It took more convincing than it should have, but Aiden had managed to talk Damien into buying real food after telling him that a bag of chips and a package of string cheese wasn’t cutting it. As much as a convenience store salad could be counted as real, that is. He rang him up and told him he’d see him in an hour once he finished his shift, then went back to work. He was glad Damien would be able to help Mr. K out with the shipment. Something told him his new neighbor hadn’t brought much cash when he ran away from home.

They met up outside of the shop, on the corner under the streetlamp, after Aiden’s shift had finished. The artist had grabbed an energy drink on the way out since he was about ready to crash but knew he’d need to stay up to work on his projects. He handed Damien a canned coffee the newcomer had been eying but put back several times; it had been pretty obvious he wanted it. They started walking down the street toward the small park nearby.

It wasn’t anything magnificent, merely a few swings, a slide, and some jungle gym equipment, but it had a nice grassy space with trees that made it an excellent picnic spot and place to read as so many of the locals often did during the slower days of their semesters.

“Getting settled in okay?” Aiden asked as he popped the top of his energy drink.

“I think so! I’m mostly just trying to figure out next steps, what to do with myself now that I’m here but I’m not in any rush,” Damien replied.

“There are some nice places to work around here, and I bet you could snag a job at the record store if you wanted. They aren’t super busy but I’m sure they’d like to have someone with a flexible schedule. That’s the hard part about being a college town, everyone is on weird schedules so finding employees that can go with the flow isn’t easy.”

“Good point.”

They walked onto the grassy patch of land that looked so out of place in the middle of a ton of businesses and headed to the swings. Unsurprisingly, it was empty at this time of night so they managed to nab both of the seats. Aiden pushed himself slightly, holding the chain with one arm while he drank his fruity beverage with the other while his legs swayed.

“It’s so quiet,” Damien mentioned.

“Yeah, it’s honestly kind of nice. There are parts of the town that get pretty busy, especially on the weekends, but life moves slow here. I guess it also helps when the population is split fifty-fifty between business folks who commute to the city for work and artists; we’re all too exhausted or too focused on projects to really cause much of a ruckus,” Aiden replied as he took another sip. “Are you from a big city?”

“Uh,” Damien thought for a second, “Yes? I suppose. It can feel endless, I guess. It’s loud, there are a lot of bodies and noise. Feels like someone’s always screaming.”

Aiden looked at him. Wonder if he’s from a rough town, he thought.

“I like it here. It’s only been a few days but I’m way less stressed. How do you think I should ask the record store for a job?” Damien asked.

“Bring them your resume and ask if they’re hiring?”

“I don’t have one of those.”

“Have you had a job before?”

“I guess?”

Aiden blinked a few times. He’s such a himbo, I’m so doomed. No, stop! Stop crushing on the hot alt himbo in the sexy goth pants! He looked up at the sky. A plane soared by, dotting the somewhat cloudy air with blinking lights.

“Okay so we’ll need to work on that. Unless you have a lot of savings you’re going to blow through your funds fast so you probably should find some work. Mr. K will pay you but he doesn’t always have jobs to do so you can’t really rely on it,” Aiden said.

“Thank you for helping me. I’m not good at… what did you call it… adulting.”

“Nobody’s good at it, that’s why it has a cutesy nickname. It’s to dull the pain of how horrible it is to try and function as an adult.”

“That’s… dark.”

“Well…” Aiden kicked his feet. “I am known to be a grump so that’s something you’ll have to get used to if we hang out. I try not to be but I am a pessimist at heart. A realist, I guess.”

“No, I can see that—not that you’re a grump! I mean that you’re focused on life and all of the stuff that comes with it. You seem to have things somewhat together, you know what you want, you have your art and a dream lined up. You’re ahead of me by miles.”

“Everyone moves at different paces, no need to rush. Like you said, you’re starting over. This is all new—” Aiden gestured to the park—“even this park is new for you, so why not enjoy it? Find new favorite places, new skills, new hobbies. Save up to buy a record player. So long as you can afford decent meals and don’t wither away by living solely off granola bars, I think you’re doing just fine… And if you need help, you can knock. I buy ramen in bulk.”

“And ramen is better than granola bars?”

“You haven’t had my ramen.”

Both of them laughed. Damien joined Aiden by kicking his feet a tad and letting gravity take over. His shaggy black and pink locks bounced as he swung back and forth, happily clutching the coffee can like his life depended on it. Aiden watched as a smile grew along Damien’s face, those sharp incisors poked out over his bottom lip as he gnawed on the black piercing. The artist laughed and gave himself a big push, and the two of them spent a while defying gravity as the cool night air swept over the town. Something told Aiden they’d be spending a lot of time here.