Summer 01

[mightythinice]

[when it clicks on, have a face full of dirty red headed kid. She looks absolutely delighted by the fact that the console works, and her words seal the deal]

Holy shit, this thing really works?! This is so fucking cool! So, I turned this on and everyone else can hear me, right? This thing’s like a mass phone call or… Oh, wait. Is this what it was like being on TV?

[she pulls out a book from her backpack]

Well, I’m reading a book about anti- gravity… It’s impossible to put down. Pfff. Okay, okay, I won’t read my good ol’ pun book to everyone, but if you ever need a joke, let me know.

Also, I’m looking for someone. His name’s Joel, he’s kind of older, brown hair, talks with a pretty thick Texas accent.

And if anyone knows where I can find a bunch of books in English, that’d be awesome. Last place I went to, they were all in this fucking weird script! No good if you wanna actually read something, you know?

Comments

[mightythinice]

Like, actual tree houses? Not broken down pieces of shit?

I don't know, but I want to find out now.

[grigio]

How does finding food and exploring part of the turtle sound?

Do you like noodles?

[mightythinice]

I'll try anything once.

Okay, where do I go?

WRONG ICON BY FAR OH MY LORD

[grigio]

Wood Sector restaurants. [Keeping a list, checking it...more than twice because it's food and she's not Santa. She shuffles around some papers on her desk, pulling out a small notepad and running a finger down it.]

There is a restaurant with paintings on the window of dragons flying around bowls of noodles. Did you see that place yet? It's in the middle of that sector.

There's also another, kind of bigger one that has a fish on the door.

HAPPENS TO ALL OF US

[mightythinice]

I saw some dragons a little while back, I can find that again no problem.

Meet you there, and I'll try not to start ordering everything before you get there! [a joke, because. well, she would order everything. But, no reason to advertise that anymore]

[grigio]

If you like spicy food, order the number seven. If you don't, try the four.

[And she's purposefully avoided anything even remotely fungi-like, just by offering those two suggestions. She figured Ellie'd appreciate it.]

See you in a bit, Ellie. And it's an absolute pleasure to meet you.

[mightythinice]

Number 7 or number 4... Got it.

[Even without Joel there, she was feeling pretty good about this for the moment.]

I gotta leave this thing, so I'll see you there! And it was nice meeting you too.

[grigio]

See you in a bit.

[Julie shuts her feed off and leaves her suite.

It takes her about fifteen minutes to get to the small restaurant. She instantly looks around for Ellie, nor sure if the kid got there yet or not.]

[mightythinice]

[Ellie's only a few moments behind her-- it was evident she'd gotten a little distracted along the way.

In person, it's easy to see that this is a girl who has been traveling and roughing it for awhile. Her clothes and, well, herself, is dirty. She hadn't had time to enjoy a shower]

Hey, Julie! ... So I found another bookstore on the way here. No luck again.

[grigio]

[Yeah. She's so buying this kid some new clothes and some bath supplies. Big sister mode is go. Ellie gets Julie's friendliest, most genuine grin. She's also used to kids that look like this, so she has nothing against letting her hang out like that.]

Hey! Yeah? We'll have to make it a mission to find a good one. C'mon in.

[Julie tilts her head toward the door, pulling it open and waiting for Ellie to step in before she follows.]

This place also has some pretty decent desserts. I don't want to say they're like anything back home, because they're not.

[Few and far between as things are back home. She had the chance to see the world Before, so she has some vague ideas.]

But they're still pretty awesome. My friend, Raleigh and I've been here a few times.

[mightythinice]

[she hadn't tried desserts in... well, ever. Unless fresh fruit counted as a dessert, and even then, that was rare. She was already aware that she was going to have to eat so much food while she was there]

What's good here, then? You said 4 and 7, right?

[what if she got both. Was that legit? And dessert?]

[grigio]

[Those count. She should tell Ellie about the apple orchard she and her friends found. Those were some damn good Honeycrisp apples.

Julie looks up at the menu before nodding at Ellie.]

Seven for spicy. Four for mild. And if you want something sweet, I suggest the rainbow colored one. It's sort of like a stiff pudding. Pretty awesome.

[mightythinice]

[she looks back to the counter, and then makes her decision. She hasn't tried much that was spicy, and she didn't need to be completely greedy and get both. Though, she totally would. Just watch her.]

7 and a rainbow one, please and thank you.

[she says with some satisfaction, ordering at the counter. She'd never done something like this, but it was fun to act out the way she'd imagined it

She still looked pretty excited]

[grigio]

[Oh, god. This kid was friggin' adorable. Julie watches her order, placing an identical one and asking for two of their iced tea drinks as well before giving Ellie a proud grin.]

Nailed it. Great job. So...if it's okay with you, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to...but I was wondering if you could tell me more about Joel. How'd you guys meet?

[mightythinice]

[Drinks-- she should have figured that would be important. At least asked for water or something! When Julie asks the next question, Ellie tries to figure out how to put it in the best terms possible.

She didn't need to tell someone who had experienced something similar about her condition, or why Joel was escorting her.

She hoped he'd be there, even if it meant they'd both drowned. She didn't like not having him with her all of the sudden. He would know exactly what to do-- and even if that part didn't matter so much anymore, she wanted him there.]

Well... a friend of mine asked Joel and-- his partner to take me to meet the Fireflies. They're a group back home that's trying to restore the government.

[she sits down and rubs her nose]

Considering we're in Boston and we weren't sure where the home base for the Fireflies was besides 'out west,' we've been everywhere together.

[grigio]

[Julie settles in the seat across from Ellie, listening attentively. No, she didn't need to know about Ellie's condition, even though she'd find that fascinated. All she wanted to know was what Ellie was willing to tell her. She understood that sometimes it was difficult to even talk about home.]

Sounds like quite the adventure, just from that much. It's just the two of you? I live in a Super Stadium back home and when we send salvage groups out, it's usually a group of anywhere from five people to more. We don't go far from home.

[So she can't imagine it's all that easy in such a small group.]

[mightythinice]

We've... had friends help along the way, but yeah, it's mostly been me and Joel.

[none of those friends survived. Tess, Henry, Sam...]

I wish we had a bigger group, it'd be easier, except for when you run into those fucking Hunters. [grumble] They're the assholes who aren't infected, but they fucking try to kill everyone who isn't one of them.

I hate those fuckers.

[grigio]

We have groups like that. They like to make things hell for everyone.

[Their food is delivered, steaming and smelling a lot like heaven in Julie's opinion. She sighs, enjoying the scent for a moment before reaching for a pair of chop sticks.]

Know how to use these?

[mightythinice]

Nope! What are those?

[grigio]

They're chopsticks. Eating utensils. They're hilarious if you don't know how to use them.

[Julie demonstrates how to hold them, ready and willing to help Ellie out of she needs it.]

They take a lot of getting used to.

[mightythinice]

[She tries to imitate her hold, but honestly, it's very slow going. There's no way she's going to be able to master them this quickly. And she already looks a little bit confused at trying to do anything with them]

... Are you sure I can't eat with my hands?

[grigio]

How about a fork?

[The broth is hot as hell, Ellie. And Julie doesn't want her new friend boiling her fingers so she heads back to the counter and points out the forks. It takes a moment for the kedan behind the counter to understand her but Julie returns with forks, holding one out for the kid.]

You need it for your dessert, anyway.

[mightythinice]

Thank you.

[she grins, and pretty much as soon as that fork is in her hands, she's digging into the noodles. Hot, or not.]