"I don't know. It doesn't feel like the right word. But sex and gender are different I guess, and I feel like —" The frown deeply. "I don't like looking at... myself. I don't like touching... it. I think I want it to go away." They know it's a problem that they can't even say the word, and not just because they're a little prudish. (They can fully admit to being a bit of a prude.) It's the word with the pronoun that makes them feel one scratching all their skin off with their nails.
Their forehead presses to his, nose to nose. They're taking a risk coming out, though they don't see it as such. Michael would never dream about this. They're both so much weirder. "But not you. Please don't pull away."