The side of Howard's mouth quirks up into a little half-smile at the pat. Orc is one of the few people whose contact Howard craves rather than shrinks away from. Even if Orc was the one to hammer the final nail into Howard's mentality that 'Everyone Will Hurt You', no scrawny, fucked-up teenager is an island.

"Nah, lots of people put up with me here. I'm useful. People like useful, but they don't really like me, and." He shrugs again. "I'm okay with that, I guess. I don't need to be popular."