#he acts all serious and oblivious whenever it’s mentioned but inside he’s on the verge of pissing himself over how funny it is

[artificialqueens]

Something New- Chapter 5 (Trixya) - Julie

AN: This chapter is a bit more serious and a tiny bit angsty.

Thanks for reading! - Julie

Kim and Brian picked Keira up from school together. He hadn’t told her that he would bring Kim to surprise his daughter and he knew it was a good surprise, when he saw her eyes widen and she started running towards them. Kim crouched down and spread his arms so she could run into them and when she had reached him, he picked her up and whirled her around.

“Hi sweetheart”, he said as he set her down, “you’ve grown so much!”

Brian snorted, “You sound like every old woman ever.” Then he picked up Keira’s backpack and went back to the car. Kim sat next to Keira in the back while Brian was driving and he listened to their conversation.

“So how was school?”, Kim asked and Keira talked on and on about how her teacher had praised her for a drawing she did and how she was the only child in her class that could read and he couldn’t help but to feel incredibly proud. Kim listened patiently and after a few minutes he said: “I love your nails by the way.”

Brian almost hit the bakes at that. The sentence had sounded casual but he knew that Kim was dying to steer the conversation towards Katya. He had always been too invested in Brian’s (non-existent) love life and today at work he had teased him relentlessly about the fact that he still wore the nail-polish. Brian had tried to convince him that the only reason why he still wore it was because Keira had painted the one hand but Kim wasn’t having it and only laughed at him for blushing when he mentioned Katya.

“Can I introduce you as my sort-of-straight friend now?”, he had asked and Brian had thrown a brush at him. Granted, the brush had missed Kim and he accidentally broke three lip glosses, which had only made Kim laugh more.

“Katya did them”, Keira answered cheerfully and Brian tightened his grip around the steering wheel.

“Who’s Katya?”, Kim played dumb.

“Our neighbour. She’s so nice and so pretty”, Keira gushed and Brian could hear Kim chuckle.

“Really?”, he asked and Keira nodded enthusiastically.

“What do you think, Brian?”, Kim asked and Brian really had to take all his willpower to not curse him right in front of Keira.

“I guess she’s nice”, he said and Kim laughed.

“And pretty”, Keira added, “she has really pretty clothes too.” Kim knew of Keira’s questionable taste in fashion and today she was wearing a jeans skirt with green tights and a blue shirts with red hearts all over it. She looked like a canary, Brian thought and her rainbow-nails weren’t helping.

“I bet she does”, Kim said, “maybe I can meet her someday.”

“No!”, Brian chimed in too quick and too loud. If Kim met Katya the teasing would never stop.

“Why?”, Keira asked with big eyes, “Don’t you like Katya?”

No, no I like her”, Brian reassured and shot Kim an angry glance through the mirror, “I just don’t think that Kim should meet her.”

“But they’re both my friends”, Keira protested and Brian could see Kim grin. That little shit.

“They’re not going to meet today though”, Brian said and pulled into the drive way.

They did meet today.

Brian almost groaned when he saw Katya at the front door of their building. Keira screeched when she spotted her and ran over and Kim nudged Brian’s side teasingly.

“Fuck off”, Brian muttered now that Keira was out of earshot. Katya wore a long red skirt that had little pearls attached to it and a blouse with a flower print that wasn’t matching at all. Her long blonde hair was open but she wore a hairband with a black bow on top of it. His heart skipped a beat.

Can your own heart betray you?

Kim grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the door.

“You look exquisite”, Katya complimented Keira and the young girl grinned. Then Katya turned around to Brian and showed her perfect teeth.

“Privyet”, she said.

“Uh what?”, Brian asked, fully aware of how dumb he sounded.

“Hello”, she translated and then looked at Kim.

“Hi, I’m Katya”, she said and extended her hand.

“Kim”, Kim said, “I’ve heard a lot about you.” Brian wanted to slap him.

“Have you?”, she asked and looked at Brian confused.

“I uhm, just told him about the neighbours a bit”, he answered and Katya nodded.

“I thought you didn’t want Kim to meet Katya, Daddy”, Keira piped up and Katya’s smile dropped. Kim shifted next to him uncomfortably.

“Why’s that?”, she asked and looked at Brian.

“No I didn’t-”, he stuttered not really knowing what to say, “it’s not-”.

“Go on”, she said provokingly. Brian opened his mouth and said nothing.

“Is it because I’m trans?”, she suddenly asked.

“Oh god, no, I-it doesn’t have anything to with you, it’s just-”.

“Dad, what’s trans?”, Keira asked, oblivious to the tension.

“Nothing”, Brian said because he wanted to explain the situation to Katya. When he saw her raised eyebrows he knew he fucked up.

“For someone who should know what it feels like to be different, you really can be an asshole”, Katya said and with these words she turned around, opened the door and slammed it shut behind her.

“Fuck”, Brian whispered. Kim put a hand on his shoulder but he shook it off, not wanting to be comforted right now. He grabbed his key and opened the door to let Kim and Keira inside. Katya was nowhere to be seen.

“Why is Katya mad?”, Keira asked and Brian could see that she was on the verge of tears, “did I do something wrong?”

“No, honey, everything’s fine”, Brian tried to comfort her but his mind was running. Katya probably hated him and he really couldn’t blame her.

“I’m sorry, man”, Kim said next to him.

“It’s fine”, he said again and started climbing the stairs. When they had reached the flat Kim spoke up again: “Maybe you should talk to her? She seemed really upset.”

“What would I say, Kim?”, Brian asked and he couldn’t help but sound upset, “My friend thinks I have a crush on you so I didn’t want him to met you?”, he whispered so Keira wouldn’t hear them.

“I’m really sorry, Brian”, Kim said again, “but I think that you should apologize and make clear that it has nothing to do with the trans thing.”

“Yeah probably”, Brian muttered.

“Listen, I’ll make lunch and entertain Keira and you go talk to her alright?”

“Alright”, Brian sighed. Kim pulled him into a quick hug.

His heart felt heavy as he climbed up the stairs. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say when he knocked at her door.

“What do you want?”, Katya said when she opened the door. Her make-up was slightly smudged and Brian’s heart dropped when he realized that she had been crying. Her voice soundes raspy and lower than usual.

“I came to apologise”, he said carefully, “Kim can come on very strong and sometimes doesn’t think before he speaks that’s why I said I didn’t want you to meet him. It has absolutely nothing to do with you or with who you are. I was a huge dick and I’m sorry.”

Katya crooked her head and opened the door more.

“Do you want to come in?”, she asked and Brian nodded relieved. She didn’t seem too mad any more. Katya led him into her living room and gestured for him to sit on the couch. She herself sat on the ground so she could face Brian. She grabbed a cigarette and a lighter from the coffee-table and offered one to Brian who declined. She put the cigarette between her lips, lit it, and blew smoke in the air. Brian watched her every move.

“My name was Brian too”, she said after a few minutes of silence.

“How did you choose Katya?”, he asked.

“Yekaterina Lobaznyuk”, she explained and Brian looked at her confused.

“She’s a Russian gymnast, her nickname is Katya as well. When I was younger I was really into gymnastics and she was one of my favourites.”

“I like that name”; Brian said and Katya smiled.

“It’s certainly better than Brian”, she laughed and he joined in.

“Well that was shady.”

“Will you do me a favour?”, Katya asked and Brian nodded.

“Sure anything.”

“Tell Keira about trans people. Please. Kids know way too few about us and I think it’s so important to educate children about gender and sexuality.”

“I will”, Brian promised, “and I agree. I mean I grew up in Wisconsin the first time I ever heard the word ‘gay’ was when I was like 14.”

Katya took another cigarette.

“So how long have you and Kim been dating?”

“Oh god no”, Brian laughed, “Kim isn’t my boyfriend.”

“He’s cute though”, Katya grinned, “lisp and all.”

“Yeah, no”, Brian grinned, “we work together and we’re good friends but I could never date him!”

“What do you do?”, Katya asked, holding the cigarette between two fingers. Brian could see the red lipstick stain where her lips had been wrapped around it.

“I’m a make-up artist, actually”, he answered. Katya looked surprised.

“Really? I would not have guessed that. Do you ever put make-up on yourself?”

“I did Rocky Horror for a year or so. I thought about doing drag professionally but then Keira happened so that was out of the window”, he admitted.

“I did drag”, Katya said lost in thought, “it was a really difficult time though. What was your drag name?” Brian blushed.

“It’s stupid”, he said.

“Oh come on”, Katya said, “you owe me. You were a cunt!” Brian sighed.

“Alright. So when I was a child I was really into Barbie, right? But my stepdad was a huge dick and I was never allowed to play with them. He was super abusive and whenever I was acting to 'femininely’, he would call me a Trixie. And the manufacturer of Barbie is Mattel so I kind of went with Trixie Mattel.”

“That’s not stupid at all!”, Katya exclaimed, “you took that terrible memory and made it your thing. That’s amazing!”

“You think?”, Brian asked and Katya nodded. She stood up, walked over to the couch and sat down next to Brian. She was so close and he was overly aware of her presence,her small body pressed next to him.

“Thank you for apologizing”, she said and she smelled like smoke, a smell Brian normally hated but with Katya he didn’t mind at all.

“I was an ass”, he said and Katya laughed quietly. Suddenly they heard a faint knock on the door.

Katya stood up and her knuckles brushed Brian’s shoulder lightly. When she opened the door he could hear Keira’s voice.

“Are you and Daddy friends again?”

Brian stood up and walked to the door as well. Katya chuckled.

“Yes we are friends”, she said and turned around to look Brian in the eyes, “aren’t we?”

“We sure are”, he said.

“Good!”, Keira said happily, “Kim says that the food is ready.”

“Do you want to eat with us?”, Brian asked and all of the sudden Katya looked unsure again.

“I don’t know”, she said, “I don’t want to disturb you guys.”

“Oh bullshit”, he said and Keira giggled at hearing him swear, “Kim’s really nice despite of the things I said earlier. Please?”

“Alright if it’s no trouble”, Katya agreed and Keira took her hand. Brian only now noticed that the two of them looked a like. People, who didn’t know them could think that they were related.

They could think she were her mother, Brian thought and that made him weirdly happy.

Kim had cooked some Asian dish which smelled delicious. He wasn’t surprised to see Katya come through the door with them. Instead he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and hugged her. Katya yelped in surprise.

“We didn’t get a chance to really meet earlier”, he said, “I’m Kim and Brian is really glad that we’re meeting. He has no problem with that at all.” Brian shot him an annoyed look but Katya laughed.

“Thank you”, she grinned.

“Okay I’m starving”, Kim ended the hug and pulled up a chair for Katya.

They sat down by the table and Katya spotted her painting hanging over the couch.

“Wow that’s a great painting. Where did you get it?”, she joked.

“I know the artist”, Brian answered grinning, “She’s a bit weird but her art is alright, I guess.”

Katya hit his arm playfully.

They ate the food Kim had cooked and Brian felt a tiny feeling of victory when Keira ate her vegetables without moaning about it once.

“You still owe me dinner, though”, Katya said when they had finished eating.

“Why’s that?”, Kim asked too curiously.

“She wouldn’t take money for the painting”, Brian explained, “so I said I’d invite her to dinner.”

“When do you want to go? I’ll take Keira”, he volunteered and smirked at Brian who raised his eyebrows. Subtlety was not Kim’s strong suit.

“Thanks he said”, and shot Kim a warning look which he ignored.

“So?”, he asked.

“So what?”

“When do you want to go?”

Brian looked over to Katya and she shrugged. “I’m free whenever.”

“How about tomorrow?”, Kim said before Brian could open his mouth, “what do you think Keira? We’re going to have a sleepover! I can make us some popcorn and I’ll let you watch movies that your Dad wont let you see.” Keira’s eyes went big.

“Can I really sleep at your place?”, she asked excitedly.

“Of course, sweetie”, Kim grinned. Brian knew exactly that there had been no need for Kim to offer for Keira to sleep over. He knew exactly what he was planning and he hated that he couldn’t do anything about it because for Keira it had already been a done deal. He looked at Katya who was biting her bottom lip.

“Tomorrow night then?”, he asked and she smiled.

“Tomorrow night it is.”

#katya zamolodchikova #mattel #trixya #au #single dad trixie #trans!katya #fluff #angst #something new #julie #rpdr fanfiction #m/f au #trans character