This story is provided for free by H.S. Kallinger as part of the Lost Humanity universe.
Timing: early World of Lost Souls, though the titular character isn't mentioned until the middle.
Content Warnings: mentions of transphobia and homophobia, unsupportive family members, mention of suicide attempt, mention of drugs, sex
Indigo
“This
is Indigo,” Rory introduced the man standing next to him with a
bright grin. I held out my hand as I stepped into the apartment.
“We're moving in together, so it's time for you two to meet!”
“Hi,”
I said, recognizing the name as Rory's boyfriend. “I'm Zack.”
“Hello!”
Indigo shook my hand, his eyes wide. He turned to Rory, who had just
shut the door. “You didn't say he was so pretty.”
“Oh.
Yeah, he's beautiful,” Rory said while I sighed, trying not to be
annoyed. “What?”
“I
didn't mean—Rory said that you're not having sex. I'm not worried,
so—”
“It's
not that.” I shook my head, although that was a relief. “I
just hate being called pretty.”
“I'm
sorry!” Indigo said, biting his lip. Okay, he was damn cute
himself. Rory had done well there. His dark brown hair was short and
stylishly messy, and his big, blue eyes were wide with concern. “May
I ask why?”
“It's
mostly related to being called a girl a lot when I was growing up,”
I explained while scratching an itch under my ponytail.
“What's
wrong with being a girl?” Rory asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Nothing.
I'm just not one, so it bugged me,” I answered, suddenly worried
that I'd said something wrong.
“Relatable,”
Rory said and then laughed. Indigo and I laughed, too. “But for
real, cis boy—I'm not saying you should be called pretty if it
hurts you. Not gonna do it. But have you ever had someone genuinely
and persistently confuse you for a girl?”
“I...”
I thought about that. I'd had several times where someone had called
me 'she' or said 'that girl' when I was little, but they had always
apologized when I'd corrected them, except the one little girl that was being a bully. “No. I got confused for one,
but only by strangers.”
“I
spent most of my life being confused for a girl,” Rory pointed out.
“I wasn't allowed to correct anyone until I was fourteen and told
my dad that if he called me his daughter one more time, I was going
to leave and never come back. Mom threw him out. She just grabbed him
by the arm and waistband of his pants, hauled his ass to the door,
and yeeted him right into the yard. She yelled at him that if he
couldn't accept her son, she couldn't accept him. Then she
turned to me and said, 'Baby, don't you ever let anyone get away with
that again. I'm sorry I didn't do that sooner. You are the best son I
could ask for. I won't let anyone...'”
Indigo
wrapped his arms around Rory when his voice broke. I had stepped
forward to hug him, but I stopped, unsure where my place was now.
Indigo met my eyes and then nodded down at Rory's head, raising his
eyebrows. I stepped into the hug, putting one of my hands on Indigo's
arm.
“Your
mom is the best,” I said, careful of how tightly I squeezed them.
My eyes were burning. I wished my mom had told my dad to fuck off
with his homophobia. I didn't want her to throw him out, but it would
have been nice if she hadn't made excuses for him.
“I
love your mom,” Indigo agreed and kissed the back of Rory's head.
“I
know, I know,” Rory said and then pushed us both away, laughing.
“She was always the neighborhood mom, and after I came out, she was
the Mom Hugs mom where all the queer kids without accepting parents
came to get their mom fix. Basically all the kids from the community
that knew me back then still go to her house for holidays.”
“Yeah,”
Indigo said, nodding. “Rory had to tell me they weren't all the
gayest cousins ever, and everyone calls her Mama or Aunt Carrie. I
wish I'd had someone like her when I was younger. My parents mostly
accept me, but my mom kept saying, 'If you're bi, why can't you just
date girls? Or date some boys to get it out of your system, but marry
a nice girl?'”
“You
don't get to pick like that,” I said. Indigo nodded.
“She
doesn't believe me. My dad just sighs. He'd misgender the fuck out of
Rory if he knew he was trans, so my parents don't know, and they can
die mad.”
“Works
for me,” Rory said with a sad smile.
“I'm
still sorry for the inappropriate questions when we first met,” I
said. Rory beamed at me.
“You're
forgiven. You were trying,” he said and patted my shoulder. “You
fix shit when I call you out on it, so that's what matters most to
me.”
“And
I shall henceforth refer to you as 'hot,'” Indigo said, giving me a
toothy grin. I laughed.
“I
appreciate it,” I said.
“You
can call me Indy, by the way. Everyone does,” Indy said.
“It's
a pleasure to meet you, Indy,” I said.
“Same
to you. So, how old are you?”
“Thirty-nine,”
I answered.
“Human
years? Because Rory said you haven't been a vampire super long?”
“Yeah,
thirty-nine years since I was born,” I said, amused. “I was
thirty-two when I changed. How about you? How old are you?”
“Twenty-six,”
he answered. “Oh, hey, am I in the way? Do I need to go somewhere
so you two can... uh...”
“That's
up to you,” I said. “You don't have to leave if it doesn't bother
you.”
“It's
okay if I watch?” he asked, looking back and forth between us.
“Have
you ever fed a vampire?” I asked. He shook his head.
“Non-donor.
Bad heart,” he explained. Rory shot him a look of pain and
sympathy, and I wondered what it was about. Indy looked at Rory and
sighed. “I damaged it when I was a teenager and...”
“Drugs?”
I asked when he trailed off.
“Yeah,
but not... I... My dad's reaction when I came out...” He looked
away, and I understood. I reached out and put my hand on his
shoulder. He shrugged and shot me a weak smile. I wasn't entirely
sure my own suicide attempt hadn't contributed to my later
cardiomyopathy.
“My
dad was an asshole about it, too,” I confessed. “But I was
already an adult in a committed relationship, so he had to either get
over it or...”
“Did
he get over it?” Indy asked.
“Eventually.
He wasn't ever entirely okay with it, I don't think, but he either
ignored it for the grandkids or whatever his reasons, and he even
started calling Lukas my husband at the end,” I said, losing focus
as I remembered how happy that had made me. I hadn't told him about
us being married—that was Mom—but he hadn't ever said anything
negative about it.
“My
dad finally called Rory my boyfriend when I said we were moving in
together. It was a big step for him. He always said 'friend' before,”
Indy said.
“You
didn't tell me!” Rory exclaimed, beaming. “He really said
boyfriend?”
“Yes!”
Indy grinned back. Rory stepped forward and threw his arms around
Indy to kiss him. I smiled and stepped over to the couch. I sat down
against the arm so Indigo could take the other side if he wanted to
watch us. Rory practically bounced into my lap when they broke the
kiss, and Indy looked at the remaining space. “It's okay?”
“It
doesn't bother me,” I answered.
“Please
stay!” Rory said. He met my eyes with his “And, um, would it be
okay if...”
“If
what?” I prompted when he bit his lip and looked away.
“Can
Indy and I... while I'm still high...?”
“As
soon as I'm done, I'll put you right in his lap and step outside,”
I said. Indy blushed and grinned with Rory.
“Oh,
I like that plan,” Indy said. He sat on the couch. “I've
never done anything like this.”
“Neither
have I,” I said. “You're the first boyfriend who's wanted to be
involved.”
“And
you really don't mind?” Indy checked in again.
“No.
I'm in a polyam relationship where one of my metas is a big voyeur,
and I'm not entirely sure I don't have an exhibitionist streak now,”
I admitted. Rory waggled his eyebrows at me, and I blushed. “Not
that I'm going to be... but I just mean that being watched doesn't
bother me, and...”
“Well,
I am an exhibitionist,” Rory said, grinning at me. “And I
am going to be, so let's do this.”
“Well,
that explains where I met you,” I said, pulling him close. He
laughed silently, and it turned into a gasp when I bit him. I closed
my eyes and let his amazing taste fill my mouth, only swallowing when
I had to. I peeked at Indy, and he was staring at us in fascination.
I closed my eyes again and stopped before Rory came again so Indy
could have him. I plopped him in Indy's lap, winked, and walked
outside as promised.
That
was interesting. I was hard as fuck now and really wished I had
someone to have sex with, too. I pulled out my phone and texted
Garret to see if he was free. Sarah and Lukas were on a date.
'Aye
im free'
'wanna
have it off?' I texted. I'd liked that phrase ever since he'd used
it.
'you're
not home!' I started to text where I was, and another text came
through. 'standin right outside n you's not there marra. we doin it
in public somewhere?'
'I'm
at my pet Rory's. His boyfriend got involved and now I want mine. But
I want to check in with him before I leave entirely, so I'm giving
them a few minutes before I leave.'
'got
involved?'
'Watched
us.'
'you
like bein watched? wanna go somewhere we could get caught?' Garret
was shameless. I was so painfully turned on now that I had to adjust
myself and resist doing more.
'I
think I do.' I stared at the text I'd just sent and blushed so hard
my face hurt. He sent me the location to meet, and I was amused that
my pet's relationship upgrade had just given me a boost in one of my
own. After the happy sounds from inside died down, I waited for
someone to tell me it was okay to come back or for them to say
anything. Before that happened, the door opened, and Indy smiled
shyly at me. He was shirtless.
“Thank
you, so much,” he said. I grinned at him.
“You're
welcome,” I said. I followed him back in and checked on Rory, who
was only wearing boxers. “How are you doing?”
“Everything
is wonderful, and I want to stay like this forever,” he answered.
Indy had him sit up enough that he could sit down and put Rory's head
in his lap. “Update: like this forever.”
“Good.
I'm glad that worked out,” I said.
“You
wanna sit and chill with us?” Indy asked.
“I'm
actually going to go meet up with my boyfriend,” I said.
Rory rolled his head over to grin at me knowingly. “But maybe next
time. You want to keep doing it like this?”
“Yes-s-s-s,”
Rory and Indy said together. I laughed.
“Congratulations
on moving in together, and on your dad's progress,” I said.
“Thank
you,” they said, again, together. We all laughed.
“Have
fun with your boy,” Rory said, waggling his eyebrows.
“Oh,
I will,” I said and winked again. He grinned, closed his eyes and
sighed a deeply contented sigh. “Good evening.”
“Bye,”
Rory sang.
“Thank
you again,” Indy said. I waved and left to go find Garret and test
out his proposition, grateful to him for being the one to offer. I
loved him so much. Now, to go show him.
Zack Rory
