Chapter Text
It was late afternoon when Huntress Wizard spotted Finn approaching, glimpses of his bright blue shirt flashing between the trees. He walked with his hands around the straps of his backpack, only releasing them when he emerged fully from the foliage and caught Huntress Wizard’s eye, raising his arm to wave. He seemed a bit nervous, but still happy to see her. Huntress Wizard waved back.
She’s been sitting outside her home processing last night’s kill, and began setting her tools aside as Finn approached. "Hey HW. That looks dope, what'd ya hunt?"
"Moose." She hummed. Stay cool. She told herself. Casual. Offer him a refreshment. "I saved the heart for you if you want it."
"Cool, thanks. I'll take it home with me later."
Huntress Wizard led Finn inside, grabbing a towel to clean the mess off of her hands. "That thing looked pretty big, you must've gotten up pretty early to hunt it, huh?" Finn asked
"I didn't sleep." She replied honestly.
"Oh." Finn paused. "I didn't sleep so good either. Too much… head-noise."
Huntress Wizard didn’t have much in the means of furniture, so Finn settled down cross-legged on the floor. Huntress Wizard joined him, still absently rubbing the blood stained towel in her hands. Finn slipped off his backpack and held it in his lap, fingers absently playing with the opening flap. Thankfully, he didn't waste any more time beating around the bush. "So, like. I told Jake that you were trans. Sorry if that's something you didn't want spread around— but Jake's cool, he won't be a dick about it."
Huntress Wizard shrugged, trying to embody a cool confidence that she didn't truly feel. "That's fine." She said. "Kinda figured you'd tell him anyways."
"Sorry." Finn glanced down, squeezing his bag. “I know it's uncool.”
"Nah, it's alright." Huntress Wizard assured him. "Really. I like Jake. I don't mind that he knows.”
"Yeah, Jake's great." Finn agreed, perking back up. "And he helped explain some junk to me. Not fully, but… he helped get me started. I, uh, still had some questions though, so…" Huntress Wizard braced herself for a bombardment of well-meaning but probably invasive questions, but instead Finn fidgeted again with his bag, reaching inside and pulling out a book with a bright cover. "I stopped by the library this morning and checked out this thang, tryin' to get myself learned."
"Oh." Huntress Wizard looked curiously at the book. She noted the various flags plastered over the cover of the book— pride flags. There was also a twig sticking out of the pages. "Word."
"Yeah, I just. I didn't want you to feel like you had to explain a bunch of this stuff to me," he explained, absently thumbing the pages. "And I'm still learnin', obviously, but I feel like I picked up on some new stuff. There's a lot more words for this junk than I thought— like, for girls who like girls, dudes who dig dudes, people who are into both— there's like, two or three words for people who like people regardless of gender stuff. I don't really get the difference between a lotta them yet." Finn admitted.
Huntress Wizard blinked. "You… you read that whole thing?”
"Oh, Gob no," Finn shook his head. "I really just flipped through and looked at a bunch of the different flags, and read a paragraph here and there." He admitted. He opened the book to the page he had bookmarked with the twig and held it out to show Huntress Wizard. "Look, see? This one is yours!" He grinned his gap-toothed smile, pointing a metal finger to the pink, blue, and white stripes. "I like the colors on this one. I think it looks really pretty."
Huntress Wizard stared at the flag. She'd seen it before, of course, but Finn's excitement proved to be infectious. She felt like she was seeing it for the first time through Finn's eyes: pastel stripes lined up in a pattern that represented something far deeper. An identity. A history. A people— her people. And, yes, it looked very pretty.
Huntress Wizard had to clear her throat before she could reliably speak. "That's… that's really cool of you, Finn. To do that stuff. For me."
"I mean, it wasn't a lot, really." Finn shrugged, setting the book in his lap and flipping through the next few pages a bit slower. "I just got it this morning— and like, yeah, it was initially for you, but I've also realized that like, pretty much all my friends fit into this bizz. Like this nonbinary thing?" Finn pointed to another flag. "That's BMO. Or, maybe it was the genderqueer one?" His brow furrowed in confusion before he shook his head, shrugging. "And obviously, Marcy and PB are both girls, and they’re goin’ out and stuff. Jake told me he dated a dude one time. Honestly, all the stuff about who likes who and all the different words for it made me realize that… well, I never really thought about that for myself." Finn admitted. "Like…" he suddenly lost steam, seeming to grow self conscious, fiddling with the corner of a page. “Well, nevermind. This stuff ain’t about me.”
Huntress Wizard reached out and gently rested a hand that was mostly moose-blood free on top of Finn's. "Hey,” she spoke gently. “Sure it is. I've told you my truth, you're free to speak yours." She smiled at him encouragingly.
Finn visibly swallowed, hand twitching under Huntress Wizard's before he moved to shut the book and place it back into his bag. "Well. I did start thinkin' about, like… I dunno," Finn kept his bag over his crossed legs, leaning ontop of it as he spoke. “I… never really put any thought into the gender of the people I like.” He admitted. ”They’ve just always been girls. I never even thought about why. It's like I just see a pretty girl, and my brain goes… ‘ yeah.’”
Huntress Wizard's heart fluttered. “Is that what happened when we met?” She meant the question to sound flirtatious and a bit cocky, but it came out sounding much more vulnerable.
“Well, yeah. Kinda. I mean, I was naked when we first met, so I was more focused on that.”
“Oh. Right.”
“But… after that, yeah, pretty much.” Finn continued, scratching at his cheek. “You're a girl. And… you're pretty,” Finn's voice trailed into a mumble, head ducking to hide his growing blush.
Huntress Wizard could feel her own cheeks heating, and she likewise suddenly found some interesting thing in the corner that required intense scrutiny. “Thanks,” she said. Then, deciding that wasn’t enough, added on “You're pretty too.”
“Thanks.” Finn grinned lopsidedly, perking back up at the compliment. “Pretty in a manly way?”
“Pretty in a pretty way,” Huntress Wizard doubled down, smirking back at him. “... Unless you want to be pretty in a manly way.” She amended.
Finn exhaled through his nose in a quiet laugh. “Nawh, I don't mind being pretty in a pretty way. That sounds nice. Well— I don't mean…” his face creased into thought again. “Pretty can be gender neutral, right?”
“Of course.” Huntress Wizard confirmed. “Unless you want it to be gendered. Like, I only wanna be pretty in a girl way.” she cocked her head to the side as she watched Finn. “What way do you want to be pretty?”
"Well… I dunno. Being called pretty doesn't bother me— especially when it’s you callin’ me pretty. But…” he trailed off, blew a raspberry, and started over. “So, like, gender-wise,” Finn began. “I've always been a dude. And everyone's always called me a dude. I've never even questioned why— like the same way I’ve always liked girls. That’s just how it is for me, and how it’s always been. And, sure, I've thought about what it'd be like if I were a girl— not as much as Simon did when he was Ice King," he added wryly. "But like, I never seriously thought if I'd rather be a girl. Or if I'd still wanna be a dude if I was born with different bits. Or what I'd have to go through if my gender was different than my bits," Finn looked down, still fidgeting with the bag in his lap. “So… I know that you've probably been though some stuff relating to all that, but I can't even imagine what that stuff is. And that's pretty cool of you, I think. To go through that stuff. And know who you are.”
She was genuinely touched, and relayed that in the best way she could. “Thanks man,” Huntress Wizard hit Finn's shoulder lightly with her fist. “Maybe I'll tell you some of that stuff sometime. If you wanna hear.”
“I do.” Finn replied instantly. “I really want to get you, Huntress Wizard. I wanna like… be all up in your biz, and have you all up in mine. I want us to have shared biz. I want…” Finn's voice had grown strained, and he inhaled quickly, squeezing his eyes shut as he blurted out “I want us to be boyfriend-girlfriend if that's cool with you because I already called you my girlfriend to Jake on accident but it felt really natural and being with you feels really natural and I know that labels aren't really important and nothing really needs to change but the more I think about it the more I want to call you my girlfriend because it makes my heart feel really happy.”
“... Wow.”
Finn sat stiffly with his eyes still closed, his body tensed and his lips a tight, pale line.
“... That was super embarrassing.” Huntress Wizard informed him.
Finn exhaled like he'd been holding his breath, prying his eyes back open. “Yeah, it was.” He agreed, rubbing his face and dragging his hands slowly down his cheeks. “But it's true. You know that I like you, HW. And I'm cool to keep making out and stuff without being boyfriend-girlfriend, but… I honestly really wanna be boyfriend-girlfriend.”
This wasn't the direction Huntress Wizard thought today would take by a long shot. She started bouncing her knee absently. “So, like, you're cool with…" Huntress Wizard trailed off. “With… me being trans?”
“Yeah, of c—” Finn started to answer, but Huntress Wizard cut him off.
“I don't mean cool as in like, you're supportive about it.” She clarified. “I mean, like… you're cool with it for the ‘and stuff’ part of making out… and stuff.” Huntress Wizard stared at her shoes, hands resting on her ankles as she sat criss crossed on the floor.
Finn didn't answer immediately.
“...I really appreciate that you are supportive,” Huntress Wizard added after the silence stretched for a bit longer. “But… you can be supportive, and still… incompatible.” She swallowed.
"I mean… I am kinda nervous about it." Finn admitted. "But I think I'd be nervous anyways, ya know?" He gestured vaguely. “I don’t think it’s a ‘deal-breaker’, like you said yesterday. I still like you. I still wanna try.”
Huntress Wizard's heart pounded in her chest. “Oh. Well…” She shifted her knees to the side, tucking an errant leaf back into her hood. “That’s good. Because I really like you too, you know. And I’d like to keep hangin’ out and makin’ out, and… stuff.”
“As like, boyfriend-girlfriend?” Finn pressed.
“Yeah, sure, if that’s what you want.” Huntress Wizard shrugged. “I’m not really like, too fussed on labels. There was a time where I didn’t wanna fall in love because I thought that my sadness and madness of wizardry made it like… impossible, or at the very least extremely toxic. Exceptional beasts cannot fall in love, and all that junk.”
“Yeah, I remember that.” Finn nodded. And then, after a beat, he spoke again. “... Love?”.
Huntress Wizard’s face flushed green, but she pushed forward, pretending like it didn’t. “Sure. Love is all around us, we shouldn’t hide from it. I feel love for the trees and the beasts and the hunt, you feel love for battle and for justice and for your friends. We have love for each other as companions, and I feel like that love has grown. Personally. It has for me, I mean.” Huntress Wizard rubbed her leg. “So… yeah. I love you. Don’t make a thing of it.”
She glanced up to see Finn beaming wide, his cheeks a bright pink. “Ah, man, Huntress Wizard. You’re so flippin’ rad.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks for bein’ so cool and patient with me.”
“I should be sayin’ that.” Huntress Wizard huffed, cocking a smile. “You’re a dope dude, Finn. Like, every lady in Ooo is in love with you, this shouldn’t be such a big revelation.”
“That’s not true,” Finn chuckled. “But it’s nice to hear that you are. I like hearing it.”
“Does it make your heart feel really happy?”
“Glob,” Finn buried his burning face in his hands, shoulders shaking from muffled laughter that matched Huntress Wizard’s. “You know, it does, actually. It actually does.”
“Good.” Huntress Wizard smiled. “You make my heart really happy too.”
“I really wanna kiss you.” Finn asked, head rising from his hands, still flustered and smiling. “Is it cool if I kiss you?”
“Duh.” Huntress Wizard grinned, and leaned in to meet Finn, her hand cupping his cheek.
“By the way,” Finn spoke into her mouth after a few moments.
Huntress Wizard hummed in question, not quite pulling away.
“I love you too.”
Duh, Huntress Wizard thought. She didn’t feel like repeating herself, though, so she just pushed further into Finn, trusting that he’d understand.