Marc let out a loud sigh as he pressed his arms further against his stomach.
“How ya feelin’, Spector?“
Marc looked at the two small mirrors sitting on his nightstand. Both Jake and Steven looked concerned.
“Shitty, Jake. Really, really shitty.”
“I’ve got some chocolates in the cupboard if you want those,” Steven quipped.
“I would, trust me, but as you can see, I can’t get outta bed.”
“I could probably get ‘em for us. It’s not that bad for me.”
“Not that bad? Jake, the minute you get up you’re gonna crumple to the floor, even with how high of a pain tolerance you have.”
Jake sighed. “Now what? It’s not like Steven or I can go to work today, and we’re probably gonna feel just as bad tomorrow.”
Marc looked guilty. “I shouldn’t have made us skip work. We need the money. I’m a puss, aren’t I?“
“The problem isn’t that you’re a puss, amigo, it’s that we have one.”
Steven reached over and slapped Jake on the arm, Jake trying not to laugh at his own joke.
“Jake’s not wrong. It’s not your fault that our cramps are terrible. It’s because of the dreaded crimson tide.”
“A visit from ol’ Aunt Flo.”
“A code red.”
“La semana de tiburones.”
“Th-“
“Alright, alright!” Marc interrupted, not able to stop himself from laughing along with them.
There was a sudden whooshing noise that came from the corner of their small, dingy studio apartment.
“I assume we are not training today, boys?”
Marc lifted his head. “Absolutely not.”
“Understandable.”
Marc set his head back down on the pillow. Khonshu went over to the cabinets, one of which creaked when it opened.
“What’re you doing?”
“You have a medication for things like this. I’m trying to figure out which one it is.”
“Can’t you just, like, heal us?”
Khonshu shook his head. “This is unlike the usual cut or bruise. Your menstrual cycle is a natural part of your body. It would be like if you asked me to stop you from urinating.”
Marc groaned. Khonshu grabbed a bottle of Advil.
“Is this it?”
“Yeah.”
The god looked at the back of the bottle before shaking it, two pills falling out. He opened the mini-fridge in their poor excuse of a kitchen, grabbing a half-opened bottle of water. The two objects were set on the nightstand next to Marc.
“Thanks.”
“You are welcome. I wish for you to heal as quickly as possible… for the sake of training.”
“Mhm, sure,” Jake murmured, making Marc smile a bit before taking the medicine and chugging the rest of the water.
“I thought testosterone was supposed to stop all this,” Marc sighed, pulling the covers back over himself as he lay down.
“Well, we’ve only been on it for about two months, and the best we have is some stuff from Walmart made for cis men. It probably doesn’t work the same, or maybe it’s slower,” Steven explained, attempting to soothe Marc’s steadily worsening dysphoria.
“Yes. Your body needs time to get used to the sudden influx of hormones within itself. It will so be able to regulate how you wish.”
“How do you know?”
“I have observed you humans for eons. I have seen all races, genders, sizes. Plus, I believe that Kek’s avatar will be a transgender male much like yourself. After he is born, of course.”
“Huh. Is that why you were so okay with me coming out? You knew about it?”
Khonshu nodded. “I only knew so much about my future avatar at the time I chose you, but that is one thing I knew.”
“What did you not know?” Steven asked.
“About you and Jake.”
Jake nodded, looking a bit solemn.
“However, I am still able to boast about how I have three avatars while all of the other gods have one.”
The three boys chuckled. Marc looked back at the mirrors.
“Look at us, ey? Dropped outta high school, working two jobs, and being the avatar for some undead-bird-moon-god.”
“Well, what else did we have to learn in school? Calculus bullshit?” Jake asked. “We know the basics: we can read, we can do math, we know which elements make chloroform, we’re fine, esé!“
Marc snorted. “Jesus, Jake.”
“Plus, we could go back and get our GED if we wanted!” Steven added.
Marc shrugged. “True.”
The room was quiet for a bit, Khonshu sitting on the countertop.
Marc felt strangely reminiscent of when he was younger. He had gotten his first period at around nine (the same time that his dysphoria started, coincidentally). He remembered his first time getting terrible cramps. He lay on the couch, hot water bottle pressed against his stomach. He remembered his dad sitting next to him and distracting him with the TV, his mom coming home from the grocery store having bought him chocolate, and Randall showing him his newest drawing.
Curse hormones. He wasn’t going to cry, he wasn’t going to cry, he wasn’t-
“Is there anything else you three need?”
Marc jumped as Khonshu’s reverberating voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Jake shook his head at the question, Steven shrugged, and Marc… Marc felt stupid for what he wanted to ask.
“Yes, Marc?”
Marc swallowed. “Could you stay, just for a little?”
Khonshu stood up without a word, heading over to the bed. Marc scooted over a bit so the god could sit at the head if it. The two were quiet for a bit before Khonshu patted his leg.
“Since you asked.”
Marc didn’t ask.
He wasn’t complaining as he situated his head into the god’s lap, though. Khonshu was surprisingly warm for being undead (was he undead? He never specified), and Marc felt himself yawn. He was pretty sure Steven and Jake had gone to sleep, too.
“Sleep now, my son. You will feel better later.”
Marc smiled as he closed his eyes, the last thing he thought of was the word “son.”