Plurk paste

Zir is transmasc; Conia is transfem.

I've tried to keep the discussions about transphobia and body dysmorphia vague, but they're both brought up in this. Zir makes mention of physical violence towards the end.

The Explorers may be a shady organisation but no transphobia is allowed under Gibeon.

Sorry if any of this comes across as stereotypical somehow. If it means anything, I'm not cis.

Also, Amethio isn't transphobic. He just doesn't know anything about being trans because he's sheltered.

====

"It's not fair," Conia sighed, glaring at Zir's chest. "Why do your boobs get to be bigger than mine? I swear they've grown again, too." She poked one, annoyed.
"Don't ask me," Zir grumbled as he adjusted his binder. "Wish they weren't."
"I guess you just gained more muscle around there, but still..." Conia sighed again as she gazed down at her own chest in disappointment. "I was hoping these would grow a bit more, to be honest."
It was Zir's turn to sigh. "You're still a girl even if they're not as big as you want them to be, you know," he remarked, pulling his top on over his head and straightening it out. "Femininity isn't measured in tit size."
Conia laughed as she reached for her own shirt and put it on swiftly. "I'm aware," she smiled, amused by Zir's comment. "I just think I'd look hotter if they were bigger, that's all."
"...W-Well, you're--"
Conia groaned, cutting him off with a raised hand. "Stop right there. I don't need you to tell me that I'm already hot. I know I am."
Zir turned away awkwardly. "Yeah, yeah, sure," he mumbled, donning his jacket. "I'm hotter, though."
"With THAT hairstyle?" Conia scoffed in an overly scarcastic manner. "PLEASE!"
"But it looks cool!" Zir pouted, annoyed. "And it's much easier to take care of than whatever mess is going on with your hair."
Conia couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, fair enough," she said. "I'll give you that."

They continued to banter as they finished getting changed into their uniforms.

None of it was meant negatively. It was simply their way of voicing their frustrations with their own bodies, which would never look exactly like they wanted them to. But at the very least, having each other made that reality more bearable. They could vent without being judged. They could brag about the little changes and actually get a compliment.

They understood each other.

Perhaps the admins had assigned them to the same team on purpose, or perhaps it had been a coincidence. Neither of them were sure, and they weren't about to ask. Either way, they were glad it was just the two of them, and that they didn't have to worry about what any of their peers thought. Because even if they tried to deny it, they'd been concerned about others finding out.

At least initially.

However, their boss, who was far too kind for his own good, had squashed those fears almost immediately...

===

Zir and Conia had both been excited to be assigned to the same team, but they were dreading meeting the person they were going to be working for. He was a high-ranking member of their organisation, after all. From the rumours and whispers, people thought he was a loner and hard to get close to, and that he seemed to be strict and no-nonsense.

Neither Zir nor Conia had ever had the chance to see him in person. They knew of him, but that was it.

The two of them sat in a boring, white meeting room, which was exactly the same as all the other rooms in the building. The layout might as well have been copied and pasted from room to room.

Both of them sat next to each other, extremely nervous. What if their boss was extremely judgemental? What if he refused to work with them?

At the exact appointed time, the door slid open, and the person in question walked in. Both Zir and Conia immediately stood up to greet him.

"G-Good afternoon, Amethio-sama!" Conia said, speaking before Zir managed to and sinking into the deepest bow she could manage. "My name is Conia, and I look forward to working with -- no, for -- you!"

She'd already messed up! Conia tried to calm herself down as she felt tears form in the corners of her eyes. Surely she'd be laughed at for making such a rookie mistake!

Zir gave a similar greeting, and, luckily, he managed to do it without any errors.

"...Stand."
"Yes, Sir!"

When they laid eyes on their new boss, both Zir and Conia were momentarily in awe.

Amethio was not at all what they were expecting. He was shorter than them and appeared to be younger than them, too. He was slim, immaculately dressed, and rather intimidating.

And, above all, he was breathtakingly beautiful.

"I already know who you two are," Amethio said briskly. "I've read your files."

He walked over to the chair opposite the ones where Zir and Conia were, and sat down. All of his movements were elegant and flawless.

"Sit."

They hurriedly sat, both trying to hide their nerves.

"I'm Amethio, one of the Explorers admins," he continued. He sat upright with his hands in his lap as he observed his new subordinates. "As I'm sure you're aware, being able to work directly under someone in my position is a great privilege, and an opportunity that not many get. Therefore, it is expected that the both of you always work diligently and to the best of your abilities, as you have demonstrated great potential throughout your training."
"Yes, Sir," Conia bowed.
"Understood," Zir said, also bowing.

Amethio paused for a few moments as he continued to observe them.

"Now... there's something else I wish to discuss," he said. Conia couldn't help but notice a twinge of concern in his voice, although she chose to ignore it.
"Sir?" Zir asked cautiously.
Amethio cleared his throat. "Before I start, I want to clarify something. When an admin gets assigned new subordinates, the admin themselves picks from a small selections, and chooses who they think would best benefit their job. Except, in my case, I was deemed too inexperienced to make that decision, and someone else decided for me."
"..."

Zir and Conia glanced at each other.

"However, I have thoroughly read through both of your files," Amethio went on, "And there was something that caught my attention."

Conia started to internally panic. She knew it would be brought up. If Amethio himself hadn't picked them, then... were they about to get demoted again? Or even fired? No, surely not. Surely if he'd been that disgusted, he would've simply asked for someone else as a replacement.

"Er... What would that be, Sir?" Zir somehow remained calm enough to talk. Conia, meanwhile, was rapidly spiraling.

Zir gave her a light kick on her shoe, which made Conia snap out of her thoughts.

Amethio seemed to be wondering how to word his question. After a long silence, he finally continued to speak.

"Pardon my ignorance," he began, "But both of your files have a note stating, I believe, 'this individual identifies as transgender, and should be treated accordingly.'"

Conia froze before gripping her skirt tightly. She wanted to disappear. She glanced at Zir, who'd gone as white as a sheet.

"What exactly... does that mean?"
"..."

Huh?

Conia slowly looked up at Amethio, who was expressionless. His question had, apparently, been in earnest. Conia couldn't detect any malice or unease in his voice.

"The files I received were entirely about your performance records as members of the Explorers," Amethio said, "And although they contained basic information about you as people, they didn't clarify what that note was talking about." He adjusted his posture slightly. "Since we'll be working together from now own, I think it would benefit all of us -- myself included -- to know about each other. I'm not asking for details if you're not comfortable providing them, but I do not wish to unintentionally mistreat or upset either of you."

Conia felt a lump form in her throat. She hadn't expected Amethio to care about either of them in the slightest, especially not to such an extent. The fact that he was genuinely asking made her anxiety start to fade.

"W-Well, uh, it's..." Zir started, fumbling his words as soon as he opened his mouth. "Uh." He shot Conia a pleading look.
"It's somewhat difficult to explain," Conia said, forcing herself to speak slowly and concisely. "Essentially, however, it means our genders don't align with the sex we were born as."

Amethio looked thoroughly confused. Conia smiled internally at his honest reaction.

"I can only speak for myself," Conia conitnued, "But I was born with a male body. I never felt comfortable in it, and I knew it wasn't what I wanted. I always felt more confident if I dressed as a girl and acted more feminine. As I got older, I learnt that there were others like me, and I was lucky enough to undergo the process of changing my body into one that was closer to my ideal."
"I'm pretty much the opposite," Zir added. "Never thought of myself as a girl, despite being told that I was one. My folks would get mad at me for not wearin' dresses and stuff, but I hated them. Like Conia, I eventually discovered what the hell was actually going on, and I decided to do something about it."

Amethio placed his hand on his chin, lost in thought.

"I-I'm sorry, Sir!" Conia found herself apologising. "It's, um, pretty complicated, so... I-It probably doesn't make any sense..."
"No, it does," Amethio replied, shaking his head. "But just to confirm that I have this correct: both of you were born with bodies you didn't want, and because of the distress it caused you, you're working towards making them into ones that you do, in fact, want, and thus you're currently presenting yourselves in ways that make it easier to live out your lives. Is that it?"

Zir and Conia gazed at Amethio in admiration, once again in awe of him.

They'd never had someone understand so quickly. Usually, people were either dismissive or angry when they tried to explain. Both of them had had several bad experiences talking about their identities, including with their own families, so they'd fully expected that Amethio would similarily ridicule them.

"Y-Yes, that's right, Sir," Conia replied, unable to stop herself from breathing a sigh of relief. "It's not so much that you need to treat us differently or anything, but... I think that note was mostly there just in case there were ever any medical complications."
"That makes sense," Amethio nodded, taking his hand away from his chin and placing it in his lap again.
"Thank you for being so understanding," Conia added.
"Hm?" Amethio seemed taken aback. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well... Some people think it's weird," Zir mumbled. "And they don't get it."
Amethio narrowed his eyes. "That's simply because some people are morons," he remarked. "It's not that hard."
"'Course not," Zir smirked for a moment before his face dropped slightly. "But, well... when you've been called a bunch of names and been hit 'n all that, it's not exactly easy to talk about."
Conia nodded. "It's not that we were doubting you, Amethio-sama, it's just..."

Silence fell again as Amethio thought for several moments.

"...If anyone here mistreats you, tell me immediately," he said, his voice firm and stern. "We have no time for infighting, nor is harming your coworkers a good look for anyone. Anybody who tries anything will be dealt with harshly."

Conia wanted to cry, but for a different reason than before. She was so incredibly relieved that Amethio didn't question them or their stories, and that he'd even offered them protection. Nobody else had done that for them.

"O-Of course, Sir!" Conia said happy.
"Will do," Zir nodded.
"Good," Amethio murmured, his expression softening. "That's all I wanted to discuss," he continued. "Currently, we haven't been assigned any tasks or missions, but you must be prepared at all times in case something occurs. Until then..."

Amethio wrapped up their meeting with some formalities and exchanging of phone numbers, which he emphasised were only to be used for work-related matters ("I do not want to be sent photos of your Pokemon taking a nap, no matter how cute you think they are", he told them) before scheduling their next meeting.

Amethio left the room first after they said their farewells, with Zir and Conia staying behind.

As soon as the door closed after Amethio had left, Zir and Conia both sank into their chairs, sighing deeply in relief.

"We've got one hell of a boss, huh?" Zir commented, grinning at Conia.
"I know, right?!" Conia beamed back at him. "Oh, I'm so happy... He really seems like a nice person..."
"Yeah," Zir said breathlessly. "Though... he's pretty damn young for an admin, ain't he?" he asked, realising that Amethio had indeed seemed quite young.
"Definitely," Conia agreed. "I wonder how old he is..." She stretched her back before she sat up properly. "I guess it doesn't matter so long as he's good at his job, though," she added with a laugh.
"They wouldn't make him an admin if he was useless, that's for sure," Zir agreed as he stood up. "Anyway, we should probably get outta here."
"Right, yeah," Conia hopped to her feet. "Let's work hard for Amethio-sama so that he's taken seriously."
"You don't need to tell me!" Zir gave her a friendly pat on the back. "We're in this together, after all."
"Indeed," Conia nodded as they left the meeting room, both still incredibly thankful that Amethio had accepted them.

===

Amethio, meanwhile, was cursing his ignorance. He hadn't fully understood what his new subordinates had meant, even if he'd gotten the gist. In his mind, it was irresponsible to not know anything about who he was working with, but from the way Zir and Conia had spoken, it sounded like they didn't wish to discuss things any futher with him. Amethio wasn't offended by that, as he was also someone who had put up walls around himself and never revealed anything about himself. He was simply annoyed that he wasn't able to do anything to make things easier for them beyond punishing anyone who insulted them.

He decided that he would do some research as soon as he had the time. It was the least he could do on his end, after all.

While he may not have understood them, nor been able to relate to their troubles, something that Zir had said stuck in Amethio's mind.

['But, well... when you've been called a bunch of names and been hit 'n all that, it's not exactly easy to talk about.']

That, at least, Amethio did understand. Even though the reasons behind them were completely different, he'd had similar experiences himself. Because of that, he didn't want anyone to have to suffer at the hands of another.

And he'd do what he could to prevent that from happening, especially when it came to his new, highly promising subordinates.