one foot after the other

She didn't protest when Ember pulled away, sheets falling off her body as she did. Val found that the spot that she left by her side was cold. "I know- I know it ain't a good thing." Val said, staying right where she was, now forced to tilt her head back so she could look at the other woman. "I knew I said I'd quit but I just-" Val trails off, before finally pushing herself back into a sitting position. The morning cold of her apartment hits her and makes her want to snuggle back under the sheets.

And yet, as Val kept talking, Ember could feel her anger boiling.

"And you couldn't have figured this one out yesterday?" Ember snapped. She was being unfair, to say the least. She herself said she didn't care about anything in the moment, just wanted Val. Even if Val would have said it all back then, she still would have most likely said the same thing. But she got her hopes up for a moment and she was annoyed and so lashing out was easier than anything else.

"You knew all of it before we fell into your bed all over again, why not just stop it all then? Why let all of this happen if you're "no good for me like this, hun"?"

"Used to be you couldn't store 'em like that or they'd stick together," Ike said casually, sorting through rag strips by colour. "But when they remade the polaroid film for the new cameras they fixed that. I like those. I was never real good at waiting for anything so photos you could take and print immediately were my jam."

Every now and again he got a little jolt hearing himself out loud, and how it might scan to the daughter he'd abandoned for thirty years -- never good at waiting for anything sounded damning -- but Ike didn't press it. Ember seemed a straightforward kind of person, unafraid to voice her opinions. That went a long ways to putting Ike at ease; for him, hearing somebody tell him how he was being shitty was immensely preferable to them keeping it to themselves.

Like her comment about the socks. Ike looked down at his feet -- bare, but shoved into some ratty old houseshoes -- and said, "I'm running out. I kill my socks so fast, I'm forever in need of more. Hey, my birthday's coming up in December, you could get everyone in town to get me socks." Ike hooted at his own joke, mirthful for a moment until Ember asked after his health.

He screwed his mouth to one side, reluctant to talk about it much, but -- this was his daughter, after all. "It's rough," Ike confessed. "I get a lot of headaches. I get sensitive to light and repetitive noises. There's a woodpecker somewhere around here and I'm about ready to pay the hunters to find and terminate the damn thing. I'm cold all the fucking time."

"I get not wanting to wait for the pictures, though we never really used the printings, just stored everything on the computers and phones, only printing out some selected few," she said, not really thinking too deep about his words about not being good at waiting for things. "Wish some of it could have been recovered in the outbreak, but most people didn't have memories like that anymore," she shrugged and then looked over at her shoulder at the box with the polaroids. "We could take some pictures together sometime, maybe when you're feeling better?"

Ember let out a small chuckle. "I feel like that might not be the best idea - some people for sure would just give you their old, used up, full of holes socks." But she already had another image in her head, with him having a bunch of cutely patterned socks - something that was most likely not possible here, not when it was so hard to get any kind of resources, socks were not bountiful at all.

Then her dad told her all the effects of his current state and she was quiet, wishing she could do anything about it, but aside from going out herself and taking care of the woodpecker, there wasn't much she could do. Well, maybe the rugs, those would help, hopefully. "And what do the people at the medical center say? Renee? Val? How long will this last? What can they do to help?"

But they couldn't. And not just because of hunger. Something tugged at Val's heart when she heard Ember speak like that, that they could try again, that things had changed. And for a moment, Val was tempted to say yes, give in, because good god, she'd missed Ember. But she didn't. Gently, she pulled back, out of the touch so she could press her palm against Ember's face and look into those beautiful dark brown eyes.

For a moment Ember could pretend that it could all be good, that Val would agree and finally, after all the time they spent being together and then breaking up, they could make it work. But the way Val cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes, Ember's stomach already sunk before a single word was spoke.

"Half of what you're saying isn't even making sense, Val, I changed, you changed, everyone changed. I had family for a really long time, but that has nothing to do with any of this." But didn't it? Wasn't the last time they broke up and went their own seperate ways partly due to family? She pushed the thought away, though, only focusing in the good. "This is different, Val, I can just-- I can feel it."

Ember seemed quite mesmerized by it - with the way she looked around, quieting down for a moment. "There are a few spots similar to this in the forest. A few outside of it, too." Orion was already used to the sight, so he let his eyes trail around, before he found what he was looking for. He made his way over to a log, covered in oyster mushrooms. Pulling out his knife, Orion went to work. "Sometimes. I usually have work to do outside of Redwood. I like to keep busy. But when I am taking a break, I like to stay in places like that. It's relaxing."

Orion cut a cluster off of the log, casting a glance back at Ember. "I would show them to you, but there isn't a lot of time for it. Isaac is injured and winter is coming, so there is a lot to do." He considered her carefully for a moment. "Maybe you could come along on a raid next time."

She took in the view of the waterfall for a few more moments and then followed Orion to the log and the mushrooms and started working on getting some of it off, working in tandem with Orion. She's learned plenty over the years on survivor, but she was always ready and eager to learn more - and learning not by the scrap of her teeth, by her own failiures felt like a gift, really.

A bike. Something for him to ride around town on. It also needed to have tassels and a basket on the front because why not? Even if Nicki had to screw the basket on herself, she and Ember were bound and determined to get him one. Nicki was the one in front, blazing the trail to the old shopping center. Her machete was back on her hip but that was the only thing she was carrying. The crowbar would be too heavy and she didn't think she could reach behind her to grab it like usual. But in theory, the machete was all she needed.

Nicki was constantly scanning the area around them, just to make sure nothing was coming at them. But the only thing she heard was Ember's question. "Yes I did," she said as she glanced back at him, "We met outside of New York and rode around for a bit before going our separate ways." She heard a branch break in the distance and she grabbed the hilt of her machete but dead silence followed. Probably just a tree breaking. But still...."I did, yeah. I mean, I did some raiding before I got to Redwood and Ike and I had some good fights together so he already knew I was a capable fighter. I asked, I already passed his test....the rest is pretty much history."

Her head snapped up at the branch break too - but it was most likely just a smaller animal around them. "That's pretty admirable. When I arrived at Redwood - and I'm pretty sure most people are like that -, I wanted nothing to do with the outside at all, and you turned around and came right back out basically." And still, despite's Ember's desire to never step foot outside, here she was, and not out of simple necessity.

"I was just going on a walk. I figured I'd check out the farm animals - the baby calf is just too cute and I was in the mood for some cuteness. And in general, I like watching all the animals chilling." She paused for a moment and then, "Wanna tag along? It could be fun."

"There is a small creek with a pond and a waterfall nearby. The climate there is somewhat humid, so I am hoping to find a few mushrooms there. We could also take a break there, if you would like." Orion refrained from suggesting that they eat some of the mushrooms, knowing that Ember didn't necessarily approve of his habits. Even not when they had a chance to wash some of the mushrooms in the creek.

When he suggested they could come out more often in the future, that he could teach her some of the stuff he knew, she gave him a nod. "That could be cool, yeah. And useful, obviously. I love mushrooms, but that was an area of food I never really dared touching out here. It's a whole different thing when you just pick them up from a shelf and you know you don't have to worry about any of them being poisonous. Makes things easier, except out here."

It didn't take them too long to reach the pond Orion mentioned and Ember just stopped and stared for a few moments, taking it all in. It wasn't anything big, but it was still this hidden little oasis that was beautiful and felt like it was untouched by everything horrible and dangerous out here, and that affected her more than she really thought it would.

Not like Ember would've known that, really; Ike had a string on one wall with a few photos clothespinned to it, but it was only three polaroids, none of them with people in them. Upside-down, even, clipped on the thick white band part. "But I want the rugs and Bea showed me how to make 'em so I'm gonna show you."

He tugged out an almost-finished rag rug from the bag, showing Ember the strips of scrap cloth pulled through the wide weave of a piece of burlap and tied off to create a thick, colourful, nubby pile. Ike demonstrated with a new strip of scrap, so Ember could see what he was doing. "It's busy work," he said a little sheepishly, "but it's time consuming. And I need the rugs soonish. It's getting colder fast."

Colorful and not too hard to put together, and Ember pushed herself off of the counter and went over to check all of it out. "This I can definitely do, but yeah, it's going to take a bit of time, but I'll do my best." She looked down at his feet and then back up at him, "You could - just a suggestion, but in the meantime, you could wear some socks, it would help." She got a couple of strips and started working on the unfinished one. "Yeah, I like having plants around the house. I don't have too many just yet, I'm slowly bringing in one new at a time, but I have a few in every room at this point. They just brighten up the space for me."

After a couple of lines Ember could already tell this would either be something that she could lose herself into for hours without realizing it, or get a headache from it after two minutes. Probably dependant on her mood for the day - but for now, it was fun. So she looked over at him and really took him in with the injury and all, before she asked, "How are you doing, by the way? How's your head?"