Caio opens his door when she passes it. "Say what?"

"These guys-" she pulls the token out of her pocket to show him, "showed up on my desk when I wasn't looking, and I heard there's vending machines so I'm guessing that's what they are?  But I wanted to crosscheck with somebody in case."

"Yeah, that's them, I have them too."

"Okay, cool, glad it's not just me.  ...any chance you wanna make a run to the caf and try them out?"

"I should probably not spend them all, in case, but I'd go try it out once and see what I get, sure."

"Oh, for sure- I'm hanging onto one or two for later, probably, but I figure better to have something in my room in case I can't get to a meal for whatever reason?"  She shrugs.  "I'm Connie, by the way, hi."

"Caio, nice to meet you."

"Likewise."  She glances around for other potential snackers.  "...think two's enough?  It's right down the hall."

"...probably fine this early but so you're aware I will bolt like a coward if anything seems weird."

"Oh yeah same.  Long's we don't run into each other we should be good, then."  

Onward! "So uh. I'm alchemy track, you?"

"Artificing.  I've got a forces affinity, so."  She shrugs.  "Seemed like a waste otherwise."

"I mean, you could do incantations about... forces. What does that mean?"

"I mean, we haven't been to a diviner or anything, but- my best spell is one of my dad's, this invisible net?"  She mimes lifting something with both hands.  "It's finicky, because you can vary the shape and the power and stuff, but I got it down before I'd even got a handle on a really basic ward that I started first."

"Oh, cool. I don't know what my affinity is exactly, just that it's got to be something alchemical."

Connie nods.  "I hear people can usually figure it out from what their homework is- I guess probably once we get past the how to use tools and not die part, that seems like it'd be the same for everybody."

"Yeah, I'll have a lab on Tuesday before lunch and - it will tell me to make soap, or something, but in a few weeks."

"Good spot.  I've got shop then."  She sounds stupid.  Why is small talk a thing.  Can they be at the caf yet please, no wait, that'll make it longer... 

"You've been trying some alchemy stuff on your own, then?"

"Yeah. I'm not an enclaver or anything but my parents had a duplex so one of the kitchens could be turned into a lab."

"Nice.  I did some artificing with my dad but the closest thing to alchemy I've done is sixth grade chem."  Well.  Except for the one potion her mom had made very sure she learned, in the desperate rush of the last few months, but no way is she talking about that with a boy that she just met.

"My school didn't even have chem at my level. Or, not practical chem, we had to learn what it meant for things to be in solution and such."

"We got to mummify an apple by wrapping it up in salt and stuff, that was pretty cool.  Except the salt leaked out of one and no one noticed until it started rotting."

"Huh! Sounds fun."

The vending machines are easy to locate when they arrive at the cafeteria; one of them doesn't have a line, the others have one or two people waiting.

"...so it's possible there's nothing wrong with that one and people just got in line once there were enough people here there was only one with nobody at it, but I'm not in a mood to risk it."

"Yeah, waiting is harmless."

"Yep."  

The lines move pretty quickly, at least, given no one has to choose what they want- once Connie gets to the front of hers she puts in her token and gets a bag of kettle chips, crumbling with age.

"Okay, not that bad."  She shakes it.  "You hear stories, I was half expecting, like, one walnut."

Caio puts in his token and gets a packet of ramen noodles dated 1999. "...well, they might still be okay," he sighs.

"I guess... things don't age in the void, right?"  Connie offers dubiously.  "They might only be, like, functionally a couple years old?"

"And they're dry. Wouldn't really trust the spice packet though."

"Mm, yeah, that's probably got, like, oils and stuff."  She shakes her chips again.  "Come to think of it, so do these... guess I'll find out when I open them."

"Yeah, if they smell bad don't eat them, I guess. Tempting to try again but I should maybe save them for if I sleep through breakfast one day or something."

"Yeah- I wonder if things age in the vending machines?  If they do it wouldn't make a difference where you kept it, except it'd be more tempting in your room, but on the other hand then there could be stuff in there from- were they there when the school was built?  I feel like they didn't have vending machines in the 1800s?"

"The vending machine was added later but I don't know if they had them outside at that time either. Having it in your room is so you don't have to go out, if your hall has something nasty in it or whatever."

"Maybe that would explain why they don't have buttons, if they were inventing them from first principles.  Or maybe it's just so people don't stand there for twenty minutes getting jumped by mals while they go 'do I want the bottle labeled in Korean or the dubious granola bar'."

"Definitely the dubious granola bar."

"Mm... yeah, I'd probably go for that too.  Unless I could read Korean and see the date, I guess."

"I have a water condenser in my room so I'm more worried about having calories on hand than drinks."

"Oh, that's a good plan.  I brought four water jugs but I can only carry two at a time, one if I want a hand for stabbing things, so it's not really saving me trips in the long run, just in emergencies."

"I didn't actually think it was a very good use of weight but my parents insisted, one of them had a bad dehydration scare in school."

"Oof, yeah, that'd suck.  ...how much was it, if you don't mind my asking?  My jugs were a hair under eleven ounces all together."

"Nearly two kilos. But I'll be very hydrated, and I'm going to loan it out for some potions later in term."

"Nice, so it's also, uh, a reusable trade good.  Mine probably aren't going to last all the way till senior year, we tested out which brands were lightest and felt sturdiest but we didn't really have four years of daily use to go through after that, but I'm using them unevenly so I should have enough warning after the first one goes that I can find a replacement without it being urgent."

Oh no has she just admitted a weakness without needing to.  Probably it's balanced out by mentioning that she's planning ahead and intends to make clever trades?

"That's smart. I don't think a sturdy-feeling jug should break over four years? And you can try to reduce how often you use them by drinking plenty at mealtimes and whenever you wind up getting a shower or whatever."

"Well, they're only built to last from the truck to the store to the fridge, yeah?  So they could just be fine but I wouldn't want to count on it, plastic might degrade and that's if nothing steps on them trying to get to me anyway."

"Yeah. It's good you have four."

"Come to think of it, I should maybe not keep them all in a line... that might be borrowing trouble, though."  She absently goes to open her chips, but catches herself in time.  "Oh dang, that's going to be a hard habit to break, isn't it."

"Snacking? Not one of mine but I believe you."

"I mean, not like I'm gonna have to keep it in a drawer or anything!"  Connie clarifies hastily.  "Just like- here it is in my hand, I'm thinking about something else, clearly it must be for eating.  'M not used to carrying around single snackfoods not because I'm in the middle of eating them."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense. It's not like it's an awful habit, anyway, not like picking at scabs or something."

"Yeah. Or chewing pens."

"Does that attract mals?"

"Nah, but you could've put your pen down in something and now it's in your mouth.  Or I guess it could be a mimic, but you'd notice sooner'n that."

"A mimic would have to be very dedicated to the bit to let you chew on it, yeah."

"Sure would..."  She giggles, but there's a slight edge to it.  "Oh no, imagine how much it would suck if mimics, like, hibernated?"

"Thank you for that nightmare, Connie."

"Sorry."  She rubs at the back of her neck.  "I'm sure glad they're not smart or patient enough to plan that far ahead, huh."  Maybe if she says it firmly enough they won't get any ideas. Not having thought of it is a lost cause, probably thousands of people have had the same idea, but she should really have stopped herself before she shared it. 

"Eh, it has company." He looks at his packet of ramen again, weighs his remaining tokens in his hand. "Head back up?"