"Okay, let's go." Dustin said, walking out of his bedroom. Steve stood up from where he'd been flipping through a magazine on the couch waiting for him. It had a bunch of weird medieval looking clothes in it and then a section of it was just sex toys, that had Steve looking at them a bit sideways. When he looked up at Dustin, he had the same reaction.
"Seriously?" Steve asked, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "You're going to get us hit wearing that..."
Dustin blinked at him, then down at his outfit. Chunky boots, a heavy coat, one of his usual bright shirts, and then his kilt. "What's wrong with it? I wear stuff like this all the time."
Steve sent him a withering look, "not with a skirt, Henderson."
"It's a kilt, Harrington." Dustin mimicked him. "And, who cares even if it is a skirt? It's just cloth, Steve. Cloth doesn't have a sex. It's just fabric."
"You're going to give me a migraine, I swear..." Steve muttered to himself, shaking his head. "The cloth might not, but people do, and if they see you, a guy, in a skirt, they're going to talk."
Dustin choked on a laugh, gesturing at himself. "Oh, that's never happened to me before! You know what, you're right. I should live my life in a way that makes it so no one else thinks I'm weird or strange! God forbid I ever get bullied for being different! Let me just, uhh....rewind about 20 years of my life. I'll just stop being me in the womb, that'll help!"
Steve's shoulders fell, letting out a short puff through his nose. "Okay, okay, I get it, Dustin. Look, I don't...I don't want you to not be you, I just don't like hearing people calling you names."
Dustin didn't say much to that, just sent him another pointed stare. He got called names all of the time, nearly daily. "I'm not changing. I like it. I'm not confused or insane, I just think fashion trends are stupid. I'm perfectly comfortable in my body. I'm just a guy who likes experimenting with clothes. Plus, skirts are super comfortable down stairs, if you know what I mean. You should try it."
Steve just laughed, moving to grab his jacket off the back of the couch. "Been there, done that... Okay, Macbeth, let's go to the movies..."
Dustin went to follow him before the comment sunk in, and he grabbed hard on the back of Steve's sweater to stop him dead in his tracks, eyes wide, mouth ajar. "... You've worn skirts? Steve Harrington wore- what?"
Steve looked over his shoulder at him, with a small confused frown. "Haven't I talked to you about that before? Shit, maybe it was Robin? No, I thought I'd eventually become a girl when I was a kid, so I was always stealing my mom's stuff, or my cousin's dresses. Then, you know, puberty happened."
Dustin stared at him like he'd just admitted to secretly being part of the Rainbow Room or something, as though his entire world had just shifted sideways and upside down. He'd never seen Dustin so gobsmacked before. It was kinda nice.
"What?" Steve asked with a cautious laugh. "I was just a dumb kid. Kids play dress up."
"You... I'm sorry, how long?" Dustin breathed out, going from not blinking at all to blinking rapidly. "Until puberty?"
Steve thought about it, he remembered his kindergarten teacher lecturing him about it. "like...4 or 5, to about 12? Then, they explained to me I was just idealizing girls because, you know, I'm a guy. It was normal, totally common. I got over it."
Dustin just silently shook his head, mouth still open. "I don't think that's common, Steve..."
Steve just rolled his eyes, and grabbed for the doorknob, tossing it open and marching down the hall towards the staircase. He could hear Dustin curse, then start to jog after him, complaining about his long legs. "We have movie tickets to go to, Henderson, walk and talk, walk and talk."
"You- seriously, Steve?! You can't drop that on me and run away!" Dustin complained, before catching up, holding onto Steve's sleeve. Steve would never admit it, but he liked it when Dustin hung onto him.
"There's nothing to talk about. I was a dumb kid, thought I was a girl. I grew up." So, yeah, he used to dress up, pretended to be a be a princess in need of rescue from a knight in shining armor - but, that wasn't how the world worked. He didn't grow up to be a girl, and that was that.
He said as much to Dustin as they went down the stairs. Occasionally the memory would come to him as he went about his life, sometimes Steve wondered what kind of life he'd have if he had gotten his wish. But, he pushed it to the side. He had bills, responsibility.
"Steve..." Dustin said as they reached the first floor. Steve looked up at him, where Dustin had stopped. He looked...sad? "... If you ever want to dress up again, I'll help you?"
It was getting late, they were going to miss the previews.
"What's it going to accomplish?" Steve asked with a frown. "Not like it's a magic wand. I'm not a girl, Dustin. Do you see how much body hair I have? And don't you dare say anything about your Nonna."
Dustin didn't respond for a minute, he just took a couple steps down, so they were more at eye level. "... If I had a magic wand, would you want to be a girl instead of a guy?"
"Yeah," Steve answered instantly. Wasn't it obvious? "Who wouldn't? All guys do."
Dustin smiled, just barely, and it didn't meet his eyes. "Let's go see our movie. You're staying the night after, right?"
That, too, should be obvious.
"We can talk later." Dustin told him, hopping down the final step. "And... you know, I'm no Knight, just a bard. But, you can still be my princess."
Steve rolled his eyes, lightly elbowing him as they opened the door into the lobby. "Yeah, sure, okay. I'm still driving, though."
gummygunk
vaporwave
kianamaiart
jbbartram-illu
baratheonpilled
2087
dededos
