When Tess enters, she'll see Joel standing in a much more tidy room, all the clothes strewn about washed and in baskets waiting to be folded. He didn't go through Ellie's things, but there's been some straightening up and wiping down.]
I don't wanna spend the rest of my time here foldin' all this.
[ Tess has joked before that Joel is her impulse control, the last stand between her and her absolute worst ideas, and here feels like one of those moments: if anyone else implied she should fold anyone’s laundry but her own, she might have slugged them, but this is Joel. They might have never been honest with each other about their feelings but they have been partners, and she has stayed up late talking with him about random shit, and she has teased him while he fixed the leaky pipes under her sink, and they have shared hot water and tins of tuna and nursed each others’ wounds. They have been, between the murder and the lean times, domestic.
She settles for an eye roll, a dry laugh as she walks in and picks up a basket to move it to the couch. ]
You’re calling me over to fold laundry, there better be something real good in this for me.
[There's no denying it brings back memories. Sarah was taught to fold her own clothes from a young age, but now and then Joel would get fed up with a messy bedroom and do it himself as she played outside. Kids will be kids.]
The satisfaction of a good deed done not enough for you?
[There's a whole basket for them each, and Joel sighs as he moves into a space beside her.]
[It's a sort of companionship he hasn't had in Jackson. Boston was a certain sort of hell, in retrospect, but the bonds between him and Tommy and him and the neighbors are different than this. He's not sure how to put it into words.
So, he doesn't.]
Just as well. At least it won't smell like a locker room in here for when she comes back.
I’m just surprised it’s all Pokémon and Naruto in here instead of, I don’t know, football? How’d you end up with a kid either of us could have stuffed in a locker?
The whole point of being a warden is to connect with someone and get them to graduate, Joel. She's one of the youngest people here, too, and she doesn't know how people are supposed to live. She's got a lot of ground to make up.
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[which she will be.9]
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When Tess enters, she'll see Joel standing in a much more tidy room, all the clothes strewn about washed and in baskets waiting to be folded. He didn't go through Ellie's things, but there's been some straightening up and wiping down.]
I don't wanna spend the rest of my time here foldin' all this.
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She settles for an eye roll, a dry laugh as she walks in and picks up a basket to move it to the couch. ]
You’re calling me over to fold laundry, there better be something real good in this for me.
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The satisfaction of a good deed done not enough for you?
[There's a whole basket for them each, and Joel sighs as he moves into a space beside her.]
She probably won't be happy about this.
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[She lets out an amused little huff just the same, ready to just slide back into old times as she starts folding t-shirts.]
I don’t think she’ll believe me if I try to take the fall.
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So, he doesn't.]
Just as well. At least it won't smell like a locker room in here for when she comes back.
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[He's clearly not trying to show that the locker comment strikes him as real funny.
It's true.]
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No kidding? She hasn’t made a lot of friends here.
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[Three? That's a lot, in Joel's books.]
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[He grimaces, trying to not take that personally. Or maybe it's because all of Ellie's shit is plaid or sweaters or torn jeans.]
Dramatic.
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[Not that he imagines Ellie taking it well. She doesn't very much like being told anything.]
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