“E-excuse me?” A soft voice called from the open door of the studio I was borrowing to paint in, and I leaned around the easel to find an adorably tiny man, his hair dyed bubble gum pink to complement the sky blue of his eyes and alabaster of his skin, freckles spreading across his cheeks.

“Yes?” I nodded, wiping my hands on my apron.

“Are you Asher Bennett?” He came a bit further into the room, and I nodded, this time with a smile, “My name is Felix Mahuta. I'm one of your students in art history?”

“Oh, I'm not the teacher! I'm still a student myself. I'm the T.A., but I'm knowledgeable, so Professor Wurtenberg lets me teach sometimes. Is there something I can do for you?”

“I just… had a question about the topic we learned today. I'm confused about what the assignment was.”

“Remind me?” I crossed the room, tucking my waist-length blonde curls behind my ears, being careful of my cochlear receivers as I did, “I have my own classes, so I can't always remember what's assigned, and I'm hyper-focused on the piece I'm doing.”

“I'm sorry to be a bother! I was told you'd be here so,” he fidgeted, and I shook my head, “I'll just ask someone else, I'm so sorry!”

Felix started to run out of the room, and I grabbed his arm, hoping he wouldn't panic as I was taller than him, a surprise as I wasn't tall myself. He immediately froze and looked up at me, confused, before he ripped his arm back and shoved his sleeve down.

“You aren't bothering me,” I whispered, hoping I hadn't scared him, “I'm happy to help. I needed a break anyway. If you don't mind waiting for me to grab my things and wash my hands, I can spare an hour to explain things to you. I'll buy you a drink as an apology for touching you without permission.”

“Your eyes are… so pretty,” he smiled before his cheeks flared, “Oh! I'm sorry! I'm a… I'm a portrait artist. That's where my strength is. Digital portraits. You're unique, it… I'm…”

“Hey. It's okay. Why are you so nervous around me?” Smiling calmly, I hung my apron up and went to wash my hands.

“You're kind of… popular? For a university student. The underclassmen like me hear a lot about you. Your art hangs in the library and a few different classes. I'm an admirer, I suppose.”

“Ah. Thank you,” I giggled, “I hear that a lot. You're the first one to talk to me, though, who seems genuinely interested in my art and not here to stare or call me a freak.”

“Huh?” Felix’s eyes went wide as he clutched the strap of his satchel, “Why do people do that?”

“Well,” I grabbed my coat and slipped it on before picking up my bag and leading him from the room, locking it behind me, “First. I'm currently wearing a red knee-length trench coat with a white turtleneck and black and red checkerboard jeans. You didn't find that weird?”

“No, I think it's nice.”

“Okay. Looking at me, what assumptions would you make? Without me telling you the truth.”

“Hm,” Felix stopped and looked me over, making me smile, “you're probably genderfluid. I'm not sure about pronouns, and I realize I should ask. You're about 21 years old? The length of your hair tells me you use it to hide, or you don’t want to cut it. You have beautiful hazel eyes that are doll-like, very open, and welcoming. Deeply tan skin, not too surprising here in Auckland, so I'm guessing one of your parents is a local, if not both. You're deaf, but you speak well, which means you either went deaf before you learned to talk or you were older. I'm… not really sure what else?”

“You're very close on a lot of things. I'm transgender. Female to male. I went deaf before I could talk. I'm 22, I graduate university in two months. I'm from Christchurch. The South Island. One of my fathers is from there, and the other is Australian. I use he and him.”

“I was so close!” He groaned, “he, him is fine for me.”

“Glad to know since that's what I've been using the entire time in my head,” I laughed and pulled his sleeve gently, urging him to walk again, “Is the campus cafe okay?”

“Yep,” Felix giggled, bouncing next to me, “I'm 19 by the way. From a small island. It's called Chatham. Well, the group of islands is Chatham, but I grew up on Pitt Island when we were on land.”

“Really? And now you're here in Auckland? Big jump.”

“Ah, I wanted to see more than that island could give me. I'd be a fisherman. Instead, I'm hoping to be a character designer.”

“Oh, that's what I wanted to do! Well, no, background and character for a game studio.”

“Maybe we'll be coworkers someday,” he giggled, hiding his mouth behind his sweater as we reached the tiny cafe, “Are you sure about buying my drink?”

“I'm not going to let you pay after I scared you earlier by touching you. I'm sorry. Please. Whatever you want.”

“Okay. Um,” he nodded to the barista, “Can I have a small oat milk honey latte?”

“Sure,” she smiled gently, “and… oh, I know what you want,” she sighed, entering the same thing I ordered twice a day, “Medium sweet cream cold brew with extra foam.”

“Thank you,” I snorted, paying quickly and moving Felix down the counter, “What part of the assignment didn't you understand?”

“Oh! Researching an artist from the Baroque period. That part I get, but I'm not sure what information I'm supposed to add.”

“Well. If I were going to write it, I'd include important facts that led them to be an artist and the pieces that made them a name we still know today,” I winked.

“Are you supposed to tell me that?”

“I'm guiding you. I'm also the one who corrects them, and I won't go easy on you. Fair, but I don't play favorites.”

“I'd never ask for that! I know I can get through on my own merit and ability. Do… I'm not very familiar with that period. It's not my favorite style. I find it… too easy to understand. I like to interpret how I wish. Can you just… give me a few artists? I'm not even sure where to begin.”

“Hm. Everyone tends to use Caravaggio. It gets repetitive,” I grabbed our drinks and led Felix outside to find a place to sit, both of us shedding our jackets to lounge in the grass, “Gentileschi. Poussin. Bernini, if you want to focus on sculpting. That's allowed after all. Don't use Rembrandt. He's the other most-used artist of that period. It's annoying. Be creative. Vermeer isn't a bad choice either, but he's hard to research. Do you need me to write it down?”

“Y-yes,” Felix nodded, pulling a small notebook from his bag along with a pen, “I'll forget. You weren't kidding about being knowledgeable. Are your father's artists too?”

“Hm. One is in a sense. He's a photographer. My other was a zookeeper but became a stay-at-home dad for my brother and me.”

“You have a little brother?” Felix smiled, taking back his notebook.

“Nope. Big brother. He's 7 years older than I am. Finishing up his final bit to become a wild animal vet.”

“Wow,” he gasped, his eyes wide, “Oh that's amazing! It was just me and Pa. That's it. All it's ever been, my mom abandoned us when I was a newborn. He raised me on a fishing boat. When I lost… when his boat sank a few years ago, I was left alone. The island cared for me. I came here to get away from it. I own our home, though. We couldn’t be on the water when the weather was bad. It needs work,” he sighed, taking a sip of his drink, “but I will go back and fix it. I plan to be a freelance designer and live on the island in my cute house. Get a cat.”

“The dream. To live alone on an island,” I laughed softly, “I plan to go back to Christchurch after I graduate. I leave in two months.”

“Ah. That kind of sucks,” he pouted, resting his chin in his hand, “I have three more years.”

“Phones exist. I mean, if you wanted to be my friend or something. I only have my brother here, really. My aunt and uncle are nearby with my cousins, but I don’t see them much.”

“I would love to,” he giggled, and I ripped a piece of paper out of my notebook, scribbling my phone number quickly and handing it over.

“Oh! But first, you can’t tell anyone I gave that to you. Since I’m the T.A. for one of your classes, I can get in trouble. Second, if you want to call, you have to text me first so I can put my receivers on. I do have a live caption service, but it makes me uncomfortable to have a third party listening to my conversations.”

“It’s our secret, and I’ll make sure I text you,” Felix smiled, playing with his hair.

“What’s your natural hair color?” I hummed, finishing my drink.

“Huh? Uh… chestnut brown. I think. I can’t really remember anymore. I’ve dyed it since I lost my Pa. If uh… if it’s… I look a lot like him if it’s natural, so… it’s hard to see myself. That’s all.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel uncomfortable, Felix.”

“Mhm. I know. Just never really talked about it, so it’s weird to talk to someone who isn’t looking at me in pity when I bring it up.”

“My Koro, Alexander, lost his parents on the same day. It was before my Matua Koa was born. It broke my Koro. I can sympathize a bit, even if I don’t know how that feels.”

“Hm. Oh, you’re speaking Maori! Koro is grandfather, right?”

“Yep. Matua is father. I call my other father Dad. His name is Rio. He’s from Australia. We found out recently he’s actually half Aboriginal.”

“How didn’t he know?”

“He was adopted by my grandparents,” I shrugged, “I have four grandfathers. No grandmothers.”

“Wow… how nice,” Felix nodded with a smile, “My Pa wanted to be a grandpa. He always talked about how nice it would be for me to find a husband and have a few babies that we raised on the boat with him.”

“Oh… are you…”

Felix turned scarlet before jumping up, “I-I’ll text you later, okay? Thank you for your help and the coffee. I’ll just… I have to go.”

Before I could say anything else, Felix ran away, and I stared at his retreating back in confusion. I felt something soft on my head a few seconds later and looked up to find my older brother Bailey, an equal flash of confusion on his face.

“Well. Looks like your date ended weird,” Bailey laughed, sitting next to me, his blonde curls pulled back by a headband, hazel eyes hidden behind his round-framed glasses. Bailey and I were effectively twins outside of his face being entirely sharp and mine being much softer, all of my features androgynous, “he was cute though.”

“It wasn’t a date. He’s in the class I T.A. for. Needed help with the homework assignment, and I bought him a coffee to apologize for scaring him earlier,” I shrugged, “What are you doing?”

“My last class of university just ended. I’m fucking free! Wanna go out for a drink?”

“Ya know what? I’d love to,” I laughed, letting Bailey pull me to my feet, “Hey Lee?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, taking my bag for me as he always did.

“Would Matua and Dad be mad if I never came home?”

“God, yes. Dad would hunt you to the end of the Earth.”

“Hm. I don’t plan to never come home. I was honestly just curious. Anyway, let’s get ready.”

We reached our shared apartment a bit later, and as Bailey fixed his hair, I changed into my favorite ankle boots and checked to ensure my receivers had enough battery. My phone vibrated as I sat on the couch, waiting for Bailey, and I smiled at it, realizing it was Felix. I quickly saved his number before reading the message again.

-F: I am so sorry for running away. I was sharing far too much about myself. Thank you for your help today. It meant a lot. It was nice to sit and talk with you as well. If you ever want to escape the mainland, I’ll be on Pitt Island in 3 years. I’ll have the space for a friend.

-A: After one conversation?

-F: Absolutely.