#racetrackshipping

[generalskales]

Pillow Fort

Read It On Ao3 Here

Characters: Griffin Turner, Original Male Character

Prompt: Griffin and Eiji build a pillow fort.

"You mean to tell me, that despite being alive for what amounts to possibly a thousand years, you have NEVER built a pillow fort?" "That is what I said." "Get all the pillows and blankets in the house that you can find, we're building one."

"It just seems to be, I don't know, not a good use of our time? We can go out and help the ninja with their patrols, or do some chores around the house?" Griffin almost felt sorry for the young immortal, the poor guy doesn't even know how fun a pillow fort is. The brunet just shook his head and smiled at the blonde standing across the room from him, and continued to rearrange the furniture. Eiji just huffed out a sigh and went upstairs to raid the rooms for what he was asked to collect. Not long after the other had left, Griffin had a sudden burst of energy and rushed out the door. He needed to run and he needed to run now. Thankfully for the master of speed, there was a large clearing behind his house just a short hike away from his house. Whenever he got a burst of energy and didn't feel like tearing through the house like a cat at 3 in the morning, he rushed out to run the perimeter of it. Judging from Eiji's face, however, it should have occurred to him to maybe explain this to his roommate after telling him to go fetch something and then bolting. "If this was your idea of a joke then you better explain it because I don't particularly find that funny." Griffin felt embarrassed, mainly because he was caught but also because he kept forgetting to mention that he has to run a few laps at least once a week or else he'll go nonstop for a few days and risk collapse. "You know how elemental masters have to sometimes find an outlet for their elements or else it can possibly kill them? That's kind of what I'm doing here." "I understand, but I would like to be told of this before I'm sent to fetch something and then find you gone, especially when it's this late in the day. Seriously Griffin it's almost sunset, at least tell me where you're going before you rush off like that." "I can't control the energy, sometimes I don't feel like cleaning up the aftermath of an indoor burst." Eiji pondered that last part, before nodding in understanding and agreement. Griffin sighed in relief and was about to ask how he could apologize for the worry he caused before he was cut off by the blonde. "So, why do you care so much about pillow forts? Is it like a family tradition of yours or..." "What? No! Well... Hold on, I need to gather my thoughts coherently." "I'll wait." Griffin didn't feel like he could talk about this topic without letting it slip that he was in love with the other master, not at his track of all places. He made a gesture suggesting that he wanted to carry Eiji to another area, and was relieved when the blonde caught on and held onto him somewhat tightly. "Where are we going?" "Back to the house, we'll talk as we build." "Whatever makes you comfortable Griffin." Griffin never really paid attention to how far away the clearing actually was, he thought it was a lot shorter. Granted, he was usually going so fast it really was just a stone's throw away for him. He felt kind of bad for making Eiji march all the way out to get him. The pillow fort didn't take as long as Griffin had hoped. He planned on focusing so much on building it that he could ignore the inevitable conversation that would end with him broken-hearted and out one wonderful roommate. Eiji, on the other hand, looked pleased with the result. It was a simple little fort, just barely big enough for them to be comfortable, but the look on his face betrayed his emotions. He ducked underneath the blanket they used as the roof and invited Griffin to join, patting the spot next to him. Griffin happily obliged, laying his head on Eiji's thigh. "So, we built the fort, and I think I can see why you were so intent on having me build one with you. It was fun, despite the purpose still being unclear to me." "Well, what do you think the purpose is?" "I read up on it while I was upstairs as to what it was, and the purpose, usually, is to entertain a child? I am not a child and neither are you, so there has to be another reason for your suggestion." "You talk like a nerd." "Says the man who spent half a day teaching me Sonic the Hedgehog lore." "Hey, that's very important information!" "Back to my question, why did we build this?" "Well, like you said it's usually to entertain children, and yet you have never even heard of one much less build one. It's a nice thing to experience as a child and while I understand that your childhood was... far from great, it's something you never even thought to act upon? I don't know exactly, I think I just wanted to give you something nice to remember about me when I'm not around anymore..." Eiji paused, processing what Griffin just told him. He had a look of concern on his face that was usually reserved for a problem with his silk moths. Eiji's eyes were a nice blue, it reminded him of a pool. He would be honored if he could drown in them. "Griffin? Are you okay? You're staring off into space again." "A pool would be a better descriptor..." "I'm sorry a what? Griffin, what are you staring at that has you so enthralled?" Griffin quickly sat up and attempted to hide the blush that was appearing on his face. "Is there something wrong?" "No, no there isn't. I was just thinking about going swimming later..." "Griffin, usually when people lie they avoid eye contact, and you're not even facing me while speaking. Either be honest and tell me what's wrong or you're getting moth therapy." He shuddered at the mere idea of moth therapy, he didn't know what it was but something in the back of his mind said he probably he didn't want to know. He tried to think of an excuse but his mouth moved faster than his brain. "Eyes." "What?" "I was staring into your eyes, they remind me of a pool because I used to go swimming a lot and the water was the same shade as your eyes and gosh they're so pretty." Eiji, unfortunately, went silent. A sign that Griffin has majorly fucked up and he needs to find a way to play it off that wouldn't offend him further. He was interrupted by what was unmistakably laughter. It wasn't the prettiest laugh he's ever heard, but definitely one of the nicer ones. It was genuine, and it helped deter the approaching doubts Griffin had about his feelings. "Thank you! No one's ever really commented on them. Although you've seen my mask, they're usually too terrified to notice! You were enthralled by my eyes? I don't really understand why, because your eyes are even more fascinating!" "How so?" "Griffin... please tell me you're joking." "I don't understand what you find special about my eyes?" "Well, I find your left eye specifically to be interesting, it's two different colors. Brown and blue, split right down the middle it seems. You have sectoral heterochromia." Griffin gave Eiji a confused look and left to go find a mirror. Obviously, he would have noticed his left eye being two different colors... right? He never felt so stupid looking in that mirror, he's had this his whole life and he's just now noticed? He stared intently in the mirror, wondering and slightly hoping that this was some kind of hallucination from lack of sleep. No wonder people did double-takes the rare moments he removed his shades from their proper place. He figured he may have gotten used to it, a lot of people in his family had some strange-looking eyes. Maybe he just thought his eyes were ordinary in comparison. He's known a few people with heterochromia before, but he never thought he had it as well. Eiji was always the smart one, spending possibly thousands of years locked in an evergrowing library of knowledge does that to you. Almost as if the thought summoned the other elemental, Eiji appeared in the doorway, holding a bowl and a pack of popcorn. "Want to watch a movie in the fort with me?" Griffin smiled in the mirror, staring into his roommate's pretty blue eyes. "Sounds great, but I swear if you pick another slasher film then you're dealing with me tonight. I will demand so many apology cuddles you'll wish you never knew me." The blonde smirked and gave him a wink. "Aww, I was looking forward to a Vorhees marathon... I'll go pick something else then, see you in the fort birdy." Griffin was about to backtrack and say that he was joking until he remembered quite vividly the select reasons why he disliked the genre. He's seen enough blood courtesy of that stupid tournament. He shook the thoughts away before staring into the mirror one last time. He had to agree, his eyes were fascinating.