He figures as much, but there's a short rap of his knuckles against the bedroom door before its nudged open enough for him to peer inside. The words 'it's past your bedtime' nearly slip out at the sight of the book settled just over the covers. He bites down on them to keep things civil.
The book flops forward, catching against her chin and covering her mouth. She's in bed; what more is he gonna ask of her? She doesn't doubt that he wants to say something - because when is Joel not itching to have an opinion -, but she lets is lay. It's a rare, unpicked battle.
"G'night Joel," she mumbles into the yellowed pages of the book.
There's a lengthy moment of silence as his fingertips fiddle with the hem of his shirt. His lips thin out, he glances half towards the door, doubles back, sighs out a short, useless breath. It's a stupid notion, wanting something more than a half-assed resolution to their earlier argument. The whole thing's done and gone and buried and he ought to just shuffle over to bed.
In response, Ellie props her book back up and trains her eyes on the page. She stubbornly reads the same sentence a few times. "And I'll get some. Don't worry about it." Not now, Joel. C'mon they were done with this.
Yeah, he expected as much. Which is why he adds, as patiently as he can manage, " Alright, but I start my shift at six am, and it ain't my fault if you sleep right through it."
Don't snap the stupid book shut, she tells herself, and does it anyway. "Shit, alright. Don't you leave without me." Because let's be real, like that would actually do much. She'd just find her way out to the perimeter without his lead.
And she'd get a swift kick in the rear for it, even if it means an additional heap of strain on their freshly bandaged relationship. So even if she'd rather do it herself (he knows she does) Joel scoots in a few feet farther to take her book up, set it over on the nightstand, and flick off the bedroom lamp.
The fact that he comes to take her book makes her want to dig her heels (or fingers, technically) in, but she grudgingly lets the book slide from her hands and tries not to be too bothered by in. The bedroom light flicks off, but the light from outside the window with it's faded old curtains is still enough to mostly see by as she settles back into her propped up pillow and wills herself not to be irritable.
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They fussed at each other enough today already.
"I'm turnin' in for the night, kiddo."
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"G'night Joel," she mumbles into the yellowed pages of the book.
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"--You need to sleep."
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"G'night Ellie."
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"Night Joel."