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

Spooky.

[Now she'll hurry on ahead, still hopping from foot to foot.]

Man, my feet are caked in sand.

Yeah, they usually got a shower or tap or something to wash off at beaches like these...

[Car keys securely in hand, Joel makes a hurried dash up the sandy incline that reaches the path. The cement is like standing on lava.] Ah! Goddamn it.

[He strides over towards a shaded spot and though the cement is still pretty damn hot here, it's more tolerable. He uses the vantage point to scope out for a shower or tap like he'd said. Not that either of them are strangers by any means to being filthy or covered in grim or dirt, but still.]

Oh. [A point to the left of them. It's just a tap, no shower. The cement is wet and covered in wet sand from other people who have used the tap to wash off at.] Tap there if you wanna give your feet a quick wash.

[To most people, this is easy. For Ellie, she's hesitant, and a little confused. It's almost comical the way she looks at Joel, then the tap, then the car.

Hopping back and forth all the while.]

Do we take our socks and shoes there? Or come back? I don't want to get sandy again or walk on this fucking hot fire they call ground over here either!

Uh.

[Joel likewise glances between the car and the tap. Back home, they'd both just get on with it. Not like they'd have any other choice. Having choices and luxuries like this still seems so damn foreign to him. To Ellie, too, Joel knows.]

You head on over, give your feet a wash. I'll get your socks and shoes outta the car.

[And without hesitation, he steps out from under the shade onto the sun-soaked cement and starts hurrying like he's walking over coals to the car. He steps from foot to foot quickly while keying the car door open.]

Okay!

[Off Ellie goes, hopping over to the tap like some drunk kangaroo. She can't get there fast enough to turn on the tap and stick her feet under, sighing in relief at the feel of cool water against her skin and the sand being washed away.]

[Joel is muttering under his breath. "Damn it" and "shit" and a few other quiet expletives at how hot the cement is. He kind of doesn't mind it, though. It's uncomfortable as hell, with it burning his feet, but the whole situation is so... normal, like a day at a beach that he'd have had with Sarah back before the outbreak, that he doesn't mind it. It's normal, every day things like this he's missed.

With the car door groaning open, he leans in and digs out Ellie's shoes and socks. Grabs his own, too, before walk-hobbling quick as he can towards Ellie. He leaves the car door open to let some of the heat out. Damn hot in the car.

He sets the shoes down on the ground and gratefully steps onto the wet area of sandy cement where the tap is running.]

Heh. Reckon we'll bring flip-flops to the beach next time.

[Joel walking like a weird crab makes Ellie laugh under her breath. Sitting on the nearby ledge, she reaches for her socks and uses the outside of them to scrub some remaining sand off her toes. She can't wait to shower properly.]

Maybe just keep 'em in the car if we're going to be spontaneous like this.

Not a bad idea.

[He waits for Ellie to finish using the tap before he steps over to it and holds one foot, then the other, under the running water. It feels cool and crisp, refreshing. His feet are still in a pretty bad state from years of poor footwear and from months of trekking across country with Ellie in all kinds of terrain, with socks that were often soggy - either with sweat or from having to swim across rivers, flooded roads and tunnels - and ill-fitting shoes. There are healing blisters here and there on his feet, and a few corns on the tops of his toes and on his left heel, as well as old scars.

Once his feet are washed clean of sand, he turns the tap off and takes a seat next to Ellie on the ledge to wipe any sandy residue off before pulling his socks and then his shoes on. He then stands.]

You good?

I'm good. This is pretty cool, hot as fuck sand and deep as fuck body of water aside. [She liked hanging out on the cool sand with Joel, no obligations. No weight on her shoulders. She'll always have the journey to the Fireflies in the back of her mind, but there is literally nothing she can do about it here. It bothers her, but she tries to not become fixated on it.]

Guess we'll have to come down here more often, then, huh? [He starts leading the way back to the car.] Might have to bring you here before sunrise sometime. Ain't nothin' prettier than watching the sun rise over the ocean.

Yup. [Ellie likes the sound of that. There's no thinking necessary, and as she follows along next to him, she gives him a nudge with her elbow.] Did you ever take a girlfriend to the beach? Hmm? Hmmmmm?

[...what? Joel casts a look down at Ellie as much to say, where the hell did that question come from? He looks ahead of him again with a small shake of his head to himself. Honestly.]

Never lived nowhere near the beach.

[That look earns him a laugh. Totally worth asking just for that look.]

No beaches in Texas?

[He has a mind to nudge Ellie right back with his elbow for that laugh of hers. Cheeky damn kid.]

Along the coast. 'Bout a three, maybe four-hour drive from where I lived, though.

Ooh, so no one worth that effort, huh? Who does Joel have to impress? No one.

[She'll just... take a wide step to the side, away from him.]

Alright.

[There it is, that warning tone. The one that says, you're starting to push it. The fact that Ellie has sidestepped him tells him she knows she's pushing it.]

I figured. [Hey, she had to try. Ellie gives him a sheepish smile as she steps back over--no harm done. She knows how he is.]

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