Work Text:
Steven is halfway to the ground floor in the lift when the nerves hit him.
“Maybe we should go back and change, yeah?” He questions, eyeing Marc and Jake in the reflection of the walls. The cool air on his legs is making him constantly aware of his lack of trousers. He had finally worked up enough courage to wear a skirt out today, and he was starting to regret his decision.
You look fine Steven, just relax. Marc says, trying to sooth him. It’s just a quick stop at the pet store for more fish flakes. Nobody is going to bother you.
Yeah, and if they do, I’ll take care of them. Jake promises, making a big show to crack his knuckles in his reflection.
“Alright…” Steven says, still not sure about this whole thing. He felt great in the flat, and even when he was leaving. But now that he has stopped to think about it, he is worried about what people will say.
As the lift comes to a stop with a ding, the doors open to reveal nobody in the hallway. Steven tentatively takes a step out and the doors close behind him. He takes a deep breath before forcing himself to start moving. His strides are big and he makes it to the entrance quickly, only pausing for a second before swinging the door open and side stepping the man and his broom cart that he always manages to park in front of the door.
This time he doesn’t say his usual greeting to the man, too nervous to really say anything. The man just ignores him, like usual, and Steven starts on his journey. As he is walking, his eyes are darting all around, body tense and on high alert for anything. Once he gets a few blocks away, he starts to feel better. He is almost to the pet store, and then he can go inside and take a moment to himself to calm down if he needs to.
As he is looking around, he catches the eye of a young girl, who smiles at him as she sees his skirt. He smiles back and gives her a small wave, to which she giggles back. She tugs on her mothers hand and points to him, and he can feel himself tense again. The mother looks over and sees who her daughter is talking about and gives Steven a smile of her own, sending him a small wave as well before continuing on her way.
Relief floods through Steven in a huge wave. Nobody else has said anything, or given him any weird looks from what he can tell. He can feel himself straighten up a bit, putting a bit more pep into his step.
Confidence is a good look on you Steven. Marc comments, smiling at him from one of the windows they pass by.
When they finally make it to the store, Steven goes straight to the fish aisle and starts looking for what he needs, a smile still plastered to his face.
~~~~~~~
With the small paper bag containing Gus’ new food securely in Steven’s hand, he leaves the store in a better mood than when he left the house. This wasn’t nearly as bad as he had thought it was going to be. Maybe there is nothing to worry about after all.
As he is walking, he decides instead of going home, maybe he can stop by somewhere to get something to eat. Kind of treat himself for the progress he has made today, and maybe have an excuse to show off his new outfit some more before heading home.
“Hey! Nice skirt!” A voice falls out to Steven’s left, and he turns to the voice with a smile. “Fucking f*ggot.” The man continues, snorting out a crude laugh. He's quite large, easily almost half a foot taller than Steven and looks like he is trying to win a contest for that jackal that chased in all those months back. His face is twisted into a snear and he is glaring at Steven.
Steven’s face falls, and he can feel hurt gathering in his chest. Instantly, all the happiness from earlier is fleeing. His head ducks and he picks up his pace. Maybe he should just go home instead.
He can hear the man say something else, calling him another slur and Steven is horrified to feel tears prick his eyes and he clutches the bag from the pet store to his chest as he hurries away. Unfortunately, it seems as though the man is heading the same direction as him.
Give me the body Steven. Jake growls, already pushing towards the surface. Steven’s mind flashes to his earlier threats and shakes his head.
“No. I just want to go home.” He says, keeping his eyes down and trying to stay away from the man.
“You know it isn’t your fucken pride time right? Nobody wants to see that shit man.” The man calls out after Steven, picking up his own pace to keep up with him and continues to taunt him. Steven can see other people on the street glancing over to see what the ruckus is about, and he can feel shame burning in him. He has to bite his lip, both to hold back his tears and help keep Jake from fronting and hurting the man.
Let one of us deal with him, Steven. He’s just an asshole, don’t listen to him. Marc says, sounding almost as angry as Jake had been.
“Hey! I’m talking to you. What, are you deaf too?” The man yells, getting closer to Steven. Suddenly, someone else chimes in.
“Oi! Fuck off you twat!” Someone calls, and for a moment Steven’s heart drops lower, assuming someone else is yelling at him. Oh gods, he is starting to feel sick. “Leave him alone!” The voice adds, and when Steven looks up through his slightly blurry vision, he can see another figure between him and the man, pointing at the larger stranger.
“Oh what, are you one of them too, huh?” He says mockingly, still getting closer to the other stranger and Steven. “He too much of a pansy to talk to me himself?” He taunts, shooting Steven a dirty glare from where he is.
Steven slows to a stop, and so do the two strangers. The person who had stood up for him is now glaring back at the other man.
“Not that it's any of your bloody business, but yeah. Gay as fuck dude. Just cause they are wearing a skirt, doesn’t mean they are gay, you daft bugger. Now piss off.” They say, standing their ground when the other man steps up close to them.
Let one of us front so we can handle this, Steven. It looks like things are gonna get heated. Marc warns, and he also starts to try and force a front. But Steven grits his teeth and refuses to let go. He is the one who wore the damn thing, he is going to be the one to deal with whatever happens as a result.
“No real man wears shit like that.” The man spits, angrily pointing to Steven. “Not unless he’s gay or one of those tra-” The man is cut off when the shorter stranger puncehs him right in the face.
¡Mierda! Jake exclaims in surprise.
The man had not seen that coming, and neither had Steven. Steven gaps and nearly drops his bag as he watches the man stumble back, hand coming up to his nose and coming away with blood. He looks furious as he steps towards the other person, pulling back a fist to return the blow. Before he can bring it down though, Steven watches as the stranger brings their leg up fast as lightning, slamming their foot in the man’s crotch and sending him to the ground.
As fast as the kick had been, they are spinning around and grabbing Steven’s free land, pulling him into a sprint with them.
“Come on!” They shout, dragging Steven along with them and away from the man before he can recover. Steven’s legs are on autopilot as he runs with them, one hand gripping his bag and the other clenched in the stranger’s grip. As they run he can feel his skirt flapping around his waist, but as far as he can tell it isn’t getting blown upwards, so he doesn’t pay much attention to it, too focused on possibly running for his life.
The stranger pulls him a bunch of different ways, turning down streets and cutting through a few alleyways before yanking him into an alcove on one of the buisier streets. They are pressed close together and the stranger is glancing back behind the both of them periodically, watching to see if they were followed. They are both panting wildly from the sudden flight, hearts pounding in both exertion from the run and fear/excitement of the possible chase.
Did that really just happen? Marc says dumbly, watching as the stranger leans back and relaxes a bit.
“I think we lost him. I don’t think he had time to get back up before we were gone, but just to be safe I took us through a few shortcuts I know just to be safe.” They pant out, fingers loosening in Steven’s hand, and that brings his attention to the fact that he is still clutching them. He hurriedly lets go and can feel himself flush. The stranger chuckles as they watch the interaction. After a beat of silence, they hold their hand back out.
“My name is (Y/N). Nice to meet your acquaintance.” They say, smiling at Steven and waiting for him to shake their hand. He stares at it for a moment before snapping out of his train of thought and takes hold of the hand again, giving it a shake.
“Steven. Uh, Steven Grant. Thanks for that by the way.” He says, flushing once again at the whole situation. “Didn’t have any problems when I went out this morning, I wasn't expecting that kind of interaction, that's for sure.” He mutters, looking away.
“Well, he was a prick. Don’t mind him. I think your entire outfit is quite posh.” They say as they pull their hand away, this time with no issue. “Oh!” They exclaim, causing Steven to jump a little at the sudden outburst. “Sorry, I use (your pronouns), what are yours?” They ask, looking at Steven expectantly.
His brain stutters for a moment at the unexpected question.
Bonito? Jake questions.
Got something you wanna tell us there bud? Marc adds, gently giving Steven a mental nudge to get him going.
“Uh- Oh, you know. The guy ones?” Steven answers, and he can feel Marc facepalming mentally. The stranger raises an eyebrow at his answer and he rushes to continue. “I-I mean he/him?” It still comes out as a question, but (Y/N) seems to accept his answer regardless.
“Well it was great to meet you Steven. That was the most excitement I’ve had in days. I’m sorry he was such an ass to you, but man did that kick feel awesome.” They laugh and Steven can’t help but join in. Once the laughter dies down a bit, (Y/N) shifts and leans further back into the wall they are leaning against. “Hey, I have a question, and you can totally say no if you want to. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything. But I was wondering if we could swap numbers?” They ask, suddenly sounding nervous.
Steven blinks at them. “My phone number?” He asks, wanting to make sure he heard them right.
“Yeah,” They say, and Steven watches as their fingers move to fiddle with the bracelet they are wearing. “You just seem kinda cool, and I was just thinking you might be someone that I might enjoy getting to know a little better? But only if you are comfortable, if not that is totally fine. No pressure.” They add, glancing up at Steven at the end.
Give them our number. Jake chimes in, taking control of Steven’s arm to grab their phone.
“Uh- yeah. Sure. Aces.” Steven says, fumbling with the device once he can control his fingers again. He opens up his contacts and hands it out to (Y/N) for them to put their information in. They eagerly take the phone and start typing. It only takes a second before they are handing it back to Steven.
Not a moment later, their pocket chirps and they pull out their own phone. “I hope you don’t mind, I sent myself a text so I would have your number.” They say, hitting a few buttons before putting their phone back in their own pocket. Steven’s phone buzzes in his own hand and when he looks down there are two smiley face emojis looking back at him from a text bubble.
A smile makes its way back onto his face and he looks back up at them. “Thanks a lot.”
There is a moment where the two of them just look at each other before (Y/N) suddenly checks their watch swears. “Oh buggers, I am gonna be late to work again.” They look back up to Steven with sad eyes. “Sorry to just run off like this, but I was on my way to work and my shift starts in like 5 minutes. I gotta run.” They turn and start jogging down the street. They glance back and smile at him. “It was great meeting you Steven Grant! Message me!” They do a little hand wiggle, imitating a phone before they are swept away in the sea of people.
Steven is stuck staring at the last spot he could see them, slightly stunned at the sudden departure. He looks back down at his phone, where the two emojis are staring back at him and smiles a little.
“Let's go home mates.” He says, putting his phone to sleep and slipping it back into his pocket. “But I think one of you can head home if you don’t mind. I have had more than enough excitement for one trip.” He lets go of control and finds himself close to the surface with Marc, Jake having taken the opportunity to front and take them home.
So, that question they asked back there. Do you wanna talk about it? Marc asks, glancing at Steven as they both watch Jake start down the street.
Not really. Or at least not right now. Steven replies, not wanting to get into an entire identity crisis so soon after the whole DID discovery. They were finally co-existing and he doesn’t want to start thinking about any other life changing titles he might want to change.