Caged

A little after noon Trevor shouldered a small bag and made his way down from the palace to the oasis below. He'd sent a servant to fetch Laura, but he remembered his own advice to Paige the night before and was going to knock on Riley's door himself.

He arrived at his friend's suite and did just that, but it was Dr. Friedman who opened the door.

"Oh, hi Trevor. What brings you around?"

She was wearing a button up t-shirt with several of the top buttons undone. And no bra. Trevor was careful to keep his eyes on her own and not her newly enhanced bust.

"I'm looking for Trevor. Is he around?"

Her face fell. "He's in the bedroom."

Dr. Friedman looked behind her, then stepped forward out of the suite and shut the door behind her.

"He hasn't left much recently," she said in a hushed tone. "I'm worried about him."

"That bad?" Trevor asked.

"I managed to drag him to the shopping district a few days ago, but since then he's spent practically the entire time in bed just watching TV. He hasn't even changed. I tried talking to him, but I don't think it did much good."

Trevor rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Thanks for trying at least."

She nodded and opened the door, stepping back inside, then made her way to the kitchen where she was preparing some kind of lunch.

Trevor walked into the bedroom to find Riley sprawled on the bed watching TV with a disinterested gaze.

"Riley, whats up?"

Riley turned his head, registering surprise at finding Trevor standing in his doorway. "Trevor? What are you doing here?"

"Laura and I are hitting the batting cages. You're coming with."

Riley turned back towards the TV. "Thanks, but I think I'm just going to stay in today. Next time."

Trevor frowned, but it seemed like Riley was comfortable leaving it at just that.

"Nah," Trevor said. "You agreed, remember?"

"I'm really just not feeling it today."

"It's not optional," Trevor told him, his tone lighthearted but unbending.

Riley gave him a a weary look. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. All I have are dresses and flats."

Trevor threw him the bag he'd been carrying and it landed softly next to him on the bed. "I've got you covered. I asked Violet this morning for something you could wear to the cages. Hurry up and change, we shouldn't keep Laura waiting."

Trevor felt Riley's eyes on his back while he left the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He collapsed on the couch to wait while Dr. Friedman watched with interest from the kitchen.

Trevor really wasn't sure if Riley was going to come along easily, but he wasn't going to take no for an answer. One way or another he was going to get Riley out of this suite. He was just starting to think about what his other options were when the bedroom door opened and Riley stepped out.

He looked miserable. The outfit Violet had provided was still on theme. The top was like a mix between a sports bra and a cropped shirt. It was pink with little lacy adornments at the end of it's short sleeves, which ended a few inches below his shoulders; it cut off near his sternum, with the same lacy fringe running along the bottom, leaving his midriff exposed. The bottom was a short, matching pink-and-white ruffled skirt that ended well above the knee. Presumably, some kind of spandex was included underneath as part of the skirt. His shoes were sparkly pink-and-white sneakers. Finally, his hair was held back in a ponytail by a pink rhinestone hairband.

Trevor stood up. "Alright then, ready to go?"

Riley nodded mutely. Close enough. The two set off.

The sports complex wasn't a long walk away and soon the pair arrived at the batting cages. Laura was already there waiting for them, dressed in sporty apparel.

"Hey," Trevor called out, "glad you could make it."

"Yeah," she said, walking over to greet them. Trevor caught her eyes wandering over Riley's outfit, but she had the good sense not to say anything about it. "Thanks for the invite. I was going a little stir-crazy, you know? Your sisters great, and Hanna's nice and all, but it feels good to get out a little."

"How's Hanna doing?" Trevor asked.

"She's a little shook up. Moms can do that to you. She's settling in fine though. She'll be alright."

"Sorry I didn't really ask you about sending her your way."

"Don't worry about it. No skin off my back. I'm happy to share. Besides, she's sleeping in Natalie's bed, not mine, so I'm not really giving anything up." She turned to Riley. "Hey to you too. We haven't really met met yet. I'm Laura."

She held her hand out and Riley shook it, almost begrudgingly. That worried Trevor. Riley could be shy, but he was seldom actively anti-social.

"Riley," he said simply.

"I'm going to go set a machine up," Laura said, turning to skip away. "Bats are over there."

Trevor and Riley made their way to a series of spindles with a wide array of bats suspended from them. They went through the options until they found ones that had the right lengths and feel, then went over to join Laura.

"This lanes for softballs. Mind if I take the first at bat?" she asked.

"Not at all," Trevor said before making his way behind the pitching machine. Riley waited outside the cage, watching.

Laura stepped up to the plate, tapping it with her bat, and fell into a stance. Trevor fed a ball into the machine from a bucket near his side. Laura did not miss. The very first hit screamed towards him and Trevor flinched. The ball hit the net he was behind with a weighty thump.

Laura laughed. "That's a double," she said, pointing at him.

"Psh. That's an out. I'd have caught that," Trevor shot back.

"You'd have flinched like a bitch just you like did right now. I'm on second."

"Better step up my game then," he said, laughing, as he turned up the speed on the pitching machine. Laura grinned and fell back into her stance.

As Trevor fed her pitches he realized something: she was good. Really good. He wasn't a batting coach or anything but if there was anything wrong with her form then it was above his head.

When he ran out of balls to pitch he turned the machine off and stepped out from behind the net. Walking over to Laura, who was grinning like a child, he slapped her on the shoulder and left the cage.

"Alright," Laura asked as they made their way to the next lane over, "who's next?"

"Let Trevor go," Riley said.

Trevor gave his friend a side eye but didn't argue. Riley wasn't coming out of his shell quite like Trevor had hoped, but maybe he'd loosen up when it was his turn behind the plate.

Laura got behind the pitching machine while Trevor put his helmet on. Settling into his stance, he watched as Laura dropped the first ball into the machine. His first swing was not as impressive as hers had been, a clean miss.

Laura didn't say anything. She just raised an eyebrow.

"Still warming up," Trevor told her.

"Mhm."

He managed to connect on the next pitch, although it still wasn't as strong a hit as Laura's line drive. As the pitches kept coming Trevor fell more and more into the zone. It felt good to be behind the plate again. It felt good to have something simple to sink himself into. He focused on turning his hips, on shifting his weight along his feet, on following through with his swing. For a few minutes that was all that mattered.

Laura held up her empty hands to show that she was out of balls. The two began the task of collecting them back up, Riley coming into the cage to help.

"I won," Laura sang as she walked past Trevor.

"It wasn't a competition," he told her.

"Yeah, but I won." She gave him a sly smile. Her eyes were dancing.

Trevor just shook his head and smiled, reaching down to pick up a ball. She was right; she had won.

When they were done Trevor took his place behind the pitching machine while Riley stepped up to bat. He turned down the speed setting on the machine, subtly though, not trying to draw attention to it.

"You ready?" he called out.

Riley responded by hitting the plate with his bat and stepping back into a loose hitting stance.

Trevor fed the first ball into the machine. Riley swung and missed.

He missed the second ball as well.

On the third he made contact on the lower part of the bat. He let out a gasp and dropped it, shaking his hands.

"You alright?" Trevor called out.

"Fine," came Riley's one-word reply.

"We need to ask about getting some batting gloves," Laura added.

Riley got back into position and Trevor gave him another pitch. This one he popped up into the netting at the top of the cage. Riley was getting visibly frustrated.

The next three pitches were all weak line drives to the left. Riley gnashed his teeth.

On the pitch after that he got underneath the ball, lightly shooting it up before it landed at his feet. Riley threw his bat into the cage wall, dropped his helmet, and stormed out. Laura watched him stalk past her with wide eyes.

Trevor slowly walked out of the cage to stand next to Laura. "That didn't go like I'd been hoping it would."

Laura looked out with a sad gaze. "He's not doing well, is he?"

"No. And I don't know how to help him."

Laura was quiet.

Trevor started to set off after Riley, but Laura stopped him. "Wait. Could I try?"

Her eyes asked him to trust her.

Trevor sighed, stepping back and leaning against the cage. "Sure."

Laura nodded and went to go find where Riley had gone.

***

It didn't take her long to find him. Riley was sat on a bench deeper into the sports complex, staring forlornly out over a field. Laura sat down next to him, but didn't say anything. The two simply coexisted.

"I used to be stronger," Riley eventually explained. "I was never very athletic, but I was stronger than this."

"That has to be frustrating. Losing something you used to have."

He nodded. "Yeah."

Laura glanced to the side. "They're going to do it to me too," she said in a small voice.

"Do what?"

"Make me like men. They're going to make me straight. Or bi. They'll have to, eventually. If they want to get what they're after."

"I...haven't thought about it much, to be honest," Riley confessed. "It's sort of taken a back seat to, well," he motioned generally at himself.

"As someone who's been through an identity crisis, I know it's tough. I mean, I know it's not quit the same. But I get it."

"What'd you do? To fix it."

She shrugged. "Nothing really. At the end of the day, I just accepted myself as I was."

"Except this isn't me."

She sighed. "I know what you mean. Being gay's a pretty big part of my identity. It's been behind a lot of my life experiences. I would be a different person if I'd been born straight. I'd be living a different life. When they change that, I don't know how I'll react. The first time it felt like I was finding my true self. This time it isn't going to be like that at all."

"Exactly. I don't need to discover who I am. I'm losing who I am. And it's going to get worse."

"You have people that love you. You'll get through this."

"Why though? What's my life after this going to be like? What's the point?"

"It always feels that way when you're at the lowest. But eventually you'll get to the good times and you'll look back and you'll wish you could tell yourself how much better it will all be."

"Yeah. Maybe."

He stood up.

"Riley," she said. "If you ever need to talk, come find me. I'm free any time."

"Sure."

She watched him go with sad eyes. She'd known more than one person whose life had gone off the rails because they couldn't accept themselves. This was different, but it was also the same. She'd done her best, but she'd never been great at talking to people. She hoped he'd taken something away from it.

She walked back to find Trevor waiting where she'd left him. He looked at her hopefully. She shook her head. "He went back."

Trevor's head fell back against the cage. He closed his eyes. "How do I save him."

"He's going to have to save himself. No one can do it for him. Just be there, waiting. He needs to know there's something worth saving himself for."

"I'm worried," Trevor confessed. "Like, really worried."

Yeah. Riley was not in a good place. "Hey," she said, leaning on the cage wall next to him. She grabbed his hand. "He's going to be fine. It'll be touch and go for a while, but he'll pull through."

"You hardly know him."

She shrugged. "I've seen this before. People with a support network? They make it to the other side." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Come on. I'll walk back with you."

Riley's saving grace was how many people he had looking out for him. She wondered, who was looking out for Trevor?