[ Pitou sputters laughter into their drink. ]

I'm not making you a scepter.

I have the pipe. It's good enough. But you aren't getting it from me.

[she can be a queen without a scepter, okay.]

[ That pipe, lord. It feels like a long time ago already that the convention center and the surrounding areas were overrun with monsters. So many ridiculous things have happened since then, and only more are promised to follow. ]

You'll need it again, better keep it.

Tucked away in my closet just in case I need to grab it swiftly.

[it does feel like an eternity since it all happened. had it really already been two months?]

...That's not why I called you, though.

No, you had news.

[ Blithely unaware of THE TREACHERY THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE. ]

[beating around the bush, when it came to Pitou, wasn't a good thing. asking them to guess wasn't going to end well. and this is why she knew that when she'd recovered from the shock she had to tell Pitou straight off - if only to allow them the maximum time to throw a hissy cat fit over it.]

I'm engaged, Pitou.

[there's no ring on her hand yet, but the promise was made, and to her that's the important part. the visible symbol could come later.]

[ This does not immediately register in any particular way to them, but then the words begin to sink in to their head. Which they turn in slow motion to look at her. One blink, maybe two, and then they are on their feet, coffee dashed to the ground. ]

I'm going to kill him.

You are not.

[this is why she had wanted to text the news instead, but here they are. she doesn't stand, but she does look Pitou directly in the eyes, challenging them to do something that isn't listening.]

I know you're not fond of him, but it was my choice to say yes.

Edited 2017-10-02 05:51 am (UTC)

[ None of those things Grell has said sound accurate to Pitou. They like Ardyn just fine. They just don't like anyone dating Grell but can't actually say that out loud ever because it is fucking childish and needy. Marrying her is even worse.

Grell is theirs. One of their things, one of their people.

Pitou's hands ball up into fists at their sides, all but trembling with a anger. ]

Absolutely not.

Pitou.

[she reaches out with one hand to touch one of Pitou's fists. look at her. be angry all you want, but look at her. whatever Pitou thinks, it's not changing Grell's mind on this - not when she gets to be happy.]

Sit back down? And listen to me for a moment. Please.

[she says please, but it's in a tone that Pitou would have rarely heard - enough emphasis to almost make it a command instead of a request.]

[ Why would they sit back down?! They have a filthy fucking lawyer to chase out of town. Maybe carve him up with these stupid fucking claws a little bit so he didn't forget whose belongings he'd trifled with.

Pitou sits down with a growl. ]

You've made your decision, what am I listening to?

[ Traitors!!!!! ]

You're listening to me telling you something important.

[she doesn't let go of Pitou at this moment, staring them down.]

All of this changes nothing about our friendship. Not one bit of it. Call it whatever you want to evade that fact, but as someone who might as well be your mentor as well as your friend, that needs to get through your skull. I can take you disliking this situation with grace, but I won't forgive you if you actually decide to be stupid and do something. For the sake of us, take a second to breathe.

[she lets that hang in the air a second.]

I'm not going to leave you just because I've gotten engaged. These things happen to people in their lives - they grow, new things happen, new opportunities come up. It doesn't mean they trash the old things that they value in the bargain. But he makes me happy, and you need to relax a little and let me go ahead with my own life. If it was you, finding someone who made you happy, then you know I'd be there beside you ready to support your happiness.

Have faith in me, if you can't have it in both of us, that I'm not going to let us drift apart or anything really change.

[ . . . ]

Besides, he has three cats at his house. Friendly, beautiful creatures.

[ Pitou bristles, hating every wretched word of it. As if they need Grell or her bloody forgiveness. When have they ever needed anyone other than themselves? They'd started their life that way and had carried on despite all the whispers and pitying looks and offers to help that were just disguises for others trying to control them.

That's all they think of this too. Fucking pairing up like you were expected to, as prescribed. They resent that the idea of it makes her happy. That somehow they can't be just fine on their own in this city, with their friends and their careers. Knows there's never going to be someone who made them happy, because they can do it all alone. Can wear the clothes of either role any day of the week: no partner required.

And maybe, all the way down at the bottom, they're upset that they were just figuring out how to manage Ardyn Izunia and he had to change all the rules again. ]

I'm leaving.

[ It's too big an idea to get all the way in their skull in one go. They clearly need to sulk on it longer. ]