IC Contact;

[nohalfway]

[Automated Voice]

Please leave a message for:

"Holy shit, I don't fucking know how to do a regular message, what is wrong with this thi--"

*beep!*

Comments

text;

[shittybirthday]

i've just been diagnosed as colorblind

text;

[nohalfway]

colorblind?
holy shit seriously? how bad is it?

[shittybirthday]

dunno
but it sure came out of the purple

[ /dadjoke ]

[nohalfway]

[ .... Oh my god. Oh my god, Joel just made a dad joke. ]

you fucking ASSHOLE
oh my god i thought you were serious for a second

[ No. No there's no way she can't be laughing at that. ]

[shittybirthday]

heh
gotcha

[nohalfway]

are you sick or something
youre totally sick
i didnt even know you were capable of jokes

[shittybirthday]

[ He's actually trying to kind of find some way to make Ellie not be so distant with him. He knows she likes puns and jokes, and he can remember a few of them from years ago, so... ]

what do unicorns call their dad?

[nohalfway]

[ Ellie senses that. She's not sure what's worse: feeling awful that it's somehow harder to keep distance from him here than in their world because of how much he's changed, or the fact that Joel is aware something is up. She's not going to be able to keep quiet about what's bugging her for long, not with him being as insanely attentive as he has been. ]

pfff
i dont know what?

[shittybirthday]

popcorn

[nohalfway]

[ Okay. Okay, that one is fucking horrible but Ellie can't help herself from laughing at it. ]

so fucking lame
but hilarious
ok
how did the octopus beat the shark in a fight

[ If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. ]

[shittybirthday]

dunno
how

[nohalfway]

he was well armed

[shittybirthday]

thats awful

[nohalfway]

tell that to the unicorns dad

[shittybirthday]

touche

[shittybirthday]

alright one more
whats the difference between roast beef and pea soup?

[nohalfway]

[ UGH this is so fucking uncomfortable and difficult. Ellie legitimately sits there staring at her comm for what feels like hours. It's completely clear that Joel feels like something is wrong-- And there is, but it's not exactly easy to deny him of anything right now. ]

[ This is precisely why she's been leaving the house so much. She feels too conflicted. But she's stuck in it now, so... ]

i dont know
what

[shittybirthday]

anyone can roast beef

[nohalfway]

but you cant pea soup

[ SHE CAUGHT THE ENDING TO THAT ONE. ]

[shittybirthday]

heh got it in one, kiddo

[nohalfway]

[ Jesus christ. Ellie pinches the bridge of her nose a moment and stares at the comm. It takes her a good fifteen minutes to reply. ]

you at work

[shittybirthday]

[ Thanks for taking so long to reply, Ellie. Joel has been sitting on the couch, staring down at his phone and fidgeting with it with increasing unease for the last fifteen minutes. When it chimes with a new message, he kind of hopes Ellie has replied with another dumb joke - and instead it's... that. Took her fifteen minutes to reply with that?

He heaves a heavy sigh. Any hope he just had that texting her those dumb jokes would have her talking to him or something crushes in his chest a little. ]

knocked off work about an hour ago
home now

[ Hoping you'd be here he starts to type, then hesitates, then deletes it. ]

[nohalfway]

[ She's positive that part of her might be acting a little ridiculous. But then there's that remaining half that tells her she's in the right to be suspicious, to act distant until the truth comes out. If there's any truth that needs to come out. Joel still has no fucking clue what she remembers last, and Ellie isn't sure if that should come up at any point. But it's obvious that this situation is bothering him just as much as it's bothering her. ]

[ She'd gone over to Jesse's while he was at work, unable to sit in the home that she and Joel share without feeling some shred of discomfort. There are pictures she'd taken with Joel, happy ones that she can't look at right now without asking those god-awful questions. She stopped trying to come home on time for him for the same reason. ]

[ But still, Ellie manages to pull herself off the couch in Jesse's dorm. She's typing up another message while she's leaving. ]

we should go get dinner or something
try some place new

[ She's too attached to him at the end of the day. Regardless of her wavering trust, the guy still cares about her and she feels the same way. For the billionth time, she'll try setting her irritated feelings aside. ]

[shittybirthday]

[ Ellie's phrasing is all off - we should go get dinner somewhere. The Ellie he knows would be badgering him for food, complaining that she's starving, making some lame overdramatic statement/joke that it'll be his fault if she starves to death. Not mildly suggesting we should go get dinner somewhere.

Still, that cautiously reignites hope in him again and he replies straight away. ]

sure
what are you in the mood for?

[nohalfway]

[ It's hard to be enthusiastic about anything when she's constantly dealing with mood-whiplash. But talking about that, suggesting it with Joel, it would go nowhere. She knows better than that. ]

Um
theres an italian place a few blocks away from the school
kinda in the mood for pasta