closed | as clumsy as you've been

[vaccination]

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.]

Comments

[vaccination]

[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.]

[firefell]

[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.]

[vaccination]

[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.]

[shittybirthday]

[ 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. ]

[firefell]

[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?

[vaccination]

[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.]

[shittybirthday]

[ 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. ]

[firefell]

[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.]

[vaccination]

[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.]

[shittybirthday]

[ 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.

[firefell]

[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?]

[vaccination]

[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.

[shittybirthday]

[ 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. ]