The Bird and the Bear (Gryph)

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It had been some time since Rue had seen Gryphon.  After Phoenix, he had only dated a couple times casually, and the winged boy had been one of those few times (unknowing of his relationship to the pixie).  It had led to just a simple friendship, which Rue was fine with - he didn't think he was really ready for anything serious anyway.  

But now, hearing that the younger boy was going to be starting at the same university that he went to, Rue had volunteered to show him around campus, point out the best places to eat, to study, which clubs he found interesting, and all the like.  He'd wished he'd had someone show him around before his own freshman year.

He was leaning against the wall near the entrance to the multicultural center, watching people pass by as he waited for Gryphon to show up.  Since it was still summer, there wasn't a lot of activity going on around campus, so there were only a few students meandering around; he hoped he would be easy to pick out, since he'd told Gryph where he would be.  His stark white-blonde hair would probably help.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph hadn't been feeling his best when he went out with Rue. It was a bad time, and inevitably, didn't work out. He was glad he was still in good relations with him, though. He was a good guy - it just wasn't going to work out as much else. That was fine, especially now.

He hadn't seen Rue in a while, so when he got the opportunity to see him again, he was very much for it. Plus, as much as he liked exploring new places, it was probably better than he had some kind of knowledge of what he was doing. Just hoping and guessing probably wouldn't get him too far.

Gryphon was pretty certain he would be able to recognize Rue straight away - he had a pretty unique appearance. The avian boy looked alright, from first appearances. He was wearing long sleeves for a reason though - his arm was still bandaged from that stupid crash a few days ago, and he had a very slight bump on his head, but it was almost gone. He approached the place Rue had told him to come to, and smiled at the guy when he saw him. "Hey!" The dancer greeted, almost completely certain that it was definitely Rue, "It's been a while." Way to point out the obvious, Gryph.

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Given Rue's ability, he could pretty easily see what kind of mindset the people around him were in. He'd understood that Gryphon wasn't doing well and had tried to just keep their relationship light and friendly. The last time he'd seen the younger boy, his phoebe aura had seemed a lot happier. And more pink.

He caught sight of Gryph as he headed towards Rue, and the aura reader let a pleasant smile cross his face as he pushed himself away from the wall and went to meet him halfway. "Hey," he replied, seeming to gaze around Gryphon as he watched the boy's little bird flutter around. Mostly yellow and pink, with a tiny smidgen of black that probably meant he'd recently been ill or injured. Nothing to worry about. "It has been," he agreed softly, focusing back on the other boy's face. "You've graduated and everything. Congratulations." That was always an accomplishment, and the supportive older meta liked to show he knew that.

"Your aura is very pink now, did you know that?" he added with a slight tease, his dark eyes sparkling. "You'll have to tell me about it while we walk." Rue himself hadn't had that color in quite a while, but he liked listening to his friends' happiness. "Come on, I'll show you where your classes will be this term, if you know which rooms they're in."

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

It was weird to think, as Gryph saw Rue's eyesight shift around, that he could see something flying around nearby which no one else could. It was awesome... but yeah, still weird. A good weird. He smiled bashfully and looked down, "Heh, thanks." Seeing as academics weren't exactly Gryphon's forte, actually graduating was an achievement. IT would be for anyone, but still. "It's weird not going to Hammel any more, but yeah..." It was good to move on.

He blushed slightly. If he remembered correctly, pink meant love. He looked at Rue almost guiltily, "Alright." He wasn't embarrassed to talk about Kodi, or anything, but he wasn't exactly a typical person. That was a good thing, in his eyes, but he knew other people's opinions could differ. He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and showed it to Rue, seeing as it listed all the of his rooms.

When they started walking, Gryph's eyes wandered around a bit. "So..." He really didn't know how to start. Plus, he wasn't sure if Rue knew Kodi or not. It made him a little sad to realise that it would probably be a good thing if he didn't.

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Rue tried not to make it too obvious when he was staring at someone’s aura, but it could be difficult when it was particularly interesting/colorful/moving around a lot, the last one being Gryphon’s. He smiled and nodded. “I bet. I know it was…. Hard for me to adjust to moving, too.” Of course, Rue had been dealing with his breakup from Phoenix too, and the guilt that came along with that. Gryph wouldn’t know that, but… “You have somewhere to live, then? In the dorms, or your own apartment?” He smiled again. “Have a decent roommate?” Rue had been fortunate to be able to afford his own place when he graduated; he didn’t do particularly well, living with strangers or people he hardly knew. Hammel had been tough because of that sometimes.

His grin widened slightly at the blush on Gryphon’s cheeks. “I mean, you don’t have to, but I have to admit I’m a hopeless romantic at heart and I like to hear about other people’s love lives…. As long as they’re going well, which seems to be the case for you.” The tiny speck of black in his friend’s aura did concern him, though, so he added as he took the sheet of classes,”By the way, were you sick or injured recently?” Just to make sure it wasn’t something more serious.

He turned his eyes down to the room listings, chuckling a little at Gryph’s hesitance. “So, you have a boyfriend, and his name is…?” he encouraged softly. Rue motioned to a building not too far in the distance. “There’s Torrey Hall. It looks like you have a class in there. And… Davis Hall, that’s another block or so the same way. It looks like your classes won’t be too far apart, which is nice.” Rue chuckled dryly. “Trying to run across campus if you only have ten minutes between classes can be a pain.”

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

New people, new atmosphere, new surroundings... it was a pretty big change. But Gryph was happy to have it. At the mention of living arrangements, he smiled, "Yeah, I have an apartment now." He shared the rent with Tak, even if he could probably afford it by himself. It wasn't like he was about to go around bragging about his family's wealth, though. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He nodded, "Yeah, her name's Tak. She's really nice." Yeah. He probably need to have proper conversations with her more often. Where she didn't try to seduce him.

"No, I'm fine with telling you." Just not quite yet. He had to get his words right first. At the question about his wellbeing, he rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, I, um..." He paused before laughing to/at himself, "I crash-landed on the roof of the Starbucks in Pilot Ridge." He paused again, "And then made myself worse by hitting he head on a ladder." Without Cupper, he probably would have been worse off than he was right now.

Gryph smiled to himself as Rue pointed out the buildings, and he tried to make a mental note of their locations so he wouldn't forget, "Kodi. His name's... Kodi." Was he supposed to elaborate? Eh, why not? "He's..." Um... he was difficult to describe, that's what, "He's really one of a kind." That worked. Okay, so it wasn't like Gryphon didn't like him or anything - the complete opposite, in fact, but he wasn't so blinded by his love to see that Kodi wasn't someone you could just go, 'He's the most understanding and gentle person you could ever meet.' Because that... wasn't true. But Gryph liked him how he was, anyway. Different was good.

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Rue's brow rose curiously. "Tak... Takchawee?" he asked, the name catching his attention. "I know about her, if it's the same one." Who else had a name like that here? "I used to think her ability was similar to mine, given her... Habit of labeling people's spirit animals. She seemed nice enough; I'm glad you found someone pleasant to live with." It wasn't his partner, though, obviously, which made Rue even more curious.

He felt a sense of relief when Gryph confirmed his suspicions. "That is... Unfortunate," he slowly replied, laughing soon after. "I'm glad you're alright, that sounds painful." Rue motioned to the bird that only he could see and explained,"I saw a small spot of black in your aura, so I was concerned it was something still ongoing." He chuckled again. "Sorry, I've been asking a lot of questions. It's just... Been a while." Even so, Rue cared about the boy's well-being. They might not have hit it off, but the older boy could easily see Gryph becoming a closer friend.

"Oh, there's also a map right over there," Rue added off-handedly, pointing towards a junction of a few streets nearby,"and there are a couple others around campus too, in case you get lost. I would keep one with you too, at least for a while, until you get used to the place. It's really not as big as it looks once you get used to it." But anyway, onto mushy things. Rue listened with intrigue to the little that Gryph seemed willing to explain about his new love interest. "Well... That sounds interesting," he chuckled, holding the door open for Gryph before following after inside the building where one of his classes were. "Kodi... I don't think he sounds familiar. Is he the same year as you?" Rue didn't know everyone younger than him at Hammel, but he'd known a good few thanks to Phoenix if nothing else. "Maybe I've met him and didn't learn his name."