Ficletty Goodness

[Georgina Speer]

#97 - Name

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #4
Word Count: 500 (exactly how)

George had returned to England a couple days ago, for the holidays. It was something she did on a semi-regular basis, with funding from her parents, who she would stay with until she went back. Today, she was walking the London streets, her old yellow twine hat atop her head. She’d had to replace the purple ribbon around it last year, as it had gotten a bit too frayed and damaged to wear. The hat in itself showed a lot of wear and tear but she did like it a lot. She remembered the day it had been given to her, the day before she had left for Hammel. It was by a boy that she never caught the name of. George had almost forgotten the meeting between the pair of them had occurred, all those years back, thanks to the amnesia caused by her lack of power control, but luckily, she didn’t. It was a cherished memory. That boy seemed sweet.

She didn’t have much on her mind to do today. She just wanted to get accustomed to the city streets again - people acted differently here, in London, than in Pilot Ridge. She kept forgetting that. She made occasional eye contact and smiled to a few, ducking under the cover of a doughnut cart. The smell was intoxicating, she couldn’t help getting a bag of the sugar-dusted rings. She paid and waited for them to be made, bouncing on her toes a little. It was still kind of cold, but she could manage. She was just impatient.

Someone else approached the cart, someone around her age, and eyed her curiously - she was used to that. George knew that she acted oddly sometimes, and it drew attention to herself. But that wasn’t the reason the boy was staring. He kept looking between her face and her hat. George frowned and looked at him, “Can I help?”

“Georgina?”

George blinked. She wasn’t called by her proper name a lot nowadays. She nodded slowly, recognition gently gleaming in her eyes, “Yeah…?” Her eyes narrowed, as the boy’s lit up and he giggled to himself. She couldn’t help smiling, he was acting like he was twelve… years old… Her thoughts were interrupted by an impatient cough from the cart owner, who was holding out a bag for her. She took it quickly and thanked him, and the boy bought his own bag. Instead of leaving, George waited. She blinked a couple times, and the boy introduced himself, “I’m Dominick.” He said, with a crooked smile which gave George another wave of nostalgia, “Dominick Trickett.”

George frowned, “Wait…” she muttered, “...you gave me this hat, right?” She said, pointing at said hat. The lanky boy nodded, still smiling to himself, taking the bag from the vendor as it was offered. He began walking and Georgina followed, “You never told me your name that day.”

The boy considered this, clearly a little confused, before shrugging and smiling again, “Well… you know it now.”

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

#38 - Health

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #5
Word Count: 1294

Osteoporosis was a pretty rough condition to have for life, but Gryph felt it was worth it, a small sacrifice so that he could keep his wings and be able to fly. He just had to be careful, but… being delicate wasn’t his forte exactly, not even when dancing sometimes. You had to have balance and strength, control and certainty. Gryphon had these most times, but he was a little clumsy by nature. This gave him problems. Multiple problems. He’d broken bones twice from dancing, sprained ankles and wrists multiple times as well. Burns, bruises, concussions, cuts, he’d had them all. He was a walking disaster. It was a wonder he hadn’t got stuck in a wheelchair at some point. Some injuries were worse than others. Some weren’t caused by him (but most were).

The first noticeable injury he had ever had was when he was six. Bikes were death traps.

---------------------

July 28th, 2001 - Age 6 - Broken Arm
“It seems his bones are a lot more brittle than they should be for a boy his age,” The doctor explained, looking at the x-rays of Gryphon’s arm as the boy sat there with Fiona by his side, his right arm in a heavy cast, a sling over his shoulder, holding the injured limb safely in place. Fi kept a hand over his, quietly fiddling with his fingers as the doctor spoke, very concerned. The man spoke again, “In fact, his bone structure is rather… odd. His bones are far thinner than they should be, a lot less dense.” The doctor seemed very concerned by this. He turned his attention to Fiona after having regarded the small boy kicking his legs about, waiting impatiently, not fully understanding the situation, “...this gives me reason to believe he has early onset osteoporosis.” He began writing out a prescription and handed it over to Fi, “Try to get this medication as soon as possible, and please keep an eye on him, to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself much more.”

The doctor developed a bit more of a baby voice for the child, “Gryphon, you’ve got a very important task.” His eyes glittered with the possibilities and he nodded in understanding. The man continued, “Your body is very special, so you have to be extra careful when you do anything. Casts are annoying, aren’t they?” Gryph pouted and nodded again, looking at his sling, his legs swinging again. “So if you’re careful, you won’t need the silly casts. Understand?” Gryphon nodded for a final time, and stood when Fiona did. Before they left, the doctor spoke once again, “I’m going to refer you to a rheumatologist. From there, we can work on how to treat this condition. Hopefully we can find a cause.” Because it was odd for a perfectly healthy, happy little boy to have developed such a condition.

---------------------

After that, the injuries rolled in a little more regularly than the doctors probably wanted them too, but as healthy as he tried to be, Gryph was an active boy. He wasn’t about to sit around and do nothing - besides, that was against what the doctors wanted anyway. Physical activity was supposed to strengthen the bones against any possible damage. The fact that that activity was, more than half of the time, the cause of the injuries, felt a bit unavoidable. Once he manifested, though, it finally made sense. Why his body was so light - it was so he could fly. Didn’t make the condition any easier to deal with, though.

---------------------

May 2nd, 2009 - Age 14 - Broken Arm, Wing and Hip
Gryphon whined in pain, clutching his arm, not wanting to sit up or move in general. It all really hurt, and so did his wing. He couldn’t see it, but some of the bones were obviously damaged on the side he’d landed on - his right. He’d made some new friends, and once they had found out that he had wings and could ‘fly’, they wanted to see. With unfounded confidence, Gryph had taken off, but struggled to control his wings and get them to move as he wanted, as well as not really knowing what he was doing or how to fly in the first place. He felt fueled by the thrilling fact that he had a meta power to use, and that it was so awesome; he forgot that he didn’t know how to use it until he found himself crashing towards the ground, landing heavily on his right side, and falling into this predicament.

One of the people who had been watching had gone off to get a teacher, who was now watching over him, after having called an ambulance and the residing doctor at Hammel. She had asked Gryphon what had happened and he’d reluctantly spoken, not enjoying the pain one bit. He knew she was trying to distract him, otherwise she would have asked one of the spectators instead of him. A few minutes later, he was being loaded into an ambulance and was given laughing gas for the pain - he was vaguely used to this procedure. He just hoped he wouldn’t need surgery this time.

---------------------

Broken arms were a pain, yes, but at least he could still fly. Broken wings were almost impossible to deal with, because they had to be very well supported, since the bones were tiny and fragile, and that made doing things like walking through doorways an absolute pain - but at least when his wing was broken, he hadn’t started flying yet. After developing the ability enough to actually be able to do so confidently, when he couldn’t fly, it was like… being weaned off of a drug - because flying was addicting. The freedom, the fresh air, the distance. You could get places other people couldn’t, you had the ability to swerve and glide through the air with ease (most days) and do whatever. So when you had that addiction and then you did something like… I don’t know… break your leg, and the cast was too heavy to fly with… it was a bit maddening, simply.

---------------------

August 16th, 2011 - Age 16 - One Week After Breaking Leg
“Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.” Gryphon whined, pining for attention from his friend. The cryokinetic rolled his eyes, “Okay, okay,” He complained in return, turning back around to help his winged friend, who was sat resting against the same tree he’d fallen out of a week ago. He held out his arm so Gryph could use it as a support to get up from the ground. The fragile boy balanced on his good leg as Nick grabbed his crutches off the ground and handed them over, “You better start healing quicker,” He ordered, “I don’t have the time to keep babysitting you.” Gryph pouted, “But Niiiiick…”

The older boy started chuckling at Gryphon’s childish whining, “Acting like a kid will get you nowhere.” Gryph stuck out his tongue, hobbling alongside the curly haired boy, “It’s not like I can help having a broken leg.” Nick scoffed, “Maybe not jumping out of that tree would have helped it.”

“....shut up.”

Nick laughed at his reply, ruffling Gryphon’s hair, much to the taller boy’s disdain, as he tried to shake his hair into some kind of neatness again, without it really working. “You’re a terrible friend,” He whined as they slowly walked back to the dorms. Nick shrugged his shoulders, “If I’m so terrible, why are you here still?”

“........shut up.”

---------------------

But despite all the annoyance it caused him, Gryph still didn’t really work with his osteoporosis. Sometimes it got in the way and sometimes it didn’t, nowadays. If he still felt healthy in heart and mind, then a few broken bones were nothing.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

#16 - Run

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #6
Word Count: 3798

Four in the morning. Gryphon was staring at the ceiling with a look that displayed nothing more than the curiosity that came with imagining possibilities; all the fathomable possibilities that could ever come to light. He stared at the ceiling as if it were a crystal ball, there to project visions and images of his future, to guide him down whatever path was rising up beneath his unknowing feet. Of course, however, it was only a ceiling, blank with just a single light colour, barely illuminated by the early morning moonlight that peeked through the curtains and lay down on top of the avian man and his boyfriend, who was soundly asleep next to him, snoring softly, tucked into his shoulder. Gryph regarded Kodi for a moment, smiling softly and pecking his forehead before returning to his solitary thoughts and thinkings.

Some things he wanted to avoid considering whatsoever - the possibility of war, for example. The prospect that countries might turn on each other, man on man, weapon on weapon, was perfectly terrifying for the pacifist. Even the thought of nuclear weaponry had him gently shaking in fear. He didn't like the possibility of tyranny. War was a terrifying prospect that he wanted to pull from his mind and smother under the bedsheets. But it was still there. It was always there. The best defense technique he could fathom was distraction, which he did through considering other futures.

One came to his mind often. What if... he ran away? Who would notice? Who would forget him? Who would worry or go hunting for him? Heh... that question he knew at least one answer to, and it was lying right next to him; some days, however, he just wanted to disappear into the world. There just felt like there was too much going on sometimes, and he didn't want to be anywhere near it. Maybe for a day, a week, a month.... a season. A year. He didn't know. But his instincts often urged him to take off. To get away from Nick. Away from university, and study. Away from his responsibilities - putting it that way made it feel like it would be an immature decision to make, and maybe it would be, but who didn't want to escape? Surely everyone, at some point or another, just wanted to up sticks and set off. Screw obligation, screw certainty, screw normality - why not step into the world of the unknown? Each passing day a new mystery to be solved, a new mission to succeed. The idea was thrilling and tantalizing. Apparently too much so.

The time read to be about quarter to five, just a little before. The world still hadn't woken up yet, not entirely, and Gryphon was planning his escape.

His main concern was Kodi. He knew the boy was fragile, as much as he attempted to hide it around others. Gryph wanted to make sure that he could assure the younger boy of many things, and decided that it would be best to write a letter and leave it nearby. Hopefully he would understand. Gryphon wasn't sure if he would - but he knew he would return. He just didn't know when. His next concern fell to money problems. He would have to leave enough to ensure Tak could pay the rent and the bills. He wondered how she would react, and found that he wasn't certain. Well... he'd know in due time. His decision on this front was to leave her a cheque. He'd decide the amount later.

The Sun was beginning to peek more and more when Gryphon realised he needed to act faster than he had first realised if he wanted to do this now. Maybe it was a selfish, childish decision, but Gryph wanted to run. Getting away seemed to just... be a good idea. Sometimes it was best to run, to hide, right? He got to work, moving gently and quietly, although he doubted that Kodi would stir, considering how heavily he slept most nights. He grabbed a large rucksack and began filling it with necessities - clothing, toiletries, personal items, anything he felt might be necessary to stay living and breathing and happy while he was gone. He decided writing out a letter might take too long, and changed his mind on that front - he found Kodi's phone and put it on silent, so that he could call and leave his letter as a voicemail message. As he continued his preparations, as time ticked on, Gryph became more nervous, yet more excited, too. The unknown used to frighten him, but now it mostly intrigued, leaving little room for the old fear that now only occasionally lingered.

He had finished packing a decent amount of food and water by the time it was six o'clock. He slowly and carefully wrote out the cheque for Tak, making sure it would be out of Fang's reach in case the bunny was up and about before she was. He took a deep steadying breath, studying the details of his current home as he grounded himself. He was doing this.

He was actually doing this.

Gryphon carefully placed his hand on the doorknob of the front door, looking back with a serene expression as he gently clicked the exit open, readjusting the bag on his back before stepping outside of the premises, taking his keys with him. He shuffled down the stairs silently and walked out the door of the apartment block, swiftly moving towards the nearest bus stop as he pulled out his phone to leave that important message.

---------------

"Hey... it's Gryph. I'm guessing you've noticed my severe lack of being in the apartment and I just want to make you certain - I'm safe. I'm perfectly fine. I just... you know how stressed I can get, Kodi, and I just need to get away for a while. Not just from you, but from everyone. I'd take you with me if you didn't need to keep going to school. Look, I don't want you to worry or try to find me. I'll come back at some point. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week... maybe a little longer. I'm not sure. When I'm ready, I'll be back. Feel free to be upset with me, I'll understand."

"Oh, and one other thing I want to make clear. This isn't to do with you. I still love you, okay? I love you with all my heart. I just need recuperation time, and I'll be back before you know it, sweetie. I won't be communicating whilst I'm away so this will be my last message for a while. You can leave me voicemails or texts or whatever and I'll listen to them and I'll read them, but I won't reply. So don't expect be to."

"Be safe. Work hard. I love you, babe."

---------------

Gryphon felt his phone buzz multiple times as the bus moved along. He'd been sat here for about an hour, just watching the world go by. He wasn't even really sure where he was by now, but he guessed that was fine. His phone was buzzing again and he looked at it, seeing a phone call from Kodi. Five missed calls. He sighed, but did nothing more than turn it off and zip it into his bag. The point of this was to get distracted; if he began talking to Kodi now, he'd turn back. He knew he would, he would start worrying too much about his lover and feel terrible about disappearing out of the blue (which was a dick move in itself) and he would go back, forgetting every reason that he had left for in the first place to go back and take care of the dentokinetic. But he would be alright. He was tough when he wanted to be. Kodi was a fighter.

Gryphon glanced outside and found the surroundings to be pretty beautiful. He was interested, and pressed the stop button to get off at the next possible opportunity. Now he could do some exploring.

He knew packing electrical goods may have been a bad idea, but he needed his phone for emergencies, his netbook for research and his camera for capturing beautiful things. He didn't leave Pilot Ridge all that much, so he suspected the change in scenery would give him a burst of inspiration. He felt that he was correct in this hunch, as he stepped out into the early morning sun, shading his face and readjusting his bag as the rev of the bus engine rattled into the distance, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Perfect.

A content sigh left his lungs as he began walking down the edge of the road slowly, carefully. There was some foliage to one side of him which he would probably duck into a little later on, when he was more away. His camera hung around his neck on its well worn, but still reliable strap, rhythmically bouncing on his chest with every step he took, one paced foot in front of the other. He vaguely wondered how far away the nearest city or town was, whether he was going to run into anything of interest on the way there. There wasn't anything obvious up ahead that indicated any significant place or location and Gryph had purposefully avoided looking at road signs on the way here - wherever 'here' actually was - and considering he had boarded the first bus that had arrived at the stop and gone from there, he had positively no idea where he was. It was outstandingly strange how at ease he felt, despite this. It wasn't like Gryphon was generally one to be a stickler for planning or organisation though.

His footsteps were tracing in the wake of the bus tracks, the road only carrying a car or a truck every couple minutes at first, but the frequency began to pick up as the minutes rolled on. Gryph had been concerned, earlier, at the idea of possibly becoming bored and inevitably retracing his steps before the first day was over just so he could enjoy himself again, but his thoughts were entertaining enough on their own. He was one of those people who actually didn't always have their eyes on their phone, playing games or browsing the internet. He did his fair share of these things, of course, but he could survive without music plugged in his ears or a screen in front of his face, when he felt like it. The only screen this frequented his opticals now was his camera screen, after taking a snap or two. The road ahead gave a gorgeous aspect of continuation, how it stretched and swerved and trailed on, almost as if the world was creating the road as Gryphon walked it. The thought brought a smile to his lips as the viewfinder met his eye again, finger snapping another shot.

After an hour or so of gentle strolling, Gryph looked into the greenery nearby, carefully slipping down into the forestry to explore. He was wearing his usual comfortable clothing, except for a pair of hardy walking boots, a lot more solid than the rest of his baggy, shaggy image. He resembled somewhat of a lightly dressed homeless man with good hygiene, or a hiker with bad clothing decisions. He didn't care how he seemed right now, though - that was the point of this. Just him and the world, and nothing of specific importance.

The first person he ran into was a dog walker by the name of Katrina, with a little scruffy thing by the name of Buggy. Apparently, it was a name her child had chosen - supposedly when the then two-year-old was attempting to say 'Doggy' with a blocked nose. It had sounded adorable at the time and so the name 'Buggy' stuck. Gryphon thought it was adorable, personally. The brunette woman occasionally threw a ball for the scrappy beastie as they walked. "What do you do for a living?" He asked. Katrina, or Katty, replied to this first with a small laugh before speaking, "I'm in and out of jobs these days," She had said, smiling brightly despite this, "At the moment I'm unemployed. It's for the best, since Jodie's ill." Jodie was her six-year-old, the one who had 'named' Buggy. She also had a ten-year-old, David. Katty didn't seem to mind Gryphon's digging, so he dug a little more. He asked about her religious beliefs, her favourite music, anything of interest.

During the whole conversation, an idea came to mind. He explained it to her as if it was something well planned, but he was just speaking off of the top of his head. He had advertised it as a 'diversity project', which is what he had now decided he was doing. Talking to different people, learning about their lives. He said he wanted to know two everyday things about her life, and then one unusual or interesting fact, something one might realise at face value. She considered her thoughts on this as he took her picture, preserving that golden smile and the ball of fluff in a frame.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katrina
* Mother of two, David and Jodie
* Born and raised in Vermont
* Collects pin badges - owns over one hundred, at least

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katrina lead Gryphon to the town where she lived, only a twenty minute walk away from where they had met, and they parted ways happily once he had found a hotel, buying a room for the night. Once he was inside the well made little room, he placed his bag down and got out all of his technical equipment, charging this and importing that. The whole time however, his mind wouldn't retract from thinking about Kodi, and he left his technology to process as he turned his phone back on.

Seven missed calls, now. Multiple unread text messages, and not just from Kodi. A couple from Phen. One from Tak. The majority were from Kodi though. He sighed as he scrolled through them, each conveying worry or fear, anger or confusion. Gryphon couldn't help feeling terrible about it. He hesitated a little at first, knowing he was going back on what he said about no communication, but Kodi deserved to actually speak to him. Gryph was being unfair. He climbed further back onto the made bed, tapping on Kodi's contact and calling him, fiddling with the details in the sheets as he waited. It wasn't long before the phone picked up, "Gryph?"

Kodi's voice was shaky, with a hint of uncertainty. Gryphon bit his lip, "Hi." A brief pause filled the air for the moment, before Gryph heard something similar to the thud of someone hitting a pillow on the other side of the phone, "Gryph, you scared the shit out of me! What- why the fuck d'you take off like that?!" He was angry. That was understandable. Gryphon went to speak, but there was more, "I've been worryin' 'bout you all day, I thought... I don't fuckin' know, just... God damn!" Gryph grimaced. Well... yeah, what he did was uncalled for. He was going to explain, but he heard Kodi... crying. He could make excuses when he'd done that. "Kodi, hey..." He said quietly, trying to calm him down, "I'm really sorry I freaked you out, sweetie." Sincerity was flowing from his voice. He knew he'd fucked up, what he did was unfair, really unfair. "I'm okay, sweetheart. I told you that. I just wanted to escape for a while..." He sighed, still hearing Kodi's tears and his sniffling, "I-"

"Come back." The younger boy's voice crackled over the shaky connection, "P-please, Gryphy... I'm l-lonely." That really tugged at his heartstrings, but... he wasn't ready to go back yet. And he couldn't get Kodi to come up here, or down here, whichever way it was; he had school. Gryph took a steady breath, "I... I can't. Not yet, baby." It was killing him to hear the crying, but he couldn't help this. If he was with Kodi, he would be holding him tight, but as the case was, he wasn't.

"P-please, Gryphy."

"....I'm sorry." Gryphon sighed again, "I'll.... I'll keep in touch with you, okay, baby? Then you won't need to worry, you know I'll be fine." He looked at the ceiling, sliding down on his sheets, "I'll be back soon, I promise. If... if you get any nightmares or anything, you can still call me." He hummed to himself, clucking his tongue as he heard Kodi calm down a little, "....I m-miss you." Gryphon gave a sad smile to this, "I miss you too, sweetie." He glanced at the clock, "Go to bed, it's late. Call me when you wake up, okay?" They wound down their goodbyes and I-love-you's and eventually, Gryph put down the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gemaal
* Computer technician
* Favourite music is movie scores - "John Williams is a genius"
* His leg was amputated after being crushed by a vending machine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Travis
* Been volunteering for the homeless for years now
* Incredibly good baker (he gave me a cupcake - I think I died and went to heaven it was so good )
* Has the meta ability to summon sponges and nothing else

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eunice
* Studies Pure Mathematics at college
* Owns two cats, Jade and Sophie
* Freakishly flexible - I'm jealous

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a couple days and a few more profiles, Gryph was starting to feel the dullness that came with being distanced from your friends. He was definitely enjoying himself, and this was something he would do again, definitely, but... it was time. Time to come back home. He decided this lying on a bed in the early morning, glancing out the window occasionally, just the same as how he had decided to take this journey in the first place. He had been hoping to get this whole project rounded up to at least five people, but not everyone was as friendly as Katrina, or as patient as Gemaal (he guessed one had to be, when you lacked mobility - he could definitely understand that). He was struggling to scrounge up a fifth, and he didn't want it to be someone reluctant and annoyed because they were being forced to do something they weren't interested in or didn't have time for. It sucked, but what could he do?

When Kodi called in the morning, as he had all the other days, Gryph gave no sign that he would be returning that day. He knew the dentokinetic had been staying over at Gryph's place, despite the fact that Gryphon himself wasn't there, because it was apparently more comfortable and it felt more at home - and Kodi had to look after Fang. He wouldn't let his beloved bunny starve or dehydrate to death, and he couldn't leave the fluffy thing in Tak's hands, because he was his! And Gryph's. But his! He didn't want her messing about with his baby.

Gryphon hoped to time it so he would return whilst Kodi was still at school. It took multiple hours of walking and bus riding, but time passed more fleetingly as he got closer and closer. As he traveled, he tried to decipher who would be his fifth. One option would be himself. That seemed plausible. Gryph had a few weird quirks about him after all. Yeah. That could work. Or maybe Tak. Takchawee... she was fairly interesting. Of course, his other option was Kodi, but he wasn't sure how happy the dentokinetic would be having his face plastered on a blog post, along with information about himself... Gryph wasn't sure. He would make up his mind once he got back.

When he returned, at around two in the afternoon, the door was unlocked. He supposed it was Tak, she could easily already be home. Bag still on his back, he dropped off his unused keys on the counter, slipped off his heavy shoes and trundled around the apartment to his room, finding the door slightly cracked when he got there. His expression was bemused as he pushed it open, finding his eyes meeting with those of a certain dentokinetic, who had glasses on his nose and a book in hand. Like a deer in the headlights, the boy seemed a little frozen, and Gryphon smirked, chuckling a little, "I can come back later, if you want." He teased, before Kodi started clambering over to him, nerdy accessories left behind on the bed. The welcome wasn't exactly warm though, and Gryphon let his boyfriend pound on his chest a bit, clearly frustrated, "You asshole, you fuckin' asshole, you deserted me an' then you just...!" The hits became weaker, and Gryph slid off his bag, resting it on the door frame, able to predict by now what was about to happen. Kodi curled up a little into Gryphon's chest, hiding his face as he began to sob horribly, "You fuckin'... m-moron!" He whined, as Gryph's arms wrapped securely around him, rocking the crying boy gently and keeping him close. He couldn't help smiling to himself at the 'insult', but remained tucked around his boyfriend, unable to joke and tease for the time being, just muttering quiet little words of apology and affection as he stroked Kodi's hair and calmed the emotional storm he was having.

-------------------

Kodi found himself, numerous hours later, stood outside as the sunset, all tidied up again with a camera in his face. Gryph had explained what he'd been doing when he was gone and Kodi had agreed to be his fifth (thanks to a little persuasion - but after their meeting earlier, Gryphon didn't want it to be anyone else). "Do I look good?" He asked, as his boyfriend snapped away.

Gryph pulled away from the viewfinder to look through the pictures he already had, but none of them particularly clicked yet. He glanced at Kodi - he needed to catch the gummy smile the dentokinetic so often hid. Gryphon tilted his head, "Yeah, you look good."

"You don't sound convinced."

Gryph was a little caught there. So he could tell. The winged man hesitated for a moment, "Well... it might help if you smiled more...?" He suggested lightly. Kodi forced a smile and Gryphon rolled his eyes, lifting his camera as he did, "Good, now try not to look like you just shit your pants." Kodi gave a reflexive laugh and Gryph smiled as he snapped that gorgeous smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kodi
* Almost too gay to function
* Wears leather religiously
* Probably one of the most intelligent people I know and an absolute book nerd
+ Bonus point! Owns a pet bunny rabbit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

#4 - Cheat

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #7
Word Count: 1117

It was about midnight and Kodi’s footsteps were starting to trail back into the living space of Gryphon’s apartment, where cards were splayed out on the floor, in the midst of a game. There were empty bowls with the residue of ice cream and the room was lit delicately with fairy lights hung about in the most cliche manner possible. It was a setting that would make anyone feel a bit giddy and silly. Gryph thought it was adorable. And he thought Kodi was a cheater.

The dentokinetic was returning with hot chocolates when he saw Gryphon looking at his cards. His cards! Kodi gasped a little, putting the mugs down, “Gryph!”

“You’re cheating!” Gryphon accused, shaking his head a little. Kodi blushed slightly, “Well, I-”

“No one can have five aces, you idiot.” The avian boy whacked Kodi over the head with his cards and threw them in his direction. Usually, this would have been seen as a little joking, banter between boyfriends, but Gryph had a slightly serious tone in his voice, too serious for such a silly situation. And the hit was… a bit too hard. Kodi frowned, “Gryph…?”

“I’m going to bed.”

Kodi was… extremely confused, as he watched the avian man get up and slump away to their bedroom. Did he do something? Was Gryph… that serious about a simple game of cards…? It didn’t make any sense, and the clearest, strongest emotion it induced in the younger boy was worry. Gryphon was usually so calm, so… carefree- well, maybe not carefree, but collected, at least. Relaxed. Why would he have a suddenly outburst about something so simple and petty? Kodi kept musing over this, refraining from chasing after him for now, keeping his distance by tidying up the game and the food slowly.

Gryph went into his room and clambered on his bed, rolling to face the wall as he pulled up his phone, sighing out his stress, but definitely not relieving the pressuring bubble that continued to inflate in his chest. His phone had been buzzing all evening, and he didn’t want to check it - he knew who the messages were from. And you could blacklist a person but that didn’t erase them from your life. He couldn’t skip about this situation - and yet, he didn’t understand, if that was the case, why he hadn’t already spoken to Kodi about it.

Oh, right. Because he felt tremendously guilty about it.

He opened his inbox and scrolled through, clicking every message and checking it.

’Gryphon, come on, you’re being unfair.’

‘Gryph, look at your phone.’

‘It’s better that you just tell him and be done with it.’

‘You can’t change the past.’

‘Just do it. If you take too long, I won’t be here for you, and he’ll find out eventually anyway.’

Gryph felt… so guilty. Even though this wasn’t his fault - something he didn’t take into account or realise whatsoever. He just knew that he’d done things with someone else without Kodi’s knowledge… intimate things. And that was wrong. The fact that it was when he was so inebriated that he couldn’t remember where he lived skipped his mind. The fact that he was taken advantage of via blackmail was also skimmed over. The fact that it was Nick of all people at the source of this, on top of everything else, didn’t seem to be of any extra importance to Gryphon. Something had gone wrong in his mind’s workings and now all he believed was that it was his fault, and his alone. He was struggling to act normal because this wasn’t a normal situation and he didn’t know how to handle it.

He vaguely heard the door creak open further and felt the bed dip as Kodi supposedly moved closer.

The dentokinetic only had to ask the simple question of “Are you okay?” for Gryphon to break down, throwing his phone away and onto the ground before hiding his face in his hands. Kodi was more than shocked, as his boyfriend muttered apology after apology. “...Gryph?”

The winged man pointed vaguely in the direction of his phone. He couldn’t say it himself. Kodi wavered before scooping it up and unlocking the device. The screen was cracked from the impact, but otherwise, it was still functional, and still on the conversation Gryphon had just been looking at. It was mostly one sided, but very suspicious. It was obvious what the messages were about - meetups, when Kodi was busy elsewhere. Talking about secrecy and the possibility of getting Kodi ‘out of the way’. There were hardly any messages on Gryph’s part, but still… Kodi was shocked. His heart pounded in his chest, twisting at the sound of his lover crying and stabbing from the unexpected betrayal. This wasn’t right. It couldn’t be…

“...w-why?” He was choking up. Gryphon could barely speak, he just curled up more and pulled the sheets over his body, wanting to disappear elsewhere. Kodi felt his tears well fast and… he just needed to know, “...who i-is it?” There was no name listed or mentioned anywhere. Just a number that Gryph received messages from and rarely replied to. Gryph sniffed and hiccuped, mumbling too quietly to be heard. “Who?” Kodi pressed, his voice burning with anger and betrayal.

Gryphon swallowed, his face still hidden from view, and spoke just loud enough to be heard, “H-He… Nick, he-”

“Nick?” Kodi interrupted abruptly. Gryph flinched and whimpered out a noise of confirmation, nodding shakily.

Now it made sense.

Kodi was still crying, he… he couldn’t help that. But after a final glance at the phone, he dropped it on the ground and climbed onto the bed, wrapping himself tightly around his partner, starting to try and comfort him. He was hurt, but… it was more anger at Nick now than anything negative towards Gryph. If it was Nick… that was probably the loudest alarm bell that this was some form of manipulation over anything else. And Gryphon was obviously distraught by it.

“Wh-what…” Gryph muttered, sniffing and coughing loudly, “...I c-cheated on you…?”

“No, Gryphy,” Kodi replied, nuzzling the hair on the back of his lover’s head, “You were c-cheated.” His hold around the older man became a little tighter, a little more possessive, “You w-wouldn’t do this.”

The relief was overwhelming, and brought on another wave of tears. Gryphon rolled over and tucked his head into the crook of Kodi’s neck, “I l-love you.” He stuttered out, arms looped around his shoulders. The dentokinetic didn’t loosen his own hold - if anything, he held his lover closer, “I love you too, Gryphy.” But Nick was gonna get it.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

#96 - Wired

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #8
Word Count: 2006

The metas had lost the civil war against the non-powered humans - the ones at Hammel, that is. America was slowly tracking down the others. In other countries, the institutions for metas remained unknown, for now, at least. But these meta-hating, meta-fearing people who had turned on the powered humans didn't eradicate every single one, though many were lost to the cause. The remaining metas were controlled, to 'protect those around them'. That was what the government said, but it was hard to believe - all they wanted was control. That's all they wanted, because they were fearful of something they couldn't properly regulate.

The control came in the form of an implant, mainly. Some abilities called for different measures, but they were accounted for. These implants were attached to the temple and wired around to the top of the neck. They were dampeners on the brain, and as most abilities were controlled by the brain, they were kept under control. These weren't permanent dampeners, however. Those who wished to aid others using their powers could have the control alleviated slightly, but extremes were still impossible. Most of the Hammel students and metas living in Pilot Ridge chose to have this. The remainders either refused to be used, or were deemed too unpredictable and untrustworthy to be considered. For people with things such as wings for example... well, that depended. If they were submissive and said that they wouldn't use their extra limbs under any circumstance, unless they were given permission, they were allowed to keep them, but they were still restricted as much as possible. The others... well, unless they had a secondary power, they wouldn't be classed as meta anymore, simply put.

Gryphon was one of these people. If he got caught. He adored his wings, but he wasn't going to just give in. He still had fight in him - and this was ridiculous. The only times metas had been a danger was when they were untrained or mentally unstable. The rest were responsible with their abilities and used them carefully. Why was this happening? With Kodi, Phoenix and Oriel, he had escaped the main fight. They had reached the Vermont border and had been attacked - he had almost died - but he made it. Just about. One of his wings was crushed at the end, and was currently bandaged up, but for a successful recovery, he couldn't keep his feathers hidden. It was very dangerous. His arm was broken, which made nothing simple. Both of these were almost on the mend. He taken a few stabs to the stomach, which was now badly scarred, part of his ear was taken off from a stray bullet that had almost hit his head and he had a scar on his cheek, where someone had cut his face.

Basically, he had looked better, but he was still alive, and that was what mattered.

Kodi's face and arms had been a little cut up, but he was practically healed by now. Phoenix had been in a bad state, stab wounds in bad places, gunshot to the arm, but he was fine now. Oriel had been like Kodi, maybe a little worse. Apparently, after the worst of the damage had been dealt to Gryphon and Phoenix, their lovers hadn't held back. That may have been the only reason they were alive.

Everyone else was back to normal, health wise, but Gryph was still weak. He couldn't move without his stomach giving him agony and he slept a lot more than he stayed awake. It was worrying to the others. It had been about a month and a half since that fight, and a month since they'd lost. The four metas here were in a safehouse, surrounded by many non-powered people (they were the only metas there, to their knowledge) who were against the attacks and the suppression. They were there to keep these remaining powered people protected. It was a relief.

Gryphon was sat in a big armchair, half awake, watching the TV screen relay the news. He didn't know where the others were right now, probably all asleep - the news had just started, it was pretty early - but they would be about soon enough. Kodi would probably be in a panic, since he got a lot of nightmares these days, numerous ones involving losing Gryph, but he couldn't move now. He'd left a note on the bedside, but he wasn't sure if Kodi would have the level head to see it. Probably not.

He heard a door open and slowly look towards it. Oriel. Gryphon looked back at the TV, "They found more people," He croaked out, shuffling only slightly, "They're spreading the search further." Which meant at this rate, they would be discovered soon. Gryph didn't need to say it, it was obvious enough. Oriel regarded him a little. Since this shit had all began, since Gryphon had nearly died... well, he still dicked around a bit around the others, but when it was just the pair of them, him and Gryph, he was... nicer. He sighed and walked past, leaving this room to get to the kitchen. Gryphon continued to watch the TV.

"Now, our main story. Numerous meta-humans in the state of Vermont and the surrounding areas have been wired. The protective devices, called M-O-L-D's, that's the Meta Override and Limitation Devices, have been successfully installed on many of the powered humans. They control the mutations in the body and brain to keep the powers these humans have developed from harming others. Police are currently broadening their searches as some of the students are unaccounted for. If-"

"Gryph!" The winged man blinked and deterred his attention away from the television, looking towards the voice - Kodi's voice. He gave an apologetic expression as the dentokinetic came closer and as he complained at the older one, "You scared me! I t-thought..." Gryphon had been distracted by the TV again. Kodi growled as Gryph paused and began to rewind what he'd missed, "Gryph!!"

"Look." The avian man said quietly, pointing at the TV. There were about ten people on there, but... three of them were Phoenix, Kodi and Oriel. It was like they were wanted, like they were... were criminals. Gryphon wasn't listed, but the other people all seemed younger than him. They were probably just Hammel students. Gryph swallowed nervously as Kodi began to stutter, "...t-that's..." He couldn't even get the words out. Gryphon nodded and began to get up with a small groan, "That's you." Kodi rushed to his side and tried to get him to sit, calling him a moron for moving, but Gryph just wanted to sit on the sofa so he could sit with Kodi. He was sat again, fiddling with Kodi's hair as his head lay in the winged man's lap, and he pressed play.

"If you see any of these students, or suspect you know of a meta human in your area, call the number on your screen now."

Phoenix walked in, rubbing his face and yawning, and Gryph pointed towards the kitchen without a word. Phen scuttled off through the door, and sounds of conversation were heard from there moments later.

"How you feelin'?" Kodi mumbled, playing with Gryph's shirt. He muted the TV, "I could be worse." He was better than he was a week ago, but that was always the case. At least that was always the case, he couldn't afford to deteriorate. Gryphon sighed, looking at his broken arm, and Kodi remembered something, "We can get that off today." He said, poking the cast. Ever since they had lost the civil war, they knew going to any hospital, even the one they had gone to before, would be the end of them, but luckily, the swelling had gone down enough so that Gryph could just slide the cast off, which he did now, carefully, despite Kodi's whinings. It all seemed to be in order. His wing was going to take a little longer though.

It was then that there was a heavy knock at the door. Gryphon looked at Kodi as they knocked again, and the other two didn't seem to appear. Kodi got up and signalled for Gryph to go hide, which he did as fast as he could, in the state he was in. He listened to the conversation as well as he could from the bedroom, the door cracked open slightly to aid him,

"Can I help?" That was Kodi.

"Yes. We just need to take a look around." That sounded too suspicious. If this was the police.... Gryphon snuck out enough to catch Kodi's eye who was looking back, once he saw him, with wide eyes. Gryph could see the fear. Run, he mouthed, Get out, I'll distract him.

Kodi scowled in reply to that idea. Leaving Gryphon behind was basically surrendering him. There was no way he would do that. Gryph sighed, and winced as he did something he really shouldn't do. He tucked his wings into his back and hid them under his clothing. And then he stumbled downstairs. Two policemen were looking around. Phoenix and Oriel were there too, now, and one of these officers was very suspicious of the three of them - those two and Kodi. Gryph just seemed tired to him. The avian man looked to his boyfriend, before pointedly looking at the other policeman who had a walkie-talkie and a gun. When he looked at Kodi again, he saw the dentokinetic pointing out the same thing to Oriel. The pair of them signalled one another and dived forward to grab the gun and device off of their respective officers, dropping the walkie-talkies and holding the guns to their heads. Gryph kept a vague eye on the whole situation, but was feeling pretty faint. He began sitting down as the other two began their threats and instructions.

And then Phoenix collapsed. Gryphon's eyes went wide and he looked at Kodi, as Oriel dashed to Phen and collapsed on top of him. It was then that the avian man spotted the darts. "Kodi..." He warned, the dentokinetic, looking around nervously. He shot both of the officers in the foot as Gryphon remained where he was sat, hands over his head simply because he had no energy to move that much. Kodi came over and Gryph saw the dart aimed his neck, embracing it with his arms, so he would take it instead, as he felt the sting and the very quick sedation. He couldn't understand what Kodi was saying, but he vaguely remembered his lover's panic as he was shot too, and he remembered footsteps before blacking out.

When he woke up, he was on a hospital bed. He blinked, feeling odd, somehow. When he yawned, he felt something attached to his head, and looked towards it.

No.

He reached his hand up and touched the implant on his temple, tracing the wires all the way around and down to his neck. He looked blankly forward. So they had been found.

His back felt odd. The avian man move his hand down his spine, feeling bandages, and when it stopped on something, his breath caught.

A stump. There... there was a stump. His other arm reached behind him and did the same. Another stump. His breaths shook and he sat up with a wince, still reaching behind, as if he had mistaken himself, still searching for a sign of his wings. His breaths quickened as he tumbled into a state of panic, muttering denial as someone came into the room and rushed to his bedside. By this point, Gryphon was beginning to sob, and slumped on his side, body shaking with every tear that rolled out, covering his face.

"They're gone, K-Kodi," He stuttered, distraught, "M-my wings, they're.. t-they're gone....!" He peeked up just enough to see the anger on Kodi's features and the wires looping around his head. They had lost.... how... how did they lose?

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

#28 - Recoil

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #9
Word Count: 601

Gryphon held the pistol with two carefully placed hands. Untrained, they shook slightly as he slowly aimed at the paper target down the other end of the firing range. If he was going to get better at protecting himself, he had to do this. He had to learn how to handle guns. Agile combat and acting defensive only got him so far - sometimes a gun was necessary for whatever mission was laid out for him, and he couldn't use one currently. He would probably be more of a danger to himself than the enemy in his current gunman ability, which was probably at about six out of a hundred. He could identify a gun and hold it the right way around, shoot and miss with incredible skill. For the sake of survival, that had to change.

Kodi wanted to come too, but some of his technology had suddenly gone on the blink, and that wasn't something you could just desert, apparently. He said he might be there later, or he might not. It all depended on how quickly his computers decided to begin working again.

But Gryph shouldn't be distract by now. His hands fidgeted on the gun, still looking down the range. A well-stood woman was behind him, watching. She was an instructor of sorts, used to work in the army, so she knew how to handle a gun. Said she wouldn't do so violently again, and she trained others to keep them from hurting themselves. Apparently, even the gun Gryph was holding now packed a pretty big punch. Considering its size, the spy struggled to believe that, but he wasn't the expert here. And the expert was apparently very patient. Gryphon checked the safety was off and steadied himself, taking a long, slow breath.

He pulled the trigger and the kick-back of the shot jolted him and, only partially prepared for it, Gryph stumbled back a step. He checked the target. He'd hit the shoulder. That wasn't too bad. "Good." The voice came from behind him, firm, with authority you could recognise without even glancing at the woman, "Now again. Hold your stance tighter, your arms were moving too much." Gryphon nodded and shifted on his feet a little, aiming the gun again. The woman's voice came again, "You have to have confidence. If you convince yourself you don't know what you're doing, you won't do it right." She instructed, "Just imagine it's him or you. And if you don't take that shot, you'll be the one on the ground." Her words sounded like a well rehearsed speech, maybe things she had heard herself before. Gryphon swallowed as he took the shot again, recoiling, still a little unprepared. The bullet had taken a better path than last time though, making a hole between the diagram's chest and head, below the neck and a bit to the left. The woman continued once more, "If you miss, he could kill you. He could kill your partner. He could kill many others." Gryph's expression became more focused as he reset the gun and held it up again, arms strong, and he took the shot once more, jolting only a little as the bang of the gun rang through the range. He checked for the shot mark - it was right through the head.

Gryphon let out a heavy breath as he put the safety on. The woman rested a hand on his shoulder, "Good work, soldier," The name seemed to be a force of habit kind of thing, but Gryph felt it was a compliment, "Good work."

[Georgina Speer]

#3 - Subtle

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #10
Word Count: 606

Georgina Speer would never make a good criminal. The proof was in the pudding. And the pudding flavour was Grand Theft Auto V for PS4. George really liked this game, and it did nothing to help her studying at all, because it was such a god-damn brilliant distraction! She had beaten it a while back, and was in the midst of going through it all against, although it wasn't necessary. The fact that it was an open world left so many opportunities - the game could be finished, but there could still be so much more to do! It was utterly fantastic and more games needed to be made like this, gosh darn it!

But enough fangirling - onto the reasons why George would make a terrible criminal.

One - she may have become a very sharp shot on console games, having mastered the art of analog sticks and triggers, but in real life, she had only handled guns a handful of times. Headshots may have come easily to her in this game, but the characters could also take a lot more damage than the average human, and she would not be as sharp minded when she wasn't allowed to just press 'Restart' after fucking up too bad. And that was all too easy for her, because she went into half of the missions with no subtlety in her manner, guns screaming and laughing maniacally as she shot every living being in sight. The difference in success rates between GTA and real life in doing that would be astronomical.

Two - she would not keep anything in one piece. Cars would be easily reduced to chunks of scrap metal, if she could manage such a feat without reducing herself into chunks of scrap meat. Helicopters would burst into flames easily. Motorbikes would be the death of many and boats... you don't even wanna know. There would also be lots of crumbling buildings and a lot of people after her for the damages caused, probably also including whoever she worked for, if she did work for something. Maybe it would be better to be independent. She kept that in mind for if her criminal career ever took off. Or existed past video games. Next point!

Three - in relation to damages done and equipment wasted, George would barely be scraping any money. She would get her cut of the money from a mission or whatever and would have to spend it on a new car, new weaponry and, you know, the other things people buy. Food would be good. Yes, that and hydration. Maybe clothing too. But she would have no money and it would be so obvious why that was the case, which brings the final point into play.

Four - George would be arrested on day one. Okay, maybe she would be slightly capable of staying on the down low for a while, but unless she picked up her act, she would be out of breath within two minutes of running, and would easily be caught that way. She could pretend like she got the money elsewhere, if she somehow got away from the cops, but how? She couldn't just say a relative died and gave her loads of money through a sketchy account. Her family weren't sketchy people. They were good people! She shouldn't be going to jail, goddamnit!

...oh wait.

Well, she had been distracted enough to get caught, so she had actually just been arrested, but if anything, that just proved her point, as the game faded and loaded back at the police station, and she ran off again, mini-gun in her character's arms.

No crime for George.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

#17 - Experience

100 Stories, 1 Month (2015) Entry #11
>Trigger Warning: Attempted Rape<
Word Count: 1214

Gryph was.... nervous, to say the least. He was almost completely inexperienced, and he... he didn't know about... anything, really. He was nineteen, so he was underage when it came to drinking, but he had had a friend get him a fake ID. He didn't like doing that, but the same friend had been showing him possible people to get intimate with, since he was still a virgin, but... Gryphon didn't know about his sexuality. He just didn't like the idea of getting into sexual contact with... women. And he had hardly fathomed the idea with men, and he wasn't perfectly certain how it would work... all... all the same he wanted to see what he thought of things, so he managed to get into a gay bar, thanks to that faux ID, and now he was sat, waiting for his drink, knee bouncing impatiently. It wasn't his first time drinking, funnily enough, just his first time considering... messing around. He wasn't even sure he was ready to.

There were numerous people in the bar, and... a lot of them were attractive. It made Gryph blush a bit as he thought about it, and he stayed sat where he was. There were a few guys off to his right, and... oh, now there was someone right next to him. They flashed him a warm smile, "You okay, there? Seem a little nervous."

Gryphon shook his head, returning a shaky smile of his own, playing with his hands as a drink was placed next to him. He thanked the bar keep before looking at the older man next to him, "I'm f-fine. Just..." Just what? "Just... my friend said they would be meeting me soon, I can't see them." No one was coming to meet him, in actuality, and in hindsight, that was a terrible decision to not have made. But Gryph would be fine. This man seemed nice. He excused himself for a moment to go to the toilet, and caught eyes with a shady looking person on the way there. Dyed hair, multiple piercings, leather and Gryphon hadn't missed the way he had checked him out. It made him shudder. Maybe he would just finish his drink and go, lie about anything he needed to when he saw his friend at university on Monday.

When he returned, the conversation between himself and the stranger rolled on comfortably as Gryph sipped his drink, trying to down as much as he could, whilst talking about things such as university, silly stories, just average things. And then Gryphon began to feel funny. His vision began giving in on him a little, eyes blurring. Maybe it was the alcohol - although, it wasn't all that strong... was it just him? "Hey," He slurred to the gentleman, who's concern was on the rise, "D'you feel funny?"

The man shook his head, feeling Gryph's forehead with the back of one hand, and holding his waist with the other as he slowly sagged, "No, I feel fine. Are you tired?"

"Mmm....hmm?" Gryphon muttered, struggling to process a little and slipping into the man's arms, with no other means of support. His body seemed to have given in completely. The man nodded again, "Come on, I'll take care of you." He mumbled, his tone of voice slightly altered as he began to get Gryph to his feet.

And then he was on the ground.

And now he was being held again. Wait, who was this? This wasn't...? Gryphon began to mumble, but the man with the white hair spoke over him, "Shh, come on." He piled the flopping nineteen-year-old into his car and belted him in, before getting in himself and driving away.

Gryph didn't remember the car journey. He remembered arriving at an apartment, though. He hadn't exactly gained much sense though; if anything, he'd lost more of it. He asked for a name somehow and got the reply of "Kodi," among lots or other words. He was lead to a room and then they were kissing, poorly on Gryph's part, considering his state of being, his confusion and his lack of knowledge. He was carefully laid down on a bed and crawled over, there were hands going lower, and he just... couldn't remember anything.

"Where'm I?" He interrupted, quietly, through mutters that slung together as if they were only supposed to be one word. The man (Kodi...?) didn't stop, but he slowly down slightly, groping Gryphon's stomach muscles as he did.

Oh yeah, Gryph had lost his shirt at some point.

"My bed," The man sneered, chuckling to himself. Gryph groaned quietly, struggling to think straight as the lustful person continued his escapades, "What're'y'doin'?" He mumbled, lazily slumping a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Foreplay." He said, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Gryphon didn't understand why though, and he didn't have much time to think about it, as he slowly slipped out of consciousness.

------------------

Gryph woke up confused. He blinked his eyes awake and he could feel someone next to him, he could see that he didn't recognise this place... he... what had happened? His head throbbed - all he could remember was talking to a guy, and drinking, and now he was here, in a stranger's bed, and it wasn't even the same guy... was it?

He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

He sat up and shook slightly, feeling waves of nausea beginning to attack his already shaky nervous system, and he clambered off, trying to find a toilet. Struggling in that, he just about managed to make it to the kitchen sink before heaving. It wasn't a pretty sight, and it wasn't a fun way to wake up. He wanted to go home. He didn't like this at all. He was searching around for a cup to get water and for medication when footsteps lead into the room.

"Go sit down, I'll get you some stuff."

"But-"

"Go."

The man seemed pretty solid on that point. He came in a minute later with painkillers and water and explained what had happened the night before as Gryphon took them, but very vaguely. Gryph was left even more confused, and he was scared. In the end, instead of asking questions, he swallowed uncomfortably, looking at the ground, folding his arms, "...t-take me home." He requested. Well... more, ordered. The man seemed annoyed, but did so anyway, leading Gryphon to his car and following his directions back to his house. He didn't want police. He didn't want an ambulance. He didn't want a fuss. He just wanted to be left alone.

At least he hadn't been touched in the end.

Once they got to his house, he said nothing to the man with the eyeliner and the white hair, and knocked on his apartment door, being let in by his roommate. He wouldn't explain a thing, waved off every worry and locked himself in his room, slumping onto his bed and quickly drifting off again in the safety of his home.

That was a unfortunate first time at a bar, an experience he never wanted to go through again. At least he was a lucky one.