Writing fic is always more important than studying for finals XD
Morgan sat in the waiting room, holding Seth's hand. Seth was probably the most nervous they had ever been as they faced this procedure that would change their life. They had dealt with dysphoria for so long that they had never really considered an actual escape. And now, here they were, waiting on the edge of something that had always felt too big to accomplish.
"I'll be here," Morgan said, squeezing Seth's hand, "when you get out of surgery I'll be here to take you home."
"Sadie would've done this," Seth said.
"I know, but I wanted to be here for you. We have to take care of each other."
"Thank you, Morgan," Seth said, squeezing her hand in return. Seth wore a loose shirt that would be easier to put back on after surgery. They were scared, to be honest, they knew it would be a lot of pain, but it would be worth it in the end.
"Seth, you're the bravest person I know."
Seth laughed, "You jumped off a building without knowing you would fly. You are way braver than me."
"I don't think I am. I'm so proud to know you. I'm glad you're finally getting to be 100% yourself. Besides, that jump was easy. I know I can always trust you."
"Thanks, Morgan." Someone appeared to take them back and Seth glanced at Morgan once more, "Wish me luck."
"Good luck, Seth, it's gonna be okay."
Seth was a little loopy fresh out of surgery. So when Sadie showed up at their apartment with her boyfriend and presents, it was more for Morgan than Seth.
"Seth is in bed."
"Of course they are, poor thing must feel awful. You're such a sweetheart, babe, for taking care of Seth right now."
"I know they'd do the same for me."
"Well! We brought presents. Dalton, show her what we've got." Dalton Turner swept his blond hair out of his face dramatically before holding up the gigantic teddy bear Morgan could clearly already see.
"Mx. Snuggles was my idea," Dalton said proudly. He was a bit of a himbo, though his sense of style was on point- you could rarely go wrong with all black everything, though he did look a bit like he worked at a chain restaurant instead of being the assistant coach of a children's football league.
"Aw, they're precious."
"And Bennet sent the roses. I made the first card and dad wanted to pass on the second." As bigoted and broken as Scarlett Drake was, her husband Connor was a pretty stand-up dude who loved both of his children regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. Morgan was glad that Seth's dad was at least trying to be supportive, though that support should have been able to keep Scarlett from kicking her child out of the house. Regardless, Morgan knew Seth was exactly where they were supposed to be.
"Thank you, Sadie, thanks, Dalton."
"Let me know if you need anything else," Sadie said earnestly, "food, free drinks, whatever. I've got your back, babe."
"I'll let you know."
"And tell Seth that I hope their recovery goes smoothly."
"I will."
"And that their chest goes smoothly too," Sadie giggled.
"I will," Morgan laughed as well, allowing herself to be less stressed for the first time today and wrapping Sadie in a hug before taking the presents inside. The floral arrangement was beautiful, yellow, purple, white, and black roses reminiscent of the nonbinary flag. She knew Seth sometimes worried that people would think that they made being nonbinary their personality, but Morgan didn't think that at all. She just thought that Seth was finally getting to be comfortable as themself and that that was worth celebrating. She knew that Seth was so much more than pronouns, Seth was brilliant, blunt, caring, creative, stunning, dorky, and devious all at once. Seth was so many things and Morgan felt so unbelievably lucky that they were in her life. She knew that her stunt with Krei and the "angel" had nearly cost her everything. Not a day had gone by since her sentencing that she hadn't thanked the stars that she was still standing.
Morgan situated the gifts so that Seth would see them. Their room was already a little crowded, maybe one day they'd get a bigger place together where they had more than one bedroom. Morgan had also jokingly suggested bunk beds, though Seth had vetoed that one pretty quickly. Apparently, they had tried that with Sadie when they were younger and had fallen off the top bunk often.
One of Seth's figurines had fallen off of its shelf onto the floor, the one that had inspired her anti-hero look.
"Angel of Death, huh?" Morgan asked quietly, setting it up on the shelf once more and leaving Seth to rest, still talking to herself, "Maybe I do need a cool name…"
As she was leaving the bedroom a knock came at the door. She couldn't help tensing up a little. Aside from Dalton and Sadie's quick visit, the last time someone had knocked on the door, Morgan had ended up working for Krei. Her heart sank when she saw Fred Frederickson on the other side, though she had to remember that they weren't technically on opposite sides of the law anymore.
"Hey, Morgan. I, uh. First, I wanted to apologize for the other day, and second, um, well, I have this present for Seth." Fred produced a figurine in the shape of a phantom that had a bow around its neck and a note attached to the bow.
"Thanks, Fred, I'm sure Seth will love it."
"Um, Honey Lemon mentioned you were looking for a cool hero name, and I was wondering if…"
"Listen, Fred, I can probably, y'know, think of one on my own."
"Of course. I was just… I had a few suggestions, is all." Fred was nervously wringing his hat. He clearly really wanted to clear the air between them.
"Fine," Morgan sighed. She didn't really trust Fred at all, as she was sure Fred was the one who had initially blown her cover and she was kind of suspicious about the people who were friends with Seth. But he was friends with Seth, even now, and Morgan couldn't ignore that.
"Well, my favorite is Comet. But I also have Steampunk Princess, Asteroid, Nightingale, Splendor, Angel of Vengeance, and Mech-Wing."
"I'll think about it," Morgan promised, taking the figurine and bidding Fred farewell. If she was being honest, one of the names did stand out to her. It certainly wasn't Steampunk Princess, though.
Morgan heard a loud groan coming out of their room and ran in.
"Hey, you're awake! What do you need? I can get you some hot chocolate or some soup or, oh! Your adoring fans have brought you presents."
"I have adoring fans?" Seth mumbled, blearily rubbing their eyes.
"Yeah, here, um, you can look at your present from Fred and I'll get you something to take for the pain." Morgan ran, panicked, into their bathroom, grabbing for the pain pills Seth's doctor had said they were allowed to take while in recovery. She wished that Seth didn't have to hurt like this but she knew the pain would be worth it.
"Don't forget that you can't raise your arms above your head for the next three weeks," Morgan reminded.
"I remember," Seth sighed. There was a reason why Seth was essentially wearing a bathrobe.
"And baby wipes, instead of showers-"
"Oh my gosh, Morgan, it was my surgery, I know the rules," Seth snapped.
"Sorry, sorry. I know you're probably super stressed out right now…"
"I couldn't possibly be more stressed out than you…"
"I just want you to be comfortable and happy. Let me get you something to eat or drink or both."
"Can you get me some ice for my chest? And some water for the pills?"
"Yes!" Morgan ran off and got everything Seth required, as well as a pre-made sandwich. She'd done a lot of meal prep last night when she couldn't sleep. Worrying about Seth had led her to take better care of herself than she had in a while.
"Thanks, Morgan."
"Dalton and Sadie dropped by. Dalton picked out that bear, their name is Mx. Snuggles, and Bennet provided the flowers."
"I love them," Seth said with a smile, "and I would totally hug the bear right now but I think it would be painful."
"Yeah… Mx. Snuggles can snuggle later. Oh, and there are cards. One from Sadie and one from your dad." Morgan handed Seth the cards.
They tore into their sister's card first, admiring the scenic San Fransokyan landscape Sadie had painted and the lame joke on the inside. Their dad's card was more generic but there was $100 inside.
"Ah, he's trying…" Seth murmured, setting the money aside with a smile, "And Bennet did a great job with the flowers."
"Do you need anything else? I can move the tv in here if you want to watch something."
"I have tv on my laptop," Seth reminded Morgan, knowing how difficult rewiring the tv would be and not wanting to have to clean it up later.
"But if you want to hang out for a bit and watch Mulan, I wouldn't mind the company."
"Sure, I've always got time for you." Morgan pulled up the movie on Seth's laptop while they ate their sandwich and rested their head on Morgan's shoulder.
"Sleepy?" Morgan guessed, letting Seth lean against her.
"I'm some otherworldly kind of tired right now," Seth muttered, "start the movie."
Seth didn't have a photographic memory, but they for sure knew every orchestral cue and nearly every line of dialogue in Mulan. Morgan and Seth were about to belt out "I'll Make A Man Out Of You," when there was a loud knock at the front door.
"Again?" Morgan groaned, "We're super popular today…"
"I can pause it if you want."
"Nah, go ahead and watch. I'll only be a minute. I'll tell them no solicitors." When Morgan got to the door she was surprised to see Tadashi's friend Wasabi. Well, she was pretty sure that wasn't his real name, but she had no idea.
"Hey… Um… I didn't break any other laws," Morgan informed him, feeling more than a little awkward.
"No, I uh, I know that. It's just that, well… I know Seth just went through top surgery and I know it's one hell of a trip. So I prepared a survival pack." Wasabi held up a bag.
"Oh, thanks, I'm sure they'll love it."
"Listen, Morgan…" Wasabi seemed a little nervous.
"Yeah?"
"Tadashi was there for me when I was figuring out my own gender identity. He did a lot for me, and I miss him too… What I'm trying to say is that I know it probably means everything to Seth that you're there for them."
"I didn't know…"
Wasabi smiled, "I wouldn't expect you to. A lot of people don't know, but I'm not trying to hide it. Like I said, top surgery is one hell of a trip. I'll let you get back to Seth. If either of you ever needs someone to talk to, let me know."
"I will. Thanks, Wasabi."
Morgan returned to Seth, who had paused the movie anyway so they could do karaoke together. They watched the rest of the movie and then, as Seth was kind of getting a bit loopy from pain meds, they finished the evening with a casual discussion.
Maybe Morgan was a little out of it too, "Babe, what words should I use?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you look like a snack all the time but what can I call you? Beautiful?"
"Boo!" Seth moaned.
"Handsome?"
"Eh."
"Dapper?"
"Fuck yeah!"
"Okay, well then you're a very dapper gentlethem." Seth giggled at that.
"Thank you, milady."
"If you buy a fedora I swear I'm kicking you out of the apartment."
"How're you gonna kick me out if I get a katana as well? Or a fire sword…" Seth ended up falling asleep on Morgan's shoulder, and Morgan managed to stay unmoving for a few hours. If nothing else, she wanted to be here for Seth. Tadashi had done the same for his own friends, now it was Morgan's turn to do good.
The headcanon that Wasabi is trans was introduced to me by TheSparklyKitten's story, A Little Bit of Pride. As of now, Wasabi is only trans (female to male) in stories connected to Angel of Vengeance. That could change though.
The concept of a QUESTION OF THE WEEK was introduced to me by TheSparklyKitten's story, Heroes of Flowers Phase 1: The Ferns and Nerds.
So!
Question of the week: What are your unanswered questions about AoV? Specifically about this chapter of AoV, but also about the four chapters that came before.