Chapter Text
With spring in full-bloom, Sebastian supposes that thinking about the year that had come and gone is only natural, even as he frowns to himself and turns over in bed, desperately wanting to get some sleep. It’s the early hours, and the sun won’t rise until another couple of hours have passed, but his mother had managed to pressure him into a resolution of waking up earlier, and he needed to at least pretend to care about it for a couple of weeks before giving it up entirely and returning to his near nocturnal schedule.
Sebastian had always known he’s a little bit different from his peers, too anxious and too sensitive to the way sounds and light felt, and too quiet, but he’d never really thought about attraction being something he happened to be different in, too, until the new farmer had moved in to the valley.
A taller guy, closer to his mother’s age than his, but not old, darker skin and bleached blonde hair, and a stature that towered above everyone in the valley.
When the farmer had moved in, he’d not really cared save for wondering why the fuck anyone would choose to live in Pelican Town, but then a week later he’d seen the man in the Saloon when hanging out with Sam and Abigail, and he’d stopped dead, just staring at him. The farmer had smiled at him and waved and made his way over and Sebastian had stumbled over his words like a fucking idiot the entire time.
Abigail just smirked at him, and Sebastian narrowed his eyes and told her to can it, but he’d known then that his reaction hadn’t exactly been… normal.
His crush on the new Farmer had faded into something manageable, and he’s at least able to look the man in the eye and not fuck up every word that comes out of his mouth now, but he’d been left with a more uncomfortable revelation in the wake of his recently recognised sexuality.
Tall blonde men are his jam.
Sam is tall and blonde, but given that he’s a boy, being the youngest in their friend-group and a year younger than Sebastian at eighteen, he doesn’t really count. The uncomfortable revelation doesn’t concern Sam, though.
Kent is tall and blonde and older than him, with a stern frown and thick biceps to match. He’s so fucked.
Being gay is fine, he guesses, if a bit unfortunate living in Pelican town where his prospects were all people he’d grown up around. What’s not fine is crushing on his best-friend’s heterosexual married father.
Kent would probably not be very happy learning that his son’s awkward friend that he barely knows is thinking these kinds of things about him, about his thighs and arms and what he had going on below the belt. He’d barely returned from a prisoner of war camp in Gotoro, and here Sebastian is, using him like mental eye-candy.
Ugh.
He really needs to get to sleep.
Turning over in bed again, Sebastian does his best to forcibly empty his mind, focusing on the weight of his blanket over him and the darkness of his basement bedroom, and eventually, he falls into a light sleep, and when he awakes to his eight am alarm - far too early, but he’d promised - he groans.
Rolling out of bed is difficult, his limbs feeling like they’re made of lead, but he manages to stand up and walk over to his desk, half awake as he forces his computer to boot before flicking his lights on. Scouring across his room for something to wear that isn’t stained or smells too bad, he comes across a decent enough outfit.
He needs to do laundry, but if he had to deal with Demetrius’ exacting standards on washing machine usage on barely four hours of sleep he might end up getting into another fight with the man, and that would upset his mom and… not worth it.
The shirt he picks up is a faux-two layer top with long sleeves and a printed design from a boutique in Zuzu he’d visited a couple of years back with Abigail as a celebration for Robin deciding he was finally allowed his own bank account and card, and while it’s a little tight now, it’s still functional, and it’s comfortable. It’s easy enough to grab a pair of jeans to match, distressed with fishnet in the large gashes of fabric, and then he sighs as he looks in the mirror.
His hair is getting longer than he usually keeps it, and one part of him is rebelling at the feeling of it brushing against the back of his neck whilst another part of him kind of wants to see how much he could get away with before Robin forced him to go into the city and get a haircut.
Sebastian huffs a little laugh. That could be fun, and honestly, longer hair doesn’t look awful on him.
It’s kind of nice, actually.
Even though he really doesn’t want to, he sighs as he pulls his door open and makes his way up to the kitchen, knowing that Robin would assume he’d stayed asleep if he just immediately got to work on his current project and didn’t show his face in the house proper. When he gets to the kitchen, his mom is fixing herself some breakfast up, and thankfully, Demetrius is nowhere to be seen.
‘Oh, Sebby!’ his mom smiles as she turns around, and the look on her face is just enough to make him not grumble about the unfortunate nickname, ‘didn’t think you’d be up this early, let me get you some breakfast going.’
‘I said I would,’ Sebastian grumbles, rolling his eyes as Robin turns away, but he’s grateful for a breakfast he doesn’t have to make himself, at least, ‘made that stupid resolution, didn’t I? About getting up early and stuff.’
Robin laughs lightly, ‘You did, but I wasn’t expecting you to actually do it, no one really sticks to resolutions,’ she turns, and hands him the toast she’d been making for herself, and Sebastian is about to protest when she fixes him with a look that suggests she won’t take it.
‘Thanks,’ he mutters, and sits himself down at the dining table, picking the toast up and biting into it, the apricot jam his mom prefers being a little too sweet for him, but it’s not awful. It makes his teeth hurt, this early in the morning, and he sighs through his nose as he forces himself to eat the three slices Robin had put on the plate.
The rain is coming down hard, and Sebastian smiles to himself, knowing that he would be able to go down to the docks later and watch the rain on the ocean, glad for the beach largely being deserted in this kind of weather.
Robin, though, sighs, ‘Bad weather again?’ she asks, gripping at her mug of coffee, ‘I’m working on the farmer’s barn today, too… ugh.’
‘Can’t you just call out? Sure he’d understand,’ Sebastian adds, ‘not like he’s one of those asshole clients that expects you there when there’s a tropical storm sweeping over.’
‘I don’t like letting him down, through, he’s been my main client for the past year, and I said I’d get it done today, on me for not checking the forecast… are you going down to the beach later?’ Robin asks, before the toaster pings, and she sets about slathering her own slices in apricot jam.
‘Yeah, why?’ Sebastian asks, sensing a favour about to be cashed in, and when Robin smiles at him as she sits across from him at the dining table, he knows he’s right.
‘Mind checking in with Sam? I saw him at Joja Mart the other day, and he looked upset, but I’m sure he won’t say anything to you because he doesn’t want to be a bother,’ Robin looks around as if there would be anyone else other than Demetrius and Maru to overhear them at this time of morning in the house, ‘I think it might be about Kent,’ she whispers furtively, and Sebastian sighs.
‘What’s that got to do with me?’ he asks, and when Robin draws back looking affronted, he backs down, ‘I mean, if I see him, I’ll go see if he wants to talk, but if he doesn’t want to, I can’t make him.’
Robin sighs, ‘You’re right, I just… I’m worried. I don’t think things are really going well at home, but if I butt in, Jodi is gonna think I’m being nosy again.’
Well, that was the first he’s heard of trouble in Sam’s family. Sebastian blinks, and nudges away the sting of hurt that his mom had figured something out with Sam before he had.
‘Huh, didn’t know that,’ he replies, and when he reaches down for the last slice of toast, Sebastian realises he’s already eaten the last one, and sighs, ‘but… yeah, if I see him I’ll go check, okay? I’ve got a big project, so it won’t be til mid-afternoon at the latest.’
Robin nods, before she stands and rounds the table to grab his plate, ‘Thanks, Sebby, I know you’re busy, but I really appreciate it. What’re you working on this time?’
Sebastian sighs through his nose and debates if it’s worth explaining exactly what he’s working on, before deciding that it really isn’t, ‘Just fixing up some web-pages for a guy that paid too much for shitty work.’
A laugh comes from his mom then, ‘Ouch, I’ve heard that one before, damage control is worse than just doing it yourself,’ she turns and leans back against the kitchen counter, ‘one time I had to re-align a whole house because the guy they called in to do it built it crooked. Ripping up the foundations he’d laid was a nightmare.’
Sebastian nods, cutting his mom off before she can launch into another story, ‘Yeah, so I’m gonna be busy for most of the day. If Abby tries to come around, can you get Maru to tell her I’m not around? You know she doesn’t listen when I say I’m busy.’
‘I can try, but no guarantees, you know that’ Robin says, and Sebastian scoffs under his breath.
‘Yeah, I get it, no one really thinks I do a real job anyways,’ he mutters, before he turns to leave. At the start of the hallway, he stops, and turns, ‘thanks for breakfast, mom,’ he mutters, not sure why he’d thought to say it, but it seemed right, ‘it was nice.’
Robin smiles brightly at him, ‘Of course, Sebby! If you want, I can start making you breakfast of a morning if you’re getting up earlier.’
‘Uh, yeah, that sounds… fine,’ he grimaces to himself, knowing that he’s locked himself into at least a month of getting up way earlier than he’d prefer, ‘I’m gonna… get working, now.’
Turning away, Sebastian shuffles back down to his basement room, resolutely ignoring Demetrius saying hi from the lab where he and Maru are holed up as he shuts his door behind him.
Groaning to himself, Sebastian makes his way over to his desk and settles himself in for a long day of troubleshooting, hoping against all odds that he wouldn’t be interrupted today by someone thinking he just sat down here and did jack shit all day. Distantly, through the small window that gave his basement room at least some fresh air, he hears his mom’s truck start up, and sighs to himself as he wonders just how the fuck someone thought it was okay to charge for the awful code they’d clearly written out of their ass.
It takes him a couple of hours to just untangle what the hell is wrong with the website, several layers of issues compounding in the way they presented just strangely enough that he can’t diagnose them off the top of his head, and by the time he starts writing his own code from scratch for the website, it’s the middle of the day.
He didn’t want to charge extra, because it wasn’t this guy’s fault he’d fallen for a bozo who had no idea what he was doing, but this is already starting to get way above his pay grade.
By the time he has a somewhat functional front-end landing page for the website, his eyes hurt and his back is screaming at him for hunching over his keyboard all day, and the rain is still hammering down.
Sebastian sighs as he saves his current progress, and stretches, joints popping and cracking like he isn’t still a teenager, despite him creeping closer to twenty faster than he’d like.
That walk down to the beach sounded nice right about now. Hauling himself up from his desk, Sebastian pulls his shoes on and grabs the umbrella hanging by his bedroom door before he makes his way up the stairs. Demetrius has moved out of the lab, and so the coast is clear for him to not have to deal with him and ruin his mood before his walk down to the docks.
Grabbing his keys, Sebastian opens the front door and steps out, putting his umbrella up and locking the door behind him. Sighing to himself, Sebastian stands in front of the door for a moment, taking in the sound and smell of the rain, before he sets off down the mountain.
There’s no one else out in this weather, at least, no one out for the sake of being out, people scurrying between the store and their homes, and Sebastian hums to himself as he appreciates the quietness and the ability to just… walk, and not be interrupted, as he passes by Lewis’ manor.
Casting a look across the town, past Haley’s house, Sebastian pauses for a moment as he eyes up Sam’s house, wondering just what could be going on inside. Sam didn’t like to be a downer most of the time, and it’s like pulling teeth to get him to open up about anything more serious than hating his job at Joja Mart and being annoyed at Lewis’ efforts to stop him skateboarding, but surely… surely Sam would’ve told him if there was something serious happening.
Right?
Shaking his head, Sebastian ducks down and focuses on not slipping in the mud of the pathways as he makes his way down to the beach. The change from wet mud squelching underfoot to sand giving way easily underneath his weight is a welcome one, and Sebastian makes a beeline for the docks.
The pier is his place, and he sighs as something tight in his chest unravels as he makes his way to the edge of the pier, staring out over the Gem Sea.
This storm is a large one, and one that won’t move over for a couple of days yet, and Sebastian smiles to himself. He much prefers gloomier weather, it means cooler temperatures and less social bullshit to deal with because no one wanted to get caught in torrential rain.
He’s got a decent savings pot, now, from his freelance coding work, but with the way his bike is throwing problems his way, it’s getting harder to keep topping up the pot with the irregular paydays he gets. Still, he’s making progress to getting the fuck out of dodge from Pelican Town, and that feels good, even as worry brews in his chest.
Is it horrible to be planning to leave, when apparently his best friend’s life isn’t going nearly as well?
Yoba, he needed a cigarette, but as he pats his pockets, Sebastian realises he’s left them in his room.
Fuck.
As if rescuing him from standing still and itching for a cigarette but not wanting to go back home or try and bum one from shame at Joja Mart, his phone buzzes, and when he pulls it out of his pocket, he groans at Abigail’s name flashing up.
Except…
He could probably go for a couple of drinks and a round or two of pool tonight. Who knows, maybe he could try and get Sam to open up a bit, though that’s wishful thinking. Firing off a quick message to say he’d come, he stashes his phone in his pocket and adjusts the position of his umbrella, looking back out over the ocean.
What is it like, living somewhere where there are actual prospects?
Sam used to live in Zuzu before his family moved in as a kid, and the farmer also lived in Zuzu before they came here, and for the life of him, Sebastian can’t understand why. The city is expensive, sure, but isn’t that the price you pay for the convenience of having everything on your doorstep, and the ability to progress in a career?
Half of the time, Sebastian didn’t qualify for the classes offered from Zuzu’s main university because he couldn’t easily make the trip into the city without needing to stay the night, and the other half of the time, the price of remote learning is through the roof to the point that even his savings would be taking an unconscionable hit.
Sebastian huffs out a breath thought his nose, and kicks his foot against the post of the pier. Staying here isn’t doing him any favours, even if the sound of the rain is soothing. He’s starting to get cold without a hoodie on, and the trek back up to go get it is something he doesn’t really want to do, so he should probably start making his way to the Saloon.
He would be early, but fuck it, it’s better than being late.
The trip back up through town is uneventful, and Sebastian lets out a low noise of acknowledgement as Gus greets him, shaking off his umbrella outside before stashing it in the basket by the door.
‘Hanging out with Sam and Abigail?’ Gus asks him, and Sebastian nods, glad for the quietness of the Saloon at this time of afternoon so he didn’t have to shout to be heard.
‘I’ll get your usual drinks going, which one of you is paying this time?’ Gus carries on as he ducks behind the bar, and Sebastian snorts.
‘Try Abby, she’s the one that had the idea to hang out,’ he says, knowing damn well that Abigail wouldn’t pay unless she absolutely had to. Gus is well aware of the fact as well, and rolls his eyes with a low laugh.
‘I’ll bug Caroline for the payment, then,’ he answers, and Sebastian nods, before he pulls out his phone and fires off a message to his group-chat with Abigail and Sam, telling them he’s at the Saloon early if they don’t mind kicking off earlier than usual.
Abigail agrees easily, and then Sam’s name pops up as typing for a couple of minutes, before it disappears, and then re-appears again before Sam responds.
Sam: sounds good, could use a break from home, i’ll be there
Hm.
That… didn’t sound good.
The first one to arrive is Abigail, and she waves as she makes her way to the pool room. Sebastian looks up from his phone, and stands from the armchair he’d occupied waiting for the other two members of his friend-group to arrive.
‘Your drink’s over there,’ Sebastian says, tilting his head towards the table, Abigail’s signature bright purple cocktail sitting happily alongside Sebastian’s much duller preferred cider.
‘Ooooo, thanks,’ Abigail makes her way over, ‘any reason you’re early?’ she asks, before she takes a sip.
‘No reason,’ Sebastian shakes his head, ‘was hanging out at the dock but forgot my cigs and didn’t wanna go back home to get ‘em, so I came here to warm up.’
Abigail nods, and then looks down, biting her lip, before she looks back up at him, ‘You noticed Sam’s message?’ she asks, and Sebastian sighs.
‘Yeah, I did,’ he mutters, ‘not like him, something’s up. Mom said as much.’
‘She did? Yeah, even my mom’s noticed, and she keeps saying weird stuff like how it’s just like it was with her and dad some years back, but…’
‘That bad?’ Sebastian asks, the troubles between Pierre and Caroline a well-known secret amongst the townsfolk. The only reasons they didn’t separate are Abigail, the money issue with the General Store, and the reputation hit they’d both take for not being able to make things work.
Sebastian didn’t understand much why the third point is a problem, but he guesses that some people care about that more than he does, for whatever reason.
‘Apparently so,’ Abigail kicks her foot, before she sighs and picks up her drink proper, moving over to the pool-table, ‘but if Sam doesn’t want to talk about it, there’s not much we can do. Maybe he just needs to hang out and have fun for an evening and not think about things for a bit.’
‘Yeah, that’s what I said,’ Sebastian echoes, before he grabs his drink and rounds the pool-table, putting down on the wooden rim, ‘wanna play a warm-up game? Sam’s not gonna be on his game, but I’ll be damned if I let him win.’
‘You know I’m awful at pool,’ Abigail complains, but still, she reaches for a cue and Sebastian smirks as he sets up the table. An easy win, but one he’d relish nonetheless.
Sam turns up just as Sebastian sinks his winning move, and Abigail groans in defeat and steps away from the table, though she brightens up as she looks over at Sam at the entrance to the room.
‘Sam! You made it, come on, Seb ordered you a drink earlier, it’s a little warm, but it’s fine,’ Abigail moves and grabs at Sam’s wrist and pulls him into the room, and now that Sebastian is looking for problems with his friend, they’re glaringly obvious.
Sam normally doesn’t have eye bags, being all for sleeping as much as he could possibly get away with, though now there’s a dark smudge under his eyes that suggests his normal sleep schedule has been interrupted, and there’s a wary set to his eyes that speaks of a person on-guard, even though they’re supposed to be relaxing and having fun.
Ugh, Sebastian hates this. He can see something’s wrong, but like fuck if he knows how to ask about it, let alone in a way that won’t make Sam clam up, obsessed with not being a burden ever since he realised that Sebastian often overthought to the point of not sleeping at all.
How do you even breach the topic of, “Hey, my mom said your parents' marriage might be fucked up, is that true? If it is, you can tell us, I promise I won't make it weird” with someone off the rip?
Instead, Sebastian goes for a diversion tactic.
‘Ready for me to beat your ass?’ he asks, as he goes to line up another game, pulling the pool balls out of the pockets underneath the table, and Sam shoots him a grateful smile, even if it’s a little wan.
‘Like fuck you are,’ he responds, ‘I’m gonna win today, you just watch.’
‘Big talk,’ Sebastian smirks, ‘got enough to back it up?’
‘You betcha,’ Sam smiles fully this time, and something tight in Sebastian’s chest eases as they settle into a game, and to give Sam credit, he does as well as Sebastian expected him to given the potential issues he’s dealing with back at home.
That being said, Sebastian thoroughly trounces Sam in the first game, and then again in the second and third, whilst Abigail nurses a couple of drinks and watches them.
The tension in Sam’s shoulders has loosened with the few drinks he’d had over the time of their games, and all three of them are decently tipsy now as the Saloon swings into full business, the rain not keeping the townsfolk from having a good time. Thankfully, most of them stuck to the main room, so the noise remains at a tolerable level, for now.
It returns, though, when Sam’s phone buzzes insistently in his pocket, and he sighs as he pulls a shot and then draws back, pulling his phone out of his pocket, bringing it up to his ear.
‘What’s up, mom?’ he answers, his voice a little flat, and Sebastian winces. Abigail, meanwhile, is staring at Sam measuredly, as if she can figure out what Jodi is saying over the phone just by looking at him.
‘I already said I’d be out tonight, can’t you-’ Sam cuts himself off with a sigh, ‘no, of course you can’t. I’ll be over, say hi to Caroline, or whatever, yeah?’
The call cuts out, and Sam heaves a heavy sigh, his face set in a nasty scowl, before he looks over at them with a sheepish smile that does nothing to hide the angry way he’d responded to Jodi’s call, ‘Sorry, guys, I gotta go look after Vincent for the night. Dad isn’t doing well, and mom wants to hang out with your mom, so it falls to me.’
‘But-’ Sebastian goes to speak, before Abigail shakes her head, stopping him.
‘That’s okay, Sam. Do you want one of us to come with? We could grab a pizza from the Saloon and spend the night at yours instead,’ Abigail offers, though Sam shakes his head.
‘Nah, wouldn’t wanna disrupt your night more than I have, and dad’s not in the shape for visitors from what mom’s saying. We’ll get together again soon, yeah?’
‘Yeah,’ Sebastian says, words feeling awkward, ‘don’t worry about it, you’re good, go check on your brother.’
Sam leaves, then, and Abigail sighs.
Sebastian bites his lip as he looks at Sam’s half-finished drink, putting the pool table back to rights, as Abigail wouldn’t play another game with him after he’d thoroughly beaten Sam multiple times.
‘That… didn’t sound good,’ Sebastian tries, and Abigail groans as she rubs at her eyes.
‘It didn’t,’ she agrees, ‘and I hate that my mom is causing more trouble than she needs to. She just doesn’t get that people don’t want to agree with her all the time, and it’s gonna make things with Sam’s mom and dad worse before it makes it better.’
‘She’s not doing it on purpose, though,’ Sebastian argues, ‘your mom can be a bit much, but she wouldn’t split Sam’s parents up on purpose.’
Abigail raises an eyebrow, and Sebastian stilts his head.
‘At least without good reason to do it,’ he capitulates, and Abigail snorts.
‘That sounds more like it. I swear, she thinks everything can be fixed by splitting up with whoever you’re with instead of working things out,’ Abigail downs the rest of her drink, before she stands up from the armchair, ‘I’m gonna get something stronger to drink, you in?’
He really shouldn’t.
But fuck it, Sam’s whole deal is making him feel all sorts of weird.
‘Yeah, why not,’ Sebastian agrees, and watches Abigail make her way to the bar, and sighs to himself. She’d be a while, and she would probably get food while she’s there too and chat to Emily, so Sebastian sighs as he leans against one of the arcade machines, pulling his phone out. After a while, he puts a headphone in one ear, not really wanting to keenly listen to the Saloon chatter while he waits.
Distantly, he’s aware of a weird hush that fulls over the main room of the Saloon, but he’s not aware of the reason why, until someone clears their throat and Sebastian looks up from his phone, barely not jolting when he realises who is standing in front of him.
Isn’t Kent supposed to be feeling bad? Why the hell is he at the Saloon?
Kent stands there silently for a moment, and Sebastian looks to the side, wondering if something or someone had spawned into the room with him that is drawing Kent’s attention, because otherwise Kent is looking at him, and that feels weirder than Kent being in the Saloon in the first place.
‘Um, can I help you?’ Sebastian asks, his voice quiet, and Kent blinks for a moment, almost as if coming out of a trance.
‘No. Yes, sorry, I’m just -’ Kent lets out a low groan, ‘sorry,’ he says again, ‘just can’t believe how much you’ve changed since I left.’
Huh.
Well, Sebastian supposes it’s been at least six years since Kent’s been in the Valley. Back then, he still had ginger hair, and he’d been a hell of a lot shorter, though not much skinnier than he still is.
‘Yeah,’ Sebastian starts, though he’s not entirely sure what he can even say in response to that, ‘must be weird, coming back and everything’s changed.’
Kent sighs, and Sebastian wonders for a moment if he’d managed to fuck up, ‘You’re the first person that’s said that, you know?’ Kent responds, and Sebastian scoffs.
‘No way,’ he shakes his head, ‘you’ve been gone for over half a decade, you’re saying no one else has thought it’s gotta be rough on you?’
Kent gives a sardonic laugh, ‘If they think it, they’re not saying it,’ he says, and then, quieter, ‘suppose they’re just glad I’m alive.’
‘Fuck, man,’ Sebastian says, ‘that’s rough.’
He just about stops himself from facepalming, though Kent laughs, and the rich sound feels fucking amazing in Sebastian’s ears, and oh shit, he really is down bad for Sam’s dad, isn’t he?
‘You could say that,’ Kent agrees after his laughter dies down, ‘but I get it, even if it’s… strange. Sometimes I still think I’m a ghost to this town, rather than someone who lives here.’
‘I get that,’ Sebastian says, and when Kent frowns and looks at him, he wants the world to swallow him whole, ‘I mean… I don’t get out much, and the first thing I wanna do in this place is leave, so…’
Internally, Sebastian screams and bangs his head against the arcade cabinet. Fucking comparing his own social issues to Kent coming back from war? Actually, he’s just fucking stupid and should be taken out back like a lame horse.
‘Ignore me,’ Sebastian rushes out, shaking his head, ‘m’sorry, shouldn’t have-’
‘It’s fine,’ Kent disagrees, ‘Pelican Town ain’t right for a lot of things, I’m not upset.’
‘Do - uh,’ Sebastian curses himself internally, because he really shouldn’t be acting like a teenager with his first ever crush - although, Kent isn’t far from that for him, and he is a teenager, if only by technicality at this point - with his friend’s dad, ‘Abby just went to get some food from the bar, d’you want some?’
‘Think I’d look out of place eating pizza with you two, somehow,’ Kent arches a brow, ‘but thanks for the offer. Don’t know if I can eat much of anything right now.’
‘Oh!’ Sebastian blinks, because of course, Sam had mentioned Kent isn’t doing well, and yeah Sebastian doesn’t know much about PTSD, but if it’s anything like when his anxiety gets bad, food is the last thing he wants, ‘can’t imagine being in here is doing you any good, then.’
‘Better than home,’ Kent quips, before he shakes his head with a sigh, ‘I came looking for Sam, I didn’t wanna leave Vincent alone but-’
‘You just missed him,’ Abigail’s voice comes from behind, and Kent just about jumps ten feet in the air, whipping around, and Sebastian scowls over the man’s shoulder at his friend. Tact is definitely not her strong-suit.
‘I did?’ Kent asks, puzzled, and Abigail nods, before she rounds him, and Sebastian watches as Kent keeps his eyes locked on her, a strange feeling brewing in his chest.
Did Kent think Abigail is pretty? Ugh, that’s such a stupid fucking thought to have, Abby is the same age as he is, there’s no way that Kent would have eyes for her if he knew what was good for him.
‘Yeah, Jodi called him to come home and look after Vincent, you didn’t pass him on your way here?’
‘Ah,’ Kent looks sheepish, ‘I didn’t come directly here, checked in with Robin and Caroline to make sure he wasn’t visiting anyone’s house before I tried here, so I didn't. Good that he’s come home, he’s a good kid.’
‘...Right,’ Abigail places the plate of pizza she’d been carrying down on the green felt of the pool table, and Sebastian knows if Gus bothered to look he’d be upset at it, but really, he should put more tables in the pool room if he didn’t want this happening.
‘Sure you don’t want anything to eat?’ Sebastian asks, and Abigail shoots him a strange look, but he ignores it. There’s something weird about tonight, but instead of setting off Sebastian’s anxiety like it normally would, he kind of wants to see what would happen if he just… rolled with the punches.
Kent’s stomach takes the momentary silence as an opportunity to growl, and he looks down before looking over at the pizza, ‘If you’re offering,’ he says lowly, and Sebastian tilts his head, watching as Kent draws closer. Fuck, even if he’s going through a rough patch right now, Sebastian is pretty sure he’s obsessed with the way his cologne smells, and he knows he’s being anything but subtle as Abigail’s eyes go wide as she looks at him.
Still, she doesn’t say anything, not yet, and Sebastian sighs as he tries to stop himself from tensing up. He already knows the second he leaves that she’s going to get on his ass, whether verbally or through text, so he might as well try and enjoy his night, even if nothing had exactly gone to plan.
A few more drinks and a third of the pizza leave him passing tipsy and crossing firmly into the territory of being drunk, having always been a bit of a lightweight compared to Abigail and Sam. Just as he’s about to reach for the remnants of Abigail’s cocktail, just wanting something to wet his mouth after it had dried at the shift of Kent’s biceps as he cleans the pool-table of their drinks and plate, a hand reaches out and stops him, though its not Abigail’s like he’d expected.
‘Think you’ve had enough,’ Kent’s voice comes through his ears like whisky, rich and low, and Sebastian dizzily thinks he could get drunk on just the sound of it, even if it’s a stupid thought.
‘No, I… I haven’t, m’fine,’ Sebastian huffs, trying to push past Kent’s grip, but the man’s grasp on his wrist is firm and that corded muscle means he is not budging.
‘You’re drunker than a skunk,’ Kent says wryly, ‘I’d best get you home so your mom doesn’t freak out, Abigail’s in no state to take you.’
At the mention of his friend’s name, Sebastian looks over, and sure enough, Abigail is leaning against the arcade machine and giggling as Emily serves her another drink, and really, if he hadn’t been subtle earlier, Abigail is being obvious.
He’s not sure how a couple of drinks and games of pool had turned into him actually getting drunk, because if he’s being honest, Sebastian didn’t much like the feeling of losing control over his inhibitions, even if it felt good in the moment. There’s always regret afterwards, and he’s awkward enough that he really doesn’t want to test what’ll come out of his mouth with the filter to his thoughts muddied by drink.
Still, he’s having fun right now, and he really didn’t want to make his way out into the rain when it’s warm in the Saloon, and he has food and drink here.
‘Let’s go,’ Kent grunts, and then he lets go of Sebastian’s wrist, but then he’s grabbing Sebastian’s shoulder and not-so gently pushing and coaxing him away from the pool table. A few raised eyebrows are tossed their way as Kent practically drags him out of the Saloon, with Gus breaking the tension as he laughs.
‘Didn’t think I’d live to see the day you started dragging people out of here, Kent,’ he says, and Kent’s cheeks colour a light pink before he shakes his head and mutters something about being a little more responsible now, and Sebastian had never really questioned how old Gus is or how long the Stardrop Saloon had been in town until now.
‘Which one’s yours?’ Kent asks as they reach the door, and it takes Sebastian’s brain a few seconds to catch up and parse what the older man is saying, his eyes getting too caught on the breadth of Kent’s forearm as he sorts through the gaggle of umbrellas stashed in the basket.
‘The - the red one,’ he manages to get out, ‘yellow handle.’
Kent huffs a laugh, and Sebastian swears he hears the other man mutter something along the lines of “cute” under his breath, but then the Saloon door is opening and Kent is bundling him out into the rain, before pushing the umbrella up and holding it over him as Sebastian does his best to not fall over his own feet, the change in temperature and the step down onto the path throwing him for a loop.
The rain is lighter, now, but the wind is no less fierce, and Sebastian shivers, feeling the lack of his hoodie much more than he had earlier in the day. It’s going to be a miserable trek back up to his house in the mountains, even with his umbrella, and not for the first time, Sebastian curses living in such a backwater town where most of the houses weren’t even connected by driveable roads.
Sebastian jolts when a large jacket is lay over his shoulders, and the smell of Kent’s cologne wafts up to his nose even more intensely, and he looks over, seeing the man in simply a tight t-shirt and nothing else to shield him from the rain.
‘C’mon,’ Kent says simply, grabbing at his forearm again, ‘lean on me if you have to, I ain't carrying you up the mountain if you fall.’
Oh, that idea… would Sebastian be a bad person if he purposefully fell over to test Kent’s words?
Probably.
The mud of the pathway to the saloon squelches underfoot, and Sebastian very nearly loses his footing on the first step, flailing a little before Kent steadies him, the solid presence of the older man at his side reassuring if not highly embarrassing. How hard is it to walk, Sebastian? One foot in front of the other until he got home, it’s not that difficult.
Still, something lingers at the back of his mind, ‘What - why did Gus say that, back there?’ he asks, and pats himself on the back for only minimal slurring of his words, and Kent hums as he drags him to head up past Dusty’s fenced-in pen.
‘You were too young to remember, but before I got shipped out, I liked the Saloon a bit too much. Between me ‘n’ Pam, we kept the place afloat for a couple years ‘til Gus got his finances in check,’ Kent huffs out a self-deprecating laugh, ‘and here I am now, dragging your sorry ass back to your mom’s house.’
Sebastian lets out a hmph noise, before the wind picks up, and he draws Kent’s camo-jacket tighter around his shoulders, teeth chattering.
‘Put it on properly, and you won’t freeze,’ Kent says nonchalantly, and Sebastian tries his best to not think about how the sleeves of the jacket gape easily around his upper arms when they’re tight enough to pinch into Kent’s biceps. Still, Kent is right, even as Sebastian feels a heat in the pit of his stomach that signals trouble as he thanks the relative darkness of the town compared to the Saloon.
Much less chance of Kent seeing the, ah, results of Sebastian’s apparently not-so-little crush.
‘What time is it, anyways?’ Sebastian asks, even though his phone is in his pocket and he can just check, he kind of wants an excuse to keep Kent talking, just to listen to his voice.
‘Hm,’ Kent hums, ‘nearly eleven? Ain’t too late, but it’ll be closer to midnight by the time I get you home.’
They’re passing the General Store now, and Sebastian scowls as he spots two figures backlit against the lights from the inside, Caroline and Jodi no doubt, and when Kent follows his gaze, the older man goes a little tense, before he shakes his head and places the hand not holding the umbrella against the middle of Sebastian’s back to urge him to walk a little faster.
His skin practically fucking burns underneath the thin fabric of his shirt where Kent’s hand rests, and if he were any drunker and less aware of how dangerous this is, he’d be begging Kent to slide it down to grope at his ass, desperation sparking in his chest.
As it is, he bites his lip, and pulls the front of his shirt down over his jeans, and focuses on trying not to fall over as they make their way up the slope towards the old community centre.
Unintentionally, he does end up testing Kent’s words as they start to make their way up the mountain slope proper, as his foot catches against an exposed tree root, and he’s tripping over it before he can get his footing properly. Except, his shirt pulls tight around his chest, and he’s being held up, staring at the muddy path beneath him with his heart beating a mile a minute in his chest before Kent hauls him back upright with the grip on his shirt.
It’s definitely stretched, but Sebastian can’t find it in himself to care.
‘Careful, don’t want you breaking your nose and I have to drag you back down to the clinic and wake Harvey up,’ Kent rumbles, and really, the way he talks about dragging Sebastian places as if he wouldn’t give Sebastian a choice in the matter should probably make him annoyed, but all it’s doing currently is serving to make him even hornier than he already is.
Yoba help him.
He’s never been more grateful and less happy to see the front of his house in a rainstorm than he is now. Kent’s shirt is fairly soaked through, most of his body caught in the rain given that he’s holding the umbrella mostly over Sebastian instead of himself, and the words are out of his mouth before he can think on how stupid they are.
‘Wanna come in and dry off? Mom,’ Sebastian lets out a little hiccup, ‘mom won’t mind, as long as you’re quiet.’
Kent stares at him for a good moment, and then shakes his head and mutters something under his breath, and Sebastian is ready for the disappointment of Kent turning his stupid offer down, when the older man smiles wryly.
‘Could use a nightcap before I go back home, sure,’ he says, and Sebastian blinks, before he fumbles in his jeans pocket for his keys, and barely manages to get the key in the lock without dropping them at his feet, before he’s stumbling into the front of the shop. Robin’s likely passed out in bed, a day of hard work in the rain making her eager to get her rest, and Demetrius never stayed up late much anyways.
His only potential obstacle could be Maru, but lately, she’s been pulling all-nighters in her room rather than the lab. As it is, when he’s not greeted by Maru asking who’s there, he nods to Kent and waves the older man into the house, and then flicks the main lights on.
One thing Robin had been sure to do is make it so their doors didn’t let external light and noise in when they’re closed, and not for the first time, he’s grateful for his mom’s dedication to her craft.
It almost feels unreal, quietly walking past the doors to his half-sister’s room and his mom’s room, and the kitchen feels alien compared to the quiet domesticity of the morning.
Kent has trailed in after him, and Sebastian pulls a towel off one of the handles of the kitchen cabinet drawers and hands it over, and bites his lip as Kent gratefully accepts and starts to dry himself off, fabric swiping over his arms, shoulders, neck, face, and hair.
It’s practically a show, and Sebastian has front row tickets.
Then, Sebastian remembers Kent’s remark about a nightcap, and wonders if Robin even bothered to keep any alcohol in the house. Demetrius doesn’t drink, and he doesn’t think Maru does either, so really, his mom’s his last hope as he reluctantly turns away from Kent and bends down, rummaging in one of the lower cupboards until his hand comes across a dusty bottle stashed right at the back, behind some most likely out of date boxes of cereal.
Straightening back up with prize in hand, Sebastian sways a little, before he places the bottle triumphantly on the dining table, right as Kent throws the kitchen towel next to it.
‘Didn’t peg you as someone that likes wine,’ Kent remarks, and Sebastian shakes his head.
‘I don’t, but mom drinks it now and then, but Maru and Demetrius don’t drink, so if you don’t want it, I can put it back,’ he knows he’s rambling, and even when he’s drunk, he can’t shake the social awkwardness that seems fucking inherent to his person.
‘It’s fine,’ Kent replies, and then he’s pulling the cork out of the bottle opening with his finger and thumb like most people don’t need a fucking corkscrew to do that easily, and taking a quick swig from the bottle, blinking at the flavour for a moment.
He places the bottle back down, and then rubs the back of his head, ‘Mind if I take your umbrella for the walk back?’
Sebastian swallows, pulling his eyes away from the length of Kent’s neck, and nods wordlessly. It’s only fair, after he’d held it over Sebastian’s head the entire time and stopped his drunk ass from falling over twice.
Kent smiles, and it’s the first one he’s seen this night that reaches the man’s eyes, and fuck, he’s so doomed.
Then, Kent is lumbering out of his kitchen and down towards the front door, and Sebastian hears the clunk of his boots pause for a moment, before the door swings open and then clicks shut.
Sebastian groans, and slumps against the front of the fridge, looking at the mouth of the Yoba knows how old bottle of wine. It’s almost too easy to snatch it off the dining table and scurry down to his room, the walls swaying as he leans against the banister down to his door, and then he’s stumbling inside and closing his door and sinking down to the floor with his back against it, bottle of wine in hand.
He doesn’t even like wine, it’s too bitter and dries his mouth out, but he really couldn’t care less about that at the moment as he brings the rim of the opening up to his mouth and takes a bitter, nasty sip, revelling in the idea of an in-direct kiss as he swallows down and groans.
He’s so hard in his jeans, and when he looks down at himself, the knowledge that he’s still wearing Kent’s jacket strikes him like one of the freight trains that runs up at the tracks behind his house. Fuck.
Would it…
Would it smell like him?
Lifting the collar of Kent’s jacket to his face, Sebastian inhales deeply through his nose, and shivers, heat shooting down his spine to settle in the pit of his stomach as he moans. Kent’s cologne, but more importantly, just the smell of him, is deeply engrained in the weave of this jacket, and he can’t get enough.
In a rush, Sebastian sets the bottle of wine aside and wrestles with the button on his jeans, cursing at his past self’s decision to wear something so tight because he needs them off yesterday. Popping the button, Sebastian yanks the zip of his fly apart and plunges his hand inside his underwear, shuddering at the cold feel of his hand against heat skin, and then he’s drawing himself out into the cool air of his basement room.
He didn’t really get off super often, at least, not as much as he assumed was the norm given how prevalent it came up in discussions online, but, fuck, he’s only human, he can’t take this kind of tease and not do something about it. Still huffing deeply at the collar of his borrowed jacket, Sebastian bucks his hips up as he strokes himself from root to tip, thumb rubbing over the sensitive head of his cock before he pushes his hand back down to the base.
It’s a desperate thing, heat already gathering beneath his skin as pleasure skitters through his nerves, and when the cuff of Kent’s jacket slips down over his wrist, he doesn’t push it back up, and the first brush of rough fabric against sensitive skin makes him practically shout, knocking his head back against the surface of his door.
Sebastian manages a microscopic amount of guilt before he’s letting go of his cock and hurriedly pulling the cuff of the jacket sleeve over his hand, and wrapping it around himself as he pushes his cock up against the rough fabric. A jolt of something overwhelming zaps through him as he moans, the rough texture of the well-built jacket rubbing against his skin just perfectly, toeing the line of pain and pleasure in a way that makes his brain sing, suffocated under heat and desire.
He doesn’t last long, how could he? His cock twitches and Sebastian muffles a whine into the collar of the jacket as he brings it back up to his face, huffing in the scent of cologne and sweat alike and the slight hint of Kent’s utilitarian shampoo as pleasure builds in the pit of his stomach.
It’s almost embarrassing, but he’s tipped over the edge as the slightly cooler metal button of the cuff rubs up against the underside of the tip of his cock, and he can’t think save for the pleasure that rushes through him, cock throbbing as he comes. Biting down on the collar of Kent’s jacket, he greedily sucks on the fabric and closes his eyes, rutting into his hand.
He’s making a damn mess, pent-up desire and frustration alike from the past couple of weeks boiling over at that moment, heady spurts of cum landing on his floor and drooling down the underside of his cock, smearing into the earthy green fabric of Kent’s jacket, and it’s only as he comes down from his peak and his brain re-boots that he realises what he’d done.
‘Shit,’ Sebastian pants out as he lets go of the patch of Kent’s jacket he’d been biting down on, looking down at the mess he’d made, not just on his floors, but of the way he’d come all over the cuff of Kent’s jacket and the way his saliva had seeped into the fabric of the collar.
Still, the idea of having parts of himself on Kent’s jacket makes his cock twitch as it valiantly refuses to go softer than half-hard.
Letting go of himself for a moment, Sebastian eyes the bottle of wine, before he shrugs and takes another sip, cringing at the taste before he picks himself up off his floor with shaky legs. Kicking his shoes off and peeling his jeans off his legs, along with his underwear, leaves him in just his shirt and Kent’s stolen jacket, and he rushes over to his bed, squirming his way under his sheets after placing the wine-bottle on his night stand.
He really shouldn’t do anything more than he already has, but… wouldn’t Kent want him to wash his jacket anyways, before he returned it?
Sebastian’s cock twitches again, and he muffles a moan underneath his blanket as he brings his hand, still covered by the cuff of Kent’s jacket, back down to holding himself again, his bed frame squeaking as he thrust his hips into the clutch of is palm.
He’s sore and long spent before he drifts off, hand still between his legs, the combination of his drinks, the exhaustion from the day, and his desperate fucking of Kent’s jacket sleeve dragging him under.
Sebastian’s dreams are soaked in army-green and the sound of the rain pouring outside.