# OTHER MILLER : MILLER , TOMMY.
when tommy had seen joel and ellie off after the whole runaway horse ordeal, he wasn't sure he'd ever see either of them again. it's a gamble. everything in life these days is. all he knew was this was something his brother had to do and that this little girl held a whole lot of something in her. something to the world. something to joel. that was then, this is now. and he's grateful. grateful and hoping to make life in jackson a little more accomodating after everything was said and done ( of which he knows little to none about. )
a smile knocks loose as he comes up beside her, both of them on horseback. "hey, kid," he says, drawing on the reins to keep his horse at the same speed hers is at. "if you promise not to tell maria, i think the horses would like it if we let loose and let 'em really run off their energy. what d'you say?" answered ask, @othermiller.
it still feels surreal, (disapointment bleeds through her leaving a rigid and empty feeling she can't begin to decipher; it's unsettling, to a degree) living in a gated community — a real safe haven, not one overrun with corrupt soldiers and hoards of people fighting for ration cards, desperate to feed themselves, desperate to flee. she's meant to feel safe here, and she does. but curiosity has always sat between the hollowed out parts of her bones that there's no telling how long this fantasy will last before reality settles in. isn't that how it goes? settle down, find comfort — only for the world to remind you again and again it'll never be truly safe.
“ hm? ” brows lifting, head in a daze as she pulls herself from the trance she'd been in to look at the man saddled beside her. she likes tommy; can't help but wonder if things would've been the same had he been the one to carry out what joel did. whether the promise joel made to her would've been the same coming from someone else. she appreciates the effort either way, the embrace of being welcomed into what she can only imagine is the closest to what a real family feels like. “ really? well i'm not saying no to that. ” she's still a kid - even after the gore and guts, the blood still stuck beneath her nailbeds that she's not sure if it belongs to her or someone else. “ i won't tell, maria. ” the woman scares her, even if she also looked to her in admiration. “ can we race? ” the grin is twitching, head cocked to the side as the breeze picks up and her fingers grip the reins. “ 'cause then you gotta promise not to whine to maria about it like a sore loser. ” she pulls the reins down, knocks each ankle against the side of the horse before she's picking up speed. “ holy shit! ”
