You say Potato, I say Tatws. {Sean}

Griff was just about in Wales once more with his brothers watching his nephews and niece doing roly-polys down the hill when he heard the distinctive step of someone nearby. At first he dismissed it as nothing particularly important, but the step came closer, and Griff's eyes opened, just as Sean asked if he could sit down. Well, wasn't this a pleasant surprise. Setting down his sandwich and scooting over on the blanket, Griff offered a smile.

"Of course you can." He said warmly, popping another bite of sandwich into his mouth, before politely offering the small tub of sandwiches over. "Help yourself, I always make far too many." He added with a chuckle, before turning and facing Sean properly.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" Griff arched an eyebrow curiously. It wasn't so much that he minded the interruption, all and sundry knew the doctor was a naturally social person, it was just that Sean rarely just popped up out of nowhere and sat down. Being a doctor had it's small advantages, in that Griff's brain began to do a mental scan of Sean's features. It looked as though perhaps it was time for a talk.

Helping himself to a second sandwich - this time turkey and cranberry - Griff continued a smile while his brain continued to summarize what it was Sean was here for. Oh god. What if he was sick? The man's smile dimmed. What if Sean had news that he was sick and Griff was the only one to help him? What if Sean was sick and the sickness had transferred onto him and now he had a terrible illness that wasn't going to be easy to cure? He ran his hands over his beard nervously. He had been feeling a little off colour recently, and he wasn't tasting things properly. Oh god oh god why weren't his medical journals here with him?

He took a deep breath and tried not to look quite so panicked. "Any problems?" He asked, swallowing down a bead of worry.

For the past few minutes, Griff had forgotten that Sean was a telepath, so when he said that he wasn't sick, the doctor nearly dropped his sandwich. Then remembrance kicked in and the doctor smiled, blushed a little and nodded. "That, that's good." He put his hand on his chest to still his somewhat racing heart, took a long deep breath and carried on eating his sandwich.

"Apology?" The man looked puzzled. There was nothing he could think of that Sean could or should apologise for. Their dating had tailed off to a comfortable decision on friendship rather than romance, and Sean hadn't done anything other than be pleasant and even amicable despite Griff's burning of teacakes last time the man had come over.

But then he mentioned Josh and recognition flashed in his eyes. "Oh don't be silly." He said warmly, shaking his head. "Josh isn't your responsibility, and there's very little to apologise for. I was probably to uh... overfriendly or something. And Gladys did eat his newspaper." Griff couldn't believe that Josh or Sean for that matter were anything but nice people. Perhaps Josh had mental problems, but that was no reason to be anything but friendly to the man. It wasn't his fault his bipolar disorder caused him to have terrible moodswings.

"I'll accept the apology but it isn't needed." He paused, running his hand through his hair and then taking a hearty bite of sandwich. "Did you erm... suggest politely for him to be checked over for any." He paused, trying to think of a delicate way to pose the next part of the sentence. "Mental... issues? Because I can fit him in at the practice with another doctor if he so prefers." Griff would sooner take the idea that someone had a mental issue than disliked him. Because why? Why would Josh take offence to him so quickly?

He went quiet for a minute, before patting Sean on the shoulder.

"Everything's... alright between you both, yes?"

"Ah, please don't. I don't want more reasons for Josh to despise my existence." Griff teased, smile back on his face. As he chewed on the sandwich, he reflected on how he supposed he would feel if someone had encroached on a long standing friendship between him and another. At that point, he felt a small wave of guilt, and looked up at Sean apologetically. "Perhaps I shouldn't have forced myself upon him." He mused, looking at the filling in his sandwich as if it would happily explain the secrets of the universe to him.

Griff was mildly relieved to hear that Josh didn't have a mental problem. Not in that it meant he didn't have to see him, but rather that mental disorders were a horrible thing to wish on anyone, and even Josh didn't deserve that. "It's alright, I understand." He said warmly, as Sean tried to explain Josh's actions. Everyone reacted to things differently. As a doctor he'd seen his fair share of people react entirely different to both good news and bad. Some got violent, others cried, some seemed to lock themselves away... diversity was in the DNA of human nature.

"If I were in his position I'm sure I may have acted somewhat the same." He said, not entirely sure whether he would or not. He was more likely to sulk and then try and ignore the upset by throwing himself into being as friendly as possible. But again, that was diversity for you. "Okay, maybe not, but I can understand why he was defensive and possessive. You're a lovely man, Sean, and had I known you longer, I'm sure I wouldn't have wanted to share either." He chuckled warmly, then looked up at the canopy of trees above them.

The fact that he had brought about something quite so dramatic between a long standing friendship was a little offputting, but Griff let it roll away to the back of his mind to mull over at a later date, instead glancing back to Sean. "If there's anything you need me to do, I'm there." He said honestly. "There's always a point when pressure builds enough that it's impossible to stop the impending explosion." He added with a little hum. "But after the explosion, everyone feels better. Metaphorically, I mean. No one enjoys actual bombs and other such unpleasant things."

Sean always had this ability to make Griff feel much better about any situation. Right now he began to stop blaming himself for Josh's reaction, and managed to smile and forget any thoughts of fault. "Thank you Sean." Griff said humbly, picking at his sandwich and offering a smile. "I know Gladys can be a little bit of a pest but she's such a sweet thing and honestly, I can't imagine anyone taking offence to her." He frowned a bit, and paused in picking bread. Maybe he was using her as a way of feeling less alone in the big house by himself, but that made his fondness of the goat no less valid, and he'd be devastated if anyone tried to take her away.

Griff had never really had best friends in his life. He'd had a group of people he was very close to, and so this situation with Sean and Josh wasn't really something he could relate to. He could understand the logistics of the whole thing, much as though they were lovers, perhaps, but he really didn't want to pry into a relationship that was obviously a bit of a mess and needed cleaning up and sorting.

"It's my pleasure." Griff eventually said, nodding. "I just hope you and Josh work things out." He smiled, then ran his hands over the blanket and put the lid on the tupperware box, aware that insects would probably gather if he wasn't too careful. "But I'm sure you will. I have every faith in the pair of you." He chuckled and then settled down to lie on his back to look up at the clouds through the leaves of the forest canopy.

As Sean analysed what would happen, he smiled a little. "It's admirable how well you can read each other." He mused, scratching his beard. "Well, if it's anything like the shows I watch, one of you will get arrested, then there'll be a big dramatic confession of feelings, followed by a long happy love affair that ends when your arch nemesis shows up and you break up. Then you get back together after a series and everyone's relieved. ... Then your house explodes and you both die." He frowned.

"I hope it's nothing like that for several reasons." Griff looked a little worried. "For starters, I don't think I want to know anything about your arch nemesis, and I definitely don't want you exploding yourselves." He paused, picking at his nails. "And the idea of an entire series of you dating other people would probably cause Riley and Danny a bit of a headache. That's one episode a week for at least a month."

Suddenly he coughed and looked a little sheepish. "I took the analogy too far. Sorry."

There was something inherently soothing about just lying in silence looking at the passing of clouds through trees with a friend nearby. Griff could have happily fallen asleep in this situation, except he was still having a conversation and that would have been tremendously rude. Instead, he propped himself up on his elbows and poured out a cup of tea from the thermos flask near the lunchbox and smiled. "We all get too complacent in relationships though. I remember when I first met Bill Orthen at Kocher." He trailed off with a low chuckle.

"We were ever so close, but after a few months -which I know is trivial compared to you and Josh- I decided that I could read him like a book and just stopped trying so hard." He paused, sipping his tea quietly. "We broke up that same month after I presumed he wanted to take things to the next level and he wasn't ready." He frowned, flopping backwards and staring at the sky once more.

He had little to no doubt in his mind that while he cared for Sean already as a remarkable friend and man, that there was probably blame to be had on both sides, perhaps not equal shares, but at least not one sided. "The point I'm trying and failing to make is that I think we all forget to make an effort at some time in a relationship, whether it be friendship or more." Griff shrugged, amused at how one of the clouds appeared to look like a pair of fluffy bunny slippers drifting alone in the sky.

Moving his hand through his hair, he hummed to himself. "Well that's a relief. Things will really be okay, Sean. I bet Gladys on it." And if he was wrong, he still wouldn't give up the goat. That animal was his current pride and joy. "Though if I'm wrong, you still aren't taking her, if only because I don't think you want a goat in your office." The doctor grinned, taking another swig of tea.

Griff paused to scratch his neck in a thoughtful sort of way, agreeing with Sean's assessment, and politely moving to pour out some tea for Sean. "I think the human condition makes us all presume. It's a natural trait." He said thoughtfully, smiling over at Sean with a small shrug. Though he was no psychiatrist, he'd studied everything in his quest to become a general practitioner, still, he didn't assume he knew more on this than his current companion. He did wonder if Sean would have any interesting stories himself, but he didn't feel like prying while his relationship with Josh was fractured, so he pressed his lips shut.

"It's funny how relationship problems are like a physical illness." He mused, looking down into the flask as though it held all the answers to the world. "If you leave it untreated, it gets worse and spreads, the faster it's treated, the less time it takes to recover." He looked over at Sean with a vague smile, then closed his eyes once more. They should invent a relationship tonic to fix all problems in one sip. Imagine the divorce rates! They'd plummet! That image alone made Griff smile, and he hoped Sean had picked up on the thought too.

"That's a relief." He said honestly, clapping his hand on Sean's shoulder. "I admit I'm ever so fond of her. She's so gentle and keeps me company." He smiled. "But I can part with an afternoon tea, so I'll bet that willingly, and even extend it to say no matter what happens, you're welcome to come over for it." His face continued to beam over at Sean, enjoying the idea of his friend coming over for sandwiches, scones and clotted cream. His stomach rumbled a bit at the idea of it, and he flushed, fishing out another sandwich from the tupperware to silence his tum.

"It extends to Josh, too, if he ever forgives me." He added with a warm chuckle, before tucking into the sandwich with a hum.