"So I started another challenge run on the weekend, though it's only a challenge cause the devs are sexist with tank class options: all-female characters run."

"That's pretty gay."

Riley turned away from Zach towards the back of the lecture hall, glaring up at his perpetual tormentor. "Come on, seriously?"

The blonde smirked at him over the top of her skate shoes, which she had perched nonchalantly on the back of the seats in front of her. "You heard me."

"Even you can't seriously believe that playing female characters is somehow inherently homosexual."

"Of course not," she scoffed, twisting and untwisting one of her hoodie's drawstrings around her finger. "But it is when you do it." Somehow, she managed to make every single one of her movements effortlessly patronizing. 

Riley was fully aware of the fact that she was just trying to bait him into yet another argument with nonsense. However, as he wasn't a coward and had no intention of having her bigotry go unchallenged, he let debate mode rise up inside him and take over. "There's nothing wrong with me playing female characters. It's a game. People can play whatever characters they want and it doesn't mean anything about them."

"Uh-huh." Her right eyebrow twitched insolently, flaunting its amethyst stud piercing.

"The very intention of most games is explicitly to have people take on roles which don't match their selves or day to day experiences in the context of fantasy. And just like watching a movie or reading a book, playing games a certain way doesn't mean anything about the media consumer. It's just like the whole violence in video games causes violence argument, which has been totally debunked."

"Of course," she agreed with a nod. As usual, her golden eyes glowed subtly in the fluorescent light, giving her the unsettling impression of looking right through him as she continued smiling obnoxiously.

"Therefore, it's not reasonable to assume that the characters I play have anything do with my sexuality."

"Hmm..." She made a show of pondering it, tapping a short sparkling fingernail theatrically against her chin as though deep in thought. "Nah, it's still gay." 

A harpy with bright parrot plumage sitting across the aisle covered her mouth with a wing in a vain attempt to stifle her giggles. After more than two years of their banter, Riley and his nemesis had unintentionally become the regularly scheduled entertainment for their classmates. Well, it was unintentional on Riley's part at least. She, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the attention like a plant in the sun.

Riley was about to challenge her academic rigour when Zach poked his side gently with one of his foreclaws. Turning around, he spotted the recently arrived professor, halfway through hooking the overhead projector into one of the outbound data ports on their neck. As soon as the connection was made, the professor's subroutines took control, rendering a somewhat frightening looking electromagnetic field simulation. Time for class. Settling back down into his seat properly, Riley pulled up the lecture notes on his laptop.

"So when are you going to ask her out already?" Zach quietly asked as the lights dimmed, waggling his furry eyebrows suggestively. Riley could tell by his obnoxious grin that, if he weren't sitting down, his tail would probably have been wagging as well.

"What, her? Ugh, never," Riley adamantly denied, resisting the urge to steal another glance at his archenemy. "You think I have a death wish? Even if she didn't harass me all the time, you saw what happened to the rugby guy."

The rest of class was thankfully uneventful, with the exception of the parting shot she took at him as he climbed the stairs out of the class past her seat. The girl had seemed distracted putting her notebook away in her bag, which was unrepentently adorned with what Riley assumed was every lesbian pride pin in the universe. He had just enough time to hope he might slip past her unscathed before she looked up, catching his eye with a wink.  "Hey Riley, don't forget the queer club is always open for new members."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I only like girls!" Riley hissed back.

The blonde just laughed at him in response. Riley, face hot with embarrassment, continued up the stairs and out of the class.

 

---

 

Unfortunately, Mondays were lab days, stretching from 9:30 in the morning all the way through to 9:30 at night with only an hour break between classes to eat lunch. In theory, if a lab group finished gathering their data early in the block they could leave and finish the analysis at home. In practice, the lab instructions were so poorly formatted and the equipment so finicky that it was virtually unheard of to leave before 9:00. 

Today, Riley's group were the particularly unlucky ones, having had to spend most of the block identifying which one of the myriad cables was faulty. Since it was his computer hooked up to the instruments for data collection, and thus his job to finish putting the last few pieces away, only he and the TA were left in the lab room by the time he was done. With a quiet apology to the mothfolk woman for keeping her so long, he darted out of the classroom. 

The narrow hall windows were spattered with raindrops which glittered in the light of the streetlamps below, forming ersatz constellations which promised a miserable walk home. "At least it's too warm for an ice storm," Riley commented to himself, tracing his fingertips along the gaps between the bricks on the external wall as he walked. 

As though to spite his optimism, a furious wind gust chose that moment to strike, whipping the branches of the birch trees outside into the windows with an arrhythmic clatter. He held back the urge to deliver a follow up comment on it being too cold for lightning, on the off chance some mischievous storm spirit had actually heard him the first time.

The university's construction had been rather confusing when he first arrived. Thankfully, Riley never had much trouble with directions. He'd spent the last few years constructing a fairly thorough mental map of the campus. As such, it took little work to determine the optimal path from his current location to the edge of campus to minimize the time he'd have to spend out in the rain. On the third floor of this building, on which he conveniently already found himself, there was a walkway which connected to the architecture department building next door. The architecture building connected to an underground car park, one which ran underneath the sports field and over to the geology department. A short outside dash from the back door of the geology building, across the quad and around the thaumaturgy department would lead to the biochemistry building, where he could grab a hot chocolate before the final jog home. No, he mentally corrected himself, the café was closed already. Time was not on his side today.

Lamenting the loss of a post-lab treat and trying to remember if there was any milk left for tea at home, he paid little attention to where he was going as he pushed open the door to the walkway. As a consequence, he was totally unprepared to be abruptly pushed aside and pressed into the wall of the corridor. Looking upwards, startled and ready to apologize to whomever he bumped into, he found himself staring directly into a pair of unfortunately familiar striking golden eyes.

"About time you finished up. I've been waiting for half an hour. What took you so long?"

It's a common misconception that adrenaline reactions are limited to 'fight' or 'flight'. In this instance, Riley's body seemed to settle on another common alternative instead: freeze. He found himself fixed in place by her eyes, barely able to blink, heart pounding in his ears. Why was she so close to him? Shouldn't she find him intolerable up close?

"I know you can be a bit scatterbrained, but it's almost 10 o'clock. You're lucky I'm patient." Her lipstick was a gorgeous purple, he noted. The shade perfectly matched her eyebrow stud, as well as the row of similar piercings in her left ear. He could see the colours moving as she spoke, shifting enticingly at the edge of his vision, but he couldn't look any closer. He couldn't look away from those eyes.

"W-what..." His voice wouldn't cooperate right, wouldn't come out at an audible volume without croaking horribly. He tried again, dropping to a whisper. "What do you want?"

"You, of course," she replied, and Riley momentarily forgot to breathe. She flashed him a wide, predatory smile. He knew, despite being unable to look, that sinister smile would be showcasing her unnervingly sharp teeth, yet another trait of her fae heritage. "As fun as it has been watching you tie yourself into ridiculous mental knots to try and explain away your sexuality despite your repeated admissions, you're clearly too hopeless to accept it on your own. And, well, I'm all out of patience."

"I'm really not gay..." Riley insisted. "I'm only interested in girls..."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, breaking eye contact for long enough for Riley to tear his gaze away and stare down determinedly at the floor. "See, there you go again," she sighed. "I thought you were just being bratty at first, but you honestly believe it, don't you? You poor thing. That must be some kind of cognitive dissonance. You're all human, right? Did your parents tell you that you had to be straight or something?"

"No! Of course not!" he denied, finding his voice at last in defense of his family. He was well aware of the unfortunate stereotypes about humans, and had admittedly been unfortunate enough to meet a few bigots who truly exemplified them. Regardless, it still didn't give her the right to make such judgmental assumptions. "My brother is gay, actually, and they're totally supportive! I went to his wedding last summer!" 

"I'm glad to hear it. Maybe it's some internalized homophobia then..."

"What? I'm not homophobic! There's nothing wrong with being gay! Or bi, or whatever! My best friend Zach is ace, and I totally support him."

"I know he's ace. That cinnamon bun puppy is the secretary of the queer club, which you'd know if you accepted any of my invitations to join us."

Riley did a mental double take. "He is? Wait, the queer club is real? I thought you were just making fun of me."

"No? What?" Now it seemed it was her turn to be confused, instead of Riley hoarding it all. "Of course it's real. It's not exactly in my nature to lie." Oh, right. Fae. "I just figured a supportive environment might help you accept yourself and work through things."

"Oh..." Riley replied, back at a whisper. Had she actually been genuine this whole time? His anxious mind eagerly envisioned a guilt-inducing image: the blonde girl, sitting in the club room week after week, watching the door in the hope he might show up. Maybe he had been judging her a bit too harshly.

The two stood there for a moment in awkward silence. Riley had no idea what to say. She was the one to make the first move, naturally, bringing up her hand and resting it ever so gently on his cheek. The gesture was so tender that, despite the surprise, he found himself unable to pull away.

"It'll be okay, alright? I'm here to help. We're going to get to the bottom of this." Her indignation and teasing were gone, leaving behind what he could only interpret as genuine concern and sympathy.

Breathless and unable to reply in words, he nodded.

"You like girls, right?"

Riley nodded.

"What about... girls like me?" 

He hesitated, not wanting to be a creep and make her uncomfortable. She'd made it more than obvious that she wasn't interested in men in the past, most infamously when the men's rugby team captain made a pass at her. Once she understood that he was an oblivious himbo and not intentionally hitting on the butchest lesbian on campus, she had let the poor minotaur down gently from the top of the observatory.

She lightly stroked his cheek with her index finger, snapping him out of his thoughts. "It's okay if the answer is no. You don't have to be attracted to me. I won't be upset. But..." She paused for effect. "It's okay if the answer is yes too. I mean, it's not like I haven't seen you staring." He visibly tensed, trying to mentally deny her words and failing miserably as she continued. "It's flattering, really. Your emotions are fairly muted for a human, but it's hard not to notice such incredibly vibrant longing." 

Shutting his eyes tight as the blood rushed to his face with shame, he nodded again, attempting to cobble together an adequate apology.

"Shh... it's okay... there's nothing wrong with that," she reassured him, continuing to gently caress his face. "Nothing wrong with liking a pretty girl who thinks you're cute too."

His brows furrowed in complete bafflement. Him, being cute? Impossible. "I... but..." The fae girl shifted her thumb off of his cheek and onto his lips, stifling his protests.

"No buts. You've done nothing wrong. Okay?" She paused for a moment, before repeating her question. "Okay?" It seemed she didn't find silence an adequate response.

Riley nodded, slowly, focusing on the irregular beat of the rain pounding against the window panes to distract himself from his impending death by embarrassment. If he was lucky, maybe that storm spirit might smite him and put him out of his misery.

"So if you're willing to admit that you like girls, and particularly other girls who like girls who like you, I'm pretty sure that makes you gay by definition. Girls who like girls are gay. Homosexual. Lesbian. Queer. Whatever term you're most comfortable with."

"But I'm not a girl..." Riley replied, unsure of why a statement of obvious fact suddenly hurt so much to say.

"Of course y- Wait. You're human. Oh. Oh goddesses." Riley heard the familiar resounding slap of palm against forehead as the girl abruptly pulled away. "Give me your student card," she ordered. 

It didn't even occur to Riley to not comply. He fumbled hastily in his computer bag to find and pull out his wallet before handing it over, keeping his head down all the while. She snatched it from his hand, popping open the clasp to rummage through the cards. 

He knew she must have found what she was looking for when she burst into cackling laughter, the manic glee in her voice making his chest tighten in an unfamiliar but not unpleasant way. "Oh goddesses, that's what the problem was all this time?! Seriously? And you... you thought... oh this is too good. No wonder you're so confused. I can work with this."

"I don't understand what's happening!" Riley admitted, desperately clutching the hem of his shirt to keep his hands busy. "What's so funny?"

All of a sudden, he found himself pinned back to the wall. Her fingers slipped beneath his chin, gently but forcefully forcing his head upwards until his eyes locked with hers again. The rest of the world disappeared, swallowed by the warm glow. "Did you know," she asked rhetorically, "that many fae possess what's known as truesight?"

He shook his head ever so slightly, unable and unwilling to look away.

"I can see through lies and deceit, Riley. Even if the person doesn't even know they're lying. All this time, I've been trying to get you to accept a proof when you don't even know the fundamental premises. It's no wonder you came to the conclusion you did."

"I... what?"

"Come now, Riley, I know you're nice and smart underneath that ditziness. I know you can do it. I'll make it nice and simple for you. I'm not interested in boys. I am interested in you. If you accept these as true, then by basic logic, you are..."

Riley's emotional mind was thoroughly out of order, shooting baffled sparks, but the logic module was still sufficiently functional to solve a basic boolean algebra problem. "Not a boy?" Riley replied tentatively, giving the only logically valid answer. 

"That's right," the fae replied, bringing her hand up from Riley's chin to run through the confused student's hair. "That's a good girl."

"Wha. I. But. I. Nn..." Riley's stammered incoherent replies melted into a dazed hum as the petting fingers coaxed and teased away any dissenting thoughts.

"And when a good girl like you is interested in other girls, that makes her gay."

"Mmm..." Riley moaned affirmatively, unable to hold it in with the girl's mesmerizing gaze stripping any inhibitions away. It was just too overwhelming to resist.

"Now, since I'm always right, and I've been telling you that you're gay from the start... What fact about you would make everything make sense?"

Logical brain took over once again beneath the blissful haze. "If I were a girl..." she replied, the facts slotting neatly into place and wrapping her identity up in a pretty golden bow. It simply made too much sense. Riley liked girls, Riley was gay, so Riley must be a girl. A perfectly elegant solution.

"And such a smart girl too." The golden light disappeared for a brief moment as the fae leaned in, softly pressing her lips against Riley's forehead. Riley gasped and her knees almost buckled, but the confident girl had anticipated that eventuality and slipped her other arm around the small of Riley's back, holding her up. The first kiss was followed up by a second, a third, and more, each kiss becoming firmer and more passionate as they progressed down the side of her face, down her cheek, her jaw, her neck. Riley moaned helplessly, wrapping her arms around the other girl beneath her leather jacket and clinging to her like a life preserver, the unexpectedly feminine sound of her voice barely audible over the roar of the storm outside. 

"So sensitive, so touch-starved, you poor thing," she murmured into Riley's ear. "So needy..." Sharp teeth nipped gently at Riley's earlobe, drawing out another gasp. "And so blind to your own truth that you didn't have any idea how lost you were. But it's alright. I've found you, and I won't let you lie to yourself anymore."

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Riley apologized compulsively, tears streaming from her eyes as she pressed desperately into the fae girl's body for warmth and comfort and sensation. "I... I thought you were...  just... being mean. I didn't... I didn't understand... I didn't mean to lie! I promise!"

"Shhh..." Any further apologies were swallowed by the press of violet lips against her own. Riley closed her eyes and abandoned herself to the experience, eagerly reciprocating the kiss. It became rather hard to keep track of anything after that.

 

---

 

Some amount of time later, as the storm finally tapered off into a gentle shower, the two girls caught their breaths sitting against the corridor wall, hands intertwined.

"So," the fae girl broke the silence first, "are you willing to concede your position?"

"After further consideration," Riley replied, smiling gently, "I am beginning to suspect... I might be at least a little gay."

"You are a pretty little gay, aren't you," she taunted in reply, earning a gentle bat on the shoulder from Riley. "Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not." the human girl conceded. She certainly wasn't wrong. She had made sure of it, having used her magic both to soften her features and steal several dozen centimeters of Riley's height to emphasize the power differential between them. Riley loved that change. She loved all the changes. 

She was a girl. A diminutive, pretty, and overwhelmingly gay girl. It was so blindingly obvious she couldn't fathom how she had missed it all this time. 

"Of course not. I'm always right. Remember that, dear."

"I will!" Riley replied hastily, perhaps a bit over-eager. Then, after a moment, Riley spoke up again, more hesitantly. "Um... I... have a bit of an... embarrassing request..."

"Really? Embarrassing? After I just unraveled you body and soul in a public hallway?"

"Y-yeah. Um. You see. Well." She swallowed her pride. "I'm... really bad with names..." she trailed off, hoping not to have to elaborate explicitly.

It was this that finally broke the fae girl's composure, leaving her literally snorting with laughter. 

"It's not that funny!" Riley objected, indignant and blushing bright red. She hadn't been able to blush quite so easily before, not with her old body, but the fae girl's magic had proved remarkably adept at drawing out and manifesting the truth of her words.

"It really is," she said, catching her breath. "You're quite bold, asking for a fae's name like that, and before the first date. At least take me to dinner first." Her tone was so exaggeratedly scandalized that even Riley could tell it was a joke, though she still felt a brief twinge of anxiety at the possibility she might have seriously offended her new girlfriend already.

"What?! No! I mean! Ahhh!" Riley covered her face with her hands, rapidly coming to the realization that, each time she thought she couldn't be more embarrassed, she was consistently being proven wrong. 

"Don't worry, little human," she purred condescendingly, patting her on the head. "If you really want to know, I'm certain we could come to an... agreement. You would make a lovely thrall."

The noise Riley made in response was a reasonable verbal approximation of a bowl of alphabet soup.

She was doomed, she could already tell, and was loving every second of it.

The fae smiled, very pleased with herself, as she surreptitiously took a picture of the newly transformed human girl with her phone. It came out quite nicely, though the mundane technology was unable to capture the faint glimmer of gold now present in her lover's eye. She figured Riley would want a memento of the occasion, as did she.

Riley would be coming to her house that night, she had decided. The poor oblivious girl had years of missed sleepovers and makeovers to make up for, not to mention outfits to try. It was plain to her sight that Riley was as femme as they came, and needed twirling skirts and lacy camisoles in her life as soon as inhumanly possible. Not something she normally kept around, of course, but something she would be delighted to provide with a pinch of conjuration. Chances were slim that Riley would recall the consequences of accepting gifts from a fae, and vanishingly so that she would care even if she had. She was such a good girl: happy, and sweet, and guileless, and oh so eager to please. Well worth the years of waiting for her to finally reciprocate her affections.

She smiled an overly sharp smile in anticipation of her girl's inevitably adorable reaction when she finally noticed the hundreds of purple lipstick stains in the mirror.