“Oh. My. God,” May said.

“...Yeah,” Lily agreed.

Stephen felt his face redden even more, and he stared pointedly at his feet while wringing his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his eyes wet. “I know I’m a creep, I shouldn’t have done this, but... I couldn’t figure out a way to make myself comfortable the right way...” his voice trailed off, and he choked, before realising he was actually, legitimately crying. He hadn’t cried in so long...

“Stop that,” Lily said, stepping closer.

“I know, boys aren’t supposed to cry, I’ll—”

“No, you dummy, she meant stop calling yourself a creep,” May said, and she wrapped her arms around him just as Lily did the same. He... he wasn’t used to being touched, and he knew he was about to have a hugely negative reaction, and his entire body braced itself for the pain of it, and—

Nothing happened. It felt... nice. Stephen was being hugged and it felt good.

What the heck was wrong with him?

And suddenly he was full-on sobbing. “I’m sorry,” he cried. “I’m sorry... I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sor—”

“Hey,” Lily cut him off. “You’re allowed to be a girl, if you want to. Okay? Nothing changes. You’re still our best friend, and we still love you just the same.”

He sobbed even harder. “I... but... I... I’m just... I’m just... I’m so annoying and I have so many problems and you could be having fun and instead I’m being stupid and creepy and... even if you think it’s okay if I do this it’s still wasting your time and—”

Both of the girls squeezed tighter, cutting him off. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Lily said softly. “You’re not annoying, and you’re not stupid, and you are not creepy. This is a safe space where you can play with that kind of stuff. It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah... I’m glad you were able to redo your model!” May agreed. “I’m glad I screwed up!”

“For once, I am too,” Lily said, rolling her eyes at her girlfriend. “I never would’ve guessed you’d be able to...” she trailed off, then turned back to him with a pointed look and a gesture towards his body. “Do something like this. I’m proud of you.”

He looked down again, his tears having faded a bit, his face still feeling very warm. “I... I don’t... I don’t really understand... but... if you think it’s good...”

Lily shook her head. “It’s not that this” — she gestured to his body again — “is good. No matter what you chose would be good, provided it made you comfortable. No, what I think is good is that you were able to do exploration like this. It must have taken a lot of bravery, and, well... That’s what we’re proud of you for.”

May nodded along in agreement.

Stephen still didn’t really get it... he didn’t know what she meant by ‘exploration’... He hadn’t done anything except just make himself look like... well... a pretty girl. What was he exploring, his sexuality? But he already knew that he liked girls...

“O-okay,” he finally relented. He liked being hugged by them right now, for some reason, and he was too selfish to really fight against it, or something. They could believe their... exploration theory was the truth, for now.

And with that decided, Stephen felt himself relaxing a bit in their arms, the tension fading. The three of them stayed there like that for a while... He wasn’t sure how long, but long enough that the moment they pulled away, he already missed the touch. It really was so strange that in VR he could apparently handle that kind of contact. In real life he definitely could not...

“So, uhh... Do you want to try a different name?” May asked suddenly. “Or pronouns?” 

“...What?” Stephen blinked.

“Do you want us to call you something different right now? Would that feel more comfortable? It doesn’t have to be something you stick with forever, just... trying a new name on.”

He still didn’t really understand the way they were talking about this stuff. They were describing this like trying on a costume or something... was this supposed to be some kind of roleplay or something? Was that what he was missing?

“Umm... sure... I guess,” Stephen mumbled. “But I don’t know what.”

May gasped. “Ooh, ooh! Can I try to come up with a name?”

Lily gave her a hard look, but he just shrugged. “If... it’ll make you happy?”

“Yes! Okay, so... Stevie. Stephen. ...Stephanie?”

He shook his head. That was too... no, if the goal was to get away from that name... blech.

“Hmm... Steve. Eve? Evie? How’s Evie? Short for... Evelyn maybe?”

“...Evie... is nice,” he murmured, looking down at his feet again.

“Awwww,” Lily said. “You really are adorable, you know that?”

The compliment made that warm tingle reappear in his tummy, and the warmth on his cheeks had another resurgence. He did wonder if that was him being creepy, but they’d said that he wasn’t supposed to call himself that, that he wasn’t, so... He guessed that even if he didn’t agree he could at least humour them.

“Wait, so are you already satisfied with Evie? That was fast...” 

He glanced back up to see May’s pout. 

“I was expecting to go through all kinds of names! Usually people want to get further from their deadname...”

Ignoring whatever ‘deadname’ meant, he nodded. “I like Evie... I’ll be her for now.”

The two shared a look. “So she/her, then?” Lily asked.

What? “Uhhh... yes?”

“This is so exciting,” May squealed. “Lily... Evie’s a girl! For real! Just look at her!”

Stephen— no, Evie... was a girl? 

She... she was a girl. At least until she changed her appearance, she supposed, but for now...

“She is,” Lily said, giving Evie a warm smile.

And then, of course, Evie blushed again. Seriously, it was like her friends were trying to feed that warm tingle she kept feeling in her tummy.

“W-we should play a game or something,” she sputtered, trying to get the attention off of herself. She hadn’t been trying to get them to obsess over her, after all, and she didn’t want to push her luck by letting it continue...

“I suppose that can be arranged,” Lily said. “Where to first, girls?”

...It seemed that taking the attention off of her wouldn’t stop her from blushing constantly for the rest of her life, though.

ChiriVulpes

Sorry I straight up forgot I was uploading this :p