getting to know you

Who: Caleb and Nic
Where: shoreline of the lake
when: 11 AM

Caleb was walking along the beach. He hadn't really gotten much in the way of sleep, not that that was unsual for the guy or anything. He had to go see Melia at around noon at blackrocks, so he was slowly making his way in that direction. And he might have swung by the beach where the murder he'd covered up had taken place. He was right that the seagulls had eaten most trace evidence. Really it didn't look like much more than the expanse of beach it always had been. Whatever blood had been in the sand looked gone now, maybe the kicking around of it he'd done had helped. He knew he'd forgotten to tell Dean and Thia about having removed the wallet and other shit from the corpse, but figured he'd tell Dean later. As it was, he was listening to his mp3 player, off in his own world as he stared bot at the spot of beach where the body had been, and the water where it had disappeared.

As she'd told Lily the day before, Nic liked to let her music set her pace. She was burning up the bike path that led along the shoreline, headphones over her ears and a skateboard under her feet. The masquerade the night before had been more fun than Nic would easily admit to, but the new day found her back in her old frame of mind. No mask meant no willingness to be social, and with a parade scheduled for the day? Well, Nic figured the lake would be clear of such jackassery. Wheeling along with a thrum of music in her ears, Nic had to twist as she came around a bend and nearly collided with a jogger.

Maybe Lily was right, maybe she needed to slow down. 'Maybe' became 'definitely' half a second later as the twist yanked her board out from under her and dropped Nic to the ground. "Fucking whore," she groaned in pain, standing stiffly and moving off the bike path to find her skateboard. As she moved onto the sand, nic slipped her headphones down, lips pursing at the sight of a lone figure on the scene. Was that... "Caleb?" she muttered in surprise, smiling grudgingly and starting his way. "Caleb!" Nic repeated, louder this time.

The second call of his name caught his attention, and he looked over, a flash of paranoia sort of making him tense up. But, it was just that. Paranoia, as it wasn't anything to panic about. Internally he rolled his eyes at himself, and quirked a half smile at the girl. "Hey." he greeted, tugging the earbuds out of his ears so he could hear her and all. He shut off his music while he was at it, and hoped she didn't ask him why it was he was standing around mostly staring at the sand.

Glad that he hadn't seen her spectacular wipeout, Nic turned around and rummaged in the scrubby grass at the sand's edge. Coming up with her skateboard in hand, she looked back and chuckled at the small smile on Caleb's face. "Hey," she replied in kind, moving down the sand his way and tucking her board between the straps of her backpack. "Are you ducking that horrible parade bullshit too?"

"There's a parade?" he asked. Then laughed a touch and shook his head. "Apparently not, I'm just lucky, and spectacularly uninformed." he told her, looking her over as she got closer. Like he noticed she had to have ditched not too long ago, since her hands were scraped up, and she had a little bit of a limp. He didn't say anything about it right away though. "But now that I know there's a parade, I'll be avoiding the shit out of it. Not really my scene."

"Mine either," Nic agreed, smirking. "My mom was telling me about it, so I had some warning. I figure I'll wait until dark, should be safe by then." She didn't miss the scrutiny, but didn't try to hide her scrapes either, laughing a little as she inspected her own hands. "You'd almost think I'd quit riding if I kept doing this, right? But I don't, it's just too much fun. And it gives me some cred with the guys in shop class." Not that she needed it, but Nic suddenly felt self-conscious, like she was bragging or something. "So, um... if you're not avoiding the parade, what're you doing down here? Just... watching the lake?"

"I need to pay better attention to what the fuck is going on in this town at any given moment." Caleb said. And then he shrugged. "If you enjoy it, then what's a few scrapes?" he asked. This coming from the guy who did blood magic, which backlashed every single fucking time. But it generally kept himself and occasionally others alive, so... Then he had to figure out what to say to her. Yep. Watching the lake. Kind of looking for trace evidence of the corpse I got rid of for my friend last night. Dean. Good shot, apparently. he thought. "Yeah, that was pretty much it." he said instead. "I like the lake." he offered as a weak sort of explanation, then kind of wished he'd left that out.

Nic nodded his way, turning to look out across the water for a silent moment. "Me too," she said, unceremoniously shrugging off the straps of her backpack to let it fall to the sand. Dropping down, Nic sat on her skateboard to stay above the sand, digging her shoes in and opening her backpack up for a bottle of water. "Especially around now. No one's swimming, no kids are screaming, no sunbathers out. Kinda cold, very quiet, it's perfect, y'know?"

"Antisocial by nature?" Caleb asked, and he sat down on the sand near her. This was...kind of a welcome distraction from his own churning thoughts. They weren't gone by any stretch of the imagination, but this girl knew fuck all about them. She was kind of neutral territory, someone he'd just met, didn't have any responsibility towards, and hadn't, say, screamed at him at any point for him to stop the pain. So...for right now that was good. Possibly whole worlds of it.

Nic smirked tightly, tilting her water back for a long drink and jamming it into the sand between herself and Caleb, just in case he wanted a drink. "More or less," she answered eventually, digging out her cigarettes but not lighting up just yet. "Learned behavior, something like that. I've never seen much evidence to make me think it's a bad way to be. Most people suck, I've noticed. I have keen detective's skills," she joked, grinning aimlessly at the water and popping a cigarette in her lips.

"Clearly." he said, leaning back on his elbows, eyes on her. "Learned behavior, though, suggests at one point you thought about being social, but were conditioned to not seek it out." he said. "Me personally, I've just always been an antisocial asshole. Because as you've pointed out...people in fact, suck. There's pretty precious fucking few that I'd say don't."

Nic's smile dimmed a touch, though it could've been from consternation as the wind snuffed her lighter out halfway to her cigarette. Cupping her free hand around it, she lit up and looked over Caleb's way. He was staring at her? Unexpected, but Nic was used to it every now and then. "Well, at one point I thought about it," she agreed, shrugging. "Then I started highschool. I don't mind scrapes from skating, but I'm not a fucking masochist. That shit's not worth playing along just to go to a shitty movie now and then with some giggling idiots."

"But having someone to go to a shitty movie with to laugh at the screen at inoppertune moments is one of the best things in life." Caleb said, smirking faintly. "But as far as giggling idiots go, can't say I have a whole lot of time for them. Or, say, any. But generally speaking along with the whole people sucking thing, most people are also fucking stupid, and i don't suffer them well either."

"See, you mean 'shitty movie' like the remake of Black Christmas, right?" Nic asked rhetorically, looking his way again. "I mean 'shitty movie' like Juno or Mama Mia. Wait... that second one could still be funny if I got wasted first." She grinned, shaking her head with a little tinkling of clashing earring hoops. "Ridiculous movies are fine, you watch because they're ridiculous. I go to those anyway, company or not." She sucked in a lungful of smoke, punctuating it with another swig of water. "I don't suffer many people, really. Some of them just keep trying, though. They're the masochists."

"...honestly I'm trying to think if I've seen any of those. It's been a long time since I've been to the movies, period. This summer I watched a few movies with some friends, but fucked if I could even tell you what we watched." he admitted. He'd had shit to do. Like kill things, and wait out his two weeks in the psych ward. Have girls go insane on him, rescue his brother from demonic mafia...yeah he'd been busy. "So people keep trying? You have a loyal base of fanboys who follow you around, trying to get you to give them the time of day?"

Nic tucked her cigarette in one corner of her mouth, putting on a teasing scowl as she tugged up her sleeve and waved a fist in Caleb's direction. "I've got five right here, ready to put a stop to that kind of talk," she mock-threatened, flaring her nostrils with the gesture. "But no, I don't. Not guys at least. Just a person here or there who thinks we're gonna be bestest fwiends some day."

That earned her a full smirk, amused in nature as he eyed her fist, then ticked his gaze back up to her eyes. "You defintiely would not be the first woman who hit me." he told her. "And my condolences. So...what, brainless, spineless little twits who want to follow you around in your shadow? What, they either trying to become like you, or 'take you under their wing' and make you like them?" he asked.

"The second one," Nic answered, chuckling and pulling her sleeve back down. "My first year here I was helping with some sets for the drama club? I like power tools, y'know? But this girl decides she's gonna make me an actor like her." She smirked, stubbing her cigarette in the sand and fiddling with a row of safety pins stuffed through the cuff of her sleeve. "We got into it. They still ask me to help build sets though."

"So does that make you a semi-drama-club girl then?" Caleb asked. His eyes were still on her, sort of watching her do little things that were almost fidgets. Like playing with the pins, little things. she didn't exactly come off as nervous, though. "Got any current people who think the world revolves aroudn them, or their way of doing shit is the 'right' way?"

"That makes me someone who knows screwdrivers over Shakespeare," Nic answered, looking back to catch him staring again. It didn't bother her necessarily, but it surprised her. Usually a good stare only lasted long enough for her to look back, then she'd hear whispers or snickering. Caleb just seemed to want to look at her. "And there's always someone who thinks they've got the right way. Right now I'm lucky, since I don't know who they are."

"Generally speaking, I tend to ignore peopel who think they're right." Caleb said. "No one's necessarily right about anything. It's all perspective." he said. Then shrugged. "Good luck avoiding new ones then," he added, considering she seemed like the kind of girl who wanted to be in her own world, and who didn't necessarily want it interrupted.

"Sometimes perspectives line up," Nic agreed, nodding. "I don't buy into anyone who knows they're right. There's gotta be room to change." Except for herself, of course. Nic liked her worldview, and had yet to really have anyone challenge it in a meaningful way. "Avoidance isn't that hard, either. Get a good deathglare and you're okay at school. Outside? Well, I get to pick my encounters." Like this one, which was almost as fun as the Soulfly and breakneck speeds she'd been enjoying before crashing.

When I'm at school I usually do my best to just ignore most of what happens around me." Caleb admitted, still watching her profile. He also actually reached out to snag her water bottle to take a drink. "But then again a lot of the time I get stopped by people like Chrissy Chapman, for inane reasons. I know a lot about me gets said, though I have yet to figure out why that is. I mean, is it just because I happen to be new? That's why everyone's so fuckin interested in what I'm doing?"

"God, Chrissy-fucking-Chapman," Nic groaned, shaking her head. "I'd gag her with a pom-pom, but word is she likes it rough." She gave up the water when he grabbed it, tilting her head to study him in kind for a moment. "People just... they like to talk shit. If you don't play the game on your own, they try to drag you into it. I heard a lot when I first got here too. Punched some girl, chased two more out of a bathroom. Now and then, I hear something new, but I just ignore it. It's just idiots trying to find your limits and entertain themselves."

Caleb quirked a half smile. "I don't know, they seem pretty fucking interested. Fuck, since school started, I've missed about three weeks." he said. "I got back and got hit up with a lot more rumors about me, and I wasn't even around." he said. "I think everyone's really hard up for entertainment. Though gagging Chrissy with a pom-pom would be fun. Last time she tried speaking to me, I...that girl is an idiot. I mean I knew that before, but she made it all the more clear when she tried talking to me. I just told her that this town has seen a lot of darkness lately and if it fell again, if anything happened...well. I wouldn't lift a finger to help the bitch." Which was true. He wouldn't outright kill her, but if say, she was being torn up by demons? He'd watch.

Nic wasn't sure she could agree with that. She hated the cheerleading bimbo, but in a life or death situation? Well, having never been in one, Nic couldn't say for certain what she'd do. "Where were you?" she asked instead, crossing her arms over her knees to let her head rest on them, keeping her sideways stare aimed at Caleb. "For the three weeks, that is."

Setting the water back down in the sand between them, Caleb thought about that for a second, then went for the truth. Most people didn't ask. "First week, I was in the hospital." he admitted. I got here this summer, but was in the hospital for two weeks, the second week of which was the first week of school. "The second week I was out was when the gangs hit town and shit. The third I just got back from, and that was due to family issues. One of my older brothers needed some help, so my oldest brother and I went to do that."

She listened to what he was saying, and what he wasn't, like why he was in the hospital in the first place. But Nic wouldn't pry; she wouldn't want anyone asking too many questions about her, after all. "Funny," she eventually replied, "We were probably a few rooms apart. Maybe a floor, tops. My mom's a nurse, she had me stay with her at the hospital when those gangs came to town." School had been cancelled quick, after all, and Nic's mother had dealt with the carnage of the attacks firsthand. "But hey, welcome back. Same messed up town, same messed up channel."

Caleb noted that the hell down. A nurse. Good to know. Would have been nice to have a nurse around last night. "I'm guessing that was a decent place to stay away from all the carnage." he said. And he'd gone looking for it every night, to shred vampires. Good times. "And thank you. Apparently I ran off with my ex girlfriend and married her. Oh and my friend Dean's been pining away for me all the while too." he added. "Or, that's what I hear, anyways."

Nic full-on laughed at that, her eyes lighting up as the sound spilled out. "How'd your ex take that news? And your friend? That's a bizarre-ass love triangle, man." Her rumors were easier to handle, they didn't spill over onto to people she knew. At least, not that Nic had heard. "I missed those stories, I'm a little jealous. Mine were so improbable they didn't last or just plain boring."

"Dean could give a shit less, the only reason he's being pegged for gay is because he dissed a cheerleader, and she didn't like that too much. And the ex...not sure, honestly. She was the one who told me the rumor in the first place. Mostly we just joked about it." he admitted. But then he and Leija had a weird relationship to begin with, and they were still figuring out where it was at now, other than his clear insistance that they were still broken up. "Well if you really wanted to have fun, interesting rumors, we could make some up." he said, giving her a little half smile.

He earned the second laugh that slipped past Nic's lips as she raised her head, shaking it in amusement over the very idea. "I can't believe I never thought of that!" she said, sighing at herself. All it would've taken was a marker in the girls' room to really get a rumor going, after all. "They'd have to be good, though. Nothing about people lusting after me, that'd never stick. So c'mon, hit me with a good one."

Caleb arched a brow at her. "Why wouldn't anyone lust after you?" he asked, before shifting to lay back on the sand, arm under his head. "But alright. Hm. A good rumor for you. Could always hit up something that went down at the party. Everyone and their brother was there, you'd have a lot of people to target for it. Are we going for something that glorifies, confuses, or degrades?"

Nic's brow wrinkled in consternation for a moment, and she was visibly grateful when Caleb changed the topic instead of waiting for an answer. "Let's go for 'confuses' for starters," she suggested, "I can always drop some old ones back into circulation if I want degrading rumors. But I like the idea of everyone at school having even less of an idea of how to act around me."

"Alright, well what does the population at large expect of you?" Caleb asked. "In general, what is it they see when they look at you?" he continued, still watching her. He saw the little relief when he hadn't made her answer that first question. He'd moved on for that reason. It was rhetorical, after all. Though it made him wonder if she really didn't think she had anything going on in that department, or if it had just been a long time since she'd heard it.

"Let's see; I'd wager 'lesbian' ranks high on the list. 'Freak'. A lot of the girls who know me know to stay out of headbutting range. The skaters think I actually know how to do some tricks. Any of that help?" she asked with a curious grin, wondering just what Caleb had in mind. Even if this little exercise went no farther than the beach, it was more entertaining than she'd expected anything to be today.

"So..." Caleb said, musing it over as she spoke. "We say you got picked up, swept off your feet by some guy no one's ever seen before. Probably a college guy who could kick people's asses for you." he said. "That knocks lesbian off the list, at the very least. Possibly freak as well. Then, if it's a big tough looking bastard, it's playing against the you popping people one thing..." he shrugged. "Sorry can't actually weave skateboarding into that one. I got nothing for that."

Nic smirked wider with each detail, chuckling at the whole of it and clapping inaudibly. "Let's just say it's Andy Mac while we're at it, so I'm dating an X-Games champ," she joked with a laugh. "But for real, that's pretty good for the top of your head. We'll have to come up with one for you too." She wondered about that, curious over the details about Caleb, but not quite willing to pry just yet. "Maybe say your oldest brother's a bounty hunter or something hardcore, and you went to the hospital after helping him with a job." Caleb didn't look like much of a scrapper, but Nic figured that if she was any evidence, looks didn't matter when it came to kicking someone's ass.

"Why thank you." Caleb said, smirking back at her. "I try." Then he paused, listening to her. "Hmm. Sounds good to me." he accepted. Of course, last time he'd helped his brother out he'd wound up shredding demons, and probably should have gone to the hopsital. And the time he had, it was because he'd picked fights with shit that was a lot bigger than him, and kept doing it until he was ready to bleed out. But she didn't know that. "What was my role in this hardcore job?" he asked her. "Did I have to bail my brother out? He get in over his head, and I had to do something ridiculous like save his ass?"

"Hell, if it was believable I'd say you went Chow Yun Fat on someone, all slow-motion," she said with a wink, raising both hands with fingers out like guns, thumbs bouncing up and down. "But no one actually does that. So maybe you just had to back him up? Like, not totally ridiculous, but maybe you had to train a gun on some asshole or rough someone up?" She could picture that; Caleb with a gun and a 'let's not fuck around' look on his face. Given the rumors at school? Well, a few people aside from her could believe it too.

Guns. See that's Dean's department. Byt he way you're probably sitting on the sand the guy he dropped with one fucking shot landed on. he thought to himself. "Can it be a shotgun?" he asked, flashing a quick grin at her. "There's just something a little more badass about a shotgun, trained at a bunch of people. Because you don't have to aim with those fuckers. Everyone'll get tagged." Then he paused. "Roughing someone up...I could manage that. I'm supposed to teach my ex how to fight one of these days, even."

Nic eyed him with obvious amusement as he rambled about the shotgun, deciding he was good company when he got animated like this. "Teaching your ex to fight is a good way to increase the number of women who've hit you," Nic half-teased, half-warned. "And if we really wanted to make it badass? Why not say you held a blade on someone?" she suggested with a daring smile, figuring that mental image fit best.

"Who says she's not already on the list?" Caleb asked, giving her a quick little wink on impulse. "And hm. A blade..." He paused, then dug his out of his pocket. "Like this one?" he asked. Of course, the thing didn't look like much. Just like a pocket knife, and a well worn one at that. But it was a hell of a lot more than that. "Or does it have to be something huge and intimidating looking?"

"Psh, size isn't everything," Nic was quick to say, disregarding his question with a waved hand and a smirk. "Only movie slashers need a three foot machete, if you ask me. If that's sharp? It'd do just fine." His story was coming together nicely, it seemed. One credible mention of the knife in the story could cement its plausibility, especially if Caleb found a way to give people around school a few glimpses of it's existence.

"Seems to work fine for my purposes." Caleb agreed. Which included gougign it through the eye socket of a demon or two, to heal up the damage he did to himself with blood magic. For that it worked great. "So, okay. Knifepoint. Was I a hero? Did I save anyone?" he asked, just liking seeing what she'd say. How far she might take it. "Or did I fuck it up and people died?" Since that was his experience. You fucked up and people wound up dead.

"Maybe... you just got the job done." Nic smiled curiously, trying to envision a fitting scenario based on the tiny amount she knew about Caleb. He wasn't a hero, or didn't want to be at least. But he didn't strike Nic as a fuck-up either. "I think that'd sort of cover multiple bases, wouldn't it? A little glory just for doing something badass, but then some confusion by not doing what most people tell themselves they'd do. Because you know all the jocks would tell themselves to save the day, right? And a lot of people would freeze and make mistakes? So... don't do either. Be ice-cold and just walk off at the end, to come back here in time for math class."

Caleb laughed at that. "Nice." he said. "Okay, cool. That can be my rumor." he agreed amicably. And that's my latest absence stretch, is it? If we're trying to explain my missing the first week of school, it might be late. That's where all the 'Lockwood is unstable' rumors come from." he told her.

She frowned at that, not wanting to waste a good idea. "Well, if you want some credibility? It's easy." Nic smirked, thinking back to the punks she'd known in Green Bay. "Next time the cops are on campus checking IDs for smokers? Just go ask one what time it is. Someone sees you talking to the cops with rumors going around? They'll make the timeline fit around you." She chuckled, digging out another cigarette. "Remember, people don't just suck. They tend to also be stupid as all hell."

"I believe I made that point already." Caleb said, smirking. Also, technically he still had a few wounds he could use for 'credibility' but they were on his back and side. Not really anywhere anyone saw. Which was by design. He had more scars than he could possibly explain well enough. "I'll keep that in mind though, the cop thing. If nothing else, people might buy it anyways. I think they know I live with my brothers, not my parents. One owns a book store...the other, who the fuck knows, according to popular opinion."

Nic filed away that snippet of personal information with the few others she had about Caleb thusfar, wondering about it. Either his brothers were cool and that had shaped how he'd turned out? Or they were utter dicks, which would have about the same results. "Book store? That sounds thrilling," she deadpanned. "And please, try this out for real. I think being acquainted with a suspected psychopath would do a lot to keep the jackasses away from me."

"Oh, feel free to drop my name anywhere." Caleb told her. "If it keeps the assholes at bay, you go right the fuck ahead. And y'know, you could come find me at school, too. Hang out and shit. Then if they happen to come around I could glower and all that." he continued. "I'm generally pretty good at that." Then he paused. "And his bookstore could be less thrilling. He owns Nevermore. At least the subject matter is vaguely interesting."

"Well, only if I can return the favor and scare off any braindead girls you know," Nic offered back, wondering if she'd actually take him up on the offer. It wouldn't be so bad, having someone to laugh at the rest of the school with. "Nevermore? I think I've been by there, but never been in. Maybe I'll have to go, now."

"If I happen to be plagued with braindead girls, I will certainly sic you on them." Caleb said. Then he wondered how she would do with the clingy, crazy ones. "Go, it's like I said. At least vaguely interesting. Not exactly selling the latest self help books or Harry fucking Potter." he added. Now he was thinking about how Leija would take him hanging out with Nic. Or what Nic's opinion of Leija would be. Hm. He did know he wouldn't at all mind hanging out with Nic at school though. Generally he spent most of his day alone, unless he and Dean had shit to talk about.

Nic would've laughed in his face, if she could know what he was thinking in that moment. Another woman being threatened by her? Well, that'd speak to deeper issues of reassuring than Nic could really comment on. All she knew was that in her own mind, she was no threat. "So, classic stuff? Or more hard to find books? I mean, I'm not like a library groupie, but I read a little." And with that and his double recommendation for her to check out the shop, Nic figured she'd definitely have to.

"...more like books on witchcraft, and psychics, and supernatural shit." Caleb told her. And expected her to laugh or something, since most people would find that ridiculous. "I did say 'interesting'. But definitely hard to find books. Most of them I'm sure you couldn't find anywhere else. Not necessarily shit you read and recommend to everyone you know, but..." interesting. Sure. That was the word for it.

"Kinda new-agey then, buying into psychics and all," Nic summarized, nodding in understanding. "That's alright, I like a good story. My mom's got some of those old Time-Life books, so I know a little about the stories. Wouldn't mind a little more." Of course there were finance issues, but Nic figured she could ration her cigarettes to save a little money up. "You think I could get your number?" she chanced, smirking his way, "Just in case I wanted to hang out or something. I'd give you mine, but I just have my house phone. And my mom grills me whenever a guy calls."

"So does that mean that I can't call you?" Caleb asked, digging his phone out of his pocket, and he sat up. "But yeah, you can have mine. I don't exactly have the world's busiest social schedule or anything." He pulled up his phone's number, and tossed the phone over to her, so she could either write it down or whatever, and punch hers in for him, hopefully. "Now if I have your number in there, I'm going to have to figure out a ringtone for you...."

"And it has to be as metal as a ringtone can," Nic insisted, thumbing through the menus of Caleb's phone carefully. "But no, you could call. You just have to make yourself feel guilty afterwards for knowing what I go through," she teased. It wasn't so bad; her adoptive mother just wanted to see more interest in a social life, but Nic liked to dramatize it. Finally pucning in her number, Nic took a second to study Caleb's again before handing the phone back and digging out a fat-tipped marker, then scribbling his number on the back of her forearm for later.

"I'll keep that in mind. Weigh your suffering over my need to speak to you." Caleb said gravely, though there was a smirk on his face. "And fine, metal." he agreed easily enough. "You're the first person who's put in a request. My ex's ringtone is Nutshell by Alice in Chains, and my friend Rose's is Salvation by Rancid." he added. He had too much fucking time on his hands with as much time as he'd spent in the car on his way to help Dorian.

Nic snickered as Caleb rattled off his ringtones for people, thinking for a moment and blinking in surprise. "Soundgarden," she requested, stomping a foot playfully in the sand. "Rusty Cage or Jesus Christ Pose... maybe Fourth of July. Because I'm bossy, and you strike me as a guy who digs Soundgarden too." She didn't know anyone at the school named Rose, but maybe she was new. Nic'd have to keep an eye out for the new face, though it'd be easier if she hung around Caleb.

He flashed a grin at her. "Demanding, aren't you?" he asked. "But sure. Soundgarden. And I'm going to say 4th of July. Because you guessed right. I do in fact, dig Soundgarden." he added, because it was one of his personal favorites. "So, there, you get your wish. Savor it, I don't usually cater to people so much." he added. Which wasn't necessarily true. He didn't on principal, though he knew occasionally he did anyhow.

"Damn right on both counts," Nic asserted smugly. "Everyone should love on those guys, and I am demanding. Higher standards keep out the assholes." She sat forward with a stiff grunt, knees popping as she rose to a crouch. "And believe me, I'm gonna savor it. I'll savor it all the way to the Korean market on 4th Street while I hope Mrs. Kim's willing to sell me beer today." She grinned at him, grabbing one strap of her pack. "Maybe I'll head back this way later, if the parade doesn't catch me and feed me to their clowns."

"I'm flattered I'll rate that long a period of appreciation." Caleb said, pushing himself to his feet while he was at it. "And watch out for the clowns. They're always eating the flesh of heathens and the like. You always hear about it. And then you might have to call me, trapped in some abandoned place, needing to be rescued...and y'know, I've gotten out of my clown killing phase, it'd suck to get pulled right back in again." He heaved a heavy sigh. "But y'know if you have to, I suppose I can show for such events."

"Psh, whatever," Nic said dismissively as she tugged her backpack on. "I'll bring you a trophy wig, let you wring out the blood yourself." She flexed with the joke, smirking and nudging Caleb with a foot. "Besides, I doubt anyone could get out of a clown killing phase. If I call, you'll thank me," she insisted, withdrawing her foot and using it to lift the nose of her skateboard to her hand. "Stay cool, Caleb. Maybe I'll see you later."

At least he managed not to twitch, and it was mostly because she didn't touch his arm or anything, it was just a little nudge. "You too, and I'm sure I'll see you sometime soon." he agreed. And he wondered if she'd call. She at least seemed to be sane company, and wholly independant of everything else in his life, which lately, he needed a break from anyhow. Like this had been a great little interlude, distracting from his thoughts. He appreciated.

"In the halls at the very least," Nic semi-promised, glancing back as she started off the shore. He was alright, that was for sure. And if he wasn't one of those guys who became totally different around his friends? Well, maybe Nic'd have someone to hang out with at school. Smiling as she slid her headphones back up, Nic pushed play and let the music blare back to life, dropping her board down onto the bike path. This was good, and even another wipeout couldn't ruin it. Shit, Nic mused as she started off, Even Mrs. Kim not selling to me won't ruin it.