Chapter Text
You knock on Sebastian’s bedroom door, nervously holding quartz in your hand. You notice that your hand is already sweaty and you quickly fumble the crystal around, wiping it on your outfit. You’ve only been in Pelican Town for three weeks and trying to bond with everyone, but it's been hard to balance social life and your farm, so you needed to make this visit quick.
Robin was excited about your arrival, immediately talking about her son. It almost made you uncomfortable. But she obviously cares a lot for him and assures you that the two of you would become friends, eventually. She described him as a bit introverted and spent most of his time in the house, but you don’t really mind.
Seconds pass and you fidget with the quartz. You’ve spoken to him before. Well, actually a total of about seven times, although all of them were brief, some not even being conversations. The first time the two of you interacted was when he decided to take a walk on the dock. You had already been fishing, but upon his arrival, debated on leaving. He was having his moment, watching the waves and his reflection beneath him with a gloomy expression, and you didn’t want to ruin it. Although you were there for only half an hour before he arrived, you decided to pack up and leave after a brief introduction. But you didn’t want to be rude either so you explained you forgot to feed your chickens, then briskly walked away. He didn’t seem to mind either way but he did seem a bit stiff, but you couldn't blame him. Before you left the beach you took one last look behind you, a bit sad about leaving.
“Hmm? Come in.” You slightly jump, shaking you out of your trance. You softly open the door and peek in before entering. You scan around the spacious room plastered with posters and some comfy-looking furniture, which makes sense since he lives with a carpenter. “Oh, Y/N. I was wondering why someone knocked. Usually, people just walk right in.” You can’t see him so you step inside, still close to the door which you now closed. You finally spot where he was speaking from. He is typing on his computer and you are on your tiptoes to see him past the monitor. He looks focused and you feel like it’s a bad time to talk and didn’t want to be a burden, so you think about leaving. “Hold up one second, lemme just finish this part…”
You stay put and wait, looking at the room some more. You don’t take it personally, you did come over unexpectedly after all.
“Mmk. What’s up?” He scoots his chair away from the screen and looks at you. His eye bags are especially prominent today.
“Oh. I just. I brought some more quartz.” You raise your arm, showing him your find. It is a hefty one and once you saw it in the mines you knew you had to show him. You come closer and give it to him.
“Oh cool. Thanks, Y/N.”
“No problem. You probably have a collection now since I’ve been giving you so many, huh,” you force a laugh.
“I do actually. I had an empty display case, here, let me show you.” He gets up and heads over to his dresser where the case was resting. There is a dim light clipped to its edge and he puts the crystal right underneath, rotating it and allowing it to glisten with its iridescence for a few seconds, the light bouncing off the walls. He then leans over it and places the new one by the others, slightly tilting it for the ideal angle.
“I’m so used to just collecting ore and gemstones for money but, I never took the time to appreciate them.” You come closer to the glass and admire his attention to detail. Although they all differed in size he arranged them in a way where they were all visible and prominent, complementing one another. “So, what were you working on?”
“I’m a freelance programmer.” You stand up straight and look at him, who now seems a bit awkward when mentioning it, looking away. “Right now I’m setting up this merch website for a vlogger.”
“Wait, so you do coding?”
“Well, that’s part of it but yeah.”
“That’s really cool!” He seems surprised but you continue. “I’ve only taken one robotics class in middle school and it was NOT for me. I was confused for a majority of it and I think I popped out knowing even less somehow. I did make my bot go in a triangle though so I guess that was nice.” You shudder remembering how complex coding such a small command was and Sebastian softly chuckles. “Could I see it?”
“Sure. It’s not finished yet though. I try to pace myself but this commission was pretty last minute. It’s due tomorrow.” You both head back to the computer and he offers you a seat as he continues standing, and he scrolls through the site. The merchandise is neatly structured and has some pretty fancy effects and details when the cursor hovers over the options. “I only had a few days, so it looks a bit wonky.”
“What? This is great, Sebastian. From my very limited knowledge of coding, I know this stuff takes forever! The fact you put depth and how pleasing it is to the eye is outstanding considering how little time you had. I mean, the vlogger probably had their own vision for it too and you had to work that in, right?” You look back at him and after a second for him to process the compliment, see him crack a smile.
A phone suddenly buzzes and Sebastian takes it out of his pocket, then sighs.
“It’s Sam. He wants to hang out. I feel like he wants to hang out every other day.” While he types a response you take the moment to fully see him. He seems even more tired than you initially thought, his usually messy hair even more disheveled and you find a pile of empty Joja energy drink cans in a small trashcan. He sends the text. “I swear, he goes crazy if he’s alone for too long.” Suddenly, a voice is heard from upstairs.
“Sebby! Abigail just got off the phone with me, she’s stopping by later! I want you to clean up before she comes!”
Sebastian looks to the side and groans.
“Usually it’s fine and I do like hanging out with them but I’ve told them both I’m really busy at the moment. I’ve tried explaining to them but they just don’t get it. No one in my family does or cares either.” He puts his palm on his forehead, then runs his hand through his hair as he takes a long breath.
“Oh. I'm sorry, Sebastian.” He stays quiet. “I mean it's something you like to do, isn't it? I mean if this is something you want to pursue, then I say go for it, you're already great at it. Besides, it’s better than being forced to do something you hate for the rest of your life.” He waits a moment before responding.
“Right, you had an office job back in the city. My mom has told me every detail she knows,” he mutters when saying the last part and you smile. “I do want to save up to move there one day, but I’m not so sure I'd fit in. I prefer working online. Not really into the corporate rat race either, no offense.”
“Haha, it's alright. I left because of all the pressure. I mean, you could always visit just to see if you like it first. Hey, I could even show you around!” As the last words leave your mouth your face slightly flushes, realizing it kind of sounds like you are asking him out.
“That’s not a bad idea.” He leans closer to the desk and to you, then clicks on another program. “I’ve been working on this on the side with a friend. An online friend, I mean.” The screen is now filled with lengthy code and you slightly cringe seeing the symbols. “Whoops, not that.”
“Is that…Python?”
“It is actually.”
“Hah, nice. I have really only heard of that one and Java, so this was a lucky guess.” You see him smile at your dumb joke and he pulls up a pixel game. The depth is there once again, even on the menu screen there was the main character running about in the background.
“They haven’t decided on a title yet, they did mention an idea to call it Haunted Chocolatier, but yeah so far I have this and part of the small town laid out. It’s not super complex. I haven’t really shown anyone it yet.” You grin in excitement.
“Wh- this is really nice! I don’t even know where to begin! The color palette, the layers of the background- did your friend do the art?”
“Mhm. I made some suggestions on the designs but otherwise, all them. They’re very talented.”
“Hey, you are too, or skilled, or both. So what’s it about?”
He explains how it was basically about a chocolate maker finding new recipes with some rare ingredients, but there was more adventure element to it as well. It’s a shooter game as there are monsters and the chocolate shop is haunted, hence the name, and also an RPG as there are character interactions with the townspeople as well. You could tell there was a lot of inspiration from the valley from the town’s layout. Although he said it wasn’t complex he was clearly passionate about it, his words were fast and explained how hard it is to include so many options for the main character’s outfits and you nod every now and then, wandering around as the default character in a forest area using the keyboard. He doesn’t give too much of the lore to make it a surprise once the demo has been released. When you look at him again, he was already watching you. He was probably looking at you the whole time he was ranting, his aura bright and eyes glistening. Your eyes quickly dart away.
“You probably have a lot of work to do, sorry if I was rambling there.”
“No, no! This was nice. Thank you for showing me.” You get up from your seat.
“Thank you for listening, it was nice talking to you too, Y/N.” It hurt a little to hear that no one really appreciated his work, he probably believes it isn't that impressive himself, but you were glad you were given the chance to. “Sorry if I came off as cold before, I kinda thought you were gonna be like everyone else. I’m glad you’re not.”
“Haha, thanks. You’re pretty cool too. Oh! Wanna exchange numbers?” Sebastian pulls out his phone again and you take out yours. “I would love to see progress updates,” you tease, and to your surprise, he said he would.
You are about to leave his room but turn to give him a small wave goodbye, and he gives one back before you shut the door behind you.
You are still smiling, holding your phone close to you. You walk up the steps and spot Robin who is still behind the counter, this time she had her head resting on her hand as she leaned on the wood. You caught her looking bored, but once she sees you her mood brightens, instantly sitting up straight.
“Wow! You were in there for a while! So, how’d it go?” You view her a little differently now because of the conversation you had with Sebastian, about how no one really respected his work, but don’t hold it against her. She is probably trying her best.
“He was nice. I got to see what he was working on.”
“Ooh, sounds fun. I’m so happy you two are getting closer. He talks about some of his online friends, but they aren’t the same as real-life ones, y’know? ” You slightly look away after that statement. “Someone his age should be more social, not always cooped up alone in his room. But I’m glad he made another friend, or you made friends with him, either way, works for me.” Her smile widens.
“Haha, I get what you mean.” It isn’t really your place to say anything so you just agree.
“Well, you best be off, always busy right?”
“Mhm. I’ll see you, Robin.”
“Alright, bye! If you need anything built you know where to find me!”