Welcome to Gaia! ::

The man who opened the door was probably Grayson's father. Tall and broad in the shoulder, he was a striking man even in his casual clothes, and Arthur Graves never really got very casual; slacks and a button-down dress shirt, sans tie. His eyes were a calm, clear blue as they assessed the boy in front of him, his dark hair much shorter than his son's, but bearing the trademark wave that seemed to plague the Graves men no matter what their age. His mouth was firm but not unkind, and there were crow's feet beginning to fan out at the edges of his eyes; this was a man who smiled often, even if the first impression of his face didn't seem to indicate so.

After a moment, he did smile, and it was like seeing Grayson, except perhaps twenty years old. "You must be Sue. Welcome. Come in, please; it's cold out there."

Stepping aside, Arthur ushered the boy in, calling out in his crisp, clear voice, "Grayson, your friend is here."

"Okay, Dad."

Arthur accepted the tin of cookies with another smile, a smidgeon of surprise in his voice when he said, "Thank you. This is very thoughtful. What are these, shortbread?"

Another man came around the corner, this one only slightly more lean than the first. His hair was straight and honeyed blond, bangs swept across the side of his face, and shorter than Arthur's. Though he wore an apron over a pair of tan slacks and a maroon dress shirt, there was nothing feminine about this man. He had a boyish charm to his face, and the delight that sprang into his eyes, brown as oak, was sincere.

"Shortbread cookies? You're not getting any of these." Accepting - or rather taking - the tin from Arthur, Van flashed a smile to Sue, brighter than his husband's. "Thank you, Sue. Grayson is in the kitchen, bitching about setting the table. You're free to go in there, but don't you dare lift a finger to help him."

Standing in the archway that led to the kitchen, Grayson rolled violet eyes, wiping his hands on a towel. "Your potatoes boiled over, Pop."

"Thank you, Grayson." Bustling past, he held the tin high above his son's head, earning a disappointed look. "No, not until after dinner. Tell Sue thank you."

Gaze sliding easily to Sue, Grayson grinned. "Thanks. And welcome. I see you met my parents - that's Dad, or Arthur, and Pop, or Van, just went behind me. Tristan is around here somewhere."

As he spoke, Gray crossed the room, holding out his hand for Sue's coat. "I'll hang this up for you. How're you?"

Grayson was happy to see Sue, and it showed. Though he'd made it very clear in the past that any of the Zodiac were welcome in his home, thanks largely to his parents believing that having a safe roof over your head was better than roaming the streets when things went south, he honestly hadn't expected Sue to take him up on it. The call had been a surprise, and a pleasure. Normally they would have had something simple, like freezer lasagna, but when he'd informed his parents that a friend was coming over, they'd decided to go all out.

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn. Everything was from scratch, or as close to scratch as it could be; the vegetables hadn't been grown in their back yard, but Van had been very particular when doing the last-minute shopping trip in preparation for Sue's arrival. Biscuits were just coming out of the oven, steaming and fragrant, and as Tristan popped his head out of the kitchen to announce, "Dinner's almost done!" it was really mostly unnecessary.

Grayson loved when they had guests over. Pop really went all out with the menu.

"It's good to see you." Sue's coat went up on the peg next to four winter jackets ranging from black to gray, and Gray turned back to him, gesturing to the kitchen. "That's my brother, Tristan. And nope, it's just us. Dining room is this way."

Eager for dinner, Gray began to usher Sue toward the adjoining room. He'd already set all the places with the company dishes, and as they ventured in, his parents were passing bowls and platters across the length of the room.

Arthur glanced over, admonished blandly, "Give the boy a second to catch his breath, Grayson. The food will still be here."

"Sorry." He offered Sue a grin.

Grayson swelled with pride, clearly very pleased that Sue approved of his house and (by extension, in his mind) his family. There was nothing more important to Grayson than his family, and sometimes he struggled with that, especially in regard to the Zodiac. But thoughts like that weren't for just then; this was family time, and they wouldn't do anything but enjoy it.

Not thinking twice, Gray slid into the seat next to Sue, taking the napkin that had been set out for him and unfolding it over his lap. He was guileless when he stated, "We don't usually go all out like this, but everyone's pretty excited to have company and be all together again."

The Graves men filtered in one after the other, the last being Van, who brought out a stylish looking clear plate that had Sue's shortbread cookies arranged artfully on top of it. This he set in the center of the table, not batting an eye as he slapped his husband's hand for reaching for it. "After dinner, Arthur."

Gray smothered a smile, reaching to the center of the table to lift the platter with the fried chicken pieces on it. Van's specialty was chicken, and he always prepared the flour himself with his own combination of spices. He offered it to Sue, saying, "You've got to try this. Once you eat Pop's fried chicken, KFC tastes like gas station food."

After a beat, he added, "I'm going to Meadowview too. Maybe we'll have some classes together?"

They weren't close by any means, but Gray was always up for making a friend. He and Sue were both Zodiac, too, so it was important they tried to get along. "After dinner, I'll dig mine out and we can compare. Wait, are we even in the same grade? I'll be a senior."

Without malice, Arthur interjected thoughtfully, "And you will hopefully graduate."

Gray sighed. "Yeah, hopefully. I don't think I can take much more school."

"Really?" Gray brightened, and wiped his mouth with his napkin as he regarded Sue thoughtfully. Now that dinner had begun, there was no awkward silence -- could such a thing exist in the Graves household? -- and conversation flowed easily around them. Grayson liked seeing Sue relax and enjoy his dinner, and he had to admit, it really was good. Pop had outdone himself, and because he was feeling generous, Tristan even had to do dishes.

Their family was big on talking at dinner, but they were also big on eating. So while Sue was interjecting comments in between bites, so was Grayson. He'd always had a voracious appetite, but after Barren Pines, he was definitely homesick for Pop's cooking.

"I've only got half a year left if I work at it," Grayson added, pulling a face at the thought of actually working at school. "But I figure it's worth it to work a little harder and graduate rather than repeating a year."

He refilled his water from the pitcher in the middle of the table, took a long drink. "Anyway, school won't be too bad. It's figuring out what to do afterward that's going to be tough. I can't join the circus," he added, letting out a wistful sigh.

Van coughed delicately into his napkin. "Someone has finally shown him sense. Praise be."

Grayson snorted at the lion comment, well aware that no one would get it but the two of them. It was nice, having someone around to have an inside joke with; at home, everything was inside jokes. It defeated the purpose. His parents didn't seem to notice, but the effect wasn't completely lost, as Tristan shot him a very doubtful Yeah, right. look, but didn't comment.

College didn't sound like the most appealing idea in the world to Grayson, but he wisely kept quiet on the subject, considering his parents were sitting right there and were already on his case about school. So he didn't know what he wanted to do yet -- big deal. It wasn't like he could tell his family that oh, by the way, he ran around as Sailor Leo at night, fighting crime and whatnot, so he didn't feel like he really ought to have to do much else. That kind of excuse just wouldn't fly in the Graves household.

"I'll figure something out," he replied vaguely, going back to his potatoes with feeling.

From across the table, Tristan wiped his mouth, giving Sue a long, skeptical look. He wasn't sure how he felt about their visitor, exactly, but so far, he hadn't made a terrible impression.

"Eighth." He pursed his lips, lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I'll go to Meadowview next year, though hopefully Gray will be graduated by then."

Grayson shot his brother an unimpressed look, then spoke out of the side of his mouth to Sue. "I can put up with a lot, but I don't think I could put up with Tris at school. I guess I'd better graduate."

"I'm not going to have any trouble graduating," Tristan said decisively, wiping his mouth with his napkin. It was true; despite having such an attitude, Tristan was remarkably studious, and pulled As and Bs without too much ado. "I'll probably go to medical school, or something. But that's down the road."

Grayson grinned at his brother, proud as he always was to hear that Tristan had goals. It had always been that way; Grayson was the lazy, wishy-washy of the two, and though Tristan was so much younger, he had a plan for the next ten to fifteen years of his life that he was hell bent on sticking to. He was already saving for a car and Grayson didn't even have his license. Despite being so different in some senses, though, they were just alike enough to get along most of the time.

It was nice. Tristan balanced him out, and gave his parents something to focus on once in a while instead of Grayson's abysmal grades.

"Yes, I went to college." Arthur smiled at Sue, genuinely. "It took me twice as long as it should have, since I was working at the time as well, but it was worth it. Business college," he added, reaching over and placing his hand lightly over Van's.

Van shot his husband a grin, then nodded to sue. "Yes, Arthur and I met in college, actually."

"Van was the RA for my floor -- Resident Assistant?" Arthur pondered it, shrugged. "I think that's what it stands for. He was in charge of managing all the boys in our wing of the dorms."

At this comment, Van slid his hand out from under Arthur's, giving him a very annoyed look. "Managing is right. You were all assholes."

Grayson coughed a bit as he attempted to swallow some chicken, and Tristan looked highly amused. For his part, Arthur explained mildly, "Van was a nerd. We gave him hell."

Still looking highly disgruntled, Van raised his fork and pointed it at Arthur, muttering, "Abysmal behavior." before going back to his dinner.

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, the dark-haired Mr. Graves rolled his eyes. "Anyhow, as you can see, Van will never let me live down my reckless and childish ways."