@Cody
Leah had never had siblings. Then again, she never really had real parents either. She wasn’t sure why she found a pull towards Cody when she first met him, but it became clear through years of their friendship. Cody was the brother she never had- never would have. He made her laugh, he joked with her. He brought her out of the iron strong wall that she had built around herself and actually let her see the light on the otherside. She enjoyed his company and that couldn’t be said for many people in her life.
She would be lying if she said that she didn’t feel absolutely awful for leaving the way she did. Goodbyes had always been easy for her. Probably because she never got close enough to anyone to have any true feelings behind them, but the day she left PROTECT was a day that she would rather forget. She only left him a note, after all. One lousy note to explain why she was a lousy friend and why she was betraying him, in a few more words. Truth be told, writing Cody’s letter had been the hardest or her. She considered herself to be rather talented with words, but she was lost to them on that day. She could only remember creating a big spot of ink on the paper from where she had sat there mulling over what to write. The pen touched the paper, but no words sprung from it like she had wished it too. So she pulled herself together and put herself in the mindset she always did as a journalist. She remained stoic and emotionless, putting herself in a role that she was already playing. Being objective had always helped her before, and it helped now.
So when Cody called her, she couldn’t have been more shocked. Happy also. Not just because one of the few people she considered her friend had called, but because for the first time since she left PROTECT to be a Rogue she didn’t feel like the traitor everyone was meant to turn their backs on. She was still deciding whether or not the decision to invite him over was a good one, but for now she was going to enjoy it. Cody always had a way of making her forget her problems for awhile.
She smiled at the nickname and shook her head at the boy. “Alright, you’ve got me. Now you can either join me in my little insurance fraud or keep your mouth shut about it, capiche?” she said, a smirk playing at her lips. At the smell of the pizza, her smirk turned into a genuine smile. He had remembered her favorite place. She took the box from his hand and walked it over to the counter before setting it down. “Well you have my gratitude. We’d probably both be starving other wise.”
As she pulled out plates for the both of them, she watched from the corner of her eye as he walked around her apartment, looking at her furniture. She gave a light shrug at his statement, setting the plates on the counter and opening the pizza box to get herself a slice. “It has character, I’ll give it that.” she said, looking around. “To be honest, I only wanted this place because I saw myself living here in a vision. Call me strange, but I’d say my precog intuition led me right this time.” She waved off the boxes as she walked to her fridge. “Don’t mind those, I’ve been too busy to unpack everything at once. It’s a process. Do you want anything to drink, flame boy?”
To say how much Cody treasured the friendship he shared with Leah, he'd have absolutely no idea how to put that in actual words. She had a weird way of showing her affection, but Cody appreciated the fact that Leah always looked out for him. Well, used to, before she suddenly cut all ties to PROTECT.
He was quick to forgive her for just leaving with a note. She didn't even have to say sorry for that (though she did apologize in her letter.) He didn't know why she did that-- and he didn't ask. It was obvious to him that it was something that Leah would very much rather keep to herself-- and he respected that. When she disappeared from PROTECT-- so did her articles disappear from the papers. Cody followed the paper she used to write for for a bit after that, hoping that would be a channel to keep tabs on her. It worried Cody that he had found nothing-- not even on the other news papers-- written by a certain Leah Q. Parker. And that was when he decided that he had to just leave her be because Leah was the kind of woman who was strong enough to stand for herself.
The pyrokinetic chuckled at her feigned admittance to the crime. "You know all it takes for me to say yes is giving me an extra slice of pizza." He made himself comfortable in the couch, shoving a few empty boxes off of it. "A vision like you visualized it? Or a vision vision?" Cody asked.
He paused for a moment, looking at the empty boxes properly now. He frowned a bit before he turned his body to face Leah. "Hey, Lei. Quick question: what're you going to do with these boxes after you finish packing out?" It was a weird idea, but maybe he could use them when they'd start to pack up.
