CYOA Page 275
Sep. 10th, 2013 02:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12"No, I'm just in the wrong spot," you answer Joel with a conviction you don't feel. Those fucking purple flowers... I KNOW I saw them... with the rocks right there like that... You turn around and plow ahead in a random direction. "I think I was more over here... maybe..."
Joel follows you, but keeps enough distance that you're not searching the exact same area together (because that would be silly). You know he's annoyed... or is it more like disappointed? He's... not happy with you at the moment. That much, you know. And you can't blame him. You're not happy with you, either! How far back did you just set yourself on the 'adult scale' in Joel's eyes? Only little kids need to be reminded to keep track of their shit.
However... it wasn't the worst mistake you've ever made. It's probably not even in the top five. You made mistakes on your first trip with Joel, and he didn't--
Stop right there, Ellie -- of COURSE he didn't leave you then. He fucking COULDN'T. We were STUCK with each other. (...thank GOD!) I mean... technically, one of us COULD have ditched the other. We weren't actually handcuffed to each other or anything. But... why WOULD we -- either of us -- when we're zillions of miles from home, in the middle of nowhere, with no one but each other? ...It even SOUNDS romantic... That trip was grueling, both physically and emotionally, but right now, you think it sounds pretty fucking romantic. How much more fun would it have been had you and Joel realized what you were going to become, and just like... started it early! Snuggling every night -- especially those cold winter nights... kissing by the fire... sneaking a grope here and there whenever you--
"Ellie!"
Joel's voice jolts you out of your little reverie. You turn toward the sound of it... Oh my God-- "You found it?!" you squeal. "Way over there? Man, I was way off!"
You run to him and pounce, covering his face in happy little kisses to make him laugh. "Down, girl!" he teases, and he's already strapping the thing back on you.
"I can dress myself, you know," you tell him with a mock pout.
"I don' know about that. I think you need closer supervision." He leans in and kisses your neck... for no reason. You love it!
"Um... okay, but I think I need more help with undressing. ...That tickles!" you giggle. It's his beard...
"Sorry..." (but he keeps doing it) (and somehow still manages to buckle the holster belt?) "Mm, I think you've got no problem takin' shit off. As evidenced by... this little incident."
"It's over my-- stop it!" You duck away, the ticklish sensation finally unbearable. "It's over my pants; I had to take it off."
"Which you had no problem doin'," he points out. "It just never made it back on."
You wrap your arms around his neck, while his settle around your waist. "Okay, fine... so the next time we get out of our clothes to take a bath or something out here, I'll wait for you to supervise the... putting-back-on part. I'll just stand there naked 'til you come help me. Is that what you want?"
He cringes... but he's also smiling, and the resulting look is adorable as fuck! "That's a trick question."
"What? How?"
"No good answer."
"Uh, yeah there is -- a good answer would be yes!"
"That wouldn't be very... gentlemanly of me."
"What, making me wait?" Although I think he means...
"Cute. Seeing you naked."
Yeah. THAT! "But you're my boyfriend."
"...That's debatable."
"Whatever! If you're not, then... you're the closest thing there is to one, so..."
"Our relationship..."
"I know. It's weird. But for all intense purposes, we're boyfriend/girlfriend."
"...Intense purposes?"
He looks amused for some reason. Whatever-- "Look -- we're even being romantic outside!"
He gives you a quick kiss. "Only it's Outside-outside, so we oughta be more careful. C'mon." He starts to move away from you.
You don't make it easy, though; you keep hanging onto him (hanging on him, really). "What, you think Danny might come by on his way home and see us?" you tease.
"Good point -- he very well could. Now--"
"Noooooo I was kidding!" Good going, Ellie, now he's going to be paranoid out here, too! "I know you're just worried about being killed, not... something as horrible as being seen with me."
He finally removes your arms from his shoulders, ruining your fun -- and gives you a Look to boot. "You know why I worry about that. It certainly ain't personal."
"Right... cuz secretly you're so proud to be my boyfr-- my partner." Go ahead, tell me you really ARE proud...
"Come on. Time's a-wastin'." He starts heading back to the house.
You were hoping for more reassurance, but you don't really need it; you know Joel loves you and that he's as frustrated with the situation as-- well, no, he's not as frustrated as you are, you're sure of it! But he wishes things could be different. And, now that you've been together for a long time (around two months), he no longer has to remind you that they can't be: he's made it very clear that it's this way or no way.
'No way' hasn't been a viable option for you since that very first sweet-but-awkward kiss that sealed your fate! ...No, wait, that makes it sound bad... awakened our destiny? Yeah, something like that... Although from the way Joel talks sometimes, you think he might say the bad one is more accurate. It's all those fucking prudes in Jackson -- if we could get away from there.... Joel also has issues leftover from when it was illegal for adults to be romantic with teenagers, but you're confident that you can get him past that. You already have, to some extent. Alas, the two of you don't exist within a bubble; the more he interacts with other people who stupidly believe that you shouldn't be together that way, who talk to him like he's your dad because that's his role as dictated by society (a society of fucking prudes), who have the same hangups and ancient beliefs that he has from a world that no longer exists...
"Joel! Wait up!" You jog to catch up with him, and he only slows his pace slightly. "Joel!"
"What?"
You fall in step beside him. "I think we should move here," you declare.
He stops dead in his tracks. "What?" he repeats, but with a what-the-fuck inflection this time.
"Yeah! Think about it -- we could kiss outside all the--"
"You wanna move here. Here. This house."
"Yeah! Why not?"
"Why not? Because it's crazy."
"What's so crazy about it? There's woods all around so we could hunt for food, and find wildberries and stuff--"
"Hang on. Just 'cause there's woods don't mean there's a lot of game livin' in 'em."
"Well, there's plenty around Jackson, and we're not that--"
"Our hunters go pretty far into the preserve sometimes, an' still don't bag somethin' big every day."
"It's not preserved anymore... the animals are all over the place -- and we could set traps! We wouldn't have to constantly be hunting for--"
"What about water, hmm? You wanna hike for hours every day to get to the nearest water source?"
You roll your eyes. "Duh -- we stock up when we do go. And we can make traps to catch rainwater."
Joel regards you with a challenging expression, his arms crossed over his chest. "All right, Miss Smarty Pants... what about electricity?"
"...What about it? We don't need--"
"We've gotten awfully used to it."
"We can cook over a fire... we have flashlights if we need more light at night..."
"Flashlight batteries don't last forever."
"So... we do other things when it gets dark... things that are better in the dark," you smirk.
"What about your vampires?"
"...They can wait for me to visit. The dvds aren't going anywhere."
"Oh you're gonna visit 'em now?"
"Well, sure -- we can go to Jackson sometimes. Or -- fuck the vampires, actually."
He quirks an eyebrow at this. "Why?"
"Because it's only gonna piss me off when I get to the end that's not the end. It'll probably be a fucking cliffhanger. I hate that." No old people who watched the show a zillion years ago remember how many seasons there were, or how many there were supposed to be, but they have told you it never got finished.
"You should be used to it by now. If you don't like it, you can stick to shows with final seasons available."
"You didn't want me watching it anyway," you remind him. Too much sex. He actually tried to forbid you from watching it -- like you're twelve years old or something. Like I'm his DAUGHTER! But you talked him into watching it with you so he can like... 'chaperone' the sex parts, or even fast-forward through them (and you try to keep control of the remote to limit the latter).
"All right. No more vampires. Don't you think you're gonna miss anyone back in Jackson?"
You shrug. "I guess... but we would visit, like I said. And maybe they could come visit us, too!"
"...In this tiny little house?"
"It's big enough. And there's a paddock for the horses..."
"Oh, sure. Let's just keep the horses we borrowed. For the mission. Absolutely no use for them back in town where--"
"Joel, stop ruining everything!" You give him a playful shove. (...maybe slightly more than playful, but he can handle it.) Then you change your tune, abruptly shifting to playful-sweet. You untuck his arms from his chest and wrap them around yourself. "Wouldn't it be awesome to be away from everything?" you purr. "Just you and me... free to do whatever we want, whenever we want..."
"Not at all worried about our safety? Just... completely free?"
"Uh-huh. We're safe! No one's around, ever." If only I could guarantee that for real! You know it's the biggest deal-breaker for Joel. But you're all invested in this fantasy now... "Think about it -- we could spend entire days in bed together..."
"Mm." He pauses, like he's thinking about it. "Hungry, filthy, stinky..."
"Nooooo," you giggle. "We'd be full all the time, and clean... and we'd always smell like roses."
"Right. We'll never run out of soap an' toothpaste an' deodorant... toilet paper..."
"Never!" You give him your most winning smile. "Doesn't it sound fucking fantastic?"
"Fantastic? More like... fantasy. -Fantastical. I think that's a word..."
"You're no fun," you pout.
"Nope. Sorry." He kisses your nose. "Can we get a move on now please? We've still got a job to do."
"Fiiiiiiine," you groan with exaggerated annoyance. You knew it was far-fetched... whimsical... just plain crazy, really, like Joel said. But a girl can dream...
If you'd like to start another adventure, return to page 1.
Carlos
Date: 2021-05-01 06:11 am (UTC)RE: Carlos
Date: 2021-05-01 01:17 pm (UTC)