Tommy shivered instinctively, both at the feeling of Bret's fingers brushing his hair back and at the growl in the mortal's voice. If they'd been alone, Tommy probably would have been in Bret's lap an instant after the morta's hand had fallen away, "You suppose?" He asked, trying not to sound too breathless. "Well, if it's such a hardship for you..."
Another innocent smile, although this one had just a hint of something coy and sly, was directed at Bret, before, again, Tommy returned his attention to Paul, nodding. "Overwhelming, definitely, but you're right. To know that we can contribute to making the world a better place, it's both inspiring and humbling at the same time." He cocked his head slightly. "You know, we're probably taking similar courses. We should talk shop throughout the school year, bounce essay ideas off one another." Was Tommy actually making a new friend? Did Paul count as a friend? Tommy, for now, thought he did, and that just made him smile all the wider. "And support is constantly growing, too, so, yeah, we can definitely make a difference."
And then his voice turned just as enthusiastic as Paul's nod had been. "Yeah, I mean, even if we ignore all the benefit legalization could do for the US... well, earlier today, I was reading an article by two Mexican journalists, um... Héctor Camín and Jorge Castañeda, I think their names were-" The Mexican names rolled off Tommy's tongue easily, as if he was fluent in Spanish; he wasn't but there were definitely benefits to being the son of Marijuana. "-and even just California legalizing marijuana, which they may do on November second, would strike a huge blow to the Mexican drug cartels and would at least lessen the violence."
Tommy stopped himself from starting to ramble about statistics and the cost - both in money and in lives - of the cartel violence, but only barely. Instead he just gave a sheepish shrug and a bit of a self-deprecating smile. "But I should save all of that for when it's actually time to debate it in class. You know your timetable by now, right? Is there any one course you're looking forward to in particular?"