Caseyās sister is very Tom boyish. Sheās a rough housing, energetic little terror whose got a whole wall full of trophies from soccer, gymnastics and track running.
Darcy Jones loves to do anything that gets her moving and has anything to do other team work or competition. She likes getting muddy and skinned knees, feeling hers muscles burn and the thrill of getting a good score in any regard.
But sheās also very happy to be a girl.
One day she tells Casey about how girls at school mocked her for wearing a skirt because āarenāt you a boy?ā And it left her feeling unsure.
Casey listened to his sister and tried his best as a male to explain to her that a woman can be anything she wants, feminine or masculine or both or neither. He knew she wasnāt fully getting it and that their lack of a mother figure in their life was making it a far more complicated situation than it normally would be.
So, Casey decided if he couldnāt explain it to his sister heād show her instead.
He started small and got his nails done.
Not black nail polish, but almond shaped acrylics with black French tips. Simple, because she didnāt have a lot of money, but loud.
Darcy noticed immediately and at first was just upset that he didnāt take her with him before he explained it was a spontaneous choice. (A white lie that would do more good than bad.)
She was confused and asked if men could have their nails done and instead of giving her a deep talk the older Jones just scoffed and said āobviously.ā
It worked far better than their previous conversation.
He started to wear rings and changed out his simple balled earrings to large spiked ones that stood out more. He was cross dressing or wearing drag, but it was small simple things that were seen as feminine and that some ways highlighted his masculinity more.
It worked beautifully and soon Darcy was asking to get her second lobes done.
She was still a tomboy and still coming home with muddy shoes, but she was more confident. She felt more sure of herself and wasnāt trying to psychoanalyse herself.
When she came home a little down but still smiling he knew she was going to be alright as she explained the girls picked on her again for a pink jumper she was wearing.
Knowing they went to the same school and knowing that nobody really messed with him after he got kicked of the hockey team for being too violent and broke the pervy teachers nose, Casey decided to give one last example of how a gender wasnāt based on things like clothes and expression.
Darcy was unsure when her brother put in the ankle length skirt, a simple black one with a few layers and plenty of āspinningā room as Casey demonstrated. She was worried he was going to be bullied or make things worse.
But she trusted her brother and went along.
People did look and some people did giggle or fake gag.
Yet some people seemed to find it cool. Not in the sense of āyou look prettyā but in the sense of āfuck yeah, screw standards!ā His old teammates, at least the ones who liked him, gave him grins and wolf whistles and called him pet names. They laughed with him and asked him if he was hiding his āhockey stickā under all that skirt.
Which, sure Casey did it to reassure his sister, but he wasnāt going to pretend he didnāt like the attention, good or bad. He felt awesome as hell, like Kurt Cobain or Willem Defoe. He like having nails and rings and he found the skirt comfortable and giving him the urge to do some sick wrestling moves for some reason. Maybe so he could see it spin when he whooped ass.
April knew about it as she went to the same school and taught him basic eyeliner.
The turtles weee very confused at first, more so by how Casey brushed off their teasing around it far easer than he did any other jabs.
Eventually they adjusted and when Casey took his sister shopping for school clothes the next year and she picked out several skirts and āgirlyā tops he knew that it was well worth it. Helping his sister to understand how fashion was meant to be ended up revealing something to himself too, which was exactly like his little sister to inadvertently do.
By far his favourite thing about his new found fashion taste was when Karai, badass and harass Karai, complimented his nails with genuine respect.
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