There were times when one could be happy when they got a day off from school. For the creature who was walking down the hall now it was almost a blessing. He did not really want to have to be in close contact with others. The reason for this was simple. He had a side to him that constantly complained about how stupid everyone was. And if this side were to come out well there was always trouble. The peafowl sighed now as entered the juice bar now. Well it smelled nice in here that was for sure. He was not sure that his other half could say the same.


He gave a sigh pushing his dark sunglasses over his eyes now.
He wore them so that no one would see his angry side when he spoke to them. You see when he was upset or angry his eyes always got a darker more sinister look to then. He sighed again as he looked around the room . Well the good thing was that there was not many here. He now had to figure out what he wanted to drink. " Well what would you like?" he whispered to himself. As if in response his evil side said " Oh can you not just decide on something?" Pension as the peafowl was called just kind shook his head and mumbled " Just asking you." You see he had been trying to work with his other. To say the least that was not going well.

He then walked up and got him an orange slushy. It was one of his favorite drink as long as he drank it slowly. He then found a seat to where he could see who came in and out. He hoped that by doing this his other side would not feel the need to attack. So now what else could he do today he wondered.

Aubri strolled into the juice bar with a big grin on his beak, glad to have a break from classes again. Once in a while before he left school grounds to go and be with his special someone he liked to pay the juice bar a visit. With the frequency he came in here and the cafeteria it was no wonder the gryphon had yet to lose all of his "extra pounds" despite the exercise his love gave him. Today he was in a sort of tropical mood, walking up to the counter and getting a mango peach smoothie with a hint of pineapple. Of course it was in a very large cup to allow for the extra flavors but he certainly didn't mind. Now, to find a place to sit, relax for a bit, drink his drink, and... oh... someone else was hanging around here. Would be rude to completely ignore him right? Aubri gave a little nod and walked over to the window for a quick and pointless look outside before pulling up a chair. He picked the closest seat at the table next to the peafowl's so he could possibly talk but didn't act like he was inviting himself in or anything. "Great way to spend a day."

The peafowl sat in his chair quietly looking at everyone who entered. So far the only one who was there besides himself was a slightly chubby griffin. His dark half was certain to point out that fact as pension watched him get his drink. “Look at that guy. I bet he could stand to loose a few pounds.” his dark side thought now. Pension clamped his beak closed so that the words would not accidentally come out. He did not want to anger him after all. “Could you be nice just for a few seconds?” he thought back. He did not like just how rude his other side could be at time. That was the bad thing about having him around. The good thing was that nobody would mess with him due to his violent side. He too a sip of his drink to keep his other side quiet. He watched the griffin now as he moved to a table that was close to his own. He felt his darker side tense up a little. Oh please just let that side keep calm. He pushed his sunglasses up on his face so that his eyes stayed covered. He saw the griffin look out the window. He did not find that odd though. Really he often did the same thing. He gave the griffin a friendly smile as he sat in a seat near his table. “Well at least he did not get too close.” though his darker half. “Nope he did not now be nice please” pension thought back. Yeah he defiantly could look a little rude by not answering right away. It was just hard to speak when you had a voice that always had an insult in your head .He now head the griffin speak first and smiled at him. “Yeah it is. It is good way to keep yo mind off of yo troubles as well.” he said smiling still. His voice had an accent to it as he spoke. It was the kind that those from large cities often had. There was another difference to him and his other side. When his other half came out he spoke much more plainly and much darker.

The gryphon smiled, not having actually expected a conversation to start up but glad it did. Otherwise it felt kind of... stupid? to be the only two in the room and totally ignore one another. And that accent, nice one, kinda charming in a way. "Even if you don't have any troubles it's a nice break from everything else around here. Course I've never heard of anyone who doesn't have any problems in their life. Even the ones that say they're fine are usually hiding something." Aubri took a few sips of his drink, licking his beak quietly and stretching out a little. Heck nobody else was at his table so he figured there wasn't any harm in propping his paws up on another chair and leaning back a little. There wasn't any reason not to be relaxed after all, it was the juice bar and it was supposed to be a nice place to enjoy like this. Something about that other kid seemed a bit different, was he wearing shades for a specific reason? Not like it was overwhelmingly bright in here, or anywhere around school. Not his place to judge though, or even to be staring in his direction pretending to be looking at the guy at the juice counter.

The peafowl observed the other boy as he smiled back at him. Well at least that was a good start. Another thing he noted was that his darker half seemed to be kind of intimidated by the other boy. Maybe that was enough to keep it away for now. Pension looked at the griffin as he spoke now. Well he certainly knew all about having problems that was for certain. It was just that his particular problem often tried to harm others. It seemed to constantly be there no matter how much the peafowl wanted to change his other side held him back. Indeed though it would have been kind of stupid to sit around and pretend that they did not notice each other. And for the moment he was enjoying the other boys company. He could not say the same for his other side though. “ Did you have to do that?” it thought again. Pension just kind of smiled as he thought “ We have to be kind.” he then looked at the griffin and said” That is right we all has our problems. It is just that some of our problems are better left hidden under a mask.” he then kind of frowned. Maybe he should not have said that.That was his way of warning the griffin about his own problem. It was not like he could just tell him that he had another side. He would have thought that he was crazy. Actually that was not far from the truth. That would make it react. He did not want to scare the boy away though. After all the peafowl could use all the friends he could get. He just did not want to end up hurting him or maybe vise versa. He watched the griffin for a second before taking another sip of his drink.. He had to keep telling his other side to be quiet so that he would not say anything bad to the boy. He knew that the griffin was curious about him. most were when they first met him. Though when they met his other side they understood.

"Under a mask, locked up in a vault and the key thrown away, or dropped down a deep dark well. That's where I like most of my problems. Course... sometimes ya gotta just drag 'em out and meet it head on. Not like it's easy but sometimes it's just gotta happen." Aubri took a few more sips from his drink, setting the glass down and leaning back a little further. He thought it was fine, nice and relaxing, carefully balancing his weight so he wouldn't tip over or anything. And then there was a faint sound he heard... something like... oh... crap. The next thing he knew there was a loud cracking sound and he couldn't be sure if it was his head hitting the floor or the legs of the chair he was in snapping. The gryphon lay there almost comically for a moment, legs up in the air, blinking and giving a soft sigh. "Guess now's one of those times I need to face a problem. First thing tomorrow, starting a diet. That or complaining to the headmaster about these chairs breaking so easy." That was what worried him, was it really his weight or was it the chair just couldn't take the stress anymore? Good thing nobody but the peafowl and the server saw that though.

Pension quietly listened to the griffin as he spoke again. He new that it would be a very bad idea to just try to confront his other side. The last time that happened someone got hurt. He was not going threw that again .” yeah they is better that way.” he mumbled. He watched the griffin as he leaned back now. “ think he will crash?” asked his other side now. “ maybe.” he thought back. Just as he finished that thought he heard a creaking noise. He then saw the griffin chair break sending him crashing to the floor. He felt his dark side stir abit more at the sight. Indeed the large creature did look kind of funny laying there with his feet up in the air. He could hear the sound of his dark half laughing in his head. He had to hold his breath so he did not laugh as well.” heh that could has happened to anyone. Uhhh you need some help up?” he asked . So he stood up and walked closer to the griffin and held out his hand. His other side did not like that idea much but stayed quiet for the moment. He did not like having to get close to other unlike pension who wanted to have friends.

"Thanks. For both the comment and the hand up." Aubri took the assistance offered and managed to get back to his feet, checking his head for any blood or bruises. "Think I'm ok. Heh, bet that was kind of fun to watch... not so fun to actually do though." Only a slight bump on his head and as he briefly looked down no damage to the stone floor. Good, he'd heard of a few people around here, mostly dragons, that managed to do something like that fall and crack the stone. "Probably gonna have a headache later from that." He gave the peafowl a smile and a little bit of a bow. "Name's Aubri, nice to meet you." Pulling up another chair, pressing down on the back to be sure this one was sturdy, he sat down again, rubbing his head a little and sipping his drink. Yeah, that'd be something he'd only ever mention to his closest friends if they shared something else embarrassing first.

The peafowl smiled when the griffin thanked him for his help. He did not care to help others when they needed it. However his other side did not gave a care about anyone other then himself.” You is welcome man.” He said. He then smiled as he helped the griffin get to his feet. He was glade that the other boy was okay. His other side stirred slightly at the contact though. His other side did not like to be touched. Pension just hoped that his other side would not come out right now. “Why did you have to do that?” thought his other half. Pension gave a slight frown and thought back “just stop pen.” He then turned his attention back to the griffin listing to him as he spoke. He gave a smile glade to know that he did not hurt himself. Of course his other side had to think that he could change that. Pension just tried to ignore it for now.” I is glad that you is alright. Heh well it was a little bit funny.” he said with a smile. He had to try to keep his other half calm. He gave a smile to the griffin next statement. He would have a headache himself that was for sure. “I would.” He said. He the kind of smiled when the griffin bowed and said his name. Now here came the tricky part. Telling him both of his names. You see his darker half had gotten in to a habit of referring to himself as pen. He then watched as the griffin as he sat down in another chair. He the smiled going back to his own seat before introducing himself. “Well it is nice to meet you too. Uhhh well this is where the hard part comes. The side of me you see now is pension. However if the other side comes out he is called pen. Trust me you do not want to meet him ever.” He then looked down at his feet for a second. He figured that the griffin would think that he was crazy for thinking that. But that was far from the truth.

"You know that actually doesn't surprise me." Aubri smiled, as much as a gryphon could smile anyway. "I used to know someone else like that. His parents sent him to the monastery where I was at when my parents sent me off to learn "morals" and "good wholesome values" and all that. He was there because his family thought it was something demonic... frankly if they were that stupid it was a good thing he was sent off anyway. The other side would show up sometimes, could hear it in his voice. Never really got to hurt anyone but he'd always be throwing insults around. Then I left so, not sure if he's even still there or not." Aubri took a few more sips at his now half empty drink. Yeah, he'd heard about people like that, not crazy but not exactly what most called "sane" either. He didn't mind, even the darkest sides to people usually understood getting in trouble wasn't a good thing for "both" of them.

Pension gave a slight smile when he heard the griffin words now. Atleast he did not think that he was crazey. Most who heard him say that gave him a strange look . He could not say that he blamed them all that much. “ what is he talking about now?” asked his darker half who was growing board of this already. “ plase just stop pen. It aint like you wanna do anything right?” he thought back. he then tried to ignore his other half now. Maybe he was a little crazey. He tried to clear his mind now . That was the worst part of having another half. The constant arguing they did with each other. He smiled at him as he spoke now. Humm well he knew that he was not the only one who had that problem. So this guy whent to a monastery what ever that was. Pension felt his dark side stir again. He knew that talking about pen only made him worse. “ Huh it don’t ? well this one is rather violent towards others. He is the reason I hide my eyes from others all of the time. I am afaid that others can see the evil looks he gives. … He says that he hates anyone who is around him. …… but anyhow you do not need to hear about my problem right ? “ he said with a slight frown. He did not want to talk about his other half. He knew that it made him worse. In fact he could feel it stirring now. “ so uhh you a student here or a worker or something?” he asked with a smile. He knew that he had to change the subject before his other half came out.

"Guess that makes some sense. Aside from that one guy I wasn't really very experienced on the whole darker half thing though. So if you don't want to talk about it that's fine, I wouldn't have too much to contribute anyway. Heh, bet he got a good laugh out of my fall though." Aubri laughed as he realized the "audience" for his fall just increased by one. "Student, heh, don't exactly have a job in the area, just had a pretty fair chunk of change with me. When I need cash I can do little odd jobs or if I really need it, ask a good friend." More like a boyfriend, but still. Aubri wasn't going to need to borrow anything for a while though, he still had his "allowance" for this year to dip into. "Once in a while I work on fixing up that old church that's outside the school kinda far back in the woods. It's basically just me and one other person trying to fix what must be at least fifty years of neglect though."

Pension gave a slight smile. He would have a problem taking about his other half if it was not for the fact that every time he did his other side wanted to attack the person he was talking to. He took another drink form his drink as he listened to the griffin speak now. Indeed his other half did think that it was funny. Though before the peafowl had time to respond he heard his dark half think “ hay mister gossip I getting board here.” He paused giving a dark glare though his glasse hide it before think back. “ I know just relax and stop, and behave.” he then smiled at the griffin saying” yeah he thought that it was pretty funny. In fact he still dose.” he smiled knowing that last part was true.

Lucky for the griffin though he would not have to worry about his other half telling anyone about it. He just hoped that he did not catch the glare. He did not wat to be juged. He then listened as the griffin said that he was a student here. As he listened he could hear his dark half complaining again. Oh he hoped that he would not come out here. As they boy said he really did not know how to deal with someone like pen. Really all one could do was run or fight. If they chose the latter then they had better be ready to deal with weapons. The young peacock had a bad habit of carrying knives with him. It was a forced habit that came from having to live on the street when he was younger.

He now looked at the other boy forcing his other half away. “ Oh yeah? That is cool. well I aint got no job either. I just get money from the old couple whenever I is need of if.” he said. He did not call then his parents. All that they did was just constantly try to force him to take pills that never helped him. He forced that thought to go away not wanting his other side to react to it . That would not be good at all. So there was a church around here that the griffin was fixing . Well that was a good deed to be doing. Pension could not say that he was all that religious himself. “ oh yeah. That would be a good thing to fix up though. That way maybe it could be used right? “ he said trying to keep calm still.

"Thanks. Oh, the church has been... used... just... not for its intended purposes. It turned into more of... a sort of party house I guess. And over the years I think there were even a few people hurt or killed out there. So it's almost a complete rebuild." Not that Aubri was the single most religious person around, but he certainly didn't want those things going on in a church anymore. He got a feeling the other side of Pension was putting some stress on him, maybe hard to hold back. Probably one of those that always felt he couldn't be beat, he could get away with anything, and even if he didn't really wouldn't care if the good Pension got hurt because of his actions. "Good thing the school generally provides everything you could need, just have to pay for food sometimes. Or little luxuries like these drinks. Damn good though, worth every penny."

The peafowl stired the straw around in his drink before drinking some of it. It was true that his other half stressed him out alot. Pension frowned as he listened to the griffin speak. It did not really surprise him that the students would use the church as a party house. Really his other half would do those kind of things if it was not for him keeping it clam. “oh yeah? That dose not sound good. Humm yeah I hear that they is a lot of strange thing that go on around here though. Most of it is just hard to believe though.” he said. He felt his other half stir again. He knew that soon he would have to let it out. He just wanted it to hold off until he was alone. But that would not be fun for his other half. In his mind he wanted everyone to know that he was present . And he loved trouble no matter what he had to do to start it. He herd the griffins words and smiled slightly. “yeah it is a good thing.” he said. Suddenly he could feel his other half stirring harder. “ you can not keep me away forever little fool.” it hissed in his mind. He looked at the other boy now and cringed. “ uhh you may want to … watch out for .. Me.” he said his voice suddenly getting darker at the end of the statement. Though the griffin could not see them his eyes got a dark almost sinister look to them now. Pen was now present. One could not blame his other half for this though. After all he did not ask for this curse. His other half was tired of waiting around. He wanted to do something fun. Too bad what he considered fun was not always fun for anyone else.