contact ☣ ❝scorpions are pretty creepy.❞

[vaccination]

video ☣ audio ☣ text ☣ action

Comments

audio

[chittybang]

[She purposefully waited to give Ellie a couple days to adjust before trying to get in touch with her. Thankfully, her name was easy to remember to this point. She shares the name of an old roommate.

Hopefully it's okay to reach her now. She'll just have to see.]

Heeey, Ellie. You don't know me... my name is Asami, I'm another Transport around here. I was hoping you could get back to me; I just have something to ask you.

Anyway, enjoy your day, and I hope to hear from you soon.

audio, some hours later

[vaccination]

[Okay, whoa. This thing is saying she has a message? How the fuck--

Oh. Okay. Simple enough. She'll just... hesitantly call her back or whatever.]

Uh, hello?

audio

[chittybang]

[Either Ellie would or wouldn't call her back. As much as she hopes she does, Asami isn't too embarrassed either way while she minds other things throughout the few hours after her call. Her response comes as a pleasant surprise to her.]

Hi, Ellie! I'm so glad you called me back. I know it must've been weird to be called out of the blue by a stranger like that.

audio

[vaccination]

Yeah, no kidding. What did you have to ask me?

text

[controlledvariable]

[After seeing, well, that hot mess Steph can't help but contact Ellie. She sends a text, rather than trying to get through to her, so that Ellie can get back to her in her own time.]

hey, kiddo.

i don't know what's going on, but i'm here if you need anything, okay? even it's just company, i promise i can keep my mouth shut if you don't want someone babbling at you.

call me or text me or even just come over if you want.

everything's gonna be okay.

[She's pretty sure something is up, she just has to figure out what.]

text

[vaccination]

[It's a good idea. Ellie spends some time doing some not-so-nice things before she even bothers looking at the tablet she threw across the room. Once the rage subsides, she feels... too much. Hurt, sad, confused, scared. She wants to believe with all her heart that Joel wouldn't just abandon her (and Tess) like this, that she's more than some nuisance to him, but...

Why would he act like that?]

coming over

[She doesn't want to be in their apartment right now, but she doesn't trust herself to be smart out there looking for Joel. Not right now when her vision keeps going blurry.]

text → action

[controlledvariable]

i'll be here

[And she is, the door is even open, Steph waiting in the kitchen as the kettle boils because she needed to do something with her hands, instead of just making constant calls to her Ellie.

Something's not right, and she needs to figure it out, but right now the priority is being here for this Ellie when she turns up.]

[vaccination]

[She feels sick. She always feels sick when her emotions are high. The churning thoughts in her head just seem to make her stomach churn as well, and she forces herself to walk at a brisk pace to Steph's apartment and not think about barfing on her jeans. She wonders which direction Joel walked off in. Where the hell could he go? He wouldn't go into the Outlands without his gear. That was stupid. All of this was stupid.

Maybe Tess could reach him. Who knows.

She steps into the apartment quietly, dropping her pack by the door with a thud to announce her arrival.]

--hey.

[She doesn't look like a girl who just was ditched by her only constant, but she feels like one.]

text

[gevurah]

Hey it's Kate.
Wanted to check in

[ Because according to Ellie's reaction, something is amiss with Joel. ]

text

[vaccination]

[It's a good while before Ellie responds. She's talked to Stephanie, and she's talked to Tess. She's not feeling any better, but she's got a hold on her emotions. That's something.]

hey. i'm ok
seems like up and leaving is the cool thing to do here

text

[gevurah]

but not the wisest

text. | november 19

[justgo]

[This is a little before things go to hell and the confrontation with the pro-Initiative forces occurs. Ellie gets a text, and Joel gets a text around the same time, with the same message.

Tess won't reply or say anything past it, but.]

Sorry.

mass text;

[hejhej]

december 4th @ 8 PM in the VR. it's a party.

action; backdated to like the fifth don't even look at me

[controlledvariable]

[They're finally leaving, the news feels like a weight lifted off Steph's chest, because even if she's not there yet, the knowledge of freedom is such a relief.

She hasn't done well in such an enclosed space. No one has, really, but the last few weeks have felt particularly bad, and she's not sure how much longer she'd have been able to stand it. So this is - good, but she knows almost instantly that there's one thing that will have to change, and that's living arrangements.

It's not that she doesn't like living with Ellie or Joel, but she needs to be wth Saul, and she needs to look after Dick, and after two months spent cooped up with Ellie and Joel, mostly she just needs her space. She really, really hopes that Ellie won't take it badly, but she isn't holding her breath on that, all things considered.

So it's with anxiety in the pit of her stomach that she walks into their shared room. It's not like she even keeps much in here anymore, since Ellie asked her to give them space, but there's a few things she should collect before leaving, and it's the best place to have this conversation.

She smiles when she sees Ellie inside, and pushes down the nerves.]

Hey, kiddo, you heard the good news?

i don't even know who you are

[vaccination]

[When Ellie had asked Steph to give them some space, Ellie didn't really think she'd be spending so much time without Joel. He wanted his space a lot, walking around the base like some sort of ghost. He went on missions. He came back. He went to the VR room. If he was here, he was quiet.

It hurt. Joel's method of coping was one that didn't mesh with Ellie's. She wanted to talk. She wanted to be distracted.

Ellie busied herself with Cesare and Lucrezia to fill the void, not wanting to bother Steph, though spending time with the siblings that seemed to love each other so much just left her feeling lonely.

The only thing that had her brimming with energy was this good news.]

What, that we're getting off this fucking rock? You bet!

[She's already packing her bags. It's amazing how much stuff she's accumulated here on the moon.]

thank

[controlledvariable]

[If nothing else, Ellie's excitement draws a laugh from Steph.]

And here was I hoping I'd get to see the look on your face when I told you.

[Maybe that would've softened the blow.]

Permavid

[governorkang]

I have a present for you, Ellie.

Permavid

[vaccination]

[This she was not expecting.]

A present? For me? What is it?

Re: Permavid

[governorkang]

You'll have to open it and see.

[He holds up something wrapped in worn leather.]

[ voice ]

[hostage]

Hey, so... It's Jesse. Just wanted to let you know I'm back and, um... I'm sorry.

[ voice ]

[vaccination]

[Jesse being gone had sucked, but Ellie reasoned that at least he didn't have to deal with Sonya and the people she turned against him. So, she did what she always does when the people she likes go away--she moved on. Life continued. But it all comes rushing back when Ellie gets this message.

This almost makes up for Tess showing up with no apparent memory of her betrayal and the mutiny on the moonbase. If Ellie takes long to reply, it's only because she has a hard time fathoming anything good happening so soon.]

Holy fuck. Jesse! Are you--are you okay? Oh, man. I thought I'd never hear from you again. Ohmygod.

[hostage]

[His voice is quavery, but that could be exhaustion as much as anything else.]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm doing a lot better.

voice;

[vaccination]

Always. [Joel, please. She's fourteen, not four.]

Where you goin'?