Two men walk into a bar

[shittybirthday]

WHO: Joel + some open starters + some closed starters
WHERE: Various!
WHEN: Throughout May
WHAT: Bar work, confrontations, and some backdated stuff.
WARNINGS: Nothing in particular but will edit if necessary!

▍DIVE BAR JOEL WORKS AT | HEROPA | OPEN

[ Joel has been pulling beers all night, thumping shots of whiskey or bourbon down on the bar in front of customers, wiping out washed beer glasses, cleaning up spills, breaking up a couple of fights by throwing the troublemakers out onto the dimly lit street… and the later the night gets, the more his patience is wearing thin.

Actually, Joel's patience had worn thin hours ago. Some drunk asshole is wailing away off-key to an 80s ballad on the karaoke machine. Some other drunk asshole is rowdily talking at the top of his voice by the pool tables. Some other drunk asshole keeps selecting Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer on the bar jukebox and drunkenly playing air guitar. Not to mention the constant hubbub of noise and people. Joel is a burly, hard-assed, unfriendly-looking guy on a good day, but that's multiplied at least tenfold right now.

(ooc; Irritate Joel at the bar! Start a bar fight! Maybe your character is the asshole singing karaoke! Or keeps selecting Bon Jovi! Have at!) ]

▍BAR CLOSING TIME | HEROPA | OPEN

[ At 3AM on the dot, Joel throws everyone out. No ifs, no buts, no exceptions. No fucking patience. He shuts the front door firmly and locks it, heaving a weary, disgruntled sigh of relief. Christ, time to head home. Thank Christ he isn't on closing shift every night or he'd go insane.

After he does a quick final round of turning up all the stools, gathering together leftover dirty glasses to be stashed in the dishwasher and does a quick sweep of the floor, he shuts off all the lights, checks he's got his keys, and heads for the back entrance that leads out onto a dark back alley. The hinges squeak as he pulls the door shut behind him, and he mutters in irritation to himself at the door stubbornly refusing to lock on the first go. Old, rundown place needs goddamn maintenance, h thinks to himself. Something he'll get onto during the week.

Pocketing his keys, he turns to start towards his car - and comes to a quick stop at someone approaching him in the dark alley. Probably some drunk asshole. Joel heaves a sigh of impatience. ]

What d'you want? Bar's closed.

▍KOTETSU | SLICE TO MEET YOU, NONAH | CLOSED

[ How he got roped into this, Joel has no goddamn clue, but he's seated at one of the table in Slice To Meet You with his arms crossed defensively across his chest and a flat, aggravated death stare on his face. He's made no particular effort to dress up for the occasion, either: just jeans, a flannel shirt and boots.

It's bad enough that this place is swarming with noise and people and activity, but those goddamn animatronic things up on the stage and the distorted, slowed-down music coming from those creepy things…

Yeah, well. This so-called "date" had better hurry the hell up because Joel is about five seconds away from getting up from the table and getting the hell outta here. ]

▍CARL | XAVIER'S, HEROPA | CLOSED

[ A number of hours have passed, enough time that Jesse is finally, slowly on the mend. Enough time that Joel can leave Jesse's side without worrying out of his mind.

He's got a bit of a clearer idea of what the hell had been going through Carl's mind based on what Jesse had told him. Joel wants to hear it from Carl, though. Wants to find out exactly what the hell happened. And though he's got a better idea of what Carl had been thinking, Joel can't help being mad as hell at him. That survivor instinct of fiercely looking out for his own.

He teleports to Xavier's from the beach house; he notices, as he heads through the lobby, that the blood has been cleaned up. The whole goddamn school makes him uneasy from all the memories of Ellie this place holds, and even more so now after what happened here earlier. Joel forcibly pushes it all to the back of his mind, though, as he takes the stairs up to Rick and Carl's floor.

When he reaches their apartment, Joel pounds on the door. ]

▍JESSE | CAMPING IN THE WOODS, NORTH CAROLINA | CLOSED

[ They arrived here mid-afternoon. Joel had busied himself with setting up the camp, getting the fire pit going, organising food for dinner. Normally, once Joel is out in nature, away from people and noise, he starts to relax, especially around Jesse. Not so much this time. Joel has been mostly quiet, preoccupied.

It's evening now, the last rays of the sun long gone. Joel is crouched in front of the campfire, stirring up the embers with a stick, occasionally nudging the thick pieces of wood the fire is licking around to get some more air flowing through it, to get the fire roaring. The whole point of coming out here was to try and put what had happened behind them, just keep moving on as normal, but to Joel's irritation, his mind keeps wandering back over it all. He's been trying to block out the memory of Jesse bleeding out, trying to make himself stay focused on the fact that Jesse is fine now. It's all past them now. Except there's really a lot more bothering him on top of that.

Without really being aware of it, he heaves a deep, irritated sigh as he pushes himself to his feet. ]

Guess I'll get started on dinner. Brought some meat and… other stuff.

[ Probably the longest sentence Joel has spoken to Jesse since they arrived here. ]

Comments

[112ounces]

I will.

[ He doesn't hesitate what he says next: ]

Thank you. For listening. You are the only one who ever did.

[ Dad was understanding, but he couldn't understand how deep the betrayal was to Carl. Everyone else dismissed his feelings, or told him Dad never really died. ]

[shittybirthday]

[ Maybe it's only because he himself is so close to Jesse yet also feels an instinctive protectiveness towards Carl that he's able to appreciate the magnitude of all of this. And maybe it's also because he can't help thinking how Ellie would've reacted in this same situation. Whatever the reason, he gets it.

Joel almost, for a second, goes to give Carl a quick manly hug, but he stops short at just patting the kid on the arm instead. ]

Look, I'm gonna talk to Jesse 'bout all this, okay? But you gotta promise me that you don't go doin' what you did again. I get you're angry but your dad needs you. The last thing he's gonna want on top of everything else is his kid bein' in jail.

[112ounces]

[ Carl is not certain if he even wants to promise that. He still wants Jesse to pay for what he did. It's not enough for Carl that he gets to survive the attack and Dad didn't, even if he suffered multiple stab wounds. But he values Joel's friendship even more, so it's clear on Carl's face that he's torn. But several seconds later, he nods. ]

Okay.

[ He doesn't regret stabbing Jesse. But he does regret the horror he caused in Dad, and doesn't want to repeat it. ]

I won't.

[shittybirthday]

[ Joel is looking down at him like, don't make me repeat myself. He can see the kid is torn, and he get it, but nothing good is going to come of him doing this again. So, when Carl finally agrees, Joel's shoulders sag slightly with relief. Not that Carl saying he won't do it again is a guarantee but it's better than nothing.

Letting out a tired exhale, Joel glances down, gives a reassuring, almost imperceptible nod to himself, then sets his attention back on Carl. ]

You gonna be okay?

[112ounces]

I'm okay as I'll ever be.

[ Meaning: no. But he'll try his best. ]

[shittybirthday]

[ Hardly reassuring. It's about as much as Joel expects, though, really. ]

Wish you'd said somethin' to me about all this earlier. Instead of it, y'know. Comin' to this.

[112ounces]

I'm sorry you got caught up in this mess.

Guess I got used to hearing how Dad's to blame on dying from nearly everyone, it's just easier to expect that's how everyone feels about the whole situation.

[ Maybe Carl should know better from Joel? Well, Joel wasn't there. And if Carl knew about his friendship with Jesse, he'd definately be expecting the worst out of the situation, like Dad is currently. ]

[shittybirthday]

[ Whether it ultimately is or isn't Rick's fault, that's not the kinda thing a kid needs to hear, as far as Joel is concerned. Not wanting to upset the kid anymore than he already is, Joel doesn't really know how to respond to that. So, he just gives Carl's arm a pat and a brief squeeze that's an attempt at being reassuring. ]

Well, just keep it in mind in future that you can always contact me, okay? A lotta people who're sayin' stuff like that... they also don't get the kinda worlds me and you come from.

[112ounces]

No. They don't. They think the world is a game to play in.

[ And they all deserve to die, in Carl's opinion. One way or another, they are gonna pay for what they done. For when the moment comes when they come begging for Carl's help, he will refuse them. Deny them of the justice they crave, as they deny him the justice he needed. ]

And I'm tired of helping them.

[ Heroes. What a joke. ]