In The Morning

Familiar

"So, you're- what?- nonbinary?"

"Nope. Genderfluid."

"Genderfl-"

"Genderfluid."

"What's the difference?"

"There's a difference."
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Chapter 2

     They took a strange sort of pride in the fact that they knew their surroundings and Narvi didn't. They headed strait for the kitchen, popped open the refrigerator, and pulled out a little tub of cake icing. They revelled in knowing that the kid did not know that was there.
     Ryver turned their back to the fridge and leaned back against it, actively avoiding eye contact with the tween standing in their living room.
   "He's just about 14, love. We'll be the first family that he'll get to spend his birthday with."
     Ryver spared a glance at the boy's hands; they were both holding the handle of the ratty suitcase, his knuckles were white and trembling faintly.  Pathetic.
In the back of their mind, they knew that they would have been sympathetic- given different circumstances.

    Ryver looked back down to the tub of icing they'd uncovered, then closed their eyes.
     Dad's rummaging around his office.
Their father had the lightest footsteps of anyone they'd ever met, but they'd lived in the same house as him for years, so his shifting and shuffling in his upstairs office were sounds they could pick up easily.
         They shoved a large spoonful of cold white icing into their mouth, snapped the lid back onto the container, and replaced it in the refrigerator. They sucked the leftover icing off the spoon as they headed toward the stairs leading to their room, and they could feel the boy's eyes on them as they passed him.

     Ryver shut themself in their room for the rest of the day, only leaving to grab some food and to get ready for bed. They weren't sure if the boy had been shown his room yet, but they assumed so. They forgone saying goodnight to their father or his new son.
     They turned their light off when the time came for bed and laid down. They smirked.
    I am sleeping in a familiar room.