November

September: Week Four

The week started out decent; class was simple, dinner was nice, and Jesse had passed his psych reevaluation with flying fucking colors. Tuesday, however, things took a horrible downturn. Sloane showed up to morning seminar half an hour late, which was of no importance to Jesse, who would just as soon not learn how to clear a baby's nose. What was of major importance to Jess, however, was what Sloane had carried in and was now passing around to the group.
He paused when he got to Jesse.
"I don't want to fight about this, Jesse."
"Then don't give it to me."
"Don't you want to at least try it?"
"Actually, I would rather be dead."
At this, Sloane just made a sound of contempt and threw the piece of cloth in Jesse's face before moving on to the front of the room. Jesse threw it on the floor. Ortega looked anxiously between him and Sloane, fearing another fight, then edged over to Jess and picked the natori up from the floor.
"Here, Jesse, just hold onto it. You don't have to wear it now." His voice was soft, and his bright brown eyes were worried, darting across Jesse's face, then back up to Sloane, then back to Jesse. "I'll wear mine for both of us, OK? Here."
Tega offered the now-rumpled piece of cloth to Jesse again, and slowly, he took it. Suleiman watched the scene silently with only distant interest, the most emotion he ever displayed. The rest of the room seemed impassive, focused on their own thoughts. Sloane stood calmly at the front of the room, allowing Ortega to finish coaxing his friend before he began his speech.
"I'm sure you all know what this is. It's a natori. It's been worn around the world by men for centuries."
Jesse almost choked on his disbelief.
"It's a skirt, Sloane. It's an effing skirt."
The words came out without him even really meaning to speak them. Sloane sighed in a mix of pity and annoyance and went on speaking.
"It is a highly versatile garment. It is a highly respectable garment." here, a scathing look at Jesse as if daring him to challenge, "And it is a highly attractive garment. Now, I'm giving these to you today because you're all going to start wearing them. I'm not saying that you've got to wear this all the time - it's not a uniform, after all - but I wouldn't mind seeing you make it a common factor in your wardrobe choices."
Sloane then spent the next fifteen minutes demonstrating various ways to wrap a natori, and the next hour after that encouraging and helping the group to try theirs on. Jesse remained where he was, ignoring Sloane's subtle threats and Ortega's cajoling. Vichy wrapped his simply and wandered over to sit next to Jesse on the couch. As expected, he looked beautifully andro in it - he'd wrapped it perfectly, and it came down to his knees, tight enough to flatter but also allow for movement. In it, he looked almost too young to be a carrier - he was all legs and muscle and fresh-faced prettiness. He pressed his knees together when he sat, and Jesse deliberately spread his legs wider.

They spent the rest of the morning just hanging around - Grant, Honesty, and Ortega joining Sloane in giddily tying and retying their natoris. Suleiman sat nearby, watched with mild interest. Sai put his on and stretched out in the window to sleep. Ortega once tried to engage Jesse in their fun, but a few words in pidgin from Suleiman stopped him, had him biting his lip, then rejoining Sloane and the rest.

Vichy looked over at him.
"You can't resist forever, Jesse."
Jesse looked back at his friend, eyes strayed pointedly down to his left hand.
"It's a nice ring, that he gave you. But doesn't it feel a bit tight?"
Vichy balled his hand into a fist, embarrassed.
"At least I'm trying, Jesse."
Then, after a minute:
"I don't know what else to do."