I don't own Stardew Valley. I own my plot and OC(s).
Enjoy!
In the morning, Sebastian woke up to his phone vibrating. He grabbed it, willing for it annoyance to stop so he could get back to sleep. It was Mariah calling him.
"Hello?" he said groggily.
"I need a favor," Mariah said, sounding desperate, "Can I please come take a nap in your bed? I'm exhausted. Carver was up most of the night so I couldn't sleep and he's driving me nuts and I need a break before I kill him."
Sebastian paused, "Okay. Just come in, I'm going back to sleep now."
"Oh thank Yoba. I'll be there soon."
Sebastian hung up with a groan, burying his head in his pillow again. The next second Mariah was climbing into his bed next to him. He half opened his eyes to look at her.
"Just sleep," she mumbled her eyes closing on the pillow next to him.
He draped his arm over her and closed his eyes again, drifting back off to sleep to the sounds of her soft breathing. Sometime later, and he wasn't sure how much later because he had no idea what time she'd gotten there or what time it was now, Sebastian woke up. He surveyed the situation, trying to determine if it would be possible for him to get out of the bed without waking her up. They were lying on their sides, facing each other. One of Mariah's hands was resting on top of Sebastian's arm, the other was tucked underneath where her head was resting on his pillow. He gingerly lifted his arm off of her, pausing to see if the movement would cause her to stir, it did not. Next he tried sliding her hand off of his arm, she did stir at that, but simply adjusted herself, pulling the arm back, not actually waking. The problem was that she was sleeping on the outside of the bed and he was stuck against the wall. He either had to go over her or sneak out in the gap between her legs and the footboard. He sat up slowly, checked to make sure Mariah was still asleep, and then actually stood up. When she continued to sleep, he took soft, deliberate steps at the bottom of the bed, and then stepped right off onto the carpet below. Mariah made a noise, and rolled onto her stomach, but continued to sleep. Sebastian let out the breath he had been holding, and grabbed his phone, and some clothes, going into the bathroom to shower.
It was just before 11:30, and Sebastian realized he had no idea what time anything was supposed to be happening today. So he texted Sam.
"Hey do you know what time we're supposed to be meeting at the mines?"
"I think she said she was going to be bring Abby at 3, so sometime before then. I think she said she was going to text. Why not ask her?"
"Well she's asleep in my bed so I can't really."
"O.O. What."
Sebastian rolled his eyes, "Dude please. She came over to nap, apparently Carter couldn't sleep and was driving her nuts all night and she needed to get away from him."
"If you say so…"
"ANYWAY I don't want to wake her up if I don't have to, but I know she's going to be pissed if we don't get everything ready in time. I don't even know if she's cleared out the rock in there yet."
"How long has she been sleeping?" Sam asked.
"Uh, no clue. I have no idea when she got here."
"…Okay you have a lot of explaining to do later. But maybe give her another hour? If she doesn't wake up before then"
Sebastian decided that was a good idea. He took his shower and got dressed. When he left the bathroom, Mariah was still asleep. He went to his desk, logging onto his computer to check to see if he had any jobs waiting for him. The first one he looked at, the pay was not worth his time, but then he had an idea. He responded to their request with a counter offer with some excitement. He took a look at his other requests, knowing that he wouldn't get anything done today, and keeping deadlines in mind. He sent responses accepting or declining jobs, and then checked the time. Mariah was still asleep, but it was getting close to 12:30. Sebastian quietly went upstairs and made two cups of coffee, making sure not to spill them as he walked down the stairs to his room. He placed them down on the table, flicked on the light, and went over to the bed, to wake Mariah up.
He crouched at the edge of the bed, "Riah," he called softly, placing his hand on her back.
When he got no response he called a bit louder, "Riah," and he rubbed her back.
That got him some movement, she turned onto her side with a groan, and blinked her eyes open at him. She smiled at him, reaching out and touching his still damp hair. He pressed his cheek against the palm of her hand.
"Hi," she whispered.
"Hi," he whispered back.
"You smell good," she said a bit louder, but still in soft tones.
Sebastian chuckled, "Thanks."
He pulled away from her touch, standing up. She sat up, stretching with an arch of her back, arms over her head, yawning.
"Coffee?" he asked, picking up the mugs from the table behind him, sitting down next to her.
She nodded her head, eagerly taking the mug from his outstretched hand, sipping it immediately.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"12:30," he answered, "I wanted to let you sleep, but I didn't know how much you had left to do."
"No this is perfect," she said, resting her head on his shoulder, "I must have been really knocked out if you got out of the bed without waking me up."
"So what exactly happened?"
Mariah groaned lifting her head up, "Well Carver was having a hard time sleeping, which I get, I slept like shit when I first moved here, it's too quiet compared to the city. But instead of finding something quiet to occupy himself he just had to make so much fucking noise. I asked him a couple of times to quiet down so I could sleep, which he apparently isn't capable of. And then he kept coming into my room to ask me questions or complain or to look for something, or whatever else he was fucking doing. Eventually he fell asleep and I finally fell asleep but I got like 3 hours of sleep before I had to get up and then he complained when my farm work was too noisy and woke him up. So I went off on him and made him help me with the farm work, which he bitched about, and then when we were done I called you."
"Sorry," Sebastian said, "That sucks."
"Yeah," Mariah said taking a sip of coffee, "But then I got to cuddle with you, which was much better."
"Oh yeah?" he smirked.
"You may not know this about me," Mariah said, "But I am a massive cuddler. I mean I know you know that I'm a physically affectionate person, but cuddling is my favorite. It's the absolute best."
"Noted," Sebastian said.
"And you willingly initiated the cuddling yourself," she commented, "Granted you were mostly asleep, but I still count it as a win."
"Hey I'm not opposed to cuddling," Sebastian said, "I'm definitely into it with the right person."
"Oh then we better work on finding you the right person so you can cuddle them on one side and I can cuddle the other side, then we both get what we want," Mariah teased.
Sebastian rolled his eyes and nudged her, "You're ridiculous. You know I meant you."
"Ridiculous or adorable?"
"I'm sticking with ridiculous."
"Maybe it's a bit of both," Mariah conceded.
"Maybe," Sebastian granted.
Mariah finished off her coffee and sighed, "I guess I need to go wake Carver up and get this thing going. Actually, do you think your mom would let us borrow her truck for a little bit? I was going to use the mine carts, but that would make things so much easier."
"If she doesn't have a job today, probably," Sebastian said.
"Well fingers crossed," she said, "Because what makes the most sense to me, if you're available that is, is for you to come with me down there. Sam can meet us there too, and then I can show you what needs to come to the mines, and you three can load it up, and I can go get a hard start on clearing the space."
"Yeah I can do that. How about I go ask her and you text Sam?" Sebastian suggested.
"Good plan," Mariah said.
Robin let them use the truck, and Sebastian was on the porch of the farm house smoking a cigarette, while Mariah and Carver bickered inside when Sam arrived.
"What's going on in there?" Sam asked in regards to the raised voices.
"Apparently Carver is pretty cranky when he first wakes up," Sebastian shrugged, "That's what Mariah said anyway, and I'd venture to guess that she was accurate."
"So what happened exactly that she was sleeping in your bed?" Sam asked.
"Carver couldn't sleep last night, was noisy and kept her up most of the night, its sounds like there was more of this in the morning, and when the work was done she called me to ask if she could come nap in my bed," Sebastian explained.
"And you were awake that early?" Sam asked again, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"You already know that I wasn't. Yes Sam, I literally slept with my girlfriend, and yes, we cuddled," Sebastian said sounding exasperated.
Sam sniggered.
"You are a child," Sebastian groaned.
The door swung open and Carver stepped outside.
"Oh hey," he said to both of them, "Sam right?"
"That's me," Sam said, "Nice to see you again."
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for your help yesterday," Carver said, "And I guess today too. Both of you really."
"No problem," Sam said.
"Sam?" Mariah called from inside.
"Yeah?" He responded in tone.
"You know what, never mind," She called back.
A minute later she came out of the house, carrying three plates. She shoved one into Carver's hands mumbling something about an ungrateful bastard, and passed one to Sam.
"Aw thanks!" Sam said with enthusiasm, delving into his fried egg and toasted sourdough, "How'd you know I was hungry?"
"I have literally never seen you turn down food," Mariah said before turning to Sebastian, "If you're hungry I can get you something else. I've got plenty."
Sebastian shook his head, "I'm good."
"You should at least have some of this bread, it's so good!" Sam said between bites, "Homemade right?"
Mariah nodded her head.
"How come you never baked like this before?" Carver said as he ate his food, "This is really good."
"No time," Mariah said, holding out her piece of bread as an offering to Sebastian.
"I'll get my own," He said, waving her hand away. He stepped into the kitchen, grabbing a slice of the bread before coming back out.
"Well you should do more of it," Carver said.
"I do plenty, you're just not here to enjoy it," she retorted.
"Mmm she even made pizza by hand for my birthday," Sam said in support.
"Well I guess the country has been good for your culinary endeavors," Carver said, "You did always like to cook, even if you didn't do it much."
"Well having my own schedule and not having my soul being crushed at Joja everyday make a difference," Mariah said.
She finished her food, and brought her plate into the house, "So the table and chairs and stuff are in the shed. Make sure you close the door when you're done in there, but double check that Charlie's out first. And Sam you are not under any circumstances allowed to touch the cake. Carver knows where the stuff is inside the house that's coming. And I will see you guys soon."
She grabbed her backpack, checking to make sure her sword and pick axe were tucked inside.
"Wait, where's the extra weapons?" Carver asked, eyeing the hilt of her sword.
"In the box by the door," She said gesturing as she started to head down the road.
"Still can't wrap my mind around that one," Carver said to himself.
They loaded up the truck, Carver and Sam chatting about music. Sebastian drove up the road to the mountain with Sam sitting in the middle seat between him and Carver. Carver was firmly holding onto the cake in his lap.
"I can't get too close to the mines, the land gets too narrow, but it shouldn't be too far to carry stuff," Sebastian said.
"Wait isn't this just your house?" Carver asked as they rounded the building.
"Well yeah," Sebastian said, "The mines are in the mountain..."
"Oh, right," Carver said, "Guess I didn't think that one through. Plus I only have an idea of how tiny this town is. Haven't actually been able to see it yet."
"Abby will probably show you around," Sam said, then paused, "Never mind, I take that back. Mariah will force Abby to show you around. She probably won't on her own."
"Not that there's all that much to see," Sebastian added.
"And I'm actually shocked that no one is talking about the visit from Mariah's 'cousin'," Sam said.
"She's good with a secret," Sebastian said.
"Like whatever she told you that you won't tell Abby," Sam said.
Sebastian left out a single laugh, "Forgot about that."
"That was like earlier this week, how'd you forget about it already?" Sam said.
"I've got better stuff to think about," Sebastian shrugged.
"Wait people think I'm Mariah's cousin?" Carver said.
"Maybe?" Sam said, "I'm not sure. To keep the surprise the plan was for Mariah to tell anyone that asked that her cousin was visiting. Shockingly I'm not sure anyone really knows that you're even here."
"But later," Sebastian said, "Forget about it. You're going to be like the main attraction in town."
"Oh man, Mariah must have hated that when she first moved here," Carver said.
Sam and Sebastian looked at him, puzzled.
"She hates being the center of attention," he said, "I figured you knew that with the way you teased her at the concert."
"No I had no clue," Sam said, "I was legitimately trying to have her contributions noticed."
"Oh," Carver said surprised, "Well she fucking hated it. Kinda surprised she didn't chew you out over it later."
"Huh," Sam said.
Sebastian wasn't really surprised by any of this, but was a bit surprised he hadn't picked up on it himself. They got out of the truck, and Sam and Sebastian grabbed the table from the back, as Carver was holding on the cake. They stepped into the mines.
"Uh," Sam said, blinking, his eyes adjusting to the dim light, "How are we supposed to get this stuff down there?"
Sebastian looked over at the opening, and at the table in their hands, and he had no idea.
"Hey," Mariah said, her head popping up from the ladder, "Thought I heard you guys."
"How are we getting this stuff down there?" Sam asked her.
"Yeah doesn't the elevator only stop every five floors?" Sebastian said, wondering why they hadn't thought this through better.
"Yup. You're just going to have to lower everything down to me. But just leave it up there for now, and go get the other stuff. I have a few more rocks to clear," Mariah said.
"Oh can I see?" Carver asked.
"They're just rocks dude. You're not getting out of doing the manual labor. This was your idea after all," She said going back down the ladder.
"I'm not trying to get out of doing anything. I'm just curious!" Carver said defensively.
Sam and Sebastian unfolded the table, which Carver placed the cake on.
"You can be curious on a more interesting floor later!" She called from below, "Go unpack the truck!"
Carver grumbled, but followed Sam and Sebastian back to unload more of the truck. When they were done Carver went down the ladder to where Mariah was. Sebastian could hear them conversing, but no details.
"Alright," She called up to them, "Start passing things down."
The chairs were easy enough, and then the cake, which Carver got very possessive over. The table was a little trickier to angle, but they got it down. The smaller things were put into bags that Sebastian and Sam carried down with them. Considering it was a mine, it looked nice enough. There was a small pile of rocks off to the corner.
"What you're not keeping the rocks?" Sebastian asked, "I figured those would be loaded up into your backpack."
"Oh they will be later, but I've gotta keep up appearances. Can't meet Abby with a bunch of stone in my bag already," Mariah said.
"Why keep it?" Carver asked, "You've got some weird thing with rocks now?"
"Building materials," Mariah explained, "Much cheaper to get them myself than to pay Robin extra."
"Robin, Sebastian's mom, Robin?" Carver asked.
"Yup," Mariah nodded, "She's an amazing carpenter."
"Build our house by hand all herself," Sebastian said with a hint of pride.
"Whoa," Carver said, impressed.
"Hey give me the keys, I'll get the truck back to the house and go freshen up a bit before I meet Abby," Mariah said to Sebastian.
"My bedroom is locked, you won't be able to get into the bathroom," Sebastian said, about to offer to come with her.
"Well it's a good thing there's more than one bathroom in that house Seb," Mariah said, "And I'm pretty sure no one in your family will mind if I use it. Haven't scared them off yet."
"Not for lack of trying," Sam teased, "Sebastian told me about how you schooled Demetrius."
"Moment of pride really," Mariah grinned, "Don't go questioning my depth of Spirit's Eve knowledge."
"Oh Yoba," Carver groaned, "You're such a weirdo."
"You know it," Mariah said, holding her hand out to Sebastian. He dropped the keys in her palm, "Alright make this place look pretty while I'm gone!"
"Oh and Sam," she called poking her head down the hole from which she just climbed up, "If you're going to make more moves on my boyfriend make sure to use protection!"
"Will do!" Sam gave a cheeky grin.
Sebastian groaned, "I hate you both!"
"Blame your mother, she's rubbing off on me," Mariah said, sticking her tongue out before disappearing.
"I'm not explaining that," Sebastian said, going to open up the bags of the small stuff.
"I wasn't going to ask," Carver said.
Sebastian passed things to Sam, plates, forks, napkins, a knife to cut the cake, bottles of water.
"Man she thought of everything," Sam said, "What are we going to do when it's her birthday and she's not helping us organize?"
Sebastian stopped dead in his tracks, "Uh I don't even know when her birthday is. Maybe we missed it?"
"It's the 28th," Carver said, "She'll be 24 since I'm assuming you didn't know that either. She usually roped us into an extended Spirit's Eve party to celebrate, both because she loves Spirit's Eve and the whole hating being the center of attention thing. Which mostly had to do with not wanting to open presents in front of people. She's cool one on one, but with more than two or three people maximum was too much. Even when it was just the six of us. She'll do it, but she hates it. And no one should have to do something they hate on their birthday."
"Thanks," Sebastian said, "You must think I'm terrible for not knowing that."
"Nah," Carver shook his head, "She's a pretty private person. Doesn't like talking about herself much unless she's really comfortable with you. And that stuff isn't important to her anyway."
"Sounds like someone else I know," Sam commented, elbowing Sebastian in the ribs, "But she's not super obvious about it. Somehow gets to be more social."
"She talks about you both you know," Carver said, "Abby too. Nothing specific, but she really likes you guys. I mean she kind of talks about everyone, but I think you three are her favorite. And please correct me if I'm wrong, because she didn't name names, but from context clues, were you the one that asked her out Sam?"
Sam nodded his head.
"She felt fucking terrible about it. She cried. A lot. She was worried it was going to ruin your friendship," Carver said, "But seeing how things turned out, I guess it didn't. I won't lie I'm kind of impressed that you two are so cool about it. You must have one strong friendship. Benji would have lost his shit if he were in your shoes. I mean he kind of did anyway, but that's a whole other thing."
"I had no idea," Sam said, "She was so kind about it, and just like Mariah chill."
Sebastian was sad, but not surprised about that either.
"And you," he said to Sebastian, "She may not have said anything specifically, but I can tell by the way she talks about you how much she likes you. Definitely hasn't been like this with a relationship in a long time. I wasn't kidding yesterday. If you hurt her, we will fuck you up, I promise you that. You seem like a good guy, I like your vibes, and I know she can handle herself, but I'm keeping my eye on you."
"You sound like her you know," Sebastian said, "You must hate that she's so far away that you can't back her up so easily."
"Well we're very similar in a lot of way," Carver agreed, "I think that's why we argue the way we do. It's like a brother/sister thing really. Although she's way prettier than I am so no one would believe that."
"And the skin tone," Sam said, "Although you and Maru couldn't have more different skin tones and you're related."
"Half," Sebastian said.
"Why are you so stuck on the half thing?" Carver asked.
Sebastian sighed, "Issues with my step-dad. It's mostly about him and less about her, though she doesn't always help things. Honestly it's just sort of ingrained at this point. Worked really hard for a long time to draw that line between us."
Carver nodded, "Got it."
"Do you really think we're going to have to use these?" Sam asked, nudging the swords.
"Have you met Abby?" Sebastian asked, "She's going to love this, but you know she loves adventures. But if you really don't want to, you don't have to. I mean Abby will peer pressure the shit out of you and tease you if you don't, but she's the only one."
"How dangerous is it really?" Carver asked.
"Depends on how far down you go," Sebastian answered, "But it can be pretty dangerous. I haven't gone down that far, but I've gotten hurt before. Rock crab."
"Didn't Mariah pass out down there before?" Sam asked.
"She passed out?" Carver asked, distressed.
"I know she carries life potions with her," Sebastian said, "I wouldn't be surprised if she has, but I'm not 100% sure. Not recently anyways."
"Shit," Carver muttered.
"Don't worry, she won't let us get anywhere too dangerous," Sam said, trying to be reassuring.
Carver was about to say something else, but they heard voices above them.
"Ugg no, we should definitely start at a higher floor. I'm ready!"
"Abby, no offense, but it's been a while, and last time you screamed at the first bat we came across," Mariah said, "If you're good after a couple of levels we'll come back up and go lower."
"Fine," Abby groaned begrudgingly.
Sam and Sebastian got in place, standing in front of Carver, and Mariah came down the ladder quickly, sliding down the last couple of steps, joining them.
"Fuck I think I got a splinter," Abby said, stepping down the last rung, looking down at her hand as she turned around.
When she looked up, they shouted 'surprise!' and Abby gasped.
"You guys!"
And then they moved revealing Carver. Abby squealed and ran and tackled him in a big hug.
"Carver! When did you get here?" She asked excitedly.
"Yesterday," he said with a grin, "Happy Birthday!"
"I can't believe you came to see me," Abby was positively beaming, "But you guys know my birthday isn't until tomorrow right?"
"It's a multi-layer surprise," Sam said, "Which Sebastian and I can take zero credit for. We just did what we were told and showed up."
"You could have just not said that and she wouldn't have known we're shitty friends," Sebastian muttered.
"You're not shitty friends," Abby said, "Mariah just loves me more than you do."
"Actually a lot of this was Carver," Mariah said.
"Really?" Abby said looking at him, eyes twinkling.
"Mmhmm," Carver nodded.
Abby wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Thank fuck," Mariah muttered, turning away.
"That was fast," Sebastian added.
"Well I guess you don't have to flip," Sam said with a smirk.
"I, uh, made you cake," Carver said when the kiss ended, "Mostly. Evelyn showed us how, and Mariah um, supervised." He lifted the cover off the cake.
"Chocolate cake. I seriously love this! You're the best, Carver!"
They cut the cake and everybody took a slice. Abby and Carver sat at the table, talking to each other, completely oblivious to the other three. Oh Yoba, I hope Mariah and I aren't like that.
"Why did we bother coming?" Sebastian whispered.
Sam elbowed him again, "Because we're her friends."
"But she doesn't care," Sebastian grumbled.
"She does too," Mariah said, "She's just excited."
"Although if they start making out and then you guys start making out, I'm leaving," Sam said.
"Not gonna happen," Mariah said, taking a bite of cake.
"So um, is there a bathroom somewhere in here?" Sam asked, looking around.
"Nope," Mariah said, "But if you need to pee, I can go down a level and kill anything down there and you can pee wherever you want in peace."
"What if it's poop?" Sam asked.
"Then I don't want to know," Mariah said, "Not that I want to know about your pee either."
"And you promise that once you take care of it, nothing else will show up?" Sam looked uncertain.
"As long as you're not just hanging out down there for a long time. Bats do tend to show up after a while, but as long as you're not actually mining you should be fine," Mariah said.
"Okay, can you help then?" Sam asked.
"Once I'm done with my cake, sure," Mariah agreed.
"I'm not coming with you, don't even ask," Sebastian said.
"Damnit," Sam grumbled.
"You will be fine Sam," Mariah said, "I promise. I'll even stay by the ladder and so I can jump down there if something scares you."
Mariah stood up, putting her empty cake plate down on her seat, and grabbed her sword out of her backpack. She went down the ladder.
"Hey Sam, you can come down, but bring me my pickaxe," Mariah called.
"What's happening?" Abby said looking up from her conversation.
"Sam has to pee," Sebastian explained.
"Oh," Abby said.
Sam went down the ladder with the pick axe and Mariah came back up a moment later with the sword and pick axe. She put the tools back in her backpack.
"Found something good?" Sebastian asked when she came back over.
She pulled a topaz out of her back pocket, "Now I can have my own."
Sebastian pulled his out of his pocket too, "Still have mine."
"You carry it around?" she asked.
"Mmhmm," he nodded, "This was the first thing you ever gave me. The rabbit's foot, and obsidian, and frozen tear I keep on my desk, but I keep this on me."
"That's really sweet," Mariah said.
"I kind of wish I'd brought some weed," Sebastian said.
"Would be easy enough to hotbox. The space is fairly small," Mariah said.
"What is it with you and hot boxing? I still don't want to waste that much weed," Sebastian said.
"Well we can come back any time you want and smoke," Mariah said, "Could be fun so long as we're not on one of the dangerous floors"
"Maybe," Sebastian said, "I might get too anxious about something showing up unexpectedly though."
Sam came back up.
"Can we go exploring now?" Abby asked as his blonde hair reappeared.
"You've got some presents waiting first," Mariah said.
"Oh!" Abby said with some excitement.
After she opened her gifts and gave her thanks, they went back up to the main level, weapons in hand. Or in Mariah's case, in backpack.
"Alright," Mariah asked Abby, "Where are we going?"
"Hmm how about forty?" Abby asked, "I know I haven't gone down that far but that's not too far right?"
"Cold down there," Mariah commented, "But not too bad of baddies."
"Cold? How cold?" Abby asked.
"Well by the time you get to sixty there's a frozen lake so, pretty damn cold and it's the same type of climate, so pretty damn cold," Mariah explained.
Abby thought about it for a while, but decided that's what she wanted.
"You can back out dude," Sebastian whispered to Sam, who hesitantly shook his head no.
They got into the elevator and went down to level forty. Mariah went down the ladder to assess the monster situation.
"You guys can come down!" she called.
Abby went first, followed by Carter. Sebastian waited for Sam, who took a minute to get himself comfortable enough to go down, and then Sebastian went down last. Abby successfully killed some insanely bouncy little things that looked like they were made of soot, and they found a few different geodes and some aquamarine. People were getting cold, and it was getting late, so they went back up. Mariah gave Abby and Carter permission to head out, as long as they took the cake, with plans to meet up at the Saloon afterwards.
"We had to bring all this stuff down here, how come we have to bring it up?" Sam complained.
"Do you even hear yourself?" Sebastian asked, "We can't just leave it here. Who's going to take it out if we don't?"
"Sam why don't you go up top?" Mariah suggested, "We can pass things up to you. I may be strong, but I'm too short to get the table by myself. And for that matter, I'm not sure you'd be able to reach the chairs either."
"Okay," Sam agreed.
"I think I might skip the Saloon," Sebastian said softly when they were alone, "I'm feeling kind of socially drained."
"Okay," Mariah said, squeezing his hand, "It's been a weird day. I'll let Abby know, I'm sure she'll be too distracted with Carver to care."
The chairs were easy enough to get up to Sam, but the table was tricky. They eventually got it up to Sam, pushing as he pulled to get it out.
"I can get the truck and bring this back to your place if you want," Sebastian offered.
"You don't have to do that," Mariah said, "We can all go, it'll be so much faster."
"I know I don't have to, but you guys should go have fun, I can manage," Sebastian said.
"Bash," she said softly placing her hand on his arm.
He turned and looked at her, moving closer and wrapping her into a hug, burying his head in her neck.
"You guys coming?" Sam called down.
"Be right there," Mariah called back. She pulled back, looking into Sebastian's face, studying it. He wished he could tell what she was thinking, "You still like the tattoo idea?"
He chuckled, "I do. Do you?"
"I love it," she nodded.
"Think I'm ready yet?" he asked.
"Nah. Hasn't even been a week," She said, "So I get to keep annoying you with my incessant questioning."
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
"We should go get the truck," she mumbled, "Sam's impatient."
"Yes, I'll go get the truck," Sebastian said, correcting her.
"Hard to do when I'm the one with the keys," Mariah said, climbing up the ladder.
She left her backpack on the floor of the mine entrance next to the collection of folding chairs and table.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to get the truck," Mariah said to Sam, before Sebastian could say anything to stop her.
Sebastian sighed, "I'm going to have a cigarette."
Sam followed him out of the mine into the fresh air, "You're bailing tonight aren't you?"
Sebastian nodded his head.
"Was it all that stuff Carver was saying?" Sam questioned.
"Nah," Sebastian said as he exhaled, shaking his head, "Just drained."
"Maybe you just need more time to cuddle with Mariah," Sam teased.
"Maybe I do," Sebastian said.
"Did you know that stuff?" Sam asked, "About her not liking to be the center of attention and the privacy and stuff?"
"Not specifically that stuff," Sebastian said, "But I'm not surprised. She's got her own anxiety stuff that we've talked about. It's kind of weird when I think about how much stuff I know about her that you guys don't. Or at least I don't think you do. Not something I'd ever given much thought about until today, because you were so surprised and I wasn't."
"I guess she puts up a good front," Sam says, "But isn't it a good thing that you know more? Shouldn't it be that way?"
"I don't think she's putting up a front per-say. She's definitely more social and less moody than I am. What she looks like on the surface is real, there's just more underneath that's hidden. I don't think she tries to act fine when she's not or anything like that, I think she just doesn't like showing when she isn't fine," Sebastian explained, "Maybe someday she'll talk to you about it."
"I mean I guess I saw some of it when she came to talk to me after she kissed you the first time," Sam said, "But I just assumed that was sort of an isolated thing? Because of me asking her out you know?"
"Sorry you got kind of dragged between us with that," Sebastian said.
"Nothing compared to what Mariah's gone through with those two," Sam said, "And much shorter. Although if you had said something from the beginning, might have been different."
"Yeah well, I needed to sort things out for myself," Sebastian said.
"Hey I didn't say it was a bad thing," Sam said, "Plus it all worked out. I'm really happy for you both. Should I have the 'If you hurt my Sebastian I'll hurt you' talk with Mariah? Is that something I completely missed?"
"Nah," Mariah said appearing out of nowhere, "Abby's got you covered. Carver got to you?"
"Yoba you scared me!" Sam said, "You're like a fricken ninja, where did you come from?"
"Over there," Mariah said, gesturing to the truck with a laugh, "And I'm sorry if he went overboard beyond what he said yesterday. He can be a bit protective."
"It's cool. He wasn't crazy with it or anything," Sebastian said, "I guess I'm sorry if Abby did? I had no clue."
"It wasn't much," Mariah said waving her hand, "But I apologize in advance for the rest of them if you see them again. Lionel, Alice, and Lily will definitely gang up on you. Individually you're fine, but the three of them have banded up together…Abby will be in for it too."
"Are you going to do it to Abby? Or Carver?" Sam asked, "Ohhh or a twist and do both?"
"Fuck no," Mariah said, "They're both adults that can make their own life choices. If I find out either of them become abusive assholes, then that's another story, but otherwise I think it's a fucking bullshit practice."
Sebastian smiled, he chose a good one.
"Hey Sam," Sebastian said, "Have you ever ridden in the mine carts before?"
"What? Those things actually work?" Sam asked, wide eyed.
"I think it's time we load the truck," Mariah said.
"The mine carts work?!" Sam said, rushing past Mariah back into the mine.
Sebastian finished his cigarette, listening to Sam's excitement and Mariah's exasperation. He followed the sounds, into the mines.
"Go ahead get in," he said to Sam, who immediately got in, looking excited.
"But the truck," Mariah said.
Sebastian leaned in and whispered in her ear, "You know I can be just as stubborn as you are."
She looked up at him with narrowed eyes.
"Go have fun, please," Sebastian said, "I think some mindless labor will be a good break for me."
She made some grumbling noises under her breath, but told Sam to make some space for her, getting into the cart behind him. He could hear Sam's excitement for a bit after they disappeared from sight. Sebastian brought two of the chairs out to the truck, one under each arm. When he came back, there was a loud noise and Mariah and Sam reappeared.
"Dude!" Sam said with excitement, "You've gotta try this thing! It goes all over! Okay, well not all over, but to Clint's, and the bus stop, and the quarry. And it's super-fast!"
"I have," Sebastian said slowly.
"Great now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's help you with the table before Sam and I go to the Saloon," Mariah said getting up.
"Hey!" Sebastian complained, "I've got it!"
"Now who's stubborn," she smirked at him, "Let's just help with the table, it's awkward. We'll get it into the truck and then we'll be on our merry way, and you can deal with it from there."
Sam hopped out of the cart, "Yeah! Let's do it! And then we can ride the mine carts around some more."
Mariah and Sam grabbed the table, and Sebastian sighed, following them with the two other chairs.
"Oh my backpack is filled with rocks, so it's a bit heavy, be careful," Mariah said, as she and Sam got back into the cart.
"Got it," Sebastian said.
"Thanks Seb," she smiled at him.
"Don't murder Carver. Or Abby," he said.
"I know where to hide if I get the urge," She said with a wink, before they took off again and Sebastian was finally alone.
Unloading the truck at Mariah's house didn't take too much time, and though not usually a fan of physical labor, it was kind of nice. He brought the plates inside and washed them, leaving them on her drying rack. He put some food in Charlie's bowl, who was more than happy to get his dinner.
Sebastian sent a text to Mariah, "Gave Charlie dinner. Mind if I borrow Arctic Rush?"
"Thanks! And go for it. Have fun Bash!"
Sebastian felt weird entering Mariah's bedroom without her home, it felt like an invasion of her privacy, but at the same time it was nice have her presence around him without physically being together. He went to her bookshelf and found the Arctic Rush book he was looking for, and pulled it off the shelf. He also had an idea and pulled what looked to be her most loved book off the shelf, leafing in hopes to find a bookmark. As luck would have it, there was a slip of paper that looked like an old receipt tucked in between the pages. He looked for something to hold the page for him, and ended up taking the topaz out of his pocket sticking it in the spot the receipt had been. He found a pen on her side table, and wrote a note on the receipt, tucking it back in place and placing his topaz back in his pocket.
It was by far one of the most impulsive things that he had ever done. He had no idea when she might even find the note, but hoped that she would find it sweet and not creepy whenever she did. He left before he could dwell on it and second guess his actions too much. When he got home, he checked his email again, to see if he'd gotten any further requests. He was absolutely giddy when he saw that his counter offer had been accepted. Once he completed the project he would be able to take Mariah on a proper date, and that excited him.