Unconscious Incompetence: One does not understand or know how to do something and does not necessarily recognize the deficit.

"All right, everyone, hello." Exalted cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his spiky black hair, brown eyes shining behind his sunglasses. "Welcome to the first Blackwater Insurance Sensitivity Training. Thank you all for attending!"

"I mean… Did we really have a choice?" Distorted asked innocently, tilting his shaggy, blonde head and tapping his chin. "We have to clock in and be here every day, so it's not like we were going to be anywhere else."

Seated nearby, Reaper and Archivist chuckled under their breaths. Had anyone else made a smart-aleck remark like that, they would've been labeled as such, but the Blackwater Insurance team knew better than anyone that their mentally youngest often took things too literally, or said things that could be misconstrued as rude by an outside observer. Archivist was almost as immature and inexperienced, as he was in very frail health.

He had wild brown hair, and his face was covered in band-aids. He was often confined to a bubble, kept at base to ensure no pathogens could touch him, ever wearing a baggy black hoodie for warmth because his skinny body never retained much heat. But at least he was aware of the world that existed beyond Blackwater. Poor Distorted had only recently escaped a pocket dimension, so even though he was physically as old as the rest of the team, he had a lot more to catch up on.

And he's not the only one, Exalted thought with a small smile. But hey, that's exactly why I put this little presentation together. I'm going to walk them all through the four stages of competence…

Though Blackwater was only an insurance company—and an admittedly unscrupulous one at that—Exalted still firmly believed that they did not need to behave as heathens or savages. They could still be respectful individuals, even if their work could get a little unsavory at times.

It was actually their boss, Inspector Sands, that really inspired the event. As an entity made entirely of wax, Sands technically did not have a gender. People often addressed Sands with he/him pronouns merely because Sands appeared more masculine then feminine, but it never meant much to the wax entity. Exalted happened to overhear a conversation between his cousin—Unhallowed—and his boss, which inspired the training.

"Even though… I am an assassin… I believe that I have… made new friends." A queerplatonic polycule. "Adair West, Adair Graves, and Arin Graves… They are not… assassins like me… but I still think that I… like them."

Although Sands lacked a gender, it was not as if Sands lacked the understanding of gender. Sands also understood queerplatonic polycules, being part of one as well, consisting of two men named Tadashi and Mikoto, and a woman named Phaige.

"Quite the laddie's man, aren't you?" Sands joked, playing on the term "ladies' man". "I didn't know you were into other men."

"Oh, Adair and Adair… aren't men." West was biologically female, though used any/all pronouns. Graves was agender and used they/them pronouns. That was when Sands blinked in surprise.

Exalted chuckled to himself at the memory before clearing his throat again and gesturing to the board behind him. Underneath the words "Blackwater Sensitivity Training" was a chalk outline of a human body.

"For the most part, many living creatures on this planet are born male or female. This is called "sex", as in "biological sex", not the action. Sex, however, exists on a spectrum. It is possible to be born intersex, which means having characteristics of both. And some animals can change their sex. Cardinals, clownfish and several other species of fish, banana slugs, green sea turtles, bearded dragons, frogs, copperhead snakes, butterflies are just a few examples of animals that are either intersex, or can change their sex," Exalted explained.

"Gender is similar, though not the same," he continued. "Similar to sex, we as a society have come to see it on a binary spectrum between man and woman. But that means it is possible to fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, or outside of it entirely. That is where terms like a/bi/tri/etc-gender, demigender, transgender, genderfluid/queer, multi/polygender, nonbinary, omni/pangender, third gender, etc. originate."

"Agender?" Distorted perked up. "Does that mean there's also a Dgender? Because that would be me! Dgender! For Dis!"

"Well, there is such a thing as X-gender, though agender isn't quite the same as that… or Dgender…" Exalted chuckled quietly. Distorted was a little confused, distorted, but he had the spirit!

ooo

Conscious Incompetence: Though one does not understand or know how to do something, they recognize the deficit, as well as the value of a new skill in addressing the deficit.

Sands sat front and center of the "classroom", closest to Exalted. Hmmm… I thought I understood gender. That is, I understood man and woman, and he/him and she/her. But what of all these others? What do they feel like?

Sands was curious. Were it possible, Sands would've willingly tested out each gender just to understand what defined each one. Heh, it's almost embarrassing to admit, but I feel just as lost as Dis and Archie. Even my queerplatonic polycule is starting to confuse me. What am I, and what are they, if I don't have a gender?

If it was of any comfort to Sands, at least Sands understood that there were many things none of them—except perhaps Exalted—knew about sex and gender. Poor Distorted and Archivist, meanwhile, seemed unaware of how little they truly knew.

"Would I be agender?" Sands finally asked. Or perhaps polygender or genderfluid? If I can mold my body into whatever I want…

"Well, that is up for you to decide," Exalted replied with a mysterious smile. "The same applies to sexuality."

"Ah. That answer." Sands' lips twisted in a rueful smile. I understand, though. Just as I cannot feel anyone else's gender, except my own, or perhaps lack thereof, Exalted cannot feel mine. At the very least, I know I do not feel romantic or sexual attraction, so I know I am aro-ace.

That was why the polycule Sands was in was purely queerplatonic. The love was deeper than friendship, but without romance or sex. Slowly but surely, Sands was starting to learn and understand.

ooo

Conscious Competence: One understands or knows how to do something.

"I THINK I HAVE AN EXAMPLE!" Reaper shouted suddenly, slapping a gloved hand on his desk so hard that his shades nearly fell off his face. "That Onyx dude! They're AGENDER!" He was sure to shout the most important part of his message. Just like Unhallowed and Sands, Reaper was in a queerplatonic polycule, and like Unhallowed, one of his partners was agender.

Onyx'll be so proud of me, learning all this gender stuff! Reaper thought, nervous but pleased. Despite his confident exterior, on the inside, he was silently praying that he remembered everything correctly when he talked about it with Onyx later.

Sands was expressionless while Unhallowed nodded slowly, his shadowed face darkening even more. He looked similar to his cousin, Exalted, though his hair wasn't as spiky, and he lacked the sunglasses and stubble that Exalted had.

"That is why… I wanted to do this training today… Not just because of… Adair Graves… But also because… I am an assassin… I think it would help me… to be a better assassin… if I learned new skills…"

"And how does gender help with assassin work, Hal?" asked Archivist, looking mildly concerned and skeptical.

"Hey, would assassins also be agender since "assassin" starts with "a"?" Distorted interrupted, raising his hand.

It was not Unhallowed who answered Archivist's question, rather, Lieutenant, seated right behind Sands. "Understanding gender, and gender roles and presentations, can be useful in disguise…" For the first time that meeting, their quietest and sanest member spoke.

Like Sands, Lieutenant understood sex, gender, and sexuality on a cognitive level, but it never meant much to him either. For the most part, he stayed at Blackwater HQ, looking after the place. Even his position behind Sands seemed to speak to his preference of lurking in the shadows. His long, dark coat, gloves, and hat—which concealed short, dark hair—also suited him well. But despite his background role, Lieutenant was still a formidable and competent agent out in the field.

I understand that understanding and respecting the genders of others leads to better rapport with them. That, in and of itself, is useful…

ooo

Unconscious Competence: One has had so much practice with a skill that it is "second nature" and can be performed easily.

"All right," Exalted finally said in a joking tone as he raised his hands, "class dismissed!"

"Wait. This was a class?" Distorted whispered. "Do we have homework?"

"I believe that was a joke, Dis," Sands said, smirking slightly as everyone rose from their seats.

"Awww," Archivist's face fell. I took so many great notes, and I already have all the genders and sexualities down by memory!

"Don't tell me that you want homework?" Reaper sounded torn between disdain and worry, once again trying to use confidence to mask insecurity. Come on, man! Don't make Exalted change his mind! I was trying to pay attention, but what if I fail the homework?!

"I'm sure that if you want homework, it can be arranged," Lieutenant said airily. Only the sharper ones realized he was teasing.

"Lou!" Reaper cried. Ugh, is there anything I can shout loud enough to regain control of this situation? NO HOMEWORK!

"Well… if it benefits me… as an assassin…" Unhallowed murmured to himself thoughtfully.

Exalted didn't hear the end of it, chuckling to himself as the team departed from the conference room to continue about their day.

"Hey, Exalted!" The moment the therapist reached the Blackwater lobby, a trio of familiar faces greeted him.

"Tadashi, Onyx, Adair!" He smiled and nodded politely. "I presume you are here for Sands, Reaper, and Hal?" As they drew closer, Exalted noticed that the trio was all ready for Pride month, each of them wearing a handful of Pride pins. Aro, ace, agender, autistic?

It was not the pins that surprised Exalted, rather, that all three of them were wearing all four.

"Let's just say… we've had several interesting conversations this Pride month already." Tadashi smiled dryly as Exalted ogled the pins. "These two helped me realize I was agender, though in hindsight, perhaps I should've seen it sooner. Gender never really meant much to me. Though I thought it was because I was so hyperfixated on mysteries." Tadashi gave a soft, grim laugh.

"So I guess you could say… Tadashi's gender is a mystery! Fitting, huh?" Onyx joked before gesturing to Tadashi and Adair. "These two actually helped me figure out I was autistic because we were talking about mental health and being queer, and we found something called "autigender", which is when your autism really influences your gender. Though of course, it's not saying that autism itself is a gender."

Not to be left out, Adair excitedly piped up too. "And they helped me realize I was aro-ace! Like Tadashi said, in hindsight, I kinda can't believe I didn't see it sooner!" they laughed and shook their head at themself. With a heart of gold and a mind of innocence, Adair was always a little bit of a naive dreamer. "I guess I just thought I'd get into that kissing and marriage stuff when I grew up!" they said, shrugging.

"Aren't you 22?" Exalted quirked an eyebrow, amused.

"Exactly!" Adair nodded again, beaming. "I realized I WAS grown up and I still didn't feel like I wanted or needed any of that stuff, and that's ok!"

Exalted found himself nodding along. "Yes, that's right, Adair. I'm so proud of all of you." His fond gaze swept around the trio.

"Heheh, proud," Adair and Onyx chuckled at each other while Tadashi gave the therapist a curt but appreciative nod.

Hmmm, Exalted thought, they were all so effortless in talking to each other and helping each other learn new things about themselves. I wonder if I should bring in guest speakers for the next Blackwater Sensitivity Training…?

AN: This combines Zero's OCs (Tadashi, Onyx, Adair of the Prism-verse) and their friend Lucien's OCs (Sands, Exalted, Unhallowed "Hal", Reaper, Distorted "Dis", Archivist "Archie", Lieutenant "Lou" of Blackwater)