Alphabet AU Challenge

Q is for Queer: Nope and Nope (Kellic)

right okay so technically my fics could already be considered "queer" for the most part, since they're almost all about same gender relationships, but for this fic i decided to do something a little different. here's two LGBT people who are comfortable referring to themselves as "queer": pansexual agender kellin and polysexual demigirl vic (if you don't know what any of those terms mean pls look them up first before coming to me) bc i am overwhelmingly trans and i needed this. also kellin uses "ze/zir" pronouns in this fic (they're an example of one of many singular gender neutral substitutes for "he/him" and "she/her") bc i do what i want and many trans/nb people use pronouns like that so i figured why the fuck not. also i may or may not have accidentally fallen in love with my own fic while writing this so i might write a sequel to this that goes into more detail with their identities and what happens after this and blah blah yeah ok whatever enjoy <3

—

"I swear on my life," Kellin mutters as ze folds a bunch of t-shirts, "the next person who misgenders me today is going to get their foot broken."

Zir coworker, Nick, pops his head out from behind one of the jewelry displays (he's short enough that he could probably hide behind them the whole time). "Rough day?" he guesses.

"You bet your ass," Kellin replies, groaning in frustration when the t-shirts end up wrinkled and ze has to fold them all over again because ze was too focused on despising the world. "I thought I'd mastered the gender-nonconforming look. I thought for sure I'd confuse people to the point where they'd have no choice but to ask. But no. 'Ask that girl if you can try those pants on.' 'That guy over there has weird hair.' Nope and nope."

Kellin's gender is kind of a weird subject for zir, mostly because, well, ze doesn't have one. Nick is one of the only people who has always accepted Kellin's identity without question, so ze feels safe ranting to him. Which is a good thing, because the two of them work shitty jobs at the Hot Topic in their local mall, and Kellin is being stuck with words like "guy" and "girl" and "he" and "she," and ze really isn't in the mood to deal with that bullshit right now.

"If it makes you feel any better," Nick says as he walks around to the main counter, "the other day a friend of mine told me that you were making him question his sexuality because he wasn't sure what your gender was. I tried to explain it to him, but apparently, that only made him question it even more."

Kellin laughs a little. "Success." Ze still wants to break someone's foot, but slightly less now.

It hasn't been a particularly busy day, so the store has been pretty much empty the entire time that ze's been ranting, but when ze glances over at the main entrance, ze notices someone coming in, and ze groans inwardly. Now ze has to pretend to be straight and cis.

"Hello and welcome to Hot Topic," ze calls pleasantly, immediately rattling off their current sales as ze makes zir way over. "Can I help you find anything," ze finishes, "or are you just looking around?"

The person, who looks to be about Kellin's age, bites their lip and shakes their head, seeming almost bashful. "Um, I think I'm just looking."

"Okay," Kellin says, focusing zir attention on adjusting another display and fixing the t-shirts that someone must've picked up and then put back. "If you need anything, just let me know."

Ze tries to pretend that ze's not at all interested, but the truth is, this person is quite adorable. Ze isn't going to say that, though. Ze's just going to observe as ze's working.

The amusing thing about this person is that they seem reluctant, scared, constantly glancing over their shoulder before turning back to whatever they're looking at. They walk around slowly but aimlessly, but they keep sneaking peeks over at the wall with all the dresses. It occurs to Kellin, then, that this person might be afraid of what ze or Nick might say. Ze doesn't like gendering strangers, but ze knows that most people would look at this person and pin them as a guy in a matter of seconds, and if there's one things that guys aren't supposed to do according to society, it's take an interest in dresses.