Frenemies 5evah~ (Gryph)

[Deleted]

"How do you pee?" Oriel asked, stressing that last word and further emphasizing his morbid curiosity in matters that were best just left alone. Oriel took a pointed much of his potato chip, keeping his eyes focused intensely on the winged-wheelchair-bound weenie.

He was leaning at an extreme angle against the table, his elbow bent and slid off far to the left side and palm pressed up against his chin while his free hand picked away chip-by-chip of his delicious fish 'n chips. Oriel grabbed another and munched on it. Loudly.

Oriel had called the other boy out for...a good old fashioned good time. A date, one may call it. The friendly kind, obviously, because while Oriel would love to see this guy in bed, with or without the wheelchair and casts, the two of them still had their own respective boyfriends that they were very much devoted too. Their boyfriends just so happened to be the other person's best friend, actually. And while the relationship between a one Oriel Vanguard and Gryphon Matsuoka had been turbulent over the past year or so, it had come together into a blissful pact of harmony~! Oh, had there ever been two people more suited to be friends than these? I think not.

At the very least, Oriel still cared a great deal about Kodi, and consequently, Gryphon by association. But given the severity of their last interaction, it was not in either Kodi or Oriel's best interest to see each other, or even communicate directly(he assumed). That meant the only way for Oriel to check up on Kodi was through Gryph. Though...that made his own interaction with Gryph seem very impersonal...which wasn't the case at all. Oriel did give a shit about the winged meta and his well being, probably a lot more over the past several months than he had before, though. To say he actually liked the man...well, good news! He did!

And that's why Oriel was buying the cripple lunch. And asking inappropriately invasive questions. "Do you, like....keep a bottle nearby or something?" he asked, picking up another piece of potato.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

A lot of people seemed to enjoy calling Gryph a cripple. Oriel wasn't the only one - some of the people he usually danced with liked to tease him with the name, as did Kodi, occasionally. While Gryph was stuck in this chair with wheels, his unofficial name was apparently going to be cripple. He didn't know how he felt about that. At least it wasn't forever.

Well, at least he hoped it wasn't. The doctors had seemed pretty concerned about his left leg in particular, since it seemed to get damaged worse, and... well, Gryph just hoped he wouldn't be hobbling for the rest of his life. He was going to go to the hospital again soon for another check up to make sure everything was healing properly. If there were going to be any complications, they'd find out then.

But for now, he just had to worry about the idiot in front of him. Gryphon didn't know what to consider Oriel. 'Friend' didn't feel right, but 'enemy' or anything like that seemed too far. Maybe just idiot itself was a good title. Yeah. That fit. But yeah, right now his main concern was this... dumb question from the weirdo sat across from him. "....how do you think I pee, smarty-pants?"

Oh, he meant in this predicament. Gryph shrugged, "Depends. Use your imagination." If he was stuck in bed and help was unavailable, bottles were usually the solution. Otherwise... well, he knew how to use the toilet, basically. "....why is this important?" Gryph picked at his fish, pulling off bits and eating slowly. He was slowly losing his appetite, thanks to the man nearby who really liked snapping his chicken bones. It made Gryph shudder.

He casually got his wings out and curled them around himself a little to block his view. Eeesshh...

[Deleted]

What was wrong with calling a cripple a cripple? That's what Gryph was, wasn't he? Until he wasn't anymore, the name would stick. After which, it was right back to Turkey Legs for him.

The severity of Gryphon's legs, however, was unknown to Oriel. That it threatened his future as a dancer. If he had, Oriel might've been the slightest beet more sensitive...maybe. Hopefully. It was nice to think so.

Oriel smirked, amused by bird-boy's annoyance. "Oh trust me, I am." And within that imagination was a whole slew of complicated procedures which were necessary for the cripple to manage both number one and number two. Number two, as one could imagine, involved a mite bit more creativity.

He shrugged, the smile not fading from his face. "It don't. Probably. I's just curious." Oriel was always curious about something. No matter how intrusive that curiosity was to others. He really needed to learn how to hold back. "Like...'bout how much of that shit Kodi's got to help you with." Oriel sat up and started working on the fish. It was battered, greasy, and delicious. "He been doing it proper?" Oriel asked, finally with some visible concern on his face(to accompany the evil assholery).

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon wasn't interested in getting Oriel really involved in his personal worries right now. If Oriel, for some reason, asked, he would answer, and if, later on, he found out his legs really were in a worse predicament than hoped, he would explain, but right now wasn't the time to wander into the depths of his worried emotions about his dumb bones.

The birdboy rolled his eyes. The expression on the younger boy's face told a story in itself and Gryph didn't want to delve further than that. "Your imagination is dangerous." Was all he said. Gryphon could only imagine the extra details Oriel was thinking of, and he didn't want to know.

Another dangerous thing of Oriel's was his curiosity. You know what, Gryph was just gonna go ahead and say that Oriel was generally a dangerous person. He raised his eyebrows, before nodded quietly, nomming on some more fish, "Yeah, he knows what he's doing." It helped that Gryphon was so lightweight, or this arrangement would be a lot more difficult. "He has to help me a lot, but I can manage sometimes. When you can put weight on your legs, it's pretty hard to do anything on your own."

Speaking of broken things, that maaan.... euughhh... Gryph put down the morsel in his hand slowly, picking up his cola and sipping it. Lord help him, please make that man go away... his wings fluttered and readjusted momentarily as he brought his attention back to Oriel, "...how've you been?" He said, quietly, with genuine interest. He'd obviously been improving, but you know... he knew Oriel was close to Kodi, so he probably didn't feel brilliant. He had to ask.

[Deleted]

“Aww, you don’t even know what’s going on in there, how can you saaay that?” Oriel countered with a smile that said Gryphon was totally not off base. It was Oriel’s imagination and over-active thought patterns that got him into most of the trouble he found himself in. Gryph certainly knew that by now.

Oriel picked away at his fish, watching it fall apart with a mere brush of his fork. Why did fish do that? It made it hard to eat. “He does? So…did you two have to…I don’t know, take some sort of ‘cripple-assisting’ classes together to get it down?” Oriel didn’t know how any of that worked, but even he could see that there were clear complications of living from not being able to freely use one’s legs. And while Kodi was smart, it didn’t seem like that was the sort of thing he would come up with on his own or inherently know about. When Oriel was in the hospital for his snake-bite, he had issues himself with getting around and needing assistance from his boyfriend. And he was only out one leg. Or one foot rather. It was daunting to think about what it must be like to be down two whole legs.

The man at the table next to theirs, who was devouring his chicken and snapping those hollow bones, went unnoticed by Oriel. Why would he? What people did with their food was their business. But if he had a reason to be sensitive towards it, like Gryphon did, then he might have said something about it. Maybe. Oriel did notice that Gryph was a bit antsy for some reason, but Oriel was assuming that was due to his inappropriate questions. Which was only half of Oriel’s goal with them.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess I’m alright.” Oriel had been improving lately. The fact that these two could sit and have a decent conversation was evident of that. Or even the fact that Oriel hadn’t gone off and destroyed something else after things had gone to terribly awry with his relationship with Kodi. That was good, right? Oriel wasn’t sure he was convinced. “Ain’t graduating, so guess I’m stuck with these assholes for another year.” He was pretty sour about that, but it couldn’t be helped. And it was his own damn fault anyway. That first couple years of giving no shits really hurt him academically. He grunted and scratched his head in a small bout of anxiety. "Fuck....Kodi's doing alright though, right?" He hadn't heard any further complaints about the situation, so...did that mean something happened? Oriel wanted to knooooowwwww!!

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon's eyebrow raised cautiously at Oriel's words, "I can because of what you just said. I don't know what's going on up there and I will never understand how your mind works. It's too...." Gryph couldn't really think of a good word, "...tangly." How could a brain be tangly? Gryphon knew, apparently.

Mmm, fish was nice... maybe that was the seagull in him being happily satisfied there. Though there were other bird who consumed fish... but if he were to follow that logic, he would also need to eat bugs to satisfy other parts of his birdiness and that... just was not happening. But that wasn't what this conversation was about. Gryph continued to nibble, "After most of the treatment, while I was in hospital, they kind of noticed that I was desperate to leave and that Kodi was there at least once a day to check on me. They said it wasn't something they'd usually consider but I was a special circumstance, so yeah, they taught us how I could be handled or moved, what not to do and what we should do in a bad situation. Once we both clearly understood all that, I was allowed to leave. If they didn't have confidence in me or Kodi..." Gryphon sighed at the thought, "I would still be stuck in that hospital bed. That's what happens for a lot of people who casually break both legs." End it on a joke. That was smooth. But all of it was the case, and he was very glad things had gone the way they had gone. Because while yes, it was more difficult to get around like this, and people looked at you funny sometimes, at least you were outside by this coffee shop and not still in hospital. And besides, Gryph had Kodi, and if anyone noticed weird looks that went to Gryph when they were together, they'd usually change their eye line as soon as they saw his boyfriend. Those scowls worked like magic. He wished he could summon Kodi for a moment to stop that fucking bone cracking... He could hardly eat. At least it looked like the guy was almost done.

Gryph continued to sip his cola, nodding along as Oriel spoke. It was good that he was okay. At least he was hanging in there. Well, Gryphon couldn't tell if he was lying, if he was, but he supposed Oriel wasn't really the type to lie unless it was to his benefit. He sighed at the kind of news, "That sucks." Well, if one didn't like Hammel. Gryph, personally, had enjoyed his time there, but considering his bad experiences there as well, he could of easily gone down the other route of hating that place. But he didn't. He made a face at Oriel's nervous question, though. He took a moment to clear his throat and put his drink down, looking down a bit, "He's as alright as he can get. But that's just sometimes, I don't... I don't know..." And he clearly didn't want to delve into this too far, "He'll survive. He's got me, after all, and apparently, I'm some kind of guardian angel or something." He chuckled. Gryph would never reach such a high standard.

He wished he knew how to change the subject. His worry was probably clear on his face - he just didn't know some days. One day, Kodi might be happy and smiling and only having the occasional moment, and another day he might be completely closed off and quiet. The instability scared Gryphon a lot. He just wanted Kodi to be okay... he signed and went silent, finally nibbling on some food again.

[Deleted]

“Tangly~” he repeated with awe. “Tangly……I like that word. From now on, you are permitted to describe my awesomeness as “tangly”!” Oriel pointed cheekily at Gryph as he made the declaration. Oh, he was going to have to tell Phoenix about that one. Maybe Gryph will even start using it as a nickname for him! Oh joy! Then Oriel wouldn’t be the only one who had one for the two bestest buddies in the whole wide world~!

Oriel nodded blankly at Gryphon’s…thorough response to his question. Yes, it was an honest question, and he was curious about it, but he half expected Gryph to come at him with a ‘non of your business’ or just something quick and brief, as if to get the ink manipulator to stop asking. Not that that would have made Oriel stop, but sometimes it was strange getting straightforward answers to his straightforward(though clearly tactless) questions. “…..huh…I guess that’s a good thing.” He was glad that Kodi had gotten instructions on what to do, though he wondered how much his own mental state hindered his ability to be an adequate caretaker for Gryph. Call Oriel worried, but he was worried! That a crime?

He wasn’t sure he found Gryph’s joke funny though. Now, Oriel was a funny guy(at least he thought so), but for some reason it just didn’t sit well with him that Gryph was trying to make light of his own situation. Oriel shook it off and tried to follow suit. “Right….so tell me, what’s that like?” he asked with a sideways smile. “I mean, I never broken nothing before - well, not counting my hand from you-know-when - so I ain’t a clue what it’s like to be that lame, you know?” A few teeth peeked out from behind Oriel’s smile and he let out a low, half-amused cackle.

Despite all the silliness that was Oriel, he was still capable of being serious when the situation called for it. Or rather, when he felt like it. And matters concerning himself met both criteria, at least they did today. “Yeah….I don’t know, guess it ain’t too bad, and ‘sides….gives me some extra time to think ‘bout some things.” Oriel wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell Gryph about his plans. He was certain that some people thought it was just a laughable aspiration anyway. “I….” he hesitated, sliding his eyes away awkwardly. “…..I think I want to go to college,” he finally said. Oriel waited for what he presumed was going to be a criticizing response….though honestly, people had been supportive so far, so he didn’t know why he always cringed and expected the worst sort of attacks from people. Habit, he supposed.

The subject of Kodi brought the mood down even further. What was he expecting? That Kodi had magically been cured in these past few weeks since he’d last seen him? Of course that wasn’t going to happen. But…he guessed it was good that he was doing..alright. Mostly…on and off, by the sound of it. Oriel cracked a smile at the comparison. “Hell, you got the wings, halo, and everything….I don’t know any angels clumsy enough to break both their legs though.” Oriel snorted as he went back to the joke Gryph had opened the door to earlier. If he had complaints, it was his own fault, making fun of it himself essentially gave Oriel permission to make fun of it too. “Maybe you need like, a retraining course or something. Get your flyers permit. If you manage not to total yourself again, they give you your angel license back.” Too much? Who cares. Oriel washed down another cheek-full of food with his ice-cold water.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryph really couldn't help making a face and chuckling as Oriel spoke. He only said tangly because he couldn't think of a better word, and now he was being told he could use it on a regular basis? What the heck? This was so dumb... but it was entertaining at the same time, so Gryphon wasn't truly complaining, just a little confused. "Good to know." He said, shaking his head slightly. Oh, Oriel....

If Oriel was showing some kind of interest or concern for Gryph's situation, he would supply answers as much as he wanted, as long he was comfortable with answering such questions himself. That was what a person did when they wanted to form a better relationship with someone, anyway. However, if the questions became more centrally focused on someone else, Gryph assumed Kodi was a definite subject matter, that was when Gryphon would get vague, because it wasn't his place. "It is." Yes, back on subject, Gryph couldn't more glad that he wasn't still stuck in that lovely, sterile box of a place. Getting around was hard, but being stuck in hospital would be worse.

Jokes were only made about this because otherwise he would be complaining and making everyone's lives miserable - and Oriel had laughed the first time he'd found out! It was a crazy situation to be in after all, and definitely not simple to deal with. Gryphon continued to chuckle and rolled his eyes, before letting out a small sigh, "Well, painful would be an easy way of putting it. And frustrating. But yeah, you should have seen my legs. I never did, but I saw x-rays, and I saw Kodi's face when he saw. It was not pleasant." Gryph winced slightly, "I wouldn't recommend doing what I did." Gryph still wasn't completely certain when he was getting out of this chair. That was annoying in itself.

Gryph nodded along, in agreement. If extra time was needed, then it was best to take your time. Be certain and confident and as successful as you can manage. When the poofy-haired boy paused, though, he tilted his head. And when he finished his sentence, Gryphon made a face of approval and nodded, still nomming occasionally, although his food was getting pretty cold by this point - what was left of it. "Awesome. College is a lot better than high school in my opinion." He said, "You're given a lot of freedom, and you actually get to focus on what you like, and you're more likely to find like minded people... yeah, I think you'd like uni a lot." He smiled gently, "Got any idea what you might end up doing? Or is that why you're glad for the extra time?" Gryphon's final decision hadn't been an easy one, but luckily, he didn't regret it.

Honestly, Gryph was glad for the subject change. He wanted to talk about Kodi and get stuff off of his chest and get advice on how to help him, but... he didn't want to just talk about his boyfriend without Kodi's permission. What he was going through was very personal, and although Oriel was involved, it was probably best, for now, to keep him at a distance. He giggled and looked up, "What halo?" He said dopily, before hanging his head in embarrassment, hiding his slowly reddening face behind a greasy hand, struggling to find a good comeback, "Yeah, yeah, I fucked up. I still blame the wind though." But he was thankful that he hadn't been higher up when he'd crashed. He could have been in a worse situation if he had fallen from too much of a height. "I'm definitely having withdrawal symptoms though. Too addicted to flying." Being grounded was torture. Gryphon sighed, "Dumb legs." Yeah, as if his legs chose to break themselves. Nice, Gryph. He pushed the decent remainder of his food away, lacking in the appetite anymore.

[Deleted]

Oriel could easily relate to not wanting to stay in the hospital for any length of time. He hated it himself. Too many strange people, too strange an environment, voices of people from beyond the hospital room door always made him wonder if they were talking about him, even if they were strangers who’d never met. And then the nurses….they’d come in while you were sleeping and did who-knows-what to you, putting strange chemicals into your IV line, writing shit down on a chart that he could barely read(why did doctors’ handwriting have to suck so bad?), and then you were confined to that room, essentially. At least, Oriel would be. He hated being stuck in there, but was too anxious to go out there either….

And, of course, Oriel was convinced for the most part that he was the only one who ever felt that way.

He’d laughed initially yes - the disrespectful boy couldn’t help finding funny what he thought was funny - but the longer this situation dragged on, the less ‘funny’ it really was. He wasn’t sure how serious it was, but that it could be very serious had crossed his mind once or twice. There was concern on Oriel’s face when Gryph iterated the state of his legs, though, since Gryphon hadn’t said anything of the sort, Oriel could only continue to believe that he was merely inconvenienced for a few months instead of threatened for life of his ability to move properly. “Heh…” he huffed in false amusement. “I think I’d like to get a look at those x-rays myself.” Not that he could do anything with them once he had them.

He put on an inquisitive face as he held up the “x-ray”(it was a napkin) and looked it over like the ‘proper’ doctor he was. “Hmmm….I’m sorry to have to say this Mr. Matsuwawa….but these x-rays show what we’ve all known to be true….” Oriel dramatically leaned forward into the table towards his counterpart. “You…..malignant turki-leggo-nomia.” He reached across the table to hold Gryphon’s hand ‘reassuringly’, gazing upon him with pity. “There’s nothing we can do. Is there anyone you’d like to call to keep you company during this most tragic time?” Oriel held that pose for a good five seconds before he finally broke character and devolved into a surge of cackles. Yes, that was Oriel. When the situation was any degree of uncomfortable, overdo it with offensive humor.

He wished he could do that about his own situation, thought. The idea of college was….daunting. Hell, just high school was daunting before he entered it, though it’d gradually gotten easier as he got his reading issues addressed. He never thought that any of the actual content was hard to understand. It was just…reading made it hard. His turbulent private life made it hard. His mental state made it hard. All those made his give-a-fucks completely absent for the better part of his time at Hammel. Now that he actually cared, Oriel was running as fast as he could to catch up, but that still left him finishing behind everyone else. A faint smile twitched on his lips after hearing Grphon’s approval and encouragement. That made him feel….weird. He was so used to just hearing criticism, by now he expected it regarding anything he did. Oriel himself was the worst culprit. “I don’t know,” he muttered. “I really do want to study dance more. I ain’t that good…I mean, I guess for someone who ain’t never had any fancy lessons, I am, but…” He wanted them fancy lessons. “….money’s an issue, but the old guy says that ‘cause I ain’t got a family, makes it so I can get it paid by the state.” Basically, having his shit background gave him pity money or something, at least that’s how Oriel was interpreting it. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Ain’t you ever looked in a mirror? S’right there, hanging like a fucking Christmas ornament.” Oriel pointed up at the empty space above Gryphon’s head. Oriel snorted and rolled his eyes. “Damn straight you did,” he mumbled. Though Gryph’s fuck up was still minuscule compared to Oriel’s constant fuck ups. Oriel wasn’t going to say that though, but he definitely thought it. “So….because your legs’re broken, you can’t use your wings? Is that what I’m hearing?” Oriel said with a point at the bird-boy. He pushed away his plate, having finished his meal at some point. “Mind telling me what kind of sense that makes?” If it was about jumping high enough to get airborne…well, couldn’t Kodi just topple the cripple off a cliff? Or something like that? That imagery brought out another laugh from the ink manipulator.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon's problems with staying in hospital was that he'd done it enough already. It was almost fun the first few times, interesting, strange, a new experience. But now, it was boring and felt like a waste of time and like they just wanted to drain all the money out of you so your body didn't break into a million pieces, and the more you went, the faker the medical people felt. The smiles became painted, the reassuring was tedious and the down talking was just rude sometimes. He'd been talked down to quite a bit, especially considering one look at his medical record and any doctor would be shaking their head.

If Gryph was like most people, he would be less worried about the state of his legs. However, considering he break his toe by stubbing it, he was always concerned, even if the concern was only floating at the back of his mind. At Oriel's comment, Gryphon chuckled weakly and rolled his eyes, "Well, when I get these babies taken off, I can get copies of them." He had a file at home with loads of x-rays on. He should show Kodi those sometime. Or Oriel. Oriel would probably laugh. Laughing things off was easier than worrying about them though. Maybe he should offer.... nah, another time.

But apparently, Oriel had some x-rays of his own. Gryph blinked a bit, before understanding it was a joke and giggling, resting back in his chair and listening, nodding 'seriously', but losing his straight face at just "Mr. Matsuwawa". He laughed softly at the diagnosis, shaking his head before 'swooning' in his most awful, upset state. "Not turki-leggo-nomia~" He said, trying his best to play along. "No, just let me throw myself off a cliff and turn into turkey stew." He couldn't laugh that relaxedly in return. The joke just didn't get him laughing. He looked at his casted legs and tapped one, as if comforting it. Sigh.

If Oriel wanted to put the effort into his education now and wanted to succeed, the last thing he needed was resistence. Yeah, it could and probably would be hard, but telling him that wouldn't make it easier in anyway or make the younger boy any happier. What he needed was to be told it was a good option. Because it was, in Gryph's opinion! He nodded as Oriel explained what he wanted, thinking it over himself. He didn't understand the whole 'paid by state' thing, but he wasn't sure if Oriel wanted to delve into that. He left that detail alone, sitting forward a bit more, "Well..." Well, what could he say? "If you want to dance, then dance. Dance is my minor at the moment. It's kinda hard but I'm enjoying it, and they definitely support people with less... classical training." It definitely seemed even harder for them, more practice was necessary, but if you loved something, you put the time in. Gryphon sighed, "I wish I could help, but sadly, good dance lessons aren't like a laptop." He gave an awkward smile. He didn't have the money to help this time. "You'll figure something out. On top of all else, just stick to what you love. I've found that that always makes things more enjoyable." He finished with a smile. He wasn't always the best at advice, so he hoped he was helping. Decisions were hard.

Gryphon chuckled and rolled his eyes, looking up at the non-existent ring, "Nope. I see nothing." No angels here. And the blatant agreement was harsh, but Gryph wasn't about to get at Oriel for saying it, considering the winged man himself agreed. He should have taken more care, otherwise he wouldn't be in this position. Sigh. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Okay, explanations. He ignored any laughter, "The casts add weight to my body that I'm not sure my wings could compensate for. As well as that, I'd never be able to land safely. I land on my feet, occasionally with a roll, but I need my legs to be usable to do that shit, and putting any weight on my legs right now is a huge no-no." They were so fragile when they were healing. "Flying isn't an option, just like dancing isn't an option right now. I'll get back into it when both my legs are stable again." Which would be another long while. Ah... this was killing him.

Gryphon looked at the plates and then at Oriel, "Well, we're done. Unless you wanna finish with something sweet?" He was sure he'd seen ice cream somewhere on that menu...

[Deleted]

Oriel definitely wanted to see those x-rays if nothing but for morbid curiosity. He might have liked to have seen the state of Gryphon’s legs at the time they’d been broken…as in witnessed the even…and seen the horrible shape they’d been left in after the crash…but unfortunately, Oriel wasn’t a time manipulator. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if that was something a time manip would be able to see? Maybe post-cog would be better? Whatever, it didn’t matter because Oriel was neither of these. He was an ink manipulator and could make bibliophiles(namely Kodi) cry by extracting all of the text from his favorite novels. Whoop-dee-doo~

Oriel had threatened that once anyway and what had come from it? ….seriously, what had? Oriel never got a report on whether he did what he was told or backed out of it like a fucking sissy(not that Oriel was any better at those kind of things but meeeh).

Granted the joke wasn’t a very funny one, but Oriel was glad that Gryph was playing along anyway. Bad jokes were needed sometime to keep one in decent spirits. Or at least that was Oriel’s intention. It’s what he did for himself often enough….though thinking back on it, he was never really amused by them either. Not honestly. Fuck, why was Oriel thinking about this now? He shrugged it off, snickering at Gryph’s turkey-yodeling.

The subject had turned towards himself by now and Oriel wasn’t sure if he wanted it to be. On the one hand, he did want to talk about these things to somebody…on the other hand, talking about it required…talking about it. And talking about things was not something Oriel did easily. Because he long ago convinced himself that nobody gave any fucks about him or what he was doing or what he wanted out of life. He was trying to chance that outlook and the fact that he had people in his life these days who were willing to listen helped a lot, but…a lifetime of self-depreciation and brainwashing was hard to work past. Hence why he was hesitant in bringing up the subject in the first place.

There was definitely a lot more to the ‘paid by the state’ issue that Oriel was leaving out. Like how he only had a maximum number of years they were willing to pay for. Like how by the end of that time, he had to complete his degree program. Like how if he didn’t complete or if he failed or dropped out, then he would have to pay it all back out of his own pocket. That was a lot of pressure, which made the whole idea even more mind-numbing. “Yeah….I’ll probably do what you’re doing and do the minor thing….and pick something else for my major.” He chuckled. “Thing is, I don’t know what the fuck to even try, ‘cause it all sounds fucking insane.” And anything that required a lot of reading was automatically excluded from his list of possibilities….though that was just Oriel being a chicken. He’d been doing a lot better in that department lately, so it wasn’t really a reason for him to hold back anymore. “….and yeah, doing what I love is one thing, but what I love is probably going to be fucking useless in the long run,” he complained. “And there’s only so many things I’m good at that I actually like too.” Like Mathematics. He was great at that. Couldn’t say he liked it. And Chemistry. He liked that, but wasn’t too great at it. And he still didn’t think he was as good in dance and performance as he’d like to be. Yup, decisions were hard.

Oriel sipped on his drink as Gryphon explained his issue with flying. Huh….Oriel never considered all that. It was all such obvious shit too, it made him feel….a bit embarrassed? For not considering them? “…Uh-huh….” he uttered with a slow nod. “So you can’t, just…..tuck and roll into a landing right off?” Obviously not. “How long ’til those things come off again?” he asked, completely ignorant of anything regarding broken bones etc. It’d taken Phoenix several months of being in a cast when he broke his leg last last year, so Oriel knew it was going to take a long time….Phoenix also had weak bones, but he wasn’t aware of how much more or less durable they were compared to Gryph’s. Phoenix’s recovery had been straightforward. Oriel assumed that Gryphon’s was going to be as well. “I got some dances I want to try out, but I kind of want someone to do ‘em with.” That was a request, in case you missed it. Were they close enough to be hanging out like that, he wondered? Or was Oriel still just a dick that needed to be tolerated? Arg! Uncertainties!

“Mmm…I could go for some dessert, I guess.” He wasn’t in need of it…but it would make this meeting last longer, at least. Oriel somehow didn’t want to leave, so was willing to use that as an excuse to keep them talking longer. Otherwise…it’d just be awkward, wouldn’t it? Arg…more uncertainties! “What do they got?” he asked, leaning forward against the table.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon would never have understood if Oriel explained his thoughts from that moment. Who actually wanted to see a pair of legs in such a horrible condition? That was what Google was for anyway. But x-rays… yeah, he’d give Oriel a glance at them, if he asked for one – as long as Kodi wouldn’t be in the room too. He didn’t know if Kodi would be okay or not with seeing them (again). Gryph remembered how scared he’d sounded on that day. He wouldn’t want to put him through possibly reliving all that.

The winged man knew he himself was the king of bad jokes, even if he couldn’t carry this one. If you wanted to hear an old, corny tease of a joke, Gryph was the one to go to. He knew all the bad ones, and he knew how to make all of them worse, because he was a nerd. And he knew that his sense of humour was almost dry in that way, but he found it funny, and it usually entertained people, so he didn’t care. But yeah… time and place. Now wasn’t suitable, really. Maybe Gryph would have laughed more if he was healed by now, but he wasn’t, so that was that.

In his own darkest times, Gryphon just had to remind himself – there would always be someone who cared about him. Maybe for the right reasons, or maybe for the wrong ones. He was certain by this point that Kodi would always care, despite hardships, and he knew Fiona cared, even though she was really busy at the moment. He couldn’t get upset at her for wanting to move on and have her own life and her own family. Anyway…. there was always someone who cared, even if they seemed most normal or insignificant. Just seeing them and accepting their interest and want to aid wasn’t always going to be easy.

Gryph was having too many rambley thoughts today. Sigh.

He listened again as Oriel spoke about his thoughts and concerns about his education, his future, his plans. The avian man nodded along and occasionally sipped at his almost empty drink. And then he thought. And then he spoke again. Thinking before speaking was useful. “Have you looked at all your options?” He suggested quietly. “University is a lot more specific than high school. You can study things you only touch on lightly in school.” Like the subject Gryphon was majoring in. Of course, it was also a good example of an impractical degree but the thing was… he wanted to work it out along the way. Gryph was never one for forward thinking, and so of course he would choose something possibly useless. Didn’t make it any less interesting. “You’re allowed to be nervous and curious and you’re allowed to give yourself a good chunk of time to consider what you want to do. I mean, you can think practically if you want – you’d be doing better than me if you did – but you don’t want to go to university and slave over something useful, yes, but uninteresting to you. You’ll get bored and annoyed and you won’t want to study. That’s why I’m saying that you should choose something you enjoy. You’ll love spending time on it then, and learning more. It won’t feel like a chore as much.” And then Gryphon paused for a moment and sighed, mumbling, “I’m rambling, sorry.”

Ah, flying. Thou art one painful bitch. Well, not when done right, but still. Why couldn’t he have an ability that he could still use, even like this? Still… Gryph wouldn’t give up his wings for anything. They were like another set of arms. He wasn’t sure how he would function without. He made a face at Oriel’s ‘suggestion’, “Nope. Unless I want to break the rest of my body.” Which was not on his schedule whatsoever. He sighed, “Mid-July, at the earliest. Latest…. maybe September time. I’m hoping for July.” Please fucking let it be July. He couldn’t handle it anymore already. They weren’t certain – the doctors. The breaks were just weird. Ugh. He smiled softly at the apparent offer. He’d been getting better at picking up on hints like this, “You do, do you?” He grinned and thought for a moment, “Well… once I’m in working order again, I’d like to. It could be fun.” Dancing was always something fun when shared with others.

Though he would probably need to lose some weight before being back to normal. The lack of activity and increase in ice cream inhalation had done nothing good for Gryphon’s physique. For now, however… “I’m not sure, we’ll have to ask, buuuut….” Gryph smiled, “I was almost certain I saw some kind of ice cream sundaes on there.” Mmmm, yes please, all the ice cream now. “We should ask though. I think everything is ice cream at the moment.” Mmmm, creamy goodness….. yup, he was very distracted now.

[Deleted]

Thoughts of going to college had been on his mind for the better part of the school year, actually. He blamed AJ for planting the seed. She seemed pretty supportive and encouraging of Oriel going, even if just to study dance wherever he ended up. From there, she helped him look into it more. ACTs and SATs were probably his biggest obstacle, if he wanted to go to university. Because Oriel didn’t want to go to community college and make it easier for him to drop out if it got too hard.

Gryph was right, though, in that the things he could study in college were so goddamn specific…and that actually made it harder to choose! “I have….there so much shit, I don’t know what to….did you know you can actually major in basket weaving?” Not at the local University, but there was another one he looked at where is was a thing. Oriel was floored. He shook his head. “There’s just too much….so yeah, I guess that’s why I want the extra time too. To figure that shit out.” He really didn’t know if there was anything he was interested in enough to want to study it for four year(or more). “It’d be nice if it was both interesting and useful,” he muttered, resting his cheek in his hand. Oriel shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine….I ‘ppreciate the input….” Oriel really did. He didn’t have a lot of people he could talk to this about, and teachers(like Sean) were just too intimidating and made it seem like he had to figure something out right then. Oriel felt like he had to do that anyway.

Oriel laughed, despite it really not being funny….and yet the irony made it so. It didn’t last for long though - Oriel at least had developed that much courtesy….maybe - and he listened to Gryph talk about how much longer he was going to be that fucking cripple he was. “Huh….Well, I’m hoping for July too,” he agreed. “Ain’t right seeing you so fucking….” Oriel was going to say ‘depressed’, because really…Gryphon was depressed, wasn’t he? In dealing with the chair, and Kodi on top of it all…how could he not? “Pathetic,” he finished with instead. “Got to get you up, on your feet again, and strapped into some pretty pink tights again, just like old times.” What old times? He broadened his smile, sending the message of ‘yes, I wanna dance with you, baby~’. “I’ll send you a link or something to the choreos I’m looking at, alright?” They were sweet, and tight, and totally Oriel’s style. In the words of Velma Kelly, he just couldn’t do it alone!

Meh, weight, smeight. Oriel’d been gaining enough of it as it was too, but nobody saw him complaining(though maybe he should be more conscious of it, since it did affect his ability to do cool and pliable shit). But that was something to think about for another day. Right now, ice cream was on the menu, and it had a desire to be eaten by the likes of the Evil Overlord and his companion Turkey. “Sounds good to me,” he said, looking around for any sign of the waiter so he could take their plates and they could put in the order. “I’ll let you figure that shit out, and I’ll just have whatever you get, alright?” Oriel wasn’t picky about his ice cream. It all tasted good to him.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon giggled, "You can?" Who would actually major in basket weaving of all things? That was hilarious... people could do whatever they wanted, of course, it was their life, and some could argue that majoring in dance was just as practical, but... but basket weaving? That would make a really odd profession. But back to the slightly more serious side of things. Oriel's future and education and life decisions and in Gryph's opinion, eighteen, nineteen, twenty... it felt too young to be making such decisions. Things that could (possibly) effect the rest of your life. It was hard to think about. "Wouldn't that be perfect?" However, 'useful' and 'interesting' didn't always go together. It sucked. He gave a small smile, "I just know it wasn't simple for me either. I stick with my guns though - go with your gut feeling in the end. Just having a major is enough for some employers anyway."

It was still something for Gryphon to get more used to. Less insults and more courtesy and caring and such from Oriel. It was definitely welcomed. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, waiting for his... friend(?) to finish his sentence, before laughing, "You're so kind and friendly." He said sarcastically, before letting out a somewhat heavy sigh. "What old times?" He questioned, "The ones where you hated my guts? Let's not relapse onto that." But yeah... Gryph couldn't help being a little more sour overall while he was stuck like this. "You try not being pathetic when you can't do shit." He muttered. At the offer of choreos, Gryphon blinked before nodded, "Yeah, yeah..." He smiled warmly, "Sounds good."

When the avian man was back to his agile self, he would worry more about regaining his tone and lighter weight. Right now, the more he worried, the more upset he would get about something he really couldn't do much about right now. Better to just keep smiling now and sweat it out when the time came. He nodded along, giving a quiet 'okay' as he spotted a waiter coming in their general direction, who he spoke amicably with before asking about the ice cream options and ordering two of the sundae mentioned to have raspberry in. He just loved that berry. As the waiter walked away with their dirty plates, Gryphon looked at Oriel, "Hope that's alright with you." He said warmly, before sitting back again.

His phone buzzed after a few moments and he glanced at it. It was only an email, but it made Gryph think, as he locked it again and slid the mobile back into his pocket, "...you think Kodi has any idea about this?" Oriel and Gryph meeting up while Kodi was still struggling to even mention his best friend's name. Gryphon wouldn't tell him unless directly asked. Too much of a risk.

[Deleted]

“I can,” he repeated with just as much amazement. “Believe me, that one caught me by surprise.” When things got that specific in what you could study and major in, how was anybody expected to be able to figure this shit out? He nodded at Gryph’s words, agreeing with them entirely. “I’ll bet….I don’t….” Oriel didn’t know if he wanted to finish that sentence. He took another breath and started again. “I know I want to dance, but I know that ain’t…guaranteed or nothing. That I can get anywhere with it.” That would be ideal…but he also didn’t want to just give up on it either in favor of something that was theoretically more useful. Gahhh, this all was going to make Oriel’s head explode if he kept thinking about it like this. Gryph was right, he had plenty of time to figure this out…a whole year in fact.

“I try,” he said with an evil smirk. Oriel was hoping that the two of them could be considered friends by now. Oriel had been trying and maybe it showed, maybe it didn’t, but most of that trying was reserved against certain people. Oriel was certain Kodi would just make fun of him for being…well, considerate, rather than chronically offensive. Probably. “Aww, I didn’t hate you, I just…..” Oriel paused and thought a moment. “…okay, no, you’re right, I hated your guts,” he said bluntly. He couldn’t help another sideways grin and reached across the table to take hold of one(or both) of Gryph’s hands. “But…you know….It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said in a soft, dramatic tone. “You and I, we could be great together, if you’d just give us a chance…I know we can be something more.” Oriel gazed into Gryphon’s eyes longingly, his smile plastered to his face until he finally broke the scene with a snort.

He was glad that they were okay enough to at least think about dancing together. They’d tried that before and….it worked and it didn’t, let’s just say that. Oriel grinned like a little boy at Gryph’s amiability.

The grin stayed at the sound of the ice cream Gryph picked out for the two of them, and he leaned across the table like a kid with no manners, his arms splayed out towards his companion. “Sounds good to me, raspberry’s my favorite,” he said, folding his arms underneath himself. All that giddiness, however, dissipated quickly when Gryph brought up Kodi again and Oriel looked down at the table. “I doubt it. Not unless you tell ‘im….’cause fuck knows I ain’t talking to him anytime soon….” That last part trailed off into a low grumble as he rested his chin down in his folded arms. “….he hates me, don’t he?” Oriel mumbled through his arms. He brought it on himself, he knew, but that didn’t make that reality hurt any less.