Takeout pancakes don't exactly need a lot of prep. Soon, Curtis abandons his idle fiddling in favor of watching Dejah circle the room, a faint edge of concern still lingering in his expression. When she finally settles next to him, he pries off the lid of one pancake box and pushes it her way.

"No, it's cool," he says, quiet. "I get it."

Or, like the concept of metal: he gets enough to understand the importance.