Chapter Text
T’was the week before Christmas break, when all through the school, not a student was slacking, not even a fool. And–
Okay, screw it, Jimmy couldn’t make a rhyme up on the spot like this. He’d never been a particularly good poet like Oli.
–yeah, it was Wednesday, and therefore a weird day, and there was a group assignment Jimmy had to finish a part about Lord Bryon before Friday evening. Which was really taking the mick out of him. Ms Knowles was the sweetest literature teacher Jimmy ever had, but she knew how to effectively strike the fear of God in the hearts of his entire class.
That fear of God, however, wasn’t making it any easier to understand Lord Byron’s jumble of words.
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
This was a weird Wednesday afternoon that was completely dragging out. Most Wednesday afternoons were mostly taken up by football– and it was football, not that soccer nonsense the Yanks at his school insisted on– team practice, where it was brass monkeys outside as hell. The practice had been cancelled half an hour in when Tyler slipped on the ice and hit his head. But today, the field had completely frozen over somehow mid-match, and Jimmy was now huddled in his room starting to lose his marbles over cracking on Lord Bryon’s nonsense.
Even after all that, the rest of his evening was entirely interrupted when Garnet Beetle– Garnet Beetle!– had practically flown into his bedroom window with a “Psst, Tim– Jim– Jimmy.” and handed a small octagonal box.
When he opened it to reveal a pair of magical sunglasses, what Jimmy could have only described as a floating sentient My-Little-Pony-esque pocket-sized creature appeared in a burst of cyan light. Kaalki, which was apparently her name, had promptly scoffed upon seeing Jimmy in his muddy football uniform and protested his hundred-percent accurate description of her. She then proceeded to rather condescendingly explain to him that she expected to only work with the most glorious of heroes and he was supposed to say the phrase “Voyage,” to open a portal to any location he desired.
“Excuse me?” he had said out of habit. Garnet Beetle then audibly slapped his own forehead from where he was standing outside the window.
Yeah, it was a weird Wednesday. A tiny talking, floating magical noble steed who hated being called a pony was going to help him make glowy portals.
So Jimmy accepted, said the phrase “Kaalki, full gallop,” and promptly became an insanely good-looking super-powered cowboy with a horseshoe for a weapon. Garnet Beetle eyed his costume with what was surely envy and awe, and they jumped over rooftops to join the fight.
“So, why the horse powers?”
“Tonight’s akuma’s been a little slippery. We’re gonna need a person with quick sporty instincts to corner her. Speaking of which, stay on this roof.”
Fortunately for Jimmy, Garnet Beetle left him at a good vantage point on the skyline. The supervillain of the week (even though saying that wasn’t quite right since akuma attacks happened almost every second day,) called herself AGABender. She sported an almost gaudy tuxedo vest and layers of frilly petticoats in petal pink, baby blue and white, over a ballooning hoopskirt. It was like looking at an e-girl time-traveller; if the e-girl in question decided to dabble in pastel emo fashion inspired by a candy floss stand.
AGABender held a white-pink silverly scythe that, whenever she swept across the air horizontally, would send a shockwave ripple-ray-thing that would change men into women and vice-versa upon impact. A couple of disorientated and now awkwardly moving civilians on the street were proof of her super-powered effect.
Yeah, it was a weird Wednesday.
“You don’t understand,” AGABender shouted, clutching her weapon as Garnet Beetle and Nightclaw took a step forward. “Voidwing gave me these powers for justice! For sympathy! Those who refuse to understand will be forced to do so!”
“Ready, Beets?”
“Got it, ‘Claw.”
The pair did a combo move so fluidly to send AGABender floating down the street with a yelp, and quickly ran south towards the Thames past Canry Wharf. Jimmy followed suit, and two other heroes quickly joined from another hiding spot.
“Who’s the new guy, Garnet?” Kitsune, the crafty fox heroine with an Aussie accent –“I should’ve been a dingo.”– asked, also admiring his amazing and respectable costume.
“Interesting cowboy look,” Shellise, the powerhouse turtle heroine answered, cocking her bandana-adorned head to the side. “Yeah, what’s your cool superhero name?”
“Stallion,” Jimmy answered proudly, resting his free hand on his hip. “I was thinking of ‘The Sheriff’ earlier, but that’s less horsey.”
Garnet Beetle sighed in what was probably pleasant surprise.
“Welcome to the team, Stally,” Nightclaw grinned, and blocked a strike with a metallic clang.
“What’s the plan, G?” Kitsune called out, coat-tail flailng in the winter wind like a fireball.
“The akuma’s in that pink bow in her hair. She’s too protection of it. Green heroes –yes, that means you too, ‘Claw– are gonna be on the main offensive. You two need to lead her to that apartment block over there and force her into that rooftop alcove corner so she can’t escape. And Stallion, you've got to set the portal to drop onto AGABender and grab her bow while Kitsune casts an illusion of us to confuse her once she’s in position. Then, get it to me so I can purify the akuma.”
“You got it, GB!”
And the plan went into action, and the heroes all perfectly got into position, and Jimmy was weaving in and out of the scythe’s reach while Kitsune casted her mirage, and it was going pretty well until–
“Now, Stallion!”
“Voy-”
The long handle of the scythe slammed into his ribs before he could complete that sentence. The blade gleamed with a blue-pink sheen as the green heroes moved into position, their weapons poised as they towards the akumatised supervillain.
“Retreat!” Nightclaw defensively spun his baton, pulling Shellise back behind him.
AGABender disengaged her scythe from Nightclaw’s weapon, jabbed the long end into his leg knocking him down face-first, poising to swing out a beam.
Jimmy managed to trip at the last second, miraculously – ha, miraculous – dodging the ray. He landed on his arms, barely catching himself into a landing roll as the shockwave barely swept overhead, and blocking the remaining rays with his horseshoe.
The other four heroes weren’t so lucky.
As the smoke cleared, Shellise shook her newly-appeared floppy bangs out of her face. Kitsune frowned, patting her chest and shoulders in confusion. Garnet Beetle groaned, rubbed the side he landed against gingerly, and slowly got up. He tilted a little as he reached for his yo-yo, stumbling to stay balanced.
Nightclaw was still lying face-down on the rooftop, cartoonishly sprawled out like a starfish. That was normal. What was decidedly not normal was the sudden appearance of wider hips.
Not that Jimmy was intentionally staring at Nightclaw's rear end. He was very comfortable with his sexuality and a very respectful young man, thankyouverymuch .
“Ow…” Nightclaw whined, voice trilling as he rolled over, cutting off Jimmy’s view of his round – get a hold of yourself, Jim – and sat back up, rubbing his forehead. “Wait, why do I sound like that?”
His hair was longer, barely flowing over his shoulders instead of being cropped just above his ears. The effortless sexy windswept style had been transformed into silky, long chocolatey waves that flowed down to his waist. And his catsuit was a little– no, a lot more form-fitting than normal, particularly across the… bust. Which was larger. Very large.
That was the correct fashion terminology, right?
Kitsune’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, that’s interesting.”
Shellise squeaked, looking rather like a tomato in the combination of her green super-suit and blushing cheeks. Her voice cracked and immediately sent her into a coughing fit.
Garnet Beetle gulped. “Claw, you might wanna take a look at yourself.”
The cat hero pouted, which was even cuter than usual. “I, what?!” Nightclaw screamed to the point Garnet Beetle braced for a voice crack that never came. Instead, a tremolo soprano note rang out. “What happened to me?!”
“You… have boobs,” Garnet Beetle managed weakly. “And really long hair.”
“You’re tall,” Nightclaw pouted his unfairly pink lips. “That’s not fair; you’re meant to be short!”
“I– what?” the red hero faltered, looking down at his feet and then up again. Jimmy did the same.
Sure enough, Garnet Beetle’s height had been increased, so he was now at the same eye level as Nightclaw. The latter’s height hadn’t really changed, but that could be attributed to the presence of a slight neon green heel, starkly contrasted under his black boots.
Garnet Beetle eyed his chest sceptically, poking at a pec. “I’m still a guy?”
“You’re still a guy?” echoed the akuma, standing shock-still. A glowing, purple butterfly outline appeared over her mask. “Voidwing! You said that–” A pause. “I know, I asked specifically to change someone’s AGAB–” Another pause. “Yeah, and so what? I– Why does that change anything when it comes to the beetle boy here?”
“Oh.” It immediately clicked for Jimmy, which he’d admit, didn’t happen often. “Were you always a guy?” he asked carefully. “I mean, I have a cousin; he used to be a g–”
“Yeah, I’m trans,” Garnet Beetle admitted. He winced a little when his voice cracked, gingerly pressing at his neck. “Oh, Adam's apple. I forgot that would happen.”
“Oh,” was all AGABender managed to say, staring.
Now slightly less disoriented, the team stood back up in a defensive stance, gripping their weapons.
AGABender snapped to attention when the purple butterfly mask appeared on her face again. “Ow, okay Voidwing, I’ll get it! Geez…”
“Nope, nope, nope!” Nightclaw backed away, but his lower centre of gravity made him trip and skidd backwards onto his bum.
The purple mask flickered again, and AGABender scowled. “I’m not a man,” she hissed again, marching over towards Garnet Beetle with her scythe swinging wildy. “You can’t change that; Voidwing’s powers or not!”
“I didn’t say that! He’s lying, just look at me! I’m like you,” Garnet Beetle declared to the supervillainess, spreading his empty hands out placatingly. “I’m not trying to deny that from you. I’m just sure we could sort something out. Please give me the akumatised object, and we can talk.”
“I…” The supervillainess shook her head as soon as the glowing butterfly mask appeared and flashed away. And with that inexplicable pause, AGABender kicked Garnet Beetle square in the crotch with her high-heeled boots and disappeared with a swish of her puffy skirts down the street.
“Ow! Oh, crumpets on a butter stack! That hurts like a pile of plucked chicken feathers in a pot of vinegar!”
“Are we stuck like this now?” Nightclaw began, gingerly rubbing his tail, crouching down to his partner curled up in a ball. “Well… Gosh dang it.”
~:~
Soon enough, the minute the heroes all managed to vaguely adjust to all their anatomical changes, news vans and a swarm of reporters swarmed the team.
“Care to make a statement?” one BBC correspondent managed to push through to the front.
Garnet Beetle cleared his throat, leaning to the first microphone. “Nightclaw, Shellise and Kitsune have been affected by the akuma, AGABender. We, unfortunately, could not apprehend her tonight, but as there has been no harm to any civilians, we will have to pause the akuma search.”
“For how long?”
“Until the akuma’s next public appearance.”
“How will people adapt to being stuck in the wrong body?”
“Again, the worst case scenario from this situation is that some people have lost the ability to pee standing up.”
“This is outrageous! This is a –!”
The hero gave that reporter a flat look, pushing the microphones out of the way. “If I could deal with a situation like this for half a decade, everyone in London can for a couple of days,” he hissed. The reporter’s eyes widened as they pieced together this information, filling in the blanks. The other heroes chuckled whilst Garnet Beetle brought the microphones back, reassuming his press-ready voice. “While this situation is bizarre and confusing, it isn’t a city-wide emergency. Again, I promise that myself, Nightclaw and our team will solve this issue within a maximum of a week, likely…. 72 hours or less.”
There was another cacophony of complaints as the other reporters scrambled to ask further questions. The heroes managed to slimly evade the swarm of paparazzi, bolting to the rooftops.
“I hate the press,” Nightclaw bemoaned, panting a little. Something in Jimmy’s chest tightened at the way his voice practically keened. “This always happens to me even without the spandex.”
“Was that really the best way to come out to the public?” Kitsune deadpanned. Her voice was uncannily deeper, still highlighting her Aussie accent in a way that reminded him of Hugh Jackman. “I had no idea, mate, but good for you, I guess.”
Garnet Beetle rolled his eyes. “They’ll get over it.”
“Why do I have a floppy fringe now?” Shellise complained. “I specifically got a bandana to keep the hair out of my eyes.”
“I like how pretty you normally look, but you’d make a cute butch, Shelly.”
“Aw, Kits!”
“Okay, cut the flirting, girls.”
More tires squealed in the streets below, and Jimmy swore he could hear the distant whirr of helicopter blades slowly approaching.
“Ah, crumbs!” Garnet Beetle muttered. “I swear they’re more obsessed with us more than the royals.”
Shellise’s shoulders clipped the edge of a chimney they ran past, wincing despite her carapacial armour. “Ow. I don’t even know if my shoulders fit into my shield anymore. I feel like a human Dorito.”
“Walk it off,” Nightclaw shrugged.
Jimmy snorted at the Marvel reference. Shellise just glared.
“Okay, okay, fine! Sleep it off.”
“Sorry, what?” Jimmy and Kitsune said in unison.
“You heard Garnet when we were talking to the press.”
“We’re what?”
“Split and hide as quickly as you can and detransform. It’s our only shot at losing the paparazzi.”
“Right. Dis– ”
“Not yet!”
“Sorry!”
The team split, albeit clumsily, and Garnet Beetle yanked Jimmy by the arm as the helicopters flocked through the cloudy skies. Winding through balconies and alleyways and blocks upon blocks through the London suburbs, they finally ended up at Jimmy’s rooftop.
“Dismount, I guess.”
The cyan light washed over Jimmy in reverse, and before he could even look at Kaalki’s disapproving glare, Garnet Beetle shoved him through the window and yanked the lenses off Jimmy’s nose.
“Thanks, sorry, bye, I’ll fetch you later!” Garnet Beetle whispered, taking off into the night with the magical pair of sunglasses, leaving him alone in his room again.
“Right,” he said to thin air, “so… that just happened. I was a superhero.”
Jimmy shifted, adjusted his clothes as he stood up, and frowned. If he had already detransformed into his hoodie and football shorts, why did it feel like he was still in his tight super-suit?
He looked down and– oh.
Ah.
There were only two ways of dealing with… that when he got home, and it was too late in December for Jimmy to have a cold shower.
~:~
There was a frantic knock on Jimmy’s bedroom door as the sun barely peeked over the horizon.
“Oi, Jimmy.”
Norman shuffled from where he was curled up at Jimmy’s feet, meowing a complaint.
“Jimmy!”
“Go away…” he grumbled, burying his head into the covers. “Gimme ‘ifteen more minutes.”
“Jimmy, where’d all my sorbolene go?”
He sat up, glancing at the desktop bin on his bedside table, littered with scrunched-up tissues. “Uh… I thought you had finished it.”
Lizzie’s head thudded against the doorframe. “Jimmy, it’s empty. It wasn’t empty last night.”
“For the last time, I didn't use your weird beauty products,” he lied.
“I can’t shave without sorbolene,” she complained. “I’m not touching that can of Dad’s shaving cream.”
“Do you have to shave? It’s winter.”
“Urgh, why are you like this, we have swim team later toda–”
“Lizzie? Jimmy? Don’t you two dare be late for breakfast!” their Dad called from downstairs. “You better eat now before you’re tardy for school.”
“Coming!” the two yelled as Jimmy swung open his door, slammed and locked it before Lizzie could react, and bolted down the stairs. Sure enough, two bowls of cereal sat on the kitchen table next to Dad, who munched on his half-eaten one while scrolling through his laptop.
“Did you see the news last night?” he asked as they dug in, slurping up the milk. “Apparently an akuma caused a bunch of blokes to loose their willies.”
Lizzie sprayed a mouthful of cereal-infused milk onto the kitchen table.
“Elizabeth, calm down,” Dad chided. “Ew.”
“What the blummin’ heck do you mean by that?”
“‘AGABender swapped civilian’s anatomies as if they were born the opposite sex’,” Dad relayed the article. “Huh, what drama queens these people are being. Serves ‘em right for bullying those trans kids. If anything, those whinging boys should have a fun time dealing with womanly issues. Hm… you know what, I’m not gonna bother with those articles right now.”
Jimmy swallowed his cereal gingerly.
“Oh, bollocks. Jimmy,” Dad frowned upon opening up a council email bill, “how much hot water did you use last night?!”
~:~
This was a weird Thursday morning.
The start of the school had all the teachers quickly ushering the students into classrooms to avoid the inevitable panicked chaos last night’s akuma attack caused. Cassades of whispers spilled out from under the cracks of the classroom doors into the hallways, echoing and building up like a dam by the riverbed.
Recess, however, was an unleashed tsunami of absolute calamity. The second-formers by the science wing corridor were all screaming, barely held back by a handful of staff members. A first-former with glasses was staring blankly between two AGABeam affected brunets– one Jimmy recognised as an under twelve boys’ volleyball teammate, the other a frequent member of the GG Girls’ Gaming club– in the same corner. Next to the bins, two third-formers were face wrestling– urgh– like it was dystopian romance film and there was no tomorrow. Every twenty metres or so, someone would trip over due to their new centre of gravity and almost cause another human dominos incident.
“Audrey, how are you almost as fit as Arthur as a chap?” a blonde first-former whinged.
“Okay, mate, that is not fair. Honestly, I’d smash if you actually were a girl. No homo.”
“What the hell are you wearing?”
“Is it weirder that I fancy my boyfriend more as a girl or that Willow’s cute as a guy…?” the black-haired girl with spectacles hurriedly asked her mate to the right, who shrugged. “Oh God. Am I having a heart attack? Is this how those reality TV housewives feel all the time?”
“Hey, has anyone seen Ivory lately?” a kid with a half-done necktie from third-form asked another huddle of students. “She’s been missing since health class when–”
“Wait a minute, is Garnet Beetle trans?”
“Nah, he probably had, like, a medical condition or something,” another responded, attempting to sweep away endless platinum curls. “The mic was a bit muffled.”
“He’s just a short king, no need to make assumptions, dude.”
“There was a horse hero,” Bdubs, who didn’t sport any significant change in appearance other than rounder cheeks and a lack of an Adam’s apple; buzzed in his seat. “You don’t get it, there was a freakin’ horse hero on TV last night–”
“We get it Bdubs, you’re a horse girl.”
“I am not a girl; shut up!”
Eventually, Jimmy managed to worm his way to the fourth-formers’ locker corridor. Two Fwhips were sitting in the courtyard together, squabbling. That threw Jimmy in a bit of a loop for a second until he took a closer look. One had a round pair of glasses and curlier hair and the other fiddled with a small Rubik’s cube and his phone simultaneously. The first Fwhip was excitedly talking about a chemistry project of some kind waving around a floral insulating lunchbag.
Ah, so Gem had been hit by the beam too.
“How are you lovely lot doing after last night?” he asked as he strolled up, narrowly avoiding a locker door to the face.
Fwhip rolled his eyes. “Well, somebody got caught in the attack because she couldn’t wait to see her secret girlfriend and snuck out the balcon–”
“I don’t have a secret or a girlfriend,” Gem protested, fiddling with her bracelet, “and if I did, are you jealous that I could get a girl easier than you?”
Fwhip lunged at Gem, muscle-memory gunning for her braid, but its abscence allowed Gem to elbow him in the ribs instead and wrestle him down into a headlock.
“Ow, how are you still beating me?!”
“Because I’m not a–”
Fwhip’s back hit a locker, and Jimmy skedaddled as quickly as possible past the bickering twins.
“You guys got hit as well?” Jimmy asked his cousins. Grian had looked the same on first glance, but now his height was noticeably taller, his face lined with a sharper jawline framed by a hint of peach fuzz, all while he was attempting to subtly fiddle with the fly on his trousers to adjust his crotch. Pearl was the same height as before, but her usually long hair was in a choppy mullet. She shifted, making her camera bag slide off her now-narrow hips but hang off her broader shoulders instead. It was odd to see the lack of a height difference between the two.
Grian sighed happily. “Yeah! I’m just a bit taller than you now. Glad I don’t need to wear my binder or packer anymore.”
“This time your fake dick isn’t gonna fall down your trousers,” Jimmy chuckled, reminiscing the sequence of incidents that resulted in an awkward inspection of Scar’s gym bag.
He glared back. “That was one time, Timmy. I'm surprised your clumsy self didn't do that already.”
“Hey! At least mine’s real.”
“Your ridiculous lack of grace would somehow find a way to detach it. And–” Grian froze mid-insult, eyes locked over Jimmy’s shoulder.
“...And what?”
Pearl frowned. “Hello? Grian, you there mate?”
Grian didn’t answer, mouth soundlessly hanging open. Jimmy followed Grian’s line of sight and promptly choked on his Gatorade.
There stood an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous girl, laughing hypnotically like a siren next to Impulse. Her perfectly straight, sharp teeth gleamed white in a charmingly sweet smile, one Jimmy immediately was directed towards him. She wore the school’s blazer, but her… uh, bust– which was a fashionly correct term, mind you, Jimmy did his research properly last night– pushed the insignia out. Her tie was teasingly looose and the top two buttons of her white shirt were undone– okay Jimmy, her eyes were up there– Even from the distance, her eyes, framed by her long lashes fluttering like delicate butterflies, were a visible enchanting forest green. Sunlight filtered in through streams from the window, bouncing off her effortless wavy, glossy brunette hair. She swayed her hips as they strolled down the hallway, her school skirt swishing in time. Jimmy could not emphasise exactly how fit she was.
And right there, Jimmy’s brain decided to recite the poetry it had previously refused to learn last night.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Pearl glanced over at Jimmy, humming contently. “Oh, I see. Scar makes a pretty good-looking girl, huh?”
“That’s Scar ?” Jimmy shrieked, clamping hands over his mouth as his voice seemed to echo across the courtyard. A few students turned their heads to give him bewildered, slightly judgmental looks.
“Weird, right?” Pearl nodded, cocking her head to the side in observation. Upon finally noticing her other cousin’s silent predicament, she poked him in the side. “Grian. Grian. Grian, stop staring!”
“I can’t. Scar’s even hotter as a girl!” Grian moaned. “He’s better at being a girl than I was. I… I… I–”
“You’re trans,” Pearl stated bluntly.
“Not the point…”
Scar, seemingly oblivious to Grian’s staring and Jimmy’s breakdown, brightly waved to the trio of cousins and beamed. Jimmy and Grian weakly waved back. Pearl gave a simple thumbs up and a normal smile.
“Oh crumbs, he’s walking towards me. He’s walking towards me!”
“Because we’re mates with him, you nugget,” Pearl chuckled. “Don’t you want to say hi?”
“Well, hello there!” Scar called out, bouncing on his toes. The akuma’s powers had conveniently swapped his trousers for the school’s pleated skirt, the hem ending just teasingly at his mid-thigh instead of at his knee per uniform guidelines. A lock of glossy brown hair was elegantly swept across his forehead, pinned away from his eyes by a cluster of bobby pins. The rest of the tresses were pulled back into a neat ponytail. “How are you guys going with the whole akuma thing?”
“Not too bad. I’ve still got a bit of… er… adjusting to do. You seem to be taking the change pretty well,” Pearl commented. “How did your parents react?”
“They’re fine– they got me this skirt, actually!–but they’re not happy about the mob that was outside the manor this morning,” he winced. “Some creeps tried to scale the fence.”
Pearl coughed awkwardly. “Geez. Well, if it’s anything, I’m loving the hairstyle.”
He tossed his curls in an elegant swoop. Jimmy’s eyes followed every shimmer of the cascading rich waves. “Thanks, Pearl! I think it’s a nice change. Isn’t my hair so luscious and shiny?”
Grian gave a feeble nod. Jimmy squeaked.
“Right, I dealt with Fwhip and– oh!” Gem bounced on her feet, shaking a ginger curl away from her spectacles. “Hi, Scar! Nice makeup; love the subtle cat eyes. Is the school skirt design giving you a hard time?”
“Suprisingly, no. Don’t worry, this is actually kind of fun!” Scar beamed, swishing his skirt with another twirl and striking a pose with a hip cocked to the side. “I’m just glad I don’t have to wear my pants anymore!”
Grian heaved, face immediately reddening again as he let out an ungodly wheezing noise halfway between a howl of laughter and a choke.
Gem awkwardly held her lunchbag in front of her legs, looking very uncomfortable and elated at the same time. Ah, yes. She obviously hadn’t quite learnt how to adapt to that… biological reaction yet.
Whilst passing by, Scott and Xornoth both seemed rather indifferent to Scar’s changed appearance, if not mildly bored that they didn’t have their usual eye candy anymore. Joey appeared vaguely curious about the situation, glancing between Scar and Katherine every so often.
“I gotta go,” Gem said stiffly, and ran to the restrooms like the hounds of hell were hot on her heels.
“Scar, mate,” Grian gasped, “pants mean underwear here. We’re not in America right now.”
“Ohhhh, that reminds me! My new briefs have little cute ribbon-y bows at the front. I didn’t know girls’ underwear was this fun to wear! I kinda get why guys like doing drag now.”
Jimmy’s gatorade went down the wrong hatch. Pearl, for the first time that morning, seemed to be rendered speechless too.
“Anyway, I think this is gonna be great! I’ll see if I can get any more dresses to do drag in. I– huh.” Scar paused. “You know what? You can try calling me Scarlette for now,” Scar– Scarlette winked. He– she? – tossed another long chocolate curl back and sauntered away, hips swaying hypnotically.
The three cousins gaped.
“Grian?”
“Yeah, Tim?”
“I think I understand your crush on him now.”
Grian glared at Jimmy.
“Jimmy’s right though,” Pearl added, unsubtly crossing her legs together with desperate force. “Not to be sexualising him, but I’m– Scar’s– woah… I–” she paused, taking a breath in, “–now that he looks like a girl, I totally get your obsession.”
Grian smacked the back of their heads.
“Oi!”
“What was that for?!”
~:~
the best jewellery box ✨💎✨ - (2 people)
2:57 pm
gemstone: surprisingly this isnt as painful as the boys made it out to be
gemstone: just uncomfortable and really inconvenient
pearl in a pod: wdym
gemstone: having a dick
gemstone: never thought id say this but i miss my cozy bra
pearl in a pod: oh yeah lmao mate
pearl in a pod: still don’t get the appeal of having an extra appendage swingin round down there
pearl in a pod: and the balls are all weird and floppy
gemstone: also making a surprise guest appearance at the worst times
gemstone: at least I dont look weird as a guy like fwhip
gemstone: [sent an image. Two teenage boys with ginger hair stand next to each other, identical in almost all facial features. They are both smiling whilst wearing glasses, red Christmas jumpers and reindeer ears. The only visible difference is one has less curly hair and the other is wearing Gem’s flower cord bracelet.]
pearl in a pod: …I see
pearl in a pod: hey you’re bi not a lesbian right
gemstone: yeah
pearl in a pod: you reckon i’d have any more luck getting a gf like this
pearl in a pod: [sent an image. A tanned masculine teenager with freckles and choppy brown hair poses for a mirror selfie in the school restrooms. Her jawline is defined and sharp, dotted with light stubble.]
pearl in a pod: i mean i prefer being a girl but
pearl in a pod: like objectively, am i hot as a bloke
pearl in a pod: mullet and all
gemstone: yes youre still cute
pearl in a pod: aww thanks gem!
pearl in a pod: idk what’s attractive in terms of guys but for the record you’re cute rn too
pearl in a pod: ….
pearl in a pod: wait wdym by ‘still’?
[‘gemstone’ - @gemma.rosew3 was online 1 minute ago]
~:~
Unfortunately, Jimmy had forgotten it was a Thursday, and therefore, it meant that instead of going home, he was stuck training at the school’s pool for the rest of the afternoon. Lizzie rolled her eyes as he hurried back to grab his swimming gear bag anc hange. They managed to speed-walk through the other sport facilities across the campus to the indoor pool, just before the clock ticked half-past three.
“Good-Tymes, you sure you’re not gonna sit this session out?” echoed Coach Marino’s voice.
“Nah, I want to keep my practice streak up. Besides, I wanna see what I can do in this body.”
“If you’re sure, lad.”
Jimmy and Lizzie rounded the corner and– oh, that was not fair.
Scar had his (beautiful) hair tied back and tucked neatly into a swim cap. Instead of his usual trunks, he was sporting a simple black one-piece with long sleeves. Despite the lack of any revealing cuts– boyleg shorts and a zipper neckline–, Scar’s swimsuit left little to the imagination when it came to… shape.
Holy moly, Jimmy’s mind helpfully supplied.
“Hello again, Jimmy!” Scar brightly smiled, so dazzlingly that Jimmy briefly felt his vision go white.
“‘Ello,” he managed weakly.
“You gonna join us, Mr Solidarity?” Coach Marino barked.
Jimmy turned his attention back towards his team by the pool, his eyes landing on Scar. Scar, who was now positioned on the diving block. Scar, who was bent over touching the edge of the block with his fingertips, his knees slightly crouched. In the air, he rather proudly displayed the fullness of his– uh….
Uh…..
“Ahem,” Lizzie jostled his side.
It eventually came to Jimmy’s attention that he was oogling Scar’s butt for a bit longer than what was acceptable. As a friend. Also, longer than was acceptable as not just a friend.
“Solidarity?”
“I’ll wait,” Jimmy managed to pipe out.
Where was he going with that thought?
Ah, right.
Scar was about to do a 100-metre butterfly lap. Looking like that.
Wouldn’t his hips affect aerodynamics or something? Jimmy had never paid that much attention in physics class, but he might start doing so if they were studying Scar’s b–
The whistle blew, and half of the team dove into the pool with a synchronised splash!
“Where were you?” Lizzie hissed. “You know you’ve always got my swim cap. It’s always in your bag, Jim.”
“I forgot after everything that happened today, okay?”
“We always have swimming. In the afternoon on Thursdays!”
“I said I’m sorry!”
“Blummin’ heck. I didn’t expect this awakening to have such a toll on you.”
“... What did you say?”
“Uh, nothing.”
Jimmy gave Lizzie one last glance, and turned back to the pool just in time to see Scar reach the end of the pool first.
“Yes!” he whooped, holding his fist high in the air as the rest of the team glided to the ledge. Repeatedly pumping his hands up, he bobbed up and down like a buoy at Brighton Beach. His, uh… his swimsuit didn’t provide a whole lot of support at his… bust. It also, hypnotisingly, bobbed up and down. Like a pair of… large, very large buoys.
Oh dear. Jimmy gulped.
Scar then pulled his fist back down rather sharply towards his chest, and then–
“Aurh!”
Something that Jimmy did remember in physics class was that sound travelled faster over water. That something became apparent very quickly when Jimmy heard a loud shriek surround him and echo around the pool room.
On instinct, Jimmy clamped his hands over his mouth to muffle the noise. Then, he noticed the scream wasn’t coming from himself or the other teammates, but rather from Scar, who was now keeling over in pain.
“Ow…”
“You okay, Scar?” Joey called called. Jimmy instinctively frowned at the way Joey’s flirtily changed pitch. “That looked a little... Rough.”
“No one told me it would hurt…” he moaned. “Oh, sweet baby Jellie, I’m never doing that again!”
“You want any… assistance?” Joey cooed. By now, the rest of the team looked vaguely uncomfortable. Jimmy fought the urge to jump across the pool just to throttle Joey’s neck.
“Nah, I’m good now,” Scar cringed, tenderly cradling his… uh– screw it, Jimmy was just gonna think about things plainly now– boobs with one arm as he pushed himself up the pool’s ledge with the other. Water dripped off, almost sparkling as it highlighted every curve of the flesh and strength in Scar’s shapely legs, leading up to a very perky bu–
Forget wanting to push Nightclaw against a wall, Jimmy now yeeted that thought in favour of Scar pinning him to the ground with those muscles and those thighs, holy moly–
Okay brain, now would be a good time to shut up.
It was insanely good timing that AGABender chose that moment to make a convenient appearance by crashing through the glass ceiling, interrupting Jimmy’s increasingly uncomfortable train of thought (and swimming shorts).