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Gaius gave a rueful snort, but couldn't help a quirked smirk at his friend. "Not happy... just kinda depressed."

Following Marshall's cue, Gaius sat down on his haunches on the grass just beside the stairs and spread out his wings behind, in front of the vacant apartment below his, though he'd not noticed it'd been empty for a while. He tossed a cold-cut meat to Vixen, who caught it mid-air and trotted up to sit besides Marshall and wolf it down.

"It's just... I see it as the end of the line. That's it, there's not one scrap of Gaius to show for who I was. I'm forever stuck with this long face and bulky wings. No one who sees me will see the man I was born as, you know?"

Gaius's mouth dropped open, unable to say anything as he stared at the penguin. He'd not interrupted, too shocked by what was coming out of the guy he'd thought had been his true blue friend. Pity party?!

His hoof-hands clenched and unclenched, a storm of emotions sweeping through him. He'd never thought, never in all his time there, that Marshall could harbor such feelings about him. The shock shown through his eyes, followed quickly by hurt. He'd not told Marshall about Nita? But he didn't even know if there was anything between them, and besides, the trouble with the labs was his own business, wasn't it? Gaius thought he'd been a good friend... he thought he'd been...

Insert dagger. Twist.

The hurt quickly hardened into fury, Gaius's features settling into a stony glare. Without a word, he stood up and with a single, rage-powered move, threw the bowl of salad in Marshall's face before spinning around and stalking off in the direction of the beach path. Every muscle was tense with anger. Gaius blinked furiously, not wanting anyone to see the tears gathering in his eyes.

Vixen stood up, but hesitated, looking between the two men. She whined, unsure who to follow.

"Leave me alone!" the horse-man shouted back, continuing his stiff-legged trot across the commons. Vixen bounded behind him, though her tail and head were down. She could sense the air between the two, and she did not like it.

However, Gaius's head-long rush was not long lived. An uneven hole in the ground caught Gaius's hoof and the man, already overly forward-balanced with his wings and momentum, went toppling to the ground on his face, or the bottom of his jaw anyways.

He didn't make a move to get up right away, instead clenching his hands in the grass, tearing up tufts of it, as he clenched his teeth. Why had Marshall done that? Why?

The knife of guilt took another twist in the horse-man's stomach as he saw Marshall start to cry - damn his wide peripheral vision! He groaned, closing his eyes, and rested a hand over them.

"Ah geez... Marshall..." What could he say? "Just... stop crying, okay? I seriously don't think I can handle that right now..."

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself up on his elbows, lifting himself enough to look at the penguin-guy. His face was clouded with guilt.

"I didn't know. I really did not know. I... I..." His teeth clenched in a sudden wave of anger. "How was I supposed to know? Damnit, you never told me anything either! And now this, you dump all this on me!" He pounded a fist into the ground with a sharp jerk. His entire body shook with nerves as a wave of despair took over.

"Why? Why do you even bother with me? It's... it's all true. DAMNIT! It's all ******** true. I'm... I'm... I don't know what I am! I'm everything I never wanted to be. AUGH! Why..." he trailed off into a groan.

Gaius took a deep breath, swallowing the urge to counter with his own faults. This had devolved from yelling to a round-about apologizing with self-defacing. It'd be too easy to continue the sad spiral, and Gaius didn't want that.

"I'm... sorry," he said flatly. "I'm sorry for yelling... and sorry for being a lousy friend. And stop putting yourself down, you're a better man than I am. I? All I ever wanted to be was the man my father raised me to be... someone others would look up to for how to live right. Someone strong, kind, honest, polite..." Gaius shook his head. "My dad would be ashamed to see what I've become. As twisted inside as out... Hell, you know what I've done to Zach, and he's only one among many. I'd say he deserved it, but... It's... It's not my place to dish out whatever I think as justice." He closed his eyes at the revelation, hating to know how wrong he'd been. "I wanted to help, not hurt."

Gaius got himself up onto his knees and looked up at Marshall, his expression unreadable, though there was a hint of bemusement in his eyes.

"You need to stop watching those corny movies of yours..." he teased without malice.

"I wish I wasn't so neglectful... and sorry I hurt you. But, really, you know me... unless it's thrown in my face, I'm not going to pick up on what's wrong. Next time, tell me before you gut me, okay?" He said with a small smirk.

"I do trust you!" Gaius said, getting unsteadily to his feet. Vixen, who'd sat back during the loud exchange, came forward hesitantly and bumped her head against his leg, to which he gave her a reassuring pat. "I just... don't always think everything through. I forget to tell people important things. I didn't figure the Nita thing would be something you'd have to worry about since it was just between us...

"Come on, you know me better than that. I wouldn't forget you, even if I'm thick-headed sometimes."