comb your hair and paint and powder you act proud and i'll act prouder you sing loud and I'll sing louder tonight we're settin' the woods on fire
settin the woods on fire--- hank williams
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lee doesn't look like a dancer.
it's just something that ellie observes, during the months she spent traveling with him. he's a quick mover, agile despite his stiff figure and a good fighter despite his age, but he doesn't look like a dance. ellie's unsure if they'd even known what a dance would look like, but it certainly isn't him. he's a quick thinker, witty speaker (he thinks he's been able to come up with more nicknames than the names ellie heard in the mansions), and he's good at sweet talking his way out of things.
but he doesn't look like a dancer.
he doesn't look like he can move carelessly, let the music take him, carry him into the wind while all he could do is shut his eyes. he doesn't look that careless, that vulnerable. he pretends that he is, but he holds his crossbow so close to his heart that she's sure he'll accidentally shoot it trying to protect himself.
lee doesn't look like a dancer.
so when he moves his arms, raising them to the air and letting his legs stride when the disc turns, ellie snaps her vision up to watch.
they had been staying over at arwin's for what seemed like the fifth time that month; not only because lee had a few trades to complete, but because ellie finally seemed to be making friends their age that weren't strung and connected to the painting that ellie stood in the center of. lee so desperately wanted to drag them from it all, give him a normal childhood, and this was the closest taste they could get of it.
arwin had been out for the night, trading with the illagers so he could keep his town or something, ellie didn't know. she didn't understand the politics of the mural, so they never spoke on it. lee was supposed to take care of the house and the kids while he was gone, until the moon stared down at lee and he could see arwin's silhouette coming back with the usual empty hands and reassurance they wouldn't get raided that night.
the kids had been put to bed, but ellie's nightmares and visions had decided to run with a fake reverent, fake saccharine; luring them, before drowning them in venom. that night was particularly distracting, probably because ellie was still getting used to being in a new environment.
and lee, the 'cool badass' he was (louis's words, not hers. ellie would never willingly call him that), had let them help him out with guarding the house. which, technically didn't even seem like guarding. they were just sitting in the main living room while lee had inspected the house, glass in hand and occasionally taking the beverage to his lips. it smelled of grapes, but lee didn't let them try it.
