five can deftly replicate the vassal’s language. Queenie and Skrimm are the best at it, but even then they don’t really know words and can finger spell (despite how bad some *cough couch* Skrimm *cough cough* are at spelling). “Whale, W-H-A-L-E,” Jornir tries to finger spell along with his words.
“ There’s an “h” in whale? That’s stupid, ”
“It is!” Skrimm pulls himself onto the railing next to Daisy, “Jornir doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”
The referenced druid’s eyebrows furrow, “Skrimm. Aren’t you supposed to be in the crow’s nest?”
“Uuuuuuuurgh, don’t make me go back up there,” The goblin wraps his arms around the human, “Don’t let him, Daisy! You don’t know what it's like up there!”
Daisy silently chuckles, “ If you don’t help, you’re going to get thrown overboard, ”
“We’re lucky the captain was willing to let us on if we work,” Jornir glowers from the other side of Daisy. “Do not ruin this opportunity with your laziness,”
“But it’s soooo boring! And it sucks! And you all forget I’m up there!” Despite animatedly flailing his arms everywhere, Skrimm never accidentally hits Daisy. To any outside observer, it would appear that Skrimm was used to talking with his hands and learned to not hit his companions, but not to Jornir or the rest of the group. They all have been carelessly smacked in the face, thighs, knees, gut, and various other body parts by the goblin conman. Daisy gets special treatment whether it's subconscious or purposeful. The firbolg’s harsh expression softens a little. Not enough to let Skrimm get out of topman duties, but he still softens.
“ I have an idea! Wait here for like five minutes! ” Daisy gives Skrimm a quick hug before sprinting down into the hull.
A beat of silence passes between the two men before Jornir leans down and says, “Your face is very red,”
“SHUT IT!”
Down in the kitchen, Barnabos, Queenie, and Taishen are enjoying their own quiet time. The triton is humming a shanty while sprinkling some ancient estuary, the ranger is whittling away at some wood to make more arrows, and the tea shop owner is peacefully brewing tea for the three of them. Normally the trio would be quite chatty and gossipy, but after surviving Drakkar they need the quiet. A calm, peaceful quiet that needs no words to enjoy.
Barnabos looks up from his cooking when the sound footsteps run down the stairs. A brief flash of panic washes over all of their eyes before they trio relax. If anything was actually wrong, there would be more than one set of footsteps. There would be yelling, they would hear Jornir’s low voice reverberating throughout the ship, or Skrimm’s panic screeching. It’s just one set of footsteps running. Nothing to be worried about they all internally justify.
Daisy knocks on the kitchen door and along the doorframe several times before she starts signing, “ Barnabos! ” She has a large smile lighting up her face.
“Yes, young lady,” His shoulders relax at the human’s jovial expression. Queenie squeezes herself into the way of Barnabos’ cooking, so that he can turn his full attention to the mute woman, “D’you need something?”
“ I need a bottle. Something hard, ”
“For you or for Mr. Stabbaskotch?” Large webbed hand ruffles her auburn hair.
Daisy bats his hand away, “ The both of us, ” She averts her pink face away from the older man, “ Mostly him, ” Daisy shyly signs.
Barnabos chortles, “Someone’s forcing him up to the crow’s nest, eh?” He rummages around a crate for a specific bottle, “Ahhh, there’s the little bugger,” The triton flourishes the bottle, “Spider whiskey. Mr. Stabbaskotch had taken quite a liking to this one,”
“Would you like a cup of tea as well?” Taishen offers up his own cup to Daisy.
“ Thank you, ” She sips the tea, “ Don’t worry, I’ll get Skrimm to do his job, ”
Queenie chuckles softly from her place in front of the hearth, “And how do you plan on doing that? Getting him liquored up isn’t helpful for a watchman,”
Daisy finishes the tea, “ I have my ways, ” She hands the teacup back to Taishen, “ If you need me, I’ll be in the crow’s nest! ” She signs one last thing before running back to the deck with Jornir and Skrimm.
“You’re back,” Jornir stares inquisitively at the bottle of whiskey in the human’s hands, “And you have alcohol,”
Skrimm hops off the ship’s railing and makes his way to Daisy, “Oooh! What kind? What kind?”
“ Spider whiskey, ” She reads off, “ I’m told this is a favorite, ” Her once soft features portray a smirk as if challenging the goblin to say otherwise.
The warlock reaches his pilfering hands out to the bottle, “Whiskey of any kind is my favorite,” Skrimm almost has the bottle before Daisy raises it far above his head, “Hey! What gives, Daisy?”
“ You’ll get the whiskey once you’re up in the crow’s nest, ” The human woman tries her damnedest to steal her expression.
“Maybe I need a little persuasion to get me up there first!” The goblin attempts to extend his arms further than physically possible to reach the bottle. Daisy’s response is to raise the whiskey higher and stifle a laugh, “Don’t laugh at your fake husband’s suffering,”
“ I’m not laughing, ” Daisy signs while breaking into a fit of giggles, “ I’ll give you the whiskey, you just have to do your job, ”
“Can you believe this Jornir, betrayed and laughed at by my own fake wife,” Jornir expressionless face doesn’t change, “Women, am I right?” Skrimm nudges the firbolg’s knee. Daisy starts cackling and doubling over after the conman’s last joke. Skrimm has spent more time than he would ever want to admit, but he knows that Daisy is cackling without sound. The mute woman’s gasps and sighs seem deafening given how silent she is, so when she laughs, giggles, or sniggers it all seems the same. Not to Skrimm though. He’s spent way too much time watching Daisy laugh. He knows all the subtle intricacies of each style of laugh. The way Daisy balls up her right hand to hide her giggles, how she uses her left hand to cover a chortle, the way her dark eyes crinkle while she cackles. If Skrimm was a good artist, he could draw every little nook and cranny of Daisy’s face from memory. The exact wrinkles in eyes when she smiles. Which expressions make her dimples visible. The faint scars that match the rest of the group. It almost scares him how much of Daisy he’s committed to memory until her brown eyes meet his red and he forgets all shame.
“Skrimm,” Jornir’s towering firbolg form interrupts the goblin’s longing, “Get in the crow’s nest,”
Daisy wipes a tear away, “ There’ll be booze once you do! ”
“Fine fine,” The goblin groans, “I’m going! Fucking hate this place. Stupid ass crow’s nest. Only job I can do apparently. Barnabos and Queenie get to be with the alcohol all day and what do I get? Forgotten about,” Skrimm grumbles as he deftly climbs the mast.
“The topman should not be impaired,” Jornir’s voice bellows, “I do not think giving him the whiskey is a wise choice,”
“ If I don’t give it to him he’ll never let either of us forget about it, ” Daisy argues, “ And who says he gets the full bottle? ” She starts her climb up the mast once the goblin is halfway up.
Skrimm stumbles into the crow’s nest and proceeds to yell out, “Alright I’m up here! You can send up…” His voice trails off as he notices that Daisy is no longer near Jornir. “Where is she?” He mumbles to himself, but a thump behind him reveals the subject of his thoughts. “DAISY! What are you doing up here?”
“ Making sure you do your job, ” The mute woman takes out her hunting knife and starts going at the cork.
“Oh, you’re gonna get so much cork in the drink. Hand it over,” Grabby little goblin hands snatch the bottle from Daisy. “Now watch an expert,” Skrimm deftly summons the Brutal Blade in all its brimstone and smoke glory. He taps twice at the base then at the neck before Skrimm gives a quick upwards slash and cuts the rim and cork clean off, “How’s that, eh?” Daisy responds with brief applause and a soundless giggle.
Skrimm takes a quick swig before handing the bottle over and asking, “What were you and Jornir talking about? I just saw you call Jornir stupid and wanted to gang up on him,”
“ What do you mean? ” Daisy takes her own swig with a brief flinch before she hands the whiskey back to Skrimm. She keeps her eyes on the ocean that surrounds the boat.
Skrimm abandons his job to stare at the human’s auburn locks, “You said that Jornir said something stupid,” The whiskey’s aftertaste is different the second time. Spider Whiskey tastes like spice and cinnamon, but Skrimm’s mouth is flooded with hints of sweetness and something herbal. He goes to stand next to Daisy and hands the drink back to her.
“ I don’t like his spelling of W-E-Y-L, ” She blindly takes a sip.
Skrimm pauses for a moment before he takes the drink back, “Daisy,”
The aforementioned turns to him, “ Yes? ”
“What the fuck is… that? I don’t even know where to start on pronouncing that,”
Daisy huffs, “ It’s a big animal. There was one swimming along the boat. It shoots water out of it's head, ”
Skrimm puts both of his hands on the taller human’s shoulders, “Do you mean a whale?”
“ That sounds like what Jornir said, ” She takes a swig of whiskey, “ He said it was spelt with an ‘h’, which is stupid. There’s no ‘h’ sound in W-E-Y-L, ”
“You’re learning how to spell from a guy with a silent ‘j’ in his name,” Skrimm snatches the bottle, “Also! You snuck another sip before me!”
“ Sorry, sorry, ” Daisy flippantly signs. Her dark eyes refocus on the waves while Skrimm tries to figure out where the grassy aftertaste is coming from.
A comfortable silence of passing a whiskey back and forth settles over them until a small geyser of water shoots out over the horizon.
“ Is that another W-E-Y-L? ” Daisy leans over the nest’s railing.
Skrimm uses what little strength he has to pull her back, “Whoa whoa, hold on,” The woman stares at him with a wondrous smile, “I mean probably,” A beat, “You should probably make a sign for whale,”
“ I should! Jornir can’t correct my spelling then! ” Daisy watches what little she can see of the mighty humpback’s tail splashing along the ocean waves, “ Any ideas of what it should be? ”
The goblin rests his head on a clawed fists, “Maybe something swimming? Something like this,” Skrimm uses his other hand to do an undulating wave. “Oooh! Oooh! You can do this to make the whale tail!” The undulating hand forms the sign for the letter ‘y’.
“ Like a W-E-Y-L tail and the ‘y’ that SHOULD be in the word, ” Daisy’s face brightens with an idea, “ This arm can be the water! ” She holds one arm parallel to the ground, “ And this can be the W-E-Y-L, ” Daisy replicates Skrimm’s undulating whale tail, “ Or should I say whale? ” She proudly puts both motions together.
“Look at that,” Skrimm leans more into into the hand propping him up, “You made a new sign,”
“ No, ” Suddenly the goblin’s vision includes auburn hair and a weight has rested on his head, “ You helped me. WE made a new sign, ”
Skrimm is no one’s first choice in romantic partners, even amongst other goblins, so he’ll savor this. Daisy resting on him while sharing a bottle of whiskey. It’s crazy to describe something vegetable tasting as ‘addicting’, but Skrimm does feel addicted to the strange new aftertaste. He’s not even watching the ocean. The conman is just soaking up the moment. He and his friends are free, safe, and off Drakkar. Daisy swapping drinks with him in privacy.
There’s not much more he could want. Maybe more whiskey. Maybe.