The Tales Of The Troublesome Three

Acceptance

Tom, Hugo and Alaya sit on the ground in silence, still processing what has happened. The silence is long overdue and uncomfortable, confusion was laced thick in the air.

Angie and Sarah were told to walk around for a while until they get the Carl situation sorted out.

They set up a tent for Carl to rest in as Carl went unconscious and after Alaya patched them up after the accident.

The tent rustled and the grunts of Carl can be heard as they propped themselves up.

"Shit." Carl's voice is heard from the inside of the tent, sounding panicked.

The three turns to each other and finally spoke after 30 minutes in silence, "Umm, I vote Tom go get 'em." Hugo says. Alaya nods in agreement. Tom tries to object but ends up sighing and getting up to go in the tent.

"Um, hey Carl?" Tom says before entering the tent. Carl shuffles further from him, the blanket wrapped up to their shoulder.

"W-where are m-my bandages?" Carl says barely above a whisper, not looking at Tom. "They got bloodied up and we had to throw them, sorry." Carl looks deflated and curled up into a small ball.

"You, um, wanna come out? It's really stuffy in here."

Carl shook their head no.

Tom sighs and slid out of the tent.

He slumps over to where the other two were sitting and groans. "Hey Al, do you happen to have ace bandages? You know, the same bloody ones that were Carl's that we had to throw out?"

"Umm, I might. Hold on a bit." Alaya rummages through her bag and pulled out a roll of the beige strip. "It's the last one. We'll have to get more later."

Tom took the bandages, thanked her and went over to Carl for attempt two of getting them to come out.

This time, Tom simply unzipped the tent from the outside and slid in with the bandage in his hand. "Hey, Carl." He says, catching Carl's attention. "Here ya go." He handed them the bandage. "Maybe you'll come out after?"

Carl sighed, "Okay."

A few minutes of waiting from outside the tent, finally, a shaking Carl with a stitched-together military uniform exit. Carl stumbles over to where the rest were sitting and stood above them, shaking.

Tom sighed as he sees Carl start to fidget with the buttons on their uniform and their Badge. "Carl, take a seat." He pats the empty spot next to him. Carl hesitantly takes a seat next to him, his leg bouncing up and down in anxiety.

Carl's breathing hitched and the leg bouncing got more violent. "Carl, please calm down. You have nothing to worry about." Alaya says in the sweetest tone she could muster.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Carl whispered.

Tom sighed, "Carl..."

In the sudden boost of confidence, Carl blurted out loudly, "OkayIknowyou'regonnakickmeoutoftheteamimeanwasiintheteamanywayyoucankickmeoutidontmindjustdoitalreadyimnotgonnacrywhywouldi-"

"Jesus Christ, calm down Carl." Hugo cut them off. "S-s-sorry." Carl shrunk back.

"Carl we're not gonna kick you out." Alaya sighs.

"Y-you're not?" Carl's voice is laced with slight disbelief and hope.

"Carl, why would we?" Tom gently placed his hand on Carl's knee to stop him from bouncing his leg.

There was a long pause that lasted longer than what's comfortable. Alaya let out a frustrated sigh and exclaimed, "Alright. Let's just point out the elephant in the room at this point."

Carl shrunk down and leaned closer to Tom, his other leg bouncing. Tom sighs and wraps his arm around Carl in an attempt to calm them down.

"So, Carl.," Alaya says awkwardly, "soo, um, well, I-"

Alaya was cut off by Hugo, "Tits-"

Alaya hit Hugo in the stomach to shut him up. "Sorry, but about that-"

Carl's lips start to quiver and they shrink even further into Tom's side.

"Shit, Carl we didn't mean to make you upset-" Hugo says, feeling bad on what he said.

Tom lets out a frustrated groan, "Jesus christ you both are shit at this."

He turns to a quivering Carl in the brink of tears. "Hey, Carl. Can I ask you what your preferred pronouns are, we'd hate to misgender you." He says in the softest tone he has ever talked with. It scares him slightly.

Carl perked up and faced Tom in shock. He only offers him a soft smile.

"I, I guess I like He/him pronouns," Carl says quietly. Tom nods, "Alright. That's all we needed to ask from you."

Carl's lips quiver to a smile and he completely buried his face into Tom's side. Tom chuckled.

"Know what we'll leave you be and check on Angie and Sarah," Alaya says, dragging Hugo along with her.

"T-thank you-you." Carl stuttered out. Tom smiled and ruffled his hair. "It's the least I can do."

Carl starts to silently cry into Tom's side which caused Tom to frown and cup Carl's cheeks to make Carl look at him. "Carl, what's wrong?"

Carl wiped away his tears with his navy sleeve and chocked out, "y-y-you w-were th-the first p-person who a-asked me m-my p-p-pronouns."  Tom smiled and shook his head. "Hope I'm not the last."

Carl pulled away and wiped his eyes. "Y-you're ok with m-me b-being t-trans-m-masc?"

Tom laughed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Carl shrugged, calming down slightly. "I-I don't k-know," he sighed, "m-my family w-weren't too h-happy."

"Oh?" Tom turned to face Carl, egging him to continue.

"T-they..." He says hesitantly. "disowned me.." He says the last part barely above a whisper. Carl held his eyes shut, trying to get the memory out of his head.

Tom frowned and leaned in, embracing Carl in the tightest hug he could give without suffocating Carl. A few seconds later, Carl hugged back, melting right into his arms.

"Hey, Carl. Guess what." Tom says.

"Hmm?" Carl hums, not having much energy left and clinging to Tom's torso.

"Your old family may not have been very accepting, but you have us now. And we accept every bit of you."

A/n
Ew. Fluff.
Anyways, I'm back from my depression nap. My month's long depression nap. I'm not getting better, in fact, I'm getting worse, but I decided to suck it up and continue anyway 'cuz I'm a petty fuck who has too ambitious of goals and no time for mental health in the process.
Don't worry tho, I'm going to see a therapist on my anxiety and depression pretty soon so don't stress over me.
((Also, I was planning to make Carl just a drag king, but since pridefall's over and because of it we weren't able to post any much pride in pride month, take a trans-masc Carl, my transgender siblings))