closed: dropping in on sebastian. again.
It had been a weird, frustrating sort of week for Reid. Muggles on fire, Witch Weekly break ins, having to actually survive in an environment that didn't come with someone to clean up after him or remind him to eat something that wasn't sodium-packed or liquid and alcoholic/caffeinated
( Read more... )
"Right. Long night." He couldn't even be bothered to express actual suspicions, intent as he was on trying to simultaneously lean into him to provide some support and avoid touching him in any way that seemed to cause discomfort, which was apparently all of them.
"What the hell-" he muttered again beneath his breath, gingerly urging him back toward the sitting room, following the tell tale signs of its having been previously occupied.
He waited until Sebastian had been deposited back on the couch before acknowledging the weird, panicky sort of concern twisting at the pit of his stomach.
He knew all about long nights. He been every shade of hungover known to man, had even woken up with a sore gut and a bloody nose on a few occasions (his damned mouth was too smart for its own good, most of the time). But Sebastian literally looked like he'd been run over by a truck, then subsequently beaten up, possibly mildly tortured, and beaten up again-
He half-kneeled in front of the couch, reaching out again but leaving his hand hovering just an inch short of raking through Sebastian's hair the way he was tempted to, blatantly trying to ignore the very annoying way in which his stomach was churning with concern.
"Bash, what the fuck-"
Reply
Then he was back on the couch and that was awesome because it meant he didn't have to have any sort of strain on his legs but was also awful because it did nothing for his back.
Again, he wanted to protest that Reid didn't need to be so worried. Honestly. It wasn't a big deal. Sebastian sometimes had bad nights and Reid might want to get used to that, but he was too busy trying to think of a way not to say I turned into a giant wolf last night, it takes some healing time with a headache pounding in his temples and shooting toward his eyes.
Reid's hand was right there, anyway. He tilted his head just a little, nudging against Reid's fingers without even having the energy to complain about that nickname catching.
"This happens sometimes. Really. I'll be fine by tomorrow. Don't get all - " He motioned vaguely at Reid's face. "Crease-y."
Reply
His hand shakily met the nudged approval of Sebastian's head, fingers lightly trailing across his stubbled cheek, thumb brushing against his temple before gently combing through his discheveled hair.
He sat himself down on the floor next to the couch, his face nearly level with Sebastian's.
"'This happens sometimes'? Seriously?" he asked disbelievingly, half-heartedly.
Bloody hell, the guy looked like he was about to croak, and it was supposed to be typical? Reid could hardly even keep up with the questions and speculations stacking up in his head.
Reply
It was kind of nice. Really nice, actually. Even just hearing the concern in Reid's voice made Sebastian's head pound a little less, like something mattered for a change.
"Sometimes, yeah. This isn't even so bad." He cleared his throat again when he caught on the lie of the last line. "Before you ask again, you really don't want the details."
Reply
Most definitely. Yes.
He shook his head slightly, a fond smile managing to work its way past the frown his face has pointedly settled into. "I have no idea what's going on, but you're a damned idiot," he said, his tone more than obviously countering the implied harshness of his words.
Still, he was definitely any idiot if he didn't think Reid would go poking around for the details he clearly wasn't willing to share.
Reply
"Though it wasn't really my fault. If that helps any." It didn't help Sebastian any, but he didn't want Reid to worry about something Sebastian couldn't explain. Not yet. Possibly not ever.
Telling Jemma had been terrifying enough, but that was Jemma. She had the weird inside scoop on basically everything. Reid might be too clever from what Sebastian had seen, but he didn't see how he'd have figured this out. Sebastian wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.
Reply
"Oh, of course. Not really your fault. Clears it all right up, then. Everything must be fine."
Sarcasm was Reid's first line of defense, his automatic guard in whatever situation might call for an emotional barrier of any kind. And it had always served him well.
But even as he spoke, he could feel the warmth of Sebastian's skin as he brushed the pad of his thumb over the sandpaper of his cheek again, could feel those creeping tendrils of something sneaking past his defenses, and that vague feeling of being in some kind of terrible helpless trouble, which he had been dealing from the very first moment of seeing him standing across the room.
He pulled a knee up to his chest, bunched up his free hand on top of it and rested his chin atop his fist, blinking up at Sebastian. "You're really not going to tell me what happened, are you?"
It was a statement moreso than a question, one spoken with barely just the smallest hint of annoyance. Stubborn he might be, but even he wasn't about to start drilling anyone that looked, well, like that.
Reply
He prided himself on being solitary, on saving everyone the trouble of having to ostracize him on their own later. It was lonely sometimes - often, a lot - but it worked. Sebastian was used to it.
Then there was Reid, sitting here, all soft touches and concerned eyes, with that tinge of sarcasm Sebastian already associated with him. Sebastian had defenses he'd developed over years to keep from getting attached, to make sure no one mattered. Those were useless though, when Reid could look at him like that and make Sebastian wish things were different and want to actually tell him to see what happened.
At the same time it was too risky, and Sebastian had only just - in the past few, brief moments - realized he didn't want to scare Reid off. Not before he had to.
"Uh uh," Sebastian more hummed than said. Slowly to keep from wincing and diverting attention - though that might help and Sebastian wasn't above exploiting the pain he was in and the sickly pallor of his skin - he reached out to run his fingers over Reid's own hand below where his chin rested. "It's better if you don't know. Trust me. No one ever really wants to know when they think they do."
Reply
If there was anything that would heedlessly spur his innate curiosity (nosiness, some preferred to call it), it was being told that he didn't want to know, that he was better off not knowing-
He'd been better off not knowing when his mother had first gotten sick.
He'd been better off not knowing when whispers started to spread about Death Eaters meeting and organizing again.
He'd been better off not knowing when Muggleborns hadn't shown up to board the train back to school in his sixth year.
In his experience, 'better off not knowing' only meant things being intolerably worse for it when the truth came out.
One look at Sebastian, though, and that usually undeniable urge to argue and poke and prod at anything even mildly secretive quieted down.
He nodded briskly, surprising even himself as he let out a quiet, resolute sort of sigh, the frown softening in his face.
"Okay. Alright." He idly stroked his fingers through Sebastian's hair, only mildly surprised by the way his heart was insistently pounding against his ribs for none of the usual reasons Sebastian tended to be responsible for.
The tiniest hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he wriggled the fingers of his fist against the brush of Sebastian's. "Though you probably shouldn't underestimate my ability to dig things up myself."
Reply
It seemed to fit, actually. He'd seen Reid get fierce when he'd turned up as Sebastian tried to leave. He imagined keeping something that Reid seemed legitimately concerned about secret wouldn't be easy. Luckily, Sebastian had more practice in that than anything else. Hopefully, Reid wouldn't worm his way in and change that the way he'd managed to change so much else.
He hooked a couple fingers around Reid's when he moved them and would have rolled his eyes if it wouldn't make his head hurt so much.
"But maybe leave this one to the professionals. Don't fall that far down the rabbit hole, right?"
Reply
For now, though, he was more concerned with the sickly tint of Sebastian's skin and the way every small movement he made, however slow and deliberate, still showed up as a twitch of pain on his face.
"Is- is there anything I can do to help? Anything I can get you?" he asked somewhat sheepishly, aware of how both helpless and cheesy he sounded.
Reply
No, i don't need anything. Just sleep and quiet. Considering the tone of his voice and the look on his face, Sebastian was pretty sure Reid would trip over himself to make that happen.
Sebastian didn't want him to leave, though. Reid turning up had been the best kind of distraction and not even in the same way as the rest of their interactions.
"You could come up here, instead of sitting in the floor," he suggested. He was a little touch starved, maybe. That didn't necessarily make sense, but Reid playing with his hair was helping. Sebastian was willing to admit he wanted Reid closer.
Reply
Reid dragged his thumb across Sebastian's cheekbone again, eyebrows scrunching slightly. "You sure?"
Reply
"Come on. You're not going to hurt me."
Everything hurt, there was no way Reid could make it worse. He was too comforting for Sebastian to think that would even be a problem.
Reply
Slowly, carefully, he inched himself onto the length of the couch, warily watching Sebastian's reaction as his added weight shifted the cushions, their limbs colliding and tangling over the narrow surface.
Still keeping himself stiffly perched on the very edge of the couch, Reid couldn't help reaching out to cup Sebastian's face again, his stomach in knots as he scrutinized those damned magnetic eyes of his.
Merlin, this really had gotten out of hand. Hell, he could probably make a case for it having been out of hand since that very first encounter at the holiday party. But this had definitely been unexpected-
He huffed out a bit of a sigh, his brow furrowing that much more. "What the fuck am I supposed to do about you?" It was rhetorical, more than anything, a question he probably should have just kept to himself.
Reply
Their legs were tangled before long, no other way for this to work on the small space. Sebastian relaxed slowly, as much as possible, eyes locked on Reid's. It was heady, almost unsettling. People didn't look at Sebastian like that.
"Couldn't say. No one's asked me that before," he shrugged one shoulder, lips curling up at the edges at the small touch. Sebastian lifted his hand, slowly but more from hesitation than pain. Deciding he was already well in over his head anyway, he wrapped his arm around Reid's side, fingers tangling in the back of his shirt. Sebastian didn't tug or pull so much as nudge, encouraging him to shift closer than the precarious edge.
Reply
Leave a comment