After they finished their lunches, they stayed under the trees, just looking out at the beautiful lake as they chatted away.
Lea grabbed her knitted shawl, and rubbed her hands and face against it, smiling and giggling gleefully.
Bri laughed softly. "I'm glad you like that shawl I made for you, Honey."
"Yeah, it's so fluffy and soft like a sweater," Lea said in a goofy little voice.
Sméagol grinned at Lea. "What's it doing?"
"I'm stimming."
"What's stimming, Precious?"
"Self-stimulation, It's an Autistic trait."
"Oh. Why does it stim?"
"For different reasons. Like, remember the other day when I told you I have sensory issues? That's called Sensory Processing Disorder, and it's when your brain interprets sensory input, like textures, sounds, smells, all that stuff differently. Some things, I'm really sensitive to, like some of the foods I can't eat. Or, sometimes, there's some noises I can't handle, some visual stimuli I can't handle, or whatever. Well, sometimes, I stim with positive sensory input to block out negative sensory input. Other times, I just stim to get my sensory fix. There are also some things I'm under sensitive to, and that's positive sensory input."
"And, one of those things is soft, fluffy sweaters," added Bri, "or anything that feels sweatery."
"Yep, and that's why I'm stimming right now, to get my sensory fix. I'm also stimming to express myself. Right now, I feel happy, so I'm playing with my fluffy shawl."
"Ohh, Sméagol understands. Can we touch your fluffy sweater shawl?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
Sméagol rubbed his hand against the shawl and giggled. "It's so soft. It tickles our hands."
Lea and Bri giggled.
"That's another thing," said Lea. "I love being tickled, especially if someone tickles me with a sweater."
Bri laughed softly. "Isn't she just the cutest?"
Sméagol smiled sweetly. "Yes, she's precious."
Lea smiled. "Thanks, Sméagol. You're really nice."
"You're nice, too."
"I'm glad you're my friend."
Sméagol hugged Lea.
"Awww," Bri and Aini sighed.
"So, Lea, how's that silent treatment going?" asked Damian.
"Silent treatment?" Sméagol inquired.
"Yeah, she's giving her idiot boyfriend, Ivan, the silent treatment."
"It's going good," said Lea. "Haven't contacted him at all. He called yesterday, and I didn't answer."
"Good for you."
"Why is it giving him the silent treatment?" asked Sméagol.
"Because, he treats her like absolute shit," said Bri.
"He's always blowing me off," said Lea. "He won't kiss me, won't have sex with me, won't even touch me, and he keeps telling me how fat I am, like I didn't already know."
"What?" Gollum growled.
"Yeah, and he always makes me feel bad about my disabilities. He's always reminding me of all my weaknesses, and he makes fun of them."
"He's wicked," said Gollum. "Tricksy. False."
Damian snickered. "That's putting it in the nicest way possible. This guy is a fucking sewer-scumbagged asshole from hell."
Bri, Lea, Sméagol, and Aini laughed.
"Wow, Damo!" Bri laughed.
"Well, it's true. I knew a guy like that once."
"Yeah, I dated him before Damian and I got together. He was a peach," Bri said sarcastically.
Gollum snickered.
"Yeah," Damian agreed. "How I didn't punch him out, I will never know."
"And, now, to see my bestie going through the same thing breaks my heart," Bri said sadly.
Sméagol hugged Lea. "It breaks ours, too," he said sweetly.
"Sméagol, you're just full of the hugs, aren't you?" Damian commented.
"He's such a sweetie-pie," said Bri.
Sméagol smiled sweetly at Bri and Damian.
"Hey, Sméagol," said Damian, "you think you might wanna go fishing?"
"Yes!" Sméagol shrieked excitedly. "We loves fishing!"
Damian laughed. "Okay. Just gotta get my fishing gear outta my truck."
Sméagol hugged Lea one more time. Then, he followed Damian over to the truck.