Although he could do his fair share of reckless things, Miah understood the frustration with people who did idiotic things and wound up wasting what little resources they had. “They’ve got that place practically running like and actual hospital, so I’d say you don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to Evan’s care,” he commented. “And people are always going to do idiotic things, it’s human nature.” Or relapse into old habits.
He hadn’t been around during the beginning of this rebellion, no, he had come once this place was established fairly well. But he knew how hard the government tried to keep scientists and the like in the city – they had tried to keep him around when he’d been their for a nanosecond. Helping the government didn’t appeal to him one bit, though, he didn’t like being someone else’s puppet. “You’re not fairing to badly in the intelligent people department, though,” he pointed out with a faint smile. “But I get what you’re saying.”
Miah had always loved New York for the ability to blend in, to get lost in a crowd and be left alone. It wasn’t anything like Oklahoma, or even Buffalo – both places he had stuck out more, which was never his intention. Sometimes people were spot on about him, though. Especially when it came to assuming he was reckless and/or a drug addict, or on the rare occasion someone assuming he was a musician – he was all three of those things and couldn’t deny any of them. “Well, I won’t hold that against you,” he joked lightly, flashing a bit of a smile in her direction as he spoke. “We couldn’t have gotten the lab off the ground without Jackie, and you know Maddie’s probably just trying to be noticed, she’s young so she’s doing it in all the wrong ways. But I wouldn’t judge her so harshly, everyone needs that growing period in life.” He had only had a handful of conversations with Maddie, but she hadn’t seemed like a truly awful person – but maybe he just got to see a different side of her.
“Drugs have a way of doing that to a person,” Miah remarked with a bit of a shrug. Also had the ability to help a person forget – or maybe that was just him. “From the outside looking in I’d say he’s not wrong about the having a lot to be happy about, after all he’s got you and your daughter, and that little one on the way to be happy about, right?” He couldn’t particularly say he ever saw himself as the settling down type, or the family man type, but he understood both the appeal and why that would make a person happy.
A large part of him was relieved when she steered the conversation away from talk of Ellie and David. He had too many confusing and unwanted feelings when it came to that situation. Deep down he really just wanted to love Ellie, but not be in love with her. It complicated their friendship and with each passing day he wondered if it would push them apart or ruin that relationship. He couldn’t lose the one person he considered family, he just couldn’t.
Shifting the bag to his other hand, he nodded. “I’m sure he appreciates you doing this for him,” After all who wouldn’t appreciate being taken care of? “And you know even if he doesn’t, it’s not like he’s in any kind of state to stop you.” That was meant as a joke, so Miah could only hope it was taken that way.