The sun was just rising and Ciri finished her song on the piano and heard the footsteps approaching. She turned around on the bench and waited for the knock at the door.
When it came she stood and walked to the hallway.
Tommy was on the other side and he smiled enthusiastically, leaning on his rifle. "Good day, miss. How was your night?"
She shook her head lightly at him with a smile. "Just fine. How was your poker game?"
"It was great. Well - for me it was. Not so much for Joel." He faked a frown.
"He lost?"
"Sorely."
She hums in amusement and leans her shoulder on the doorframe. "So, what can I do for you?"
"I just came to ask if you want to join me and big brother for a ride. It's our day off and the weather's perfect so... whaddaya say?"
"I'd like to check with Maria first if she needs an extra pair of hands with anything-" She begins.
"I've already checked with her and she says it's fine for you to have the day off - you deserve it anyway. You've worked pretty much everyday you've been here. Take a break!" He cuts her off, standing up straight.
She sighs. "Alright, fine. Just give me a moment to get ready."
"Take all the time you need. We'll be getting the horses ready at the gates, so don't rush." He haves his hand and begins to walk off the porch.
"Okay, see you in a few."
She closes the door and heads up the stairs. She examined the clothes that she had picked up the day before while she was out with Tommy. She'd washed them and let them dry overnight.
She threw on a black T-shirt with dark blue jeans and pulled on a corduroy jacket that Maria had given her.
She took only her sword and pistol out with her and headed for the gates. As she walked she wished 'good morning' to some of the folk she'd become acquainted with - mainly the power plant crew.
As she was walking near the bar she spotted a familiar red-head. She quickly approached before she could leave anywhere and called out her name.
"Hey! Esther!"
Esther turned round to see Ciri coming towards her. "Oh hi. Ciri, isn't it?"
"Yeah that's me." Ciri smiles politely. "I heard you're the hairdresser around here and I was hoping later today, if you're not busy, if you could give my hair a chop. It's been driving me a bit insane."
"Oh, yeah. Sure, I don't mind. Just come find me when you're ready." She responds, smiling back.
"Lovely! I'll see you later." Ciri nods and waves as she begins to head back in the direction of the gates.
"See you later!"
Joel and Tommy waited with the horses at the gates and saw Ciri approach them after her short conversation with Esther.
"You ready to go?" Tommy calls out to her.
"Yep - I'm all set!" She responds, marching up to them and taking Apollo's reins from Joel.
"You getting a haircut later then?" Joel asks as they begin to mount.
"Sure am. Looking forward to it actually." She smiles. Her hair when it is down reached nearly the bottom of her back and it was getting harder to keep putting it back in a bun with the weight of it.
"Esther's giving you a haircut?" Tommy asks from the other side.
"Yeah."
"Oh dear. I should warn you she'll probably ask you about Joel. She gave Maria a haircut the other day and wouldn't shut up about the old man." Tommy smirks.
Joel rolled his eyes with a shake of his head.
"Well, it'll just make more interesting then." Ciri says with a shrug. "Especially when I tell her Joel's considering retiring from his love life because of her."
Tommy laughs and Joel looks at her with a puzzled look but with an amused smile.
When she looks back at him, she nods. "Ellie's been giving me all the gossip from your wall duties."
"Ah well that explains it." He nods back.
"Anyway, enough talkin'. Let's get goin'!" Tommy says and takes the lead as the gates open.
♆
Joel and Ciri shake their heads with grins on their faces after Tommy tells them a joke.
"That's probably the worst one you've told." Joel comments.
"Oh yeah, you got any better ones?"
"No, because I'm not a child."
"'Course you ain't, old man."
Joel huffs and shakes his head again.
"What about you Witcher? Know any good jokes?" The younger brother turns in his saddle to look over at the brunette at the back.
She hums as she thinks.
"A woman goes to the doctor with a piece of lettuce sticking out the top of her underwear." She begins, making the brothers cast her a strange look.
"The doctor says: 'That looks nasty'. She tells him: 'It's tip of iceberg'." Ciri finishes the joke and they begin to laugh.
"That's a good one!" Tommy says through his laughter. "Another!"
She starts to think of another and almost begins laughing herself as one comes to mind.
"A man says to his wife, 'Why don't you tell me when you orgasm?'. She says, 'Well, I don't like ringing you while you're at work'."
They laugh harder this time and she can't help but laugh along.
"Where'd you hear those jokes?" Tommy asks.
"I was raised by an Northern Englishman, you tend to pick up things along the way." She explains with a grin.
"Sounds like he was a funny man."
"Yeah, he was special." She replied, still smiling but Joel could see the hurt in her eyes.
Brushing past it, the trio continued to crack jokes they knew and Tommy brought up the embarrassing stories about Joel again which made him roll his eyes a lot, and Ciri couldn't recall if she'd ever seen Joel's face turn red before. She found it cute.
They'd been riding down a main road until they began approaching a shopping village with a large overgrown parking lot with old, rusting cars scattered around.
They began passing through, Tommy was still recalling a childhood story when Ciri shushed him and brought them all to a halt.
The brothers looked at her confused but patient as she held her hand up. She tilted her head as she was listening for where she could hear the sound of infected and she tried to concentrate on where it was coming from.
As she lifted her head back up straight her eyes fell on the gathering trees on the edge of the parking lot ahead of them in the distance by some of the buildings and her eyes became fixed on one particular spot.
When Joel and Tommy turned their gazes to where she was looking, a small group of infected began emerging out of the trees.
"Shit." Tommy mutters and the three of them all dismount.
The infected were still a distance away from them but they left the horses and started to weave through the tall grass and used the cars as cover.
As they inched closer, they began to pull out their weapons. Ciri was ahead of the brothers with her sword to hand when she turned to them.
"I'll take the lead and you two cover me." She says in a hushed voice.
Since runners liked to move in packs that was what the group mostly consisted of but there was two clickers that had emerged from the nearest building. She could deal with runners easy, so long as it wasn't a horde. Clickers she could just handle but it took more effort and strength to get her blade through their amour.
She'd counted 6 runners, with a total of 8 - counting the clickers.
"You're kidding right?" Joel says. He knew she could handle herself but he felt he needed to see it to believe it when it came to a sizeable group of infected. Though he'd rather not have to.
"I've dealt with a lot worse. Besides, you two can handle the clickers and make sure they all don't get on top of me. Now, stay here and cover me." She says, moving round to the next car over before they could argue further.
Joel and Tommy shared a look, they felt slight deja vu being left behind while the Witcher took the lead.
The runners were slightly spread out and as the first one passed the car Ciri was behind she flew up and with two clean sweeps of her blade the runner's throat and stomach were slashed.
The next two quickly noticed her and began sprinting towards her. As she moved towards them, the remaining three runners began to come for her too which prompted Joel and Tommy to begin firing.
Ciri swung towards the next at its legs and then with a pirouette to the left she took off its head. The third runner was immediately in front of her and with not a single second pause she pierced its chest and brought the blade upwards for the blade to exit through its skull.
The brothers had managed to clear the remaining runners but the two clickers had started to run and flail their arms as they headed straight for the trio.
Ciri started to retreat back to the brothers, walking backwards steadily to give them at chance to get their shots in.
One clicker remained by the time they'd got close and Ciri decided to shoot forward and take deliver the final blow. She let out a slight growl as she swung her blade hard to take off its head. It's body dropped to the ground with a loud thud and the area became dead silent as they waited for anymore.
"It's all clear." Ciri says after a moment, confident there were no more.
"Whew!" Tommy whistled with a slight shake of his head and a grin. "You're one deadly son of a bitch, Ciri."
She gives a slight roll of her eyes and a small smile.
Joel was just as impressed. After watching her teach Ellie various techniques with using melee weapons like blades, he'd began to wonder where exactly she'd learnt it all. He remembered her mentioning that Peter was an ex-soldier but what kind of soldier?
He recalled one lesson he'd watched the other day. She'd clearly been teaching well, as Ellie had improved rapidly, and Ciri decided to have a small freestyle match. Ellie had to block every strike she made and vice versa. They'd used the wooden poles from their first lesson but it didn't quite make it entirely non-lethal.
He'd been mesmerised by how she blocked each hit without breaking a sweat and each move she made in return was like it was already planned out in her head.
He'd imagined that with all of her experience she could predict and calculate every fight the moment it happens. He'd never seen anything like it. She was brutally methodical.
"Come on. Let's head back to the horses." She says, passing them.
They followed after her and as they began to mount up, Tommy couldn't help but ask the ever impending question on both his and his brother's minds.
"I have to ask... how is it that you can sense things before we can?"
She knew it was coming and she'd been thinking about it ever since Joel had brought it up.
At this point she really trusted the brothers. Her past was still difficult to talk about, for various reasons. The main ones being: she had never spoken to anyone about it, and her lack of closure over Peter's death.
It wasn't that she wasn't comfortable with them, it was that she comfortable with what her life had been.
"Let's get out of here and take a break. I can tell you all about it." She says.
They left the parking lot and rode around the stores until they were back into woodland. They continued until they reached open fields and dismounted. They left the horses to graze while they sat down together on the grass.
Tommy brought out some apples from his pack a threw one to Joel and Ciri. They were sat quiet and patient as Ciri tried to find her words.
"Now... where to begin?" She sighed, chuckling slightly to herself and rested her elbows on her knees. Turning the piece of fruit in her hands.
"Back in England, Peter had been left unemployed and pretty much homeless after he'd been honourably discharged from the army. He was lucky enough to have close friends who were also in the army and let him live it their places whenever they were away on tours. So, he jumped around, 'couch surfing' as you'd call it, between his friends up north.
"Eventually he moved down south to London where he had an old friend who worked for the government. He hoped he could get a job through them... and he did.
"This friend told him that the government was starting a new operation for the secret intelligence service - MI6. But if he wanted the work, he couldn't tell anyone about it and he'd have to sign a contract that meant he couldn't leave until he retired, was moved into a different sector or until he was dead pretty much.
"He'd start off at the lowest point of the operation, which actually paid well, but they'd promised him progression into the secret service if he showed his loyalty to their cause. And because he was desperate he took it."
She takes a bite out of her apple.
"His job in the beginning... was to approach women who went to abortion clinics... and convince them to sign a contract and give away their babies to the government once they were born. Once the children were taken away, they'd begin their... experiments."
Joel and Tommy's ages were wide as they stared at her. She looked down at the apple in her hands while she took bites out of it and spoke in between.
"The secret service essentially wanted to create 'super-agents', so they systematically targeted women who were in vulnerable situations and were unable to raise a child in their conditions, paid them good money to give up their unwanted child and keep quiet. They did that by paying them in instalments , so if they ever threatened to go to the press about the fact the government took their children away they'd threaten to stop paying them... and because these women were desperate they let themselves be silenced.
"The mothers didn't actually know, of course, what they were doing with their babies but they could easily guess that it wasn't anything good. But they knew they couldn't do anything about it once they signed the contract."
She paused.
"Once the babies were in their care, they began their tests. And to create their 'super-agents', they enhanced the children's DNA with 3% of that of a wolf."
She pauses again and this time raises her eyes slightly to see their reactions. They sat across at her with shocked expressions but they were quiet.
She continued.
"In the beginnings of their tests it wasn't 3%, as that was what they discovered eventually worked but... the true cruelty of the operation wasn't that these children were being taken away from their mothers - it was the fact that none of them lived beyond 6 months.
"Their tests cause internal abnormalities with organ development, so the babies developed many different complications which eventually killed them."
"Jesus Christ." Joel cursed.
Ciri paused again to take another bite.
"It took them two years to eventually get it right... and they finally created a successful product of exactly what they wanted..."
As she fell quiet, Joel and Tommy realised what she meant.
"That was you." Tommy concludes.
"Yep." She responded quietly, still not meeting their eyes.
She followed on: "Peter met my mother at one of the clinics in London. She was was very poor and fell pregnant after a one night stand. Her name was Renée... she was working several part time jobs to pay for rent and food as she was also looking after her sick mother who had breast cancer.
"Peter didn't even need to try and convince her... once he told her of the money she'd get, she signed the contract it pretty much straight away. He felt guilty for what he was doing but he had no idea of what it would come to later on after the day he met her...
"He'd been working in that role for just over a year at that point and eventually he progressed further into the operation. They actually provided him the training that they would give to their field agents and taught him everything that a secret intelligence officer would need to know. And he also found out what they were really doing with the children in the programme... he was mortified. But because he was earning good money and didn't want to go back to being homeless and jobless, he remained quiet and complied with his superiors. But then I was born..."
She took a deep breath.
"My mother died giving birth to me. Her mother had also passed away a month before, and Peter's soul was destroyed. In the time that she was pregnant with me, he'd actually been visiting her and helping her out with caring for her mother... and he'd fallen in love with Renée. And she died because of this cruel secret operation, and it was Peter who brought her into it."
"He was just doing the job, he was forced to do it. That ain't his fault." Tommy cuts in.
She smiled softly and nodded. "That's what I said..."
She takes a final bite out of the apple.
"Anyway, through his grief he was now able to watch over me as he was now more involved in the programme. He was more than happy when I lived past the 6 months and I was completely healthy. Those who were running the whole thing were just as happy when they saw their tests had worked."
She threw the apple away.
"However, when my mother was carrying me... she'd begun to love her unborn child and was beginning to regret her decision of signing me away - but it was too late. She knew she wouldn't get the money she so desperately needed if she were to break the contract and then she'd be stuck with a baby and a sick mother to take care of.
"She told Peter this, and because he loved her, he began saving money so he could run away with her and help her keep me. But then as he was overwhelmed with the grief and guilt when she died, he made a promise to her and himself that he'd make sure I don't fall victim to this operation like she and the rest of the children did."
"He took you and fled to other countries." Joel said in a low voice when she paused.
She nods. "He'd spoken to the friend that had given him the job in the first place. They'd actually had no idea either what the operation actually was about either, they had just been asked to employ people to approach the mothers at the clinics. So when Peter explained to them what was happening, they agreed to help him. They got fake passports for the two of us and organised our whole escape.
"Peter still needed more money, so he was able to wait until I turned a year old and once he had enough money he then made the move. It wasn't easy but he managed to get the two of us out of there and over to France. A week later, when he tried to get in contact with his friend that had helped us, he got no response... he found out years later that MI6 had tortured them to tell them where we'd fled to but they wouldn't give us up - they'd died during the interrogation."
She took another deep breath in. "So for the following 9 years after that, Peter took me across Europe to evade MI6. He had me homeschooled and taught me how to defend myself. It was through my training that he realised what I could do as a result of my DNA being enhanced with that of a wolf's - I had increased sense of smell and hearing, and even my reflexes were more advanced. I was exactly what the secret service wanted. So, he made sure that if anything were to happen to him and I was on my own, he used all the training that MI6 had given him and taught it all to me."
She stopped and finally looked up again to see their reactions. They were silent as they digested the information.
She couldn't help but laugh a little. "I know it's a lot... it's why I said I didn't think you'd believe me."
Joel nodded along as he now understood why she had said that to him before. "Well... that explains why you have a lot in common with Witchers."
She nods and smirks. "Yeah... I didn't earn the title for nothing."
He lets out an amused breath.
"So, what happened after that?" Tommy asks, making her look back at him. "You moved throughout Europe and then you can over to the states - something must have happened for you to move this far?"
She sighed and nodded. They noticed she began to fiddle with the ring on her right hand.
"We'd got as far as Turkey and you know how I said that the first tests had caused abnormalities and complications?" She says and they nod along. "Well, even though I survived the first 10 years without any... it turns out that mine had just appeared later on. I was beginning to menstruate but it wasn't normal like other girls go through.
"I developed endometriosis and it was pretty severe. I had it for about a year, then long-story-short, it caused me a lot of pain and Peter eventually had to take me to the hospital so I could get surgery. They gave me a hysterectomy, so they removed my uterus but while I was in recovery I developed an infection from the surgery and I became septic. I was on my death bed at 11 years old and Peter was convinced he was going to lose me."
Joel realised that was the story she was referring to the night she sat on his patio with him.
"For whatever reason that made him choose to do it then... he gave me the ring that used to be my mother's." She slips the ring from her right hand and held it up. It was a single silver band with a gold strip in the middle. "She'd given it to him as she was dying after giving birth to me... and as I was in my hospital bed, struggling to stay alive, he passed it on to me. That was when he told me about everything - in a fairly simplified version considering I was still young."
Joel felt his heart become heavy as he was reminded of Sarah when she died in his arms. He could easily guess how Peter would have been feeling in that moment.
"I was lucky enough to pull through after the doctors pumped me full of drugs to treat the sepsis. But unfortunately, this wasn't a happy ending... there was a reason that Peter had avoided having me on records at any institutions like hospitals and schools. Though MI6 didn't know my name, as Peter was the one that called me Ciri of course and they had only referred to me as a test subject number, Peter was aware that they would still be able to track us.
"And since the hospital ran tests on me before and after the surgery, they could see my abnormalities as a result of my enhanced DNA - MI6 eventually found these records by the time I had fully recovered a couple months later. By that point Peter had prepared for us to leave the country and decided the States would be the our best option to lose them again.
"They'd caught up with us at the airport, but after a fair amount of sneaking through security and taking out agents that tried to stop us, we got on a plane and flew over. They'd alerted the pilots that they had 'convicts' on board, so we had to take as much caution getting off and getting out of the state we landed in. But somehow we made it out and spent the next year evading them again until the outbreak happened. That year is like a blur to me, I don't really remember much of it if I'm being honest."
"Goddamn." Tommy breaths. "Well... it all makes much sense now how you've been able to survive for so long by yourself."
Ciri nods and slips the ring back on her finger.
"What was it that made you begin goin' around savin' people?" Joel asks after a moment.
She tilts her head to the side as thinks about it. "In the beginning me and Peter saw all the suffering people were going through after the outbreak. Like every other QZ, Arizona was not particularly safe with all the riots and the rate at which people were becoming infected. Since it's only ever been the two of us, we wanted to go our own way but so did some others. We'd become friends with a few other people and they wanted out of QZ."
She sighs. "The soldiers at the gate let us go but many of our group didn't last long outside of the walls. Either other survivors attacked us or we got run down by hordes of infected in the city until eventually it was just me and Peter after about 6 months... we learned we just didn't work as effectively in groups. But we still wanted to help so when we heard about hunters and other vicious groups of survivors we wanted to make use of our experience and target them. It just sort of led from there..."
"I wish things would have turned out like that for us in the beginning..." Tommy says in a low voice.
Joel glanced over at him sadly. Ciri wore a down expression like theirs. Tommy had told her about their early days and the things they did to survive. After losing a daughter she didn't blame Joel for turning to violent measures to survive.
Tommy was reluctant to share anything about Sarah with her but when Ciri informed him that Joel had opened up to her about it he was slightly surprised. While Joel talked about Sarah sometimes, he never talked at that day and what happened right after it.
Ciri understood it too well.
"Well, it wasn't that easy for me for very long..." She says, her gaze falling back down.
She was just the same - it didn't hurt her to say his name out loud and talk about her childhood but it was what came after his passing that she hated to think about. While she knew she didn't do many atrocious things, aside from killing hundreds of others even though they were evil people, she hated the darkness of it and the feelings she's carried with her for so long because of it. She didn't know when the day would come that she'd be able to talk about without hurting.
"I don't want to be cliche but... we might not be sitting here together if the past had happened differently." Tommy says with a smile to try and lighten the mood.
Ciri and Joel nod with smiles of their own and share a look of understanding with each other.
♆
The trio rode back into the town and took their horses away into the stables. As they walked out of them, Tommy went in search for Maria and left Ciri and Joel.
"Well, I best go look for Esther. I've had enough of this godforsaken wig." Ciri says as she adjusts her bun.
Joel chuckles. "I'll help you look for her, I know where she's usually helping out."
"Alright, cowpoke. Take me to her."
He smiles as he begins to lead her down towards the kitchens.
"Hey uh, me and Ellie are having a bit of a movie marathon tonight... would you like to join us?" Joel asks hesitantly, unsure of whether she'd accept his invitation.
She surprised him a little with a nod. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Alright, just come on over when you're finished at Esther's."
"Okay, I look forward to it." She smiles and he can't help but smile back.
When they reach the kitchens they walk in and Joel approaches Seth at the bar. "Hey Seth, is Esther here?"
The grey-haired man shakes his head. "No, she's at her place giving Tony a haircut."
Joel nods and says goodbye as he leads them back outside.
"I don't know where her house is, do you?" Ciri asks him.
"Yeah, I do. I'll take you there."
When they get there, he knocks on the door and Ciri stands behind him on the porch. When the door opens Esther beams as she sees Joel.
"Joel! What can I do for you?"
He steps aside to let Ciri step forward. "I've just brought Ciri - she didn't know where you lived so..."
Esther's face practically drops for a second and Ciri almost laughed. But the red-head quickly recovers. "Oh of course, come on in. I'm just finishing up with Tony, I won't be a minute. You can wait in the living room."
Ciri enters the house and Joel only takes a step in through the door before gently taking her arm.
"I'll leave you to it and see you later, 'Kay?"
She nods. "Yeah, see you in a bit."
"Wait, where are you going?" Esther chimes in with a confused expression.
Joel furrows his brows. "I'm going home?"
"Oh... I thought you'd might like to stay for a drink and maybe for dinner? J-just you and me of course." She sheepishly laughs, her eyes flickering to Ciri for a split second.
Ciri bites her lip as she looks back to Joel.
"I already made plans with Ellie and Ciri, I'm sorry." He forces a smile.
"Oh okay, never mind. Another time?" She says hopefully.
He takes a quiet breath in before he shrugs. "Maybe... I'll uh see you around."
His eyes meeting Ciri's knowingly as he turns around to walk out, making her bite back her smile.
Once the door shuts behind him, Ciri turns back to Esther who is looking rather deflated before she forces a smile at her.
"Just wait in there, I won't be long." She gestures to the living room before turning around and disappearing into the kitchen.
Ciri sighs to herself and shakes her head. She sits down on the couch and mindlessly gazes around.
She wondered how long it would take for Esther to give up and realise Joel wasn't interested. She reckoned Joel should spare her the misery and tell her up front. While she couldn't help but find it funny in the moment, she knew Esther didn't deserve to be laughed at. She wasn't harming anyone, it was just rather sad to see her pining so much for someone and it beginning to become an inside joke between the rest of them.
She felt somewhat guilty for becoming involved in the joke and wanted to save the woman some of the embarrassment. She'd have to mention it to Joel later - so she decided.
She broke out of her thoughts when Tony appeared in the hallway. She stood up and walked into the doorway.
"Alright, Tony?" She said, catching his attention.
He smiled as he turned to face her by the front door. "Witcher! How's it goin'?"
"Not too bad. In desperate need of a haircut." She responds.
"So was I - always appreciate the small things!" He says with a nod as he reaches for the door handle.
"Preach that." Ciri smiles and sends him a wave as he thanks Esther before leaving out the door.
"Alright, let's get you sorted then." The red-head gestures for her to follow.
Ciri pulls out her hair tie and lets her hair fall down. Esther picks up her comb and begins to examine her hair and asks general questions about how much she wants cutting. After telling her exactly what she wanted she took a seat on the stool she had out and she begins working away.
"It's easy to tell that you've been cutting it yourself over the years." She comments just as she gathers Ciri's hair together in one hand.
The brunette lets out an amused hum, knowing that the ends of her hair were rather uneven, even as it had grown out from the last time she'd cut it. "Well, I didn't have to worry too much about how it looked - only what was practical."
"Indeed. I imagine it's tough being out there all on your own."
"Not really, at least not for me. I've always known how to take care of myself, just needed an extra pair of hands when it came to taming this bird's nest on my head." She jokes.
Esther chuckles, and falls quiet for a moment as she cuts off a large chunk of hair.
"Joel and Ellie talk a lot about you, you know?"
Oh, here we go.
"Do they?" She answers casually.
"Mm... they do. I heard you're giving Ellie sword-fighting lessons?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Wouldn't you think it's a little inappropriate?"
Ciri's eyebrows quickly scrunch together. "Inappropriate how?"
"Teaching a someone her age to be that... violent..."
'Wow', Ciri mouthed to herself as her brows shot up.
"This world was built on violence. That kid has been through it all at only 14, she's already got the experience. I'm just helping her get better at defending herself in a violent world." She explains calmly.
Ellie had told her various stories from travelling across the country with Joel, like the hunters, the bloater in the school in Bill's town, the cannibals. Whenever they took a break during Ellie's lessons, they'd exchange stories.
Ellie had been surprised when Ciri briefly mentioned that Joel told her about the incident at the University in Colorado. After sharing her bear attack story on his patio, Joel shared how he got his major scar on his stomach after he fell of the balcony. She'd been impressed as Ellie told her about how she had to fend for herself against David's men and looking after Joel while he was injured.
The girl already knew violence, she didn't need it to be taught it. Ciri couldn't help but feel slightly irked by her comment, she thought it was sort of naive way of thinking for someone who was older and was living in the same apocalyptic world as her.
"I just think she should be doing things that the other kids her age are doing."
"And what's that?"
"Just... hanging out and having fun."
Ciri rolled her eyes. "She does, when she wants to. But if you haven't noticed there isn't all that much time in the day for that while we have a community to protect, and she's a teenager - not a toddler."
She hears Esther open her mouth to speak as she hears the intake of her but she closes it again.
"You're right. I'm sorry." She says in a small voice after a moment as she continues trimming the end of her hair.
"Nothin' to be sorry for." Ciri mumbles and they fall quiet.
The silence didn't last long as it was clear that Esther couldn't contain her curiosity. "So... what are your plans with Joel tonight?"
"Just a movie night with Ellie."
"That all?"
"Uh yeah? What else should we be doing?" Ciri struggles to hide the amusement in her voice.
"Oh nothing, was just curious."
No kiddin', love. Ciri rolls her eyes slightly again.
The silence remained as Esther finished levelling out her hair and when she announced she was done, she told Ciri to check it in the large mirror in her hallway.
Satisfied with the cut, Ciri returns to stand the kitchen doorway.
"So, what can I get you for payment?"
The red-head was clearly puzzled as she asked: "What do you mean?"
The brunette lightly shrugs one shoulder. "Well, I'd like to give you something in return for cutting my hair. There anything you need or would like? I'm good at getting things."
"Oh... that's awfully kind of you. I don't need payment, it's just a haircut."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Alright then, thank you Esther."
Ciri left her home and began heading over to Joel's house. The sky was darkening and the street lights were just coming on. There was a slight breeze but she liked feeling of it against her face. The weight off of her hair made a difference and she was beginning to really appreciate the small things that made her feel better.
Joel was preparing the movies and directing the TV set up towards the couch. He walked into the hallway to go get Ellie when a knock came at the door. He quickly walked over and opened it up to see Ciri. He was surprised by the difference made by her hair.
He'd only briefly seen her hair down once before when she was fixing her hair, so he'd seen how long it was. It was now just past her shoulders and the natural, almost wavy curls seemed a little more emphasised as they sat on her jacket collar.
"Wow, you look... different." He blinked.
She began to smile as her brows knitted together. "Different? Is that all you got for me?" She joked.
He sheepishly laughed as he shook his head. "Sorry it's just strange not seeing you with your usual... style."
"Alright, cowpoke. I get it." She chuckles. He smiles and steps aside to let her in.
"You like whiskey?" He asks as she takes off her jacket and hangs it up.
"Of course. You got some?"
"Sure do, I'll get us a glass. Make yourself at home."
As he disappears into the dining room, Ciri enters the living room and settles down on the far end of the couch after taking her boots off.
"So how was Esther?" Joel reappears a moment later with two glasses.
She takes a dramatic breath in as she takes the glass he passed over to her. "Well..."
He chuckles. "Was it bad?"
She shakes her head. "Nah. She's nice enough, she's just uh... what's the word? Gormless."
He laughs again, with a slow nod as he sits beside her. "Yeah, she's uh... somethin' else."
Ciri thinks for a moment before talking again.
"You know you should tell her."
"Tell her what?"
"That you're not interested."
Joel sighs. "Well, I've tried to but..."
"That's what I mean, you've tried to show her you aren't but she is gormless. I'm only saying this because it would just save her the embarrassment and you the headache." She advises.
He sighs again. "You're right. I should just tell her outright."
They fall quiet for a few seconds.
"Just out of curiosity, if you were attracted to her would you consider actually dating her?" Ciri asks, sipping her drink as she tucks her legs up sideways underneath her and her right elbow on the back of the sofa.
He shakes his head almost instantly. "She's a good looking woman but I dunno... I just don't feel any sort of inclination towards her."
"But would you consider finding a significant other in this world? Is what I'm really asking."
He meets her eyes over her glass as she takes another sip. He observes her for just a couple seconds before nodding.
"Yeah... when I find the right person. Maybe." He says in a quiet voice.
"And who would be your right person?" She continues, her chin resting on her hand.
He takes a breath in as he thinks. "Just... someone I'm comfortable with and who is understanding."
"You don't have a type then?"
"Nah. You can't really be picky in a world like this."
"Good point." She bobs her head.
"What about you?"
"Me?" She huffs. "I didn't think I'd be settling down in one place let alone with one person."
Joel hums, realising it was a bit of a stupid question for her.
"But I guess now I'm in that sort of position now... pfft I don't know. I guess like you said - someone I can be comfortable around and understands me." She shrugs, running a hand through her hair.
"I've uh..." she quickly pauses, realising what she was just going share. She debated for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Not long after Peter passed... there'd been a few times where I'd helped a group of survivors and stayed with them for a night or two."
Joel watches her patiently.
"There was often one that would approach me and be curious like everyone is about who I am behind the mask. But it was more like they were looking for something else... we'd be somewhere private and they'd catch me in a vulnerable moment. They'd open up to me about what they were going through and..."
She takes a breath in. "It would be clear that the both of us were just dying to feel something. So, we'd do the deed and the night would be over and once they'd move on I'd return to feeling numb again."
While he had never been the sort of person for one night stands, Joel could understand why she might have sought others to try and fill the void inside but it's always a superficial way of dealing with trauma.
"Thankfully that part of my life didn't last long, but I guess I'm lucky I had a hysterectomy otherwise it might have become a major mistake..." she adds.
Joel hums in agreement.
"Though that being said I did sleep with more women than men." She then says in a slightly more amusing tone.
He looked back up at her in surprise. She laughs a little.
"Come on, you haven't at least once thought I look like I swung that way?"
He takes a few seconds to think before hesitantly nodding. "Yeah, it did cross my mind."
She chuckles.
"Well, on that note - I can confidently say I can give as good as I take." She playfully winks before she has the last of her drink.
Joel lets out a sheepish laugh as he looks away shaking his head before copying her her and downing the remains of his drink. The pinkness of his cheeks was painfully obvious but she refrained from teasing him.
"Want a refill before I go fetch Ellie?" He goes to stand, clearing his throat.
"Sure why not." She smiles and passes him her empty glass.
As he stands they both notice Ellie appear in the doorway.
"Oh good you're here, I was just gonna-" Joel begins but Ellie cuts him off.
"I'm gonna get an early night, today has wiped me out and I've gotta be up early for tomorrow since Maria is putting me on new duties." Ellie says as she yawns.
"Oh, yeah of course. That's fine, you go ahead and get some sleep." Joel responds, though he was slightly puzzled.
"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow." She sends them a lazy wave before disappearing and heading out the back door.
Ciri shakes her head and chuckles quietly. She reckoned that Ellie had made up an excuse just to leave Joel alone with her. Her yawning was clearly faked.
Joel turns back to her. "Well guess it's just the two of us then."
She hums and stands. "You get the drinks and I'll put the movie on."
He nods and heads to the dining room. Ciri picks up the DVD that was on top of the TV cabinet.
'Die Hard.'
"So, you're an 80s movies kind of guy?" She calls out to Joel.
"Oh yeah. I love a good ol' action movie." He calls back and she hears him walking back.
"I'm a big fan of action movies too, but I'm not too fond of any older than the 90s if I'm being honest." She pops the disc into the DVD player and picks up the TV remote.
"What's your favourite movie?"
She puffs her cheeks. "I have a lot of favourites but I love anything with Denzel Washington in. That man is brilliant."
"I don't think I've seen much of his work." Joel says as he sits back down and places their drinks on the coffee table.
Her head shoots back towards with a surprised expression. "Seriously?"
He laughs lightly at her reaction. "Yeah. I don't know why, I just have watch many movies that he's been in."
"Oh you're missin' out." She walks around the table and falls down onto the sofa with him.
"Well, there's a DVD store in that shopping village we passed earlier today with Tommy. Next time we head out that way we'll have to look for some Denzel Washington movies and we can have a marathon another night. How's that sound?" He suggests as the she turns on the TV and plays the movie.
"Sounds like a date." She smiles as she picks up her drink and holds it out. "Cheers."
He smiles back and gently taps his glass against hers. "Cheers."
The smile remained on his face as the movie began and they got comfortable on the couch together.
***
a/n - another super long chapter! I hope you liked learning more about Ciri's story. There's a little more to learn about her - she's probs my fave character I've written for. Let me know what you think!