White Alchemax lab coats. They were the pinnacle of his career. Sure, they were thin and dangerously flammable, but it was his badge of honour. A way to display the fact that you were smart. That you were a scientist. That you spent over 3 years studying quantum mechanics because you had nothing better going for you and here's your cheap coat to show it. The only protection it offers is to your fragile, trembling ego...and he loved it. It was the only thing he had going and it was stripped away from him.

If low self-esteem was what you'd call his prior insecurity, what would you call this? At least he was still human before. At least he had a job, had a career, had something going for him. Not anymore. It was gone.

He did his best to adjust the white fabric on his frame in a way that it wouldn't burst open the seams. It was far too tight on him. The cuffs of the sleeves ended at his forearms; he couldn't button the damn thing up, though that was neither here nor there since everyone left them open anyways. But still. The end of the coat stopped at the middle of his thighs when they were supposed to reach his knees. It was unbearably tight and small on him. He felt like crying. The single thing, the only thing that proved his worth, didn't do so anymore.