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 Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:09 pm
“Mmm…” Forethought was not exactly Gryphon’s strong suit. If something sounded good in the moment, he went with it. Why not? The risk seemed minimal and he had momentum to do irrational things and no time to think about it. He enjoyed doing things in such a manner, kept it interesting and fun, unexpected. Enjoying the twists and turns of life was what made it life.
But if given time for consideration, some things seemed… less like a good idea.
It had been incredibly stupid to invite a grumpy kid who hated him to go out. Landry must have been in as dumb a mood as him, since he’d actually agreed. What were they supposed to do together? Their first meeting had been rough enough, even Gryphon realized that. He didn’t enjoy being insulted, and Landry was very good at thinking very little of him, while Gryph was all too aware that he didn’t have the ‘culture’ to make up for his physical faults. He had to be the easiest target for someone like Landry.
He could bail. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d said he was going to do something and then simply didn’t. But, God, would blondie absolutely despise him if he didn’t show up. And that could be inconvenient if he had to see Lori again…
Besides, he really did think Landry was cute. Cute and grumpy, with a dire need to get out of his living room and see some sunshine.
He raked his hands back through his long, magenta hair and mentally prepared himself for an afternoon of intense judgement. That was where the day was headed, he could feel it. But at least there’d be cupcakes, and it may not even be that hot… Last he’d checked, it was supposed to be overcast. Not Gryphon’s favorite weather, but probably nice for someone with practically translucent skin, like Landry.
He didn’t own any particularly ‘nice’ clothes, and ended up wearing something remarkably similar to what he’d worn when they met, just khaki-colored cargo shorts, and a plain black shirt. He sent a warning text as he got in his truck.
‘On my way, Your Majesty. Hope you’ve started getting ready.’
For an event that Landry certainly didn’t feel excited to go to, he sure did spend a lot of time getting ready for it. This outing wasn’t anything special. Cupcakes in the park sounded like the least special and proper event one could go to. Just something to entertain the children while their parents took a break under a tree somewhere. If not for the event, he was dressing up to show off to a certain jerk who had asked him to come along.
Gryphon had been one of the most horrible encounters he had to date, ending with a bruised ankle that took a few days to heal and caused confused looks from Lori when he wore calf-high socks around the house in the summer. She did get chewed out though, over the drugs, over the company she kept, over everything that had happened, though he kept the fact that he was going to meet with the monster again to himself. She didn’t need to know that he might have been crazy in his own right to accept.
... Why he had said yes, he did not know. Likely due to the need to show off and tell the man that he was far more proper than he could ever hope to be, and that thought stayed with him while he waited at the kitchen counter for the doorbell to ring.
... He was on his way... Was he driving? Landry could only imagine the kinda vehicle he would drive and park in the garage of their building... The thought sent a disgusted shudder down his spine. Either way, he’d insist they took his car or walked...
No matter how delicious the cupcakes were, he certainly wasn’t looking forward to this nonsense, he told himself.
‘Don’t text and drive.’, was the simple response.
Gryphon couldn’t help but smile to himself. Sure, any idiot could imagine that it was very likely to be a troublesome day, just based solely on the first encounter they’d shared, but it wasn’t so bad. It’d be decent weather, cute food, and he wouldn’t even be alone, a rarity. It still remained to be seen if being with someone who hated him was better than being by himself, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
And he didn’t hate Landry, besides, even with all the griping blondie did.
Though he did have to sort through his text messages to find the address again. He’d still only been to the place once, and remembering directions, and Lan’s exact apartment number, were things he hadn’t had opportunity to fully commit to memory, yet. At least he knew what he was getting into, this time, and seeing the high rise building come into view wasn’t as concerning a second time around.
Not just because he wasn’t carrying anything illegal and didn’t feel as suspicious, though that did contribute to feeling more comfortable as he walked through the lobby this time.
To be honest, he was a little surprised Landry had texted him back at all… He seemed like the type of kid he would say anything necessary to fix a problem in the moment, like… ‘Here’s my phone number, now get out, see you this weekend.’ And then not be entirely interested on following up with that.
He still might not.
Gryphon hovered for a moment longer at Landry’s door. If he’d specifically chosen to not be home, there wouldn’t be much Gryphon could do about that, and Gryph had given him warning, so it would’ve been all too easy for him to decide to leave right then…
He knocked, anyway. “Laaandry, you ready? Or you still primping, Princess?”
Landry had sat on the couch and lazed about for about fifteen minutes before he heard the knocking on the door, and a loud mouth calling out to him. Here he was, having tried to be in a good mood before this damned event, and Gryphon was already getting on his last nerves.
In an instant he was up, throwing the door open with a nasty glare directed at the large man.
"Have you no manners at all?!" He hissed, grabbing Gryphon's arm and pulling him in before slamming the door. The house was the same as it was before, neat, tidy, with the sweet smell of chocolate drifting through this time, as he had baked not too long ago. Whatever good mood he was in was gone now.
"Is that how you go to pick someone up? Shouting through the door as if there aren't other people around who you might disturb? I swear, you must have no etiquette at all!" For th emost part, he was ready, shoes waiting by the door and phone and keys on the counter beside it. What he hadn't remembered was his wallet, which sat on the bed stand. "Stay right there, don't you dare move."
A threatening finger was pointed at the man who came to pick him up before Landry disappeared around a corner to his room, trying to atleast somewhat calm down before he was forced to spend the day with this brute.
He hadn’t expected Landry to be so quick at the door, and he blinked down in surprise as the knob rattled. “That was fast- wahey!” Neither was he expecting the smaller boy to yank on him as soon as setting eyes on him, and Gryphon stepped in as he was tugged, allowing the door to be slammed behind him. Was he really mad already? That look Landry was shooting him made him assume so, and the snap of warning didn’t do much to deny it.
“Er, I guess?” Gryphon answered with a shrug and a sheepish grin, not seeing much that he’d done wrong. He hadn’t been that loud or carried on for that long, and Landry had screamed right in the same spot from quite a bit longer just the last time they’d met. “Figure you slammed the door louder than I said anything,” he retorted.
This poor kid. Feeling this constantly strung up must be a horrible burden.
With a shake of his head, he leaned back against the door, waiting for His Majesty to do… whatever he needed to do. He hadn’t specified. “Smells nice in here,” Gryph chattered to himself as he waited, gaze roaming across the apartment, as it tended to do when he was introduced to a new place.
Admittedly, it wasn’t ‘new,’ anymore, but still not so familiar that he knew all there was to know. Maybe if he stared hard enough, there’d be some secret information about a certain angry blond to uncover.
But he supposed anything was just as likely to be Lori’s. She was out a bit, wasn’t she? Seemed like Landry was here by himself, again...
“It’s not how loud you were, but what you said.” Landry called back behind him as he rummaged in his room for his wallet. Normally he was more organized with his belongings but the anxiety that came with prepping for today got to him. “Don’t you think it’s insulting to call me a ‘princess’? It feels like a derogatory term, and unpleasant. You have permission to use my name, so you should only use that.”
He was one of the last people he’d call a “Social Justice Warrior” but princess? No.
After a moment he found it and came back to meet the man just lurking in the doorway. And he was just as raggedy looking as they first met. A migraine was slowly forming...
“... Well, I suppose I’m ready now. Will we walk, or will we drive? I believe the park isn’t too far from here...” They weren’t even outside yet, and he had a hat on, and next to his keys were a pair of sunglasses that he grabbed and clipped to the pocket of his shirt.
“And we won’t be there for long right? It’s a hot day.”
Were Landry’s neighbors disturbed by the word ‘princess?’ That was pretty much all he’d said, and it seemed innocuous enough that he didn’t think anyone would even bother to remember they’d heard it. Not that he knew anyone else in this building or what they thought of landry and his sister already, and maybe it was more treacherous than he’d given it credit for?
But Gryphon didn’t think so. “Derogatory?” He parroted quietly to himself. And then louder, as Landry was still in his room, “I think it’s a compliment, really… Just less words to tell you you’re a young, beautiful spitfire. Have the whole world at your feet. You really think I’m insulting you?”
He liked calling Landry ‘princess,’ and thought it checked all the boxes of what the blond boy was: pretty, snooty, bossy, noble… Proud.
“You look…” He’d hardly even had a chance to see him when Landry had first opened the door, he’d scuttled away so quick. Gryphon’s gaze flicked from his shoes and up Landry’s frame from there. “...Really good, Lan,” he finished with a soft smile.
“We can walk if you’re not bothered by it.” Assuming that since he’d said he was ready, they were prepared to walk out the door, Gryph pulled it open for blondie to head out first. “And we’ll just stay as long as you’d like. Til you get tired, or whatever.”
... Landry had paused at the sudden compliments, unused to things said so plainly. It was... Flattering in a way, and a small tinge of redness hit his cheeks. He did try to will it away before Gryph saw him though. “Princess is an insult. A term for weakness. In historical matters, a princess could never be seen as good as a prince, or a King. A princess is a sarcastic term, so yes, to me, it is an insult.”
After a moment, he walked out of the condo, waiting for Gryph to get out of his home and trying to further ignore the compliments given to him.
This man must be like those who tried to get with Lori. Simply wanting to get into his pants with a kind word or two.
“I’ll be fine. I’m no so weak as to be unable to spend a few hours outside at most.”
“A’right, fine.” In historical matters? Were they dealing in historical matters now? It was just a word, a cute term of… endearment, Gryphon supposed, but it wasn’t important. Not like he hadn’t known Landry was picky about pretty much everything he’d brought up.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and was shaking his head as he followed Landry out.
There was almost nothing he could say without being offensive or wrong or annoying, it seemed. ‘I didn’t say you were weak…’ Flit across his thoughts, but he decided not to voice it. ‘Til you burn, then.’ No. Dumb. Worse, probably? ‘What were you baking earlier? Your house smelled nice.’ Intrusive. Nosy. ‘You should’ve brought some to the thing-!’ Presumptuous. How dare he deign to tell Landry what he should have done.
“I’ve never walked through this part of town before,” he admitted as they moved off. “I’ve hardly ever been to this part of town before. I won’t know where I’m goin’, so you might as well lead the way.” He’d at least been to this park before, but hadn’t had the lack of sense to come at it from this side.
With the door locked behind him, Landry took the lead, feeling better about having someone that big trailing behind him rather than by his side or in front of him. Having the lead meant staying in charge, and he’d be damned if he’d let Gryphon take the lead today.
“I didn’t expect you to walk around here much. It’s not your scene I take it. Too ‘snobby’, or too ‘pretentious’. An entitled neighborhood if I take your descriptions of me as any hint of your thoughts about this area.” The ride down the elevator faced the park, easily seen through the glass windows. No matter what rude thing Gryphon would say next, he didn’t care. He loved his home, and the view, and the richness of it all. It was one of the few indulgences he took in life, and wouldn’t let anyone make him regret those choices.
“To be fair, I don’t go to the park, if ever. Perhaps once or twice to catch the subway on the other side, but there are greener parks if I want out be outside. Less pompous dogs to run into as well.”
“No reason for me to walk around here,” Gryphon replied with a shrug. He’d stick out like a sore thumb, probably get the cops called on him immediately even if he was doing nothing, and wind up shot or in jail. Not really his ideal situation. And it was presumably fine now because it was broad daylight, and he was with Landry. Landry looked like he ‘belonged.’
‘Pretentious’ was the exactly perfect word he would use, but he didn’t need to mention that out loud.
“Do you take the subway?” He asked, blinking as if this was a particularly strange admission. It was to Gryphon, who wouldn’t have imagined Landry taking any forms of public travel. He expected if someone so much as nudged blondie during the ride, they’d get an earful… And somehow couldn’t imagine Lan not getting a black eye from the ensuing conflict. Maybe he was nicer when he was surrounded. Or maybe people were just nicer to Landry to begin with. Gryphon didn’t know.
“I like the park,” he said with a shrug. “But I don’t usually go to the ‘city park’ type deals. You could walk right outside the city and have a whole forest in front of you. Pretty stuff, more to do. Just… nice.” Not any more out of the way for Gryph than this place was, and not quite so many… judgemental expressions.
"Does that surprise you?" A soft ding rang through the elevator, and Landry promptly left, not bothering to wait and see if Gryph was following behind him. "It's a matter of convenience. Saves on Gas, time when there's no delays, and most of the places I need to go are found right at the tail-end of a stop. No reason to struggle with driving in downtown if I can prevent it."
The amount of traffic that lined the roads was unbearable today... Likely caused by the event in the nearby park. Even just a few steps outside of the building he could see multiple food trucks in the distance through the trees. Atleast the crowd had yet to become heavy, a small blessing in this already awful heat.
"It's inconvenient to go too far. Not everyone has the time to simply drop what they are doing to go to a park without any sort of modern conveniences. The heat, the bugs, the pollen. It's simply awful."
“Well, yeah,” Gryphon admitted without a second thought as he trailed after Landry from the elevator. “There ain’t no peace and quiet on the subway, mate. And seeing as you seem to prefer being alone, just guess I assumed you’d not care much for taking the public transit if there was something with more, ah-” He rifled through the ways to successfully describe what exactly he was feeling. Something that sounded nicer than, ‘aren’t you a little too impatient to put up with that many strangers all at once?’ “...Controlled… variables.”
Something like that. Good enough.
He rolled his shoulders, and looked off in the direction they were headed. From where they walked and how close to the event they were, Gryphon inhaled the occasional whiff of something sweet, intermingling with the more pungent aroma of petrol from the street right next to them. And it was noisy, already, though Gryphon didn’t take much issue with noise.
It should be fun. He expected this degree of business on the road meant that it’d be even more crowded once they got there… Maybe Landry would enjoy it, so long as he was surrounded by other people enjoying it.
‘Simply awful.’
Gryphon’s gaze flashed down to him abruptly, then back ahead, the smallest of frowns appearing on his face as though he’d been personally offended. It shouldn’t matter if Landry liked to be outside or not, wasn’t like Gryph was trying to make him go, or anything. But neither did that change how simply ridiculous it sounded. “Oi, the heat and the bugs,” Gryphon mimicked in a high falsetto voice. “My delicate constitution can’t handle being in more’n twenty degrees, or my pasty white skin’ll just crisp right up!”
"There's a reason why headphones exist you know. Drown out all the people around me with whatever sounds I'd rather here. And yes, there are more awful moments with the more annoying people you may encounter, but all in all, it's just people trying to move about and mind their own business. " To Landry driving was far more effort than taking the time to sit on a subway. And while he would never take the bus, he was alright with the fact that if he got uncomfortable where he was, he could always get up and move to somewhere a little further away from the current nuisance.
When it was time to cross the street, he stepped forward with purpose, only briefly looking over his shoulder to make sure Gryphon was still with him. A man like that was likely to get lost on his own.
... Or hit by a bus bending down to pick up something shiny. Whatever patience Landry did have today, it certainly wasn't enough to stand witness to an incident like that.
Now that they were safely across the street, Landry paused, then turned to face Gryphon, his gaze cold and irritated, easily traced back to Gryphon's mocking.
"I don't have to be here. And I'm most certainly not sorry for having 'pasty white skin' or not liking bugs or having allergies. If you want to keep being a ******** a*****e, I'm going home, understood?" Curse was always something Landry thought to be far beneath him, but this man already had developed quite the skill to get under his skin. "Now will you stop taunting me, or am I going to have to leave?"
Gryphon had mentioned just the once that he might need direction, and Landry had taken the lead without a second thought. From at his back, Gryphon watched him: short blond hair fluttering against his shoulders, back straight, long strides… Landry probably always walked like he had somewhere to be and no time to waste getting there, a man in a constant state of needing someone to tell him, ‘it’s okay. You can relax.’
Sunny orange eyes flicked up quickly as Landry glanced back at him, and Gryphon gave a sheepish grin and a shrug. Shouldn’t take the lead if you didn’t want your backside getting checked out. Seemed logical to him.
Once they were across the road, and Landry turned on him, Gryphon felt most pressingly like he’d need more to explain the look, rather than the ‘taunting,’ but as Landry’s pretty purple gaze pinned him, Gryphon smiled back. “Oi, that temper, Lan…” He murmured in quiet amusement.
“C’mon, let’s at least move out of the way.” He reached, touching a hand low on Landry’s stomach and gently guiding him farther from the street and off the sidewalk, out of the path of anyone else who might be walking around them. “I’m not ‘taunting’ you, Lan. I’m just playing with you. You’re cute when you’re flustered. But being that much up in arms all the time seems real tiresome. You can breathe a little, a’right? I’m not laughing at you.”
In his agitation, Landry hadn't quite noticed the group of people he was blocking, nor the flashing light urging them all to get out of the way. It wasn't until Gryphon came closer and tried to move him that he noticed, face turning red from the audacity the man showed to move him along like he was nothing. And a little red from the fact that he was holding up foot traffic, and being made as if he was causing a scene in front of so many people.
Yes, most people didn't care, they had their own lives to lead and couldn't be bothered to do anything about the situation, but it still felt like there were suddenly man eyes on him and this overgrown Goliath beside him.
"I wouldn't be like this if you weren't such a... Ugh..." He couldn't summon up the words he wanted to use. How would you describe someone who so quickly put you to shame, teased you, and then acted like it was nothing? Unable to think of anything else, Landry turned again, walking as quickly as he could further down the path to the park. Relax?! There was no relaxing with Gryphon around.
... Damn did he want to go back home..
"Let's just get this over with..." The stands, the people, the sweet smells, they were all within view now... With a crowd this packed, it wouldn't be hard to lose the big man in the crowd while distracted.
".... You lead now. I don't know what I'm doing here. So just.. Hurry up and look around."
‘I wouldn’t be like this-’ And then he stormed ahead.
Gryphon tilted his head in confusion. It was painfully obvious how annoying Landry found him, and he still didn’t even completely understand what had led Landry to agree to come out with him this time at all, except that maybe he simply hadn’t had anything better to do and had wanted…?
Company?
The thought felt absurd the second it flicked through his mind, and Gryphon dismissed it immediately with a shake of his head. He severely doubted Landry wanted anything from him, ‘company’ or otherwise. Which still begged the question ‘why,’ but Lan was a closed-off, high-strung twerp, and Gryph couldn’t imagine getting any answers out of him.
Gryphon reached to snag Landry’s wrist, not pulling him to a stop, but slowing him. They weren’t in a rush. Park wasn’t going anywhere, and he walked at his side as they neared their destination. “Do you want me to walk you back home?” He asked quietly. Landry would probably be more content that way, particularly if he wanted to ‘get it over with’ and ‘hurry up.’ “I’m not trying to force you to be here, and I just… wanted to do something you didn’t do very often that you might like. If you want me to take you back home, I will.”
“But…” Gryphon smiled. “If you stay, I’ll get you an orange float. Those are my favorite.”
Again. There he was again with the touching, getting far too close, pulling him enough to slow down. Not wanting to be made a spectacle again, Landry headed towards a tent or two, beyond them, away from the rest of the crowds and out of sight of most of the guests. Now that they were hidden, that same, purple gaze looked up to meet that fiery orange one, The glare still there but slowly melting away the longer he stared at him. He didn't bother to pull his wrist away either.
What he was looking for, he wasn't sure. Maybe a reason to leave? Gryphon had given him more than a few so far. But he still didn't really want to go back home yet. All of this just bugged him.
"... Why do you even care about doing what I like?" Finally, the words left him and he sighed shaking his head. "You're not forcing me into this, no. I chose this, but it seems like you are taking this opportunity to dig at me every time you open your mouth. Have I been insulting out right? Have I taunted you? Yes, I've been reluctant, and a little irritable, but I feel as if I'm justified in all of this."
The only time he could recall shouting was when Gryphon had knocked on his door and called him a princess. And even then it was a question of manners, not an insult directly towards him.
"You lace your insults with compliments, going from calling me 'pasty' to then saying I'm cute. It's confusing, and uncomfortable, and if you're trying to make me like you more, you are failing horribly. And don't try to convince me with some temptation such as food. I'm not a child. Atleast pretend to have any sort of respect for me."
Gryphon ought to have taken the lead when the opportunity was presented to him. He’d somehow managed to assume that neither of them needed to ‘lead’ anywhere, since there was surely enough activity around that maybe they’d want to head in the same direction anyway, namely toward the festival’s namesake. But Gryphon’s fingers closed around Landry’s wrist, and even though the younger man did noticeably slow his pace, he still managed to dictate the direction they headed.
Away from the thickest of the crowds, out of earshot of most. Gryphon might’ve winced. He was well aware he may be lacking in intelligence, but Gryphon didn’t think he was so dumb that he didn’t recognize when he was being pulled aside in order to not make a scene.
Landry’s glare suggested he was still offended, so Gryphon folded his hands behind his back and took interest in the grass under his feet, instead.
He rolled his shoulders and shook his head. “I wish I had an explanation you’d make sense of, mate, but I just don’t. S’not like I know you very well, so I don’t have much to go on when I’m judging your moods, just… got a feeling,” Gryphon explained with a small frown. “A feeling that you should do more that makes you happy. I get that’s prolly not gonna be with me, seein’ I get on your nerves so much.”
“But you can’t blame me for wanting to see you smile once. I don’t like to end things on sour terms, and I wasn’t… great at that when we met. I do get why, just-” He shrugged.
There hadn’t been anything to do about it, that time. A job was still a job, and even though Landry had found it a great pain, Gryphon had needed to do what he’d been sent there to do. Having the other boy snap and refuse to budge hadn’t gotten Gryphon any farther in that goal. He had told him to call his sister… That might’ve made things easier…
But that was past. He didn’t know what he could’ve done to fix that then, but it seemed like there had at least been the opportunity for an easier day now.
“I’m not insulting you, Lan,” He murmured quietly. “Really, that’s not what I’m after. I dunno what you think you have to be insulted over, besides. I just wanted you to lighten up and enjoy the thing.” He gestured to the festival behind them. “So if you can’t, and you’d rather go home, you just have to say so.”
When Gryphon let go of his wrist, Landry's hands cross over this chest, expecting more and more excuses and foul words. Halfassed compliments and worming his way out of the conversation.
... To his surprise, he didn't.
Gryphon was so strange... Though it did make sense, even if it sounded like he was only trying to ease the guilt that came with his actions the first night they met. Still, it was a little impressive that he'd go so out of the way to make it up to him. No one else had done that for Landry; most people who Landry had initially failed to get along with stayed clear of him and his path. He was cruel, and liked to dig and dig at insecurities until his target backed off.
Gryphon wasn't like those people though. Even now, Landry didn't know what he could get out of taking a wound up mess like him out in the daylight.
After a little moment, Landry let his face relax fully. Not smiling, but atleast not glaring at the larger man like the worm he originally thought he was.
"You don't need to think that hard about what makes me happy. It's not your responsibility to care about my happiness, or to go out of your way to apologize for that night. But... If you are trying, I can try a little harder too. I am agitated, but... I do like cupcakes. And I do like the idea of an 'orange float'. We don't have to end this here or go back home if you can understand we don't share the same humor. Your 'lightening up' does not match what 'lightening up' to me means. Can you do that for me?"
“Well, no, I don’t need to,” Gryph agreed, scratching at the stubble along his jaw and glancing back toward the bulk of the festivities. Some might even say it would be easier, simpler not to concern themselves with anyone else’s happiness. ‘Some’ being a bit of an understatement, as far as Gryph understood it. ‘Most’ might be more accurate. Most people didn’t care about anything besides making sure they personally had the easiest go at life possible.
Gryphon, too, had to admit that he sure enjoyed easy. But it wasn’t like it cost him anything to try and make one blond kid who was way too young to be doing so much stressing smile.
“I like to, though,” he admitted with a shrug. “There’s enough foul going around, as is, and you just… don’t ever really know when it’ll be the end, y’know? Might as well not have any regrets about nothing, when you go.” Or only a few, anyway.
He grinned as Landry relaxed, and felt that this was probably the most reasonable thing he could hope for. Gryphon just needed to try to take it easy on him for now. It was just one day where he could try and tone it back for Lan’s sake. Give them a few hours to adjust to each other. It was fine. “I can do that, Lan,” he agreed with a nod.
“Now.” He turned, and started heading back toward the stalls. “Let’s go and find something with purple frosting.”
Landry didn't feel like he needed to say anything else, and simply nodded. It seemed Gryphon was capable of reasoning... That was good... A sign that things could be better between them.
"Alright, let's get going then." As he started returning back to where the crowds were, it took Gryph's wrist and tugged him along for just a moment, until they reached the pavement once more. This was fine, it would be fine.
Moving along, there were mountains upon mountains of cupcakes, cookies, honestly any sweet you could think of, though still mainly cupcakes. There were a few stands as well, one labeled 'Unicorn Treats' that seemed liked an entire sparkling rainbow of cupcakes... Most far to gaudy for him to normally take part in. But if that was what Gryph wanted, he'd indulge him, for now.
"I think that has the 'purple frosting' you're looking for. Did you want to buy one?"
There wasn’t much to do besides simply feel pleased that they’d managed to reach an understanding, even as temporary as one might expect it to be. Gryphon grinned as Landry took his wrist and tugged him back toward the festivities. He’d been going that way, already, but… Dang, Lan had soft hands, and it was nice to think maybe that day wouldn’t be as much a burden on the younger man as he’d made it seem.
And why should it be? Yeah, he wasn’t at home by himself moping, but it smelled nice out here. It was warm, but not hot. There was enough to mingle through without getting bored, though maybe that was just the colors of the tents and wares. Gryphon liked a bit of color…
Landry pointed out a particular pink-topped stall that looked as though a cotton candy machine had thrown up glitter and beads along the counter. Even the cupcakes were decorated in more layers of colored fondant and shaped sprinkles than Gryphon would know what to do with.
He almost couldn’t even see eating any of the treats for how much stuff was on top of them…
But he hadn’t wanted the treat to eat it to begin with, so that seemed fine. “Ya, wow,” Gryphon hummed, blinking in mild surprise as they drew closer. “I was thinking maybe there’d be just regular cupcakes, but this’ll work too.” As long as there wasn’t anything that had a face on it. He selected one that had a very pale blue horn sticking out of it, with a shiny of dust-like colorful sprinkles atop it, and soft purple icing. After paying for the treat, he held it out to Landry.
“Here, Lan. Will you hang onto it for a second? It’s just for looking, okay? Don’t eat it, yet.”
There were alot of people at this stand, he'd have to give it that. Unicorns were the 'in' thing right now, with it's pastel rainbow assortment of colors and glitter to attract those with a more child-like demeanor. Bubblegum and cotton candy were unpleasant tastes, but people still swarmed around them because it was 'pretty'. Why his companion wanted something as stomach churning as that just because of the color, he couldn't fathom why.
To his pleasant surprise, Gryphon had decent tastes in cupcakes. Yes, it was still very much purple and unicorn-y, there was not a single piece of disgusting fondant there. It was simple, in a way, and the flavors seemed to be more on the chocolate side of things, dyed deeply the same way one would make a red velvet cake.. And even more surprising, Gryphon gave it to him with the notion that he wasn't supposed to eat it.
"What? Why would you hand it over if I'm not mean to eat it?" At first he imagined it was so that Gryphon could put his wallet away, and perhaps pull out his phone to take a picture for Instagram or facebook or whatever... Then again, The man didn't seem like the type who would be interesting in that sort of thing... Or even really know what they are. And besides, he had said 'yet' so it did imply that Gryphon bought it for him.
How strange.
"If you were looking for regular ones, we could have kept going. I just assumed you wanted the most purple out there or some nonsense."
Gryphon glanced between the cupcake in Landry’s hands and back to the younger man’s face. “Hm.” It wasn’t the exact perfect match he wanted, and he had the vaguest sensation that Lan might be… miffed by the treat in his hand. Or maybe miffed by the unicorn stand in front of him. Or the crowd around them… Gryphon decided not to swell too much on the ‘why’ as he settled a hand on the small of Landry’s back and guided him from the stall.
He did have at least one more thing to pick up.
“Well, not the ‘most’ purple,” Gryphon admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Just one that kinda… looked like you, I guess.” Landry would think he was dumb. Gryphon was almost positive that no matter what he did, Landry would think it was ridiculous. Even when he said it out loud himself, it sounded off. Of course he had his own goal in the matter, but Gryphon didn’t elaborate further.
“Anyway. Orange float. That’s next.” He had promised one after all, and even if the rest of the day went terrible, Gryphon loved a good ice cream float. That would more than easily make up for it. “Are you alright with orange, or do you want a black cow, or root beer, or somethin’?”
But they definitely needed at least one orange. It wouldn’t look at good, otherwise. It also seemed that orange was a tad harder to come by than regular coke or root beer, but eventually, they wandered far enough along that someone happened to have cans of Sunkist and vanilla ice cream on hand, so Gryphon made a purchase of that, as well, and grinned broadly as he did.
‘Cute’ is what he’d kept calling the event. ‘It’ll be cute, Lan,’ he’d said when he offered. And it would be and was. But for all the fussing his blond comrade did, Gryphon still thought it’d be nice to have proof of the brief interim of camaraderie they’d shared.
“Here,” he beckoned Landry off to the side once he’d acquired what he was after. “You wanna hold the drink or the cake?”
Landry squinted at Gryph, still unclear of his purpose in giving him a sweet he couldn't eat. It looked like him. Now he squinted at the cupcake, raising an eyebrow at he very thought that he could look anything like that.
It seemed like Gryph was reaching for some sort of connection between him and the sweet threat... Whatever the case, he was wrong.
"If you say so. An orange float is fine. I don't think I've had one before." Rootbeer floats were a given, and he had eaten an orangecicle before. Perhaps it tasted the same way.
While Gryph stood in line to get his strange beverage, Landry wandered off, not too far out of sight, but just enough to purchase something before returning to Gryph's side. Upon the cupcake Gryph handed him now sat a small cookie, decorated to be a pair of glasses. Luckily it wasn't too big and didn't hide the top very much at all.
"Now, this looks like me." he held up the cupcake, showing it off to see what the other had to say about it. Landry, himself, found it a little entertaining, and gave a small smile at his own cleverness, though it dropped the moment Gryphon asked him to hold something else.
"Why?" Again, he asked, looking at the drink that was quickly gathering moisture on the outside. "If I'm going to hold something, I'm going to eat it. Why do you want me to hold anything anyway?"
‘Now, this looks like me.’ Gryphon stared at the cookie. His sunny irises flicked from the treat, to Landry’s face, then sharply back down. It was dumb, and Gryphon knew that if Landry even so much as sensed such a thought, he’d be snappish right again. But it was. It was dumb, and heat crept up his throat and toward his cheeks as Gryphon looked at the cupcake now. He would not have ever even conceived the thought that Landry would humor him in this way. Or any way, to be fair.
It was so dumb, and Gryphon loved it.
He laughed a low, rolling rumble as he grinned at the blond boy with him. “It’s beautiful, Lan. Looks good enough to eat, even.” But before all that, he still wanted that picture, that proof. It might have been nice to snap a surprise one while Landry smiled at his cupcake, but the moment was passed. He couldn’t remember if he’d even seen Landry smile before, as though very few things actually pleased him.
He’d smirked at Gryphon once, but that had felt somewhat malicious, given the situation. And still he wondered exactly what type of things pleased His Majesty Landry.
“Thought it might be nice to have a commemorative pic,” Gryphon told him, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “I don’t take ‘em often. Figure they’re just canvased memories to look back on, but I’m more of a… “here and now” kinda person. Don’t need to look back too much. But, ah- I dunno. This time seems like as good a time as any. Proof you went out on a date, and it wasn’t even all that upsetting for ya.”
“Now, c’mere and pretend that’s the best damn cupcake you’ve ever seen.” Gryph said as he dipped to Landry’s side. He draped the arm carrying his orange drink over the smaller man’s shoulders, and tipped to touch his head to Landry’s.
Probably best not to give Lan too much a window to argue, he decided, and he raised his phone to snap a quick selfie of the two of them.
He had only half-expected some sort of laugh from Gryphon, and when he got it, there was a sense of pride welling up inside of him. Short lived, but certainly there. While he wasn't frowning or anything, he did seem a little confused.
"A pic? You know how to use a cellphone?" This time Landry really didn't mean to be rude, he was honestly surprised by it, given Gryph's general capacity to not look like he knew anything at all. "Wait, a date?!"
Gryphon was right to try to hurry up and get the picture, which had caught Landry a little wide-eyed and pink cheeked. The moment it snapped, Landry wiggled away from him, putting a good arms-length distance between them and looked away, tring so very hard to force away the redness to his face. He hadn't been on a date before. No one had asked him on one before, atleast no one he had said yes to... Did that mean he had said yes to Gryphon's offer for a date?
"No one said this was a date!"
“You’ve seen me on my phone before. You took it right outta my hand!” Gryphon snorted, staring at his screen even as he spoke. It was not a smile, but then, neither had Gryphon really been expecting one, given the apparent rarity of Landry’s smiles and the impromptu nature of the picture. He might’ve liked to have had one just the same, but… Landry was cute, anyway. Holding his cupcake, and just starting to blush while Gryphon grinned at the camera with an arm around Lan’s shoulders. After a moment of consideration, he had to wonder if he’d ever seen Landry blush, either…
Turn red, certainly, but probably more from getting ready to pop a blood vessel over being annoyed at Gryphon’s presence, rather than… whatever was making him blush now. He didn’t know.
It was cute, and that was all he’d wanted it for. “Heh! You look real innocent, Lan. I’ll text it to ya.” He set to doing just that, and as Landry’s icon popped up on his phone, still being the picture of himself Landry had taken for him that day, it was easy to see that Landry just took cute pictures, in general. Even if they were meant to be malicious, as Gryphon still felt the smirk kind of was.
“Mmm, I said it was a date,” Gryph replied with a shrug as he hit send. “Before I left your house that first time. And you didn’t not say it wasn’t, so I figured in the same fashion you didn’t not say you wouldn’t go with me meant you agreed.”
Damn Gryphon and his logic! He was right, he had said it was a date, but Landry had thought it was in jest, teasing in the way that the man had already been known to do. He couldn't believe it, nor wrap his mind around it.
"Do you honestly believe this is a date? That i'd really date someone like you? You must be out of your mind! This is nothing but a... A... A field trip! That's it. Dates aren't supposed to go like this, they are supposed to be romantic!"
His eyes stayed on his phone, now scrolling aimlessly through the handful of pictures he’d ever taken with the device. Gryphon couldn’t say he was particularly interested in any of them, but it was better than listening to how adamant Landry was about making sure Gryph knew how unsuitable he was as a person. That’s what it boiled down to, wasn’t it? Landry was too good for him, worth too much more as an individual to concern himself seriously with Gryphon.
He sighed, clicked his phone to sleep, and stuffed it away into his back pocket. “Don’t figure whether you ‘would’ or ‘wouldn’t’ matters, since ya are,” Gryphon retorted with a shrug. “And since you are…”
Gryphon stepped toward him, one arm circling around to hold the back of Landry’s neck as he leaned in and down, lips hovering a scant inch from Landry’s ear. “Quit talkin’ like that,” he rumbled lowly. “Dunno what good it does ya, it is definitely don’t make anything feel romantic. So if that’s what your after, you could just lemme be nice to you. Quit trying to sabotage it.”
Landry loathed how technically right Gryphon was. he had no argument against it.. All he could do is stand there, flushed, irritable, and down right close to slamming this cupcake to the ground. But it had been a gift, and the cupcake did nothing wrong... It would be awful to punish the poor Landry look-alike for it's buyers trickery. Even if it wasn't in the least a trick.
When Gryph came in close, touching him, grumbling softly in his ear, something happened. The rage melted away, replaced by sheer embarrassment caused by the fact that he enjoyed that sound against his ear, and that warm breath on him. All he could do was manage a weak protest, and try to keep himself from completely losing thought. "... This is not how I imagined my first date to go, You... You're cruel.."
Landry did not often take particularly well to Gryphon’s attempts at friendly proximity, but even though that was the case, neither was Gryphon smart enough to expect it. To him, it felt like it didn’t have to be that way? Landry didn’t have to mind it, and Gryph wasn’t even doing anything particularly strange or sensually overwhelming. Seemed like just normal contact to him, things he’d do with his friends back home without even thinking about it.
Except Landry’s voice had gone quiet- weird, wasn’t it? And his rebuttal was only just barely even that. “C’mon, Lan, I’m not even,” Gryphon complained with a roll of his eyes as he leaned back and away from the other man. Cruel? Really? “Was tryin’ to be nice, at that…”
A new thought smashed hard and clear into his head, wiping any more argument clear off his lips. “Hey, wait, though? You’ve never been on a date? With how good you look? How old are you, anyway-” His eyes pinched together a fraction as the thought occurred to him. “Are you even old enough to go on a date…?” He’d definitely assumed Landry looked like an adult, but… Maybe all smaller people just kind of looked the same to him? Even with that possibility, though, he was still incredulous. ...Did Landry think he was too good for everyone?
That wouldn’t even be insulting so much as just… sad, really.
“Er, what did you think your first date would be like, then?”
He was over reacting. That’s right, he was, wasn’t he...? It didn’t feel right to keep acting this way, especially since he already said he would try to enjoy their time together. “I know, I know, I’m sorry..”
The apologize wasn’t really forced, it came naturally as he did feel bad after all this damned commotion he made before... “I am too old enough, I am 21. Just... Look, okay, I never really bothered with dating, no point, I don’t get anything from it most the time and there are too many users out there... And here’s another reason I didn’t think about it, You’re just going to tease me, aren’t you?”
He wasn’t flustered often. Hardly ever but right now he was, his face on fire and the thoughts of an ideal date came to mind, and none of it had Gryph’s face as his partner. “I don’t need to tell you. You don’t have any reason to know that just.. If this is a date now, then you owe me the best time! I don’t want no sad and sodden memory!”
“Ey, Lan, it’s a’right… You don’t have to be sorry.” Sorry? Gryphon might have frowned. For all the times he thought Landry maybe should have apologized for saying something dickish, this wasn’t one of them. That wasn’t to say Gryphon wasn’t a bit confused over how surprised and potentially disapproving Landry was toward the thought of his apparently first date, but it hardly merited a ‘sorry.’ Why was he that frazzled?
‘First’ things weren’t really so special, anyway, more a trial run than anything else. “How would you know you didn’t like it unless you tried it, besides?” To Gryphon, first things tended to be the worst in a sequence of things. Didn’t know what you were doing, didn’t know what to expect, easy to mess up.
He reached, taking up Landry’s hand again and guiding him farther from the crowd. “Just think about it like this, if something goes wrong, or you don’t like it, at least you’ll know better for next time. And if your first is with me, you don’t have to worry about disappointing someone good enough for you, that you really like. It should be the easiest date you’ll ever have.”
He could save the teasing for a little bit later, when Landry wasn’t red-faced and already thinking him as ‘cruel.’ Gryphon couldn’t, however, suppress a snort of, “Oi, twenty-one. Only barely an adult, then.”
“Ey, you can eat that now, by the way,” he said, gesturing to Landry’s cupcake with the hand still holding his drink. “And do you still want to try this?” He held up the orange liquid. “I figure we can go find a tree or something to sit under a minute ‘til you calm down some. Or maybe there’s benches near the pond…”
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:10 pm
"Simple, really.. I don't like people." Again, he muttered, allowing his hand to be taken by Gryphon and pulled out of the crowd once again. Atleast this time he wasn't causing a scene... His face only grew more hot at that recent memory. "That's just it, Gryphon, I don't want to think this is going to go wrong. Maybe I didn't think i agreed to it, but it's still my first, I want it to be good... I already had my first kiss taken from me. Maybe it's foolish to put so much importance on anything that's a 'first time' but I still do... You can respect that atleast, right?"
Why was he still talking? Why did Vitriol come to mind again? He hated thinking about him and that night where their friendship nearly ended. Holding Gryphon's hand in his own was a good solid tether to keep his mind from wandering there, and he did all that he could to push that whole hectic, heartbreaking time to the side.
Gryph's hand was different in all ways... Size, shape, warmth... And the fact that there wasn't any pretense for it... No 'I'm doing this because you like it'. It came naturally and in a way, Landry didn't want to let his hand go.
So he didn't.
"Doesn't that say something about you, wanting a date with a 'barely adult' then?" The cupcake had nearly been dropped a few times already... He wasn't in any shape to eat it right now either, not with his stomach raging at him from the abnormal range of emotions he was going through. ".... Alright, sure. We can go sit. I'll be fine, just give me a few minutes to recompose myself. You are far too good at getting under my skin for comfort."
Gryphon snorted in amusement- he didn’t like people, really? That sucked, considering how many of them there were, here or anywhere. But considering Landry’s peculiar temperament over the past few minutes, the second the sound escaped Gryphon’s throat, he turned his gaze toward the sky and tried to make it sound more like a cough. It was still silly, even if he didn’t want to admit it openly to the younger man.
His feelings about “firsts,” too, were just a tiny bit ridiculous. It just didn’t make sense to Gryphon to expect a first go at something to be all that impressive. It was like… writing your first alphabet and expecting it to look pretty. It just didn’t. Practice would make it better.
But he couldn’t say that out loud, either.
“A’right, a’right, Lan. Guess it’s lucky it’s not my first date. Might be able to come up with a couple things you might not think are too bad.” It was still only the second time he’d met Landry, though. Still flying relatively blind, besides what he’d picked up from their first meeting… “Might help if I knew a little more about you.” No particularly specific came to mind besides, “How was that first kiss, then?”
The second time an amused snort escaped him, he didn’t try so hard to hide it. “Oi, I guess it does say something about me. Nothing real good, I guess, but how am I to help it? You’re too cute, and I’d like to see you smile. Seems a rare thing. Good goal to have...”
He guided them away from the majority of the people. There really was no way to escape all of them, especially as they moved toward the edge of a small lake. The wildlife had attracted children with slices of bread in their hands, and that in turn had attracted a flock of ducks and geese. Best to keep a reasonable distance from those… “Here,” Gryph hummed, leading Landry to sit on a stone bench. “Guess it won’t be quiet, but look how cute the ducks are! Trailing after the kids like that…”
"Like having acid pushed into my mouth. Or really awful heartburn." There was no lie there, that first kiss having been an attack that forced Vitriol's poison into his mouth. No affection or sweetness, no emotional meaning behind it, just a way to end the fight. The thought of that kiss made him want to vomit...
It took a moment of silence to push away those thoughts, ignoring Gryphon's admission of guilt and comments about wanting to see him smile. By the time he inwardly pulled himself together, they were sitting on the stone bench and watching children slowly but surely be swarmed by the birds.
"... I guess it is cute."
Oh. Gryphon cast an incredulous look down to his companion. Acid sounded like a rather intense exaggeration, but maybe it wasn’t. Landry seemed the type to work himself into a lather with relative ease. If he had so much issue with just a date, Gryphon supposed he could imagine the younger man getting an anxiety akin to acid over a kiss.
He couldn’t remember quite so much excitement over his own, though, no anxiety or even really embarrassment. Gryphon didn’t think he’d embarrassed all that easily back home when he was younger… To be fair, he didn’t remember any strong feelings so much as just the girl he’d kissed. ...She hadn’t really been the type to blush easily, either.
But Landry probably didn’t care about any of that.
Gryphon shook his head and took a slow swig of orange drink. Lan was particularly unhelpful in making it a ‘good’ first date, though. Maybe they should’ve done something more standard, like go out to eat or to see a movie… Less interaction with the people he didn’t like, anyway. “Mm… Here.” He passed the drink to Landry. “Hold this for a sec. Try it, okay? It’s good. I’ll be right back.” He stood and moved away before any argument could be made.
The noise that came from the children giggling at the birds was different than the sounds of the crowds that were gathered behind them. It was much more peaceful, and it helped that Landry rather liked children. It was calming, and much more quickly than he expected, he calmed down.
When he looked down, he was still holding Gryphon's hand, and quietly let it go, folding his hands in his lap, the cupcake off to the side.
"Where are you...?" It was too late, he companion was gone, leaving him with a drink in his hands. Landry did say he was going to try it, and absently took the straw between his lips.
Gryph was right... It was good.
He’d never actually gotten any information on what Landry wanted in a first date, besides that he wanted it to be ‘worth it.’ Gryphon had no idea what that entailed. Not people, probably. Landry didn’t like people. He probably didn’t really want to be outside either, given how ‘awful’ the bugs and the pollen, and… whatever else he’d said were. Seemed to Gryphon like this was probably not a great environment to cultivate a good first date.
It was too late to do much about it, since they were already here, so he couldn’t change the location, and Gryphon was pretty sure Landry only barely tolerated him, as well.
Not much to do about that, either.
Other things, other things. Cute things, because Gryphon liked to do and see and be part of cute things. He couldn’t even say with any certainty how happy cute things made Landry, though. To be honest, he was quite difficult to please. Landry wouldn’t tell him almost anything, himself, but maybe if he asked Lan’s twin, she would be more forthcoming…
It was perhaps the span of a handful of minutes before Gryphon returned to Landry’s side. Anything he did would be dumb, he knew that, and he figured landry probably expected that. But dumb and cute weren’t often entirely exclusive.
“Ey. Close your eyes, Lan.”
By the time Gryph returned, Landry had drank half the float, and licked all the frosting off the top of the cupcake absently. Dull ache that came from eating something too sweet was hard to ignore and provided a good distraction. That, and the fact that the ducks were now chasing the children around was amusing.
If all park visits could be so entertaining, perhaps he could handle being outside more.
Gryph's return signaled the end of that peace, and he sighed softly, giving a small nod as he closed his eyes. What was the worst he could do?
Relatively uninformed decision or not, Gryphon didn’t think Landry would be able to find anything wrong with his little excursion besides that it was dumb and maybe a waste of time. But at very least, it wouldn’t be offensive. He leaned toward the younger man, and reached to tuck the short stem of a vibrant white flower behind Landry’s ear.
“I, ah- I kinda like being outside, y’know?” Gryphon said as held a second one, white with deep violet around the stamen that looked like the strokes from a paintbrush. “I dunno too much about anything, really, but I know a little about flowers and birds and stuff like that.”
He held the flower beneath Landry’s nose. “This one’s a dianthus. It smells kinda like cinnamon.”
They’d passed it during the walk from the festival toward the lake. Whoever kept the park grounds must have planted some along the walkway, but the bush wouldn’t miss two or three blossoms. Gryphon didn’t know much about how first dates should go, but flowers were cute, and girls seemed to like to get them when they went on dates...
Landry opened his eyes the moment that he felt Gryph's hand brush his ear, and reached up, feeling around for what it was. A flower...? Strange.
And just as strange was the flower in his face, but he gave in, giving a small sniff. He was right, it did smell like Cinnamon.
... Gryphon was right about alot of things it seemed. "It's lovely... Simple, but... There's something nice about it. "His gaze went from the flower to the man at his side... At the end of the day, even with how annoying he could be, there was something nice about him too. He tried to be good. And effort did mean something to Landry.
"I think you told me that before, liking being outside." Had he? Was that today or from before? While he couldn't remember when, he did remember it being said. "What do you like about it?"
Gryphon was no flower connoisseur. Gardening wasn’t a hobby he undertook, and heck, he didn’t even have a lawn that needed tending. There really wasn’t much he knew about plants. He twisted the stem of the second flower between his fingers. Any experience he had with them was just a weird happenstance. A woman he’d stayed with after flying to America had had something like these in her garden…
He rolled his shoulders. “Always liked it, I guess,” he replied to Landry. “My ma was always outside with her mates, when I was real little, so happened that I was outside too. Think we musta spent most of our time surfin’ and barbecuing and just… looking up.”
Always looking up toward the boundless expanse of sky consistently overhead. Sunny, rainy, cloudy- it didn’t matter. Any other troubles going on in their lives might have felt insignificant in the face of just… looking up.
“Just nice.” He shrugged. “Lots a colors- green and blue and the like. Things just minding their own business, not bothering you if you don’t bother them. Enough to do and see without getting bored. Pretty sounds: birds and bugs chirping, leaves rustling, water rippling… Y’know, just things like that.”
"I see...Sounds like you enjoyed alot of that time with your mother." Gryphon seemed to have a story similar to his own. While not exact, there was the tie between family and what they liked doing. As he thought more about it, he pulled the flower from his ear, copying him and gazing down at the flower in his hand.
"I was like that alot too with my dad, sharing what he loved to do. But it wasn't being outside. We were indoor people, and we loved to bake. Ah, but anyway, where are you from? And how's your mother now? Do you still go do those things with her, just watching the outside?"
“I did…” In his young mind, everyone had enjoyed spending time with her. Koori had been vibrant and lively, perhaps crass in some ways and maybe a little bit eccentric, but fun and weird. It hadn’t taken him particularly long to realize that there weren’t a great many people who named their kid ‘Gryphon,’ and his mother had clearly enjoyed being a little strange and uninhibited.
Gryphon was not quite so brave as his mother had been.
He chuckled softly at Landry’s admission, a grin cracking across his face. “Oi, I bet you were ‘inside people…’ You’re good at that baking, though, aren’t ya? Always smells nice at your place.” At least it had the couple times Gryphon had been there, which was, admittedly, only twice. The vaguest recollection of Landry snapping at him about ‘being alone in the world’ came back to him from their first meeting, and Gryph sat back on the bench at Landry’s side, leaning to brush his shoulder.
Landry was only barely a few years older now than Gryphon had been when his mother passed… And he didn’t even know how long ago that had been for Landry.
“Er, I was born in Australia, in Brisbane. Been about fifteen years since I been back there. Little longer since I did much of anything with my ma. She’s… not around, anymore, y’know.” Landry got it, Gryphon was sure. “...An’ you? How long’s it been?”
"That we were. Dad liked the outside more than I did, but he was patient with me. Took the time to learn what I liked and didn't like to better get along with me. It's due to his diligence I bake at all. Thank you. A nice baked treat always smells better than canned air fresheners." The way the conversation was going, Landry had an idea what was going to be said next. There was lots of past tenses, and because of that, he didn't mind Gryphon leaning against him a little bit.
And he was right.
"I'm sorry to hear that... My dad's been gone too... Mom too, about five years now, I think... We've always been here in Destiny City though. Why did you decide to leave Australia?" He wasn't going to get too deep into that story. Gryphon could make assumptions on his own. Instead he passed the orange drink back to the older man and chose to quiet himself by eating the remainder of the cupcake.
Even Landry’s parents had had to learn how to get along with him. It seemed unusual to Gryphon, who hadn’t had any such struggles with his mother and didn’t really know that much about his dad to begin with. But he severely doubted his old man would go through too many hoops to try and get along with him in any fashion. So Landry must’ve always been impossible to please.
Probably more so, after his parents were gone. He’d still been a kid, even. Five years ago, and he was twenty-one now, so… fifteen or sixteen? Surely not old enough to live alone. Not even out of school, then!
Gryphon had been an adult at least, and of reasonably sound mental state, he figured. And by the time Koori had gone, they’d been praying for it… No one wanted to sit and watch a slow, drawn-out death…
Even so, it never seemed to matter how long ago these things happened.
He took the drink as Landry passed it and sipped it thoughtfully. These weren’t the topics he preferred to dwell on when there wasn’t anything to be done about the past. “No reason not to,” Gryph replied with a shrug. “My dad lives here, wanted me to come out and be nearby, but he’s got a family and all that, so not really my place to intrude on that, yknow?”
Landry’s mind wandered to his own family, what happened after his parents had died. All those greedy hands and wandering eyes that wanted Lori and himself to submit to them. It was always money, corrupting everything it came in contact with, to the point where he had no choice but to break off on his own with Lori in tow.
“So you basically have no one? What about friends?” Landry now eased himself against Gryph, finding a bit of connection with both of their losses. “If you’re all alone, though I doubt that’s the case, but hey, I’ll consider it anyway, how about this? I miss baking and cooking for people, and I’m sure you want to share whatever it you do outside legally... If this “date” goes well, we can maybe spend more time together. Me having you around for what I like, and me sparing some time to see what you like. Then perhaps you won’t be so alone.”
His own loneliness aside, it seemed like a decent thing to offer if Gryphon was going to be so pitiful.
“Oi, I dunno if I’d say I had no one,” because that sounded entirely too pitiable and negative in a way that Gryphon didn’t really appreciate seeing his life. It was true that he didn’t feel particularly close to anyone, but was it was necessary to? The people he conversed with on a regular basis were the sort of people who’d… flip a tortoise on its back for fun. They weren’t excellent people, and a decent handful of them weren’t even sober or in their right minds but thirty percent of the time…
Gryphon attended the same type of events Landry’s sister could sometimes be found at, and it happened that others who happened to be present were interesting for the handful of minutes they bothered with him. All of them: his cohorts, the party-goers, the drug addicts- Gryphon didn’t mind them.
He certainly didn’t consider them friends, but he didn’t mind them. And with that swarm around, he could hardly say there was no one.
It was fiiiiiine.
Though there wasn’t much to say in argument to Landry’s assertion of ‘no one.’ So he didn’t. Instead, he slipped an arm around Landry’s shoulders as the younger man leaned against him. If anyone was pitiful here, Gryphon certainly hoped it wasn’t himself.
“Hey, I do plenty legally,” he scoffed, mock turning his nose up in the air. “An’ I think I’d like that. Not gonna lie, nobody’s baked anything for me… erm… ever, I think. So, I’ll try anything you got!”
"I did say I doubted that was the case you know." It was hard to imagine Gryphon was all alone out there. He was loud and annoying, so no one could really miss him if he tried to stand out. And some people did like that sort of thing, especially when they were the sort of people Lori hung out with.
Landry had Vitriol, and Obie, but that was it. Another 'friend' wouldn't hurt... And Gryph did seem rather intent on keeping him company so the more he thought about it, the more Landry liked the idea of being more in control of their situation. He could make the effort to want to get along.
"I'm sure you do. But as I said, if this date goes well, we can do that. So far... I'll mark the beginning of our date with you bringing me this flower. If you'd like another picture then... I'll smile for it too."
It still seemed pretty difficult to argue with the notion that Landry was not particularly easy to get along with. He was a good kid, sure! But difficult to please, if nothing else. “The beginning...” Gryphon groused, only half-teasingly. Here he’d been expecting Landry to be ready to get out of the sun and away from the commotion and head home, but that wasn’t typically how you progressed from the ‘beginning’ of a date…
Still, there were worse things.
Again, though, Gryphon had to wonder if he ought to mention that he was open to hearing what kinds of things Landry might expect for his ‘first date,’ since it seemed to be so meaningful to him, and the younger man flickered through emotions much faster than someone with Gryphon’s mental capacity could keep up with.
Instead, he just grinned and idly toyed with his phone between his fingers, gaze wandering anywhere except Landry’s face. “Mm, while we’re talking about pictures… What you figure the chances of getting you to sit on my lap are?”
"Yes, the beginning." As for what he wanted exactly from a date... He didn't know. A date could be anything... And so far, it involved, getting flowers was the start. Not a bad start all things considered.
It was so nice, for a brief moment, the connection they had between them, and the agreement to try to have a good date was leaving Landry feeling pretty good..
And then came the question about sitting in Gryphon's lap... Why did he have to say that? Landry had been calm, finishing his cupcake without much thought, then his face grew red again, brighter than before.
"What sort of person sits on a date's lap the first time they hang out?!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:11 pm
Oi, ‘difficult to please’ might not even begin to describe Landry, considering how much this boy seemed to expect of him. But perhaps that was the fun of it… Trying to live up to the impossible expectations of someone only just barely starting to warm up to him. If Gryphon was any less patient of a man, they wouldn’t even have made it here.
So it was going well, then, wasn’t it? What better could he have reasonably hoped for? Landry was only minimally snappish, and Gryph even had his arm around him at one point…
He grinned sheepish at the flush the brightened Landry’s face, and held up his hands defensively at the younger man’s demanding question. “S’pose I was hopin’ you’d be that sort of person?” Gryphon replied uncertainly as he rubbed at the back of his neck.
It didn’t seem so bad to him? Maybe they weren’t quite friends yet, but they were on a date- Landry had admitted that much. And sometimes it happened that things got a little flirty on dates.
“Just thought it’d be a cute picture. Dunno if you realized yet how much of a selfie all this-” He gestured down his own quite bulky frame. “Takes up. C’mon, Lan. It’d be cute. You know it’d be cute. Not even asking to kiss you or grope you or anything- And oh. Second. It’s the second time we’ve hung out.” Because the first time, for all Landry’s complaints and rage, definitely still counted.
"Gryphon..." Landry's voice was low again, a warning for him to cut the nonsense. Did people really do things like this on the first date? While he wasn't stupid, all his experience from those dating games... Kinda did point to something like this, didn't it? But in those cases, the protagonist wanted to have those sorts of experiences, not just be half-haphazardly forced into considering their outing a date.
... No, he shouldn't think about it that way. After another moment of trying to fix his face to stop being so red, Landry forced himself to look at Gryphon fully. "You don't get both. Either choose a smile, or choose me in your lap. You're asking for too much too soon, I hope you understand that."
Asking too much? Was he serious? Way to make it sound like Gryphon was asking for the sun, or- or his innocence or something like that. What a whiner. He really was. Gryphon groaned softly and rolled his eyes. Lan was like someone’s oversensitive and too-wary parent. ...Except the kid he was fretting over happened to be himself. And what he was fretting over was-
Well, Gryphon didn’t actually know.
He didn’t know what Landry thought would happen if he sat too close to him or smiled or-? He just didn’t get it. Didn’t get what was so hard or wrong about just having a good time where there weren’t even any real consequences for it. Oh no, someone saw you hanging out with another person and enjoying it. What a travesty.
“Oi, Lan. I’m not gonna force you to do anything if you’re just going to stress about it,” Gryphon grunted with a shake of his head. It wasn’t unreasonable for him to want Landry to want to smile at him… “Don’t worry about it, a’right?” He rose back to his feet as he said it and turned his attention back to the festivities. “Wanna go see if they’re doing any games? Or maybe they’re judging some kinda baking event somewhere and will let people taste if they time it right.”
Landry stood up just as Gryphon did, moving to block him from going too much further. "You said you wanted a picture, so let's take one. Why are you giving up on what you want so fast? You did this before now, didn't you?"
He thought back to the time when they were on the couch, to when Gryphon first asked him to go to this place then immediately withdrew the request. It was the same as that time, wasn't it? Well, he had finally given into the idea of a date, and he wasn't about to let stubbornness on Gryphon's part ruin it. Instead he placed his hand on the man's shoulders and pushed him back to sit on the bench.
"We aren't leaving this spot until we get you your picture."
Done what before? Gryphon blinked and tipped his head as the smaller man moved to stand in front of him. “Ey? I’m not giving up on nothing,” he retorted. “I did take a picture of us earlier, so s’not like I’m missin’ out.” While Landry apparently remembered some tidbit that Gryph had forgotten, Gryphon didn’t actually have any idea what the blond man was talking about this time. Something he’d done before? Maybe just… walking away from Landry? Yeah, he distinctly remembered not doing that the first time they met, and Lan had been upset about it then. Something else, then. Just that Gryphon couldn’t place what the hell he was talking about.
His brow quirked as Landry’s hands moved to his shoulders, and Gryphon allowed himself to be guided backwards to sit back on the bench. Really, what did Lan think he was standing in front of that he could just body-block him like that. If Gryphon was a more adamant was, standing in front of him to stop him from going anywhere would’ve done little good…
He wasn’t, though.
“You’re acting put-upon, Lan,” Gryphon told him. “I keep asking you what you want, and you don’t really tell me much, but I get the impression that neither do you like pretty much anything I want. Figure that’s why it’s a ‘one or the other’ situation with you, because you don’t really want to do either.”
"What I want? I want to try to enjoy this first date, despite it not seeming that way. I don't mind smiling, I don't hate smiling, but I do not want to sit in your lap. We're not that close and I don't like to be touched." Gryphon sounded like he wanted honesty, so he would give it. That small bit of distance between them grew as he pulled his hands away from the man's shoulders then sat down beside him.
"I do like this event though... It was a good idea. I want to see the contests, and maybe buy something to take home. As for the whole 'date' thing, I don't know what I want in regards to that, because I haven't been given time to think about it. Yes, there were 'first date' ideas I had, but it didn't register in my mind as a date until you pointed it out. I figured then, perhaps you'd have a better idea of what you wanted to do, I would follow. I did say I was going to give more of an effort to be pleasant, so I am."
‘I don’t mind smiling.’
Gryphon snorted softly, amused. What a funny, noncommittal way to say that. It was almost akin to ‘I don’t mind being happy, but I’m really mostly indifferent.’ To being happy. Like he could take it or leave it, which was insane, wasn’t it? He couldn’t think of anyone who didn’t actively want to be happy.
“What would it take?” Gryphon prompted, choosing to ignore the ‘not liking to be touched’ bit despite Landry having made to touch him… at least as often as Gryphon had, right? Including just then, when the younger man had put his hands on Gryphon’s shoulders, and of all the times he had complained about something Gryphon did, it felt like if it was true, it would’ve come up earlier- But no, whatever, it wasn’t important right now. He wasn’t trying to be distracted. “What would it take to make you smile for real?”
Apparently not being on an impromptu first date. Though how was Gryphon supposed to have known it was a first-first? It was still crazy to think that someone of Landry’s age and as beautiful as he was, and how could no one have asked him-
But Gryphon wasn’t going to allow himself to be distracted.
“Maybe if you didn’t put so much pressure on it, you’d have a better time? I don’t even know you well enough to know what kinda stuff you’d be into, so…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t even have to be a date, Lan. You’re thinking about it too hard, really.”
"I've already smiled today. Specifically, I smiled when I amused myself by doing something silly, with the cupcake and the glasses." It had been small and brief, but that little bit of foolishness had made him smile. "That's a hard thing to ask someone, isn't it? How to make them smile. I don't want anything from you. No gifts or anything like that. I did like the flower though..."
Maybe if the conversation hadn't moved to talking about their parents and what they had lost, he would have smiled then too.
"It just comes naturally, I guess. Don't most of them happen that way? I know I'm putting too much thought into the whole "first date" thing, but I can't help it. Society in itself makes first dates, first kiss, first anything such a big deal, it's hard not ot make it feel like it. Perhaps back in your day it wasn't like that, but it is now. Then again... I don't often care about what people think about me. Except apparently in this case when I'm around you." Landry felt it was a bit much to admit... Yet there was no real reason to lie about it. Gryphon would probably just snort again if he didn't say anything else.
"I'm at the point now that I want to try to like you. Yes, you get on my nerves pretty easily, in the couple of times we've met, but you're not bad, if that makes sense. Of the people I've been around lately, I hate you least. Maybe not even at all. And that's a start."
“Eh, maybe. But that wasn’t a happy smile,” Gryphon argued as he stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back, propping his palms on the edge on the bench to support himself. “It was more of a… kinda-sorta-almost-amused half-smile, instead of the whole real thing.” Far from the ‘having a good time unrestrained grin and maybe laughing’ that Gryphon might have been hoping for. And somewhat expecting, if he was being honest with himself. It just shouldn’t be that difficult to enjoy yourself.
His brows pinched as he thought. Landry had offered to smile for him, then, just now, but that’d be a far cry from the ‘natural’ the other man expected it should be. Gryphon wasn’t going to complain or gripe or argue vehemently about it, but somehow it also didn’t seem right? If he didn’t mean it, if he wasn’t actually happy then why would Gryphon want it?
“Might be hard for someone like you, I guess,” he conceded with a shrug. “Someone as hard to please and spoiled as a princess. “Don’t think it’s really all that difficult for most people, though.” Gryphon could probably make a list of things that made him happy enough to smile.
But he wasn’t as difficult to please as a princess, himself. “You know I’m only like ten years older than you, right?” Perhaps a bit more, but there was hardly a need for talk of ‘back in his day’ when he wasn’t an old man, yet! He absently scritched at a cement etching on the back edge of the bench. Quiet insect chirps came from the water’s bank before them. This should not have been so unbearable a time that Landry had to offer him coerced smiles.
“Would you let me try again, then?” Gryphon asked on a low hum. “Next time? A second ‘first date’ that you can be more prepared for?” If Landry wanted to ‘try’ to like him, he had to be expecting at least one or two more encounters?
"I wouldn't call me spoiled or a princess, just someone who knows what they like and aren't afraid to say what they don't like." Everything seemed to be winding down. Which was good for Landry because the sun was slowly becoming too much for him. As nice of a day it was, he was ready to head back inside where the AC could create a sweet blissful environment to rest in.
After a moment of considering the question, he shook his head, looking over at the fair that was still going on behind him. The people swarmed still, buzzing over sweets and slowly settling into that food coma that was surely coming. The day wasn't bad...
"No, I don't think I want to have a second 'first date' with you. I think this was memorable enough on it's own. We talked, we learned things about one another, I know more about you, your family, and you know more about mine. A little bit of likes and dislikes, isn't that what dates are for? That and determining whether or not you want a second? While not picture perfect, in my mind, I think it went well enough." Landry held out a pale hand, hoping that Gryphon would take the hint and stand up to walk with him more. "I'd rather it just be a second date."
Gryphon snorted loudly and smothered the sound with a hand over his mouth. There was not a single ounce of hesitation in his mind that he’d call Landry a spoiled princess. Blondie had to be completely oblivious himself to not see it! “Yyyyyyeah, it’s not really a ‘because of what you say’ type of thing…” He tried to explain. Lots of people could know what they liked and didn’t like and not be spoiled about it, but just saying that much probably wouldn’t please His Majesty. “It’s more of a… ‘you know what you want and expect it’ situation.” And Landry had a lot of expectations. Impossible to live up to, even.
Which was probably why he was always so grouchy. All that disappointment going around.
Gryphon wasn’t so dumb as to think he could keep up with Landry’s high expectations indeffinitely, but he’d settle for not completely bombing one day, and it seemed like he had maybe accomplished at least that much. He shot a sheepish smile at Landry for the offered hand, and felt himself relax at the weirdly innocuously peaceful gesture.
It couldn’t be all bad if Gryphon would be permitted to take Landry on a second date. “Even better,” he replied on a hum as he slipped his fingers around Landry’s and pushed himself to his feet. “There won’t be none of that impossible-to-satisfy first date hype you’re so on about.”
“Anything else you wanted to do, mate? Watch a competition or get a tshirt or anything like that?” Gryphon asked as his attention swiveled back toward the festivities.
"I suppose I can't deny that. If I don't get what I want from something, why bother with it? Why give my time to something I don't enjoy or am not curious about." ... Alright, with it being a little more explained, he could say he was entitled but whatever. He wasn't ashamed of it in the least.
Landry wasn't sure what he was expecting when he held out his hand to Gryphon. Maybe in his mind, he was still the "prince" not the "princess" and Gryphon would take his hand gently and in the more... Submissive role, for lack of a better explanation. But no, even in this, it felt like Gryphon took charge and made his face flare up red again.
"... I uh.." His eyes were glued to their hands for a long moment, before he turned his head back over to the festivities behind them. "A t-shirt or something would be nice, but I think I'm ready to go home. I've had my fill of people for the day."
“Hmm…” Gryphon’s gaze wandered back over his shoulder to Landry. ’If I don’t get what I want from something, why bother with it?’ It wasn’t that he didn’t get the concept behind the thought. Even Gryphon felt that if there was no good to come from doing something, it might not be worth the effort. But he also knew what good he expected to come from this scenario. He knew what ‘good’ he wanted, and for all the younger man’s irritation and expectation, he didn’t think it was unattainable.
Yet he wasn’t sure the same was true for Landry.
‘Whatcha get from bein’ here with me, then?’ The question came suspiciously close to his lips. Landry hadn’t liked him before and only seemed fractionally more understanding now. Why had he agreed to come to the festival with Gryphon in the first place? Not to make Gryph feel better about himself, obviously, not to please Gryph’s whims about trying to get him to smile…
He didn’t ask, though. The question didn’t feel important enough to outweigh the chance that Landry would see it as anything besides a reason to get defensive, so instead, he simply led the younger man from the grassy ring around the pond and back toward the sweet smell of baked goods. “Let’s pick you out a cute one, then. What color do you like? Do you wear black? You’re so light, it probably looks good against your skin. And blacks always a sexy color, anyway.”
Holding hands with Gryphon was completely different than either times he had held hands with Vivre. They weren't furry, or monstrously huge, nor were they those petite hands he had at times. It felt weird being the smaller one here and he couldn't tell whether or not he liked it. Even so, he knew there was no way he was letting go... Call it a vice, but holding his hand felt like a guilty pleasure, one he wasn't sure if he was allowed to indulge in just yet.
... Of course he could. they were on a date after all.
"No, not black.. I like green more. Greens and purples... Perhaps some reds too... But I'll indulge you and let you pick it out for me. If nothing else, I can always simply wear it about the house."
“Ey?” Gryphon blinked, confused by even that simple of a statement. “‘Not black,’” he repeated, incredulous. “Even when it’s- ah- when it’s-” He fumbled for the word he thought most suited to sound appealing to the blond boy at his side, flicking the fingers on the hand not currently wrapped around Landry’s through the air as if to help encourage the right word to come to him. “Trendy?” he tried. “In?” He’d said sexy earlier, because it definitely was, but that something that everyone liked. It struck him as strange that someone as fashion forward as Landry would decide specifically ‘not black.’
Not that Gryphon thought purples and greens wouldn’t look good on him, because, really, most things probably looked good on Landry, but it still seemed so damn strange.
And Gryphon liked black, so if he was going to be allowed to pick it out (though he couldn’t quite parcel out the reason for why Lan would grant him that), there was going to be black. He peered around the stalls, guiding Landry along behind him as he glanced over various wares that did all mostly involve baking to some degree.
Then, as they neared the selection of tents closest to entrance they’d come in at, Gryphon decided he knew what he wanted. He’d said ‘t-shirt’ initially, but at the last possible instant, Gryph decided no. As comfortable and relaxed as t-shirts looked (and Landry desperately needed some of that in his life), there were better things. Gryphon made purchase of the largest hoodie he could find, black, with a cute graphic on the front that he thought spoke intimately of Landry’s general mood. He was grinning when he held it up for the other man’s inspection.
"What? Am I not allowed to have preferences? I don't ALWAYS dress by what's in, you know. I have favorites, I like things and I don't, it's as simple as that, don't think too hard about it, you'll pop a vein or something. And besides, it's too hot to wear black in the summer. It's 'in', yes, but unless it's a good material or breezy, you're just going to melt, and I already hate being hot." Clearly, as they walked around the stands, Gryphon had no intention in listening to him, since it seemed like he simply bee-lined for something black.
And since he offered for the older man to pick, he couldn't exactly refuse.
It was extremely hard to not snort at the hoodie he picked up and displayed so proudly. That damned grin added to the scene, and Landry couldn't help it, he smiled, just a little. That hoodie was exactly what he didn't ask for, but suited him all the same. ".... You know that's the wrong size, right?"
“Won’t be summer forever,” Gryphon retorted as he folded the hoodie vertically down the midline and draped it over one of Landry’s shoulders for him to carry, after giving him a moment to take it all in. “And it’s cute n’ mean, like you are.” Nothing could be better for him, surely, even if Gryphon did see the merits of a pretty violet top with a sprinkle pattern on it… Next time. Next time he’d be sure that if he bought something for Landry, it’d be a little more along the lines of the colors he liked.
He settled a hand on the small of his back to help guide him forward through the crowd and away from the festival. Maybe it would’ve been wiser to choose something more suited to the weather, since this wasn’t the first time Landry had mentioned the heat and his susceptibleness to it, but-
Well, too late, now.
Gryphon smiled down at Lan as they made it from the park and back onto the sidewalk toward Landry’s condo. “Skinny, pretty boys like you really shoulda take a moment to appreciate how comfy you can wear your clothes, stead a complainin’ ‘bout the size of things. Oi, ‘it’s too big.’ No it ain’t. Covers ya up. Keeps ya cozy. And, ey, y’know what? Won't let your skin burn, neither.”
Landry didn't have a retort to that and just took the hoodie without protest, draping it over his arm rather than his shoulder. The hand on his lower back sent a strange shiver up his spine, but he didn't hate it, so remained quiet. Up until the Skinny pretty boy comment.
"I'm not complaining about it, you know. I like big cozy things. I have oversized things, but I figured if you wanted to get me something I'd actually bother to wear, it'd be the right size. You'll just have to settle for the fact that you'll never see me wear this."
Gryphon snorted in amusement. “Ya could stand to be a proper polite prat and say ‘thank you,’ y’know,” he chided teasingly as he guided Landry across the street. Even Gryph might have expected that much. He had half a mind to add that some things weren’t meant for wearing out. Some things were specifically for wearing in, and were just there to be taken off when the moment was right. Some people might think a corset or frilly undies was the most suited for the task, but Gryphon could see a big, oversized sweater, hiding swaths of smooth, pale skin underneath being equally as suited...
...But he had a hard time imagining Lan being receptive to even a comment on the matter, particularly if he was already planning on Gryphon never seeing it on him.
He shrugged. “If you don’t like it, you can toss it later, an’ I’ll never know better. Buuut-” His hand moved up from Landry’s back, lightly dusting through the ends of his blond hair, as he grinned. “I don’t think you will. I saw that smile, Lan.”
"O-oh.. Uh... right, Thank you." Niceties had all been forgotten in favor of focusing on on that hand that lingered and caused his stomach to flip. Thoughts dirtier than he had intended crossed his mind, thoughts that included being bare with with nothing but the hoodie on...
And he stopped that thought fast as they reached the lobby, and that hand touched his hair. "I'm not so... So rude to throw away a gift. I never said I didn't like it..." The elevator ride up was going to be a long one, he just knew it.
"You did see me smile, because I did smile. I told you I do."
Gryphon’s expression shifted to one of thinly-veiled amused disbelief, with his lips quirked up and eyes partially narrowed. He expected Landry was exactly rude enough to throw away a gift, if it wasn’t something he liked or if it came from someone he didn’t enjoy, which, considering he’d selected something Landry had specifically told him were outside of his aesthetics, seemed like could be exactly the case.
But he wasn’t going to say as much when Landry was doing all that stammering and cot complaining about Gryphon’s fingers in his hair. And blondie really seemed to focus more on things left unsaid, didn’t he? All the ‘didn’t say I wouldn’t go out with you,’ ‘didn’t say I didn’t like it,’ ‘didn’t say it wasn’t a date.’
Gryphon grinned. “‘M glad you did, Lan,” he hummed, stepping into the building behind the younger man and trailing him to the elevator. “The best reward a simple guy like me could ask for.”
For an elevator as new as this one was, it felt like it moved very slowly, stretching out the time between now and when he'd have to return to his house. For a moment he considered extending an invitation to Gryphon. Come in, stay a little while., but he knew his body too well. The sun had taken his toll, and the moment he changed into something more comfortable, he'd become too drowsy to do much else.
"The best reward? No, I'm sure you could think of something else. Even if you're simple as you say, it's not bad to get greedy every now and then." With a ding the elevator announced their arrival, and he walked out, pausing to make sure Gryphon was still behind him, then continuing down the hall to his door. "As long as it's a realistic greedy."
Landry had ridiculously soft hair.
Gryphon really hadn’t meant to touch it for more than a second, just as an indication that he was pleased, that he was still following Landry’s steps, that he… did like being near to the younger man. But somewhere before he’d pulled away, his hand had settled loosely at the back of Landry’s neck, where the shorter tips of his blond waves dusted against Gryphon’s fingers and he kind of really just wanted to brush his thumb up the side of his neck and tell him how ridiculously, unfairly beautiful he was- and, ********, those legs.
Landry strode ahead of him down the hallway, and Gryphon whistled a low note of appreciation before following. “Nnnnope,” he agreed with a smile. “I guess probably not the best, but it is close, though, Lan.” A ‘realistic’ greedy. Maybe it was just Gryphon being an idiot, but it did sound suspiciously like an invitation.
‘Realistic’ in terms of what Landry would accept probably did not give him a great lot of leeway. He hummed, as his gaze roved slowly down toward the large window at the end of the corridor. “Do I have to ask permission?”
There really wasn't any way to ignore that hand near his neck, goosebumps forming across his skin from the very slight touch and sensations it caused. There was a small clearing of his throat as he tried to push back the way his stomach was flipping from it. Luckily for him Gryphon backed off just a little bit and allowed him to make it to his doorway without further touching.
... Not that he didn't like it.
Now they stood before the door, and it felt strange. If they were going to part ways, why did Gryphon escort him all the way back home? The dramas he watched always ended the same way at the end of a date, a kiss infront of the door before he went inside. And Landry, despite all of his protesting, still wanted that. That's how all dates should end, he thought, but he wasn't about to say all that outloud. A hint should be plenty.
"... Right now, you don't have to ask permission." His face burned hot now, expecting something grand, sparks to fly, something along those lines. With Gryphon it felt strange to imagine but any kiss would have been better than the acid one he had before.
“Oho! Someone’s feelin’ adventurous!” Gryphon teased as he grinned down at his blushing companion. He really was pretty easily frazzled, wasn’t he? Still so fresh to even basic interaction, and for someone who knew what he wanted, Landry didn’t always make it a point to inform Gryphon of what that might be. But even if Gryph would’ve had absolutely nothing in mind for this scenario, the blond boy before him was still very clearly expectant.
If Gryphon was a particularly bold and adamant man, he might suggest that Landry could invite him in, and if His Majesty didn’t feel close enough to him yet, he was sure he could come up with a handful of ways for them to better familiarize themselves with each other in the seclusion and intimacy of Landry’s home.
He severely doubted Landry would be amused by any such suggestion though.
Instead, Gryphon dipped into the nearest semblance of a half-bow someone of his height and stature could manage. His fingers slipped up to catch Landry’s hand, and he drew it in to just barely brush his lips to the back of the other man’s knuckles. “Hope you have a good evening, Your Majesty,” Gryphon said through a grin as his gaze flicked up toward Landry’s.
Landry was being adventurous, wasn't he? Even he knew that he was asking specifically for some form of contact between them. He knew what he wanted but simply expected people to know what that was right away.
Gryphon seemed to pick up on it pretty quickly. Before he could protest, the kiss came and left as his hand was clasped between one that was much bigger. If he wasn't flustered before, he was very much now, gazing wide eyed at the man who looked straight at him.
His mouth opened just slightly, trying to figure out something to say, and make sure it wasn't complete nonsense. "I, um... I will. Get home safely, and let me know when you do." He wanted to say he had fun, that he was eager to see him again and get to know him better, but his heart felt like it was pounding far too hard in his ears to focus on much else. Almost as if automatically, his hand was pulled away, and he fumbled with his keys to unlock the door.
"And I did have a good time." Yes, the door was opened, and he stepped in, turning to hold the door more closed than open. "I wouldn't be opposed to going out again with you... That is, if my schedule permits it..."
If he was being completely honest, Gryphon could admit to feeling surprised that Landry had invited him to do literally anything, even as a farewell, and though Lan had promptly fled to the safety of his home behind a mostly-closed door, he still found that he was rather pleased, himself, since he might have expected something involving more obvious disgust on the other man’s part…
Instead, Gryphon grinned as he straightened back to his full height, flicking a hand down the front of his shirt to smooth it out. “‘M glad you did,” he replied. “And you know you only ever have to call. S’not like I’m far.”
Or often busy, but that probably went without saying.
He might have asked what exactly in Princess Lan’s schedule would keep him so occupied that he wouldn’t have a few free hours to spare, but Gryphon had begun to suspect that much of His Majesty’s snarkiness was just a front so that he wouldn’t appear too easy or too friendly or too interested. The ‘why’ of which, Gryphon did not understand. Still, he had to be content with the day’s progress. “I’ll text ya when I get home,” he promised as he headed back down the hallway. “See you later, Landry,” Gryph called over his shoulder as he blew blondie a kiss.
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