behemoth, meet the opposition

[mrglam]

Sadde doesn't seem quite able to focus on homework at the moment. He's fidgeting, and sometimes stares off into space for long periods of time before James has to snap him out of it.

Comments

[thinkering]

"Actually, once I noticed you were doing it I was surprised you were going to school as a boy. Although I suppose I don't know if it adds up at all, if having routine girl time when you weren't going to interact with me would compensate for routinely boy-ing around here."

[mrglam]

"I mean, I had to pick a single gender to be at school. When I was at Winslow I was both but looked mostly like it was just makeup and such, but here it'd be pretty obvious that the genderfluid kid enrolling in Arcadia at the same time the nonbinary superhero appeared was in fact said superhero. And it's not really having routine girl time, it's not- it doesn't really add up. I just sometimes feel like a thing, sometimes like another thing, sometimes like nothing, sometimes like a mix, and like I said I was almost never a boy around you when I was feeling not-a-boy, but I am a boy at school sometimes when I'm feeling not-a-boy, and otherwise I would be a girl at school sometimes when I'm feeling not-a-girl. So, uh, what I'm saying is that the loss in wellbeing would be the same either way, so I chose the one that would have the best expected returns. If I hadn't been crushing on you I'd probably have tossed a coin or something." Pause. "Uh, maybe something that's not directly obvious is that being Glam is good no matter what I'm feeling like."

[thinkering]

"Huh, I'd feel awkward about having a genderless costumed persona even though my costume's pretty ambiguous on its own."

[mrglam]

"I can't claim to understand this particular part of myself, no matter how much I've poked at it. I guess it's partly because I don't really see Glam as genderless, just as this mess of gendery wendery ball of stuff? If someone used 'they' at me when I was very clearly a boy or a girl, I'd be perfectly fine with that, too."

[thinkering]

"Gendery-wendery," snorts Lorica.

[mrglam]

"You know, it's what gender would be if you tied it around itself many times in five-dimensional non-Euclidean geometry."

[thinkering]

Giggle.

[mrglam]

He repositions himself so that it's like he's on a bed, resting his head on his crossed arms with his legs kicking in the air. "So, tell me about your- family? Mom? House stuff?"

[thinkering]

"I'm an only child, it's me and Dad and Mom, we live in town, she teaches kindergarten. We... have a house? What about it?"

[mrglam]

"I meant... You know, more. How'd you find out your dad was Transit? What's the routine like? What's your relationship with them like, what are they like? I haven't really talked to Transit much. And I don't know, I guess I- have a hard time, really picturing life in family and life as a cape and the whole dynamic."

Not that he has much experience in having a healthy, happy family at all, really, but.

[thinkering]

"Found his spare helmet in the closet when I was little. Mom drives me to school and I come here through there weekdays, but I usually go home or come in on weekends with Dad; he's got a route that he can teleport through directly where if his suit's flight is turned off the safe landing spots in certain directions are predictable and he can land us in the living room. They're nice people, they think I'm responsible so they're not on my back all the time like some people's parents, Dad's quiet and Mom's bubbly."

[mrglam]

"Awwwwww!"

[thinkering]

"What?"

[mrglam]

"I dunno, the whole image of it is kind of adorable."

[thinkering]

"I've never thought of my family life that way before."

[mrglam]

"I am very likely biased towards seeing anything related to you as adorable."

[thinkering]

"Why am I not surprised."

[mrglam]

"It's probably your amazing deductive skills."

[thinkering]

"So, your turn."

[mrglam]

"My turn?"

[thinkering]

"Well, I know where your place is - or was, I'm not actually sure you've gone home since you signed on - but I don't know your, like, history."

[mrglam]

"Oh. That is fair, isn't it." He purses his lips, thinking. "I don't have the most cheerful of stories."

[thinkering]

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

[mrglam]

"No, I- I do. I mean, being fair isn't all of it, I do wanna have the kind of relationship with you where we share this kind of thing. It's just- I've never really told anyone, not all of it, anyway."

[thinkering]

"You also don't have to tell me now."