video; backdated to the 9th

[112ounces]

[ Carl originally thought to make this text, and maybe to individual inboxes to make the matter more private.

He decided against this because 1) text is impersonal and shooting bullets into one's home is definitely a personal matter 2) Carl has been so bad at interacting with his roommates outside Death the Kidd that he doesn't even know the names of his other roommate's. So open post it is. ]


Um. People have been disappearing and reappearing and new people showing up, and me working longer hours at the magazine stand and taking summer courses, I didn't pay much attention to people who are my roommates, besides Kidd. I'm sorry about that.

So to anyone living in Apartment 2 in Maurita Falls, I am really sorry if seeing bullet holes in the walls scared you. That was me and somebody else. Got into a misunderstanding. It's fine now, no one was hurt, so it's nothing to worry about.

[ He can already tell people are going to freak out, more so from people who didn't live in the apartment. ]

Comments

[shittybirthday]

Well. Good thing you know how to look after yourself, at least.

This person given you any more trouble? 'Cause if they do, lemme know. I'll make sure they won't bother you again.

[ Joel has a shotgun and a rifle and a sniper revolver and a sawn-off shotgun and an axe and... You get the idea. ]

[112ounces]

[ Carl just have the horrible mental image of this huge man and Dad fighting. It's not a pretty sight. ]

Oh, no, there's not going to be any trouble. We're from the same world, we know each other. I just didn't recognize him. Timeline stuff, I guess.

[shittybirthday]

Oh. Okay. If you say so.

[ Well, that's good. Assuming this person is someone who is actually trustworthy to this kid. ]

Friend of yours or somethin'?

Private;

[112ounces]

[ Well, what the hell. Dad is going to make a post on the network some day and there's going to make a few people make the connection. It's not like there's a ton of people from his world living here anyway. ]

Still making it private though. ]

He's my dad.

permaprivate?!

[shittybirthday]

[ ............................. ]

...Jesus. [ A beat, and then: ] Your dad tried to shoot you?

permaprivate

[112ounces]

We both tried to shoot each other. Like I said, I didn't recognized him, not at first, and he broke into my room. He was just defending himself.

[ Carl makes an emphasis on the word 'both'. ]

[shittybirthday]

[ Sure, Joel understands that. He gets it only too well: the dad defending himself. It's just thought of this kid's dad shooting his kid that touches an uncomfortable nerve in him, doesn't matter that the kid didn't actually get shot. Seems a little too close to home in some unnameable way. ]

Well, look. Is he safe to be around? I mean... the kind of places you an' me come from - well, I know I don't gotta explain to you how windin' up here can make a person who ain't used to this place kinda jumpy.

[112ounces]

[ Of course he's safe, Carl is about to say, but stops himself. Is he safe, really? Dad looks so much different, and he's not even talking about the clean-shaven face, the cut hair. He stares at people differently too.

He changed in a more marked way, and Carl knows when that started - when Carl was being forced down by an attacker in the woods, and Dad ripped a man's throat out with his own teeth to get to his son. When he disemboweled Carl's attacker after Carl is free and within Michonne's embrace.

But people like Carl and Rick are never safe. There have been close calls when Carl almost mistaken rude, callous behavior from customers to hostile behavior, and Carl nearly gut and shot a lot of them. It took a long time for him to accommodate himself to this world, and Dad . . .

Dad's always been set his ways, and it took along time to adapt and throw those ways away. If Dad was taken to here when he not long ago woke up from his coma, he might have a better time transition. ]

No. He's not. He's a lot safer with me near him, unless someone tries to attack me.

[ It saddens Carl to think he doesn't trust Dad in this setting. Not that he won't betray Carl - far from it - it's just that there is too much stimulation in the cities. It's overwhelming. Taking him to Xavier's and let him adjust with his son around is the best thing. If Carl leaves him in Maurita Falls and expect Dad to live normally like an adult, a lot more more homes are going to be burglarized, and he expects innocent campers are going to have an unpleasant surprise. ]

He just needs time.

[shittybirthday]

[ Yeah. Joel knows exactly what that's like: needing time. How long has Joel been here all up? Almost a year? And he still hasn't really adjusted. Sure, he knows how to put on a mask, knows how to make it seem like he's adjusted, except... Well, he always feels like an outsider, like he doesn't belong anywhere, like there is always, always danger lurking somewhere. Fractured might be the best word to describe how he feels.

Not that Joel is in any habit of consciously thinking about these kind of things. These thoughts just happen without any control on his part, like his subconscious is constantly humming away in the background unnoticed. ]

Well, where're you stayin' with him?

[112ounces]

He's staying in my place for now, in Maurita Falls.

[ No way Carl is going to leave Dad living alone with strangers, or let him live in the woods. ]

I was planning to move to Heropa at Xavier's when classes start, but I'm going to go ahead and just move there with my dad as soon as possible.

[ Xavier's is a little more isolated, give Dad some time. He thinks. He hopes.

Maybe Carl should call that Crane doctor. Find some help, because he doesn't want Dad to make the same mistakes Carl has made while adjusting here. ]

[shittybirthday]

Talk to Jesse if need be. He'll sort something out at Xavier for you.

Me and Ellie live on the fourth floor, and I'm usually doin' rounds checkin' the place over most days. [ Because he's the maintenance guy at Xavier, as well as security guard. ] You need anything, just let me know.

[112ounces]

Ellie says she'll get set me up with Jesse, so I'll do that as soon as possible.

[ There are so many things to do. His head literally feels overloaded now. ]

What, you work there?

[shittybirthday]

Yep. Security and maintenance.

I can talk to Jesse if it helps. Let you just focus on your dad.

[112ounces]

Thanks, Joel. I appreciate it.

I want to say I think he's more likely to listen to anyone who a survivor. I've talked to him, and he's not going to listen to anyone who isn't like us.

[ What Carl is saying: I can't do this alone. ]

[shittybirthday]

You sayin' you want me to talk to him?

[112ounces]

When you got the time. And especially when I'm not around.

[shittybirthday]

Well... Look, let's just focus on gettin' you and your dad somewhere safe first, alright? At Xavier's. Then I'll talk to him. But I can't make any promises he's gonna listen. Far as he's concerned, I'm just some guy; if your world is anything like the kinda world me and Ellie come from, strangers who seem interested in helpin' are even harder to trust than strangers who don't give two shits.

[ He's not saying he isn't trustworthy, simply saying that just because he's survivor doesn't mean this kid's dad is going to automatically trust him or listen. Joel knows this first-hand: when Joel first arrived here, he didn't trust anyone. And anybody that tried to help Ellie and himself? Joel trusted them even less than the people who offered no help at all. ]