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Anali had seen Jacob around campus quite a bit and… had a feeling about him that he wasn’t exactly… well, just a man. Maybe non-binary or a demiman or agender or even genderfluid like them, something on the transgender spectrum.
So, she decided to just ask him straight up. She had always been a rather blunt and upfront person, so it just seemed like the best course of action for her.
They caught him on campus and walked up to him. “Hey Jacob, can I ask you a question?”
Jacob had been walking Moose around the campus to let him get a good smell of the places so he would know that now it was going to be home. The person turned his head and looked down at Anali with curiosity but smiled and nodded.
“Yes of course! What did you need?” Jacob stopped walking and turned their body to face Anali, Moose looking curiously at Anali.
“Uh… are you trans by any chance?” they cocked their head. “Just wondering.”.”
Jacob was at first surprised at this question; no one had really asked Jacob if they were transgender, or at least without a lot of bad words from some unkind folks…
”Uh, No! I’m not; there was a point in time when I thought I was, but nope! Why do you ask?” Jacob asked curiously as Moose laid down on the floor, resting for now with a small huff.
“Because I am— I mean, technically? I just wanted to find someone else on campus like me. Sorry, I just got the vibes from you. I apologize for assuming…” Anali looked down, suddenly feeling super embarrassed and upset at themself.
“Hey, Hey!” Jacob put a reassuring hand on Anali’s shoulder and spoke softly. “I mean, I’m not transgender, but I am genderfluid. I don't really have a gender I stick with every day, nor do I have preferred pronouns I have others use.” Jacob explained to the best of their abilities. “You say you're transgender, hm?” Jacob asked with a smile, a kind and genuine smile that encouraged Anali to tell them everything…
“I mean, I guess so? I mean, I thought so. Is genderfluid considered transgender? I was told it was…” they scratched the back of their head. “Is that wrong?”
Jacob thought for a moment about how to approach this delicately. “Well, it is , it’s hard to describe but yes it is considered transgender, but another form of it, you know?” Jacob tried their best to explain it as much as they could with their knowledge: “I wish I had better knowledge to explain this to you…” Jacob chuckled sadly while Moose was asleep
“It’s okay, it’s hard to know stuff with the apocalypse going on,” Anali chuckled, still nervous. “But uhm… yeah. I’m genderfluid and I guess I consider myself transgender still? Is that okay?”
“Yeah of course! If it is how you feel, then it is right! There's always an explanation for how some people are feeling…” Jacob spoke softly, “When did you realize you were Genderfluid?” Jacob let go of Anali’s shoulder and fidgeted with his jacket.
“I was eleven and talking to one of the people at the settlement we— my family was at. They were the only person who hadn’t told me I’m too young to know…” Anali sighed. “I never ended up telling my parents because of that… but that’s probably a good thing. athey weren’t the best people.”
Jacob went quiet for a moment and nodded. “Well, if it helps, you have me now, your parents don’t sound like very good people, or at least didn’t sound very good.” Jacob picked up Moose, who had just woken up and laid him across their neck so he would be laying on his shoulder, “And if you ever feel like you need to talk about anything relating to your identity, let me know, hell we should even match genders every once in a while” Jacob teased.
“Ha, maybe,” Anali said with a rare smile. They hadn’t really smiled much since getting to the campus… at all. “That could be fun. And yeah, if I want to talk I guess I’ll go to you. You’re the only other person here who I think will understand, so… yeah.
Jacob chuckled and nodded. “I think I’d like that a lot.” Jacob then straightened their back and put Moose back down on the floor with his pink harness. “Want to take a walk with me and Moose so we can talk more?” Jacob offered with a kind smile, the sun reflecting off of his glasses as he extended his hand in a small gesture.
Anali nodded softly, walking off with Jacob. They had hope about this relationship, something special was going to come from it for sure. Maybe Jacob could become like a parental figure— no, too soon. Only time will tell what it will be. But nonetheless, it would be good.