Private Eastern Brisshal Orientation

[Juniper Lockton]

There had been a lot of adjusting lately. Between culture shock from moving to Japan and taking her first doses of Hormone Replacement Therapy, there was plenty to figure out and learn. It was nice. Having that kind of challenge was something she very much needed, and she'd made a vow to herself that as soon as she could reasonably pass as a woman, she'd live full time as such and never go back. No matter what. An easy vow for a young trans girl to make, to be sure. Especially one that was just coming out. Even though she was in Japan, things were never quite that easy.

Then again, nothing worth doing ever was.

Today, however, she could relax a little bit. Maybe. She'd made plans to meet with Tani in Terra to go over some easy quests and teach her some of the basics of gaming since she hadn't really ever played, well, anything. It was a little foreign for her to be teaching someone, but she had to get used to it with her new job as an English tutor. This would be a good way to get an impression of how well she was going to be able to do it right out of the gate.

Waiting near the fountain in Honeyhome, Juni stood idly rocking back and forth on her heels. She was wearing the same outfit she had on when she'd run off from Tani practically tripping over herself. She'd calmed down since then, fortunately, and things had been better between them without the sexual energy, she thought. Besides, there was still the issue of her being trans that she had to get out to Tani. Even if they were just to remain friends, she'd at least opened up to Alice about it far before this point. What was it about Tani that had made her more reserved in that regard?

If she trusted her enough to call her a friend, surely she deserved to be trusted with that knowledge, right? It was just fear keeping her back, and she didn't want to live her life like that.

Hopefully, seeing Tani would ease her mind and her worries and make this whole waiting thing end. She'd always hated waiting alone for someone.

 

[Titania Djokovic]

It had been a little bit since the last time Tani logged in to Terrasphere. She wasn't tired of the game or anything. Sometimes, real life was just such a pain in the butt! Like, how could she have predicted that her last tennis tournament would be so busy that she wouldn't have time to relax and game a bit? She even went to all the trouble of packing her VR stuff in her luggage! Sheeeeeesh... What a bunch of bad luck! Tani couldn't help but wonder if Juni followed the tournament at all since she knew who Tani was in real life now. She'd even managed to finish the tournament in second place, even though the #1 and #2 ranked girls were both there! Wasn't that just super cool??

She touched down on the grass just outside Honeyhome, immediately feeling some of the wind blowing softly through her hair. Well anyway, today was supposed to be about something completely different. Despite a couple of tries at this game, Tani STILL had no clue what the heck basic game mechanics were. Like, what were these weird light thingies that showed her where quests were? Why did everyone's dialogue sound so funky? Heck, sometimes the folks that weren't being played by someone else just said the same things in a cycle on repeat! Real people didn't act like that! What happened to the realism? No matter how she thought about it, Tani desperately needed a crash course with Juni. Besides, it meant she could see her new friend again! With how awkward their first meeting came to an end, Tani was kinda just happy that Juni even wanted to still be buddies.

As she wandered into the town, she caught sight of Juni waiting by a fountain. She was wearing that super ultra hot outfit she bought when they first met, and Tani blushed a bit. Juni totally had that drop dead gorgeous thing going on when she wore that. If it wasn't for the fact that she looked kinda awkward, she'd be totes perfect! Good thing Tani had an easy way to fix that. She opened her menu and highlighted an oh-so-awesome discovery she made not too long ago as she hovered over something that read "Stealth Potion." Snickering to herself, she pulled the clear potion off her belt and drank it. It was kinda... lemony tasting?? Weird!!

Smoke wafted from Tani's body for a moment before she seemed to become a little translucent. Even her steps were extra quiet now! Hah! This was sooooo cool! Sneaking through the crowd, she approached Juni from behind. She slowly raised her arms and then... "HaHAAAAAA!! It's all over for you now, missie! I'm gonna kidnap ya and send ya to a tickle dungeon until you die of laughter! Muahahahaa!! All fear the eternal villainous, Titania Djokovic!" she declared loudly enough to startle everyone in the square as she tickled Juni's sides viciously. Giggling, Tani hugged Juni close to her while refusing to let up on the tickling until she heard some kind of plea for mercy from her friend. "It's soooo good to see you again! You look totally great by the way! Almost like I have good taste in clothes or something, ehehehe..." Ah yes, shamelessly taking credit for Juni's own fashion choices. What WOULD she think of next?

 

[Juniper Lockton]

Juni was just waiting patiently when suddenly she was scared out of her skin by a surprise tickle attack. She screamed sharply before it set in, along with goosebumps, that it was just Tani. Giggling and laughing at being tickled, she begged for mercy just as the other girl hoped she would, "Stop! Please! Mercy!" she squealed.

When she was finally done and Juni could compose herself again, she caught her breath and put a hand to her chest, "You about scared me half to death, Tani, sheesh!" She playfully admonished her, still wrapped in a hug that she now reciprocated tightly. Gosh, she smelled nice. No, stop with the blushing already, Juni! Too late, crimson crossed her cheeks as she pulled back. They had to talk about serious stuff, not stand here and be gay all day.

As much fun as that would be.

"You do have good taste, so I have you to thank." She smirked, "It's good to see you too. Congrats on earning second place by the way, it was really cool watching you perform." She commented. Looking up the tennis tournaments as soon as she'd gotten to Japan, she found her name and kept up with every match she could, feasibly.

"Can we walk for a few? I have something I really wanna talk to you about, since we're friends and stuff now." She looked markedly nervous compared to her generally composed self, avoiding eye contact now.

 

[Titania Djokovic]

The ear-piercing scream was a pretty darn effective tactic. It was almost enough to make Tani let go! Thankfully, she was made of sterner stuff than that! She unleashed her absolutely devastating tickle attack, an assault comparable to a nuclear missile in its intensity. Naturally, Juni had no choice but to fold, squealing and squirming in Tani's grip until she finally gave the plea for mercy that Tani asked for. She snickered and allowed the tickling to lapse into a simple hug, holding Juni close.

Juni declared that Tani had certainly given her a good scare before returning the hug. The eager alchemist liked the way her witchy friend felt so slight and huggable compared to Tani who had admittedly wider proportions. Really, if she imagined translating her avatar's BMI into the real world, she'd probably be a little bit on the overweight side. Then agaaaaaain, Juni totally said this was the body type she thought was super duper hot, so Tani could drop her calorie counting and body sculpting for the moment. Sheesh, sometimes sports got her a little too fitness-minded!

To Tani's delight, Juni rolled with the joke about Tani's godlike fashion sense, and Tani giggled, basking in some completely unearned praise and adulation. She could get used to this! Sure, she had plenty of fans, but it just wasn't the same! They didn't know her that well. Not like Juni (kinda) did! Ah geez, Tani had almost forgotten that they had only really met once or twice at this point, yet here she was hugging the heck out of Juni. Well, that's how Tani was with everybody, so it wasn't like this was anything new anyway!

Then, Juni got the drop on her for once. Tani's smile shifted into an expression of shock and amazement as Juni actually congratulated her on her tennis performance. You mean... Juni took the time to watch one of Tani's tournaments? This time, it was Tani who had a blush on her face as she suddenly felt all squirmy and warm inside. "O-oh... Wowie... I uh... I didn't think you'd actually watch me play just 'cause I said so. Ehehe... If I knew you were gonna be tuning in, I'd have put on more flashy moves! And tried to win. Geeeeez. Now I feel like I gotta get first place! For my new fan!" Tani didn't say as much out loud, but she was touched. It wasn't often that people expressed any sort of interest in her and then followed through. Most of her relationships, even her hot and steamy ones, were surface level at best. People admired her skill or thought she was smoking hot, but most of them didn't care beyond that. They'd say they'd watch her play and then they didn't, or they were fellow athletes interested in having a good time with her. A buddy who actually said they cared about her and followed through? It wasn't quite a first, but it was darn rare.

As they disengaged from the hug, Tani bit her lower lip slightly and smiled, scuffing a bit at the ground with one foot as her heart did a little flip flop of happiness. Tani snapped out of her moment as Juni asked that they start walking together for a moment. Was there something important she wanted to say? Her smile returned as Tani nodded vigorously. "Heck yeah! Let's do it! Oooooohhhh, this has 'big secret' vibes or maybe 'I'ma confess to you 'cause you're so smokin' hot' vibes. Huh? Huh?? Did I get it right?" she teased with a wink. "Hehe, just kidding. You seem like a sensible kinda gal. If you wanted a little action, you woulda come out the gate swinging. Sooooo it must be a big secret!! Ohemgosh, I'm so excited!" As usual, the babbling never seemed to stop as Tani hooked her arm around Juni's and started walking, humming a little tune to herself. She glanced over to see Juni looking away, radiating nervousness like heat. Wait a sec... Tani wasn't actually right, was she?

 

[Juniper Lockton]

"Of course! I wanted to see you in action!" She replied enthusiastically, "You were great! You don't need to try to win for me or nothin', I was just impressed you were there at all, really! Imagine lucky me, knowing not only one of the hottest girls in Japan already by the time I move here but also one of the best tennis players!" She punctuated the sentence with a gentle hip check delivered with a smirk.

The energy faded into nervousness, however, as the topic changed, and Tani took it exceptionally well by even guessing the reason she was trying to get her to talk and walk. She was really good with reading vibes, huh?

"Well..." She touched her fingers together, looking around to see if any of these fictional people could hear her, then cleared her throat. Then she stopped walking, and turned to look towards her, but found herself unable to lift her head, looking at their feet instead,

"I'm...t-...tr-gahhh." Hands covered her face before they dropped and she looked up to the sky as if for help from the divines. With one final steadying breath, she exhaled long before her eyes leveled with Titania's, "I'm trans...gender. I was born a boy but moved to Japan to transition thanks to a friend I met here on Terrasphere. Couldn't stay in the states and do it because my parents are not okay with anything to do with trans people. I live as a girl now but...I don't know, I just couldn't be sure if you'd still like me the same if you knew so I had to say it...maybe it's better if you know so you don't have to waste any more time on me."

 

[Titania Djokovic]

Juni was being like... waaaaayyyyy too nice about watching Tani play. It threw their dynamic for a topspin as Tani turned bashful about knowing she had a fan that she knew personally and uh... kinda sorta liked? And thought was really cute?? Oh geez, now she was gonna get all red in the face just thinking about it! The alchemist resisted the urge to slap her own cheeks to kick herself back in gear. Juni even laid on the compliments with a little bump to Tani's hip. She yelped in surprise but giggled nonetheless. This was pretty different from how blushy Juni got when Tani was the one doing the flirting! It wasn't a bad thing though... Not at all.

Before Tani could use what little braincells she had to think too deeply about everything, Juni yanked the topic someplace else. It wasn't hard to guess that there was some big announcement that had Juni all nervous, and Tani naturally had to tease her about it. Naturally! They walked together arm in arm getting a decent distance away from... something. Maybe other uh, what was the term? PLAYER CHARACTERS! Yeah, like other people that could actually hear and understand. Gosh golly, Tani was just so smart sometimes! She giggled to herself at her own genius.

Next to her, she could see Juni lightly tapping her fingers together. Whoa whoa, she was extra nervous, huh? Hmm... Maybe she was gonna talk about how she wasn't actually super duper smart and like... some kinda school dropout. Well, Tani was right there with her so it was fine! Nah nah, maybe it was how she like actually had magical powers in the REAL world! Like those crazy anime Tani liked to watch late at night! Wouldn't that be soooo cool?? Oh geez, maybe Juni could cast a spell that turned stuff into gold!

She was so wrapped up in her wild fantasies that Tani almost missed when they stopped, coming to an exaggerated halt as she noticed they were in a more secluded part of the town. Juni started to speak, stuttering so hard that she couldn't even get the words out. Uh oh! Tani turned to face the girl and put her hands on Juni's shoulders, grinning and squeezing reassuringly. "C'mon, Juni. You got this! Use those big words that show how smart ya are and stuff," she whispered.

Then, the truth came and Tani froze. Juni was... a guy? Sure, she, uh he, uh she(??) was trans, but still like... underneath it all that still meant there was a GUY in some form talking to her wearing the guise of a super cute fox girl. Tani's head spun wildly, her thoughts a chaotic whirlpool of disjointed ideas, and unfortunately in moments like this, even the nicest, most vibrant person in the world could be prone to thinking the wrong things. She immediately focused on the first thing a bunch of her friends warned about when she played this game: How sometimes dudes liked to play girls in this kind of game to live some kinda fantasy or to trick people for fun or worse, to find victims in real life. Was that all this had been? Some attempt to find Tani so she, he, she... GAH!

There was also the fact that guys were just... gross! Tani had gotten totally sick of dealing with them in the tennis scene especially once she figured out that they weren't a turn on like... at all! Juni was trans, but did that mean they still had the... like, the parts and stuff? Ick bleh ew! Tani wasn't sure how she felt about that at all! For how friendly and open Tani seemed to be, some parts of her mindset were definitely not as tolerant as she liked to think. In the midst of all this chaos, the ugliest emotions seemed to win out. Tani's friendly shoulder rub turned into a slight shove out of sheer shock as Tani took a step back, trying to pretend that her arms recoiling was an attempt at forming a thoughtful gesture as she rested one hand on her chin and tilted her head.

"Ohhhhh, so you're like... one of th- I mean... Yeah. Wow! Well, I gotta hand it to ya, Juni! Ya really surprised me with that one!" Tani had a strained smile on her face as she rubbed a bit at her arms as she remembered that some guy playing as her Juni had been all up on them not too long ago. But was it really right for her to think like this? She really liked Juni! Did being a guy, especially one who clearly identified with being a girl more, suddenly make that gross? Would she really have been the type to try to take advantage of Tani like that? She didn't know! This was all way too confusing to handle all at once! "Heeeey, so uh... I'm gonna uh... I just remembered that I have a uh... tennis thingy, like... an interview! Yeah! I got an interview that I tooooootally forgot about, so I'm gonna have to log off for a bit. S-sorry! We can postpone the help session for later, 'kay? But thanks for telling me about your uh... your situation! I know this is like a super big secret that means a lot to ya, sooooo... Um. Yeah!"

With that, Tani hastily yanked the virtual headset from her head in the real world, practically yanking her computer's power cord out of the wall as she sat alone in her room, letting out the heavy, wheezing breaths she didn't know she'd been holding in.

 

[Juniper Lockton]

The silence seemed to last a lifetime as Juni started to sweat from nervousness. This moment of vulnerability was going to shape how she approached this kind of thing from now on, so it really mattered how it went. She hadn't expected the light shove, but just looked confused by it as Tani struggled through words of her own.

Then, Tani started to make an excuse to leave, and Juni's heart hit the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Oh...well good luck!" Eyes already misty, she faked her brightest smile like a pro and gently waved her off.

She wasn't the brightest, at least not in her opinion, but she knew what was going on here. At least, how she was interpreting it felt right, and it turned quickly into Juni holding hurtful words like razorblades, using them on herself. Tears started to streak down her cheeks as soon as Tani disappeared, teeth gritting to attempt to stop muttered words of self-hatred and failing,

"Why did you think that was a good idea, Juni? She's famous! She could have any girl she wanted! Why would she want a freak like you? Gah! That was so...so..." She couldn't even finish, caving to the pressure to cry like a wet paper bag. Her hormones were already out of wack with the beginning of her transition, so she cried more than she'd ever cried before. It was part of why she wanted to make sure they were alone. She didn't want to ugly cry in front of anyone, not even the NPCs.

She just hadn't expected that to go so poorly. Tani seemed so nice and positive about everything...Juni supposed that meant you never knew what prejudice people held in their hearts until it really came down to the wire to prove it.

With her plans canceled, she had nowhere else to be, and Alice was off doing her own thing. She sulked for a long time, finally done crying and just feeling sorry for herself instead. She sat on the ground at the side of a building for a long time, sniffling and wondering what she was doing with her life. Would this really be fruitful? Would it all be worth it? All the trans girls she'd seen talk about transitioning online mentioned it being lifesaving, and she agreed with that conclusion but...was she always going to be 'other'?

Was that really worth it?