The cafeteria was pretty crowded and surprisingly the meat line was shorter than the vegetarian line. Which in a weird way made sense, there were more herbivores than carnivores, right? Milo wondered if that was a sticking point between Stripes and Max when eating out. He eyed the two lines and Dare nudged him towards the meat line. "Pigs are omnivores, right? Shorter line, man."
"Not a pig!" Well he might be. But boar just sounded way cooler. Maybe he could figure out what variety soon. Something cool sounding, wasn't there one called a razorback? That sounded more badass than pig. Still Milo followed him into the meat line. "So, you think they have just normal animals they eat?" He heard a laugh come from up the line from one of the upperclassmen, but no answer was forthcoming.
"I mean, it has to be that. Right?" Even Dare sounded a bit curious as he eyed the selection. "Oh, those are bacon burgers, you'll want to avoid those." He said teasingly as he reached out for one, looked at Milo, then took just a cheeseburger without bacon. Milo played it safe and took a chicken salad sandwich from one of the cold options.
"Man, I'll miss bacon." Milo muttered as he rubbed his jaw. It wasn't sore exactly, but it did feel weird, like it was too big for the rest of his head. They headed through the rest of the line grabbing some sides and drinks, swiped their way through the cashier and hunted down a table. They found one just as it was being vacated and Milo ran over to grab it.
"Damn it, I thought I lucked out." Came an unfamiliar voice as Dare caught up and plopped down in a seat. Milo looked up at an unfamiliar but not completely unfamiliar face. One of the other freshmen. "Mind if I squeeze in? There's like no spots and my roommate already ditched me to chase some girl we ran into."
Milo looked at Dare, who shrugged, so he gestured at the empty chair. "Sure thing."
"Sweet, man. Lifesaver." He dropped down in the chair, setting his own burger laden tray down in front of him. "Some day, huh? I'm Ollie." He said holding out his hand. He had a distinctly southern accent, and was slim, though he looked like he might be a runner, with floppy black hair and yellow eyes?
"What's with your eyes? Oh.. is that?" Milo asked, not even thinking that might be an offensive question.
"Oh! Yeah, happened about an hour ago. Check it out." He leaned in and pulled down his lower eye lid so Milo could get a better look. The pupils were strange and sort of hourglass shaped, though on their sides. "Trippy, huh? One guy I met said that means I'm becoming some sort of goat or sheep. I'm totally gonna be a satyr, dude. Wine and toga parties!" He laughed. Milo cast a dubious look at the burger in front of Ollie. "Bean burger." He said, lifting the top to show the mottled brown patty.
Dare finally chimed in. "Sheep, huh? You two can be barnyard buddies. Milo here's turning into a pig."
"Really?" Ollie sounded more curious than weirded out, so Milo opened his mouth to show off his nascent tusks. "Oh, that's cool. I once saw a wild hog knock over an ATV by headbutting it, do not fuck with them, man. They are monsters. We're gonna be friends, all right."
Milo grinned at Ollie, he kind of liked this guy. "Don't worry. Dare's gonna join us in the barnyard. Since you know he's gonna be a donkey, because he's an ass." Dare just stuck out his tongue at Milo and went back to his burger.
"So, what do you think of all this? Leaving our families out of our lives for four months, maybe forever? Staying here? I dunno man. Fun as it sounds, I'm not sure." Ollie twirled a French fry then bit into it.
"Nothing to leave behind." Milo said softly, causing Dare to stop chewing and Ollie to give him a weird look. "My parents died in a car crash when I was ten. Hopped through some foster homes, but mostly state homes which are basically just orphanages with less depressing names. School's basically paying for me to be here though, so it's not all bad. Free ride." He said, trying to lighten the mood.
Dare was having trouble meeting his eyes and Ollie was giving him the look. He hated that look. Pitying. He didn't need pity, he needed friends. "Hey, listen. It's no big deal. If I wasn't cool with it I would have made some shit up. Not like you could check on it here." Milo grinned.
"Totally!" Ollie chimed up, catching Milo trying to liven the mood. "Hey, if you want to hang out, I'm in 215, drop by anytime. I have a feeling my roommate isn't gonna be around much."
"Hey, we're in 315, right over you, just bang on the ceiling if you want company." Ollie snapped his fingers and pointed at Milo. "Barnyard buddies." Oh no, that was going to be a thing, Milo thought to himself, giving Dare a look for making up that little name. "We'll start a club."
Milo watched Ollie eating for a moment, wondering. The guy seemed pretty open about things and was showing off his changes. "Hey. Um. Maybe you could help me with this project idea. I was thinking of doing a picture a day thing of my own changes. Maybe two if they go fast. Sort of a project for my photography class? Anyway, I'd like a few others to add to it, I'll even give you copies of all the photos."
"Buy me coffee once in a while and you got a deal." Ollie said, sticking out his hand. "Nude I'm guessing?"
Milo blinked. "I mean, tasteful nude, or we could cover you up if it makes you uncomfortable?"
"Nah, been skinny dipping with my friends since I was knee high to a tadpole. It don't bother me none. Besides, it'll be a cool thing to have as a memory. We can head back to the dorms and do the first one when we're done eating." Ollie offered with a casual shrug. "But we're getting coffee on the way."
"Deal!" Milo said, grinning from ear to ear.
"You two have fun with that." Came a voice from someone Milo had almost forgotten was there. Dare was staring at him, looking... Well, Milo didn't know quite how to describe that look. Jealous was the closest he could come to. Why the hell would Dare be jealous? Soon the conversation drifted into hobbies and what video games might be over here or how they might be different. But every so often Milo caught Dare looking at him, though Dare seemed at as much of a loss as he did.