Frozen Over: An MCU Story

Chapter 23 - Coming Out

10 years ago, in 2014...

"Lola! Boys! Come get your dinner!" Olivia shouted from the kitchen of the Pine apartment.

15 year olds Isaac and Oliver walked into the kitchen and each grabbed their respective plates. Though part of the boys thought it would be right to sit with their aunt, they really wanted to continue playing their video games. Then, their older sister, 18 year old Lola, walked in.

"Go ahead and play your video games if you'd like, boys." Olivia said. "Just don't let your food get cold."

"Thanks Aunt Olivia." Isaac thanked his aunt with a smile. "Come on, Ollie. Let's go!"

As the boys disappeared, Lola approached her plate and sat at the island.

"Lola, are you not gonna head off to your room too?" Olivia asked her niece. "You know, I'm quite used to eating dinner alone."

"Nah. That's why I wanna eat with you. You look like you need company." Lola replied, glancing at the older woman.

"That's really kind of you." Olivia remarked, sitting down with her own dinner. "Your parents and your sister would be very proud of you."

"Yeah... I guess they would." The young adult mumbled. "Aunt Olivia, there's something I want to tell you..."

"What is it, kiddo?" Olivia asked.

Lola swallowed a bite of her own food with a gulp. She was afraid of the information she was about to give to her aunt, the one adult she trusted the most in her life. Her family. Though, Olivia Pine had always been there for her ever since her encounter with HYDRA. So surely, she would take this information well... right?

"Well... I've been... self reflecting... I guess... over the last few years... and... I realized something about myself..."

Once again, Lola went quiet, twirling her shoulder length black hair around her cold index finger. She took a deep breath and looked at her aunt in the eyes.

"I don't feel my best as a girl... if that makes any sense. But I also don't feel right as a boy..."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion on what Lola was getting at. Lola saw and got nervous, but Olivia kindly told her to keep going.

"So I've been doing a little research over the last couple years... and I realized that I... I..."

Lola looked down and blinked a few times. She just couldn't get that last part out. Her breaths were shaky. She was pretty scared. But she took another deep breath, looked at her aunt in the eyes again, and then finished off what she had to say.

"I'm not a girl. I'm non-binary."

The older woman took quiet bites of her dinner, taking in what her niece... or... her non-binary kid... meant by that. She had never really heard the term 'non-binary' before, so she didn't know what exactly it meant. Believing that Olivia wasn't taking this too well, Lola sighed and stood up, prepared to leave, when Olivia spoke up.

"Sit down. I wanna talk."

Lola was hesitant, but sat back down to face Olivia. Olivia looked at Lola and smiled.

"Tell me. What exactly does it mean to be non-binary?" Olivia questioned.

Blinking a few times, Lola pulled her phone out and looked up the definition. She showed her aunt the definition and the older woman nodded.

"I see..." Olivia muttered.

"I can't tell what your thought process is right now... and it's freaking me out." Lola remarked.

"Now now, dear, you're an ice maker, not a mind reader." Olivia chuckled. "And I will do anything to make sure my ice maker... uh... kid... is happy."

The 18 year old smiled and nodded, taking another bite of her food.

"I also decided that I want to use they-them pronouns. Not she-her."

"It'll certainly take some adjusting. We'll get the boys to adjust to that soon enough." Olivia agreed, finishing her dinner and setting her plate on the table. "Is there anything else about this transition I should know?"

"Yeah. I don't want to go by the name Lola. I want to go by Clover."

Olivia smiled as she put her plate in the sink to wash it later.

"Well then, Clover. Eat your dinner. It's gonna get cold." She stated.

The young adult, now going by Clover, chuckled.

"Ha ha. Very funny."

Olivia laughed along with them. And then Clover told the news to Oliver and Isaac once they returned with their empty plates. When the boys left, and Clover finished their dinner, Olivia turned to wash the dishes. Fiddling with their hair, Clover then turned to Olivia again.

"Hey, Aunt Olivia, can I ask one more thing?" They asked.

"Sure, Clover. Go ahead."

"Can I cut my hair? I don't want my hair at shoulder length."

Olivia turned to Clover, and with a smile, she nodded.

"I'll set up an appointment within the next few days. Besides, your brothers need a haircut too." She said.

"You're the best." Clover stated, getting up and wrapping their arms around their aunt.

A few days later, the Pine siblings had their haircut appointment. Isaac and Oliver were not pleased with it while Clover was very eager to get their hair cut. And while Olivia had not expected Clover to get a full buzz cut, she smiled knowing it made them happy, and paid for the three haircuts.

"How do you like the new look, Clover?" She asked.

Clover ran one of their cold hands through their short hair and smiled.

"I love it! Thanks Auntie!" They exclaimed.

"Anytime, kiddo." Olivia said, hugging them.

Ever since Clover had come out as non-binary and changed their appearance, they felt the happiest they hadn't truly felt since the death of their mom, dad and sister that horrible night. And knowing that their brothers and their aunt were very supportive of them only made them that much happier. After transitioning, they continued pursuing their hobbies as they had been and eventually landed a job as assistant ice skating coach. All that while they were adjusting to their icy powers and learning how to use them. Clover Pine was truly an exception individual with quite the history.

A/N: More backstory on Clover Pine and how they came out. I figured after that chapter of Walker being an ass it would be a decent time to throw in Clover's coming out story. So here we go. It's not very long but that's not a big deal.