- Pronouns
- They/them
- Location
- Sebastion's apartment
As written by @Sune and myself
It had been two days, ish. No read messages, no answers, no blue checks. Technically Sebastion could be living his life in a golden cage, and have forgotten about Kóri. But that didn't seem like him. So the fox was worried. When they woke up at seven am on May 24th and there was still nothing… they thought something might have happened. They were due for a visit anyway. He had their new clothes and they had talked about watching a movie or getting ice-cream.
Because they were planning to visit sooner, Kóri had a backpack with a few things they wanted to bring to their friend. So they grabbed it and slipped out through their window, leaving Thorje to figure out the working schedule for that day. He hadn't even given them dinner last night, so fuck him anyway. They knew the way back to Sebastion’s since they had left on foot last time, and it took a while to get there. But Kóri had knots in their stomach. Had his father hurt him? Made him do something particularly disgusting?. Shit, they couldn't be seen coming in. What if stinkman saw them and… ugh. They surrounded the building instead, and found a fire escape that they could use to climb. Looking up, they took a deep breath and started their climb.
The lights were off in his apartment. He made sure all sounds were off. His head was absolutely throbbing still, and nowhere was comfortable to lay down except half on and half off the couch. He looked like he’d been absolutely thrashed, and it wasn’t far from the truth. His little stunt to make sure Alysa escaped ended up having Ragar go full werebadger and grab Sebastion by the leg and-
Well.
He was quietly nursing a whiskey as well, hoping if he kept a healthy dose of alcohol in his system, the pain would be less.
He was simply existing, in this void, until he heard knocking. It took him a moment to realize.. It wasn’t coming from his door. He opened one red hue to gaze over at the windows, and damn near dropped his glass.
“The fuck are you doing there?” He nearly shouted, getting up painfully, walking over, and opening the window for Kori.
Before saying anything, they slipped into the apartment. Because holy fuck, Seb looked like a steaming pile of shit.
“Coming to see you.” They said quietly, leaving Sebastion to close the window and heading to the kitchen counter to leave their bag on the counter. It gave them a chance to sniff and look around, too.
The air was clear, old scent of Ragar would linger in the air but it was definitely old. Otherwise, it just smelled of Sebastion.
“I.. I forgot to text you back..” He muttered, placing the cool glass against his head. “I’m sorry..” He murmured. “I had something happen and I’ve not exactly been.. Conscious for two days.” He laid back down in his spot, half on and half off the couch.
“I’m sorry.” He repeated. “How have you been..? Don’t you have work?”
Kóri was glad for their enhanced hearing.
“I've been okay, better than you. Met two girls, they were very nice and helped me with shopping… should you be talking at all? And drinking that? Okay. Okay. One sec.” They left their bag on the kitchen counter and walked over to Sebastion’s bedroom. Found a fluffy blanket in the closet and spread it on the bed.
“Leave that in the living room and come here, please?” They said, peeking at him from the bedroom door.
Sebastion felt bad for not being a better host, but he quite literally barely could move. So he heard Kori move about the apartment and just decided it was best to let them do as they pleased. The white haired man smelled of alcohol, having had downed quite a bit of two bottles of whiskey. There was a slight slur to his words, but not enough to hinder him being understood. “This is quite literally the only thing keeping me awake right now..” He said. “Otherwise, I’d find methods of sleeping this off that are.. Way worse than this..” He said over his shoulder.
Still, when Kori asked politely, he groaned to stand back up, but the drink came with him. He limped over to his bedroom, stumbling occasionally. “I need the drink..” He muttered at them.
Kóri felt their heart break a little, seeing Sebastion like this.
“Okay, I won't keep you from drinking okay?. But please, come over and lay down on the blanket. Just leave the glass on the side for a moment and let me roll you up. I'm sure you can do it, yes? You have survived this long.” They said, coming closer to him, very close. Enough to slide a hand down his bruised arm, ghosting over his skin and applying no pressure until they could take hold of Sebastions' glass. They just held it, without pulling it away from him. And looked him in the eye.
He wavered standing in front of them, his vision unfocused. The touch gained his attention and he looked down at their hand until it met the glass. Reluctantly after a few moments of silent debate, he let go of the glass.
“.. Okay..” He said quietly, moving away and stumbling to the bed. Climbing onto the bed, he winced as he pulled himself on, then struggled to find a spot where he was comfortable. “It all hurts..” He admitted, looking exhausted.
They sighed and nodded.
“I could have guessed that. You look like an abstract painting. But hey, I'd come to the gallery to see you every day. Now hold on…” They left the glass on the nightstand, within Sebastion's reach. So he knew they were saying the truth about not taking it away. And proceeded to manoeuvre around him with surprising efficiency, also moving the blanket. Until they had made a blanket burrito with functional arms out of Sebastion. The thick plush around him would shield him a little bit if he decided to move. Without constricting his movement. Had Kóri done this before?.
“Okay, now… do you want to talk about what happened? Summarised at least.” They said, slowly sitting next to him on the bed.
He let them do as they wished, wincing occasionally when he was required to move slightly but never once complained. Once they had burritoed him up, he settled into it and closed his eyes until they spoke.
He swallowed and reached for the glass, as if it were a safety net. “I ran into someone who was a previous.. Target..” He murmured quietly. “She wouldn’t listen to me to get out.. Caught Ragar’s attention. Her father owed mine money, and her father’s now dead. They were going to.. Do the same thing to her as they do to me..” He murmured. “I had to get her out of here.” He took a sip of the whiskey.
“Ragar happened essentially.” He finished with a sigh. “Rougher than he’s been lately, but not the worst I’ve had..”
They listened, being quiet the whole time. So, it was someone he had had to charm or seduce or… extort. “Shit, sorry to hear it…. I'm just glad you’re alive. And you don't have to apologise for not answering my messages when you’re beaten to pulp, man. I heard your little sorry’s earlier. Not allowed. Nu uh. Hold on a sec.” They left Seb with his glass and went over to their bag in the kitchen. They took something out and ripped the tag, then walked back into the bedroom and sat next to him again. Slowly and carefully so the mattress didn't shift a lot and hurt him.
“Here, your new friend.” They said, gently setting a plushie shaped like a cupcake on Sebastion’s lap. It was small enough to be comfortably held with one hand. It was also obviously a cheap thing from a shop for children or similar. A pink cupcake with chocolate icing and a white base. Slightly more RRfluffy. “It's small so you can hide it if you need to.”
Sebastion just simply existed as he waited for them to return. It felt like a lot of effort, and he drained the remaining bit of his glass.
He took the small plush and ran his thumb over the fabric. He smiled slightly, though even that hurt his teeth. “Thank you.” He said quietly. “Oh.. Your clothes..” He started to try to get up again.
What sound does a fox make? The loud screechy chitter that came out of Kóri’s mouth when Seb tried to get up was a good example.
“You are NOT going to get up. Tell me where they are or we can figure it out later man, because if I have to sit on you to keep you in place even though it will hurt, I fucking will. I fucking swear it on- on your abs. Which are very real.” They growled, putting a hand on Sebastion’s chest but without pressing down. YET. Their voice had been barely above a loud whisper, but the anger could be felt anyway.
He wavered slightly against their hand, wincing as he leaned against it when we wavered forward slightly. He seemed rather taken aback with how angry they seemed at him. “But..” He murmured, but found no other words in that moment. The last thing he needed right now was a very angry Kori sitting on him, his ribs had barely just healed. So he just settled back against the bed. “Okay…” He murmured. “Could you please grab my whiskey then..? There should be a bottle on the table in the living room, and there should be two more in one of the cabinets in the kitchen.. The clothes are in the closet, in the clothes saver towards the front..” He sighed.
They struggled to agree, because drinking wasn't exactly good for health. Still, Seb had been through enough, and he wasn't being difficult. For now.
“...Okay, thank you.” Said Kóri, their anger simmering down fast.
“I will go get your whiskey, I will bring you the bottle if you answer a question first. Have you eaten or drank anything else since you got beaten up?” they asked, taking back their hand and watching Sebastion closely while waiting for the answer.
Sebastion closed his eyes, his brows knitted as he tried to remember if he’d eaten. He didn’t remember much. “I.. I don’t remember if I have..” He admitted. “I’ve spent most of the day trying to just survive..” He admitted.
Kori wanted to sigh, and also hugh Seb tight. And go down two floors to kick Ragnar’s teeth in. By they didn't do any of it, and kissed their fingers instead. To brush them against the tip of Seb’s nose. A little non-bruised spot.
“And you’ve done a great job Seb, you’re amazing, thank you.” They said, their voice warm, soft and non screechy. Fox kiss, they may have said. But eh. They got up again, brought the whiskey bottle and refilled Sebastion’s glass themself.
“There you go.”
“Why thank me..?” He asked, confused. “Thank you for filling my glass though..” He took a sip from it, placing the cool against his head again.
“I have to find her again..” He muttered. “She’s in danger until I get her out of the city.. Ragar won’t give up… He’s probably out there looking now. I should be out there now..” He grumbled, worry furrowed on his brow. There were complicated emotions there.
“.. And you’re in danger even being here.. You shouldn’t stay very long..” He added, the worry deepening. “I won’t be able to take Ragar again right now…
This time they sighed and rolled their eyes. “Even if he finds me and kicks my ass, he can't hurt me. When I get badly hurt my only concern is being really bored while my body heals… and you can go find her when you are fully healed. I thank you because I'm grateful that you’re al-” they bit their lip, not willing to even entertain the thought of a dead Sebastion. “That you’re here.” They said, getting a lot quieter after that.
“I'm going to find you food. Be right back.” They said, leaving him alone in the bedroom again. In the fridge they found a couple of tuppers. Some other food they could probably cook for him later. A lot of frozen stuff in the fridge…. Eh. Probably normal for a single guy who didn't have a lot of time. Kori just heated up some pasta salad with corn and tuna, and walked back to the bedroom with the tupperware, a fork, and a bottle of water. They left the bottle on the night stand, and sat next to Sebastian with the tupper.
“You don’t have–” They left before he could finish. Dammit. He leaned his head back, his head still throbbing. At this rate, it would probably be another day before he could feel like normal. Ragar had not held back, it seemed.
When Kori returned, he tried to sit up straighter, much to the absolute displeasure of everything. “You didn’t have to.. But thank you..” He murmured, reaching for the tupper. “So you met two girls and they helped you clothes shopping? Did you have fun at least?”
They handed him the tupper, and took the whiskey glass to leave it on the nightstand. If he could drink from the glass, he could probably eat by himself as well. And they didn't want to make him feel useless or embarrassed anyway.
“Yes! Margot and Re. Both of them are wolves, and super cute. I can barely read Lutetian outside of the tags on food and supermarket items that I need to know for work. So I was getting really overwhelmed. And there was a very luminous sign that I wanted to punch. Buuut they kinda rescued me and helped me out.” They said, happy to talk about their new wolfy friends.
He ate a bit of the food from the tupper, chewing slowly. “I’m glad you were able to find help and they were willing to help you.. I can try to help you learn more Lutetian at some point if you’d like.” He murmured. “I’ll have to be careful around certain wolves, if they were in a pack. Some of the packs around here would not appreciate me..” He murmured.
He took a swallow of the whiskey to help wash down the food.
“You should get your new clothes. I think you’d like them..”
“Hm, they didn't say anything about packs… does your family not get along with the locals? I can't imagine why that would be.” They said with a snort of irony and sarcasm.
“You can also drink water by the way. Isn't pasta with whiskey gross?... I've had it with wine and with beer but never… eh.” They shrugged. It wasn't a huge concern anyway.
“Why, do you want to see me try them on? My new clothes I mean. I guess I could pretend to model them for you.” it could be a bit of silly fun that didn't need Seb getting up or doing anything other than to look at them. And only sometimes.
Sebastion looked tired. “The girl who I helped… She was part of a pack named Scions of Aodhan.” He explained. “Her father was the leader, and owned several businesses here in Lutetia. I was forced to get close to the pair of them. However, the Bloodstones were their rivals. Bloodstones recently killed most of the Scions. The concern there is that my association will get me targeted too.” He explained. “They aren’t a bad pack to be associated with, but it is.. Out of caution.”
He looked at the glass in his hand. “Fun fact. The more you drink, the more anything tastes either really good, or like shit.” He muttered. “Your food is fine. I’ve probably had 3 bottles of whiskey today though… I think.. There were two empty ones earlier anyway..” He murmured.
He was in fact, a bit more than tipsy.
“I’d like to see you smile.” He admitted. “I’d like to see what you think of the clothes, and I hope they make you happy.”
Interesting. What he had to say about the Scions and the Bloodstones. Kori didn't know any Scions. But they did know a couple of Bloodstones. As far as they knew, they were nice.
“Shouldn't you stay away from the woman then? Ah but you want to help her get out. I can help you with that if you want? At least to find her. I'm a superv tracker.” They said, narrowing their eye with concern. It was good that Sebastion was also a wolf then. His liver must be fucking regenerating as well.
“It makes me happy just to get to hang out with you, if I'm honest. But I will try the clothes on in a bit. Also… why do you keep drinking then? Haven't you had enough?.” They said, reconsidering whether they should take the whiskey away from him.
He saw the look in Kori’s eyes and suddenly he became slightly protective over his glass with amber liquid.
“No.” He said, sternly. It was far harsher than he’d ever meant to be with them. “Sorry, no..” He said, softer the second time. “I can’t.. I can’t get you involved.. I couldn’t forgive myself if someone got hurt for something that’s my fault to begin with..” He took another sip of the whiskey.
“Because it dulls the pain. A lot.” He said. “Otherwise, I’d have to face this full blast and I’m tired of hurting. I keep drinking to keep this level of intoxication. Harder to do with food..” He muttered.
Speaking of, he took another bite from the tupper and chewed slowly.
Ah… Kori relaxed then. “I’m not going to try to take it, I promise. I don't know what pain feels like, but I'm not going to judge you for avoiding it. Okay?.” They said, almost amused by the way Seb acted about it. It would be cute. Under super different circumstances.
“And um, okay then? But if you ever need help with it just know that I am here.” They added, very gently stroking Sebastion’s forearm. Like before, barely ghosting over the skin so they didn't hurt him. “Also, it's not your fault if it's something other people made you do...” They said in a quieter tone, almost a whisper, before they got up and went to check out their new clothes. Kori was hiding it a bit, but they were super excited to see them and try them on!!.
Goosebumps rose on Sebastion’s arm as Kori barely touched his skin, an odd sensation altogether. He didn’t mind it, though.
“.. But it is my fault..” He muttered, his words slightly slurred. “I could just tell my father no.. Accept my fate. I could use what time left to fight my father and my brother and leave the empire to my sister..” He said quietly. “I’m too much of a coward..”
He let his head ‘clunk’ against his headboard, closing his eyes. “.. I’ve always been a coward..” He murmured.
Coward this, coward that. Kóri huffed, annoyed even with the packaged clothing in their hands. Which they left on the bed for a moment.
“Dude! The fuck? Oh no, I'm Sebastion and I am such a coward for doing what my family wants instead of getting beaten to pulp or fucking dying! Oh god how dare I want to live to see another day!” It was a very dramatic reenactment of Sebastions' words with a lot of artistic licence. And some, also dramatic, posing “Shut up!!” they growled, hitting the bed with one hand.
“We’ll find another way to stick it to your shitty family, now get ready for a fashion show and stop whining. If I hear the word -coward- again you better be talking about the stinky brute from the elevator!” They didn't really care about being naked, and they certainly weren't a prude. But stripping in front of Sebastion while he drank whiskey felt like too close to an actual, professional striptease of some sort. So Kóri grabbed their clothes and went into the bathroom with them.
He watched them leave, a sad look in his eyes. Kori didn’t understand, not really. But he liked them enough to keep his mouth shut for the moment. He was appreciative that they wouldn’t just strip in front of him, though. He finished the glass again, and looked for the bottle again.
Maybe madness wouldn’t be so bad this time, he thought. No. There had been stories in the past of those who’d succumbed to the curse. Once the madness took over, there was nothing more anyone could do except to put down the wolf that resulted. A beast of a creature that would rampage and spread its own suffering to the world for being who they were. The years of suppression, the twisting of their very being, released a very angry, very insane wolf that was damn near impossible to kill.
That was what Sebastion was afraid of the most. And so he endured his father’s abuse. He endured everything that was ever thrown at him. For those who he did care for, and those who didn’t even know he was a ticking time bomb. But for how much longer?
He slowly started to stand up again, his thoughts a bit too loud for his liking. “Where is that bottle..” He muttered.
Kori pretty much appeared, from one second to the next, right next to the bedroom’s door. They had made no noise even though the pants they were wearing had chains hanging from the belt.
“You might want to turn your head ninety degrees to the right.” They said, arms crossed over their chest. They had changed fast, and they were wearing their every-day boots with some awesome cargos that they’d call very metal, and a tight top that was very likely a bodysuit with geometric cyberpunk lines and designs. Black boots, grey pants, white and black top.
Sebastion blinked at Kori, before turning his head ninety degrees to the right and staring at the whiskey bottle with a very shocked face that mimicked some of the memes Kori had sent him. “Oh.” He grabbed the bottle and forgoing the glass, just decided to drink straight from the bottle at this point.
He still looked as though he was about to stand.
Once he’d drained a quarter of what was left in the bottle, he looked Kori over with a critical eye. “That looks very nice on you.” He admitted. “You could easily model for them.” He murmured. “There should have been two other outfits in that as well.. I think the shoeboxes were stored separate, but I cannot remember at the moment.” He shifted his feet with a wince. “Lemme see if I can find them for you.. I wanna see if you can fit them-”
They started to blush and kinda preen for Seb, loving the compliments, when he started to try and move. A g a i n!. So with a heavy heart, Kóri quickly crawled onto the bed and sort of sat on him, without really resting their weight on him. But still with their knees on either side of Sebastion’s thighs. The blanket was still thick, plush and between them though. .
“What did I say? Seeeeeb…” They whined, pouting as they looked down at him.
He looked up at Kori, red hues staring like puppy eyes up at them. Fortunately or unfortunately, the blush was hidden under the bruises.
“I uhm.. I uh..” He stuttered. “I don’t remember..” He admitted. “I just want to go look for them r-right quick, I’ll be fine.”
He squirmed slightly underneath Kori, testing on how he could get out from under them without having to physically pick them up.
Before he tried anything else, Kori stole the whiskey bottle and put it on the night stand again. And then they stopped low-key hovering and let their weight slowly settle on top of Seb.
“I'm here, On You, so you won't move! Let's just keep talking, I'd rather show you the outfits when you aren't too drunk to remember them later anyway. Okay? Please?” They said, because honestly? They didn't want to yell at Seb again. They were already feeling like shit for doing it earlier, and there was an apology stuck in their throat waiting to come out.
Sebastion blinked as Kori stole the whiskey bottle away. He watched them place it on the night stand and he frowned, mind made up.
Though, the weight wasn’t much, it was still enough to make everything that was raw complain again. He sighed, as if giving in to being trapped here. “Alright..” He said quietly, before reaching for their chin. Gently, he would attempt to lift it slightly and coax them to come closer. “I will say.. You have the most lovely eyes.” He said, smiling softly at them.
They frowned, surprised by the radical change in attitude. And… more than a bit suspicious. They let him touch them, but they didn't lean closer.
“They’re just brown. I mean they aren't ugly but I do high-key envy yours.” They said, then they took Sebastions' hand and moved it away from their chin. Holding it with both of theirs.
“Listen, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. I'm just worried about you, and I want you to get better soon. And I don't want you to die, or think about dying. Also you really aren't a coward. But… I still shouldn't have yelled.” They said, staring into his beautiful ruby eyes and inevitably babbling. Because Seb was fucking beautiful damnit. And it was hard to focus while being like this.
If he was annoyed that his attempt to coax them forward didn’t work, he didn’t show it. He listened to them, one hand less than he had before. “I don’t think about dying. That isn’t what I’m afraid of.” He admitted. “But I do forgive you for yelling…” He said quietly, trailing his other hand up their arm as they held his hand.
“But you’re also going to have to forgive me.” He said. He slid one leg to shove Kori’s legs slightly to make them lose balance, and then pulled their arms forward. In a defensive move, Kori would find their roles would have been reversed, with Sebastion on top and Kori being straddled for the moment. “.. For that.” He grinned cheekily, before sliding off for the bottle of whiskey.
Not knowing what was coming, Kóri let out the most undignified squeak when they were suddenly flipped, and had Sebastion sitting on top of them instead. They squirmed, turning a deep red from nose to ears.
“I didn't want you to stop drinkingohmygodIjustdidntwantyoutodropitorsomethingwhennisatonyouuu” they said, extremely fast. At the same time they freed their wrists and brought their hands up to cover their face, embarrassed and- and holy shit that had been really sexy. But Sebastion was just being stupidly stubborn and drunk as heck and oh god some was going to come out of their ears.
Sebastion chuckled slightly. “Sorry.” He said, standing out of the bed and stretching slightly. Everything still hurt, but he needed to not be stiff either. He grabbed the bottle of whiskey and drank some more of it before putting it back down to open the bottle of water and down it.
“I do appreciate you trying to take care of me.. But there is a reason I don’t drink heavily very often.” He murmured. He sat back on the bed after with a groan. “You going to be okay?”
“I'm fine…” Said Kóri, peeking at Sebastion from behind their hands. “I just wasn't ready for you to go from perfect gentleman to perfect smartass.” They grumbled, no longer hiding, though their blush remained.
“Are you feeling a bit better? I could make you the second half of my present.” They said, sitting up slowly
Sebastion tested his arm, flexing in different ways. This had been the one that had taken the most damage the other day, if he’d recall. That, along with his right leg. It seemed to be working fine enough.
“I’m numb at least.” He admitted. “I don’t have to worry about bruised muscles getting in the way of trying to figure out what’s still broken.” He poked at a few ribs, wincing as he got to one of the ones at the end. “That one’s still tender..” He murmured, still going over different parts. It took him a few minutes to go through, not quite answering Kori during that time. He determined that most of the bones were healed, though some were still fractured or sprained.
The rest of his pain was just severely bruised muscle.
“Yeah. I think I’ll be okay.” He murmured finally to them. “As for me being a perfect smartass… Only on special occasions.” He grinned over at them again.
With growing curiosity they watched Sebastion poke at himself and discover what was still hurt, and what wasn't. Huh. Interesting.
“Well I'm glad to be special!” They said, sticking their tongue out at him and getting off of the bed.
“Okay, I'm going to make your other present. It will only take like five minutes. You can come with me since you insist on being up, or you can lay down again.” They said, this time making little metallic noises as they walked, because of the chains. It was mug cake time!. So the first thing was to get a mug…
Like a drunken master, Sebastion grabbed his whiskey and followed Kori to the kitchen, still swaying and limping slightly. His right leg was one of the things that hadn’t quite healed fully, but enough that he deemed it possible to stand on.
He did, however, decide to try to sit on one of the stools he kept by the counter. He pulled it out and attempted to sit on it.
Only to land flat on his back with a ‘woof’ sound as the air knocked out of him.
“.. Did you move my stool?”
Mug in hand and a couple of spoons of milk into the mug cake, Kóri wheezed and started laughing.
“No! You’re just fucking plastered. Oh my god…” they put the mug down on the counter and walked over to Sebastion, offering him a hand so he had an easier time standing.
Sebastion looked up at them, not quite believing them. The bottle at least, hadn’t spilled.
He reached up with his free hand, and it took several tries to grab onto Kori’s hand. “Stay still, will you..?” He asked. He allowed them to help him up and he stood there swaying for a moment. “I am not plastered..” He muttered indignantly.
“What’s with the mug anyway..?” He asked, curiously as he attempted once again to sit on the stool.
“I'm making you a mug cake! It takes five minutes. Unless there's a drunk man in the kitchen who keeps falling over.” They said, making sure this time Sebastions' ass landed ON the stool. And then going back to mixing the mug cake.
“Now that you’re sitting pretty… Do you want vanilla or chocolate flavour?”
Sebastion looked around, searching. “Drunk man..? Did you bring a friend?” He blinked. “I’m not even dressed.” He looked down at himself. “I need to get dressed and introduce myself.. I don’t think I’m prepared for guests right now, Koriiii..” He whined.
He hugged the bottle as he leaned against the counter to keep his balance on the tricky stool. Maybe this was just Kori getting back at him for the bed trick earlier..
“What did you do to this stool..?” He asked, swaying. “I swear it doesn’t stop moving.. Uh.. Chocolate sounds amazing right now.. I used to eat a lot when I was a kid, you know? Father kept saying I was going to regret it one day. Started making me work out hard after a single piece of tiny chocolate ship. Stopped eating chocolate after that.. Was not worth it.”
This was too funny, Kóri couldn't stop grinning. “You are the drunk man, Seb, I wouldn't invite people over to your apartment without asking…” They said.
One egg, two spoons of flour, one of sugar, two of cocoa powder and one sad story about a mean father later, the mug cake was ready to go in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
“I will bring you all the chocolate, Seb, don't you worry.” They told him, leaving the mug cooking in the microwave and walking closer to Sebastion to gently nuzzle his shoulder.
Seb snorted. “I am not drunk.” He grumbled. “And you don’t have to ask. Most people just pop by with others all the time. I’m used to it. Its why I just don’t have personal things in my houses anymore.” He murmured, taking another swig from the bottle.
The smell was amazing though, and Sebastion’s stomach growled softly. “I.. I can’t have chocolate. I’ll have to work out if I have a bite.. I don’t want to work out today..”
He hadn’t noticed Kori move behind him and he jumped slightly at the touch. Still, he reached over to stroke their head slightly. “Careful, the stool is broken or something.. Gonna fall if you do that too much..” He warned.
“Good thing I'm not everyone, and I happen to respect your personal space. That's really Sad Seb… you can keep stuff at my place when I move out of my uncle’s. And you can have chocolate today, because I really want you to. You already lost a lot of calories by being beaten and not eating for two days.” they said in a singsong tone, almost purring at his little caress when the microwave dinged. And so they went to get the fluffy, chocolate mug cake, which smelled absolutely delicious but was still a bit too hot. So Kóri kept it while they grabbed two small spoons, and it cooled a little. Because Seb was perfectly capable of burning himself with it right now.
Sebastion shook his head. “I’m used to it now. I don’t even own me, so it fits.” He answered. “No need to clutter your space with my stuff.” He stretched out across the counter. It was cool and felt nice. “I have had whiskey, which has a lot of sugar.. I’m gonna have to work that off anyway I guess..” He sighed.
“Had to reschedule this entire week of clients though. My father’s not pleased with me misbehaving. He’s probably gonna visit if I keep this up, and I don’t want that..” He grumbled. “Kori, I wanna be free like you one day.. I wish I could be anyway. You’re amazing and fantastic and so happy. But even when father dies, I will be passed to my brother to continue as property until either I go mad or I die of old age…” He murmured.
He looked down at the cake. “.. You’re gonna have to make me run 5 miles if I take a bite of that.” He sat up to take another swig of the whiskey, leaning back to drain the remaining bit of the bottle–
And ending up on his back again. “Godsdammit”
Kori was starting to dread every bit of lore they learned about Sebastions' family. Passed to his brother? What the fuuuuck?.
“You can come to run with me, I love running. And I've been doing parkour lately. It's… Goddamnit.” They said it at almost the same time as Seb and then snorted. Mug and spoons in hand, Kori sat down by his side on the kitchen floor.
“What if we just stay down here? And we could always go running in the forest, as a fox and a wolf, you know? I've noticed you barely smell of wolf.” They said, handing Sebastion one of the little spoons.
That line of questioning sobered Sebastion up considerably. His eyes glowed as they did when he grew irritated or annoyed or stressed. “No.”
He sat up, and while he still swayed and struggled to stand up, he eventually ended up standing on his own. He stumbled towards the couch, flopping on it with a sigh.
Kori frowned and got up as well, following him to the couch with the mug in hand.
“...why?”
Sebastion was silent for a long time, his ruby eyes glowing as he stared into the void in front of him. There was a turmoil of emotions racing through him and he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to answer.
It would seem as if he wasn’t going to answer, leaving Kori’s question to echo in his ears for several minutes before finally giving in.
“It has to do with everything that I am.” He said quietly. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cushions. “I’m cursed.” He said simply. “Like.. Legit, have a spell bound to me. Well, my family does anyway.” He explained, suddenly wishing for more to drink.
“There’s a cursed one in every generation. And I happened to pick the short straw. I was the first born of my generation, though my mother had a stillbirth before me. I was going to be the one to take over my father’s empire.” He explained. “But.. I.. Didn’t want to follow family traditions and marry who I was intended to. I wanted to find love, someone who could see me for me. And for that, my father stripped me of my title and gave it to my brother instead. I would have been free after that. Except..” He reached for the ceiling as if emphasising his words. “Its never that simple, for me at least.” He closed his grip.
“We discovered the curse had befallen me by my 21st birthday. It is the right of passage, to see if you are cursed, the first full moon afterward you turn 21 will reveal your fate. When I shifted into my wolf form on the full moon.. I felt pain as if I never felt before. And my wolf grew angry. There was this.. Lack of awareness afterward, I couldn’t tell what was real or not too, and it irritated my wolf more. It took out half my father’s men before they finally knocked me out enough to shift me back to human and my father to perform the ritual to seal the madness.” He explained.
His voice trembled slightly. “I cannot be free now. If my father does not perform the ritual, I cannot turn back the madness. The pain can be avoided by not shifting. The madness I cannot avoid no matter what. And my father used it to extort me for everything I am.”
He looked to Kori, his eyes still glowing. “That’s why you do not smell the wolf on me.”
The poor fox just, took one of the tea spoons, scooped some cake with it and shoved into Sebastions' mouth, carefully, before leaving the mug on the table and sitting back next to their friend.
“How the fuck are you this much of an anime protagonist? Holy shit, Seb.” They said, pinching the bridge of their nose. So his family was cursed, and now it made more sense why he just did everything his dad wanted. Kori couldn't imagine being unable to turn.
Sebastion blinked as cake was shoved into his mouth. He chewed it slowly, savoring it. Perhaps it would be worth working his ass off occasionally. Occasionally.
He raised a single brow at Kori’s statement. “It isn’t like I chose this life. I wanted out of it.” He murmured. “So yeah.. Probably want to reconsider if you want to get close to me or not. If my father decides not to do the ritual? It wouldn’t be immediate, but eventually I’d lose myself. Or god forbid, my father keels over and my brother takes over..” He grumbled. “It’d be game over for me at that point..”
“I'm already in, dude, I jumped in with two feet and I like it here.” Growled Kóri, softly, without yelling they grabbed the mug, had some cake and then fed Sebastion some more.
“Your brother is worse than your dad??? Wait, you said it's a curse. Curses can be broken. What does it say?? We can find a witch or something…” they said, gesturing with the spoon and speaking while they ate the cake.
That’s 10 miles.. Sebastion thought as he chewed on the cake.
“Yeah.. Raphael is.. For lack of better terms, the definition of evil…” He murmured.
“I don’t know what the curse says.” He admitted. “If my father knows, he hasn’t told me. There’s a book that he has that I’m pretty sure has the family’s history that might explain it but..” He shrugged slightly. “I just know some ancestor pissed off some powerful witch generations ago and I’m the result..”
Kori nodded, eating more cake.
“So we steal the book, or we sneak in and snap some pictures of it. Where is it? At your dad’s?” Their brain gears were grinding hard.
“We need to know what it says. Then we need a powerful witch. One of the girls I met the other day is a witch. She could know someone. She's Iverian I think.” They continued, frowning in concentration.
Sebastion frowned, gazing over at Kori in silence. “My father has the book with him always.” He explained. “So where ever he is right now, is where that book is.” He slowly stood up and went for the next bottle of whiskey.
“You’d be risking your life attempting to steal that thing from him long enough to try to find where it speaks about the curse. I’ve not even been allowed to lay hands on it.” He murmured.
“How human, and how gay is your dad? And how much can he drink? We could drug him. I know a guy who deals stuff, he gives off big brat vibes but he's cute.” They said, remembering AJ from a few days ago. They could find him again if they tried to follow his scent.
“It sounds hard and dangerous as fuck, but also doable. So I'm gonna give it a solid try. Challenge accepted.” They said, nodding and eating more of the mug cake while Sebastion went for another bottle.
“My father pureborn werewolf. And it isn’t a matter of how gay he is. Its a matter of, you’re not family enough..” He grumbled, reaching the bottle and started chugging.
Kóri stared at him. “Ew? ...What?” They asked, leaving the mug and standing up, getting closer to Sebastion.
There was a dark look to him, and he was silent for a moment. “.. That’s the.. Tradition.” He explained without explaining. He wasn’t sure how else to go into this conversation. “My.. mother was.. Also my aunt.” He grumbled. “Part of how I have these stunning red eyes and white hair you like so much..”
He leaned against the counter, not looking at Kori.
Wordlessly, and after a gulp, Kóri approached Sebastion slowly and hugged him. How did his story keep getting worse?. They didn't know what to say, so they didn't say anything. Just hoped he didn't push them away.
He still would not look at Kori, but he gently hugged back, silent for a long time.
He finally pulled away after a minute or two. “At any rate.. Now you know.” He murmured, taking the bottle and started for his bedroom.
“Sorry.” He muttered.
“Don't be, I still think you’re amazing… and for the record, I don't even like red that much. I like your eyes cuz they’re yours.” They said, following him slowly. “Uh… do you want to watch a movie or something?”
He looked over his shoulder, then over to the TV he was pretty sure he’d never turned on. “If you’d like.. I don’t know what I have access to, to be fair..” He murmured. “Let me at least get some pants though..”
He stumbled to the bedroom to find some sweat pants that didn’t squeeze too hard. He was sobering up at this point, and the aches were returning slowly. He also found a tshirt he threw on as well.
“Feel free to play around with the TV.. I don’t even know if it turns on to be fair..”
“Okay!” They grabbed the remote and started messing around with it. The channels, the streaming services… Seb had most of them active. There was porn, even. Kóri was pretty sure they had never, ever, watched porn on a TV though. They navigated around until they found something fun. Because they had had enough drama today for approximately seven lifetimes. And if they asked Seb what he wanted to watch he was very likely to tell them he didn't know what he liked and that was even more sad.
“I found a comedy that doesn't look too trashy!”
Sebastion returned, dressed and bottle and blanket in hand. “Alright.” He slowly made his way over to the couch and sat down tenderly. He spread the blanket out before opening space for Kori, patting on the cushion beside him.
“.. I might doze occasionally. I’m sorry if I do.” He admitted, feeling drained of everything at that moment.
“That is such a big problem Seb, wow, you staying relatively still and relaxing? Worst thing that you could ever do to me. How dare you?” Said Kóri, in the completely wrong tone, and very much joking as they sat down next to Sebastian and gently snuggled up to him. “I'm also a body heat thief, in case you didn't notice the other night.” They said, pressing play for the movie to start.
Sebastion managed to crack a small smile, his eyes drooping slightly. He pulled the blanket around them and tucked it in before laying his arm over them.
“That’s fine.. I’ll produce enough heat for the both of us, then..” He said, his tone as tired as he was at this point.
Sebastion didn’t last 5 minutes before his breathing deepened and soft snores could be heard.
Kóri smiled. They hadn't been at Sebastion’s that long, but after everything he had told them… it felt like an entire day had passed. They were glad to know he was comfortable with snug snuggles though.
“Just got you to admit to being hot, we’ll get you some confidence yet.” They muttered to themself. They watched him for a bit, enjoying his relaxed expression. But with Sebastions' closeness, his heat and his scent, it didn't take them long to fall asleep either. That and the movie was super boring, if not trash.
Sebastion barely moved the entire time he was asleep. But he was truly and deeply asleep, deeper than he’d been in a very long time. He only started to stir when he started to subconsciously become aware of a distinct lack of weight beside him.
When he woke, everything was stiff, but the bruising seemed to be healing. He was not as dark as he was before, but that did not help how bad he looked currently. The bottle of whiskey was nearby, but it brought a queasy feeling to his gut to even attempt to drink more of it at that moment. And while he was sore, it was liveable.
“Kori..?” He called out for them, only for him to realise there were cooking smells. He looked over at the kitchen, blinking owlishly towards them. “What are you doing..?”
“Hey sleeping beauty! I'm making fried rice with veggs and… deli meat. I think.” Said Kóri from the kitchen, leaving it for a minute to walk over to Sebastion.
“How are you feeling? Want whiskey? Water? Uhh I think you have sugar free pineapple juice somewhere?” They asked, smiling at him.
Sebastion shook his head. “No more whiskey..” Did he seem a tinge green or was that just the healing bruises? “Water would be nice.” He said, groaning as he sat up further, his joints popping as he did so.
“I’m alright.. Still super sore, but livable now at least..” He ran a hand through his hair, trying and failing to get it to lay normally. “I didn’t mean to pass out on you, though.. Sorry. How was the movie..?”
Kori grabbed the full water bottle on the table and handed it to Seb.
“I don't know. Well… the first ten minutes were boring. And then I also passed out on you. You’re very comfy and a good heater.” They said, a light blush dusting their cheeks.
Sebastion took the bottle of water and took a swallow of it before realising how full his bladder was.
“Ah well.. I’ll put that under as my only quality under the ‘pros’ column.” He chuckled, standing and started for the bathroom. He at least wasn’t limping anymore.
When he returned, his hair was wet as he fixed it as best he could with a wet comb. He went for the kitchen and started to take over some of the cooking, stirring and moving the rice in the wok.
“You skipped work today, didn’t you?” He asked.
“That column needs a complete overhaul!” said Kori as Sebastion left, and then got back to the kitchen.
They were expecting him to go back to the couch to rest. But he didn't, and… they didn't complain. It was better to know he was feeling well enough to help out.
“Hey welcome back… and, yeah. But don't worry about it. Told you I don't even get paid for it, and my uncle sucks.” They said with a shrug.
“I know. But I also don’t want to make your life worse because you decided to help me out.. I wish I could help you with your situation.” He murmured.
He had thought of a ton of scenarios on what to do with this situation. Some as mundane as having a ‘chat’ with their uncle, to buying the store outright and giving it to Kori. But while he had the money to do so, it would be enough to bring his father’s attention to the situation.
Outside, footsteps could be heard coming towards the door for those with sensitive enough ears.
“My life is better because I get to be here ins…tead…” Their tone dropped to a quiet whisper.
“Someone is at the door.” They said, changing their stance to also be silent when they moved.
Sebastion was immediately on alert, his face unreadable. He looked to Kori and motioned for them to go to the bedroom, hoping he was clear enough to mean to go hide.
He waited by the door, waiting for the knock that might never come. Ragar could easily just open the door himself, having a key.
It would only be moments later that the door would simply start to open, Sebastion stopping the door. “H-hey! I thought I heard you coming. Hold on..”
Kori gave him a thumbs up and silently went over to the bedroom. As quietly as they could, they hid in one of Sebastions' wardrobes and threw a few clothes over themself. Something about growing up playing hide and seek where people could follow your scent. You picked up a few tricks.
Sebastion let the door open as soon as Kori was out of the picture.
“What is it, Ragar? I’m fixing dinner, and I really don’t feel like putting up with you today.”
“Yer phones been off. Boss wanted to talk to ya, but I wasn’t sure ya were awake yet.” The man chuckled darkly. “
The two men continued talking in Lutetian for a while. That was until Ragar spotted the bag on the counter.
“.. Who else is ‘ere?”
He shoved past Sebastion and immediately started looking around. “Where are they?”
Shit shit shit shit. Kóri curled up to be as little as they could under the clothes. They could shift but it'd leave them defenceless for a minute and they weren't sure they could be quiet during it. So they didn't. They also tried their best to relax and slow their heart rate. Breathe in, breathe out Kori. Quietly.
Sebastion shrugged. “No one’s here now. They came by a while ago, they’d not seen me at the club in a few days. They thought I was sick, so they brought a care package.”
Ragar went to the bathroom and checked the shower, then the couch where the remaining bit of the mug cake sat. “Boss’ll ‘ave you runnin’ for days.” He said grinning at that. It brought Ragar great pleasure to torment Sebastion.
He continued his search. He went to the bedroom and started under the bed. “Wazzit this?” He picked up the plush. “Absolute garbage.” He grumbled, tch’ing at Sebastion. There would be the sound of ripping, and Sebastion was growling.
Oh fuck… Kóri tightened their fists. That must have been the little cupcake. Why did this stinky man hate everything beautiful?. And why was he even here? They had been having a great time up to now. And he was he one who had hurt Sebastion in the first place.
Ragar then moved to the closet. Kori’s new clothes could have easily been explained away as something Sebastion wanted to try to wear. He started moving clothes around, and Sebastion’s eyes bore into his back. Sebastion was also hoping Kori had found a good place to hide.
Ragar then started on the pile of clothes, moving them out of the way little by little.
He kept moving clothes, and inevitably he uncovered Kóri, who uncurled and glared at the stinky man with a ferocious, fox-like growl. But Ragar was still standing between them and anywhere that wasn't the wardrobe. And they were more than a bit scared.
The twisted grin spread across Ragar’s maw, and a dark cackle rang in the closet. “Well well, look at what I found ‘ere!” He yelled back at Sebastion.
Sebastion was already on the move. He rushed forward and slammed his shoulder into Ragar’s side, slamming the huge man to the side and falling forward towards Kori. Sebastion looked murderous.
“Run!” He shouted at Kori.
“This is gettin’ old, boy!” Ragar yelled as he attempted to grab Kori’s leg.
“Fuck you stinky man!” Kóri kicked his hand away, with their steel tipped boots on. They weren't sharp, but they were fucking hard. Shit, did they run? They should, right?. Fuck. They ran. They were the biggest fucking coward but they ran to the living room to try and get the window open so they could slip out.
Ragar growled in pain, but the twisted grin only grew as he lurched for Kori. Sebastion wrapped an arm around the man’s neck and pulled backward as Kori ran. The sound of scuffles could be heard from the closet for a minute or two more, until there was a loud ‘bang’.
Shortly after, Ragar was rushing out towards Kori. “Get back ‘ere!” He growled, reaching grabbing at Kori’s shoulder to fling them back away from the window.
“No you stink!” Shouted Kori, who turned the window’s handle to the -open- position but then had to move away from it to slip from Ragar’s grasp. Wait, the door wasn't closed, was it?? They pushed themself away from the wall and ran for that escape route instead.
That bang had been loud as fuck. Was Seb okay? Was he dead? Not likely because they needed him alive for work. Shiiit. Kori felt like the ultimate fucking awful friend. But they had to get out of there.
Sebastion laid on the floor in the bedroom, curled into a ball. Ragar growled his frustration of missing Kori once again, and rushed after them once again. “Imma gut you, after I ring that skinny little neck of yers.” He shouted after them.
He seemed to start moving faster, the more enraged he grew.
“And I’m gonna make ‘im watch. I’m gonna make ‘im watch as the life slowly leaves yer eyes, and I’ll teach ‘im once and for all..” He leapt forward in the attempts to tackle them.
Nope nope nope nope. Kóri made it through the apartments door and booked it down the stairs, their eyes wide with panic. Instead of going down every step they were jumping, almost one flight of stairs at a time. Running as fast as they could until closer to the first floor they fell, rolled, probably hurt their shoulder but it didn't matter, and continued running to the downstairs door. Come on come on come on come on fuckfuckfuclfuckFUCK.
Ragar was on their heels, the raging rolling off them like an aura that could not be ignored. “I’ll make him suffer.. For every single one of you..” He growled, panting as he ran faster, leaping forward once again to try to tackle Kori once again.
And finally caught them by the knees. He pulled them down to the ground with him, dragging them closer and chuckling darkly. “Yer mine now. And I’m gonna make ya wish ya never met that welp upstairs..”
Kóri growled. They revolved around like a little hurricane. Kicked, scratched, and if they could reach? They'd bite. Hair, eyes, any other soft parts? They were GO they were targets and terrified Kóri was fucking feral.
Ragar was kicked, scratched, but it didn’t seem to hinder his progress. It wasn’t until Kori bit his ear that he seemed to react differently. He shouted in pain, and aimed a few punches towards Kori’s middle to try to knock them off.
“Fuckin’ prick!”
They tore off a piece of his ear, spitting it out and scrambling to stand up. They panted and kicked his face as hard as they could before pushing through the buildings’ door and running. They ran, jumped over fences, crossed several roads barely looking. And they didn't know where they were going, at all. Just that they needed to put as much distance between themself and that man as possible. That they couldn't even see that well and had to slow a bit, to a trot, because their eyes were clouded with tears. Their mouth tasted like blood. It wasn't new, but combined with everything else… Kóri just kept running, thankful for their own stamina. Feeling like the worst friend in the world, sure Sebastion would never want to see them again after this. Abandoning him like a white furred rat.
Ragar panted and held his bleeding ear until it healed a few minutes later. He’d remember them. He’d find them. And boy oh boy would they’d pay in the end.
He stormed upstairs to find where Sebastion laid, blood spread on the ground from where the man had pulled himself from the closet to try to stop Ragar.
He’d live. He always did. Didn’t matter what Ragar did to him, Sebastion did not seem to ever just die. That included putting a bullet in the boy when he got too ornery. Sebastion panted, trying to breath, and glared up at Ragar as the man rolled him over with his boot. “Looks like ya made a fool out of me twice now, boy.” Ragar growled, digging his heel into Sebastion’s wound. Sebastion’s shouts were short and pained, squirming to try to get away from the werebadger above him.
“Yer gonna tell me who they were.. And where I’m gonna find them..”
After what felt like hours, Kóri found a dark alley to collapse in, behind a dumpster. They curled up, hugging their knees, and waited. Their tears had barely stopped falling by night time. Their guts were twisting and churning, and their heart was heavy with guilt. So as soon as it was dark they half walked and half ran back to Sebastion's place. It took them half an hour to walk up the fire escape this time, because they were terrified of making a sound. And because their brain was stupid and tried to trick them into panicking again. But eventually they made it to his floor and looked through the windows. Luckily, they could see well in the dark.
They’d find the window’s latch was still open from where they tried to escape earlier. The food they’d been making remained in the pot, but the fire on the stove had been put out. It was dark inside, and the door was shut. No one was seen from the window, but it would seem a light was on in Sebastion’s room.
Inside, the air smelled of burnt food and copper.
Quiet as the littlest mouse, Kóri snuck in. This time they left the window open, and they tiptoed towards Sebastion's room to peek in. With their heart in their throat.
Inside, they’d see the stained carpet from the closet. The copper smell was stronger here, and there were more scattered marks of dark liquid against the wall near the closet. They’d see Sebastion, curled in a circle of himself, holding the ripped pieces of the cupcake plush.
So he wasn't dead. Fuck… Kóri couldn't avoid the tiny, antsy whine that escaped them.
“Seb?...” They whispered, coming closer to him. And if he didn't stop them, kneeling next to him as well. Their eyes filled with tears again.
Sebastion slowly opened his eyes, no light in them. He had heard them, but everything seemed thick and slow. Slowly he turned his head to look up at Kori, relief clear on his expression as soon as he realised it was them.
“Kori..?” His voice seemed strained, as if he had been shouting a long time. “You’re okay..” His voice cracked. He closed his eyes and laid his head back down. “I-I’m glad you’re okay..”
“I'm s-sorry… fuck… I'm so sorry S-seb. I left you here alone. You should be m-mad at me, not glad that I'm- what did he do? Can I help?” They whispered, without touching him and unable to stop crying. So much for poor Sebastion to think he was the dangerous one, when this was all Kori’s fault. They should have hid better. Should have stayed and fought back, more. The stench of Sebastions' blood, Ragar’s lingering scent. Their own fear and disgust, it made them want to vomit. But they stayed in place for now.
Sebastion reached out and gently touched Kori’s hand. Blood stained his pale skin, the sticky substance seemed to have been there a while now.
“I-I’m not mad at you.. I t-told you to run, and you d-did..” He started to cough, pained wheezing sounds. “Y-you’re n-not safe here..” He whispered once he had caught his breath. “H-he has your things.. He’s l-looking for you and A-alysa..” He swallowed hard, but with no spit to swallow it didn’t help.
“.. F-find my wallet.. G-grab some c-cash and get a n-new phone.. New number.. F-find someone you can trust to p-protect you.. And d-don’t come back.. Please.. I need y-you safe..”
Alyssa must be the woman he had been trying to find. Kóri hoped she was far away by now.
“But I… Seb no, can't I help you now? With something? Please? I don't… fuck… I'm so-s-sorry.” They sniffled and sobbed, wiping tears and snot from their face. They got up and went to the bathroom, vomited in the toilet, dry heaved a bit more and then washed their mouth.
They quickly found a bag in Sebastion’s closet, and put everything they had left in there. New clothes, old clothes. All the cash they found in Sebastions wallet went into their pocket. His number, they got it from his phone and wrote it down so they could text him again soon. It was frantic but almost completely silent. Kóri was still terrified and stopped every few seconds in case they could hear steps coming from the hall. But it was quiet.
They came back to his side with the backpack on, two bottles of whiskey and two more of water that they left there. And some cereal bars that would hurt to chew but were nutritious enough. They left all of that and a straw next to Sebastion and kneeled again by his side.
“A-are you still awake?” They whispered.
Sebastion had watched them leave to do what he’d told them to do. He was in and out of consciousness and could hear them quietly moving about.
He was half out of it when they returned, and he gasped as he came back to fully. “Y-yeah..” He murmured, rolling to his back fully. There, they’d see his shirt cling to him still slick with blood. “D-did you find my wallet..?” He asked quietly.
“Yes… I have everything. Shit. Seb can I at least move you to the bed or something? Here…” they gulped, chewing their bottom lip, and opened one of the bottles of whiskey. At least for the pain?... They put the straw in it. Bent awkwardly so Set could drink even like this.
“It's whiskey?... B-but I brought you water too a-and little bars for l-later.” They said quietly, scared to even know the full extent of Sebastions damage.
Sebastion shook his head, chuckling painfully. “I-I didn’t.. Want to get the bed.. Dirty..” He said. “S-strange, right..?” He looked up at Kori, his red hues so dark they looked like the blood stains on the carpet. “T-thank you.. I’ll be alright.. I need y-you safe though. Please..? Promise me..” He whispered. “Forget you e-ever knew me okay..?”
They swallowed and shook their head, more tears, fuck.
“No. I- You’re the best thing in L-lutetia. The best thing in a-all of Issunar. So I can't make that promise, b-but I do promise that I will text you soon. I will meet you again because I need to know you are okay. And I swear, that I will do everything I can to get you out of here so you can enjoy t-the life you deserve. Sebastion…” They blinked and some of their tears fell on Sebastions face.
They lifted his hand the littlest bit and bent down to kiss his knuckles. “You are incredibly kind.” They whispered, then moved to kiss him very lightly on the cheek. Barely a brush of their lips. “You are fucking amazing” and finally they moved to kiss his forehead. Where they lingered a bit more “And you are very, very important.”
After that, they stood up and walked away. Because if they didn't go now, they wouldn't. And Ragar would find them again. In the last moments, they decided to find a trinket of some sort in his closet. Something small? To remember him in case they didn't see each other in a while. Kóri found a dusty box in a closet and inside, several rings. They took the first one that was smooth and fit one of their middle fingers before finally leaving the apartment. Through the living room's window, again. They crossed over to the outside and began their silent descent.
Sebastion simply shook his head as they spoke, but didn’t have the energy to continue to argue. He needed to sleep. The tears brought him back for a moment, and he reached up to try to brush them away but they were just out of reach.
Just like everything else in his life had been. Just out of reach..
He listened to them as they called him kind and amazing and important. The kisses surprised him. If only he could convince them of how wrong they were. To finally show them they should just leave him here, and live their life.
It had been his fault they got dragged into this in the first place hadn’t it?
It was his fault their life was in danger now, because of his own selfish need for some sort of companionship.
It was his fault he decided to break the mold of what had worked so far in his life.
So in silence he watched them go, seeing they had grabbed one of the family rings from the box he’d kept in the closet. In silence, he whispered a silent prayer to whatever deity there was that would even listen to him.
He hoped they’d forget him and they’d find a peaceful life from now on and they’d never cross paths again.
Because that’s all he could wish for for them. That his family never darken their doorstep ever again.
Once again, Sebastion rolled over to his side and tucked the remains of the ripped plush in his arms, and he fell back to sleep, the tears that were on his face his own now as he accepted that he’d just be alone for the rest of his days.
It had been two days, ish. No read messages, no answers, no blue checks. Technically Sebastion could be living his life in a golden cage, and have forgotten about Kóri. But that didn't seem like him. So the fox was worried. When they woke up at seven am on May 24th and there was still nothing… they thought something might have happened. They were due for a visit anyway. He had their new clothes and they had talked about watching a movie or getting ice-cream.
Because they were planning to visit sooner, Kóri had a backpack with a few things they wanted to bring to their friend. So they grabbed it and slipped out through their window, leaving Thorje to figure out the working schedule for that day. He hadn't even given them dinner last night, so fuck him anyway. They knew the way back to Sebastion’s since they had left on foot last time, and it took a while to get there. But Kóri had knots in their stomach. Had his father hurt him? Made him do something particularly disgusting?. Shit, they couldn't be seen coming in. What if stinkman saw them and… ugh. They surrounded the building instead, and found a fire escape that they could use to climb. Looking up, they took a deep breath and started their climb.
The lights were off in his apartment. He made sure all sounds were off. His head was absolutely throbbing still, and nowhere was comfortable to lay down except half on and half off the couch. He looked like he’d been absolutely thrashed, and it wasn’t far from the truth. His little stunt to make sure Alysa escaped ended up having Ragar go full werebadger and grab Sebastion by the leg and-
Well.
He was quietly nursing a whiskey as well, hoping if he kept a healthy dose of alcohol in his system, the pain would be less.
He was simply existing, in this void, until he heard knocking. It took him a moment to realize.. It wasn’t coming from his door. He opened one red hue to gaze over at the windows, and damn near dropped his glass.
“The fuck are you doing there?” He nearly shouted, getting up painfully, walking over, and opening the window for Kori.
Before saying anything, they slipped into the apartment. Because holy fuck, Seb looked like a steaming pile of shit.
“Coming to see you.” They said quietly, leaving Sebastion to close the window and heading to the kitchen counter to leave their bag on the counter. It gave them a chance to sniff and look around, too.
The air was clear, old scent of Ragar would linger in the air but it was definitely old. Otherwise, it just smelled of Sebastion.
“I.. I forgot to text you back..” He muttered, placing the cool glass against his head. “I’m sorry..” He murmured. “I had something happen and I’ve not exactly been.. Conscious for two days.” He laid back down in his spot, half on and half off the couch.
“I’m sorry.” He repeated. “How have you been..? Don’t you have work?”
Kóri was glad for their enhanced hearing.
“I've been okay, better than you. Met two girls, they were very nice and helped me with shopping… should you be talking at all? And drinking that? Okay. Okay. One sec.” They left their bag on the kitchen counter and walked over to Sebastion’s bedroom. Found a fluffy blanket in the closet and spread it on the bed.
“Leave that in the living room and come here, please?” They said, peeking at him from the bedroom door.
Sebastion felt bad for not being a better host, but he quite literally barely could move. So he heard Kori move about the apartment and just decided it was best to let them do as they pleased. The white haired man smelled of alcohol, having had downed quite a bit of two bottles of whiskey. There was a slight slur to his words, but not enough to hinder him being understood. “This is quite literally the only thing keeping me awake right now..” He said. “Otherwise, I’d find methods of sleeping this off that are.. Way worse than this..” He said over his shoulder.
Still, when Kori asked politely, he groaned to stand back up, but the drink came with him. He limped over to his bedroom, stumbling occasionally. “I need the drink..” He muttered at them.
Kóri felt their heart break a little, seeing Sebastion like this.
“Okay, I won't keep you from drinking okay?. But please, come over and lay down on the blanket. Just leave the glass on the side for a moment and let me roll you up. I'm sure you can do it, yes? You have survived this long.” They said, coming closer to him, very close. Enough to slide a hand down his bruised arm, ghosting over his skin and applying no pressure until they could take hold of Sebastions' glass. They just held it, without pulling it away from him. And looked him in the eye.
He wavered standing in front of them, his vision unfocused. The touch gained his attention and he looked down at their hand until it met the glass. Reluctantly after a few moments of silent debate, he let go of the glass.
“.. Okay..” He said quietly, moving away and stumbling to the bed. Climbing onto the bed, he winced as he pulled himself on, then struggled to find a spot where he was comfortable. “It all hurts..” He admitted, looking exhausted.
They sighed and nodded.
“I could have guessed that. You look like an abstract painting. But hey, I'd come to the gallery to see you every day. Now hold on…” They left the glass on the nightstand, within Sebastion's reach. So he knew they were saying the truth about not taking it away. And proceeded to manoeuvre around him with surprising efficiency, also moving the blanket. Until they had made a blanket burrito with functional arms out of Sebastion. The thick plush around him would shield him a little bit if he decided to move. Without constricting his movement. Had Kóri done this before?.
“Okay, now… do you want to talk about what happened? Summarised at least.” They said, slowly sitting next to him on the bed.
He let them do as they wished, wincing occasionally when he was required to move slightly but never once complained. Once they had burritoed him up, he settled into it and closed his eyes until they spoke.
He swallowed and reached for the glass, as if it were a safety net. “I ran into someone who was a previous.. Target..” He murmured quietly. “She wouldn’t listen to me to get out.. Caught Ragar’s attention. Her father owed mine money, and her father’s now dead. They were going to.. Do the same thing to her as they do to me..” He murmured. “I had to get her out of here.” He took a sip of the whiskey.
“Ragar happened essentially.” He finished with a sigh. “Rougher than he’s been lately, but not the worst I’ve had..”
They listened, being quiet the whole time. So, it was someone he had had to charm or seduce or… extort. “Shit, sorry to hear it…. I'm just glad you’re alive. And you don't have to apologise for not answering my messages when you’re beaten to pulp, man. I heard your little sorry’s earlier. Not allowed. Nu uh. Hold on a sec.” They left Seb with his glass and went over to their bag in the kitchen. They took something out and ripped the tag, then walked back into the bedroom and sat next to him again. Slowly and carefully so the mattress didn't shift a lot and hurt him.
“Here, your new friend.” They said, gently setting a plushie shaped like a cupcake on Sebastion’s lap. It was small enough to be comfortably held with one hand. It was also obviously a cheap thing from a shop for children or similar. A pink cupcake with chocolate icing and a white base. Slightly more RRfluffy. “It's small so you can hide it if you need to.”
Sebastion just simply existed as he waited for them to return. It felt like a lot of effort, and he drained the remaining bit of his glass.
He took the small plush and ran his thumb over the fabric. He smiled slightly, though even that hurt his teeth. “Thank you.” He said quietly. “Oh.. Your clothes..” He started to try to get up again.
What sound does a fox make? The loud screechy chitter that came out of Kóri’s mouth when Seb tried to get up was a good example.
“You are NOT going to get up. Tell me where they are or we can figure it out later man, because if I have to sit on you to keep you in place even though it will hurt, I fucking will. I fucking swear it on- on your abs. Which are very real.” They growled, putting a hand on Sebastion’s chest but without pressing down. YET. Their voice had been barely above a loud whisper, but the anger could be felt anyway.
He wavered slightly against their hand, wincing as he leaned against it when we wavered forward slightly. He seemed rather taken aback with how angry they seemed at him. “But..” He murmured, but found no other words in that moment. The last thing he needed right now was a very angry Kori sitting on him, his ribs had barely just healed. So he just settled back against the bed. “Okay…” He murmured. “Could you please grab my whiskey then..? There should be a bottle on the table in the living room, and there should be two more in one of the cabinets in the kitchen.. The clothes are in the closet, in the clothes saver towards the front..” He sighed.
They struggled to agree, because drinking wasn't exactly good for health. Still, Seb had been through enough, and he wasn't being difficult. For now.
“...Okay, thank you.” Said Kóri, their anger simmering down fast.
“I will go get your whiskey, I will bring you the bottle if you answer a question first. Have you eaten or drank anything else since you got beaten up?” they asked, taking back their hand and watching Sebastion closely while waiting for the answer.
Sebastion closed his eyes, his brows knitted as he tried to remember if he’d eaten. He didn’t remember much. “I.. I don’t remember if I have..” He admitted. “I’ve spent most of the day trying to just survive..” He admitted.
Kori wanted to sigh, and also hugh Seb tight. And go down two floors to kick Ragnar’s teeth in. By they didn't do any of it, and kissed their fingers instead. To brush them against the tip of Seb’s nose. A little non-bruised spot.
“And you’ve done a great job Seb, you’re amazing, thank you.” They said, their voice warm, soft and non screechy. Fox kiss, they may have said. But eh. They got up again, brought the whiskey bottle and refilled Sebastion’s glass themself.
“There you go.”
“Why thank me..?” He asked, confused. “Thank you for filling my glass though..” He took a sip from it, placing the cool against his head again.
“I have to find her again..” He muttered. “She’s in danger until I get her out of the city.. Ragar won’t give up… He’s probably out there looking now. I should be out there now..” He grumbled, worry furrowed on his brow. There were complicated emotions there.
“.. And you’re in danger even being here.. You shouldn’t stay very long..” He added, the worry deepening. “I won’t be able to take Ragar again right now…
This time they sighed and rolled their eyes. “Even if he finds me and kicks my ass, he can't hurt me. When I get badly hurt my only concern is being really bored while my body heals… and you can go find her when you are fully healed. I thank you because I'm grateful that you’re al-” they bit their lip, not willing to even entertain the thought of a dead Sebastion. “That you’re here.” They said, getting a lot quieter after that.
“I'm going to find you food. Be right back.” They said, leaving him alone in the bedroom again. In the fridge they found a couple of tuppers. Some other food they could probably cook for him later. A lot of frozen stuff in the fridge…. Eh. Probably normal for a single guy who didn't have a lot of time. Kori just heated up some pasta salad with corn and tuna, and walked back to the bedroom with the tupperware, a fork, and a bottle of water. They left the bottle on the night stand, and sat next to Sebastian with the tupper.
“You don’t have–” They left before he could finish. Dammit. He leaned his head back, his head still throbbing. At this rate, it would probably be another day before he could feel like normal. Ragar had not held back, it seemed.
When Kori returned, he tried to sit up straighter, much to the absolute displeasure of everything. “You didn’t have to.. But thank you..” He murmured, reaching for the tupper. “So you met two girls and they helped you clothes shopping? Did you have fun at least?”
They handed him the tupper, and took the whiskey glass to leave it on the nightstand. If he could drink from the glass, he could probably eat by himself as well. And they didn't want to make him feel useless or embarrassed anyway.
“Yes! Margot and Re. Both of them are wolves, and super cute. I can barely read Lutetian outside of the tags on food and supermarket items that I need to know for work. So I was getting really overwhelmed. And there was a very luminous sign that I wanted to punch. Buuut they kinda rescued me and helped me out.” They said, happy to talk about their new wolfy friends.
He ate a bit of the food from the tupper, chewing slowly. “I’m glad you were able to find help and they were willing to help you.. I can try to help you learn more Lutetian at some point if you’d like.” He murmured. “I’ll have to be careful around certain wolves, if they were in a pack. Some of the packs around here would not appreciate me..” He murmured.
He took a swallow of the whiskey to help wash down the food.
“You should get your new clothes. I think you’d like them..”
“Hm, they didn't say anything about packs… does your family not get along with the locals? I can't imagine why that would be.” They said with a snort of irony and sarcasm.
“You can also drink water by the way. Isn't pasta with whiskey gross?... I've had it with wine and with beer but never… eh.” They shrugged. It wasn't a huge concern anyway.
“Why, do you want to see me try them on? My new clothes I mean. I guess I could pretend to model them for you.” it could be a bit of silly fun that didn't need Seb getting up or doing anything other than to look at them. And only sometimes.
Sebastion looked tired. “The girl who I helped… She was part of a pack named Scions of Aodhan.” He explained. “Her father was the leader, and owned several businesses here in Lutetia. I was forced to get close to the pair of them. However, the Bloodstones were their rivals. Bloodstones recently killed most of the Scions. The concern there is that my association will get me targeted too.” He explained. “They aren’t a bad pack to be associated with, but it is.. Out of caution.”
He looked at the glass in his hand. “Fun fact. The more you drink, the more anything tastes either really good, or like shit.” He muttered. “Your food is fine. I’ve probably had 3 bottles of whiskey today though… I think.. There were two empty ones earlier anyway..” He murmured.
He was in fact, a bit more than tipsy.
“I’d like to see you smile.” He admitted. “I’d like to see what you think of the clothes, and I hope they make you happy.”
Interesting. What he had to say about the Scions and the Bloodstones. Kori didn't know any Scions. But they did know a couple of Bloodstones. As far as they knew, they were nice.
“Shouldn't you stay away from the woman then? Ah but you want to help her get out. I can help you with that if you want? At least to find her. I'm a superv tracker.” They said, narrowing their eye with concern. It was good that Sebastion was also a wolf then. His liver must be fucking regenerating as well.
“It makes me happy just to get to hang out with you, if I'm honest. But I will try the clothes on in a bit. Also… why do you keep drinking then? Haven't you had enough?.” They said, reconsidering whether they should take the whiskey away from him.
He saw the look in Kori’s eyes and suddenly he became slightly protective over his glass with amber liquid.
“No.” He said, sternly. It was far harsher than he’d ever meant to be with them. “Sorry, no..” He said, softer the second time. “I can’t.. I can’t get you involved.. I couldn’t forgive myself if someone got hurt for something that’s my fault to begin with..” He took another sip of the whiskey.
“Because it dulls the pain. A lot.” He said. “Otherwise, I’d have to face this full blast and I’m tired of hurting. I keep drinking to keep this level of intoxication. Harder to do with food..” He muttered.
Speaking of, he took another bite from the tupper and chewed slowly.
Ah… Kori relaxed then. “I’m not going to try to take it, I promise. I don't know what pain feels like, but I'm not going to judge you for avoiding it. Okay?.” They said, almost amused by the way Seb acted about it. It would be cute. Under super different circumstances.
“And um, okay then? But if you ever need help with it just know that I am here.” They added, very gently stroking Sebastion’s forearm. Like before, barely ghosting over the skin so they didn't hurt him. “Also, it's not your fault if it's something other people made you do...” They said in a quieter tone, almost a whisper, before they got up and went to check out their new clothes. Kori was hiding it a bit, but they were super excited to see them and try them on!!.
Goosebumps rose on Sebastion’s arm as Kori barely touched his skin, an odd sensation altogether. He didn’t mind it, though.
“.. But it is my fault..” He muttered, his words slightly slurred. “I could just tell my father no.. Accept my fate. I could use what time left to fight my father and my brother and leave the empire to my sister..” He said quietly. “I’m too much of a coward..”
He let his head ‘clunk’ against his headboard, closing his eyes. “.. I’ve always been a coward..” He murmured.
Coward this, coward that. Kóri huffed, annoyed even with the packaged clothing in their hands. Which they left on the bed for a moment.
“Dude! The fuck? Oh no, I'm Sebastion and I am such a coward for doing what my family wants instead of getting beaten to pulp or fucking dying! Oh god how dare I want to live to see another day!” It was a very dramatic reenactment of Sebastions' words with a lot of artistic licence. And some, also dramatic, posing “Shut up!!” they growled, hitting the bed with one hand.
“We’ll find another way to stick it to your shitty family, now get ready for a fashion show and stop whining. If I hear the word -coward- again you better be talking about the stinky brute from the elevator!” They didn't really care about being naked, and they certainly weren't a prude. But stripping in front of Sebastion while he drank whiskey felt like too close to an actual, professional striptease of some sort. So Kóri grabbed their clothes and went into the bathroom with them.
He watched them leave, a sad look in his eyes. Kori didn’t understand, not really. But he liked them enough to keep his mouth shut for the moment. He was appreciative that they wouldn’t just strip in front of him, though. He finished the glass again, and looked for the bottle again.
Maybe madness wouldn’t be so bad this time, he thought. No. There had been stories in the past of those who’d succumbed to the curse. Once the madness took over, there was nothing more anyone could do except to put down the wolf that resulted. A beast of a creature that would rampage and spread its own suffering to the world for being who they were. The years of suppression, the twisting of their very being, released a very angry, very insane wolf that was damn near impossible to kill.
That was what Sebastion was afraid of the most. And so he endured his father’s abuse. He endured everything that was ever thrown at him. For those who he did care for, and those who didn’t even know he was a ticking time bomb. But for how much longer?
He slowly started to stand up again, his thoughts a bit too loud for his liking. “Where is that bottle..” He muttered.
Kori pretty much appeared, from one second to the next, right next to the bedroom’s door. They had made no noise even though the pants they were wearing had chains hanging from the belt.
“You might want to turn your head ninety degrees to the right.” They said, arms crossed over their chest. They had changed fast, and they were wearing their every-day boots with some awesome cargos that they’d call very metal, and a tight top that was very likely a bodysuit with geometric cyberpunk lines and designs. Black boots, grey pants, white and black top.
Sebastion blinked at Kori, before turning his head ninety degrees to the right and staring at the whiskey bottle with a very shocked face that mimicked some of the memes Kori had sent him. “Oh.” He grabbed the bottle and forgoing the glass, just decided to drink straight from the bottle at this point.
He still looked as though he was about to stand.
Once he’d drained a quarter of what was left in the bottle, he looked Kori over with a critical eye. “That looks very nice on you.” He admitted. “You could easily model for them.” He murmured. “There should have been two other outfits in that as well.. I think the shoeboxes were stored separate, but I cannot remember at the moment.” He shifted his feet with a wince. “Lemme see if I can find them for you.. I wanna see if you can fit them-”
They started to blush and kinda preen for Seb, loving the compliments, when he started to try and move. A g a i n!. So with a heavy heart, Kóri quickly crawled onto the bed and sort of sat on him, without really resting their weight on him. But still with their knees on either side of Sebastion’s thighs. The blanket was still thick, plush and between them though. .
“What did I say? Seeeeeb…” They whined, pouting as they looked down at him.
He looked up at Kori, red hues staring like puppy eyes up at them. Fortunately or unfortunately, the blush was hidden under the bruises.
“I uhm.. I uh..” He stuttered. “I don’t remember..” He admitted. “I just want to go look for them r-right quick, I’ll be fine.”
He squirmed slightly underneath Kori, testing on how he could get out from under them without having to physically pick them up.
Before he tried anything else, Kori stole the whiskey bottle and put it on the night stand again. And then they stopped low-key hovering and let their weight slowly settle on top of Seb.
“I'm here, On You, so you won't move! Let's just keep talking, I'd rather show you the outfits when you aren't too drunk to remember them later anyway. Okay? Please?” They said, because honestly? They didn't want to yell at Seb again. They were already feeling like shit for doing it earlier, and there was an apology stuck in their throat waiting to come out.
Sebastion blinked as Kori stole the whiskey bottle away. He watched them place it on the night stand and he frowned, mind made up.
Though, the weight wasn’t much, it was still enough to make everything that was raw complain again. He sighed, as if giving in to being trapped here. “Alright..” He said quietly, before reaching for their chin. Gently, he would attempt to lift it slightly and coax them to come closer. “I will say.. You have the most lovely eyes.” He said, smiling softly at them.
They frowned, surprised by the radical change in attitude. And… more than a bit suspicious. They let him touch them, but they didn't lean closer.
“They’re just brown. I mean they aren't ugly but I do high-key envy yours.” They said, then they took Sebastions' hand and moved it away from their chin. Holding it with both of theirs.
“Listen, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. I'm just worried about you, and I want you to get better soon. And I don't want you to die, or think about dying. Also you really aren't a coward. But… I still shouldn't have yelled.” They said, staring into his beautiful ruby eyes and inevitably babbling. Because Seb was fucking beautiful damnit. And it was hard to focus while being like this.
If he was annoyed that his attempt to coax them forward didn’t work, he didn’t show it. He listened to them, one hand less than he had before. “I don’t think about dying. That isn’t what I’m afraid of.” He admitted. “But I do forgive you for yelling…” He said quietly, trailing his other hand up their arm as they held his hand.
“But you’re also going to have to forgive me.” He said. He slid one leg to shove Kori’s legs slightly to make them lose balance, and then pulled their arms forward. In a defensive move, Kori would find their roles would have been reversed, with Sebastion on top and Kori being straddled for the moment. “.. For that.” He grinned cheekily, before sliding off for the bottle of whiskey.
Not knowing what was coming, Kóri let out the most undignified squeak when they were suddenly flipped, and had Sebastion sitting on top of them instead. They squirmed, turning a deep red from nose to ears.
“I didn't want you to stop drinkingohmygodIjustdidntwantyoutodropitorsomethingwhennisatonyouuu” they said, extremely fast. At the same time they freed their wrists and brought their hands up to cover their face, embarrassed and- and holy shit that had been really sexy. But Sebastion was just being stupidly stubborn and drunk as heck and oh god some was going to come out of their ears.
Sebastion chuckled slightly. “Sorry.” He said, standing out of the bed and stretching slightly. Everything still hurt, but he needed to not be stiff either. He grabbed the bottle of whiskey and drank some more of it before putting it back down to open the bottle of water and down it.
“I do appreciate you trying to take care of me.. But there is a reason I don’t drink heavily very often.” He murmured. He sat back on the bed after with a groan. “You going to be okay?”
“I'm fine…” Said Kóri, peeking at Sebastion from behind their hands. “I just wasn't ready for you to go from perfect gentleman to perfect smartass.” They grumbled, no longer hiding, though their blush remained.
“Are you feeling a bit better? I could make you the second half of my present.” They said, sitting up slowly
Sebastion tested his arm, flexing in different ways. This had been the one that had taken the most damage the other day, if he’d recall. That, along with his right leg. It seemed to be working fine enough.
“I’m numb at least.” He admitted. “I don’t have to worry about bruised muscles getting in the way of trying to figure out what’s still broken.” He poked at a few ribs, wincing as he got to one of the ones at the end. “That one’s still tender..” He murmured, still going over different parts. It took him a few minutes to go through, not quite answering Kori during that time. He determined that most of the bones were healed, though some were still fractured or sprained.
The rest of his pain was just severely bruised muscle.
“Yeah. I think I’ll be okay.” He murmured finally to them. “As for me being a perfect smartass… Only on special occasions.” He grinned over at them again.
With growing curiosity they watched Sebastion poke at himself and discover what was still hurt, and what wasn't. Huh. Interesting.
“Well I'm glad to be special!” They said, sticking their tongue out at him and getting off of the bed.
“Okay, I'm going to make your other present. It will only take like five minutes. You can come with me since you insist on being up, or you can lay down again.” They said, this time making little metallic noises as they walked, because of the chains. It was mug cake time!. So the first thing was to get a mug…
Like a drunken master, Sebastion grabbed his whiskey and followed Kori to the kitchen, still swaying and limping slightly. His right leg was one of the things that hadn’t quite healed fully, but enough that he deemed it possible to stand on.
He did, however, decide to try to sit on one of the stools he kept by the counter. He pulled it out and attempted to sit on it.
Only to land flat on his back with a ‘woof’ sound as the air knocked out of him.
“.. Did you move my stool?”
Mug in hand and a couple of spoons of milk into the mug cake, Kóri wheezed and started laughing.
“No! You’re just fucking plastered. Oh my god…” they put the mug down on the counter and walked over to Sebastion, offering him a hand so he had an easier time standing.
Sebastion looked up at them, not quite believing them. The bottle at least, hadn’t spilled.
He reached up with his free hand, and it took several tries to grab onto Kori’s hand. “Stay still, will you..?” He asked. He allowed them to help him up and he stood there swaying for a moment. “I am not plastered..” He muttered indignantly.
“What’s with the mug anyway..?” He asked, curiously as he attempted once again to sit on the stool.
“I'm making you a mug cake! It takes five minutes. Unless there's a drunk man in the kitchen who keeps falling over.” They said, making sure this time Sebastions' ass landed ON the stool. And then going back to mixing the mug cake.
“Now that you’re sitting pretty… Do you want vanilla or chocolate flavour?”
Sebastion looked around, searching. “Drunk man..? Did you bring a friend?” He blinked. “I’m not even dressed.” He looked down at himself. “I need to get dressed and introduce myself.. I don’t think I’m prepared for guests right now, Koriiii..” He whined.
He hugged the bottle as he leaned against the counter to keep his balance on the tricky stool. Maybe this was just Kori getting back at him for the bed trick earlier..
“What did you do to this stool..?” He asked, swaying. “I swear it doesn’t stop moving.. Uh.. Chocolate sounds amazing right now.. I used to eat a lot when I was a kid, you know? Father kept saying I was going to regret it one day. Started making me work out hard after a single piece of tiny chocolate ship. Stopped eating chocolate after that.. Was not worth it.”
This was too funny, Kóri couldn't stop grinning. “You are the drunk man, Seb, I wouldn't invite people over to your apartment without asking…” They said.
One egg, two spoons of flour, one of sugar, two of cocoa powder and one sad story about a mean father later, the mug cake was ready to go in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
“I will bring you all the chocolate, Seb, don't you worry.” They told him, leaving the mug cooking in the microwave and walking closer to Sebastion to gently nuzzle his shoulder.
Seb snorted. “I am not drunk.” He grumbled. “And you don’t have to ask. Most people just pop by with others all the time. I’m used to it. Its why I just don’t have personal things in my houses anymore.” He murmured, taking another swig from the bottle.
The smell was amazing though, and Sebastion’s stomach growled softly. “I.. I can’t have chocolate. I’ll have to work out if I have a bite.. I don’t want to work out today..”
He hadn’t noticed Kori move behind him and he jumped slightly at the touch. Still, he reached over to stroke their head slightly. “Careful, the stool is broken or something.. Gonna fall if you do that too much..” He warned.
“Good thing I'm not everyone, and I happen to respect your personal space. That's really Sad Seb… you can keep stuff at my place when I move out of my uncle’s. And you can have chocolate today, because I really want you to. You already lost a lot of calories by being beaten and not eating for two days.” they said in a singsong tone, almost purring at his little caress when the microwave dinged. And so they went to get the fluffy, chocolate mug cake, which smelled absolutely delicious but was still a bit too hot. So Kóri kept it while they grabbed two small spoons, and it cooled a little. Because Seb was perfectly capable of burning himself with it right now.
Sebastion shook his head. “I’m used to it now. I don’t even own me, so it fits.” He answered. “No need to clutter your space with my stuff.” He stretched out across the counter. It was cool and felt nice. “I have had whiskey, which has a lot of sugar.. I’m gonna have to work that off anyway I guess..” He sighed.
“Had to reschedule this entire week of clients though. My father’s not pleased with me misbehaving. He’s probably gonna visit if I keep this up, and I don’t want that..” He grumbled. “Kori, I wanna be free like you one day.. I wish I could be anyway. You’re amazing and fantastic and so happy. But even when father dies, I will be passed to my brother to continue as property until either I go mad or I die of old age…” He murmured.
He looked down at the cake. “.. You’re gonna have to make me run 5 miles if I take a bite of that.” He sat up to take another swig of the whiskey, leaning back to drain the remaining bit of the bottle–
And ending up on his back again. “Godsdammit”
Kori was starting to dread every bit of lore they learned about Sebastions' family. Passed to his brother? What the fuuuuck?.
“You can come to run with me, I love running. And I've been doing parkour lately. It's… Goddamnit.” They said it at almost the same time as Seb and then snorted. Mug and spoons in hand, Kori sat down by his side on the kitchen floor.
“What if we just stay down here? And we could always go running in the forest, as a fox and a wolf, you know? I've noticed you barely smell of wolf.” They said, handing Sebastion one of the little spoons.
That line of questioning sobered Sebastion up considerably. His eyes glowed as they did when he grew irritated or annoyed or stressed. “No.”
He sat up, and while he still swayed and struggled to stand up, he eventually ended up standing on his own. He stumbled towards the couch, flopping on it with a sigh.
Kori frowned and got up as well, following him to the couch with the mug in hand.
“...why?”
Sebastion was silent for a long time, his ruby eyes glowing as he stared into the void in front of him. There was a turmoil of emotions racing through him and he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to answer.
It would seem as if he wasn’t going to answer, leaving Kori’s question to echo in his ears for several minutes before finally giving in.
“It has to do with everything that I am.” He said quietly. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cushions. “I’m cursed.” He said simply. “Like.. Legit, have a spell bound to me. Well, my family does anyway.” He explained, suddenly wishing for more to drink.
“There’s a cursed one in every generation. And I happened to pick the short straw. I was the first born of my generation, though my mother had a stillbirth before me. I was going to be the one to take over my father’s empire.” He explained. “But.. I.. Didn’t want to follow family traditions and marry who I was intended to. I wanted to find love, someone who could see me for me. And for that, my father stripped me of my title and gave it to my brother instead. I would have been free after that. Except..” He reached for the ceiling as if emphasising his words. “Its never that simple, for me at least.” He closed his grip.
“We discovered the curse had befallen me by my 21st birthday. It is the right of passage, to see if you are cursed, the first full moon afterward you turn 21 will reveal your fate. When I shifted into my wolf form on the full moon.. I felt pain as if I never felt before. And my wolf grew angry. There was this.. Lack of awareness afterward, I couldn’t tell what was real or not too, and it irritated my wolf more. It took out half my father’s men before they finally knocked me out enough to shift me back to human and my father to perform the ritual to seal the madness.” He explained.
His voice trembled slightly. “I cannot be free now. If my father does not perform the ritual, I cannot turn back the madness. The pain can be avoided by not shifting. The madness I cannot avoid no matter what. And my father used it to extort me for everything I am.”
He looked to Kori, his eyes still glowing. “That’s why you do not smell the wolf on me.”
The poor fox just, took one of the tea spoons, scooped some cake with it and shoved into Sebastions' mouth, carefully, before leaving the mug on the table and sitting back next to their friend.
“How the fuck are you this much of an anime protagonist? Holy shit, Seb.” They said, pinching the bridge of their nose. So his family was cursed, and now it made more sense why he just did everything his dad wanted. Kori couldn't imagine being unable to turn.
Sebastion blinked as cake was shoved into his mouth. He chewed it slowly, savoring it. Perhaps it would be worth working his ass off occasionally. Occasionally.
He raised a single brow at Kori’s statement. “It isn’t like I chose this life. I wanted out of it.” He murmured. “So yeah.. Probably want to reconsider if you want to get close to me or not. If my father decides not to do the ritual? It wouldn’t be immediate, but eventually I’d lose myself. Or god forbid, my father keels over and my brother takes over..” He grumbled. “It’d be game over for me at that point..”
“I'm already in, dude, I jumped in with two feet and I like it here.” Growled Kóri, softly, without yelling they grabbed the mug, had some cake and then fed Sebastion some more.
“Your brother is worse than your dad??? Wait, you said it's a curse. Curses can be broken. What does it say?? We can find a witch or something…” they said, gesturing with the spoon and speaking while they ate the cake.
That’s 10 miles.. Sebastion thought as he chewed on the cake.
“Yeah.. Raphael is.. For lack of better terms, the definition of evil…” He murmured.
“I don’t know what the curse says.” He admitted. “If my father knows, he hasn’t told me. There’s a book that he has that I’m pretty sure has the family’s history that might explain it but..” He shrugged slightly. “I just know some ancestor pissed off some powerful witch generations ago and I’m the result..”
Kori nodded, eating more cake.
“So we steal the book, or we sneak in and snap some pictures of it. Where is it? At your dad’s?” Their brain gears were grinding hard.
“We need to know what it says. Then we need a powerful witch. One of the girls I met the other day is a witch. She could know someone. She's Iverian I think.” They continued, frowning in concentration.
Sebastion frowned, gazing over at Kori in silence. “My father has the book with him always.” He explained. “So where ever he is right now, is where that book is.” He slowly stood up and went for the next bottle of whiskey.
“You’d be risking your life attempting to steal that thing from him long enough to try to find where it speaks about the curse. I’ve not even been allowed to lay hands on it.” He murmured.
“How human, and how gay is your dad? And how much can he drink? We could drug him. I know a guy who deals stuff, he gives off big brat vibes but he's cute.” They said, remembering AJ from a few days ago. They could find him again if they tried to follow his scent.
“It sounds hard and dangerous as fuck, but also doable. So I'm gonna give it a solid try. Challenge accepted.” They said, nodding and eating more of the mug cake while Sebastion went for another bottle.
“My father pureborn werewolf. And it isn’t a matter of how gay he is. Its a matter of, you’re not family enough..” He grumbled, reaching the bottle and started chugging.
Kóri stared at him. “Ew? ...What?” They asked, leaving the mug and standing up, getting closer to Sebastion.
There was a dark look to him, and he was silent for a moment. “.. That’s the.. Tradition.” He explained without explaining. He wasn’t sure how else to go into this conversation. “My.. mother was.. Also my aunt.” He grumbled. “Part of how I have these stunning red eyes and white hair you like so much..”
He leaned against the counter, not looking at Kori.
Wordlessly, and after a gulp, Kóri approached Sebastion slowly and hugged him. How did his story keep getting worse?. They didn't know what to say, so they didn't say anything. Just hoped he didn't push them away.
He still would not look at Kori, but he gently hugged back, silent for a long time.
He finally pulled away after a minute or two. “At any rate.. Now you know.” He murmured, taking the bottle and started for his bedroom.
“Sorry.” He muttered.
“Don't be, I still think you’re amazing… and for the record, I don't even like red that much. I like your eyes cuz they’re yours.” They said, following him slowly. “Uh… do you want to watch a movie or something?”
He looked over his shoulder, then over to the TV he was pretty sure he’d never turned on. “If you’d like.. I don’t know what I have access to, to be fair..” He murmured. “Let me at least get some pants though..”
He stumbled to the bedroom to find some sweat pants that didn’t squeeze too hard. He was sobering up at this point, and the aches were returning slowly. He also found a tshirt he threw on as well.
“Feel free to play around with the TV.. I don’t even know if it turns on to be fair..”
“Okay!” They grabbed the remote and started messing around with it. The channels, the streaming services… Seb had most of them active. There was porn, even. Kóri was pretty sure they had never, ever, watched porn on a TV though. They navigated around until they found something fun. Because they had had enough drama today for approximately seven lifetimes. And if they asked Seb what he wanted to watch he was very likely to tell them he didn't know what he liked and that was even more sad.
“I found a comedy that doesn't look too trashy!”
Sebastion returned, dressed and bottle and blanket in hand. “Alright.” He slowly made his way over to the couch and sat down tenderly. He spread the blanket out before opening space for Kori, patting on the cushion beside him.
“.. I might doze occasionally. I’m sorry if I do.” He admitted, feeling drained of everything at that moment.
“That is such a big problem Seb, wow, you staying relatively still and relaxing? Worst thing that you could ever do to me. How dare you?” Said Kóri, in the completely wrong tone, and very much joking as they sat down next to Sebastian and gently snuggled up to him. “I'm also a body heat thief, in case you didn't notice the other night.” They said, pressing play for the movie to start.
Sebastion managed to crack a small smile, his eyes drooping slightly. He pulled the blanket around them and tucked it in before laying his arm over them.
“That’s fine.. I’ll produce enough heat for the both of us, then..” He said, his tone as tired as he was at this point.
Sebastion didn’t last 5 minutes before his breathing deepened and soft snores could be heard.
Kóri smiled. They hadn't been at Sebastion’s that long, but after everything he had told them… it felt like an entire day had passed. They were glad to know he was comfortable with snug snuggles though.
“Just got you to admit to being hot, we’ll get you some confidence yet.” They muttered to themself. They watched him for a bit, enjoying his relaxed expression. But with Sebastions' closeness, his heat and his scent, it didn't take them long to fall asleep either. That and the movie was super boring, if not trash.
Sebastion barely moved the entire time he was asleep. But he was truly and deeply asleep, deeper than he’d been in a very long time. He only started to stir when he started to subconsciously become aware of a distinct lack of weight beside him.
When he woke, everything was stiff, but the bruising seemed to be healing. He was not as dark as he was before, but that did not help how bad he looked currently. The bottle of whiskey was nearby, but it brought a queasy feeling to his gut to even attempt to drink more of it at that moment. And while he was sore, it was liveable.
“Kori..?” He called out for them, only for him to realise there were cooking smells. He looked over at the kitchen, blinking owlishly towards them. “What are you doing..?”
“Hey sleeping beauty! I'm making fried rice with veggs and… deli meat. I think.” Said Kóri from the kitchen, leaving it for a minute to walk over to Sebastion.
“How are you feeling? Want whiskey? Water? Uhh I think you have sugar free pineapple juice somewhere?” They asked, smiling at him.
Sebastion shook his head. “No more whiskey..” Did he seem a tinge green or was that just the healing bruises? “Water would be nice.” He said, groaning as he sat up further, his joints popping as he did so.
“I’m alright.. Still super sore, but livable now at least..” He ran a hand through his hair, trying and failing to get it to lay normally. “I didn’t mean to pass out on you, though.. Sorry. How was the movie..?”
Kori grabbed the full water bottle on the table and handed it to Seb.
“I don't know. Well… the first ten minutes were boring. And then I also passed out on you. You’re very comfy and a good heater.” They said, a light blush dusting their cheeks.
Sebastion took the bottle of water and took a swallow of it before realising how full his bladder was.
“Ah well.. I’ll put that under as my only quality under the ‘pros’ column.” He chuckled, standing and started for the bathroom. He at least wasn’t limping anymore.
When he returned, his hair was wet as he fixed it as best he could with a wet comb. He went for the kitchen and started to take over some of the cooking, stirring and moving the rice in the wok.
“You skipped work today, didn’t you?” He asked.
“That column needs a complete overhaul!” said Kori as Sebastion left, and then got back to the kitchen.
They were expecting him to go back to the couch to rest. But he didn't, and… they didn't complain. It was better to know he was feeling well enough to help out.
“Hey welcome back… and, yeah. But don't worry about it. Told you I don't even get paid for it, and my uncle sucks.” They said with a shrug.
“I know. But I also don’t want to make your life worse because you decided to help me out.. I wish I could help you with your situation.” He murmured.
He had thought of a ton of scenarios on what to do with this situation. Some as mundane as having a ‘chat’ with their uncle, to buying the store outright and giving it to Kori. But while he had the money to do so, it would be enough to bring his father’s attention to the situation.
Outside, footsteps could be heard coming towards the door for those with sensitive enough ears.
“My life is better because I get to be here ins…tead…” Their tone dropped to a quiet whisper.
“Someone is at the door.” They said, changing their stance to also be silent when they moved.
Sebastion was immediately on alert, his face unreadable. He looked to Kori and motioned for them to go to the bedroom, hoping he was clear enough to mean to go hide.
He waited by the door, waiting for the knock that might never come. Ragar could easily just open the door himself, having a key.
It would only be moments later that the door would simply start to open, Sebastion stopping the door. “H-hey! I thought I heard you coming. Hold on..”
Kori gave him a thumbs up and silently went over to the bedroom. As quietly as they could, they hid in one of Sebastions' wardrobes and threw a few clothes over themself. Something about growing up playing hide and seek where people could follow your scent. You picked up a few tricks.
Sebastion let the door open as soon as Kori was out of the picture.
“What is it, Ragar? I’m fixing dinner, and I really don’t feel like putting up with you today.”
“Yer phones been off. Boss wanted to talk to ya, but I wasn’t sure ya were awake yet.” The man chuckled darkly. “
The two men continued talking in Lutetian for a while. That was until Ragar spotted the bag on the counter.
“.. Who else is ‘ere?”
He shoved past Sebastion and immediately started looking around. “Where are they?”
Shit shit shit shit. Kóri curled up to be as little as they could under the clothes. They could shift but it'd leave them defenceless for a minute and they weren't sure they could be quiet during it. So they didn't. They also tried their best to relax and slow their heart rate. Breathe in, breathe out Kori. Quietly.
Sebastion shrugged. “No one’s here now. They came by a while ago, they’d not seen me at the club in a few days. They thought I was sick, so they brought a care package.”
Ragar went to the bathroom and checked the shower, then the couch where the remaining bit of the mug cake sat. “Boss’ll ‘ave you runnin’ for days.” He said grinning at that. It brought Ragar great pleasure to torment Sebastion.
He continued his search. He went to the bedroom and started under the bed. “Wazzit this?” He picked up the plush. “Absolute garbage.” He grumbled, tch’ing at Sebastion. There would be the sound of ripping, and Sebastion was growling.
Oh fuck… Kóri tightened their fists. That must have been the little cupcake. Why did this stinky man hate everything beautiful?. And why was he even here? They had been having a great time up to now. And he was he one who had hurt Sebastion in the first place.
Ragar then moved to the closet. Kori’s new clothes could have easily been explained away as something Sebastion wanted to try to wear. He started moving clothes around, and Sebastion’s eyes bore into his back. Sebastion was also hoping Kori had found a good place to hide.
Ragar then started on the pile of clothes, moving them out of the way little by little.
He kept moving clothes, and inevitably he uncovered Kóri, who uncurled and glared at the stinky man with a ferocious, fox-like growl. But Ragar was still standing between them and anywhere that wasn't the wardrobe. And they were more than a bit scared.
The twisted grin spread across Ragar’s maw, and a dark cackle rang in the closet. “Well well, look at what I found ‘ere!” He yelled back at Sebastion.
Sebastion was already on the move. He rushed forward and slammed his shoulder into Ragar’s side, slamming the huge man to the side and falling forward towards Kori. Sebastion looked murderous.
“Run!” He shouted at Kori.
“This is gettin’ old, boy!” Ragar yelled as he attempted to grab Kori’s leg.
“Fuck you stinky man!” Kóri kicked his hand away, with their steel tipped boots on. They weren't sharp, but they were fucking hard. Shit, did they run? They should, right?. Fuck. They ran. They were the biggest fucking coward but they ran to the living room to try and get the window open so they could slip out.
Ragar growled in pain, but the twisted grin only grew as he lurched for Kori. Sebastion wrapped an arm around the man’s neck and pulled backward as Kori ran. The sound of scuffles could be heard from the closet for a minute or two more, until there was a loud ‘bang’.
Shortly after, Ragar was rushing out towards Kori. “Get back ‘ere!” He growled, reaching grabbing at Kori’s shoulder to fling them back away from the window.
“No you stink!” Shouted Kori, who turned the window’s handle to the -open- position but then had to move away from it to slip from Ragar’s grasp. Wait, the door wasn't closed, was it?? They pushed themself away from the wall and ran for that escape route instead.
That bang had been loud as fuck. Was Seb okay? Was he dead? Not likely because they needed him alive for work. Shiiit. Kori felt like the ultimate fucking awful friend. But they had to get out of there.
Sebastion laid on the floor in the bedroom, curled into a ball. Ragar growled his frustration of missing Kori once again, and rushed after them once again. “Imma gut you, after I ring that skinny little neck of yers.” He shouted after them.
He seemed to start moving faster, the more enraged he grew.
“And I’m gonna make ‘im watch. I’m gonna make ‘im watch as the life slowly leaves yer eyes, and I’ll teach ‘im once and for all..” He leapt forward in the attempts to tackle them.
Nope nope nope nope. Kóri made it through the apartments door and booked it down the stairs, their eyes wide with panic. Instead of going down every step they were jumping, almost one flight of stairs at a time. Running as fast as they could until closer to the first floor they fell, rolled, probably hurt their shoulder but it didn't matter, and continued running to the downstairs door. Come on come on come on come on fuckfuckfuclfuckFUCK.
Ragar was on their heels, the raging rolling off them like an aura that could not be ignored. “I’ll make him suffer.. For every single one of you..” He growled, panting as he ran faster, leaping forward once again to try to tackle Kori once again.
And finally caught them by the knees. He pulled them down to the ground with him, dragging them closer and chuckling darkly. “Yer mine now. And I’m gonna make ya wish ya never met that welp upstairs..”
Kóri growled. They revolved around like a little hurricane. Kicked, scratched, and if they could reach? They'd bite. Hair, eyes, any other soft parts? They were GO they were targets and terrified Kóri was fucking feral.
Ragar was kicked, scratched, but it didn’t seem to hinder his progress. It wasn’t until Kori bit his ear that he seemed to react differently. He shouted in pain, and aimed a few punches towards Kori’s middle to try to knock them off.
“Fuckin’ prick!”
They tore off a piece of his ear, spitting it out and scrambling to stand up. They panted and kicked his face as hard as they could before pushing through the buildings’ door and running. They ran, jumped over fences, crossed several roads barely looking. And they didn't know where they were going, at all. Just that they needed to put as much distance between themself and that man as possible. That they couldn't even see that well and had to slow a bit, to a trot, because their eyes were clouded with tears. Their mouth tasted like blood. It wasn't new, but combined with everything else… Kóri just kept running, thankful for their own stamina. Feeling like the worst friend in the world, sure Sebastion would never want to see them again after this. Abandoning him like a white furred rat.
Ragar panted and held his bleeding ear until it healed a few minutes later. He’d remember them. He’d find them. And boy oh boy would they’d pay in the end.
He stormed upstairs to find where Sebastion laid, blood spread on the ground from where the man had pulled himself from the closet to try to stop Ragar.
He’d live. He always did. Didn’t matter what Ragar did to him, Sebastion did not seem to ever just die. That included putting a bullet in the boy when he got too ornery. Sebastion panted, trying to breath, and glared up at Ragar as the man rolled him over with his boot. “Looks like ya made a fool out of me twice now, boy.” Ragar growled, digging his heel into Sebastion’s wound. Sebastion’s shouts were short and pained, squirming to try to get away from the werebadger above him.
“Yer gonna tell me who they were.. And where I’m gonna find them..”
After what felt like hours, Kóri found a dark alley to collapse in, behind a dumpster. They curled up, hugging their knees, and waited. Their tears had barely stopped falling by night time. Their guts were twisting and churning, and their heart was heavy with guilt. So as soon as it was dark they half walked and half ran back to Sebastion's place. It took them half an hour to walk up the fire escape this time, because they were terrified of making a sound. And because their brain was stupid and tried to trick them into panicking again. But eventually they made it to his floor and looked through the windows. Luckily, they could see well in the dark.
They’d find the window’s latch was still open from where they tried to escape earlier. The food they’d been making remained in the pot, but the fire on the stove had been put out. It was dark inside, and the door was shut. No one was seen from the window, but it would seem a light was on in Sebastion’s room.
Inside, the air smelled of burnt food and copper.
Quiet as the littlest mouse, Kóri snuck in. This time they left the window open, and they tiptoed towards Sebastion's room to peek in. With their heart in their throat.
Inside, they’d see the stained carpet from the closet. The copper smell was stronger here, and there were more scattered marks of dark liquid against the wall near the closet. They’d see Sebastion, curled in a circle of himself, holding the ripped pieces of the cupcake plush.
So he wasn't dead. Fuck… Kóri couldn't avoid the tiny, antsy whine that escaped them.
“Seb?...” They whispered, coming closer to him. And if he didn't stop them, kneeling next to him as well. Their eyes filled with tears again.
Sebastion slowly opened his eyes, no light in them. He had heard them, but everything seemed thick and slow. Slowly he turned his head to look up at Kori, relief clear on his expression as soon as he realised it was them.
“Kori..?” His voice seemed strained, as if he had been shouting a long time. “You’re okay..” His voice cracked. He closed his eyes and laid his head back down. “I-I’m glad you’re okay..”
“I'm s-sorry… fuck… I'm so sorry S-seb. I left you here alone. You should be m-mad at me, not glad that I'm- what did he do? Can I help?” They whispered, without touching him and unable to stop crying. So much for poor Sebastion to think he was the dangerous one, when this was all Kori’s fault. They should have hid better. Should have stayed and fought back, more. The stench of Sebastions' blood, Ragar’s lingering scent. Their own fear and disgust, it made them want to vomit. But they stayed in place for now.
Sebastion reached out and gently touched Kori’s hand. Blood stained his pale skin, the sticky substance seemed to have been there a while now.
“I-I’m not mad at you.. I t-told you to run, and you d-did..” He started to cough, pained wheezing sounds. “Y-you’re n-not safe here..” He whispered once he had caught his breath. “H-he has your things.. He’s l-looking for you and A-alysa..” He swallowed hard, but with no spit to swallow it didn’t help.
“.. F-find my wallet.. G-grab some c-cash and get a n-new phone.. New number.. F-find someone you can trust to p-protect you.. And d-don’t come back.. Please.. I need y-you safe..”
Alyssa must be the woman he had been trying to find. Kóri hoped she was far away by now.
“But I… Seb no, can't I help you now? With something? Please? I don't… fuck… I'm so-s-sorry.” They sniffled and sobbed, wiping tears and snot from their face. They got up and went to the bathroom, vomited in the toilet, dry heaved a bit more and then washed their mouth.
They quickly found a bag in Sebastion’s closet, and put everything they had left in there. New clothes, old clothes. All the cash they found in Sebastions wallet went into their pocket. His number, they got it from his phone and wrote it down so they could text him again soon. It was frantic but almost completely silent. Kóri was still terrified and stopped every few seconds in case they could hear steps coming from the hall. But it was quiet.
They came back to his side with the backpack on, two bottles of whiskey and two more of water that they left there. And some cereal bars that would hurt to chew but were nutritious enough. They left all of that and a straw next to Sebastion and kneeled again by his side.
“A-are you still awake?” They whispered.
Sebastion had watched them leave to do what he’d told them to do. He was in and out of consciousness and could hear them quietly moving about.
He was half out of it when they returned, and he gasped as he came back to fully. “Y-yeah..” He murmured, rolling to his back fully. There, they’d see his shirt cling to him still slick with blood. “D-did you find my wallet..?” He asked quietly.
“Yes… I have everything. Shit. Seb can I at least move you to the bed or something? Here…” they gulped, chewing their bottom lip, and opened one of the bottles of whiskey. At least for the pain?... They put the straw in it. Bent awkwardly so Set could drink even like this.
“It's whiskey?... B-but I brought you water too a-and little bars for l-later.” They said quietly, scared to even know the full extent of Sebastions damage.
Sebastion shook his head, chuckling painfully. “I-I didn’t.. Want to get the bed.. Dirty..” He said. “S-strange, right..?” He looked up at Kori, his red hues so dark they looked like the blood stains on the carpet. “T-thank you.. I’ll be alright.. I need y-you safe though. Please..? Promise me..” He whispered. “Forget you e-ever knew me okay..?”
They swallowed and shook their head, more tears, fuck.
“No. I- You’re the best thing in L-lutetia. The best thing in a-all of Issunar. So I can't make that promise, b-but I do promise that I will text you soon. I will meet you again because I need to know you are okay. And I swear, that I will do everything I can to get you out of here so you can enjoy t-the life you deserve. Sebastion…” They blinked and some of their tears fell on Sebastions face.
They lifted his hand the littlest bit and bent down to kiss his knuckles. “You are incredibly kind.” They whispered, then moved to kiss him very lightly on the cheek. Barely a brush of their lips. “You are fucking amazing” and finally they moved to kiss his forehead. Where they lingered a bit more “And you are very, very important.”
After that, they stood up and walked away. Because if they didn't go now, they wouldn't. And Ragar would find them again. In the last moments, they decided to find a trinket of some sort in his closet. Something small? To remember him in case they didn't see each other in a while. Kóri found a dusty box in a closet and inside, several rings. They took the first one that was smooth and fit one of their middle fingers before finally leaving the apartment. Through the living room's window, again. They crossed over to the outside and began their silent descent.
Sebastion simply shook his head as they spoke, but didn’t have the energy to continue to argue. He needed to sleep. The tears brought him back for a moment, and he reached up to try to brush them away but they were just out of reach.
Just like everything else in his life had been. Just out of reach..
He listened to them as they called him kind and amazing and important. The kisses surprised him. If only he could convince them of how wrong they were. To finally show them they should just leave him here, and live their life.
It had been his fault they got dragged into this in the first place hadn’t it?
It was his fault their life was in danger now, because of his own selfish need for some sort of companionship.
It was his fault he decided to break the mold of what had worked so far in his life.
So in silence he watched them go, seeing they had grabbed one of the family rings from the box he’d kept in the closet. In silence, he whispered a silent prayer to whatever deity there was that would even listen to him.
He hoped they’d forget him and they’d find a peaceful life from now on and they’d never cross paths again.
Because that’s all he could wish for for them. That his family never darken their doorstep ever again.
Once again, Sebastion rolled over to his side and tucked the remains of the ripped plush in his arms, and he fell back to sleep, the tears that were on his face his own now as he accepted that he’d just be alone for the rest of his days.