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PlanetLord has a secret.
He's trans.
If anyone ever finds out, Planet doesn't think he would survive the encounter.
Not to say Lifesteal is transphobic, quite the opposite. There are openly trans people on the server and some who Planet has clocked, but he isn’t 100% sure. He just feels irrationally scared of his secret being revealed.
On Lifesteal, clothes regenerate with the player, and even if they're ripped, fix themselves upon respawn. So, it's not Planet’s fault if he leaves his binder on a little too long. It’s hard to fit into armour with inconvenient lumps in the way, and it's more combat-efficient to keep the binder on all the time. Just in case he gets jumped.
It’s combat efficient. Planet still gets hearts despite the struggle to breathe. He definitely doesn't relish in the burn of his compressed chest chafing against harsh armour, and he definitely doesn't take his sword out sometimes to give himself a few easily-healed gashes. Saturation takes care of those, because they're barely half a heart if they do any damage at all. Nobody has noticed, so Planet definitely has not done those things.
He ends the season himself, after a war and countless hours of fighting. He wheezes instead of breathing after so long, but Planet is pretty sure it's just the remains of war.
When the last battle ends, and Planet is standing with Spoke by his side, the relief doesn't immediately fill him. He's teleported to the Lifesteal Hub in the void, the place everyone goes between seasons. Everybody is sitting on couches, stools, and some people are on the floor. Spoke has crashed on Mapic. Planet stays standing, breathing heavily.
Wheezing.
Coughing.
Yep, there's dust. War isn't good for the lungs. For some reason, his ribs still hurt. Shouldn't the Hub heal any combat-related injuries? The only reason he wouldn't be healed if it were due to other factors, like armour chafing, which is common, or scrapes and other non-combat-related injuries. As Planet tries to find the reason, still struggling to breathe right, he can't pay attention to the other Lifestealers looking at him. He can feel their stares, though, just like he can feel bruised ribs. He thinks someone’s gone off to get medical supplies, the emergency kit saved in the Hub for situations like this.
Planet shucks his armour off and eats a few gaps quickly, dulling the pain and hopefully healing him. He sprawls on the floor, panting. He forgot what it was like to breathe properly.
After silence, he speaks up. “Wild season, amirite?” The joke falls flat, because the gapple effects are going away, and now his ribs are hurting again.
“Can anyone figure out what's going on with me?” Parrot walks back into the room with his admin console and crouches next to Planet.
“I'm going to diagnose you. Stay still. Keep breathing, okay?” Planet manages a nod and closes his eyes while Parrot checks his code. When he opens his eyes again, Parrot is looking at his console in confusion, shock maybe. Then, realisation.
Parrot starts, “I won’t tell anyone if you don't want me to,” what is he talking about? It takes Planet a few seconds to remember. Oh, binder. That’s why his ribs ache like they've been re-healed wrongly. “But this is unhealthy. You need to take it off. You needed to take it off since over a month ago.” Planet coughs out a laugh.
After a few moments of deliberation, Planet opens his mouth again. “Tell them. I’ve already gone through all my character arcs, why not a reveal? And help me out of it, would you? I don't think I have the strength for that.”
Parrot nods. Good, reliable Parrot, probably the best admin Planets ever had. He closes his eyes and decides to take a nap, or at least rest while Parrot tells everyone else.
“Everyone,” he says. It’s still pretty quiet, and all the attention is on Parrot, “Planet’s made the unfortunate mistake of forgetting he had a binder on.” Planet can hear a fond sigh from somewhere, followed by a happens to the best of us. Oh, good. people know how to handle it.
He can feel himself being picked up by strong, warm arms and carried to a soft bed. His top is gently taken off and replaced with a pajama shirt. Under the warm hands of someone trustworthy who he can't name, because all of Lifesteal is equally trustworthy, Planet takes that nap he’s owed.
He's safe. His secret is out, and Planet isn’t scared anymore.