Work Text:
Rumbling of tire tracks on gravel filled the air as an old black truck pulled into the driveway. The house itself was similar to one you would assume a Nuclear family would inhabit. It was painted white with a wooden porch that had two rocking chairs overlooking the clean cut yard. Joel, however, did not fit as a nuclear family. His boots slammed onto the ground as he exited the car. The door was slammed behind him and Joel groaned with every movement. His clothes, stained with oil and wood shavings from a previous construction job. The door was thrown open as Joel entered. He shrugged off his worn boots and continued on route to the kitchen. The beer he took from the fridge was used to soothe the pounding in his skull. It felt as though that jack hammer had really been inside his head. With a few slow steps, Joel collapsed onto the couch. One leg was hanging completely off the couch while the other was laid over the top of the arm of the couch. Cold sips soothed his throat while Joel threw his free arm over his forehead.
Joel laid like this for a couple of minutes; unable to move from the throbbing pain scaling his entire back. The only thing that could make him even consider moving from his position was loud barks outside his front window. He grumbled at the noise. The half drunk beer hung from his limp hand where it almost touched the floor.
“Jesus christ,” he grumbled, rising from his position on the couch.
Joel took calculated steps towards the door, using everything in his path to steady himself. His beer was long forgotten on the coffee table while the TV blared an old movie. The curtain was grazed enough by his finger to give Joel a clear view of the outside. The light seared his eyes and he took a minute to adjust. Outside was Ellie with one of the neighborhood strays. This particular one, she had been trying to coax for the last two weeks. Everytime Ellie got close, it would panic and take off in the other direction. The two of them were now bounding around the backyard like a bunch of little kids.
Ellie glanced up in time to spot Joel in the window. She gave the largest wave and gestured widely to the dog that was now running to lay in front of her. The dog panted and plopped straight onto the floor. It rolled over right onto Ellie’s lap and gazed up at her, tongue out. Ellie was able to slowly card her hands through the dog's fur and a large grin adorned her face. When she looked up, Joels mimicked her own expression.
With a few more minutes of petting, Ellie decided to try and coax the dog inside. Joel vacated the door, worried that his build would scare the dog. This led to him lounging on a chair in the kitchen with his beer again. Ellie opened the door and light pooled into the room.
“Joel! Joel, look! She’s finally letting me pet her! About-fucking-time!” Ellie cheerfully shouted at Joel, but not loud enough to scare the dog who hesitated at the door.
“Come on girl!” she said an octave higher than her usual voice.
The dog followed into the house and looked around. She picked a nice spot in front of the coffee table and out of the way.
“Starlight,” Ellie said, looking at Joel expectantly.
“Starlight?” Joel raised his brows and reiterated, confused. “For a name?”
Ellie crossed her arms and raised her own brows, challenging.
Joel shrugged his shoulders, the bottle of beer halfway to his mouth, “Whatever you want to call her,” he said. “But she ain’t staying here.”
“Yeah, she is,” Ellie said, her head tilted, “I worked my ass off to get her in here, the least you could do is let me keep her.”
“I said no, Ellie,” Joel’s arms crossed and he glowered at the girl.
Unfortunately, the day had passed and when Ellie retired to bed, Joel noted the furry tail following her to her room.
“One night!” Joel shouted down the hall, his hands deep in the sink with dirty dishes.
Ellie rolled her eyes. Her head poked around the door, “Sure,” she said, echoing out the hallway.
Joel shook his head at the girl when the door to her room shut. He sighed at the girls antics while wipping his dripping hands with the nearest tea towel. It was nice to see Ellie coming out of her shell. Ever since he had adopted the girl, she seemed to be mostly reserved other than the constant swearing. Never willing to ask for things.
The sound of heavy footsteps filled the house. They paused at the front of Ellie’s door. Rough hands slowly wrapped around the door handle and turned it with little noise. In the room was Ellie, splayed out across the bed with her new friend wrapped in her arms beside her. The dog peered its head up at Joel. With a few air sniffs, the dog rendered Joel as unthreatening and laid her head back down on Ellie. His gaze lingered for a few seconds more before he pulled the door closed.
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Joel groaned at the pounce on his chest, effectively waking him up. The light blinded his eyes as they flew open. Heavy breathing was obnoxiously by his right ear.
“Well, someone had to wake you up,” a voice said from the doorway. Joel ran his fingers through the soft fur of the dog laying on top of him.
“You couldn’t have woken me with the smell of coffee?” Joel groaned. His back cracked with every small stretch.
Ellie shrugged her shoulders and smirked at the man. Nearby was a stuffed animal Ellie had given to Starlight as a toy. It went flying through the air before landing directly at Joel's scrunched up face.
“Time to get up old man. Time’s a wastin,” Ellie shoved herself off the door and walked off. Not bothering to call the furry friend.
A yawn escaped Joel’s mouth with his face scrunched. Clinking could be heard from the kitchen where Ellie was in fact putting on the coffee. Starlight had decided to throw herself off the bed. This came with groans and cries from Joel as the dog managed to shove her paws everywhere they shouldn’t have been. Paws dove straight into his abdomen and Joel launched up from his resting position.
“C’mon, girl” Joel huffed. His palms gripping Starlight’s head paws to keep them from causing anymore pain.
Joel dangled his legs over the side of the bed. Hands ran over his wrinkled face. Blindly, he reached over for his PTSD pills which normally rested on his nightstand. They were no longer there and it had seemed as though he had moved then somewhere. Then, the jingling of a dog collar littered the hall. In came Starlight, who held an orange pill bottle in between her lips.
Joel scoffed in disbelief, “How’d you know what I needed?” He asked the dog. His hand reached out to grab the pills in exchange for a few soft rubs across Starlight’s head:
Starlight released the pills and sat content. Her tail was wagging at a rapid pace and her tongue drooped out.
“Star!” Ellie’s voice came from down the hall. “Starlight!” She reiterated.
The dog nudged her nose into Joel’s palm, giving him a look of sadness. Her tongue poked out to give his nearest arm a quick lick. After a few seconds, she took off down the hall towards Ellie who was quickly growing impatient. Her nails scratched the wooden floorboards and her body slipped into the wall at her urgency to get down the hall.
Ellie opened the back door and watched as Starlight bolted with a wagging tail out the door.
“Joel, you better get your ass out here before I decide to dump this nasty black sewer water down the drain,” Ellie called in a sing song tone.
Joel emerged from his room, dressed in a flannel and jeans as normal.
“Hold your horses, kid. I’m coming,” Joel sighed, his hands ran through his crooked hair. It stood up in all directions.
His footsteps took him to the coffeemaker, eyes blearily locked on the silky brown liquid. A coffee mug already sat next to the coffee along with his favorite creamer and sugar.
“Y’know, I only do bl-“ Joel started.
Ellie raised a brow, her arms leaned on top of the counter and her hands clasped in front of her. “Black coffee? Then who would that cold stone creamer be for? Casper the ghost?” She rolled her eyes at the man, “We both know that’s bullshit.”
Joel poured the coffee into his cup and an unhealthy amount of creamer into the cup. “Mmph,” he sighed taking a gulp of the incredible coffee. “Taste of heaven right ‘ere,” he said.
The two sat there in utter silence. Only the sounds of an occasional sip from Joel filled the room. The wagging of a tail alerted the two of Starlight’s presence.
“Hey, girl,” Ellie fluttered her hands in Starlight’s direction to get the dog to come over.
Starlight came bounding over to Ellie who was crouched on the floor.
“Wait a damn minute,” Joel gestured to the dog with the coffee, then the door. “How did… how.. Uhhh.. did she open the door?” His brows furrowed glancing back over at Ellie.
Ellie shrugged her shoulders. When the man looked away, she smirked to herself and praised the dog.
“Anyway… I think it best if you go get dressed. I’ve got some errands to run and I ain’t leaving you by yourself. I’d come back to no house,” Joel slurped on the coffee and nodded towards the hall.
Ellie stuck her tongue out, “Yeah.. Yeah, I’m a problem child. Unable to be trusted,” she waved her hands mockingly but every step brought her closer to her room.
Joel’s gaze lingered on Ellie’s retreating figure. His own arms came down to lean across the counter. His forehead leaned down to lay across the cool countertop. The blaring of a cellphone came from his bedroom. Probably another client hassling him into working over the weekend.
“Ellie, could ya grab that?” Joel called at the girl. Fur flashed out of the corner of his eye. It seemed as though Starlight decided she wanted to see Ellie. Joel paid no mind and refilled the cup of coffee that was now empty. His hands ran over the prickly hair of his beard.
Clicking came from down the hall as Joel leaned against the counter with his lower back. His hands laid behind him against the counter. The ringing of Joel’s phone echoed louder, louder, and louder until it sounded like it was next to him. Joel glanced down to his right and there sat Starlight, once again.
“Is that… that my phone you got there?” Joel asked the dog even knowing there would be no answer. His hand left the counter and reached down to grab the phone. “Thanks,” he spoke.
Joel took the phone and flipped it back up to be upright. It had stopped ringing at this point but it looked to be a spam call.
“Did you get it?” Ellie called from the kitchen entryway.
Joel twisted himself around, “Ellie?” He asked with a peculiar look.
Ellie’s arms clasped behind her, “Yes, Joel?” She asked sweetly.
“How the fuck did you teach this dog to fetch and open doors in one night?” Joel gestured at the dog and door.
Ellie rocked her shoulders back and forth, “I may have lived with a family of dog trainers a while back,” she replied. “You tend to pick up a few things here and there when you live with different people,” she said with a small shrug and a crooked smile.