borderline - the last of us.

12. seventy west.

Ralph looked at him, like any normal person would've, but Joel completely froze up. Ralph had nice eyes. He established that many times. That didn't mean he could stop himself from staring at them, though. Joel stared down at him, hand on Ralph's chest, entirely still.

'...Um.' Ralph said, his voice abnormally soft and low, almost like a whisper. That snapped him out of it, thank God, and he was able to clear his throat and pull his hand away.

He didn't say anything. He couldn't because his throat had gone totally dry, and even if he did speak, he was sure it would be all high-pitched and girly and cause even more embarrassment- If that was even possible.

Joel just rolled over onto his side and set a new world record for falling asleep the fastest.

...

RALPH HAD ALWAYS BEEN A PRETTY GOOD MORNING PERSON. His job as a janitor for FEDRA typically required him to be up at the asscrack of dawn, because there was no doubt that those assholes had killed someone while he was off the clock and now they needed him to scrub the blood off of the walls.

He got up in the morning when it was the morning, like seven or eight. He and Joel obviously didn't know that much about each other, because this fucker woke him up at five in the morning with a gentle heel to the stomach.

'The fuck?' Ralph grumbled, rolling away from Joel and his violent foot with his eyes still closed. He landed on his stomach and smooshed his face into his pillow.

'Do. You. Want. Coffee?' Joel repeated through gritted teeth. The tone in his voice led Ralph to believe that this was the fourth or fifth time he was repeating himself.

'Leave me alone, hillbilly Miller.' So much for a morning person.

Joel clicked his tongue and walked over to the truck, grabbing his spare thermos and deciding to pour him some anyways. With that attitude, it couldn't hurt to put a little pep in his step.

As his back was turned, someone else had risen from their slumber and was wiggling over to the pot of boiling coffee like a caterpillar in a cocoon. With her sleeping bag held high on her shoulder, Ellie flicked her hand out and open the lid. She stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do, before she took a little sniff.

'Ew, what the fuck is that!?' She yelped, backing away from it like it was trying to kill her. She grimaced at the pot, and then smiled a little at Ralph when he rolled over to see what all the fuss was about. 'Hey, Ralph.'

'Hey, kid.' He replied, rubbing his hands over his face.

'You don't like coffee?' Joel looked back at her, eyes drifting over to Ralph when he sat up and began to stretch. He laughed a little bit at the sight of his hair, and Ralph glared at him tiredly. 'You got bedhead, man.'

Ralph dignified that with a noise of some sorts whilst Ellie flicked the lid of the can back over and wrapped her sleeping bag around her once more. She flopped backwards in a calculated attack, the back of her head smacking Lou right in the stomach and scaring her awake.

'The day awaits us, Louise.' Ellie sighed.

'I hope you drown.' Lou sighed.

...

'IS THAT SERIOUSLY WHAT THOSE STARBUCKS IN THE QZ USED TO SELL?' Ellie asked quietly, watching as Ralph drank the rest of his coffee all in one gulp. Joel made the right call with not saving it all for himself.