Secret Agent Double Oh Aadi, carrying the Vital Intelligence back to the Good Guys, dashed gallantly through the night to escape the Vicious Enemy Minions.
It sounded better in their head than "Aaaaahhh!" anyway. Unfortunately, the corner of Aadi's mind still capable of thought had to admit "Aaaaahhh!" honestly summed things up nicely.
Arriving at the beach ahead of the Vicious Minions was all well and good, but the total absence of ferry sort of took the shine off that victory.
The Minions closed in, both moving with a kind of smooth, unhurried grace that the dancer in Aadi had to admire. Uncanny eyes, monstrous faces, really long, sharp looking fangs... M&M had said vampires. Snow had said vampires. Now, face to face with them, Aadi couldn't deny it. Vampires.
"Nowhere left to run," the dark one purred.
"It was a good try," the pale one allowed.
"Can I eat him, Crowe?" the dark one asked her companion.
"Actually, my pronouns are they/them," Aadi put in. "I mean, if you're going to... ulp... eat me, you could at least not mis-gender me too."
"Yeah, Kat, really," Crowe said.
"Are you kidding me?" Kat snapped.
"Kat, didn't you listen to Johnny?" Crowe said. "Aadi here identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns."
"What does that even mean?" Kat demanded. "He's a guy!"
"No, Kat," Crowe insisted. "Aadi doesn't identify as strictly male or female, but as their own unique being."
"Exactly," Aadi said. "I never felt comfortable being 'a guy' but I'm not 'a lady' ... I'm me."
"And we should respect Aadi's chosen identity," Crowe concluded. "It never hurts to be respectful."
"Thank you. It's nice to meet someone who understands," Aadi grinned. "I don't want to be forward, but maybe we could grab a drink later."
"Actually, I was thinking of now," Crowe snarled, baring his fangs.
"I can't believe I walked right into that one," Aadi groaned.
"Can we please eat them now?" Kat asked.
A Word whispered across the beach, carrying with it a chill breeze.
Kat shivered, feeling the bone deep cold for the first time since her death. As frost spread across his companion, Crowe wheeled, snarling to face the threat only to feel his own limbs grow cold and stiff.
Stunned, Aadi looked at the two vampires, encased in ice.
"What. The. Hell," Aadi muttered.
"Aadi! You're safe!" Genie rushed forward, throwing her arms around them.
"I am?" Aadi gasped. "That's great!"
"Hey, Aadi," Miranda smiled.
"Miranda!" Aadi pulled her into a hug. "Wow, Girlfriend... I mean just Wow!"
"Come on," Miranda said. "We need to get to Mariah."
"Is she OK?" Aadi asked.
"Well, the last I saw, she was facing off against Ms. H," Genie said. "Aadi, she killed Johnny... who turns out to be a big creep who was totally using me, by the way."
"Genie, you have got to do something about this thing you have for bad boys," Aadi said.
"Maybe I should just give up on guys," Genie groaned.
Miranda laughed, "When this is over, remind me to introduce you to my friend Jenny."
No comments:
Post a Comment