maskormenacelogs

WHO: Tess and Ellie
WHERE: Convenience Store in Heropa
WHEN: To...day........
WHAT: Ellie discovers Tess is here.
WARNINGS: Nah

She’s liking this new freedom.

Never mind that the food still makes her sick and some of it inevitably comes back up within the hour –– it’s delicious and there’s so much variety she’s sure she’ll spend months savoring every bite. Never mind that she’s been holding her assigned job just to keep busy –– having money for doing low-effort, low-risk work is a kind of freedom she was never afforded before without putting her neck on the line. Never mind that there’s still an ache in her shoulder and chest from debridement and bullet wounds, an ache so bad she can’t lay on her stomach for the pain –– she’s alive.

It used to be that when she wanted something, she had to plan how to get it. She had to find something to barter, and if necessary, hire someone to fetch it for her. If she could get it herself, it would probably take a trek through multiple zones, and even then it would cost her, as everything did.

Now she can pull out her wallet, fork over a five dollar bill, and walk out with a hot dog and a coke and a chocolate bar, all fresh.

That’s a special kind of freedom.

So there she is, at the cash register at the convenience store up the street from her apartment, back to the door.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

One days when Jesse doesn't give her a ride home from school and Joel isn't home, Ellie takes advantage of the lack of supervision to buy way too much junk food. It's a weekly tradition now, heading to the nearby convenience store and picking up a few dollars worth of random snacks. She likes sugary over salty, but not too sweet or else her stomach starts to hurt. Sour things hurt the roof of her mouth but she likes those, too. And although she prefers sugar over salt, she can't say no to making sure a new flavor of potato chip is in her arms before leaving the store.

She enters the store with a game plan in mind, but it all goes out the window when she sees a display for donut holes. She's had donuts. What the fuck are donut holes?

"The hell," she mutters under her breath while picking up the package and inspecting the frosted balls beneath the crunchy plastic. "Self explanatory, I guess..."

Ellie's oblivious to anyone else nearby.

Tess gets her items rung up, and while the obviously-new pizza-faced teenager working the register struggles to remember the different price codes for the hot dogs, she idly looks over her shoulder to see who came in. (Old habits die hard and she likes to know exactly who is in a room with her, and all.) She's surprised yet not totally taken aback when she sees it's Ellie.

She'd found out Joel and Ellie were here, but now it's confirmed.

Carefully keeping her back to Ellie, she stays calm and fishes out her wallet to pay. If she plays it as cool as she usually does, Ellie won't even realize she's there.

In her peripheral, Ellie does note that there's someone at the register. She pays them no mind, vaguely registering that it's a woman, as she keeps the donut holes in one hand and wanders to the end cap of a nearby aisle. She grabs a box of chocolate covered raisins and gives it a shake.

Hmm. Raisins are alright, but covered in chocolate they might be something amazing.

Tess hands over the cash and looks over her shoulder again to watch.

Definitely Ellie, and she's looking well-fed and healthy, too. She certainly didn't see anyone else come in, but even so, she casts a glance around just in case Joel is lurking somewhere, but no, it's just Ellie. Her arm is covered by a sleeve, so it's impossible to tell anything. Hasn't Joel taken her out West? Are they still looking into it now?

Being well-fed is fucking amazing. Life in the military school was cushier than what most people lived, but having so much within arm's reach was something else. She's dined like a king every. Single. Day.

Had she made herself sick more times than she could count? Yes, but it was always worth it. She could afford to empty to stomach and fill it up all over again.

She lazily strolls down an aisle.

There's no way to tell without asking, but a great part of her isn't ready to face the music yet.

Instead, Tess accepts her change and doesn't even put it in her wallet, she just drops it and her wallet into her purse, picks up her food and walks. If she keeps her head high, walks at a reasonable pace and keeps her back to Ellie, there's no reason for any alarm, and she can walk out of there unnoticed as long as she gets past Ellie before she turns around.

So, aware that Ellie is nearing the end of the aisle, Tess makes for the door.

Except you know what else is by the door? Magazines. They've been a source of what's "normal," Ellie thinks, or at the very least a weird source of entertainment. Arms full of treats, Ellie heads over that way, getting closer and closer to the woman also headed in that direction.

God damnit.

Tess resists the urge to look too obviously at Ellie as she draws close, poised to walk right by the girl. She doesn't have a hood to pull up, or sunglasses to pull down, or a had to pull low. All she's got is gutsiness and bravado, and she'll make it work anyway.

Even if Ellie looks at her, recognizes her and calls her out, she's just going to keep walking.

So, eyes ahead of her and chin held high, Tess strides right across Ellie's path towards the door.

Sneaks!

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