Brendon's eyes widened for a moment as he imagined what sorts of things they might have in their greenhouses. Fresh vegetables. Fruit?! "Do you guys have apples?!" Apples!
He and Ryan seemed on par with their feelings, which was a good thing. Well, considering Ryan was the one who'd kissed him, he sort of expected it, but he hadn't expected how he would feel about the whole thing. Happy, sure, but this giddy? Was this what love struck teenage girls felt like? He wanted to hold on to that feeling for as long as physically possible. "I'll remember that." He chuckled. He could kiss him? Whenever he wanted? Good gosh that was a statement he never thought he'd hear. "Um, yeah...sure thing..." Brendon looked down at his plate and quickly stuffed the last dumpling in his mouth. He made no other attempt to move either, though.
Ryan thought for a moment on that one, mentally running through the fruit trees they had stashed away in the greenhouses. "Uhm, I think someone found some seeds for them last year? Don't think the trees are giving apples just yet, but again... We can find out... We do have some strawberry bushes growing too. Helped plant those ones myself." Though his main thing was making things, mostly art, and trading, he did help out in the greenhouses in exchange for food here and there. It was usually the stuff that was about to go bad, or that wasn't pretty enough to bring to the Marketplace, but he didn't mind.
The giggling didn't seem to want to stop in the slightest, and he was left feeling like a schoolgirl over the whole situation. It didn't help that his face was starting to hurt from the little smile that had been plastered across it for what felt like ages now. "Good," he giggled softly. God, he was fucking dumb! "Like the dumplings, huh? I'll show you how to make 'em if you want." He needed to break out of this dumb, giggling mess he'd turned into suddenly. Night was coming soon, and he wanted to get Brendon washed up before they crawled into the tent because, as much as he adored the guy, he fucking reeked... "C'mon," he sighed, getting to his feet with a soft groan. "Let's go see Bronwyn, and then get you cleaned up. Got any clean clothes so we can wash those ones?" He reached into the tent with one hand, grabbing a mesh bag with a small homemade bar of soap inside, and called out to Shiloh as well. "C'mon! We're going for a swim!" She stopped her grass eating for a moment to stare up at him, then suddenly lept to her feet and came flying over, tail wagging and bouncing in excitement.
Strawberries?! Brendon looked like a kid at Christmas after hearing Santa was personally handing him each present from under the tree. "Man, you've got strawberries? Is this place heaven or what?" He laughed. The only fruit he'd eaten since everything went to shit had been out of a tin, and that had been on rare occasions. He had once found an orchard, but also stumbled across a group of very large individuals with very sharp weapons, so he'd scarpered pretty swiftly.
"Oh, yeah! I could about thirty thousand of them." It was an equal fifty-fifty on the fact he liked them and the fact they were the first thing he'd eaten that'd actually been prepared and cooked with actual ingredients. He was starting to think the stuff in the tins wasn't even real food. "Okay." He stacked the plates together, then looked at Ryan like he had two heads. "Clean clothes?" He laughed, then stopped. "Oh, you're serious...err..." He reached for his bag and pulled it over, then looked through the contents and pulled out a very worn pair of trousers and a t-shirt. "I don't know if they pass as clean but..." He shrugged. "They're fresher than all this." He plucked at his shirt, then got to his feet. "I don't mind being naked for a few hours." He smirked.
"You might turn into a potato if you eat that many!" Ryan giggled, sticking his head back into the tent to grab out a small bucket that he used to make sure clothes didn't float off when he was washing them, and to haul back water. When Brendon produced another set of clothes, he eyed them for a moment, and was about to respond when... Ohmygod! He instantly flushed a bright red, ducking his head down, and mumbled pitifully, "Please don't be naked in front of other people..." There was no doubt in his mind that Brendon would make good on his threat promise either!
He took a deep breath, trying to shake off the awkwardness, and glanced up at him. "C'mon. Greenhouses and water's on the other side of camp." He motioned with his head to a small footpath between the campers and buildings, heading down it towards the open centre of the camp, and across to the other side. "I'll show you better tomorrow, but there's the scrap pile over there. Marketplace and stables are down that way. Raiders are over there, and the greenhouses are down here." He deliberately glossed over the Avarus for now, worried that Brendon might freak out and cause a scene over the idea of living near them. He'd tell him later... For now, though, he stepped off the dirt path towards the run-down greenhouses, looking around. "Bronwyn? You here?" He turned to look back up to Brendon. "You see a short little blonde lady around?" Clearly he'd missed the white-clad figure crouched in the dirt in one of the far greenhouses...
Brendon laughed at Ryan's reaction. "What's wrong? Want me all to yourself, do you?" He gave the other a nudge and a wink, then stuffed his clothes back in his back and threw it over his shoulder. Even when he was younger he'd never really understood why everyone was so obsessed with clothes. He only wore them because his mother forced him to; whenever he was alone in the house, he was always naked. He wondered if Ryan knew that or not, and the thought brought another flush to his cheeks.
He looked where Ryan indicated, making a mental note but knowing he would have forgotten by the morning. He hoped he'd be there long enough to remember it all, so it wasn't something to worry about at that moment. He also took in the sights as they headed for the greenhouses, thoroughly impressed by just how big the place was. None of the other settlements he'd come across on his travels had been quite so big. Then again, he'd deliberately avoided places with more than fifteen people for a reason. He looked around when Ryan spoke, then pointed to the only figure he could see. "Is that her?"
Ryan followed where Brendon was pointing to, and nodded. "Yup! That's her! Uhm... Here, let's take you over to go say hi to the goats while I talk to her real quick? She gets a little pissy if you just spring things on her, especially if she's been drinking or she's tired. Plus, there's a chance she'll just tell us to fuck off until morning anyway." He took him over to the goat pen tucked between two of the greenhouses, and left him there with a warning to stay outside of the fence because the billy goat was an asshole. He disappeared into the greenhouse for a moment, talking to the hunched figure before coming back over. "She's interested in meeting you and arranging something, so that's a good start. Said she'd pop by tonight if we're not sleeping, or to come around tomorrow sometime, so... Oh! Here! Its a little bruised, but it should still be fine. Got kept in cold storage all winter." He offered Brendon a smallish apple that he'd salvaged from the pile Bronwyn had been cutting up to plant for more trees.
He motioned for Brendon to follow him back up the path, and continue on to the rocky shale beach and relatively still water just beyond. "Here, finish that off, and come meet me in the water." He didn't want to rush Brendon on his treat, and simply waded into the cool water, yelping softly when it hit the more sensitive parts. It wasn't too deep near the shore, and he stopped when he was about waist deep, dunking his head under quickly to get started on washing his hair while he waited.
"Alright, no worries." Brendon happily began engaging with the goats, mimicking the noises they made and giving any who would let him some attention. He'd hated most farm animals when he was a kid, entirely on the fact they all stunk, but it didn't bother him anymore. He probably had more of a funk about him than they did. He also bade them goodbye when Ryan returned, nodding as the other spoke. His entire face lit up though when the apple was produced. He took it with wonder and looked it over, marvelling at the shape. Some distant memory of toffee apples filled his nostrils with the phantom scent of caramel for a moment before it faded again. "Thanks, Ryan. This is great." He took the smallest of nibbles to get started with, but by the time they'd arrived at the water's edge he'd almost eaten the whole thing.
He dropped his stuff as he finished the apple, then licked his fingers clean. He removed his boots before wading into the water as well, though he didn't hesitate in disappearing under the surface as soon as it was deep enough. He resurfaced and let out a yell. "Fuck! It's freezing!"
Almost as an afterthought, Ryan peeled off his shirt and tossed it in the general direction of his little basket, deciding it was good enough when it landed half inside and didn't seem to be going anywhere. Soap in hand, he paid Brendon no mind when he joined him, but a sudden splash of chilly water crashed against his back from Brendon surfacing, and he let out a startled yelp as he spun around. "Ya think?!" There was no anger in his face, but instead something akin to childish amusement. "It's warmer during the day, I promise." He swam closer to his friend, acting innocent right up until the second he grabbed Brendon by the shoulders and jumped up to throw his weight onto him in an attempt to dunk him under the water playfully. Juvenile? Yeah, but something about being around his childhood best friend had him feeling like a teenager all over again. Plus, revenge was a dish best served via a playful drowning attempt between friends... Or something like that...
Brendon was sure he could feel all of his...ahem, nether parts quickly disappearing up inside his body. "It better be..." He didn't much like the thought of considerable shrinkage every time he wanted to take a bath. Besides, he was sick of being cold. It was one of his least favourite things. He didn't expect Ryan to dunk him under the water, so it was with a slight look of surprise that he went under again, quickly grabbing Ryan's arms and pulling him down as well. He resurfaced pretty swiftly and wiped water off his face a she laughed. "You sneaky little bastard!" He splashed water in Ryan's direction.
Ryan managed a single squeal of shocked laughter before his head was submerged under the water. He kicked off of Brendon's leg to escape his grasp, surfacing a few feet away, sputtering and swiping water and soggy hair out of his eyes. "I'll get you one day!" he squeaked out, trying to block the splashing with his hands. "But for now... Gimmie your clothes, you stinky fuck!" As he waited, he worked on snapping the bar of soap in half. It was slippery and he wasn't the strongest, but he eventually managed it, trading the soap for Brendon's clothes.
He headed back towards shallower water to use the rocks for some extra scrubbing power. The amount of grit and grime that came out with just a little bit of soap and water was astonishing, and just served as motivation to get the clothes as clean as possible. "Okay, tomorrow, I'm taking all your clothes, and boiling the fuck outta them!" he called out with a chuckle. "Surprised this shit ain't standing on its own, and trying to walk away on ya." A few minutes more of scrubbing and rinsing, and the water was finally running clear, so he draped them over a nearby tree branch to drip dry a bit before moving back into the water to join him once more, finally giving his hair that washing he'd been meaning to do for a couple days now. "Take your time too. No rush on getting back. Just... Watch out for Shiloh... She's got a stick." Like a typical dog, she'd found a large stick, more of a branch really, and was happily paddling around in the water with it, swinging her head without a care in the world of who or what she might crash her new toy into as she took it towards the shore for a good chewing session.