"POISON BERRY!" Remus jumped on the lying man the readers and Remus know as Janus.

He hissed, "Remus!"

"Okay okay- wanna come play strip poker with me and Remy?"

"No."

"...Wanna play regular poker with me and Remy?"

Janus' thought for a second. Hanging out with Remy and Patton was...fun. "Sure."

"Yes!" Remus cheered, "C'mon!"

"Wait- you meant nOW- !?" Janus said, but got cut off as Remus grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

.

.

.

"Caffeine slut!" Remus called as he pulled Janus through Remy's window.

Remy came out of the kitchen drinking coffee from a blender, "Yeah?"

Jants had other concerns, "Why did you pull me through a window!?" He shrieked.

Remus shrugged, "Feels like we're burglars."

"Why would you- ? Y'know what? Nevermind."

Remy nodded, "Good choice."

Janus finally got a good look at Remy, "Why are you drinking from a blender?"

"Biggest container I have."

"How has the caffeine not killed you?"

"Honestly? No clue."

"Logan's gonna have a stroke trying to figure this out."

Remy looked excited at that.

"Poker!" Remus shrieked as he got the cards out.

Remy looked over his glasses at Remus, "You invited a politician with the pseudonym "Deceit" to play poker?"

"Yeah?"

To Remus' surprise, but not to the two with any working brain cells, Janus won every single round. As easy as it was, it was also...fun.

Later they watched conspiracy videos and Vine completions of people called Joan and Thomas. (After Remus forced Janus to stay, obviously.)

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Lark just got back into town after a long week of photoshoots and being dead named and misgendered. They don't completely blame the employees or their parents; it's not like Lark told them.

But it's hard not to be a little irritated. If their parents just made them feel a little more loved, then maybe they wouldn't be going through this. Their parents never explicitly expressed malice towards the Rainbow CultTM, and it's not that that they're scared of.

They're scared of losing their family. Lark's parents are incredibly hard to read; that being said, Lark will die before they consider that that's not where they get their badassery from- which, yes~

But it also makes it hard to gouge how their parents would genuinely react. They have the tendency to assume they're doing everything for Lark's own good, without actually consulting Lark. This behavior has made Lark distrustful of their parents and often act rebellious- trying to be rid of the feeling that they don't have control.

Ever felt like you don't have control over anything that happens and you just feel... stuck? Yeah, it's not fun.

But this is where Lark will eternally owe Roman Prince. He gave them a reason to brace up and fight for who they are. Lark knows their parents love them, right now; just like they know that Roman's don't. They need to stop hiding who they are, so that they can take Roman, Janus, and Logan's hands as they strut away from this black pit of a life.

So, here they are; after a week of being misgendered- sitting in front of their parents who are on the love seat across the small glass coffee table from them.

"Mom, dad," Lark said.

"Yes, Vanessa, what did you call this meeting for?" Their mother asked as Lark tried to ignore the deadname.

Lark took a breath, "You guys love me...right?"

Their father honestly looked offended at the question, which made this a little easier, "Of course! Why would you question it?"

Lark gave a small smile. Wait- shit- are they crying??? Lark wiped their eyes, "So...I could curse out you and our ancestors and you would still let me sleep in my room until I've calmed down?"

Their mother rolled their eyes, "Honey, we'd send you outside to take a walk and calm down, first. But, of course. We're only human and we all have emotions, expressing them shouldn't be punished- although, we'd probably encourage you towards a healthier medium to release your stress."

Lark smiled and didn't fight the tears this time. That...their mother's explanation... makes them so happy…

They take a breath and steel themself as they deliver the main blow, "So...what if...I didn't...think...no. What if I told you that I'm not a girl?"

Their father blinked, "Then what are you, an armadillo?"

Lark burst out a laugh as tears fell from their face from the fear and amusement battling in their chest.

Their mother smiled and whacked her husband before turning back to the person she sees as her daughter, "What do you mean?"

"What if I felt- what if I am non-binary? And I wanna use they/them pronouns?"

Their parents stopped. Their father's amusement at his joke died as he looked calculating and unsure.

Their mother never took her gaze off of Lark, "Is that what you are?"

Lark found it in themselves to nod, "Yes."

Their father released a breath, "I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of that community, Vanny. I don't see why they feel the need to be so different from the rest of us and flaunt it. I was a lot worse about it when I was younger," He held up his hand as Lark tried to protest past their hurt, "But, I have been trying to rid that sort of thinking out of myself. No matter what side of the matter I'm looking from, all I can see is that those thought processes make people miserable and tear families apart, no matter how loving they were."

Lark was crying, now.

Their father got up and walked over, kneeling before his child and taking their hands, "I don't want to be another one of those stories lost in a see of misery. And now, I just have an even better reason to work even harder to accept people who are happier when they dress up as rainbow queens and kissing people who make them happy. So really, I should thank you for helping me on my journey to be a better person."

Lark was tempted to throw themself into their father's arms, but can't until they get a response from their mother.

She stands up and walks over, too, "Wanna know a secret?" She asked.

Lark nodded.

"I'm pansexual."

Lark gasped- which is a pathetic reaction compared to their father falling over while choking on his wife's words, "What- since when?"

Rylie Blade laughed, "Since I was born."

"You never told me that!"

"You never asked. You just assumed I was straight. I wasn't trying to hide it. I openly expressed attraction to a multitude of different people."

Adam Gazer laughed, "Okay okay, so I still assume people are cis/het. I got work to do."

Rylie shook her head with a smile and turned to their child, "Now, I know there's people who like to change their name. Do you have one?"

They smiled brightly, "Yes! I've been going by Lark with my friends."

"That's beautiful," Adam smiled, "Do you still like boys?"

Lark shook their head, weight they didn't know was there lifting off their chest, "I'm into femininity."

"Mhm…," Then their mother gasped, "What about Roman!? You don't like him, then?" She turned to her husband, "Oh, what do we tell him, it'll break his heart!"

Lark smiled, their mother immediately assumed that Roman was so in love with them and took his feelings into consideration.

"Actually," Lark said, "We need to talk about that."

Their parents turned to them.

"I know you think you're just setting it up so I have the best life possible. You're not letting me in on decisions like these and you make it feel like I'm just some...political tool. I understand looking good, but you don't need to be in a relationship to look good; and I wanna be happy, too. I was so scared to come out to you because of this...I thought you'd reject me or freak out because it's not a part of your great plan for me."

Their parents blinked. Rylie put her hands to her face as tears came to her eyes and Adam looked lost.

"Oh my god…" Rylie said as she threw her arms around Lark, "I am so sorry! I didn't even realize... shit...I'm so so sorry."

Lark fell into their parent's arms, "It's alright…"

"No," Their mother said, "It's not. Your father was born into poverty and I was born into wealth while forced to see friends and loved ones struggle because of their social standing. I don't want that for you, neither of us do. It seems that we got...carried away."

"However," Adam says, "This still doesn't sort out what to do about Roman."

Lark sighed, "We were never dating. Dating is an abstract construct that only the people in the relationship can determine. We never agreed to be more than friends, just to act like it infront of our families and public."

"Oh, great," He says, "We can just call the Princes and call off the relationship."

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