It had been a few more days, and Matthew was continuing to feel comfortable enough presenting firmly feminine when he went out. In fact, the work emails where he was still keeping everything under wraps and acting as a guy were starting to feel less comfortable. He wasn’t sure if it was actual discomfort with presenting masculine there or the way he had to lie to everyone. For instance, having to ask Sten to visit his apartment every so often so the landlord didn’t get suspicious and contact Matthew’s work again.

What the old man was suspicious of, Matthew couldn’t guess, but he supposed a foreigner moving in and then disappearing was strange even if it was ambiguous.

At least he’d gotten used to the new smaller hands and was managing to get this new body’s arm muscles trained up for art. So he didn’t have to spend as long on work as he’d had to before. 

He was currently pouring over some of Sten’s books on medieval archaeology to understand what a Viking era well might look like. Maybe it was a bit nitpicky, but he liked to be thorough with things.

“Do you think you’d be free next Saturday?” Sten asked, leaning over the back of the couch to look down at him.

“I should be. Why?” Matthew replied. 

“Apparently there’s a queer Halloween party happening at the university. I thought it might be fun, and a good way to meet folks in the community, now that I’m out of the closet. Since you’ve been a bit cooped up I thought you might like the come too,” Sten explained.

“That does sound like it could be—wait, my Swedish is still garbage,” Matthew replied.

“They’re young university educated folks. They’ll know English. Heck, there’s probably going to be enough students here from other countries that English will be the default language.”

Matthew nodded. “Ok. Sounds like fun, then.”

“Cool. I know a good shop that should have some costumes. Let’s go when you finish up your work for the day,” Sten replied.

Matthew gave a small nod before getting back to his research.

---

Right. Women’s off the shelf Halloween costumes were generally like that.

Matthew couldn’t help feeling a bit intimidated by them. Sure, he’d worn some skirts or dresses since the switch around, but they were rather longer than these tended to be.

“You can check things out in the guy’s section. Or… the biggest stuff from the kid’s section,” Sten replied, looking a bit embarrassed by that last part.

It took Matthew a moment to remember that that was because this had been Sten’s body before, so he knew. Also explaining why Sten was embarrassed to mention it. The other man just seemed so much better of a fit for the body he currently had than Matthew himself had ever been, so it was easy to forget this had ever been his body.

“Eh, my policy has been to dive in the deep end this whole time. I shouldn’t chicken out now,” Matthew replied, heading into the aisle to look over his options.

He had to wonder about the people who came up with some of these. Why were there so many ‘sexy’ versions of horror movie villains? Especially when most of them got rid of the actual cool aesthetic elements of those villains.

Towards the end of the aisle, however, he discovered costumes for some of the princesses from classic video games. And, well, he was blonde now…

“That’s your choice?” Sten asked, as Matthew pulled a Princess Parsnip costume from the shelf.

“The ‘sexy’ ones seemed soulless and… also probably cold, considering what the weather’s like here?” Matthew replied. “I think I like the idea of ‘cute’ more anyway.”

Sten gave a nod as they headed towards the checkout. 

---

The pair were washing dishes the next day when Sten decided it was a good moment to bring up a topic. One that he suspected might get Matthew thinking a bit more, since… well, Sten wasn’t as big on gender essentialism as his brothers, but he was still left feeling like Matthew was showing some genuine gender euphoria with getting to explore womanhood.

So, he asked. “Have you thought about a new name? You know, for me to call you at the party?”

Matthew blinked, looking up from the sink. “A new name?”

“Since you seem to be planning to present as a woman it seems like a good further test of how you feel about it,” Sten replied, having felt that was a good cover for asking.

“Huh. Right. I should… hmm… well, I did ask my mum what she’d have called me if I’d been born a girl once, but… I dated a girl named Stephanie, so that’s a no,” Matthew said, trailing off a little. “Other than that, I haven’t given it too much thought. There’s some names I think are very pretty, but for me… and being a petite blonde probably leads to different things fitting than in my birth form…”

“Uh… if you think so?” Sten replied.

“Hmm,” Matthew mumbled, going back to scrubbing a pot while looking deep in thought.

With silence lingering, Sten switched back to drying some of the plates and plasticware. He wondered if he’d pushed too fast and too soon. It was a queer event they were going to, so Matthew could get away with a male name while dressed as a princess, but he’d thought that something might jump out. That something was on the tip of Matthew’s tongue, just waiting to be released.

Sten started to wonder if he’d been getting his hopes up too much as Matthew moved on to the last pot.

“Mackenzie is pretty cute, and isn’t too different, so it should be easy for me to remember to respond to it,” came the response at last.

“It sounds cute,” Sten replied. “I shall try to get in the practice of calling you it so I don’t mess up at the party, if that’s ok with you, Mackenzie?”

The blonde in question blushed and smiled at the appellation, leaving Sten feeling he was indeed on the right track with his suspicions.

“Also, though,” Sten asked, as the earlier mention of Matthew’s mother re-entered his mind. “Have you told your parents about what happened?”

“Ehh… they basically disowned me when I went to art school instead of something ‘sensible’. It’s part of why I was fine with moving here,” Matthew replied, while pulling the plug out of the sink and letting the dishwater drain. “No real connection to back home anymore.”

That pulled at Sten’s heart. Family was so important to him… he couldn’t imagine…

---

Sooner than Matthew was prepared for, it was the party. Well, ok, he hadn’t been nervous before, but now, having taken a couple of trams over to the place where the party was being held, he remembered he was a cute girl right now. Which meant guys would flirt with him. Especially if he was dressing super girly.

Sure, there were going to be plenty of gay folks at the party, but… he was pretty sure dressing like a princess meant he’d give of ‘straight girl’ vibes. No?

Well, he’d heard there were less butch lesbians, but they still had, like, jock energy or something, didn’t they? He honestly didn’t know much about the subject. As a straight guy, trying to learn anything about lesbians made him worried he’d give the impression he was doing it for those reasons. Which was the last sort of impression he wanted to give.

Well, he supposed he’d just give any men who flirted with him a firm ‘no’ and hope they left it at that. Presumably most of the guys who’d flirt with him here would be bi, and he hoped bi guys were less toxic than straight guys could be.

“Nervous, Mackenzie?” Sten asked as they walked up the stairs to the building.

The name shot more butterflies into his stomach. Was it because it felt like lying? Or maybe it felt like playing a character? He’d always liked that in drama class, after all…

“A little,” Matthew replied, after perhaps a little too long.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. There’s a few single occupant washrooms over there. Probably the best place to change into your costume,” Sten said, indicating a direction as he spoke.

Matthew nodded, heading over. Changing wasn’t too hard, and he had to admit he looked pretty cute in the princess costume. With a nod to encourage himself, he then turned and headed out, following the sound of cheesy Halloween themed music towards the space the university’s queer community club had rented out.

It was honestly pretty relaxed, and Matthew realised that made sense. It was being organised by grad students. They were going to be a bit on the nerdy end. 

There was a bar, though, and Matthew hoped that would help calm his nerves a little. As long as he didn’t drink too much and let himself make some poor decisions…

He nursed a beer while wandering about to look for Sten. Though he got distracted by spotting a tv where folks were playing Bash Bros. He decided to finish his drink (feeling a bit tipsier from it than he was used to) before sliding in when a spot opened up on the couch. Playing as Princess Parsnip, of course. 

He managed to last several rounds, getting a little too loud and into it at points, before he finally came in last and had to give up his seat.

A Little grumpy about how he’d been eliminated in the last round, Matthew decided to go over to grab some snacks to improve his mood (and alcohol tolerance, since dang it was hitting him harder than one beer usually did). 

He’d put a few different snacks on his plate when a somewhat tall woman came up to him. She was wearing flannel and ripped jeans, with grey gloves that seemed designed to look like paws and a grey wig that had animal ears on the top of it. Adding in the… well, Matthew wasn’t sure if it counted as makeup or face paint (was face paint technically makeup?), but the way the woman had done her face, it was clear she was dressed as a werewolf. 

“Enjoying the party?” she asked, leaning against a pillar near where Matthew was standing.

“Mhm, it seems nice. Relaxed. I’ve been cooped up since… uh, since moving here, so it’s nice to get out,” he replied.

“Oh? Where are you from?”

“Toronto… er, in Canada,” he replied.

The woman nodded. “I’ve heard of Toronto. Probably not too much else in Canada, but Toronto I do know.”

“Oh. I… I guess it’s a fairly big city,” Matthew replied, putting on an embarrassed smile. “Uh… how about you?”

“Stockholm. But I wanted to get away from my parents when going to university, so I came over here,” the woman replied. “I’m Kristina by the way, and you?”

“Ma—ckenzie,” Matthew replied, catching himself before he messed up. And giving himself butterflies again. 

He wasn’t the best at this.

“A cute name for a cute girl, very fitting,” Kristina replied with a large grin.

Oh. She was… she was flirting with him.

Matthew found his heart quickening again, because she was charming. Also, tall. Or, well, taller than he was now, which was rather more common than finding girls taller than him had been before. 

“So, what are you studying?” Kristina asked, sliding in just a little closer.

“Oh, I’m here with a friend who’s a grad student,” Matthew mumbled, as he took in the taller woman’s smell.

She was wearing some kind of masculine body spray, he was sure of it. But in a controlled amount, and with enough of her natural scent still poking through that he found it surprisingly intoxicating.

“That explains why I haven’t seen you around. I was pretty sure I knew about all the grad student gay girls at the university,” Kristina replied.

“Wait,” Matthew said, a wave of guilt suddenly washing over him. “I—that—er… I’m…”

Kristina blinked, looking confused. “Are you straight, or just… new to this?”

“S—er—I… new to… is it ok if I run off and ask my friend for a little bit of advice,” Matthew blurted, before hurrying off, not sure if he was filled with more embarrassment or guilt right now.

He scurried about the rented area, not seeing Sten. After a minute or so of frantic searching, he slipped out into the hallway, going to check if Sten was waiting to use the washroom. Only to instead spot him making out with someone further down the hallway.

Matthew paused as he realised what was happening, but had gotten close enough before registering the specifics that Sten spotted him in a brief moment of having his eyes open.

“Ma—Mackenzie, is everything alright?” Sten asked, concern in his voice. 

“Huh, who’s this?” Sten’s makeout partner asked, with a voice deep enough that Matthew realised that was probably a—a guy.

“You’re—with a…” Matthew managed to stammer.

“Oh, right. I didn’t mention I was gay, did I?” Sten replied with a slight grimace. “That doesn’t make things too awkward for you, does it?”

The guy Sten had been making out with made a confused face, to which Sten replied: “It’s a long story.”

“You’re—oh, no,” Matthew said, when his brain finally processed the information in full. He then found himself blurting the next thought he had before he could manage any sort of filter. “Can trans girls be gay too?”

“Um… yes?” Sten replied. “It’s… it’s pretty common?”

“Oh… oh… I can be one then…”

“A lesbian?” Sten asked, sounding slightly confused.

“No. A girl,” Mackenzie replied, before she turned and hurried off back to the main room.

She was thrilled to find Kristina still leaning against the same pillar, looking slightly confused as she slowly worked through a drink. Mackenzie felt herself smiling from ear to ear as she jogged over, giving the taller woman a wave.

“Hi! Sorry!” she said as she got into a better speaking range. “This is my first time at something like this and I kind of panicked because I was confused about something.”

“Oh… that’s… that’s ok. It’s a big thing when you start,” Kritsina replied with a soft smile.

Mackenzie felt giddy to have Kristina accept her strange behaviour. The pair began chatting more, Mackenzie happy to listen to Kristina explain her own major. She was studying biochemistry, specifically having an interest in how hormones worked. Mackenzie didn’t follow a lot of it, but she found Kristina’s enthusiasm infectious, and was happily nodding along. 

Kristina, in return, proved quite happy to listen to Mackenzie explain her job as an environmental designer at a small video game studio in town. 

The pair ended up drifting towards a quieter corner of the hall as a dance floor was brought out. A quiet corner where they ended up kissing a few times. If her past experience with girls while ‘a guy’ was anything to go off of, Mackenzie was expecting them to leave the party soon with how things were going. Which she did not mind in the least.

Only for her to realise something important, and become a blushing mess as it registered.

“Um, just… just so you know, I don’t… I’m not really sure how two women… er, y’know, since we can’t…” she found herself making a mildly rude (in context) gesture with her right index finger and her left hand. “Y’know. The equipment’s different.”

“Ah, well… lucky you,” Kristina replied with a grin. “Mine’s not so different.”

Mackenzie blinked.

“I’m trans,” Kristina replied.

“Oohhh,” Mackenzie said, finding herself blushing. “Me too! Uh—sort of. Kind of.”

“Non-binary?” Kristina asked.

“Uh… it’s a long story,” Mackenzie mumbled. 

---

Mackenzie found herself humming as she helped Mrs. Jansson (or Viktoria as she was starting to call her more and more) with the dishes after lunch. 

“You have a date this afternoon then, do you, dear?” Viktoria asked, passing the last pot off to be dried.

Mackenzie gave a small nod. “Sten is going to help me find the place, though. I still don’t know the city super well, and it’ll be my first time over in Lindholmen.”

“Gud, gud. Jag är glad att han är en bra bror f—er,” Viktoria said quietly before blushing a little as she realised what she’d said. “Sorry. It is just… with you looking like that, it is hard to not think of you as family.”

Mackenzie found herself smiling back. “I… well, you have a quite delightful family, I am flattered to be considered part of it.”

To her surprise, Viktoria pulled her into a hug. After getting over the surprise, however, she happily returned it.

---

Sten was on his way back from the toilets when he spotted Mackenzie in the hallway outside his office. She was full of energy, and not just because of her date with Kristina this afternoon. Not that the information about his mother surprised Sten too much, it had seemed obvious to him for a while.

“She’s probably going to dote on you even more than she did me, since now you’re her only daughter out of five kids,” Sten said, while leading her to an elevator.

As they arrived, there was a man already waiting. He cut a somewhat striking appearance, wearing a red trench coat over a dark turtleneck and pants, while his midnight black hair was on the longer side and a just as dark, thin, and perfectly sculpted beard traced the man’s jawline. What was especially odd was the familiarity of the man, despite Sten having no memory of meeting him before.

“I’m glad everything worked out so well for both of you,” the man said as he put on a pleasant smile. “I don’t usually manage to grant two wishes for the price of one so successfully. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to take my stone back. It should be out in the world, rather than locked away like you plan.”

With that, he pulled the artifact that Sten had been certain was behind all this from his pocket, showing it just long enough for Sten to register before the man put it back in his pocket.

« Wait… L-Loki? » Sten found himself asking as he realised just 

The man gave a smile that clearly said yes, before slipping into a nearby stairwell.

“Loké? What’s a—wait, Loki? Like, the god of mischief?” Mackenzie asked.

Sten nodded slowly, still in shock. “He looks just like in the comics.”

“… what? I thought he wore green in the comics?” Mackenzie replied.

“Not those ones. The ones here,” Sten said.

Mackenzie then gave a slow nod of her own, before her eyes lit up and she ran over, throwing open the stairwell door.

“THANK YOU!!” She shouted down, even if Loki himself was long gone.