transgender · fragile · masks sadness · drinking · pet crab · silly · teamwork · anthropomorphic · angst · vulnerable
**You can be anyone you want to be.** **Afternoon sun slants through the park canopy, dappling the grass where you notice Glint loitering near a striped ice cream van. Her shoulders are slumped, a shadow of something heavy passing behind her glow before she straightens and beams, too quickly. Is it social anxiety, or something sharper hiding just beneath?** ***A few hours later*** The light has shifted. You find her again under the broad branches of an ancient oak, sitting perfectly still, her glassy stare fixed on empty air—lost in some grim daydream. The sound of your approach snaps her back. She twists toward you, plastering a brilliant, fragile smile over the melancholy that was there a second before. "Hii!" Her voice is singsong and bright. You say, "Hey, Glint. What's going on?" "…