It was like he was struck by lightning; Rancis gasped as a shock went up his spine, his hair frizzed up, and his eyes flashed a bright blue. Love, love, love! You want them, adore them, you need them! You…..Wait who do you love? Where are the— The immediate affects of potion settled in hard and fast as Vanellope looked on in glee before chucking in amusement and awe. Suddenly, Rancis's wild lovesick eyes landed on Vanellope, as a dopey grin showed up on the fashion lover's face.
Flinching back; Vanellope continued to eye the male racer with a cautious looking entering her gaze. Vanellope! You love Vanellope! You want to kiss her, marry her, have children with— "Wait no—! Why am I—" Snapping back to normal Rancis glanced at the glitch and felt heat rise to his cheeks as painful yet tingling bolder rolled in his stomach. You love her, don't deny it. You need her affection, love, praise. Don't push her a way!
Chewing at his lip; the fashion loving racer failed to recognize the sharp sting of his lower lip being pierced. His canines having turned to fangs at some point during the initial shock the potion had on Rancis. "I….Vanellope….this is really good. Thank you so much. If you'll have me I would love to come over to your place and make more of these buzzers, as you call it."
Blinking in confusion and shock; Rancis wordlessly walked away from Vanellope as he continued to sip from his cup. The odd pain in his stomach now spreading to his head and back as a chill flowed through him. She smiled! Did you see her smile!? You need to impress her! Ask for her number next time! Allowing Rancis to walk away; Vanellope smirked while her confused would-be courtesan disappeared into the large crowd.
Yes! I got him! But it will probably take a minute to settle in since the potion is still fresh. Give it a few days and I can probably start to cultivate the relationship. Hmmm….maybe I can try to start things off by taking up Rancis's offer. Fighting the urge to jump for joy, the glitch used this opportunity to further mingle with her father subjects unaware that someone was watching her. And, as minutes turned to hours, that figure slowly got closer to her with their eyes still glued to Vanellope.
By the time Vanellope was aware of the others presence they had already snuck up on her and gotten her attention in the form of a rather insistent tap on her shoulder. "Umm….excuse me? Miss Vanellope?" Sebastian nervously drawled, his unique country accent hitting Vanellope's ears which in turn made her smirk. "I….I apologize for botherin' ya. I-I just saw you talkin' with Rancis, he's a dear friend-o'-mine. And….umm….I was wonderin' what you gave him? I-It seemed to have a pretty good kick an' it looked like it relaxed him somewhat. I could really use somethin' like that right about now."
Glancing down at his shoes; Sebastian took in deep breathes as he willed his scared self not to run or look for his brothers. He knew that, if he searched, Sebastian would not find his brothers nearby for a good reason; they had wanted Sebastian to do this himself. Try to stay as calm as possible, Sebastian. I need to do this. Annie and I are never going to happen so I have to get over her. The only way you can do that is if you find yourself a guy or girl that you'll be able to vibe and connect with.
That is once I loosin' up a bit. Who knows, maybe Vanellope will be willing to take you? Forcing his eyes to lock with Vanellope; Sebastian's cheeks blazed with awkward shame as he cleared his throat and steadied his voice. "I….If that is too much to ask though, I can leave. I just need to relax cuz I'm trying to find myself a catch. A-And I can't do that if I'm a nervous mess, you know?" Waiting in bated breathe Sebastian felt his body relax as Vanellope smiled at him and placed a hand under the chin of the runty racer.
Truly this was her lucky night; Sebastian clearly trusted or looked up to Rancis to some degree. Otherwise he'd be far more reluctant to walk up to Vanellope and drink one of her buzzers. On top of that, Sebastian was clearly bad at the art of romance and flirting, adding to his desperation to "relax" a bit. Two boys in one night, I'm on fire!
"Of course, dear, I'd be more then happy to give you one of my buzzers. But why don't we move this to a more secluded spot? I would love to get to know you more~." Batting her eyes; Vanellope didn't wait for a response as Sebastian squeaked and hurriedly followed the glitch as she dragged him to parts unknown. I might as well get started on molding Sebastian since, unlike Rancis, I'll be able to hit the ground running with him.
(6 Hours Later)
The party had since wound down as almost everyone had trickled out of Lodhi's abode and headed back to their respective homes. Leaving Annie and Akio to sleep over at their brothers place and help Lodhi clean up his place in the morning. All while Simon and Shaman anxiously waited for their Sebastian who they had promised to walk home with.
"Are you sure he hasn't left already? Maybe he got tired or left with someone else? Rancis wasn't feeling good and left earlier tonight, so maybe Sebastian offered to help him get to his place safely? From what I heard, those two are friends and that does sound like something Sebastian would do." Lodhi suggested, as her and her brothers eyed the remaining Buttercream siblings in sympathy and concern. Programmer knows that I'd be worried sick if Annie, Akio, Marcy, or Phipps up and disappeared.
Shaking his head; Simon and Shaman glances at the time on their phones. "Tsk, I wish that were the case, but that isn't possible. We know that Sebastian wouldn't have left without calling or leaving us a message. And, given that he hasn't done either, we have to assume the worse. Damn it, why did we think it was a good idea to leave him alone?" Simon rebutted, eyes blazing in anger and concern as Shaman tried texting Sebastian again for the tenth time this night.
"Okay, we can't keep waiting like this! I know this might be a lot to ask, Lodhi, but can we search the place? Sebastian has to be somewhere around here." Mulling over the question; Lodhi reluctantly nodded knowing that Shaman and Simon were unlikely to cause any real destruction in his house unless Sebastian was in danger. Sighing in relief the Buttercream brothers ran up the stairs, unable to get rid of the worried and sick feeling building in their stomach.
Something that Lodhi and Akio could relate to very much especially given how fantastic the party had been overall. Now, in most cases, a party going well wouldn't be a concern; if anything, it would be a wonderful outcome all things were considered. However, that was before Vanellope showed up with her sweets and flyers, with an obvious scheming look in his eyes. I have no idea what she is up to but I honestly expected something to happen tonight.
Taking a sip from his beer; Lodhi forced himself to relax as he thought back on a quite enjoyable event that occurred during the party. "You know, you guys don't have to stick around, Torvald is coming over tomorrow morning and agreed to help me clean." Smirking knowingly; Akio and Annie playfully shared looked and prepared to tease their brother over his little crush on the recolor. "Before either of you start, I must say that you're very immature—"
Abruptly, a lightly muffled slam suddenly sounded on the upper floor, and before Lodhi, Akio, and Annie could get up from the seat's footsteps pounded from the upper floor. Stumbling over his own two feet; Sebastian finally reached the stairs and stumbled over his own two feet before falling down the stairs.
"Sebastian!" Lodhi, Akio, and Annie cried out; rushing towards the fallen racer who was breathing heavily while his bruised nose bled from his initial painful face plant to the floor. "Are you okay? Annie questioned, trying to take the others hand before he flinched back, staring into Annie's eyes with the gaze of a wounded animal. Sebastian's hair was scruffy and tangled, the buttons on his shirt were undone, his right wrist had a developing bruise, and his bottom lip had a noticeable bite mark on it that bled nearly as bad as his nose.
Now that the siblings were able to get a closer look; it appeared as if someone had tried to make their move on Sebastian. And, for whatever reason, the ray of sunshine of the Buttercream triplets had gotten scared and ran off. "Hey, it's okay, let's just get you sitting down. You want a soda something?" Lodhi gently prodded, and Sebastian meekly nodded before allowing the siblings to helped him to his feet and to a nearby chair.
For the next couple of minutes; Lodhi, Akio, and Annie comforted and soothed the rattled Sebastian with small talk and treats. Attempting to drown out the sounds of arguing that occasionally boomed through the walls between Simon and Shaman. Thankfully, after some time, the argument tapered down and Sebastian had eased up to the point where Annie could successfully pull the 4-foot racer into a warm one-sided hug without issue.
Which, of course, just so happened to be the moment where Shaman and Simon came down the stairs with frustrated expressions on their face. "Gah, I hate that glitch! I can't believe she got away!" Simon growled, his sharp eyes glancing at his calmed and sleepy brother before he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and snapped his fingers. "Sebastian, come on, we are going home." Slowly, Annie got up with Sebastian, wanting to ensure the short racer got home safely especially given the scare Vanellope had assumingly given him. "I…..I said Sebastian not you!"
Snapped the Swedish racer but Annie wasn't having it as she stood before him and towered over Simon's strong yet miniature stature. "Okay fine, you can come with us! When did you even start caring about Sebastian, anyways?" Voice quaking in fear; Simon reluctantly backed down as he eyed Lodhi and Akio at the kitchen table. "Sorry for the ruckus, we promise nothing got damaged." Taking his leave Sebastian, Shaman, Simon, and Annie left the house; leaving behind a concerned yet suspicious Akio and Lodhi in their wake.