01. tucks a blanket gently around the other person's shoulders * for ellie
winter has teeth and it embeds into skin. occasionally she’ll tremble, pulling the corduroy jacket tight around her. she’ll tuck gloved hands between her arm and body just the sake of keeping parts of her hidden. jackson weather was cruel, but in the south it has a different set of teeth. he’d set up a little spot with rocks risen, some old tarp to try and contain its light. night’s too cruel without it.
she feels something drop onto her shoulders, thick and that smells a little like dust. it's probably been sitting in the stale air of a linen closet for too long, but she feels the chill finally easing off even if it is only just some. ellie pulls on the ends, closing them over each other. her shoulders curl and she closes into herself. “ you’re not cold? ” she asks, but @vestmarked doesn’t say anything, just hears the deep hum from above. she can tell its meant to be dismissive all by how it carries.
“ hey. ” ellie speaks again, head lifted up from where she sat upon the floor of the woods. the fire cracks before her, worn rubber of her shoes as close as it could be to not melt. it’d been the only part of her kept remotely warm until now. round each ankle there’s some stray laces to keeps denim taut to skin like his are done. it keeps the cold and the damp mostly out. palm pressed to soil she lifts herself, just enough to reach and knock her foot against the back of his leg. it’s to get his attention. she shrugs while sitting back into place. “ you’re going to freeze your ass off. ” her tone trails, head drifting to fall upon her own shoulder. it’s the most comfortable place she’s laid her head upon in awhile.
above them the stars sit pretty, a black blanket that hold constellations that are freckled scattered. “ you know back in jackson you could see the northern lights? ” her voices trails alongside the memory, colors stark in shades she’d never seen before. “ swear, it was the coolest fucking thing. ” it’s painted somewhere back home, some of the colors don’t match on canvas. she had to improvise with materials to try to achieve that. “ can you see them here? ” she wonders if daryl ever had.
