#anywhere

He grabs a few sodas - Dr Pepper, cokes for the King's. Hey, Arizona Iced Tea, good enough, he picks that for himself. Juggling the bottles, he heads towards the entrance to wait for the others.

The Kings are hard to miss even to mortals - a trio of blue giants is even easier to spot in a crowd.

Symon is much easier to get lost. He raises a hand, waving for their attention.

A wave back!

Sam beelines for her friend.

He joins her, even as Tove and Jaymes are distracted looking at a bulletin board with some flyers. A Dr. Pepper is handed over. "What do you think so far?"

"Oh, hey, thanks." She takes the soda and sips some before answering. "Um. Big place. Looks like a college on TV, you know? Too pretty to be real."

"Campus ain't bad. Lots of trees. I've heard good shit about the medical program. And look, there's apartments just off-campus. Walking distance to class for us, and you have that motorcycle, could use it to get back to Bergen proper to visit."

He looks around again. "I was trying to decide if I should ask Dad about a car. Maybe something used wouldn't be too expensive... but they have a new kid to cover for. And we know the foster stipend barely covers anything."

"Oh, yeah, we know."

"There is the bus, too..."

He perks up. "I almost forgot about that. Yeah, I like the bus okay. Sometimes there's weirdos on there." Symon seems to see this as a benefit.

"And if I don't have my own ride, I can avoid some of the guilt if Ann Marie wwants me home for dinner, like, every night. "

"You should go home for dinner sometimes, though."

"Yeah, like, on the weekend, maybe? But I need some space, lately." He ducks his head a bit. "Does that make me a bad son?" His whisper surprisingly vulnerable for once.

She shakes her head.

"Though you might want to let her call you, y'know? Probably don't have to say much, just listen."

"B-... Your mom, she likes to talk."

"Yeah, she does. I have a phone." He nods. "Maybe even Facetime."

She wavers her hand. "I don't like video calls much. But your mileage may vary."

"I bet I could record a loop of me looking interested and nodding occassionally..."

"Probably?"

"But you could also master the 'uh-huh' and the 'really?' responses."

"Right. " He looks cheered by this idea. "I could even automate texts. 'Good morning', 'Good night', so on."

"True."

"Tove texts, Jaymes not so much."

"Dad is good with texts. I think because he can do it quickly in between meetings and surgery. He still has a pager, you know?"

"Jeeeez."

"Well, it's like, pagers can get signals places where cells don't get reception, you know? For emergencies, doctors still carry them."

"I didn't know that."

"And the batteries last forever without needing to be charged."

"Don't wanna be like, 'sorry Mister Smith, we lost your wife because Doc Lee didn't charge his iPhone"

"That makes sense, yeah. Wanna check out the food? Hopefully there's stuff you can eat...."

"I can eat anything. Y'know? If I don't really think about it. I hope the cafeteria isn't as good as people were saying, though. I miss mystery meat day at school."

"Well, I bet at least one station is gross."

"I, however, see a burger bar."

"Maybe they have one of those veggie burgers. You know, the kind that gets all freezer burned because they don't sell a lot, and then it just turns hot and squishy on the grill instead of getting fried and crispy? That and some pickles wouldn't be bad."

Nose-wrinkle.

"Worth a shot?"

"Hungry now?"

"I ate earlier, but I could get something to leave under the floorboards."

"I'm starved."

A huff of amusement. "Let's check it out."

A nod, and over they head. Dagmar gets two burgers, one beef, one turkey.

Symon gets the veggie burger, extra mushrooms.

"Mushrooms are reliably slimy, at least."

The person behind the counter has a smile for them both, probably told to be nice to those checking out the college, but it's only 45% exagerated

Sam nods back, though her smiles tend to be small.

Symon eyes behind the counter - how does the cleanliness look? Some grime is expected, kitchens have oil and all that, but signs of rats or cockroaches? While they might be good companions, one doesn't generally want them unbidden in the food.

It looks pretty darn clean

and Symon hears a surprised voice behind him "Symon?"