For Better or Worse by R. Cooper

Author:R. Cooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town, cooking, firefighters, pride, bisexual lead, demisexuality, found family, friends lovers, domesticity, latino lead
Publisher: R. Cooper

“Wait, what were those words again?” Jimmy asked, bumping into Javier with each step. He was clumsy sometimes in the mornings. Javier thought it was from late nights, or trouble sleeping, but Jimmy was smiling, apparently untroubled.

The firehouse wasn’t far. They left early for their shifts so they could arrive before their scheduled arrival time. Everyone did, to ensure a crew was always on hand if they got a call. But some mornings he and Jimmy seemed to leave earlier, and take longer to walk across town.

Jimmy was in a thin sweatshirt again, unconcerned with what this part of California considered “cold.” “You listening to me or what?”

Javier dragged his eyes up from Jimmy’s swinging arms to his funny little grin. “What?”

Jimmy gave him a wolfishly amused look, then waved one hand around as he spoke. “Did you not sleep last night? Was getting bibimbap in Riverton too much for you, old man?” His mood was too good for Javier to be offended. Jimmy smiled and nudged his arm, deliberately this time. “Tell me the words again. You said ace and demi, right?”

After giving Jimmy a nudge in return, Javier nodded. “Ace is short for asexual. Some people view it as a sort of spectrum, going from people who absolutely not feel attraction or want to have sex, to people that do, or don’t mind. Some people describe those as demi, for demisexual. Other people just say gray. Like a gray ace.” Jimmy hadn’t mentioned it again during dinner, but he must have given it some thought afterward.

“Gray?” Jimmy repeated, scowling for a moment. “That was very informative, Professor Ramirez. But—gray? Like gray people? I know that term probably means a lot to you. But it sounds like it’s sayin’ you have no color, and that’s a lie. People in town think you’re calm, but that’s just a surface thing—oh shit!” Jimmy snapped his fingers and turned toward Javier without slowing down or stopping. “You’re like a dormant volcano. Those things can go for centuries.”

Javier considered that, not sure if he ought to be offended. “As in, fuck like a volcano?”

That must not have been what Jimmy meant, because he tripped over his own feet and only managed to save himself at the last second because of his usual grace. He stared at Javier in wide-eyed wonder before abruptly facing forward. “I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said, in the kind of tone that made Javier hotter inside.

Hope was dangerous, but it didn’t keep Javier from butting against Jimmy one more time before the firehouse came into view. The flag was still up, a rainbow alongside red, white, and blue.

Jimmy breathed harder at the sight, as though he hadn’t expected it to be there. Then his smile broke out again, the sun through clouds. “Do aces have a flag?” he wondered, teasing or serious, it was impossible to tell. “Is it gray? Tell me it’s not gray.”

“It has some gray,” Javier admitted, although he found the ace colors striking.

Jimmy did a double-take.

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