The Astounding Armsmaster and the Abhorrent Amatonormativity

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February 2011. Sophia Hess graduates to the Protectorate, and Colin Wallis learns about himself.
A few things before you start
Pronouns
He/Him
Twice now, I have seen people in the fandom talk about how making a character asexual or aromantic (particularly aromantic) made writing about this character harder, or less interesting. In one case, that person used the lack of aro/ace characters in fiction as a whole as a justification for not writing them.

I do not usually write long author notes detailing the origins of my stories. However, as someone who is aromantic and asexual myself, I find this belief, as well as the lack of representation, genuinely hurtful.

This story is an attempt to counter that sentiment. To allow asexual and aromantic people in the fandom to see themselves, to have at least one story for and about them.

This story is heavily based in personal experiences, as well as experiences described by aromantic and asexual friends and acquaintances. It will not reflect everything, nor everyone, for no single story could, but it will be there. Our stories are worth telling.

Do not expect shipping from this fic. This is not what this story is about. Please do not derail comments with unrelated discussions involving shipping, as they are not relevant to the story.

Taylor, Cauldron and Scion will not be relevant to this story.

As a word of warning, this story will concern some mild aphobia and internalized aphobia, as well as non-explicit mentions of past sexual relationships.

I wish you all an enjoyable read.
 
Chapter 1
Protectorate Headquarters, February 2011



Colin gives a final look-over at the schedule, looking one last time for any typo or incoherence, and sends it to the Director before leaning back in his seat, stretching his back and arms. His neck is uncomfortably stiff.

He still has some paperwork to go through, and he'd like to get it done before lunch so he can focus on tinkering, but he thinks he can afford a small break. Walk to the break room and back, stretch his legs, get himself a warm drink.

That sounds like a good plan.







Colin's enthusiasm dims somewhat as he approaches the break room and hears Assault's voice filtering out of it.

"… a girlfriend? I mean, I wonder, you know?"

"Fuck you," a feminine voice said, and Colin recognized Shadow Stalker. Well, Ambush, since she had elected to change her name as she graduated to the Protectorate. "You're a rat, Assault. You fuck with people, keep eating at them, and you hide behind jokes, smiles, fake friendliness. Fuck that. I already told you I was aromantic."

"Come on, sweety, don't be like that. You just need to unwind a bit, and you will find someone in no time!"

There is the sound of a metal chair scraping against the floor, and as Colin goes to open the door, Ambush storms out, looking furious.

Colin suppresses a sigh, and mentally cuts down his tinkering time for the afternoon. It looks like he's going to have to talk to Assault about his behavior again.

Now that he thinks about it, he should probably look up what "aromantic" means, exactly. He's never heard that word before.
 
In one case, that person used the lack of aro/ace characters in fiction as a whole as a justification for not writing them.
That's a bit circular of them :mad:

I am always up for unrepresented people getting more represent. Also, an argument between Assault and Shadow Stalker Ambush where only the latter is in the right? That never happens! Consider me interested.
 
Chapter 2
Aromantic meaning, Colin types in his browser, vaguely hoping he guessed the spelling right.

The second link is a dictionary. He clicks.

An aromantic person is someone who feels no or little romantic attraction to others. It is not the same as being asexual.

Colin's first thought is that given what he heard of Assault and Ambush's conversation, it looks like he has the right word.

Colin's second thought is that now that he's thinking about it, he probably could have guessed what it meant.

Colin's third thought, after he processes the word on the screen, is a strange twist inside his gut and the quiet realization that there is a word for it.
 
Chapter 3
No matter how much Colin tries to focus on work, he can't get the words on the screen out of his head, or the strange twist out of his guts.

Damn.

He's not going to be able to focus until he does something about it, is he?

Colin looks at time. Nine pm. He should probably take a break anyway.

He puts the file he was trying to read aside, starts his browser, pulls his keyboard in front of him. Hesitates. Stops.

The twist in his guts is still there, but now, there is also a knot in his throat, like the act of starting a research on the subject would make it real, would in itself be an admission of… Something.

Colin swallows. The knot doesn't leave.

Ambush. Ambush is… Aromantic. He will ask her in the morning.

Nothing abnormal about trying to understand a teammate.
 
Interesting to see an ace story pop up.

You write the most interesting of snippets.
 
Chapter 4
Colin waits until Ambush is alone in the break room to talk to her.

He doesn't know if she talked about being… being aromantic to anyone besides Assault. She might not appreciate him bringing it up in front of everyone.

He's just being considerate.

"Sophia? Can I talk to you?" Colin asks.

"Sure," she says.

"I overheard the end of your conversation with Ethan yesterday," he starts, and then the words stop coming, and no matter how much he tries he can't seem to find them.

"I'm not sorry," Ambush says.

What?

"He started it," she continues. "I know I have an history of starting shit, but I didn't do fuck wrong this time. He was being a dick."

"It's not about that," Colin says, clumsily. Damn. He's not usually this awkward. "It's… I heard you say you were aromantic?"

This time, when Ambush answers, there is clear anger on her face and in her voice.

"Fuck that," she says. "I'm not too young, I'm not making shit up, it's not the fucking trauma and it's none of you fucking business."

"That's not…" Colin starts. Clumsy. Off-balance. "I didn't mean… I just wanted to know if I were…"

He cuts himself off.

Stupid. Stupid. So damn stupid.

"I apologize for bothering you," he says, and he leaves before she can answer.
 
Chapter 5
Colin goes back to work in his office. He sends everyone the version of the schedule Director Piggot signed on. He gives a look at the budget. He fixes a minor kink in his helmet.

The day goes by, excruciating, until, finally, it is time for him to go home.

Before he does, he checks his work inbox one last time for any last minute message.

Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow.

Colin is about to close the window when he notices Ambush's address as one of the senders, the object line reading our talk this morning, and suddenly, he is very aware of the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

He opens the message.

I didn't know your personal address, Colin reads. Underneath, there is a small list of links.

The Institute for Education about Attraction. The Asexuality Awareness Association. The Union for Aromantism Awareness. A YouTube channel called The Aromantic Guide: An Explanation In Videos.

Ambush said she was aromantic. He needs to understand what that means.

Colin clicks on the first link.
 
Chapter 6
Colin was sixteen when he realized something was wrong with him.

It wasn't obvious, not really. He was a weird kid. One who didn't really have friends, and stayed on his own enough no one noticed or found it strange that he never looked at girls that way. The way he heard other boys talk about, the way books and movies and everything around him said he should.

There was a girl in his class, and her name was Mary, and she wasn't the most beautiful or popular girl in the school, but she was polite and nice and smart, and Colin knew enough about girls to know she was pretty, and enough about people to notice she liked him, and he asked her to go to prom with him. She said yes.

She was nice, and pretty and smart, and there was something wrong with Colin, something broken, and maybe, if he spent time with her, and if they did romantic things together, he would fall in love with her. Maybe he would be fixed.

He wasn't.

He stares at the words on the screen, and they tell him he didn't need to be.
 
Chapter 7
In the end, Colin can't really avoid Ambush for long. Not that he was trying to.

He certainly couldn't have when she knocks on the door of his office, even if he wanted to.

"I wanted to check if you got my mail," she says.

"I did," Colin says.

There are a second of awkward silence. Ambush starts turning away, making to leave.

"Wait," Colin says. He pauses, organizes his thoughts. "Regarding your conversation with Assault. I had a talk with him about it, but if he keeps doing it or making you uncomfortable, please inform me. I will attempt to curb his behavior."

Likely, nothing will come of it, but Colin will at least try.

"And, Sophia?" he says. "Thank you. For the links."

She smiles.
 
Chapter 8
You can ask me if you have questions, Sophia said. If you're… I mean. It would be nice. To know other aro or ace people.

Colin doesn't know if he is.

Aromantic. Asexual.

He's known those words for barely three days. The words on the screen, the meaning of them, feel so terribly familiar, but he's known them for barely three days. He can't… He doesn't know.

Other aro or ace people Sophia said. Other people like her. Other people like…

There had been others, after Mary. Bethany, in college, to look like everyone else. Benjamin, on the same strike squad as he was, because Legend had gone public by then, and if Colin didn't like girls then maybe

It hadn't worked, either. It hadn't worked, and then Benjamin had died and it had been easy to tell the people around him it was too soon, he was grieving, and then that he was too busy, that he didn't want to get close to someone who could get used against him, convenient excuses all the better for being true, until people, for the most part, finally stopped asking.

(There was still the occasional tabloid, of course, the occasional slow news days filled with speculations, but at least, no one questioned his contempt for those.)

Does it count? That Colin had relationships, that he wasn't in love but he had partners, he had lovers, and maybe he never desired them, maybe he never needed it, but he said yes when they asked and he didn't dislike it, does it count?

Does he count?

(He doesn't have the answer yet.)
 
I like this a lot. Colins 'I should be doing this... right ?', and being glad to have an excuse to explain why he isn't, is very relatable for me.
 
Chapter 9
Days go by, then a week, then two.

Colin still doesn't have answers.

Sophia told him to ask her if he had questions, but… He can't. Not about the sex part. About the relationships part, maybe, but he, he…

He can't.

"Is something wrong? You look like something is bothering you," Dragon says.

Colin raises his head from the code he was reading to look at the monitor displaying her face.

"I'm fine," he says, and it comes out a bit more curtly than he meant to. "I mean… There's some stuff I'm trying to figure out. Nothing important. Or relevant."

Dragon makes a noise of understanding.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it," she says.

Colin says nothing at all.
 
Chapter 10
Another week goes by, marked with nothing but routine, and Colin buries himself in work to distract himself from the nagging questions in the back of his mind.

(Routine doesn't mean it isn't time-consuming anyway.)

Colin is sitting in his office, making a few minor tweaks to his lie detector, when someone knocks on his door.

"Enter!" he says without raising his head from his computer.

Robin enters, still wearing his bodysuit.

"Did your patrol go well?" Colin asks, still half-focused on looking for missing parentheses.

Robin makes a grimace.

"There was an… Incident," he says. "With Ambush."

All thoughts of coding suddenly desert Colin's mind.

"What kind of incident?" he asks.
 
I know there's an unsaid "to you" there but it it can also be read as Colin doesn't think whether or not he deserves to call himself aro or ace is important or relevant which doesn't feel nice.

It absolutely is important and relevant for Colin, but he's in denial about how much he cares about it.

EDIT (I hadn't seen it earlier):
Wouldn't that be the internalized aphobia from the content warning at the beginning of the thread?

Kind of? It's more of a matter of "I shouldn't care that much about it, I'm being upset over nothing" than "being aro/ace is bad". He absolutely has some measure of internalized aphobia, though, as shown by his thought that something was "wrong" with him for not being sexually or romantically attracted to people and his belief that he needed to be "fixed"
 
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Chapter 11
"Sit down," Colin says.

Sophia does, face and posture closed down, almost hostile.

"What happened, Sophia?" Colin asks.

"You already know," she says, sullen.

"I have Velocity's version," he says. "I'd like to hear yours."

"There was a boy," Sophia says. "He was having a panic attack. There was a man with him, kept crowding him. Telling him to stop making a scene. He started yelling. I lost my temper and yelled at him, started taking my crossbow. Velocity told me to hold back and handled the situation."

That's about what Colin expected.

(He's not stupid. He remembers, four years ago, when Shadow Stalker's mother found her daughter's crossbow and enrolled her in the Wards. He remembers Renick's files on her, mentions of panic attacks, of a stepfather's unwanted attention. It doesn't take a genius to understand why the situation made her lose control.)

"The issue is," Colin says, "that you have an history of excessive violence."

"It wasn't like that," Sophia says.

"I know," he says. "You also withdrew when ordered by Velocity, and no one was hurt. Those are points in your favor."

He sighs.

"We both know why you went off the handle," Colin says. "I don't think punishing you would be productive. You're off patrols until the end of the month to give you time to think, and I know it's not mandatory for you anymore, but I want you to pick one of the PRT-vetted therapists and see them regularly. Do you understand?"

She nods.

"Yes," Sophia says. "I understand."
 
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It absolutely is important and relevant for Colin, but he's in denial about how much he cares about it.

EDIT (I hadn't seen it earlier):


Kind of? It's more of a matter of "I shouldn't care that much about it, I'm being upset over nothing" than "being aro/ace is bad". He absolutely has some measure of internalized aphobia, though, as shown by his thought that something was "wrong" with him for not being sexually or romantically attracted to people and his belief that he needed to be "fixed"
I think that "I shouldn't care that much about it, I'm being upset over nothing" is sort-of internalized aphobia though? I mean if someone told me "You shouldn't care that much about being aroace, you're being upset over nothing" I'd think it was pretty aphobic of them to say that. Which would make it internalized aphobia to think that way.
 
ah, there you are! i was wondering why i didn't see so much of you anymore.

This story puts me into an interesting position...
it doesn't tangent me as a person. Maybe one friend in my circle of acquaintances falls into this cathegory but they seem secure with their social status and there haven't been any problems because of that.
on the other hand i sometimes feel like my youth had this dichotomy of knowing that i should be able to socialize with people of the other sex but completely failing to understand how and not knowing where to learn this.

i believe i'll follow this with great interest and i'll try to discover how another person establishes what he wants in life for himself.
 
Chapter 12
Later – not now, not yet, but it will happen in the end – later, Colin and Sophia will sit down, and talk about violence.

Sophia will tell him about being angry, being furious, being tired of being small, about getting powers and lashing out, about hurting people and telling herself they deserved it, because they were criminals, because she was stronger than them and it meant she deserved to.

She will tell him about being fourteen and friendless, about her mother giving her to the Wards, about the moment she had to choose between doubling down and acknowledging she had done wrong. Had been wrong.

She will tell him about growing up. About still being angry, still being furious, but with her wrath for the victims rather than at them. About still being violent, still going too far, but trying to work on it, trying to understand why it doesn't work and isn't enough, about trying to walk in the right direction.

Colin will tell her about being angry, too. About the dead and the hurt and the pressure, and the guilt of stepping away, of taking a break, of time kept for himself. About how it feels as a war, and he as a soldier, and how easy it is, sometimes, to see lives as chess pieces and vermin. About wanting more, for others and for himself.

Later. Not now, not yet. Later, when either would call the other a friend.
 
Allow me to initially state that I am not asexual, so this story does not strike a personal chord in me, but rather an intellectual one.

First off, this is an exciting subject matter that, as you yourself said, is not explored often, asexuality is faced with a sort of paternalistic vision of "wrongness" by many, even in the comparatively open-minded fanfiction community and I am interested in how you do it justice.
Beyond that, I'd like to commend the writing style you have taken, it's not typically a popular one but certainly open to artistry, short and daily posts providing bits of the story at a time rather than whole chunks of detailed subject matter giving a more personal feeling to it in my opinion.

Anyways, the above was a long-winded way of saying best of luck, and I do hope you see success in your writing!
 
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