With every passing minute, I can see Maveth getting more and more comfortable around me. He still won’t, or can’t, bring himself to look me in the eye, but he’s making progress. 

“First the good news, I have tons of lollipops and you can just have some,” I tell Maveth and he gets this complicated look on his face. He sort of scrunches together his brow and purses his lips like he’s upset, but his eyes just look confused. “As for the bad news,” I continue in spite of the look he gives me, “the few places that you can get bread are definitely closed by now. Been closed since around midday since they ran out of supply so quickly.”

I watch as Maveth’s face falls and I can tell he’s clearly disappointed. I don’t like this expression on him, not in the slightest.

“They open super early in the morning if that helps any,” I tell him while slipping my bag off of my shoulder. It isn’t closed properly since the sneakers I shoved into it earlier are taking up too much room.

“Then I can just swing through one as I leave,” Maveth says, almost to himself as he resumes his complicated expression.

“You’re planning on leaving tomorrow morning?” I ask him, pausing in my rummaging to look more fully at him. He looks exhausted and a little thin as well as more than a little dirty. If I were in his shoes, I’d need almost a week to be ready and willing to go back into the world outside of the Hub.

“I have a schedule to keep,” is all Maveth gives me as an explanation. Personally I don’t think this is a very good answer, the dude looks like he’s barely surviving in the outside world. There can’t possibly be anything that’s worth leaving the safety of the Hub.

Maybe I can convince him to stay a little longer.

“Well, here are the lollipops,” I tell him after finally locating the candy. He gets another weird look on his face, staring at my outstretched hand like it’s some kind of trick. Or maybe like a snake he’s worried will strike him.

“Go on, I promise it isn’t poisoned or anything,” I joke with a little laugh, hoping to ease the growing tension. 

“I can’t,” Maveth says slowly, still staring at my hand for a moment. He then shakes his head and glances towards my face briefly. “I mean, I can’t accept something else from you for nothing. You’ve already done too much.”

“I’ve given you a pair of insoles and shoelaces,” I say blankly. I think he has some kind of complex, dunno which one though.

“Exactly, and I’ve given you nothing in return. Here, is there anything you need? Anything at all?”

Goodness he’s not going to just let me give him some candy. Literally everyone else I have ever met that lived outside the Hub would take anything offered to them for free. Who could blame them? Their lives were so hard, they might as well take every freebie they could.

But if Maveth was going to insist on being difficult, I’ll play his game.

“Earbuds, for my Walkman, my old pair only work on one side and I haven’t seen anyone trading them for a minute.” I watch Maveth’s reaction, his expressions give everything away. I guess zombies don’t play much poker. 

Maveth’s expression goes from confused to thinking hard and then finally into a look that toes the line of being triumphant.

“Green or pink?” He asks as he slips his heavy looking backpack from his shoulder and lets it rest on the ground.

“Pink please,” I answer with a wide grin. Maveth nods and digs around in his backpack for a moment and I briefly wonder how he doesn’t fall over every time he puts the giant thing on.

“Here you go,” he says almost cheerfully while handing the small plastic tube the never before used earbuds came in.

“Holy shit, did you find a tech store or something? It’s almost impossible to get unused ones!” I say while taking the package from him to inspect them. They have little yellow stars on the hard plastic bits that hold onto the rubber ends that go into your ears.

“No, just an old convenience store, I was only in there looking for a meal,” he tells me, looking almost sheepishly at the ground. “I grab things if they look useful or like I could trade them for something.”

“Good eye,” I say as I pass over the lollipops, which he now accepts without complaint. He’s so weird, I love it.

“Thanks, Peter,” Maveth replies while tucking his candy away in that giant backpack of his. It sounds like he was going to say something else before saying my name, but I can’t figure out what it was. I’m not going to ask him though, not when I just got him to start coming out of his shell.

Once Maveth has everything in his bag organized in a way that he seems to be content with, he slings it back over his shoulder and clips the clasp over his chest, further securing it to him.

“Are you hungry? There’s a couple places that serve dinner,” I offer. If I’m going to convince him to stay a little longer, dinner is as good a way as any.

“Like a restaurant?” He asks, looking a little interested this time. I grin again as I get my opening and nod.

“Just like a restaurant.”

With every passing minute, I can see Maveth getting more and more comfortable around me. He still won’t, or can’t, bring himself to look me in the eye, but he’s making progress. 

“First the good news, I have tons of lollipops and you can just have some,” I tell Maveth and he gets this complicated look on his face. He sort of scrunches together his brow and purses his lips like he’s upset, but his eyes just look confused. “As for the bad news,” I continue in spite of the look he gives me, “the few places that you can get bread are definitely closed by now. Been closed since around midday since they ran out of supply so quickly.”

I watch as Maveth’s face falls and I can tell he’s clearly disappointed. I don’t like this expression on him, not in the slightest.

“They open super early in the morning if that helps any,” I tell him while slipping my bag off of my shoulder. It isn’t closed properly since the sneakers I shoved into it earlier are taking up too much room.

“Then I can just swing through one as I leave,” Maveth says, almost to himself as he resumes his complicated expression.

“You’re planning on leaving tomorrow morning?” I ask him, pausing in my rummaging to look more fully at him. He looks exhausted and a little thin as well as more than a little dirty. If I were in his shoes, I’d need almost a week to be ready and willing to go back into the world outside of the Hub.

“I have a schedule to keep,” is all Maveth gives me as an explanation. Personally I don’t think this is a very good answer, the dude looks like he’s barely surviving in the outside world. There can’t possibly be anything that’s worth leaving the safety of the Hub.

Maybe I can convince him to stay a little longer.

“Well, here are the lollipops,” I tell him after finally locating the candy. He gets another weird look on his face, staring at my outstretched hand like it’s some kind of trick. Or maybe like a snake he’s worried will strike him.

“Go on, I promise it isn’t poisoned or anything,” I joke with a little laugh, hoping to ease the growing tension. 

“I can’t,” Maveth says slowly, still staring at my hand for a moment. He then shakes his head and glances towards my face briefly. “I mean, I can’t accept something else from you for nothing. You’ve already done too much.”

“I’ve given you a pair of insoles and shoelaces,” I say blankly. I think he has some kind of complex, dunno which one though.

“Exactly, and I’ve given you nothing in return. Here, is there anything you need? Anything at all?”

Goodness he’s not going to just let me give him some candy. Literally everyone else I have ever met that lived outside the Hub would take anything offered to them for free. Who could blame them? Their lives were so hard, they might as well take every freebie they could.

But if Maveth was going to insist on being difficult, I’ll play his game.

“Earbuds, for my Walkman, my old pair only work on one side and I haven’t seen anyone trading them for a minute.” I watch Maveth’s reaction, his expressions give everything away. I guess zombies don’t play much poker. 

Maveth’s expression goes from confused to thinking hard and then finally into a look that toes the line of being triumphant.

“Green or pink?” He asks as he slips his heavy looking backpack from his shoulder and lets it rest on the ground.

“Pink please,” I answer with a wide grin. Maveth nods and digs around in his backpack for a moment and I briefly wonder how he doesn’t fall over every time he puts the giant thing on.

“Here you go,” he says almost cheerfully while handing the small plastic tube the never before used earbuds came in.

“Holy shit, did you find a tech store or something? It’s almost impossible to get unused ones!” I say while taking the package from him to inspect them. They have little yellow stars on the hard plastic bits that hold onto the rubber ends that go into your ears.

“No, just an old convenience store, I was only in there looking for a meal,” he tells me, looking almost sheepishly at the ground. “I grab things if they look useful or like I could trade them for something.”

“Good eye,” I say as I pass over the lollipops, which he now accepts without complaint. He’s so weird, I love it.

“Thanks, Peter,” Maveth replies while tucking his candy away in that giant backpack of his. It sounds like he was going to say something else before saying my name, but I can’t figure out what it was. I’m not going to ask him though, not when I just got him to start coming out of his shell.

Once Maveth has everything in his bag organized in a way that he seems to be content with, he slings it back over his shoulder and clips the clasp over his chest, further securing it to him.

“Are you hungry? There’s a couple places that serve dinner,” I offer. If I’m going to convince him to stay a little longer, dinner is as good a way as any.

“Like a restaurant?” He asks, looking a little interested this time. I grin again as I get my opening and nod.

“Just like a restaurant.”