The Imposter

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"You're judging him. He's not a 'bad boy'. He's... you don't understand him like I do. He's sweet and funny and he really likes me. Do you know how difficult it is for me to find someone who likes me looking the way I do? Not many people go for the whole drider thing, Rene. I don't think you should judge someone who actually finds me cute, it never happens and I just want to enjoy it before it inevitably breaks down," the drider mumbled, frowning at the affectionate display opposite him. He wasn't jealous at all, and he was in fact a huge fan of the blossoming romance, especially when Rene had had a severe lack of it in his life. He was happy, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it while he was trying to talk about something serious. In the end, he gave up trying to get his point across, resting his head on his hand with a pout.

"...Whatever, it's not important," he finally sighed after a long few minutes, forcing himself to smile. "I never last in relationships anyway. My mother says that we're not really supposed to, like, find a partner, we're too independent as creatures or something, so it's not really my fault that people dump me. It's natural, or whatever."
 
"It's hard to find a mate because you're just supposed to bite their heads off. Bystro i prosto." He explained to Percival with a teasing grin. In reality, Rene always considered Sylvan's mother to be badass for her independent nature, even if her son didn't agree.

"Brennan is a bad boy, Sylvan. I don't know why, he was... a lot kinder last year. It doesn't matter, right? Granted, I'm definitely curious..." he admitted with raised brows. It was just another mystery Rene decided to seek out, in addition to Percival.
 
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"Don't say that! We... We don't bite people's heads off, R-Rene! I don't do that, and my mother has never done it, I think. Maybe my grandmother has, but she's old school and traditional and-- and I'm not a monster," he quickly emphasised, his eyes nervously glancing towards Percival once noticing his unsubtle fear. If this was the boy Rene decided to date, then Sylvan desperately wanted to try to be friends with him. That wasn't likely if Percy was scared of him.

"And stop judging my... boyfriend. He's not 'bad', he's misunderstood. There's a difference. Besides, maybe I like him being a little... unruly. It's hot, Rene," he sighed, resting his head on his hand while the other flipped open his small mirror to examine himself. He was unashamedly self-obsessed and not a minute went past without him either checking himself, or thinking about doing so.
 
"I'm not kink shaming you," he insisted, his tail swaying casually. "If I'm to be honest, I have a type myself. Nothing wrong with that, sweetheart. I just know that, if it were up to me, I'd be matching you with your soulmate," he simply stared in his own self-centered praise before daring to lean against the 'merman' a tad.

"As for you, Percival, there's no reason for you to be scared. In fact, that's a tad hypocritical. I mean, your kind are known for luring silly men to their deaths, after all," he purred. "I mean, that's why humans hate us, right? They think we're dangerous but we're actually just far more clever than them. My mama told me how my praded destroyed a whole army through just his brute force. 'My luchshe, eto fakt,' as my papa says."
 
"...My family haven't lured anyone to their deaths. We're... unconventional? I mean, I don't like swimming, so clearly we're... different," remarked the human as he did his best to blag his way through the lie. If that failed, he hoped that wrapping his arm around Rene's waist would help distract him - though, admittedly, he wanted to do it for the right reasons. He did fancy him, so getting close like this was something he wanted. It was a huge step, and he was unashamedly proud of himself for taking it.

"Yes, well, my family aren't murderers either," snapped Sylvan, tearing his gaze from his mirror with an unimpressed frown. Of course, he wasn't going to admit to the things his family had done. Almost all of his family were women, and there was a reason for that. There was a tendency to simply kill the partners they were with, but Sylvan wasn't going to admit to that. Rene knew about it, obviously, but the drider didn't want rumours to start spreading about his family, so giving Percival the idea that his family were just normal, average, non-intimidating people was key. "My mother's actually pretty shy, so..."
 
"I love your mama," he admitted, his smile still holding - granted, it was mostly from the sudden arm wrapped around his waist. While Rene was desperate for affection even he was taken aback a tad from how quickly he had the boy holding onto him - not that he was complaining, of course. He couldn't really hide the purple blush that grew on his cheeks.

"No, Sylvan's mother is amazing. She's so classy and, like, quiet but in a really intimidating way? Like, she and my mama are some of the strongest women I know," he praised, completely oblivious to the fact that he might have been scaring Percival.
 
Sylvan was clearly not in the best of moods, but one way to guarantee a smile from him was to either compliment him, or compliment his mother. Not having had a father growing up (which was perfectly natural in his family), he relied heavily on his mother, and she was easily his best friend, alongside Rene. Even if he was pissed at Rene judging his boyfriend and not believing that Brennan was his soulmate, he couldn't deny how happy it made him to hear his mother be spoken of so highly.

"...Maybe we'll meet your parents soon, Percy. A few of the more important monsters get together for meetings here. Rene's parents are there, obviously, and my mother's always there-- and Brennan's dad. Maybe your folks will be invited?" The drider suggested calmly, his eyes narrowing on the nervous merman. "Are they important enough? What are their names, anyway? I know a few mermen and women, I might have heard of them--"

"They keep to themselves, we're... private," the human laughed, nervously scratching his arm with a desperate glance away. "I... I doubt they'll even know about the committee, really."
 
"Well, that's downright silly! Not just any creature can come here, Percival, your family must be well-known. That being said, I strongly suggest you invite your parents for a meeting. Wouldn't it be better for them to know who they're son is being watched over by?" Rene easily countered as he dared to wrap his tail around the human as well.

"In fact, I would love to personally introduce you to my mama and papa. They'll be happy to hear I'm making more, genuine friends after all," he added. "The next meeting is in a week, they do them once a month. Oh, this is so exciting! I'll have to teach you how to greet them properly, though - they're very strict on their manners and whatnot."
 
Percival was understandably panicking, suddenly finding himself in a position he really didn't want to be in. He didn't want to continue to create more lies and get tangled in more webs, so to speak, but he also couldn't just come out with the truth: that his parents were human and his father was investigating the existence of monsters, hence Percy's presence in the school.

Fortunately (and surprisingly), Sylvan came to his aid, albeit without the intention to lend a hand.

"He can't just invite his folks along, it's a private meeting for the elites. Only the most important people of our community attends, you know that. You can't bend the rules because he's your boyfriend-- you didn't allow that cyclops I dated to invite his parents, remember? You can meet Percy's parents when they collect him at the end of the school year," the drider mumbled, scowling for extra emphasis. "It's not right, so... so don't do it."
 
Replying with a pout, Rene slouched a tad before moving to take a bite of his food. Being wrong was something Rene detested, so to be called out in front of a cute guy only made him embarrassed as shy munched on the food quietly.

"Well, it doesn't matter, does it?" He said with food in his mouth and a pout still somehow on his lips as his sharp fangs chewed through the food easily. "Though, I do suggest your Parents join. The whole thing is so small and my roditeli are definitely interested in a more diverse group..."
 
"I... don't think it's wise-- I mean, they're really not social people, they'd hate it. They're more happy to... be in their own company," he insisted, doing his best to at least not come across as desperate. Noticing the suspicious glances from Sylvan didn't help either, though Percy knew by now that no matter what he did, Sylvan was always going to be critical of him, and so he shouldn't take the suspicious with any serious worry.

"I... I wish they would because I like to spend time with you and I'd love to meet your parents, but they'd just be uncomfortable and I don't think it'd be right to expose them to that, especially my mother, you know?"
 
"Your mother is shy? I see where you get it from," he commented in response while locking eyes with Sylvan, needing not to really hear what he had to say to know that the derided was even more suspicious than he was. With a hard swallow of his food, he offered a smile to Perfcy.

"It's alright. I'm still going to introduce you to my parents, it's just customary, yeah? I'll warn you now that they aren't as conventionally pretty as you merfolk so please don't be too scared. They're super tall - pretty much the same height if not a little taller than Sylvan's mama, in fact."
 
"I want to meet them, it'll be nice and-- god, it doesn't matter what they look like. I'm not pretty, Rene. I don't think that really matters," he admitted, ignoring the faint scoff Sylvan gave, willing to put it down to something unconnected to his remark. He was smarter than that and knew immediately that Sylvan wasn't entirely warming to him, but addressing that involved energy he really didn't want to dedicate to the drider a moment longer.

"Well, don't make a fool of yourself. First impressions are everything," smiled Sylvan, resting his chin in his hands. "I made the perfect impression, of course. I was a child and my kind are notoriously cute children, despite our bodies, so I won them over easily. Though, some idiots find us off-putting, can you believe that? I'd much prefer being with someone like me, over a boring merman-- no offence."
 
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"I think your jealousy is cute, Sylvan," he purred jokingly as he took another bite of his food. "See, you were one of the cutest kids in our class, I was always jealous. That being said, Percival is very handsome," he insisted with raised brows.

"See, I've always been jealous of merpeople. Your tails are so pretty and colorful, it's wonderful. I do wish I could see it one day," he admitted honestly with a small pout, though knew his pleads were futile.
 
"...Maybe one day, it just... takes a lot for me to get into water these days, unless I'm in the bath, but that requires you seeing me... naked, and I don't think we're at that stage yet," the human nervously laughed, his cheeks growing redder by the second in his embarrassment. He loved being called handsome by someone he evidently had feelings for, but with Rene looking expectantly at him and Sylvan peering from across the table, it wasn't really easy to accept the compliment as casually as he hoped.

"Yes, well, he is handsome," the drider agreed without hesitation. He may be a little suspicious of Percy, but that didn't mean he was going to deny that Percy was handsome. There was a reason most of the school seemed to flock to Percy, after all - he was almost objectively good-looking. "He's not Brennan handsome, but... he's definitely cute, I suppose."
 
"Yes, well, what Brennan has in appearances gets knocked by how awful his personality is," Rene replied without skipping a beat, his eyes now locked on Sylvan. The boy could fish all he wanted about how cute the vampire was and he wasn't lying, but like hell was Rene going to stand back and let the other tell lies.

"At least Percival is nice to me, unlike some vampire I happen to know," he reminded with a huff as he set his hand on the human's thigh. "Brennan is a proper jerk."
 
"Don't-- Don't fight, it's not that big a deal to argue over--"

"Brennan is not a jerk! Do you realise how hard his father is with him? How tough his mother is? He goes through a lot of shit because his parents are famous and have so many expectations of him-- it's hard for him and he acts out a little, but I get why he does! D-Don't be such a judgemental prick. You of all people should know how difficult it is having parents who are famous in our community and who have such high standards-- you should sympathise rather than try to tear him down. Ich kann nicht glauben, dass du dich so benimmst," spat Sylvan in reply, his arms folding over his chest as he rose to his full height. He knew that, as cute and as youthful as his face was, he could intimidate a lot of people with a) his height and b) the sheer size of his body. The fact Percy paled a little was a good result, even if he wasn't specifically arguing with him, but rather his best friend.

"Can't you be happy for me? I accept this weird boyfriend of yours, even if he's suspicious and weird. I don't insult him like you insult Brennan-- are you jealous? Is that it? Because Brennan fancied you for a while and you were too insecure to accept his advances? So he moved on and now you're jealous-- that's it, isn't it? That's pathetic."
 
"He's a jerk to me, Sylvan! He's incredibly fucking rude and the fact that you're blind to that is disappointing!" He snapped in return as he, too, folded his arms. He had been friends with the drider since first attending the academy, he already knew the other's natural defense mechanism and it didn't have much effect on him anymore. Granted, his cheeks did grow purple before standing up in his own attempt to get some height. It failed miserably, of course.

"I... I-I am not insecure, I can't believe you said that!" He squeaked, clearly genuinely hurt. It was true, of course; when you're the illegitimate son of one of the most powerful members of the community, it wasn't very hard to receive bullying. After all, compared to his towering parents, he was tiny. Not to mention the countless teases he received for being abandoned by his real mother. It only made it worse when he was accused for being insecure about something he wasn't actually ashamed of.

"What, do you want me to just praise Brennan? He's fucking mean to me, I'm not going to pretend that I'm all buddy-buddy with him because of that. If he apologizes for being rude and stops being mean, I'll look at him more highly. Just because his family is famous doesn't mean he can be mean, Sylvan!" He scolded, though his sniffles and watery eyes knocked down his attempts to be more powerful.
 
"I want you to understand that I love him and we're... going to spend the rest of our lives together. He's already asked me to marry him when this summer's over. We're both old enough and... he said he wants to move in with me, into our own place, a-and maybe start a family and do all that," the drider revealed angrily, his cheeks flaming red in a mixture of his own upset, his anger, and the public embarrassment at having the whole hall now quiet and observing the meltdown. For a pair that were often seen as indestructible, and having a friendship nobody could drive a wedge between, it was inevitable that everyone fall silent to observe the friendship start to break apart.

"H-He's everything to me and it's really mean that you're tearing us down like this-- I-I hate you, I really hate you. Don't talk to me," he finally snapped, nodding for emphasis before making a scurried escape. Running away from a problem wasn't something he would ever advise, but in this instance, it seemed the best option.

"...Are you okay?" Percival finally asked, squirming uncomfortably at the argument he had witnessed, and felt almost responsible for. "I... should we go outside to get some air, or...?"
 
"No, I'm... fine. I'm fine." He reassured once Sylvan left. Avoiding Percival's eyes, he decided to snatch his back and at least leave the lunch room as quickly as possible. After all, the whole thing was utterly embarrassing for both parties. He waited for the human to take note and at least follow, knowing that being alone would just make him feel worse.

"You saw how mean Brennan was to me, right? I-I'm not in the wrong, right?" He quickly stammered once more alone, along with letting himself finally get more emotional. "I care a lot about Sylvan and he just... is he that lonely? Like... I just want him to find someone good. Marrying?! We're only 16, that's crazy!"
 
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