The Benefits of Head Trauma

Who: Leija and Porter
Where: around the school halls
When: lunch

Porter was starting to wonder about people. The ghosts hadn't left, he'd seen two distinctive forms on his way to school, but people here seemed to be adapting. They seemed to be getting used to it. Which was weird. It made him wonder if he could come to school in his mask and people would eventually stop caring. And while they might, he knew that the adjustment period would be filled with torment for him. So that plan was out, as he didn't really feel like getting shoved in a locker or pantsed during gym class. Really, it was almost like the students took solace in those sorts of things to help them forget just how strange and fucked the town around them was becoming. But as long as they didn't take their relief out on him? He could deal.

It was lunch time, and that mostly meant people were distracted with their food or their gripes about the start of a fresh week of school. Mostly. He'd put up with a few passing jibes as he sat with his laptop open in the hallway, headphones on. Porter couldn't quite hear what was being said, but he could guess. At least he didn't really care much, not after everything with Medea recently. And even beyond her, he was... he was doing okay. Making friends. One of whom he was waiting on after a late-night text had told her to meet him over here. Porter wasn't watching for Leija, though, instead raptly focused on his laptop screen as a movie played. He didn't want to look desperate, or give any impressions about why his lunch sat next to him, mostly untouched. He was just... waiting. Hoping.

Leija hadn't honestly felt much better since her talk with Chance in the graveyard. When it came to depression, solidarity didn't do a whole hell of a lot to make anything better. She felt for him, hoped shit got better, but ... well, it didn't close any gaps, that was one way to put it. She's slept away a lot of the weekend, burying herself in the pillows and blankets like they could swallow her up and muffle all of her shit. It worked for the most part. She'd had hours of not thinking about everything, at least, and that was always a blessing.

Porter's text had come as a surprise, but kind of a pleasant one. They'd agreed to meet, just to chat or whatever and so she could give him some music to listen to. She'd spent most of the rest of Sunday night picking through CDs until she found the better ones, and tucked them into her backpack. As soon as she got out for lunch she headed toward the part of the hallway that he'd said he would be. She smiled a little as she spotted him, sitting wit hhis laptop and looking absorbed. Tossing her red braid back over her shoulder, she helped herself to the space next to him, waiting for the absence of headphones.

The act of settling next to him definitely snapped into Porter's awareness despite his onscreen entertainment. Clicking the movie to a pause, he slid his headphones back and grinned over at Leija in surprise. "Hey," Porter greeted, reaching down to offer a little tupperware of celery bits with a dollop of peanut butter, "Hungry? I always end up with like three times more food than I need." And he usually tossed most of it away so his parents wouldn't think he had an eating disorder. Really he just... wasn't ever all that hungry.

She took it without hesitation, even though she had a small lunchbag in her backpack. Other people's food was just more appetizing sometimes. Maybe it was the variety. She chuckled over at him as she opened it up. "That's what happens when you've got June Cleaver for a mom," she said, elbowing him lightly as she plucked up a celery stick and swiped up some peanut butter with it. "Thanks, though. What're you watching?" Leija asked, nodding to the paused scene on his computer screen. She couldn't tell just from where it had stopped.

Laughing in quiet denial as he shook his head, Porter snagged a bit of celery as well, idly nibbling one end. "Just started up 'G-Men From Hell', which is ridiculous," he informed her with a smirk, focus flicking between the screen and Leija before Porter minimized the window. "You know I'm gonna have to sneak you into my place when my mom's sane again, just so you can see the difference, right?" Which wasn't to say she was a bad mother most of the time, she'd just been compensating lately. "Might backfire and snap her back into this behavior, though," Porter mused, shrugging a little. "How's your return to the hell of higher learning going today?"

"You need some spycams or something, to catch her doing ... not Leave It To Beaver stuff," she said, mildly amused that he denied it at all. For all she knew, he was completely truthful and the woman was awful, but it was cute anyway. "Though you might find some mentally-scarring stuff you never wanted to know. ... it's going," she said, shrugging a shoulder. It was halfway over, at least. Leija munched on another celery stick and pulled her backpack around to dig around in it and hand over a stack of CD cases. "I just picked out a variety," she said, giving a little smile that was halfway apologetic. There was a lot of Radiohead in there, some Theivery Corporation, Rasputina, and a smattering of other strange, lesser-known bands.

"Ugh, pass on the cameras. No desire to see her and Carter," Porter agreed, face scrunching in distaste. He'd already had problems with his stepdad lately, the last thing he needed was visual evidence of how directly he'd taken his father's place. "Well, it's the halfway point," he offered in confirmation of Leija's thoughts, shrugging in kind. "I've still got geometry to suffer through, but that's the worst the day has left," he said, taking the CDs and turning them sideways to glance through the titles. "Oh badass," he murmured at the few he recognized, grinning over to Leija a moment later, "Variety is good! Think I've heard a few of these, but I don't have any of them on ol' Faithful here." He patted his laptop with a little grin, popping open the disc drive and plucking out the first CD from the stack. "Oh, that reminds me! You have a computer at home?" he asked, closing the drive and quickly digging in his backpack, then handing her a blank CD in a case. "It's an mp3 disc? Won't play in a normal stereo, but there's like... ten albums on there you can rip. Threw that Killers on for you."

Leija smiled at his reaction to the CD cases. At least he approved right off, that was good. He'd probably find some in there to like. She hoped so, anyway, she liked to spread her favorite music around. And Porter had a cute grin, so that was just an extra bonus. "Yeah, I've got a laptop," she answered with a little snicker at 'ol' Faithful', and took the offered disc. "Sweet, thanks," Leija said genuinely as she tucked it safely away again. She didn't ask about what else was on there; it would be fun to be surprised once she got it home. And any sort of tiny fun was a good thing. "So, okay, I have to ask ... G-Men From Hell?" She grinned at him and arched an eyebrow.

She got a rich laugh from Porter with the question alone, though it quickly faded as he realized people passing by were staring his way. Cheeks coloring faintly, he shook his head at himself, clicking the mouse around and starting to rip the first disc. "Short version? Indie comic about two corrupt FBI agents who get killed and sent to Hell, but they outsmart the devil and escape. So they come back to earth and open a pro-bono detective agency to try and redeem themselves. But it's all like... fifties pulp action humor. The long version's the same, except it's connected to a superhero version of Frankenstein named Madman." God he was a nerd. He knew it, too. Who else would willingly bask in a hobby like this? "I have both, if you ever want to read them," he added, shaking his head at himself again and grabbing a bottle of soda for a drink.

She listened and just silently marveled at people's imaginations. Jesus Christ, she never would've thought of FBI agents back-from-hell and doing detective work and stuff. "And they made a movie out of it?" she asked with some surprise, though there wasn't anything incredulous in it. Unless it hurt other people, she never disparaged anybody for their hobbies. What people liked was what they liked. "Sure, why not. Bring one in, I'll give it a whirl. Or whatever else you want me to read." She had nothing but time now, pretty much, so why not, right? It might give her a bit of escapism and something completely irrelevant to talk to someone about.

"Yeah, a pretty low-budget movie," Porter answered with a grin, "But they got a lot of it right, and used my favorite line." He raised both hands, fingers out like guns, training them on either side of Leija's head as Porter put on an exaggerated sneer for her. "Howzabout I make these two hug an' kiss in the middle of your head?" he quoted, losing control of the expression the moment the line was out of his mouth and devolving into a laugh. "I'll definitely have to loan you this movie at least, just so you can laugh over how cheesy it is," he decided, figuring he could picture Leija laughing in that incredulous sort of way as she watched it.

Her pale eyebrows shot up, and she immediately dissolved into giggles. It was the 'howzabout' and oh god, the cheese. Yeah, that would be something worth watching, just to crack up at it. At least Porter could laugh at it too. There were people who were fans of things, and then there were those who took it way too seriously. "I think now I have to accept," she said, still amused. Or watch it with him, because things like that were always better with company. But then he might not be down for that, or he would've offered. And She needed to not get her patheticness on people, she'd been over that already. "So what else did you want to talk to me about?" she asked him, recalling that part of his texts.

Starting to answer, Porter hesitated as the nearest door outside banged open, revealing a brief stream of students rushing in and shaking snow off of them. "Damn..." he murmured, looking out the door before it swung shut. There had been a dusting coming down since he'd gotten dropped off that morning, but now? Now it was a proper flurry, thick and obscuring as the snow poured down outside. "Didn't see much of that back home, not until December at least." Porter sighed, thankful he'd bothered to bring his heavier coat as well, and looked back to Leija. "Actually, it's almost parallel to this? Some people are thinking about getting a regular movie night thing going, I figured I'd invite the... three or so people I know. We might be doing it at my place, too, since my folks have a bigass TV. Think you'd be game?"

Leija looked over to follow his gaze, and was mildly surprised by the presence of a fuckton of snow. "Wow ... getting home is gonna be fun," she muttered, then returned her attention to him. With an expression that was just a little bit surprised. She was being invited to ... a thing? Like a for-real event? Sure, she'd been roped into a party or two, but this didn't sound like one of those types of things. It sounded more personal. "Sure, yeah, definitely," she said, realizing that she hadn't actually answered him yet. She gave a smile that was a tiny bit shy. "That'd be cool, just let me know when and everything."

"As long as we're not looking down the barrel of the next ice age?" he mused with a nod to the doors outside, "Probably this weekend or something, so my folks will actually let people hang out." He liked that surprised look Leija wore, it matched his own thoughts on the fact that he was putting in the effort to begin with. Which, Porter supposed, he owed to Medea. She definitely gave him the confidence to ask, and apparently other people needed it. Leija saw herself on the fringes, the same as him, so why not try to get both of them into a more solid circle of friends? Why not the same network of people? "We'll just need to figure out what we're watching. Like... everyone bring a movie, we'll put them in a pillow case and pick two."

"I can handle that, I think," she said, still wearing the little smile. "I'm not sure if I'll have anything everybody hasn't seen before, but I'll bring some." She really wasn't a huge movie-watcher. It was fun to do around other people, and with ... guys and stuff, but if she had time just to herself, she was usually reading. Reading just wasn't something that more than one person at a time could enjoy. But really, how often was she hanging out with other people? ... besides this coming weekend, apparently. "I'll definitely show, though, if only to mooch off of the good taste of others."

Porter smiled wider at her, hoping to draw out a more earnest grin from Leija in kind as he nodded in encouragement. "Bring whatever," he assured her, "If it's something we've all seen? We can all make fun of it." He wasn't one of those people who had to watch a movie in total seriousness, or at least not the sorts of movies he figured would come up on the planned night. And really, Porter figured everyone in this town could use a little laughter, himself included. "Anyone you want to invite? I know literally four people in town, and I bet two of them won't come."

She was grinning a bit more genuinely at the idea of bringing something that would be fun to mock, but the offer at the end kind of dampened it a bit. She rallied pretty fast, calling on that talent she had in her old life for covering stuff up and shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe somebody," she said, thinking of Peyton. Who was pretty much the only friend she had left. Or Dylan. Though she didn't want to really encourage the crush he had on her, so that might be iffy to pull off. She would probably end up going alone, though. "Not the biggest social butterfly either, so. I'll let you know if it comes up, I guess."

He was hoping, in spite of Leija's personal disclaimer. In a worst-case scenario, it'd be him, Medea, Leija, and this Kavin guy he'd heard about. And it'd still be fun no matter what, but Porter wanted to try for some change that wasn't based on his power or his cash, to just... try and be a normal kid. Make some friends, even. "Either way, it's cool. We'll get some pizza or something, and I can give you a lift home so your parents won't even need to meet mine. Ever seen parents do that thing? Meet their kids' friends' folks? It's terrifying."

Leija laughed and shook her head. "Uh, no, not really. Though I can totally see it being awkward. It was weird to watch my, uh ... then-boyfriend meet my dad," she said, grin fading just a touch. Which she'd totally done to herself, and she mentally shook off the memory of how good Thom had been at that. And pretty much everything else. God, so pathetic. She scratched between her eyebrows with one thumbnail briefly as she drew her knees up. "Sounds good, though, pizza and movies and a ride. Doubt he'd be keen on me walking around if the weather's even half this bad."

"Yeah, is this, like, standard?" Porter asked, brow knotting a moment later as he remembered Leija saying she was pretty new to town as well. "Nevermind. I think it actually is, really. Stuff online just keeps talking about record snowfalls every year? I didn't think it'd hit so soon, though." He really needed to get his own car, and fast. Maybe a jeep or something, some kind of vehicle that could handle the weather. "Is it ever easy having your folks meet someone you're dating? Mine... they haven't handled it well ever." Given how he knew Carter viewed Medea, yeah... 'not well' was an understatement.

She gave an uncomfortable sort of shrug and rubbed at the corner of one eye. She had tics with touching her face when she was vaguely nervous, she really needed to stop that. Leija crossed her arms over her knees and tucked her hands under them. There. "I dunno, probably not. I've only ... dated the once, so." And because weather was a better topic, she twisted her neck to look out the door near them again. "Definitely not standard for where I'm from, but this is my first winter here. Online's probably right. We'll be up to our asses for months now."

Sighing in quiet consideration, Porter didn't like to think that was a real possibility. He knew the energy sustaining him now wouldn't last forever, and the mice he usually fed from were a delicate balance. If the town was blanketed in snow? Well, Porter wouldn't be able to count on a routine like that. "God, I knew this town was going to have more down sides," he muttered, thunking his head back into the wall. "Like, okay. No comic shops, two tiny movie theatres, whatever. I have dedicated internet, I can get by. Ghosts and monsters? Well, that's... yeah, all kinds of messed up. But I'm surviving it, y'know? But I hate winter, I'm so not a snow person. My folks just bought skis yesterday and were asking me about taking lessons with them, I just looked at them like they were two heads growing off one body."

Leija gave him an amused smirk. "So you rank lots of snow above ghosts and monsters on the Shitty Scale?" she assessed, grinning a bit at him. "Interesting perspective. But okay, fair enough. No skiing for you." She paused, and rested her cheek on her knee so she was looking at him sideways. "What brought you guys here?" she asked, curious. "If you hate winter so much, seems like a ... bad place to move to. Ghosts and monsters not withstanding." She was interested, and thought that it would probably be one of those 'not sure, just drawn here' answers that were in such an abundance.

"My stepdad got a job offer," he explained with a noncommital shrug, "He used to tutor privately? But he also does developmental education sort of stuff, so he's working with a few schools up here on their curriculums." That was her last question, though, and thankfully her first had nothing to do with Carter, it'd be much more palatable. "And for the record? I only rank snow over ghosts because I've had time to get used to the ghosts, and they don't get me sick." Grinning a little, Porter let his head roll one way to return Leija's sidelong look. "What about you? What was the draw for your dad to come here?"

"They might get you sick, though," she was quick to point out, choosing to do it backwards and go the lighter route first. "There could be some weird ghost-disease that nobody knows about yet, 'cause it's all new? And there's some time for an incubation period. So who knows, you might get ghost-herpes any day now." She flashed him a grin and mimicked the shrug he'd given her. "He wanted a new place, I guess. He teaches music at the college, he got a good job offer out here. He was ready for a change, so ... here we are." Funny how their stories were kinda similar that way. She guessed it happened to a lot of teenagers. They were still at the mercy of their parents in many ways. "I didn't much mind, I had even less of a life back in Pennsylvania." Just her aunts and cousins, but it hurt to think about them still, so she wasn't going to.

"Ghost herpes?" Porter laughed, eyes crinkling in mirth. He let himself chuckle for a minute, going poker-faced abruptly and reaching out towards Leija. "Oh shit," he murmured, focusing on one corner of her mouth, "Think I see a phantom cold sore already." He stopped shy of actual contact, withdrawing his hand and considering the reasons Leija had come here. They were pretty similar in a lot of respects. "I didn't leave a whole lot either, really. I was... sick a lot of the time when I was little, so I got into school pretty late? Nothing's as much torture as being the new, weird homeschooled kid." And even with all the weirdness? Porter liked being here, it felt like he actually had a reason to be.

She laughed, especially when he carried it just a step further. Phantom cold sore. It felt good to do, because it was entirely genuine, and she needed that today. If he didn't have other friends to hang around with, she could see this developing into a regular thing. With lunch. She nodded along as he expounded on what life was like 'back home', her smile turning more sympathetic. "Yeah, I kind of ... have this stomach thing? I get sick a lot too, and sort of have to hurry off from conversations sometimes. So if I do that, it's not you," she said, wrinkling her nose up just a touch. It was her best excuse, even though it wasn't a great one. "I was kinda branded a weirdo pretty early on, and it stuck, so I know what you mean."

"Tell me it's not an eating disorder," he teased at the mention of her stomach condition, "You so don't need to be doing that, trust me." Which almost sounded like a flirting sort of compliment, enough like it to make Porter's cheeks burn lightly. "I, uh... I don't really get sick any more," Porter rallied, moving past his own awkwardness stubbornly, "It was just when I was really little, I had weakened immunities? It got worked out over the years, at least. Yay, modern medicine." But he knew all about being branded a weirdo, and that earned a sympathetic smile for Leija. "Well, if you're marked? You're not the only one. Like I said before, we stick together, right? Strength in numbers. And if it keeps snowing this hard, we'll need it to keep the cheerleaders from genuinely going cannibalistic."

One of Leija's eyebrows lifted very slightly at the first bit of what he said, and the blush ticked it up just a centimeter higher. She smiled though, because it was a compliment, and who didn't like those, when it got right down to it? He seemed to want to not dwell, though, so she didn't either, just laughing at the thought of cannibal cheerleaders. Because she could so see it happening. "We need to pick out a spot to turn into a cheerleader-proof fortress. Stack up math books in front of the door or something, and hope that all the knowledge sends them running for the hills. Or at least confuses them enough for us to like ... throw shit at them," she said, vaguely amused. She didn't offer any more detailed information about her 'stomach thing', so maybe he'd just take it on faith that it wasn't an eating disorder.

He wasn't going to press for the details on Leija's affliction, no more than he'd offer facts about his own 'childhood illness'. "The library?" Porter suggested, "Plenty of knowledge to ward them off in there, right? And lots of chairs and tables for barricading. But what if they did that human pyramid thing right up over our defenses?" There was nothing like apocalypse jokes to put his mind at ease either, to breeze Porter right past his panic over Leija taking his teasing wrong and back to a comfortable spot. "We'd be doomed, but I could die happy knowing I'd go straight to their hips."

That got her laughing. Because the idea of cheerleaders getting fat under any circumstances was always joyful. Grinning, she reached out to pinch his arm lightly. "I dunno, you don't look too fattening," she teased him, leaning a bit to look him over. She shook her head and tsk'ed. "The best you could probably hope for would be giving them severe indigestion. And ghost herpes. But you're probably right about the library. If all else failed? We could turn all the computers to like ... some online rap radio channel. Because they have to dance like sluts when they hear that deep beat, y'know. It'd give us a shot at getting away." She would have to agree, talking about zombie cheerleaders was pretty preferable to everything else.

"Good thing I don't know how to dance, really. The internet stations I know? I might end up getting caught by the bass too," he confessed with a grin. There was a smattering of hip-hop in Porter's music collection, but it was sparse, and his sheltered life had kept him from even considering being the sort to really get into it. "And where would we even escape to? Not the gym, that's like running into the hive." He needed to remember to curb the cheerleader jokes, though; who knew where Medea's sister was? Porter didn't even know what she looked like, and it'd be a bad impression to make before he even met the girl. Although with the way the halls were crowding back up in anticipation of the end of lunch, he figured everything that he and Leija had said thusfar would go unheard.

"I dunno. I would say outside, but y'know ... blizzard and all," she said, looking chagrined. They might just have to resign themselves to their fates at that point. As ridiculous as this conversation was, something in the back of her head told her not to discount the idea of zombies. They'd suffered through so much other shit, right? Who would've thought of the shadow-man attacks and that there would be ghosts seemingly permanently wandering around. Her eyes moved to all of the people milling around again and figured that lunch was probably almost over. "So you're gonna let me know? When the movie night is?" she said to Porter, looking at him again.

He nodded emphatically, folding his laptop shut and starting to bundle up the cord of his headphones. "As soon as I know? You'll know too," Porter promised as he tucked his stuff back into his backpack, "I'm just sorta waiting to hear some details about who else is in, and then I need to clear it with my mom. I'd be cool with sooner, but I'd say Friday at the latest so we can actually run things kinda late." This really needed to happen, for all of their sakes. Beyond the fact that it'd be nice to just have friends, if there was something like the werewolf on the loose again? Porter wanted to be sure he could keep in touch with everyone he knew before he had a real reason to attend a school memorial.

"Cool," she said, and just threw up a hope that it somehow didn't get connected back around to Caleb. Not that he went to many get-togethers or anything -- that she knew about -- but she just ... really didn't want to run into him anywhere social like that. They'd never been good with other people around, and she thought now it would probably be even worse. Her fault, but worse. Leija uncoiled and started to push herself up. "Enjoy the music 'til then," she told Porter with a little smile. "I'll catch you around."

"You, um... you too," Porter offered back, watching Leija rise. Part of him was prone to staying put, letting her go on her way. But if he was being honest, that was the part of Porter that wouldn't have ever had the guts to even talk to her, friend or no. And that was the part he didn't want as much these days. So, tugging his backpack's zipper shut, Porter rose stiffly and shouldered it. "You want some company on your way to wherever your next class is?" he asked, "I'm pretty sure it's, like, equidistant from here to my next class whichever way I go. And if I'm late, whatever."

She was honestly surprised that he offered to walk her to class. So much so that she just stared at him for a second, before she rallied mentally. "Sure, yeah," she said with a sudden warm smile. "I've got English." Which was certainly not her favorite class, but she had to go. Most of the time, anyway. In any case, Leija made a gesture in the right direction and started walking, tucking her hands into her front jean pockets. "So what am I making you late for?" she asked with a little half-smile.

Stepping lightly around hall traffic as he started off with Leija, Porter found himself grinning back at her. "Wish it was English, but it's calculus," he answered, shaking his head in resignation. "I've got a running tally of how many times different math teachers have told me that I'd need what I was being taught some day, and unless they surround me in a dark alley and give me a gun-point pop quiz? Someone's been lying to me somewhere along the line." He liked seeing that smile on her face, and while Porter wouldn't be writing jokes for a living, he figured he could probably keep it on Leija's face as they moved.

He was right, the smile didn't go anywhere. It broadened even, a little bit, as she pictured older women with their hair in buns holding him up in an alley to shoot math-questions at him. She snickered a little bit and shook her head. "I hear you on that one, I really don't think I'll be measuring the circumferences of circles or anything when I'm fifty," she said, amused. She walked along easily enough, eyes darting here and there every now and then to the faces of people they passed. "But you never know, maybe you'll fall and hit your head one day, and wake up wanting to be a rocket scientist. ... I think they use calculus ..."

"Are you saying I should base my future career on a head injury?" he asked teasingly, backing into the door to a connected hallway and holding it for Leija, "What if I was really bad at it? Like, so bad that a Challenger joke would go here if it wasn't in bad taste?" He stepped away from the door, trying to ignore the impression that a couple of girls were watching the two of them, speaking inaudibly. Leija'd said she was a social misfit, and he knew he was... was this like Kaysen's warning? The idea that it was bugged him, birthing a brief fantasy of glowing energy demolishing the lockers around the girls so they'd really have something to talk about before Porter turned away to rejoin Leija.

Leija actually felt her cheeks flush just a bit as he opened the door for her. God, who still did that? She slipped through it, trying to refocus on what he was saying. Which made her more or less oblivious to the people who were staring at them. "No, see, hitting your head always opens up hidden pockets of genius, so you'd probably find out how to colonize Mars or some-- ..." she trailed off as she realized he was looking in another direction and followed his eyes. Oh look, they had an audience. Good times. She rolled her eyes internally and kept walking. What would get around would get around, she wasn't going to stop making friends because other people had pea-brains. "You'll just have to remember that I gave you the idea and I get a piece of your millions," she continued, still sounding light.

Shifting his attention back to the halls ahead and Leija at his side, Porter smirked at that claim. "Millions? Setting your aim pretty high, aren't you? What if I just think I've invented something that already exists? I'm going to text you about, like, my new discovery 'the doorknob' or something." They weren't speaking it aloud, but they were sharing an opinion. Things would happen here that he had no control over, just like they had back east. At least no one had filled his locker with diapers yet. "Or, even worse? What if I invent a flux capacitor? You're stuck time-traveling with me then, Marty," he joked, thumbs hooking in the straps of his backpack.

"If I get a hover-board? And like, pimp-ass eighties clothes? I am so down," Leija said with a laugh that wouldn't have been so quiet if they hadn't been in the hallway moving among people. That was just habit. Self-preservation. Some wary part of the back of her mind murmured that it might behoove her to be careful. This would've been the fourth guy she'd been 'seen' around school with or whatever, she was going to get a reputation. But she couldn't bring herself to really care. She was determined not to look around, even though another part of her wanted to keep an eye out for Caleb. "Even if you do re-invent the doorknob, I'll totally back you on it being the most superior doorknob ever created," she told him with a little grin.

"Blind faith, hey? Not something you come across too often these days," he complimented, not that Porter was really old enough to know. "We could sneak around town at night, swapping them with normal doorknobs on peoples' houses and filming their surprise the next day. Upload it on Youtube, get some free advertising," Porter mused faux-thoughtfully, oblivious to Leija's concern about what others might think. If he didn't see the murmurs happening, they weren't there. "It almost makes me want to have you shut my head in a locker, although somehow I think the result wouldn't be as cool as time travel. Or even doorknobs."

She grinned ahead of them. "I've kinda got girly arms, I dunno if I can hurt you hard enough to do much good," she informed him, even though it wasn't really true. She was strong for her size; the act of flying really kept one in shape. But sometimes it was good to be underestimated. "I'd totally go on a knob-ninja mission though, so if a brick ever lands on your head and you feel inspired, you know who to call." She looked over at him, looking amused, everyone else disappearing for a brief moment. She'd missed this kind of thing, just ... talking. About something un-dark and un-traumatizing. It was good. "This is me, though," she said, nodding to a classroom a couple doors down from where they were. "Hope you're not too late to calculus."

Porter smirked as he bit his tongue, reaching out to poke Leija lightly in one arm. "That's you," he stressed, nodding the same way she had, "That's a door. Go go public education." He winked teasingly, stepping back towards his own classroom a ways behind them. "Whatever, it means I have a reason to not pay attention. I 'missed the start of class'," he stressed with finger-quotes in the air. Porter stopped a few steps back, losing the battle with his grin. "Leija?" he called over, eyes twinling in amusement, "Don't ever say 'knob-ninja' again, seriously. So many bad ways that can be taken, y'know?" He chuckled richly, as pleased with how lunch had gone as she was, looking back behind him and sighing. Class was going to suck even more than usual, by comparison. "Take it easy, though. And I hope you like the disc. I'll give you a call real soon here."

"See? I totally need to go to English class." Then she grinned at him, and there was definitely a wicked edge to it, a very rare second of her guard being completely down in public. "I know how it can be taken," she told him, and all she was going to say about it. And okay maybe it was a little flirt, but what was the harm in that? He was cute and sweet and safe-feeling, so what the hell. It wasn't like anything would come of it, because nothing ever did. And when it tried to, she ruined it, so. It was dead-ended before it was anything. "Thanks, I will, you enjoy your's too. Talk to you later," she said, and turned to slip past a few more people and duck into the classroom.