Wanna Have A Go? (Dante) [Content warning]

[Tori Peterson]

[Content warning: thread includes transmisogyny, use of slurs]

Tori was not in a good mood.

Heavy footprints were left in the ground as she tromped off into the grounds of Hammel, hoping to put some good distance between herself and the classrooms. So many small things had come together to form a dark cloud in her mind, weighing heavily on her mood and thoroughly ruining her day.

Math class, which was always annoying, with her being blamed for all the noise of the people next to her. Forgetting her pens and pencils in biology. Finding out that not all the students were as wonderfully accepting as the institution as a whole was. Hearing jokes about pretty boys and worse... The harassment took a notably different flavor than it had in high school, where she had been directly attacked because of peoples' discomfort with who she was. Instead, she was subject to the little whisperings that people passed on to her under the impression that she was one of them, and that she wouldn't judge their bigotry. Look at him. He's so girly, isn't it hilarious? It was abundantly clear what exactly they would think of her if they knew her history.

Not to mention the sky-hunger that had been gnawing at her insides, pleading with her to just take off and fly somewhere, anywhere. She just couldn't, she didn't have the requisite training. What was there to guarantee she wouldn't just plop on her face in the ground? She had met her trainer, sure, but it wasn't moving quickly enough for her.

Tori reached a tall tree with some low-hanging branches next to the peaceful blue pond. She kicked a stone into the calm water, causing gentle ripples to ebb across the surface. She sighed. I need to calm down. Perhaps being with the birds would help? This tree seemed fairly easy to climb. She grabbed a low-hanging branch, feeling the sticky sap cling to her palms, and scrabbled at the trunk with her feet.

Before too long she was sitting in a high branch, breathing deeply and listening to the sounds of birds singing their daily routines to each other. It calmed her somewhat, and slowly some of the tension exited her muscles.

I swear to God, if one more thing happens today....

[Dante Russo]

Dante was almost never in a good mood, and the recent blow to his ego wasn't helping. Currently, he was stalking across the school grounds, phone to his ear, looking supremely miffed.

"Look, Jo Jo, I'm done talking about it! I don't need to rehash the details, I need you to fucking distract me! Can you handle that? Or should I go find something else to do?"

Dante sat on the edge of the koi pond, leaning forward with his elbows on is knees.

"Okay! Okay! Christ, man. Chillax, will you? I think I got something here. I met someone."

"Oh, joy. You know I love hearing about your love life," Dante droned sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.

"Shut-up, D. She's really great. My parents love her, and.. well, her parent's aren't really in the picture--"

"Why? What's her damage?"

"She's.. well she's trans--"

"Oh my god! Are you fucking serious!? You're dating a tranny!? I was under the strong impression that you were straight, bro." Dante chuckled.

"I am! God Dante, you're so narrow sometimes!"

"You're dating a dude in a dress! Or a girl with a dick! Either way, it's not very straight-- and we've had discussions about how very straight you are, man. If I put on a dress, would you fuck me?"

"... Call me back when you're done being a dick. I can't talk to you right now."

Dante pulled his phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. "That bitch hung up on me!"

[Tori Peterson]

The tension was starting to ebb out of Tori's body as she drummed her fingers against the branch below her and listening to the various twitterings of the birds around her. Her heart rate slowed, and she felt her senses opening up to the subtle caresses of the sparse forest. The air smelled vaguely of pine and tree sap, and the soft breeze cooled her skin and gently swayed the trees. A bird fluttered over and landed on a branch next to her, and she turned her head slowly so as not to startle it. She whistled a soft greeting to the bird, which tilted its head and looked at her.

A sudden commotion sounded from her right as birds startled and flew off in a large ruckus. Tori jumped, frightening the bird off the adjacent branch. God, what now?!? Her pulse was quick to race, primed as she was to be on edge that day. Sure enough, some clumsy dumbass was tromping through the woods below her, having an irritatingly loud phone conversation. Just ignore him, he'll pass on soon enough...

She tried her best to tune out of the conversation, but the man's voice raised and a phrase lodged in her ear: "You're dating a tr***y?! I was under the strong impression that you were straight, bro."

Tori's heart lodged itself in her throat. And then, to add insult to injury: "You're dating a dude in a dress! Or a girl with a dick! Either way, it's not very straight..."

The rest of his conversation was drowned out by the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. Her hands tightened involuntarily into fists as the acid sensations of fear and anxiety ate at her breast. It wasn't new, but it triggered her every time - her gender, her dysphoria, her entire existence being reduced to "man in a dress," just some dude in drag for the rest of the world to laugh at and beat up. She had heard it countless times before - "man in a dress," "tr***y," "freak" - from the bullies before they beat her and threw her down, from the comedy shows that got her dad to laugh every time he watched them, from her so-called "friends" who thought it was perfectly okay to mock people like her in her presence. The message was clear: she was a threat, she was a joke, she was worthless. This was what she had to deal with on a daily basis, what made her fear for her physical safety and mental well-being.

Thing was, today she had had enough.

Her nails pressed into her palms, threatening to break skin as her fear turned to rage. How dare he? How fucking dare he?! How dare this man intrude on the one place she had ventured to for relief and shatter her solitude? Who did he think he was, passing judgement on that woman like that, passing judgement on her?

Tori peered over the edge of the branch, jaw clenching in anger. "Will you take your stupid phone conversations somewhere else?!" she shouted to this bigoted clumsy dumbass, her voice betraying far too much anger to come across as mere annoyance. She didn't know if he was actually still talking, but she was too angry to care.

[Dante Russo]

I think I actually pissed him off this time. Huh... Dante pocketed his phone, which is fortunate, because the angry voice shouting at him suddenly startled him so much that he might have otherwise dropped it in the pond. Dante jumped to his feet, flustered, heart pounding.

"Christ! What the hell's your problem-- and the fuck'r you doing!?" Dante looked up at the strange girl in the tree. Being from the city, Dante didn't climb trees, and he didn't know any other people who did either. And he really didn't appreciate being snuck up on. Okay, granted, she'd been there first, but she was basically hiding!

Being startled like that made Dante feel ambushed, which triggered a special, reactive kind of aggression. Dante was on the defensive, and much like a frightened animal, he was going to lash out.

[Tori Peterson]

"Christ! What the hell's your problem-- and the fuck'r you doing!?" the man shouted back at her, obviously startled. Tori took some sardonic pleasure in his startled reaction, and smirked slightly. She was still pissed off as hell, though, and this hapless - though she couldn't say undeserving - man was going to be on the receiving end of that.

"You wanna know what my problem is?" she said mockingly, "My problem is you crashing into here with your stupid fucking phone call and spewing your stupid fucking opinions everywhere! I just wanted to be left the hell alone, okay?!"

Tori was dimly aware of how little sense she was making, but she didn't care as long as this man either went away or had his day ruined. On any other day she would have just moved and stewed in private, but she'd be damned if she was going to silently acquiesce to yet another bigot today. She wasn't moving an inch, not if she had any say in it.

[Dante Russo]

"Oh yeah, 'cause I'm here specifically to annoy you. I just thought to myself, 'Self, let's go irritate that bitch over there. It'll be fun! I don't have my own shit to handle, let's go raise some hell for absolutely no reason!' You don't own this spot!" Dante shouted, a bit of Brooklyn seeping back into his voice as he scowled up at her.

"You got a problem wit' my opinions? Go cry about it somewhere else! Go shove s'more chocolate in that fat face of yours! Can you even fly with those wings? I bet yo' fat ass just hits the ground like a fuckin' rock!"

Dante was angry and hurt. Not a good combination. His conversation with Jo Jo wasn't just about his friend's new relationship. There was some history there that had Dante upset and frankly pretty offended. The day Dante left New York, he left a message for Jo Jo, coming out and admitting feelings he had for his friend. Jo Jo was chill with the whole thing, but there were some long, intense conversations afterword. No, nothing would ever happen between them, even if Dante weren't a whole state away. Jo Jo was straight, and in Dante's mind, right now, Jo Jo had jilted him in the worst way possible.

Sure, the matter was settled ages ago, but Dante was quick to open old wounds. And whats-her-name in the tree was as good a target as any to release his frustration.

[Tori Peterson]

"Oh yeah, 'cause I'm here specifically to annoy you. I just thought to myself, 'Self, let's go irritate that bitch over there. It'll be fun! I don't have my own shit to handle, let's go raise some hell for absolutely no reason!' You don't own this spot!" Well, she had succeeded in pissing him off, at least. Tori's blood pounded louder in her ears as he continued. "You got a problem wit' my opinions? Go cry about it somewhere else! Go shove s'more chocolate in that fat face of yours! Can you even fly with those wings? I bet yo' fat ass just hits the ground like a fuckin' rock!"

The comment on her weight gave her pause, and a flicker of uncertainty went across her face. It was true, she couldn't fly yet, but the hurt went deeper than that. Intellectually she knew that it wasn't true, if anything she was underweight, and even if she were fat it wouldn't affect her worth as a person - but she wasn't exactly thinking with her head right now. What he said resonated with the inner transmisogynistic voice, constructed from all the jokes, slurs, and hatred she had heard directed at trans women (and women on the whole) over the years and internalized on some level. It whispered the worst things at her when she was at her lowest, telling her she would never be pretty enough, feminine enough, skinny enough, woman enough. Why should you even try? You'll just be some fat bitch who can't even fly.

This man was like that inner transphobe embodied in flesh, and hence he was the perfect target for her rage.

"You think I give a shit why you're here?" she scoffed, jumping and landing on a slightly lower tree branch - though not low enough for him to reach her. The tree shook slightly with the impact as she held onto the branch above her and gave him her meanest glare. "I was here first - or are you such a territorial social idiot that you push everyone out of places just because you feel like being there instead? You better be careful, or I'll plop my fat ass right down on your head and break something." It was pretty obviously an empty threat - if nothing else, her thinness betrayed that fact - but even if she didn't have it in her to physically do anything to him, she enjoyed using his own ammunition against him.

[Dante Russo]

"Yea', come down here!" Dante gave a mirthless laugh at her threat, "don't think I won't hit you 'cause you lack a Y chromosome! I'll knock your fuckin' teeth out! Give you an excuse t' go on a liquid diet!"

It was hard to tell if Dante was all talk. Mostly because sometimes he wasn't. He got into fistfights, and he had no qualms about hitting girls. He hit his own mother (she usually started it, but that was beside the point). He was actually more inclined to be violent with women. Aggression was a great mask for fear. Lashing out was, in Dante's world, better than showing weakness. Vulnerability was never an option.

So, even though this girl's very presence made his stomach clench, he stepped closer just to yell at her. "C'mon, bitch! You wanna' shout at me all day, or you want a piece of this!?" Dante spread his arms, posturing aggressively.

[Tori Peterson]

"don't think I won't hit you 'cause you lack a Y chromosome!"

Tori burst into laughter. It was partially from stress and partially from the sheer unexpectedness of that comment. She had been on the other end of transmisogyny for so long - being targeted for obviously being gender-variant but not read as a cis woman - that being assumed cis didn't register in her mind for a moment. Man, if only you knew... She didn't dare say that aloud, though. If she did, she suspected his posturing would escalate into full-fledged violence.

Although... Even if he did get violent, did he have anything on her right now? She was certain she could climb faster than he could, and she probably could fly with these wings if she needed to. Still, she didn't know what his powers were. What if he had some freaky manipulation power that could make the trees knock her to the ground or something? It was a risk, she didn't even know all the kinds of powers that existed, let alone what he had. The cold calculation around her physical safety forced her out of her enraged headspace enough to see clearly for the first time since she overheard the man's phone conversation. Angry or not, she didn't feel like getting beaten up again, ever.

A wry smile touched her face as something occured to her. One thing she had learned from her years of bullying: nothing enraged self-righteous dudebros more than someone turning down a fight. It signaled that she wouldn't play their macho game, didn't care about inflating her own ego or proving her strength or masculinity. Her lack of propensity for physical altercations had enraged the boys she grew up avoiding and sometimes made her a target. In this case, it was her best asset. Let this dumbass think what he would.

Tori sat down solidly on the branch, feet dangling over the edge, and crossed her arms. "Nope, don't feel like it." It occurred to her that he might determine her trans status from context: her rage at the particulars of his phone conversation, her laughter at the Y-chromosome comment. She held tight, a slightly smug expression on her face to hide her anxiety and fear, and hoped he wouldn't.

[Dante Russo]

"Oh! You don't feel like it!? I'm sorry, I didn't realize those were chicken wings!" A smirk twisted subtly in one corner of his mouth. Truth be told, Dante was better at verbal abuse than he was at fighting. He was quick, and he was creative, but he wasn't terribly strong. He excelled at looking mean, and being willing to fight was crucial when talking smack. People could generally tell when you were full of shit. Dante was only half full of shit. He absolutely would punch a random person he just met in the face, but that didn't mean he could do as much damage as he claimed.

Anyway, he really enjoyed the smack talking part of an altercation. Even when he was angry, that little smirk usually found its way to the corner of his mouth. Especially if he was winning-- which is to say, if the other person backed down.

"Why the fuck d'you care what I think about trannys anyway?!" Of course, he really couldn't resist continuing. He was still pissed as hell. So pissed that he was slow to put the pieces together.

[Tori Peterson]

"Oh! You don't feel like it!? I'm sorry, I didn't realize those were chicken wings!" Tori rolled her eyes. "How creative. Can't think of anything more original, pea-brain?" Huh, he actually seemed to be calming down. Apparently he wasn't your standard-issue dudebro... Of course he had that stupid superior smile on his face, but what mattered was that the conflict seemed to be deescalating.

""Why the fuck d'you care what I think about tr***ys anyway?!"

Fuck, fuck, fuck... Had he caught on? Or had he not caught on and somehow figured she would tell him? Was the slur just another attempt to get a rise out of her? What had she been thinking, starting an argument with a violent transmisogynst?! He had already proven that he would start a physical altercation, what would he do if he figured out she was trans? Her pulse rang in her ears, this time from fear. She placed her hands on the branch above her and tried to subtly flare out her wings, preparing for flight if she needed to get away. Fuck pride or arguing for argument's sake, she just wanted to be physically safe.

She swallowed a few times and tried her best to wipe the fear off her face and replace it with sneering disdain. "I don't care what you think, I care what you say when you stumble into my personal space and start yapping your ass off. In case you hadn't caught it the first time, I couldn't care less about you." Hopefully he hadn't caught her initial reaction of fear, hopefully he wouldn't put the pieces together, hopefully he would wander off, satisfied with the thought that he had won this fight...

[Dante Russo]

Dante did, in fact, notice the fear. That was the point of the game, right? Intimidation. Of course, he hadn't said anything inherently intimidating just then, and his tone wasn't any harsher than it had been this whole time. But bird-chick made herself taller by touching the branch above her, and Dante saw her wings move. She was fearful, not just pissed--

Oh.

Dante turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes just a touch. He looked at her-- really looked at her for the first time and... he wasn't quite sure, but he had a suspicion.

"Look, girlie, if you care what I say, you care what I think. The two are sorta inherently connected. If you really didn't care about my dumb ass, you woulda' kept you're trap shut. It ain't like you were interruptin' me or nuthin! I was done talking by the time you opened you're mouth!" Dante took a short step back, trying to get a better look at her. "And you didn't answer the question. Maybe I should rephrase it: why do you have a frikin' bug up your ass about this!?"

Dante was just being obstinate now. He really enjoyed argument for argument sake-- but also, he needed a little time. He needed a couple more reactions to be sure. Nothing like calling someone out prematurely. Dante hated being wrong.

[Tori Peterson]

Tori knew enough to know when she was being clocked. The way that he looked at her, that scrutinizing look, as if her body was up for public consumption - he had caught on. Oh, and now he was trying to logic her out of her assertion, quite poorly at that. The way he said girlie was almost sarcastic, a backhand stab at her identity. Yes, she had been mad earlier. No, she hadn't wanted to give up any more space today. However, she was not in the mood to stand by while some dude scrutinized her and hurled all the transmisogynistic shit he could think of at her. It was time to leave.

Tori feigned an exaggerated yawn. "Are you done yet? This is getting boring." Bending her knees, she jumped to the ground in front of him, flaring her wings slightly to muffle her landing. She stood up straight and looked him straight in the eye, attempting to convey a lack of fear. "I really don't care, and I sure don't owe you shit. Now, if you don't mind, I have better things to do." She turned on her heels and flared her wings, pushing hard off the ground.

God, she really hadn't anticipated that her first time flying would be in this kind of context. Tori had hoped for something more positive, more euphoric - but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Her flight pattern was obviously erratic, adrenaline racing through her veins as she narrowly avoided hitting trees. The wind rushed past her face, stinging her narrowed eyes. First flight was terrifying, but she wasn't going to stop until she had put a good amount of distance between her and this asshole dude.

((exeunt Tori))