Chapter Text
Sebastian’s eyes snapped open at the sound of something falling to the floor above him. He groaned and rolled over to check his clock, noticing it was 5 AM. Even for his early bird mother, this was early. He faintly remembered her chattering on within the past few weeks about a new something or other coming or appearing on the first day of the year, but was it the first? He didn’t know, he didn’t care, he was tired and going back to bed. Whatever it was could wait until later. He was sure his mother would talk endlessly about it later.
Sebastian rolled his neck on his shoulders, cracking it, and stretched out. He had been working for a while; he guessed it was time for some lunch. He padded up his stairs and began making his way toward the kitchen when he noticed an unfamiliar voice in his mother’s shop. Pausing, he strained to hear more.
It was a girl’s voice. She was laughing at something Mom had said, transitioning from soft giggles to full blown laughter. Something about saving up for farm buildings? That was all he was able to catch from where he was. Just as Sebastian was going to continue on, his mom came around her counter to shake hands with whoever the new girl was and made eye contact with him. He begged her with his eyes to not make him do anything, but of course she ignored that.
“Oh, Safiya, have you met my son Sebastian yet?” Mom asked, waving him over. Sebastian bit back a long groan. As much of a recluse he wanted to be, he couldn’t ignore his mom, especially not after already making it known he was right there. Moving deliberately slowly, he shuffled over just as the new girl moved into view.
She had brown hair tied into a bun, her bangs swept out of her face, and her eyes were bright, bright green. She wasn’t tan, but she definitely wasn’t his level of pale. She wore a purple shirt with a pale blue stone pendant, and she was giving him a small, shy smile. What did his mom say her name was – Safiya?
“Hey.”
“Hi. Nice to meet you, Sebastian,” the girl replied softly.
“Yeah, nice to meet you too.”
Thankfully, Mom stepped in and saved him from an awkward silence. She began chattering about the two of them hopefully becoming friends, and then went back to talking about building things. Sebastian took that moment to escape, giving the new girl – Safiya, he had to remember that or he wouldn’t hear the end of it from his mother – a tiny smile as he left. At least in front of Mom, he didn’t want to seem rude. He could do without the lecture on first impressions she would be giving him if she thought he wasn’t being polite enough.
Sebastian dug through the fridge, looking for a snack and purposely taking as long as he could. Thankfully, he heard the front door open and shut, signaling the coast was clear. Of the new girl, at least. He didn’t know if he would get cornered by his mother on his way back to his basement.
Luck was apparently on his side, however. Even his mother didn’t stop him on his way back. That meant she was either out too or approved of his manners for once. Well, either way it didn’t matter to him. Sebastian assumed that he would rarely see the farmer, and so it wouldn’t really matter what he did or didn’t say when he met her.
Sebastian’s assumption was very, very wrong. Every day, the girl came by on her way either to or from the mines once those idiots from Joja cleared the path. He wasn’t sure if she was there to buy from his mom’s shop or chat with her, exactly, but she always made sure to say hello to him, even if he was prickly to her. Once, she even showed him her meager finds for the day, excited because it was apparently her best trip yet. She apparently has a sharp eye, because she caught him eyeing her quartz chips and gave him one. Since then, she had occasionally shared some quartz and other gems with him from time to time for the past two weeks she had been there. Thanks to her, he was building up quite the crystal collection.
Finally, realizing she was just determined to make friends with him – whether it was her own decision or his mother’s influence, he couldn’t tell, but she was definitely determined – Sebastian decided he might as well invite her to the saloon that coming Friday. It would be easier if he had people he knew there, to balance out the anxiety that would inevitably be coming from barely knowing her. All Sebastian had to do was wait for her to show up.
And speak of the devil, there she was, appearing in the doorway from his mom’s shop to the rest of the house just as he emerged from his stairwell. She smiled at him and moved closer, being careful to stay a few steps away. He appreciated that she had picked up on his personal bubble and respected it.
“Hey, Sebastian. How’s it going today?” she asked.
Sebastian shrugged. “Today was an easy workload. I’m almost done already.”
“That’s good! Well, if you’re almost done I won’t keep you, I don’t want to be why you don’t get time to yourself today,” Safiya replied.
She started to turn away to leave. Sebastian had to act fast; he was sure his mother knew by now that Safiya wanted to be friends, and if she found out he hadn’t invited her to the saloon to hang out with everyone by now, there was a possibility she would (metaphorically, at least) slaughter him.
“Wait, uh, do you play pool?”
She turned around, eyebrows raised in surprise. “I’m not great at it, but I know how to play,” she replied. “Why, what’s up?”
“Uh, every Friday I meet Sam and Abigail at the saloon to play pool. Would you be interested in coming along?”
Safiya smiled. “Sure, I would love to. What time should I meet you guys?”
“We’re usually all there by 5:30.”
“Great, then I’ll be there. Thanks for inviting me. See you later!”
With that, Safiya turned and left, not even giving Sebastian time to say the word “bye.” He watched her go for a moment, then shrugged and continued on his way to the kitchen. That was easy enough. Sebastian supposed he would have to prepare himself for there being an unfamiliar person at their saloon night, but for some reason Safiya’s presence didn’t really bother him as much as some others did. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was one of the rare few who respected his boundaries or if it was something else, but it was a refreshing change for once.
Still, that didn’t mean he really wanted to be friends. He had enough friends, thank you very much, and he didn’t really like change much, either. He would be perfectly content with staying acquaintances with her, being friendly and all that when he saw her, but outside from this one single time, he didn’t really need or want to hunt her out to hang out. Just that Friday, and that would be it.