"Philip. Not Phil, just Philip," he shared this information as candidly as he had the items he was carrying. In the back of his mind, he reviewed the available exits: a stairwell that he could gain access to with a bit of a dash and turn into just the right angle that might allow him to squeeze between the barrier of broad shoulders and wall, an elevator that was an ideal distance but moved too slowly once he was inside, a fire escape that would take the longest time to reach only to offer a precarious climb for the effort. But he was satisfied with those options. He had made due in far less optimal circumstances. "Do they really teach you budgets in Home Ec?" Philip asked with a glance back because he had turned at some point to draw closer to the apartment he'd taken up shelter in, the space separating Samuel from him always carefully measured and maintained. The question was posed with genuine interest evident in the inquisitive gleam of moss-green eyes, not the feigned response composed for the sake of polite conversation. "I didn't dare take it. You know how when you're the new kid and it feels like everyone's staring at you and whispering, ready to judge you for how you look or how you did something differently than they do, and it doesn't really matter if they really are or not because all you can feel is that weight of their observations. I was the perpetual new kid. I thought Home Ec was cooking and sewing, and I'd end up getting teased. I took shop instead."
His head had remained angled to peer over the slope of his shoulders, keeping the elder man in view. Philip had grown distracted by the movement of the other's hands as he had fallen into the easy rhythm of natural speech, watching the subtle movement of steady fingers sliding over the glinting surface of a key. He didn't have one of those, but that wasn't why he watched. There was something hypnotic in the way light reflected off the sharper edges of cut metal, and the strength conveyed in the simple flex of a pressed thumb that temporarily held his fascination. "What about you?" He asked, his gaze rising to meet the similar features on the mirroring face. "Have you been here long? Do you like it? How are the neighbours?" Once again Philip offered a trusting, boyish smile as though he fully subscribed to the sway of this stranger's opinion.