Work Text:
Johnny grew up in a household where things were clearly defined. Male meant you had to be strong and follow the law, female meant you were weak and troubled, on the wrong side of the law. It was strict and really not the best environment for a growing boy. But Johnny could handle it with the help of the Jang. Even though they were all boys they got into all sorts of trouble, not following the law but staying on the right side of their own moral code. It was fun and made sense in a way home didn’t. Then RJ came out as non-binary, and obviously Johnny supported them. They didn’t fit in the gender norms he had been taught, but the Jang was already breaking the norms a little, so it didn’t really matter. Plus RJ being in between all the rules was just cool. Then a whole bunch of things happened at once.
- Johnny met Ed, who he first thought was a girl, said they were a boy, but were intrigued by the idea of being neither.
- Johnny became a spectral and saw Isabel in action. It would be impossible to look at her and think she was weak.
- Johnny got to see his mom for the first time in five or six months.
Normally his dad would be right next to him for the entire visit, but this time there was some sort of paperwork that had to be done. Johnny hadn’t talked one on one with his mom in years, and as his dad left the room they both seemed to release tension. With as little time as they might have Johnny tried to tell her about everything. There was the Jang and all of the antics they actually got up to, the Activity Club despite having to keep the spectral stuff from her, the cool little bugs he saw on the way to school. She laughed in all the right places and met every story with another one from her time in jail, not skimping on how the fights actually went. Then his dad came back and they had to go. With the power of the Jang (mostly Stephen’s mom), Johnny got to visit his mom alone again. Obviously his mom was happy to see him, but this time Johnny had a goal.
“Mom,” Johnny asked, uncharacteristically quiet, “Are you strong?”
“Hell yeah!” she yelled, “That’s what being in jail does to a person. And you’re strong too for putting up with your father.”
“But I don’t feel strong. Cause it’s always the girls that are strong ‘n all, and I wanna be strong but it also feels so wrong.”
“Being a girl won’t make you strong,” Johnny’s mom said, before quickly adding, “Not that you can’t do it of course. If you wanna be a girl I fully support you, even if your rotten father will be a menace about it. It’s just not something that will solve all your problems.”
“I know.”
The two sat in silence until time was almost up, and as Johnny stood up to leave Johnny’s mom said one last thing.
“Tell your friends you wanna try being a girl for a little bit, see how it goes. Tell me how you feel next time I see you, ok?”
“Got it.”
