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“Hey there, boss, you got a minute?”
Jon spun in his chair to face Tim, who had knocked on the doorframe to his office.
“What is it?”
“Okay, so, June is coming up, and we all know that June is pride month,” Tim explained, stepping into the room and over to Jon’s desk. “I was thinking about getting some decorations – nothing too much, just something to add a little brightness to the Archives.”
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with your work.”
“It won’t. And I’ll pay for them, so it’s not like I’m misusing Institute funding. But the decorations I was thinking of… I wanted to get everybody a little mini pride flag for their desk. Turns out we’re all queer in some variation or another, so we can each celebrate our own identities while also contributing to the whole pride month thing as a whole.”
“What people put on their desks is their business,” Jon replied. “We’re all allowed to decorate them as we see fit, so I don’t see why that would be an issue.”
“Alright, cheers. But I guess the point I was getting at… would you like me to get you a flag too?”
Jon pushed back in his chair and eyed Tim carefully. A few months ago, over drinks with Tim and Sasha, Jon had explained his feelings on sex, and then learned about the term asexual. It made him feel complete in a way he hadn’t before, but it wasn’t something that he was open about or discussed with anyone else in the Archives, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted it on display for everyone to see as he was still coming to grips with it.
“Um, thank you for asking,” he said slowly. “But I think I’ll pass. I’m not…”
“It’s all good, boss. That’s why I wanted to check.”
Jon matched Tim’s smile. “Thanks.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you to it.”
***
When Jon entered his office on June first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Tim, Sasha, and Martin’s desks were bedecked with colorful flags and Tim had hung some sort of glittery garland that meant all their paperwork sparkled now. But Jon’s desk looked the same.
That is, until he sat down and opened the drawer to pull out a pen. Tucked inside was a small flag colored in purple, white, grey, and black, with a note next to it.
Just in case you change your mind. You don’t have to show it off, but I figure you should still be proud of who you are. -Tim
Jon took the flag out and ran his fingers over the fabric. He wasn’t going to display it on his desk, at least not yet, but he would keep it tucked in the drawer as a silent reminder that, even if he wasn’t out and loud like Tim was, he could still take pride in who he was.