I'm not fourteen. Tess' perception of time is off.
[Which means she'll be there, and she does show up shortly after, looking a little frazzled with her hair half out of its elastic and clothes wrinkled. Who irons??? Not Ellie.]
I was hoping the Admiral wasn't hiring actual children. [Hello! What a kind greeting. Her journal's on the bar next to him, where he's sitting, also very unironed.]
Then you're better than Tess. Or me. I would have looked.
[Look, it's a compliment. Ellie isn't sitting, clearly unsure as to what to do now that she has her journal back. She still wants to retaliate--old habits--but knows it's better to just. Let it go.
Easier said than done, but she's trying. Ellie takes a deep breath.]
... thanks. She wouldn't have given it back to me without a fight.
[Maybe he's off limits. Tess clearly likes him, and more importantly, seems to respect him to some degree. It's why Ellie asked him to get her journal back.]
[There's something pretty major she's keeping for Tess--thank god she's smart enough not to write that down in her journal. It'd fuck her up. Fuck Ellie up too, talking about it. Trying to explain.]
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[Which means she'll be there, and she does show up shortly after, looking a little frazzled with her hair half out of its elastic and clothes wrinkled. Who irons??? Not Ellie.]
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Did you look at it?
[She would have.]
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Jesus. No, I didn't. [And if that's the attitude she's bringing, he's going to be leaving pretty quickly.]
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[Look, it's a compliment. Ellie isn't sitting, clearly unsure as to what to do now that she has her journal back. She still wants to retaliate--old habits--but knows it's better to just. Let it go.
Easier said than done, but she's trying. Ellie takes a deep breath.]
... thanks. She wouldn't have given it back to me without a fight.
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[So. Do unto others, etc.]
I know she wouldn't have. She woulda antagonized you at the very least.
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Yeah? She take yours yet?
[Maybe he's off limits. Tess clearly likes him, and more importantly, seems to respect him to some degree. It's why Ellie asked him to get her journal back.]
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[Joel would never if he bothered to keep such a thing. And never would Ellie, so Tess fucking stole it.]
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I bet it did. I didn't want folk back home lookin', either, but she's different, ain't she?
[He takes a drink and shakes his head.] Gotta be honest with her. If I want her to be honest with me, I got to.
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[There's something pretty major she's keeping for Tess--thank god she's smart enough not to write that down in her journal. It'd fuck her up. Fuck Ellie up too, talking about it. Trying to explain.]
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Maybe I just understand parts of her that need understandin'.
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[Maybe this cowboy guy isn't Joel 2.0. He'd never say anything like that.]
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Now don't tell me that's a compliment.
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Maybe I'm just getting worried about coming off as more of a fucking asshole than Tess.
[She's just constantly stressed and teetering on the edge of a meltdown. It expresses itself in different ways.]
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You did earlier on. You let her get to you like that, you'd best hope for a nice inmate.
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[She's not sure if it'd be more or less complicated in the fallout of telling the truth, but she's nooooot fucking going there.]
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[TESS.]
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[She has to have SOME hope people can change if she's going to get her deal.]
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Oh, sure. Coming from your world, I bet you was raised an optimist.
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[Since he knows that much anyway.]
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