Without bothering to send a return note, knowing full well she'd arrive before the owl did, Jemma pulled on her ballet flats and grabbed her trench coat before Apparating directly outside of the Daley Manor. She'd never actually been inside before, her and Sebastian spending most of their time together at her office or somewhere else (mostly places that involved drinking up until recently). Strangely, both their homes hadn't made the cut.
Until now.
Pulling up the collar against the back of her neck, Jemma wrapped on the door with three brisk knocks.
Considering he'd gotten so used to being completely on his own, it was strange that there had been so many people in the manor recently. Not only staff, who he didn't actually see often, but there was Sabrina which meant Dean had come by, plus Reid who showed up at random all the time.
It wasn't a lot of people, but it was a lot for Sebastian.
He pulled the door open at the knock, fussing with it less than he had earlier. He was still feeling kind of weak but the chocolate had helped most recently, and Reid had helped most significantly.
"You don't waste any time do you?" He asked as he stepped back to let her in.
She said it simply as she walked inside, her eyes lingering on him as a frown tugged at her lips. He looked worn, and beat and more than a little morose. And it didn't suit him. Grumpy or not, this was something different. Though, as she stepped farther into the manor, her eyes taking in the grand foyer of the manor, she couldn't help but make a little approving nod as she looked around. It was remarkably well-kept for being abandoned for so long and rather beautiful.
But then, she wasn't here for a tour.
She turned back to him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"You've been waiting to make that joke since before I admitted it to you, haven't you?" Sebastian rolled his eyes now that it hurt a little bit less to do so. Having to avoid any sort of eye rolling due to pounding headaches for hours was one of the worst parts of the day after a transformation
( ... )
"Just payback for every male who's ever made the same joke in my direction-" she shrugged more casually than she felt in that moment.
It wasn't like Sebastian to actually want to talk. Not about anything that was seemingly important. And it wasn't as if he had to even say anything to her, anyway. She could see the pain all over his face. But still, she followed him into the sitting room, the perfectly worn-in furniture, the chocolate and already opened firewhiskey waiting for her.
"Does that mention of Reid mean what I think it does?" she asked him, brow raising as she made herself comfortable in the corner of the couch (though if she knew what it was typically used for, she might have reconsidered this).
"That depends," Sebastian huffed a slow breath and lowered himself carefully onto the other end of the sofa. He reached for the whiskey immediately, taking a slow, long drink.
The way it burned going down helped a bit to make him focus. His head was still a mess but at least alcohol made the thoughts slow down a bit. That was probably the only reason he was willing to talk about it. Also, Jemma had this weird way of making him want to say thing.
"If you think it means he showed up, got to watch two werewolves change, then spent the night locked in the study?" He nodded a few times, refusing to look at her. "Then yeah. Means exactly what you think. You're very astute, Dorny."
"Bloody hell-" she said, a small shake of her head doing what it could to express just how bizarre that whole sentence sounded. What made it worse was that it was true.
"I figured you were going to go about telling him in a different way-" she told him, offering him a sort of hapless half smile.
Though, frankly, she was at least happy Reid knew. It killed her not telling him that day- wanting more than anything to let one of her best friends know what he was getting into. But it tore at her to just divulge something so big.
"He asked before-" she confessed. "Must have been right after the last full moon. He wrote to ask why you'd been feeling so shitty-"
Sebastian nodded behind his glass. If he could do it all over again, he'd have let Reid in on it in a different way, too. He'd planned on it, sort of, eventually. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to get the nerve built up before it was too late.
"He has the best fucking timing," Sebastian laughed, humorless and sarcastic. "He showed up last month, and I looked like hell. He asked about you, you know? If you knew, but it sounded like he already knew the answer." That sentence made his head hurt, and he pressed at the bridge of his nose.
"I told him you were okay-" she said, voice soft now as she listened to the tone in his voice, the dryness of it different than usual. "But I wouldn't tell him what was going on-"
She pulled at the sleeve of her jacket, moving to tug it off her now as she settled into the cushions.
"Mostly because it's not my place and partially because at that moment, I wasn't sure just how-" she paused, tilting her head from side to side. "Well, how serious you two might be-"
Still, she didn't know that answer.
But she could see the way this seemed to be affecting him.
"Yeah, I guess it is." Sebastian agreed. Not that he knew, not really. It's not like that had been part of the conversation. But they were taking clingy to a whole new level, which made things sort of blatantly obvious.
"I mean, I don't know. How serious we are," he told her honestly. He leaned forward to set his glass down just for something to do. "But things are better, when he's here. And he didn't leave."
Why was he saying so many words? Reid really needed to stop unintentionally twisting his head all around.
"Of course he didn't leave-" she said, nearly exasperated by the statement. "I reckon' you've known Reid long enough by now to know that he's not some sort of flake-"
He was loyal to the core. Always had been, always would be- give or take a few serious exceptions. But Jemma had yet to clear his DVR and she certainly hadn't tried to steal a boyfriend.
"But please, please explain to me why you two haven't talked about this yet-" she asked, sighing. "I feel like watching a werewolf transformation sort of.. well, leads to that?"
He had absolutely picked that up about Reid at this point. Finding out your sleeping - and cuddling a lot more often than either of them expected, probably - with someone who turns into a wild animal once a month was a little bit different than most other things. Plus, Sebastian was paranoid to a fault.
"I don't know," Sebastian looked at her and hoped he didn't look half as helpless as he felt. "I meant for it to? But he was half panicking, and I felt like death. So it was mostly ... some yelling, admitting I wasn't dying and he wasn't leaving, and then sleeping on the couch." That pretty much summed up the majority of it.
She didn't need to know about the rest of the day before Reid had finally gone home, but the summary held up.
"Serious relationship things got sort of ... covered by the not telling him about being a werewolf thing."
She had to admit, what she actually know about his relationship with Reid was pretty slim. They were seeing each other- she knew- mostly in very little amounts of clothing. But beyond that, nothing she knew was very certain - mostly because she'd been basically inferring it for herself.
"The last thing Reid is going to do is leave you when you're like this-" she said, her hand reaching out to softly brush at his shoulder, careful to not want to hurt him in any way. "But that doesn't mean that you two don't have to put this into words. They're important-"
She figured that out for herself with Drew the other night.
"What do you want?" she asked him, then, a knowing look on her face. "From him?"
You know me too well.
I definitely need a break from ... whatever I'm doing. I'd even be willing to share the chocolate.
-Bash
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-J
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-Bash
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Until now.
Pulling up the collar against the back of her neck, Jemma wrapped on the door with three brisk knocks.
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It wasn't a lot of people, but it was a lot for Sebastian.
He pulled the door open at the knock, fussing with it less than he had earlier. He was still feeling kind of weak but the chocolate had helped most recently, and Reid had helped most significantly.
"You don't waste any time do you?" He asked as he stepped back to let her in.
Reply
She said it simply as she walked inside, her eyes lingering on him as a frown tugged at her lips. He looked worn, and beat and more than a little morose. And it didn't suit him. Grumpy or not, this was something different. Though, as she stepped farther into the manor, her eyes taking in the grand foyer of the manor, she couldn't help but make a little approving nod as she looked around. It was remarkably well-kept for being abandoned for so long and rather beautiful.
But then, she wasn't here for a tour.
She turned back to him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"You look like hell," she told him.
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It wasn't like Sebastian to actually want to talk. Not about anything that was seemingly important. And it wasn't as if he had to even say anything to her, anyway. She could see the pain all over his face. But still, she followed him into the sitting room, the perfectly worn-in furniture, the chocolate and already opened firewhiskey waiting for her.
"Does that mention of Reid mean what I think it does?" she asked him, brow raising as she made herself comfortable in the corner of the couch (though if she knew what it was typically used for, she might have reconsidered this).
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The way it burned going down helped a bit to make him focus. His head was still a mess but at least alcohol made the thoughts slow down a bit. That was probably the only reason he was willing to talk about it. Also, Jemma had this weird way of making him want to say thing.
"If you think it means he showed up, got to watch two werewolves change, then spent the night locked in the study?" He nodded a few times, refusing to look at her. "Then yeah. Means exactly what you think. You're very astute, Dorny."
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"I figured you were going to go about telling him in a different way-" she told him, offering him a sort of hapless half smile.
Though, frankly, she was at least happy Reid knew. It killed her not telling him that day- wanting more than anything to let one of her best friends know what he was getting into. But it tore at her to just divulge something so big.
"He asked before-" she confessed. "Must have been right after the last full moon. He wrote to ask why you'd been feeling so shitty-"
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"He has the best fucking timing," Sebastian laughed, humorless and sarcastic. "He showed up last month, and I looked like hell. He asked about you, you know? If you knew, but it sounded like he already knew the answer." That sentence made his head hurt, and he pressed at the bridge of his nose.
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She pulled at the sleeve of her jacket, moving to tug it off her now as she settled into the cushions.
"Mostly because it's not my place and partially because at that moment, I wasn't sure just how-" she paused, tilting her head from side to side. "Well, how serious you two might be-"
Still, she didn't know that answer.
But she could see the way this seemed to be affecting him.
"I guess now is different-"
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"I mean, I don't know. How serious we are," he told her honestly. He leaned forward to set his glass down just for something to do. "But things are better, when he's here. And he didn't leave."
Why was he saying so many words? Reid really needed to stop unintentionally twisting his head all around.
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He was loyal to the core. Always had been, always would be- give or take a few serious exceptions. But Jemma had yet to clear his DVR and she certainly hadn't tried to steal a boyfriend.
"But please, please explain to me why you two haven't talked about this yet-" she asked, sighing. "I feel like watching a werewolf transformation sort of.. well, leads to that?"
In some weird world she apparently now lived in.
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"I don't know," Sebastian looked at her and hoped he didn't look half as helpless as he felt. "I meant for it to? But he was half panicking, and I felt like death. So it was mostly ... some yelling, admitting I wasn't dying and he wasn't leaving, and then sleeping on the couch." That pretty much summed up the majority of it.
She didn't need to know about the rest of the day before Reid had finally gone home, but the summary held up.
"Serious relationship things got sort of ... covered by the not telling him about being a werewolf thing."
Reply
She had to admit, what she actually know about his relationship with Reid was pretty slim. They were seeing each other- she knew- mostly in very little amounts of clothing. But beyond that, nothing she knew was very certain - mostly because she'd been basically inferring it for herself.
"The last thing Reid is going to do is leave you when you're like this-" she said, her hand reaching out to softly brush at his shoulder, careful to not want to hurt him in any way. "But that doesn't mean that you two don't have to put this into words. They're important-"
She figured that out for herself with Drew the other night.
"What do you want?" she asked him, then, a knowing look on her face. "From him?"
Reply
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