Saphira-lura: I'm honoured you took the time. I'll admit I've been editing the story for the last couple hours while watching on crunchyroll. I do hope you enjoy my story. I'm trying to make them as human as possible which means writing them with flaws, but i do worry as sometimes it can turn readers off if they're written badly. I hope this chapter meets your standards -smiley face-
Thank you for reviewing.
Chapter Fifteen
They had finished eating and were listening to some random music channel on the TV. Neither of them had thought ahead to bring phone chargers and so both appliances were currently on airplane mode. They had eaten their dinner and both were content to lie back on the bed, the dim lights creating a nice atmosphere. 'Time to drink!' Rina announced happily as she sat up.
'If you're sleepy, you should just go to sleep, Pheeby,' Sebastian said simply as he chuckles and also sits up with a light groan from his full belly.
'Ugh, rhyme,' Rina said pulling a face and leaning over to the desk and grabbing the bottle of whiskey. 'Come on, just a little. I'll even answer questions about myself that you can think of,' she said as she sat back down on the quilt.
He brushes his hair back and clears his throat. 'Now, that's an intriguing little game. You may come to regret that,' he says as he grins at her wickedly.
'Yeah, but now you're interested,' Rina said as she flicked away the unscrewed cap of the bottle. She took a hefty sip and winced. 'It's not bad but it still has a kick,' she says through a hoarse voice.
'It's sipping whiskey, Pheebs,' Sebastian said as he took the bottle from her. 'Not to be gulped,' he points out by taking a small sip. 'You're not gonna be able to taste anything else for the rest of the night,' he laughs as she pulls a face.
'Good thing I've already eaten then, isn't it,' she retorted as she threw herself backwards on the bed, making him chuckle. They took turns sipping the whiskey and after a while Rina could feel the warm comforting lull in her stomach and chest; the oh, so, freeing haze of relaxation that came with loose inhibitions. She propped herself up on her elbow and grinned at Sebastian. 'Alright then, I think it's only fair that if I have to answer questions about myself, you have to as well,' she smirks.
Sebastian snorted and rolled his eyes. 'I wasn't going to ask you anything,' he admits. 'Didn't think it was fair to make you answer things that you haven't already been comfortable revealing to me yet,' he said simply. Rina giggles and gives him a nudge. The fact that he thought that was incredibly sweet and made her heart lift with adoration.
'Aww, Bastian. You're so cute,' she teases making him huff and take a large swig from the apparent 'sipping whiskey'. Rina shook her head, 'don't worry about that. You're my best friend, Bastian. I honestly can't think of anything that I would be uncomfortable telling you. Though, that being said, if there is something I'm sure if I didn't want to tell you, you wouldn't get all arsey about it,' she pointed out. 'How about this, we take turns revealing truths about ourselves, that way we can reveal what we want,' she said as she changes the rules of the game.
Sebastian got up and stretched. 'Alright, sounds fair,' he nods as he walks over to his jacket and pulls out his cigarettes. 'First though, I'm having a smoke.' Rina had managed to book a room that had a balcony so it meant that he didn't have to leave the room. It was a little more in price but worth the convenience seeing as she knew that she would be stealing some. Previously she had tried to give him money and had even gone so far as to buy him a pack to replace all that she stole but he never accepted. She knew for a fact that the packet that she had 'left' on his desk was still in his room, on a shelf; pointing out the fact that he didn't want her to repay him and annoying her every time she went over to his. Sebastian opened the sliding door and lit one up, waiting until she joined him before shutting the door behind her and passing over the cigarette.
Rina groaned in defeat, flicking her damp hair over her shoulder. 'Fuuuuck, you know me so well,' she moans before taking a drag and passing it back.
'Apparently not as well as I think if there are some truths that you have left to tell me,' he jokes lightly as he continues to smoke.
'Oh, we're going there are we?' She teases.
'We're going there,' he confirms with a grin and a wink making her laugh and shake her head. 'Ladies first,' he adds passing back the cigarette.
She exhales the smoke with an amused grin and leans on the railing, ignoring the deep fear of heights for the moment. Alcohol was a wonderful thing at supressing the shit feelings of everyday life and panic. 'Okay, lemme think. Well, you already know that Leigh-Leigh was my first kiss-'
'I hope that didn't get awkward, I mean, with her being… a close friend-'
'A lesbian?' Rina corrected making him flush in embarrassment. 'So, because she is, she was supposed to fall head over heels for me, huh?'
Sebastian had the decency to look ashamed, 'it's not that, it's just… well, you're you and well, it… wouldn't have surprised me… that's all,' he mumbles before concentrating on the last of the cigarette and causing Rina's face to flush in turn. I automatically assumed he meant the worst, she thought, feeling like a bit of a cow.
Rina leaned into him and gave him a side cuddle. 'Sorry,' she whispered.
He rolls his eyes and playfully flicks her on the side of the head, 'save it,' he chuckles. They share another one and then return to the bed before it got too cold. Sebastian stretches happily as they lie down and moans in relief. 'How is it that as soon as I lie back, it's like a weight just falls on my chest.'
'It's called tiredness,' Rina laughs lightly. She nestles her head into the pillow and smiles to herself. 'Do you wanna hear the rest of my truth?' Rina asks.
Sebastian props himself up on his elbow and looks down at her. 'Sure,' he wearing a half smile, knowing that if she didn't want to say, she wouldn't. He didn't need to ask if she was comfortable.
Rina closes her eyes and smiles back a little, privately enjoying the expression on his face. That damn half smile makes my heart feel like it skips… Stupid drunk thoughts, she refrains from giggling. I don't think he knows he's even doing it; I've never seen him do it with anyone else as well, she mentally grins. All those thoughts passed in a fraction and she continues to chatter. 'Well, after all that shit that happened with the men that my father had lined up for possible marriage candidates, I kinda refrained from interacting with anyone who identified as a guy that could possibly have an interest in me.'
He couldn't help but snort at her. 'Then you came to Pelican town,' he teases.
'Well actually, I had to work in the call centre. I was forced to interact with men on a day-to-day business. I just made sure to keep it professional at times,' she said giving him some wicked side eye, making him smirk. 'Your mum forced my hand and made me interact with you,' she giggles. He went to reply and she lifted her hand up and placed a finger against his lips, 'ssshh, or I'll never get to my actual point.' Sebastian playfully grabs her hand and mimes locking his lips shut with his free one. Assured that he was going to stay quiet, she continued to talk. 'Okay, so, because of all that crap, I made sure that any relationships I had were with women, or non-binary. I know that's crappy of me but-'
'That's not crappy,' Sebastian said simply. 'That just happened to be who you were comfortable with, that's all. It's like saying that someone who is hetro is crappy, just because they're not attracted to others,' he pointed out, not caring that he broke his promise to be quiet.
Rina scowls at him with annoyance, though it was light hearted. Grabbing the whisky bottle as she sits up and dislodges him, she takes a deep gulp. 'I haven't ever kissed a guy!' She snapped at him loudly. 'That's what I was getting at!'
Sebastian looked at her in shock and then sat up as he watched her drink. Then had to intervene and snatch the bottle carefully seeing as it seemed that she had no intention of stopping. 'That was it?' He laughs in an attempt to diffuse her tenseness. 'You've not kissed a guy? That's nothing,' he teases.
'You've kissed guys,' Rina said bluntly, her face red.
'Well, yeah,' he smirks. 'More than that too,' he teases. 'I've had flings and even a couple of boyfrie-' He found his words cut off as Rina grabbed him by the dressing gown and pulled him towards her. She caught his lips in a clumsy kiss and in his surprise, it was almost a minute before he realised. With a gentle hand on her shoulder, he moves away from her. 'Pheebs-'
'I'm sorry,' she said through a sniff. 'Oh, fuck, I'm so sorry,' Rina said covering her eyes. 'Fuck, Sebastian, forgive me!' What the living fuck did I just do? She mentally screams in her mind. Kissing him? 'I'm sorry, I just thought it would be like, funny or something. I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't…'
He can see her beginning to spiral and simply pulls her into a hug. 'Hey, stop it. I'm not upset at you, Pheebs. It's just a little drunk kiss,' he teases lightly, feeling her tears against his skin where his dressing gown had slipped down. 'You got in your head, that's all.'
Rina sniffs, being selfish and taking the comfort he offered. 'I'm the worst kind of person,' she whispers.
Sebastian shakes his head and holds her closer. 'Shut up, no you're not,' he said simply. 'It was barely a kiss, not only that, but you've had a lot to drink and we watched that stupid film earlier. Lots of emotions and a lot of booze,' he said, just hoping that some of his words would sink in. He knew that if the positions were reversed there would be an uproar. Fuck, Pheebs, please listen to me. I just… want you to be okay. I don't care about some silly drunken impulse, just calm down, he thought desperately. 'You trust me don't you?'
She looks up and stares at him. 'More… more than anything,' she whispers.
'Then listen to me,' he says softly brushing her hair back from her face. 'We trust one another and that's all that matters,' Sebastian said, his tone calm and soothing. 'Trust me to tell you the truth when you need to hear it.'
Rina exhales and shimmies closer. He cradles her lightly, and they move against one another as they lie down. Rina sniffs again and they look at one another; Sebastian strokes her cheek with his thumb and she holds his clothing tightly. Sebastian mentally sighs, Yoba… I want to kiss you, Pheebs. More than you realise. I want to kiss you properly… the way you deserve to be kissed… In a moment of pure panic, he shoves those thoughts deep down and pulls her closer. Sebastian kisses her softly on the forehead, trying to soothe his own turbulent mind. 'Two friends that trust one another, that's what matters, right?'
'Right,' Rina nods lightly and buries her head into his shoulder, allowing the mix of exhaustion and alcohol to take her into a dreamless sleep.
Sebastian purses his lips together as he looks down at her, 'silly thing,' he whispers. 'At least you're not awake to hear my truth,' he admits, feeling horribly conflicted about her. 'I don't think it's a truth I'm ready to face yet,' he mutters.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it!