TW: Lots of swearing and also transphobia/nonbinaryphobia in Tommy's POV. Also Cairn's AGAB isn't ever specified so the bullies just picked a pronoun at random.

Tommy Jute (14) D8M

It wasn't unusual for me to see kids picking on Cairn. Street rats always picked on the weakest link, and Cairn was about as weak as they came. I could say that; I'm their brother. No one else can say that. Just like no one else can complain about their coughing, or their wheezing, or their they/them pronouns, or their phlegm. It wasn't unusual to see kids calling them dumb or weak. It was unusual to see kids throwing slurs that I was pretty sure had become obsolete before the Games existed, but slurs I could tell were slurs just by the way the kids were saying them.

"Why don't you all FUCK OFF?" I yelled, sprinting into the group of kids I could see surrounding my sibling. "Do you think you're cool? Do you think you're smart? Bunch of KNUCKLEHEADED IDIOTS WHO THINK IT'S COOL TO BEAT UP ON SOMEONE YOU SEE AS WEAK?" I could've said to pick on someone who is weak, but I wasn't going to insult my sibling like that. I wasn't going to give them more ammunition.

"Oh look, here comes Tommy to save the day. Funny that Cairn always needs a girl to save her." Thimble rolled his eyes when he saw me coming, arms crossed like nothing could possibly matter. Usually, he'd be right. Most days I just yelled at them and got Cairn out of there. I wasn't about to deal with that when Thimble was being such an ass.

Before I knew it, pain exploded up my arm. It took me a second to realize that was because my knuckles had connected squarely with Thimble's face. The other kids backed off a little bit, forming a ring around us to watch the fight, and I knew even as I cocked back for another swing that I had made a grave mistake. Thimble was twice my size and had actually been in real fights. I was a pipsqueak who almost always ended up avoiding conflict. Of course, I was dragged away from fights for Cairn's sake, but that still meant I didn't have a ton of experience.

Thimble went to hit me and, much to my shock, Cairn grabbed him. My world froze for a second when Thimble took maybe an instant to process what had happened, then switched to elbowing Cairn in the face. It was more than I could take. I saw red as I tacked Thimble, arms wrapped around his midsection, and yanked him off my sibling. I was as surprised as he was when I managed to stay on top of him, legs wrapped around his waist, but I took advantage of it while I could. I hit him again and again, ignoring the way my knuckles bled, until I finally calmed down. Until I knew he'd never mess with my sibling again.

Cotton Percale (17) D8F

Ms. Minormia was never happy with anything we made. It always made me wonder why she kept coming back, but I would never have said something like that out loud. Maybe it would have given her the idea to take her business somewhere else, and even if I didn't like Ms. Minormia, I most certainly liked her money. She was one of our most loyal, and most annoying, customers, and she probably single-handedly was the reason Nana could take care of me as well as herself, and why I was employed by her instead of working in one of the factories with their godawful conditions.

"I'm so sorry that our dress didn't fit you right. We'd be more than happy to provide alterations, and we even have some time today if you'd like!" We didn't have the time, but it really didn't matter. Ms. Minormia wouldn't take me up on the offer. She just wanted me to offer it to her anyway.

"Well that just won't do. I'm a busy woman, you know! This dress has to be perfect by Friday! Now it should have been perfect the first time. I want a refund for the time I've had to waste working with you." That floored me. Ms. Minormia complained to hear her own voice more than anything else. She'd never demanded a refund, and it really wasn't something we could afford. Just the fabric for her dress was expensive enough to put us out of business if we had to eat the cost, and that didn't include labor or accessories.

"Again, I'm so sorry, but I don't have the authority to issue a refund," I lied on the spot. I could hear my voice rising in pitch as I began to panic, something it had done for years almost on its own. If I sounded more polite and weak, surely she'd be less upset? That was how it worked, wasn't it?

"Well get me someone who can get me a refund!" Minormia demanded, and I hardly knew what to do. Nana, our only other employee, was busy, and she'd be mad if I interrupted her, but that hardly seemed like an issue when it was our rent on the line. I hurried off to get her, interrupting some very delicate stitches and earning a few quick swear words, and brought her over to our angry customer.

"Ms. Minormia says her dress doesn't fit right and she'd like a refund?" I said, feeling what was supposed to be a statement turn into a question. "I told her I'd have to ask you?"

"Ms. Minormia, I am sick and tired of this. This dress has your exact measurements down to the hundredth of a centimeter. I did them myself. Now I know you think you can beat on my granddaughter because you think she won't say anything, but I've seen your crap and I won't take it no longer. You can pay for this dress and remain our customer or you can leave and never come back." Nana was a no-nonsense type of person, but I'd never heard her say anything like that before.

Once our customer had paid and left, Nana turned to me, irritation on her face. "That lady is no good. She thinks you are weak and foolish. She is trying to scam you. You bring me to her every time, now. She listen to me. She won't try to scam me." Looking down at Nana, seeing every bit of feist she had saved up over her long life, I knew she was right.