p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian gathered himself, wiping his eyes dry. The hammering in his head was still there, but he needed to figure something out. He peeked out of the blankets again, trying to focus his attention on his surroundings. To the right of him in an extended part of the room he saw his couch, his desk and his computer, some of the art from his room on the walls, several of his books on a shelf with his bong sandwiched in between, and then there was a terrarium with frogs in in that he'd never seen before, but somehow he inherently knew it was his. He slowly got out of the bed, not fully trusting himself, and went into the space, taking it in. His hands grazed the furniture, gathering comfort in the familiar. He pulled his favorite book from the shelf, flipping open the worn spine, confirming the burn mark from where he'd dropped his cigarette on it when he'd failed at multitasking. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"This is mine all right./em/p
p class="MsoNormal"On his computer desk there was a frame photo of him with his assumed wife and daughter, though she was slightly younger than she looked to be now. Sebastian had his arm around the woman, and the girl was sitting in her lap. He and his wife were both smiling happily at the camera, but the girl, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Morgan/em, was looking instead at the two of them, absolutely beaming. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Who is this woman? Yoba I don't even know her name. And how the fuck am I a father? I don't know shit about kids. /emSebastian lifted his arm to tug at his hair in frustration, but was immediately distracted. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Is that a tattoo? /emHe rubbed his hand over the writing, confirming that yes, in fact, that was actually a tattoo. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"When did I get a tattoo? Into the depths we shall return. From Grimoire Memories? I didn't have this yesterday. Of course I didn't have a wife and kid yesterday either. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"He turned his attention back to the main part of the room. He saw one of his hoodies, hanging out of a laundry basket, as if he'd tossed it in there but it didn't fully go in. There were more pictures of him and the woman, who Sebastian realized was quite beautiful. There was a much larger book case against a wall directly across from the bed. He recognized several of the books and graphic novels there, but he didn't have copies of them. And there were Cava Saga X books he'd never heard of before, which was just impossible, that was one of his favorite series, he would have known if there were other books./p
p class="MsoNormal"He looked at the window, and dared to peek out of the shade to see if he could identify where he was. His headache roared as the light was reintroduced, and he had to squint through the light. He saw some farm building off in the distance, but nothing looked familiar to him. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Wait. Am I on that abandoned farm?/em He couldn't take the brightness any longer, and dropped the shade back into place. There was another window by the bed, and he looked out that one as well. There was some tree coverage back here, so it wasn't quite so bright. Nothing out this window was helpful at identifying where he was. At least if he was at the farm that meant he was still in Pelican Town, so that was in his favor. It was just confusing because the farm was abandoned. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Hold on, wasn't one of the old dead farmer's grandkids supposed to be moving in today? Is she that person? /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian felt sick to his stomach. He needed to find a bathroom. He went to the door of the bedroom, which opened to an open living space. There was a living room in front of him, which blended into an eat in kitchen. There were stairs just to the right of the kitchen, and there was another door. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Please, please be a bathroom./em The woman and girl were in the kitchen, and had looked up when he came out of the bedroom. He could feel the woman's eyes on him as he dashed to the door, opening it and breathing a sigh of relief when it was in fact a bathroom. He pulled the door shut loudly behind him. He put his forearms down on the sink in front of him, bending over the basin. His head was spinning, and for a moment he was sure he would puke. He stood there for a moment, breathing deeply. With closed eyes Sebastian reached a hand out, groping for the tap. He turned the water on cold, and when the vomit didn't come, he splashed some water on his face. He left the water running, and looked at himself in the mirror. For a moment he was stunned. He touched his face gingerly, watching his reflection. It was him, but not a version of him he was familiar with. He was by no means tan, but his skin was not quite the porcelain shade he was used to. His freckles were more pronounced, but would likely still go unnoticed by anyone giving him a passing glance. The signs of his poor sleeping habits under his eyes were significantly decreased, to the extent that he looked like what a normal tired person looked like./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a gentle knock on the door, causing Sebastian to jump./p
p class="MsoNormal""You okay?" the woman called, voice full of concern./p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh," he said, turning off the tap. With some hesitation, he pulled the door open, looking out at her, "Thought I was going to puke for a second."/p
p class="MsoNormal"The same concern from her voice was etched across her face, "You weren't drunk last night. Did you get up in the night and I just missed it? Did you have a nightmare?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian had no idea. He didn't remember getting up in the night or having a nightmare, but of course he did remember going to bed in his basement room, and he wasn't there now. Still he shook his head no, feeling the need to provide some kind of response./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hmm," she frowned, "Maybe you just got dehydrated. If you don't start feeling better in a bit, we'll give Harvey a call."/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Harvey. Okay. Harvey and Abby, I'm definitely still in Pelican Town. Maybe I should go see Harvey. But what would I say? "Hi Harvey, I woke up this morning with no idea where I was and who was in bed next to me, oh and I have a splitting headache."/em/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm going to get you another glass of water," the woman declared, "And no coffee until you drink it all. But you should probably go try to rest some more. Oh and Abby was pissed that I woke her up, but she'll be here soon, and she's going to bring the seeds so you won't have to go to Pierre's later after all. Oh Yoba I'm rambling again, sorry. You know you need to interrupt me sometimes. Go lie down."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian had been staring at her with wide eyes, trying to take in everything that she'd said. He stepped forward, brushing past her to get back to the bedroom. He needed a cigarette. When he got into the bedroom, he looked through his belongings to find a pack, but came up empty handed. Nothing in his desk, nothing in his clothes, nothing on his shelf or the other bookshelf. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Shit./em He'd have to ask the woman about it later. Then he realized the hoodie in the laundry basket, they were probably still in that pocket. He pulled it out, and yet again nothing. That's when he realized his hoodie that was in the laundry basket didn't carry its usual stale smoke smell that lingered on his clothes between washings. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Don't tell me…/emHe took a deep breath and held it, trying to test his lungs. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Of course this version of me doesn't smoke./em He groaned internally, getting back into the bed. He'd just pulled the blanket up again, when the door opened again. The woman, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Yoba I need to figure out what her name is,/em came over to where he was laying, holding a glass of water. She sat perched on the edge of the bed. Sebastian sat up, taking the water from her./p
p class="MsoNormal"She sighed, "I'm sorry I'm so crazy when you're not feeling well. I'm just stressed. Morgan is eating now, so I'm going to get dressed, and then get her ready and take her with me to collect the milk and eggs. So you'll be able to rest in peace for a bit. I'm thinking Abby will be here by the time we're done with the animals, which will keep Morgan occupied, but hopefully your head will feel better by then anyway."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sebastian said, though he was doubtful that his head would be feeling better any time soon./p
p class="MsoNormal"She got up, and began stripping right in front of him. Sebastian almost spit out the water in his mouth. The noise caused her to pause, looking over at him./p
p class="MsoNormal""What was that? Are you okay?" She asked, stepping closer to him again. Which would have made him feel uncomfortable anyway, but the fact that she was topless only made it that much worse. He was desperately trying to look anywhere but at her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Mmmhmm," he hummed loudly, nodding his head, hoping she'd be satiated and leave him be./p
p class="MsoNormal""You sure?" she asked, but didn't make moves to come any closer./p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't know what came over him, but he made the mistake of looking at her breasts for the briefest of seconds, before looking at her face./p
p class="MsoNormal"She smirked at him rolling her eyes, "Seriously Bash?" em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Fuck she noticed. /em"Here I am worried about what's wrong with you, and you're checking me out like you haven't seen me naked countless times. I appreciate the compliment, but come on. Besides, since when are you so shy? Yoba it's like when we first started dating."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She turned away, and continued stripping off her clothes until she was fully naked in front of him. He was much more successful in avoiding staring at her as she put her clothes into the laundry basket. He was successful that is until she moved to the wardrobe that was parallel to where he was. He caught sight of her backside and his gaze lingered for a moment, only because she couldn't see him. Sebastian quickly gulped down the rest of the water, placing the glass on the table next to him, and lying back down, pulling the blankets over his head. He heard her movement just outside of his sanctuary./p
p class="MsoNormal"She pulled back the covers a small amount, fully dressed this time, "I love you," she said softly, stroking his hair and placing a kiss on his temple. She gave his shoulder a squeeze before replacing the covers over his head. The affection had sent waves of warmth through him, which he felt oddly at home with, as if that's how he was supposed to feel. He closed his eyes, and by some miracle drifted off to sleep./p