👫 + holly
lily’s life was an even more serious test of their friendship than her death was; the grief of loss brought grendel and holly closer together, whereas past disagreements regarding lily and her ( unbeknownst to gren or holly at the time, unwilling ) lifestyle have damn near driven them apart for good. they both loved her dearly, but holly has always been less solidly acquainted with individuality than gren has, and has historically had a difficult time understanding lily / coping with the way she lives her life. gren and lily have, on the other hand, been through similar struggles as one another, and were able to empathize with each other on a level that holly wasn’t able to access with either of them. holly felt, sometimes, that her best friend and her sibling were closer to each other than they were to her, and it’s been the source of some resentment in the past — but their bond’s too damn strong to be broken by a thing like that, and they’ve always managed to work shit out.
holly is the only woman gren’s ever kissed. it was a single, brief peck on the lips; they were pretending to be a heterosexual couple so that gren could get a fucking job. 1920s. it was so fucking pathetic. the urge to vomit surfaced within both of them on the spot and they won’t ever have any fucking clue how the interviewer didn’t notice how awkward and obviously staged the whole thing was. they still laugh about it to this day.
holly’s a huge part of the reason gren’s as good a cook as he is. sure, he picked up a good chunk of it just from being alive for so long, but gren learning about shit like seasoning, marinating, tenderizing, etc. -- you know; the shit that makes food actually taste good, as opposed to just being edible -- that was all on her. between staffing and managing the trip trap all on her lonesome and maintaining whatever dredges of a social life she has, holly doesn’t have time to cook for herself very often, so gren uses what knowledge she’s passed onto him and -- whenever the opportunity arises -- whips up something decent and home-cooked for them both.
gren doesn’t exactly have a consistent roof over his head, and the biggest reprieve he gets from that is holly opening her door to him: particularly during cold or rainy months. otherwise, he usually contents himself with a park bench when he needs to conk, or wanders into an all-night diner or a 24-hour bar; the trip trap closes at 2 in the morning and opens between 6 and 8, being closed completely during certain holidays, so there are limits to just how often he gets to stick around. it’s not that holly ever kicks him out or tells him he can’t crash at her place -- it’s just that gren gets embarrassed, and feels guilty, if he thinks he might be coming off like ... you know ... a mooch.
