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Grayson had been faced with a very tough decision on Sunday night.

He was a man who didn't exactly hate school, but would rather be doing anything than attending it. He didn't skip simply because he knew that he had to be present to glean at least some information from lecture and do the busywork that would keep him from failing, but that was the only reason. It didn't mean he didn't sleep in class, it didn't mean he did his homework unless someone was lighting a fire under his butt, and it didn't mean he was particularly cheerful about getting up at six in the morning to trudge off to school in shorts.

But he went, generally.

When faced with the decision to go to school or allow his Pop to continue to coddle him at home, he honestly didn't know what to do. He couldn't decide which was the lesser of two evils; going to school and having the girls coo over the huge scratch marks on his face, or staying at home and having Pop confine him to his bed and constantly check in on him. Grayson liked being in bed, no question, but he didn't like being coddled in bed. He didn't like being nuisance, didn't like when someone had to take time out of their day to constantly make certain he wasn't picking at the scabs on his knuckles or trying to sneak out the window.

Plainly put, he was uncomfortable being the center of attention. And wasn't that odd, for a Leo? For Leo? But it was true. In senshi form, Leo didn't mind stealing the show with his glitz and glamor, but Grayson would rather just be a background player. That had always been true about him.

So, he actually tried to go to school, but Pop had taken one look at his shoulder and sides and told him no, he was staying in bed, that was final, now eat your soup, Grayson Patrick Graves.

By the time Monday afternoon rolled around, Grayson was well and truly antsy. He'd been texting Dani on and off during the day, growing bored whenever she lapsed into silence due to class. He'd texted Elke, too, but had been met with the same sort of situation, and as he reflected, decided he'd better not get her in any trouble in school. Jude was out of the question, for more reasons than one, though the most notable was the fact that he didn't have his number.

He had Ignacio's, but he'd started to send a text and stopped about three times. It felt a little awkward, was all. He could remember their last conversation, and he didn't want to bother his friend when there was nothing he could do. School was out now, so maybe he could see if he wanted to come over... but Ignacio would probably consider that too familiar.

Never was winning, it seemed.

So, he was sitting up in his bed, dressed in only a pair over oversized flannel pajama bottoms, carefully applying a shiny salve that he didn't know the name of to his sides and shoulder. His cheek was mostly healed, though the scratches looked a lot worse than they were, and he had some nice bruising all down his back and right arm that was finally beginning to fade. All in all, he felt a lot better than he looked, which wasn't to say he felt great, just that he didn't think he needed all the fuss that was going on.

His Pop peeked in, looking a little bit affronted. "Ignacio is here. A classmate? The one we had over for dinner?"

Grayson blinked, surprised enough that he accidentally pressed down on his shoulder wound a little too hard. He yelped, then looked chagrined. "Ow. Oh. Er. I'll come down."

"Your father is talking to him just now," Van said mysteriously, gesturing around the room. "Stay here. And for heaven's sake, wrap yourself up, or I will."

"All right," Grayson replied grudgingly, going back to spreading the salve. The skin was still raw and irritated looking, though the wounds were healing nicely. Faster than they should have been, probably.

One of the many benefits of being a senshi.

Grayson was happy to have a visitor, but he was also worried about just how his friend would react to seeing his body littered with wounds on their way to mending. He didn't have time to cross the room and dig a tank top out, especially considering he figured he ought to put clean clothes on rather than dirty, and even that should be done after bandaging. From the time Van had told him that Ignacio had been on his way up to just then, Grayson had been trying to quickly finish doctoring his wounds to prevent infection, and he hadn't exactly succeeded. He was done now, and the tips of his fingers were smeared with some of the stuff still, but he was still shirtless with all of his battle wounds left to the open air.

Oops. He hadn't wanted Ignacio to see how bad he looked. Because, really, he looked worse than he felt.

Still, the damage had been done, so he was left to look a little bewildered as Ignacio rushed to his side, looking for all the world like he had been the one to cause all the wounds. The obvious concern made him feel awkward, uncomfortable, and he shifted a little in the face of it. Ignacio was just being a concerned friend, he knew, but he'd had quite enough of the smothering affection over the weekend to be satisfied for the rest of the year, probably.

So, his smile was a little nervous, and he said quickly and calmly, "I'm fine. Just got in a fight, is all, but I'm fine."

He shifted again, swinging his feet over the side of the bed, and winced when the motion tugged at his sides. Awkward.

Really awkward.

"Sorry I didn't text or anything. I've been kind of..." He lifted his shoulders, shrugged. "I didn't have a phone for a while, and today I figured.."

Figured what? After a moment, he finished lamely, "Well, I figured I wouldn't bother you."

Ignacio was talking a lot. Ignacio was obviously very concerned, and though Grayson had firmly placed his friend in the metaphorical "friend zone," it didn't mean he was unaware of the extreme level of his worry. It was almost too much for a friend, the kind of behavior he would expect from, well, a boyfriend. It made Grayson even more uneasy than he had been, and he almost desperately wished for a shirt just then. Not because he thought Ignacio would jump him or anything equally ridiculous, he just would have liked to have the extra layer to hide the bruises and wounds.

Unfortunately, he hadn't even applied his bandaging yet, so that was out of the question. So, he reached for the roll of bandaging, giving Ignacio another brief, awkward smile.

What was he supposed to reply to out of all of that? He settled for answering the things that were least likely to make the already uncomfortable situation worse.

"I didn't get in a fight because of you, don't worry. And we're friends, so I know you like me." He started wrapping the bandaging around his chest, moving gingerly with the arm that boasted the large shoulder bite. "And the fight was... unavoidable. It was a friend, actually, and I had to help him out."

He didn't want to give away anything about Jude, and hoped Ignacio would just leave it at that. Somehow, he doubted it, but he could still hope. Of the two of them, though he was feeling really out of place, mostly due to the fact that he was being fawned over again due to his injuries, he sounded much calmer than his friend.

"It's really not as bad as it looks." It sounded lame, but he smiled a little, hoping that would help Ignacio believe it. He'd never felt so strange sitting in front of someone without a shirt -- for goodness sake, he'd greeted Melody in nothing but his boxers while they were at Barren Pines.

It definitely had to be the injuries, and the oddly intimate, concerned looks Ignacio was giving him.

"No, I-" He really didn't want Ignacio bandaging his wounds. It was bad enough when his Pop was wrapping his wounds up. The last thing he needed was Ignacio of the suddenly-very-tender-eyes to feel like he had to help doctor the wounds Grayson had brought on himself.

After all, no one had said he had to rush into Jude's jungle. Well, Dani had kind of insisted, but honestly, he was a Zodiac. He was Jude's somewhat friend. He couldn't not go.

"No, I'll do it." He smiled again, trying to lessen the refusal, and gently pushed his friend's hands back.

He set about doing so again, trying his hardest not to allow his expression to waver when it hurt. In truth, the worst part just then was the bruising, which had always taken a while to fade on him. There were remnants of the wounds, obvious evidence that something had tried its damndest to rip him to pieces, but they weren't even bleeding anymore. The hospital had acted quickly and efficiently, and his body had begun to rapidly take care of the rest. He'd be tender for a while, sure, but the worst was past.

How to convince his friend of that when he had no idea he was a senshi, however...

So, he simply went back to wrapping his shoulder, eyes on the task at hand. After a moment, he asked quietly, "Did I miss a lot in class?"

Grayson didn't actually care very much about his classes either. He knew his parents had called into arrange his work, and Dad was going to swing by the school on his way home and gather up assignments. He'd just been trying to deflect the conversation away from himself, to a topic that was more comfortable, even if it didn't mean very much to him. To his credit, Ignacio was a better friend than to allow it to happen, but Grayson couldn't find it in himself to appreciate it entirely.

He was emotionally raw; ripped to pieces inside over something that Ignacio didn't know about, never would. He'd had a talk with Jude that had taken something out of him that he wasn't sure he could get back, not on his own, and he didn't know how to rebound from it. He knew that he couldn't do it when Ignacio was looking at him like that, no matter how easy it would have been to simply fall forward into a pair of willing arms.

Not only because it wouldn't be fair to himself, but Ignacio had told him: Never. And though he'd taken that never back, words meant so much to Grayson. He couldn't trust himself, but he also couldn't trust Ignacio, not yet.

"I'll get better." He tucked the edge of the bandage away, started on his shoulder. This was more awkward, but he was still determined to do it himself.

He didn't want to talk about what had attacked him, but he was sure if he didn't, Ignacio would keep asking. So, he would do what he'd told Jude he would: be discreet. Only, with Ignacio, he would have to be moreso.

"Jude was being attacked." So he wasn't so good at being discreet - damn. Revealing his friend's name have him momentary pause, but he recovered quickly enough. "I was on a walk, to clear my head, and... I saw it. Lucky timing, I guess."

He smiled, though the edges of it were mirthless. "It wasn't a normal fight. They had weapons," and now he'd ducked his head, focusing on his shoulder. "We almost didn't win. But we did. And I ended up in the hospital, but I'm fine."

His tone seemed to say, And that's all I can say about it.

Grayson was almost finished with his shoulder, actually. He glanced over, then realized he shouldn't have, because Ignacio was still giving him the look. The look that he felt terrible for, because even time he encountered it, he felt worse, less deserving. Ignacio might have been sincere, Grayson didn't know; what he did know was that he looked into a freckled face and part of him wished for a smooth, pale one. He saw golden eyes and for almost a moment, could deceive himself into thinking they were pink.

But they weren't. And he felt horrible because he wanted them to be. Wished that what one boy seemed to be offering another would would, and he knew that he never would. So he was guilty of wanting too much, and he was guilty of not appreciating what he already had.

So what else was new?

"Almost done." He finished bandaging his shoulder, decided to leave his cheek with the three slash marks exposed. He didn't have a big enough band-aid on hand, anyway. "There."

He tossed the bandage back onto his desk, placed his hands lightly on his knees. "Thank you for the concern, though."

With nothing to do with his hands, he settled for trying to relax on his bed. There wasn't really anywhere else to sit but the floor, so he tucked his legs up, looked down at his bare feet. With bandages, he didn't feel so much like he needed to grab a shirt and cover himself; the damage had been done, anyway.

His head snapped up, though, when Ignacio mentioned that he hadn't been there to help. "I don't expect anyone to be there." It was said before he realized the full implication of it, but it was true. Grayson didn't expect other senshi to be there, nor did he expect his friends. When he went into battle, he expected to rely on himself to protect his own body and those of the people around him.

If anyone was there trying to help him, he shoved them away. Roughly, as he had done to Jude.

Leo didn't want anyone taking punches for him.

His expression softened, just a fraction, and he rubbed at his forehead wearily. "I didn't want to make anyone worry. I would have gone to school, but Pop wouldn't let me."

That much was true.

"Sorry I worried you."