Graff's Inter-Dimensional Adventures

It wasn't hard to find Silverstream; with her relatively high energy and bright color palette, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

When she spotted us, she gasped at the extra character in our party. "You found him?" I nodded, and she leapt forward to greet him. "Hi, I'm Silverstream! You're this dimension's Graff, right?"

He looked taken aback by the Hippogriff's warm attitude. "Well, yeah..."

She vigorously shook his claw without him even offering it. "It's nice to meet you! Wow, your feathers are so well-groomed; who's your stylist?"

He corrected her, "Actually, I did this myself."

"No way!" She exclaimed. "I've always had trouble with my feathers; you've gotta tell me your secret, dude!"

He blinked in surprise, then chuckled. "You know what? You might actually be tolerable."

Gallus and I looked at each other, and began to chuckle.

We found a decent restaurant, simply called "Fish and Chips". On the outside, it wasn't much different from the other dilapidated buildings; the only thing visually distinct was its larger size and the sign.

On the inside, it was a rather normal restaurant, similar to those in the human world (except this was made for quadrupeds, obviously). We took a corner booth and began to wait for the waiter.

While we waited, I decided to make small-talk. "So, Gallus, what's it like living here in Griffonstone?"

Gallus groaned. "Honestly? I don't particularly like it here."

Silverstream elaborated, "He's an orphan."

I blanched. "You are? Gallus, I'm so sorry!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why? You didn't have anything to do with that."

I clarified, "I mean that I feel bad to hear that."

"Oh," Gallus blinked. "Well, thanks, Graff."

My doppelganger piped up, "Okay, we're gonna have to come up with some way to distinguish between us two."

I offered, "How about we have nicknames while we're around each other?"

He snapped his talons. "Of course! I'll be Graff, and you'll be Graff-2!"

"Alright."

Graff did a double-take. "Really? No argument, no qualms; you're just accepting it like that?"

I shrugged, "Well, I am the outsider in this world. It just makes sense."

He scoffed. "You know, you're way too complacent to be me..."

"And that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," I admitted. "The differences in our lives?"

He rolled his eyes. "Like what, the fact that you're a wuss?"

I shook my head, "I wasn't always."

Silverstream blinked, curious. "Oh?"

I hesitated. "I used to be just like him," I pointed at Graff.

He beamed, as if it was an accomplishment. "And what's wrong with that?"

I sighed in remembrance. "It's the worst regret of my life."

He looked confused. "It's not THAT bad, is it?"

"It was when Giselle died."

The table went silent. Graff had a look of horror on his face, Gallus was somewhat shocked, and Silverstream was completely in the dark.

"G-Giselle's dead in your world?" My doppelganger finally whimpered weakly, the distant exterior cracking. I nodded.

Silverstream asked, "Who's Giselle?"

Gallus pointed out, "I heard Graff-2 mention her when he first met Graff. Something about raising 2?"

I sighed. "Giselle was my grandmother. My parents died in a car crash when I was two, and she took me in and raised me."

Graff blinked. "What's a car?"

I huffed. "It's like a carriage, except it pulls itself."

He nodded, "Gotcha."

I continued, "I grew up not even remembering my parents, and I began to take her for granted. I adopted that conceited persona when I entered middle school, because I thought it was what all the cool kids did. But it drove a wedge between me and Giselle, so when she fell down those stairs..."

Now, I was openly tearing up. "She broke her neck and died, and I never got to tell her how much I really appreciated her."

Silverstream was clasping her talons over her heart; Gallus was leaning over to comfort me; and Graff...

Graff was sitting there, utterly mortified. His thousand-yard stare told me that he was seriously beginning to re-evaluate his own relationships.

I sat up, wiping the tears away as best I could. "I promised myself I'd be as true to myself as possible from then on, and I've been all the happier for it. Believe me, Graff; I've not once regretted ditching that stupid façade."

He nodded wistfully, as if considering my words.

Thankfully, a waitress chose that moment to appear, four menus in her grasp. "Welcome to Fish and Chips," she recited monotonously, "can I start you off with some drinks?"

Gallus ordered water for the table, giving a bit upfront. She nodded, left the menus at the table, and went back to the kitchen.

Trying to get my breakdown off my mind, I picked up a menu and looked over the options. The list was surprisingly varied, from tuna stir fry to salmon meunière, and side dishes of potatoes in various forms. When the waitress returned with our water, I finally settled on a furikake salmon bowl (it seemed appetizing enough), my doppelganger chose regular fish and chips, Gallus chose glazed salmon, and Silverstream got salmon meunière. Gallus and Silverstream both paid for our food, and the waitress went back to the kitchen.

Gallus tried to start up a new conversation. "So, Graff-2, what's your world like?"

"Y'know," I admitted, "aside from the difference in species and technological advances, it isn't all that different."

Graff blinked. "Wait, different species?"

I blanched, realizing that I hadn't clarified that earlier. "Yeah, guess I forgot to mention that, huh? In my world, I'm what we call a 'human'; they're like apes, except they walk on two legs, have a lot less hair, and wear clothes."

He couldn't help but laugh at the prospect. "That sounds ridiculous!"

I jabbed back, "Says the talking lion-eagle."

He blinked. "Touché."

We made small talk until our food came out, then we began to dig in. I'll admit, the food was much more delicious than I'd envisioned. "Mmm!" I vocalized, "This is great!"

Gallus, too, seemed surprised at the quality. "Dude, this is much better than the last time I ate here!"

Graff nodded, "They've been improving ever since the advent of 'Friendship' in Griffonstone. I guess that, once the chefs start actually giving a damn, the quality will improve."

Silverstream moaned in euphoria. "Oh, Gallus, you HAVE to try this!"

"I don't—" Before Gallus could object, she eagerly stuffed a bite of meunière into his beak. He chewed a bit, then hummed in pleasure. "Wow, you're right!"

I chuckled at the display, but decided against commenting.

My doppelganger, on the other claw, had no qualms against spoiling the moment. "Ooh," he teased, "looks like some-griff's in love!"

Gallus shrugged. "Eh, I can't disagree."

That took the wind right out of Graff's sails. "Wow, that School changed you more than I thought."