“Hot damn, Camy. Your underwear is so fancy. Where’d you get them?” Shay chucked her pants into the pile Cameron’s clothes were forming, and she was indeed wearing a simple pair of boy shorts.
Cameron flushed with pride at the compliment and the fact that they could freely talk about something that had once brought him shame. “I got them online from a designer whospecializes in lingerie for all genders. It’s fairly limited, but the best I’ve found thus far. I can send you the link if you want.”
When they were kids, their parents used to buy Shay the packs of underwear that most kids got from department stores. Before she had the chance to unpack them, Cameron would always steal a pair. He loved the softer fabrics with the pretty prints, and the way they hugged his body—even though they weren’t made for him—had always made him feel safe and “right.” Their parents eventually found out and decided to give Cameron money to buy whatever underclothing he preferred.
It wasn’t until the end of high school that Cameron discovered the term ‘demiboy.’ He had never felt particularly attached to his primary gender. For a while, he thought everyone felt the way he did: like he was not quite a boy, but definitely not a girl. After doing some reading online, he realized there were certain aspects of the nonbinary identity that appealed to him, but nonbinary didn’t feel entirely right either. He didn’t have any gender dysphoria about being called or thought of as a boy. It just felt better to be perceived as demiboy. He only felt bad when he had to shove himself into the masculine box that others wanted from him… like Thomas.
Right after graduation, he’d come out to his family as demiboy, and while it had taken some stumbling explanation, and a fair amount of research–his three family members were all scientists after all–they’d been very accepting, and encouraged him to dress and act in whatever way made him happiest.
Cameron had been excited to go off to college and further explore his identity. He’d bought himself fuzzy sweaters, leggings, and more pretty underwear than he knew what to do with. He’d even considered trying out dresses and skirts, but that had all come to a screeching halt when he met Thomas.
From the start, Thomas had made it clear he was only into men who looked and acted like men—whatever that meant inhis twisted head—and he’d said some pretty horrendous things the first night he saw Cameron in his pretty underwear. Playing with his clothes and gender had been so new to Cameron, he’d decided to put it on hold while he explored things with Thomas. At the time, he hadn’t realized that any potential partner shouldwanthim to explore those things for himself. Nevertheless, he’d hidden his collection at the back of his dresser drawer for the rest of the relationship.
Sometimes he wondered if he’d hidden some of the softer, more authentic parts of himself there, too, and never taken them back out.
It was only recently that he’d discovered an online designer specializing in trans, nonbinary, and gender-bending fashion. Maybe the universe had been preparing him to meet his mate. Would Emory like his choice in clothing? Could he like some of those softer, demiboy parts of him?
Cameron shed his pink, lacy panties, along with his wandering thoughts, and dove headfirst into the pool. He emerged as an octopus and immediately fanned out his tentacles. He did the wiggle dance his omega had been doing since he first met Emory. It filled him with a primal joy he couldn’t put into words. It was sometimes hard to formulate complete sentences in his head when he was an animal. It was more like his instincts were telling him he was happy and safe here with his family, and perhaps even better off now that he’d found his fated mate.
Shay jumped into the pool next to him and emerged in her alligator form. Cameron wrapped himself around her strong back. When they were kids, this would have incited a wrestling match, but as adults, Shay trusted that Cameron only wanted her to carry him around.
They swam laps around the pool like this until their parents joined them, and Cameron climbed off Shay to swim with his bacurled around one of his tentacles. They were much larger than wild seahorses, around the size of a sheet of paper, but they still weren’t very fast swimmers.
Eventually, he decided to burn a little more of his octopus’ excess energy, so he dropped to the bottom of the pool to dance and prance around on two of his tentacles. His species of octopus was unique in that they were bipedal on the bottom of the ocean. He’d always suspected it was why his transition between human and octopus felt as easy as breathing.
Their parents tired out first and left the pool, announcing in slow, concise words that they were going to start dinner. Cameron and Shay did end up play-wrestling, mostly just to have something to do.
As the sun began to set, they emerged from the pool. Cameron slipped back into his clothes and threw himself at Shay, who had also managed to get her clothes back on, except for a single sock.
“I love you so much, Shay,” Cameron said, clinging tightly to her muscular shoulders.
“Gods, you’re such a clingy little cephalopod after you shift,” Shay said, mussing up his hair and kissing his forehead.
He took that as consent and climbed onto her back like a backpack. She laughed and hooked her arms under his knees, carrying him into the house, her sock forgotten on the pool deck.
“Is the love of your life going to give you piggy-back rides?” Shay teased.
“Well, he is a fair bit bigger than me, so I imagine he probably could if he wanted to.” Hope had somehow snuck into his voice, and he tried to remind his octopus not to get too excited yet.
“Oooooh, you know his first and last name, right? We should stalk him on social media!” Shay suggested, jumping up and down with each step, jostling Cameron until he was forced to slide off her back as they entered the kitchen.
The space was warm and homey, reminding Cameron of countless days spent here with Pa and Ba cooking meals. Not much had changed over the years, except for a few minor upgrades to the appliances and flooring. The fridge, which used to hold their artwork and alphabet magnets, now held a calendar and a family photo they’d taken the previous Winter Solstice.
“Do you think that’s wise? Shouldn’t they be on even footing with each other when they meet again?” Ba asked from where he was pulling a lasagna out of the oven.
“Your ba and I had to get to know each other the old-fashioned way. Via letters,” Pa said, affection dripping from his voice as he walked over to peck Ba on the cheek.
“You could friend him first, then if he accepts, you both have equal access to each other’s information?” Shay suggested, completely ignoring their parents' sappiness, as always.
His inner omega preened at the idea of learning more about their alpha mate. While he’d done more than his fair share of internet stalking on Shay’s dates, something about creeping on his supposed fated mate felt different. It was okay if he gave Emory an equal chance, though, right? It seemed like Emory wanted to get to know him further, based on the question he’d asked about telling their families.
Cameron pulled out his phone and, with a nod of approval from both his parents and his sister, he sent the friend request.
Chapter Four
Emory
“If he friend requested you, it means he’s stalking the shit out of you. You might as well stalk him back,” Ronan said, batting one of Emory’s stress balls in the air.
