Just Shapes and Beats: Restart

Chapter Eleven

The afternoon air was brisk and the sky was cloudy, the perfect setting for anyone to be outdoors. Not so much for Raymond. He fussed over his sister, who was about to leave to go with her friends.

"You don't need to go with me," Estelle grumbled, putting on a light jacket.

"I wouldn't want to but including your other friends you invited Blixer of all shapes," he retorted. Raymond wasn't a fan of the colder weather in the slightest.

"You're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be," she sighed. "I get why you'd be protective. But you aren't the one who's been getting to know him, are you?"

He shot her a look. "Doesn't mean I can't be at least a little worried. I better not hear about you getting hurt when you come back."

"For fucks sake..," she muttered under her breath. "Whatever. I'll be going now, enjoy your afternoon." She walked to the door, intent on meeting Blixer and her friends.

"You too," Raymond replied, watching as she closed the front door. He sighed and wheeled himself to the living toom to watch TV.

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.

.

Upon arriving to the fountain, Blixer felt out of place for a minute. He never was a social butterfly despite having friends long before anything happened. He wasn't used to the idea of get-togethers. Estelle wasn't there yet but he waited to go near her friends until she got there.

Estelle's friends, two of the four being corrupts, waved as Estelle made her way over, Blixer going over as well. She then introduced them.

"Since you've never met them in real life yet, these are my friends: Casey. They're nonbinary." They waved. "Alexander, male. Juniper, female. And Morrison, bigender. Anything works."

Morrison shook Blixer's hand. "I usually go by Mori, just so you know."

"Got it," he said. "Nice to meet you guys."

"Nice to meet you in reality, too!" Juniper grinned. She was the most eccentric of the group. She hopped onto the fountain's basin and sat cross legged. "This is one of our favorite hang out spots. You're definitely free to join us any time if we come here."

Alexander chipped in, "We don't mind it."

"Thank you," Blixer smiled. "It's nice to actually have friends."

Mori slapped his back. "Just as long as ya don't do anything, you know? Happy to have you as a friend. Estelle's told us a lot about you, so if she trusts ya we do."

She flushed and waved her hand. "He's a good guy, it wasn't that hard to see."

Blixer sat down on the grass and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Well, I'm not used to these kinds of things. What do you usually do?"

"Mostly catch up sometimes, occasionally have a picnic, stuff like that," Alexander explained. "This is one of those times: we meet here for a bit and then head to a store."

"Sounds fun," Blixer said.

"I think we agreed on the mall, right?" he asked the group. They all nodded in agreement. He turned back to Blixer. "That's where we're going."

"Half the time we browse, but we get a late or a second lunch, all depends," Casey chimed.

"I haven't eaten yet so that's good," he added.

"Great! You can choose for us then, since it's your first time."

"We should start heading over then, since it's farther out," Estelle suggested. "About half an hour."