Page 57 of Looking for Group
The effort sapped what remained of his spirit, so he went back to bed. Eventually, though, he got bored of staring at the ceiling and feeling sorry for himself, so he grabbed his copy ofHawkeye: My Life as a Weaponand started comfort reading. Lots of pictures and not many words felt like all he could cope with at the moment. Also, he’d always been secretly into Hawkeyebecause he loved the idea of a superhero whose only power was “I’ve got a bow.” It was less a power, more a lifestyle choice, and the reboot was sort of milking that for all it was worth. Drew liked to think of it asHawkeye: My Life as Some Bloke.
About halfway through the storyline where Clint archives his ludicrous collection of gimmicky weapons, Drew caught himself wondering if Solace had read it, and if he liked superheroes and, if so, which.
And that left him sniffling intoThe Tape, Part 1.
There was a knock at the door and, without waiting for a response, Sanee and Tinuviel barged in.
Drew threwHawkeyeaside and dived back under the covers, worried he looked exactly how he felt. “This totally isn’t the time, guys.”
Sanee annexed the only chair in the room. “You didn’t come to lab, you’re not answering your phone, we haven’t seen you all day, it’s totally the time.”
“Are you okay?” asked Tinuviel, curling up on the end of his bed.
“If I said I was fine, would you piss off?”
Sanee shrugged. “Probably not.”
“Is this about that girl?” Tinuviel gave her patented curious head-tilt.
“Did she turn out to be a dude?” There was an uncomfortable silence. “Oh fuck.” Sanee put his hands over his mouth. “She did.” Then he giggled, which really didn’t help.
Drew burrowed deeper. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s a bit funny.”
“Not for me, it isn’t.”
He poked his head out from under the duvet in time to see Tinuviel giving Sanee ashut uplook before she turned back to Drew. “How did you find out? Did you meet him?”
“No, he was leading the Monday raid. And he was definitely a guy.”
“When you saydefinitely”—Tinuviel had a knack for sounding gentle and reproving all at once—“do you mean she just didn’t talk the way you expect a woman to talk, or were people actually using masculine pronouns for him?”
A bitter knot twisted up through Drew’s stomach and out his mouth. “He saidyou thought I was a girl, didn’t you? So no, this isn’t just me being small-minded. This is the actual situation.”
There was a long silence.
“Man,” sighed Sanee. “I know I told you this was going to happen, but I’m really sorry for you.”
Tinuviel pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. “Well, yes and no. I mean, I think what you need to ask yourself is how much this changes things.”
Drew gaped at her. “Um, it completely changes things?”
“Why?”
Sanee sat forward on the chair. “T, are you being deliberately dense?”
“That’s a very strange question. The way I see it, Drew’s met somebody he likes. He’s clearly sad at the thought of losing him. So the question is: why should he?”
“How about: because he’s not gay.”
“Well, neither I am, but I’ve still had sexual relationships with people who defined as female.”
“Yes, but you’re a girl.”
Tinuviel sighed deeply. “If our friend wasn’t in the middle of a crisis, I’d be quite cross with you right now.”
“I’m not in a crisis,” interrupted Drew. “I’m just bummed.”
