Kendis had always had a hard time making friends. Back then, Kendis had only been Dudley Dursley’s Black cousin. She had been lazy, a troublemaker, and constantly forced to wear Dudley’s filthy, oversized clothes. And in a town that was overwhelmingly white, it had reinforced her neighbors’ already horrible opinions about Black people.

And then, when you added her undiagnosed autism, it was easy to see why Kendis hadn’t made any friends until she got to Hogwarts. Ron and then later, Hermione were the first people to really see her.

They weren’t put off by her sensory issues or the way she’d had a hard time in big social situations or couldn’t look someone in the eye while talking to them. Kendis had often gotten in trouble with Snape for the latter.

Even though Ron didn’t quite understand the trans and non-binary thing, Ron, Hermione, and her dormmates had stuck beside her. They had been grateful, especially when living as her authentic self usually led to the loss of so many friends.

People didn’t want to be friends with the freak, and it was so much like her pre-Hogwarts days that Kendis didn’t know if they wanted to laugh or cry at the irony.

Yet, for Kendis, it was so hard for her to maintain her long-distance friendships. These days, they only saw each other on holidays and birthdays.

And now Kendis was so far removed from the person she had once been. She had a feminine body covered in tattoos. The name change had only made that more evident. This wasn’t the little boy they had once known; she wasn’t the broken war hero they had fought alongside.

But in Los Angeles, stripped away from the trappings of a hero, Kendis found it was easier to make friends.

When Kendis had stumbled into a little queer bar called Miscellany on Sunset Boulevard, she had only wanted a drink and a way to drown away her homesickness. Ian, with his curly blonde hair, dark tan, and bright smile, had just slid a beer across the bar.

She had learned two things that day: 1) Ian co-owned the bar with his husband Jason, and 2) Ian was a great listener.

Miscellany became a regular stop for Kendis, and she met many kindred spirits; lost souls just like her that had come to Los Angeles to reinvent themselves.

Kendis knew that the moment she woke up married to Tony Stark, she eventually would have to make a trip to Miscellany to spill all the tea. Kendis desperately needed a kiki. However, before she could do that, she had a wedding to attend. She discreetly took off her ring and placed it in their suitcase. Instead of keeping the money for herself, Kendis could have sold it and donated the proceeds to her favorite charity. Despite this, she didn’t want to owe Tony anything and had a plan to give it back.

Kendis had slipped into a black pantsuit because they may present more feminine, but they still preferred pants to dresses. And shortly after, while ducking Hermione’s pointed questions and Ron’s constipated looks, she had watched Seamus and Dean finally get married.

Kendis never told them that the trip to Vegas had resulted in two weddings and pointedly didn’t think of that gold ring in their suitcase.

After saying goodbye to their friends before they disappeared along with their portkey, Kendis had gotten on Sirius’s Bonneville Triumphant and made the trip back up to Los Angeles. The five-hour ride back through the deserts of Nevada and into California was long enough to give her time to think.

They had hoped they would be more clear-headed by the time they made it on I-5 and into the city proper. Kendis knew they should head west towards Burbank and home. But instead, they braved the traffic to make it to downtown Los Angeles and onto Sunset Boulevard.

The boulevard was busy right then, and the palm trees were swaying in the wind as they drove right past the more notable landmarks such as Sunset Plaza, Book Soup, and the infamous The Roxy. She parked in front of a white square building, which was squished between a tattoo parlor and a furniture store. In front of it was a rectangular building, which was painted white and had two square windows that were set in purple frames.

Above the door was a purple and pink neon sign that said in cursive font: Miscellany.

Most people tend to walk right past the small bar. It didn’t really stand out much among the posh restaurants and nightclubs on West Sunset. And if it weren’t for the pride flag sticker on the right window and a bisexual flag on the other, people wouldn’t notice it at all.

Kendis parked their motorcycle up front and got off of it. They pushed open the door and immediately felt some of the tension they had been carrying since Vegas melt off as they walked into the bar.

Every free inch of the bar’s walls was covered with framed photos or framed newspaper clippings. Ian always told her that there was a story for each one. As with a lot of places this close to Hollywood, there were a few signed photos of celebrities. A signed photo from queer actors and musicians, Rock Hudson, Eartha Kitt, Cary Grant, Billie Holiday, Cesar Romero, Greta Garbo, and even one of Ian and his husband Jason shaking hands with Barack Obama.

There were a few people at the brown round tables. In one corner, an active game was going on at the pool table. And in another corner, there was a jukebox playing Queen’s Fat Bottom Girls.

Kendis went up to the bar and nodded to an old man with long white hair, a beard, and piercing blue eyes that spoke of power that Kendis didn’t know how to ask about. The man only grunted as Kendis took a seat on one of the empty bar stools, and for a moment, it gave them a sense of deja vu.

“Nice to see you too, Emerson.”

Emerson just grunted again and took another sip of his stout beer.

Thankfully, Ian, who was struggling to carry a large box out of the back room, made his way to the bar.

“Need help?” Kendis said, about to stand up.

“Nah,” the man replied, and carefully put the box on the bar and then he grinned. “Kendis!”

“Hey,” Kendis waved, and Ian quickly hurried around the bar and hugged her.

“Ian!” Kendis laughed and slapped him on the back. “You act like you haven’t seen me in weeks.”

“Well, I’m always afraid you are getting into some trouble if I don’t see you for too long.” Ian snorted. “By the way, Dom and Brian came by. They wanted to talk to you about something.” Ian gave them a suspicious look.

Kendis winced, and Ian stared at her before she sighed. “I have no idea what Dom and Brian want from me.” She shrugged. “Besides, I thought Dom had gone straight.”

Ian snorted, and headed back around the bar, and started to the unpack beer.

Kendis rolled her eyes at the unintentional pun, then sighed and looked at Emerson, who was still pointedly ignoring them. She thought about waiting until Ian and her were alone, but Emerson, despite his prickly behavior, was also a friend.

“Well, what happened?” Ian crossed his arms, and Kendis sighed.

“You remember that I went to Vegas because my two mates wanted to Elope?” Kendis started.

“Well…” Kendis as she thought about what she could tell her friends. They did sign an NDA. But Kendis didn’t need to be an attorney to know she could fight it in court because she had been drunk when she had signed it. “I kinda got married–“

Emerson spit out his beer. He coughed for a few moments before he spun on Kendis.

“What?” Emerson demanded.

“What the hell?” Ian said, shaking his head as he distractedly wiped up the mess off of the bar.

Kendis sighed. “It’s kinda a long story.”

Ian pulled a beer out of the box and handed it to her.

Then he leaned forward “Tell me everything.”

And Kendis took a pull of her beer, which she noticed was a stout beer, and sighed. “Well, it all started at a strip club—”