If it disappointed Samuel that his entrance caused so little fuss, he did not show it. It was a change - perhaps even a pleasant one - to be welcomed with figuratively open arms; it was something one of his old friends might have done, someone from home, someone more familiar with his needling, playfully combative ways. He returned Rylee's handshake with firm approval, giving a single curt nod as he committed his name to memory.
"Ekholm," he said. "Yeah, good to meet you. You seem like the most normal neighbor I've met so far. Had some weird ones here in Pax. Lucky for me most of 'em have stayed off my hall, at least.
"Anyway, all these fuckin' power outages and I'm out of batteries," he said. He raked a hand through his hair with visibly feigned sheepishness, his eyes moving from neighbor to walls and back again, gleaning what he could about one from the other. Later he could rely on the far simpler solution of simply asking; for now, furtive observation was to Samuel the more entertaining option. "You seem like a guy who's probably prepared for shit like that. Got any D-Cells?"