Cy's day on the Luinista so far had been more than a little annoying. Ever since Bothe had told everyone that Carley was living with him, they just assumed the pair was sleeping together. Nort had been throwing fist pumps his way all day. Bothe had waggled his eyebrows at him at least once. Orson? Well, he'd just been livid and stayed away from the tall elf entirely, after some yelling. Cy decided to go down into the kitchen and get himself something to drink before he looked for Grayson. It was near lunchtime, and Cy already had plans for himself and the young man. Grayson was unaware of those plans just yet.

As Cy stepped into the kitchen, he saw Crao. He was preparing lunch for himself and the others. Crao expertly chopped some vegetables, quickly and precisely. There was a big pot nearby with steam already rising from it. There was also various herbs and spices nearby, some small chunks of meat, and other ingredients. "Hey, Pops." Cy stepped around the man and grabbed himself a bottle of water he'd stashed away earlier. "Afternoon, Cy. The stew will be ready in a little while. Unfortunately I got started a little late." Crao didn't state the reason why. The tall elf nodded. "S'all right. Won't be staying for lunch anyway." He opened his bottle of water and gulped down a large portion. "Seen Grayson lately?" All of Crao's motions paused, albeit for only a brief moment. "I have. I believe he's in his cabin now." Crao knew because he'd left there not long ago. "All right. Thanks." Cy took long strides to leave the kitchen, but he stopped and turned around. "You didn't believe that garbage Bothe was running his mouth about did you? 'Bout me and the boss?" Crao glanced up as he dropped some ingredients into the pot. "Well, I did think there was the possibility, Cy." He regarded the young elf for a moment. Cy glanced aside. Even Crao. "Tch. It's not true." Crao continued to prepare the stew, but he nodded at Cy. "I see." There really wasn't much left to say, so Cy nodded and resumed his journey.

It took him a couple minutes to reach the crew's cabins. He went straight to Grayson's and knocked on the door loudly. "Hey, Grayson, I'm coming in." Cy opened the door up. Grayson was sitting on the bed. He looked up at Cy, and immediately his expression became angry. "Go away, Cy." The elf lifted both of his eyebrows at the young man. Really, he shouldn't have been so surprised. "Look, I just wanted to have lunch. Thought we could go to this place in the Market I've been to before." Grayson pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them. "Why? So you can tell me to get over Carley since you stole her away?" That annoyed Cy a little. He refrained from making a comment about how it was impossible for him to steal Carley away when Grayson wasn't dating her. Instead, Cy stepped into the cabin and closed the door behind him. "Listen to me for a second, Grayson." The elf leaned his back into the closed door. Grayson looked up at him, but he didn't say anything. "S'not like that between me and Carley." Grayson made a pfft sound. Cy rolled his eyes. "You aren't gonna believe me unless I tell you something." Cy sighed. He saw no way around it. "You gotta promise me you won't say anything to anybody else, all right?" Grayson spoke up. "Whatever, just say it and go." Cy was getting a little more annoyed, but he kept himself in check. "She got kicked out of her place. I offered to let her stay with me so she wouldn't have to stay at an inn and store her stuff somewhere. Or live out in the street." Grayson's chin slowly lifted. He looked over at Cy, his eyes a little widened. "Bothe didn't say anything about that..." Cy shook his head. "That's because Bothe is a moron and assumed what he's telling everybody." Grayson felt a little guilty. He stood up. "Sorry, Cy. I just thought..." Cy shook his head and interrupted the young man. "Whatever. Don't worry about it, yeah?" He smiled a little bit. "C'mon. Boss said we could have some extra time for lunch." Grayson didn't question that, he just nodded and followed Cy on out.

It wasn't long afterward that the young man and Cy were on their way to the Market. Cy peered up into the sky. It was a little cold, but at least there were no clouds to be seen. Cy's dark eyes shifted and looked aside at Grayson. "Mind if I ask you something?" Grayson looked over at Cy as he reached up to scratch under his bandana. "You just did." He grinned. Cy chuckled and shook his head. "No, not that. How old are you, Grayson?" Without missing a beat, the young man answered, his gray eyes on Cy. "Eighteen." One of Cy's eyebrows lifted slightly. His hands were in his pockets. He didn't really have to walk quickly to keep up with Grayson. His long strides were enough for that. "C'mon, I know that's not true." His behavior spoke volumes. Especially his behavior toward Carley. It reeked of immaturity. Grayson let his head hang a little and spoke in a dejected tone. "Sixteen..." Cy nodded in response. Suddenly, Grayson looked back up at Cy. "Don't say anything to Carley! Please! I don't want to get fired because of that." Cy waved dismissively. "Won't hear it from me." Grayson sighed in relief. "Good. I don't really want to be home much." That made Cy a little curious. "Yeah? Why's that?" Grayson didn't look at Cy, he simply looked forward and watched where they were going. "My mom and dad fight all the time. Over stupid things. Then they start yelling at everybody, throwing things, or both." Despite answering the question, Cy realized Grayson didn't want to get into that too much. He didn't blame him. "Sorry, Grayson." His words were genuine. He wouldn't want to be around that either. The young man shook his head quickly. "It's okay. Soon I'll have enough money to move and live by myself." Cy was quiet after that as they walked. It explained a few things. Grayson was usually eager to stay late. He figured it was just so the gray eyed young man could be around Carley, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

It was a few minutes afterward that they reached the Market. Both males had been quiet. It was Cy who broke the silence. "Y'know, if you need to borrow some money to get out of there sooner just ask, yeah?" Grayson seemed surprised by his expression. "Really?" Cy nodded. "Course." Grayson nodded soon afterward. "I didn't think you liked me that much, Cy." Cy shook his head. "I like you, Grayson. I give you a hard time sometimes, but it's not to be mean to you. You gotta learn to stand up for yourself. Otherwise you'll have guys like Bothe picking on you all the time, 'cept they aren't gonna be just messing with you like him." Grayson looked at Cy and looked down at the ground. "Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just afraid to say anything when somebody picks on me." Cy could see the hot dog cart not far in the distance, as well as the pretty young woman who was standing behind it. "Next time Bothe makes fun of you, you shoot it right back at him. Tell him... if his mullet wasn't so big, it wouldn't have grown roots into his brain and sucked up what little smarts he has." Grayson just started laughing. "Like a plant." Cy glanced at Grayson and shook his head. That had been the joke. "Yeah..." He trailed off. "Like hot dogs?" Grayson was watching the various people in the Market as he walked near Cy. A lady was chiding her child for playing around in the fountain. Grayson was a little surprised it wasn't frozen. "Oh yeah. With lots of mustard." Cy pulled his hands from his pockets. "Good. I'm buying."