Young Executive Boyfriend (Patreon)

You know, I actually have a hard time figuring out where Gray would have met this guy, but I think it’s safe to say that he lucked out that they split because he seems like the type who wants to run in the circles Gray’s trying to hide from. Like, this guy’s on track to become exactly the kind of person Gray was a year or two before this, and if they stuck together it would probably eventually put him in front of people he doesn’t want to know he’s still alive. I think of him like the type who lives in this slummy neighbourhood but works in a nicer one, and is trying to fake-it-til-you-make-it while he tries to climb the ladder. He almost certainly thinks he’s too good for Gray and probably ended up with him because “the guy who manages the Pipeburn” is the minimum acceptably high symbol of status in this neighbourhood for him.

Gray’s hasn’t really done much with his look yet other than let his hair start growing out, but he’s still trying to figure out what comes next. He hasn’t gone full tilt on diet and exercise yet (he’s eating cheerios instead of the low-carb high-protein egg white scrambles Poppy and Shawn complain that he makes “every day”) I think he’s still having a lot of bad days because he hasn’t figured out how to take care of himself with the new status quo. He gets frustrated he can’t do things he used to be able to, he pushes himself too hard, he misses his family. He’s kind of drifting rudderless and doesn’t really have a goal to focus on yet beyond “stay alive”, so he’s probably not in a place to be pursuing fussy, high-maintenance men right now.