“Someone should send her out for something crazy, see what happens.” He had to guess that a lot of what she looted was because she was bored, but she’d been helpful enough, bringing back fuel a couple of times. “They need to watch themselves though, near as I’ve heard neither one of ‘em are immune.” It wasn’t his business to tell them to stay in the prison, they were capable and good at it, but it’d be a shame to lose either one. “And we haven’t taken it away because most of the time it’s funny. Well, that and it’s not worth seeing the reaction Bea would have.” He didn’t know the other woman well enough to gauge how getting her whiteboard taken away would affect her. She seemed attached to it.
If the whole thing hadn’t started bordering on awkward it would have been kind of funny watching Rae verbally work through her rewards system. But it also didn’t take a genius to understand where her brain had caught up with her mouth. Not that he was taking it personal. Even if now in the back of his brain he was wondering what would be so bad about having to kiss him. Not a place he should really be letting his brain go. “Sounds like a fair deal to me,” he said instead. “Wouldn’t want you to get on Kori or Leah’s bad side anyways.” He gave an exaggerated shiver at the idea, hoping to get a laugh and pull the conversation back from awkwardness.
“Should be, yeah.” What good was having friends if screwing with them was off the table, and some days Brandon really was asking for it. “If things go wrong I’m pinning it all on you three, just so you know.” Even if it wouldn’t do any good in the long run. Brandon would probably figure out who was behind all of it. “And if everyone got along the world would be boring as hell,” he pointed out with a half-shrug.
Silas huffed a laugh. “Guess there isn’t much use for education, unless you’re science-y.” Street smarts had done him more good than anything he’d learned in a classroom. “I dunno though, might be kind of fun to hear you try and explain it right,” he joked. “I’d probably just get lost in whatever Ellis said anyways. That woman is wicked smart.” She and Lilah; between the two of them they could probably take over the world if they felt compelled. He’d never had a good track record understanding Brandon’s sister either.
He didn’t want to be the guy to say that it wouldn’t be that easy to tell where Lexi stood. Especially when it seemed like Rae was processing through a lot when it came to the woman even being at the compound. So instead he just let the subject drop. Sort of. “Like a Romeo and Juliet sorta thing? That don’t sound healthy,” he commented. “I don’t want to see him exploited either. Brandon’s as close to family as I’ve got these days.”
Should he really be saying all this at a kids party? Maybe not. But it was too late now. “Yeah, sorta. Went to prison for drug possession. Picked up the habit ‘cause of the gang.” He stretched back out again, glancing at Rae again to gauge how she was reacting. So far she’d been refreshingly non-judgmental; but who knew how long that would last. “Way I saw it, I had two options. Get clean or get dead. So yeah, guess you could say I’ve changed.” He propped his arms behind his head. “Think I let it matter to me more than I should sometimes. Didn’t exactly have the most ‘who the fuck cares’ kind of reaction to have my wrap sheet posted.” He wasn’t sure if Rae had heard about that, Brandon had gotten it removed pretty quickly.
“There were days towards the beginning that I was wishing this was all some drug-hazed dream,” he admitted. “Like maybe I’d just fallen off the wagon or whatever and took a really bad hit.” Why the hell was he even saying that? Way to be too damn transparent. "And I'd wake up in some place I didn't recognize, but the world would be zombie free."