𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐜 ☀︎︎ 𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

What About My Strawberries?

{tw: nothing!}

If Renae could use one word to describe Ellie, it would be bitchy.

The second she entered Joel's house, she could tell how much love he put into it. It almost felt as if the outbreak had never entered this home. There was handcrafted wood sculptures everywhere, a guitar in the corner of the living room, a bunch of movies strewn about, and dishes in the sink. It looked like this house was well lived in.

Joel led Renae to the living room and gestured for her to sit. She did, and he smiled, before speaking. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna grab Ellie." And then he walked out to the backyard where Renae assumed Ellie was living. Within a minute Joel was back in the house, with a somber look on his face. Renae was about to ask if he was okay when a girl around or at the same age as Renae walked in and stopped suddenly. She all of a sudden seemed angrier than before. Oh boy.

"Joel are you kidding me." The girl- Ellie- said. Renae was kind of shocked that Ellie was speaking like that- it was not what she had expected. Joel sighed, and Renae was getting the impression that Ellie wasn't mad at her being there, but mad at Joel for bringing her. They obviously were having issues that Renae was not looking to be in the middle of.

Joel spoke again. "She had no where else to go. Her house got swarmed and so I brought her back. Maria knows and she put her here so I just wanted to let you know in case you run into her." Ellie nodded a bit, fuming anger wearing off the slightest amount.

She hadn't looked at Renae since she entered. "Okay." Ellie responded. She then finally looked at Renae, who had her legs tucked under her on the couch. Ellie gave Renae such mixed signals with this look. It was like an apologetically angry look. And then she paired it with a small wave before hightailing it out of there to her house in the backyard.

Joel didn't talk for a few moments, marinating in what just happened. Renae was full of completely nosy questions, but she knew she would never ask them. Eventually Joel led her up to her room, which was completely empty except for a bed and small dresser. And after a small goodnight he walked out of the room. She heard the front door open and then shut, so she assumed he was going to Tommy's house for dinner like he said he would. She decided to empty her belongings into the drawers, which wasn't much. She hoped she would be able to return to her house eventually, even if it was only for some clothes. She felt homesick. After she finished unpacking, and writing an entry in the journal she cared so much about, she took a peek out of her window, and saw Ellie's shed. She wondered if Ellie was asleep, or if she was also wondering about the other.

Renae looked away from the window and walked across the hall into the bathroom. She set her hygiene products under the sink in an empty drawer, and then decided to take a shower. She would never admit it publicly, but Jackson had warmer showers than her little home did.

-

𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕,

𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎. 𝙸𝙽 𝙼𝚈 𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚖𝚎. 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚒 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚒𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚎𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚍. 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚍 (𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔??) 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚗𝚝 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝚒 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎. 𝚓𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚗𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚎.

𝚁𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚎 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟽𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟹𝟾

-

Renae woke up to sunlight streaming through the window the next morning. It was like she was a different person. She woke up with no plants to water, no stress of being killed in her sleep, and- according to what she was smelling- a pot of coffee waiting downstairs. She stretched her legs and arms quickly, and then opened the door into the hall. She walked quickly down the stairs to see- no one in the kitchen. But there was a pot of coffee waiting like she assumed. So she searched the cabinets until she found the cups, and poured herself a cup of coffee. She sat in the dining room, looking out the window. She felt herself staring off, and then she remembered that she didn't belong here. She was filling in for someone else. She was a replacement for the girl outside.

And then a door shut behind her. She jumped, and whipped around to face the intruder. Until she realized it was just a sleepy Joel. He must of stayed over at Tommy's. Then who made the coffee?

"Did you make this coffee?" Joel asked. Renae sat for a second, before shaking her head no. He let out a low hm sound, before taking his boots off. "I just got back from patrol so I'm gonna sleep for a while. Maria said you're free to explore wherever so don't feel like you're trapped inside all day. It's a warm day." He said before taking off upstairs. Renae, sat for a few more minutes, sipping her coffee and watching people pass by through the window.

After she finished her coffee, she put the cup in the sink, and went to her room to get dressed. She decided on a pair of jeans, her incredibly worn and dirty converse, and a t-shirt with a jacket in her arm since it was supposed to rain possibly. She used one of the hair ties in her backpack to put her hair up and off her neck. And then she walked down the stairs, and to the market area.

She saw a cute little fruit stall, so she got some strawberries for the day. She had only ever had strawberries once before this, so why not try them again? She found a little bench in front of the bar, and she ate her strawberries while people watching. People watching was her favorite hobby at the fireflies base, but being isolated from any other human being really made Renae dysfunctional in social situations most times, so just watching how people acted in civilization was perfect for helping her catch up.

After about fifteen minutes of eating strawberries slowly while people watching, she realized someone had sat next to her. She used her peripheral to see just in case it was a creep. But no, it was just Ellie.

"Oh! Didn't see you there." Renae said, trying to diffuse some tension surrounding the girl. Ellie just huffed and continued to people watch. Renae realized that the tension had just gotten thicker than being diffused like she had hoped. This was majorly awkward now. So she went back to eating her strawberries, and said nothing.

"I'm sorry for last night. I shouldn't have acted like that towards you." Ellie said after five minutes of incredibly awkward silence. Renae jumped a bit.

"It's okay, I understand. Joel is like your dad and so you seeing him with another kid is- like if you took my strawberries. They're mine, so why did you take them? But Ellie I promise you that if Joel didn't completely lead dozens of infected to my house and cause me to almost die I wouldn't be here either. I would rather be at my home." Renae rambled. Ellie nodded, understanding somewhat what Renae meant.

"Can we start over?" Ellie asked. Renae nodded, and held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Renae."

Ellie took Renae's hand to find it incredibly calloused from all the work she must of done at her old home.

"I'm Ellie. Nice to meet you Renae." and they shook hands. Renae smiled, and went to eat her last strawberry. Before she could take a bite though, Ellie grabbed it and put it into her mouth instead. Renae stared at Ellie with fury. That was her strawberry. Ellie saw this, and quickly stood up. She then began running to the playground in the town, with Renae on her tail the whole time. Maybe this would be good for Ellie. A new outlook.

__________
shrub speaks!

they're gonna be friends!