Love Hurts (Gryphon)

[Deleted]

((Set April 25th))

Shit.... The scratches were starting to sting a bit now.  Kodi grumbled as he stomped his way up to his dorm, rubbing at the new wounds and only succeeding and making the blood stain his skin around his cheek.  He was planning on going to his room and just washing the cuts out and making sure they hadn't completely ruined his face; that stupid pixie had more strength than it seemed, apparently.  Kodi had had no idea those scrawny arms could dig their claws so deep.  He wondered if Oriel had experienced that fiery fury that Kodi didn't realize Phoenix possessed.

Instead of turning into his own common room, though, Kodi made a last-minute, rash decision, and went to a certain winged meta's dorm instead.  Looking as pathetic and wounded as possible, he let himself into the common room and headed towards Gryph's door.

"Baaaabe," he whined out.  "You here?"  Kodi poked his head around the boy's door and, assuming he was there, turned his cheek to show off his new scars that he had yet to see himself.  "Please tell me this didn't make me ugly," he pouted, giving no explanation yet as to how he got the things.  The scratches were still raw and red, and though the bleeding had started to trickle out, his rubbing the area hadn't done anything to make them look better.

But hey, scars were supposed to be hot, right?

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph wasn't exactly doing anything of much importance.

Well, it was homework, but that was as important as you let it be. It wasn't very important to Gryphon, clearly.

His mind was whirring about all the recent things that had gone on - getting high (accidentally), turning nineteen, becoming someone's boyfriend... it was a lot to take in. All of that along with the fact that he was graduating this year... mmm.

His ears pricked up at the sound of Kodi's voice and he turned towards the door, cocking his head slightly as it opened. He laughed gently, "Obviously n-"

And then he saw a scratch, blood on Kodi's face. He didn't know whether to be upset, worried, annoyed or angry. If it was serious, Kodi himself probably would've been more serious too. And they didn't exactly look too terrible, just... owch. All the same, Gryph quickly got to his feet and approached his boyfriend, taking his jaw and head in his hands, to pivot his head slightly so he could see the source of the bleeding.

"You're still gorgeous, but you're an absolute moron." He said as lovingly as possible. He couldn't do much about it either - he didn't have the resources. He let go of Kodi's face and scanned his room, double-checking. "...needs cleanin'." He said simply, humming breaths in his throat. One of the things that he was strongly thinking on was how this had happened, but... he could ask that later. Or maybe Kodi would tell him. Who knew.

[Deleted]

Hearing Gryph start to laugh made Kodi instantly in a happy mood, or at least, happier. Then again, he wasn't particularly angry or upset about the incident, just... Still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that it had happened. Mrrr....

He stayed quiet as Gryph came over and tilted his head to look at the wound, wincing slightly. His eyeliner had smeared a bit on that side as well, but he didn't realize it. "You won't believe how I got it," he chuckled breathlessly, leaving Gryph hanging for a moment as he assessed the scratches.

"Mmmm... Well, I guess we're both morons, then," he smirked. At least Gryphon wasn't totally turned off by it. "I knew comin' t'see you was a good idea." Yeah, Kodi was glad about his last-minute change of mind. He let his head fall a little as Gryph looked around. "I got some hydrogen p'roxide in my room," he mentioned, nodding to the next door over. "Would you mind...?" Kodi was capable of cleaning it himself, but the idea of having his boyfriend clean him up and dote on him was just too tempting to resist. "C'mon," he urged, snagging onto one of the taller boy's hands and gently tugging him towards his room.

"Oh, anyway.... I'll give you one guess as t'who did this," he added, giving a short laugh.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph gave a breathy laugh, "I think, by this point, I'm ready t'believe anything." He really was - Kodi was a bundle of surprises. Then again, if he said it had something to do with unicorns, faeries or goblins, he'd probably be less inclined to actually take him seriously.

And they weren't ugly or anything. The blood and makeup smudged on and around the scratches was the ugly thing. He was concerned, but he still tilted his head a little and smiled when Kodi said about coming to see him. He would always help Kodi, wasn't that a given by now?

Hydrogen peroxide. He nodded, looking in the direction of Kodi's room for a second, "Okay." Gryph followed his scratched up boyfriend as he pulled him out of the room.

He had no idea who could or would do this to Kodi. Not in the sense of 'everyone loves Kodi!', he knew that wasn't true, he wasn't that naive. He tried to think of someone, but came up blank, and so jumped to one of the first people he could think of who scared him, "Uhm... Erik?" He didn't know - it could've been anyone!

[Deleted]

"I promise I didn't start it this time, at least," Kodi told Gryph, expression earnest. Well... He hadn't exactly, at least. What he'd said had aggravated Phen into attacking him, but what else had he expected? Gryphon was his, and Kodi was not amused to hear declarations of love, even platonic, from anyone else. Mrrrrr.

Kodi led the way out of the common room and to his own, turning his face so the scratched up side was mostly hidden from passerby. Although it wouldn't be the first time people had seen him beat up - hell, he'd been pretty much a black and blue mess after Oriel beat him.

He reached the door as Gryph gave his guess, and gave a loud, short laugh, clearly amused by his answer. "Nah, haven't seen Erik for a while," he replied, subtly also letting Gryphon know that the pale hick wasn't someone to worry about, despite their past relations. "It was... Fuckin' Phoenix." He snorted and shook his head as he went into his room, grabbing the bottle of peroxide and a cloth to wash his cheek with. "Ah, fuck," he groaned, seeing himself in the mirror for the first time. "I'm a mess." Kodi turned his pouty gaze to Gryph.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon looked at Kodi, searching for any form of dishonesty... but he looked like he was telling the truth. Not that he didn't trust him or anything; he was glad to hear that he hadn't be the instigator of whatever lead to whoever it was attacking him.

...okay, that was okay. It wasn't Erik. And he didn't seem to be an issue. But then who-

Oh. Oh... What the fuck? Phen? He knew that he wasn't a fan of Kodi, but damn. It made him feel guilty though, hearing his name. He really needed to sort out the shit between them - he had kind of fucked up big time. "...crap." he sighed, "...should I ask why?" He wanted to know why.

Kodi started frowning and giving him.puppy eyes or whatever, so Gryph cupped his face and kissed him quickly, "A hot mess." He pulled away and took the hydrogen peroxide and cloth from him, opening the bottle and pouring some of it out. He held it up and paused, "Might sting a bit." But he probably knew that, so Gryph began gently dabbing at the mucky area.

[Deleted]

Mmm... Maybe Kodi should have been a little softer about telling Gryph who'd done it. He still didn't know exactly all the details of Phoenix and Gryphon's relationship, but... As much as he still didn't particularly care for the fairy, he was Gryph's friend, and Kodi would do his best to not fight with him... As much as he could, at least. "Um.... He kinda dragged me away an' basically said if I ever hurt you, there's gonna be shit t'pay," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "'Course, he's got nothin' t'worry about... But I, uh, I got a little snappy with him, an' he did this," he finished, motioning to the scratches. He didn't want to tell Gryph exactly what he'd said, though...

Kodi snorted and shot a smile up at the taller boy to lighten whatever might have dampened the mood. "It's alright, I kinda deserve it," he added. "An' scars are supposed t'be sexy an' all, right?" He let Gryph take the bottle and cloth from his hands, tilting his face so the messy area was towards the older boy. "You're too kind," he chuckled at the compliment, enjoying the quick kiss. He nodded at the warning and closed his eyes, wincing at the initial sting that was worse than it had been before. "Ow," he complained, lower lip jutting out into another pout. ".... Thanks," he added after a moment. His right eye peeked open to watch Gryph while he worked.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph rubbed his arm uncomfortably, flooded with thoughts of Phen and feelings of guilt and... he was a terrible friend. Fucking hell... he listened with strong curiousity as Kodi retold the story. He felt a small buzz about the fact that Phen was trying to stick up for him... almost like Oriel had done for Kodi. And he knew Phoenix had nothing to worry about... but damn. Phen was a proper cat when he was pissed. All of this just reminded him that he needed to talk to his friend, constantly. He would, he would! It wouldn't be like before, when they didn't talk for ages, thinking that one hated the other, until they made up again. They would talk this out. At some point. But Gryph didn't know what to say... "...he's got sharp nails." He scoffed, blanking on anything remotely useful. Well, at least he was attempting to lighten the mood instead of freaking out.

Gryph wasn't really certain if Kodi did in fact deserve it, but he decided to leave that alone. He wasn't there, after all, he didn't know what was said, other than what Kodi had told him. He chuckled at the sexy comment, "Totally." Gryphon wasn't sure if he personally thought they were sexy or not, but they didn't look terrible.

He paused the moment Kodi reacted to the antiseptic, frowning, before continuing slowly and as gently as possible, but couldn't help rolling his eyes at the audible whine, "Baby." It probably wasn't ridiculously painfully, anyway. And then he smiled, but his face was still slightly contorted in concentration, "No problem." He caught the white of the boy's eye and kissed his other cheek, before going back to work.

[Deleted]

"Yeah, tell me about it," Kodi grunted, lifting his hands to look at his own fingernails. "I had no idea that little... Cat had it in him," he chuckled. It quickly died off, though, as he thought back to what exactly Phoenix had said. Kodi swallowed and peeked up uncertainly. "He... He said he loves you," he mumbled, prodding his foot into the ground. "... So that's why I got kinda pissy." His gaze slipped to the side; he felt his cheeks getting red, and was especially self-conscious that Gryph was already so close to his blushing face. "... I'm a really jealous person," he admitted, as though it wasn't obvious already. "Sorry...."

Still, it was hard for him to feel guilty for long; the stinging sensation was really waking up his senses and making him want to squirm. "I ain't a baby," he grumbled with a playful scowl. He waited for Gryph to be done with his work before pulling back and looking in the mirror again, glad to see the area was cleaned up - he just had the two scratches now, the top one longer than the bottom, and they'd stopped bleeding for the most part. "Well... Guess I'll have them t'remind me not t'talk back," he snorted, turning back to Gryphon with a wry smile. "Anyway... You wanna do somethin'?"

Kodi flopped down onto his bed with his front half leaning over the end, and the corner of some sort of book peeked out from underneath. Frowning curiously, he grabbed it and pulled it out to reveal his yearbook. "Oh, hey, you wanna see how many other people hate me an' drew dicks in here?" he chuckled self-depricatingly.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

It wasn't particularly anything new to Gryphon, to hear that Phen had said he loved him. The boy had said it to his face, and Gryph... had said it back, after a very long delay. But he could understand Kodi's upset. The only thing concerning him was the fact that he wasn't sure if Kodi would be happy hearing that Gryph returned the feelings of (platonic) love with Phen. He wouldn't say anything. He looked down at Kodi and smiled gently, kissing his forehead, "It's alright." He said, "...it's better that you actually care over not givin' a shit." At least, that was what Gryphon thought. In a weird way, it was sweet.

He stepped back a little and put the antiseptic and the cloth down, watching as Kodi studied his face - the cuts weren't looking so terrible now. He chuckled, and then shrugged his shoulders, "Sure?"

He watched in amusement as the boy fell onto his bed, hands half in his pockets as he went to join him, sitting near his boyfriend as he seemed to discover something and pulled up a book... ah. Gryph laughed with him, conscious of something that Kodi seemed to be oblivious of at the time. He'd written in there a few days before, a spur of the moment thing, with a short little message. He meant every word, but... it was one of those things he couldn't really say to Kodi's face. So he wrote it. And he hadn't planned on being there when Kodi read it. Maybe... he would go to the back. And he wasn't ashamed of what he'd written, just... anxious of how he would react. All the same, he tried to act natural, and smiled, "I'm sure that there aren't that many."

[Deleted]

Kodi knew Gryph probably had strong feelings for Phoenix too - it was only to be expected, given their history. Still, that pixie had already got a boyfriend that Kodi wouldn't have minded having himself - no, before Gryph, Kodi wanted Oriel to be his. Now he still held attraction for the younger boy, but that was where it ended. He was happy with Gryphon. "I care a lot," he mumbled, looking down. "You are my moron, after all." And he wouldn't let Gryphon forget it. Heh.

He adjusted himself to lean against Gryph as the older boy sat next to him, propping his shoulder against Gryph's knee as he flipped through some pictures. "Heh... my yearbook picture is dumb," he snorted, skipping that page. "Oh, hey, there's you," he added, catching sight of Gryphon's photo. He looked amazing, of course. "Not fair, you look good all the time," Kodi sighed. Totally oblivious as to what was lurking in the back of the book, he continued flipping through, eventually reaching the signing pages which, as expected, were full of crude drawings and half-assed notes, most not so kind. "There are quite a few," he grunted, flipping through a couple pages with a wry smirk before he landed on the last page. Kodi frowned. Huh.... He could've sworn it was blank.

He began to read what was written, jaw gradually slackening as he absorbed what it said. For several moments, he didn't even seem to compute what he'd read. ".... Gryph..." he breathed, throat tightening. His ability to speak had apparently left him.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon had already screwed up at least once when it came to his relationship with Phen, he really couldn't afford to keep mucking up when it came to him. He was his best friend, after all. And he, as well, had been jealous, of Oriel. It might've been the adrenaline and the shock and the disbelief, but for a time, when Gryoh first came back into contact with Phen, he had had a minor crush on him. It had passed by now, clearly it had, but it'd happened. Gryphon was pretty deep in thought, and caught what Kodi had said, but only just. He sent him a bright smile, "I know I am." And Kodi was his moron. He didn't really know how this moron thing had developed, but it was funny, so Gryph didn't exactly trying to stop it.

He watched Kodi begin to flip through the yearbook with a slight nervous tension in his body, and almost a feeling of... helplessness. He tried to relax, but it was difficult. The avian boy twitched when Kodi pointed out him picture, looking at the frozen image and smiling back at it. "I just know how cameras work." Knowing about the lighting and stuff and how it affected a picture was useful. He didn't think he was ugly, not by a long shot, but he wasn't really one to boast, or gloat.

Gryphon frowned at all the bad comments and crude drawings - the notes left in his own book were a lot friendlier. But then again, he and Kodi were two different people. Kodi reached the back of the book, and as soon as Gryph's eyes caught on his handwriting, he went to look away, but found himself rereading it all.

At the sound of his name, he swiftly looked at Kodi, and he seemed almost frozen. He didn't know how he was reacting, whether it was really bad or good, or anything - his own mind was racing ridiculously fast. "...before you say anythin', it's all true. Seriously, every word." He confirmed, taking a breath and looking at his lap, "I'm just... too much've a wimp t'say stuff like that t'your face."

[Deleted]

"Mmm... You should teach me 'bout it sometime, so you can give me a sexy photoshoot," Kodi joked, bumping his head against Gryph's knee with a laugh. Kodi felt... Alright with his looks. When he had eyeliner on. Otherwise he usually hid his face and felt self-conscious. Gryph was helping with it quite a bit, but the feeling was still there. "Seriously, though... You're beautiful." He looked up with earnest; as if he didn't tell Gryph that enough already.

Kodi briefly wondered if he should actually let Gryph see how many people had written not-so-nice things in his yearbook... But it was too late now. It wouldn't change how he thought of the dentokinetic, right? Nahh... Shouldn't by this point, Gryph was getting to know him pretty well, got to see the side of Kodi that nearly no one else did.

But now his attention was completely focused on... This. This thing that Kodi had absolutely no idea how to respond to, no idea what to say. He slowly lifted his eyes to look at Gryph as he spoke, face stuck in a dumbfounded expression. "I..."

Sure, Gryph had said he loved him before. A couple times, the first time being drunk. For some reason, it hadn't really hit Kodi before as hard as it was hitting him now. This... This thing they had was real. They could actually be spending the rest of their lives together, if they wanted to. If Gryph didn't get sick of him. Kodi let out a heavy breath and covered his eyes with his palms. ".... I still don't know what love is," he said quietly. "I.... I just... I've never had it before. So I can't... I can't say if..." Kodi didn't want to say that. No, that suggested he didn't have strong feelings for Gryph at all, which was completely wrong.

"I just know that when I'm with you... I'm happier than I've ever been. And... An' I want t'keep making you happy, too. I... I said I care 'bout you more than anyone else, an' that's true. You've... You've already helped me be a better person, keep supporting me no matter how difficult I know I can be...." Kodi moved to bury his face against Gryph's leg, trembling with emotion. "I don't... I don't know if that's love, but.... But that's how I feel."

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph laughed, "It's all about the duckface." He informed Kodi with great sarcasm. Duckface were horrible - smiling looked so much better. His boyfriend's sudden seriousness made him stiller, though and he took a breath, before smiling, "...thanks." Kodi did tend to compliment him a lot, but when it came across like that, when you could see the genuine belief in his face... it made him feel warm.

Gryphon didn't know how to sort out this situation, though... it was a very scary and real concept, the one running through Kodi's thoughts. It was something Gryph had pondered on from time to time - the idea, the possibility that now that they were together, they would never seperate, relationship wise. That could be the case. It could. That didn't mean it would - no-one could predict the future like that - but it was a possible outcome.

And he had really fucked up in the past when it came to feelings. He didn't know what he was thinking when he was drunk, what lead him to tell Kodi he loved him. But it was truly honest now. However, his breaths thickened and he felt a bad sense of rejection, but listened to what Kodi was admitting.

Gryph nodded slowly, understanding. Of course, it gave him a tightness in his chest, a tense feeling of - that wasn't the point of this, though. To hear it back. The point was that Gryphon loved Kodi, and that was a fact. As he went on, Gryph smiled, and listened silently, a buzzing filling his chest at each of the words. He kept looking at Kodi the whole time, and fiddling with his boyfriend's hair a little when he went to hide his face. He breathed again, and thought strongly about his own words, "...I don't think... love is a definable thing." He stated, voice paced carefully as his mind whirred, "It's different for everyone. And you might understand what it is later on in life, but you shouldn't rush tryin' t'work it out now." He sighed, "I understand, and it's alright." He thought about all the things Kodi had said. "I think you deserve the happiness. Everyone should be happy, but right now, after bein' through so much shit, you deserve it. And if I'm givin' that t'you..." he trailed off, looking ay the floor,

"That makes me happier than you could ever know."

[Deleted]

Kodi's expression deadpanned at the mention of the infamous duckface. "If you ever do that in a picture with me, I will... Tickle you senseless," he threatened 'darkly'. Kodi had quickly developed a deep hatred for the stupid expressions, seeing preppy girls posting pictures of themselves all over. Ugh. Still, he knew Gryph was only joking, and smirked good-naturedly after a moment.

His emotions were going for a roller coaster ride now, though. He was ecstatic, and giddy, and felt so full of excitement - but despite that, there was also a trickle of fear and worry involved. It was only to be expected from him, though - having never experienced this stuff before, it was all brand new and scary. And... There would be expectations, and hardships, and probably fights and yelling and stuff at some point...

But that wasn't what was important. They would get through that stuff when they got there. For now, Kodi just wanted to be happy. And he hoped he'd been able to express how he felt in a way that made Gryph happy too. He listened silently as the older boy spoke again, peeking up with one eye to watch his movements. In that moment, he felt so much adoration and affection and desire for Gryphon, Kodi wasn't sure how much more he was capable of feeling. He still felt bad about not being able to say it back, but he hoped the winged boy meant it when he said it was alright. "As soon as I figure it out, you'll be the first t'know," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around Gryph's waist. "I'm... I'm gonna figure it out. An' I'm not gonna leave you, as long as you'll have me."

He gave a rather watery smile as he pushed himself up enough to kiss the corner of Gryph's mouth. "You are my happiness," he said, despite how cheesy it sounded. Kodi didn't think he deserved it, after all the times he'd hurt other people and... Enjoyed it. But he was actively trying to be a better person now, and that was all thanks for Gryphon. "Nǐ shì wǒ de xìngfú." Kodi chuckled and then playfully pushed Gryph onto his back, crawling over him and laying contentedly on his chest.