Maveth is so weird, it should actually be a little concerning. He’s so painfully awkward and so socially inept it should be raising at least a dozen alarms.

But it’s honestly funny, and a little cute. Like a baby horse trying to figure out its legs.

He’s going to take some time in the bath, so while he does that, I’m going to Maveth-proof my rent-a-room. There’s certain items that are meant for my eyes only and I really don’t want Maveth to accidentally come across them. I’m not worried about him snooping, he seems too afraid of pushing me away for that. Maybe I’ll have to worry about that after I convince him to live in the Hub, but that’s a problem for later. 

First up to be squirreled away are the photos. I used to have a polaroid camera and I liked to take photos of jobs I did. To help remember everything, keeps things fresh in my mind.

Definitely private.

About a year ago I made a little cubby hole to tuck away things I’d prefer guests to not take a peek at. The only reason my photo collection isn’t in there already is because I thought taking it in and out was cumbersome and annoying.

But here I am, shoving my chair aside so I can lift up the loose floorboard to hide my secret stash of photos from the guy I invited over.

There must be some old world movies about this.

Next to go are the keys. A lot of people keep the keys to places that they used to live in, as a way to keep their homes close to their hearts.

They’re very sentimental items and I can’t just let them get melted down or lost, even after the people they belonged to are long gone.

So I take them, and keep them safe. In multiple jars. It’s not as weird as it looks or sounds, but I really don’t want to potentially scare Maveth, even if I can easily explain it to him. I’m sure he’d understand too, he seems very sentimental himself.

But even so, the jars of keys get tucked away next to the photo collection. 

There’s already some things in the little hiding spot. It’s about two feet wide and one foot deep, and it’s quickly filling up.

I have a few bags that are filled with my work stuff, so I quickly shove those in as well, and I hold my breath the whole time because the rattling from one of the bags is much louder than I thought it would be.

But the quiet sounds of splashing from the bathroom don’t stop, so that means Maveth hasn’t noticed.

The floorboard won’t lie quite flat when I go to place it back down. Which is bad, but I just pull the chair a little more over top of it, which covers it up almost perfectly.

“Okay, what next?” I mumble to myself as I survey my little room, looking for anything that might scare Maveth away. I can’t have anything that makes him uneasy, not when I have him willingly in my living space.

He’s already so skittish and I’m afraid if he leaves now, he’ll leave the Hub entirely and I’ll never see him again.

The only thing that really catches my eye is my folder. Most of the contents in it probably won’t mean anything to anyone besides myself. I can’t read very well so it’s just a bunch of messy sketches of people and places to help me have an idea of what I’m looking for while working.

But it’s still probably not very normal so I just shove it in one of my boxes. That way if Maveth does end up snooping and finding it, he’ll just assume he’s found something extremely private and might leave it be.

And that’s it, everything should be fine now.

“Oh, by the way Maveth, if you need another towel just shout!” I say loudly, hearing what sounds like Maveth getting out of the tub. I seem to have excellent timing.

“Alright, thank you!” He yells back, and I just smile.