Aqua Equus

Taming the Wild

"Never gotten close enough to an Aqua Equus before to start inspecting them." I said. "And gender is a spectrum, so I think the word you were looking for is sex."

Arrow shrugged, looking at me.
"Mors isn't cis, a trait that gets passed onto a lot of their kids." I explained. "He's usually presents as male, but the name is female and yeah, it's complicated." I stopped my ramblings. "Luca was gender fluid- so you may hear me refer to him as her, but don't get confused."

"And you?" Arrow asked.

"A truth for a truth?" I asked. He nodded. "I think I'm bigender. Male and non-binary. I'm not 100% sure." I stopped. "So, do some of you turn into girls rather than boys?"

"Yeah, of course." He said. "Can I assume by that question that you're straight?"

"Never assume." I muttered, quoting Luca.

"So, I'm assuming that means.." I stopped, tears choking my words.

"Don't cry, Renzo." He said, wiping the tears from my cheek with his calloused thumb. It was comforting, but made me cry more. "It's not necessarily the end. I won't give up yet. And don't forget, never assume."

"Do you have a question?" Arrow prompted."

"Yeah. Why did you decide to 'come out', as it were?"

"I dunno, I wanted you to know me? I trust you, and yeah." He said. "Can I ask about Luca?"

I shook my head. "Maybe another time. Ask something else."

"Okay." Arrow said. "Why do you cut yourself off from people?"

"Again, obvious." I said. "They always leave, or get hurt. Best to just stay away."

"Not always." Arrow muttered. "Your turn."

"When you said you like me..?" I started, but that was the question.

"Pass." He shrugged. "Go again."

"Alright..." I took a breath. "Kind of awkward, but would you help me catch an Aqua Equus so I can race?"

"Why do you want to race?" He asked.

"Because Luca used to love horses, and racing, so what better way to honour him? Next summer it'll have been..." I stopped. "Five years."

"How old were you?" He asked.

"18." I whispered. "So will you help me?"

"I don't need to." He said. "You don't need to catch one."

"Er, yeah I do." I muttered.

He held his arms out. "No, you don't. You've got me." He grinned. "And we'll win that race for him."

I nodded, almost smiling. "Your go."

"Will you go out with me?" He blurted, before covering his mouth again. It was starting to become a thing, I noticed. "Please forget I ever said that." He said, his voice muffled because of his hand.

"Sure." I shrugged. "And you don't put forward a very convincing argument anyway- 'first time I saw you I was going to kill you'. Definitely a way to reel in all the guys." I smiled then, and he smiled back, seeing the humour in my words.

"Shall we go back to the house now?" He asked, finally pulling on boots and a t-shirt.

"Sure." I said. I let him into the house, as he'd forgotten his key, but I stayed outside in the rain.

"Aren't you coming?" He asked.

I shook my head, opening a pack of cigarettes. "I'll stay out a while." I said.