The more time he spent with Rene, the more he inevitably grew to like him. It was best not to, of course. It was best to distance himself from everyone and simply relay information to his father to hurry things along. However, he found he couldn't do that; he couldn't even face answering his father's calls. He simply chose to ignore it and pretend that everything was fine. If he did that, he could almost convince himself of his lies.

"It sounds fun," he agreed easily, only looking away from his cereal to take in the rosy-faced expression of Rene, his smile immediately growing as he did. "...I'm glad I met you. I know you hated me when I first got here, so... thanks for giving me a chance? I dunno, that sounds cheesy."
 
“Very cheesy,” he agreed before picking up his plate to return it to the trash, humming softly. “I’m glad to have met you too, Percival. You’re sweet and... different. I don’t understand why you don’t get along well with that werewolf, you’re one of the sweetest guys I’ve met,” he admitted before returning and taking the human’s hand in his.

“You can meet me up after second period, that’s a good time before the meeting and my papa should be here,” he reassured quietly, his eyes locked on the other’s in childish adoration. It was well known that Rene was notorious with just how hard he fell in love because it was clear in the monster’s eyes.
 
Despite the reassurance, Percy was filled with nothing but anxiety and dread all through his morning classes at the thought of meeting someone as powerful and intimidating as Rene's father appeared to be from the various paintings of him. As the time approached to meet up with Rene to then introduce himself to his father, he grew more and more paranoid, which left him trying to build himself together from within the stall of the bathroom, hunched up on the toilet seat to try and calm himself and his fear down.

It was probably for the best that he was running a little late. Had he met up with Rene on time, he would have met Sylvan's mother and been witness to the conversation about Rene and Brennan's kiss - something he was fortunate enough to be oblivious about, thus far. Having heard her son cry down the phone to her, as well as head across the snowy mountain back home to seek comfort from her in person, it only made sense to Verena to find Rene for herself and get the other side of the story. Having known him since he was small, and had him over her home plenty of times over the years, she considered him family. For a species as reclusive and private as hers was, welcoming in an outsider to the extent she had spoke volumes - and it deeply upset her to have her son and Rene suddenly decide they weren't friends.

"I do hope you don't mind me seeking you out like this, I just thought we could have a little chat before I head on to that meeting," the woman sighed, absently tapping her finger against one of her many extravagant rings. Most her children were subtle and surprisingly reserved; Sylvan was the only one who really followed his mother's love of all things glamorous and expensive, which made her all the more protective of him. He was, essentially, the younger version of her, and she hated to see him get upset.

"...What happened with that vampire boy? You can be honest. You know I appreciate honesty, Rene," she spoke slowly, looking down at the other from her 8'0" or so height. "...My son seemed to like him a lot. I can't say I was keen -I'm not fond of vampires, nor of relationships- but he seemed happy."
 
Misty eyed and sniffling, to be faced with Sylvan’s mother only made his guilt suddenly grow. He had already felt guilty but he apologized. Sylvan’s mother, on the other hand, had been like a second mother to him and to disappoint her only made that guilt return as was evident by his clearly upset state.

“Well, I was in my dorm when Brennan showed up,” he explained between his sniffles. “He wouldn’t leave me alone until I kissed him and he said it would make everything better again, I-I... I didn’t think he would break up with Sylvan and make a big deal. I like Percy and now Sylvan isn’t my friend a-and Percy will probably break up with me,” he whimpered. “I’m sorry.”
 
"...I had no idea you and Sylvan lived such eventful lives here. Listen, it'll all be alright. My son's dramatic, he takes after me. I'm sure he'll calm down and realise that bloodsucker is at fault-- that's what it sounds like to me, at least. Vampires are deceitful and sneaky and you shouldn't trust them, Rene. The sooner you learn that, the better," she sighed sympathetically, reaching to comfort the other with her usual dose of affection. For someone who was famed as being cold and stern to outsiders, and who had rumours swirling about her eating her lovers whole, the woman could also be extremely motherly and comforting. Rene was one of the only people outside her family that got to witness that for himself, though.

"Percy's the merman, isn't he? And there's a werewolf involved somewhere-- I get confused. Sylvan talks too fast, I can't keep up with the details. All I know is that there's a werewolf who he said he likes, so I'm sure that'll help him realise that everything happens for a reason. You have to be friends soon, we're supposed to come to yours for Christmas," she huffed with a playful smile, glancing above him to observe the students wandering past. "...Don't be so upset, Rene-- I'm not angry. It all sounds like typical high school stuff."
 
"I just don't want to lose Sylvan as a friend. He'll say that I'm a bad person and he will never want to spend time with me again, a-and I won't be able to Christmas and... and... ya ne khotel, chtoby eto proizoshlo! Ya dumal, chto u menya vse poluchilos', i ya prosto sdelal eto khuzhe " he babbled out amongst his tears, though his ragged breathing did manage to calm a bit the more Sylvan's mother spoke. Wiping his eyes again, he sniffled a tad and offered a meek smile. While every other student hurried quickly to avoid the drider or stare from a distance, Rene could proudly say that he saw the woman more like an aunt.

"I promise I will make it up with Sylvan - I'll try. I just wish he would listen to me. I don't want to lose our friendship because of a stupid guy and... he's more important to me," he insisted, clearing his throat of the gunk that formed while he cried. "He's the only real friend I have here, it's not... fair."
 
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"Sylvan will come around, hm? It's not a major thing, Rene. If you told him what you told me, I'm sure he'll realise how silly this all is and how you're not the one to blame-- Ah, is this your boyfriend?" The woman smiled, her attention immediately turning to Percy who had arrived seconds prior and was hovering nervously behind his boyfriend. It was daunting enough being around Sylvan, so meeting his mother was terrifying, though he at least held himself together enough to smile politely.

"...You'd better be good to Rene, hm? I won't be happy if you upset him."

"I... right... I'm not going to do that, ma'am." Percy whispered shakily in reply, turning to Rene with a strained smile. In that moment, with the woman's words and her intense stare, he realised that she probably knew he was human. Perhaps he was overreacting about it, but the intensity and the knowing expression on her face made him think otherwise. Why she wasn't calling him out on it was a mystery to him. "...I'm not feeling good, Rene-- I'm gonna go catch a nap in my room, if... that's alright?"
 
“You need to see my papa, though!” He quickly insisted as he offered a smile to Percy. He was no idiot, he knew Verena was incredibly intimidating to most and while he always felt bad when his friends would cower, he took Percy’s hand for encouragement. It was the least the merman could do?

He didn’t have to wait long. Upon seeing Verena, Mikael lightly set a paw on her shoulder. With clothes refined for that of a king, the furry body and the horse skull for a face easily contradicted it. Blue flames instead of eyes landed on the drider before he finally spoke.

“It’s nice to see you again, Verena,” he greeted, his voice both gentle yet powerful. He focused then on his son who he easily towered over, being twice his height. Lifting up his son affectionately, Rene replied by offering a chaste kiss to the bare skull, a growing grin on his lips. After some words in Russian to one another, Mikael then focused on Percy.

Kneeling down, he stretched out a large hand for a shake. Despite his monsterous form, he was a man of honor and stuck to his manners.

“So you are my son’s boyfriend?” He confirmed, his accent much lighter than Rene’s. “It is a pleasure to meet you, then. I’m glad to hear that you make him happy,” he praised, knowing that if he were to threaten the boy he might run away.
 
If Verena was terrifying to someone like Percy, then Rene's father provoked fear in him that doubled that. Despite the gentle voice and the clear kindness that Mikael displayed, Percy was rooted to the spot, his eyes nervously widening. He was just about used to the centaurs that wandered about the place, and he had almost gotten used to the creatures like Sylvan who towered intimidatingly over him. He had just acclimatised to that, so seeing Mikael in the flesh, not just in his portraits, was daunting to say the least. It was only when he took Rene's encouraging smile into account that he nodded firmly and reached to return the handshake, despite how shaky his own hands were.

"I... Percival, that's... my name, I... guess I'm dating Rene, yes--"

"He's so nervous, that's rather adorable," smiled Verena from the side, her brow arched as she took in how pale Percy had become in just a few seconds. His nervousness didn't signal anything suspicious for her. She often had creatures that weren't accustomed to driders stare at her in fear, so Percy's own terror didn't strike her as anything new. Even in their community, there was a clear sense of fear surrounding those like her and like Mikael. In an ideal world, everybody would be accepted, but she had faced enough backlash to know that the creatures like her, who were physically intimidating, would always be at a disadvantage. "You've no need to be scared. As long as you treat Rene nicely, hm?"

"I... wouldn't hurt him, ever, I... that's... not something I'd ever do," promised Percy, nodding again for emphasis. "...I like him a lot, I want to make him happy, s-so..."
 
“Well, I would hope for your sake,” Mikael replied omninously, picking up on the ‘merman’s’ nervousness by just how he smelled. Setting his son back down, he stretched back to his full height to take in the scene. He then brought his attention back to Verena with a chuckle.

“Now, where is Sylvan? My zhena made him a sweater whilst she took care of her papa,” he explained, pulling out the sweater of his jacket’s pocket. On it featured little details of mountains and spiderwebs, his wife being notoriously cheesy once getting past her intimidating appearance. “I can always leave this with you, yes, Verena?” He insisted, the interaction more like two friendly parents rather than towering monsters.

“Ah, I am so glad my papa likes you,” Rene gushed, entwining their hands eagerly. “The last person I date, my mama nearly crushed his skull in when she found out he had cheated on me. My parents haven’t been very trustworthy of anyone I’ve had interest in since so for my pap to be so calm with you, that’s... amazing! Very good!” He insisted before offering a quick peck to the other’s cheek.

“Now, we must really be heading to our meeting,” Mikael decided before setting the sweater in Rene’s hand. “Give your friend this. I’ve been paying attention to the weather and it seems it will be getting colder soon. U vashey mamy budet ochen' skoro, Rene. Maybe if your boyfriend here is nice, she’ll make one for him too,” he offered.
 
Percy had heard plenty about Rene's past relationships; everything, at least, besides the real details. Hearing, therefore, that one of Rene's ex's had had his skull almost bashed in was horrifying. If that kind of reaction was taken in response to infidelity, he had absolutely no idea what would happen if they discovered he was an imposter whose father wanted to expose Rene's community to the rest of the world. He didn't imagine they would receive that news well, after all...

"Oh, quit scaring the poor boy. Of course he's going to be nice, Mikael," tutted Verena playfully, her attention finally drifting away from the cute sweater. "Sylvan will love it-- he loves anything your mother makes, Rene. I can talk to him after the meeting, see if I can get through to him, how does that sound? I won't leave until you're both friends again-- they've had a little falling out, Mikael. I'm sure it's not too serious."
 
“Oh, really? A falling out?” Mikael murmured, pausing at the sound. Much like Verena, he saw the two boys’ relationship as pretty close to perfection. Locking his eyes immediately on his son, the ghoul crossed his arms and leaned down. “What did you do, Rene? Ne lgi mne, Rene,” he firmly spoke, his soft and gentle tone turning off almost instantly as he critically looked at his son.

Rene, in response, dropped his smile as he shyly looked away from his father, his cheeks growing red as he fiddled his thumbs, his tail between his legs. If there was anyone to take Rene away from his notoriously pompous attitude, it was his parents.

“My srazhalis' nad vampirom, papoy. Mozhem li my pogovorit' ob etom nayedine? Percy ne znayet,” Rene quickly whispered as he looked away. His words only earned a ‘hm’ from his father.

“Yes, we can speak later. I will speak to Sylvan as well,” Mikael decided before offering a nod to Percy.
 
"I'm sure Sylvan will come around. I don't think it's Rene's fault, for the record. It's that troublesome vampire," the woman added, deciding not to elaborate too much given Percy's presence. The teen might be too nervous to really take anything in, but she wasn't going to risk anything. She liked Rene too much to impact his relationship in any negative way.

If she wasn't required to head to the meeting on time, she would have happily sat down with a cup of coffee and have a heart-to-heart with Rene and her son to try and get to the bottom of their issues and help them repair their broken friendship. Unfortunately, she knew she couldn't skip out of her duties, however important Rene and her son were to her.

It was only when she and Mikael headed to the meeting that Sylvan seemed to make an appearance, having opted to stay back when he heard the voices just to avoid the interrogation he assumed would follow. He had no desire to forgive Rene, and the pressure from the adults to do that would only make him far more upset than he already was.

"Your boyfriend might be fooling them, but he isn't fooling me," the drider drawled, his lips pulled into a disapproving scowl. "Marcus knows that Percy's a complete fraud. I think he is too, he's probably lying about a lot of things, Rene-- but I'm glad you're with him, you both deserve one another. You're both devious little sluts. That's what I think."
 
“Oh, I’m the Slut?!” Rene squeaked almost immediately, his cheeks still red in embarrassment. “I’m not the one who made out with three people during the last musical! F... Fuck you, Sylvan. I apologized, what else do I need to do?! You’re being even more petty than usual!” He hissed, his claws extending naturally.

“I don’t want to lose you as a friend but you’re being a real cunt, you know that?” He growled. “I explained everything but you’re too petty and immature to realize that... I care more about you than you think. You know what? Fuck you. I’m going to my dorm, you can keep wallowing in pity when you’re just as much of a shitty person as me.”
 
"I don't want to ruin your relationship like you ruined mine, but don't tempt me. I... I won't hesitate if you k-keep pushing me," he hissed in response, his arms folded across his chest in the effort to make himself seem tough. In reality, he was clearly on the verge of a breaking point. He missed Rene -the boy was his only real friend- but just accepting his many apologies wasn't that easy. He was aware that the fault laid mostly with Brennan, but it still hurt to imagine Rene kissing him, and it was precisely that image that made him remain angry at his best friend.

"I... why did you have to... do what you did?" He asked, making a clear effort to remain cryptic in Percy's presence. "I... I don't understand, R-Rene. You should have come to me a-and... and told him no."
 
"He wouldn't leave me alone, it was late at night... I just wanted to get the whole thing over with and get everything back to normal," he whispered, his anger simmering to that of near tears. "I just wanted to get to sleep and... I didn't think it would end as badly as it did, I guess. I thought he would leave it at that and just keep being with you, I didn't expect him to do... that," he murmured, sniffling a bit as he wiped his eyes of tears.

"I just want us to make up. I don't know what you want me to do but I said I was sorry, I-I... I can't say it any more than I already have," he murmured. "I didn't mean for this to happen and I know I'm an idiot, okay? I know that I'm stupid and a jerk and I just... you know that I like Percy, right?"
 
"...It doesn't matter anymore, I'm not interested in Brennan. He's handsome but that's all he has to him-- and he's too polished for my liking anyway. I've decided I like more rugged men, you know? Like Marcus, he's pretty gorgeous, isn't he? And he gave me a tattoo, Rene. My mother would freak out, but I like feeling adventurous-- he makes me feel like I can do that sort of thing," the drider suddenly gushed, rubbing his wrist where his tattoo was still covered up, smiling quietly to himself at the reminder of what he had done. He didn't regret it, despite knowing how his mother might react.

He wanted it and Marcus gave him the courage to finally get something he had wished for for months. Surely that was a good thing?

"I can forgive you-- even though you know for a fact I only kissed two people during the interval of the last musical. Three people is obscene, I'm not a slut. It was just the two, so if you stop the slanderous lies, I can accept your apology," he remarked playfully, rolling his eyes in an effort to relax the tense atmosphere. "...Don't cry, you'll make me cry and I don't have waterproof mascara on, so..."
 
Despite the other’s insistence, Rene followed with sniffles and quiet wihimpers, covering his face in embarrassment to hide his tears. Some could see him as posh or bratty but, despite all that, Rene could be ridiculously emotional with certain things and this situation was one of them.

“... Marcus? The hairy werewolf? Percy says he’s not right,” Rene relayed through his croaked voice, sniffling. “You got a tattoo?! That’s really cool, I-I’d never, I’d cry.”
 
"I wouldn't accept Percy's assessment so easily, Marcus says he's weird. They don't like each other, they're never going to say nice things, but trust me, I like Marcus and he's really sweet," the drider gushed after shooting the 'merman' a glare for apparently talking bad about the werewolf. He was a solid friend of Sylvan's now, and the drider wasn't someone who let his friends get insulted behind their backs; he would defend them fiercely if need be.

Glancing behind his friend to ensure his mother had indeed gone, he carefully removed the gauze protecting the small tattoo and smiled proudly down at the heart.

"Pretty neat, huh? it hurt a lot, but it's... adorable, I think. I'd like another one, Marcus said he'd do it for me again if I wanted it. I think he's awesome, you should give him a chance, Rene. I'll be hanging out with him a lot, so... if we're friends again, you'll have to get to know him."
 
“I... guess I will, for you,” he murmured despite his clear reservations. Leaning in a bit closer so Percy couldn’t hear, he decided to whisper. “I’ll try and get to know him if you promise not to mention the Brennan thing ever again, yeah?”

Leaning back, he decided to scoot and take Percy’s hand in his, sniffling still though now offering a smile. He hated when he cried, always thought he looked ugly, and while he didn’t care nearly as much about his appearance as Sylvan’s still was important.

“I think Percy is in shock,” he admitted. “Let’s admit it, our parents are a bit... intimidating. Like I said, my papa would never hurt you unless you hurt me, and you’d never do that, right?”