vaccination | contact ☣ ❝scorpions are pretty creepy.❞

[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.

[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?

[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.

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

Well, I met this man earlier—gruff, but sort of handsome. I was wondering if he'd found you?

[There's a measured pause, here. Handsome? Uh. Ooookay. She's sure she's talking about Joel, though--how many gruff men would be looking for her in this place?]

We found each other. We're good.

Okay, great. He seemed so stressed out, so I wanted to make sure. Is he your dad?

That's... nice of you. [Weird, having someone contact her to check up on him, but weird things have been happening a lot, lately.]

And--no, he's not my dad. It's a long story.

[Asami doesn't suppose Ellie wants to talk about her long story, and she doesn't want to put that pressure on her either. She nods although Ellie can't see, and there's a bit of a pause, and then in a way she repeats herself:]

I see. Well I'm glad you guys were able to find each other. Not very many people wind up with the company of their friends and families around here.

[Her voice sounds more somber, but it's without a trace of envy or jealousy. She has friends from home around here, and she's had them from the beginning. She considers herself extremely lucky.]

Anyway, let me know if you guys need anything, alright?

[Ellie appreciates it. She's not even sure how to categorize Joel. It's not something she knows the words for.]

I know. I'm lucky he's around.

[In every way possible.

Another pause on this end.]

Hope he didn't freak out on you too much.

Oh, no, not at all. He seemed worried, but... [Well, yeah. That.

Wait hold on.]

—he doesn't freak out on you, does he?

No? Why would he?

[p h e w ok]

For a moment you made it sound like he loses his temper often.

[Whoa, back up lady.]

What, do you think I meant like he--agh, no. I just meant freaked out like worried.

Alright, I'm sorry. [She audibly tries to dismiss the idea, sounding genuinely apologetic.] I was just making sure. He did seem very concerned.

Yeah, well... everything turned out okay.

Good.

[She'll take that as her cue to leave her alone.

A beat.]

Hey, um. Before I let you go, would you mind telling me his name?

[Ellie hesitates, but this lady seems nice enough, if not a little weird.]

Joel.

[excuse you ellie just wait until you see the rest of the circus!!!]

Joel. Alright! Thank you so much, Ellie. Like I said, let me know if you guys need anything.

Yeah, will do. Thanks.

[Is this where she ends the call? Ellie doesn't know phone etiquette, so there's an awkward pause before she figures out how to hang up.]

[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.]

[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.]

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.]

[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.]

Edited (all da edits) 2013-09-12 10:34 (UTC)

[Steph abandons any attempt at making herself a cup of tea, heading straight to Ellie when she hears her.]

C'mere.

[She remembers Ellie nearly flinching from her touch, but she has to make the offer anyway, holding out her arms in case she wants a hug.

She doesn't know what else to do right now.]

contact ☣ ❝scorpions are pretty creepy.❞

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