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

[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.

[Ellie's already on it, opening the door while simultaneously undoing her laces and throwing her shoes into the bottom of the passenger's side. She can't move fast enough. Walking around without shoes was a big no-no in the zone, what with there being filth and broken sharp things all over the place, so feeling the asphalt beneath her bare feet is something new.

And...

Hot.]

Ah, shit! That's hot! Hot hot hot!

[Ellie looks like a dancing monkey the way she starts hopping towards the sand.]

Yeah, watch it, kiddo. [He locks the passenger side door, watching in amusement Ellie bouncing off in a hurry over the hot asphalt towards the beach.] Sand might be a little hot, too.

Fuck! You did that on purpose! [It's already burning, but Ellie's laughing so it can't be that bad.] Why are your socks and shoes still on, Joel? C'mon!

[He hesitates, thinking that, yeah, he should have taken his shoes and socks off.]

Alright. Wait for me over by that bit of shade there.

[He points to where a tree is casting a shadow over a small area of asphalt, then unlocks the passenger side door again. He sit down on the seat and leans over to undo his laces; he pulls his boots off, tosses them one after the other in with Ellie's shoes, and strips off his socks. He gets to his feet and is instantly visibly trying not to hop from foot to foot with how hot the asphalt is.]

Damn it, that is hot.

[Even in the shade, the heat burns the bottom of Ellie's feet. Back and forth, back and forth, she alternates which foot she's standing on. As much as she dislikes water, she keeps glancing over at it, impatient.]

Hurry it up, then! C'mon c'mon c'mon! [The fact that water still holds a lot of terrible things like sharks and lots of ways to die is the only thing preventing her from sprinting into the waves. She'll wait for him to go with her.]

[Joel shuts the door and shifts from foot to foot while locking it. And then, he's striding hurriedly towards the sand like he's walking over hot coals. Good damn thing the blisters on his feet from all the travelling they did back home have mostly healed.

He motions for Ellie to come with him. And he was right about the sand: the moment he steps on it, feet moulding into it and sand sinking between his toes, he realises how hot it is. It feels good. Feels amazing, in fact. He can't remember the last time he felt soft sand between his toes or the sea breeze on his face. It takes him back to the vacation he and Sarah took to Florida the year before the outbreak.]

You gonna be alright walkin' on the sand? It's pretty - ah! - hot.

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