The day Jim burst into the loft demanding to know how good Sebastian's camera operating skills were was also the day that Thalia happened to be practicing for her ballet class. Now not only did he have a hyper child convinced that she could rise up onto her tippy-toes without assistance, he had a husband that was attempting to put up a green screen without help as well.
Yeah, neither of them are stubborn, of course not.
"Papa, look!" He turns to glance at his daughter, spotting her as she managed to get halfway to her goal.
"Great job, Honeybear," he praises with a bright grin. She returns the smile, racing over to him and holding up her fist for the customary knuckles whenever she did something good. He didn't hesitate, lightly bumping his fist against hers and then ruffling her hair. She pushes his hand away and sends him an exasperated look that only five year olds (and Jim most days) could manage. "Jim, you ever gonna be ready over there?"
"Thalia," Jim calls without turning," cover your ears, darling." She does so without having to be told twice, swaying slightly back and forth as she waited. "Sebastian, kindly go fuck yourself." Seb snorts, tapping his daughter's nose to let her know it's okay to uncover her ears. "Ah, finally!" He jumps down off the back of the couch and to the floor, stepping back with his hands on his hips to get a good look at the green curtain he'd pinned up.
"It's crooked," Thalia says after a moment.
"Not if you tilt your head to the right and squint a little." Thalia and Seb both tilt their heads in time with Jim, Seb biting back a remark about the curtain being as straight as himself, but there were little ears and he'd file the remark away for another time. "It'll do for now since no one will see the top of it."
"But I see it." Jim's nose twitches and Sebastian can see how hard it is for the other man to keep his frustration in check.
"Don't you have something to be doing instead of annoying me?" She gives him her best innocent smile, making sure her eyes were wide to match the effect. Sebastian had to give it to her, she could be a good little actress when she wanted to be.
"Nope." He lets out a huff of air and seats himself on a kitchen stool he'd dragged into the living room.
"Get on with it, Tiger." Seb brings the camcorder up, making sure there was a tape in it before turning it on and setting it to record whatever Jim wanted done. Watching his husband work was an amazing thing, Jim's posture completely changing to an open one that reminded Seb of his first nanny. "Hello," he greets in a pleasant tone. "Are you ready for the story?"
"What story?" Without looking away, Sebastian delivers a light pat to Thalia's head, international father-daughter code for shut up, sweetheart. She mimes zipping her lips, content to stand beside him and watch the performance.
"This is the story of Sir Boast-A-Lot, the bravest and cleverest knight at the round table. But soon, the other knights began to grow jealous of him and his fantastical stories of dragon slaying." Slowly, Jim's brows furrowed to go along with the story, completely absorbed in his role. "And soon they began to wonder, are Sir Boast-A-Lot's stories even true?"
"They're not," Thalia whispers. Seb spares her another look, finding her completely enraptured in the story.
"And so one of the knights went to King Arthur and said,' I don't believe Sir Boast-A-Lot's stories.'" Jim's voice has dropped to a whisper and Seb found himself leaning forward a bit to hear him better. "'He's just a big fat liar that makes up stories to make everyone think he's cool and smart.' And just like that, with that small bit of suspicion from the others, even King Arthur began to wonder…." He brings a knuckle up to rest against his chin, feigning to be deep in thought.
"Oh no."
"But that wasn't the end of Sir Boast-A-Lot's problem. Oh, far from it. That wasn't the final problem. The end," Jim finishes in a sweet, high pitch, giving a big grin at the camera. And just like that, he wasn't the Storyteller, he was the man that randomly danced with Thalia and took Sebastian out on romantic murder sprees. "What'd you think?"
"What happened to Sir Boast-A-Lot," Thalia demands as Jim came to stand next to them.
"That remains to be seen, Honeybear." He grins down at her and rests a hand on her head, looking like he was attempting to memorize every feature before finally turning those dark eyes on Sebastian. It was like a lightning bolt to his system, that gaze full of all sorts of emotions, all swirling together in a way that had Sebastian wanting to drag Jim in for a deep, rough kiss. "What'd you think, Sebastian?"
"I think the Storyteller better watch after himself."