From the outside, it looks like Togusa is staring off into space, just enjoying the view off the side of the boat as they return to Recolle. In actuality, he has been merrily chatting away with people, since he doesn't need his phone to do that anymore. He seems to blink a few extra times with a 'hunh,' and then finally moves to turn his head to look at Pitou.

"Your least favorite professor admits to having gotten married, but he told me to ask you why he got punched. Lot of people have a lot of reasons to go after him, this one doesn't quite make sense."

Least favorite is possibly an understatement. Or maybe an overstatement. It was hard to tell with Pitou, whether they just hated him or enjoyed hating him. Either way, Ardyn mostly stood for it, and to be fair Grell was probably just satisfied that they had solved their problems amongst themselves this time, even if it had taken a punch.

"He deserved it," is the answer that Pitou gives airily.

"For marrying Grell, though?" Togusa leans forwards in interest, and he sounds completely incredulous. "I can see punching Ardyn Izunia for giving you a bad grade, claiming you're too lazy to be in pre-law, being too smug after it turned out he was right about something, assigning you a twenty-page paper on the differences between Japanese and American baseball..."

"...during the summer." Real incident.

"So why is this the last straw? Color me curious, as somebody who has the highest tolerance for Ardyn."

Pitou blinks at him slowly. What is this idiot even talking about? They clarify peevishly,

"He was never my professor. Grell was."

Which maybe isn't the question Togusa was asking, but perhaps elaborates that maybe none of this is about Ardyn at all.

That wasn't, and yet it answers his question at the same time. Togusa's eyebrows go straight up, "Ohh."

"So that's why you punched him. You don't think he's good enough for her." Which. Togusa wouldn't agree with, Ardyn seems just as much a romantic soul as Togusa, himself, is. So he sees it as effort being put in. But he'd love to hear another perspective.

They bristle. They have an astonishing inability to articulate their emotions intelligently, and they also detest when people think they know their mind. Especially people they don't feel like they can say the same about. What does this asshole care? It's none of his business!

"I punched him because he broke the rules," they say snappishly.

Possibly what they mean is that he hurt their feelings. That they thought they'd made it clear that all of this was very hard for them and they were doing their best to not be a complete ass, but they couldn't keep up if he pulled the rug out from under them.

But that level of coherency is never going to make it out of Pitou's mouth.

"Broke the rules?" Togusa echoes in surprise. What? His head tilts to the side, clearly not understanding. If this was just mere jealousy, then why didn't Ardyn say so when he talked to him?

"What...rules? You give Ardyn any kind of rule, and he'll find a way to leverage it to his advantage." Togusa's had to accept this about the man.

Their brows pinch, tail twitching irritably.

"Stop talking about him like he's some kind of fucking mastermind." Why do all these people look up to that pompous ass? When they'd been dating Prompto he'd been the same. It was annoying. "You know what rules! That I'd actually get to witness my friend's wedding."

Though no one but Pitou is this pissed off. Obviously because they felt they deserved a special place in all of this. Was that selfish? Probably, and that isn't beyond them, but they don't like a world where Grell doesn't spoil them and give them special treatment.

Togusa's own brow furrows in return. "Sor-ry." Not really. "Grell was your professor; Ardyn was mine. Wouldn't be where I am without him. I look up to him and it's hard to just turn that off."

But Pitou's mad because of a lack of inclusion. And they have to be mad at Ardyn, make it entirely his fault, instead of being mad at Grell. Meanwhile Togusa couldn't bring himself to be actually angry about it, the romance of it all was too overpowering to take it personally.

"Did Grell at least promise to make it up to you?" He can't imagine that she wouldn't.

"I haven't spoken to her about it," easy breezy as if this is no big deal at all.

Realistically, the fact that Pitou was navigating their own relationship with Ardyn without bringing it to Grell was its own small victory. Even if their own method of 'navigating' was not the friendliest.

That startles Togusa, and his mouth forms a line as he looks at Pitou, again, we're back to incredulous. It's been a while since he's met someone who is throwing him off-kilter so quickly.

"She's...going to know that you know." Pause. "She's going to know that I know, I've got to figure out something to get them when we get back."

Pitou smiles lazily, and tells him quite authoritatively: "They'd love another cat."

That gets a laugh out of Togusa. "Of course they would! One that Souji wouldn't fight for custody over. Hmmm..."

Pondering. "They have more males, right?" Cat dynamics are weird. Introducing a new male might lead to the cat getting trounced by the others, but introducing a new female has its own problems.

"They have two and two. Morla and Penelope, Rochester and Erebus."

Penelope had been a birthday gift, from Pitou. Who had been instructed under no uncertain terms not to get them any more cats.

"Aha, I must have missed one last time." Because there actually had been one fewer the last time Togusa met at Ardyn's house instead of his office. "Hmm. Female cat, then. Another male might get beat up by the others."

"Thanks," Togusa is beaming, thinking he's got this all figured out, instead of realizing that he's being used as a cat's paw.