Arranged, My Ass [Fleur]

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Things... yeah, things were going up. Things were getting better. Things like Gryph's legs; he was still limping and had a stick, but he was upright, and his right leg was slowly deciding not to try and give out on him with every step. Things like his general happiness; Kodi and Oriel had somewhat made up and Kodi, whilst still not perfect, was definitely a whole lot improved from his ordeal. Gryph couldn't be happier about that - and things like the fact that Fiona was getting married. Like, wow, good for her. Of course, Gryphon felt a little sadness about that situation, as he hadn't been able to have a good conversation with Fi in a while, and now she'd probably want nothing more than to separate herself from Gryph's dad - it must have been pretty crap working under him. In turn, that kind of meant distancing herself from Gryphon, which was... bad, simply, to him, but he was an adult now. He'd be fine.

Oh wait, speaking of his dad, he'd had a call from his dad the other day at a... terribly unfortunate time. He'd almost ignored the call straight off the bat but he thought that talking to his dad at a time like that would be priceless. The whole time he faked that he couldn't hear him, and Kodi helped on that front too, though he sounded like he was saying something of somewhat importance - but then again, when didn't he sound that way? He missed everything his dad was trying to say, though he remembered hearing the words 'vulgar' and 'regret'.

Yeah, he could think of someone vulgar he regretted. Aigooo...

Today wasn't that day, though Gryphon had received another phone call from his dad. However, he was a bit too tired to answer the phone and deal with his shit, being hungover and all (thanks Kodi). Despite the time of day, he slobbed around the house in slacks, puffy from sleepiness, wings out for the world to see, limping about like a 'gimp' (again, thanks Kodi). It wasn't the most attractive sight but it was nothing a good ice bath couldn't fix. But Gryph didn't want an ice bath, so he settled for making a smoothie. Mmm... He hardly heard the knocking door over the ruckus of the blender, but when he did, he hobbled over, yawning and rolling out his shoulders before he unlocked the door and opened it, to be met with the sight of a young woman that he had never met before. He rubbed his face with his hand, propping himself up with his stick, "Can I help?"

[Fleur Seomoon]

Okay. Deep breath. Fleur paused at the base of the stairs to fill her lungs and exhale, and gather her thoughts. She’d only moved into town a couple days ago, and was staying at a hotel on the edge of Pilot Ridge until she found a place to live (preferably, and presumably, with her new husband-to-be once they finally met). She was under the assumption that he was aware of her coming into town, considering all that she had heard about him from her end, but had decided to surprise him and show up spontaneously rather than give him a call first. Fleur wanted to see his face when he talked to her for the first time.

Her very perfected face… and hair… and clothes… She had spent ages that morning getting ready, wanting to look absolutely flawless for their first encounter. And for a fashion design major at the top of her class, Fleur knew she could put together an ensemble to make everyone want to look like her (vain much?). She was still a little bit nervous about this meeting, considering this was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with and she wanted to make a good first impression, but she held her chin up proudly and began the short walk up to the apartment.

It was a nice building, at least, for an apartment complex. Fleur assumed it was one of the more expensive ones in town, which made sense, considering Gryphon’s family’s wealth. She wasn’t huge on apartments, but she figured she could get used to it until they found somewhere more permanent to live.

She found the door number she had been given and knocked before she could allow herself any sort of hesitation. Fleur straightened herself and flipped back a strand of air as she waited, and when she heard the doorknob rattle on the other side, she had to contain her wiggle of excitement. Then the door opened and… Well…. It wasn’t quite what she had been expecting. He was handsome, that much was easy to tell (and she’d seen pictures of him already), but if she was correct, it looked like he was suffering from a major hangover. Fleur wasn’t sure what the pimp-cane was for, though. Nevertheless, she gave him a bright smile, wondering if he had already guessed who she was. “I’m Fleur,” she said, studying his features to watch for any signs of recognition. “Your fiancée.” Ah, that word made her so happy! “I’m sure your dad has told you all about me. I’ve definitely heard a lot about you.” Too quick? Nah!

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

From seeing someone at such a contrast to himself, appearance wise, Gryph felt somewhat self conscious. He straightened up a little and tried to seem more awake, but... yeah, if this was important, he hadn't exactly left this woman with a good first impression. She seemed very confident and put together. It was almost daunting. Reminded him of his dad, except more friendly.

Gryphon shifted his body weight - he needed to sit down again soon - as she spoke. Fleur was a pretty na---- what. Gryph went blank. He opened his eyes a little more, instantly more awake at the word. Fiancé? She had to be insane. He swallowed nervously at the mention of his dad. Oh. "Uh..." He probably just seemed tired, hopefully, but... oh God... He cleared his throat, "Um, come in, please, sorry, Gryphon." He sent her a small smile, letting her in and closing the door behind her. The apartment wasn't in its worst state but.... it had definitely seen better days, by far. He cringed nervously, "...I'll be back." He hobbled quickly off to the bedroom, softly closing the door behind him and trying to process what was happening. Drunken dream? Maybe. He still felt weird. But... no, he was awake. Shit. Shit shit shit....

First instincts was to text Kodi. If he randomly came back and just saw a woman at the apartment.... well, who knew what he would think. He just summarised that some stranger was saying weird things and he was fine. Just confused. Hopefully Kodi wouldn't worry and come rushing back. He texted him again to tell him not to do either of those things, before spending a couple minutes trying to make himself seem more.... not dead. With some decent clothes and hair that didn't look like a ball of fuzz, he went back out go talk to this woman.

When he spotted her again, he coughed awkwardly, "So, uh...." Nope, not processing. "....fiancé?" He clearly had no idea what was going on still.

[Fleur Seomoon]

Fleur couldn’t have expected Gryphon to look as put-together as she, considering she hadn’t warned him in advance that she was coming over. Looking over him now, she wondered if she should have. It wasn’t that he looked terrible (although he did look very sleepy and hungover and maybe hurt? With that cane?), but she had seen from pictures that he could look much, much better, and she wanted to see that Gryphon in person.

One thing she did notice right away were his wings. Oh…. So pretty…. She couldn’t help but wonder if their future children would be meta-human and have their father’s feathers. But she was getting ahead of herself, they hardly knew each other! “Alright, thank you Gryphon,” she replied with a smile, glad that he was inviting her in despite her surprise visit. Fleur had noticed his expression; she hoped he didn’t mind spontaneous visitors too much. He was probably just sleepy. “Did I wake you up from a nap?” she asked, before noticing how much he was hobbling around. Oh, poor baby, he was hurt! “Do you need help-?” he began to ask as he disappeared into his room. Fleur bit her lip. Maybe she was coming off too strong? But surely he’d anticipated this meeting, right? She sat daintily on an empty couch in the living room and waited.

Kodi was currently out getting some hangover breakfast/brunch for the two of them. He hadn’t been as groggy as his boyfriend, so he’d offered to go out so neither of them had to cook. The texts confused him and made him a little uneasy, but replied with an alright and continued his walk to get the food. He wondered if the person would still be there when he got back. He hoped so, so he could find out what the hell was going on.

Fleur looked up when Gryph reappeared, and smiled at his improved appearance. “I’m sorry, I guess I should have called beforehand,” she said apologetically. “I thought it would be fun to be a surprise…” She patted the seat next to her as an invitation, though he probably didn’t need it, right? Surely he caught onto it by now? “Yes,” she answered with a broad smile. “I just came into town a few days ago. I’m staying in a hotel a couple miles away, and your dad gave me your address, so I wanted to come see you in person!” Duh. “I hope he’s told you good things about me,” she giggled a little flirtatiously. “Although I’m sure we’ll get to know each other very well soon enough.” Oblivious much?

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Yeahhh.... Gryph wasn't about to make perfect appearances. Give him a day or two to resurrect, then it'll be possible.

Ah yes, he was birdman. And fairly protective of his wings at that. They tucked behind him a little as he spoke to this stranger, hiding the same way he wanted to. At the question, Gryph tilted his head, "Kind of.... yeah." Wing twitch. He kept them tucked back, "But it's alright, I probably needed waking anyway." He hardly regarded her second question, waving his hand in dismissal as he left. He almost wanted to call Kodi, because he was so confused and maybe he would understand more...? But he left it. No point scaring him for now. You know, unless this got scary. More scary than it already was.

As he returned and was given an apology, Gryph gave Fleur(?) a warm smile, "No, it's... I'm usually alright with surprises, just.... this is a big surprise." No kidding. He looked where she was patting and made a slight face before limping over, deciding to sit there, propping his stick up nearby. The explanation made him pale slightly, "Oh." He said, in a somewhat cheery (forced) tone. And then he froze. Shit, maybe... those phone calls... oh, goddammit. "Um... honestly? I.... I don't have a good relationship with... with my dad, so... I didn't know about this.... about you... at all until... until you knocked on my door. I'm sorry." But why was he sorry? Because he was probably going to hurt her feelings? He was painfully gay. "I'm... uh... guessing this is arranged...?" He swallowed awkwardly, "Can I ask what my dad told you about me? I probably need to correct a few things." He would ask about her later.

Maybe.

[Fleur Seomoon]

Fleur was trying not to stare too much at the boy’s wings, but they sure were pretty, wow… She wanted to touch them, and nuzzle them…. Hee…. She couldn’t wait. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized, feeling a bit bad. No wonder he looked so frazzled, that must be the reason why, not because he didn’t know who she was. “Well… Okay, if you’re sure…” Fleur was thinking more and more that it wasn’t the best idea for her to come over unannounced, but it was too late now. She was just going to have to work hard to make up for it! Although he wasn’t even accepting her help with his injury…. But then again, maybe he’d had it for a while and was used to it.

She was glad to see his smile, at least, and returned one in kind when Gryph gave her one. “I’m sure it is…” Fleur sighed, thinking the wrong reasons. “I actually wasn’t supposed to get in for another day or two, but I was so excited I just couldn’t wait another day. And I think it was worth the rush.” Even if he’d looked half-asleep before, and still didn’t probably look as good as he could, he was still incredibly handsome, wow… Look at that dimple! Fleur smiled and watched him as he sat next to her, and she turned slightly so she was still facing him, her foot inches away from his. She waited excitedly for him to finally say something in recognition to what she was talking about, but when he spoke, it was… Completely unexpected. “What??” she replied, surprise coloring her voice. “He didn’t tell…. He never told you anything??” Fleur had a really hard time believing that! “But I spoke to him several times, he said he would communicate with you about it…. You know, with all the benefits and legalities that make this relationship desirable to our families…” Her brow was furrowed, and she sat back slightly. “You care about that, right?” She knew not everyone looked at arranged marriages positively, and she might not have either if her chosen spouse was an ugly jerk or something, but she’d been fortunate, she thought. “Yeah, arranged,” she replied slowly, still confused. “But it’s hard to arrange something when only one half of the agreeing parties know what they’re getting into…”

At the question, Fleur pouted slightly and looked up, trying to recall. “… I don’t remember specifics. But he said a lot of nice things…. Like you’re studying hard at college, and… Passionate about your dancing! Ballet, right?” She grinned; dancers always had hot bodies. “And you went to Hammel because you’re a meta-human, obviously.” Fleur eyed his wings again. “And he showed me pictures. None of them did you justice, though.” She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled. “…. I still can’t believe he hasn’t called you about this though, that doesn’t seem like him, at least from what I’ve seen.” Surely that wouldn’t change the fact that this was going to happen, though!

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

"Yeah..." That was pretty much the simplest way of putting this. A huge... huge surprise. He listened as she expanded and... well, she clearly had no idea why this was so big for him, and why he was being so gormless about it. He could feel her eyes ogling his... everything, probably. It was the same feeling he felt around Kodi ninety-five percent of the time, except with him, it gave some butterflies too. With Fleur, it brought a drop of annoyance. Gryphon flinched at the woman's surprise and cringed as if it was his fault, even though... okay, well maybe it was technically his fault that he didn't know, but Dad could have emailed! Or texted! Or something that Gryphon would struggle to ignore! He made an apologetic face in reply at first, before clearing his throat, despite not knowing what Fleur was on about (which was about to become painfully obvious), "I..." He yawned widely. Maybe it would seem cute, but Gryph was just a sleepy little bird, "...my dad... he probably tried, but sadly, I'm a pretty busy person..." Yeah, busy with university, but mostly his lump of a parasite boyfriend (who he loved and cared about a lot, but... he was needy sometimes! Most times. Nyehh.) Needless to say, but said anyway, "Dad probably thought I wouldn't be up for this unless he threw it on me suddenly anyway." Gryph still wasn't up for it - even if Fleur was the most perfect woman in existence, he wouldn't have been up for it. He already had a kitty.

The winged man nodded along as Fleur spoke, fairly curious as to how his dad had spoken about him, and... well, he was surprised, but also amused. Nice things? Was she talking to the right person? He gave another small smile as dancing was brought up, giving a brisker nod, "More than just ballet, but it's definitely up there." His smile turned awkward at the mention of pictures. Lovely... Gryph gave a small chuckle at her confusion over his Dad's behaviour, "I'm sorry to say, you don't know my dad, a-and you don't know me." He groaned softly as he went to stand up again, a lot of his weight resting on his stick. He just felt awkward, sat next to her. "He... only cares about himself. He knows what I'm like and he knows..." He couldn't bring himself to say to her face that he was gay. He sighed, "You'll see." With that, he pulled out his phone and texted Kodi again, almost sending him a full message before deleting it and replacing it with a few hearts and a few kisses. He was glad the dentokinetic had volunteered to grab food for them both, and he'd show his gratitude more when he returned.

He rested against the side in the kitchenette, looking at Fleur again, "I'm... really sorry if you were expecting me to be the perfect guy my dad may have made me out to be. He just wants his business to flourish. I'm not exactly what he told you."

[Fleur Seomoon]

There must be some misunderstanding, Fleur thought as she tried to grasp the situation. Maybe the father and son had just had conflicting schedules and hadn’t been able to talk about it before now, or something… She was a few days early, after all, and they were three hours away by timezone. Surely that was it? Nevertheless, Fleur had to hold in a giggle at how cute he looked when he yawned. Mm, she could imagine waking up next to that fluffy face already… “Ahh, I see,” she replied with some relief. So she was right. “That makes sense, I guess. I’m… Still sorry that you didn’t have a heads up.” But she would make this all better soon! “…. Really?” she replied with a blink. “Well… I guess I didn’t have a lot of advance notice either. And there’s a lot weighing on it, as far as I’m aware, so it’s probably best we get started on… Everything.” Getting to know each other, talking details with their families about the benefits… Fleur was so ready.

But she was learning about him already, actually, which was good! Fleur didn’t fake her interest as he talked about dancing. “Ooh, really?” she breathed, eyes bright. “What kind of dancing? I love watching dancers perform, but I’m afraid I’m not very rhythmical myself.” She definitely had the body for it, though; hell, she could be in one of those idol groups on just her looks alone, in her opinion. But now Gryphon was saying weird things again, and Fleur frowned once more. “Well, I suppose I didn’t get to know him that well…” she agreed a little nervously. “But that’s why we’re meeting now!” So he could see how pretty she was in person, yes, but also to bond on a more emotional and mental level, if she had her way. Fleur watched him as he stood, resisting the urge to offer him some support. She was dying to ask what had happened to his leg, but it seemed inappropriate at the moment. “Oh.” Well…. Okay, so maybe the entire arranged marriage was selfish in itself, but wasn’t that sort of the point? And not just their parents would benefit from it, but they would too! “Are you texting him?” she asked curiously, seeing him on his phone. Fleur was oblivious to who was on the other side, for obvious reasons.

She shrugged at the apology and smiled again. “Perfection comes in different forms,” Fleur replied, going to stand up again. With her heels on, she was nearly six feet. “I never said you weren’t perfect. And, well, I guess it’s too soon for me to determine that anyway, but you seem very sweet from what I can see so far. And handsome. And honest.” All good traits, in her opinion. “How about we grab a coffee together sometime?” She would offer for them to have breakfast now, but… Well, he still looked half-dead from an apparent hangover, so she didn’t think it was a good idea.

Somewhere a few blocks away, Kodi was heading back with a bag full of food and a scowl on his face.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph and his dad had conflicts on everything. Not just schedules, but opinions, personalities, priorities, morals, everything. Gryphon saw his dad as a selfish, arrogant bastard and his dad... probably saw him the same. The avian man hummed in agreement, yeah, maybe more than a heads up, like maybe a way to cancel, sheesh... The idea of furthering this, though? Making it official? Gryph was still half asleep, for all he knew, this was some wacky dream. He was just tired, and still confused, and... and why now? Why arranged marriage? He didn't want a pretty girl, he wanted a dumb boy who liked messing about and having fun and didn't look like they cared more about appearances than world peace. Usually he wasn't so quick to judge but jinjja~, he was too tired for this!

And he didn't want to talk about himself, he wanted to climb back in bed and fall asleep again. "Lots of types, most types, y'know... stuff." He wasn't even going to apologise for being vague, he didn't want this girl to know him, he wanted this to be a prank, but with every passing minute, it seemed less and less likely. He started keeping a good distance between them. He didn't know how she would interpret his behaviour - rude, shy, unsure, whatever. She could do and think whatever she wanted, so long as it didn't involve him. He glanced up as she asked about his messaging, putting his phone away, "Not exactly. Just texting a very close friend of mine." Very close. "I'll probably talk to daddy dearest when you're not here, you wouldn't want to be here for it." He gave her an apologetic expression, trying to be empathetic. This girl had been roped into this too, and she was... clearly very interested. He didn't like that this might hurt her feelings but he.... he couldn't do this, and he was going to make his dad change his mind.

All the compliments were... something. Gryphon sent her a warm smile and a small bow of gratitude, before his expression turned awkward again, "...you see, there's a problem with that." Okay, he seemed honest, time to be honest, "...I'm kinda already taken." He made a face, "I'd go out for coffee as friends, but I know that's not what you're intending for us to be." He checked the time, before looking at her again, "I'm sorry, it's just how things are, how I am..." Gulp. "...you'll see."

His eyes went to the door. He didn't know how much longer Kodi was going to be, but he needed backup, and someone to hide behind.

[Fleur Seomoon]

Fleur’s parents were probably very much like Gryphon’s dad, in reality. The difference was the two children – Fleur had always been obedient to her parents’ wishes for her, and hardly ever talked back, and she was fine with that because she was happy with the life she was living (even if there were some things she did in college that she enjoyed but her parents wouldn’t approve of….). Gryphon wasn’t like that, and she was only now realizing this. It… Did bother her that his dad never told her about any of this, but she figured he was just thinking about his company, which was understandable to her, given her family history. Hell, her own parents were an arranged marriage. Surely Gryph would be able to see all the positives to this engagement, right? She was gorgeous, they would have money, their families would be happy… Winning all around! Of course she didn’t realize the obvious.

She got the feeling maybe it would be best to come back at another time, but… But dammit, she’d spent so much time dressing up to come over here, she wasn’t going to just leave unless it was really obvious that he wanted her to! “I see,” she replied to his vague answer, deciding not to prod him for more at the moment. He was acting a bit strange, and it worried her a little, but she supposed she could understand it, given the circumstances. “… I’m… Really sorry you didn’t know about this in advance,” she told him, folding her hands together. “I hope I… Didn’t scare you too much with things I thought you already knew.” It wasn’t her fault! How was she supposed to know the guy was clueless? That’s not how this was supposed to work! “Oh… Right,” she replied with a small nod. “Um… Okay. I might call him sometime too…” Although, she didn’t know what she would say. She wasn’t mad at Mr. Matsuoka, it just seemed like this whole thing was bad communication.

She smiled back at him, glad to see he didn’t seem…. Completely upset. And he shouldn’t be! Fleur was a catch, after all. She was about to say something else when he mentioned a… Problem. Her brow furrowed until he explained. He had a…. “…. What?” she replied, feeling her stomach drop. “No, no no, it’s not just me that’s intending for that, it’s our families too!” He would simply have to break up with whatever girl this was. Hopefully they hadn’t been together too long. “Don’t apologize to me, we’ll just need to… Work it out.” Yeah, it wouldn’t be too hard. But then again… “I’ll see what…?”

Kodi came in on excellent timing. He shoved the door open without knocking, his kohl-smeared eyes instantly landing on the slut in their house. A bag of food cartons filled with gourmet waffles and boba tea followed him in as he slowly shut the door behind him. “… Gryph?” he asked, eyes not leaving the model-esque bitch in their midst. “Who’s the whore?”

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon saw the positives in this arrangement, yes - for his Dad, mostly. There were positives for Gryph too but they barely mattered in the grand scheme of things. Compare that situation to his current one, and he didn't see much for his Dad, but there were a whole lot of positives for him, including, hm, I dunno, being with someone he actually knew and liked (who was of the right sex for him). That was kind of important to him. He couldn't force affection onto someone he had no interest in, no matter how lovely they were. He waved his hand dismissively, "Now isn't really the time to get to know each other," But would there ever be time? Not if he could help it. And Gryphon was sorry about not knowing about this too. And then about knowing about this. He didn't want to know. "Well..." Well indeed. It was a little too much to pile on at once, beside the fact that he didn't want this. Kodi was going to be listening to a lot of angry Korean later.

Gryph could tell Fleur was attractive, but that much was obvious. Hell, she looked like a damn model, the way she sat there, with those clothes on. Didn't mean he was about to fall in love. Oh, and he didn't care about families, his Dad could go screw himself and he didn't know how Fleur's parents were, but they could too. This was too much... "This isn't something easily worked out." She'd see.

It was then that Kodi made his entrance and--- mmm, he could smell the waffles.... couldn't this wait, he was staaarving.... He limped up to his boyfriend and pecked his cheek, standing nearby so hopefully, he wouldn't get any ideas about getting extra mean or violent. This wasn't Fleur's fault after all - not entirely. "She's... a person. And please don't use that language," He hesitated before leaning in to Kodi's ear and speaking quietly, "You'll probably be cursing a lot in a minute, so I'd save it." This wasn't said provocatively, but as a forewarning. This wasn't a normal situation, and Kodi was more awake than him. Of course his reaction was going to be strong. He looked at Fleur as well, "You see what I mean? This is the problem. Not a problem to me, but maybe to you." He was way too gay. He would have been clinging to Kodi by now if it weren't for his dumb leg. Instead, he was trying to take the bag off of him. He disliked this situation a lot, but.... but waffles...! His attention was more towards Kodi again, "Don't get angry at her, this isn't her fault, it's my dad's." He spoke in this way simply because he expected someone as proud seeming as Fleur would fill in all the other gaps confidently for him.

[Fleur Seomoon]

Fleur resisted the urge to pout at Gryphon’s dismissive tone. Okay, sure, he had a reason to be upset, but he didn’t need to talk like that to her! Hmph. It didn’t make him any less desirable or anything, at least. “Right… I understand,” she replied quietly, keeping her opinions to herself. Fleur eventually sat down again, wondering if he would ask her to leave. He wouldn’t be that rude, would he? She would leave on her own soon enough and come back at a better time…

She sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingers a little. Fleur was going to get a headache at this rate. “I know it won’t be easy,” she replied carefully. “We’ll figure something out.” Unfortunately, the two of them had very different ‘somethings’ in mind.

Of course, Fleur had no idea what was about to walk in the door. When the dentokinetic appeared and glared at her, she… Well, glared right back. Who the hell was this guy and why did he seem to hate her already? “Excuse me?” she huffed in shock at his horribly offensive words. “You know nothing about me, why would you…!” The nerve! Fleur was far from a whore, she was a respectable young lady that was only not quite a virgin due to a couple people in college. Kodi rolled his eyes at both of them, snickering a little at the ho’s response. “Whyy?” he pouted. “It’s amusin’.” Okay, so maybe he should have found out who this person was first, but whatever. “A person. Right. That explains everythin’.” His brow furrowed at the whisper; it made his stomach sink a little. Nevertheless, he let Gryphon take the food from him as he turned his attention back to the bitch, who was still glaring daggers at him, but also looking confused at the interaction between the two boys.

“You have a very… Nice… Friend, Gryphon,” she told the older boy, smiling thinly. Kodi snorted and snickered again. “Friend… Right,” he chortled, going to lean against the kitchen counter as he kept studying the girl. “I don’t understand how this is a problem,” Fleur spoke over the dentokinetic to Gryphon. She didn’t like this toothy boy and didn’t want to talk to him. Sure, she could guess what the issue was, but she really didn’t want to. “It doesn’t change the arrangement our parents made.”

Kodi’s smile faded at this. “…. Arrangement?” he asked, glancing back at his boyfriend. “The fuck is she talkin’ about?” He took one of the boba teas and stabbed a straw violently through the plastic.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph, for once, didn't care about another person's feelings. This was extremely important and difficult and he didn't want involvement in it, as well as the fact he also had a headache and he would be collapsing on a bed right now if he was 'allowed'. Figuring something out was the last thing on his mind.

At least Kodi was here now... was that a good thing? If anything it was gonna cause a few added issues, but.... but food was good... mmm... oh, God, yelling, Jesus... Why didn't painkillers act fast enough? "He does it... for everyone pleasedon'tshout." It was too early in the morning for this kind of drama. Gryph was getting a stiff tension across his brow from this stress... Thank God for waffles. He grabbed out all the things and put them on the side, finding his noms and tearing off a couple bites, but.... this was going to have to wait, wasn't it...?

He couldn't help laughing at her denial, not-so-sympathetically, "Oh, hun, being gay these days isn't that foreign, is it? You can see what I'd need to work around." And then she brought up the 'arrangement' again and Gryph's own expression dropped too, because he knew that if he couldn't worm a way out of it, it would be hard to escape the situation he now found himself in. He caught eyes with Kodi and swallowed uncomfortably, getting his own boba tea and fiddling with it nervously. A silence lingered. He didn't want to say it. He hobbled over to a stool and perched on it with a bit of difficulty, before sighing and waving blankly in the direction of Fleur, "She's.... supposedly... my fiancé." He was looking at the ground now. Couldn't he just go back to bed...? "She shouldn't be, if it should be anyone, it should be you, but I can't...." Gryph muttered, pushing the straw in and sipping. Please let this be a weird dream...

[Fleur Seomoon]

Kodi frowned and glanced over when Gryph complained about the loud noises, feeling sympathetic. Fortunately, he’d been drinking long enough that he could deal with hangovers alright; Gryphon still was a baby about them, apparently. “Aw, hunny, go sit down and eat, okay?” he told him, reaching up to stroke his hair. “And drink plenty of water… Or boba. I got your favorite.” He’d been so distracted by the slut that he’d forgotten to even ask how Gryph was doing. Stupid skank! What did she even want? She acted like she wanted to jump his bone….

Fleur just watched their interaction with narrowed eyes and a sinking heart. She refused to accept what she was seeing until Gryphon flat-out said it. “Gay?” she repeated in a breathy voice. “No…. But that’s…” That wasn’t at all how this was supposed to go! Although, admittedly, now some confusing things that Mr. Matsuoka had said made more sense… But still!! She always got what she wanted, she would just have to work hard at… Something…. To make Gryphon see! She looked between the two of them as her future husband explained the situation to his… person… nodding a little sulkily in response. “It’s true,” she added on quickly before Kodi could respond. “Both of our families approved. I didn’t realize that Gryphon didn’t know, but that doesn’t change the matter.” Fleur rose her chin haughtily at Kodi. She liked Gryph, but she didn’t like this guy, which was why she was daring to be so snooty.

Kodi stared at her blankly for several moments as it sunk in. Then he burst into laughter at the insanity of it all. “Hah! That’s a riot,” he snickered, slinging an arm over Gryph’s shoulder possessively. His eye twitched, the only sign of how irked he really was. “If you’re goin’ t’marry him, you gotta get through me, and that’s not possible for a frail, twiggy skank like you.” He bared his teeth and sharpened them into points, pleased to see the look of horror on Fleur’s face as she paled. Flustered and afraid, the girl snagged her bag and fled towards the door, pausing briefly at the entrance to look back. “… I’ll call you later!” she told Gryphon before disappearing and slamming the door behind her.

“Heh… I showed her,” Kodi said smugly, dulling his teeth and sipping his tea innocently.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon wasn't a drinker, that was Kodi. He was the one who got the alcohol in the first place, somehow; Gryph didn't like questioning it. So of course he couldn't deal with hangovers. He felt more like a lump of goop than a human being. Kodi taking care of him made him smile, and he pecked his nose lazily before grabbing a cup of water to drink along with everything else. This was why he loved him. He was gonna glomp onto him later and never let go.

Fleur's continued denial was... somewhat amusing, but if Gryph wasn't feeling the way he was, he would probably have been nicer about this and then the denial would probably have been less but hey, what could you do? "....that's what it is. I'm gay, he's gay and we live together and do happy gay things. It's great, you should try it sometime." Even though Fleur obviously seemed pretty straight. Who knows, some closeted people were very good at acting! Maybe she was jealous! And not in the obvious way... nope, still too early to be thinking so much, eurgh... he grumbled as Fleur started being all high and mighty about this. He could tell without looking at her. Gryphon didn't care about family approval. Jesus, did his Dad just want to strengthen Gryph's hatred for him?

He jumped at Kodi's reaction, fully expecting something harsh and violent and threatening which... which was what it was, but Gryphon had expected worse, considering. This was still bad, but hey. Kodi was managing with this somewhat well... mmm, Gryph struggled to believe he was actually okay. Still, for now, he rested against him and nuzzled Kodi's shoulder a bit, waiting for Fleur to make her exit. When she did, he sipped his boba tea, "....you can't not be pissed off right now." He said softly, "You're the one with the crap emotions, not me..." That was friendly. Gryphon sniffed a bit, looking at the ground sullenly, "...I don't wanna get married to her. Why this and now and things were getting better and, and now I have another thing to deal with...?" That wasn't fair. He rested more heavily against Kodi, "Please tell me this is a dream..."