[ she's prompt, at least. nic, on the other hand, is less so, though it's anyone's guess whether or not he truly intended to make her keep knocking for over three minutes. (probably.)
when he finally opens the door (chair nowhere to be found), he's dressed but damp, a towel still slung over his head from what had to be his third shower considering he'd had several layers of slime and sweat to wash off, thanks to a very special harpy initiation.
he just stares at her (the katana and injury eyed curiously, briefly), not even offering to let her in. ]
[She figures that the knocking really won't do any good after she's been at it for a solid two minutes. Duh. Obvious. All the same, Ellie doesn't offer him a disapproving look when he finally tugs the door open so much as she continues to stand there expectantly. Nic may not be offering to let her in, but that isn't going to stop her.
One of her hands lift, gesturing to Nic before gesturing to herself. Give. Followed by both hands half cupped, and raising to her mouth. Sandwich.
Looks like someone's been reading up on sign language during the pitstop.]
[ his brows lift slightly, but that's about the extent of his acknowledgment regarding her extra signing skills. "touched" is not really an expression in his repertoire. (not if he can help it, anyway.)
he's tempted to let her in and have her raid through joel's supplies, in all honesty. but he somehow refrains. ]
cAn'T. nO bReAD.
[ and if he responds this along with the corresponding hand signs, so what so what that doesn't mean anything. ]
[Ellie has had way too much experience with the surly silent types to expect some outpouring of heartfelt emotion. Her hands raise again, half cupped as her fingers move around one another. Lame excuse. Guess she has a pretty good read on you, Nic, to have prepared that one.
Her fingers land on the straps of her bag, the one that keeps her katana in place. The hilt bobs over one shoulder.]
[ this has "bad idea" written all over it, and all nic wants to do is turn back around and bury his nose in jacob's abs.
i mean. a book............
again, he makes no move to respond to her prodding, instead lifting a hand and holding it out in front of her as if to say stop. ]
noT a tEAchER. [ pkn7 is a fluuuuuuuuuuuuke ]
theRe'S aNoThEr gUY. a BetTER guY. [ actually, he isn't even sure how skilled a swordsman sturmhond is, but he sure as hell has to be a better teacher than nic. ] hE'D kNOW What to DO.
[ when it comes to things like technique... all nic knows to do is do whatever the hell you can to win. he isn't sure that's something you can teach. ]
Ellie seems to anticipate the reply before it's given, and that's exactly why she's ignoring the gesture. She busies herself instead with looking for his sword. He'd had it on him when they first met and she's seen it a few times since. It's got to be kicking around somewhere.]
I'm not finding another guy so you might as well deal with it.
[Ugh you are sO DIFFICULT. In a surprise twist to no one, Nic snatches his sword up and proceeds to- more or less cuddle it protectively close to his chest. Ellie's shoulders drop and she chases his profile so sharply that her hair swings. Underneath the prodding rapport between them and the terrible jokes, underneath Nic's stubborn denials and Ellie's equally stubborn refusal to accept those nos as an answer- she'd made up her mind. Her heels dig into the floor and the line of her shoulders is as firm as the line of her mouth.]
and, frankly, he hadn't been entirely sure what to expect asking a question like that, but it hadn't been this. it shouldn't be this. his expression says as much, caught somewhere between befuddlement and just plain exasperation.
you should know a mistake when you see one, ellie. ]
i ThouGHT YoU WEre SmARtEr ThAn THat.
[ his expression closes off before long, tight and rigid like the line of his own shoulders and jaw. he turns then, stalking out the door with his sword in tow. and just when it seems like he'd ignored her completely— ]
[This isn't an argument she's going to have because Ellie knows how to pick her battles. She says she trusts Nic, and she does, but people have different ideas about what a word like that means. To Ellie, for everything she's come from and everything she's known- there's only one variety to give. Nic has done nothing but go out of his way to keep her alive.
She isn't here because she thinks he's some friend to share secrets with or run to for comfort when it feels like the world is ending. She's here because when push comes to shove, Ellie knows he'll have her back.
The door snaps closed behind her and the girl falls into step easily. Nic's strides are longer than her own, but she manages. In the distance they out behind them Ellie keeps her chin almost defiantly lifted. She doesn't look up at him, but the set of her mouth is far from thrilled.]
You say you won't teach me how to fight but you'll sign me up for fucking military bootcamp. How does that make sense, by the way?
[ goddammit, shepard. thanks for throwing him under the buss.
her anger is noted, though he is a little confused by it. then again, he can't claim to know her well enough to have detected much of a pride on her in the first place. but while noted, he doesn't really do much in response, save for an idle tip of his head. ]
i WouLDn'T bE ThE ONE TeAChiNG You.
[ seems to make perfect sense to him.
he's started leading her away from the sleeping quarters, making a straight beeline for the trailing areas he's had to grow accustomed to, thanks to that very military bootcamp. ]
[It isn't pride, it's defensiveness. Ellie has never been stellar at following directions and doing what she's told- a detail she isn't shy admitting either. She isn't pissed that he's suggested that she needs training. It's that he doesn't know anything about her in the first place, and that he's washing his hands of the whole training thing that he suggested. She isn't about to go sign on to some military drill squad after knowing how much fun they were back home, and she sure as hell isn't going to seek out complete strangers to order her around.
Thanks but no thanks.
Her chin remains up, head unbowed, and Ellie doesn't look back at him.]
[ he doesn't respond, but that's because he'd taken care not to look back when she spoke. he doesn't want to know what she has to say in response to his dismissive words, because he doesn't need to know, and better to assume the words had done just as they'd meant to and dismissed the issue altogether.
why, then, is he still leading her to an empty hallway. and why, then, is he quietly instructing her to stay down one end while he crosses the distance to get to the other.
he doesn't unsheathe his sword, and instead meets her square in the eye now that there's at least twenty feet between them. ]
[There's something deeply unsettling about the request. Part of it is the discordant quality of the words, not just how it sounds (brittle and uneven) but what is said. Nic has always acted like the fighting and the pain don't even register to him. Like maybe the idea that he might die doesn't either. Ellie tries to figure it out, or at the very least to wrap her mind around it, and the closest she can get is likening it to what it's like to stay alive back home. That the first time she'd shot a guy in the head she'd felt sick, but that now she doesn't think twice. But the thing is, even that doesn't seem right.
Maybe he tunes it out, or doesn't feel it the same way- but. Pain is still pain.
Her shoulders rise and fall in time with her breath and Ellie remains where she's been positioned. Her eyes follow Nic's back as he puts distance between them then stands opposite. There's no way in hell that Ellie could put a dent in a guy like this. In the back of her mind she figures that that's probably why she'd asked. Because Nic is basically invincible and Ellie won't have to be afraid of hurting him. Of doing more damage. Her palms feel clammy around the hilt of her new weapon- an unfamiliar weight in her hands. God, it's freaking huge how the hell does anyone fight with this kind of thing?]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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when he finally opens the door (chair nowhere to be found), he's dressed but damp, a towel still slung over his head from what had to be his third shower considering he'd had several layers of slime and sweat to wash off, thanks to a very special harpy initiation.
he just stares at her (the katana and injury eyed curiously, briefly), not even offering to let her in. ]
wE DoN'T WaNt wHAt yOu'RE SELLinG.
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One of her hands lift, gesturing to Nic before gesturing to herself.
Give.
Followed by both hands half cupped, and raising to her mouth.
Sandwich.
Looks like someone's been reading up on sign language during the pitstop.]
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he's tempted to let her in and have her raid through joel's supplies, in all honesty. but he somehow refrains. ]
cAn'T. nO bReAD.
[ and if he responds this along with the corresponding hand signs, so what so what that doesn't mean anything. ]
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Her fingers land on the straps of her bag, the one that keeps her katana in place. The hilt bobs over one shoulder.]
Let's get this show on the road slowpoke.
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i mean. a book............
again, he makes no move to respond to her prodding, instead lifting a hand and holding it out in front of her as if to say stop. ]
noT a tEAchER. [ pkn7 is a fluuuuuuuuuuuuke ]
theRe'S aNoThEr gUY. a BetTER guY. [ actually, he isn't even sure how skilled a swordsman sturmhond is, but he sure as hell has to be a better teacher than nic. ] hE'D kNOW What to DO.
[ when it comes to things like technique... all nic knows to do is do whatever the hell you can to win. he isn't sure that's something you can teach. ]
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Ellie seems to anticipate the reply before it's given, and that's exactly why she's ignoring the gesture. She busies herself instead with looking for his sword. He'd had it on him when they first met and she's seen it a few times since. It's got to be kicking around somewhere.]
I'm not finding another guy so you might as well deal with it.
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which is leaning against one of the beds closest to the door. the bed itself looks entirely made, as if never slept in at all.
he makes a quick beeline for it, snatching it up off the ground and holding it to his chest. no touchy!! ]
WHy mE?
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Because I trust you.
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and, frankly, he hadn't been entirely sure what to expect asking a question like that, but it hadn't been this. it shouldn't be this. his expression says as much, caught somewhere between befuddlement and just plain exasperation.
you should know a mistake when you see one, ellie. ]
i ThouGHT YoU WEre SmARtEr ThAn THat.
[ his expression closes off before long, tight and rigid like the line of his own shoulders and jaw. he turns then, stalking out the door with his sword in tow. and just when it seems like he'd ignored her completely— ]
sHUt ThE DooR behINd You.
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She isn't here because she thinks he's some friend to share secrets with or run to for comfort when it feels like the world is ending. She's here because when push comes to shove, Ellie knows he'll have her back.
The door snaps closed behind her and the girl falls into step easily. Nic's strides are longer than her own, but she manages. In the distance they out behind them Ellie keeps her chin almost defiantly lifted. She doesn't look up at him, but the set of her mouth is far from thrilled.]
You say you won't teach me how to fight but you'll sign me up for fucking military bootcamp. How does that make sense, by the way?
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her anger is noted, though he is a little confused by it. then again, he can't claim to know her well enough to have detected much of a pride on her in the first place. but while noted, he doesn't really do much in response, save for an idle tip of his head. ]
i WouLDn'T bE ThE ONE TeAChiNG You.
[ seems to make perfect sense to him.
he's started leading her away from the sleeping quarters, making a straight beeline for the trailing areas he's had to grow accustomed to, thanks to that very military bootcamp. ]
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Thanks but no thanks.
Her chin remains up, head unbowed, and Ellie doesn't look back at him.]
Yeah, I know a copout when I see one.
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why, then, is he still leading her to an empty hallway. and why, then, is he quietly instructing her to stay down one end while he crosses the distance to get to the other.
he doesn't unsheathe his sword, and instead meets her square in the eye now that there's at least twenty feet between them. ]
tRy To kIll me.
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Maybe he tunes it out, or doesn't feel it the same way- but. Pain is still pain.
Her shoulders rise and fall in time with her breath and Ellie remains where she's been positioned. Her eyes follow Nic's back as he puts distance between them then stands opposite. There's no way in hell that Ellie could put a dent in a guy like this. In the back of her mind she figures that that's probably why she'd asked. Because Nic is basically invincible and Ellie won't have to be afraid of hurting him. Of doing more damage. Her palms feel clammy around the hilt of her new weapon- an unfamiliar weight in her hands. God, it's freaking huge how the hell does anyone fight with this kind of thing?]
-You sure?
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aRe YOU?
[ and maybe that's the point he's trying to make. ]