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Liam looked up from his book around the fire house. Chimney snacked on some crackers and peanut butter. Bobby sat at the table planning next week's menu while Hen highlighted a sentence in her text book. Buck and Eddie sat on the couch playing a video game, and maintaining a professional distance. They did that on shift since they became a couple. It was department policy that one of them should have changed shifts, but Bobby got them special permission as long as they agreed to keep civilian lives above each other's, and avoid PDAs.
"Did you guys know there was an openly gay revolutionary war general?" Liam asked.
Most of the team said no or made curious noises of surprise. "John Laurens?" Hen asked.
Liam didn't look up from his book as he said, "Laurens definitely wasn't straight, but he was never open about it, well, unless you count some of the love letters he and Hamilton wrote each other, but I was talking about Baron Friedrich von Steuben. He joined the Contental Army because he was about to be brought up on charges for homosexuality in Europe. He even brought his boyfriend, claiming he was an interpreter. The kid, he was seventeen, was terrible at it so Washington sent Hamilton and Laurens to be interpreters and learn tactics and shit from him."
No one responded. He looked up, and saw all eyes on him. Blood rushed to his face. "Sorry, Mason calls that history babble."
Chimney swallowed the cracker in his mouth. "I thought you changed from history to fire science in your second year of college."
Liam felt his cheeks get warmer. "I did, but I still like history, and there's this LGBTQIA trivia thing at Pride on Saturday."
Hen closed her books. "Karen and I are taking Denny to Pride on Saturday, too. Denny is excited for Sir Cupcake's Queer Circus."
Liam turned to face her. "Theo and I were going to go to that. We've met the emcee before, she's a friend of Stiles'."
Hen raised an eyebrow. "How is Stiles friends with Charlamaine Dupree?"
"Him and Scott chased a closet case murder lizard into a gay bar, and Stiles made friends with a bunch of drag queens. She was one of them."
Eddie sighed. "I miss when statements like that surprised me."
"We should take Christopher to that circus thing," Buck chimed in.
Eddie looked surprised by the idea. "I guess I would fit in at Pride, wouldn't I."
Buck stared at him. "We've been dating for months, and you're just realizing you're not straight?"
Eddie shook his head and rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
---
To Eddie, Pride felt like a street fair, but with more rainbows, and everyone wore their team colors, except him. Buck and Liam had blue, purple and pink stripes for bi pride, Buck in his hair with colored styling wax, Liam with panels in the pleats of his kilt. Theo had a shirt declaring himself the "Local Pan-Sexual Cryptid", which Eddie thought was a bit too obvious. Even Christopher's usual striped shirt was now rainbow striped, a gift from Carla when she heard they were going to Pride.
They sat at a picnic table with cups of lemonade and popcorn. Buck finished telling Theo how Eddie had been surprised that Pride was for him. Eddie shook his head. "I haven't actually considered myself straight since we got together. I'm just not sure where I fit into the alphabet soup."
Theo shrugged. "You're the only one who can know that. The differences in bi, pan or omni are subtle."
"What's the difference between those?" Christopher asked.
Liam finished his mouth full of popcorn and looked at Eddie for permission. Eddie nodded, grateful he didn't need to try to answer a question he didn't really know the answer to. "Well," Liam said, "bi means two, so that's attracted to two genders, but not always men and women. It could mean the same and different. Only the bi person can say what it means to them. Pan is attracted to the person regardless of gender, and omni is attracted to all genders."
"Those do sound similar," Christopher said. He got a thoughtful look. "What if you don't like anyone like that?"
Buck cut in. "You're only eleven, Chris. Kids develop at different rates. In a few years you'll find people you like like that."
"And if you don't, that's okay, too," Theo added, quickly. "It's called being asexual. Then there's demisexual where people only develop a physical attraction after an emotional connection."
Demisexual. Eddie let the word roll around in his brain.
He'd always said straight before he and Buck got together, because straight was the default. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it was the way he was raised and some things are hard to break. He wasn't generally attracted to men, so it kind of fit. He wasn't generally attracted to women, though, either. The only two people he'd ever really been attracted to were Shannon and Buck, and in both cases that attraction came after years of friendship.
He would have to do more research. One person's definition wasn't enough to really know, but it felt right. Eddie was, most likely, demisexual.
---
The crowd got heavier, more packed together the closer they got to the section of park where Sir Cupcake's Queer Circus was set up. The only tent was small, just big enough for a couple of people to change clothes or store some props, and a big open area roped off by a string with mini Pride flags.
"Hen and Karen were running late, and can't find a place to sit," Buck said, looking up from his phone.
"I'm not sure we can find seats." Eddie craned his neck looking for a spot.
Liam sent a text of his own and got an almost instant reply. "I've got it covered. Tell Hen to meet us up front," he said, and led the group toward the performance area.
They met the Wilsons just before they got to the roped off area. Hen looked at him expectantly, but before he could say anything a husky feminine voice called out, "Liam!" The group turned to see a tall brown skinned drag queen. She wore a red and black coat with big, shiny brass buttons and ribbing. Her black braids were pulled into a tight ponytail on top of her head with a tiny tophat pinned to one side. "There's my favorite Brittany!" She said with a wide smile.
Liam felt his face burn. "Ms. Dupree! Please don't bring that up."
"You came in second out of thirty five Brittany impersonators, and you should have won. Your Baby One More Time was so much better than Candy Moore's Toxic." She pulled Liam into a hug. When she let go she waved at the group. "Right this way. You have ten minutes to settle in before the show starts." She directed them to a small section of grass marked off with cones and a sign that read 'Reserved For Queer First Responders'.
"Brittany?" Buck asked.
"Shut up. I lost a bet."
"There's nothing wrong with drag," Hen said with a big smile.
"Drag is great, just not my thing. I hated shaving my chest, and all the makeup made me itchy." Liam shook his head.
"You rocked those heels, though," Theo smiled, "and that short skirt."
"Please tell me there's a video of that Baby One More Time performance." Buck sat in the grass. "Or pictures. I'll be happy with pics."
"The club actually put the full contest on YouTube. If it's still up I'll send you guys the link." Theo sat in the grass and pulled Liam into his lap. "My man was robbed. Everyone knew Miss Candy Moore was blo-"
Liam elbowed Theo lightly and looked at the kids.
"Below the standards of the contest," Theo finished.
Hen grinned, and took her own patch of grass with Karen and Denny. "We are watching that next shift." Eddie gave her a fist bump.
"You guys really don't need to hear me sing." Liam blushed again. He was saved from their response by Ms. Charlemagne Dupree, calling for everyone's attention.
The show started with a juggler on a unicycle. There were acrobats, contortionists and clowns, but not the kind Liam was used to. These clowns skipped the face paint for more drag style make up, and instead of bright primary colors they wore black or burgundy mixed with pastels. They told stories about being gay, trans or nonbinary in light hearted and funny ways.
---
A group of queer artists set up a painting station in one of the park shelters. Kids in smocks splattered paint on heart shaped wood cutouts or carved pride signs. Denny and Christopher gave their parents pleading looks. Eddie and Karen both nodded and the group headed over.
When the kids were settled with paint and brushes, an artist with eyeshadow in stripes of black, gray, white and purple gave them their wooden Pride signs.
"Can I have one, too, please?" Buck asked, hopefully.
She paused and smiled. "Sorry, kids only."
Buck nodded and tried not to look disappointed. "Oh, yeah, of course." He walked to the side where Eddie stood watching and ginning. "What?"
Instead of answering Eddie kissed him gently on the lips. "Sorry. I'm an idiot," Buck whispered.
Eddie smiled. "No, it's cute when you act like a big kid."
Buck's mouth fell open. "It is? That's not what I meant. I never should have teased you about how you identify, especially not at Pride. It was a jerk move."
"If I really was claiming to be straight while in a gay relationship, that would deserve it."
"But that's not what you were doing. You just hadn't registered that you were part of the whole commu-"
Eddie pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, stopping Buck mid sentence. "I know you didn't mean anything by it, but yes, are an idiot, and that's part of why I love you."
"I love you, too," Buck whispered.
Eddie licked his lips. "You know, Chris loves you, too. He wants you to move in with us, and I want that too. What do you say?"
Buck felt his smile get even bigger. "My lease is up next month."
---
Theo opened the door to his favorite restaurant. They were always busy during June, so he'd called ahead letting them know of their large group. Only the fact that they were still in the early evening made it possible for them to be accommodated. "I can't believe you guys have never been to Dorothy's."
The restaurant was set up similar to some chain restaurants. A bar area and family dining shared the main room, with a half wall separating the sections. Instead of sports memorabilia on the walls they had posters for movies like But I'm a Cheerleader, The Birdcage and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Framed pictures of Sally Ride, and Harvey Milk hung next to autographs from Rickey Martin and Neil Patrick Harris. The TV's around the room showed reruns of the Drag Race or Golden Girls and in the entrance was a poster sized portrait of Bea Arthur.
"This place reminds me of an Applebee's, but really really gay," Buck said with admiration.
On one hand Theo could see the similarities, but on the other he found the comparison insulting. He rolled his eyes. "Except with ethical business practices and no evil corporation."
Theo smiled at his boyfriend as they were seated. Their party took up two tables along the long booth bench. Theo, Liam and Karen took one side while Eddie and Hen penned in Christopher and Denny on the bench. Buck sat next to Eddie. Their server, a bubbly twenty-something with a faux hawk and a name tag that read "K.C. they/them" took their drink and appetizer orders then smiled and added, "The Big Gay Trivia Contest starts in ten minutes. If you want to take part, just go to the bar, but keep your phones in your pockets."
Liam bounced with excitement. "Who's doing the trivia with me?"
Theo shook his head. "Nope. I've gotten the majority of your crazy competitiveness since you quit lacrosse. Go harass someone else for once." Liam kissed his cheek.
"I haven't even seen half the movies on these walls." Eddie shook his head. "I would only embarrass myself."
"Nah, I'm not very good at trivia, but this should be fun to see." Buck took a sip of his beer.
Hen stood up. "I'll go, Pup."
When the contest started there were seven people up front, including the manager, a smiling woman in her mid thirties. "Hey, everyone welcome to Dorothy's Big Gay Trivia Night. We will be holding single question elimination contests every hour on the hour. Each winner gets dinner on the house and two free movie tickets."
The questions started easy: who was the first lesbian in space, where did the Stonewall Riots take place and what city elected Harvey Milk as mayor. When someone got a question wrong, the next person got a chance to answer it. After three rounds only Hen and Liam were left.
The manager stood between them to Liam she asked. "In To Wong Foo, Who said the iconic line: little latin boy in drag, why are you crying?"
"Noxeema played by Wesley Snipes," he answered with a smug grin.
"Correct, and you answered my next question, too." She turned to Hen. "What does the green stripe on the rainbow flag represent?"
"Nature," she said simply.
"Correct. In the golden era of Hollywood, what two heartthrobs shared a house for twelve years in a classic example of OMG they're roommates?"
Liam thought for a moment before he said, "Cary Grant and, umm, Randolph Scott."
"Correct."
Liam cheered himself. Hen gave him the same look she gave Denny when he picked his nose at the table. He tried to regain composure, but Theo could see him bouncing a little on his heels.
The manager turned to Hen. "Who was the openly gay European Lord Ben Franklin recruited to join The Contenental Army?"
Hen froze. "We were just talking about that. Baron something Von something." She frowned. "I know this, but I can't think of his name."
Liam bounced like a kid needing the bathroom. He bit his finger to keep from yelling out.
"I need an answer," the manager said.
"I don't know." Hen shook her head.
"Baron Friedrich von Steuben!" Liam yelled.
"We have our first winner!"
Liam did a victory dance, until Hen cleared her throat. His face turned bright red. "Sorry, got carried away."
"I tried to warn you how competitive he is." Theo hugged his boyfriend. "You should have seen when he played lacrosse and would drop gloves to fight guys bigger than Buck."
"Yeah, but I try not to be a bad winner," Liam admitted. The rest of the night was filled with good conversation, fun and laughter.