Chapter Text
Gaty made a mental note to not stay on the internet all night. She already normally struggled with oversleeping, so today she woke up after 1 pm. Marker bothered in waking her up to tell her that lunch was ready. She only complained under her breath, followed her teammate and took a seat between Pin and Fanny. Everything looked like usual: happy chatter, wacky duos and tasty meals prepared by Tree and Black Hole. Except this time she felt too tired to even care, barely touching the plate with fettuccine a la Parisienne that waited to be eaten. Despite the pity she felt for not eating it, her tiredness won this time. She got up and saved the dish for later before going back to her room and closing the door, the creaking of the bed revealing she planned to sleep for longer.
“What’s wrong with her?” Marker whispered to the team once Gaty closed the door from her bedroom.
“Nothing that can’t be fixed with more sleep I guess?”
“Black Hole, she’s been there since, I don’t know, all day!” Tree complained.
“She spent the whole day outside yesterday, of course she’s tired,” Fanny defended.
“And then she stayed in her room, not getting out except for dinner or to get a drink.”
“And she’s still tired,” Robot Flower argued.
“Let’s give her some more time and then we wake her up, alright?” Black Hole proposed. Everyone agreed.
Tree helped everyone clean the table and wash the dishes, while Fanny only got up and locked herself into her room. Pin, on the other hand, stayed sat, debating herself about many topics. Doing what was best for Gaty became her number one priority, but she didn’t know if she was doing the best things. So, telling the rest of the team wouldn’t be a bad idea, right?
“Do you know if something happened to Gaty?” Robot Flower, who didn’t get up either, demanded to Pin.
“I don’t know,” she lamented. “Promise not to tell anyone, but she’s been struggling with gender dysphoria lately, maybe that’s why.”
“Really?” Tree inquired before drying a just washed dish.
“That sucks,” Robot Flower commented.
“What if we buy some stuff for her? We could see it if we find something cool and buy it,” Marker proposed.
“That could work!” Robot Flower agreed. “My shop has many things we can give her!”
“That’s nice. Do you think we can see something now?” Black Hole requested.
“Sure thing!”
After saying that, she took all of them in her hands and practically rushed downstairs until she arrived at her Stuff for Yourself. There, she laid them down and prepared everything to sell, putting the products on the counter. Out of all the products displayed, a bunch of things caught their attention, like a set of rings with different ornaments.
“What about these? How much are these?” Tree asked, inspecting them.
“18 dollars for the whole set,” Robot Flower replied, getting a nod from the evergreen.
“Two of these could come in handy,” Tree said for himself, giving the sets to the robot
“And how much for this plaid shirt?” Black Hole queried, showing her a red and black plaid shirt.
“Nice choice,” Tree complimented.
“Ah, that one’s 40 dollars. If you get another one, you get it with a 50% discount.”
“Sure, we’ll be taking them. Do you have any other colors?”
“Sure! Stay here,” she requested before rushing to her storage.
“Do you think she would like another hair clip?” Marker whispered to Fanny, getting a shrug from her.
“I’m back!” Robot Flower announced, bringing a pastel blue plaid shirt and another one with warm tones. Black Hole asked for both instead of the first one, to which she gladly accepted.
“What about this one, Robot Flower?” Marker asked.
“Those are a dollar each.”
“We’ll take two.”
As they kept searching for other cool items, Robot Flower began typing numbers into the cash register. She winced a little at the result. But hey, this is for Gaty, it’s worth it.
“Look at these pins!” Marker exclaimed in amazement, holding two metallic pins: a female symbol and a trans flag.
“I hate metallic pins!” Fanny complained
“Those are five dollars each,” Robot Flower disclosed, more nervously this time.
“This will be enough, right?” Tree said for himself, checking if he brought his wallet.
“Okay…” she typed some more numbers until getting the total price. “It’ll be 108 dollars,” she disclosed.
…Oops
“Does… anyone have money guys?” Tree asked.
“I hate lacking money!”
“I’ve got some, but it’s not enough to pay for everything,” The evergreen lamented.
“Don’t worry, Tree, I’ll pay a part of it too,” Robot Flower announced. “You’ll have to pay 54 dollars if we divide it in half.”
“It’s still-” he counted all his money and frowned- “not enough.”
“How broke are you?” Fanny grumbled for herself.
“Less than you apparently,” Tree spat.
“Do you have something, Black Hole?” Marker requested.
“I think I have something, let me check.”
Black Hole searched on the pockets from his sweatshirt and cargo pants, not finding more than ten dollars.
“I’ve got some more,” Pin finally spoke, laying 20 dollars on the table
“Right what we need,” Tree sighed, laying his 25 dollars and Black Hole’s money next to Pin’s.
After that, Robot Flower packed everything in a shopping bag, took the money and put it inside the cash register. Then, she took out one dollar and offered it to Tree.
“No no, keep it.”
“Thank you.”
She put the one dollar back and got out before carrying everyone again and dashing back to their apartment. Once they entered they saw Gaty in an oversized t-shirt and black shorts. Based on her shuffling and barely open eyes, they assumed she just got up
“Oh hey guys, didn’t know you went shopping” Gaty greeted groggily. “What did you get?”
“We bought you gifts!” Marker proclaimed.
Gaty’s eyes widened in surprise. “W-wait, really? And what did you guys get?”
“That’s up to you to find out!” The capped one giggled.
She raised her brows before being handed the bag to be inspected. Then, she laid everything on the table and thanked them for all the products individually. All she could do was laugh in excitement and wonder.
“Everything is great, thank you guys! I really liked the pins too.”
“No worries. Pin told us you had some struggles with gender dysphoria, so we wanted to give you some gifts. Good thing you liked them.”
And he had to say that.
Something shattered inside Gaty when those words left Black Hole’s mouth.
“Ahhh, thank you,” she gritted her teeth. “Pin we need to talk. Right now.”
A knot formed inside Pin’s stomach. The nervousness crept over her once Gaty uttered those words full of resentment. Everyone’s concerned gaze piercing the two of them made it worse. Gaty stormed to her room and dragged her friend as well. After closing the door, the former sighed loudly and turned around to see Pin sitting on the bed.
“Why did you tell them?”
Tense silence filled the room. Pin felt miserable as the guilt filled her body. She looked down, not daring to face her fate.
“It’s not a hard question. Why, did you tell them?” She reiterated.
“I just wanted to help you and make it easier for you!” Pin blurted out.
"Pin you need to be careful who you tell this to. It's a personal thing, you know that, right? It’s very important for me that you know that."
"I didn't mean to make you mad! I saw you talking with someone else about it, I thought you were okay with it!"
"But it was my choice to tell Lollipop and Taco, if that's what you're saying. I chose to tell them. I knew they were trustworthy, the same way I told you,” Gaty argued. “Listen, I know you mean well, but that doesn't mean you have to spill with everyone what I'm going through."
Pin sighed and nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Gaty pressed her lips together and "It's okay I guess. From now on, DON'T, tell anyone else, okay? Unless I give you explicit permission to, you cannot tell people about my struggle. Get it?"
“Yeah, sorry.”
"I should have told you to not tell anyone to begin with, I'll give you that. But the good part is, now you know."
“You’re right.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
After both got out of the room, they couldn’t believe how they didn’t hear the mayhem that unleashed while both were gone. Everyone kept yelling their own arguments without letting room for what the other had to say.
“We shouldn’t have bought all of that. They’re as faulty as I thought,” Tree concluded with disappointment.
“You guys chose the products, it’s your fault she didn’t like them!” Robot Flower disagreed
“I hate it when acts of kindness turn into a misunderstanding and lead to bad situations!” Fanny complained.
“No, guys, wait!” Gaty tried calming the waters.
“GUUUUYS!” Only Marker’s shrill voice managed to stop the bickering from the remaining Death P.A.C.T Again members. “She’s trying to talk!”
The passing of chaos to absolute silence deafened Gaty, while Pin seemed kinda used to it.
“Guys, it’s not your fault. It was just a small misunderstanding between me and Pin, nothing to argue about,” she explained. “Now, if you give entirely honest reviews, I think I should try on everythi-”
“See, Tree? She liked them,” Robot Flower taunted
“That’s because I chose them,” the botanist contempted
“It was a team effort, you moron!” Fanny reminded them with anger.
“Can you guys just calm down?!” Pin demanded.
“Thanks, Pin.” Gaty sighed. “Okay, what should I try first?”
Everyone echoed their answers with excitement at the same time.
“The hair clips!”
“The shirts!”
“Everything at once!” Robot Flower suggested, raising her arms.
“Sounds cool,” Gaty accepted. “Though, I don’t think I can wear two plaid shirts at once.”
“No big deal,” the robot dismissed.
In a matter of seconds and with a huge eagerness, she put on all the rings, the hair clips and both shirts altogether before posing on a nearby mirror. After giving a graceful spin, everyone clapped and cheered how everything looked on her. Despite it only being for a moment because everyone had to help with dinner, it left a nice atmosphere in the apartment. However, Gaty posed a little longer in the mirror, feeling delighted by what she saw in her reflection.
“You can take them out if you want now,” Robot Flower offered before sitting on the table.
Gaty nodded. “I think I’ll keep everything for a little longer.”