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Leaning over a box full of discounted CDs, Grayson flipped through them casually with long, tapered fingers, head bobbing slightly to the tune playing through his earbuds. He'd been there for a good ten minutes, weaving his way through the aisles, seeing if anything promising had been released in the last year. It was a little awkward sometimes, remembering he had been dead; for Gray, the time had passed by like the blink of an eye, but that was clearly not the case. A lot had happened. A lot had changed.

Tristan was a few inches taller. His parents had a haunted look sometimes when they thought he wasn't looking. His room seemed smaller, but emptier. It was like he was going through the motions of someone else's life, sometimes. Then again, it wasn't. Things were just... surreal.

He rocked back onto his heels, lower lip sticking out in a bit of a pout. No music that he was interested in, not at the moment, anyway. But maybe that was because his mind was wandering.

Rising, he stretched, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his neck as he did. Because his music was playing, he wasn't aware anyone was behind him, and as he moved, he accidentally smacked them with his elbow.

Turning, surprise on his face, he said, "Sorry." The music wasn't heinously loud, but it was enough that he reached into his pocket to pause it when he realized he recognized the boy in front of him.

Blinking twice, violet eyes going wide, he asked incredulously, "Ignacio?"

It was with a little shame that he realized he'd forgotten Ignacio had been with them at the end. Barren Pines was a horror, a tragedy, and it had all happened so fast at the conclusion that his head had been whirling, mind elsewhere. He'd seen Ignacio, hugged him even, and after that, had simply marched off and helped end the entire thing - without even once checking back to see if those he knew were okay. Ignacio, Remi, Benny.

His arms tightened around Ignacio's shoulders, guilt making the embrace almost a little desperate for just a moment. After all that, after how they'd died together, he still hadn't found Benny. Part of him hoped that meant Benny had just been able to find peace, rest... had never walked the grounds of Barren Pines as a youma. Part of him wondered if that was even possible. Most of him was sick to his stomach at the thought that he hadn't tried harder to find him.

So, he held on, warring with himself and his feelings. This was a happy moment, his brain insisted, even as his heart hurt. Ignacio didn't need him to be depressed, guilty, regretful. He was Grayson's friend, no matter how short a time they had been friends, and he needed him to be as happy and relieved as he was.

So, when he drew back, his eyes were a little bright. But he wasn't crying. His smile, too, was firmly in place, hands on Ignacio's shoulders, not caring as they drew stars from the other patrons of the shop. "It's really good to see you."

He patted his friend's shoulders, the motions unnecessary. Perhaps to assure himself he was really there? Either way, it would have been impossible to tell that the smile on his face was just a little forced, because Grayson was good at that. Good at shoving himself aside, just for a little while, for someone else.

"Really good," he finally added, at a loss for anything else to say.

"No, it's understandable." Grayson drew back, smiled. It was easy to smile when he saw Ignacio, remembered what they had both barely escaped. Maybe there were more sad times than good ones to be remembered, but it wouldn't do either of them any good to dwell on the past. Not when the past would only make them sad.

Patting him on the shoulders, Gray took a step back, cocking his hip to one side as he adopted a casual stance. He knew very well people were staring, but like Ignacio, didn't care. Growing up, he'd gotten a lot of sidelong looks, been the subject of a lot of snickering and not-so-idle curiosity. It came with the territory of having two fathers, and the whispers had turned into outright interrogation when he'd discovered his own sexual preferences. It "proved" to the ignorant masses that homosexuality was taught and not an inherent preference, and he'd suffered from it, some.

So, he was no stranger to staring. Especially not when it came to being in an embrace with another male. He simply ignored it when he could, calmly and pleasantly directed conversation away from it when he couldn't.

"Still, I'm glad. What are the odds of running into each other?" Grayson asked, his smile never wavering. "Hey, do you have plans? You could come to dinner tonight, or something."

After a moment, he paused, considering. Everything was so new and they'd barely been home; Ignacio probably wanted to spend time with his family. Gray lifted his hands, palm out, and sounded a little embarrassed. "You probably want to spend time with your family, sorry. I do, too. I guess I'm just getting a little ahead of myself."

"Really?" It wasn't difficult to interpret the eager cheer that had entered his face and tone, and he brought his hands up, gesturing excitedly. It was quite the move for the normally laid-back Grayson. "No, that would be wonderful. We'd love to have company."

Truth be told, ever since he'd gotten home, dinner had become almost a sacred thing. In the past, they'd tried to eat together, had always enjoyed casual enough conversation over whatever was on the table, but it was... intense lately. He could understand and appreciate that his parents and Tristan were happy to have him back, almost afraid to blink for fear he might disappear again, but it was making him a little uneasy. Things were almost too intimate at their house.

He was dying for some outside company to break the tension. The long looks. The worried glances when he just went to be alone for a bit in his room.

It was clear Ignacio was shifting the topic purposefully, but Grayson was an agreeable sort, and as his gaze followed the gesture, he smiled. "Yeah, I was trying to get some new music, too. Well, new to me, anyway. There's some good stuff."

He hadn't checked out the Britney Spears, though. That was saying something, considering he still had Spice Girls on his iPod.

After a beat, he asked, "Tonight, then?" earning a hilariously startled look from the guy behind the counter.

How awkward it must have looked to any passerby; Ignacio, standing there blushing, and Grayson, looking at Ignacio with deep concern on his face. Regardless of anyone else's feelings, Grayson laid a hand on Ignacio's shoulder, squeezed lightly. It wasn't much, but the look that passed between them said that he understood, would be there if he was needed. Maybe they didn't know each other well, but that was all right. Circumstances such as the ones they had been through together made strong and fast bonds, after all.

"Don't worry about it. I'll call my parents and let them know we'll have a guest." He smiled, patting his shoulder once more, before twisting to let someone go by. As he did, he slipped his hand in his pocket, fingers bumping against his henshin pen.

Whoops. Wrong pocket.

He glanced back over, smile reassuring once more. "Any requests? They're going to want to impress you since they haven't met you."

Both of them had many bad memories, he knew. Both of them grieved for those they'd lost, both of them were still recovering from the horror of the entire experience. What Grayson couldn't immediately handle, however, he buried, at least in himself; in this case, it seemed like the best thing he could do would be to simply carry on as normally as he could. His parents were certainly very fond of that approach, though they might have been going overboard a bit with the everything-is-normal spiel.

Rather than call, Grayson texted with one hand, sending his father a garbled message that he knew would be translated to the appropriate "Friend coming over for dinner, not picky." He snapped his phone shut afterward, already picturing his Dad's face - pleased and mildly inconvenienced, as that would mean they would have to make fancy dinner again - and grinned. It was nice to know that no matter how much time passed and things seemed to change, they were still basically the same underneath it all.

"Any allergies or anything?" He figured Ignacio would mention them, but it was still best to find out. He'd be grilled as soon as he got home as it was, over everything from Ignacio's favorite kind of food to how they knew each other and how long. They meant well, but sometimes, his parents' enthusiasm could be a little bit embarrassing.

Not that he was ever embarrassed of them, because that was far from the truth. He loved his family with everything he had in him, could only be proud of them. It just sometimes felt like they were trying to set him up with every other person he brought home, and it was a little alarming.

He was eighteen. He could find his own boyfriends.

Not that he was looking.

Oh, right. Ignacio didn't know where he lived. Feeling a little embarrassed, Gray reached in his pocket, pulling out a wadded piece of receipt paper - he supposed the world wouldn't end if Ignacio found out he'd had a number three at McDonald's - and turned to the guy at the counter. "Can I borrow a pen?"

Though the young man didn't seem entirely impressed by the request, he handed one over, and Grayson quickly jotted down his address. Even in a hurry, his handwriting was neat and precise, a stark contrast to his lazy attitude. In truth, it was because his handwriting had been anything but as a child; heinously messy and sloppy, and he'd been forced to practice his penmanship over and over again until it was perfect.

Lesson learned.

"Here, this is my address." He offered the slip of paper, adding as he did, "It's pretty easy to find. Oh, my number's on there too, so if you get lost, you can call me."

"Sounds good." Grayson smiled, then looked around. After all that, he hadn't picked out anything to buy. Well, oh well. He'd just keep the money he had and use it for other things; there was always something else to buy.

His pocket vibrated, and he knew the onslaught was about to begin. So, he lifted his hand, saying a quick See you later. as he turned and made his way out of the store.

There were things to be done, after all, since they were suddenly going to have a dinner guest.