ᴏɴᴇꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ ; ɴᴇᴡᴛᴍᴀꜱ

012 ⸺ greenie

(newt and the others already know Thomas' name at this point, i got tired of referring to him using other things all the time)

"Hell of a first day, Greenie." Newt smiled, watching the new Greenie, Thomas, turn to face him as he walked over. His limp slowed him, but he made his way over to the log the brunette sat against. He sunk to the ground, mimicking the way the other was already sitting, with his back pressed to the log behind him, and his legs stretched out in front of him.

Thomas only blinked at him, with large brown eyes that glowed softly in the dim light of the bonfire that was still raging behind them. He didn't say anything and only returned his gaze back to the walls of the maze that sat before them.

Newt took the moment to look at the Greenie. Really look at him. He noticed many things about his appearance that he hadn't when they had first met. His hair was no longer sweaty and matted, and actually looked soft. In the faint light Newt could see several moles dotting his face and neck. He looked back to the brunette's eyes, which were still fixated ahead of him, and noticed the small flecks of gold he could see reflecting the light.

He smiled again.

"Here," Newt said, breaking the few seconds of silence that had hung over them, Thomas looked over at him, "put some hair on your chest." He offered the brunette the mason jar he held, which was half full of an amber-colored liquid.

After a moment's hesitation, the Greenie took the jar from Newt's hand. He reluctantly took a drink.

Newt felt a chuckle rise in his throat as Thomas immediately spat out the drink.

"Oh-oh god, what is that ?" He sputtered, coughing into his elbow and shoving the drink back into Newt's hands.

Newt's smile grew, "i don't even know." He said through his laughter, "it's Gally's recipe — it's a trade secret."

The brunette frowned at the mention of Gally, "Yeah, well, he's still an asshole." He muttered, glancing over his shoulder, as if Gally was going to spring from the bushes and beat him to a pulp for what he just said.

Newt sighed, taking a sip of his drink, it burned his throat and warmed his chest as he glanced back up towards the maze walls. "He saved your life today. Trust me." He looked back at the boy sitting next to him, "The maze is a dangerous place."

There was a long stretch of silence before either of them spoke. The silence was broken when the Greenie spoke up again.

"We're trapped here, aren't we ?" He looked up at Newt with big eyes as he talked.

Newt pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, unsure of how to respond. They were trapped, and Thomas had definitely figured that out already. But he didn't want to be pessimistic, or upset Thomas more than he already had been that day. "For the moment. But..." his voice trailed off as he turned around, gesturing for Thomas to do the same, "you see those guys ? There, by the fire ? Those are the runners. That guy in the middle there, that's Minho. He's the keeper of the runners." he pointed a little ways away to where the black haired boy was sitting. "Every morning, when those doors open, they run the maze, mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out."

He gave Thomas a comforting smile and turned back around, taking another sip of his drink. "Best of the best, those guys. They have to be. Everything depends on them." He finished, as the Greenie faced forward again.

A silence hung over them for a brief few moments, before Thomas met his gaze again. His large, brown eyes shining with an endearing air of curiosity. "Why aren't you one ?" He asked, softly, tilting his head to the side.