Ode To Summer [Tomer]

[Sebastian Bolstad]

A low cloud cover had settled over Pilot Ridge like a cosy blanket, trapping much of the warmth in the air but blocking out the majority of the sun's glare. This was absolutely ideal for Sebastian and he had a merrier bounce to his step than he had done since he had first arrived at Hammel. With his pale skin he reacted about as well to the sun as ice cream did, melting in moments and quickly burning. Thankfully he had managed to stay mostly indoors so far and avoided turning lobster red, but since today was being more favourable weather-wise he decided to go down to the pond again.

There were few other students milling about in the garden near the pond area and Sebastian enjoyed the leisurely walk, slipping off his plimsolls and letting his toes drag through the cool grass. His plain blue shirt was paired with navy slacks, and he took a seat on one of the benches near the waters edge so he could watch the fish. They circled lazily in the cool water under the shade of a leaning tree, and Sebastian rummaged in his bag and pulled out a slice of bread he had taken from the breakfast bar that morning. Pulling off a piece of the bread, he flaked it up before lightly tossing it into the water for the koi to greedily devour.

Sebastian was sat for a few minutes when he heard someone approaching the pond. Turning to face them, he brushed a long lock of blonde hair off his face and offered the newcomer a soft smile. It was very, very slowly getting easier to push back his panic reaction when another child approached him here. So far none of his fellow freaks had been anything other than nice to him, which was making things very slowly that little bit easier. “Hello.” He reached into his bag, pulling out another slice of bread and offering it out to the boy. “Would you like to feed the fish too?”

[Tomer Berelowitz]

If his meta ability had done him any favors, it had been manifesting before the school year started at Hammel. Tomer didn't think he'd be able to get used to a new school, a new state, a newly malfunctioning body, and living away from his family and friends with the inclusion of maintaining a 4.0. As it stood, it was both more and less stressful than he thought it would be. More, because he was without Bee, Vivy, and his dad and had not spent more than a few nights away from home before coming, and less because his mom wasn't there. Tomer had had no idea how much of a relief that would be, and felt bad about it.

It was a strange thing too, to be his own boss. Mealtimes were set, but without the framework of classes, Tomer was left to his own devices minus any supervision. No one to tell him he ought to help with laundry or to get his nose out of his book because they were going to the park. No one to see that he might eat one of the cookies Bee had packed in his going-away present just... whenever he wanted. No one to suggest that he might practice with his crutches or do some physical therapy.

Tomer had been doing the last one without any prodding, to the point he often fell into bed at night exhausted. He was not going to be a burden. Or. More burdensome than he already was. He could still hear his mom urging him to sit down and rest, her fear and stress adding a torn-edge quality to her voice. But he wasn't going to get used to the braces and the crutches sitting down, and once classes started he had to be able to get himself around.

He'd heard the pond had koi, and Tomer was always up for seeing animals. He didn't have anything to feed them, didn't want to give them the wrong thing, so his pockets were empty of fish offerings. There was a partially eaten packet of mini Chips Ahoy there though, in case he needed help. Little chocolate chip cookies helped everything, after all.

Walking slowly, concentrating more on moving smoothy and not on speed, Tomer made his way down to the pond. It was nice and shady, and looking at water had always been calming for him. There was another person on the bench he was aiming himself at, though at first glance Tomer couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. Sitting down with care that would not be out of place in his grandma's nursing home, Tomer felt the flush of satisfaction. Dorm to pond bench. Without a hitch. Mostly. But no tripping, no getting stuck, no swaying or tilting or falling. And if the smile he gave the other kid was at least partly celebratory, that was okay too. Leaning his crutches against the bench, Tomer's body did not slouch when he sat, but assumed rather geometric angles due to the braces under his jeans and shirt. The sleeves were short and showed off his arm and hand braces, but he didn't care. Not about the braces. About the wheelchair, yes, but that was staying in his room.

“Hello. Would you like to feed the fish too?”

"Oh." The kid came prepared. This close, Tomer was pretty sure he was a guy, but... really, who knew anymore. He took the piece of bread politely and said, "Thank you."

Tomer shredded it into crumbs and scattered a few over the water. The koi willingly swarmed to the food, gobbling with their coin purse mouths. There was probably conversation that was polite here, but Tomer could not bring himself to bother the other boy. Who knew why he was here? To reflect, to get away, or just to think. Tomer did not want to interrupt.

[Sebastian Bolstad]

Despite just how isolated his parents had always tried to keep him, Sebastian had seen enough of the world to not be overly taken aback by the implements adorning the student that was approaching the pond. Seeing quite such an array of sticks and braces on one so young was of course completely new to the blonde, but he made sure to keep the edge of surprise off his features.

It wasn't so much that Sebastian felt pity for him. He did however instantly sympathise with the newcomer for he believed that no one, no matter how wicked or cursed they were, deserved to have such a burden placed upon them. He did not feel pity because he knew that pity was a mostly useless feeling to have; feeling bad for the boy would not help him and could possibly make any sadness he already felt even worse. Besides, as he watched the boy moving and saw the slightly victorious smile he could tell that he was trying to make the most of the awful hand he had been dealt in life.

Whatever it was that had caused the boy to have to rely on his aids, Sebastian felt a little glad that he himself did not have to face the same ordeal. It was a wicked thing to think and caused a wave of guilt to curdle in his stomach, but it was a hard thought to avoid. A quiet curiosity about the reason for the need for such implements was welling inside him but he pushed it back. It was rude to ask about such things.

Sebastian smiled as the boy took the slice of bread, himself continuing to break up the slice he held and lazily tossing crumbs of it into the water. “You are most welcome.”

He sat in calm silence for a few moments, watching the fish swimming and eating. It was peaceful and relaxing in the shade, and for the first time in a long while he had a genuine smile pulling at the corner of his lips. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and calm. “I think that one's my favourite” he said, indicating to one of the fish. “The one with the blue shimmer and the black spot on its back.” Seb crossed his legs at the ankles, getting comfortable on the bench. “My name is Sebastian. I do not recall seeing you before, are you new here?”

[Tomer Berelowitz]

“You are most welcome.”

The sincerity and wording made Tomer look over. It was rare for him to run across another kid who tried to be as polite as he did, especially to other kids. It made him feel a little more at ease with the other kid... who Tomer was pretty sure was a boy. Having the protocol of good manners to fall back on was comforting, especially in a new place. The blond left him alone, which was also good, and Tomer used the time to shift till he found a position that both felt natural and wouldn't tip him over if he moved a little.

The brace Tomer had the most problem with was the one around his neck. It laid reasonably flat and was flesh colored and white so it didn't stand out too much, but it was the hardest to get used to, not being able to move his head. It meant if it wanted to look someplace new, he had to move his whole body, and that was problematic. It was now possible for him to fall over with a glance, and that both frightened and impressed him. One hand had gone up to fiddle with the edges of it, because the neck brace in combination with the one that encased his middle meant he couldn't bend over to inspect the fish any closer than he was. Not without falling over at some point, anyway.

He was surprised when the boy spoke again. “I think that one's my favourite. The one with the blue shimmer and the black spot on its back.”

Tomer blinked and then looked over into the water. The indicated fish stood out from the others, and he smiled a little. With all of the movement and spotted bodies, it was a little difficult to discern individuals, but Tomer thought he'd seen the right one. "I don't have a favorite," he ventured in a soft voice. "This is my first time seeing them."

“My name is Sebastian. I do not recall seeing you before, are you new here?”

Again Tomer was struck by the formality of it, marveling a little. He was being spoken to... like an adult. Out of a book. It was surreal and so novel (sorry) that it cut through Tomer's natural bashfulness. Moving till he could partially face the bigger boy, he said, "I'm Tomer Berelowitz. I got here two days ago." And because it was true, though he'd never said it before, he added, "It's nice to meet you."

Looking back down at the fish, Tomer crumbled another small handful of bread and tossed in a longer arc, to distribute the crumbs in a wider area so that more of the fish could get some. Some of it got stuck in his hand brace, but he used a finger to brush them out. Looking again over at Sebastian, he weighed his words, and finally asked, "How long have you been here?"

Obviously long enough to have a favorite fish, but that could mean years or it could mean an hour.

[Sebastian Bolstad]

With his upbringing and general love of peace and respect, Sebastian had never been one of those kids who was too 'cool' to be anything other than civil to those younger or less privileged than him. He knew about the children would would refuse to play with those more than a year or so younger than them, and he had never quite been able to understand that mindset. That could of course be at least partly due to this rather isolated and bigoted (though of course he didn't see it that way) upbringing, but he could not for the life of him understand why one person would avoid or pick on another because of age or physicality or any other reason that was beyond their control. Therefore he had no reason to be anything other than polite to the younger boy sat near him, despite his array of implements.

If pushed to explain why, Sebastian would likely say that the fish he indicated to was his favourite because it was so different to the others. With their varying degrees of gold and black and white, without actually paying close attention to the individual size and shape of the markings the rest of the fish were easily mixed up and confused. The pale one with the blue shimmer stood out, the lone zebra amongst a pack of lions. The blonde felt like he could relate to it, at least a little bit.

Nodding as the boy explained that it was his first time here, Seb tucked a runaway lock of hair behind his ear. “This is one of my favourite places to come. It is often so quiet and peaceful, away from all the noise and bustle.” Out here it was also slightly easier to pretend he wasn't an attraction in a glorified freak show.

As he saw that the other boy was trying to turn to face him slightly, Sebastian mirrored the movement and turned on his own bench, tucking a leg under him and half-way meeting the boy who introduced himself as Tomer. The last of his slice of bread got shredded and lightly tossed sideways, landing in the pond and quickly being devoured by the greedy fish. “It is my pleasure to meet you too, Tomer. I hope you are settling here quickly.”

The sentiment was an honest one. Sebastian had still not settled in the school and he doubted he ever would. How could he be comfortable in a place that collected the damaged and disaffected and locked them up like an explosion waiting to happen? That didn't stop him from wishing for the other freak to be okay though, especially since he already seemed to have it so bad. “I have been here a little over three weeks. Have you had a chance to look around properly yet? If not I would be happy to show you where everything is.”

[Tomer Berelowitz]

As with all other aspects of his life, Tomer had had extensive conversations with Bee about How To Be Good, and one aspect they'd discussed quite a bit was something Tomer's dad called 'being the better person'. Of course, Tomer and Bee had both agreed that the first thing they needed to do in order to be this better person was to not call it 'being the better person', and had finally decided to refer to it as 'being the more situationally polite'. Living in NYC and being a kids, both friends had more often than not been the more situationally polite, but had also been confident that they were dramatically reducing the levels of worldsuck. DFTBA.

So it was more than lovely that someone was not only not forcing Tomer into that role, but putting him on the receiving end of it. He was still on the fence regarding the whole staring vs. asking thing. Staring meant people left you alone... but were still staring, which had been horrible for Tomer before he'd been disabled. However, the explanation for the crutches and braces often made people stare even harder, so it was a lose-lose. Apparently, as meta side effects went, permanent partial paralysis was a little extreme. Tomer figured if it was going to happen to someone, it might as well be someone as versed as he was in situational politeness... which he was not having to exercise. For once.

“This is one of my favourite places to come. It is often so quiet and peaceful, away from all the noise and bustle.”

Tomer nodded, or he did and then remembered nothing would show. Inconvenient. "Yes," he said instead. "And you can watch the fish and not think about anything."

“It is my pleasure to meet you too, Tomer. I hope you are settling here quickly.”

"I'm trying." There hadn't been much to unpack, and once his bed had been made, his laptop and printer set up, and his clothes put away, there had just been... adjusting.

“I have been here a little over three weeks. Have you had a chance to look around properly yet? If not I would be happy to show you where everything is.”

"I have a map." He didn't want to bother Sebastian, especially when he'd been so nice already. "I don't... I don't walk very fast. There's time before classes start. I can find things. Thank you, though."

Oh. Reaching into his pocket, Tomer took out the packet of cookies and held it out with a shy smile. "Want one?"

[Sebastian Bolstad]

Tomer's own politeness and quiet willingness to talk was reassuring to Sebastian and helped put him a little more at ease. Even though the boy was younger, smaller and clearly less physically able than him, Seb knew that he was still a freak and was therefore capable of doing things no human should ever be able to do. He had been taught that the abilities brought a sense of evil with them, making even good people turn into vile echoes of what they once were. At least it seemed like they hadn't warped Tomer yet. There was always time, of course, but for now his mannerisms took the edge off of Sebastian's guard.

Nodding his agreement, Seb cast blue eyes over the pond where the fish swam by the edge, clearly awaiting any future morsels that might be tossed into the water. “It is; there are so few places here where you can just relax and not have to worry as much.” Of course the pond was open to anyone and Seb really felt no safer here than he did anywhere else in the vast school, but the soft sounds of the water and the almost hypnotic movements of the fish did provide some form of distraction from the reality that surrounded them.

“Sometimes it is nice to be able to sit and not think. It is sometimes difficult here, but not impossible.” That ability was one that Sebastian now realised he had taken for granted before. In his family it was sometimes a little difficult to be able to distance oneself from the harshness of the world around them, but he found his peace via the library, book stores and the animals that he loved. It was much more difficult here now that he was constantly surrounded by abominations everywhere he turned, but his gerbils gave him some comfort and the pond was often quiet enough that he could escape to there for awhile when inside got too intense for his liking.

It was easy to understand why Tomer could not walk particularly fast, but Sebastian thought he could understand why the boy might not want someone pacing along beside him. He assumed he would be much the same were their roles reversed; he wouldn't want the pressure of feeling like he was slowing someone else down – or indeed that he might then owe a favour to one of the other freaks in here. “Should you change your mind at any point. I would be happy to assist you. It would really be no trouble.”

That was part manners and part honesty – it was Seb's duty as a good human being to offer his assistance, but he also found that he wanted to offer it anyway. Not because of Tomer's obvious disability, but because he seemed to be a good person himself despite his meta-human status and Sebastian was slowly becoming exhausted with fearing everyone. Perhaps this would come back to bite him, but for the moment he was somewhat willing to take that risk.

When the cookies were produced a momentary look of worry crossed Sebastian's face before he managed to calm it. Helping another freak who seemed like he might need it at some point was a line he was becoming willing to toe. However, he still had no desire to pollute his own body more than it already had been. “Thank you for the offer, but... I shouldn't, I'm afraid. I'm on a rather strict diet.”

Hopefully Tomer wouldn't question too hard why a boy as slender as Sebastian would be on any form of diet.

[Tomer Berelowitz]

“It is; there are so few places here where you can just relax and not have to worry as much.”

"Outside your room, anyway," Tomer said. That said, too long in his room made him feel weird. Not isolated, that wasn't possible with the noise from his roommates and the other boys in the dorm, but being alone in his room seemed to emphasize to Tomer that it wasn't his bedroom, that it was Somewhere Else, a place where being-in-public rules always applied, a place Tomer didn't think he'd ever feel completely relaxed. Still, in his room with the door locked was the only time Tomer could take off all his braces and lay in bed, trying to feel normal, but it was still nervous business and didn't feel very private.

“Sometimes it is nice to be able to sit and not think. It is sometimes difficult here, but not impossible.”

"That's good." Tomer squinted at the pond, suddenly thinking of something. "I wonder if you can see the fish through the ice in winter."

“Should you change your mind at any point. I would be happy to assist you. It would really be no trouble.”

That was both very nice and sounded... a little... like a butler on TV? Automated? Curious. Still, Tomer blushed a little. "Thank you."

He looked at Sebastian for a moment and yeah, the kid looked human enough. Was discomfort making him talk that way, or was this how he sounded all the time? Far be it for Tomer to question politeness, but he hoped Sebastian wasn't doing it out of either pity or nervousness. As one who knew what anxiety looked like, the blond looked relaxed enough, and hadn't ended the conversation. Tomer thought he ought to stop looking his gift horse in the mouth.

“Thank you for the offer, but... I shouldn't, I'm afraid. I'm on a rather strict diet.”

"Oh? I'm sorry." Tomer didn't know which diet Sebastian was referring to, but knew kids at his school who were diabetic or had celiac disease, and he tucked the cookies away quickly. It was never fun for those kids to be reminded of things they couldn't eat, and he felt bad for maybe doing that to Sebastian.

Hoping to smooth over it, he asked, "Where are you from? I'm from New York City."

[Sebastian Bolstad]

“That is true.” Sebastian gave a small nod of his head as the boy stated about the quietness in their own rooms, but he didn't quite agree with him. In the past few weeks his room had begun to feel a little less intimidating and daunting, helped massively by the constant presence of his gerbils, but it still wasn't (and likely never would be) a place where he could actually relax.

The door and walls of the rooms were thin and it took little effort to be able to hear the other boys he shared the dormitory with, and though he had been faced with no troubles so far it was difficult for the blonde to be completely comfortable when he knew there were so many abominations in such close proximity to him whilst he was trying to sleep.

Seb's blue eyes flicked to the pond as Tomer pondered out loud, and a small smile creased the corners of his lips. “I do not know. I have never been to a pond in winter, but I should like to find out some time.” Sebastian had always tended to prefer the coolness of winter, and he imagined just how quiet it would be out here when everyone else was inside trying to escape the chill. He thought he could see himself spending most of his free time out here once the leaves began to fall.

“I do not know if fish could survive easily in a pond while it was frozen.” Sebastian considered himself fairly well read on many topics, but the care of koi carp was an unfamiliar topic to him.

Seeing Tomer quickly putting away the cookie, Seb gave a small shake of his head. “Oh, no. Please don't feel the need to hide them on my behalf. I feel no hunger for them, it's okay.” That was true at least; having never had cookies or any other kind of processed sugar-laden junk food Sebastian did not feel like he was missing out on anything.

“I am from Door County, in Wisconsin.” He twirled a strand of hair around a finger idly. “I have never been to New York City but I hear it is a very interesting place. In the pictures I have seen it always seems very... crowded and busy.”

[Tomer Berelowitz]

"They must be fine, or they'd have to put in new fish every spring," he said. And... probably clean out all the dead ones too. Ew. Something that potentially traumatic would not likely fly at Hammel, so Tomer guessed the fish were okay, if perhaps a little unhealthy from all the things people fed them. Tomer didn't feel guilty though. He figured being around several hundred meta kids earned them some treats. Besides, he wasn't dumb. There were probably a lot of things tossed into the pond that weren't food.

“Oh, no. Please don't feel the need to hide them on my behalf. I feel no hunger for them, it's okay.”

"Oh... I'm not... hiding them." Tomer blushed a little. "It's just rude to keep them out if you can't have any. I've already had some."

“I am from Door County, in Wisconsin. I have never been to New York City but I hear it is a very interesting place. In the pictures I have seen it always seems very... crowded and busy.”

"It is crowded and busy," Tomer said, "but there's every kind of food you could think of and a lot to do. Museums and libraries and zoos. But it's hard to be a kid. You have to be really careful and you can't go out alone. I know there's places kids can just go outside and... ride bikes or whatever, but not in New York City."

It was one of the things his parents regretted about the city, how the kids had to stay in the apartment a great deal and had to have so much supervision when they left. Now that Abby was sixteen she was allowed to walk to school with her friends and run down the block to pick up a gallon of milk, but she still had to carry pepper spray and Mom had insisted on self defense classes. And of course she could only run errands when it was crowded. Tomer's mom believed the more people around to witness a crime, the better.

"I've never been to Wisconsin," he said. "I've been to Pittsburgh though. My grandparents live there."

Pittsburgh was as far west (and, incidentally, south) as Tomer had ever gotten. His family didn't have a lot of extra money once bills and college funds had been seen to, and since both parents worked, vacations had been more about spending time together.

"Is Wisconsin very different from here?" Most what Tomer knew about Wisconsin involved cheese, beer, and the Green Bay Packers. He guessed it was the same as how people not from New York City knew it had crowds, noise, and crime. (...And Broadway.)

[Sebastian Bolstad]

Sebastian gave a small smile and nodded. “That is true. I meant perhaps they take them to somewhere else, where the water does not freeze. I should imagine it would be quite difficult for them to survive under thick ice.” He supposed it must be a rather tough life, being a fish at Hammel. He often brought them treats to eat, but he wondered what other people threw into the water, or what evil acts they carried out on the poor unsuspecting fish. How many of them had suffered at the hands of students testing out their powers on them?

Giving a small shudder, the blonde looked away from the pond.

The polite smile did not leave his lips at the boys blush, and he indicated with a hand towards where the cookies had disappeared. “I do not mind, honestly. I... have never had one before, so I do not feel any longing for them.” The admission seemed a little silly coming from his lips. Even though Sebastian could not understand why anyone would want to eat such a thing, he was very quickly coming to realise that he and his family was one of exceedingly few groups of people who thought that way. Maybe that helped to explain why the powers were so prevalent here. “Please do not feel rude about this on my behalf.”

Sebastian listened attentively as Tomer spoke about New York, giving a small nod of his head. “It does sound difficult. I do not think I would like to be in that kind of place, where you could not feel safe walking outside your home. That must have been very difficult for you.” He thought for a moment, and then added “Though I do dream of one day being able to visit the public library. I would very much like you to tell me about that one day, if you would not mind.”

Thinking about home brought a deep stab of homesickness to Sebastian's stomach, and he was quiet and staring at the clouds for a long moment before he could bring himself to speak without a shake in his voice. “I did not see much of Wisconsin outside my city. My parents and I never travelled very much. Door County, where I lived, is like a finger of land sticking out into Lake Michigan. Sturgeon Bay, my town, is such a pretty place all year, small and quiet and beautifully green... I miss it terribly.”

[Tomer Berelowitz]

Tomer had to wonder. The things the koi had been around during, the things they'd seen. Science said goldfish had longer memories than people thought, up to three years. Koi had bigger brains, who knew how long they remembered things?

“I do not mind, honestly. I... have never had one before, so I do not feel any longing for them.”

"Never? Really?" Tomer was thinking celiac rather than diabetes now, and felt bad for the guy. The Berelowitzes tried to eat healthy, lots of vegetables and whole grains, but did not deny themselves treats. Still, that's what packs of cookies like that were, treats. Eaten sparingly, savored. Or kept around as a possible reward for helping the newly disabled.

“Please do not feel rude about this on my behalf.”

"Oh. Uh. Well, it's just the nice thing to do."

After Sebastian spoke, Tomer clarified, "It's not difficult if it's what you're used to."

Which he was. At this point it was a little weird for Tomer to do things like this, just going outside without an adult and walk around. Sure he was on the Hammel campus, but it felt very odd to be alone. A little scary, even though he knew small town Vermont was in no way like New York City, and a little intoxicating, doing something he knew only adults could do.

And then his eyebrows rose. "You've never been to a library?"

Tomer had gone once a week and loaded up his schoolbag till he thought the seams would split under the strain. His face broke into a smile at the thought of one of his favorite places in the world. "It's books and books and books. Not all the books you'd ever want to read, but a lot of them. And all for free. I love the library." He blinked. "Hammel has a library, have you been there? I haven't. Yet."

A thought occurred to him. Just because Sebastian wanted to see a library didn't mean - "Do you like reading? I do."

When asked about his home, the blond got so still and quiet that Tomer was afraid for a minute he might cry. He wasn't homesick, not yet, and feared the time he would become so. It was not going to be pretty. Wisconsin wasn't as far away as some of the kids had come from, but it was still half across the country. Tomer regretted asking, but he couldn't have known Sebastian missed his home this much.

"You'll go back one day," Tomer said, trying to be comforting. "And... you're getting to see a whole new place. It's kind of an adventure. It might not feel like it, but we're both doing something not a lot of people do."

[Sebastian Bolstad]

Sebastian gave a small shake of his head, expression gently placid. “No, I never have. Nor ice cream, or chips.” Seb was quickly learning that he was one of an exceptionally small group of students that kept to a strict diet, and it was adding to his mounting feeling of isolation. Whilst a part of him knew that he would be something of an odd one out in this circus of freaks, he had thought there might be a few others who shared his sensibilities. That was proving to be very much not the case, and he was growing irritable with picking at grilled chicken and salad while the others devoured their pizza and burgers and pasta. The teenage boy was slowly growing curious and restless.

Giving Tomer a polite smile, Seb nodded his head even though he couldn't quite understand Tomer's position. Seb had gone from one small town to another so being outside alone was quite normal to him, although being actually alone away from his family was still proving to be very difficult for the blonde. He couldn't quite imagine being as penned in as Tomer seemed to have been, though he perhaps felt a similar way sometimes when he was in his dorm room alone at night.

A soft laugh left Sebastian's lips at Tomer's question and he nodded slightly. “I have been to a library, but only the small one near my home. I feel that would not fill a single room in the New York public library.” He thought fondly of the small library he used to visit back home, where he could fairly often be found in the non-fiction section reading just about anything he could get his hands on. “I have been to the library here, yes. It has an exceptional reference section.” As did most school libraries, Sebastian assumed. It was just a shame so much of the valuable shelf space was taken up with the tacky nonsense novels that so many of the other students seemed to enjoy reading. “Reading is one of my favourite pleasures. I enjoy it greatly.”

When thinking about the home he'd been forced to leave behind Sebastian himself was worried for a moment that he might cry. He had shed many tears already but they had all be in the safety of his room, where there was no one to mock or pity him. He was quickly getting better at fighting them back in public. Sebastian gave a tired smile at the comforting words, and though he knew that he would never get to go back home he gave a nod of his head. “You are right, of course. I should enjoy this while I can; how many other children would love to have this kind of experience?” As far as Sebastian was concerned, they would be more than welcome to it.

[Tomer Berelowitz]

“No, I never have. Nor ice cream, or chips.”

It took Tomer a moment to process that, because he was still of the mind Sebastian had food allergies and couldn't think of one that encompassed gluten, dairy, and... potatoes? And then it hit him that the blond probably didn't have a disease so much as a very strict diet. Which was both much more impressive and kind of frightening. If he didn't eat any processed food... he was probably half starving. It wasn't any of Tomer's business, of course, but a little worry showed on his face. Sebastian was a really nice kid. Tomer didn't want him to be hungry on top of being homesick.

When the older boy spoke of libraries and that he liked reading, Tomer's face split into a smile that lacked a great deal of its previous shyness. "I love reading and libraries too! I was sad I couldn't bring all my favorite books, but my parents got me a tablet and I can read them on there.

“You are right, of course. I should enjoy this while I can; how many other children would love to have this kind of experience?”

Far be it for Tomer to question a kid he'd just met, but Sebastian sounded... insincere. Even said with the blond's usual good manners and quiet voice... Tomer thought it had a sort of... sarcasm to it? He didn't know, but he wasn't going to say anything about it.

About to ask what books Sebastian liked to read, Tomer jumped a little when his cell went off. The Imperial March.

Mom.

He was not going to take that call in public. Tomer let it ring to voicemail and texted her, 'Call you back in ten.'

Looking over at Sebastian, he smiled apologetically. "It was really nice meeting you, but I have to call someone back." Tomer smiled, feeling more friendly towards the older boy than he normally did with people he'd only had small talk with. "Hope I run into you again!"

Getting up with slightly more grace than a controlled stagger, he made his way back to the dorms, which, he reflected, really ought to be soundproofed for calls from moms.

Or maybe just his.