Maya brought soap.
Actual soap. Not the weird gritty stuff you sometimes find in bathrooms that makes your skin feel like you rubbed it with rocks. This was white and smooth and smelled like... what did clean smell like? Been so long he forgot.
"We gotta get you cleaned up," she said, setting it down next to this bottle of water.
The water looked clear. Not like the brown stuff that drips from that pipe in the corner. Though that pipe water isn't too bad once you get used to it tasting like pennies. Makes your teeth feel fuzzy for a bit but whatever.
Wait, why did she need to clean him up? Was he that gross? Probably. His hands looked like they belonged to someone who lived in a cave. The lines on his palms were black.
"Why?" he asked, but he was already grabbing for the soap.
"Cause you can't keep living like this." Maya sat closer than usual. Close enough he could smell her hair. Most people smell like sweat and that sour fear smell but she smelled like... air. Outside air. "Been thinking about what to do with you."
What to do with him. Like he was broken furniture or something.
His stomach made that growling noise. The empty one that sounds like an angry cat. When did he eat last? Maya's bread from before but that feels like forever ago. Maybe yesterday? Days all look the same when they're all gray.
"I'm fine," he said. Which was dumb cause obviously nobody who sleeps on concrete and eats garbage is fine.
"No you're not." Maya reached out and touched his face.
What the hell? People don't just touch him. Most people look through him like he's made of glass or something. But her hand was right there on his cheek and it was warm and real and—
His brain kind of stopped working for a second.
"You're too good for this place, Echo. Too special."
Special. That word did something weird to his chest. Like drinking hot coffee too fast but not bad weird. When was the last time anyone said he was special? Had anyone ever said that?
Actually when was the last time he had hot coffee? Never probably. Coffee was for people with money.
"Don't feel special." Which was true. He felt hungry and dirty and like his back hurt from sleeping on concrete again.
"That's cause you don't know how to see yourself." Maya's hand was still on his face. Her thumb was moving on his skin and it felt... he didn't have words. "But I see you. I see what you could be."
What he could be. Weird thing to think about. He never really thought about being anything except what he was, which was basically nothing that happened to walk around.
"What do you see?"
Maya smiled. The nice smile not the scary sharp one. "See someone who listens. Someone who gets it. Someone who could have a real life if someone gave him a chance."
A real life. Like having a bed. Like knowing where food was gonna come from. Like people actually seeing you when they look at you.
Though honestly existing was pretty tiring. Maybe not existing would be easier? But then Maya wouldn't be here touching his face and that would suck cause this was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.
"You think?"
"Know so." Maya's thumb brushed his cheek again. Made him shiver but not from cold. "First we gotta get you ready though. Make sure you look right."
Look right for what? He wanted to ask but Maya was being nice and the soap smelled so good and when was the last time anything smelled good instead of like garbage or piss or that weird chemical smell that was everywhere?
"Okay."
Maya showed him how to use soap properly. Not just rubbing it around but making bubbles first. Lather she called it. Getting under his nails and behind his ears and places where dirt lives like it's trying to build a house.
The water turned colors when he washed. Gray then brown then almost black. How much dirt was he carrying around? Felt like years worth. Like he was made of dirt instead of skin.
His hands were shaking. From cold water maybe. Or cause nobody ever touched him gentle like this before and his brain didn't know what to do with it.
There was some smell in the air. Something dead probably. Always something dead somewhere in this place. Circle of life or whatever.
"Better," Maya said when he was done. She was staring at him like she never seen him before. "Way better."
He looked at his hands. They were pale under all that dirt. Skinny but they looked like person hands now instead of... whatever they looked like before. Claws maybe.
"Got something else for you," Maya said.
More stuff? She pulled out this bundle. Clothes. Real clothes not the rags he been wearing that were more hole than shirt at this point.
"For me?"
"Course for you." Maya's voice was patient. Like talking to someone worth being patient with. "Can't keep wearing rags, Echo. You deserve better."
Deserve. Funny word. Made his throat feel tight. Like he needed to cough but couldn't.
"Don't know if I deserve anything." Honest answer. Wasn't sure he deserved to take up space let alone have nice things.
"That's the problem." Maya touched his face again. "Been treated like trash so long you think that's what you are. But you ain't trash, Echo. You're valuable."
Valuable. Like something worth keeping.
The new clothes were too big but not by much. Fabric felt soft on his skin. Weird how different clean skin felt with clean clothes. Like wearing someone else's body.
His stomach growled again. Really needed to find food after this. Check that dumpster behind the store maybe. Sometimes they throw out bread that's only a little green.
"There," Maya said, stepping back. "Now you look like who you really are."
"What's that look like?"
"Like someone worth saving." Maya smiled and her whole face went soft. "Like someone who belongs somewhere."
Belongs. That was a word he forgot existed. Having a place where people expect you to show up. Where they'd notice if you didn't.
Made him nervous though. What if he screwed it up? What if he belonged somewhere then didn't anymore? That would probably hurt worse than never belonging at all.
"Maya?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks." Wasn't enough but nothing would be enough for soap and clean water and clothes without holes and someone touching his face like he was real. "Mean it."
"Don't gotta thank me." Maya sat next to him. Shoulders touching. "This is what people do when they care bout each other."
Care bout each other. Like they were friends maybe? Or something?
"You care bout me?" Just fell out his mouth before he could stop it.
Maya looked at him for a while. Eyes all serious like she was deciding something big.
"Yeah," she said. "Care about you, Echo. More than you know."
She took his hand. Just took it like holding hands was normal. Her fingers were warm and a little rough.
"Gonna make sure you're safe," she said. "Whatever it takes. Promise."
Safe. When was the last time anyone promised him anything? When was the last time he felt safe?
"What if something happens to you?" Made his stomach twist thinking about it. Maya was literally the only good thing that happened to him maybe ever. If she disappeared like everyone always does...
"Nothing gonna happen to me." Sounded sure about it. "And nothing gonna happen to you either. Not while I'm here."
She squeezed his hand.
"Trust me, Echo. Can you do that?"
Looked at her. Maya who gave him a name and soap and clothes and promises. Who touched his face like he mattered. Made him feel like maybe he wasn't just wasting oxygen.
"Yeah." Came out as a whisper. "Trust you."
Maya smiled. "Good. Cause tomorrow everything changes. Tomorrow you get your real life."
That night laying on concrete in clean clothes Echo felt something he hadn't felt in forever.
Hope maybe. Something like that anyway.
Tomorrow was gonna be different. Tomorrow he'd be safe.
Had to be.