"So, are you guys siblings?"

Steven turned to look back at the college aged kid who clearly was either blind, stupid or both. "Uhm... are you talking to us?"

He'd taken Jasmin onto his lap while the rest ordered their ice cream and Jacob ordered for her. She'd been happily letting Steven play with her coils and he'd been letting her play with his. It was their own personal love language and he was tickled at her lying on his shoulder with her cheek squished and eyes wide with innocent curiosity like that.

"Yeah." The kid smiled and seemed friendly enough, but pointed to Jasmin. "Are you guys siblings?"

Steven blinked multiple times. The main issue with that statement was that she was straddling him in a very non-familial way and his freehand was rubbing her lower back underneath her shirt to comfort her further. Also because she had such soft skin. Jasmin didn't react or seem to care about the guy, so Steven shook his head. "N-no. She's my girlfriend. Is there a reason we seem to be related?"

"Well, you guys both have black people hair," The guy pointed out. "It's like springs."

Steven's jaw dropped and Jasmin burst out laughing. "Oh my stars," He breathed. "That's... heavily politically incorrect."

The younger man got his drink and shrugged, sitting next to them. "I meant the curls. Black people have curly hair."

"But I'm half Jewish, she's clearly mixed, and we look nothing alike," Steven protested.

"Well how was I supposed to know you guys aren't siblings? I assumed you just came out white and–,"

Connie and Hazel were at the back of the line listening in as the guy tried to over explain that certain textures of hair were reserved strictly for different races and why he thought Steven and Jasmin had to be siblings. His reference? A very outdated obscure TV show made specifically to offend people.

Connie squeezed Hazels hand. "Should we help him out? I don't think he's equipped for–,"

"Do you mind if I grab someone smarter than me?" Steven interrupted his speech with a raised hand. "I-I'm..." He shook his head and found Connie with his eyes. "I'm not the right person to explain this to you I realized. My wife's over there, my boyfriend would be a good source too. He's actually African American."

Connie put that moment down as one of the most romantic things he'd ever done. Her heart ached with love for him. He was cautious and aware of the many kinds of privilege he had, she admired his love in the form of calling over his "smarter than him" wife to help.

Both came over and stared down the kid as he reexplained, slowly growing more horrified at the ignorance being so openly displayed. Maybe they shouldn't have given him the time of day but it was intensely fascinating.

Connie opened her mouth to speak, but had to wait so the insult wouldn't come out along with her rebuttal. "But you understand that other races have curly hair, right? Some white people even have curly hair."

"But you're black!" He exclaimed, pointing to her bare skin. "How are you defending this?!"

Connie blinked and sounded exhausted already. "I'm Indian-American. Not black. I don't even look black."

Hazel sat next to Steven. "I'm black. See my hair? It's called a protective style. I keep my hair like this because it's different than theirs." He pointed to Steven and Jasmin. "The issue with white people coming up to random people and assuming they lack pigmentation and must be black because of their hair is going to get you got one day by someone like my–,"

"Is there a problem?" Adam asked with a pleasant iciness and thin smile.

The guy clearly started to realize there were more of them than previously perceived. "Are you guys going to beat me up?"

Adam considered that. He'd been listening in the second the stranger had so much as uttered the first syllable of this genuinely idiotic take. He was suspicious and anxious in public, enough that he tried to be aware of every person within 50 feet of them. Part of him wanted to laugh since it had paid off in the end. "I've been eavesdropping, and yes, it's on the table."

"Adam!" Connie exclaimed.

But he held up his hand. "Withdrawn. Are you going to keep harassing my boyfriends and girlfriends?"

The kid opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. "Are you a girl, or a boy?"

"Wanna find out?" Adam pushed his chair back and completely lost his temper, but kept his voice low. "We can take this outside literally right now and I'll give you a good old fashioned ass whoopin, courtesy of everyone who's sick of hearing that fucking question. Hell, we can do it right here, no rules."

Hazel grabbed him and glared at the kid. "Get lost or I'll let him loose."

Adam crossed his arms and pouted while they scolded him. He normally kept his cool, but he'd flown off the handle in six seconds flat. "Ugh, it's my T shot. I'm extremely easy to piss off. You guys should've just let me burn it off."

"At least he got two messages," Jasmin told him sweetly. "Thank you for almost beating someone up for me."

Adam grumbled and rested against Hazels chest. "I hate stupid people."