Plastics

She wasn’t sure where she was at first, when she opened her eyes. The ceiling was identical to her own, no doubt, but this didn’t feel like her bed.

It wasn’t until she rolled over, and the twin Metropolis posters entered her view, did she realize where she was. ‘Must have fallen asleep.’ They’d been watching movies. Had finished Planet of Apes before moving onto the sequel. The first film had been surprisingly good, though not something Courtney would have gone out of her way to watch on her own, while the sequel Beneath …

“Wait,”she asked. “Who’s this guy? What happened to Charlton Heston?”

“Yeah, this movie isn't that good, but you kinda have to see it before Escape and that one's great!”

“How many of these films are there?”

“Of the original series?” Brooke asked her. “Five, technically, though you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you never watch the fifth.”

“It wasn’t….” Lauren trailed off, “Ok, yeah, it was that bad.”

They were trying to escape the ape city. Courtney had just been thinking how pretty Kim Hunter had been, even through all the makeup, and then…

That must have been around when I drifted off.

Nature was calling. That was what had woken her up. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled her way toward the apartment’s bathroom, flicking the light on and practically diving for the toilet.

Business done, Courtney stopped to wash her hands at the sink, eyes briefly flickering over the assortment of bottles there but not giving them any real focus. She stepped away from the sink, reaching for the hand towel that hung beside the door - and pausing. Her hand slowly pulled the towel free from the wall and ran her fingers along the pink white and light blue stripes that made up the towel. On the other wall, glanced over till now, a larger towel with identical colors and patterns hung from a hook near the bathroom’s shower stall.

Courtney knew what the colors meant. You couldn’t be in fashion without learning colors and symbols, but even before that she’d known just from her parents’ ranting. 

There was a partially-full bottle of clear liquid by the sink. Her eyes had swept over it when she came in but she’d paid it no mind. She reached out and tilted it up so that she could see the side. A label, the word Delestrogen. And below it, the word prescription, and below that, another name. The wrong name.

‘Oh, Lauren.’

Because that’s who it was. Lauren. Because it didn’t matter what some prescription bottle said, or what Courtney’s parents would have said on the matter - Courtney had long since given up caring a fuck what those two had to say. Lauren was Lauren. And that was that.

She sat the bottle back down and returned the hand towel to where it hung, and then she stepped out of the bathroom.

–

Brooke was over by the kitchenette, fixing a pot of coffee.

“Lauren’s still sleeping,” she explained when Courtney stepped out of the bathroom. “Not a morning person.”

Courtney nodded, then stood and watched as Brooke poured first one cup, then a second. She sat the pot aside before offering Courtney a cup, then left her own on the counter as she stepped past Courtney and into the bathroom. Courtney gazed after her for a moment, raising her cup to blow gently at the so-fresh-it’s-too-hot coffee. She wondered if they had any cream or sugar, but suddenly didn’t feel right checking the fridge or sole cupboard. Had invaded their privacy enough, back in the bathroom.

Thankfully, Brooke chose that moment to step out of the bathroom. She paused at seeing Courtney still standing in the kitchen, but rightly (or partially, anyway) guessed the cause of the sense of lostness Courtney was sure must have been apparent on her face. “Creamer’s in the fridge, and there’s some sugar-” she reached into the cabinet before pulling out a large pink container “-here. Spoons are in the drawer.”

“Thank you,” Courtney answered, fetching a spoon and shoveling a healthy - well, an unhealthy, honestly - serving of sugar into her cup before grabbing creamer from the refrigerator and pouring a bit of that as well. She gave the cup an experimental sip. Perfect. She returned the creamer to the fridge before following Brooke over toward the couch. Brooke, Courtney noted with some amusement, drank her coffee straight without any hint of additive to lessen its bitter sting. Victoria had been the same way. “What happened after I clonked out?”

“Not much,” Brooke admitted. “Ren was half asleep herself so we hit pause and went to bed. Well, she went to bed. I stayed up too late browsing reddit and trying not to get girlfriend drool on me.” 

Ah. So Lauren was one of those types. Victoria had been the same. She and Taylor had always had to make sure to sleep uphill from their friend during sleepovers - something exceedingly difficult to do on a flat surface like the dorm room floor. “You really do love her, don’t you?” Brooke’s look was questioning. “Lauren.”

“Yes?”

“Good.” Good, good. “I know it can be… difficult, for relationships to keep going. To survive changes.” Changes like going from friends to lovers. Like moving to the big city. Like being in the same town as your ex again.

Brooke sat her drink down. The porcelain of the cup clicked audible against the coffee table’s glass surface. She lifted her head and fixed Courtney with a hard, piercing look. “You know.”

Courtney didn’t need to ask. “Yes.”

“Is it going to be a problem?”

Courtney shook her head, and Brooke relaxed minutely. “Good.” She picked her drink back up and took a sip. “She doesn’t need any more rejection.” At Courtney’s questioning look she went on.

“When I first found out… when she first told me that she was she not he, I- I didn’t react well, at first. Thought there was something wrong with her. Or with me. Like it was somehow my fault that my partner was swapping genders. I thought… I thought that maybe that was the end of us.

“I don’t believe in God. But that night… it was the closest I’d ever come to praying. Asking the universe for answers. It didn’t have any for me, of course, so I had to ask myself instead.”

“And… what did you tell yourself?”

“That she made me happy. That she made me feel like the most important person in the world. That I enjoyed it when she smiled. That I didn’t want that smile out of my life.

“So we talked. We talked, and she transitioned, and I was there. We discussed what we wanted, what she needed. What we want out of our lives. You know, we both want to be parents someday? Not right now, but in a few years, maybe. We have that option. We have some of her sperm frozen in a lab somewhere. It’s expensive, but…” She shrugged. “We’re a family, the two of us.” Brooke blushed then, all of a sudden. “Sorry. That’s rather personal information to just be telling someone, isn’t it.”

“It’s fine,” Courtney waved it off. “I’m happy for you.” And she was. Happy, and jealous. “I don’t know if I want kids. Never really thought about it as an option, given who I’m attracted to.” Taylor had wanted to be a mother someday.

“Does it affect your crush? Lauren being trans?”

Courtney froze. “What?” This was it. This was when she’s asked to leave.

But Brooke just looked amused. “I’m not going to get upset over you having a crush on my girlfriend, Wagner. Old me may have. She was a bit of a bitch. But the past two years have been a journey, and I’ve grown.” She took another sip of coffee, then sat the now-empty cup back down on the glass. “I don’t think Lauren knows, btw. Hasn’t said anything, and she’s usually honest about stuff like that.”

“Lots of girls crushing on your gal then?” She said it in a joking manner, but inside Courtney was actually curious.

“Girls,” Brooke agreed. Courtney took the last slip of her own coffee. “And boys,” Brooke added, and Courtney almost dropped the mug, suddenly unable to breathe as the coffee lodged itself back up her throat. “Shit, sorry,” Brooke apologized, jumping up and grabbing a roll of paper towels from beside the sink. “That was mean.”

“And unexpected,” Courtney croaked as Brooke dabbed at the mix of coffee and drool dripping its way down the outside of her throat. “Shit, Brooke.”

“It’s honestly not a thing,” Brooke apologized again. “I just saw an opportunity to mess with you.”

“Attempt successful. Shit.” She’d have to wash this shirt immediately to keep stains from setting in. Come to think of it, she could probably stand to do other laundry too. She’d been lax on that and other chores of late. “It’s fine, I just-” She and Brooke were not the same size, but needs must. “Do you have something I can wear for now?”

Brooke nodded, disappearing behind the curtain before reemerging a moment later with a bundle of cloth. She handed it to Courtney before turning away as Courtney began to unbutton her blouse, face red. Courtney couldn’t help but grin at that. Served the other woman right.

“You can look now.”

Brooke did, and nodded in satisfaction. Courtney fidgeted at the sudden attention, none too comfortable at being caught in an outfit she herself hadn’t prepared, but then again it was Brooke’s outfit, so any imperfections in Courtney’s assemblage could be laid squarely at the other girl’s feet. Not that there were imperfections per say. It was a hoodie, for goodness sake, not a ballroom gown. Gray, with a trio of differently-colored vertical lines across the front. Lightsabers, she realized when she held the bottom of the shirt away from her and looked down to see the handles.

This was actually kind of comfortable.

She should wear hoodies more often.

“You look… nice.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

Silence. They stood there, neither speaking.

“So,” Brooke spoke, breaking the moment. “More coffee?”