maskormenacelogs | insert some appropriately depressing song lyric here

Entry tags:

insert some appropriately depressing song lyric here

WHO: Joel & Ellie; Joel & Rick; Joel & Walt; Joel & Abduxel; Joel & Kotetsu; Joel & Jesse; Joel, Ellie & Jesse; Joel & OPEN??
WHERE: Various
WHEN: End of July - through to end of August
WHAT: A clusterfuck?? No idea how to summarise this lmao.
WARNINGS: Swearing, possible violence. Will edit if necessary!

XAVIER SCHOOL FOR IMPORTS ( for rick, walt & kotetsu; closed with one prompt open-ended enough to be OPEN )

→ FOR RICK; closed | backdated to before Ellie's canon update; after this.
[ It's a little after 2pm. Joel has just finished up work for the day around the school: usually he knocks off around 3pm but all the jobs he had planned to do are done. Not a whole lot to do during the school break, with the school being so quiet and mostly empty.

Carl had asked Joel over the network to talk to his dad, survivor to survivor, something Joel wasn't particularly keen to do, still isn't particularly keen to do, but he kind of likes Carl. Grown pretty fond of the kid, actually. And so, he heads up to the third floor, stops outside room 330 and hesitates a moment before rapping on the door with his knuckle. Not too loud, because he knows only too well how much a sudden knock on the door can make a person jump when you come from the kind of worlds Joel and Carl come from. Then he takes a step back, brings his arms up to cross them over his chest and waits.

When, or if, Rick answers the door, he'll see a tall, burly guy standing there, all broad shoulders and scruffy beard and a hard look on his face, dressed in a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and jeans that are dusted with sawdust from working in the workshop. ]

→ FOR KOTETSU; this can also be an OPEN POST, so feel free to tag in! | backdated to before Ellie's canon update
[ Really, trying to install long shelving is a job for two people. So far, Joel has installed the brackets and the frame without a problem; it's the actual shelving itself that's been proving difficult. Or maybe he's just having a shit day, because nothing seems to be going right.

Trying to balance a long and heavy plank of wood along the frame, Joel has a few screws held pinched between his lips, teeth gritted in concentration, a drill in one hand. The plank itself isn't heavy, not to Joel, who has super strength power; it's gravity he's working against here, and he's on a ladder, about to start drilling the top shelf when the plank of wood over balances and goes clattering to the ground with a series of deafening thumps. His dog, Lucy, who's accompanied him today on his odd jobs around the school and is dozing on the floor near the door, bolts upright, startled.

At the same time, Joel swears in angry exasperation: ] Goddammit! Jesus Christ-! [ which comes out loud but somewhat muffled due to the screws he's still got pinched between his lips. ]

→ FOR WALT; closed | current timeline
C'mon, girl. In.

[ Clutching a heavy bag of cement under his arm (which weighs nothing to Joel, thanks to his super strength power) and an old bucket of cementing tools in his other hand, his old jeans and old t-shirt covered in flecks of old paint and cement dust, Joel shoulders the doors to the school open and jerks his head with a brief whistle for Lucy, his dog, to go on in ahead of him.

He wearily follows in after her, a sullen and dreary look on his tired face. He wonders if Ellie will be home. Probably not. She hasn't been home much at all since she disappeared for those few days. He's been trying to keep himself busy around the school, trying to take his mind off it all, but her distance hangs heavier and heavier over him with each passing day. With luck, she's with Jesse. Not that Joel is particularly happy about her preferring to be with Jesse than him, but he at least knows she'll be safe with him.

Lucy suddenly growling pulls Joel out of his morose thoughts and he looks over her a little surprised, then sees what - or rather, who - she's growling at. That Walt guy. Lucy is standing there staring at Walt, teeth bared slightly, a low and menacing growl rumbling in her throat. ]

Lucy. Quit that. [Said in a deep and gruff commanding voice, which has Lucy looking quickly at him with mild guilt, before turning her attention back on Walt. She reluctantly backs down, sitting, but keeps her eyes trained on him.

Meanwhile, Joel glances back to Walt, whom he eyes with expressionless mistrust. ] Sorry 'bout that. She ain't real fond of strangers.

[ He's not really that sorry. ]

OUT IN HEROPA ( for ellie; closed )

→ FOR ELLIE | following directly from this.
[ It's a pretty low-key Italian restaurant: cheap seats, dim lighting, the wood panelling in the old place seeming to sag a little with age. It's a quiet place, though, not crowded or busy, and it's just as well because Joel is pretty on edge.

He's trying not to be. He's trying, for all intents and purposes, to act like everything is normal, everything is fine. Maybe he's been trying too hard: with how distant Ellie has been with him, how much she's been spending time away from home, preferring to hang out with Jesse than spend time with him, Joel feels like Ellie is slowly slipping away from him. It scares the hell out of him. He doesn't know what to do or how to address it, either, other than to desperately hope that if he pretends everything is normal, then everything will return back to normal.

Seated opposite Ellie at the small, cramped booth, Joel forks up a spiel of spaghetti and glances up at Ellie with his eyes. So far, conversation has been stilted and awkward, Joel trying to fill in the silence with scattered attempts at conversation, which is unusual for him. Joel is never one for trying to fill in the silence, usually. ]

So, uh. [ Twirling the spaghetti around and around on his fork, eyes looking back down to his plate. ] What've you been gettin' up to with Jesse? Been hangin' around him a lot lately.

PARK NEAR XAVIER SCHOOL ( for abduxel; can also be OPEN )

N.B. this is also open-ended enough to be OPEN, so feel free to tag in!
[ Something Joel does routinely, every day, is go for a run. It's not for leisurely exercise so much as to stay fit - he knows how fast and sudden things can go to shit in a civilised society, and the quickest way to wind up dead is not being able to outrun danger.

He's in grey sweatpants, a ratty dark blue t-shirt and sneakers, and running alongside him is his dog, Lucy. Seems Lucy has been keeping him company more than Ellie has been lately. Joel feels like he barely sees Ellie anymore, with how much she's not home. He's caught between desperately wanting to bridge the growing rift between them and wanting to keep himself busy in effort to not think about why this growing rift is happening.

He's run nearly five miles. As he approaches the park, he slows to a stumbling stop and leans over to brace his hands on his knees, breathing hard, a coppery taste of breathlessness in his mouth and sweat dripping off his face. His shirt clings damply to his back and chest, and there are dark pit stains under his arms.

Seeing Lucy go bounding off into the park with a loud and excitable bark, Joel looks up quickly from where he's hunched over. Damn dog has a real thing for chasing pigeons and squirrels, and there are a whole flock of pigeons just up ahead, squabbling about near a park bench fighting over leftover crumbs and food someone had left behind from lunch, but there's a person just nearby that Lucy seems to be heading straight for. Christ almighty. She's a friendly dog and all but she can be real damn intimidating, especially around strangers.

Joel straightens up and immediately launches into a run, exhausted as he is, and calls out a breathlessly annoyed: ]

Lucy, goddammit!

BEACH HOUSE IN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION ( for ellie & jesse )

→ FOR ELLIE & JESSE (closed)
[ Joel slides a cup of strong coffee across the kitchen counter to Jesse (even though caffeine likely has no effect on Jesse) while taking a sip of coffee from his own mug. It's pretty damn early; not even seven o'clock in the morning yet. Just before six, while the morning was still pale, Joel had shaken Jesse rudely awake and told him to get his ass downstairs, help him finish getting things ready for Ellie's birthday. Right now, Joel is frying up a large batch of pancakes, one of Ellie's favourites; he turns back to the skillet and flips one of the pancakes over with the spatula as he sets his coffee down next to the plate of pancakes he's already cooked.

At the back of the beach house is a large room with French doors that open up onto a large porch overlooking the ocean. Balloons and birthday paraphernalia has been strung up along the rafters, and in the middle of the room is a huge square shaped thing that is covered with a large sheet. Ellie's birthday present, which Joel and Jesse have been working on all week, flat-packed and stowed in the back of the large van Joel had rented to drive them to the beach house and put together in the middle of the night with the use of wrenches and a lot of quietly muttered and sometimes hissed orders from Joel to Jesse.

The whole time, Joel has been particularly preoccupied. Moody, not very talkative, silently troubled by something, and it isn't just because preparing a surprise birthday for Ellie is reminding him of the times he would arrange and set up birthday parties for Sarah. Ellie being so distant with him: it's been eating away at him more and more with each passing day. He's been snappier at Jesse since they arrived at the beach house, impatient with him, getting easily pissed off with him, but refusing to say what's really on his mind. ]

She's gonna be up real soon. [ Glancing over his shoulder at Jesse and what he's doing as last minute preparation before Ellie wakes up. ] How're you goin' over there with all that?

→ FOR JESSE (closed)
[ It's late now, well past midnight. Out on the porch overlooking the ocean, Joel is slouched on one of the padded deck chairs, a bottle of beer clutched on his thigh and his other elbow propped on the armrest with his head propped against his hand. It's a warm and clear night; the bright almost full moon shimmers a dim, milky light down on the dark water. It's supposed to be peaceful, and it is, but… For some reason, his mind keeps wandering to thoughts about back home, about travelling across America with Ellie in search of the Fireflies.

Joel clears his throat quietly, lifts his beer to his lips for a quick sip, and heaves a long sigh as he sets the bottle back down on his thigh. God, he's tired. So goddamn tired. ]

Sound of the ocean out there reminds me of… me and Ellie. Windin' up washed up on a riverbank, in Pittsburgh. [ Washed up isn't quite accurate but he doesn't want to talk about Henry and Sam. ] It was the middle of the night. Bunch of Hunters were tryin' to kill us. We wound up on this collapsed bridge, had no choice but to jump off into the river.

[ He pauses and looks like he wants to say more, then just gives a small shake of his head as he lifts his beer back to his mouth for another sip. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Joel wants to believe Jesse. Everything he's doing doesn't seem like enough, though, not with the way Ellie seems to be slowly slipping away from him more and more with each passing day. It's almost like the more he tries, the more distant she's becoming.

He doesn't know how to say any of that, however, and so says after another short pause: ]

She's been spendin' a lotta time with you lately.

[ Stating the obvious, but. It's possibly a precursor statement to what he wants to ask. ]

[Jesse's not sure what to say to that, either.]

I guess.

[ Thumbnail still picking at the beer label. He can't quite bring himself to look at Jesse. ]

She said anything to you?

There a reason you're asking me and not her?

[ With an uncomfortable sigh, Joel looks away from Jesse. ]

She don't seem real keen on talkin' about much lately.

[ Which is hugely ironic coming from Joel. ]

She's working through some stuff. She'll talk when she's ready.

[Jesse's been encouraging that much, at least.]

[ Stuff like what? Joel wants to ask. He presses his lips together into a thin line instead. He's not sure he wants to know the answer to that question. She'll talk when she's ready is more than ominous enough. Lifting his beer to his mouth, he downs the last of it in a large gulp and leans forward to set the empty bottle down on the small table in front of them.

Bracing both hands on the armrests, Joel pushes himself to his feet. ]

Gonna go for a walk. [ To clear his mind. And because he can't stand sitting still any longer, even with a few beers in him. He starts towards the steps that lead down towards the beach, then hesitates when he reaches them and glances back at Jesse. ] You comin' or stayin'?

[Like hell he wants to sit here and worry about Joel all night. Ellie's asleep. She'll be alright if they take off for a little while. Jesse gets to his feet, setting aside his own nearly untouched beer.]

Coming.

[ Joel leads the way down towards the beach. It's dark but the brightness of the moon provides just enough light for him to see where he's going. He doesn't say anything for a short while, just stares down towards the sand as he slowly walks, sometimes glancing out towards the water. While thoughts about Ellie churn over and over in his mind, he finds himself starting to think about Jackson, which leads his thoughts onto Tommy. He pushes his hands deep into his jeans pockets. ]

I ever tell you 'bout the time me and my little brother rented a couple of Harleys and rode cross country?

[ Of course he knows he hasn't ever told Jesse about that. Just trying to think of something to say, anything to say, to try and take his mind off Ellie. ]

Seriously?

[Maybe it shouldn't surprise him so much. It's the kind of thing Jesse would like to do someday, and from everything they've talked about when it comes to the past, it sounds like Joel was a lot like him back then.]

How awesome was it?

Yeah, it was pretty good.

[ He glances over his shoulder just as a matter of habit, something he always does when he's out in the open. He can never help feeling exposed and cautious of danger outside. There's nothing there, of course, and he returns his attention ahead of him again. ]

Tommy, my brother - it was all he wanted to do for his twenty-first. Just me and him on the road.

[Jesse glances back at the same time Joel does. He's developed the same habit, though in response to a different kind of danger. And there is nothing out there, after all, so he raises his eyes to Joel again.]

Did you guys do Route 66? You woulda gone right by my house.

Heh. Yeah, we passed through Albuquerque. Spent a night there in some cheap motel.

[ Goddamn weird to think he and Jesse could have crossed paths back then, same age and everything. Of course, they're probably from entirely different worlds, for all Joel knows, but still. ]

Headed on through Arizona to Las Vegas, spent a few nights hittin' the casinos and gettin' drunk. Then rode on back home again.

Man, that's wild.

[Jesse has to wonder about that, too. There's nothing from his timeline that would prove they aren't from the same world. Of course, he'd rather be sure his whole planet isn't going to go to shit in a couple years, but... There's something about the idea that he might have seen Joel before, someplace other than here, and neither of them having any clue they'd encounter each other again like this.

He laughs to himself and kicks at the sand.]

You guys didn't feel like hitting up L.A.?

[ A shake of his head. ]

Never been a fan of the city. Tommy neither. And, heh, yeah, wild is about right, 'specially once we hit Las Vegas. Tommy was a real party animal back in them days.

Be honest. You guys blew all your cash in Vegas.

Somethin' like that. [ Most of the money they'd saved for the trip, anyway. ] Got dragged into a few nightclubs, too, and... other stuff.

Don't tell me you got stuck up at a girl ranch. They do it on purpose, you know. They can smell the tourists. Put you on a party bus and suddenly it's three days later, your dick's sore, and you don't have enough cash left for a goddamn taxi.

[ That gets a small snort out of Joel. ]

Speakin' from experience there, huh?

[Mumbled as he rubs the back of his neck:]

...Maybe.

[ Another small snort and a small shake of his head. ]

Look, I ain't judgin'. I could give two shits about what you got up to back in your day. Ain't nothin' compared to the shit I've seen. And done.

I don't feel bad about it. Mostly just stupid.

[ A conceding shrug. Fair enough. ]

Sounds like you were a pretty wild kid.

You didn't figure that out already?

Heh. 'Course I've figured that out. Kinda figured that out when I first met you. The whole meth empire thing and how much of a mouthy little shit you are kinda clued me in.

[ That almost sounds affectionate, Joel. ]

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