A strong hand pulled me back as I walked towards the Clinic. I whirled around and Tallis’ annoyingly smug smile greeted me. “Are you headed towards the Clinic? Mind if I join you?”

“No, I'll walk myself, thank you,” I replied while squinting my eyes at him. Now that I wasn’t trying to escape public humiliation, I could see that Tallis looked different. He slicked back his long hair and wore a button-up shirt with grey trousers. The fashionable outfit didn’t look quite right on the uncivilized Scavenger. My eyes traveled down, and I chuckled as I took in his tattered sandals; now, that was more like him.

Tallis bit his lip while rolling up his sleeves, revealing his scarred and tempting forearms. “So we’ll just both walk in the same direction, to the same destination, but not together?” he joked while falling into step with me. I looked around as some of the Dormas elders eyed us with open curiosity.

Tallis’ hand brushed mine as we navigated the small crowd of people around us. I increased the distance between us, but he closed it again. We were playing a toxic game of tug of war. In the thick of the crowd, his hands drifted to my hips, guiding me through the throng people.

“Could you walk ahead of me or something?” I hissed out in a whisper, as one of his hands drifted to my lower back for a fraction of a second. I tensed under his touch while arching my back, a subconscious response to his nearness.

Instead of responding, Tallis observed the crowd around us.

“Did you listen to a word I said? Walk ahead of me!” I ordered much louder.

“Oh! Are you talking to me?” Tallis joked, placing a steady hand on his chest. While flashing me his signature sharp-toothed smile, he moved closer once again.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and ran a hand through my hair. “Do you see another annoying Scavenger Chief walking uncomfortably close to me?!” I snapped, causing an older woman nearby to gasp.

“Well, I just assumed it wasn’t me. You know— because we aren’t walking together,” Tallis explained with a smirk. As we continued towards the clinic, he threw enthusiastic waves to the curious onlookers. Other dressed-up Scavengers exploring town bowed in respect towards us.

“What in Dasos are you wearing, by the way? And where is Gordon?” I asked finally, while eyeing the crowd and adjusting my dress. We’ll for sure be the talk of Dormas by sundown. Especially if the gossipy Lois Caverly saw us.

Tallis smiled triumphantly at my question before inching even closer.

“Do you like?” he asked, gesturing to his clothes. “Kemper gave them to me. I figured dressing the part would help the assimilation of our people. But I’ll admit. This shirt is a bit too tight.” He readjusted the collar of his shirt, wincing in discomfort, and I muffled a laugh. Too tight indeed. The shirt left little to the imagination, and I found myself tracing each dip in his torso with my eyes.

“I brought Gordon to the Clinic earlier, I was looking for you,” he said, answering my earlier question.

“You shouldn’t have left him alone with Maverick.” Gordon was as bratty as Maverick was moody. If we didn’t get there soon, they’d tear each other to shreds. I picked up the pace.

“No need to worry, Agapimenos. Gordon will be on his best behavior,” Tallis assured me. “Besides, I have another riddle for you.”

Against my will, tears stung my eyes as thoughts of Dad filled me. After all that had already happened today, somehow it was exactly what I needed. I craved his memory. I craved the feeling I got when he praised me. I missed him so much.

“We-well go on. Spit it out,” I choked out, as Tallis looked at me from the corner of his eye. I clasped my hands behind my back and took in a deep breath. His brow dipped in concern, but he kept walking.

“What belongs to you, but others use more?” Tallis hooked his thumbs through his belt loops as we kept walking. His mouth parted slightly as I mumbled over the words again and again. I wanted to prolong solving the problem and surround myself with the memories.

Just as we arrived at the Clinic, the answer came to me. “My name.”

* * *

“It still hurts!” Gordon complained for the fifteenth time. Maverick looked up at the tiled ceiling of the Clinic in frustration. Exhaling, he lowered his gaze and forced a smile.

“Gordon, it’s going to be uncomfortable. It’ll be awhile before you get the hang of it, too. I made some overall functionality changes. The socket was ill-fitting which caused some weight-bearing pressure. I increased the surface area so the forces could be distributed evenly,” Maverick explained in an annoyed tone.

Gordon gave him a confused stare. “Basically, he re-sized it,” I explained with a wave of my hand. After a lifetime of translating Maverick’s nerd-speak, it was second nature to me.

“Do you experience any phantom pain?” Maverick asked while ignoring me. Tallis walked around the room and observed the Clinic equipment with interest. His curious stare and wide eyes made it seem as if he had never seen anything so sophisticated before. My eyes kept flickering to him and his excited expressions.

“It…” Gordon began while looking shyly at me. His cheeks blushed in embarrassment, and I noticed his fingers twitch. I should have looked away and given him privacy. It’s what any decent person would do. But Gordon needed to learn that the world was cruel and people wouldn’t cater to him. I gave him an expectant steadfast stare while raising my eyebrow. His shoulders sagged in defeat.

“It hurts when I touch it, or sometimes when I—when I move a certain way,” he said in an embarrassed tone.

“That's very normal,” Maverick replied. “Phantom pain is caused by mixed signals from your brain or spinal cord. Sometimes certain activities can trigger it. I’m going to give you some beta blockers to help, but I also want you to start repositioning your residual limb at night. You can prop it up on a pillow or cushion.” Maverick started flipping through his Tablet. “I also have some massage techniques I’ll give you.”

“Fine, can we go now?” Gordon whined. Tallis opened his mouth like he was about to speak, but I beat him to it.

“Didn’t I say you needed to work on your attitude? Say thank you to the nice man that took time out of his day to help you,” I ordered. Gordon looked over to Tallis for help, but he just crossed his muscular arms over his chest and shrugged.

“You heard her,” he said.

“Thanks—I guess,” Gordon said to Maverick who was already back at his desk and wholly absorbed in whatever project had captured his attention. Pioneer Day was the hardest on Maverick. He always escaped his grief through knowledge. It’s how we became so distant.

“We better get going,” Tallis said to me while Gordon made his way over to the door. I noticed he was limping, and I debated on asking Maverick to triple check his leg.

“See you tomorrow?” My hopeful voice sounded too bright to my ears. I had to bite my tongue to punish it for being too obvious.

“Greet you in the new day, Agapimenos,” Tallis said with a secret smile before biting his lip. Before I could ask him what that ridiculous nickname meant, he and Gordon were walking out the door. Just as they were about to leave, Tallis froze. "Ah, almost forgot," he said in a light voice, spinning around and walking towards me.

Before I could protest, his soft lips lightly touched my cheek as his hand covered my heart. Too stunned to move, I stood frozen in Maverick's Clinic as Tallis pulled away and left.

My hand covered my cheek for a moment as I cleared my head. After a few moments, I watched Maverick in silence. I coughed, hoping the noise would draw him out of his work, but he still kept his eyes glued to the screen.

“Maverick?” I asked a little louder.

“What?” Maverick replied in a bored tone, whirling around in his chair. I noticed that he had bloodshot eyes and was paler than usual.

“Still the same Mav I see,” I mused while running the tips of my fingers over some of his lab equipment, leaving my fingerprints on the glass.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

I purposefully tipped over a beaker of water, and he immediately shot out of his seat to clean up the mess I made.

“You’ve always been such a hard worker.” I began with a sigh. I spent most of my childhood waiting outside the Clinic for Maverick. Most nights he either fell asleep at his desk or scolded me for bothering him.

“Do you need anything? I really want to finish this trial today,” Maverick urged before going back to his desk.

“Yeah, I was wondering if you needed any help getting the new school house set up,” I said casually while flipping through a water-stained journal left out on one of the tables.

“Ah, ever the opportunist. I should have known you’d try to find a way to get out of working in the Gardens.” Maverick rolled his eyes. His words stung. I'd be lying if the thought hadn't crossed my mind, but honestly, I wanted to see the new school house. It had always been a dream of mine to follow in Mom’s footsteps. Getting out of the heat of the Gardens was a bonus.

“I love how you state the obvious with such a sense of discovery, Mav,” I teased. “Of course I want out of those damn Gardens.”

Maverick tapped his fingers anxiously on his desk. I sensed that he itched to dive right back into work, but I wouldn’t let him go that easily. His red-brown hair had started to sloppily fall out of his bun.

“But…” I began cautiously. “I’ve always wanted to teach. Some of my happiest memories were sitting under Mom’s desk. Maybe…if...if you ever need help or something. Maybe you could let me know?” I hated how timid I sounded and cursed how much I craved my brother’s approval. I thought I was past caring what he thought. Maverick looked at me with sad eyes. I knew bringing up Mom was a low-blow, but I was desperate for him to understand that I was somewhat sincere.

“Kemper mentioned that you started tutoring the Scavengers. We can discuss options later. Until then, we need someone to bring the Walker children up to the school house for a project in a couple weeks. Is that something you’d like to do?” Maverick offered, surprising me. I tried to bite down the happiness I felt.

“Th—that would be fine, I guess,” I replied, attempting to sound casual. Maverick rolled his eyes before returning to his work on the computer. In seconds, he was already back to ignoring the world.

“See you later, Mav,” I whispered sadly and, like usual, he didn’t respond.