The picture that was being painted of Nick made him sound downright hot-headed under normal circumstances, the one willing to get his hands dirty for the sake of the others in their group — and quite possibly enjoyed doing so. First impressions really could be misleading, sometimes, a thought which had Daryl openly subjecting Ellis to a look of narrow-eyed scrutiny for several seconds.

This did lend some credibility to previous claims of Nick having been injured by the tigers, at least. He was pretty sure that tale was true, but mostly because Ellis struck him as a poor liar.

"Hopin' we don't run into each other again here. Arenas ain't really the place for gettin' to know people," he said lightly, his friendliness not entirely contrived at this point. Ellis seemed like a lost puppy one of the good guys, and if this gesture of good will didn't come back to bite them on the ass later, it would be a pretty solid foundation for future alliance-building. At Rick's acquiescence, he pushed the bundle of supplies into Ellis's hands. "Reckon we'll see you 'round afterward, maybe hit the Training Center bar together. They got some good shit. Good luck out there."

They would all have to live with each other after the arena was over, and depending on Ellis's intentions toward them, it could serve as either an amiable reminder or a subtle threat. Preferably they would all share a round or three at some point.