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E.X. didn't really like living with Xisuma, though that was no secret. He'd much rather be off on his own, or even on another server. But he had connections here, and Xisuma knew they wouldn’t stay out of trouble. They’d come home one to many times all cut up for X to trust them like that.
Maybe Xisuma was right… but E.X. thought they were improving! Maybe even getting a little friendlier. E.X. didn’t completely avoid him anymore, scowling at any attempt to socialize. And, now… they were considering telling Xisuma something rather important.
It was only an idea, right now. He wasn’t ready to be committed to telling him. He kind of felt a little silly for being so worked up over it. It was simple, in his head. They used he/him /and/ they/them as pronouns. And they preferred they/them. They were same flavor of non-binary, maybe demi-boy? They hadn’t worked it all out yet.
But… they had gotten a little non-binary pin! It was small, not too noticeable, but maybe they could wear this. See what Xisuma’s reaction was. If it wasn’t good… maybe he could say he didn’t know what the pin meant, and thought it was just cool-looking. A back up plan. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to…
Maybe, at a later point in time, he could even hang up a flag in his room. The thought of wearing one like a cape was appealing, it made them feel cooler. They laid back, holding the pin up and looking at it happily. They tossed it in the air a few times, managing to catch it until… whoops! It fell? And it rolled-
It rolled away from E.X.’s bed, across the floor, over to the doorway of their room. A doorway which was now open, a certain nosy admin standing there.
“E.X.-“
They scrambled to get up, trying to get to the pin before Xisuma leaned over and picked it up. Unfortunately, he just ended up falling over and face planting the ground. Ouch. The pain hardly bothered them though, as the thought of what was gonna happen next made his stomach feel like it dropped.
“E.X., you alright…?” Xisuma extended a hand out to him to help him up. E.X. got up on his own, seeing if X had the pin in his hands. “Huh? Oh? Is this yours?” He held the pin out.
E.X. almost said yes, but… they could lie, just say they found it somewhere. That could work! “U-um- uh- it’s-“
Xisuma gave him an awkward smile, looking down at the pin. He seemed to realize something. “Oh! Are you-“ E.X. snatched the pin out of his hands, holding it tight and turning away.
“Get out of my room,” E.X. said coldly. Maybe, if he was lucky, X would leave and he could just pretend this whole situation never happening. But knowing Xisuma, he wouldn’t let this go so easily, cuz’ obviously it was a sore subject for E.X.
“You…uh…” Xisuma started. And E.X. let him talk. “You can talk to me about that, y’know… if you’re uh… non-binary. Like that pin.” E.X. gasped a little. Okay… Xisuma knew what the pin meant. That made their stomach twist and turn, their heart beat faster. But then… acceptance? He didn’t seem upset at the fact E.X. had that. Or at the realization that they could be enby.
“I…” In general, words weren’t too easy for E.X. Neither were emotions, but right now they felt much more like crying than answering to Xisuma. They shamefully looked away, covering their face and biting the inside of their cheek. Don’t cry, don’t cry- “Eek!”
A sudden hug from Xisuma caught them off guard. He’d been pretty adamant about how he didn’t like them… but… right now it was okay. The hug made him feel better, this time around, though. He leaned into it, letting Xisuma soothe him.
“Hey, hey, its okay…” X said softly. “I don’t mind if you are… if you want to use different pronouns just tell me.” E.X. didn’t say anything, just nodded at him. Xisuma held him tighter, resting his head on his shoulder. …X wasn’t upset, X accepted them, they didn’t have to lie or be invalidated.
E.X. started to sob. Xisuma was a little confused at the sudden waterworks, but he did his best to comfort the other… it was the least he could do.