Irhaboggle Pride (2023) I Saw the Signs and Symbols

Mars

"Hey, Maggie! Hey, hey, hey Maggie!"

"Yes, Marni?" Mag turned around in her seat, one eyebrow raised in amusement. "I'm blind, not deaf, you know?"

"Well, that's why I gotta repeat myself!" Marni replied cheerfully. "Echolocation, and all that!"

"Echolocation?!" Mag couldn't help but snort. She would lie and say that the joke was embarrassing, but in truth, the snort was a real laugh.

"Anyway, I was just wondering... What Roman God do you think I'm most like?!"

"... What?"

Marni was a typhoon, and she'd been so ever since she and Mag met as little kids on the elementary school playground. Now here they stood, almost in their 20s, and in some ways, it was like nothing changed at all. Marni was still as spontaneous as ever.

"What Roman God do you think I'm most like?!" she repeated excitedly.

"And... where is all of this coming from...?" Mag's eyebrow was still quirked, amused.

"Well, you know, GeneCo had that summer opera just a few nights ago, and Juno was one of the biggest characters since it was about, well, you know, June and summer and marriage and all that. So it just got me thinking... What Roman God am I most like?!"

"Well, if you want, you can be Juno herself," Mag chuckled. Leader of the Goddesses? Yeah, that's Marni.

"No, not like that!" Marni whined. "Picking a Goddesses for me is so cliché! I wanna know what God I'd be!"

"Pushing the envelope, huh?" Mag teased. There Marni was again with her spontaneity. Even if this was something she'd pondered before, only she would think to ask it out loud so suddenly. They'd only just woken up for breakfast, after all. Marni was in the kitchen and Mag at the table.

"It is Pride Month, after all," Marni chuckled. "And for that reason, if I had to pick a Goddess, I would, admittedly, pick Juno," she said. Juno was the Goddess of marriage (which of course made June the month of marriage), so wasn't that proof enough that gay marriage was ok? Or at the very least, it was proof that the ancient Gods and Goddesses were gay AF and Marni was so on board for that!

"B-but that's what I just—!" Mag cried.

"Or Venus!" Marni interrupted, laughing. "Any of them sexy ladies, I'd be more than happy to be. In the name of Pride, love, beauty, and women!"

That was why Marni wanted to know what God she was. She already knew what Goddess she was.

"Jupiter?" Mag guessed, half teasing and half serious. It was easy to go for the King of the Gods after mentioning the Queen of the Goddesses. Marni, though, didn't seem to like Jupiter as much as his wife, so Mag kept going. They lived in America, but with the Largo family running the country, Italian culture was very trendy. Of course, that included Roman history.

"Mars." Mag finally decided. "You're like Mars."

"Mars?!" Marni snorted. "Are you saying I'm aggressive and warrish? Am I like that stereotypical jock bully on the playground?"

"Marni, you know full well that Mars wasn't as brash as his Greek counterpart," Mag reminded her roommate patiently. She understood Marni's surprise, but Mag's decision did have basis in reality. It wasn't that Marni was warrish, per se, but she was a spirited fighter.

I've known her basically all our lives and I've lost count how many times she's come rushing to someone's defense, including my own. The memory made Mag smile. Being bullied for being blind wasn't fun. Being rescued by the kind and courageous Marni was. And sometimes that protection was very literal and physical. Especially as a kid, Marni had no qualms throwing hands. She would fight boys, girls, and even teachers!

Over time, although Marni stopped being so physically aggressive, she never stopped standing up for those who were bullied. As they left the playground for high school, Marni protected every queer person she ever ran into. Lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, intersex, aro, ace, agender, poly, pan, nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, Marni would've gladly gone to war for all of them, and that included herself and Mag as a bisexual woman and a lesbian respectively. And what was Marni's favorite battle cry? Chase the morning, yield for nothing!

Fighting, protecting friends, and standing up for the downtrodden were by no means purely masculine traits, but connotatively and societally, being so brash, loud, and demanding were coded as more masculine traits, hence why Mag chose Mars for Marni. After all, getting into fistfights with other kids on the playground, although a unisex activity, was admittedly more associated with rough and tough little boys.

Outside of street brawls, though, Marni, herself, was also just a masculine person in general. Short hair, casual clothes that were usually androgynous or masculine, Marni had her feminine sides, of course, but she was at least the more masculine one between herself and Mag. In all the years they'd known one another, Marni always preferred things like climbing, running, and wrestling to shopping, makeup, and boys.

She did enjoy shopping, makeup, and boys, just not as much as she liked adventuring, trailblazing, and girls. And most importantly, at least in Mag's mind, Marni wasn't afraid to stand up to anyone, even the Largos.

If it weren't for her, I might've never gotten a surgery scheduled... Mag's gratitude for the other woman truly knew no bounds. Marni wasn't just a best friend, or even a soulmate, but an advocate, protector, and guardian angel as well.

And dare Mag say... a God? Her knight in shining armor, her warrior, her Mars. What else could Mag call the woman who literally convinced the most powerful man in the world to give her a surgery? Neither of them were rolling in dough, which made Marni's accomplishment even more incredible, but that was Marni for you. Chase the morning, yield for nothing!

Oh, I just can't wait to see her! She always described herself as "more of tomboy" but... Of course, Mag knew what the word meant, but she had no idea what it looked like. But I'm sure, either way, she'll be the most beautiful thing in the entire universe! Mars, Juno, Venus, none of them could compare! My dear, Marsy Marni! Mag chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Marni asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing," Mag's tone was airy. Just thinking about how lucky I am to have you in my life, my Marsy Marni. With you, I'll chase every morning to the fullest, and we won't yield for anything but each other!

AN: Of course there's a Repo fic on Day 17!