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GRAYSON HANSON
Sixteen & Trans Male & High School Junior
❝and ever since seventh grade i learned to fire-breathe❞
//TW for violence and a bit of blood/gore, as well as some sexism?
There were times when he knew when to shut his goddamn trap, times that he saw the shift in facial expression that signaled if he didn't back off, he'd end up on his back. But there were other times he carried on without noticing, or even just without caring. He crossed the line, and he paid for it.
Stupid, it'd been stupid. Well, not entirely. He stood by his decision for going off on Lyle for calling his girlfriend a bitch; though ducking under his swing and punching him in the stomach hadn't been the greatest thing he could have done. Because if he felt as if he'd defended himself or gotten even or whatever, Lyle might have dropped it, maybe would have stopped calling Maya a bitch. But Gray hit back. Before he even could have a punch land. That wouldn't do.
Lyle hadn't gone too far; their other friends had stopped the fight mere seconds after it started, but that was enough for Gray to end up with a bloody nose, one that was still trickling even after the walk to Brendan's house from the park. He had someone's handkerchief pressed against it, stemming the flow a little bit, and more importantly hiding the injury from any passerby. Not that he cared much if random strangers saw; there was a short list of people he didn't want to witness this and his mom was at the top of the list.
Hence why he went to Brendan's house instead of his own.
Still holding the (now quite bloody) handkerchief over his nose with one hand, Gray knocked on the front door with the other. "C'mon..." He muttered impatiently under his breath.
[align=center] ————IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE GONE———— ——
i'm looking for a good time on my own, i'm all alone ——
tracking on my main too gfnhnjm
[align=center] I wanna be your happiness I wanna be your common sense pain Wrap your head in a [glow=#684460,2,300]picket fence[/glow] Rebuild after the hurricane [abbr=this user is trailhead's miss american pye — aporia has tip toed in here, peed on all your things, and then deathdropped through the floor into hell — you've been poked by fangs — crows cleaned up apoira's pee and threw chocolate at you — joey baked you yummy cookies — firebird is definitely building a nest here — you have been bitten by a wild eskie (but w love though) — skullcrow has built u a pillow fort — vid sat on your head for about ten seconds before flying away — rev loves you — hoot hoot — you are my wife / you're my wife / boogie woogie woogie — hoot tried making a nest but got burnt zoinks — darwin gave you a kees — joey loves you <3]![/abbr] —
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GRAYSON HANSON
Sixteen & Trans Male & High School Junior
❝and ever since seventh grade i learned to fire-breathe❞
You could despise something and still recognize that it was necessary at times. People hate paying taxes, yet did it anyway. Maybe it's not a one-to-one comparison to pacifists learning self defense to protect themselves and others; but isn't it close enough?
To be completely honest, the true irony is not that Brendan doesn't like fights but is good at them. It's that he wants people to be nice yet is friends with Gray.
Maybe Gray could be classified as a bully. Only a select few people got genuine kindness from him, and an even shorter list was exempt from the barbed tongue that inevitably lashed everyone else. Why was he like that? Why did he feel the need to go after everyone for everything they did wrong? Well, it's got a lot to do with what the counselors said - bad experiences. Getting hurt so many times and being defenseless has now put him on the offensive; he'd like to think he's doing the right thing, though. Protecting himself and other people, hopefully even getting people to see the error in their ways. He didn't really see himself as a bully. He saw himself as an anti-bully.
But he'd be lying if he claimed he didn't get some level of enjoyment from being able to verbally tear someone apart.
This is hardly the first scuffle he's gotten into because he'd run his mouth; he'd say it hardly even made top five worst. Not even top ten. The only reason it registered as a blip on his radar was because of his mom, who would no doubt freak out if she saw him like this. "Got in a fight with Lyle. It's no big deal, I just need to clean up before Mom sees."
[align=center] ————IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE GONE———— ——
i'm looking for a good time on my own, i'm all alone ——
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GRAYSON HANSON
Sixteen & Trans Male & High School Junior
❝and ever since seventh grade i learned to fire-breathe❞
He had started a large number of fights. Some were quick scuffles that he could walk away from with his head held high, others were... rather brutal pummelings, and more often than the reverse, he was the one getting pummeled. He talked big game, could throw down with words better than anyone he knew (this is a tried and tested fact), but when it came to actual physical fights? Anyone with an ounce of ability would have little trouble mopping the floor with him.
That didn't deter him, though.
Gray's quite confident in saying that Brendan isn't a bully. He's knocked a head or two before, but only in self defense or defense of others that couldn't rise to the challenge themselves. Like Gray.
Brendan wasn't the only person to wonder why Gray remained friends with Lyle and the rest of his little posse. Dia certainly wasn't happy about it (she liked it much better when he hung out with Brendan), and he expected just about everyone else wondered the same thing, especially those with insight into the whole situation. But they didn't have the whole situation, did they? Because if they did, they might understand why he stuck with them.
Gray sat down at the table and carefully set several tissues on top of each other on the table before taking the handkerchief away from his nose and setting it down on the tissues. He grabbed another wad and pressed it to his nose; it might not be a lot of blood, but it was enough that he didn't want to leave it uncovered for too long. Especially here. "He said Maya was a bitch. She wasn't there to defend herself, so I called him an asshole and it... escalated from there." He glanced at the bandaids. "I don't think I'll need those, but thanks. You got any ice?"
[align=center] ————IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE GONE———— ——
i'm looking for a good time on my own, i'm all alone ——
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GRAYSON HANSON
Sixteen & Trans Male & High School Junior
❝and ever since seventh grade i learned to fire-breathe❞
Gray has experienced that anger, that rage, several times. He hasn't always acted on it, but there have been moments when he did and when he caved in, it was with a level of savagery that surprised even him. It took very little for him to go on one of his rants, but the blood boiling anger that was so foreign to Brendan? It took quite a bit of provocation to get Gray going like that, and if you fucked up that badly, he figured you deserved it.
"Yeah. The others aren't really like that, they'll say stupid shit about other things but Lyle's the only one that's... you know. Maya thinks she can change him." Gray sighed and tilted his head back for a moment, studying the ceiling until Brendan offered him the ice. "I'll take it, thanks."
[align=center] ————IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE GONE———— ——
i'm looking for a good time on my own, i'm all alone ——
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GRAYSON HANSON
Sixteen & Trans Male & High School Junior
❝and ever since seventh grade i learned to fire-breathe❞
It's absolutely undeniable that Gray needs a mediator, someone to tell him to ease up and make peace with whoever has earned his ire. Lord knows he's never going to do that on his own. Brendan, of course, fills the post about as well as anyone can; it's not a job that Gray will let anyone do well. Brendan's steadfastness and decency are some of the biggest factors in his success, as there's rarely anything that Gray deems worth targeting in his friend.
He's not sure how different he'd be if Brendan wasn't in his life. If he thought about it long enough and possessed the self-awareness, he could acknowledge that Brendan acts as a counterweight to influences like Lyle. Maybe he's not on the straight and narrow, but his path would likely be more crooked without him.
The anger that one boy had and the other didn't likely had everything to do with their life experiences. Gray had countless things to be angry at; had been the victim of countless injustices and no where to channel his emotions. No one's life was perfect, and Gray couldn't imagine that Brendan didn't have things to be pissed at, but the other boy was much more level headed and, even if he did become upset, he could channel that in taekwondo and track. Any outlets Gray had were far more destructive.
"He won't get away with treating her badly." Honestly, if Lyle had to be with anyone, Gray was sort of glad it was Maya. She was about as likely to take his bullshit as Gray was. "I'll be fine, don't worry." His gaze shifted to the window while he iced his nose. After a few minutes he frowned. "Ah, jeez. Lyle's going to my house." He stood up and headed for the door - the last thing he needed was Lyle talking to Dia right now.
//this is total garbage I'm sorry
[align=center] ————IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE GONE———— ——
i'm looking for a good time on my own, i'm all alone ——
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GRAYSON HANSON
Sixteen & Trans Male & High School Junior
❝and ever since seventh grade i learned to fire-breathe❞
//is not
Brendan is indeed helpful in many areas, but Gray's not so sure he can say the same. He tries to help, sometimes, but he's more often than not pretty useless unless it involves yelling at someone. He'd certainly like to think that his yelling (well, that's an exaggeration - he rarely needs to raise his voice) is effective and people do learn their lessons. But people are stubborn jackasses that don't like being told that they're wrong, particularly when the one calling them out is good at proving his point.
Gray isn't a forgiving person. He never has been and he's pretty sure he never will be. He carries his anger and his hurt, and it fuels him. He doesn't really like thinking about it, because well, it's not a realization he'd exactly be proud of.
"Nope." He said, lowering the ice from his nose and holding it by his side. "He might tell my mom what happened." With that he headed outside, not looking behind him to see if Brendan was following him. He shut the door (or started to, at least) so that Roosty wouldn't be able to get out. He didn't need his ass kicked by Lyle and Brendan today. "What're you doing here?"
Lyle turned and crossed his arms. "There you are. I wanted to talk to you."
Gray narrowed his eyes as he strode across Brendan's lawn. "Then talk away." He doubted Lyle would take another swing at him, but he didn't fully trust that he wouldn't.
[align=center] ————IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE GONE———— ——
i'm looking for a good time on my own, i'm all alone ——
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GRAYSON HANSON
Sixteen & Trans Male & High School Junior
❝and ever since seventh grade i learned to fire-breathe❞
Lyle's gaze flicked over Gray's face. "Wow, I really did a number on you, didn't I?" He could feel a small amount of blood slowly peeking out, and felt a surge of irritation at the comment.
"Just get to the goddamn point." Gray snapped.
The other boy held up his hands, as if that would be enough to placate him. "I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry for hitting you."
This did nothing to soften Gray's demeanor, if anything it soured it more. You couldn't just admire your own handiwork and then apologize for it. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."
//this sucks I'm sorry
[align=center] ————IF YOU NEED ME, I'LL BE GONE———— ——
i'm looking for a good time on my own, i'm all alone ——
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