Belle distracted herself from the worst day she'd had yet by setting up her tent. Finally, after that was completed, she could go & wash off with not a chance of stupid coincidental shit stopping her from doing so. Once more grabbing up her fresh clothes, soap & rags, she trotted off down the trail to where they'd found Karlach.
Thank god they'd found the tiefling woman; Belle wouldn't have known where to look afterward had she not been there. They may have run across her later at some point, but the big red woman was an asset they couldn't do without, in her humble opinion.
Putting her things aside, she stripped off her outerwear, peeled off the boots & waded into the water up to her knees. Fuck she couldn't wait until she could bathe in hot water, this was getting old, quickly!
Scrubbing herself thoroughly, she untied the knot on her wrist to check the wound. It had clotted, looked a bit red with inflammation but otherwise no sign of infection. Flexing her wrist, it felt tender, but that was normal.
Drying off as much as possible before heading out of the water, she slipped on the fresh, no-colour cotton shirt. Peering at the ground, she stood on some rocks instead of simply stepping out onto the mud, not wanting to smear mud down the insides of her fresh change of pants. Balancing precariously, she managed it, silently cheering her own efforts. It was the small things, honestly.
Stamping the boots back on, she headed back up the trail where she could smell cooking food wafting back down to her. Was she hungry yet or not? Hurrying along, she crested the rise, & saw Gale & Gus cooking side by side. Looked like her night off. Fine by her. She wondered if Shadowheart had any good vintages stashed away, & not just the shit shared out from what they'd all managed to find.
Dumping her gear back in her tent, she went to check. The goth girl was cross-legged once more outside her tent, eyes closed & fingers working over what looked like a rosary. She wondered what sort of prayers one would offer an evil goddess. 'Goddess bless me with forgetting shit' didn't seem like a good choice to her. Maybe these idiot Sharrans needed a dose of ADHD to really understand what that was like.
"Yo" she greeted as she approached.
Shadowheart sighed, cracked an eye open, closed it & resumed her prayers. Belle recognised a dismissal when she saw one.
"You wouldn't happen to have anything sweeter in the alcohol department rattling round your tent, would you?" Just because she was dismissed wasn't an actual reason to leave.
"For the love of … " she slammed down her beads & glared at Belle.
"Do they do anything? Is it like a system where you can contact your goddess directly & she answers straight away? Cause I know of a better system –"
"They're for meditation. I use them to mediate on my goddesses' edicts & teachings, but on also how I can better serve her. It also allows me to calm down, so I don't end up killing camp mates."
"Ohhh, like a zen garden. Gotcha." The threat floated right on by the goalkeeper.
"Whatever. And no, I haven't found anything sweeter than sawdust out in the middle of nowhere."
"Bugger. Is there anything sweeter than the piss we've been swilling? In the Sword Coast, I mean?"
"There's several, actually." She held up her hand & ticked some off. "Golden Sands Brews; Highwater Ale; Luiren's Best & Belbuck to name a few. Like the sweeter ones, do you?"
"I do. You guys got cocktails here?"
Shadowheart looked intrigued but shook her head.
"OMG when we get to Baldur's Gate, you, me Lae'zel & Karlach are gonna have a girlie night in while the boys can go bugger off somewhere. I'll teach you how; it's gonna be the best night!" she squealed in excitement at something to look forward to.
The light caught Shadowhearts' face just right, & Belle might have seen it hike into something other than resting bitch face.
"I – I don't think I've ever had a 'girlie night' before. It doesn't sound half bad. Could we leave the gith out of it though?"
"No. Can you imagine a drunk Lae'zel? That would be worth ignoring wanting to kill her for!"
The cleric considered it without committing.
"Anyways, I think I'm going for an early one. I'm fucked!" she toodle-ooed Shadowheart, who half raised her hand before she caught herself, dropping it like a hot stone once she realised what she'd gone to do.
"Belle, come here a moment" Gus called her over to the fire, looking like he was dishing up sausages onto a plate. He handed it to her as she sat beside him, but she refused.
"I'm sick of sausages, no offense dad."
"You need to keep your strength up, hun. I bet this is a lot more activity you're doing now than you were used to back home."
"Well, yeah, but I'm not a big fan of fatty beef products anyway. Makes me queasy. You eat it" she shoved the plate back at him.
"I'll have to try to get some more ingredients so I can prepare a more refined menu" Gale commented, from the other side of Gus.
"All good Gale. I just wanna hit the hay; today's been … tough."
"All right sweetie. I want to see you eat brekkie in the morning though, ok?" Gus replied, his tone brooking no argument.
"Yes dad. You're such a worry wart!"
"Someone's got to look out for you. And I suppose the rest of this bunch."
"You're such a dad, dad. At least there's boys here you can go do all those boy things with you tried with me." She laughed. "Remember the time you tried to teach me how to use a shotgun?"
Gus paused, recalling the incident. Mirth lit up his face.
"I remember having to stop you from swinging it around at me whenever I asked you a question."
"I remember you shoving the barrel to the ground when I did."
"What's a shotgun?" Gale asked, intrigued.
"Use your taddie, dad. Show him." She got to her feet, dusting off her backside from the debris on the log.
"You can do that?" he asked, dubiously.
"You can. Used to be a penalty for doing so in early access, but they removed it for the full game. Go on, use that little sucker like a movie projection. Little fucker should earn it's keep, anyways."
"Are you sure there aren't any side effects?" Gale asked her, worry etching his countenance.
"Some humanity, I think. We're all lacking to a degree in that department anyway. Don't say you're not" she pointed a finger at the wizard who had opened his mouth to protest. "I'm senja'si, remember, I know things from your past as well!"
"You're an impossibly well-informed Earthling, not a senja'si." He pouted, subdued by her threat of knowing things about him she shouldn't.
"I'm beginning to like the sound of it. Better than 'fraud', which is what we generally refer to clairvoyants as."
Sounds began to filter down through them all from the path leading up to the toll house. Belle looked up but couldn't see the returning party yet. And she was in no way ready to see Astarion at this point. She didn't know if she ever would be after that morning. Which was sad, because she liked the weird love/hate thing they had going on.
"I'm going to bed. Wake me if anyone's dead" she dived back into her tent, tying up the cords quick smart.
She told herself she was not avoiding him, but of course she was.