Old Friends, New Rivals (Dagda/Percy)

Percy was oddly quiet. His silence was not from being upset, but rather from being almost giddy. Despite doing some reflection since earning his father's praise, he was still almost walking on air without the weight on his shoulders. Even on his down days, they weren't as down as they used to be. So the aspect of being in a rather good mood and having his boyfriend meet his one and only other friend was exciting, but also nerve-wracking. He was nervous about them getting along. He couldn't think of any reasons why they wouldn't but it was still a concern.

Leading Leon through the recreational top floor of the flying beast made of metal, he smiled. Percy felt about as at home here as he did in Leon's home. "He's probably in the Arborium," he said softly, his mind wandering a bit. "Dagda and I basically repaired and rebuilt this thing by hand. When he brought me to help fix it, it couldn't fly. It had mysteriously crashed here ages go. Leon, you should see how this thing works! It took me a little bit to figure it out, but Dolomian technology is the most fascinating thing I've ever seen. I'm basically the ship's mechanic in addition to being one of the Rehabilitation & Research Aces," he explained, thinking about all the work it took to get the S.S. Endeavor in such good shape. A lot of trial and error as he learned the alien hardware and software. He'd spent a lot of time with Dagda. It'd been really fun.

Pausing to scan the clearing, he noted that Dagda was indeed nowhere in sight and looked ahead to the huge trees looming ahead of them. It took up most of the deck! It was basically its own full-size forest but in the air. "Come on," he urged, almost jogging into the foliage to one of the trails. After walking through the shady green, listening to the birds, Percy felt the need to inform Leon of the coolest thing. "This is basically the ship's fuel. The ship runs on oxygen, so with a forest this size, it's self-sustaining. You should see the mechanical innards of this thing. It uses processes I'd never dreamed of, but once I took them apart and reassembled them, I wonder why no one from Ishgar has thought of it. It's so...clean. Clean energy. It never has to even land," he chattered, head swiveling back and forth for the large frame of his friend. "Dagda!" he called, heading toward an area that had some plants that needed more focused tending by human hands.

Sure enough, there he was. "Hey, Dagda!" he greeted, shuffling to the end of the path. He was even more nervous than he thought now that the moment had arrived. The two men closest to him were right here, both having been saved by him and both sporting prosthetics of his own design, though Dagda's had the synthetic skin option when he chose to use it. "You busy? I brought a v-visitor. This is Leon Hoffman," he spoke, awkwardness assaulting him and bringing out that uncertain timidity...and a soft blush. Vaguely gesturing to the dark-haired man with the intense eyes at this side, he continued his introduction. "Leon, this is D-Dagda MacLean."

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"We're coming here to stay here for a while!! Er...!" Percy announced abruptly, interrupting his boyfriend before he could finish his statement. A very light sweat had formed under his long bangs and, once more, some sort of gay panic gripped him. It probably didn't matter telling Dagda, it wasn't like he'd tell anyone that mattered. And he doubted there were any journalists or paparazzi hiding on board. But... habits died hard. Daggers led a very secretive, publicly straight-laced life. Speaking about what his family would probably call their 'torrid, unnatural affair' aloud just... gave him some sort of heebie-jeebies.

Trying to compose himself and lower his voice back to normal levels (he was failing), he thought he'd better explain quickly. "Ah, my house b-blew up! Or rather, I-I blew my house up..." he said with a nervous giggle, starting to fumble all over himself for several reasons. One, it was Dagda. Two, Leon was suddenly very aggressive. Three, there was just a ton that had happened in his life that he hadn't been able to tell Dagda, which was probably shocking. Four, he absolutely loved Leon with all his heart, which he thought would have squashed the tiny infatuation he had with his friend... but it didn't. As awkward as it was to think about right now, it wasn't like he'd leave Leon if Dagda came out as being into men as well. He was just...still just as attractive as he'd always been and he couldn't ignore it. He hadn't seen his very tall friend in a while. It was Dagda who had started this sexuality issue he had, after all.

"A lot happened, Dag. I got m-magic, wefoughtinawar, and then I accidentally used my new magic to, uh, d-destroy my house...so...it's in- there's nothing- it has to be rebuilt, so... I was...uh, gonna catch up on w-work here and-- C-Can Leon stay in my d-dorm for a while? He really helps with m-my-- the company's work so... but I c-can't do that stuff right now...erm... I need him-- his help..." Oh god, it was getting worse. Percy's word salad was especially tossed, and the poor thing, despite his stiff smile and the 'Leon stop it' patting on his boyfriend's back, was about to have a panic attack.

Realizing that his scrambling speech wasn't really helping things, he fell silent and just looked helplessly between the two with widened, mismatched hues. Surely one would have mercy on him, but preferably both of them would. All he needed was to be thrown into a traumatic fit right in front of Dagda.

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"Haha... uh, yeah, your room is probably worse than mine," he almost squeaked after his tense chuckle. If his blood pumped any harder, he was pretty sure he'd spring a leak somewhere. But he had to make up for Leon's...whatever this was.

Percy continued to sweat, telling himself that he should have expected this outcome. Not because he didn't trust Leon to interact with people normally, though it was abundantly clear that both of them had many hangups in social situations, but because of Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong will, and it was. He just wanted them to get along, but perhaps after getting his father's acceptance, the universe was all out of letting Percy have what he wanted. "Y-Yeah, I have a lot to tell you," he said with a crooked smile, nervously picking at his nails.

Then he jerked his head to the side. What....what was that voice?? He gaped at Leon slightly, as if staring up into that handsome mug would explain why his voice dropped even lower. More annoyingly, why was he being like this with someone so nice and easy-going as Dagda? And why, despite its terrifying inconvenience, was it so hot? Now his face flushed a little looking at his hostile boyfriend, both irritated and-- no, thinking about that wouldn't help at all! "A-Ah, now we have... snacks! We brought snacks. Would you l-like some?" The Peppermint head stuttered, gesturing to the bag. Wait, no! He should have taken Leon and ran to his room to break up this awkward and tense interaction. However, he had the smallest bit of hope that it could be salvaged with enough time. Maybe they could see how similar they could be?

"Let's sit!" he said, again abruptly in his jittery panic. He walked over to a particularly lush, soft patch of grass between the nearby trees. And then, as he'd said, he plopped down. Would he normally sit on the dirty ground in his nice slacks? No, but it was a good excuse that would seem almost normal, but really his legs were so wobbly that he really needed to sit down before he fell over. All of this honestly made him feel a bit sick. "We c-can fill each other in on what all we've m-missed," he said hopefully. "Did I m-miss anything exciting? Is the g-guild still doing well? I'm s-sorry for ghosting..."

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Percy wasn't one to stress eat often, but he was now. The chips he had were being ravenously devoured as he alternated between glancing at the two men and out into space. Ok, this was turning out to be an all-around bad idea. Things were often awkward for the Dagger, but this was...exceptionally awkward. Leon's words were so curt and he still wasn't sure why, exactly. Did he just take an immediate dislike to Dagda? How? Dagda was great...

He smiled slightly as Leon told Dagda they'd met boxing, although he did add a bit of a pointed stare, trying to telepathically beg him to chill out and act... normal? Nicer? Actually, given the tone he'd met Leon in, maybe this was how he always acted upon first meetings. Interesting. They'd been on such good terms now, it was hard to remember how abrasive Leon had been at first as Percy tried to apologize. If he could be sure this was just his way of being defensive or awkward instead of it being a personal issue with Dagda, he'd feel so much better.

Dagda explained their first meeting, bringing a shy grin out of Percy when his arm was play-punched. As stressful as it had been at the time, they were fond memories now. Well, not all the blood and limb loss, but the misunderstanding and friendship that followed. "People have a tendency to pin me to walls, I've noticed," he chuckled. "Like at the--" He'd almost mentioned the Singles Night, but caught himself. Still, he blushed a little just thinking about it, especially since he and Dagda had arrived together but Percy ghosted him in the end. "Must be my ch-charm," he lightly joked, tossing a look at his broody secret boyfriend. Percy wasn't the best at lightening moods, but he was certainly trying his hardest.

"I'm lucky to have two great friends, even though I didn't meet either of you on the best of terms. That's probably more me than you," he spoke quietly, again looking between them. He was starting to force himself to calm down a little, though he was still on edge. He did notice he was doing that thing where he talks a lot because he was nervous. "It's...ah, important to m-me, actually..." Percy added, looking down at his hands that were picking at his nails.

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