vaccination | contact ☣ ❝Am I ever getting boobs or what?❞

I mean, strictly between you and me. [He glances across at Ellie to make sure she knows just how serious he's being.] It's a risky job, and if I get caught...

[He turns his eyes back on the road. If he gets caught smuggling fifty pounds of meth, it won't end well for him. Just like back in the zone. It would have been the death penalty or near enough to it if he'd ever been caught smuggling contraband.]

If you get caught? [Ellie shifts in her seat. The seatbelt suddenly bothers her.] Jesse said what he did was illegal, but how illegal, exactly? What would happen to you if you got caught doing whatever it is he's having you do? And what is he having you do? Smuggling, yeah, but to where?

[Joel shifts his hands on the steering wheel. Damn it, he probably shouldn't have said anything. On the other hand, he wants Ellie to understand that it's damn important no one knows. He also doesn't want to worry her and so after a moment's thought, he decides to skim on the details.]

...It's very illegal. That's all you need to know.

But, uh, just to let you know, when I start, there're gonna be a few days every week where I won't be around.

[Again, he glances at her. This is the one thing he's not looking forward to: leaving Ellie on her own for a few days at a time.]

[She immediately begins to think that maybe she shouldn't have said anything to Jesse.]

That far, huh?

[Just thinking about leaving Ellie... It makes him nervous.]

...Yeah. Pennsylvania and back. By car. A lotta driving.

[Ellie at least sorta knows east coast geography. Pennsylvania and Florida. Not very close.]

Pretty sure I know the answer to the question I wanna ask.

[Which is whether she can tag along. The way Joel is talking about this, she's sure he'll say no.]

[Yeah, Joel knows what Ellie is going to ask. It pains him to think Ellie can't come with him. He wouldn't want to put Ellie at risk like that, however, even though he knows she can more than hold her own.

Hell, the job doesn't seem to him in any way near dangerous to the kind of work he did back in the zone, but it still comes with a high risk. He had to take her with him in order to get her to the Fireflies. This is something completely different.]

The answer's no, kiddo. Sorry.

[That sucks. Actually, it hurts more than it sucks, but Ellie just lets out a sigh. Just as she figured. There's no point in arguing, though. She knows what he'd say.]

No smuggling any more kids, okay? That's my one condition.

[Being alone again is going to really suck. She'll have to see if moving to their own place is worth it if she's stuck on her own every now and then.

Anyway, the kid comment is a joke.

Mostly.]

Don't worry. My kid smuggling days are long over.

[They're coming up to an exit that leads where Joel is driving them, and so he indicates and pulls over into the far lane to head for the exit ramp. He glances over at Ellie again, though, and then reaches a hand over and gives her leg an affectionate pat as he turns his attention back onto the road.]

Good. 'cause I think the limit is one.

[He doesn't seem too worried, so she won't freak out about this. She smiles at the pat and then remembers something. Technology, duh.]

It won't be that bad. We can call each other now. That's pretty cool.

[Joel just gives her leg a quick reassuring squeeze before bringing his hand back to the steering wheel. His way of silently agreeing that the limit is definitely one.]

You got it. When I'm out on the road, you can call me whenever you want. I'll give you a crash course on how to send text messages, too.

Think it'll be worth it?

[Might as well get his opinion. He probably wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't, but she wants to hear his thoughts.]

[Will it be worth it? Well, that remains to be seen. But at the very least, Ellie and himself will be able to live very comfortably. Looking after her, that's his main concern. He can set her up for life with the money he'll be earning. Maybe that will chase away some of the guilt: proving to her that he can give her a far better life than what she had back at home.]

Well. Guess we'll see. If I ever decide I want out, all I gotta do is say the word.

[As far as Ellie is concerned, he has nothing to prove.]

And how badly did you scare the shit out of Jesse?

I didn't.

[Well, okay, that's kind of a lie.]

Not my problem the kid scares easily.

[Which is... kind of an admission that, yeah okay, he did kind of scare the shit out of Jesse. But Jesse brought that on himself, as far as Joel is concerned.]

... Joel...

[Ellie sighs, running a hand over her face. Embarrassing, but she really can't be surprised.]

Kid's a little punk, if you ask me.

He offered you a job because I asked him to. I think he's nice.

[Alright, well, maybe Joel can silently agree on the part where Jesse did offer him a job, and claimed to have offered it on account of wanting to help them get out of where they're living.

The 'nice' part, though... Well, there was a reason Joel punched him in the face.]

We'll see.

Tough crowd.

[Again, Ellie isn't surprised. She's sure as long as she likes Jesse the guy is safe from Joel. Mostly.]

[Joel doesn't answer her. He drives in silence for a short while, having pulled onto the ramp and now following signs that lead where he's hoping they'll end up. All the while, he's mulling over leaving Ellie on her own for a few days at a time.

Yeah. He may not like Jesse but he's going to have to talk to him about this. He hasn't got much of a choice.

His thoughts become distracted, though, as he spots up ahead exactly where he was hoping they'd end up.]

Well, look at that, kiddo. We're almost there.

[They're approaching the ocean. A beach. The long stretch of water spanning the horizon is blue and sparkling under the bright afternoon sunshine.]

[Ellie's never been to the beach, so she's certainly never taken a trip to the beach. She's never seen blue ocean like that against the sky, so when she realizes what she's looking at, it hits her like a ton of bricks. Holy. Fuck. That is the motherfucking ocean.

It takes her breath away and it's just another swatch of blue against the bigger blue of the sky.]

The ocean?

Sure is.

[He glances over at Ellie and the way she's staring out at the ocean ahead of her is a moment he wishes he could capture forever. Seeing her wide-eyed with awe, seeing that childlike wonder come out in her. Moments like this make him so damn glad he's got her by his side.]

Pretty, ain't it?

It's beautiful. [She doesn't take her eyes off the water, pressed as close to the window as she can be without actually being outside the car. It's like seeing the city outside of the zone for the first time, or those giraffes in Utah. She wonders if the ocean is this pretty still at home. Would it fill her with the same sense of awe?]

I didn't know we were so close.

I didn't either, to be honest. But whaddya know. Here we are.

[He lets Ellie take in the sight of it all as he drives towards the beach. Every now and again, he looks at her, watches the way she's pressed up against the window, gazing out in wonder. And soon, he's pulling up into the curb just beyond where the ground starts to give way to sand.

He kills the engine, opens the door, climbs out. The smell of fresh sea breeze, salty and cleansing, hits his nose and he draws in a deep breath. The sound of the ocean, waves lapping and bubbling at the shore, is almost instantly calming. After he shuts the door and locks it, he strolls around the front of the car to the passenger side and stops by Ellie.]

Take your shoes and socks off and leave 'em in the car.

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