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A lot of things were leading up to ‘The Conversation’, really.
Most of the time it was something like Jimmy looking through the skirts and dresses on the off chance they happen to stop at some department store. Or Crash getting super bummed in the middle of the month for seemingly no reason, leading to a lot of busted up buildings wherever they went.
And other times (read: about an hour ago) Crash would hear Ricky say “Thanks, I chose it myself!” in response to whatever cute girl he was flirting with saying that she liked his name. The girl in question being content with pushing past that little line of dialogue, but Crash couldn’t shake thinking about it. He’s heard that line before--scratch that, he’s said that line before… In reference to-
“Ricky, are you trans?” Crash asked once they were aboard the Battletram.
Ricky’s usual smile faded a little as he froze up in response. He was clearly racking his brain for the right words to say. Admittedly, Crash was a little hurt that Ricky couldn’t provide him with an answer, or more that he felt uncomfortable doing so. He reasoned, though, that no matter how close the two were, this was a very personal matter. He knew if their statuses were switched, he’d be super awkward about it too.
“Oh! You don’t have to answer, I’m being real rude and-”
“Yes. Ah, yeah… I am.” Ricky declared, clearly a little nervous. It was so weird seeing him wear such a distraught expression, especially just after seeing him be so confident.
Crash was taken aback. Even though he had started the conversation with the slight suspicion that was true, he still felt… some way about not being the only trans man in the band. Mostly happy at the fact he had someone to relate to, more so than the other ‘Bats.
The pause that followed his coming out was apparently enough to get Ricky’s heart pumping again. “Are you- is that-?”
“No, no, that’s alright! Me too!” Crash blurted out in an attempt to keep Ricky from freaking out on him.
Ricky looked up at him a little surprised before he fully processed what exactly he meant. His smile finally returning in full force as he spoke again, “That’s- Really? Cool!”
His posture loosened up too, clearly more comfortable. “I mean, it’s cool that we have that in common! It’s great we got to talk about this.”
Crash smiled, he didn’t say anything else but it was clear that he more than agreed.
They talked for a while after that, a little about being trans and their experiences, but for the most part it was their typical banter. Shows they watched together, apologizing profusely whenever one spoiled something for the other, typical Ricky-Crash-convo. They barely even noticed when the rest of the Aquabats barreled into the Battletram, celebrating their victory over some minor villain of the week. Something about puppets? Hm, maybe not puppets… Neither Ricky nor Crash had really been paying attention that closely.
Despite the additional audience, they persisted in their conversation, albeit with any discussion of gender brought down to a slight whisper and masked in all sorts of code and acronyms. A part of them knew the band wouldn’t hate them for it, that’d be the absolute antithesis of everything they stood for, what with their positivity and love and stuff. But a larger part of them knew there was nothing stopping them from treating the two differently in more… well, more subtle ways to put it nicely.
The Commander and Jimmy didn’t really mind that they were talking amongst themselves, more content to just speak to each other about… well, about something that clearly got the Commander all worked up while Jimmy occasionally nodded in agreement.
Eaglebones, however, was more focused on eavesdropping on Ricky and Crash. He tried to seem nonchalant about it, fidgeting with his hands and appearing to keep busy, but it was clear that he was trying to decipher what exactly the two of them were talking about. It wasn’t until one of them said something about HRT. More specifically to Bones it sounded like “something something, whisper whisper, HRT” but he definitely heard those three letters, letting out an “oh-” of realization once he did. Ricky and Crash looked over at him, clearly confused.
“What’s wrong, Bones?” Ricky asked, honestly kinda worried about how much he heard.
“You guys think someone in the band is trans, I get it.” Eaglebones responded, still giving off a low energy, I-don’t-care vibe.
“Dude, we-” Crash started, trying to change the topic to literally anything else. “We weren’t saying anything about anyone. We’re just uh-”
“Nah, guys. You don’t have to go around spreading rumors, I’m not ashamed or anything.”
Right on time--Ricky and Crash looked confused at him again.
Bones looked at their puzzled expressions, deciding it’d be good to elaborate further. “I’m trans, technically. Nonbinary, actually, but it’s all the trans-” He (They? Probably ‘they’ just to be safe) waved their hand a bit. “-and before you ask, I’m not on HRT. Not that it was any of your guys’ business.”
Crash and Ricky looked at each other and then back at Bones. I mean, what were the odds?
“Did you… Were guys not talking about someone in the band being trans?”
Crash and Ricky ran up to Bones, embracing them as the two excitedly explained the story so far.
“We were talking about us, dude!” Crash said.
“Yeah, we thought we were the only trans people in the band!” Ricky added.
“Welcome to the club, Eaglebones!”
Eaglebones, after enduring the combined overbearing-ness of Ricky and Crash’s hugs, managed to shrug both of them off and actually understand what they were getting at.
“Oh, thank God,” Bones chuckled. “I thought I just outed myself for nothing.”
“Nope! We’ve got your back, man.” Ricky declared, and then immediately second guessed himself. “Oh, uh, are you still okay with us calling you that?”
“Yeah, dude, it’s all good.”
“What’s all good?”
The three looked over to the other side of the room. The Commander looked to be done with whatever long, winding conversation he and Jimmy had been having, and now looked to be wondering what the other half (well, more than half, mathematically speaking) of his team had been up to.
“Us calling Bones man and dude and all that stuff.” Crash replied before he could think.
“Pfft, why wouldn’t that be alright?”
“‘Cause they’re nonbinary.” Crash replied again, only this time getting rewarded by being elbowed by both Ricky and Bones. “Uh, I mean- I didn’t mean that, we were just kidding. They’re- I mean he’s-”
“Wait, wait, wait-” The Commander interrupted. “Bonesy, is that true?”
Eaglebones shuffled awkwardly on their feet before masking their nervousness with the same laid-back attitude from before.
“Yeah, it’s not, like, a big deal or anything.” They finally responded.
“Oh, cool! Glad we have another one in the band.” The Commander exclaimed.
Wait, seriously?
After another coming out met with shocked expressions, The Commander recognized that maybe he should’ve explained more.
“I’m not, uh-” He cleared his throat a bit. “-nonbinary like you are, just trans. But still!”
“Really?” Ricky interjected. “I don’t think I ever would’ve guessed that.”
The Commander looked a little surprised. “Wha- you’re not more surprised about Eaglebones, here?”
“What’s that mean?” Bones replied tersely.
“Oh, well, you know,” He started, knowing he was probably about to stick his foot in his mouth. “‘Cause ya usually act all macho, and, well, you did just say you’re fine with being called due and stuff.”
“Oh,” Crash realized, turning to Eaglebones. “Yeah, man, you never complained about us calling you ‘he’ before.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I don’t mind stuff like that, but I’m still nonbinary. There was that whole week where I wore a skirt instead of these shorts.”
“Well, men can wear skirts and dresses too!” Ricky said. “I mean, Jimmy has a bunch of them, doesn’t he?”
“Jokes on you, Jimmy’s not even a man!” The Commander yelled out quickly.
The other three looked over to Jimmy, who up until that point was sitting down fiddling with some wires in an attempt to disguise the fact that they were listening in. They averted eye contact with the others, doing their best impression of a confused, deaf, and blind person.
“Jimmy, is that right?” Bones asked.
“Well, I-” They started, rubbing the back of their neck. “I would’ve told you all eventually, but I assumed you had figured it out…”
“Why? ‘Cause you’re a robot?” Crash asked.
“Seems a little stereotypical,” Bones added.
“Oh, come on, guys!” The Commander exclaimed. “What’s crazier: that three people in this band are trans, or a cis robot?”
“Five people.”
“Hm?” Jimmy asked, now walking up to the group to actually be a part of The Conversation.
“Five people, all of us are trans.”
“Are,” Jimmy asked. “Are seriously none of us cisgender?”
“Well, Crash and I are FTM,” Ricky explained. “Oh, and I guess the Commander is too.”
“And us two nbs,” Bones pointed at Jimmy and then themselves. “Makes five.”
“How did we go this long without knowing?” Crash asked, still both confused and pleased at this turn of events.
“I suppose it never came up,” Jimmy reasoned. “I mean, how much do we know about each other, really?”
The group mumbled some nonsense about tropical islands, mutants, and elementary school fights, which seemed to answer Jimmy’s question exactly.
“So where does that leave us now?” Bones asked.
The group sat in silence for a bit. I mean the Battletram had essentially been the ‘Down with Cis’ bus this whole time and none of them had realized it. It didn’t change anything, of course. Every one of them had done the hard part of figuring out their identities and making themselves feel comfortable in their own bodies, which really meant that no big changes were in order. Plus, them knowing each of them were trans did nothing to change the fact they were still a fun-having, world-saving, rock and roll band and superhero team.
“Dinner?” Ricky suggested, getting a chorus of ‘Ooh’s in response.
“Tacos tonight?” The Commander brought up, rubbing his hands together.
“Mm, didn’t we have that last night?” Crash asked.
The Commander thought for a second. “Burgers?”
And they had no problem with that.