i'd rather be a riot than indifferent

1. an unwelcome surprise

a/n: i fell in love with my nonbinary freed from 'crash & burn' so here we are! a note that freed's journey in exploring their gender identity is very similar to mine, and as such that is all I can speak to. gender identity is such a personal experience, so I'm only able to write what I know. :)

this story is set five years after the end of 'crash & burn' (two years after the epilogue)

title is from 'this means war' by marianas trench'

cw for homophobia/transphobia and dysphoria as well as mental health issue. each chapter will have trigger warnings if necessary.

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Freed gets an unexpected visit from someone they never expected to see again.

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The windchime at the front of the Pride Center rang as the door flew open, and Freed looked up from the desk to see a harried-looking Ryos standing there.

"I'm here, sorry." Ryos sighed, shifting baby Ava on his hip while Kiya hid behind him, clutching at his jeans. Ryos nudged her inside gently, letting the door close behind him. "I swear I was finally going to be on time for once, but then Levy called and apparently her and Gajeel both forgot that each other were working again, so guess who got roped into babysitting?"

"No worries," Freed said, smiling at the kids. "We're not on a schedule."

"Don't pretend you don't love watching these two." Gray appeared from the back room, carrying a box of leaflets and setting them on the table. He crouched down, smiling at the Kiya, who was still hiding behind Ryos' legs. "Hey, Kiya! How's my sweet pea?"

Freed watched with amusement as Kiya's face instantly transformed from apprehensive to thrilled as she launched herself across the room and into Gray's arms.

"Gay!" Kiya shouted, knocking him over. "Hi, Gay!"

Freed laughed, reaching out to take Ada as Ryos dropped his bag on the floor next to the desk. Ryos pulled his hair back out of his face, fastening it with one of the many rainbow-colored elastics he had wrapped around his wrist.

Ada gazed up at Freed curiously, and they returned the look with raised eyebrows. Babies were strange. Freed had never been particularly interested in children, but their friendship with Gray had introduced Freed to a multitude of them. Freed had determined that kids weren't that bad – as long as they could be given back to their parents at the end of the day.

"She's not wrong." Ryos snorted at Kiya's excited squeals of Gray's name, reaching out and taking Ada back from Freed.

"Not the first kid to call me that," Gray said good-naturedly, pushing himself back to standing and lifting Kiya onto his hip. "Hey, no touching that." He guided Kiya's fingers away from his earring, courtesy of Ever and her apprenticeship at the tattoo shop. Kiya ran her hands down the stubble on Gray's jaw instead, giggling.

"Looks like she thinks you need to shave, too," Freed commented, smiling at Gray. The three of them moved from the front entrance into the common room of the Pride Center.

"Eh, I was just trying it out," Gray said, bopping Kiya's nose and setting her down on the ground. She ran over to the coffee table and grabbed a coloring book. Nobody was there at the moment – the youth group that Freed and Ryos co-hosted wasn't until later that evening – but the three of them had been getting together to plan the summer camp. "Natsu's not back for another week," Gray added, "so I'll probably get rid of it before then. He doesn't like beards."