Tommy's waiting at the front door, a lot older than she remembers; a lot more worn than the young and hopeful half-grown man she last acquainted herself with. He's smiling when he catches sight of Joel, but when he realizes his brother isn't alone, Tess sees the smile fade slowly and his eyes darken in shock at the sight of her.
She doesn't like the way he's cradling his rifle in his hands. "Joel, what the fuck?"
She reaches out as Ellie brushes against her, tugging the girl sharply to her when Tommy starts to lift his rifle at them. It's a reflex that comes from somewhere she can't understand, but Tess is placing herself in front of Ellie and nudging the girl back away from Tommy. The tension between the men is palpable; she doesn't presume to know how trigger-happy Tommy is, and she's really starting to hate that she's left her gun upstairs. She's letting her guard down and it's getting on her nerves.
She feels Ellie's hand gripping at her arm, and Tess glances down to find Ellie peering anxiously at her and Joel. They say nothing to each other - Tess doesn't really know how to reassure the girl and what for, but they know that the situation can get ugly.
Joel senses their discomfort, and he feels his temper boil dangerously at Tommy. "Put the goddamn gun away 'fore you hurt someone!" he snaps, glaring hard at his young brother when Tommy gapes at him incredulously. "Don't make me take it from you."
"You told me she died!" Tommy sputters, accusing and shrill as his mind rushes to process the fact that the woman Joel said had sacrificed herself for them - is standing behind his big brother, dressed in his shirt, he realizes. His eyes widen, and Joel's muscles coil apprehensively for what comes next. "You said she got bit -!"
"S-She's not infected!" Ellie blurts hurriedly, and Tess doesn't know if she's touched or annoyed at how eager the teen is at providing the information. "The Fireflies saved her, Tommy, she's not infected!" Her fingers sink into Tess' arm tighter; there's an almost chidlike manner in which the girl clings to the woman.
Joel moves, and it's to completely put himself in front of Tess and Ellie as he glares at his brother sternly. "Tommy, quit bein' a dumbass and put the goddamn gun down so we can talk!" He can't understand why Tommy's reacting like this - but then he remembers that not everything thinks of Tess the way he does. He's standing that much taller, that much more aggressively in front of them; a grizzly bear protecting his family, and Tess wonders if she can get him to growl like that again in her ear later tonight.
Tess is, however, getting tired of having people speak for her. "For fuck's sake, Tommy; if I haven't sprouted shit through my head by now, odds are I probably won't as soon as I see your stupid face," she snaps, and it seems to stun Tommy enough to knock some sense into him. He blinks hardly, looking very much like he did years ago; the oblivious smartass little brother she made fun of for tagging along with them.
"Holy shit," he breathes, staggering forward as the rifle falls limply to his side. "It's really you." Apparently that's all he needs to believe her - that she's the same old snarky Tess that didn't cut him any slack and called him out on his bullshit. Familiarity is some form of comfort for him; she hasn't changed at all.
She laughs humorlessly, making a show of sweeping the hand that isn't being clawed at by Ellie over her body. "In the flesh and in one piece, Tommy boy. And as you can see - spore-free."
It seems like Joel doesn't appreciate the joke as much as Ellie does, and the man once again has his large hand spanning across her stomach both possessively and protectively as he's manhandling her away with Ellie. Physically he backs her away from Tommy, glancing behind them briefly at Bear. "Why don't you girls uh…take Bear for a walk or somethin'. I got this," he murmurs to her, and Tess says nothing when his hand lingers on her body like he doesn't want to stop touching her.
As easy as it is to take offense at how Joel thinks she can't handle Tommy with one arm tied behind her back, for once Tess thinks it's best to let the boys settle their differences. It doesn't stop her from being a wiseass about it though. "I'm not wearing any pants."
Joel steals a glance at her legs for the hell of it, but scowls as he pushes them back into the kitchen. "Well you sure ain't strippin' me of mine." She smirks at him as she steps back, and Joel pokes her reproachfully in the rib. "Go on now and get some pants on while the boys talk."
Tess is still smirking when she goes, nudging Ellie away. "You heard Papa Bear, Ellie - get the dog's leash. We're goin' for a walk while the big boys play."
Sighing inwardly, Joel shakes his head at their disappearing backs (particularly Tess' sauntering hips) before he faces his brother again. He doesn't appreciate the fact that Tommy's watching her go too, and Joel reminds himself that it isn't the brotherly way to castrate him where he stands. Maria probably wouldn't appreciate it, but then again - she might help hold him down.
"Sit down, Tommy. We gotta talk about some things."
Ellie takes her around the block, Bear happily snuffles through the shrubs and marks his territory here and there while the girls amble along behind him. He's not on a leash, but then again he doesn't need to be - it's not like they have to worry about him getting into a fight with someone's yippy lapdog around the corner. So the giant beast is free to roam where he pleases, rounding back onto Ellie and Tess every once and awhile, as if to ensure that he hasn't lost his pack, before bounding off to chase some non-existent squirrel.
Tess takes in the scenery, trying her best to adjust to the fact that they're walking down the street of something akin to a suburban neighborhood without a soldier around every corner. Her Glock is tucked into her waistband though; just in case.
"So," she begins, as they find a pretty clearing through the trees and settles herself onto a fallen log. She smiles thinly at Ellie, watching as the girl tosses a stick some yards away that Bear goes bounding after. "How long have you been staying here?"
"Mm, 'bout five months, six maybe." Ellie smiles almost guiltily as she takes a seat beside Tess on the log. She stares at her hands, fiddles with a twig; does everything she can not to apologize to Tess for something they've not done. She doesn't know why she feels like she owes Tess so much - I mean she knows -, but it's strange to see someone she last remembers lying in a pool of her own blood, riddled in bullets…living, breathing, wearing Joel's shirt beside her.
Still, it doesn't stop her from being curious. "So uh…you and Joel…"
Tess's brow arches slowly on her forehead, she casts her eyes in a sidelong glance at the girl. "What about me and Joel?" she asks calmly; mostly because it amuses her to see Ellie trying to find a diplomatic way of asking if she and Joel are fucking.
"Are you guys…a couple now?" Ellie shrugs. "I mean - you guys are partners and stuff, but you're not in Boston anymore, so you kinda don't have to be partners anymore. Unless you want to, that is," she adds hurriedly, when Tess' brow arches dangerously again. "Joel's kinda the big boss of patrols out here - Tommy says the other guys are scared of him 'cause they've seen him take down runners and bandits and stuff."
Tess isn't at all surprised, but she is amused to think that Joel's grizzly attitude and prime skills has him walking around a lot like she used to back in Boston. People feared her, respected her out of fear; feared the aim she had. Didn't mean they weren't impressed - still are impressed.
"Joel used to have a lot of admirers back home too," Tess tells her, and Ellie tilts her head eagerly at the stories Tess seems ready to share about their old life. "Man like him, it's hard for them to figure out, y'know? He doesn't talk much, doesn't do much unless he has to - but when he's out there; survival of the fittest and all that? He's it. He's the fittest. One time we were running a drop-off; I wandered off too far. Wasn't paying attention - got lost. Got myself cornered by about five clickers-." She chuckles lowly at the memory, shaking her head as Ellie winces at the thought.
"I killed two of 'em, but ammo was low, and before I can brick another in the face, one of 'em beats me right across the face. Wham - bitchslap right in the jaw." She punches into her own fist; Ellie jumps at the sound of bone to skin.
"Almost got my head chewed off, if it wasn't for Joel." She smiles then, wistfully affectionate and impressed. It's not exactly the most normal memory to have, but it's one of Tess' fondest. "Guy walked up to all three of 'em - marched right up to those sons of bitches and clocked them right in the head with a baseball bat. Never seen anything like it." Tess shakes her head fondly. "I've never seen him so pissed at me either."
She smirks crookedly at Ellie, eyes sparkling with an unabashedly rebellious gleam. "He wouldn't talk to me for hours until we got back to home base." She doesn't tell the girl about what she had to do to get him to talk to her again - or about how it involved a certain amount of alcohol and a certain amount of spanking.
Ellie's opinion of the man verges hero-worship now. "Whoa. Joel's such a badass."
Tess has the decency to look offended. She shoves at the girl, scoffing indignantly. "Hey, I've saved his ass too many times to count - I don't see you making a shrine for me." A mini-jab fight ensues, and Tess eventually has Ellie giggling in a ball away from her tickling. There's squealing and shrieking and begging, and Tess can't remember the last time she's laughed so hard as she chases after Ellie when the girl makes a run for home.
By the time they get back, breathless and pink and still in the midst of laughter; Bear jumping about because he doesn't like being left out, Tommy's still there. And there's a woman over too.
There's something indecipherable on Joel's face when they stumble into the house; something she'll think about when there isn't a blonde woman touching him on the arm.
He clears his throat awkwardly, brushing aside the woman's hand. "Uh, Tess. This here is Maria; Tommy's wife." The dangerous look on Tess' flushed face lingers still. "We're havin' company for dinner, if that's alright with you. 'Bout time you met the in-laws anyway."