SkepHalo Collection Book

gender is a fickle thing [AF]

| I'm just projecting onto c!Bad again

Warnings: bad has an identity crisis
Type: Angst/Fluff

Enjoy! |

Bad frowned as he looked in the mirror. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't place what.

He adjusted his cloak, shined his buttons, boots and clasps. He fluffed his hair and rustled his wings and picked at his fangs until they were shiny. That didn't help.

He huffed and decided to join Skeppy downstairs. He was just hungry, that was all. Or maybe still sleepy. He had just woken up not that long ago. He blamed it on that.

"Good morning!" Bad chirped, pushing the odd feeling down.

"Morning." Skeppy smiled, cracking an egg into the pan he was holding. "Sleep well?"

Bad shrugged. "I guess so. Woke up feeling weird, though."

"Weird how?" Skeppy inquired.

Bad shrugged again, letting his chin fall into his palm. "I don't know. Probably just hungry."

Skeppy hummed. "Hopefully you feel better after breakfast. We got a shit ton to do today." Skeppy said, handing Bad a mug of coffee and kissing his cheek.

"Language." Bad reminded and took a sip of his coffee.

===

He did not feel better after breakfast. In fact, the off feeling only grew worse.

It really reached it's peak when the pair met up with Eret and Puffy. They wanted Bad and Skeppy's opinions on the pride builds they did around the server.

As they walked, Puffy explained the mishaps Eret had when they were building. His chest twisted in a feeling he couldn't place when Puffy switched up Eret's pronouns.

He ignored it, digging his claws into his hands and let the fresh warmth drip down his fingers.

At the end of their tour, Bad followed Skeppy to the prison. Sam needed a quick talk.

"Skeppy?" Bad piped up.

Skeppy turned around, now walking backwards. Bad had been quiet ever since they parted from Eret and Puffy.

Bad fiddled with his fingers as he thought. He could brush this off or actually talk to his husband about this. The latter was less appealing but he figured now was a better time than later, while his feelings were still fresh.

"I uhm... I want to be like Eret.." That sounded stupider out loud than it did in his head.

Skeppy stopped, looking up at Bad with a confused face. "You want... to be like Eret..?"

Bad nodded, his face flushed in shame as Skepoy repeated his words back.

"Like them how? She's a lot of things, you gotta be specific." Skeppy planted his hands on his hips.

Bad tried to shrink back in his cloak. He wanted the dark fabric to eat him whole. "That. I- I want to be called different things."

Skeppy squinted at his husband for a good second before it slowly started to piece together in his head. "Oh. You mean his pronouns?" Skeppy made sure to be gentle about the subject.

Bad nodded. He fiddled with the silver clasp that kept his cloak on. "I don't know why it's now of all times I mean for my entire life I've been good as "he" but... I don't know it's just started to bug me recently and I'm sorry for springing this on you out of nowhere I'm sorry I-"

Bad stopped when he felt Skeppy hug him. His face nuzzled into his sternum and his hands pressed into Bad's back comfortingly.

"You're ok, love." Skeppy comforted.

Bad dropped down and hugged Skeppy back. The younger moved his arms to fit around Bad's shoulders.

"It's fine, you're ok. Not everything stays the same forever. You're just figuring some things out. It's ok I'm not mad." Skeppy pressed kisses to Bad's face and hair now that he could reach.

Bad nodded. More to himself than to Skeppy.

They sat for a while, until Bad felt better enough to pull away. He still stared at the ground.

"Do you know what you want to be called?" Skeppy asked carefully.

Bad shook his head.

"Ok. Uh.. What about "she"?"

"No. Not that." Bad answered quickly.

"They?" Skeppy tried again.

Bad thought more on this one. "They" wasn't bad. It felt a little more correct than "he". Not that "he" was ever bad. It just felt a little foreign.

"Maybe. Could we try it?" He finally looked up at Skeppy. His patient face was a breath of fresh air.

"Yeah, of course. So I would say something like, "Bad said they liked dogs better than cats. They work at the prison and have the best husband in the world."" Skeppy smiled smugly. Bad snickered.

"I do, I do. You're right." Bad smiled. They thought for a moment, before shaking their head. "They isn't right either." He frowned.

"Ok.. So let's try something else."

"It?" Bad blurted. His eyes were wide, and that told Skeppy all he needed.

"Bad just told me it wanted me to call it "it". It's very cute when it's excited." Skeppy booped Bad's nose when he finished speaking.

That felt better. That felt so much better! Bad smiled, a genuine smile. "I like that!" It said.

"Thought so. So, just "it"?"

Bad shook its head. "You can still call me "he" if you want. But I also really like "it". So.. Both of those? Like when you talk about Eret?"

Skeppy nodded in understanding. "Can do. Now, let's go. We're late to meet with Sam."

"Wait Skeppy!" Bad called, scrambling to stand up.

Skeppy turned around, quirking an eyebrow at Bad.

"I love you." It smiled. His tailed wagged furiously behind it.

"I love you too. Now move! Come on we got places to be!"
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MUUUUMM SHADOW'S PROJECTING ONTO MINECRAFT ROLEPLAY CHARACTERS AGAINNN
Ok to be fair I don't use it/its pronouns but they seemed fitting to Bad so,,, also I'm sure someone who'll read this uses them :D
Word count: 975