maskormenacelogs | closed | as clumsy as you've been

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closed | as clumsy as you've been

WHO: Ellie, Riley, and Joel. ~~oh god~~
WHERE: Heropa housing.
WHEN: Around the 16th.
WHAT: Ellie is trying to go on as usual.
WARNINGS: Uhhh super spoilers for TLOU if that's your thing.

[This is probably a bad idea, but the invite is out there before Ellie can stop to think about it. Riley meeting Joel. Joel meeting Riley. The two most important people in Ellie's life, but at different times, meeting. She freaked out on Joel pretty badly earlier about Riley, about what she should do, and he didn't really have any advice to give--and that was fine. And fuck, she hasn't even really talked about Joel to Riley at all, because she can't even really explain Joel to herself. All Ellie wants is for everyone to get along and for this nervous churning in her gut to go away. It's been there ever since Riley showed up.

It would probably be a good idea to warn Joel about their incoming guest.]

Joel? [She calls out from the bedroom, not knowing where exactly he is. Maybe he stepped out. That would be the easiest scenario. Show Riley the puppy, show Riley out, put off meeting Joel for... forever.

She's not sure why she's so scared.]

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Yeah? What?

[ Joel is calling back to Ellie from the living room. He sounds pretty aggravated. Goddamn dog, she's pissed on the carpet again, and so Joel is on his knees by the coffee table with a small bucket of vinegar and baking soda, cleaning up the mess with a cloth.

This normally wouldn't aggravate him as much as it has, but between getting back from a drop only the day before and running on little sleep and wondering what the hell to do with Ellie, with how quiet and unlike herself she's been, Joel feels like he's reaching the end of his damn tether today. Worries the hell out of him when Ellie is distant like this. It reminds him too damn much of how things were after winter, and sets him on edge that she's going to start asking questions about things that happened back at home that he doesn't want her asking. ]

[Fffffffuck. Ellie knows that's not a happy Joel. She pokes her head into the living room to see him scrubbing away, and Lucy hiding behind the sofa with her ears back, looking guilty as hell.

Really. Really. The stars aligned and had to make sure Joel was in a bad mood after cleaning up dog pee, right? Just to make Ellie's life easier.]

Ah, crap. Here, I got it, I got it. [She hurries over, moving to try and take the cloth from Joel so that he can go back to standing up and hopefully be a little more receptive to what she's about to announce.] Dumb dog. We got her those stupid pee pad things, she's gotta learn...

[ As Ellie comes over and reaches for the cloth, Joel jerks it away from her irritably and shoots her an equally irritable look. ]

I got it.

[ He turns back down to task at hand and dips the rag in the bucket to rinse it out. ]

What is it, Ellie?

[His attitude gets to her more than it usually would. She opens her mouth to shoot something back at him, but then snaps it shut and opts to shrug. She doesn't have it in her to try and get him to manageable level of grump.]

Nothing. Riley's coming over. Just thought I'd let you know.

[ Thaaat makes Joel stop in his tracks. Hand in bucket, mid-squeeze of the cloth, he casts a glance back up at Ellie. ]

Why?

[That's... uh. Ellie's visibly confused by that question--why? Isn't it obvious?]

I want her to meet you.

[Kind... of...]

[ Ah. And therein lies the kind of awkward thing where he's already, sort of, met her. Only via a phone conversation, but still. Extracting his hand from the bucket, he rests both hands on his thighs, still looking up at Ellie. From the expression creeping onto his irritated face, it's pretty obvious he's not in favour of this development. He'd rather this Riley kid stay the hell away.

And yet... there's a part of him that's curious to actually meet her if only to place a face to the name and to the little shit attitude she's got.

He looks away again with a heavy, put-out sounding sigh. ]

When is she gettin' here?

[Thanks, Joel. Make it seem like a chore. Ellie can't deny that pang of disappointment. She wants him to help her so badly despite knowing he can't.

But he could at least pretend to be nice. Just this once. She could use the support.

Ellie rubs her nose and sighs, quietly.]

She's on her way. A few minutes.

[ A few minutes. Well, perfect. Lifting his hand from his thigh, he reaches back into the bucket. Gonna have to get this done quick-smart, then. ]

Coulda done with a bit more of a heads up.

[She already had half a mind to tell Riley that maybe later is better, and this just makes her think she should have listened to herself.]

I know. Sorry.

[ Joel ignores the apology, just shakes his head slightly to himself as he wrings out the cloth and gives the peed on spot another quick scrub. Up ahead of him, he sees Lucy peek around the couch, ears still back like she knows she's done something she shouldn't have. She gingerly wanders more into view, her tail moving in a sheepishly hopeful wag. Dumb goddamn dog. Joel instantly feels his resolve break a little towards her. She's a difficult dog to stay mad at, that's for sure.

He drops the cloth back into the bucket with a slosh and sits back on his haunches before pushing himself to his feet with a weary grunt. Standing tall, he turns to look at Ellie. ]

Thought you were gonna be keepin' your distance from this girl for a while.

Yeah, well. Apparently my version of a while is pretty short.

[What the hell did he want her to do? Riley wasn't going away. She was her best friend. She couldn't just--]

Look. You don't gotta do much. Just say hi, let her see Lucy, and then I'll take her home.

[Fuck. Ellie doesn't even know how she's going to explain Joel to Riley.]

[ Joel's version of a while is a while. A long while. A month, a year, two years, twenty years, however long necessary to avoid whatever it is he doesn't want to deal with.

He sure hasn't forgotten how upset Ellie had been when she phoned him the other day, and he definitely hasn't forgotten how despondent and unlike herself she'd been that very same night when she stayed with him in the motel in Pennsylvania. All because of this damn Riley kid, and now what's gonna happen when this Riley kid leaves? Is he going to be dealing with Ellie being like that again?

Joel thinks Ellie is pretty damn stupid letting this Riley kid come over if this kid bothers her so much. He gives Ellie a look and then stoops down to snatch up the bucket by its handle. ]

Pretty sure she can make her own way home.

Maybe I don't feel like being a dick today. [It's mostly muttered under her breath, but certainly still audible.]

[ Joel completely ignores that comment. He's right to be pissed about this as far as he's concerned. Christ, he spent the whole damn day worrying about Ellie after she'd phoned him while he was on his way to Pennsylvania, and he's had to live with her being quiet and closed off and not at all like herself ever since. And now he's supposed to just accept that this Riley kid, who frankly seems like a little shit to him, is going to be turning up at any minute to probably only make matters worse?

God, he wishes Ellie would take heed of the things he says sometimes. Good, sound advice, like "keep your distance from this girl". The only thing that's stopping him from outright refusing to allow this Riley kid to come over is the fact that she, for whatever reason, matters to Ellie. He doesn't like it, though. He really doesn't like it. Why the hell has someone from their world gotta turn up like this? Make things unsettled just when he and Ellie were really starting to make life kinda work for them here in this place?

And just then, as he's carrying the bucket towards the laundry to go tip the vinegar and baking soda out in the laundry trough, he hears a knock on the door. Jesus Christ. ]

S'pose that's her, then.

[ He really doesn't sound pleased about this. ]

[She kind of wants to kick him in the leg. It's very rare that she actually feels the urge to shove or inflict physical harm upon Joel, but right now she's so frustrated surely it would make her feel better. Sometimes it feels like he gets her and they're on the same page and that's how things should be--it feels like they've known each other forever and can make good assumptions on what the right thing to say is. But right now, he's not even trying. He's against her, and fuck does it hurt her feelings.

But whatever. No time for that now. None of it makes sense.]

Yeah.

[And she heads to the door.]

[And poor Riley has no idea what she's walking into. She picked out her cleanest shirt, made sure she didn't smell, and after a bit of debating did not bring one of the kittens along with her as a present to Ellie. If she's living with Joel she doesn't particularly want to spring anything on them, as cute as the kittens had been.

No, she's here knocking on the door feeling cautiously optimistic because she has no idea Joel is even going to be a part of her day. She really just thought it'd be time with Ellie and her dog.

Thanks for the heads up, bro.]

[It's startling to see Riley even now, and her being in clean clothing doesn't help matters--even if Ellie is much the same, sporting clothes with vibrant colors and lacking any holes. She's obviously at a loss when she opens the door to greet Riley, so after an awkward moment of opening and closing her mouth, she steps back to let her in.]

Hey. So, uh, Joel's home...

[Sorry, Riley. She was dumb and for some reason thought he'd be nice.]

[ Meanwhile, Joel is in the laundry tipping the contents of the bucket down the drain in the trough. He sets the bucket down on the floor next to it and then gives his hands a quick wash under the tap, and he wipes them dry on his jeans as he heads back out to the living room.

And there's that Riley kid at the door. So, that's Riley, huh? Joel looks right at her but doesn't give any gesture of acknowledging her beyond that. No wave, no greeting, nothing. He actually looks a little awkward, though. Unimpressed and awkward, with his hands bunched into slightly tense fists at his sides.

Down by Ellie's feet, Lucy has scampered to the door, guilt from peeing on the floor forgotten with the way her tail is wagging furiously while she sniffs curiously at Riley's foot. And because Lucy has an extremely annoying shoe obsession, she lets out a yap before snagging the lace of Riley's shoe and tugging it undone with a playful shake of her head. ]

[For a couple of minutes, it's just Ellie and Riley and honestly, Riley is totally fine with that. Yeah it's awkward as fuck, but it could be worse.]

We can always cut out. Go for a walk.

[Because that's definitely something that sounds like a warning more than just offering info, and then yeah, things do get worse. There's Joel, she assumes, because he looks about as friendly as he'd sounded on the phone.

Which is none. None friendly. But at least the dog is there to break some tension.]

What do you think, girl? [Riley bends down, greeting the dog and not Joel. Only Lucy gets her ears scritched while Riley tries to extricate her shoelaces from those pointy puppy teeth.] Are we going for a walk?

[Cutting out is an option, but not before introductions. Riley, this is Joel, my not-really-but-sort-of-father. Joel, this is Riley, my best friend that I got killed and I don't even know what to say to her anymore. Thankfully, Lucy creates a diversion. Good dog, though Ellie scolds her as she helps get those teeth off Riley's laces.]

Lucy, no. Drop it. C'mon. Joel? Can you take her for a second?

[He has better luck with squirmy puppies, since he's so much bigger. Ellie looks at him, almost hopeful. Please don't be a dick right now.]

[ Joel starts forward, heading over to Ellie and the Riley kid, not so much to help Riley but to get Lucy away from her. He doesn't like the idea of Ellie going for a walk with this kid, nor does he like the idea of Ellie sharing something special between Ellie and himself - which Lucy is - with this Riley kid. ]

C'mon, you. [ He mutters this quietly, stooping down to seize Lucy around the middle with one hand while tugging the laces free from her mouth with the other. It takes a minute to make the dog let them go, but then the dog, with her short attention span and endless energy, goes bounding off into the apartment in an excitable scamper.

Joel stands tall again and sets his eyes on the kid. ]

So, you're Riley, huh?

[ He sounds about every bit as impressed as he looks. ]

[After her shoelaces are safe from becoming puppy food, Riley stays down on one knee to tie them back up and try to decide how she wants to deal with this. Joel has made it perfectly clear he doesn't think much of her and she really doesn't have any room in her right this moment to care about him or his opinions, not when things with Ellie are still so raw. There's too much for her to figure out on her own to worry about how to work Joel in too.

That doesn't mean she can't try to make it easier on Ellie, though. It's for Ellie that she gives Joel a quick smile as she straightens up.]

That's me. Nice place.

[See, she can play nice.]

[Ellie feels sweaty. She rubs her nose and tucks back a stray piece of hair behind her ear.]

Getting into introductions without me, jeez. Joel, this is my best friend Riley [is, not was], and Riley, this is Joel. He's... [she can't sum him up so easily and it's obvious. Friend? Guardian? Foster parent? New dad? All of the above?]

He knows Marlene, too. Used to live in Boston. Small world, huh? Multiverse... whatever.

[In retrospect that opens up the possibility of talking about he Fireflies, which she wanted to avoid. Oops.]

Edited 2014-08-27 20:18 (UTC)

[ Joel tries his hardest not to show it, but the unexpectedness of he knows Marlene, too causes Joel to tense up. His jaw tightens and his hands, still balled into fists at his sides, ball into even tighter fists. He shifts uneasily on the spot, cutting a quick glance at Ellie before landing his gaze back on Riley.

Really, he'd rather tell this kid to get the hell outta here, but that could prompt a slew of grilling questions from Ellie. Not something he's willing to risk when the subject of Marlene is mutual issue between all of them here. And so it's because of that, and only that, that he takes a reluctant step back and gives an equally reluctant gesture for Riley to step into the apartment. ]

Might as well come in, I s'pose.

[Luckily for everyone involved, Marlene isn't particularly a topic that Riley wants to get into right now. Sure, she still believes in the Fireflies and she still looks up to Marlene, but it's hard to think about all that right now. She'd decided to abandon them, after all. Is she still a Firefly if she decided not to go where Marlene told her to go?

She doesn't regret tearing off her necklace as a big show to make it clear she was staying with Ellie, but she hadn't ever really gotten to follow through on it. Do decisions like that even matter when you never see them through to the end?

She'll think about that later. Right now, she looks at Ellie and raises an eyebrow. The question there is pretty clear: do we stay or do we go now?]

[Stay. Joel is making an effort, so they stay.]

Yeah, come in. Once you see the kitchen and the living room, the tour is half over.

[ Ugh, Jesus. He'll tolerate this kid for Ellie's sake, seeing she for whatever reason matters to Ellie so much, but Jesus Christ. Lifting his arms to cross over his chest, he watches the kid enter their apartment.

He supposes he'll have to play nice. For Ellie's sake. ]

I s'pose you want a drink or somethin'.

[ It's not a question or even really an offer. Rather, it's said to Riley like she's already putting him out. In his mind, however, he's being tolerant and as polite as he possibly can be to a kid he already can't stand. ]

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