Chapter Text
Neon J was sitting in his office, tapping his foot on the ground and checking the power outputs for his district over time. Things had been good for him, these past few weeks. Nova and him had started dating properly, holding hands and leaning into each other at any chance they could. And J adored it. The soft sort of familiarity in being with another person, spending time with them and sharing interests and hobbies. J had shown Nova his figurine collection, and Nova had been absolutely ecstatic to take part in something J genuinely loved to do.
He smiled to himself as he adjusted the spreadsheet he was working on. It also helped that the media hadn’t picked up on any of their dates yet. They’d gotten close, sure. Though J liked to blame Nova for choosing to go out in the middle of the Cast Tech District. He laughed softly to himself as he thought about it. The curious looks from people, though all assumed it was a business endeavor. No big word from reporters on their outing was a good thing. J paused as a knock sounded from the door. He let his radar ping once and- hm. Grey. What did he need at this time of day?
“Come on in, soldier.” He called, setting his laptop aside, “I’m not busy.”
The door opened slowly, and Grey poked his head in. His eyes were wide and nervous, and he made sure to shut the door quietly behind himself. It wasn’t like him to be so quiet and reserved. If anything, Grey was always as loud and sure of himself as possible. J’s radar pinged once in worry.
“What’s wrong.”
Grey lifted his hands up, “Nothing Captain, don’t worry. I uh...” He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, “I just have a question.”
J’s radar pinged again, and he gestured Grey to come closer. The room was big, and with each step it somehow looked like Grey was getting more and more nervous. But eventually he came to stop in front of J’s desk.
“How did you...” Grey started, then paused, “How did you come up with your name? Uh- with Neon J I mean. Or like- like how did you know that that was right for you. In the name department.”
And that was the one question J didn’t expect to hear. He had been thinking that Grey had broken a piece of furniture that J liked, or that Grey accidentally got Yellow stuck in the ground headfirst again. Not a question about his name. J thought for a moment, staring into empty space to try and sort his thoughts out.
Because quite honestly. He was a little embarrassed.
“It’s… a pun.”
Grey blinked, then snorted, “You’re joking.”
“No, I’m not.” J huffed, and rested the edge of his head in his palm. “I had my previous chosen name erased from my memory when I got transferred over. Which I didn’t really mind since it turns out I had chosen Benjamin of all things. Honestly soldier, I’m not sure what I was thinking.”
He laughed a little, and continued. “But after my surgery, from that point on, I was J-1. A testing number, I think. I didn’t settle on Neon J until… until I stared thinking about making you boys.”
Grey took that as a signal to sit down. He took a seat on the floor, but thanks to his ridiculous height he was still able to look J in the eye. All his nervousneess from before was gone as he listened, but kept glancing down. J assumed he was doing some thinking of his own.
“I had settled on 1010. Sounds nice, you know. And realized J is the 10th letter of the alphabet. And… and then I figured I should keep the 10 train rolling and...” He leaned back in his chair, trying to hide his face in embarrassment, “Neon is the 10th element on the table. And I thought it was stupid but it just felt right, soldier. So it stuck. And here we are.”
Grey smiled at that, and looked like he was debating on making a snarky response. But he ultimately decided not to, which J could appreciate, at least a little bit. Before J had a chance to comment on it, however, Grey was asking another question.
“What do I do if my name doesn’t really feel like me anymore?”
Another few pings came from J in quiet surprise. But he stamped down the feeling with a shake of his head. He really should’ve seen this coming, honestly. He waved a hand absently.
“Then see what you can find and try a new one. It isn’t all that complicated, soldier.” A slight pause, “And I won’t mind. So long as you tell me what it is when you decide on it.”
Grey’s smile returned tenfold, and he stood so suddenly that he nearly fell over. J was actually genuinely worried for the droid for a second, only to watch him straighten up and salute him with a sparkle in his eyes.
“Thanks a ton Captain Dad!” Grey said, saluting, “I’ll keep you updated.”
J nodded, and waved him off. And in the next few moments Grey was jogging out the door with a spring in his step. J turned back to his work and quietly wondered how long it’d take for the other boys to make their choices, if they wanted to make them, that is.
It was a couple days later, and in quick succession, three of the boys had approached J on their own to tell him about the names they’d chose for themselves. Turned out they had been thinking about this for a while, and all it took was for Rin to get J’s approval for them to move in with finality on it all.
Reworking their image was proving a bit difficult, but it wasn’t a big deal. In general, the fanclubs seemed to find their new names something new to gush over. And while J was a little… weirded out. The boys themselves adored the attention. Him and Nova had spent an entire evening together wondering what went on in the minds of teenage girls and boys… They’d both decided that it was an unimaginable nightmare at all times.
And now? Now J was walking through the mansion to burn off some excess energy. He walked into the boys’ gaming room, arms tucked behind his back, and nodded his head in greeting at Blue. Blue, who was sitting and staring at nothing while laying on the oversized couch that filled a majority of the room. J wasn’t sure if he was sleeping or not until Blue sat up.
“Neon J.” He said, “Do you have a moment?”
J stopped his pacing, and tilted his head.
“I am free currently, yes. What do you need, soldier?”
Blue was quiet for a good while, opening and closing his mouth as he contemplated how to phrase whatever he was thinking. J was absolutely silent, letting Blue think. A couple minutes later, Blue finally settled on what he wanted to say.
“You programmed us with masculine inclinations and tendencies.” He started, “So realistically we shouldn’t be able to have emotions in regard to our gender. But I… have been. As has Red, though I doubt he’d approach you about it.”
Blue paused, and adjusted his glasses, “Though all that said, considering your own circumstances I doubted you’d argue against my gender struggles.”
J was taken aback for a moment, before laughing softly to himself. If he had known they’d worry about their “assigned” genders this much, he would have gone out of his way to address it earlier. He adjusted the tassels on his coat before walking over to Blue to talk to him properly.
“You’d be right about that, soldier.” He said, “I didn’t figure out I was a man overnight. What were you thinking? You’ve clearly settled on something, else I doubt you’d be talking to me about it in the first place.”
Blue smiled, and pushed his glasses onto his head. He was glancing at the ground, almost nervous. But mostly self satisfied with acceptance.
“I believe the term is Non-Binary. Though I still like my pronouns, ah. A he/him lesbian, I think, technically.” A slight beat of a pause, “And my name. Purl-Hew from now on, Captain.”
J patted him on the shoulder a couple of times, accidentally knocking his glasses back down onto his face. They both share a brief laugh, and J patted him again, this time on the head.
“I’ll remember it,” J reassured him, “No worries, Purl-Hew.”
A week later, J had invited Supernova over for a sort of mock-family dinner. And reintroduced his boyfriend to his 5 wonderful children.
Rin had settled on his named first, added they/them to his pronoun “collection” as they all liked to call it, and grinned like a madman when he was introduced. Though he assured Nova that a new name didn’t spare his dad’s boyfriend from endless pranks. Nova had only chuckled in awkward terror. He was no stranger to 1010’s pranks.
Next was Zimelu, who despite their seemingly stoic and prickly demeanor, happily dumped about their choices. They actually preferred they/them and she/her to he/him, though not to say that they didn’t want to ever use he/him. It just depended on the day, really. They then proceeded to tell Nova that they’d “Attack him like a wild animal” if he forgot their new preferences. Which Nova assured wouldn’t happen.
Eloni and Haym had picked each other’s names in a bought of half asleep joking. Apparently Eloni had said ham the food as a joke, and Haym just ran with it. Maybe out of spite? He wouldn’t answer past a giggle and a vague promise to haunt Eloni with roast hams for the rest of his life. It was scary, though J knew it was a joke.
And last was Purl-Hew, who mentioned his name casually and cooly like he was being interviewed. And then immediately broke into yelling as Rin slapped the back of his head with a hand full of whipped cream.
J shook his head in defeat as the table turned into a food fight, but didn’t make a move to stop them. Instead, he just gave Nova a tired look, and laughed. He was glad his children had figured themselves out, but it looked like no amount of changes would keep them from acting like, well, siblings.
J just hoped they’d clean up the mess when all was said and done.