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[dog_eat_dog]

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[vaccination]

[And Ellie hates it every time. Maybe it's easier if she extends the hand.]

Yeah, well. Maybe I was just hoping you were hungry, too. Sucks, eating alone.

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess has the immediate mental image of Ellie eating lunch in a high school bathroom, bullied by the other kids. Her conclusion is that Joel fucking crippled this kid’s ability to make friends.

She just shrugs. It’s flippant enough.]

You don’t need an excuse to ask me, but sure. I’m game. What’d you get up to this morning?

[vaccination]

[Ellie gives a shrug as they walk.]

Laundry. Figured since it's easier here, I should, uh. Probably do it more often.

[dog_eat_dog]

Might as well. It’s a real novelty, and I’m still not bored of it. You still washing things in buckets in Jackson?

[vaccination]

Sometimes. Mostly tubs, since they kinda have... like, water tanks and stuff. Most people would turn a spare bathroom in their house into a laundry room kind of thing.

[Weird to have such convenience, here.]

You? Just relaxing this morning?

[dog_eat_dog]

Sounds like life before.

[Just lower tech.]

Yeah, pretty quiet morning. Coffee with Arthur, met up with a friend to chat. Nothing crazy.

[vaccination]

That your normal day here?

[It sounds so... well. Normal. Like before.]

[dog_eat_dog]

Mmhmm. No early morning drops or late night wall-hopping, but I like having a routine all the same.

[vaccination]

I'm guessing you don't miss that.

[dog_eat_dog]

Maybe not that specifically, but I miss work. Filled a lot of hours that way.

[vaccination]

[Ellie pulls a face. She can't say she misses what was her work.]

Hobbies tend to do that for normal people, I hear.

[dog_eat_dog]

Only so many hours a day I can drink, nap, and read, kid.

[vaccination]

Is that seriously all you do? What about... I don't know, check out the garden?

[Ellie does like it there, and so she immediately regrets suggesting that.]

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess is plenty busy, but none of it is warden-friendly, so... ]

Never been. Misty works there though, so I guess I should poke my head in sometime. You know the greenhouse team has graduated three inmates in the past few months?

[vaccination]

What the fuck? How?

[Is there a way to cheat, or are they that good...?]

I'm hoping that's a fluke.

[dog_eat_dog]

They’ve got it down to a science, I guess. Misty and Hange were two of the wardens. Pick their brains.

[vaccination]

Damn. And they're sticking around, huh? Seems like that's common.

[dog_eat_dog]

Lots of wardens give their deals to their inmates, so they stay on for another round. Arthur offered me his, even.

[vaccination]

And what did you say?

[Ellie can't imagine delaying her deal like that.]

[dog_eat_dog]

I said no.

[vaccination]

Wonder how common that is.

[Ellie doesn't sound very impressed either way, and an illogical dislike she has for Arthur is growing a little deeper. Why the fuck is he so nice?]

[dog_eat_dog]

Pretty common, as far as I know.

[She does pick up on that dissatisfaction, though. She eyes Ellie.]

He’s a good man, he needs that deal. He’s got a kid’s life on the line.

[vaccination]

[A good man. The last thing she said to Joel was that he was a shitty person, and Ellie doubts she thinks any better of him now.]

A kid?

[dog_eat_dog]

Mmhmm. Kid lost his dad and his mom got arrested, so if Arthur doesn’t do anything about it, that’s it. The kid’s on his own.

[Tess has seen that play out so many times that she’s not even bothered by the idea. No military school for Jack, though, that’s almost certain.]

[vaccination]

[There are worse fates. Ellie shrugs a shoulder.]

And he's not even the dad. Good for him.