Chapter Text
Hunter had been staying with the Nocedas for a while now. Belos was dead and gone for about 2 months, and that was great. But that left Hunter without a proper place to stay in the boiling isles; so instead, they stayed with the Nocedas. Luz and Vee were fine with it, they already saw Hunter as a sibling. And Camilla was always willing to adopt another kid permanently. After all, she’d begun to grow attached while the whole owl gang was staying with her. At this point, Camilla was in the process of legally adopting them.
As Luz was doing Hunter's hair, they couldn’t look at the mirror. Yeah, long hair felt wrong, sure; it made Hunter look like… whatever Caleb was to them. But short hair didn’t feel right either. Hell, being a boy didn’t feel right. For a while, they had thought this was normal. Who wouldn’t want to be a girl? As it turns out, as they learned from the odd stares when they asked that question, it is most men. Suddenly, Hunter spoke up, looking at Luz, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
“Hey, Luz?…” they asked shakily, tears threatening to break through.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Luz asked, biting her tongue as she worked with the scissors.
“Can you… can you put down the scissors? I need to talk to you about something. It’s kind of I-important…” they asked, breath quickening, their hand clenching their shirt
Luz stopped, and set down the scissors, spinning around the old office chair she used to cut Hunter's hair. “Hey hey, what’s up. I know that tone of voice, you're panicking. Calm down, whatever it is, you’ll be fine”
Hunter breathed in deep, remembering the breathing exercise Willow had taught them, whispering to themself. “1 second in, hold for 1, out for 1, 2 seconds in, hold for 2, out for 2, 3 seconds in, hold for 3, out for 3…”, continuing till they got to 10.
Luz patted their back and said softly “see look, youre fine. Whatever it is, I’ll be cool.”
Hunter looked up at Luz with tears running down their face, and asked with a shaky breath “Luz, I… is there a word for wanting to be a girl? Or is that just not a thing? Is there a word for people like me?”
Luz smiled softly, and sat down next to who she was now realizing was her sister, wrapping an arm around her, asking gently “you wanna be a girl? Am I understanding correctly?”
“Yeah… I think so at least” hunter replied gently, burying her face in her knees.
“Well, yes, there is a term for it. It’s called being transgender. Sometimes, people who were born boys wanna be girls, or people born girls wanna be boys. Sometimes, people don’t wanna be either, like Vee's partner” Luz said, ruffling her sister's hair. “And that’s all okay. It’s okay if you wanna be a girl.”
Hunter looked up, using her sleeve to dry her tears. “Thank you, Luz… but, what do I do now?”
Luz held her chin, making a thinking face. “Hmmmmm, well, I guess next is like, telling more people and beginning your social transition. I suppose you're old enough to start your medical transition, but I’d suggest figuring out your name and starting your social transition first. I can help with the coming out part, but uh, I’m not really one for being ‘femme’, so you might wanna ask Amity for help with stuff like makeup and clothes. Speaking about names, any ideas?”
Hunter hugged her sister, and, once she let go sighed, holding her knees to her chest but having her head fully visible. She hadn’t ever really thought about a name. And yet, one name came to mind. She had loved sci-fi since she’d come into the human realm, and there was one character who she would love to share a name with: Dana Scully, from the x files.
She raised an eyebrow and tested the name with a prodding tone. “Maybe… Dana? Does that sound good? That’s a girl's name, right? And I guess Scully as a middle name”
Luz smiled and ruffled Dana’s hair, giving her a noogie. “God, you're such a nerd. But… I like it, it feels like you. Dana Scully Noceda.”
Dana smiled and sat next to her sister, feeling at rest and peace for the first time she can remember. For once, her lungs did not feel on fire, her heart was steady, and her brain was not racing.
“So, do you want my help telling everyone? I mean, I think I’ve at some point explained to just about everyone else what being trans is just because they were confused about something, so they should get it, but we can start with specific people if you’d prefer.” Luz said
Dana just nodded and smiled, flapping her hands. She was nervous about people knowing, but she was also excited. “Can we just like, start with people in or really close to the family? You know, mo- I mean, Camilla, Vee, Amity, all them?”
“Yeah, of course we can. Whatever pace you want, sis.” She said, flashing a toothy smile at her sister.
The word made Dana’s insides warm, and she loved it. “Thanks, Luz. It means the world to me that youre helping me.”
“Not a problem. So, how do you wanna go about coming out?”
…