What's in a Name?
not_quite_a_human
His breath was already short before he’d even finished getting ready for school. Max dropped his backpack by the bed and went to stand in front of the mirror. Even pulling the shirt off caused a string of pain to lance around his torso, just below his arms. He winced, dropped the shirt and went to loosen the binder. His brows knit. It was already fastened as far as he could allow without tearing the fabric.
It had been easy to get his first binder. His parents never paid attention to him. It had been an easy matter squirrelling away spare dollars and change nicked from their wallets. He’d given the money to a friend at his old school, who then bought the binder online and secreted it to him. But now he was hitting a growth spurt and he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to pull the same trick with David.
Or if he wanted to pull the same trick with David.
Sighing, he adjusted himself, trying his best to get the binder to work. It just had to hold a little longer until he could figure out how to get a new one. He bit his lip, already feeling several sore spots and the biting pain at the edges. His eyes started to well. He didn’t want to go to school. It was too hot to wear a hoodie. He had nothing…well…there was the medical tape.
Dropping the binder, he slipped on his shirt and snuck out into the hallway closet. Rifling through the first aid kit, he found the tape and crept back to his room. He’d done this a few times before, but that had been when he was smaller, easier to conceal. Now he was thirteen and growing fast. He bit his lip, working fast. He could just use a little and wear the binder over it. That would have to work for –
“Max…?”
The tape dropped to the ground, rolling under the bed. Max felt his limbs deaden as his head cleared of all rational thought. He clutched for his shirt, covering himself as he spun around and backed up against the mirror. “David! What the fuck? Get out of my room!”
David’s eyes dropped to Max’s half covered torso and his jaw dropped a fraction. He had wondered why Max asked to keep his own records in his room when they underwent the full legal adoption. He figured it was just Max asserting his individuality from him despite being technically adopted. The reality seemed so much more…understandable. His gaze shifted back to the panicked, angry look in Max’s eyes. “I said get out!”
“You shouldn’t bind like that…it’s not good for long time periods.”
The boy’s cheeks flushed with mixed rage and embarrassment. Max scrambled to try and find something else to cover with before fully intending to shove David out of the room by force if he kept standing there. “The hell do you know? Just get the hell out!”
Just as Max started shoving at David’s arm though, David stopped him. He was still tall enough to hold Max back with a hand to the forehead while he untucked his shirt from his pajama pants. Max staggered back, preparing a well articulated string of swear words for David if he really intended to flash him just then. But then he saw the edge of something familiar and his words died in his throat.
“I think I have a few ideas,” David said quietly as he let his shirt drop again.
Max’s eyes rose shakily to meet David’s gaze. “David, you…?”
