Shemalevid Instant

Mars was staring out the window at the rain. “I’m not brooding. I’m… metabolizing.”

“When I was twenty-three, I got jumped outside a bar in the Village. Three guys. I thought that was it. But a drag king named Spike pulled them off me with a pool cue. He took me to a diner, bought me coffee, and said, ‘You don’t owe the world prettiness. You owe it your survival.’ That was my first family. Not blood. Choice.” shemalevid

Mars had arrived six months ago, carrying everything he owned in a ripped backpack. He had left behind a town where the church bells sounded like gavels and his deadname echoed off every cornfield. Here, he found Nia. Mars was staring out the window at the rain