Once again his body shrugged in a fluid motion. The other was right. "Its not the main subway line goes in all four directions under the city and in a giant circle around it. Where you cant get to on your legs you can get to buy a bus... but I would never take a taxi." He said shaking his head as he came to a stop in front of a food vendor and his partner. One catered to the likes of Fabio. He nearly unleashed his tongue full of drool at the smell of the polish franks. The other a vegan vegetarian stand, catering to the health nuts running about the park.
"Sounds simple enough, I'm sure in two weeks I'll know my way around like local." He said with a dismissive hand wave he too stopped as Fabio did, taking note of why he'd stopped. With the smell of the sausage reached him, Kavi shook his head and wrinkled his nose. "I don't know how you eat the stuff," He said to Fabio, turning his sights away from the stand to look at his nearly drooling roommate.
He scoffed wiping a little drool from his mouth. “That is if you go out side.
"I go outside plenty, I'm not that sheltered." He argued, rolling his eyes at the drooling man. "But I don't want one, thank you anyways." He said, turning to the other, health based stand instead, looking over the brief menu for something he wished to order.
He followed behind the other taking a bite out of one of his hotdogs. His mouth dropped open at the others words. “Dude your kidding right?” He said “Hotdogs... hotdogs are like the best thing in the world! They are more Americana then baseball.” he took another bite chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. He held up his wiener “Dude there is nothing greater then a long manly shaped object tucked between two warm buns smothered in sauce. You are an idiot and a commi.” He said vigorously taking another bite of the hotdog and licking his lips once he swallowed.
He barked a laugh at his roomie as he received his own food from the cart, and turning around to face the other shook his head. "There is more to America than baseball and hot dogs you know, and I still have to disagree with you and your love of hot dogs." Starting down one of the paths through the scenic park, he assumed the other was following along. "I don't eat meat, but even if I did I would never eat one- Do you know how many preservatives are in those? I don't even think there is real meat in hot dogs." Shaking his head again, he plucked a fry from his basket, promptly taking a bite before turning around to look at the other.
"Pfft, not every thing is history people enjoy popular culture more so then they do history." He said looking between his hotdog and the others fries. Slyly reaching out he nagged one and slipped it on his tongue before he could swallow he nearly choked on the boys words. He slipped the piece of fry into his mouth like a dolphin eating a fish. “Never? Ever? In your whole life?” He said before taking another bite of his food. It explained his dinner choices and it made Fabios face sink. He could not image a world with out burgers, chicken, pepperoni pizza and most importantly hotdogs. “I love you like meat loves salt.”He said then looked at Kais. “Did you ever eat meat?”
He said nothing as one of his fries was plucked away, and took another for himself. "Not so much as I can remember. My parents always said they'd decided to become vegetarians shortly before I was born, so I just kind of fell into it." Carelessly shrugging, he glanced over at Fabio. "It isn't all bad, have your tried tofu? Tastes pretty good, and is much healthier than..." He shifted his gaze from the other to the hot dog. "...That..."
Fabio stopped walking pausing under the autumn foliage. His face held a look of skepticism as he studied the other. He bit back his first impulsive response about a cold day in hell and tofu but then he thought for a moment. "I will tell you what." He said picking his foot steps back up to meet the other. " You do not have to try a hotdog, but if you try some meat I will try some tofu, and for every bite of meat you eat, I will match that in tofu." He said as he finished off his first hotdog. He balled the wrapped up in his hand and tossed it into the nearest trash can.
Watching the silvery ball of foil fly past, and land squarely into the trash can, Kavi merely shrugged at the proposition. "I don't really have much of a desire to eat meat, but I'll think about it, let you know if a situation arises." Eating another fry, he offered some fries to his roommate. "They're sweet potato, actually. Pretty good, huh?" He questioned with a smirk.
Shaking his head, Fabio realized he craved some liquid. "Not really, but I suppose you add salt to any thing it taste good." He looked over noting the boys smirk. "Sorry Kavi, if you want me to eat my leafy greens or an alternative to meat you'll have to find one that I like." With that his own lips curved into a smirk and he stuck his tongue out. Fishing a napkin out of his pocket he reached out and wiped the corners of Kavi's mouth. "You know I find it funny that you are a vegetarian who eats things covered in grease, are you suppose to be a health nut? And why aren't you the size of a pigme?. I mean I thought drinking milk was cheating since it came from a cow.”
He swatted away the imposing hand attempting to wipe his mouth, and snatched the papery cloth to use in his own, without the mothering of his roommate. "A lot of what I eat is healthy, and lacking of grease, but every so often rules get bent." Balling the dirty napkin in his fist, the boy made an attempt to toss it into the nearest trash, but as it sadly bounced off of the rim and into the grass of the park, he walked over to throw it away properly. "And you are confused about milk," he started, picking up his pace to catch back up to the other. "That is vegans, they eat nothing that come from an animal. Vegetarians just stay away from the parts that are an actual piece of the animal. as for this whole 'pygmy' business you are talking about, I have no idea."
Once Kavi caught up to him he studied him in silence. He reached out touching the sides of his stomach pinching the flesh underneath his clothing. He half expected to find skin and bones instead of the soft squish. He let out a small satisfied hmph and turned to devour the last of his other hotdog. When he finished he neatly folded the wrappers into tiny squares before sticking them into his pocket to throw away later. The path seemed to naturally take them to the pond in the park. “How do you know if you don't like something if you have never tried it?” He asked finally after thinking about all that his roommate told him. Fabio smirked. “I mean you seem to say no to a lot of things, like karokee, and meat, and romance novels, and children..." He started counting on his fingers the list of things Kavi had said no to through out the week from when they first meet to orientation.
With the hands grabbing at his waist, he swatted them away as he'd done only moments previous when the other attempted to mother him, and ignored the other's proven harrumph. As the other started counting off things he disliked, he swatted those hands as well. "The only thing of those I have not tried is meat, and I stand by my opinion on each of them." Casually crossing his arms over his chest, Kavi kicked at the ground, sending a few pebbles tumbling into the pond. "Anyways, we should probably head back to the dorms soon, I'm sure orientation is almost over, and this place will be flooded with other students before too long."
It had taken Fabio a week to fall under the spell of a schedule. His morning habit of sleeping in could not however be tamed. Often he woke to the sound of the others alarm and listened to him shuffle about the room. He found it amusing that his roommate actually tried to wake him but by the second week had given up and left Fabio to his own devices. Surprisingly enough he was never late to a class and never returned to the dorm until some times after sun down tired and sweaty with his board gripped in his hand. He flopped down into his chair, turning on his laptop to finish an English paper due in two days. Lolling his head back to look at the ceiling he eventually turned his head over to look at his roommate. Fabio twisted in his chair, curling his legs onto the cushion as he pushed himself across the small space. His head landed in the area between Kavi's shoulders and his neck. He tried to peer over and see what the other was doing and instead found himself staring at his roommates computer screen. His fingers gripped the other shoulder as he was leaning forward. “You continue to surprise me, I never took you for a social media type of guy Mr. Bookworm.” He pointed at a picture. “Is that your mom?”
The completion of his Calculus assignment had already been achieved, leaving him only needing to complete the next set of assignments for his science class. However, before he had the chance to even open his book, his mind couldn't help except ponder about his family at home and the possibility of whether or not they'd made an attempt to contact him through the internet. With his books set aside, and his computer pulled up he went on the search of his e-mail inbox, which had collected a plethora of various e-mails over his first week of college. Hardly a few minutes after he'd located an e-mail that his family did indeed send, his roommate was already swooping in to see what he'd uncovered. He was on the verge of answering Fabio's first statement, his attention was drawn away by the finger directed at a photo that had been sent along with the e-mail. "My mother, no," He couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him as he shook his head lightly. "That's Aliyah, my oldest sister."
His head moved strangely between looking at the screen and the side view of Kavi's face. The girl looked so much like the one he was leaning for, he wondered if they were all clones of the same person. “How much older is she then you?” He asked Once again resting his chin on the others shoulder. “Do you have any more? I mean my age?” He wondered “If they all look like you I would not mind meeting them.” He said idly.
Ignoring the other's last comment, and the resting of his head against his shoulder, he spoke up. "Aliyah is...four years older?" Pausing for a moment to count out on his fingers, mouthing to himself as he pondered the age, Kavi finally settled on a thought and nodded." Yes, four. Then there is Fatimah who is two years older than me." Drifting back off into thought, he pursed his lips before speaking again. "And the last two are Hadil and Lamis, they are both turning eight this summer."
He unintentionally reached up and ran his fingers through the soft locks that brushed against his shoulder. He looked at the computer screen as the other explained and counted on his fingers. He wanted to see pictures of the younger ones but he didn't ask instead he said something else entirely. “When is your birthday ? We should celebrate unless you plan on going out with your friends or family.”
The question did not fit alongside the others, but he paid it no mind. "My birthday? It's in a few months, near the end of November, but I was thinking about going away that weekend." He offered a shrug, jostling his roommate's head in the process, causing for the long hair to tickle his neck. Shooing the other away, he offered a few clicks with his mouse to close his e-mail, and shut down his computer. "There is always yours if you wanted to celebrate though."
"Yeah but my birthday is always inconvenient."He pursed his lips together shaking his shaggy mane against the others shoulder. "If it isn't quite exam time we can always go out for a weekend." He grinned twisting so he could see Kavi's face. He fell into silence thinking of all the things he wanted to ask Kavi. Finally he settled on one. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Birthdays are not inconvenient, even if they were to fall around exam time," Kavi commented as he reached a hand back to brush away the hair sweeping across his shoulder. "So, I'm sure if you wanted to do something we could iron something out." Reaching off to the side, he pulled his science book closer before idly flipping through the pages, trying to find his current chapter. As the other grew silent and failed to move from his perched position, Kavi looked away from his book to see the other pondering, but before he could question Fabio beat him to the punch. "A girlfriend? Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?"
If he wanted Fabio to move he certainly did at that confession. He wasn't sure if the other was being sarcastic. Fabio leaned forward and examined Kavi. "And shes not a fictional character or an internet girlfriend?" He asked. Fabio pushed away from Kavi and sank back into his own chair, swiveling the other so he could face him. "You have a girlfriend?" He asked again this time with out the lackadaisical jest from before. He wondered how Kavi was able to get a girlfriend. What did she see in him, maybe he was not just books and brains. His jaw slowly slackened.
At the other's blatant disbelief for his response, Kavi rolled his eyes and gave the other a mildly peeved look as he reached to swat away the face trying to inspect his own. "Yes I do have a girlfriend. And she is a real person." With his chair being pivoted to face the other, he crossed his arms across his chest before he halted in front of the other. "You seem awfully shocked about this," He commented with an accusatory air.
"Well fuck yeah. I mean I didn't think you would get your head out of the books enough for social interaction." He shook his head narrowing his eyes at Kavi." You rarely like to do anything fun and if its fun its with a book. So..." his body rose and fell in single solitary shrug. "You also seem... I dunno very apathetic, you do not like many things. Hell you have never tried meat. I guess..." His hand ran through his hair. "I guess a girlfriend is kinda the b.s cherry on a Sunday. you are so strange."
Rolling his eyes again, he mirrored the other's shake of the head as he swiveled towards his desk again. "And you seem strange to me. Perhaps you are the strange one and I am the normal one," He suggested casually as he flipped a page of two before casting an idle glance to his now standing roommate before offering a shrug and turning his attention back to his textbook. "Though, you shouldn't judge people so quickly. You've known me for what? A week? Barring our first run in outside of school."
He laughed. "Sorry dude your right." He grinned "but a first impression is always the lasting one." He stretched wondering what time it was when his stomach seemingly answered for him. "If you can define normal and see that you fit into it then by all means enlighten me dude because to me there is no such thing as normal. He moved to his bed to hunt down his shoes.
"Technically, there is a definition of normal, but it does not say who or what fits into that category, so I'm afraid we're out of luck." Slipping his glasses off, Kavi set them on the desk with a light clatter before swiveling to see the other trying to track down his shoes. "By the head of the bed," He said blandly, pointing to the stray pair of sneakers before speaking again. "And do you truly not believe that normal doesn't exist, or perhaps that everyone has their own opinion on what it means, and there is no consensus?"
Fabio jumped from his chair and turned towards his roommate. “I am sure that in every culture there is a standard to which one compares themselves on a sociological level. It is what makes people then to gravitate to others. For instant a person who dresses in gothic garb might talk to other people wearing gothic garb. Within their clique they are themselves cannon for normal. It is only when put against say an indie stereotyped person, which they are against the paradigm. Truthfully it is why ideals such as racism exist and hatred because we cannot understand another’s cannon. And then there are things such as stereotypes, which are based on an idea, which in themselves have become norms of various cultures, traditions that are also considered normal. I mean believing in santa is considered normal for your psyche. “ He waved his hand in a gesture plopping down on the ground. “So again I ask what is considered normal for you? Because for me there is no such thing.”
"I follow the belief that whatever one does and perceives is their version of normal. One's awareness of normal may be similar to their ancestors, since their parent's most likely passed down their own perception of normality which was akin to their parent's and so on. Similar to what you mentioned, one's approach to their own version is most likely influenced by tradition and stereotypes and not entirely original." Plucking his glasses from the surface of his desk, he looked at the lenses for a moment before looking back to his roommate on the floor. With pursed lips and the tip of a glasses arm being lightly tapped against his lower lips, he pondered more to say. "Though...I do find it interesting that you brought up the fact that tradition and cliques are a cause for prejudice and racism, and now that I think about it further I'd have to say I agree." He pointed the arm of his glasses to Fabio before he slipping them back on in one smooth motion.
Fabio fell back among the floor boards and looked at his roommate for a long time, watching the black square frames fall to his lips. His mind stopped paying attention to what Kavi was talking about and settled for wondering how a man like him got a girl friend. He surmised it was the glasses. They added a slight feminine touch that girls like now a days. After a while he laughed. “C'est la vie.” He shrugged against the floor and rolled over pulling himself up. “so dude I have go to the library in town, ours doesn't have the books that I need for my paper do you want to come?” Beyond his roommates head he could see the beautiful autumn day just begging to be enjoyed.
Peering at his roommate for a moment, he took the time to contemplate the offer. On one hand it was a beautiful day, and heading to the library would be wonderful. On the other he wanted to finish his assignment as soon as possible, and with a trip to the library standing in his way he would be delayed in starting. Shifting his gaze to the books laid out on his desk, Kavi drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair as he speculated. Coming across a decision, he reached out to gather his textbooks before going to locate his shoes, casually commenting as he did so."I guess I could come with, a few extra books never hurt."
In one fluid motion, Fabio bounced from the floor to a standing. His next quest was to find his things nad pack up his laptop. He scampered out of the door with the other digging his hands into his pockets as soon as they hit the cool autumn air. He still felt like he was giving the other a tour since all their previous adventures to the library were by walking. This time, Fabio wanted to save time. He lead Kavi down to the subway, fishing out the amount he needed for the fare. It wasn't until they were on the train that Fabio spoke up. “Dude, I want to meet your girlfriend. I dont believe she exist.”
The silence of their trip to the depths of the subway had been pleasant, but even he knew it was going to be interrupted before the train hardly left the station. And glory behind it was, his roommate sparking a comment of their conversation he’d thought was over. Turning to glance at Fabio with a vapid look, Kavi raised a regarding eyebrow before commenting. “Maybe I will invite her up for a weekend and you can meet her and see that she really does exist.” Brushing a stray hair from his line of vision, he offered his roommate a shrug. “Don’t get your hopes up though, she is busy with school too. I make you no promises.”