Title: Northing Changes
Author: Zalia Chimera
Characters: Simon Lauchlan/Runner 3, Jody Marsh/Runner 4
Summary: A startling discovery is made while out raiding a shop for clothing, but friendship is more important than what might lie beneath.
"Simon, what're you doing?"
"Need a new shirt. Might as well not carry an extra one back when it's just gonna get burned."
Simon shrugs as he starts to pull his shirt off and to be fair, it is looking pretty ragged. And bloodstained. And probably not useful even as rags back at Abel honestly.
Jody turns back to picking up a few packs of underwear and stuffing them into her bag before she turns back. Simon's got his back to her and she frowns. He's got this sort of strapping 'round his chest that looks like…
"Simon, are you wearing a bra?"
He turns, raises an eyebrow, lips quirked into a half-smile. "Me? Nah. It's a binder."
"Oh." She's silent for a moment. "What's that? You're not hurt are you?"
Simon shakes his head and reaches for one of the t-shirts, examining it for a moment before pulling it on. There's a kind of stiffness about the way he moves though, reminds her of a cat when they get all wary. "'cause people get all weird and it ruins relationships when I show, mainly."
When he sho- "You're a girl?!" Jody asks, her eyes going wide because… because this is Simon with broad shoulders and a scruff of a beard and kind of oversexed and…
"No," Simon says sharply, and there's annoyance there, flashing across his expression, and maybe disappointment and that hurts, that she's made him look like that. "I'm a bloke. Obviously. Just…" He shrugs and it's an uncomfortable one, voice going low and maybe a bit uncertain when everything else he does is confident. "Just wasn't born that way."
Jody takes a moment to ponder that, but it doesn't really take much pondering when it's Simon who's her best friend and partner and the guy who's held her at night when things get too much.
"Oh. Okay."
Because he's Simon.
He visibly relaxes, flashing a smile before holding up a shirt on it's hanger and it's violently neon and hideous and perfect. "So, what do you think?"
