Chapter 15: Chapter Fifteen

The next day saw me meeting up with a client, as expected. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, I got a point of Might for regrowing a left arm, bringing my Might stat up to four before heading out to meet Jessie. I'd decided that she needed a bit of normalcy, so I was bringing her to the park to meet Benny, who was bringing along his sister Maria. Despite having terrible taste in men Maria was actually really sweet when she wasn't trying to be a renegade, and I thought making some more friends would be good for Jessie.

Benny was normally a bit showy around pretty girls, but when I mentioned her brother dying he promised to back off. My best friend was a bit of an idiot sometime but he had a good heart. So when I showed up at the guild in civvies to pick her up Jessie was dressed in jean shorts and a green tank top with a short blue jacket over top of it. She looked nervous but excited, and I had to smile at her obvious inexperience hanging out with normal people.

She lit up when she saw me, waving me over energetically and greeting me with a big hug. "Hey Shane! Good to see you! We ready to go? This is ok to wear right? You said we were going to the park, and this is what I would normally wear to the park, not that I normally go to the park because I usually just grow things at home or spend time with my brother or his friends and-" I literally covered her mouth with my hand, laughing as I acted to prevent the nervous girl from hyperventilating.

When she blushed I just chuckled and pulled back. "Sorry, I was kind of worried you might pass out from lack of oxygen. Your clothes are fine, the park is pretty casual, and you look nice." She flushed again, though less in embarrassment this time. I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, just relax ok? I know you don't have much experience doing the normal hangout thing, but it's fine. I was pretty oblivious to the cape scene when I showed up and you helped me out. I've got you."

She gave me a grateful smile. "Ok. Yeah. Sorry. It's just..." Her face fell a bit. "Things have been rough lately, but this feels like...a new start or something. That sounds weird, sorry I-" I covered her mouth again with a laugh. "Stop apologizing, it's getting awkward. You're good. Just calm down. You're super sweet and anyone would love hanging out with you. Even without knowing you're a cape they'll be excited to meet you. Just ignore Maria's boyfriend if he's around. He's kind of a tool and will probably try to sell you something stolen."

He absolutely would not hit on her, that I knew for certain. I was big, and Benny wasn't exactly tiny. Zack was a dumbass, but not a big enough dumbass to hit on a girl in front of his girlfriend and both of us, especially a girl I was friends with. Being six foot three had its advantages. We climbed on the nearest bus and sat down, heading for the park I usually met Benny at. Jessie chewed her lip. "So...what are we actually going to DO at the park? Is there something there for us to see? Some place we can go?"

I grinned and shrugged. "Not really. It's just peaceful. We usually lay around in the grass, just chill and be lazy. It's just fun to spend time with friends." My smile dimmed a bit. "Sorry if that sounds boring. I didn't really think about how lame that kind of thing would seem from the outside. We can try to find something to do. Maybe play some ball or something, or check out the diner down the street. Their sundaes are amazing. They make the ice cream fresh, no materializer or anything."

Her eyes widened as she cut me off. "No! Not at all. Trust me I'm glad to get out of the guild. I was just kind of worried I might be missing the point." She smiled wryly and I returned it. This was the most awkward time I'd ever spent with another person that wasn't actually a date. She saw my expression and giggled, her shoulders slumping a bit as she relaxed. "Ok, clearly you're as nervous as I am about this. I'll try to calm down so I don't embarrass you."

She was pretty obviously missing what I was actually worried about, because I was more afraid of embarrassing myself, but the self depracating humor broke the ice a bit. "So. I know you spent most of your time growing up around capes. Did you have any close cape friends? Or any friends of your brothers that you knew really well?" I didn't think anyone as generally friendly and outgoing as Jessie could have grown up in total isolation. She was way too extroverted to have been cut off from people.

She laughed at that. "Oh sure. I wasn't like sheltered or anything. We had people around all the time growing up, just usually people my brother's age. But he had a few friends that would hang out with me and take me out to eat and stuff. His friend Lindsey was a pretty consistent presence in my life, Sparkdove, she's one of the G rankers. Ben was his best friend and he was always around, his cape name is Rainforce. Ben is only H rank, they kind of drifted apart after Alan and Lindsey ranked up. Ben kind of resented the surge in popularity from their promotions to executive and how it just widened the gap."

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She looked sad about that but when she saw my concerned look she forced a smile. "He got in touch with me after Alan...passed. We're ok. He's been checking on me more than anyone. The both of them have, but Ben especially. I think he feels guilty for the way things ended between them. Not that he should. He didn't know what was going to happen. Alan never blamed him for how he felt. He understood and tried to give him space. But still, Ben has been super supportive, and Lindsey has been bringing me meals. There are a few others, but the three of them were kind of a clique coming up, so they were the two I saw most."

Her expression when she talked about them was remote. Sad but distant, like she had already consigned them to a different part of her life. Just reminders of the past she was trying to move away from. It was a tough expression to equate to the friendly outgoing girl who had been so excited to meet me that first day. I hoped she got some of that happiness back, and I'd do what I could to help. She seemed to realize she was drifting off though, because she cleared her throat after a minute. "There were even one or two children or siblings of other capes I grew up with, but I didn't really get to see them outside of visits with their families. So yeah, socializing with people my own age like this will be...different."

I smiled at her as the bus came to a stop, and we got off slowly, taking our time walking to the park. We didn't drag our feet, but knowing how nervous she was there was no reason to rush. When we got to the park I saw Benny sitting on a jungle gym, hanging his feet off the side and looking down at Maria who was laying in the grass chatting with him. Benny and Maria both had their father's olive skin tone, but where his hair was brown like his dad's, Maria was blonde like her mother, and both share their mother's bright green eyes.

When they saw us Maria hopped to her feet and walked over with a glare. She pointed a finger at me. "You owe me for that scan box, nerd." I looked down at the diminutive girl who was basically a surrogate sister to me and raised an eyebrow at her antics. Maria was four foot eight to my six foot three, and literally could not intimidate me any less. She rolled her eyes and turned to Jessie with a welcoming smile, ponytail swinging. "You must be Jessie, don't worry, I won't let my idiot brothers bore you too much. I'm Maria, it's really nice to meet you."

Jessie blushed again and smiled at her. "Thanks." Then she looked at me. "I mean...Shane has been really nice so far, but I am glad to meet you and...thanks." She stammered a bit and Maria giggled, taking her by the arm and leading her over to where she and Benny had been lounging. I followed them casually, Maria was a bit of a force of nature, so I fully expected Jessie to be too distracted to pay attention to me for at least a little bit. Maria was a year or two younger than Benny and I, and had a ton of energy even when we were all kids.

Benny nodded to me and Jessie when we came within hearing range, calling out. "Hey, you're late! We were about to send out a search party!" I flipped him off, because it was three ten, and we had agreed to meet at three. He shook his head sadly, giving Jessie a long suffering look. "You see what I have to deal with. I worry over his safety and he just spits on my concern. Some people are just born uncouth I suppose. That's what I get for befriending a giant savage." A second middle finger joined the first as Jessie giggled at my friends antics, but I was smiling internally. Benny always was good at making people feel comfortable.

Maria sneered at us both, clearly annoyed at us for wasting time with our banter and dragged Jessie over to the other side of the playground as Benny jumped down, strolling over with a chuckle, greeting me with a one armed hug and clapping me on the back. "Hey man, you were right, she's a total cutie. Maria seems to have taken a shine to her. I managed to get her to leave her scumbag at home." He paused. "His home, not ours. I wouldn't leave Zack alone in my house if you paid me." I snickered at that, but he wasn't wrong.

The next few hours were a lot of fun. Maria and Jessie were pretty much joined at the hip, and while she never picked up the acerbic dynamic the three of us had, she became a lot more comfortable with all of us. Benny tried his best not to flirt, and when he did inevitably slip up Maria shut him down as brutally as possible, much to the amusement of Jessie and I both. For her part, I could see Jessie was having a blast, and I saw her eyes start to take on a bit of the same sparkle they'd had when I first met her, which was definitely a relief to me.

We hit up the diner down the street, and we all kind of gaped at Jessie as she ate a fifteen scoop sundae all on her own. Apparently she liked ice cream, because she straight up devoured the thing. I was shocked she didn't get brain freeze. I had six scoops myself, given my size I always ate a bit more than most people, but even I couldn't keep up with the tiny blonde. After a few hours Jessie got a text on her scan ring, interrupting Benny's terrible attempt to act out a recent movie he'd seen. When she got the message her face closed off and I sighed. She looked over at me. "It's Ian. He says we have to get back ASAP." Well, looked like our day off was over.

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