Elliot smiled and laughed softly at Rae's little catchphrase. Not only would they be an effective parenting duo, but they had a whole team of people willing to be there to lend a hand with the little one. Rae rifled off the names of the primary people involved in their life. He noted the lack of Allie's name being mentioned, but didn't point out the oversight of Rae's best friend. Things were still rocky between the pair. "You forgot AJ," he teased. "I'm sure he'll be super excited to have a playmate." Elliot rolled his eyes skyward when Rae pointed out, for the millionth time, how lucky she was to have him. "Are we gonna start that argument again? No one wins the Who's Luckier battle, babe."
"A sexy sex dictator of sexual sexiness?" His grin was broad. "I very much like the sound of this."
Lifting the flashlight's beam to illuminate his face, Elliot let his expression clearly convey how much of an understatement Rae's question about AJ was. "Rambunctious and then some. I envy that little dude's energy." He really didn't envy Rory's ability to do it all on her own, which made him all the more willing to lend a hand to her when she needed some AJ-free time. "Either that or we just dump the little one off on Uncle David and Aunt Allie whenever we want to sleep... or whatever." He waggled his eyebrows before shining his flashlight on the ground ahead of them.
"Purple wasn't what I had in mind," he replied, trying to sound grumpy but failing. He leaned in to the kiss placed on his cheek, his arm tightening around Rae's waist. "Next time, maybe I should make sure he uses a brown marker. Give my cheeks a better looking tan."
The night was cool, but not too cool. Perfect walking weather, if you discounted the limited light and all the muddy areas. As a kid, he used to always enjoy messing around in the mud. As a teenager, getting dirty was unavoidable as a member of the baseball team. As an adult, living on his own, he'd had a pair of boots specifically used for outdoor things that involved a lot of filth. And during his later twenties, when zombies were plentiful and luxuries such as clean laundry were not? Filth was less intentional and more unavoidable.
Rae's interruption of the casual conversation brought Elliot to full awareness of their surroundings as she stepped out from his one-armed embrace. His tone was inquisitive when he asked, "Something of Allie's? In the mud?" If the something belonged to Allie but was covered in mud, Elliot doubted the girl would want whatever it was, but he didn't say as much, instead shining the flashlight in the direction Rae walked so that she could see where she was going.
"What is it?" He asked, squinting to try and see whatever it was Rae thought she saw. All he saw was mud. "You realize you're only gonna give yourself more laundry to do if you slip and fall in the mud," he warned.
His light stayed on the ground as Rae made her way back over to him, her teeth flashing a wide smile in the darkness. Elliot eyed her suspiciously before — splat! — a handful of cold, slimy mud was dumped unceremoniously on top of his head and down the side of his face. Still registering what had just happened, Elliot nodded his head slowly, the emotions of grumpy vs. amused warring inside him.
After a moment, he said, "You realize, of course, that this means war, right?" Since Rae initiated it, Elliot felt no guilt whatsoever as he stepped off the path to gather up his own handful of mud. If she wanted to play dirty, so be it. He turned around and gently flung the mud in his girlfriend's direction.