Work Text:
As the school bell rang, signalling the end of the school day, Kim burst out of the building, nearly trampling many of his classmates in the process. Today was the day he would win a race against Alix. And not just any race - all their friends would be watching! He had yet to win a race against her, but he knew that this would be the one, and what better way to rub it in her face than have everyone witness his victory?
He also thought that another way to get on her nerves was to get there before her, hence why he was tearing through town to get to the park where the race would be held, even though the race itself wasn't supposed to start for another half hour. As he whizzed past his friends, though, he heard something that caught his attention.
"You think Kim will actually beat Alix this time?" Nathaniel asked, to which Marc scoffed.
"Nah," Marc laughed. "Kim doesn't stand a chance against him."
Him?
If Kim hadn't been dead-set on beating Alix to the park, that would've stopped him in his tracks. Who could they have been talking about? Had Alix secretly asked someone to ambush him so that she could win?
Cheater! Kim thought, his teeth gnashing. Despite his anger, though, he quickly realized the silver lining of the situation - now that he knew about Alix's plan, he'd be able to avoid the ambush and win the race. He knew nothing would annoy Alix more than that, but just to really rile her up, he decided he'd confront her on it, so that she would know that not only could she not beat him, but that she couldn’t outsmart him either.
As he got closer to the park, Kim's frown turned into a smirk - this would be fun.
By the time Kim got to the park, he was completely out of breath. He collapsed on the ground, panting, just as Alix leisurely glided over on her skates.
"Oh, hey Kim," she said casually, though she had a smug grin on her face. "What's up with you?"
"You...won't...win...this round," Kim wheezed, still recovering from the run there.
"Oh yeah?" she taunted. "Why's that?"
"I heard... I heard Marc and Nathaniel talking about that dirty trick you wanted to pull on me." he revealed. Though he sounded slightly more coherent now, that didn't make what he said any less confusing to Alix.
"Huh?" was all she said, her cocky grin replaced with a look of pure confusion.
"Ha! I knew you weren't expect me to figure it out!" he boasted. "Betcha feel dumb for having underestimated me now, huh?"
"Um, no, actually?" she replied. "What exactly do Marc and Nathaniel have to do with this?"
"Don't play dumb! I know it was all your doing!" Kim fumed. "When I was on my way here, I heard Marc telling Nathaniel, 'Kim doesn't stand a chance against him'. That's proof that you got some guy to ambush me!"
Alix raised an eyebrow. "You're - you're joking right?"
"Uh, no?" Kim replied, irritated. "Who else could the guy they were referring to have been? "
”Pretty sure he was talking about me, dummy.” Alix said, the grin reappearing on his face.
Kim froze in place, as everything suddenly started making sense.
”Oh.” was all he said, his brain still catching up. “Was I - was I supposed to hear that?”
“You can’t handle the idea of people thinking you’ll lose even without me cheating?”
“That - that’s not what I meant!” Kim defended. “I just meant - um…was I supposed to hear him calling you that? Or is it something that only they’re supposed to know - er, for now, at least?”
Alix’s expression softened, though there was still a mischievous look in his eyes. “I really appreciate your concern for me, Kim.” he said softly. “But you've got nothing to worry about, considering that I came out as genderfluid like, a year ago.”
Now Kim was really confused. "Um...I think I might have been absent that day?"
Alix rolled his eyes. "Dude, you were sitting right next to me." he deadpanned. "You don't remember when we had to fill out those self-identification forms at school?"
"Yeah, what about them?" he replied. And then it suddenly clicked. "Oh. I guess they only had options 'male' and 'female', huh?"
"Exactly," Alix continued. "And I was complaining about how they never have an option for genderfluid. You've got no memory of that?"
"Eh, not really?" Kim admitted. "But you gotta admit, that was pretty easy to miss."
"It was," Alix agreed. "Which is why I don't really hold it against people when they forget. Honestly, I think it's funny because it makes it easier to mess with them."
"Hey!"
Alix just laughed.
"Wait, so is that-" Kim started, before he cut himself off. "Nevermind."
"Say it."
"Forget it, it was a dumb question."
"Now I definitely wanna hear it." Alix said. "Plus, if you think it's dumb, better I answer the question for you now, rather than risk you saying the wrong thing to someone later."
Kim looked away before finally giving up.
"...How come you're not more open about it, like Marc?" he asked. "Like, we usually see Marc wearing pronoun pins so we know what gender he is that day, and he sometimes corrects us when we get it wrong. Which is fine, obviously. But how come you don't do anything similar? It's not seriously just so you can mess with people by letting them forget, is it?"
Alix went silent, and for a moment, Kim was worried he might snap at him. Instead, though, Alix she burst into howling laughter.
"That is part of it, actually," Alix admitted once he had stopped laughing. "But it's not just that, either. I mean, not all genderfluid people are the same, dude. Like, I don't really care as much what people call me compared to Marc, which is why I usually don't wear pronoun pins or anything like that. But it's also because my gender doesn't exactly depend on the 'day', like a lot of people think it does. Sometimes I feel like a girl, but then there’ll be another moment where I suddenly realize I feel more like a boy, or even something else entirely."
"You mean non-binary, like Mylène?"
"Eh, something like that. When people hear I'm genderfluid, they probably assume that I just alternate between being a boy and a girl, but it's not really that simple. Most of the time I can't even tell - I might know that I'm not feeling feel like a boy or a girl, but 'non-binary' doesn't always feel like the right word to describe it. You get what I’m saying?"
”Yeah, kinda,” said Kim. “So do your family know? Or do you think that they just forgot like I did? Or have you not told them yet, because…”
Though Kim trailed off, Alix knew where his mind was going.
”No, I haven’t told them yet,” Alix conceded. “But it’s not because I’m worried about how they’d react - you know my dad, he’s chill. I’m more worried that it’ll change how they see me. I know they love me and all that, but I also don't know if they'll understand, so I don't want to make things...weird between us.”
"Mm, yeah, that's fair," Kim agreed. "But doesn't your dad study history? There's gotta be someone from the past like you. I think that could help him understand."
Alix's eyes widened. "Hey, you're right! I never even thought about that! I'm a little unsure about my brother, though, given his thing for conspiracy theories. I know Jalil cares about me, but he also seems to believe everything he reads online, so I wouldn't put it past him to say I'm being 'indoctrinated' or something stupid like that, at least at first."
"Eesh. That might be a problem. I think he’d still come around, though." Kim considered. “Um. Not that that means you HAVE to tell them if you don’t want to-”
”I got it, don’t worry, Kim,” Alix laughed. “You’re right about my dad, though. I think I’ll tell him soon. And my brother too - I’ll figure something out to tell both of them.”
He looked at Kim gratefully. “Thanks for helping me figure this stuff out, Kim.”
“Uh,” Kim startled. “You’re…welcome, I guess?”
“Oh, look here come the others,” Alix said, changing topics, as their friends streamed in to watch the race. “Ready to go down?”
Kim smirked. “Not a chance!”
”You two ready to start the race?” Marc asked, a whistle draped around his neck.
The two both nodded at him, stretching and getting into starting position.
”Alright then,” Marc replied. “On your mark…get set…go!”
He blew on the whistle, and Kim and Alix took off. Though they were both intent on beating the other, their respect for one another remained, their friendship stronger than ever.