#bergen_county

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Adam glumly dribbles in his driveway. The street is empty. School starts on line. No one around to hang out with. Sucks.

Nothing to do, all is boring...

the flying ship behind his head...

the flash of silver like falling star.

He doesn't see it.

Nope. Boring today

He sees a figure skirting along the edge of the sidewalk, hooded head peering either way before he continues on, defiant of the quarantine. Adam might recognize that hunched over, slight posture, and the black hoodie is unmistakable.

"Hey, Symon." Adam calls, waving.

A quick glance up, and then back down. Hesitation... and then turning to step over towards Adam's yard. He eyes the house cautiously to see that neither parents nor Lily are watching before approaching. "Hey." His voice is oddly muffled under his hood.

"How's it going?"

A contemplative moment. "Shitty. Hey, you're doing the F-uber thing, aren't you?" A glance up at Adam, then down again. A black face mask covers most of his face from the nose down, what's visible under the hood.

"I -was-." A sigh.

A mumble mutter whisper. Inaudible. After waiting a moment for response, he realizes, inches closer to be heard. "Can I get a ride?" Nasally sounding and harder to hear than usual.

"Is that safe?" Dubiously.

"I'm not SICK, you..." He spits out, anger in his whisper, before turning. "I can just fuckin' walk."

"How come?" Adam comes a bit closer, curious. "I mean, we're supposed to stay 6 feet apart....."

He turns and glances back at Adam and away quickly again. "I just need to get to the lodge, okay? I got dross. I'd walk, but a car is less obvious - could be running a vital errand- than some kid walking off into the woods during quarantine." Was that a glimpse of a black eye?

Adam observes him and nods. "Mind sitting in the back?"

He shakes his head. "S'fine."

"Ok, cool...." he opens the car up "Let's go."

He slides into the backseat, and once the doors are closed, he pulls off the mask, taking a deep, somewhat wheezy breath. "Fuck, it's HARDER to breath with that thing on."

Still hunched over a bit, but less worried about being spotted now that he's in the vehicle. Symon has a black eye, his nose is definitely swollen if not broken, and lip puffed up in an oddly disconcerting way where it lies differently in his fae seeming without the teeth behind it. A slender finger prods at his nose a little, and then stops with a small hiss of pain.

"Dude, what did that to you?"

"I picked a fight with Dirk." He says sarcastically - Adam doesn't need to be a Gwydion to spot the sarcasm there. And if that was true, Symon might be dead... He rubs at an arm, tense. "Cabbie code says whatever said in the ride, stays in the ride?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Sincerely.

"I can keep a secret."

He sighs, and mutters, "Some MAGA-ass trump-lickin turd-sandwiches decided to take offense to me being 'Chinese' in public." He grits his teeth... gums... "Fuckers don't even care that I'm KOREAN, not that that makes it OK if I WAS..." He mumbles a few more choice words that might even impress a nocker. "Said they had some kung fu for 'my kung flu'. Ha. Ha. Ha."

Adam steams quietly. "You sure you want to go to the Lodge, not... home, or the hospital?

"No!" He hisses, then stews a bit, and more quietly, "No. Jonas is barely able to keep Anne Marie from running herself ragged as is. Dad's working triple shifts at the hospital. I just need to see if I can cadge some healing and not worry them."

"Ok."

"And maybe they went to the hospital. I hope they did. When they split my lip I spit blood on them and told them they had it now too. If they go in saying they caught it, they'll be in 14 day lockdown." A small, vengeful hint of a smile, not even seeming to mind that the grin pulls at the puffy cut and probably stings.

"Distracted them long enough to run off, at any rate."

"You know who these assholes are?"

A shake of his head. "Just... some assholes. That makes it even worse, y'know? I'm just... a stranger, and they feel like they gotta pull shit. Even Dirk doesn't kick someone's ass without them giving him SOME reason these days."

Adam fumes to himself.

"Fuck. Someone better warn Eden... and her parents. Even if they're jerks to her."

"You got her number?"

It isn't far to the Lodge, and traffic is light. The parking lot is down-trail from the Lodge building itself; Adam parks and gets out.

(To the Lodge?)

He nods when asked about where Adam should go, and for the duration he rests his head back against the seat, silent for the ride.

Symon is a bit stiff getting out of the car, and pauses a moment, checking the backseat - he leans in, squinting, picks up a hair that looks like it could be his, and leaves the backseat spotless.

He stops before he leaves the side of the car, and starts digging in his pocket. "How much?"

"Nah, come on man. I'll walk you up."

He scowls a bit, but gives in with relatively little fuss for him. "I'll pay you later. I don't think you'd like the dross I have now. It's not very... seelie."

"Yeah, that's cool. Whenever. C'mon." He offers to help the other boy.

He hooks his mask back on and pulls his hood down low. "No sense in scaring the childlings if I won't even get a good nightmare off it." A mutter, and he walks himself to the door. A bit of a stitch - but even sluagh can have pride.

Adam tags along.