it cant be for nothing.

Ellie's voice replied softly, as she gently nodded and tried to settle the idea that Joel would teach her what she needed to know. Part of her wished he wouldn't because if he didn't teach her how to take care of herself, then she wouldn't have to try to live without him. It wasn't lost on her that the man wasn't exactly a spring chicken and the idea of existing without the only parental figure who had ever shown her love that she'd known, brought tears to her eyes.

"Huh?"

She looked confused as she snapped back from her thoughts at his request to have her come closer. She wasn't sure what she had missed while she was in her own head, but she didn't hesitate to do what she was told. She made a silent promise while she watched him lay dying in that abandoned town, that if he just lived - she would never question his authority again. She'd just do what she was told. Just like he wanted her to. Rising to her feet, she crossed the distance in just a few short strides.

The quirky little grin on her face said that she knew that was in fact not the case at all. Joel had expressed to her in many different ways just how much he didn't want that to become of them. She belonged to him now, and Ellie had yet to find anything in this life that felt better than the true sense of belonging that she got from that understanding.

"But, wait. If it's wet and I get a fire going with paper, how do I keep it going? I mean, the paper is only going to burn for so long, right? And eventually I'll run out if I just keep adding it."

The idea of having to figure out how to start a fire on her own started to feel a bit overwhelming. She wished that there was somehow, someway... a guarantee that she'd never be alone. It was the one fear that she couldn't seem to overcome. The one that flashed back to her mind every time she began to feel a bit of security, and that was something that she hated.

"Remind me why it is I willingly do this shit with you now that I no longer need to?" There was absolutely no malice in his voice as he joked back, narrowing his eyes on the teen and waving his hand dismissively. She went straight to teasing him for teaching her to be lazy and prompting him to roll his eyes, holding up the tool and the travel notebook. "Just run your mouth, it'll make the supplies hot enough to light up." There was a soft huff, then he went on. "I have one of these for you. You just need this and something dry and flammable. Works the same way, just maybe takes a try or two." Moving to get closer to her, he handed her the tool, the small bottle and the notebook, then gestured to the fire.

Ellie had come a long way from lacking the confidence to say that about anyone and honestly believe it. She was used to being disposable or left behind in death. Both of which felt like a cruel joke at this point. It wasn't so long ago that she swore it would happen to her again, only this time - it would have been Joel to leave her behind in exchange for the peace of a life lived and lost.

"Something dry and flammable, so like leaves or something that I'd be able to find out in the woods?"

Though the young teen had no intention of being out on her own in the wilderness any time soon, she'd learned well enough by now to know that intention rarely matched reality. If she wanted any hope of survival at all - she needed to learn from the one person who had been entrusted with her above all else, to teach her how to survive.

Taking the items that Joel offered to her, Ellie moved them around in her hands, inspecting them carefully before looking back at the fire that was burning with consistency and dependability.

@xjustcargo

Ellie was proud of that, and it was evident by the smirk on her face. She was sure that Joel would be less than impressed by it. Though still somehow, she knew that those remarks brought him some kind of joy. He might not have said as much but there was unspoken language between the two of them by now - one that was all their own.

"So by teaching me the lazy man's way, you're just hoping that I'll be able to find all of that stuff in the wild?" Her brow raised as she questioned him, though she hadn't once looked away from the instruction that he was giving her. At the core of it all, Ellie was an eager sponge - desperate to learn and soak up what knowledge and survival skills she possibly could.