panyvivienda

[panyvivienda]

[panyvivienda]

¹ Just for the night

summary: looking for a safe place to spend the night, joel and ellie come across a girl singing a david bowie song at the top of her lungs while picking carrots.

a/n:  sorry if there are any mistakes, english it's not my first language. part 2??or not??maybe?? feel like it could have been better 😪

Fatigue ran through every bone in their bodies, making it increasingly difficult to stand upright. Joel seemed to hide it better than Ellie, who every two minutes stopped in her place and said to him that she could not longer feel her legs.

"Just a couple more steps, I promise" he replied, knowing that they still had a long way to go. A few hours earlier they had encountered some hunters. Fortunately for them, they didn't seem to have noticed their presences.

"Well, that doesn't sound so convincing you know" she complained, throwing her head back with a grunt, gaining a sigh from him- You are being way to skeptical Joel, we are gonna be fine- she said looking at him this time, waiting for a "You're so right Ellie, how didn't I listened to you before, let's get some sleep" to fly of his mouth. Not a very Joel thing to say, but something among those words.

"You can ever be to sure" he shortly responded. Ellie opted to say no more, dragging her feet reluctantly behind him, following the road and occasionally glancing at the woods to her right. The moon being the only source of light in the cold starry night. Clearly they were not going to stop until he believed it was a safe place to settle.

The silence did not last long. From the woods they began to hear shouting, which at first scared them. It was someone singing. Joel told Ellie to stay close to him, slowly moving deeper into the woods. They were a little curious as to who was singing at this time of night like crazy. Maybe it was someone deranged who had completely lost their mind. They didn't know, but they did know that they would have to take care of it if they wanted to sleep peacefully and not with one eye open in case this person ended up finding them in the middle of the night.

The surprise they got when they found the person in charge, a girl picking carrots from an orchard, was a rare surprise. They shared an incredulous look, their eyes unable to believe what they were seeing. The girl went on about her business without noticing the two pairs of expectant eyes, singing with an immeasurable passion and stopping to complain about a carrot that didn't want to come out.

"She seems harmeless Joel, look at her" she told him pointing at her with her finger.

"Looks like she has a screw loose to me. Come on".

"That's such an old man thing to say".

Ignoring what he had said earlier, Ellie raised her arms and shouted "Hey you, girl with the weird beanie! Do you think you could give us a hand for tonight?". Flinching at the suddent voice, Amanda raised her head cursing at herself for being so careless. She slowly stand up with two carrots in each of her hands, shaking her head. "No!" she yelled with nervousness, making Ellie frown.

"Come on men, we are tired! Do you have any idea of how much we have been walk- "

"Okay, that's enough" grabbing her by her arm, Joel yanked her to the woods, having to stop due to the girl resisting "She doesn't want to help us Ellie, she doesn't have too either".

"Kinda has to now" she contradicted him "She was the one singing loudly that brought us here, besides look at that big ass house she got there! You're gonna tell me she ain't got space for us two?" she said the last thing more directed to Amanda "It's pretty late we just want to sleep, we ain't bad guys".

Amanda couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. The man wasn't wrong, she didn't have to help them, but because of her not keeping her stupid mouth shout she end up putting herself in this situation, so now she had to deal with it. What if she didn't help them and they end up dying? She couldn't do that. But what if they weren't good people? What if they killed her? Hell, she didn't fucking know them! And she really wanted to sleep with a clear conscience.

Frustration started to build up, and before Joel could even say something, she yelled "Fine! But if you two try something I... I" she failed to threaten, feeling dumb for trying to sound intimidating with a pointing carrot at their direction "Just don't try anything, I'm trying to do something nice, so don't make me regreat it" dropping the carrots to the floor, Amanda started walking to the door fence "Over here".

Ellie looked at Joel with a triumphant smile. Without much effort she had managed to persuade the yet girl of unknown name, getting them a roof over their heads for tonight . Following the girl’s instructions, they went through the fence, now facing each other.

"Hi, I'm Amanda" she presented herself, feeling uncomfortable with their eyes buried in her.

"I'm Ellie"  the redhead continued, expecting the man besider her to tell his, but he seem hesitant, causing her to roll her eyes "And he's Joel. Not a very talkative guy".

"Great, Ellie, Joel, would you like to come inside and have dinner? I was about to make it but I forgot the carrots and um you know this happend" she explained while moving her hands.

Ellie laughed, adding to the conversation "Yeah we know, what was it that you were singing?" at the question, Amanda couldn't help but feel quite embarrassed, they just had to be there at that precise moment? She was going to answer her, but Joel beat her to it.

"Space Oddity by David Bowie".

"Exactly".

"And that was?"

"Are you for real? He was a fucking icon! The best of the best! At least that's what my dad used to tell me all the time" as they spoke, they began to walk, heading to Amanda's house, the older one following them from behind. Joel's eyes darted everywhere, fearing that someone would jump out and attack them, although Amanda seemed nice, or maybe she was good at pretending "He didn't follow what at the time society expected from people, he challenged everything and cared little about what others may say. Everything he touched, he turned it into art. My dad got to see him performance, and he told me that his mere presence on stage was simply indescribable" Ellie listened attentively to every word that came out of her mouth, finding what she said interesting and wanting to learn more. She decided to not make questions about her dad. She imagined what she could say to her if she were to ask.

"That must have been fucking awesome! I wish I had the opportunity to hear artists performance in live" Ellie exclaimed content, turning to her left "Ever went to a concert Joel?".

"That was more of a Tommy thing to do" said sincerely, waiting for Amanda to open the door "Is there more people with you?"

"I've been on my own for a while now".

"Oh" that's all Ellie said to her, feeling stupid afterwards. Amanda gave her a small grin.

Before they entered, Amanda asked them kindly if they could take off their shoes "I got a serious problem with keeping things clean, sorry" she apologized, moving to a side to turn the lights, surprising the other two.

"You have electricity? How is that possible?" Amanda smiled at Joel’s questions.

"A little further back from home there’s plenty of wind towers. It's a pretty unpopulated place because of that, it has always been" she replied, crossing her arms behind her back, swinging back and forth.

"And how do you keep it working?" asked Ellie this time.

"I got not idea, it just does. My dad was the one in charge of that. Never explained it further because he said I didn't need to understand. In some point it's gonna stop working, I guess" she said, getting lost in thought, which didn’t go unnoticed by Joel "Anyways, I have to finish cooking dinner, meanwhile you guys could take a shower" seeming to have realized the double connotation of her sentence, she quickly said "Not because I think you guys smell, it's just because, I mean.. there's hot water!"

Ellie failed to contain her laugh, letting some chuckles escape, while Joel couldn't hide his smile.

"We know we smell, believe me. I'm gonna shower first. I haven't showered with hot water in like, forever!" following Amanda's directions and accepting a borrowed towel and clothes, Ellie went into the bathroom, leaving her and Joel on their own.

"I do not want to overstep, but" Amanda interrumped him before he could even finish.

"He died a few months ago, I think it's been five months by now, but I'm not really sure" she knew she was relying way too much on these two, but she decided to trust her senses, that until now, with her few years of life, had never failed her" Joel felt sorry for her, and Amanda hated it "I got so lost talking about David Bowie that I totally forgot to grab the carrots, would you mind boiling the water? I already put the water in the pot. The lighter is on top of the microwave".

"Alright".

"Great, we are eating some smashed potatoes and carrots tonight ".

After doing what he was told to, Joel took the time to appreciate every detail that adorned the house.All of the furniture was made of wood, mostly with antique lamps above them. Large pinturesque paintings hung on some walls, every one of them belonging to a same style. They shared the same signature "Fiona Wesley". There were also dried flowers upside down on some of the tiles in the kitchen, but what caught his total attention were the pictures on the fridge. He couldn't help but let thoughts of Sarah flood on his mind.

---

"God, it's been so long since I've had a proper meal" commented Ellie, happy with Amanda's cooking "You are so good. You don't know what it's like to have to eat Joel's cooking, he burns everything!" Joel gave her a dirty look, feeling offended.

"Thank you very much, it's not a such a big deal honestly".

"She's right, it's pretty good".

"Well... thanks" not used to receiving compliments, Amanda did what she does best, change the subject. "So...if you don't mind me asking, where were you heading to?."

Ellie looked at Joel to see if it was okay to be honest with her. He nodded.

"We are looking for Joel's brother, Tommy. We think he's in Wyoming."

"Shit, that's a long way from here, more if it's by foot. You're going to need plenty of food and coats, I should give you some."

"You helped us enough, it's not necessary" Joel denied, feeling that he was abusing her kindness.

"Don't worry Joel, it doesn't bother me. It would actually make me feel better if you took something for the trip. It's hard to get food with the weather like this, you rarely spot animals to hunt. It would be nice if you carried a couple of rations. Take it as what you guys owe me for letting you spend the night here"- she told him smiling, hoping he wouldn't deny her offer. "So, don't you want me to make up your beds? For what you guys have told me, you got a long way from here to Wyoming".

"Alright, but then let us raise the table in the meantime" Joel offered in vain, since Amanda wouldn't let them do anything.

"I will do it later, not big deal. Come with me guys, I'll show you your room" Joel and Ellie shared a glance, and then followed in the footsteps of the black haired girl.

---

"It was released on 11 of july in of 1969, five days before Apollo 11 set off to compleat his mission and land the first man on the moon, isn't that cool?".

"That's actually so fucking cool. Where did you learn that from?".

Once they got to the guest room, Amanda and Ellie couldn't seem to stop bringing up topics. They got along well, being able to talk easily with each other. Joel was already lying down, finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. He listened carefully to what the girls were saying. He didn't want to interrupt them, no matter how sleepy he was. Both Ellie and Amanda needed it. Especially the last one, who looked like she hadn't spoken to someone in a long time. Tomorrow they would be going their separate ways, so he thought that he should at least let them enjoy each other's presence while they could.

"I read a book called 'Artists you should know before you die'. I found it in the shelf over Joel's head, it's the one over there" she pointed, moving closer to Ellie, making her nervous "It has some interesting facts, this one was there".

"Do you know who Sally Ride is?" Ellie couldn't resist but asker her, wanting to talk about her. Sally ride was one of her biggest idols, and the idea that maybe Amanda and her shared the same admiration towards her, was exciting for her.

"Hello? How could I not? She was the first American female austronaut to go into space!".

"Finally somebody that knows what I'm talking ab-" snoring echoed off the four walls of the room, loud snoring. The girls laughed, turning to look.

"Well, it looks like we talked too much and bored Joel" whispered Amanda, slowly getting up. It felt good to have someone her own age to talk to. Ellie felt the same way, disappointed that she had to leave by the morning. She wished she could stay for a few more days with her and get to know her even better, but she had to make it to the fireflies if she didn't want all the losses to be in vain.

"Yes, we bored him quite a bit" she answered quietly, looking at his sleeping figure "He has been sleeping less than he should, he refuses to let his guard down."

"I understand" looking up from her feet, the black haired girl said with a sigh "You should rest too".

"Yeah I probably should".

"Goodnight Ellie."

"Goodnight."

[panyvivienda]

coming!!!

if there was something that joel and ellie wouldn't have expected to find during their long journey to the fireflies, was a girl yelling her heart out to a david bowie song without a care in the world while picking carrots, but well... they did