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Grayson usually didn't have any trouble sleeping. Once his head hit the pillow he was out, and God help anyone who tried to wake him before he was ready. He was reluctant, he was whiny, and he was just difficult to persuade out of bed unless you actually ripped all his blankets off and refused to stop heckling him until he was properly roused. He'd been having trouble sleeping as of late, however, and Ignacio's sudden disappearance from his house hadn't helped. Grayson had worried where he was going to sleep, and had worried he would run into something he couldn't handle. After Barren Pines, if something happened to him --

If something happened to him after leaving Grayson's house --

It was enough to make him throw aside his blankets, gaze around the room in bleary confusion as he stumbled to find clothes. It wasn't too difficult, considering they were strewn all over his floor (as per usual) but the results weren't magnificent.

Red flannel bottoms, a colts sweatshirt, and a pair of slippers he'd stolen from his dad. He didn't bother with a hair tie or even a brush, which gave him something like the appearance of a frazzled mop head, but he actually wasn't thinking about his appearance for once.

He stumbled downstairs, stubbed his toe on a chair, and hissed. By the time he made it outside, he was a little more awake, but he still shuffled along somewhat awkwardly in the slippers.

It wasn't until he was five blocks from home that he realized he'd forgotten his henshin pen. s**t. Hopefully nothing was lurking about. Not that his senshi powers did much offensively, but it was still nice to have the blinding light for distraction.

Well, he'd just have to be careful.

He shivered, tucking his arms tighter around himself, and muttered, "Where are you, Ignacio?"

Grayson had no idea where he expected to find Ignacio. He wandered the streets, and the longer he was out, the more he thought it was a bad idea. His nose was frozen, and he could barely feel his fingertips by the time he made it to the area of town that was actually reserved for the nightlife. He was nearing the point where he was going to just call home and get picked up (and deal with the awkward explanations that would abound) when he saw a familiar form weaving its way toward a club.

His eyes widened, and he broke into a jog. Not the easiest thing in the world considering he was wearing slippers. "Ignacio!"

Along the way, he lost a slipper, debated with himself before he hopped along without it. What was he doing? Did anyone even know where he was? Would anyone even be able to pick him up if things went wrong?

He was oddly reminded of finding Jude wandering about drunk, but those circumstances had been very different. Still, Grayson would do his best by Ignacio, just as he had done his best by Jude.

Catching up to him, he stood awkwardly on one foot, grasping Ignacio's shoulder for balance as well as to anchor him. His expression was an odd mixture of concern and confusion as he asked, "What are you doing?"

Grayson was a born worrier. He wasn't the wild and crazy sort that did these things himself, but was rather the friend that came around and picked up all the pieces when the fun ended and his friends needed someone to lean on. So, he was well used to being received less than enthusiastically, and it didn't bother him.

Or, he didn't let it bother him much.

"I couldn't sleep." Grayson was a fan of the truth when he could be, and he often delivered it so simply that it was almost embarrassing. When he cared about someone, he didn't want to keep things from them unless he had to. After Barren Pines, he felt close to Ignacio... and he'd eaten at his house.

As much as Gray tried to protect his heart, the truth was he got attached very fast, very easily. There was nothing he could do to stop it, and the truth was, underneath it all, he didn't actually want to. He defined himself by how he was seen by others, how much he could care, what he could mean to them. He liked being important to others, couldn't help but let them be important to him.

And Ignacio had blood on his face.

"And sure you can manage. But that doesn't mean no one's going to worry."

Ignacio ought to give him a break; he did look a little pitiful, standing there in one slipper, only half-dressed for the elements, with his hair flying all over the place and shadows under his eyes.

Suddenly, Ignacio was going from complimenting his butt -- what? -- to stripping off half his wardrobe and offering it as reassurance that he would be all right. The simple fact that he was intending to go into a club with only one shoe on proved to Grayson that he actually wasn't in the best frame of mind to keep partying, and that was enough. Like with Jude, he'd simply keep at it until Ignacio saw reason.

"No, I'm okay." Even as he was saying it, his hands were gentle against Ignacio's, pushing the shoe back. "My slipper is back there."

He was cold, it was true, and still a little baffled about Ignacio's comment -- when had he looked at his butt, exactly? -- but the most pressing concern for him was for his friend.

It showed in his face, the way his brows drew down just slightly, his violet eyes were narrowed just a bit in concern. Ignacio was preparing for a lecture? A fight with his father? Grayson went rounds with his parents sometimes, just as anyone did, but he couldn't imagine throwing himself to the whims of the night life to avoid going home. Home was his haven; home had his family, whom he loved and loved him, no matter how bad things were. Home was home.

"You'll get sick, Ignacio, if you stay out without your jacket." And sans a shoe.

Grayson didn't get drunk as a general rule. He'd only been actually drunk once, and that had been mostly an accident; he got much too talkative when he was drunk, about things he'd rather not share. Mostly, his own insecurities, which he tried so fiercely to guard close to his heart -- the image was ruined the moment he opened his mouth and put liquor inside. He was relieved that Ignacio didn't share this particular trait of his when intoxicated, but he was also worried. While the flush of warmth would make him feel like he was doing just fine, he really could get sick.

He shrugged the coat off, offering that back as well. "I'll be fine."

Pursing his lips, he remained where he was, stubborn as Ignacio. While Grayson gave every impression of being the flexible one, quick to compromise, he could be incredibly stubborn when he felt it mattered. When it came to his friends, it always mattered. Even if they were irritated in the short term.

"I just don't think this will end well." His expression was clearly concerned, his voice patient.

Ignacio was a baffling sort of fellow. Grayson was all too used to being the one who was concerned for others, the one who willingly put his own needs aside until others' were taken care of, so to have someone concerned for him really threw him for a loop. It wasn't that he was used to being treated poorly, just that he wasn't used to being treated exceptionally well. It surprised him enough that he accepted the slipper wordlessly and put it back on without hesitation, grateful that his foot wouldn't be subjected quite so harshly to the elements.

Without anything else to do with his hands, he reached up to tug the collar of the coat closed, looking something like a bemused girlfriend might, except he was neither female nor dating Ignacio. He just happened to be standing in the middle of the sidewalk, wearing Ignacio's coat, arguing with him about how he needed to go home.

"I really ought to walk you home," Grayson finally said, dropping his hands from the jacket and stepping forward. He reached up, pressing the back of one cool hand against Ignacio's forehead, looking a little exasperated. "You're flushed, but that's hopefully from liquor."

If he was disappointed, he did a good job of hiding it.

"We can stand here all night, Ignacio, if we need to." He'd probably fall asleep on his feet.

It really did look like a bad scene from a movie, or maybe like an argument between significant others. Grayson dug his heels in as best he could in slippers, and a frown settled on his expression. It didn't look like it belonged there, really; he was someone who preferred to smile more often than not. Still, as he leaned back against Ignacio's arm, he looked every bit the stubborn, reluctant one of the two.

"If I went home now, I'd just stay up worrying." He wasn't trying to guilt Ignacio, just being honest. "I can't help that. I'm sorry if it bothers you, but there have been a lot of attacks at night. Someone who's going around alone and drinking is going to be at risk, and I care about you, so I'll worry."

Even if he wasn't a senshi, Grayson would have probably worried. If he was just a normal human who had a friend, and that friend was out prowling the night with little more than a tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants to protect him, he would worry. There were news reports all the time about people going missing in the middle of the night, being attacked by who knew what, just dying suddenly for no reason that anyone could see. Grayson knew it was youma and the Negaverse, but he couldn' tell Ignacio that.

It did, however, make him worry. Fiercely.

It was selfish to think about, but he didn't want someone else he knew to die. There had already been so much death, so much heartache. If he could prevent something terrible happening to Ignacio, even if it meant his friend was irritated with him, he would do it.

Of course, the way things were looking, he was likely going to get a cold for his troubles. But that was okay, it was worth it.

Grayson's first instinct was to grip Ignacio's hand back, a purely reflexive move, but the other's words gave him pause. Though Grayson knew his concern was justified, there was no way he could explain just how dangerous Destiny City could be without revealing himself as a senshi, and he wasn't prepared to do that. He could already see that they were both stubborn enough that they would argue all night, and they were equally convinced they were right. While Grayson knew it was in Ignacio's best interests to go home, he could already see that this wouldn't be like it was with Jude.

Jude had wanted to go home. Ignacio didn't. Grayson was fooling himself if he thought he would have enough influence over Ignacio to convince him otherwise. They barely knew one another, after all, and even though Gray was fond of him, the feeling wasn't mutual. Most people didn't get attached as quickly and strongly as he did, and it was something he'd resigned himself to a long time ago.

Really, he was just being an annoyance to Ignacio.

So, his hand went a little limp in Ignacio's grip, but he began to walk. For someone who had been putting up such a fuss earlier, he'd gone remarkably quiet, and his expression was flickering somewhere between hurt and weariness. Normally he was a better master of his expression, but he was tired and feeling out of sorts, and a little ridiculous for even thinking that he'd have much of an impact at all on Ignacio. They didn't have a history, like he and Jude did -- though he suspected that it didn't matter with Jude, anyway. Grayson had just been around when Jude had decided to make the right decision on his own; he'd likely not been much of an influence there, either.

For someone who cared so much, he was pretty useless when it came to actually taking care of anyone.