Gavin was in oddly good spirits, considering everything. Or maybe because of it - the hard, grimy work and the faces of a few friends had been enough to pull him out of his self pity and back to some kind of normal mood. He was humming while he worked, though he was absolutely tone deaf, and throwing all his weight against the shovel as the trench grew longer and wider. He only happened to look up in time to see Maxwell approaching him, which brought a smile to his lips.

It wasn't Maxwell's fault, after all.

(Though he sort of forgot that he'd run off without telling him.)

"I wouldn't get too too close, unless you want to smell like sewage for a week," He warned. "And don't stand downwind."