Crushed
Sebastian could feel something on the edge of his consciousness, but it felt so impossibly distant. His mind was blank and dark, save for the sensation that someone was calling to him. Then, a touch that felt barely more than the crawling of an ant on his skin. What could it be? He tried stumbling through the infinite blackness, feeling his way through the void, but he could not even tell if his eyes were open. Where was this place?
Then, something warm pressed against his lips. It was strange, but the touch helped guide him somehow and he saw the faintest ray of light appear on what could only be called a horizon. Despite not knowing where he was, Sebastian knew he was getting closer to whatever would get him out of this place. He could sense it. Wait! Why was the touch on his lips? Was someone… kissing him? The last thing Sebastian remembered was keeping watch on Violet's house for the shadow to return. Why would she be kissing him? It did not make any sense. Yet, he pressed on toward the light, approaching it more quickly than he thought possible.
Sebastian's eyelids slowly lifted to see golden light above him. The dark-eyed man blinked, adjusting to the late afternoon light that now seemed so blinding compared to the place he just escaped. He expected to see the beautiful young woman who lived in the house, but the person whose face smiled down at him was not Violet. It was Sam, mere inches from his face. "WHAT THE FUCK, SAM?!" he exclaimed, pushing him back for personal space and sitting up upon the bed.
"I guess this means… Sam truly loves Sebastian?" Violet thought aloud. Sebastian turned to see the resident of the house on the other side of the room, sitting on her own bed.
"Like a brother!" Sam confirmed with a smile. Sebastian, looking around realized that not only had his best friend just kissed him, but Abigail and Violet were also in the room and he was only in his underwear. His face immediately flushed crimson as he threw the sheet back over himself and leaned his back against the wall.
"Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Sebastian demanded, attempting – and sadly failing - to retrieve his clothing without getting up from beneath the sheets.
"Well, fam," Sam said, as he began to pace the room in a detective-like manner. "We suspect that you cast a spell last night to ward off the ominous shadowy thing that was lurking outside our new friend Violet's house last night," he gestured toward the front door. "But the shadow got you in a sleeping spell before you were able to ward it off." The skater gesticulated toward his boom box and other assorted material the trio had used in their attempt to wake him. "We tried to wake you with a variety of conventional methods, until finally we resorted to well-known fairy tale lore – a kiss." The blond shrugged in good-nature, "And since I'm your best friend, the ladies voted that I would be the best fit for the usual spell parameters and I really could argue with the logic." He smirked at his friend teasingly, "You have surprisingly soft lips for someone who -"
"I was already waking up when I felt someone kissing me!" Sebastian interrupted, his face an even deeper red. It was mostly a lie, because he had been stumbling in the dark aimlessly until there was a focal point to direct his energy but the other three would never know. If only he had on his hoodie so he could retreat into the hood. "It's kind of hard to sleep through so much noise."
"Well, then you had an incredibly slow reaction time," Abigail complained, unconvinced by Sebastian's claim. "We have been trying loud music, shouting, pouring water on your face… and zilch." She scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her, "So yeah, when the kissing idea came up, we nominated the guy who hadn't recently rejected your romantic feelings and who's known you longer than a week." Sebastian avoided eye contact with his friends, but sighed in resignation. There was really no harm done, after all.
Bruno, who was not about to let himself be ignored, propped his foreleg up onto Sebastian's trundle bed and demanded to be pet with a small bark and wag of his tail. The dark-haired young man obliged, absentmindedly brushing his hand against the dog's soft fur. Sebastian began to feel more grounded as the seconds passed and after a pause, he asked, "Wait, how did you guys know about the shadow? And the protection spell?"
"We saw the video on your phone," Abigail replied, as she gazed outside at the setting sun. "It's… spooky, to say the least. I've never seen anything like it. Even Apple is really cute and friendly..."
"Apple? Sebastian inquired aloud and noticed in the corner of his eye that Abigail's words caught Violet's attention. It seemed like the girls knew something that the guys didn't. Abigail paled, "Uh, it's nothing, just a little - ugh - animal I see in the Cindersap Forest sometimes."
Violet spoke up, "So you see the Junimos, too, Abigail?" she asked in almost a whisper. It was such a relief knowing that someone else in this town might see them, too.
Abigail looked quizzical. "Junimos? What are those?"
The farmer knew she was at risk for sounding like a maniac, but Abigail's words hinted that she might have seen one, too. Not to mention that Maru had been open to the idea. And what was a small anthropomorphic apple in comparison to a shadow monster? "The forest spirits," Violet began. "They look like little apples with faces, arms, and legs."
"They're forest spirits?" Abigail responded in surprise, before she could even think of denying the fact that she had a little apple friend she liked to visit in the Secret Woods. "You mean there's more than one? And where did you hear that name?" Why did Violet know so much more about them than she did? The farmer had only been here for less than two weeks. Abigail had lived here her whole life and suddenly the new girl in town shows up and things start to change so drastically so quickly. Violet was like a catalyst for all these things that remained dormant, just under the surface.
Violet hesitated slightly, "I found some of them in the Community Center. They asked me to collect some items for them and in exchange they gave me some seeds to plant." While she had omitted a great deal from her story, it was not that far off from the truth. The farmer was not about to go talking about her experience in the wizard's tower just yet. Violet was still not entirely sure what happened that day and she had already relived the embarrassment enough.
"I only see them," Abigail admitted, feeling both excited that she could now talk about the experience openly, but also bummed that the new girl could understand them in a way she could not. Abigail had lived in Pelican Town since she was born, after all. Why could she not understand the forest spirits? "I don't understand what Apple is saying, aside from the little words like 'hi' and 'bye.'" She tugged at the bottom of her jacket, feeling a bit inadequate.
Sam interrupted, "So hold on, for some reason both of you can see forest spirits," gesturing toward the women in the room, "Sebastian can see shadow people, and meanwhile, I have seen nothing weird in town this entire time I've lived here?" he recapped. The other three nodded to confirm and Abigail wondered if the blond was doing this just to make her feel better. She had to admit, it was working a little, as petty as it might seem. "Aw, man!" the blond complained, slumping onto Sebastian's bed. "I'm the Sokka of the group!"
"Sokka was clearly the best character in the Gaang, Sam," Violet consoled him earnestly. "He was well beloved and a full member of the team, despite his lack of bending powers," to finish it off, she added, "and he clearly had the best hair." The blond nodded in agreement at Violet's points and decided he was at peace with his role. "Besides," Violet continued, "we need the perspective of someone who doesn't see these things to make sure we're not acting too weirdly suspicious around the rest of the town, right? You're going to have to keep us three weirdos on track."
The skater gave the farmer a big thumbs up. "Already on the job, fam." Immediately, he leaned over toward Sebastian, handing him some clothing with a sweet smile. "Hey, Seb. You gotta put some clothes on. It's weird you've been sitting here in your underwear this whole time."
The half-dressed man grumbled, "Well, if everyone hadn't been crowded around the bed staring at me, I would have gotten dressed sooner." He glared pointedly at Sam, "Besides, the weird thing here was you deciding it was okay to kiss someone who was unconscious." Sam grimaced impishly, as he dodged a swipe of Sebastian's hand and leapt off the bed.
"Sebastian, may I see the video on your phone again?" Violet interjected. The young man opened his phone directly to the video and handed it off to her. The farmer brought it with her as she rummaged through a few unpacked boxes, presumably still left unpacked from her recent move. "What are you doing?" he asked. The farmer simply raised her hand and gestured the three of them over. Sebastian used the distraction to quickly dress himself while the others were looking the other way.
"I thought the shadow looked kind of familiar…" Violet began, as Sam and Abigail looked over her shoulder at the papers she held in her hand. They were old sketches, clearly that of a child, but similar to the shadow that Sebastian saw. The drawn figure was more rounded and short, but most kids drew more simply than they would as adults. "I saw one once as a kid, here on the farm," she reminisced, chuckling to herself nervously. "My parents told me it was all a part of my imagination, but..." she looked up as Sebastian, who had just finished pulling on his clothing, "clearly others can see it, too." She smiled, somewhat sadly, "It's good to know I wasn't crazy." Her parents, especially her mother, had blamed her grandfather for Violet's acting up and "wild stories." It was part of the reason her parents stopped taking her to see her grandfather at the farm. Violet wished she could show them the proof, but it would not matter now. The woman would never get that time with her grandparents back.
Sam, jarring Violet from her inner thoughts, gave her a gentle slap on the shoulder, "Well, hey, if you saw one as a kid and nothing happened, maybe they're harmlessly curious just like these little apple spirits you ladies were talking about?"
"I suppose that's possible," Violet admitted hesitantly. She got up and passed the sketches to Sebastian. "Is this the same thing, do you think?" she asked him, making eye contact as she gave him the drawings.
The black clad man raised the doodles to his face and nodded, "Yeah, the drawings kind of suck, but I would say those are the shadow man," he confirmed. Violet noticed that he looked away when he said so, however. Like he was leaving something out. She wondered if she was imagining things.
"It did not seem like the shadow was trying to break in," Abigail observed as she watched the video on Sebastian's phone again. "It just... stared inside. I mean, they look freaky, don't get me wrong, but that's all it does..."
Abigail and Sam seemed much more relaxed now that there was some evidence to suggest the shadow creature might be harmless. For a moment there, there was legitimate concern about a potential monster invasion. "Well, I've got to get going home for dinner," the blond announced to dismiss himself, since the issue no longer seemed as dire as it had twenty minutes ago. "Mom would kill me if I'm late." His warm brown eyes fixed on his best friend, "You coming, fam?"
Sebastian hesitated, "I - I'm good, thanks, Sam," he replied, focusing on his feet, then out the window as Bruno rested his large head on Sebastian's feet. The skater could tell that his friend wanted to linger at the farm for some reason, but was not going to say why. Maybe because of Abigail? Things were still going to be a little awkward for a while, but it would soon pass. Sam had no doubt about that. The black-haired man sighed, "Sorry about last night," he apologized to his friends, finally speaking up. "I was way off-base for just up and leaving without trying to talk to either of you about it and jumping to wild conclusions."
The blond picked up his boom box and waved off the apology, "It's no big deal, fam. It all worked out in the end, right you two?" he added, glancing between Abigail and Sebastian.
The amethyst-haired woman looked up at Sebastian, who avoided her gaze, "I think we're going to be okay," she said hopefully, coming to give Bruno a few pats on the head. Surprised by this, the oldest in the room looked back at her.
His eyebrows rose in surprise. "You mean you forgive me?" Sebastian asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
Abigail shook her head, as if Sebastian were a lost cause, "While I personally didn't get your apology, Violet said it was a pretty good one." She rested one hand on her hip and offered the other pale hand out to shake Sebastian's. "And I would rather not break up our three musketeers, especially since we've recently added a fourth." She exhaled sharply, expelling some nerves, "Besides, I'd miss you. Still friends?"
Sebastian seemed transfixed on her outstretched hand for a moment, as if he did not believe any of this was real. "Friends," he agreed, signifying their fresh start with a handshake. "Though we're going to have to stop referring to 'the three of us' if Violet's part of the gang now."
Sam stepped in, "I'm sure we can think of a great nickname, but in the meantime, I'm starving!" he waved as he headed out the door to go home. "Have fun, you crazy magic kids!" he winked encouragingly to Sebastian as he disappeared down the porch stairs.
Sebastian's face flushed briefly, but he said nothing. He knew Sam was just trying to get a rise out of him. Abigail hid a giggle behind her hand and also started to head out. "I suppose I ought to go back, too. Mom's cooking tonight, so it will at least be edible," she joked. "You sure you're going to be okay, Violet?" Abigail wanted to make sure the farmer felt safe in her own home, now that everyone knew what had been lurking outside her door. Whether or not it was harmless, it was still unnerving to find out something had been spying on you in your sleep. "You're welcome to stay with me for a night or two, if you want to be on the safe side."
The farmer expressed her gratitude, "No, it's okay. I can't let a little curious ambulatory shadow with glowing eyes scare me out of my own house now, can I?" she protested, a bit too quickly to be convincing. Violet tilted her head toward Sebastian, her waves bouncing in her hair. "Besides, I've got sleeping beauty here to protect me." The aforementioned man stared at her curiously and her cheeks became a bit rosy as she realized what she had said. "Oh... I mean, that you were under a sleeping spell and your cu-" Violet cut herself off when she realized explaining what she meant would only lead to more embarrassment.
"Sleeping beauty?" Sebastian repeated. Was she making fun of him? Why was she acting so weird?
Violet's face went from red to pale white as her face went blank. "I -" Oh, shit. I slipped up. I called him beautiful. "Please understand! I – I wasn't trying to make fun of you!" she waved her hands furiously, trying to keep her self-consciousness at bay.
Abigail cut them both off, "Either way, I'm heading home." She winked at Violet, her hand resting on the doorknob. "Have fun tonight. Let me know if the shadow dude shows up again. I'll bring my sword!" And with that, she went out the door.
Just as Abigail expected, she found Sam waiting for her just off the farm property line. He was smiling like a dork. "So you had an interesting look on your face after I kissed Sebastian. You doing okay there or are you a little too hot after seeing two best bros kiss in a completely platonic manner?" he teased mercilessly. "A little jelly maybe?"
Abigail shoved his shoulder, and the hue of her cheeks went pink like the sunset. "I was just shocked that it actually worked!" Sam did not seem to be satisfied with that answer, but let it go and changed the subject.
"From what you sent me earlier, it sounds like you and Violet had some girl talk," he stated, scrolling through the messages Abigail had sent earlier. He lifted his boom box up onto the opposite shoulder and shifted to make the weight more comfortable. "Did you have a good time?"
"It was... nice," Abigail reflected, noticing the flexing of his arm muscles to hold up the speaker. Was he literally flexing to show off for her? She shook her head, trying to shake the distraction. "Sometimes you can just let loose with another girl in a way you can't around the guys."
"Ah, so you gossiped about the handsome eligible bachelors in town," Sam declared with a slight waggle to his eyebrows. Yoba, it was cute. "So does this mean Operation: Crab Cake is still a go after all?" the skater asked her curiously.
Abigail's light blue eyes lit up like a summer's day. Sam loved it when she got so excited. "About that..." she began, "I got some great insight today, but I think we should change our approach..."
Violet, a bit taken aback by the quick retreat from half the group, stood in silence as Abigail descended the stairs. Once again, she found herself alone with Sebastian. Not that it was a bad thing, it just seemed to be happening more frequently than Violet expected. The paranoid part of her wondered if people were doing it on purpose. Sebastian sat on the guest bed, still averting his gaze for the time being. Had she done something wrong?
"Why is everyone telling us to have fun?" Sebastian wondered out loud in an annoyed tone of voice. "We're not kids being dropped off with a babysitter."
The female farmer laughed nervously, "Oh, that is kind of funny, isn't it? Ha ha ha..." Internally, she was panicking, but the rational side of her told her not to worry, because Sebastian did not seem to understand what Abigail was teasing her about. He had been unconscious when she was ogling him, after all. "Uh, please don't feel like you need to stay if you want to head home," she muttered, feeling awkward. "I'm sure your family is expecting you home for dinner, too."
Sebastian folded his ankles under his knees and sat cross-legged on this guest bed. "To be honest we really only do 'family meals' Friday afternoons before most of us head into town for the evening. It's basically the only tradition we have, but I sometimes skip out early to hang out with Sam, if I get all my freelance work done."
"Freelance work?" Violet repeated for clarification.
He was grateful she was not nagging him about skipping out on family time, but caught off-guard by the personal question. "Oh, uh, yeah, I do freelance work as a programmer," Sebastian told the farmer.
"That's really impressive," Violet marveled. "That's like knowing a whole other language well enough to problem-solve with it!"
Sebastian balked at the comment. Usually people did not take his work seriously at all and assuming he was surfing the web all day. "Do you know any programming languages?"
Violet chuckled, "Oh, gosh, no," she answered. "The most I ever learned how to do was change the color and font of my forum posts as a teen. It's really nothing to brag about."
The programmer shrugged, "Well, that's more than most people in town know how to do and it where a lot of people our age started having fun with it as kids." He shifted back on the bed to lean against the wall. "It was something you could control and do all on your own."
The farmer did the same on her bed across the room and stretched her legs out as far as she could. Her feet hardly reached the other side of the bed, Sebastian noticed with amusement. It was kind of adorable, in its own way. "So what do you want to do as a programmer?" she asked curiously.
"Well, I'm trying to save up so I can move out of here. Probably to the city or something…" he trailed off for a moment, staring out the back window. His face was covered by his bangs from Violet's angle, but she could still see his jawline clench slightly. "You know, if I'd gone to college I'd probably be making six figures right now…" He thought out loud. "I just don't want be a part of that corporate rat race." He looked over at her, his dark eyes focusing on her face and a smirk that disarmed Violet in a way she did not understand. "But I guess you know that more than anyone else in town though, don't you Ms. Main Branch Joja Corp.?"
Flustered, Violet merely nodded at first, "Yeah, it's… not worth it," she agreed, remembering just the sheer exhaustion she felt coming home every night. She was startled by how much her heart sank when Sebastian said he planned on moving to the city. Resting her cheek on her knees, she stole a quick glance back his way. "But I'll be sad to see you go when you do leave. You're the coolest guy here."
The young man sniffed. "You don't have to lie to me to make me feel better," Sebastian retorted in irritation.
Violet shook her head, "No, I mean that," she defended her statement earnestly. "It's been a long time since I've had the chance to chat with someone just for fun. I find that I'm happy to keep stumbling into conversations with you. You're honest, even if the truth sucks." She sighed, "It's hard to find people that 'real' in a big city… Or at least, that's how it felt for me."
Sebastian felt his an overwhelming inquisitiveness. "What do you mean? Aren't people freer to do whatever they want in a big city?"
The farmer shrugged, "Yes and no," she replied in a non-committal tone. "On the one hand there are more job opportunities, people, places to go, et cetera, but on the other hand, everyone is always in such a rush to make their mark, climb the socio-economic ladder – assuming that's possible, change their image, get into someone else's pants – or whatever. It's exhausting and it felt like everyone was just putting on a show to impress everyone else around them but nobody cared and no one was actually happy. It felt so… lonely."
Violet shook her head and her pastel hair fell over her face. She groaned in annoyance, but caring required too much effort in that moment and she was running low on energy to spend on social graces. "But that was just my experience," she tacked on as a disclaimer. "Some people love living in a big city, but I think those people are extroverts." The farmer was pleased to hear a snicker on her last comment. It felt good to know someone thought she was funny.
The programmer had not considered any of the things Violet mentioned, but he wondered if she simply had rose-colored glasses for the small-town life since she had only been here less than two weeks. "What's so great about living in Pelican Town, then?" he asked her.
"You all are just… yourselves," Violet said with a wistful sigh. "Sure, I can tell that not everyone in town is friends with each other, but there's that mutual 'live and let live' kind of respect. You're not trying to fit the mold or be the next great thing. It's like the residents here don't care what the rest of the world thinks and it's so refreshing." Violet corrected her posture, lifting her head and looking across the room at Sebastian, "I'm sorry, I'm probably over-generalizing myself into a ditch, but that's just the feel I get."
"I asked for your opinion," Sebastian countered, finally noticing that the sun had set a good while ago. His stomach growled in a low rumble. "You want something to eat? I haven't had anything all day." He scoffed, "I was apparently sleeping."
"Oh my gosh, you're right. That was so rude of me not to offer anything!" she scrambled up to search a small stack of boxes separate from the larger ones.
Sebastian shook his head, "I don't want to raid your snack stash," he clarified. "I meant like grabbing something from Gus' and eating it."
Violet considered this for a moment, "I do admit that food sounds awesome right now," Violet concurred, her anxiousness over the shadow man had suppressed her hunger, but as soon as someone mentioned getting food, it was as if her body tried to make up for all its complaints at once. "But on one condition! It's my treat since you put a freaking magic ward against shadow people on my house."
The raven-haired man rolled his ink-black eyes, "We don't know that for sure, that was just Sam's theory." While he was enamored with the idea what he had, in fact, successfully cast a spell, there was no way to know for sure unless they received some kind of sign from the universe.
"Well, the brilliant thing about inheriting," she began, as she dug through one of her unpacked boxes for particular item, "as you so aptly pointed out to me the night we met – is that I do not have rent to pay and have a lower cost of living because I'm growing a good portion of my own food," she argued. Sebastian cringed a little at the reminder of what an asshole he had been to say that to her. "And you need to save up for moving to the city. I think you'll be surprised by how expensive city life can be!" Violet informed Sebastian. "Aha!" she exclaimed as she found the item for which she had been searching. It was a hair pin with tiny flower and leaf-shaped beads dangling from one end.
She swept her hair up in a messy bun and added the finishing touch. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm still not used to it being all in my face all the time. It used to be so much longer and I could put it back so many different ways!" Violet offered a hand to help him up, "C'mon, I'm sure you're starving and I could eat a whole maki train right now."
"A what?" Sebastian asked curiously, closing the door to the house behind him. He liked the sound of maki, but a train of maki?
Violet caught herself drooling a bit, "Okay, if there is one redeeming factor when it comes to cities, it's a good all-you-can eat sushi joint." She sighed dreamily, "The restaurant I'm remembering called their all-you-can-eat a 'train.' It was the best."
The programmer raised his eyebrow, "You like sushi that much?" As far as he knew, he was the only one in town that liked it. Then again, he did not really speak to many other people.
Violet affirmed her love confidently. "Nigiri, maki, sashimi... I would literally eat it breakfast, lunch, and dinner, if I could. Sure, I'd have to mix it up a bit with a variety, but it's the best." She chuckled at a memory, "Bex got offended when I wouldn't share my order with her." Her dark blue eyes shot a warning glance his way, "I'll share basically anything else, but not my sushi."
"I'll bet I could eat more than you," Sebastian assertively issued the challenge. There was no way this girl a head shorter than him could out-eat him. Either way, he felt something stirring inside as he issued the dare. Wait… was he having fun? Yoba, it had been so long.
Violet accepted the contest and returned it with smack talk. "Oh, bring it on, nerd."
Sebastian did not hold back. "Fine, farm girl," the young man said, "It's a date. When I move to the city, you're gonna have to buy me sushi. And when I win, you're going to have to admit that the best man won." Oh, fuck. Did I just call it a date?
Violet gasped, scandalized, but not for the reason the man expected. "Oh, you did not just bait me with casual corporate sexism, you bastard! You are so going down," she swore emphatically, swatting at the air in his general direction.
He got away with it. Violet did not even care that he had just proposed a date at an unspecified day in the future. He continued to roll with this feeling. "As a matter of fact, I am a bastard," he countered, flashing his teeth in a satisfied half-smirk. "My parents are unmarried." It was true, after all. Whether or not they were married when he was conceived was an irrelevant detail to him. Really it was about keeping up the banter for him. Sebastian never knew he could enjoy talking to someone this much. Then, the farmer's eyes widened, making her look shocked and somewhat vulnerable. He noticed a slight pink in her cheeks. Did he say something wrong or was it just from the exercise of walking into town?
Violet found herself unexpectedly breathless from Sebastian's confident smile and direct eye contact as they teased each other. The farmer was alarmed at how attractive she found him in this moment. "Oh... right, sorry." She felt guilty reminding Sebastian about his father. The woman turned her face away to take a breath and cool down, both physically and emotionally. Her heart was racing, whether it was due to the banter, the cocky smile, or the spirit of competition she was not sure, but it would have to shut it down immediately!
Clearing her throat, Violet decided to switch gears in the conversation. "It looks like we've reached our destination," the female farmer announced, "after you," she said, opening the door for him.
Sebastian was a little off-put by the sudden change in Violet's demeanor. Had he done something wrong? His dark eyes tried to find a hint in her body language or her face, but it was difficult to read the signs of someone he had known for such a short amount of time. Was she avoiding looking at him?
The two approached the counter and placed their orders. "You're going to eat a whole pizza?" Sebastian asked doubtfully. There was no way she could eat all that without bursting.
Violet's cobalt eyes shot him a look, "I'm hungry," she muttered. "And it's not like you can order by the slice!" the woman insisted.
Gus, not sure if the farmer's comment was a criticism of the young man, or his business practices, cleared his throat to get their attention. "Pizza's up!" he announced, taking his payment from Violet.
The female farmer gave him a friendly smile and thanked the saloon owner. "I appreciate the quick service, Gus. Have a good night!"
The saloon owner chuckled. Perhaps a spat between the two, then. Surely, everyone in town wanted whole pizzas! They were the best in town, after all. He watched them go. Ah, to be young again. He glanced over at Pam, who had not paid her tabs in weeks. At least the young ones knew to be respectful and pay what they owed at the time of service. The mustached man sighed. The cost of friendship, I suppose.
Sebastian and Violet walked back to the farm quickly, eager to get something to eat. When they arrived, Violet cleared the table and freed an extra chair from a well-packed closet. The two ate in relative silence, mainly because they were so hungry. Sebastian especially. Poor guy.
It turned out that Violet's eyes were bigger than her stomach, however. She had eaten earlier in the day, after all. "Do you want any of mine?" she offered, somewhat reluctantly. She did not like admitted she was wrong, but Violet also did not want to let good food go to waste.
The hoodie-clad man scoffed, "I thought you didn't share your food?"
"Hardy-har," Violet countered sarcastically. "That's only the case with sushi. Besides, the way you downed that pizza tells me you might still be hungry."
"It's a possibility," Sebastian admitted, snatching the last two of Violet's slices and adding them to his previously empty pizza box to enjoy.
Violet sat in relative silence for a while as he finished eating. Sebastian thought she looked like she was debating whether or not to say something.
"What is it?" he queried, taking the last bite of his meal. "You're acting weird."
The farmer squirmed in her seat slightly. "Do you…" she sighed, abandoning her train of thought. "I – I thought I was the only one who saw strange things here in the valley…" Violet began. "My parents wouldn't let me come back after a while because I kept insisting I saw that shadow on the property here as a kid." She glanced over to Sebastian, twiddling her fingers in her lap. "Was last night the first time you saw something… weird here in Pelican Town?"
Sebastian leaned back in his chair, looping his arms over his head and resting his neck on his palms. "No, actually," he answered honestly. The young man surprised even himself, but Violet seemed so distressed by the idea of the shadow, he felt a bit badly.
Violet's dark blue eyes lit up and her eyebrows rose. "What have you seen?"
The pale man shrugged, "I mean there's the usual slimes in the mines, then there's the merpeople, and of course there's always Krobus."
"Wait, what?" Violet asked dubiously. Sebastian was not sure which of creatures she was hung up on. "Merpeople are real, too? And what's a Krobus?"
"Oh," Sebastian started, "yeah, I actually haven't seen any of the merfolk up close, but I saw one once sitting out on the pier on rainy day. They definitely aren't the Disney version, so don't get your hopes up on your dream of being one someday."
"I do not want to be a mermaid," Violet countered, giving him a judging look. "I get seasick and I don't want to live underwater all pruny and everything tasting like salt for the rest of my life."
"Whatever," Sebastian chuckled. "Krobus, on the other hand, looks more like the shadow person in your drawings as a kid than the one I saw last night. He's… friendly. I think." The man leaned back toward the table so that the legs of the chair all rested on the ground.
Violet prodded for more information, tilting her body over the table toward him. "And you've talked to this Krobus shadow person?"
"Not in the last… ten years, probably," Sebastian confessed, tugging at his bangs. "For the longest time I thought he was just an imaginary friend I had as a kid, but… once I saw your drawing, I thought that maybe he was more than that…" He was getting the urge to go outside and smoke a cigarette, but he did not want to stop talking, either. The young man's leg began to jiggle up and down as she spoke.
The farmer exhaled with a slightly tense chuckle, "So people told you what you saw wasn't real, too?"
Sebastian shrugged, "I was a lonely kid, so my mom did not try to stop it for a while. I guess she thought it was my way of coping," he informed Violet. "But eventually I was getting kind of old to have an 'imaginary friend' and my mom started to intervene. Sam moved in a while after that, so it worked out for the best, I guess. I stopped seeing Krobus when I had another kid to hang out with." He paused, looking down at his wardrobe, "I never did stop wearing black, though," he laughed to himself. "It just seemed right when your best friend is a shadow."
"That's kind of adorable, in its own way," Violet cooed. The young man brushed off the comment with a verbal dismissal of the idea, but his cheeks did tinge to a slight pink in embarrassment. At this point it was out of habit. He did not wear black to be cute, that was for damn sure.
"So… you mentioned that Krobus seemed friendly," the female farmer recapitulated. "Why do you say that?"
Sebastian's lips raised in a half-smile. "Did you see the shadow from my video evidence?" he asked with a tinge of sarcasm. "The Krobus I knew as a kid looked like a plushie compared to that." His lips parted for a moment, as if he was about to speak, but he remembered something else instead. "Besides, he always told me that I should stay away from the other shadow people if I could help it. He claimed to be more 'human-friendly' than the others."
Violet's mouth pursed in thought, then she stole a glance at Sebastian from across the table. "Is… that why you're so reluctant to leave me here by myself?" she inquired gently. "You're afraid the non-human-friendly shadows are going to come get me in my sleep?"
The man nearly fell over in his chair, Violet was so close to the mark. Sebastian did not realize he had been so transparent. "C'mon," Violet urged. "I saw the pleading look you gave Sam when he asked if you were leaving, too." She got up and started clearing the table. "You can admit you're worried about the new girl, you know," the farmer smiled teasingly.
He coughed slightly and denied the accusation awkwardly. "Well, I figured since I slept all day anyway and I'm not tired, maybe I could just hang out here instead of going back home right away…" his dark eyes darted toward the door. "Unless you would rather I leave."
Violet found herself caught as well, though neither of them knew it. She did feel better with another person in the house after discovering what had been lurking outside her home last night. The farmer was not exactly in a rush to kick him out. Not to mention Sebastian was a lot of fun to be around. Having a friend sleep over was not a bad thing, after all.
"You can stay as long as you like, but people are going to talk after a while," she finally said. "So we can hang out tonight, but you should probably go sleep in your own bed tomorrow night. I'm sure Bruno can alert me if any rogue shadow people try to break into the house." To make sure she was being fair, Violet simply added, "Does that sound reasonable?"
Luckily for both people involved, neither wanted to be caught blushing, so their conversation was entirely without eye contact or the knowledge of the mutual discomfort. "Y - yeah," he verbally stumbled, "That makes sense."
Now that plans had been set for sleeping arrangements, Violet went into the bathroom and retrieved a few items for Sebastian, placing them on his guest bed. "So here are some towels if you want to shower and an extra blanket if you get cold." She tilted her head toward the bathroom, "You're welcome to use my shower supplies, since I assume you didn't pack any when you originally planned to stay with Sam last night." Her dark blue eyes scanned around, as if she were trying to think of anything else he might need to know. "There are extra toothbrushes and toothpaste in the medicine cabinet above the sink if you need them. Other than that, I think I've done my host duties. Do you want to shower first or should I?"
"Uh, go ahead," Sebastian mumbled, glancing toward the bathroom. He had not thought any of this through.
Violet jumped slightly, surprising him. "Oh, if you want to read something, all my books, manga, and comics are in these boxes," she informed him, gesturing to a surprisingly significant portion of her unpacked pile.
That did genuinely interest him, however, so he thanked her as she closed the door to the bathroom.
The farmer turned on the shower to get the water warm and quickly surveyed the bathroom for anything she should keep out of Sebastian's – or really any guests' – sight. She shoved feminine products in the under sink cabinet and quickly wiped some soap scum and general daily grime from the counter top and mirror. That's better!
She showered quickly, brushed her hair and teeth, and re-dressed in her pajamas before heading back out into the main room of the house. "Bathroom is free if you want it," Violet announced as she entered the room. Sebastian, who had indeed buried his face in her comic collection as she expected, looked up at her. His face paled for some reason, like he might be sick. "Ugh, thanks," she said, grabbing his towel and running into the bathroom. Violet wondered if perhaps he ate too much pizza and needed to use the toilet. She felt badly for taking as long as she did. Either way, she settled down on her bed to text Rebecca and check in while feeding Bruno little scraps of meat from her pizza that she had saved for him. The dog grunted happily, his wagging tail thumping against the bed on each downswing.
Meanwhile, Sebastian was in a bit of distress in the bathroom, though not for the reason Violet had assumed. There was one good thing that the man realized from the unfortunate nature of his situation, however: he now knew for sure that he found Violet attractive. He looked down at the lump forming under the zipper of his jeans. "Now is not the time," he whispered urgently swatting toward, but never actually hitting his midsection. "What the fuck, dude?" The black-clad man closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, trying to think of other things. But the sight of Violet standing there with slightly damp hair, wearing his old favorite t-shirt and a pair of shorts that when she stood relaxed and the hem of the shirt rested, appeared to not be there at all.
"How did she get that shirt anyway?" he wondered aloud. "That thing has been missing for months and she only just got here." Eventually, after chasing several other academic trains of thought down strange and bizarre rabbit holes, the feeling passed as his mind was distracted. After exhaling in relief, Sebastian got himself clean, trying to keep his mind on some of his freelance programming problems rather than thinking about who had just used the shower before him. It half-worked, anyway.
The real problem came when Sebastian realized upon exiting the shower that in his rush to keep his embarrassing bodily reaction a secret, he had forgotten his change of clothes. On the one hand, he could go out there and ask her to close her eyes while he quickly gathered his stuff and went back to the bathroom. On the other hand, he could just asked her to set them outside the door. Sebastian shook his head, realizing that his logical thinking had been heavily clouded by visual stimuli that he could not eject from his mind. "Of course, I can just put on the dirty clothes really quick, go out and grab the clean ones, and come back in here to change," he told himself. Problem solved! Only... he had dripped all over his shirt. "Okay, pants," he negotiated with himself. "Guys go out in the summer all the time without shirts. This is fine," he reasoned.
Trying not to look so bashful, Sebastian emerged from the bathroom and grabbed his clean clothing from his bag. His dark eyes glanced at Violet, who appeared to be reading a book. The tension in his body relaxed. She's not even paying attention. I worried over nothing! Sebastian sauntered back to the bathroom to get dressed more comfortably.
*Hey, Bex! How's it going?* Violet sent to her best friend back in NuNu City. *You excited to come visit me soon?*
*Of course, chica! I'm doing well. Have you made any friends with your new neighbors?*
*None that would replace you in my heart!* Violet assured her. *But I think I'm making friends decently well. :)*
*Anyone in particular I should know about? ;D* The farmer sighed. Rebecca always wanted details on her non-existent love life. And her only long-term relationship had been with a mutual friend of theirs. It had not turned out well and neither she nor Bex talked to him anymore. It was for the best.
Violet blushed, looking up at the door as the water in the shower turned on. She bit her bottom lip and braced herself for the onslaught of questions. *Okay, real talk: there's a cute guy in my shower right now. D:*
The phone rang more quickly than she had expected, "THOT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S A GUY IN YOUR SHOWER?! WHO DID YOU SEDUCE?"
In a panic, Violet turned down the volume on her speaker phone. "I didn't seduce anyone. He just needed a place to crash for a night or two, it's no big deal."
"Uh huh..." clearly her friend was not convinced. "You would not have told me he was cute unless you were interested, so what's going on?" Bex demanded to know. "I thought you were swearing off dating anyone for your first year. You haven't even gotten to the end of week two, conejita."
Violet buried her face in her blanket, "I know, that's why I need you to talk me out of this," she moaned pitifully. "Just his smile set me off earlier, Bex. I have it bad!"
The woman on the other end of the line cackled like an old matchmaker woman, "Ooooh, tienes una infactuación. Que dulce..."
"Just shut up and help me, Bex," she begged. "I don't wanna fuck up my new life here by screwing up my personal relationships this early."
The Latina sighed, "What's wrong with having a little fun, chica?"
"He literally got rejected by a girl he's been crushing for ages on last night," Violet replied, as she heard the 'tsk' on the other end of the line. "I don't want to be a rebound and I sure as hell don't want to act on a little crush this soon."
"It doesn't sound little," Rebecca shot back, but she relented. "All I have to say is if he makes a move, turn him down gently and tell him what you told me about the rejection. I'm sure he'll understand if he likes you back."
Violet heard the water turn off and the shower door open. Sebastian was likely to come out of the bathroom any second, "Thanks, gotta go! Love you, bye!" Violet whispered in a panic and ended the call. She grabbed a nearby book and opened it to a random page to make it look like she had been reading. Sebastian emerged from the bathroom noticeably shirtless. The towel was draped around his neck like a mantle, but it showed off his chest quite nicely. The programmer did not have huge muscles, more the lean kind that men still naturally had in their twenties unless they ate, drank, and sat around too much. Her eyes drank in the sight, but she quickly averted her gaze when he started to turn back around toward her. Oh, shit. Her book was upside-down! Too late now, she thought. Maybe he won't notice? Her crush returned to the bathroom without a word to her. She relaxed, confident that she got away with it for now.
She made a quick fire in the fireplace so Sebastian would have some light during the night, but so that she could still sleep. Upon discovering a few extra pillows, she made a small reading nest by the fire, where he could comfortably sit and read comics. Keeping watching for a shadow monster did not mean he couldn't enjoy himself while he waited for the thing to show up.
Sebastian was still shirtless when he came out again, but this time in long pajama pants with a printed frog pattern. "They're comfortable!" he said defensively, seeing how Violet smiled at him.
"I didn't say anything!" Violet insisted, her grin widening. "But they are very cute frogs."
The book nerd was in paradise with all these new, free books, comics, and manga to read. Some of them he had never heard of. He noticed the pile of pillows by the fire. "I figured you would want somewhere comfortable to read when I turn off the main light," Violet informed him.
Sebastian laughed. "I might just move the bed over here and put this pile of pillows on top for maximum lounging."
"Oh, uh, sure..." she agreed, helping to roll the trundle bed toward the fireplace. While the beds would not be connected, they would be on the same side of the room now. There was no harm in that, right? "There!" she announced, after moving some of the boxes to clear the way. "You're all set."
"Thanks," Sebastian replied gratefully as he sunk into the pillow pile with a book. She smiled as he seemed to immediately get lost in the story.
Violet settled into her bed and turned out the light, with Bruno at her feet. After a few moments of silence, the young woman spoke up. "Hey, Sebastian?" she called out quietly.
"What's up?" he responded, tilting his head toward the sound of her voice.
"Thanks for staying an extra night," the farmer said gratefully, snuggling her pillow. She thought of the creature that had lurked in her windows. "I actually feel a lot better knowing you're here." She smiled, despite herself, "But you know, if you actually did actually cast a spell, it'll be awesome knowing we have a legitimate caster in our party."
Sebastian, who could tell from Violet's tone that she was smiling, did so as well. After a while, he heard the soft sound of her rhythmic breathing, signalling she had fallen asleep. "Yeah..." he agreed quietly, as he resumed his reading. Though he did not specify which statement he approved.