[ For a fifteen year old, she is damn hard to read - or maybe she's hard to read because she's fifteen - but either way, how Ellie's second attempt at skipping stones is more like a frustrated throw lets Joel know he's in store for something.
He stops a safe distance from Ellie just as the second stone makes a pathetic sploosh from the weight of Ellie's throw, and the only sign of his own low-simmering temper is the way Joel digs his heel into the soft ground with a little too much strength when he chooses his place on the beach. Of course he's relieved that she was fine (again), but it was hard to let go of the anger when instead of contrite, she picks pissy as the attitude to toss his way. ]
Huh. No, I think we agreed that you've been fine so far.
[ He's got decades on Ellie, so when he turns his head in her direction, Joel's expression doesn't give away anything. Even his tone is milder. ]
And if I recall, that was where our agreein' ended.
[ His shifting food dislodges a stone from the sand while he talks, and before his sarcasm can take a turn for something worse he sighs out, bends down to grab the rock, turning it over and over in his hand as he straightens back up.
It's an imperfect stone, not exactly flat enough to be ideal, but his throw gets a single hop before it sinks, taking a few bits of floating leaf with it. He doesn't say anything else, frowning out at the rippling surface of the water rather than at Ellie. ]
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He stops a safe distance from Ellie just as the second stone makes a pathetic sploosh from the weight of Ellie's throw, and the only sign of his own low-simmering temper is the way Joel digs his heel into the soft ground with a little too much strength when he chooses his place on the beach. Of course he's relieved that she was fine (again), but it was hard to let go of the anger when instead of contrite, she picks pissy as the attitude to toss his way. ]
Huh. No, I think we agreed that you've been fine so far.
[ He's got decades on Ellie, so when he turns his head in her direction, Joel's expression doesn't give away anything. Even his tone is milder. ]
And if I recall, that was where our agreein' ended.
[ His shifting food dislodges a stone from the sand while he talks, and before his sarcasm can take a turn for something worse he sighs out, bends down to grab the rock, turning it over and over in his hand as he straightens back up.
It's an imperfect stone, not exactly flat enough to be ideal, but his throw gets a single hop before it sinks, taking a few bits of floating leaf with it. He doesn't say anything else, frowning out at the rippling surface of the water rather than at Ellie. ]