Rowan went a bit redder, toying with his hair shyly. "W-Well… they all thought I was weak. And they made fun of me for how I like to dress and because I like boys instead of girls like I'm supposed to… my mom never cared, though. She was always great about it."
Oh. Oh.
"What? People actually think that?! Rowan, you're not supposed to like anyone. You're attracted who you're attracted to, end of discussion. You're mom is amazing." Matthew wrapped both his arms around Rowan now.
Rowan was very red by now, clearly more than a little taken aback. "I-I um… thanks, Matthew… I'm really lucky to have her, honestly. Sometimes parents will kick their kids out for being gay."
Matthew was taken aback by this.
"What?" he asked softly. "That's… no. How could they ever…" Matthew didn't notice how red Rowan was, too caught up in the horror of what Rowan was discribing.
"I-I dunno… I think it's horrible. I'm glad that my mom loves me for who I am." Rowan sighed and buried his face in Matthew's chest.
Matthew held Rowan securely to himself when Rowan buried his face in Matthew's own chest.
"Well, you'll find that no one here would ever, ever do something like that," Matthew said softly.
Rowan nodded a bit. "People here seem to be a lot nicer than they are on earth… you need thick skin to survive there and I… well… I'm pretty soft."
Matthew nodded a bit, holding Rowan close to himself.
"Well, you'll thrive here." He smiled gently.
"I'm glad you think so… I don't usually do well with people being mean to me…" Rowan sighed softly. "I cry at work a lot."
Matthew stiffened a bit at that.
"How could anyone be so cold hearted as to make someone as nice as you cry..?" He shook his head a bit.
Rowan flushed again and looked down at the ground. "W-Well, I'm really sensitive, so it's probably my fault… I should be able to handle some yelling."
"Other people's actins aren't you're fault, Rowan. They shouldn't be yelling at you in the first place- you're the one helping them." Matthew held Rowan close, shaking his head a bit.
Rowan sighed softly as he buried his face in Matthew's chest again. "I dunno… we're always told that the customer is always right."
Matthew shook his head.
"What if they came in demanding a service you didn't provide? Are they right then? If they wanted that much control, they should do it themselves."
"Well, I… I dunno…" Rowan sighed again. "It's just a mess… I'd quit if I could afford to, honestly, but I really can't… I guess I can if I'm moving here, though."
Matthew nodded a bit. He held Rowan close.
"I just… You're world is just so… Hostile. And it's not even nature! It's just… The people."
"Yeah… people aren't super nice in New York. I mean, obviously there's some nice people, but there's eight million people and lots of them are mean."
Matthew let out a sigh.
"It's just wrong."
Rowan shrugged a bit. "But that's just how it is there."
Matthew sighed faintly, still wrapped up around Rowan protectively.
"I… I understand, but still…"
Rowan huddled up against Matthew with a soft sigh. "Yeah, I know… that's just what I'm used to, you know?"
Matthew hesitated a moment, nodding.
"Still, you shouldn't have to…"
"I guess, but I do, and that's just how it is… even in the nicest places on earth, there's some mean people."
Matthew let out a soft breath.
"I…" He shook his head a bit. "It's just so surreal. How could people be like that..?"
"I wonder that a lot, you know? Like… what went wrong to make people think that it's okay to act the way they do? It's not hard to just be a decent human being…"
Matthew nodded in turn.
"Well, you'll find none of that here. We've figured out its better to co-exist than be at each other's throats all the time."
Rowan nodded a bit and moved closer to Matthew. "Y-Yeah… I'm surprised that actually works, though. There's no mean people here?"
"There are very few. People who are like that… They're usually shunned." Matthew let out a soft breath. He opened his wings a bit, mostly to keep an eye on the eggs.
"Mm…" Rowan looked down at the eggs and held them a bit closer. "Our ratio is a bit different on earth."
Matthew sighed softly, his hand going to lightly rest on the nest.
"I can tell, from what you've told me…"