So... Happy Birthday and Stuff (Gryphon)

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Gryphon's birthday was today.  What the hell did you do for a friend's birthday?  Kodi had never really done it before, or gone to a birthday party, so he didn't have a clue.  He'd bought Gryph a book about birds (seriously, he really had no idea what he was doing, he knew Gryph wasn't much into reading but this book was neat and had a lot of cool pictures about local fauna) and had even gone to a bakery the day previous and got him a little cake with fruit and chocolate and some sort of glaze that looked really good.  He... Might have taken a bite or two out of it already.  Just to make sure it was okay!

Fuck, he hadn't gotten anything to wrap the book in, though.  So he just kept it in the plastic bag he'd carried it home in and called it good.

Kodi... Sort of had something in mind that he was really nervous about.  Like, sick-to-his-stomach nervous.  Something he had never done and had never planned to do.  But, seeing how his relationship with the feathered moron was going...  It kinda seemed like maybe it might be okay.   He would have to wait and see.

He snatched Shelob's little container on the way out on a whim, deciding that three would be a party, right?  Gryph hadn't even met her yet.  "You're gonna really like him, pretty girl," he mumbled to the spider, balancing everything in his arms as he knocked on Gryph's dorm room with his foot.  As soon as the door opened, he gave a somewhat shy, embarrassed smile, and announced,"Happy birthday, moron."

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Birthday, birthday, birthday! Nineteen years old... fucking hell, that felt too old. He hadn't got heap loads - a card, money and a little bird plushie-thing from Fi, a "wing-friendly" jacket from Phen (which was pretty damn awesome) and some others bits and bobs from random people here and there. As expected, there was nothing from his dad. That was okay. He would've been surprised if there was.

Gryphon hadn't done anything particularly spectacular for his 'special' day. He'd had an average day, with the occasional person coming up to him to congratulate him on being born. He didn't really do much - he'd say they should praise his mom, but... that wasn't possible. Argh, why did his thoughts keep doing this? Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!

Hadn't heard anything from Kodi. Then again, he'd told the boy that he didn't need anything (which still rang true), so he was fine with that, too. He guessed that they would talk later. There was a knock at the door.

Or maybe they would talk now. Because after unlocking and opening the door, there he was, looking like he'd fallen through a jumble sale. Gryphon couldn't help but smile, he was just... it was... cute. Really cute. "Thanks." He replied, looking over what the boy was struggling to carry. There was... stuff. Quite a bit of it. "D'you wanna...?" he opened the door wider and stepped out of the way to let Kodi in, closing it behind him when he was inside.

Gryph crossed over to his bed and sat down, wings fluttering behind him outside of his shirt. He picked up the fluffy stuffed bird plushie and threw it behind his hands, passing it back and forth, and dropping it once or twice because UGH WRIST. He looked over everything Kodi had brought and saw the little cage. Was that... a spider? He tilted his head in curiousity, it was... he didn't want to attempt a comment yet, since he didn't know what he would say. He didn't know how you were supposed to compliment a spider.

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Kodi nodded, still smiling. "Yes I wanna," he replied with a slightly nervous chuckle. He stepped into the room, still precariously balancing his load, and went over to the bed to deposit the stuff. The book was still in its bag, the tiny cake in its box, and Shelob looking slightly disgruntled at having been moved. "I, um... I got you this," he said a little sheepishly, holding out the bag-covered book. "I know you don't like readin' all that much, but it's mostly pictures anyway, an'... I dunno, you like birds an' stuff..." He trailed off, cheeks blushing. "I got this too," he added quickly, popping open the lid of the box to reveal the cake (with about two little bites taken out of it. "... Uh... Had t'make sure it was good enough for you..." Kodi explained, blush deepening. That had been a dumb move. Bleh.

Belatedly, he remembered their guest. "Oh, um... I totally forgot until now that you haven't met Shelob," he gushed, holding out the tank. The spider peered back emotionlessly. "She's... She's really nice, never bitten anyone, unlike me." The irony was... Pretty weird. "... Fuck, can you tell I've never celebrated anyone's birthday before?" Kodi laughed breathlessly. "I have no fuckin' idea what I'm doin'." He gave Gryphon an apologetic look and set the cage down, deciding maybe he could make up for some of his dumbness by giving Gryph a nice big smooch. So he did.

Not to mention he had... Something else kinda planned... Well, it wasn't so much a thing as a... Well, he'd get to that when he did. "So... Damn, you're an old man now," he teased.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph chuckled, watching as Kodi put everything down beside him. There was... stuff. And quite a lot of it.

He took the mysterious bag present and pulled out that book, smiling because it made him smile for multiple reasons. He was also smiling because Kodi's stuttering rambles were fucking adorable, but it made him wonder why he was so nervous... well, he'd been nervous when he gave Kodi that cupcake, and asked him out. Probably just thinking about it too much. He opened the book a bit and flicked through the pages quickly, the scent of fresh printing and clean paper wafting up to him. This... would be very useful. But before he could really say much, there was something else. Gryph put the book down.

The winged boy looked over as Kodi removed the lid to the cake. Mmm... it smelt nice... wait was that...? He grinned up at the boy, and he stumbled out an excuse. It was fine, honestly. He picked off some of the stuff from on top of the baked good and nibbled on it.

And another thing! Well, this one was living and breathing, but it was still a thing! The spider, with the (awesome) name of Shelob. She was... cute. For a spider. And ever so slightly terrifying. He felt like this would turn into one of those stupid comedy films, where there's a spider, and then someone goes, "Oh crap, where's the spider?" And everyone freaks out because its on someone's back. And he really didn't want or need that right now. But Shelob... Shelob was cool.

And Kodi was acting all shy again, this guy! He was just... Gryph just wanted to cuddle him so hard, even though he knew that was really fluffy and silly, because he was just... gaahh! And then, the kiss... and Gryphon realized the hadn't said a single word yet. Woops. When they pulled away, he smiled up at Kodi, "This..." he motioned to everything, and then at the boy himself, "...this is amazing. You're amazing." He smiled widely and kissed him again, showing his appreciation. This was more than some people did for him... and it was so sincere, and sweet, and Gryph just couldn't get over how warm he felt inside.

"Too old." He replied, looking down at himself. Nineteen... that meant grow up, get a job, become independent. He wasn't ready, by any means. Wasn't ready for the real world, out there, that could turn on you and fuck you over if you screwed up. He was scared... but he'd get through it. Somehow. "You're too young." He complained jokingly. He was still seventeen, lucky bastard.

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Gryphon wasn't saying anything, and that made Kodi a bit nervous. Well, Gryph had a tendency to go quiet sometimes anyway, so it couldn't be bad, right? He was smiling, at least, so that was good. Yeah, maybe Kodi hadn't made a total idiot out of himself. So he stayed mostly quiet too, just letting the boy look over what he'd been given. Kodi returned the grin with a sheepish one of his own as Gryph saw the cake. "Oh, shit, I forgot t'bring, like, forks and stuff..." he groaned, hitting his palm against his head. Dumb dumb dumb. "I... I can go get some, or somethin'..." Sigh. Kodi wanted this to be perfect, especially considering what else he wanted to do, but he just felt like an awkward nerd that didn't know how to interact in these sorts of situations.

At least the kiss was nice. Yup, he had confidence in his kissing ability. And then Gryphon finally spoke, and Kodi felt his cheeks warm up again as he looked down, fingers knitting together bashfully. "Ah, no, it was nothin'..." he mumbled, but he was still smiling. "Not as amazin' as y-" He was cut off as the winged boy kissed him again, and Kodi brought his hand up to caress the back of Gryph's neck, savoring the moment for a while before letting them part again.

"Yeah, I'm lucky you like 'em young," he snickered, resting his cheek against Gryph's shoulder. It was weird to think about - Kodi felt really old beyond his years sometimes, but other times he felt like a little kid again. "Mmm... I'll be an adult in no time," he hummed, toying with Gryph's hand. "Just a couple months an' I'll actually be legal."

Kodi took a deep breath; the other thing he'd wanted to bring up was teasing the tip of his tongue. "Um... There was somethin' else.... I thought... Um..." He had no idea how to even bring it up.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

"Don't worry about it." Gryph assured, trying to stop Kodi from fussing so much. He'd hardly been expecting anything at all, the fact that there was... so much thought put into this at all was just... it made Gryphon extremely happy that he seemed to care so much.

This totally wasn't nothing - that was about as obvious as the fact that Gryph owned wings. He felt a warm tingling sensation run through him as they kissed, and it just made his smile uncontrollably stupidly wide, so much so that he actually had to break the kiss and avoid looking at Kodi. He just... couldn't stop smiling. And it was the best feeling ever.

Nah, you're just lucky that Nick didn't completely shatter my trust in anyone and everyone- okay, what the fuck was going on today with all the weird thoughts? For God's sake, BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY! There was cake and bird things and Kodi, Gryph was supposedly to not have a care in the world! Fucking... ugh, Nick was an utter bastard. Yes, Gryphon was blaming Nick for screwing with his thoughts. He could go to hell.

Gryph breathed a laugh as his eyes widened slightly - woops. They weren't actually legal... never mind. This was the same as a nineteen and a twenty-one year old going out, really. Laws were stupid. Even if that one was kinda important... it wasn't in this case. That was what was important. He felt the boy playing with his hand and he took it up, interlocking their fingers together.

The avian boy looked at Kodi, curious confusion across his features, "...it's alright." He had absolutely no idea what he was telling Kodi was okay. He squeezed his hand, "I'm listenin'." He sent the younger boy a comforting smile. He had no fucking clue whatsoever, but he would listen to whatever Kodi had to say.

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Gryph's smile was contagious - as nervous as Kodi was, he felt himself grinning too, giddy to see his stupid little idea had gotten such a good reaction out of the winged boy. He hoped... He hoped he wasn't going to blow it with what he had planned.

Although at the same time, he sensed a slight disgruntled feeling from Gryphon, and he wondered what it was. He almost asked what the older boy was thinking, but chickened out in case he couldn't... Handle it. Kodi was probably just imagining it anyway.

He squeezed Gryph's hand as their finger interlocked, trying to take some courage from that bit of contact. Okay, okay, he could do this. He could... He wanted to. He... He really did. Kodi had spent the last several days driving himself crazy with it. He wasn't going to get any more ready. "I, um..." How to start, how... Kodi wasn't looking at Gryph, he was looking at their hands, linked together in a way the southern boy had never expected his own to be in. It sparked a little hope.

"I been thinkin'... 'Bout us, 'bout.... How I never know... What t'call you..." Kodi swallowed, feeling a lump forming in his throat. "I never... Thought... That I'd have anyone like you, so... So selfless an'... Helpin' me so much even though I'm a complete asshole..." His grip tightened unconsciously. A sudden fear of rejection hit him like a wave. He'd always been terrified of it. That's why he'd never let anyone get this close. It was so incredibly frightening, it nearly overwhelmed him.

But Kodi gritted his teeth and finally blurted,"Willyoubemyboyfriend?"

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

If Kodi had asked what was on his mind, Gryph would’ve lied. Okay, scratch that, he didn’t like lying. He would’ve been vague, or avoided the topic. He never wanted to see any parallels between Nick and Kodi, so making sure that they didn’t know of each other’s existence (or at least, Kodi didn’t know of Nick’s existence) was a start.

Kodi began his little… speech of sorts, and Gryphon watched him as he spoke, tracking every little movement, curious of every sentence, every word, every letter. The things he said about him being selfless and all that, they made him feel timid... but Kodi seemed to be avoiding something… he frowned at his comment about him being an asshole, but said nothing in return, not wanting to interrupt him. And then a question rattled out of his mouth at a million miles a minute that Gryph didn’t quite underst-

Wait. Hold on.

Did…

Gryphon sounded out the syllables in his head again, slower,

Will… you… be… my… boy… friend?

Oh.

The number of emotions that hit Gryph in that one moment were… overwhelmingly ridiculous. He was ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic… but at the same time, he felt like he’d been waiting for this to happen. He almost half expected himself to accidentally ask the question randomly, and completely fuck the intimacy up entirely. But… it… there was something about the way Kodi asked, the way he was acting. Gryphon knew very well that how nervous you were connotated how much you cared about whatever your nerves were attacking you about. And Kodi’s nerves were practically incapacitating him. He… it was like his body language, his actions, were meaning more than the words themselves. His actions were literally speaking over the top of his words.

Gryph looked down at their interlocked hands. Together. As cheesy as it sounded, it just looked right, and felt right. Aaaaand he still hadn’t said anything yet. But he had been smiling madly since Kodi asked, and he began nodding, looking his actual boyfriend in the eye.

“Yes,” he said, pulling Kodi’s hand up with his to kiss it, “A million times, yes.”

God, he was terribly cliché. But he didn’t know what else to say. He was trying to contain his happiness and excitement over the whole situation for God knows what reason. It was just… he really needed to work on his vocabulary, but it was amazing. And probably the best birthday present he could ever have tried to fathom.

He looked over at Kodi, unable to stop smiling. It was hurting his cheeks. He almost couldn’t believe it. Not the fact that his cheeks were hurting, but that it had actually happened. Every inch of him was filled with pure joy. He never knew he could feel happiness like this.

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As soon as Kodi managed to blurt out those words, he clamped his lips shut and went a little pale, still terrified of rejection. He'd never done anything even close to something like this before; he'd always preached against it, even. But now, with all that the two of them had gone through... Kodi knew he couldn't bear the thought of Gryph being with anyone else. Gryphon was his. Someone for Kodi to call his own. And he wasn't going to let that slip away no matter how scared he was.

Gryph hadn't said anything though, and, anxious, Kodi peeked up at him, only to be met with probably the widest smile he'd ever seen on the boy's face (and that was saying a lot, because Gryph was a smiler). That alone made his nerves settle; when the winged meta finally said yes, and kissed his hand, Kodi couldn't contain himself - he launched himself onto Gryphon, pushing him down on the bed and smothering him with kisses. He didn't even realize his eyes had teared up and wetness started to spill silently down his cheeks until he took a moment to pause.

"Ah, fuck, sorry," he choked, wiping his sleeve against his face. "Y-you have no idea how scared I was t'ask..." Kodi swallowed again and buried his face into the crook of Gryphon's neck, clinging tightly to his boyfriend. "Th-thank you," he breathed, shivering with emotion. "I'm s... So happy..." He never remembered feeling this happy before in his life. For the first time, he had someone to call his own. "H... How about we share some of that cake now?" he laughed weakly.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

"Whoa-" He fell back; faster than he could really realize, Gryph was being kissed. Multiple times over. And he couldn't stop chuckling because of that. He felt something wet fall onto his face and he looked at Kodi, still uncontrollably smiling. Surely that was gonna start looking creepy soon, or something, it was ridiculous.

He smiled up at his boyfriend, "It's... it's fine." Gryph wrapped his arms around him, and wished he would stop crying. Even if it was out of happiness, he didn't like to see it. And he couldn't have refused, never.

"I should be thankin' you." He said. Now he didn't have to be confused, or question what they were. They were each other's. Or they might've been before, but now it was certain. "So am I." If it wasn't obvious from his ridiculous amount of smiling.

Gryph laughed as well, "Sounds like a plan." He pecked Kodi on the lips. There was something else he wouldn't mind eating... Jesus Christ, what was up with his head today!

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Kodi coughed and sniffled and managed to stem the flow of tears that had sprang to his eyes without him meaning to. He was still smiling, even though he was scolding himself for being such a fucking girl, getting all emotional and shit. Still, he couldn't help it. For the moment, his demons were at bay.

"N... Nuh, you kiddin'?" Kodi chuckled, still hiding his face against Gryph's shoulder. "I'm so... Fuckin' lucky..." His hands slipped down and caressed the winged boy's sides, sliding along the smooth, supple lines of muscle. "Not only are you damn gorgeous, y'put up with... More than I could ever imagine," he mumbled. Honestly, Kodi could compliment Gryph for hours, there was just so much Kodi lo- liked about him.

Kodi excepted the kiss and sat back up, wiping one last time at his eyes. For once, he actually wasn't entirely thinking about the dirty stuff that Gryph was... Okay, that was a lie, he always was, he just had something else he was thinking about first. And that was that he wasn't alone anymore. "Oh, hey... There're forks in here," he said dumbly, peering into the cake box. He snatched one up and took off a piece of cake, starting to aim it towards his mouth before changing direction and prodding it against Gryph's lips with a smirk.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Kodi was lucky. In a way. Not the way he thought. Gryph smiled and looked down at him, trying to avoid blushing or laughing at anything he was saying, wanting to deny things and fight against them but not coming up with the right words. "It's worth it. It's always worth it." He said, not really sure what he was relating to. Well, it was worth having to go through all the difficulties, and the conflicting emotions that hit him like atom bombs, to have moments like this, and to have Kodiak. And he did have Kodi now... it was a strange thought to have.

"Plus, you're fuckin' hot." There was no denying that.

Why was he thinking that stuff? Not that he didn't think about it at all... or didn't want to do it, that wasn't true either. He slowly sat up and shook his head at his own thoughts, and then chuckled at the 'appearance' of the forks. He went to get his own, but there was cake in his face. He grinned, opening his mouth and letting Kodi feed him. This was silly, but it was funny. And the cake was amazing.

Gryph swiped up another fork and put some cake on it, before pointing it in Kodi's direction. If they were gonna be cheesy, they were gonna be cheesy.

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Kodi took a deep breath and looked up at Gryph again, his expression going serious and a little sad. "It's... Y'know, it's not gonna be easy... Bein' with me," he said softly, tracing his finger against Gryph's arm. "I-I... I still got shit, y'know, that I'm dealin' with, b-but you're helpin' so much. I hope... I hope it just keeps gettin' better." And maybe someday, Kodi would feel comfortable telling Gryphon more about his early life, about what it was that made him who he was now. But he wasn't ready yet.

He laughed and brightened a little at what Gryph said next. "Aw, you flatterer," he teased, ruffling the boy's hair.

As Gryph accepted the piece of cake, Kodi's grin widened, and he giggled a little childishly as he went to snag another piece. But then Gryph was doing the same back to him, and Kodi laughed again, accepting the sweet thing with a hum. He still wasn't a huge fan of sugary goods, but anything was enjoyable like this. "Y'like it?" he mumbled around a mouthful of cake, swallowing the piece down. The cake itself was pretty small, really just a one-serving thing, and he wouldn't mind if Gryph ate the whole thing.

His hand almost unconsciously dropped down to toy with the zipper of Gryph's pants. "So... What d'you want for your birthday, anyway?" Kodi asked, glancing down. "I mean... Besides all this... Stuff," he chuckled nervously. "Anything else?" If Gryph wanted something, he would do what he could.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon looked into Kodi's eyed, nodding a little, "I know." And he did. He didn't know everything about Kodi, or enough to predict what might happen in the future, but he knew that it wouldn't be a fairy-tale. But like he said, it would always be worth it. "And I hope so too." Gryph's main concern was that his life wasn't perfect either. It didn't really seem as seriously fucked up as Kodi's (and he meant that in the nicest way possible), but he still had problems to deal with, and he didn't want to drag Kodi into them. That wouldn't be fair.

He chuckled to himself as Kodi ate as well, and nodded as he went to get himself some more of the stuff, putting his fork in his own mouth this time, "It's so good." He said, oh-so-elegantly. Mmm...

Gryph looked down at Kodi's hand as he spoke, "I've got what I wanted." He said, smiling warmly. But shortly after, he turned his head and raised his eyebrows at the boy, "You tryin' t'suggest somethin'?" He asked, grin turning cheeky on his features. He wouldn't mind doing other... stuff, but-

He turned his head to pick up the little bird plushie and saw a book poking out from under his pillow... and not the one Kodi had just given him. It wasn't that he was ashamed to actually be reading a book (with minor difficulties - his attention strayed occasionally as he read, but he kept reading it despite his frustration), he just... didn't want Kodi to know. Not... not yet anyway. So, with all the subtly he could muster (he had to muster his subtly, that can tell you how subtle it actually was), he pushed it back under the pillow - out of sight, out of mind. Maybe.

gif story coz yolo

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Kodi nodded, sucking in another breath, and smiled faintly. "See, just the fact that you're willin' t'help with that shit for me..." Fuck, he was going to get choked up again, and he didn't want that! Crying was dumb. And he'd been doing too much of it lately anyway. His forehead bumped into Gryph's arm, possessively nuzzling the winged boy. "I promise... I'm going to try my hardest to... T'get better." He had someone to help him now. Kodi had never had that before.

He grinned a little wider. "I'm glad," he mumbled, watching Gryphon eat for a moment before glancing down again. "Mmm... Nooo, I'm not suggestin' anythin'," he hummed, although it was quite obvious there was something else Kodi was willing to give his brand-new boyfran... But only if he wanted. He knew the subject was touchy for Gryph, and Kodi had slowly (and a little grudgingly, if he was honest) come to accept that he just couldn't push his desires. M... Maybe now that they were really together, that would change?

Kodi didn't know. And while he was certainly suggesting something, if Gryph seemed put-off, he would drop the subject.

He didn't really notice what it was that Gryph was doing - Kodi was caught up in his own head, imagining things that had trickled into his fantasies despite his best efforts. So when he looked back at Gryphon, his eyes were bright with suggestion, rather than curiosity for what the winged boy had been doing. "Hey... Did you wanna maybe go anywhere today?" he asked. Maybe that could make up for what he still thought were lame gifts (even if Gryph assured him otherwise).