Page 18 of Garbage

Logically, Evan knew he should make sure that Quincy made a lot of friends.

Secretly, he kind of wanted to keep Quincy to himself. He knew it was selfish, but what if Quincy met Ben and liked him better? Ben was a lot more outgoing, confident and wild in ways that Evan never could be.

Evan was just quiet and boring.

In fact, every fun or interesting thing he’d ever done had been at Ben’s insistence.

Except for Quincy.

Evan had found Quincy and stood up to two attackers all on his own. He’d taken care of Quincy and showed him his mug collection and talked him out of a panic attack twice by offering his shower. Didn’t that count for something?

With all that going on in his head, he wasn’t even sure if he got any work done before he was driving up to the trash depot and loitering outside his car with barely concealed nerves.

Trash trucks entered and parked, all following the same pattern. A few minutes later, two figures would walk to the covered garage and either charge up or stand there, with infinite patience.

Somehow, Evan missed Quincy following that path, but he spotted him immediately when he made his way toward the open gate.

He was holding Evan’s blue towel. Evan hadn’t understood why Quincy had it this morning when he dropped him off for work, and he still didn’t understand now. But if the towel made Quincy happy, he wasn’t going to say anything.

As Quincy got a little closer, Evan realized that he was dripping wet and walking stiffly.

“Why are you all wet?” he asked, though he probably should have started with a greeting.

“I cleaned myself with the hose, so I wouldn’t get the car dirty. It was cold, but I have my heating element on, so I’ll warm up soon. And I have my towel, so I won’t get the car wet.” He held up the towel proudly. There was a slight emphasis on the word my, which was what finally clued Evan in.

What had he told Quincy yesterday? Probably something innocuous like that can be your towel, which Quincy had interpreted literally. Too damn cute.

Quincy rubbed the faded blue towel over his head, and then down his shirt and finally over his ass and down his legs.

Evan definitely did not feel any flutters in his chest watching Quincy dry his broad chest before moving down to his groin, or thinking about how pleased Quincy was with the unintended gift.

If he’d have known, he would have given Quincy something much nicer.

“How was your day?” Evan asked, as they both got into the car, Quincy with the sodden towel on his lap.

“Oh, it was lovely! I saw a bird’s nest with little baby birds in it, and the parents were bringing them food. And it was sunny today, so I got to wave at a lot of kids outside.”

Quincy chattered happily all the way back to the apartment. The longer he talked, the more convinced Evan was that some of the stories were from previous days—anywhere from yesterday to years back—but hopefully that would change with the memory upgrades.

Evan found Ben waiting for them out front, leaning casually against the wall.

As usual, Evan’s best friend was wearing a jacket and tie in preparation for work, but he somehow managed to wear them like he’d just rolled out of bed and dragged on some sweatpants. His dark hair was spiked up to the sky, his sparse facial hair was heading into scruffy territory, and his hazel eyes glinted like he had secrets to tell, but he was enjoying keeping them.

Evan loved Ben to pieces, and he was both excited and a little anxious about introducing him to Quincy. Ben could be a bit of a wild card.

“Hey, Ben,” Evan greeted Ben with a quick hug, then stepped back. “This is Quincy.”

“Hello, Ben,” Quincy echoed. “This is my towel.”

Ben grinned, but he managed not to laugh. “Hey, Quincy. Nice to meet you. That’s a very nice towel.”

“I know,” Quincy agreed. “Evan gave it to me.” He was hugging the damp mass to his chest.

“Well, once we get you upgraded, you’ll be able to go on the internet yourself and choose some of your own things. Maybe some clothes? Or towels, if that’s your thing.”

Evan opened the front door and they followed him inside and up the elevator.

“Oh, yes! I can have clothes? I love clothes. I get to choose?” Quincy sounded all too pleased as he talked with Ben.