paradisalogs | I go patrollin', they hatin'

Who: Ellie + Cass | Joel + Cass
What: Cass meeting 2/3 of the last of us cast
When: ~~At night~~ When the lights go down
Where: in the city
Rating: rated E for Ellie's mouth!

[Ellie]
Maybe, possibly, she shouldn't be patrolling the night before Thanksgiving. Maybe she should be home and not preparing to be out all night in her Batsuit, but here she is, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with her eye out for people who are up to no good, for anything at all out of the ordinary that might give her something to do, maybe even someone to fight.

She's a superhero, but there just isn't a lot of crime in Paradisa. Still, free running is still a fun thing to do, so if Ellie should happen to look up on her walk through the city she might see a figure dressed all in black scaling a wall or swinging between buildings on a grapple line.

You know, a typical kind of sight. No big deal.

[Joel]
She spots him from the rooftops first, loaded down with weapons and making his way through the city late at night. It's as suspicious as it comes, there's really no topping this, and that's exciting. Finally a real bad guy, finally someone she can take down to make the city safe again.

Finally, something that resembles a problem that would happen in Gotham. Something Batgirl is needed for.

She tails him for a few blocks and stares hard at him, trying to read his body language from high up. Not a resident of the city, but someone from the castle is down here, which could make things a little more awkward if she has to knock him out and confiscate all those things he's got. He makes a turn that leads down an alley, it's a dead end there. As good a place as any for her to drop down to cut his escape off, standing right out in the open with her stitched up cowl, not even her eyes showing through.

In Gotham, they know to fear the bat emblazoned across her chest. Here, he'll probably think she's some freak with a weird fetish for black rubber, but that won't matter if he takes a shot and she lays him out. She's ready for a fight if he wants to start one.

"Don't suppose... you have good reason, to have those."

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"They usually are."

That kind of body language only comes with bad territory, sad and lengthy stories, and she's not going to ask for more information about Ellie. In the future, when they become friends, it will be up to Ellie to share her secrets. Joel can give out his own, when she eventually makes friends with him too.

Because it's going to happen, she can see. Joel is the kind of person who needs friends, even if he doesn't think so himself.

"Glad you're here, then. Where it's mostly safe. No real need... to worry about city. I patrol... out of habit, more than anything." If he looks close enough, he'll see the wry grin she's giving him underneath the cowl. "You're most exciting thing, so far."

She's got to have her own, he thinks. Long story. That's the only way a person gets to dressing up in a bulletproof bat outfit and goes patrolling out of habit. He blinks, catching the crinkle in her mask where a smile would be. The most exciting thing so far, huh?

That's a little funny. Exhaling on a short huff, he glances down at his feet with mannerisms that are almost humble, understated.

"Sorry to disappoint you in the end," he shoots back. "Neither of us should be travelin' alone, honestly. Might be mostly safe, but that's never a good idea."

So why did he do it? All the ammo and supplies in the world doesn't change that there's nobody watching his back. Joel looks back up, scrutinizing her for a second. "You live at the castle, yeah?"

Edited 2013-12-13 20:09 (UTC)

Her story is long and filled with sad parts and maybe, one day, she'll let him in on some of the details. She can see already he's a person who can be trusted with them, someone who won't buckle under the heavier aspects of her past. But now certainly isn't the time, and she's trying to keep this first meeting positive.

"Used to. Live in city, now. Still go there, though. I like the gym."

Used to. Joel tilts his head, because he'd thought about fleeing his current residence after learning about losses and just how unpredictable the castle can be, but in the end they'd (him and his partner) decided that the good outweighed the potential for bad.

Without infected, military or cutthroat survivalist groups around every corner, it's been a good trade-off. So far. They're only a few months in at Paradisa. He takes a step closer now, casual and nonthreatening.

"Why'd you leave?"

"Wanted to stay with someone." It's an easy answer, comes out right away with no hesitation. There just wasn't any question about leaving, once she knew that was Stephanie's plan. "She wanted to go, asked me to. I said yes."

And she'd say yes if Steph wanted to move back to the castle or move out to live in the wilderness for the rest of their lives. She'd go anywhere Steph did, for better or worse. She'd lost Stephanie once, it wasn't something she would let happen again.

Ah. He knows what that's like.

"Your friend must'a had a good reason." Joel doesn't hesitate in getting to the point of why he asked. "Ain't found one yet, but I wonder if that's just a matter of time."

He hefts the pack on his shoulders with a small grunt and looks past her, gesturing out to the open street behind them. She didn't trap him here to kill him, apparently, but as long as there's a dead end behind him he can't shake all his nerves. "Mind if I move on out of this spot?"

"It might be. Some people... adjust easier." Truth be told, she never actually asked why Steph wanted to move out of the castle, but she's put together reasons other people have wanted to. They get tired of the castle's tricks, believing they'll be safer in the city.

And maybe they are, for small things. But the big things, the dinosaurs and the space ships, those get you no matter how far you go from the castle.

She steps to the side, takes a full step back so he has plenty of room to go past her.

"Heading home? Wouldn't mind... walk to castle."

It is safer to travel with someone else. He hesitates for a second, like trying to figure if it might be a trap, but in the end he decides that it's alright. Joel gives her a nod in passing, prompting her to follow.

"Me neither," he admits. "Let's go."

Escorted home by Batgirl. He was gonna have to tell Ellie all about this. In the meanwhile, he's curious if she always does this alone.

"Your buddy ever watch your back?"

She does follow, walking along beside him and turned a little towards him so she can go on reading hid body language. It's a bit of a walk back to the castle but she really doesn't mind, she's made that trek for less before.

"Of course. We're partners." The admiration in her tone is very clear, but Cass doesn't mind. "There's three of us, but one... isn't as active. It's mostly just us two."

That sounds little less pleased, but oh well. She doesn't mind that it's mostly her and Steph in the long run, it lets them do things their own way.

Which could actually be a bad thing but hey, it's working for them so far.

"What about you? Have someone... to watch yours?"

They must make a strange looking pair, with him armed to the teeth and her in that black suit and cape. He wonders if her partner dresses much the same, turning his head with a curious look when she goes on to explain. It's the first time he's heard someone use that word besides himself and Tess. She's obviously pretty fond of the person, from the tone she uses to the fact that she followed them out of the castle.

"Hm," Joel mumbles, looking straight ahead again after she asks in turn. "Got something similar. A partner and--"

"And a kid." It takes a second for him to land on the word. Ellie's watched his back too, saved his life, young and small as she is. "But she's tough."

If the possibility of them looking strange has occurred to Cass, it doesn't show in the way she continues to walk along beside Joel. She's too used to looking strange, out of place, an odd addition to any setting. It's something she doesn't ever care about when she's wrapped up in the skin of Batgirl, though. When she's Batgirl, nothing can touch her.

"What's the partner like?" She has to ask, because between Joel and Ellie, anyone teamed up with them has to be an interesting person. She's already seen so much she likes from the both of them, so she has inevitably high hopes for the mystery partner.

"Also tough."

Tougher than me, he thinks. Less fearful, more willing to take risks, more ruthless, able to show faith in the future -- the admiration is there, same as Cass' was when she spoke of her partner. Understated in comparison, but obvious nonetheless. In all his years of survival, he's never met anyone quite like her.

"Known her for a long time. About fifteen years." Hell, he might as well say it now that they've got a long walk back: "World's pretty much ending where we come from. We do what we can."

For each other. Anyone who's got a partner understands that and he has a weird feeling that a superhero would.

I go patrollin', they hatin'

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