Dema Don't Control Us (Joshler)

Department of Education for Misguided Adolescents

A/N: Sorry for misgendering Josh, it's mainly from Tyler's point of view and he has a ton of internalized homophobia at this point, also he's never met a trans person so he doesn't know how to use the correct pronouns. I'm trans, just so y'all know.

Dema was a building where dead bodies were exposed to vultures in Iran. But in this case, it's capitalized, DEMA; and stands for Department of Education for Misguided Adolescents. It's where Tyler's parents sent him after they found him watching a My Chemical Romance concert video (Frank and Gerard were making out, GASP). There weren't any vultures at DEMA, but metaphorical vultures had eaten away at Tyler's well-being.

Tyler couldn't so much as look at a boy without being lectured about his sins. Since he'd been there for a year, the message had sunk into him that homosexuality was an abomination. If he committed homosexual acts, he would go to hell and burn for eternity. Homosexual urges were not natural, and he could learn to stop thinking about men in such a perverted way.

It was dinner time at DEMA, and tonight there was chicken soup. Poor chickens, thought Tyler. Just as he began to eat, Nico rang a bell. He looked up to see a boy with bright yellow dyed hair standing by Nico. He began to think of how beautiful the boy was, but stopped himself. Filthy sinner.

"Everyone, this is our new arrival, Josephine!" Nico announced. Josephine?? A girl???  Tyler squinted intensely, but this new person definitely did not look like a girl. "Fuck off, my name's Josh," the person glared. Chaos broke out in the dining hall. There was laughing, crying, yelling, cursing, everything ungodly.

"Everyone!" Nico shouted, but nobody was listening. "EVERYONE SIT DOWN AND SHOW SOME RESPECT OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!" Nico bellowed. Everyone obeyed after that, and Nico went back to his unnaturally calm, condescending demeanor. "Josephine, I'm sure you're excited to be here. Can you tell us why you're here?"

"My. Name. Is. Josh!" the new person shouted. "I'm here because my parents are fucked up. There. Are you fucking happy?" Nico's patronizing smile faltered for a millisecond, and he was silent for an awkwardly long moment. "Let's try again. Why are you here, Josephine?" he asked through gritted teeth. "MY GODDAMN PARENTS HATE ME FOR WHO I AM AND THEY WANT TO FIX ME!" screamed Josh/Josephine. At that, Nico pulled their arm into a tight grip. "Tell them what your sin is and why it needs fixing!" he growled. Josh/Josephine turned pale and seemed to relent. "I'm transgender," they whispered. "I need to be fixed because I'm a perverted abomination." Nico smiled maniacally. "Very good, Josephine." He let go of their arm. "Go sit down next to Tyler." He pointed towards where Tyler was sitting alone, and Josh/Josephine sat down next to him.

Tyler couldn't help but feel bad for them. Of course, they were a sinner, but he felt terrible for the way Nico acted. He'd experienced it firsthand, back when he was a defiant little punk who talked back to authority. In fact, he'd seen an even darker side of Nico: the one that beat him senseless with a yardstick, locked him in a cupboard alone for days on end... well, at least that taught Tyler his lesson. Gay bad. Straight good.

"H- hi," stammered Tyler. "Hi," whispered Josh/Josephine through quiet sobs. Tyler noticed they had a bruise on their arm. "Does it hurt?" he asked. "Yeah," they sniffed. Tyler took his napkin, dipped it in his water, and held it to their arm. "Thanks, Tyler."

"Umm, question: are you Josh or Josephine?" Tyler asked, trying as hard as he could not to offend them. "I'm Josh," they whispered. "But not around Nico, okay?" Tyler smiled and nodded. "Ok, are you a boy or a girl?" Josh rolled their eyes. "I'm a boy. But again, not around Nico." "Ok, thanks for telling me, Josh."

Tyler didn't really know what was... well... in Josh's pants. But he knew he had feelings for Josh. Perhaps since Josh was a girl around Nico, it wasn't really a sin to like him. Maybe he was closer to curing his homosexuality...