001; open;

[aintyourdad]

Who: Joel and YOU?!
Where: Outskirts of Aldrip
What: Joel isn't pleased to be here. He's especially not pleased that someone knows a lot about him, and has it all written on a piece of paper.
Warnings: Nothing yet, aside from Joel's general assholishness.

[ Joel approaches the town carefully. It's long, long habit - infected are dangerous, sure, but people are what you really need to watch out for. People are capable of anything.

And this town? It's way too fucking good to be true. It's just... there. Out in the open, no defenses, no lookouts, no patrols. He doesn't trust it. And he especially doesn't trust whoever left this piece of paper on him, with his personal information, and some kinda crime he's supposed to have committed. The first thing he needs to do is find somewhere reasonably safe, and the second thing? The second thing is to destroy this paper before someone else gets their hands on it.

Then he needs to find Ellie.

No one is armed. No one tries to attack him, or shouts for FEDRA, or anything. Not even on the outskirts of the town, where he'd expect people to be particularly wary. Somehow, despite the tension in his shoulders, despite the glares he shoots at everyone in his vicinity, someone gets him to some sort of... inn, or something? What the fuck.

He finds a table near the back, with his back to a wall and all exits firmly in his sight lines. Then he pulls the paper out, unrolls it, looks at it a moment. Crumples it up in his hand, then goes to rip it up. Except, he can't. A line of frustration appears on his brow as he tries to tear at it, with his hands, his teeth, he even pulls out a blade at one point and tries to cut it.

The only thing he gets out of the exercise is a paper cut. ]

What the fuck is goin' on here.

[ His voice is incredulous (and also Texan). ]

Comments

[usarinpa]

[ Wow, fine!! By Thing she was really just thinking lecture, but she supposes those have to come from a place of caring. Rather than join him at his table, Mizuki passes it by a couple steps and opts to lean against the back wall instead, still leaving him with his space.

She folds her arms, and appears to be waiting for someone or something, watching others come and go. ]

I can take care of myself. It's not like I trust them... I just didn't want that thing weighing me down. [ She makes no move to see Joel's parchment, just simply nods her head in its direction to indicate it. ]

[aintyourdad]

It'll only weigh you down if you let it.

[ Joel, of course, has no idea what's on her paper, and no interest in finding out. He just knows that what's on his, is stupid and a lie and it definitely does not weigh on his conscience. Not in the slightest. ]

[usarinpa]

...Deep.

[ She means that genuinely, whether he would be able to tell or not. It's something she could stand to remember when she sees that cursed paper again. Maybe she would.

For now, she's content with the silence, though she does lift her wrist to check her new golden charm that'd been shoved at her... Nope, still nothing. ]

Hey, you actually get a pretty decent view from back here.

[aintyourdad]

[ That's definitely the deepest thing she'll ever hear Joel say. At least right now. He sits back a little in his seat, resigning himself to the company for now. ]

Yeah, that's the point.

[ He can see the whole place, and track who comes and goes. ]

[usarinpa]

[ Yeah, she's getting that. She doesn't seem bothered, and doesn't appear to try to force anything yet, beyond just existing vaguely in his space.

...... ]

Yeah? Seems like they're giving just about everybody who walks in a room right now.

[aintyourdad]

Nothing's for free.

[ Is that deep? As far as Joel is concerned, that's just a basic fact of life. ]

[usarinpa]

True where I come from, too.

[ s i g h. What is taking that guy so long? ]

Aren't they being a little too accommodating?

[aintyourdad]

For kidnappers, yeah. I don't trust any of this.

[ So, hey, they're in agreement there! ]

Not planning to stay here long, that's for sure.

[usarinpa]

[ She gives a noncommittal nod, like she kind of gets it, but she knows better than to ask where he'll go. ]

We didn't exactly wake up with camping gear on hand, so we took a room for now.

[aintyourdad]

Long as you've got someone to watch your back.

[ He's assuming that 'we' means she does. ]

[usarinpa]

[ Watch it in order to stab it, maybe. She still can't put the uncomfortable feelings into words regarding all that, however, so she doesn't even try. ]

How 'bout you?

[aintyourdad]

I can take care of myself.

[ Which is kind of true, but also not. He's usually had someone else over the past twenty years. This is actually the most alone he's felt since Tess died. But he's hardly going to admit that, not even to himself, really. ]

[usarinpa]

[ Hey, that's her line. Though she has no reason to question it, coming from him, she'll still give him a bit of a look, like she's looking for more. ]

You do seem like the outdoorsy type.

[aintyourdad]

You make do, when the world ends.

[ He's not sure he'd call himself "outdoorsy" per se. He just lives wherever he can. ]

[usarinpa]

Yours?

[ Mizuki perks up then, though this whole business of talking about people's "worlds" is still something she's trying to wrap her head around. She finds herself more curious than she thought she would be, asking in the same casual way that he'd brought it up. ]

How?

[aintyourdad]

[ Joel frowns slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. Such a simple, innocent-sounding question that she just expects him to go over his trauma to her for. To satisfy her curiosity. ]

Cordyceps. It's a parasitic fungus. It mutated, or something. Started infecting people. It takes over your brain, makes you attack other people. Bite them, to spread. And spread, and spread.

[usarinpa]

[ It's a fair question, but for what it is worth, what Joel provided is more than adequate without getting into specifics. Mizuki's mouth hangs open in morbid awe, and she's quiet as she tries to imagine what a world like that would even be like. She can't know, not really, though she likes to think it's a world she narrowly avoided.

She really, really hopes they did, at any rate. ]

We were--

Well, it wasn't a fungus. I don't know. I don't really get the nitty gritty science of it. A virus, I guess. It made you crazy, too. Like... ramming your head into walls and jumping off cliffs.

We were trying to stop it. [ And he had the gall not to remember any of it. Mizuki trails off, however, already feeling strange, speaking about this, but it seems like something that's been weighing on her for a while since arriving. ]

[aintyourdad]

You can cure it.

[ He says that immediately. ]

That's - that's what doctors say. Viruses, you can treat. Vaccinate. Cure. Fungus doesn't work like that.

[ Probably. Maybe. He thinks about Ellie, in a hospital gown, but he doesn't believe that. Never did. He returns his attention to Mizuki. ]

Did you? Fix it?

[usarinpa]

[ Joel's right. There had been talk of a cure. Nanotechnology and all that. Ryuki--he'd gotten better. But given that he's dead, that thought doesn't bring her any comfort. ]

We had a plan, but... I don't know.

[ Did it work? Would it? Even if she could go back, she doesn't know what to expect. Maybe her world ended, too. ]

[aintyourdad]

Right. Figures. You got kidnapped before you could fix it.

[ Those motherfuckers. He shakes his head. ]

I'm...sorry. About your world.

[ He doesn't really feel all that sorry - he's way beyond being able to feel actual empathy for most people at this point - but he knows enough to realize that's kind of what you're supposed to say. It's polite. ]

[usarinpa]

[ It's polite. Mizuki finds her lips twitching into a smile despite herself, because as much as she can be a difficult hardass who doesn't care, she does appreciate such small things. ]

Thanks.

[ Hopefully that sentiment wouldn't amount to anything. Hopefully it wouldn't necessary, everything would be fine. Somehow. ]

I'm Mizuki, by the way. Sorry... about your world, too.

[aintyourdad]

Joel.

[ Apparently that apology is as far as he's going with the politeness because he's not saying anything like "nice to meet you". Whatever. This is him being nice. About as nice as he gets. ]

You and your friends should focus on getting home, I reckon.

[usarinpa]

Yeah.

[ Mizuki concedes. It's just the two of them, but she doesn't bother to correct. Though trying to get home may take more time than anyone here would like. Maybe she's a little scared to find out, too, but she swallows down that feeling. It's part of the job.

The golden charm at her wrist starts to "ring" then, the comforting sound of waves filling the air, and Mizuki sighs, taking a step away from the wall, as if that'd been her cue. ]

Home sounds good. [ Even if she has find it in a strange world where everyone thinks she's done something terrible. ]

[aintyourdad]

[ Jesus, is that what that thing does? Joel is glad he tossed his in his backpack. It's probably already sitting at the bottom, buried underneath his spare ammo. ]

Good luck.

[ He means it, as far as he means anything. ]

🎀

[usarinpa]

[ She lingers for a moment longer near the back wall, just watching Joel for a moment. It's a long enough pause that the waves stop (or the caller clearly got impatient). ]

You, too.

[ There's a look like she might want to ask something else, but before she can, her charm starts ringing again and she decides against it, poking at a button with an annoyed click of her tongue.

She leaves Joel in peace, which is more than can be said for whoever's on the other end of the line, and her voice can be heard trailing— ]

I'm coming! Jeez. You're the one who kept me waiting...