Maria's eyebrows shot up. The genius in front of them needed their help? Sniffling and wiping their tears on the sleeve of their sweater, they pulled away from the hug. They reached a hand up, cautious of their new 'ears.' "What would you possibly need from me?" Maria murmured, a bit louder than before now that they could hear properly. 

"Just a helpful pair of hands. I've been working my fucking ass off alone for this- excuse my language." He replied, turning to face his computer again with a sigh. Sitting in front of a screen like this and typing for hours was really giving him a headache, but he would be done soon enough. 
He gave a little frown and turned back away from the computer, walking to his workbench. "You know, let's take a break on the coding." 

Maria, not knowing how to code, nodded in agreement. They probably wouldn't be much help in this sort of work, but they could certainly try their best for the one who gave them hearing again! They followed Zeke closely like a lost puppy, easily looking over his shoulder at the table. It was messy, with no real organization from what they could tell, but perhaps it was put together in some special way for Zeke. He began working on something loudly, hammering the sheet of metal into a vaguely round shape. 

Of course, after he put on protective goggles. It really seemed like he only wanted Maria around for their presence, because he had them stand far back to remain safe and didn't even offer them goggles. However, it could've been because he only had the one pair. 

Eventually, Maria ended up sitting in his warm computer chair, watching him do his work. It was coming together slowly, even they could tell what the limbs were. They watched as he brought brief life to a metallic arm, just enough to cause it to lift one of its fingers. 

"Wow, that's amazing!" Maria said, trying to be supportive. Zeke replied with a shrug, "It's a start." Managing to snuff out Maria's enthusiasm with three simple words. This would be a long day, wouldn't it? 

For hours, they watched as the boy put together and took apart bits of metal. Watched as he would occasionally throw a small fit of frustration, slamming his hammer loudly onto some metal. It was all watching until he finally spoke again, pulling Maria from a particularly interesting daydream, "It's nearly done. We can go for tonight." He turned to them with a tiny smile. Then, he sounded so proud of himself. "It should be done by... the day after tomorrow, if I keep working like this!"