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“Fair enough,” he agreed. “So, what now? Are you crashing here? Do you want to slip all that super slick armor back on and have me walk you home? What’s the protocol for sleepovers in the apocalypse?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been to a sleepover,” I admitted. “I mean, not with, you know, friends,” I clarified.
“Me either. I think we need to put on fluffy robes and paint our nails, right? Maybe have a pillow fight? Tell scary stories. But maybe since the world is scary enough, we can tell stories about the coolest shit we’ve seen? For example, I once saw a duck wearing a cowboy outfit.”
“No way.”
“Way. I have pictures of it on my phone,” he told me. “I will charge it up and show you. What?”
“Charging things,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t have solar.”
“I will give you a portable one to bring back to your place. Kinda useless as a whole. But if you have any music stored on your phone or something, it helps keep the walls from closing in. Do you have a Ham radio?” he asked.
“Who has a Ham radio that wasn’t, like, in the military or a trucker?”
“Well, I have an extra. I will give you one. Plus batteries. Then we can talk.”
I shouldn’t have agreed.
It was risky to get attached.
But maybe Caleb was right.
If this was all there was ever going to be, maybe finding ways to enjoy ourselves through it was the smart thing.
Just surviving hadn’t exactly been fun for me.
“Okay. I’d like that.”
“Did you hear that, Toddy? We made ourselves a friend! She said she’s going to have us over for pasta tomorrow.”
“I said no such thing.”
“And yet, I will be there. With a bowtie on. Now, let’s see if I can find something we can paint our nails with.”
I thought he was joking.
About the bowtie thing.
Early the next morning, I did slip all my armor back on. And he did walk me home carrying my new Ham radio for me.
And he did drop me off at my place and head back out to his mansion.
I even expected him to make good on his promise to come back for pasta. Because, well,pasta.
But I thought he was joking about the bowtie.
Until I opened the door to find him standing there in one. And Toddy was in his arms with his own little kitty bowtie as well. I mean, Caleb was also wearing hot pink shorts and a shirt with little pigeons printed all over it. But he’d actually worn the bowtie.
“Toddy and I were talking,” Caleb announced as he stood there, no weapon, no way to defend himself if a zombie popped up out of nowhere. “And we would really prefer Angel Hair if it is available. But we won’t be too disappointed if it is penne or linguine.”
“I definitely have Angel Hair,” I told him as I moved aside to let him in.
And then we just… shared a meal.
Played cards.
Talked about our old lives and what we’d wanted to do with our futures. We even got a little philosophical over a bottle of wine as we sat on the roof of the building, thinking about how insane civilization had become right before the crash of it all.
