Whoops! Fern realizes a bit too late that maybe shoving a noodly nerd, no matter how dangerous he can be, isn't a good idea. Helpfully, when Varian moves to sit back up Fern grabs hold of his shoulder to help him right himself. His hand lingers there, even after the other boy is back to sitting normally. It's partly because he likes it there, partly because he's being distracted by processing that response.

"You're serious?" That wasn't actually a joke? Oh, geez, that's a lot to take in. Except... he doesn't do that, because he's more interested in something else.

"Hold up - fight? This Ulf guy likes to fight??" He sounds very, very excited about this. "Why wouldn't I want to fight someone??"