#hellooooo!!!!

HE SHIFTS THE STRAP OF HIS PACK that is slung over his shoulder. There is an awkwardness that hangs in the air between them, heavy and thick. Joel does his best to push through it, to treat this patrol run just like any other ──── even if they'd had one another in tears the night before. “ Alrighty then, ” he utters, pausing to sniffle; the cold air of a Wyoming winter burns his nostrils. “ You all ready, kiddo? ”

Kiddo. He could still call her that, right?

It's a difficult habit to break. He calls most of the youngin’s close to him kiddo. ( Never mind that that list is small and consists only of Benji, Dina, and sometimes Jesse. ) He scratches idly at the greying hair along his jaw. Clears his throat. “ Heard Seth made you a sandwich. Honestly surprised you didn't throw it in his face. ” He would have, had he been there, Maria be damned. “ . . . he'd've deserved it, if ya ask me. ”

he literally did not even notice anyone was near him ( okay no , that was a lie , he did , but there were a lot of people he'd run into in the dungeon , but rarely did anyone try to approach him for anything . ) And rarely did anyone stick around. He just survived and hunted on his own ( so the thought of another joining him , was strange to say the least ) He was a party of one , and he always had been. The beast hadn't been hard to take down , he was an excellent fighter & knows he would have no problem to defeat any sort of monster that would head his way. There's blood all over him , and he's still dragging a tied up piece of the edible part of the creature he'd taken down by himself.

He has his back turned toward the stranger , but given the track record of people tending to not realize his disability , Emil heavily sighs and then turns around.

" can't. hear. " he says , standing there until the other got it , he normally didn't speak , but there was no way this guy would understand sign. He would be pleasantly surprised if he did. It would just be easier than him trying to decipher what he was saying , much less of a headache in the long run.