skateboard rescue--not that it works

who: kaysen, thom and porter
where: all over
when: mid morning

Kaysen was in the open garage, tossing stuff around as she tried to find shit that would help her get her board back, possibly without going for another swim. That had sucked. And she felt a little sniffly and sick today, and she had a sore throat and cough. Not to mention the bump above her right eyebrow with the purple bruise on it, but that was less to do with having jumped into the lake. Either way she was trying to avoid it, and she was looking around for things that she might be able to fish it out with. And of course, she was having shit for luck. She was also kind of half keeping an eye out for Porter, who'd weirdly enough, called and shit. She was still suspicious, but in the end had admitted yes, she was going back today, and he'd said he would be by. So she was waiting. This was...interesting. Weird, of course, and she was still kinda waiting for the axe to drop, but he was new. Maybe she'd get another day of hanging out with someone kinda cool before he decided she sucked and turned on her. It was a working theory, right?

Letting out a colorful string of swears, she dropped the half broken wooden crate from her hands, looking sullenly at her hand and the sliver that had gouged itself in her hand. She kicked the crate like it had personally offended her, and gave a sulky pout to the world in general.

Heading down Ridge the same way he'd left the night before, Porter was glad he'd called when he did. Maybe he was just assuming, but when he'd called it had sounded as if Kaysen was ready to leave in the next few minutes. And that wasn't happening without him there, no way. He'd changed after his run and encounter with Elsie, tugging back on his Superman sweatshirt and ducking out before his parents could bring up what time dinner was on for.

He got a good look at the garage before he'd really drawn close to the door, and there was no missing the sound and sight of Kaysen in the garage. Walking up her driveway at a slower pace, Porter tossed a wave her way. "Hey. Um, you okay? Are you just... trashing your own stuff in here?" he asked, nodding at the broken wood she'd just discarded.

"It fucking bit me." Kaysen snapped, thrusting her hand out towards him to show him the evil, offending splinter. "So it deserved it." she added, taking her hand back to yank it out. A delicate little flower, she was not. Then she dropped the splinter, and held her fingers around her hand to stop any bleeding that might happen. "Stupid thing." she muttered. Then she sort of caught up with what he'd said in the first place. "And I'm fine. It's just dumb." she told him. "I was looking for anything that I could use to try and fish my deck out of the water with. So far, we've got fuck all in the way of anything useful." And she sounded like she found this terribly offensive, like her parents really should have things on hand for fishing skateboards out of the harbor.

"I'm guessing not many people up here have pools?" Porter asked, amused at how she'd dealt with the splinter even faster than he would himself. "Serious, one of those big pool-net things would rock right now. There's not even, like, goggles?" he asked, looking past her with a frown as if they'd just be sitting out, and Kaysen had missed them. He'd brought his backpack, and while it didn't have swimming goggles, it did have a change of shirt and pants. Porter had been somewhat certain from the beginning that there'd probably be more swimming in the arctic lake. Good thing I'm not dating anyone, he thought with a smirk.

"Dude, we have winter like nine months a year and a big ass lake that you could drown the whole town in, and the other side's in another fuckin country. We don't need pools." Kaysen told him, kicking the crate again for good measure. "...you're right though, that would rock around now." Then she paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "C'mon." she said, walking past him and out of the garage, heading right across the yard to the huge ass house next door.

Porter followed, once again gaping at the size of the house he was being led to. He'd tuned it out on the walk up here, but this whole block was pretty impressive. "You know someone here?" he asked curiously, deciding that he could see the impetuous girl just walking in and looking for something she could use even if she didn't know the neighbors.

"Yeah, my brother's best friend Thom lives there. His mom's a judge in town. But whatever, I know where the keys are." she said. If no one was home. Thom might be. She kinda hoped if he was, though, that he'd fuck off and leave them be. That'd be awesome. She headed up the back steps, because she'd never in her life used the front door, and she tried the door. It was open, so she just walked right in like she owned the place. "C'mon, let's go raid the basement. He's got a ton of weird shit down there, might as well."

Porter wasn't wild about the idea, but he still moved to follow. After all, how many heroes didn't do some breaking and entering in their careers? Plus, there was no actual breaking. "His mom's a judge?" he echoed, glancing back behind them as they descended into the basement. "Must come in handy if you get in trouble." Of course, if they got caught it'd probably also be worse than usual.

"I guess, I haven't been in much trouble though." Kaysen said. Cept for that one time when she and her brother and Thom and other people totally went missing for a week, and at least Ms. Harkin had been cool and smoothed things over. That had been good. "She's cool. Kinda. Y'know, for a judge and shit. She's got a kitana." she said. She'd seen her with it! Which still tripped her the fuck out, but was cool. She bounded down the basement steps, taking them two at a time, and she flipped the light on as she passed it, looking towards the couch to see if Thom was like...crashed out on it or some shit.

Whilst he wasn't crashed out, the aforementioned best friend of Kaysen's brother was laid out on the couch on his stomach, scribbling into a note pad. He'd pulled the keyboard over from the other side of the room and was occasionally and seemingly at random pressing notes for tone as he wrote. He scowled and scribbled out the last couple of lines before the lights suddenly came on and looked up, craning round to see who was coming down the stairs, blinking as the small lamp which had been his only illumination was replaced by the overhead.

Kaysen appeared, and sort of half scowled in Thom's direction for being present, and she breezed right on past without saying anything to him. Then she went over towards the back wall to see if he had anything resembling a net on a pole. Or...like chains. With hooks. He could have that, right? She started peeking through boxes, and opened up a cabinet, like Thom wasn't even there and this was perfectly normal. Maybe, she should have introduced Porter or something...but she was busy Not Really Talking to Thom.

Thom watched her walk across the room, then look towards the other guy and shrugged, putting the pen down and the pad to one side, before standing. "Hey, I'm Thom," he said, heading towards the guy, offering his hand. "You a friend of Kaysen's then....?" he asked, eyeing the guy, assessingly, though not with any actual suggestion of hostility, his air relaxed and completely unsurprised at the fact he was being ignored by the girl.

Porter blinked, both startled by Thom being here and relieved he didn't seem upset. He nodded, stepping up quickly and giving Thom's hand a shake. "Um, Porter," he introduced himself, looking at Kaysen's back questioningly. He wasn't quite a friend yet, after all. "Sort of? I helped her out last night, and, um, didn't want her trying anything dangerous on her own." And he was expecting Kaysen to not like that, but Porter wasn't big on lying. He wasn't even all that good at delicately wording things.

"It's not dangerous!" Kaysen insisted. Nevermind that she nearly damn drowned last night, and Porter yanked her half dead ass out of the water. "Why aren't there chains with hooks on them here? Seriously!" she huffed, looking back over at the two boys, and she gave Thom a sulky sort of look. She headed sort of back towards them, looking around the walls to see if anything was hanging. "There's gotta be something useful here." she muttered.

Thom ignored the rest of what Kaysen said as he fixated on the first part, turning to stare at Kaysen. "What's not dangerous?" he insisted, then paused as he really looked at her for the first time. He took a couple of steps over to her, taking her by the shoulders and turning her into the light a bit more as he took in the bruises. "And what the hell happened to you??"

"That, um... that's my fault, there," Porter admitted hesitantly, nodding at the bruises on Kaysen's forehead. He hadn't wanted to even say that, though; not if this Thom guy was defensive of Kaysen or something. But hey, sometimes you just had to accept these things when you set your mind on helping out. "It was an accident? But I still feel like an ass for it," he went on, not quite willing to say what 'it' was. He had the vibe that Kaysen didn't necessarily want this guy to know about their impromptu swim.

"Oh my god, let me go before your junk is forfeit!" Kaysen said, jerking her shoulder back to get out of Thom's grip. "I'm fine, nothing happened!" she insisted. "I just need something to fish my deck out of the goddamn stupid harbor, can we just look around to see if there's anything that'll work?" She asked, half trying to push Thom back. "And don't listen to him it wasn't really his fault." she added, waving a negligent gesture towards Porter.

"Well, what the hell happened - and what's your board doing in the lake?" Thom insisted, letting her go, but not drawing back at all. He looked between his protected and her friend, not caring who the answer came from, as long as he got an answer.

Porter sighed, deciding he should be the one to confess. It was the heroic thing to do, at least, keeping her from getting too defensive and shouty, and maybe taking whatever blame he could for it. "I, ah, got in her way by accident?" he tried, wishing his sweatshirt had a hood to let him hide a little. "She bailed to keep from hitting me, and her board went in the water." Which wasn't the whole story, but he didn't have any structure of words in his head that wouldn't sound like him bragging about diving in after her. So maybe Thom could just assume that her fall from the skateboard had earned her the bruises, and that'd be that.

Kaysen kinda looked over at Porter like he'd started speaking in tongues. Jesus, he jumps in to save her dumb ass, and then he goes and sounds like he was in trouble and shit? The fuck was this guy, masochistic or something? "Whatever, what he said. I went in to get it but that so didn't happen now are you going to help me find something to get it, or are you gonna bitch about stupid shit? I don't have all day you know!" Which was bullshit! She did have all day! She just didn't happen to want to spend all of it trying to get her board back.

Thom looked at them both, then nodded. "Fine - we can find you something. Fucking freezing out there, so - look, I think my mom has some old fishing gear in tha garage. Come on," he told her, leading the way up on out. He hadn't seen it for years, but there was all sorts lying around and he seemed to remember it from when he was a kid. Bit net thing - he remembered a story about an uncle or something, though he didn't actually remember there ever being an uncle around.

Breathing a little easier, Porter followed after the two of them without a word. He hadn't gotten yelled at for causing the accident, or for bruising Kaysen, so that was okay with him. Fishing gear sounded like it might work, if they found a net and pole or something similar. In any event, Porter was game for any plan that didn't involve Kaysen diving back into the water. Or, for that matter, him diving in to save her.

Kaysen sighed and grudgingly followed. "Do you even know how deep the stupid harbor is?" she asked, wondering if Thom did know. She knew it was deep enough that her ears hurt really bad and shit. And y'know, she hadn't managed to hit bottom. But it couldn't be that deep, right? She was deciding that it couldn't be, because otherwise her deck was gone and she wasn't cool with that in any fashion. "And I don't really care if it's freezing, if I have to dive back in, I'm so going to." she muttered.

"Deep enough that if we can't get your board with what we've got, you're not going in after it," Thom told her, not willing to argue that, but knowing he would have to. But if he had to bodily restrain her from leaping into the icy water when it had been snowing, he would do.

"I could try and look it up?" Porter offered as they moved for the garage, fishing his phone from his pocket. It was a little slow compared to a proper computer, but web access anywhere was well worth a bit of slow loading. "I don't know if it'd be accurate with the harbor, it's probably a different depth. And there may not even be anything." Which meant he was just... talking. Flapping his gums for no reason. And even if Porter was in agreement with Thom about Kaysen staying out of the water, he suddenly felt like a nerd for rambling and didn't want to add anything more.

"You could try, but...like you realize that this place is a flyspeck on the map, right dude?" Kaysen asked Porter. "Might as well just go there and see what's what. And Thom, hate to tell you this, but I'm not going home without it. That just ain't happening so you can quit on that track right now." she said. "Sides. I didn't drown yesterday, it's all good." Sure, she didn't drown because Porter had been there, but still!

Thom rolled his eyes. "The depth in the commercial part is around twenty-seven feet," he told them as they headed towards the garage. He actually happened to know that - though that was further out that they'd be. Especially since nobody was getting in the water, if Thom had his way. He stopped at the garage door and turned to Kaysen. "And if it's too far out, then yeah, you'll be going home without it - even if I have to call isaac to drag you home. You can get another board. And the ground wasn't covered in snow yesterday - swimming time's over to the year," he added, firmly. Fuck that noise - no way was his protected dying of hypothermia. If he had to date Chrissy Chapman to stop her being picked on at school, there wasn't a hope in hell that she was going swimming in the lake, even if he had to buy her a replacement board himself. Which he would, if it would save an argument.

"Twenty seven feet?" Porter echoed, scowling to himself. Yeah, they weren't getting that board back. Even if the tides hadn't moved it, that depth would be dark. Of course, they weren't going back down into the water, which Porter definitely liked. But he felt bad at the same time, thinking of Kaysen's sentimental attachment to the board. It'd suck if they couldn't get it back, and then he'd be obligated to order her a new one. "Isaac? He's your brother?" he asked Kaysen, piecing it together with her mention that Thom was the guy's best friend.

"Twenty sev--dude, the fuck?!" Kaysen shouted. "That's so not fair!! And I can't just get a new one, what crack are you on?!" she snapped, this news incredibly bad for her. "And yes that's my brother! And he can just stand back and watch too, where's like...a scuba tank or some shit?!" Not that she knew how to scuba dive. She didn't. But people did it all the time to scope out the wrecks in the lake. There was a shop downtown! Or...something. Goddamnit!

"The crack that's not going to land you in hospital with hypothermia," Thom told her, calmly as he flipped the light on in the garage and started to look through the piles of equipment that were stacked neatly around the place. It often looked to people that they were prepared for anything. Which, really, knowing Ashbelle, Thom figured they probably were. His mother tended to plan ahead and her definition of 'possible' was somewhat wider than everyone else's. It wouldn't actually surprise him if he did find scuba gear in here somewhere. Not that he'd have the first clue how to use it - and he wouldn't be letting Kaysen anywhere near it either, but he wouldn't put it past his mom. There was just all sorts of interesting shit in here. "And why can't you just get a new one?" he asked her.

Porter sighed, smiling a touch in spite of the obvious tension and all the arguments flying between Thom and Kaysen. He had to assume that this was normal between the two of them, for whatever reason. "I already tried that," he told Thom, shaking his head. "It's unique and irreplaceable, so I'm told." And he got the emotional attachment aspect? But compared to the risks of fishing her board from the harbor, Porter was a bigger fan of just getting Kaysen a new skateboard and hoping she'd form new attachments.

"It is unique and irreplaceable! I know it perfectly, I know everything about it, how to ride it, when it needs fixing, how exactly to shift my weight, where I have to lean--it's special! A new one I'd have to learn all the fuck over again, and--I just need this one back, what's so hard about understanding that?" Kaysen huffed, shooting a glare over at both boys.

Thom ignored the glare - he'd seen it far too many times before. "The part where it's possible your board's sunk to the bottom of the lake. Or, possibly, the part where the wood's floated - but it's become so water-saturated that the balance has gone anyway," he added, just for good measure - not that he knew shit about boards, but it might add some doubt in there. "Look, Kaysen - why don't we save the dramatics until we know whether or not recovery's possible - for all we know, getting it back might not be a problem at all," he added, finally finding the net he'd been looking for and pulling it out. he looked towards Porter, hoping for some support in this plan.

Sighing quietly, Porter reached up to push both hands through his hair as he glanced between the two of them. Rock and a death ray, he thought, figuring that either way he'd catch some heat. But at least with Kaysen it'd likely cancel out diving into the lake again, and be more angry words than real bad sentiments. "It doesn't hurt to wait," he finally spoke up, nodding at Thom. "Maybe we'll dredge it up first try, right? It's kinda like... 'oh no, a meteor', and everyone freaks out without thinking 'hey, Superman can just punch that thing away'."

Kaysen looked displeased, but sighed heavily, like this was the worst thing ever. "Whatever." she huffed. "Just...can we go then already, fucking pansy ass boys?" she asked. "Seriously." she said, and she started marching irritatedly towards the exit, not sure if they were following or not. She'd try to be less cranky later, but--her board.

Thom let Kaysen huff off, giving Porter a 'what can you do?' shrug, before following. He was at least satisfied that the guy hadn't totally been the cause of Kaysen's injuries - even if he had tried to claim blame. Thom knew Kaysen well enough to know if the guy was a shit who'd wailed on her, the whole fucking town would know about it by now. Either that or she'd not stand to be in his presence. Either or - but it wouldn't be this.

That little shrug was enough to make Porter grin at Thom as he moved to follow after Kaysen, shrugging in kind. The guy was okay, and it was nice to know that Kaysen's vitriol wasn't something exclusive to him. "She always like this?" he asked in a lower voice as he walked, glancing Thom's way. Porter guessed the answer to be 'yes', wondering if it was because of the rumors at school she'd mentioned or if her behavior had, in fact, spawned them.

Thom chuckled a little, quietly. "Yeah - always has been, probably always will be - don't take it personally. A lot of it's all bark anyhow - just don't let on that you know that or she'll probably give you extra special shit just to prove some kind of a point," he advised.

Porter smiled over that, nodding in understanding as he glanced Thom's way. Yeah, Thom was definitely alright in his book. "She thought I was trying to trick her when I offered to help," he confided, letting that be the last of the conspiratorial talk and moving a bit faster to rejoin Kaysen. "Shouldn't we get some spare clothes in case someone does end up going in the water?" he asked her, nowhere near eager to relive the chill of the night before.

Kaysen looked back at him, and scowled. That was a decent plan, really. "Yeah, I guess, but if you think I'm going to be stripping in front of you again, you've got another thing coming." she said. Since technically, she'd taken some of her clothes off. But his back had been turned! So he totally hadn't seen anything. But it was daylight out so yeah. She was not going to be taking anything off, she'd just freeze.

"Again?!?" Thom exclaimed, his eyes going from one to the other. Was he missing something here, or what had gone on and - no, just what had gone on and - right, there was the rest. "...And there's going to be no going into the water today, so extra clothing won't be needed," he told them in a tone that wasn't going to brook any arguments.

Porter wasn't offended by Thom's refusal, it wasn't like he was about to walk home for a change of clothes after all. But Kaysen's statement and Thom's obvious bewilderment made up for the lack of embarassment, making him look away in panic. "I didn't see anything before!" Porter was quick to say, shaking his head vigorously since the guy seemed so concerned about Kaysen. "And that's okay," he added, glancing back to Thom, "Lake's freezing anyway, I don't want any part of it."

"He turned around!" Kaysen cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "And anyways, hello it's none of your damn business! I could have grabbed him and done him on the suspension bridge on the castle and it'd still be none of your business!" she continued. "Not that I would! But that's not the point! And--just shut up already!" she stopped, and crossed her arms over her chest, shooting glares in Thom's direction.

"No, it'd be Chance's business and fine - whatever. We going looking for this board then?" Thom checked, shaking his head and walking ahead of the other two, net in hand, wondering again how he'd ended up in this position.

Thinking similar thoughts until he remembered that he'd volunteered for this position, Porter nodded agreement at Thom's back as he followed after. "Yeah, but um..." he trailed off, looking Kaysen's way, "...what happens if we don't find it? Like, we dredge with nets and dive in and go rent scuba tanks and still don't find it?" Of course the scuba tanks were rhetorical, and he was hoping the diving was too, but thusfar? Kaysen seemed unable to even acknowledge that there'd be such a result, and her board would be gone.

She frowned, and looked over at Porter. "It can't be gone." she said. She was stubborn, and she even, in the back of her mind, recognized the fact that she was being a little ridiculous. That she needed to face the idea at least that it might be a lost cause and just poofed. Hell, people drowned in the lake all the time and totally fucking disappeared. She just didn't want to at all think about that being the case with her deck.

"We'll figure that out if it happens," Thom said, sounding cool and calm and confident, as though everything would work out alright in the end, just because he said so. What he figured would happen was that he'd be buying her another board. He doubted she'd get one out of her parents - though, perhaps if Isaac intervened and said it was for him she might. But Thom had spare cash, and if she'd take it, he'd buy her one - whichever one she wanted. Though he knew it would be more likely that she'd shoot him down and he'd have to go back to anonymous gifting again.

Porter'd had the same thought originally, but Kaysen's explanation the night he'd met her had crushed any ideas like that. He didn't need all of his money, but there was no sense in buying her a gift she wouldn't take. Which was a real shame, given that he'd seen a sweet Daredevil-print board online, and the idea had suited what he knew of Kaysen thusfar. Porter just nodded his agreement over Thom's words, nudging Kaysen as they all walked together and offering an optimistic smile. "We'll figure something out, one way or another."

Kaysen looked over at Porter and just eyed him for a moment, not really wanting to quirk a little half smile at him, but the corner of her mouth twitched a moment. "You're way too optimistic and helpful for your own good." she observed. Which might have been a compliment, though she kind of backhanded it with her next statement. "It's so going to get you squashed like a bug around here."

Thom barked a quiet laugh at that, shaking his head at her comment and going on ahead. His mom had the car today, so unless Porter had wheels, they were walking - but at least it wasn't overly far. Nowhere was overly far around here.

"Yeah," Porter agreed with a sigh, "That's more or less what I'm expecting? So at least it won't be a surprise." He smiled faintly, dreading tomorrow more and more, hoping that this could go on forever. Kaysen could just keep bitching, if it meant not dealing with strange hallways and assholes on all sides. "Hell, maybe I'll just... escape peoples' notice, like a really small bug."

"Nope. You're new. You probably won't. Everyone'll want to know about you and shit. Come up with interesting stories, just in case." she suggested. "keep them guessing, try to be at least a little mysterious, and whatever you do, don't tell anyone you even met me." Because she knew that was instantaneous death. She'd told him this already and shit, but...yeah. She'd tell him again. He was actually kinda nice, so...whatever.

"There's not a whole lot to do around here, people like to gossip," Thom explained, not bothering to take back Kaysen's advice - honestly, it was probably, sadly, good advice. "You'll be flavour of the month for a while, but we've also had quite a few newbies this semester, so maybe it won't last that long," he added.

"If there's enough, I might have a chance. Gotta think like The Atom," Porter explained with what seemed like a straight-forward demeanor. "Get small enough and no one notices at all. Except I can't shrink or anything. I'm stuck at a size that's perfect for being stuffed into lockers," he complained with an accepting shrug. "And I really wish I didn't have to say I had no clue who you were, Kaysen. But okay, I'll play dumb for now."

"Trust me, it'll work out better for you." Kaysen said. "You say shit about me and your whole locker-ability ratio will go up like six million points." she continued. "And I could try to help you or whatever, but that's just bad and I've already gotten sent home for fights this year." What with putting a girl's face through a mirror. "Plus it'd be like the whole school, and I'd get killed." Or set people on fire.

"Okay, no fights," Thom said, firmly, to Kaysen, before turning to Porter. "Look, don't worry about it, it'll be fine. People just get interested in the new kid. That doesn't automatically equal locker-time," he said, trying to be reassuring. Then again, he'd never been the new kid in school, and everyone had always known who he was. Thom had had something of an easy ride of it all.

"I'm used to it," Porter replied with a resigned shrug. "I'd be more worried if someone didn't mess with me, really. I'd spend all my time wondering what the eventual prank was gonna be? So it's almost better if I just... I don't know. Get egged on the first day, or have my clothes stolen after swim class." It wasn't a matter of 'if' for him, it was a matter of 'when'. Which was why something like this was so important. Until Monday hit, he didn't have to worry. And so as far as Porter was concerned, the three of them could spend all day trying to think of ways to find Kaysen's skateboard.