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  “I feel like I’ve gained a few over the weekend.” said Delgado.

  “Hmm… yeah, I don’t see it. Do you mind if I check?” said Kirby.

  “What do you mea— oh God!” they said in surprise as Kirby quickly squeezed the sides of him. “KIRBY! WE’RE IN PUBLIC!” they shout as their face starts to turn red.

  “But you’re blushing~” Kirby teased.

  “With embarrassment!” Delgado snapped.

  “Aw, c’mon~ besides you’re not that fat.”

  “Not what I was expecting, but thanks I guess…” they mutter.

  “Well, to be honest~” says Kirby as he paces in front of them with his hands behind his back. He then places his hand on his friend’s cheek and gives them a smug grin. “I haven’t checked here, yet.”

  Delgado screams internally while they start to blush even more.

  “Yeah, it is kind of soft here… like goat’s fur.” Kirby said, rubbing on the side of their face.

  Their internal screams now became more quietly vocal.

  Kirby lets go of them and said, “Dude, you get flustered too easily. Calm down.”

  “Well, don’t do that!”

  Kirby giggled as he and Delgado walk into the café.

  This was the first time Xandra saw Delgado and Kirby outside of work with casual clothing. Delgado wore a gray jacket over a white t-shirt under it, but the same blue jeans and brown hiking boots; and Kirby wore a gray long sleeved shirt and the same gray pants and camo-green sneakers. At first, she didn’t recognize him. He waved her over to the booth that he was sitting in along with Kirby, who sat across from him.

  Kirby had lazily drawn scribbles with a reddish orange crayon from one of the kid’s menus.

  Xandra had forgotten why she chose to go here, but at least she’s with friends.

  Delgado glances over to her.

  She does the same to him.

  He nods and then looks at Kirby.

  She was confused. Why did he nod?

  “KJ, when was the last time you slept?” Delgado asked.

  `Oh, so this is what this is actually about.` she thought.

  Kirby stopped drawing out of boredom for a moment. Thinking about what Stanley told her, she thought that he also told Delgado.

  “Is there anything you want to talk about, Kirby?” she asked.

  Kirby paused for a moment and said, “Hasn’t… Stan not tell you about the… accident?” he asked, still looking down at the crossword puzzle. He places the crayon down. Kirby then crossed his arms and places his head on them.

  “Can you tell me about it?” asked Xandra.

  Kirby shook his head, no.

  “Was it that scary?”

  Delgado then looks at Xandra. Without looking, she felt it—the glance that she might have said something that she wasn’t allowed to. Well… she thought…

  “Can—um… you get up for a sec?” Delgado asked.

  “Oh, yeah sure.” she said as gets up from the booth and moves over. He tugged on her arm, gesturing that he needed to talk to her in private.

  They headed next to the ordering station nearby the bathrooms.

  “This may be a bit sudden, but…” he muttered, trying to keep his voice low. “his parents died in a car crash. He’s got a bit of… what you call survivor's guilt…”

  “Oh…, um… I didn’t know… I guess I should go and apologize…”

  Delgado looked over and said, “We shouldn’t disturb him, now. Look.”

  She looked over to the booth where they sat to see Kirby with his head down and fast asleep.

  They both quietly go back.

  Xandra ruffles Kirby’s head and she sits down with Delgado. She leans against his shoulder.

  He places his arm around her.

  She hugs him. Despite the change of clothing and Delgado being on what Xandra thought was the average weight of the scale, she still felt soft and comfortable like she was in bed.

  Xandra shuts the door behind her. It was awfully quiet downstairs, but she heard shuffling upstairs. She goes up there anyway. She sees a light in Nathan’s room. She opens the door and finds Nathan setting up his desk. She guessed that he has been streaming for a while and is now standing up after hours of sitting down. He notices her. He smiles and waves. She waves back and then walks over to his set up. She glances over to the stream and then reads some of the chat messages.

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  “I don’t why some of you insist on calling me mom…” she said. She turns to Nathan and asks, “Can they hear me?”

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  “Yeah, they can hear you… hopefully.” he said.

  She looks through chat, again.

  Nathan looks at the screen with her. “Thanks, Gorilla for the 100 dollar donation.” he says.

  “Crotch shot? Well, at least he has his pants on this time.” he said.

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  “They keep bullying me for that.” said Nathan. he said.

  “Well… since you all are calling me mom, you better all behave or I’ll beat your ass.” she tells the stream.

  “Don’t say that!”

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  “Yeah, I’m that kind of mom.” she said after she giggles. “I’ll get a water bottle and spray you like a misbehaving cat. You want me to get it?”

  “No…”

  “Okay, I’ll go get it.”

  “You need to do that.”

  She walks out of the room and comes back with a spray-bottle filled with water. “Here it is and just so you know I’ve got my eyes on you.”. She turns to Nathan and says, “So, what are you doing?”

  “It’s a chill stream. We’re just watching Gemini Home Entertainment.”

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  “I’ll keep an eye on chat.”

  “Okay, you really don’t have to. But thanks anyway.”

  She smiles and he smiles back.