Nuzzling softly beside his mate, Canvas gave off a small yawn before fully waking up. Opening his tired eyes, the stallion was pleased to see that the weather was slightly overcast today. Because of that, the light coming in through the window wasn't nearly as bright as it usually was. Canvas then sighed in contentment before nestling in closer to Troy, who was just starting to wake up as well.

"Nnnnnnnn…" Still half-asleep, the silver Gryphon instinctively pulled Canvas in with his claws, keeping the pony in a tight cuddle as he came closer to consciousness. After making a much louder yawn than his fiancé, Troy opened his eyes, smiling faintly when he saw who was wrapped in his forelegs. "Oh… Good mor--"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The sound of the smoke alarm blaring downstairs made both of them shoot up from their nest. Before either of them could rush downstairs to make sure nothing was on fire, the sounds of three Gryphons yelling became louder than the alarm. After the obvious sounds of something being smashed lasted for a brief moment, the beeping stopped in an instant.

A moment of silence swept throughout the barn for another moment, which was broken by the faint sound of talons and paws coming up the stairs. Troy and Canvas saw Lyle come into view outside their bedroom, a slightly guilty look on his face.

"Uhhh…" Lyle pointed a talon down the stairs. "Blaze broke your fire thingy."

"NO I DIDN'T!" bellowed out Blaze's voice from downstairs. "Blane did it!"

"Don't blame that on me, jerk-wad!"

Troy groaned in frustration before calling out to them. "GUYS! You better not be making another firecracker suit!"

"No we ain't!" replied back Blade in his Trottingham accent. "We're making quesadillas!"

Troy sighed before falling back into his bedding. Even though he was glad the triplets weren't repeating any disasters from back home, the Gryphon still felt uneasy as he closed his eyes again.

"You want one?" asked Lyle from the stairway.

After Troy made a light shrug with his shoulders, Canvas lifted himself up from the nest to make a wide stretch. After giving off a surprisingly loud yawn, the stallion began to pull his tired form out of the nest. "I… I should go help them. I'd rather not have my kitchen risk getting burnt again."

"I never burnt down your kitchen, Canvas," muttered Troy from the nest.

Canvas turned back to his fiancé with a skeptical smirk. "Well, you almost did the first time. And from making a grilled cheese, no less."

Lyle clenched his beak shut, making his giggle slightly muffled as he went back downstairs. While Troy laid in the nest, barely able to wake up, Canvas sighed with a smile before bending down to kiss him on the cheek. Troy smiled tiredly, which was good enough for Canvas before he followed Lyle down the stairs.

"Oh, by the way," added Lyle as he looked back at Canvas, "some guy is here to talk with you."

"Really?" asked Canvas in surprise, which prompted him to trot down the stairs at a faster pace. However, the stallion's blue eyes widened in shock when he saw who was downstairs. "F-Fancy Pants?!"

While the Gryphons could be heard bickering in the kitchen, with a small stream of smoke coming out from the top of the doorway, the white-coated unicorn was sitting nonchalantly at the dining table. Even with his tuxedo jacket and monocle on, Fancy Pants looked quite casual as he sipped his cup of tea patiently.

Of course, as soon as he saw Canvas at the stairs, the mustached stallion finished his sip before getting up from his seat. "Oh, there you are, Canvas." While Canvas stood slightly befuddled, the unicorn walked up to him with a smile as he put out his hoof to shake. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

Even though he didn't expect Fancy Pants to arrive for his wife's painting for a couple more days, Canvas was able to break himself from his stirred state to politely shake his hoof. Despite the fact that the stallion was quite a big name in Equestrian high-society, the unicorn has been fairly nice towards Canvas whenever they met.

"Why hello, Fancy Pants," said Canvas with a smile after he shook the unicorn's hoof. "I didn't expect you to be here so soon."

After pulling his hoof back, the stallion cringed a little when he felt how unkempt his mane was. "I kinda wish I didn't sleep in if I knew you were coming."

"Oh, don’t worry about that," assured Fancy Pants with a smile and a wave of his hoof, "I was on my way to visit Rarity for an appointment. This was just a quick visit on the way." His head turned away slightly, looking back at the kitchen before refocusing his attention to Canvas. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t realize you had company over."

Canvas gave off a nervous chuckle, hoping to diverge the conversation from the Gryphons currently doing Celestia-knows-what in his kitchen. "Y-yeah. The three kinda… showed up by surprise a couple days ago. It was actually kinda awkward because they didn't kno--"

Before Canvas could finish his statement, Blade's head popped out from the kitchen with a extremely forced smile on his beak. Above him, a thicker volley of dark smoke could be seen coming from the top of the doorway. "Uhhhh… Canvas? I sort of have a… totally hypothetical question to ask--"

"The fire extinguisher is under the sink," replied Canvas instinctively.

"THANKS!" said the Gryphon before quickly shooting back into the kitchen. "Under the sink! Under the sink! Under the sink!"

With the sounds of scrambling paws and a fire extinguisher obviously being used in the kitchen, Canvas kept a nervous smile before pointing a hoof towards his studio. "Heh heh… It might be better if we talked in my workspace."

"Certainly," said the unicorn with a nod in agreement.

When the two went into Canvas's studio, the artist was surprised to see that his space was neatly cleaned while he was asleep. Since Lyle has been using Canvas's couch as a bed, the stallion expected the blanket and pillows to be laid out over it; however, to his surprise, everything was neatly folded and put away. The blanket and pillows, along with Lyle's luggage, were placed by the side of the couch and out of sight. Even his video game system was taken off the table and placed by one of the walls, replaced with a pot of coffee which Canvas assumed was his.

"I was on my way to visit Rarity in Ponyville," began Fancy Pants as he looked around the massive space, "and I decided to make a quick stop here to see how my commission was coming along. When I noticed the large cloud above your barn, Lyle came out and introduced himself."

He then motioned to the Gryphon by the doorway of the studio, who kept a bashful smile while waving to Canvas.

"He was gracious enough to make me some tea," continued the unicorn as he turned back to Canvas, "and I guess the others woke up while he was in the kitchen. He was planning to wake you sooner, but I think things got a little… energetic because of the other three. Not that I minded, of course."

With his cup of tea floating in his aura, Fancy Pants took a sip to emphasize his point. Looking rather impressed, Canvas turned to Lyle with an appreciative smile. "W-wow… Thanks, Lyle."

"No prob," replied Lyle with a shrug of his shoulders. "I was already up getting my coffee ready. Figured it'd be a nice thing to do."

Happy with that kind of answer, Canvas kept his smile before grabbing Lyle's pot of coffee. "Well, I really appreciate it. Here's your pot."

"Thanks," said the Gryphon as he took his still-steaming pot. Before he could enjoy his coffee, a sight made him quickly dart back off to the kitchen. "No, guys! NO!" shouted Lyle as he got out of sight from the two stallions. "You better not be using that ghost pepper sauce again!"

"But it's the secret ingredient!" whined Blane.

Hoping to bring the conversation back to business, Canvas rolled his eyes and went over to where his client's commission was. Even though he didn't want to admit, he kinda wanted to see how the high-class unicorn would've reacted to seeing a Gryphon chugging down near-boiling coffee.

"Here it is, Mister Fancy Pants," said Canvas cheerfully as he went to the large piece, which was now covered with a white sheet to keep any unwanted dust or particles off of it. "I actually just finished it the other day, so this was good timing for me! Hopefully, this fits all your criteria…"

With a tug of his muzzle, the sheet was pulled from the stand, revealing the newly created painting underneath. As soon as the oil panting was revealed in the morning light, Fancy Pants's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my!"

The painting of Fancy's wife, Fleur De Lis, displayed the unicorn mare standing elegantly against a well-lit veranda. Even with the short amount of time he had to complete the commission, the artist managed to put in an immense amount of detail, including having the sunlight from above the background shine against the mare's flawlessly white fur. And even though the piece was on a purely two-dimensional medium, the way that Canvas painted Fleur's mane really gave a great impression of wind blowing through the world he created.

Needless to say, Fancy Pants was impressed with that he saw. Stepping in closer to inspect Canvas's detail on the painting, the unicorn couldn't keep the smile from growing on his mustached muzzle. "Wow! Canvas, I didn't think it was possible, this is actually better than what I originally expected!"

Blushing in a mix of appreciation and slight pride, the aqua stallion looked away from the older stallion bashfully. "Oh, come on. I was just following the details you gave me."

"But still!" Looking rather mesmerized by what Canvas managed to create, Fancy Pants just stared at the painting with a growing smile. "I have absolutely no doubt that Fleur will love it!"

Canvas giggled a little before turning back to him. "Well, thank yo--"

"WHOA!"

Canvas and Fancy Pants turned to the source of the outburst, and saw Blaze peeking from over the wall separating the studio from the rest of the barn. With his eyes glued to the painting, his left one noticeably black and swollen from his encounter with Rainbow Dash, the brown and tan Gryphon stared while holding a quesadilla in his claw. He took a bite before speaking with his beak half-full. "Whoth tha girl?"

"Ummm…" Seeing that the Gryphon was referring to the painting, Fancy Pants took a second before looking back at him. "Well, that's Fleur De Lise, my wife."

Fancy Pants grew a more content smile at that last part, looking quite happy about that fact. Blinking a couple times, Blaze stared between the stallion and the painting before swallowing his bite.

"So… you must be like, super rich, huh?"

"Blaze!" shouted Canvas, wide-eyed, as he tried to diffuse anything unfortunate from happening. "I'm kind of busy right now!"

"Okay, okay," muttered Blaze with a wave of his claw, knowing to make his leave. Before he could disappear back behind the wall, he pointed the remnants of his quesadilla at the stallion before asking, "You want one?"

Canvas sighed before shaking his head. "No, thank you."

Not needing to say much, the Gryphon shrugged before leaving his perch. Canvas rubbed his temple with a hoof before turning back to the unicorn. "I'm sorry about that, Fancy Pants."

"Oh, it's quite alright," replied Fancy Pants with a shrug and an understanding smile. "He isn't the first one to ask a question like that, and he certainly won't be the last."

Thinking it over, the stallion chuckled a little as he turned back to the painting and added, "Besides, it's nice to see you didn't overreact about it this time."

A couple seconds of silence passed between them, mostly because Canvas was too confused to make an immediate reply. His brow skewed a little as he blinked in puzzlement. "What… what do you mean?"

"Hm?" Fancy Pants looked back at him, just now noticing Canvas's expression.

"No, seriously. What did you mean by that?"

"Oh! Ummm…" Biting his lip in worry, the unicorn took a couple steps back, now seeming slightly cautious as he made distance between them and averted eye contact. "Oh, it’s nothing. It's just that…"

Seeing how Canvas kept his befuddled stare on him, the older stallion seemed apprehensive to finish his statement. However, he reluctantly exhaled slowly before looking back at him. "Well, Canvas… You’ve developed a… reputation of sorts…"

Canvas's eyes widened in troubled surprise. "A reputation?"

Fancy Pants looked away again while shrugging. "Well, yes… You see, after that Manehatten incident..."

Canvas immediately sucked some air from his clenched teeth as he looked down to the floor, not needing to be told what Fancy Pants was referring to. Despite how nasty that mare was acting, the stallion still winced at how that may have looked to the other ponies at that event.

"Now, I wasn't there personally," added the unicorn hastily as he looked back at Canvas, "but I have heard a few accounts from ponies who said you made a bit of a scene there."

Canvas sighed painfully, knowing that Fancy Pants wasn't exactly wrong about that. "Yeah, I… I may have…"

"I'm sorry if I brought up anything I shouldn't have," said the unicorn in a more apologetic tone, obviously seeing that Canvas didn’t look exactly proud of his actions from that night. "It's just something that I've been hearing. Now I'm not going to judge you for defending yourself…"

Canvas looked back up at Fancy Pants after hearing that, seeing that the stallion wasn't looking insincere in any way after adding that last clarification.

"But it seems to me that…" Hoping to find the right words, Fancy Pants took a moment before finishing his observation. "Well… you seem to have a habit of… fighting back when it comes to confrontation... at least more strongly than other ponies I know."

Thinking his words over, a strong exhale came from Canvas's nostrils as he looked down to the floor. Honestly, he knew that Fancy Pants was correct; even though Canvas wouldn't want to think of himself as being a violent stallion by any means, he already beat up one pony for calling him a colt-cuddler, and nearly assaulted a mare a few days ago. After everything he managed to accomplish, the last thing that he wanted in his life was to be branded a hothead or a loose-cannon because of a couple isolated incidents.

As he let Fancy Pants's last statement play back in his mind, Canvas bit his lip while looking away, giving a reply in a low and faint tone of voice. "The… the last time I didn't fight back… I almost got killed because of it…"

Fancy Pants's eyes widened in slight shock, not expecting Canvas to say something that ominous. After sighing and collecting his thoughts, Canvas looked back up at the unicorn and added, "I know I might act a bit strongly at times, but… I'd rather stand up for myself than risk that happening again."

Seeing the honesty in Canvas's eyes as he told him that, Fancy Pants only took a second in silence before nodding in agreement. "I understand completely."

Before Fancy Pants could say anything else, Canvas quickly added in a more insistent tone. "And just so you know, the only reason that incident in Manehatten happened was because of how SHE acted! Suri Polomare was the one who caused the scene by insulting my fiancé, and I'm not going to apologize for defending him and his brother."

Fancy Pants's brows raised in surprise, clearly not hearing that detail until just now. "Really? A… fiancé?"

Canvas nodded, growing a light blush as he looked away and rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. "Y-yeah, I… kinda got engaged a couple weeks ago back at the Gala."

Seeming a bit astounded at that detail, the unicorn looked back towards the wall separating the studio from the rest of the barn. "Oh, you mean… that Troius fellow?"

Canvas nodded more happily, his smile growing larger in agreement. "Yeah. The two of us became a couple after that art gallery in Cantelrot, actually."

Keeping his surprised expression, Fancy Pants turned back to Canvas with a small smirk, trying his hardest not to chuckle under his breath. "Wow! I mean, congratulations, obviously, but… I honestly didn't expect that."

Recalling how most ponies have reacted to him and Troy, Canvas tried not to laugh at Fancy Pants's comment. "Well, I think you're one of the first ponies to say that!"

At that remark, both stallions chuckled a little, helping to lighten the mood. After collecting himself first, Fancy Pants was quick to add, "Well, in that case, I suppose I can understand reacting so strongly against somepony in defense of your mate."

"Yeah," replied Canvas after catching his breath, "although I do admit I acted a bit too strong. To be fair though, she was the one who hit me."

Fancy Pants nodded with a shrug. "Yes, I heard about that. Of course, from what I've heard from Rarity, it doesn't sound that surprising. She told me a lot of things about her."

Fancy Pants chuckled again as he went back to the painting, shaking his head slightly before muttering, "A lot of things… And quite a colorful vocabulary, too."

Before Canvas could giggle at his remark, he was surprised to hear some before opening his muzzle. Looking behind him, Canvas could see the figures of the triplets make their way up the stairs. Before he could ask what they were doing, he heard Lyle's voice from the bottom of the stairs in a strained whisper. "Guys, come on! You really think this is a good idea?!"

The three turned around to give a unified "Ssssshhhhh!!!" to the younger Gryphon, and then continued their trek up to Troy's nest. "Shut up," whispered Blaze, who was at the front of the pack while slowly crawling into the bedroom. "It's Troy's fault for going back to sleep."

Canavas's eyes narrowed as he tried to see what was going on. Of course, as soon as he noticed the large bag of flour in Blaze's claw, his eyes widened when he realized what was going to happen. However, before he could try to stop them, it was already too late.

"Hey! You better not--"

POOMF!

After Blaze threw a claw full of flour straight into the sleeping Gryphon's face, the three ran off cackling while Troy rose up from the nest, chocking on the cloud of flour around him.

Of course, after hacking a couple times, Troy was aware enough to realize what just happened, and immediately chased the three as they flew out of the house laughing.

"YOU SONS OF BITCHES!!!"

Canvas could vaguely hear one of them shout something back from outside, but they were too far gone for him to hear what. Luckily, even though the stallion was embarrassed at what had just happened, he was surprised when he turned around to see Fancy Pants laughing beside the painting. With his horn lit, he was holding a handkerchief in his aura to wipe his eyes clean after he came down from his laughter.

"Oh, boy!" Still chuckling a bit, the unicorn took a breath while speaking with a large smile on his face. "It's been a while since I've seen a good antiquing! Takes me back to my Fraternity days!"

Seeing that his client didn't look disappointed or appalled by the Gryphons' display, Canvas breathed out in relief and smiled. "Ummm… sorry about that," he blushed.

"Oh, don’t be!" answered Fancy Pants assuredly with a smile and a shake of his head. "Believe me, I've seen enough squabbles between siblings to last a lifetime! That was nothing!"

With a relieved smile of his own, Canvas nodded thankfully. "Well, that's good to know." After taking a glance back at the painting, happy that it turned out way better than expected, Canvas walked over to it with a satisfied smirk. "If there isn't anything that you think needs to be changed or improved, I think I can say this is ready for your wife's birthday!"

"I quite agree," answered the unicorn with a proud grin of his own. With the way he was looking at the piece Canvas created, it was quite clear that he had nothing negative to say about it. "I'll be sure to have my movers collect it tomorrow morning. And when I get back to Canterlot, I'll get your check ASAP!"

Happy to hear that, Canvas smiled as he put his hoof out for him to shake. "Sounds good to me, Mister Fancy Pants."

While the sounds of screeching Gryphons fighting could be faintly heard outside, Fancy Pants kept his grin as he shook Canvas's hoof in agreement.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Troy, still rightfully upset about how he was woken up this morning, tried to keep himself in a calmer state as he stood underneath his shower head. Even though the outdoor shower behind his place wasn't nearly as good as the waterfall he used to have access to, it was still powerful enough to get all the flour out of his feathers and fur before his shift for Weather Patrol. Even though his brothers seemed disappointed that he had to work today, Troy knew that he couldn't exactly take any more days off.

Sighing deeply while the hot steam floated to the skies above him, the Gryphon closed his eyes while the water poured down his now clean body. Savoring the feeling of this warmth during this surprisingly chilly morning, Troy contemplated staying in this space for another moment, just because of the calming silence he got alongside the warm mist around him.

Nevertheless, after he was fully clean again, Troy turned off the faucet before lowering himself into a crouching stance. Much like a large dog, the Gryphon made a quick shake throughout his whole body, getting the majority of the moisture out of his feathers as they ruffled out. Even though he didn't do this much in the summer, preferring to keep the water on him to stay cool, he didn't feel the need to do that this morning. After a quick dry with his towel, Troy sighed in pleasure as he went back inside his home.

"There you are!" said Canvas in a cheerful tone as he trotted up to Troy at the doorway. After giving him a quick kiss on the beak, Canvas handed Troy his weather vest before grabbing his own bag.

"Just so you know," began Canvas as he pulled the strap of his art bag over his shoulder. "I'm going to head with Fancy Pants over to Ponyville to chat with Rarity. Since your other brothers are here, it might be good to see her schedule and see when she can get them measured."

"Wait, what?" asked Troy with a hint of worry in his voice.

Seeing this, Canvas's brow skewed a little. "What? Is there a problem?"

"Well…" Troy's eyes glanced up towards the kitchen, hearing his brothers fighting inside as they "washed" their dishes. "Do you… really think that's a good idea?"

"Well, why not?" asked Canvas with a confused expression. "They seem alright with the wedding, so it might be good for Rarity to get their measurements for their suits."

"No, not that," replied Troy in correction as he looked back to him. "What I mean is…"

The Gryphon's face skewed a bit in fear as his eyes dared between the kitchen and his fiancé. "Do you really think it's smart to leave the triplets alone?"

Canvas's brows raised for a second, before giving a more relaxed sigh towards the Gryphon. "Troy, come on. I think you're being a little paranoid."

"Paranoid?" Surprised that his fiancé was acting so calm about this, Troy was wide-eyed as he pointed a talon to the kitchen. "Did I NOT tell you about all the crap they pulled back home?! Didn't I mention when they burned the house down?!"

Canvas rolled his eyes with a smirk. "I asked them about that, actually. They told me that it was just the kitchen that got destroyed."

"And that's comforting to you?!"

"Troy, please," assured the stallion as he tried to keep him from getting too upset. He put a hoof over the Gryphon's beak before he kept speaking. "I know you're worried, and I understand completely. But they promised that they're not going to cause too much trouble."

Despite the hoof over his beak, Troy still have a strong deadpanned stare down to his lover at that remark.

"And besides," continued Canvas, choosing to ignore Troy's reaction towards him, "chances are pretty good that they're going to stay outside for most of the day. Equestria is a big place. Do you really think they're gonna stay cooped up here the whole day?"

Even though he wanted to make a retort, Troy just blinked as he thought it over. Knowing his brothers, he knew that they were going to do something bad; It was practically in their blood. However, he also knew that they really didn’t stay anywhere for too long, and since they've been inside their house for a while, chances really were good that they'll be doing Celestia-knows-what somewhere else.

So, after a moment of contemplation, Troy decided to let Canvas have this one. Pulling Canvas's hoof from his beak, the Gryphon gave a light nod with a smile. "Okay, Canvas," said Troy faintly. "I’ll try not to get worried. I swear."

Giving a caring smile back at him, Canvas looked happy at Troy's answer before giving him another peck on the beak. "Thank you."

After making sure his art bag was secure, Canvas headed back to his studio as he looked back at Troy. "I'll only be gone for an hour at most, okay?"

Even though he still had a small twinge of foreboding dread at the base of his spine, the Gryphon still nodded with a smile to his fiancé, not wanting to show any unease from his part. "O-okay… Have a nice time."

"I will!" chirped the stallion cheerfully before disappearing into his studio. "Love you!"

Troy gave a quick "Love you, too" before heading to the kitchen, hoping to all that was holy that the triplets weren't being too destructive this early in the morning. While Canvas left from the front of the barn with Fancy Pants, Troy looked inside the kitchen to see what his brothers were up to.

And as soon as he saw what they were doing, his eyes went wide-open while they chanted in unison:

"CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!"

While Blaze, Blade and Lyle were chanting and pumping their claws, Blane had his head tilted back while chugging down a bottle of ghost pepper chili sauce. And from the look of it, the massive Gryphon had already downed at least three-quarters of the bottle before his eyes began to water. With only a few gulps remaining, the three chanted faster while Troy stood speechless:

"GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!"

As soon as he got the last drop down his throat, Blane roared in triumph while the others cheered loudly.

"YEAH!" yelled the Gryphon as he held the now empty bottle, holding it up high before smashing it onto the kitchen floor like he just scored a touchdown.

"HEY!!!" bellowed out Troy as the bottle smashed into dozens of shards on the kitchen floor. "What the buck do you think you're doing?!"

After making a light belch, grimacing at the taste in his beak, Blane turned to him with a proud smirk. "I just won five Aves, THAT'S what I'm doing!"

"Yeah, yeah," groaned Blaze as he pulled out his pouch, reluctantly putting five golden coins into Blane's claw. "Don't get too cocky, dude."

Grimacing at the mess the guys made, Troy brushed a few shards on the floor with a paw before giving them a disapproving scowl. "I hope you guys are gonna clean this up!"

"Oh stop your bitchin!" griped Blade as he walked away from him and towards the fridge, "You're starting to sound like Mum!"

"Yeah!" said Blaze in agreement as he followed his brother. He decided to start a purposely bad impersonation of a feminine voice as he added, "Pretty soon you're gonna start saying stuff like 'Stop setting things on fire!' or 'Watch your beak before I get the soap!'"

Blade giggled a bit before taking out a bottle of root beer. "Yeah! Or 'Stop walking around with an erection! We have company!'"

Troy groaned in frustration, not wanting to get this overstressed before his shift began. "Can you please… PLEASE just get this broken glass cleaned up!?"

"I'm on it," chimed Lyle as he went to the side of the fridge where the broom was.

Troy sighed as he closed his eyes, rubbing his temple to keep himself from getting too uptight. "Thank you." After taking a deep breath, the Gryphon reopened his eyes before pointing a talon at the triplets. "Okay, I'm gonna be back this afternoon, and Canvas will be back in an hou--"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," mumbled Blaze as he got a bottle of root beer for himself. He flicked off the top before turning to him. "Quit being so damn uptight and just relax, alright?! You're acting like we're automatically gonna trash something!"

"That's because you guys always do!"

Blade walked past him out of the kitchen while mumbling under his breath. "Oi, I swear! I've met virgins who weren't as uptight as you…"

"I'm NOT uptight!" retorted Troy as he felt himself get more aggravated. "I just don’t want you guys to screw up anything I have around here!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" moaned Blaze as he glared at his younger. "Can you PLEASE just go to work, you uptight little butthole?!"

Even though he wanted to respond to that, Troy decided to just let it slide. Clenching his beak shut, Troy just turned away while Lyle swept up the shards from the floor. Making his way to the door, Troy made one final exhale before looking back at them. "See you guys around four, alright?"

"Alright," replied Blaze and Blade in unison. Of course, as soon as the door closed behind Troy, the two groaned out before plopping down in the dining room chairs. "I swear," said Blaze in a irritated tone, "something is up that Gryphon's ass!"

Snickering under his breath, Blade looked over at him and replied with a smirk, "Whadd'ya think he has up his bum?!"

The two immediately burst out laughing. Even Lyle, who just finished getting the last of the shards, had some difficulty staying silent from hearing that joke. However, unlike the others, Blane was the only one not laughing.

"Urrrrrgh…"

Hearing his pained moan, Lyle looked over at him cautiously while pouring the dustpan of shards into the trash. Seeing how his brown feathers started to look a bit paler, Lyle's eyes widened in caution. "Blane… Are you okay?"

Blane slowly shook his head, catching the attention of Blaze and Blade as they turned to see him looking queasy. The large Gryphon covered his beak with a claw as he struggled to speak. "Oh crap! I… I think I'm gonna--"

Blane quickly rushed out of the kitchen, looking like he was gonna hurl at any moment. While Lyle ran after him with the trash can, Blaze and Blade kept their seats as they watched with amusement.

"If he vomits, I'm getting my money back," said Blaze with a grin.

Unsure where to go, the massive Gryphon flew up to the wall of Canvas's studio, leaning in as he felt himself about to heave. Keeping a wide-eyed look of horror, Lyle shot into the studio with the can just as Blane began to vomit.

"Bllluuuuuuuugh!!!"

Blaze and Blane got out of their seats to look over the wall, surprised to see that nothing inside was stained or splattered in vomit. Because of Lyle's quick thinking, Blane's head was directly inside the trash can which was hoisted up by Lyle's shaking claws.

"Dude!" said Blaze in an impressed tone of voice. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah!" added Blade. "I have roadies who aren't that quick with a Churn Pail! Nice job!"

Even though he was glad he didn't get any vomit in the studio (or himself, for that matter), that didn't make him feel any better as he held the now much heavier can over his head. After making sure that was the last of it, Lyle pulled the trash can away before glaring up at Blane. "Dude! Just what the buck is wrong with you?"

"What?" asked Bane in a hoarse tone after getting his stomach pumped of hot sauce and who-knows how much beer. "I needed to throw up!"

"And you chose Canvas's studio?!" Lyle motioned to the space around him, showing how clean and untouched the space was without its artist in it. "This is where the guy works, for crying out loud!"

Even though he wanted to say something, Blane looked slightly guilty as his beak skewed a bit. Blade looked over at him before adding, "You know, he kinda has a point. Remember when you did that in my recording studio?"

"I cleaned that!" shouted Blane as he glared at him.

"It's been three bloody years, and it still smells like clam chowder, ya clod!"

Closing his eyes, Lyle wanted to take a breath to calm down, but the can of vomit in front of him kept him from doing so. Instead, the Gryphon sighed as he put the trash can down on the ground. "Listen, Troy's already kinda worried that something might get messed up. And if something happened in here, then he woul--"

SPLAT!

As soon as the heavy trash can touched the hardwood floor of the studio, the sound of a loud squish broke Lyle's comment, followed by an even louder splat. Looking down, Lyle saw that he didn't exactly place the can on a clean floor. Instead, the bottom of the can pressed and broke open a small tube of black paint, making the Gryphon's eyes widen in an instant.

When he looked back up to his brothers, all three of them were staring straight ahead to the other end of the studio, their eyes as wide as frisbees. Quickly turning to where they were looking, it didn't take long for Lyle to see what happened, making him gasp in horror.

At the other end of Canvas's studio, where the painting the stallion just showed to Fancy Pants was standing, a large glob of black paint was splattered directly on Fleur's face.

Lyle, standing with his beak agape in terror, barely heard Blaze's voice from behind him.

"Oh, dude! You're in so much trouble!"

Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter took so long to get up. I'm gonna try hard to get the next chapter up a bit quicker.