𝕮𝖆𝖗𝖕𝖊 𝕹𝖔𝖈𝖙𝖚𝖒 - ʀᴏʙʙʏ ᴋᴇᴇɴᴇ

𝟜

The next day at school was good, save from a few glares here and there - and one instance where Kai had tried cornering him again. He had walked away with an eye roll, not giving two fucks about that the boy wanted to fight and show off his 'masculinity.'

When he arrived home, he didn't see Robby outside anywhere, so Julian and Lexi decided to practice the new moves they'd learned from the dojo. It started with a few rounds of playful sparring, followed by more careful back-and-forth practicing with the more difficult strikes and take-downs they had learned.

Eventually tiring, the sibling flopped onto the grass - sitting on the fresh green grass as they chatted. Breezes fly by occasionally, and all the sounds of the town drifted into his ears as he gazed around him - taking it all in. Julian loved moments like this between him and Lexi, where they could talk about everything and nothing - where they could share worries and anxieties, but also secrets and wishes.

"Hey, Julian,"

The voice that came from behind him wasn't Lexi's - she had stopped talking minutes ago - and the abruptness caused him to startle on the grass, jumping a bit as he clutched his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you,"

"It's no problem," He waved it off, turning around as he got to his feet to face Robby, who was standing with his skateboard tucked under his arm.

Lexi looked smug at the fact that she had let the neighbor walk up behind her brother and hadn't alerted him, and she now stared at the both of them, looking back and forth suspiciously before an idea popped into her mind like a lightbulb illuminating.

"You know, I actually remembered something I have to do," She stated with a devilish grin, standing up. "I'll just be inside if you need anything..."

She dashed off before Julian could protest, face tinted at what she had implied at the gesture.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Robby spoke as the other boy nodded.

"Yeah, that's Lexi - my twin." He didn't elaborate further, feeling awkward as a silence filled the space between them.

Finally, The brown-haired boy held out his skateboard with a smile.

"Ready for your next skateboarding lesson?"

***

Halfway through the lesson, Julian was about to go down the slope of a short little 'hill' they had found. But his mind was distracted, not able to ignore the nagging desire to find out about the whole karate thing.

Before he could stop and think, the question popped out of his mouth.

"So, Robby, do you know any karate?"

The boy nearly choked on the sip of water he had been drinking, panicking as he hastily wiped the water off of his chin while Julian tried to clarify.

"I was just wondering because apparently, this town is pretty famous for it and stuff."

Robby had looked panicked at the first statement and confused - although also relieved, at the second one. He had been expecting a much different comment and thought about his answer before slowly nodding his head. "A bit, yeah. Not much, though."

"Oh, really?" Julian said, hoping he at least sounded partially surprised. "Do you think you could teach me? Just a little, I mean."

"Why do you want to learn?" Robby asked curiously, pushing away the lingering guilt from the day prior away from his mind.

"Uh, I," Julian stammered a bit, remembering his rehearsed answer to the question he had assumed the boy would ask. He'd rehearsed the whole situation, actually. The glory of being an overthinker. "Just a few guys at my school apparently know it, and they are a bit... aggressive towards me, so if anything happened - not that it will, of course, or anything - but just in case, you know." He rambled.