Locke shrugged his shoulders. If accompaniment was all that Gina needed to watch Zombieland then it was no big deal. "I like being in the same room with my DVDs. Not a problem at all." It wasn't like Locke didn't trust people to return things he lent them, just a habit that he had gotten into. After a lot of debate Locke could get Kendra to let him watch things that were rated R or NC17, but he agreed with her that it wasn't suitable for Chris and Mai to see Jigsaw in action. The best way to make sure that they didn't see something he owned that they shouldn't was to be in the room with his DVDs.

He was able to brush off her explaining she didn't fly as high as an airplane. No big deal. Locke admitted he sucked with science, so anything having to do with aviation was beyond his understanding. He wasn't able to brush off how easily Gina talked about being close to someone. Locke leaned away from her slightly, watching her warily. "You aren't going to climb onto my lap or anything are you?"

That was the thing he disliked most about the girlfriend he had that one week. She always wanted to be in contact with him. Holding his hand, clinging to his arm, climbing onto his lap. It was like she hadn't been able to support herself and needed someone there. Mai wasn't even that clingy.

>> "I like being in the same room with my DVDs. Not a problem at all."

Gina supposed that meant she was seeing Zombieland, then. Eventually. Fantastic. And then, she could witness what Twinkies and amusement parks really had to do with zombies.

"Okay, then," she agreed, nodding her head. The next comment made her pause, though.

>> "You aren't going to climb onto my lap or anything are you?"

Gina got a impish grin just then as Locke tilted away. His expressions. Were. Priceless. Funny how a guy could be more red than a stop sign over the notion of holding hands or touching waists, but he could fluidly ask if a girl was going to sit in his lap as if asking her for a napkin. Gina's face heated.

"I'm more of a hug-person," she said, shaking her head quickly, "But only when people permit. Laps are a no-go." Unless someone offered, or if Gina was just teasing-- but even then, she didn't tease often. Not like that.

Locke wasn’t sure if he could relax or not. On the one hand Gina said that she wasn’t the lap climbing sort. Hugs were still a little iffy, but Locke wasn’t as likely to freak out over one. Usually with hugs you don’t have your head where someone can see your face. Besides, he was a man, and with the exception of Eaan, men don’t hug.

On the other hand she was smirking. Locke didn’t trust smirking. It meant that the smirker was plotting something. Gina smirking meant that she might ignore here rule on lap climbing. He pulled his legs up onto the couch as a defense. ”You remind me of a guy I know.”

Locke didn't believe her. He pulled his legs up, tucking his knees to his chest. Gina shrugged. Well, okay then.

>> "You remind me of a guy I know."

"Really?" Gina pressed on, arching an eyebrow, "Who?"

Or, if she didn't know him, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

She would hate to remind Locke of someone he disliked.

"A friend of mine, name's Eaan," Although Gina had made no movement towards him that would suggest she was going to try and climb onto his lap, or grab onto his arm, Locke didn't put his legs back down. Just because she hadn't done something, didn't mean that she wasn't going to. Now was the time to proceed with caution. "He's the kind of person you don't want to get bored, and if he does get bored, do not leave him alone. It's like he's part..."

Locke chewed his lip in thought. He needed something to take care of and had been looking into different types of pets. He didn't want a dog, because either it was a yapper type or a drooling mammoth. Cats were a possibility, but he wasn't sure if he was quite up to that yet. "I guess he's part ferret, minus the stink. For just a normal guy it's amazing how much like a noodle he can be. Like he's triple jointed or something." Talking about someone else was easy enough.

Glancing over at Gina Locke realized he still hadn't answered her last question. "It's a good thing. As insane as Eaan might be he's got a good head on him. I mean..." To Locke it sounded like he was making backhanded insults about Gina. "He's a great guy, someone that you really want to have for a friend. So you're a good person to have a friend. I mean have as a friend...."

This was the moment when Locke brain kindly told him that it was best if he just shut up for a minute.

>> "A friend of mine, name's Eaan. He's the kind of person you don't want to get bored, and if he does get bored, do not leave him alone. It's like he's part... I guess he's part ferret, minus the stink. For just a normal guy it's amazing how much like a noodle he can be. Like he's triple jointed or something."

So, Gina reminded Locke of... a guy that reminded him of... a ferret? A noodle-ferret? Gina quirked an eyebrow. Of all the things she'd been likened to, noodle-ferret had never been one of that. She'd been likened to, at one point in time or another, a cat, a bat, or a demon. (Although demon, more frequently than the other comparisons.) On one occasion, someone had even called her an angel. But, noodle-ferret?! She'd have to write down those two for later. It was quite... inventive, to say the least.

>> "It's a good thing. As insane as Eaan might be he's got a good head on him. I mean... He's a great guy, someone that you really want to have for a friend. So you're a good person to have a friend. I mean have as a friend...."

That described Gina to a tee-- a good friend with a good head on her shoulders, and a bit zany. Locke was stumbling over himself again, as if he feared he might have offended her, and Gina laughed.

"Well, that's good to hear, thank you," she breathed, "That's sweet. I was afraid you were going to say I reminded you of someone who annoyed you, or some such thing."

Because, let's face it-- some people were annoyed by her. It was a simple fact of life.

Oh good, he hadn't totally crashed the conversation by comparing Gina to a guy. There was always a certain level of burn when describing Eaan. The guy was one of those people that you can't help but to pick on a little because they are important to you. Only problem with that was that people mistook the gentle bashing as distaste. "Nah, you're like Eaan, even if you swiped the first slice of pizza."

A joke! Amazing. Locke had managed to recover from his fumbling to crack a joke. Maybe Gina was right and he wasn't as horrible at the talking with teens as he thought he was. Usually at this point though, just when Locke felt confident that he could talk easily he would do or say something that made him want to hide again. This time Locke was determined not to fall into the same trap. "Alright, so if you like action films, but can't watch Rambo what ones are ok?"

>> "Nah, you're like Eaan, even if you swiped the first slice of pizza."

Hey, he was the one who'd left a perfectly good pizza sitting on the table, ripe for the picking. Gina laughed at that, sticking out her tongue at Locke, "Hey, I'm sorry! I couldn't help myself."

>> "Alright, so if you like action films, but can't watch Rambo what ones are ok?"

Gina adjusted her sitting position, sighing. Okay, she had to reiterate that, or else she just sounded like a pansy. God forbid that she sound like a pansy.

"Okay, I could handle Rambo," Gina corrected, "I just had to cover my eyes a couple of times." She'd seen the movie courtesy of her brothers. They'd convinced her that it'd be worth it... that, not only was it an action film, it was something of a classic. Gina had believed them. For the most part, this was true. But there was a lot of guns and such in there. Perhaps she'd be better equipped to handle the movie, now that she was older?

Locke chuckled as Gina defended her taking the pizza. Leaving it out had been a dumb move on his part, Locke admitted that, but her taking a slice, specifically the first slice, gave him a great opportunity to pick on her a little. ”It’s called self restraint,” he joked. When it came to self restraint around food Locke wasn’t one to judge. He could really pig out, sometimes having second suppers. Still, it was rare that Locke got to tease a girl.

”Covering your eyes isn’t handling it,” Locke argued. When it came to the gruesome moments in movies Locke felt that you had to keep your eyes open. How could you say that you saw the movie otherwise? ”I’ve eaten bacon and watched Saw Three.” Gina looked like she didn’t get it. ”There’s a factory with rotting pigs,” Locke explained, ”It’s just a movie after all, and once you learn the rules you don’t have to worry about falling into the same traps.”

It sounded a bit like bragging, Locke admitted, but the fact remained that a movie was a movie. TV tropes existed for a reason.

>> ”It’s called self restraint.”

"Yeah?" Gina challenged playfully. She didn't really have a retort, so instead, she said, "Well-" and stuck her tongue out at him.

>> ”Covering your eyes isn’t handling it-- I’ve eaten bacon and watched Saw Three... "

He was right, Gina didn't get it. All Locke got was a blank stare.

>> "There’s a factory with rotting pigs. It’s just a movie after all, and once you learn the rules you don’t have to worry about falling into the same traps.”

"Oh, man, gross!" Gina proclaimed shamelessly, squirming at the notion. How could he eat bacon when parts of the movie was in a freaking slaughterhouse?! Just the thought made Gina's skin crawl.

One finger was held up as Gina started to express how grossed out she was. "In my defense I was spending the night at a friend's house, and we started the series late at night. It was breakfast, and I hadn't seen the third movie in theaters. I had waffles at the same time." That was the good thing about spending the night at Eaan's. At his own house, Locke might just have had a slice of toast for breakfast, maybe a glass of milk if he wasn't running behind schedule. Eaan's dad usually was cooking something for himself in the morning and while he might be eating a burger, it didn't matter to him if he dropped in some bacon for his son.

Locke played through the scene in his head, trying to see it from an outsider's perspective. "Besides those pigs were sort of gray. The bacon was red. And it's not like the grossest thing I've ever seen. Mai had some pretty grody diapers. Never underestimate the power of smell," Locke told Gina in all seriousness. Bacon scent outweighed the sight on the TV screen.

He uncurled now that he was sure Gina wasn't going to touch him. "I dunno. I guess that sort of stuff doesn't bother me anymore. Overexposure or something." Locke grabbed onto his soda can and played with the tab. Earlier he had covered his unease by saying he was homesick, but mentioning that morning with the bacon really did bring up a burp of homesickness. Here it felt as if there was something seriously wrong with him for liking the psychological thriller movies and things with gore. Eaan, though terrified of hospitals was surprisingly ok with Locke's movie choices. "But take my advice, don't watch Saw Two with a guy who punches doctors. You get your blankets and pillows stolen."

>> "In my defense I was spending the night at a friend's house, and we started the series late at night. It was breakfast, and I hadn't seen the third movie in theaters. I had waffles at the same time."

“Yeah, waffles and bacon,” Gina pointed out, still squirming and shuddering. Locke’s excuses did nothing to quell her reflexive repulsion. Even his argument over the color of the pigs.

>> "Besides those pigs were sort of gray. The bacon was red. And it's not like the grossest thing I've ever seen. Mai had some pretty grody diapers. Never underestimate the power of smell."

“Okay, baby diapers are pretty rancid, I confess,” Gina gave him that much, “But, bacon-? While that part of the movie’s taking place in a slaughterhouse-? Really-?” Gina shuddered again, though purposefully this time, “No siree, no thank you!”

Locke trailed on about how it really didn’t bother him, perhaps through how frequently he’d watche horror flims… but he did acknowledge that some people got freaked out by them. People like Gina. Gina let her mind wander elsewhere while he spoke… somehow she got from hood, to science, to homework, and recalled that she had some left.

“Oof, I’ve got an assignment I totally forgot!” she gasped, nearly stumbling off of the couch in realization. Gina looked towards Locke with a mild, apologetic smile, “I’m sorry… look, it was a lot of fun hanging out. Keep me posted on Zombieland, okay?”

She rattled off her room number with a grin as she got to her feet. She could have given him her cell phone number, but it was sometimes easier to just find people in their dorms rather than over phone.

“See ya around, Locke?” she inquired sweetly. Though hugs were more customary for her, Gina opted to wave instead. She knew Locke didn’t dig the physical contact-bit, which she’d gleaned through their short interaction.

"I was hungry!" Locke protested, "You've got brothers! You know that we can, and will eat anything when we're hungry, which is most of the time. What you might not know is that teenage boys have no taste buds." It was a joke. Mostly. Sometimes Locke really didn't care what he was eating tasted like so long as it wasn't saturated in fat and oil.

Gina remembered that she had homework, which made Locke groan. He had been ignoring his math homework. If Gina was done eating the pizza and was going to go do her schoolwork then he should as well. "Yeah, I got some equations to do and a paper to write for History."

Gina wanted to hang out again sometime which was a little bit of a surprise to Locke. He knew that he had floundered at points during the conversation, and Gina made it clear that her movie tastes didn't include his. "Sure, I'll keep you updated."