Reed stumbled to the side, laughing. Their own champagne from earlier added a pleasant freedom of movement he only ever noticed at two drinks. Any more and he became too loose and had a hard time staying upright. Any less and he didn’t notice that any freedom was lacking.
“Is that so bad?” he said. “Alternatively: am I not allowed to be a bit maudlin? It’s fucking New Year’s, Hanne.”
“Maudlin? Is that even the right word?”
-“What? Uh…” He hunted down a dictionary on the exchange, prowled through it. “Oh. Saccharine, maybe? I don’t know. Maudlin still kind of works, doesn’t it?”
+“What? Uh…” He hunted down a dictionary on the exchange, prowled through it. “Oh. Mawkish, that’s the one. Or saccharine, maybe? I don’t know. Maudlin still kind of works, doesn’t it?”
She titled her head at him.
“”Extremely sentimental,” it says. Pretty sure that fits.”
Hanne rolled her eyes, grinning. “Okay, yeah, that fits you to a tee.”
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@The shadow of her shoulders relaxed again in the dark of the night. “Even after so long?”
“Yeah. Like I said, he internalized it pretty hard, even as he tried to diversify later on. I headed back trans, Lily headed back feminine, and Cress sits in between.”
“is that why you forked, too?”
-He laughed. “I forked for fun. Even if it’s still a tender spot, I think I’m still way more relaxed than he is. There may be a bit of that in Sedge, I guess. He’s still pretty happy being a guy. Rush is as ve is of his own choice, though.”
+He laughed. “I forked for fun. Even if it’s still a tender spot, I think I’m still way more relaxed than he is. There may be a bit of that in Sedge, I guess. He’s still pretty happy being a guy. Rush is as ve is of ver own choice, though.”
Hanne looped her arm through his. “Well, I still like you as you are.”
“What, trans?”
“No, a huge nerd.”
@@ -87,10 +87,9 @@“Well, I’m glad you went the Ansible, then.”
“Sap.”
He laughed. “Got it in one.”
-