Desperado [Oriel] [Trigger Warning]

[Deleted]

How was Oriel supposed to get Kodi to listen, if he wouldn't even listen to Gryph, the person he was supposed to trust the most? Why would he take Oriel's word over his? It....there was something wrong there, he thought. Oriel wasn't...anybody he should.... "How....?" How does he know that Kodi gives a shit about what Oriel thinks? It should be the other way around. He should be doing what Gryph told him because he trusted that Gryph knew what he was talking about! That was...it was Gryph's job to....

Still, Oriel couldn't do much else other than agree. He'd do what he could, but knowing Oriel...knowing himself, he'd muck it up and turn it into something silly or demeaning or a big joke because Oriel was too much of a pussy to treat it seriously.

Then again, he was being serious now, wasn't he? Somehow... Oriel loosened up on his embrace on Gryph and allowed him relax and shift into something more comfortable. He quirked an eyebrow then the older boy laughed. "Jin-what?" Oriel repeated, confused. "Hmph...the fuck is going on in that head of yours? You don't tell me, I'll assume you're talking shit 'bout my...." Oriel would normally finish this phrase with 'my momma', he didn't have a momma. He did have a sister. And a brother, somehow. And Phoenix. But it didn't seem right to mention any of them in this instance either. He grunted. "Say it straight so I understand," he said instead with a snort, mussing up Gryph's hair with a light noogie. "Otherwise I won't." Not because he didn't want to, but because...he really didn't trust his inferences anymore.

[Deleted]

Kodi tentatively ran his hand through his hair as he wandered back towards Gryph’s apartment. His mother had done her best to try to flatten it out and make him look less like a “punk”, though there was only so much she could do with her bare hands and the fact that it was white-blonde with an edgy cut in the first place. Then he fingered with one of the rings that pierced his lip, thinking about how she had sighed in distress as she had noticed it and all of his other piercings. At least he hadn’t showed her his tattoos, otherwise Kodi was afraid she might have fainted…

He really didn’t know what to do about the situation he suddenly found himself in. His mother had told him that she’d left his dad (finally) and wanted to start things over with him. She’d risked a lot running away and coming up here, and Kodi was just… Torn. On the one hand, she hadn’t done anything to help when his father had pushed and pressure him as a kid, and had practically disowned him after he came to Hammel, but on the other hand, Kodi knew that his mother had been abused by the man too, and had probably been just as scared for herself…

Ugh. Why did this have to happen now? Why did it have to happen at all? He was finally trying to get some closure with that part of his life, and was struggling to deal with more recent events…

Whatever. Gryphon would be a good distraction. Kodi had been hesitant to leave him earlier, but had eventually given in when the older boy insisted. He was probably hungry and needy by now, considering how little he could do for himself…

But when Kodi reached the apartment and opened the door, he was met with an impossible sight. Gryphon… And Oriel… On the couch… Hugging…?

The dentokinetic stared at them for a good long while, then shook his head slowly and closed the door behind him. “Get offa my boyfriend, you rat,” he grumbled. “Just ‘cause he can’t fight you off right now don’t give you the right t’touch him like that.” He started striding over threateningly, but the confusion in his expression was obvious. What the hell were they doing?

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph thought over how he was going to answer that for a good long moment. How? Well... "I might... know Kodi better, but... we're so different." He chuckled breathily, "You... you can probably see that. And you two think similarly, I don't think like Kodi." He shrugged, "I'm not certain, but if... just try." That was all Oriel needed to do in this situation. Gryph just felt that he would convince Kodi better than he could.

Gryphon kept chuckling throughout Oriel's confusion, but it was understandable - it was a foreign language, Korean wasn't anything like English. "Jinjja is like... an expression of annoyance, or confusion. Like 'really'. It's nothing offensive." He wasn't laughing anymore, but he wasn't too serious, "It's just odd. We don't really get along that much, and then when something serious comes up, we always end up hugging." 'Always' meaning this was the second time, to Gryph's knowledge, "It's just... yeah, it's just odd."

He'd just finished saying this when the door opened, and Gryphon froze a little, his brow furrowing. It couldn't be... he was sure Kodi was going to be gone longer... he peeked and... yup, there he was. Gryph grimaced as he spoke, casually rubbing his eyes in some attempt to hide their redness, not sure how he could explain this. He looked at Oriel, then Kodi, and then his own casted legs, "....well..." Nope, no idea what to say. He drummed a little on the casts, "...I wanna go to bed." Sudden tiredness. Great excuse explanation.

[Deleted]

They thought the same way? Oriel wasn’t sure how to take that. It was probably true, Oriel had thought so himself, but to hear it from someone else….Oriel wasn’t sure how to feel about it. If Oriel and Kodi were so similar, then why was it so hard for himself and Gryphon to spend more than five minutes in a room together without glaring over something? Well…Oriel hadn’t been the most likable person when they first met….well, Oriel didn’t much like Gryph either when they first met. Kind of hard when you thought the other was going after your boyfriend.

But now….well, even back then, maybe Oriel cared more than he was willing to admit about Gryphon’s opinion of him. Who the hell would approve of Oriel, though? So it turned into a ‘I don’t care how bad a match you think we are, I’m still going to love on him disgustingly in front of you” sort of thing. It still was like that, somewhat. But it was times like this that Oriel thought that….maybe they didn’t quite dislike each other as much as he thought? Maybe…. Oriel grunted, smirking slightly. “Why the fuck not? I’m a goddamn cuddly teddy bear, didn’t you know?” He would have said something more, but that was when Kodi walked in.

Well, this was awkward. Were his eyes red? Damn, they probably were. It was like a big, fat neon sign that said “Lookit me! I’m a fucking huggy crybaby!”. At times like this, Oriel’s first response was usually….ridiculous. “……we’re running away together,” he said dramatically, completely straight-faced. “Don’t try to stop us. It was meant to be.” Then turned to Gryph. “Shall I carry you, my love?” <3

He grimaced at the sudden sharp pain in his side, courtesy of Gryphon’s elbow. “Fuck…!” he groaned, doubled over and slowly crawling away over the edge of the couch.

[Deleted]

Grrrrrrrrrrr…………………

Kodi didn’t quite know what to think. On the one hand, he’d wished for some time that his friend and boyfriend would get along, at least a little better (to the point of not wanting to murder each other, at least), so this as… Good? On the other hand, they were looking so fucking friendly all cuddled up on the couch there, if Kodi had any distrust for Gryph whatsoever (and he didn’t, thankfully), he would be thinking some very bad thoughts. As it was, he felt a spark of jealousy in his chest anyway as he stalked over. He was too distracted with his thoughts to notice that the two of them had red eyes.

“’Course y’do,” he huffed at Gryph and his casted legs. Despite his feelings about the scene, a smidgen of anxiety and worry wormed its way into Kodi’s chest, seeing his lover casted and crippled. He felt that way every time he looked at the boy now. But, nope, he had other matters to deal with at hand! Especially when Oriel finally opened his big fat mouth. “Oh you are, are ya?” he replied, his twang creeping into his voice as he spoke louder. “You fuckin’ little-“

He knew there had to be an explanation for this. That gave him some sort of security, enough for him to get an idea that would be both stupid and funny. “…. I knew it!” he shouted, pointing accusingly at Gryphon, then at Oriel. “I knew you were gay! Fuckin’ faggots!” He sneered dramatically and paced across the floor. “All this time… I trusted you… An’ yer a fuckin’ queer! Both of ya! Get outta my house!” Kodi waved at the door, hiding his snickering. “Get out ‘fore you infect me, too!”

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

"No, I didn't," Gryph chuckled. Considering Oriel's usually dick-ish behaviour, why would he expect him to be, as he had a put it, a teddy bear? Unless he was that evil teddy from Toy Story 3. Now that would make sense.

He felt bad about Kodi feeling bad about him. He had been through this kind of thing before - though, the other time he could have ended up in a wheelchair, they wouldn't allow it, because they couldn't trust the young teen to not hurt himself again, so he had been stuck in hospital for weeks at that time. At least he'd been able to leave the hospital this time. And it hurt more than Gryph told Kodi sometimes, just... he had enough to worry about. He pouted at Kodi's reply and said nothing else, still playing with his casts.

And then Oriel started making stupid remarks and Gryphon couldn't help elbowing him in the ribs, smiling slightly to himself as Oriel groaned, "That felt good," He muttered softly. It was pretty funny, after all.

Gryph jolted a little when Kodi shouted, and squinted in confusion as he went on. No, he was not following this joke very well whatsoever. And maybe that was the point...? He still felt weird. Of course he was gay...? "The fuck...?" He mumbled, "And this is my house, stupid." Otherwise, he was quiet, making confused expressions, before he began looking for his folded up wheelchair. He would be stood up by this point, if that was possible, so he wanted some free movement. He began setting the chair up, "Fucking psycho loony bat." He said, peeking at Kodi. What was going on?

Today was just weird.

[Deleted]

Ow….that hurt…he probably deserved that. But come on! It was just a joke, and who the fuck would take it seriously? Certainly not Kodi, especially not with Gryph’s and Oriel’s notoriously rancorous relationship, who would ever think that they were secretly friendly enough to be getting it on, in secret, from hugging on the couch, in secret. The situation was wholly absurd, despite what he and Gryph had been talking about only moments before, and Kodi’s entry quickly dissolved that heavy atmosphere. Because awkward tended to do that.

After Oriel crawled over the edge of the couch, he fell to the floor and rolled, grasping at his side where Gryphon had struck him sharply with his elbow. Ouch… Oriel didn’t know where to go from here, though, outside of just rolling around on the floor like a turd, wailing in pain and being an outstanding bother. Fortunately, Kodi solved that predicament for him.

Oriel sat up when Kodi shouted, his eyes wide and disbelieving. “What?” he said in a mockingly shrill voice. “You…No, you can’t!” He crawled his knees closer to the dentokinetic, his arms outreached to him. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but have to know…” Cue the sniffle and fake tears. If he hadn’t been crying for real just minutes earlier, then who knows if he’d have been able to put on such a realistic performance. Oriel grabbed at Kodi’s shirt. “Our love wasn’t a lie. It still isn't! Please don’t throw me away, I promise I’ll never stray again!” Yes, Oriel was ridiculous. This was fun.

[Deleted]

Yep, Kodi was going to go the ridiculous route. Whatever the explanation really was for this, he wasn’t going to listen until he’d had a little fun. Unfortunately, Gryph didn’t seem to understand what Kodi was doing – and, well, who could blame him? The dentokinetic was being weird. Of course it would be Oriel that caught onto the joke and went along with it. They were practically the same person, after all.

“Shuddup!” he shouted at Oriel, turning his ‘accusing’ look down to the younger boy. “Don’t lie t’me! No more lies!” Kodi nudged him over with a foot, sneering. “You two have been makin’ gross, perverted gay sex on my couch, while I was away an’ oblivious! An’ ya thought you would get away with it, huh??” He was getting far too into his role at this point, and missed when Gryph started going for his wheelchair. “I’ll kick ya out with my own fists, ya little punk…!”

Aaand yup, he pounced the kid, wrestling much like they had when they’d met up in Seattle. Kodi growled and snarled, putting up a decent fight until he inevitably lost, as always. He wasn’t really trying that hard anyway – this was just for laughs. “Ahhh no!! I can feel the gay takin’ over!” he cried, writhing underneath the younger boy. “Nooo it’s gonna consume meee~!” A few stray cackles started to slip out between his words, and before long he was giggling and holding back tears of amusement. His eyes landed on Gryphon, moist with mirth. “Oy! Hot stuff!” he called. “You gonna let me help you with that, or what?” Whoops… Maybe he’d gotten a little too carried away.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

If Gryphon truly understood what was going on, he probably would have made some vague attempt to join in with the madness. As it was, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box sometimes, and he was still distracted, thinking over the discussion he had been having with Oriel before they were interrupted. Surely this was confusing the youngest in the room, considering all Gryph had just said, and then seeing Kodi like this, joking, being silly...? Gryph knew there was a joke here, he was just struggling to get it.

He let the pair of them have their banter, watching on and off, but a bit distant from it all, really. It was just... weird; really, really weird. And like Gryphon had been saying earlier, his mind didn't seem to work the same as Kodi's and Oriel's - they could almost be brothers, personality-wise, but Gryph's cogs whirred differently. In the grand scheme of things, that was probably a good thing.

Gryphon flicked his vision up when he saw the scene get physical. From the way the pair of them were acting, it was like that Valentine's weekend all those weeks back - neither would get hurt to a dangerous degree, so Gryph continued to remain silent. He check that all the component of the wheelchair were securely in place before trying to work out how he would do this on his own, considering he didn't want to interrupt the pair from their fun. But it seemed too difficult, Gryph couldn't weight bear on his feet. He shuffled about awkwardly, trying to work this out, until Kodi seemed to address him and he looked at his boyfriend, before looking at the chair quietly.

He really hated the situation he was in. It was an utter pain. "I..." He half-forced a smile, "Don't let me ruin your fun, I'm... I'll work it out." Though, in honesty, he knew it was a bad idea to try and do this by himself, but... Kodi seemed happy. He didn't want to worry him and ruin that...

[Deleted]

This was fun and exactly what Oriel needed to dig himself out of the funk he’d sunk himself into after hearing about Kodi and Gryph’s…predicament. If Kodi hadn’t come in just then, Oriel would probably have spent another good 10 minutes just sitting there holding Gryph and then have spent the entire walk home in a contemplative daze, going over everything Gryphon had said and going over everything that he remembered from that time frame and going over everything he could have done back then to prevent it and going over everything he would try to say to Kodi when he finally sat him down to do so. This….this was much better. Oriel would still think about it, yes, but with a positive mind he’d be able to do it with positive feelings and a clear, more rational head. Thank god for you, Kodi.

Oriel kept in his character as Kodi continued the act, having no intention of breaking it. After all, he was putting on a show for…for whomever would watch it, and at the moment, that person was most probably the cripple on the couch. When Kodi’s foot connected, Oriel flung himself backwards a ways, sprawling across the carpet, then looking back up with ‘shocked’ and ‘distressed’ face. “No, it’s not like that at all!” he ‘insisted’. “We weren’t trying to deceive you, please don’t throw me away, it was…!” Oriel though a moment, then pointed the man trying to shuffle himself off the couch. “It was him, he seduced me! He made me do it! He said if I didn’t, then he would hurt the baby!”

That was about when Kodi pounced and Oriel rolled back with him, struggling and grappling with the dentokinetic. Oriel could hold back his smirks at Kodi’s wailing. “Too late, we already touched,” he whispered ominously into Kodi’s ear as he held the boy down. “And the Gay is virulent, its spreads faster than a fire on a dry summer’s day. Soon…you’ll be one of us.” Ooo, scary!

Oriel looked up when Kodi called out and let up on him to allow the boy to go and assist his boyfriend. Oriel was a dick, but he wasn’t about to let Gryph hurt himself by doing something stupid. “Don’t be an idiot, Turkey-legs, or you’re going to end up stranded somewhere,” Oriel said with a grunt as he sat up on his knees, brushing his hair from his face.

[Deleted]

Kodi still had no idea what he had walked in on. If he had noticed their red eyes, he would have demanded to know what the hell they were sobbing about, and if he had found out they had been talking about him, he would have been cast into his own depressive funk. Despite this joking, and teasing, Kodi was still dealing with his own demons, along with the sudden appearance of his mother back in his life. Not taking things seriously was how he got by sometimes. Hopefully Gryph would forgive him for being a whack just now.

Sorry Gryph.

Kodi nearly choked and guffawed at the idea of Gryphon seducing Oriel. Not because Gryph wasn’t gorgeous or anything, but it had taken forever for the winged man to get the nerve to even try to talk about anything remotely sexual with Kodi, let alone ‘seduce’ the teen that Kodi had thought he despised. “Oh he did, did he?” he managed to get out instead, hiding his laugh with a growl. “I’ll punish him in a mo- baby!?” he squawked, that time out of pure shock. Oh, Oriel, you quick-minded, ridiculous creature. “Fuck…!” He had had to tackle Oriel if he didn’t want to start rolling on the floor in laughter.

“Nononono, there’s gotta be a cure, an antidote, somethin’ t’take away the gay…!” he cried. “Please, I’ll do anythinggg~!” He wailed and whined on until his laughter got the best of him and he knew Gryph needed his help. “Okay, gettup, fat-ass, I gotta help my waifu,” he grunted. He stood with a slight groan and stepped over to his lover, scowling at his protests. “Stop tryin’ t’be so damn selfless all the time. These days I gotta be the one t’help you, okay?”

Kodi touched Gryph tenderly on the cheek, his joking mood gone and replaced with something quite solemn. “Ready? Up ya go~” he grunted as he carefully picked the older boy up and deposited him in the wheelchair. Kodi was fortunate for his boyfriend’s light body weight, because he’d lost strength in his arms recently with less time working out. He’d already started it back up again, though, because he knew he might need to carry the injured boy around for a while. “… What were you two talkin’ an’ huggin’ about, anyway?” he finally asked with a suspicious brow raise. “Did somethin’ happen t’Phoenix?” It was one of the few things people that he knew both boys cared about.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph was barely following this 'confrontation' of sorts. Seduction? Babies? Virulent? What did that even mean? Probably something about it being contagious, seeing as the pair of them were joking that homosexuality was a disease. Gryphon was too distracted to listen well enough. It was funny, he just wasn't really reacting. Maybe if he wasn't so wrapped up in his own head.

He scowled at Oriel, when he showed backlash as Gryph's stubbornness, "I'm not completely incapable, thanks." Yeah, his mood was definitely something sour now. He sighed as Kodi chided him, nodding and interrupting him slightly, "Yeah, yeah, I know, I get it, I'm a cripple..." He looked at the ground, fiddling with his hands. A lot worried him at the moment. The doctor's biggest concern had been Gryph's left leg. It had hit a little harder, broken a little worse. They weren't sure if it would heal properly or not, and Gryphon was just scared of being 'damaged goods' for the rest of his life because his bone would heal too short. He really appreciated Kodi's help, he just... he wished he didn't need it.

Gryph glanced up as his cheek was touched and smiled weakly at his boyfriend, before letting himself be picked up momentarily. It obviously wasn't easy, but again, unless Gryphon wanted to be stranded in hospital, he would have to cope with feeling like a pain. "Thanks." He muttered, when he was settled, shuffling a little to get comfortable. And when asked that outright question, well... "Phoenix is fine, to my knowledge." He had seemed okay when they'd last spoken, "...it was nothing important." Gryph even felt his wing twitch as he said that, it was probably so obvious. Gryphon closed his eyes for a moment, before looking at Kodi, "Who do you think we were talking about?" He said, tone harsher than he meant it to be by a long shot. His emotions were still high, despite all the goings on, and he began wheeling himself out of the room, heading to his bedroom. Once inside and once he realised that maneuvering onto the bed by himself would be impossible, he did something he had seen someone do in a YouTube video. He carefully let his chair roll back, gently going backwards so the backrest was on the ground and his legs were supported in the air, and he lay there, looking like an idiot (but feeling more comfortable) and feeling incredibly overwhelmed.

[Deleted]

Maybe Oriel was going too far with the seduction and baby bit….no, he wasn’t, this was supposed to be ridiculous and what was more ridiculous than Gryphon seducing Oriel, The Evil Overlord!? It was a shame that Gryph wasn’t playing along, though…but who could blame him? After what they’d just been talking about, it took someone like Oriel to pretend it never happened in the span of .02 seconds in favor of a farce of insanity.

“Nope, it ain’t never gonna give you up, ain’t never gonna let you go, mwa ha ha ha!!” Oriel was trying to keep up with his ‘Evil Overlord’ cackle, but the ridiculous of it all was having him starting to break character as well, and his cackles were coming out more as jolly guffaws than sinister chortles. It was all cut short, however, when Prince Charming decided he needed to go save his Princess. Though Kodi did have a point, Gryph should stop trying to shoulder everything by himself, he couldn’t fucking walk, for crying out loud! There was just…no…

This was Oriel going into serious mode.

He didn’t answer Kodi right away, and Gryph’s answer… “Gryph…” he started in a less jovial tone, pushing himself up to his feet. “…for the record, what you said just now…how you feel right now….is how I felt for pretty much every fucking day of my life.” That feeling of helplessness, that you don’t want to be a burden, but because of who or what you were, you had absolutely no other choice, because if you tried to walk by yourself…well, you couldn’t. That was just it. You couldn’t. And you hated it. And snapped at anyone who tried to help you, because that just made you feel more pathetic. Because you didn’t want to admit that you couldn’t do something that should be so fucking simple. Oriel breathed, turning to lean his rump up against the back end of the couch. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “And I think you get it a hella lot more than you think. So…yeah…” He didn’t know how to finish that, so just left it there and let Gryph do what he wanted. Like leave. Whether Kodi decided to follow him or stay back, Oriel would stick around. He may as well talk to Kodi now, while he had the mindset to do so. Oriel might chicken out later.

[Deleted]

Kodi could tell something was definitely up. Gryph surely would have played along in their stupid stunts at least a little bit if he wasn’t upset, right? The dentokinetic grew more worried at the boy’s self-deprecating comments. “Gryphy…” he sighed. “This isn’t gonna be forever. You’re gonna get better, especially if y’let your legs heal and not try t’put pressure on them.” That seemed logical, right? He was sure the doctor had said something like that. And if Gryphon ended up a little gimpy for the rest of his life, so be it. Kodi would love him and help him regardless.

He glanced over as Oriel spoke, his expression hardening slightly. Kodi knew what Oriel meant, but he didn’t like the younger boy speaking to his lover in that sort of tone. “He’s gonna be fine,” he insisted stubbornly. Kodi just nodded a little at his boyfriend’s thanks, and listened quietly at first to the explanation. He didn’t believe him when he said it was nothing, and that wing twitch gave it away. That always happened when he lied. Kodi was about to accuse him of this when the boy suddenly broke out harshly, and he was instead left stunned and unmoving as the winged boy moved out of the room. His eyes widened in realization, but by the time he looked over to Gryph’s doorway, he had disappeared inside.

Kodi wasn’t sure what to do now. He started heading after his lover, in case he needed help, but he stopped and slowly turned back to Oriel. He finally noticed the redness in his eyes that weren’t just from mirthful tears. “…. What’d I do?” he asked nervously. “What’d I do that you both needed t’talk about me to each other? I thought you guys hated one another…” He flopped tiredly onto the couch and curled his knees into his chest, feeling a wave of anxiety roll over him. “I hate seein’ him like that…” Especially if it was his fault. Kodi buried his face into his knees, his mind going into that blank place it had been escaping to recently when things had become too much. It might take a little work on Oriel’s part to bring him back to reality.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon sighed. He knew this was only temporary, but he knew what followed being in a wheelchair, and it would be worse, in his situation. Even without the chair, he would have to be extra careful, and have therapy, and something could have already gone wrong, and he couldn't help falling into this worrying spiral, wondering if he would actually heal properly or if he had already fuck up his legs and would need a walking stick at age nineteen, or twenty, as that was how old he would be when he got out of the chair. "I know..." Was all he replied with, passively, "I know."

The whole situation after that seemed to get jumbled in Gryph's head, despite the long pauses made for taking breaths and considering words. What Oriel said was something to regard. He just looked at Oriel after what he had said, when he'd finished, and sighed, nodding a little in acknowledgment. He knew that the ink manipulator had a difficult life, and maybe he respected that a little more now. But he was distracted by the look of confusion on his boyfriend's face, which was why he wanted to leave so quickly - so he wouldn't see it become something more heartbreaking.

When he got to his room, and was lying on the floor, he waited, wondering if Kodi would come running after him, and he was only slightly glad to find that after a couple good long moments, nobody came. He sighed and folded his arms, letting out his tear again, quietly, as he continued to let himself think about the situation he was now in. He could have dealt with this so much better... why did he have to act so cruel? Poor Kodi...