"Singularity" Chapter 26: "It's Good To Be King" [26/49]

[lumy12]

Title: "Singularity" Chapter 26: "It's Good To Be King" [26/49]
Fandom: The Last of Us (first game only)
Characters: Ellie, Joel, Tommy, Maria, OCs
Pairings: Joel/Ellie
Warnings: Underage
Word Count for this chapter: 10,421
Rating (for fic as a whole): R
Author's Notes: Chapter title from the song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

~

Joel couldn't remember how many "first things" Ellie had said she was going to do when they got home; she'd racked up quite a list. He wondered if she would even remember half of them herself. I suppose the reunion we're about to have with Tommy and Maria don't count... they didn't have much choice, seeing as how they'd turned over their house key to Tommy last fall.

The first thing Joel did was notice that a couple of the houses looked brighter (...maybe that didn't technically count as a first, either). He even stopped dead in his tracks to look at the one, because he was sure it had been one of the uglier occupied houses in town. And not only was it brighter, but the paint wasn't cracking or peeling. Even on the west side, where it had been the worst. Ellie agreed it looked much better than she remembered, too. Are we able to paint now? Joel marveled; back when he'd left, they had been lucky to be able to get wood stain for decks or fences -- and that had pretty much all been going to the new farm, where it was needed most.

Tommy and Maria lived right smack in the center of town, so it was impossible to get there without crossing paths with some townsfolk. If Ellie's date tracking was still on target, today was a Sunday, which meant less people were out and about working... but there were plenty out and about 'playing'... or socializing. (Ellie had thought it would be ~awesome~ if they arrived on exactly the same day as they had one year ago... but agreed that spending another couple weeks Outside solely to make that happen was significantly less awesome.) Joel noticed that some of the residents were carrying guns -- that was new. Ellie greeted just about everyone she saw. Some with hugs, most with just a friendly 'hey' or 'hello'... and all of them with some variation of "yes, we're back/gotta go/catch up with you tomorrow?" Joel didn't even remember some of these people... but there was only one that neither of them recognized.

"A new person, I guess?" Ellie speculated. Because her 'people memory' was excellent. Joel, on the other hand, would probably remember a person he disliked, and the rest would all melt together into one generic soup called "townsfolk." Oh, not all of them were indistinguishable... there were people he'd worked with, and people he liked well enough. (Even so, Ellie likely knew them better and cared more about them than he did.) Word seemed to be traveling quickly that they were here. ...Unless everyone and their mama just decided to take a stroll up the same street we're on -- and the weather, though not bad, wasn't nice enough to warrant that. It was overcast, threatening to rain in short order.

"I think your tomorrow is all booked up by now," he teased Ellie after she'd put off yet another person with promises of catching up then.

"Whatever," she said dismissively. "As long as we get the rest of today with family and friends -- that's all I want. They get that, I think. Although... with how much we're probably going to be repeating ourselves, maybe we should have a special town meeting -- like, where we can answer questions and stuff!"

"Christ," Joel groaned good-naturedly. "You're just too damn popular."

Ellie giggled at that. "I guess I am, huh!"

He couldn't help comparing this homecoming to their arrival a year ago. Ellie was a hundred times more comfortable this time around. Almost like she'd never left. Joel was... not uncomfortable, at least. Still a little twitchy when they encountered someone... a bit too quick to react to movement in his peripheral vision. He knew that would fade in time -- fade, but never vanish completely. It was too ingrained in him now. And if carrying was the norm...

Well. Joel liked it better when he and Ellie were the exceptions to the rule.

"We don' need to hold a press conference," he told Ellie now. "You just told enough people the basics that they'll go spread it around like wildfire." The basics were comprised of three things: they were back, Sophie's fine, and yes they found Alex in California. Most people wouldn't need to hear all the details.

"Hey, you're right! Fuck -- Millie will do that all on her own. Isn't that cool she remembered about the underwear?" Ellie said happily.

Millie was the local seamstress, and she'd been fixing to make Ellie some new underwear before they left. Since she couldn't give it to Ellie, it would have gone to some other girl instead, but she'd told Ellie to "come by tomorrow to catch up" (Ellie truly had received at least five such invitations) and basically put in her order. "I might have to let you do that one by yourself," he chuckled.

"Ha! Are you scared?"

"Yes." He almost made some teasing remark about her coaxing Millie into making her some sexier garments than originally planned... but a) if that idea hadn't crossed Ellie's mind, he didn't want to plant it there (God knows what Millie would assume she wanted it for -- or, rather, who she wanted it for), and b) they couldn't risk having such discussions in public anymore, teasing or not.

"Anyways, I can do all of them by myself -- you would be bored to tears!" She looked at him fondly. "Unless it's gonna be too hard for you to not see me all day?"

He wanted to scoff at that. Scoff and say of course he was okay with it, why wouldn't he be? But he knew that Ellie knew better. "It'll take some gettin' used to, sure. Ain't used to sharin' you."

"It's only been like a month," she laughed.

"No, even before that... we were always together. Even when you were playin' on the beach with the kids, it still felt like... -I always knew where you were, what you were doin'. But here in Jackson..."

"I will tell you where I am and what I'm doing at all times," she promised solemnly.

Joel frowned. "No, that's... I don't want that."

"Shut up -- you totally do. It's fine! I like the way--"

"We'll talk about this later, yeah?" he cut her off as they approached Tommy and Maria's house at last. "Now remember what I said. We left in February—"

"Not March!" She rolled her eyes. "I know -- you've only told me ten times."

"Only if people ask. Keep it vague. No need to volunteer any info." Ellie was skilled in many things, but lying was not one of them. And it was difficult, if not impossible, to teach someone to undo their tells. She could get some practice at it if they played more poker, perhaps. But even though being able to lie competently was a valuable skill to possess, Joel kind of liked that Ellie couldn't do it all that well. Not so much because he was concerned about her lying to him, just... it was sweet. A sign of her conscientiousness... and also her youth and innocence. Relatively speaking, at least.

"Aaaaand -- we only picked up this extra shit last night and the night before cuz we knew we were close to home," she recited.

"That's right." It would only be Tommy or Maria or maybe someone else at the house who would notice that one -- and only if they helped with the unloading (Joel would try to shoot that down... as he'd shot down every offer of help along the way thus far).

The house looked the same; he gave it a once-over while Ellie rushed to the door. Same rickety porch steps. Same peeling, dingy-white paint... but then, his brother had never been the type to take advantage of his standing in the community. Other than, perhaps, the entertainment system in the living room... but they had kids over all the time. They were practically running a goddamn daycare in order for certain folks to work. That more than justified it, in Joel's mind. Still, he couldn't see Tommy getting his own house painted when others needed it more. Joel made a mental note to inquire about the 'termite house' he'd worked on last summer; that one needed it bad.

Ellie was about to knock -- her signature knock, he presumed, after which she would enter without waiting for an answer, as was their custom -- but then she seemed to realize Joel was hanging back, and turned to glare at him instead. "What are you doing? Come on! Let's go in already!"

"Hold your horses. I'm tryin' to decide what to bring in. Do we want--"

"Just leave it! Fox doesn't mind holding it for a minute -- and you already have all your weapons on you, so come on!" She marched back down the steps, grabbed Joel's arm, and yanked him up and over to the door.

"Somethin' tells me it's gonna be longer than a minute," he chuckled. Hopefully half the town won't decide to come by to welcome us home, then get nosy enough to snoop through our shit. "Don't go in there hollerin' at the top of your lungs, now... the baby might be sleepin'."

She gasped. "Oh yeah, huh! I'll just..." She rapped lightly (possibly too lightly), pushed the door open slowly, and poked her head inside. "There's no one here, I think?" Ellie whispered to Joel, then called out tentatively, "Hellooooo?"

"They're upstairs," Joel observed, following Ellie through the door. "Hear 'em?"

Her eyes widened. "What if they're having sex?!" she hissed.

Joel chuckled. "I highly doubt--"

She gasped again. "Omigod -- is that the baby?!"

"Could be Tommy," Joel quipped; the noise was obviously coming from the baby. It wasn't crying so much as... fussing.

Ellie swatted him. "Good, so he's awake. We can go upstairs and surprise them!"

"You mean she's awake." Really hope it's a girl--

"If you're talkin' about Maria, she's only barely awake." Tommy had emerged from one of the bedrooms and moved to the railing, wearing a big dopey smile. "Well, look what the cat dragged in!"

"Tommy!" Ellie deposited her baggage at Joel's feet (or on them, partly) and flew up the stairs into his brother's arms. "Hiiiiiiii! Is there a cat in here?!"

"Is that Ellie?"

"Yes! Me and Joel!" Upon hearing Maria's voice, Ellie bounced away from Tommy over to the doorway of what Joel presumed would be the baby's bedroom. "Can I come in, or... ?"

Joel didn't hear Maria's response because Tommy was now coming down the stairs towards him. "Hey, big brother!"

"Hey yourself, baby brother." He kicked Ellie's shit aside and gave Tommy a hug -- what Ellie called a 'man hug,' brief and not-squishy, more clap-on-the-shoulders than embrace. "So you're a daddy now."

"I'm a daddy now. Here, lemme take somethin'..." Tommy picked up Ellie's backpack.

"Don't tell him what it is yet!" Ellie called from the bedroom.

"The sex of the baby," Joel translated for Tommy, who looked a bit confused by the request.

"Oh... right, you guys did like to argue about that." He and Joel started piling everything on the far side of the staircase... where there wasn't any baby stuff. Joel may or may not have been able to determine the gender of the child by the color of said baby stuff littering the living room... the dining area... he knew that Jackson's kids' clothing and toys and whatnot were basically passed on from one family to the next in descending order, and when they were this little, they might very well get dressed in whatever was handy and clean.

"Joel, what are you doing? Get up here and meet your-- er-- meet the kid!"

Tommy chuckled. "You two haven't changed one bit, have you."

"Not one bit." Except we're now lovers, is all... "And that trip was just... all sunshine'n'daisies, too." Joel rolled his shoulders and enjoyed a good stretch now that he was free of all that gear.

"I'm sure." Tommy snorted. "Can't wait to hear all about it. Sophie an' Alex?"

Joel nodded. "They're good. We had to look at a few different--"

"Joel!" Ellie was at the railing now. "If you wanna hold the baby, you have to wash your hands first! Come up here already!" And she disappeared again -- into the bathroom this time.

Tommy chuckled. "We sure have missed havin' you guys around. Didn't expect you back quite this soon."

"We missed you, too. Ellie really wanted to get back before the baby was born, but..."

"Yeah, we reckoned that wouldn't happen. You hit any snow?"

"We did. Nothin' we couldn't handle." The jeep and shovel really helped with that... Joel eyed the couch, where his ass had been parked for many a 'family movie night.' All he wanted to do now was sit and relax.

"JOEL!"

Tommy clapped him on the back again. "You better get up there, bro."

The couch could wait. He dutifully went up the stairs and found Ellie in the bathroom, drying her hands and face on a towel. "Warm water," she gushed. "It's heavenly."

A hot shower would feel heavenly to Joel. "Don't touch me now or you'll have to wash your hands again," he warned her when she moved close to him. They really needed to get out of the habit of touching each other all the time, at least when they were around others; being with Paul and Karma so recently had been good practice.

"We should prob'ly change our clothes first, really," Ellie fretted. "We're filthy."

"Don't worry about it," said Tommy from the hall. "We've got plenty of blankets."

"Blankets?" Ellie parroted. "Like... instead of clothes?!"

"I think he means for holdin' the baby," Joel replied with a smile as he started lathering his hands in the sink; he was in no hurry to hold the baby, but they needed a good wash anyhow (and the warm water did feel really nice).

"Oh. Right. Good, cuz that would be... ha! Okay so hurry up, Joel!"

"You don't gotta wait for me," he chuckled.

"Yes I do. You're the actual uncle."

"Ellie, you're part of this family, too," Tommy said kindly.

Joel didn't have to look at Ellie to know she was blushing. "Er... yeah, but... I'm not... it's not like... it's different," she mumbled.

If there was any justice in the world, Ellie would be the one who was the blood relative to that baby, whom she'd loved and looked forward to meeting since the moment she'd found out it was 'in the oven.' Joel just... wasn't excited the same way she was. The only reason he wanted to meet the kid now was because he knew Ellie was so eager to. He wanted to see her enjoy her well-earned happiness now that the long wait was over (truth be told, the months had flown by so fast he would hardly consider it a long wait himself, but he knew time passed more slowly at Ellie's age).

Maria was soothing the baby -- or trying to, anyway -- when they walked in the room. She was pacing the floor, the tiny blond infant cradled against her shoulder. There was more blue in the room than anything else... but that don't have to mean-- Yes it did. When Joel saw the smirk on Ellie's face, he knew he had lost their bet. "You were right, weren't you," he said, resigning himself to his fate and wondering how long he'd be able to put off paying the debt.

"I'm always right!" she said happily. "Joel, meet your nephew! His name is Grayson! Grayson James Miller. And he was born nine days before my birthday!"

Maria smiled apologetically. "This is just about the worst time of day for you to meet him. He's cranky and tired and needs to sleep but he just... ugh, I don't know what it is about the afternoon..."

"He won't go down without a fight," Tommy added. "Babe, I think Ellie wants to hold him."

"What -- me?" Ellie cried. "No, give him to Joel! I'll just watch."

Joel gave her a look. "Ellie. You've been dyin' to hold that baby since--"

"Not really! I just wanted to see him. He's so... little. I mean... of course I'll hold him eventually! Just... not yet. You go first. I'd prob'ly drop him or something." She even took a step back. Almost like she wanted to hide behind Joel.

"You wouldn't drop him," Joel chuckled. Is this a ploy just to get me to hold him? He had spent as much time around babies lately as Ellie had: none at all. He couldn't remember the last time he'd held a newborn. He could at times be coerced into playing with the little kids in town, but the youngest of them was probably two or three years old. Guess I'll give Ellie what she wants-- "All right, well... at least I can't make him cry, seein' as how he's already cryin'."

Maria laughed. "This? This is nothing. You wanna hear crying, just take his clothes off." She started shifting the baby and adjusting his blanket to hand him over to Joel.

"That's a fact -- he sure don't like bein' naked," Tommy confirmed.

Ellie giggled. "Can't blame him. The world is so much colder than where he came from!"

Joel settled the little guy in his arms in the standard cradling position. "Hey there, buddy," he cooed, turning slightly to give Ellie a better view of the baby's scrunchy little face.

"Awwww he's so fucking cute!" Ellie gushed. "Oops-- sorry. I'll be good around him, I swear. I mean -- I won't swear. Ha!" She was generally cognizant of tailoring her language to suit her audience.

"He's too little to know the difference right now," Maria replied. "But he's taking it all in... he just started making those gurgly little noises, like... last week?"

"For real? Like he's already trying to talk?"

"Sort of. It'll be a long time before he says any actual words, though. -Go ahead, you can touch him," she added, noticing Ellie's hesitation.

Ellie stroked the baby's downy light hair gently. "So soft... look at those pretty blue eyes... or maybe they're more like... green?"

"They tend to start out blue but can change a bit durin' the first year," Joel recited from some long-dormant part of his brain that had learned all this crap in another life.

"Really? Weird. Aww, he likes you, Joel! He's not crying!"

Joel chuckled. "Looks like he's fixin' to. I bet he's confused... tryin' to figure out who I am... an' why I kinda sound like his daddy but not quite." You sure are cute, though, little fella...

"He's more of a mama's boy," Tommy said as the baby let out the most adorable of yawns. "And he's tired right now... Ellie, if you go sit over in that rockin' chair an' we put him in your lap, I bet he'll fall asleep soon enough. That way you won't have to worry about droppin' him, see?"

Ellie still seemed a little freaked out. "Maybe not dropping, no, but like... what if he rolls off?"

"Just go sit!" Maria laughed. "He can't even roll over yet. Don't worry."

"I think Joel wants to keep holding him," was Ellie's next excuse. "Maybe he should go sit."

"Oh no," Joel protested. "He's gettin' a little noisy for me. Go on." He strongly suspected Ellie did truly want to hold the kid... that she just wanted to be 'talked into it' first, for whatever reason.

Ellie smiled sheepishly, reinforcing the notion. "Okay... if you guys insist... but I've never held a baby this small before -- never even seen one, actually... oh! Rochelle had her baby, right?"

Rochelle... the only thing Joel remembered about that girl was the fact that she was pregnant (and looked too young to be, in his opinion, but apparently she was in her early twenties), and very much alone. She kept to herself so much that even Ellie didn't know much about her, and that was saying something.

"...She did," Maria answered, oddly hesitant. "We'll have to give you the low-down on everyone and everything. Maybe when I'm not so freaking tired." Punctuated by a yawn.

That don't sound good... he hoped Ellie would leave it at that. "In about six months, then?" he quipped.

"Oh God, don't even say that!" Maria groaned.

Joel chuckled sympathetically; he was actually more accustomed to sleep deprivation now than he had been in his youth, but for much more unpleasant reasons. Ellie seems to be situated in the chair now-- "All right, kiddo, here he comes... all you have to remember is to support his head."

"Support his head," she repeated. "You mean like... just keep my arm under it?"

"Right." Joel laid the squirmy little boy across Ellie's lap, amused at how nervous she looked. How stiff her posture was. "Keep your arm over the blanket there an' he ain't gonna roll off. You can lean back. Rock the chair a bit."

"He loves being rocked," Maria agreed.

Ellie relaxed a little. She smiled at the baby, who was now staring up at her like he was utterly fascinated by her pretty face... and the curtain of red hair that framed it, unponytailed as it was. "Hi, Grayson... I'm Ellie. Nice to meet you. You are the cutest thing ever, you know that?"

Actually, the cutest thing ever wasn't the baby -- it was Ellie holding the baby. But Joel kept that thought to himself.

* * * * * * *

Little by little over the course of the day, they learned of the happenings around town (not all of them, though... a couple inquiries were answered only with "later," which Joel of course assumed was bad news). Tommy and Maria also wanted to hear all about their 'vacation,' so the four of them took turns asking and answering questions and exchanging anecdotes, with Ellie and Tommy doing the bulk of the speaking. Word may have gotten around that they were back, but no one saw fit to try to come visit, perhaps thanks to Ellie's liberal use of the word "tomorrow" in speaking with them. It felt like old times, hanging out in the living room while a heavenly-smelling stew brewed in the crockpot. Maria had actually nodded off a couple of times, but she insisted she wanted to catch up with them rather than take a nap. Tommy wasn't bursting with energy, either, but he wasn't the one who had to feed the baby round the clock every two or three hours. Not because he was unwilling... but because Maria pretty much hated the breast pump doohickey. Joel didn't need to hear any more than that, and he'd have bet the farm Ellie pushed for gorey details just to see him squirm and/or see how long it was before he changed the subject (he decided to go unburden the poor horse who was still patiently waiting outside, even though living arrangements had yet to be discussed).

Ellie said she wanted to take Fox down to the stables and visit her friend Annie, but she also didn't want to leave the house when there was still so much to talk about. Joel suspected she was also itching to spend more time with little Grayson when he woke up. It had taken about fifteen minutes for him to fall asleep in Ellie's lap, and then it was another five or ten minutes before transferring him to the crib, "just to be safe," because apparently if it was attempted too soon, he'd wake up and cry when he noticed he was being laid down. Ellie thought that was cute as hell. In fact, everything she learned about the baby seemed to delight or amuse her. Anyhow, it was decided that they would eat on the early side and head to the farm shortly after dinner.

Dinner was just the four of them. Four had been an unusually low number before, but now it was higher than the norm; that Chelsea girl who was always hanging around had taken over the 'daycare' shit shortly before Grayson was born. Tommy and Maria had decided that they didn't want the house to be a circus of sorts anymore, noisy and lively with people constantly coming and going. Joel could certainly understand that (he hadn't seen the appeal of having a house full of people all the time to begin with).

Maria couldn't be away from the baby for very long -- and it wasn't that easy to take him out, what with having to feed him and change and launder his cloth diapers so often -- so she went a little stir-crazy sometimes. She credited Tommy with keeping her sane (Joel definitely pitied the woman for having no better option than his brother for that). He could tell that both of them were truly glad to see him and Ellie... and that aside from being happy that they were alive and well, the new parents surely must have recognized that some measure of salvation had arrived. That Joel and Ellie would be more of a help to them than a burden. Not that their friends and neighbors weren't helpful... but it was different, with close family. Less cordiality, or formality. Especially since they had all been living together before. There was no need for Tommy and Maria to wait on them as if they were guests. No need to fret about looking like shit, or having spit-up on your shirt, or the house being a mess. People might care less about that sort of thing now compared to Before... but still.

Joel waited until a natural pause in conversation occurred about halfway through dinner to cash in on one of those "later"s. "I know it ain't my place to have a say in this," he began carefully, ignoring Ellie's stifled groan, "but do either of you wanna tell me why the hell we have a scanner at the gates now?"

Tommy nodded as if he'd been expecting this to come up sooner rather than later. "I knew you weren't gonna like that."

No shit. "And you know why I don't." He turned to look at Maria. "Not sure if you know..."

"Of course I know. I've known since the day you first came here and tried to get Tommy to--"

"Not that," he cut in. "Or... that, yes, but that's how I found out about it -- it was the scanner. It reads her as positive."

"I know about your... little encounter with the soldiers in Boston, yeah," Maria replied. "And it makes sense. The Cordyceps might be inactive... or dormant... whatever... but it's still there. Not like she's... cured of it. Right? Ellie, your arm... is it still... ?"

"I think it's maybe a little better?" Ellie set down her silverware to tug her sleeve up and show off her scars.

Tommy leaned in to look at it closer. "A year and a half out, though, that's..."

"Or maybe she has antibodies in her system that would make it read positive," Maria suggested. "I don't know how that all works. Not like we can get a doctor's opinion, since you want to keep it a secret."

"Yeah," Joel grumbled, freshly annoyed by the fact that they were keenly aware of the issue yet had still obtained the scanner. He looked at Tommy again -- because it came a hell of a lot more naturally to him to speak crossly to his brother than to his sister-in-law. "What did you think was gonna happen when we came back? Or did you assume we were done for out there?"

Tommy snorted. "Shoot -- I'd never assume that. Ain't nothin' can kill you. Shit that would kill any other man don't kill you, so--"

"All right then. I repeat: what did you think was gonna happen?"

"Exactly what did happen," he replied, nonplussed. "You talked your way through, no problem."

"And what if we hadn't been able to?" Joel scowled. "Then what? What if Ellie had come back by herself? But-- forget all that: what about the next time we go Outside? Don't you think it's gonna look a little suspicious that we never wanna let 'em scan us?"

"You're makin' a bigger deal out of this than it is," was Tommy's breezy reply to that. He sat there, calmly eating his stew like this was just any other casual conversation.

"Am I. How so?" ...Do you WANT me to kill all the guards letting us back Inside?

"Because it's mainly meant for new folks. Strangers. People we'd typically quarantine."

"Which includes folks who've been away a long time," Joel pointed out.

"But you're our family," Maria replied. "The rules don't always apply. No one's ever even tried to scan me or Tommy -- not that we'd care if they did. It's just... one of those things."

"Good to be king, as they say," Tommy added.

"Exactly," said Maria. "They remember we bent the rules when you got here last time, not quarantining you."

Joel had wondered previously if anyone had given them attitude about that. "Didn't stop 'em from wantin' to scan us today. How do you know who remembers an' who don't?"

"Small town... people have long memories," Tommy replied. He dunked his bread in the stew and took a bite before continuing. "Besides that -- there's only one scanner. You wanna leave for a while? You find out where it's at, an' use a different gate. Hell, if you come to me, I'll just get on the radio and flat-out ask where it's at -- no one'll question it, or think twice about it. If you're only gone for a few hours or somethin', no one's gonna make you wait while they fetch the thing."

Joel continued to be irritated by Tommy's nonchalance. Doesn't he get that it's Ellie's LIFE at stake here? "What if it moves to another gate before we get back? Moves to a gate we thought was safe?"

"Then... you... -oh -- that's easy. If it's important enough to move it, then they're gonna inform us anyhow. 'Cause either it's someone new or it's someone who went out farther, like the scouts -- scavengers -- folks we usually talk to when they return. If we get a heads up like that, I'll just pick up the scanner an' -- well, I s'pose I could just hang onto it 'til you came back."

"Seriously, Joel, it won't be a problem," Maria assured him. "It's one of those things where... it's nice to have it as an option, rather than having to quarantine people... but it's not used regularly."

Joel could continue to come up with 'what if's and they would just come back with sensible answers that should put his mind at ease. Should... but he knew they wouldn't. No matter... my first instinct is still the best one here -- first guard shift I do, I'm gonna see to it that that thing disappears... well, maybe the second shift -- less suspicious that way. Either it disappears, or mysteriously stops working... but he was leaning towards making it disappear. A malfunction could possibly be fixed, but if no one could find the goddamn thing? They'd just be screwed. And it was completely in the realm of possibility for a mischievous kid to find a way to get his hands on it as a prank... then be too worried about getting caught to return it, and too scared to 'fess up. Hopefully that will be the end of it, and they won't bother with a replacement...

He glanced at Maria. "Be that as it may, I can't help wonderin' what possessed you all to get one. Didn' need it before, don' need it now. As I recall, newcomers tired from travelin' to get here don't much mind bein' locked away to rest up a couple days. Ain't like you starve 'em or don't give 'em anythin' to do in there." It was a goddamn hotel suite, not a jail cell.

"It's okay, Joel." This from Ellie, who feared the scanner as much as having a gun pulled on her, if not more. Apparently, she'd hidden it well enough to fool the guards, but Joel had seen it at the gate... or maybe he'd felt it. (It was possible he didn't give her enough credit, when it came to disguising her emotions, simply because he knew her so well.) Like Tommy, she continued casually eating like they were just discussing the weather -- but then, Ellie had to be seriously upset to not eat a good meal right under her nose. "If it helps the town... I mean, we weren't even here. What right do I--"

"It ain't about rights," Joel scoffed. "It's about... doin' right by your own."

"So it is about rights," Ellie replied with a little smile. "You know... doing right?"

At least she don't seem that worried about it now. "Glad you find all this so funny," he snarled, then turned back to Tommy. "How often do you even get newcomers? Ain't like you're admittin' new people every--"

"If you'd quit your bitchin' an' moanin'," Tommy cut in, "I'll answer your first question, which will answer your second."

And there was that sanctimonious, patronizing tone that Joel had come to hate from his baby brother -- a product of the past couple decades. The two of them hadn't worked out their differences so much as agreed to look past them, and if he thought about it too hard, Joel would get angry all over again at how Tommy resented him simply for doing what amounted to keeping them both alive. They were never going to see eye to eye. No matter that Tommy would be dead now if it wasn't for him. Joel just knew that he was right and Tommy was wrong... and that Tommy still believed the opposite.

Joel noticed Ellie and Maria exchanging amused "here they go again" looks, which only served to irritate him further. "Go on, then. I'm listenin'."

Tommy took his sweet time chewing and swallowing before replying. "You know how we've been tradin' with the medical facility in Idaho. Turns out the Boise QZ got shut down, so they--"

"They did?" Ellie interrupted anxiously -- and this time Joel was certain her emotions were etched on her face. "When was that?"

Tommy seemed a little surprised by the interjection. "Oh... I don' know... last summer some time?"

"August, I think," Maria put in. "Maybe September."

"That doesn't make sense," Ellie fretted -- unnecessarily, at that, because it didn't strike Joel as an extraordinary occurrence.

"No? Why not?" asked Tommy.

Joel mentally shot Ellie a cease-and-desist look, which she heeded (sometimes she could feel shit from him just as well as she could see it). You're welcome, Paul... Then he took the reins. " 'Cause last we heard, they were doin' well up there. Even takin' in new people." A complete lie, but believable enough.

"Who told you that?" Maria asked curiously.

Joel shrugged and casually sopped his next bite of bread in the stew (...because, if nothing else, he could lie and eat at the same time). "Can't remember... I reckon it was a month or so before we left. Maybe longer." He could have even fabricated a source to pad the lie; with the way rumors and misinformation flew around the town, it wasn't likely to stir up any trouble, but selling it really wasn't important enough to bother with that. Even if Ellie does tell them about Paul, it ain't life or death... unlike her 'condition' possibly getting exposed.

"Well, either they were wrong, or things changed in a hurry," Tommy continued. "As they do, sometimes. The medical center was allegedly havin' some issues with folks lingerin' up there... folks who didn' need to be there for medical reasons anymore but didn't wanna go back to wherever they came from, where conditions prob'ly weren't so nice. Not our people, mind you."

"Well, ours were doing that, too," said Maria. "Just for a different reason -- there was the issue of getting them home. Not everyone, but... people who didn't have family who brought them, or... you know. People not..." She made a vague gesture with her hand.

"People not as... seasoned at bein' Outside as you two," Tommy supplied. "Transportation has always been... a challenge, if not exactly a problem."

"It doesn't have to be," said Ellie. "The military has helicopters. If they could just let us borrow them once in a while..."

Joel groaned inwardly; the cease-and-desist wasn't necessary this time because she knew full well he didn't want her to talk about anything related to the military, and she simply didn't care (yes, he could feel this from her... in waves).

"Haha -- they do!" Maria smiled at Ellie. "Did you see a helicopter out there?"

"Yeah -- two of them! Or maybe it was the same one twice. Did you guys see it here, too? Did it fly over the town?"

She asked it innocently enough, but Joel knew better; obviously she was just trying to find out if the military was looking for them in Jackson.

"Yep," Maria replied. "Only once, though, that I remember. Little while back."

"Low enough that everyone ran out to gawk at it," Tommy added. "And slow enough that I half expected 'em to land nearby an' come talk to us for some reason. Plus it wasn't really flyin' straight. ...Almost like it was lookin' for someone in town." He not-so-casually glanced at Joel.

He knows. But WHAT does he know? Fortunately, it seemed Ellie had either missed that look or hadn't thought anything of it.

"Which is ridiculous," Maria scoffed. "If they were looking, whoever they were looking for probably wouldn't be stupid enough to let themselves be found... by, say, standing in the street staring up at it."

No, but if that person was stupid enough -- or cocky enough -- to park an army jeep with bright white lettering in the street... "Maybe they were havin' technical difficulties," Joel suggested. "The ones we saw weren't goin' by real fast, either."

"Or maybe the pilot didn't know what they were doing," Ellie speculated -- again, quite innocently. She definitely put on a better show when she was in the driver's seat. When she wasn't caught off guard.

What a good little liar she's becoming, Joel thought... with an odd mixture of pride and dismay -- as well as disbelief, because he'd just been thinking the opposite a short while ago.

"Possibly," Tommy allowed... but Joel knew he wasn't convinced. "Maybe they were new... inexperienced. Who knows. Anyhow, the military, in all its wisdom, decided to move Boise to Idaho Falls."

Ellie knit her brow. "Is there even a Zone there?"

"They were gonna make it one," Tommy replied. "The medical staff didn't like that, so there was some pushback. Long story short, we agreed to take some in, though not all at once. About half of 'em arrived in the fall, with the other--"

"Hang on," Joel interrupted him. "You mean to tell me you no longer get a say in who stays an' who don't?"

"Knew you weren't gonna like that, either," Tommy said, like it was some brilliant observation on his part. "We still get a say as far as... they still have to live by our rules. Our 'code of conduct' an' whatnot."

"But any old riffraff they send, you gotta take in." Joel shook his head. "Why would you agree to that?"

"We discussed it," Maria replied. "A lot. Not just us -- we talked to other longtime residents. Craig... Houser... Esther... Earl..."

"And they were all on board with this," Joel surmised. So much for it's good to be king.

"We agreed that there would have to be certain conditions," Tommy replied, "and we wanted it all laid out in writing."

"Jesus Christ, Tommy, paper don't mean shit anymore." Joel didn't mean to be so belligerent at his brother's table (he could already hear Ellie giving him shit for it later, because he'd instilled in her that it was impolite), but this one got his blood boiling. "It might matter to you, and to others who've been livin' here a while, but it don't matter to the rest of the world."

The baby chose that moment to announce that he was awake with a standard "come get me outta here" sort of cry that wafted down to them through his cracked-open door. Maria chuckled as she rose. "Saved by the bell."

"I'll go with you!" cried Ellie excitedly. "I mean -- unless -- like if you don't want me around when you're feeding him or something... or, I dunno... you wanna be alone with him..."

"Of course you can come," Maria replied, stifling at least the fifth yawn Joel had observed since they'd sat down to eat. "I get tons of alone time with him. Really."

Ellie stood up, but then looked at Joel and Tommy regretfully. "I do want to hear the rest of this, though..."

"I'll fill you in upstairs," Maria offered.

And I'll fill in the blanks for you later, Joel added in his head -- because Maria would probably deliver some sanitized version that would be more palatable to Ellie. Maybe I won't fill in ALL the blanks... just the ones related to Ellie's safety.

She shoveled what little stew was left in her bowl into her mouth before scurrying over to the stairs behind Maria, leaving half a slice of bread on her plate. "I'll eat that when I get back -- don't throw it out!"

Like he didn't already know better than to just toss it. Joel poked at his own stew, which was going to get cold before he finished at this rate. He was actually pretty hungry, just... he couldn't seem to eat and talk about all this shit at the same time.

Tommy leveled his gaze on Joel. "I'm not an idiot, Joel. I know they can welch on a paper deal as easy as a verbal one... an' not be held accountable by anyone."

"...Then why?"

"Because... frankly, we were lucky they were even willin' to play ball with us at all," Tommy said grimly. "We reckoned it was best to play nice."

Joel absorbed that for a moment. It didn't shock him; nothing seedy about the military or government did. "But it ain't like they're doin' you favors here -- you have somethin' they want."

"Hence the tradin' -- yes. It's a good thing we can play ball with them. Otherwise..."

"To hell with ~otherwise~ -- it sounds like things are bad enough as it is," Joel grumbled. "I thought you said what's-his-face... Rick? Rich? ...was one of the good guys." Joel had never met the guy.

"He is. But he's low on that totem pole in the grand scheme of things."

"He's just the mouth," Joel deduced.

"He has some agency, sure, but not when it comes to reorganizin' QZs an' shit. That's another change: that outpost also moved to Idaho Falls."

Joel could understand the benefits of centralizing things... to a point. "I thought they were already situated close to the rails." And he already knew the railroads were more functional now than they were a year ago.

"They were. Closer than that medical complex is, but... it's close enough, I guess? And the trains already run past there so maybe they reckoned it's all good."

Joel snorted. "Until they decide to move Oregon down here or somethin'." Joel had no idea how many QZs were still operational in the northwest -- or if there had ever been one in Oregon -- but it seemed unlikely that they would run the trains west of Idaho if there weren't any left at all.

"Don't give 'em any ideas," Tommy chuckled.

"It ain't funny. That's where all this is headed. You make a deal with the devil, you gotta pay the--"

"Hey now -- that original deal's been in place for years. Since before I even got here. You can't tell me it's a bad one. You like havin' soap... razors... shampoo... toilet paper... toothpaste..."

"All luxuries, not necessities." Luxuries he'd become quite accustomed to, granted... especially since things had turned romantic with Ellie. "They don't even keep us fully stocked, either -- unless that changed over the winter." He waited for Tommy to indicate that it hadn't before continuing. "I didn't think so. We can learn to make our own -- hell, Annie already makes a... a hair conditioner for Ellie. Somethin' with beer in it..." He never remembered the other ingredients.

"Easier said than done -- and we can't manufacture our own drugs. Herbal remedies an' shit will only take you so far. We need batteries, too... ammo... light bulbs... things like that, that you take for granted. Clothing, or fabric... and what about all the materials they supplied us with for Farm 4?" (That was indeed the brilliant name they had come up with for the sister farm.) "We can get wood, sure, but none of our experiments with makin' our own bricks have panned out, and as far as treatin' the wood... -Joel, you haven't even heard what we're gettin' out of this."

Since Tommy seemed to be pausing for dramatic effect here, Joel humored him. "And what, pray tell, might that be? Aside from a goddamn scanner we don' need."

"That, yes... they also offered to send some of their men down to--"

"Wait -- you mean to tell me they're turnin' this town into a damn QZ?" That's where Joel had reckoned this was going... eventually. But if they're already trying to take over things like--

"No. Relax. They offered to help with... security an' such. We declined. Said we can handle it ourselves. They were fine with that."

"Good." Joel still didn't like it. It still seemed like they were taking steps towards imposing martial law in Jackson. At the very least, the town was 'going corporate' -- and he didn't like that, either.

"We do like our independence, you know. And some folks just plain don't trust soldiers."

Joel snorted again. "Can't imagine why."

Tommy gave him a long, hard look. "To be fair, they can't trust all of us, either. You wanna tell me why they might be lookin' for you'n'Ellie?"

Here we go-- "Could be any number of reasons. You know we had to kill some on our way out here from Boston. Or maybe the Fireflies went to 'em after Salt--"

"I got the feelin' this was more recent than that."

Joel sighed. "We may have had to kill a few on our way from Monterey as well. But Tommy, I swear to you, it was only the ones we had to. It was us or them. Ain't like we went lookin' for trouble." Well, ELLIE may have...

"Tch. Ain't it always us or them?"

"No. Not always." Joel may have possibly laid eyes on a soldier in the past twenty-odd years that he hadn't needed to kill.

"All right, well... they apparently don' know your last name, and after that Firefly debacle last year... I'm still actin' like I ain't seen you since Boston. I reckon it's better that way. They don' need to know."

Thank God. Joel wouldn't have expected Tommy to turn him in -- especially with Ellie involved in the mess as well -- but that didn't mean his brother might not inadvertently tip them off. "I appreciate that. As far as the gates... patrol...?"

"Same policy as before. No one talks. Any questions from Outside organizations get directed to me or Maria only."

That 'policy' had been put in place shortly after Joel and Ellie had arrived a year ago, and although Tommy hadn't said as much, Joel suspected it had to do with protecting him and Ellie from possible Salt Lake City backlash. It wasn't an idiot-proof solution to staying off everyone's radar, but it did increase their chances immensely. "Thank you, baby brother."

"No sweat. As far as they know, no one by the name of Joel or Ellie has ever lived here. And I assured them I'd send word if you showed up. I was a little worried they'd wanna come in an' look around... talk to folks. But I guess they either believed me or just didn't care about doin' that. ...I tried to look at it as a good sign -- that you two were out there, alive an' well... and stirrin' up shit."

Joel didn't bother getting defensive again -- and two 'thank you's would suffice. Subject closed. "All right... so what is it that you negotiated in this deal you made? The good stuff."

"Assistance with restorin' some of the more dilapidated houses around town. Gettin' the materials, mostly. Fact is, there ain't enough good homes left on the main streets to keep movin' people to when we can't fix what's wrong with theirs. So the Ghost Town area... ain't quite as ghostly anymore."

"No shit?" Joel probably shouldn't have been surprised at that; he'd seen firsthand the state some of the houses were in. Some of them had probably needed attention decades before the pandemic. He and the guys had to get creative sometimes in how they 'fixed' them with whatever they had at their disposal, which was usually either a) not enough materials, or b) shoddy materials -- and sometimes it was a combination of both. "How many people we talkin' about here?"

Tommy winced, like he knew he was about to deliver more news Joel wouldn't like. "Total? Almost two hundred."

But Joel had expected it to be a fairly significant number like that. "So... nearly double the current population."

"Yep. They ain't all here yet. Told 'em we needed time to fix up the houses... and that without knowin' what kind of winter we were in for, we weren't sure how much we could get done. That I wasn't gonna risk people's necks by havin' 'em work on icy rooftops, either."

Based on what they'd heard over dinner, Joel counted himself and Ellie lucky to have spent the winter in a warmer climate.

"They gettin' us paint now?" Joel asked. "Noticed on the way over."

Tommy nodded. "Paint, stain... more of the finish we'd been usin' that we always ran out of... increased supplies, naturally... more walkie talkies -- upgraded ones..." Tommy rattled off a few more things before Joel held up his hand.

"That's all well an' good... but are they actually deliverin' what they're promisin', is what I wonder."

"So far, yes. And they made a good point about people not havin' much to do in the Zone, unless they make 'em do patrols an' things like that... whereas here, we can put 'em to work. Farm 4 won't have to borrow from the three farms here to help with their plantin', which they just started. One of the first things we did was build a bunkhouse up there. Shit, I didn't even tell you one of the best things -- instead of us havin' to do trade runs every month, they send a truck down here. I mean a big one -- a movin' truck. Drop off our goods, we fill it up with theirs -- good to go. Ain't that somethin'?"

"That's good," Joel grudgingly admitted. "We still use the wagon?"

"Sure. We don't get to keep the truck so we use it around town, or between farms... could use it for the dam too although we haven't needed to transport anythin' big up there..."

That Lucas kid hadn't actually built the wagon, but he'd designed it. Joel liked working with him, and he'd been glad to hear earlier that the boy was doing well. He sat back in his seat, his bowl finally empty and his belly comfortably full. "Not to change the subject, but... as far as livin' arrangements..."

"You'n'Ellie are always welcome here."

Joel nodded. "Much appreciated, but we don't wanna put you out. Especially with the baby and all..."

"Are you kiddin'? We could use the help," Tommy chuckled. "Especially from people who won't keep passive-aggressively tellin' us we're Doin' It Wrong."

"No promises there," Joel teased. "Except from Ellie -- on helpin' out, I mean. You can sign her up for that. She's a quick study." I hope I can pry her away from that baby... maybe she won't WANT to move back into our own place? The baby was crying now, and Joel idly wondered if the kid was protesting being half naked for a diaper change.

"We will definitely take her up on her offer to babysit. Even if it's just for short periods."

"She'd like that. And... she can still do that, even if we move back to our house. I... think it's time. Although I'd like to make it a little more secure, if we can."

"You could move to a different house," Tommy suggested. "One that's more central, so people can't--"

"No, no... we like the one we've got." The isolation had its benefits.

"You sure? It's so small. And you ain't gettin' any younger -- sleepin' on a couch every night can't be good for your back."

Joel chuckled. "It's prob'ly better than that old mattress in Ellie's room, truth be told." Not that he would actually know, since he'd only ever slept on that couch once or twice. "Besides, I've gotten used to sleepin' on all different surfaces, in all kinds of places. Just bein' inside four walls is good enough for me."

"Suit yourself," Tommy said with a shrug in his tone. "How are you fixin' to beef up the security? Oh -- I know! We could get you a bodyguard." He grinned at that ludicrous idea.

Joel gave him a withering look. "A bodyguard?"

"More like a house guard. A sentry who just... stands out there by the front door all day long."

"All night, too. Sure. Good idea, baby brother. Real practical." Ellie would have to... not be quite so loud, Joel smirked to himself. But he liked that she got loud sometimes. It was hot as hell. ...So hot that he couldn't afford to be thinking about it right now, actually. "I was thinkin' more along the lines of motion detector lights."

"Oh, we could prob'ly--"

"And a wall," Joel continued. "Around the whole thing -- with a gate we can lock from the inside."

"Uh... okay... that might be a little harder to come by. But -- another thing I didn't tell you -- we had a key cutter. When we brought up the fact that most folks here can't lock their houses when they go out, an' suddenly havin' hundreds of strangers around was bound to make 'em uneasy about that, they got one for us. A loaner. Nothin' fancy. Gave a few of us a crash course on rekeyin' locks an' cuttin' keys. Mitch an' Tyrone locksmithed their asses off... hundreds of keys, they did... didn't finish before the first group arrived, but shortly after. Each household has one key per person plus one extra -- plus there's one extra besides that, that we keep in our master key cabinet that only me, Maria, an' Craig have the combo to, in Craig's office."

Joel could imagine how big an undertaking that was. "Ghost Town houses, too?"

"Yep."

"But the machine was on loan, you said... so if you need any more -- someone loses theirs or somethin' --"

"Then we put in an order for one an' send it off with the next truck. Hasn't happened yet."

"Why couldn't they just let you keep the thing? What the hell do they need it for anyhow?"

"Beats me, but we're all set now. Did your house, too, so you'n'Ellie can each have your own key. Plus a spare, if you still wanna keep one outside. Next time you go shoppin', you can even pick out keychains if you want -- we finally have a use for all of 'em now."

"I'll leave that to Ellie. Maybe we'll go tomorrow." They would no doubt need some staples for the pantry; Ellie had insisted on giving everything back before they left ("what if we never come back for some reason? Do you want all that to go to waste?"). He heard footsteps approaching from around the corner and stiffened momentarily, all senses heightened, one hand hovering over a gun on his hip -- but he knew right away it was just Ellie. Guess my body needs to learn to listen to my brain again... still, he was a little surprised, given that he'd heard Ellie's footsteps far more than anyone else's these past few months. He didn't usually have such a visceral reaction like that.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" she chirped when she came into sight.

"The storehouse. It’s prob’ly closed for the day."

Ellie pondered this as she slid back into her seat. "Tomorrow, yeah. By the time I leave the farm... except, hey, we don't have to like... go to bed with the sun anymore, do we!"

The "I" did not escape Joel's notice. "You wanna go by yourself?"

"...Uh... isn't that what we said? Is that okay? I mean, unless you're dying to talk to Esther for a long time. Which I don't think you are, so you'll be hanging around... hovering... mentally yelling at me that you wanna leave--"

"When do I ever yell at you?" he chuckled.

"Mentally, I said." She sopped up the dregs of her cold stew with what was left of her bread. "And then I'd feel guilty. You'd guilt me into leaving before we--"

"All right, all right. Sold. Since you've got this all figured out."

"I do," she said sagely. "While I'm at the farm, you can go fix up our house -- like, get it all ready and stuff."

Tommy laughed loudly at that. "Shit, Joel, she really does have it all figured out."

Of course, Joel would rather do that than socialize at the farm, and Ellie knew it. "Tch. What am I, your slave?" He injected the words with annoyance, just to amuse her.

She giggled, then adopted her snooty tone -- the first time she'd used it since her little birthday... thing. "I prefer the term... ~manservant.~ Ah, it's good to be... queen. And yes, I expect everything to be shape-ship-- uh--" She dropped the affected voice with a chuckle. "That makes me think shape-shifting. Which can't be right."

"Shipshape," Joel supplied. "When everythin's neat'n'tidy."

"Yes! That. Though I don't see what that has to do with ships..."

"Sailors had to keep their quarters tidy on account of the turbulence an' whatnot," Joel explained. "And the small space, I reckon."

"Okay -- well, our house is small, I guess, so... it fits! Way smaller than this one, anyway. No upstairs."

"...Speakin' of upstairs... you leave your belt up there still?"

"I'll get it before we leave," Ellie sighed. "Jeez."

"Maria fall asleep up there?" asked Tommy.

"Oh! No. Not yet. She said she'd be coming down. Guess what, Joel -- did you know that when you change a little boy's diaper, you have to cover his pee-pee or he'll just shoot pee all over? Like in your face? Ha!"

Joel arched an eyebrow. "Pee-pee?"

"You know. His dick."

"I know what it is, smartass, I just never heard you use that term before."

Tommy chuckled and looked at Ellie. "Maria's got you usin' her baby words already."

"It actually doesn't feel right, calling it a dick. It's a pee-pee. It's all cute and tiny. Doesn't even look like a dick. -Er... I mean... not that I've seen one or anything... just... what I imagine they must look like..." Her face was flaming red.

Tommy shot an amused look at Joel. "Uh-huh."

"No, really!" Ellie insisted.

"It's all right, kiddo," Joel said nonchalantly. "You can 'fess up. You've seen much bigger ones."

"What?! No I haven't!" cried Ellie, looking appropriately outraged for an innocent young girl with virgin eyes, but Joel knew she was actually wondering what the hell had gotten into him.

She's just so fun to mess with! "I didn't wanna say anything, out of respect..." Joel dragged it out just long enough to enjoy the bemused look on Tommy's face as well as the WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING look on Ellie's -- but not long enough that Ellie might say something incriminating. He glanced at Tommy. "But it ain't like you even know the guy. Back east, Ellie decided to help herself to a friend's... personal... literature stash. She got an eyeful before I made her toss it."

Ellie was glaring at him now, but he could tell she was also trying not to laugh. "You know I only did that to make you squirm!"

"Uh-huh," he mimicked Tommy from earlier. "You weren't curious or nothin'."

"If I hadn't wanted to get caught, I would've just sat back there quietly looking, wouldn't I? Why call your attention to it?" she reasoned.

Joel had never quite thought of it that way. Hadn't given it much thought at all, really. Ah, the first of many awkward moments to come. "Fair enough. ...But you were also curious."

Tommy chuckled. "Sixteen now. Joel, you're gonna have to let her date sooner or later."

Date? Who even goes on dates these days? "I don't have to let her -- she can do as she pleases. I'm fine with it." Sure I am. Now which one of them will call--

"Bullshit!" Tommy and Ellie said at the same time, making each other laugh.

Despite the fact that his brother could get under his skin like no other, Joel really did love him, and seeing the affection that Tommy and Ellie had for each other warmed his heart. Maybe things were a little different in Jackson now... but some change was to be expected. It still beat the hell out of living in a Zone, or Outside. Ellie was in her element here, and Joel could ease up on worrying about her safety... at least a little. It's good to be HOME.

~

A/N: Ellie won the bet! But what exactly were the stakes?

This was just a fun little side thing, and although I thought about working the "payment of the debt" into the story later, I never did. Or, I should say, I haven't yet (still editing!)... ...but perhaps I COULD, with reader input! I would like to do it as a short bonus chapter, probably at the end, although it would most likely take place before the end of the story. So, if there's something you'd like to see in chapter 50, let me know, and I might use your idea :)

It has to fit the setting, can’t interfere with the main plot (not that you would know what’s in store, obviously – just sayin’), and can't be egregiously OOC. Since Joel lost, I don't need to know what Ellie would have had to "pay," but if you'd like to share ideas about that as well, it could possibly be mentioned in the chapter! And there's no rule that says the stakes have to be equal. In fact, I can totally see Ellie conning Joel into getting the worse end of the deal.

Lastly -- it does not have to be sexual! Even though Ellie strongly implied that it would be, earlier in the story, maybe she changed her mind when this other idea occurred to her?
Disclaimer: there is no guarantee that I'll actually produce any content worthy of adding to the story -- I only promise to TRY. I'm not one of those blessed people who can just take any prompt and run with it.

Thank you so much for reading!


~Continue to Chapter 27~