Ah! I love Khary, he's my favorite character, and I have done literally everything I can to make him more and more gender nonconforming. Not everyone can be as cool and nonbinary as me, but being genderqueer comes in all shapes and sizes and questioning is cool :D

Everyone keep your eyes out for my other Wasabi-centric story, Couples' Skate, coming out probably within the week, featuring everyone's third favorite OC and Wasabi ship, Floresabi.

Also, go read Heroes of Flowers by TheSparklyKitten and the spin-off set in-between seasons 1 and 2.

Enjoy!


Khary Ginger ran his hands over the fabrics in the skirt section of their local thrift store and his eyes lit up like fireworks.

"Khary, please don't touch every single thing in this store," Wesley "Wasabi" Ginger pleaded with his younger brother, "It's unsanitary. Just touch what you want to buy and we'll wash it when we get home." Wasabi squirted hand sanitizer onto his hands and held out the bottle to Khary, who reluctantly accepted some strong scented sanitizer.

"If I don't touch them how do I know if I want them or not?" Khary pointed out, pushing away a couple of skirts to get a good look at a pretty red one that flared out a little, "I like this one."

"It's nice. Do you think it'll fit?"

"Uh…" Khary definitely didn't know his sizing when it came to skirts. Skirts were a new experience for him entirely, "I'll just try it on."

Wasabi grimaced, finding the whole ordeal to be terribly unhygienic, "Make sure you check for stains or rips before you commit to anything."

"We could've gone to a real store and found new clothes," Khary pointed out.

"Money doesn't grow on trees," Wasabi clucked instinctively, though he hated himself immediately for saying it. Their parents had leveraged that phrase against them countless times.

Khary stared at him for a minute, shoulders slumping. Those were cold, uncaring words that cut like ice.

"I'm sorry," Wasabi said quickly, "I would love to get you new clothes. Right now that's not in the budget. That's not your fault, Khare."

The smile returned and Khary went off to try on the skirt. Wasabi drifted from aisle to aisle while Khary filled their little shopping cart with skirts, one shimmery silver dress, a denim jacket, and a handful of ties. Wasabi found a pair of dress shoes he could see himself wearing after thoroughly disinfecting them, and a few nice plates to add to his collection of fancy dinnerware, always eager to add to the illusion that he was a competent adult.

"Wes?" Khary asked, finished selecting his prizes.

"Yeah?"

"Can I get my ears pierced? In a little while? I've been saving up money for it…"

Wasabi frowned, "I'd be happy to pay for you to get your ears pierced, Khary, if you're willing to wait for a bit."

"But money-"

"I shouldn't have said that. It's not my job to use money as a threat. It's my job to take care of you and make sure you're happy." Wasabi had taken Khary in when he was practically kicked out for even owning makeup. Now Khary wore makeup pretty much every day, and the skirts were a big step in the direction of how he wanted to act and be seen, craving gender nonconformity. And Wasabi was here to support his little brother 100% in the ways their parents had never supported either of them.

"Thanks, Wes. I can wait a bit. But I do have money if you'd rather I paid…"

"Save your money, you'll need it when you're living on your own one day."

"Are you kicking me out?" Khary laughed.

"Never," Wasabi assured wrapping an arm around Khary.

"I like your shoes," Khary complimented, nodding at the cart.

"Thanks. I figured I needed another good pair of dress shoes. Who knows what I'll need for my next job."

"How's that going?" Khary asked, smiling earnestly. Khary believed his brother could do anything. He knew someone awesome was going to hire Wes soon.

"Ah, we'll get there soon." Wasabi didn't want to dwell on it, he was worried he wouldn't get a good job but he was also worried he would get a good job that took him away from San Fransokyo and he would have to entirely uproot Khary's life. He really, really didn't want Khary to worry about it, the same way he needed Khary to not worry about money and whether or not it grew on trees.

"You've got this," Khary said, flashing Wasabi a thumbs up, "You're gonna get an awesome job and we're going to go to banquets and stuff and I'm gonna wear designer skirts."

Wasabi laughed, "I'd love to go to fancy events with you and I love your enthusiasm but don't get your hopes up, okay? We've got to be a little bit realistic."

Khary let out an exaggerated sigh, "Fine. They don't have to be designer skirts."

"Do you want to go to the cafe after this?" Wasabi asked as they piled their purchases on the counter.

Khary's eyes lit up, "Really? Can I get coffee?"

Wasabi hesitated. As Khary's guardian, he shouldn't be feeding a coffee addiction. As a fellow coffee addict, he slowly nodded.

"A small coffee. And like, a scone or something."

"Yes! You're the best, Wes."

"Mm, I thought Damon was the best when he got you that eyeshadow palette for your birthday."

"Well…" Khary shrugged, "I just have really awesome older brothers." Wasabi couldn't argue with that. He paid for their purchases and they stuffed them in the car.

"Let's go home, start a load, then get our drinks and stuff. That way the laundry will be done faster and you can try on all your stuff for me."

"I don't think I can try on the ties? I don't know how to tie a tie. I just got them because I want to learn."

"You should've said something. I can teach you. That's what I'm here for, bud. Damon taught me, now I will teach you." Seemed like Aaron had always been too busy to teach them how to properly perform their masculinity, no wonder Deborah had always been so disappointed in them for not being man enough.

"Who taught Damon?" Khary wondered.

"His boyfriend at the time."

"Nice."

"Do you think I'm gonna look good in my new clothes?" Khary asked, a bit nervous.

"You're going to look amazing. If anyone I know can rock a skirt it's you."

"I shaved my legs in the shower this morning. I can't believe they expect girls to do it all the time. It's hard."

"Trust me, you don't have to shave your legs if you don't want to."

"Yeah, but I think I like it. Feels nice."

"If you're happy, I'm happy."

Wasabi insisted on taking over the laundry part, though he had made sure Khary knew how to do a basic load, he wanted to make sure that all of the skirts and other items could be washed at the same time in the same way. The pretty sparkly dress, unfortunately, had to sit this load out. Everything else happily clambered into the washer and after what felt like forever, the brothers got to head out for their coffee.

"Today has been fun," Khary commented.

"Yeah, it's been great."

"And I can't wait to try on my new stuff… Hey, Wes?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything. You really are the best."

"You're welcome, Khary. Anything for you."