Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sebek stared at the boy with long black hair that was holding onto the apple in his hands. The boy stared back. 

"...That's my apple."

"No, it's mine!"

“I grabbed it first!”

“No, I clearly grabbed it first, which you would know if you had eyes!” And the apple tree that it had fallen off of was in Sebek’s backyard anyways, so even if he had grabbed it first, it belonged to Sebek and his family!

“You’re the one whose pupils make you look like a snake!”

Now that was going too far! Who was this insolent boy, and how dare he insult Sebek’s very clearly not snake, crocodile-like eyes?! Nevermind that it secretly made him glad that the other boy recognized how incredibly important his very special, specifically fae eyes were, especially considering that–

GETTING OFF TRACK. 

“IT’S A CROCODILE, NOT A SNAKE!” The most important thing was defending his honor from… Actually, who was this boy? Sebek had never seen him around before, which was strange considering he had met most of the other children in his village. He didn’t have slit pupils like the rest of them, though, so maybe he was from somewhere else? Or maybe he just didn’t want to meet Sebek since he was only half-fae. But either way, that apple definitely belonged to him!

The boy paused for a moment at Sebek’s declaration. Unfortunately, he didn’t let go of the apple. “Aren’t they, like, both reptiles, though? What’s the difference anyways?”

“The difference is that crocodiles are way cooler, and snakes are jerks anyways!” Sebek knew a young snake fae who lived nearby, and she was quite possibly the worst living being he’d ever had the displeasure of meeting, always teasing him for being half human. He wished every day that he could fully master his transformation, if only to bite her head off.

“Okay then!” The boy huffed. “If you’re a crocodile, crocodiles are jerks too!” 

“All of the crocodile fae I know are very great people, actually!” The only other crocodile fae he knew were his family, but his point still stood!

“...What’s a fae?”

What.

Sebek was completely floored. This kid comes wandering into Briar Valley, tries to steal an apple that does not belong to him, and doesn’t even know what fae are?! And if he was in fact human, how did he even get here in the first place?!

“...You’re not fae??”

 It was only then that Sebek realized that in his confusion, he had let go of the apple! 

“Haha, mine now!” The human boy teased. Sebek lunged for the apple, but he stepped back and held it just out of reach. “And yeah, I’m just a regular human?”

No…how could he let his concentration slip at such a crucial moment!? “You give that back! I had it first!”

“Finders keepers, losers weepers!” And then he just ran off with the apple that was rightfully Sebek’s! How dare he! That apple was his, and he couldn’t lose to a human like this! What would his family say? What would the kids in his neighborhood say? They would probably laugh and call him names again! 

“GET BACK HERE!” Sebek shouted as he gave chase. How was this human boy so fast?! It didn’t even seem to matter to him that he was in unfamiliar terrain. Sebek just couldn’t catch up.

However…Sebek had a secret weapon: Magic. He wasn’t very good yet, but he could do something! After his older siblings had gifted him his first magical pen for his eighth birthday, he had never gone anywhere without it. If he wanted to catch up to all the other kids, he had to practice whenever he could. And now was a perfect opportunity to show off his skills!

All he had to do was visualize the human boy tripping and falling on his face like an idiot… Which was kind of hard to do while chasing after him, so he just stopped and closed his eyes. Now he only had a limited time to fire off the spell before the human boy escaped! He pointed his magical pen and…

The boy stumbled, but balanced himself and kept running. No! He had failed… What a disgraceful display! It was all Sebek could do to keep the human boy in sight as he approached a wide stream. Not hesitating at all, the boy attempted to leap onto a rock in the middle of the stream…before slipping and falling into the stream. Like an idiot!

Sebek rushed over as fast as he could, but the apple was nowhere to be found. The boy must have dropped it when he fell. “Look at that. You lost my apple!”

The human boy, now soaking wet and in a considerably worse mood, simply glared at Sebek as he stood up. “It was my apple in the first place…” 

Well, that was just not true. “Now you see what happens when you steal what is not rightfully yours!” The human boy rubbed his elbow, wincing a bit. He seemed to be in pain. Did he land on his elbow? “Hm…that elbow of yours doesn’t look so good!”

“It’s just a bruise…probably.” 

As much as he was annoyed at the theft, a young human boy wouldn't survive alone in Briar Valley, especially injured. And perhaps he just didn’t want the boy to die! What was wrong with not wanting him to die, even if he was a human?! “You should get that healed! My older siblings are fantastic magic users. They will have you treated in no time.” And his parents would be so proud of him to hear that he had helped a human boy!

The human boy just shrugged. “It’ll be fine.” Then he paused to think. “If you could just point me the way out of this forest, that’d be great!”

“I would, but you would most certainly be hunted for sport before you made it out of this forest!”

“HUH?!”

And so, the human boy ended up at Sebek’s house, with no small amount of protesting. Everyone else wasn’t home at the time, but Sebek’s older sister Naboris was there, and she did a wonderful job of healing the human boy. Naboris was one of the coolest people he knew. She’d always be willing to help him out, and excelled at magic as well…unlike Sebek. It seemed she was just naturally gifted with it.

Naboris had offered to get their guest something to drink, and although he said he was only staying for a little while, she had insisted. She had always been interested in human culture, listening with rapt attention to the stories their dad told about his life before he’d moved to Briar Valley.

“Woah…that was so cool!” The human boy was in awe at how his wound seemed to magically disappear as Naboris’ magic did its work. He looked at Sebek with a wide grin, any aggravation forgotten. “Can you do that too?”

“Of course I can! I am fae, after all!” And of course, fae were gifted with magical ability far beyond that of the average human. So what if he couldn’t pull off all of the fancy tricks that Naboris could? That was just because she was older than him, and had more experience! One day, he’d definitely become just as good as her, if not better!

…Probably.

The boy seemed to ponder on something for a moment, before opening his mouth, “You still haven’t told me what fae are.” Sure, he didn’t, but shouldn’t the boy know already?!

Just then, Naboris re-entered the room with two cups of tea. Sebek didn’t like tea, so he didn’t get one, but she kept one for herself and gave the other to the human boy. He seemed to forget all about his previous question and began to take a large sip. Hmph! Of course he would enjoy it! It was a sign of a fae’s generous hospitality! 

…Actually, most other fae probably wouldn’t invite a human into their home and offer them tea, but it was probably just an excuse for Naboris to get him to talk about his life anyways. 

“So…how did you end up in Briar Valley?” It seemed Sebek was right. If he didn’t help the human boy escape, he’d end up trapped in their living room for hours under Naboris’ unending onslaught of questions about human life. She might even convince him to stay for dinner! 

Unfortunately, the boy seemed to take the question seriously. This wasn’t good! Soon, he’d be completely ensnared in the trap! “Well, I was looking for the grocery store, then next thing I knew, I was like ‘Ooh, nice apple!’ And then Sebek was yelling at me for no good reason." He then proceeded to tell the entire tale of him and Sebek’s meeting. From start to finish. In excruciating detail. Nevermind that he got lost in Briar Valley while looking for a grocery store, presumably alone despite being very young. If this continued, he’d definitely stay for dinner! And that was a worst-case scenario!

…Oh. He was so focused on how to avoid that terrible future that he missed the look of disapproval Naboris was giving him. “Sebek...” She said, incredibly drawn out. “Did you chase this poor human boy, try to steal his apple, and cause him to fall and hurt his elbow?” How could this happen?! The human has even turned his own family against him! 

“No, I didn’t! It was my apple in the first place! And he tripped on his own!” 

“I did not! He used magic on me!”

Naboris sighed. “Sebek, don’t chase humans through the forest. Even if they have an apple from our tree. And definitely don’t use magic on them without permission.” Reluctantly, Sebek nodded. If Naboris was getting serious, it was bad news if he disobeyed her. “And you, human boy! Don’t try to find grocery stores without your parents.” But of course the human got off easily, despite him stealing in the first place…

“And now that that’s out of the way, would you mind answering more of my questions?” 

At this point, Sebek had all but given up hope of the human boy not staying for multiple hours.

It seemed he was right. Naboris’ questioning never seemed to end, yet the human boy answered all of them dutifully. Sebek had lost track of the conversation at least an hour ago. Something about…game consoles? He’d never had one of those before. If they did end up moving out of Briar Valley like their previous plan, would he have been able to get one?

Sebek shook his head to disperse the thought. His true home was in Briar Valley! A place for powerful fae! Why would he want to go anywhere else?

“Oh, look at the time! It’s almost sunset…lots more fae will be waking up soon. You should probably go now.” Finally! His saving grace! Thank goodness the boy wouldn’t be staying for dinner! 

The human boy nodded. It seemed he was ready to leave as well, but he was still confused about something. “Um…you guys keep mentioning them, but what’s a fae?” 

Sebek wished he had a camera to capture the look of sheer disbelief on Naboris’s face. His older siblings never looked like that around him. “Fae are a type of magical creature…” She skipped over how the human boy didn’t know this already and went straight to the explanation. “They live for a long time and are usually incredibly gifted with magic, but the exact details vary across species. You should probably do some research on it…”

“In fact, Sebek and I are both half human and half fae!”

NO! Sebek gaped at her. How could she do this! Why would she reveal such a weakness in front of a human!? Oh, he was sure to use this to his advantage! Sebek may not have desired his friendship, but at least he didn’t tease or make fun of him for his blood!

“Oh,” The boy paused for a bit. Then, he grinned. “That’s pretty cool!”

Huh?

Naboris grinned back. Sebek was the only one who didn’t follow what just happened. He thought that being half-fae was…cool?

“I’m glad you think so! I’ll lead you out of the forest. Sebek, stay here, okay?” 

Sebek just blinked. He was still trying to process the boy’s words. He nodded, very slowly, and turned around to head upstairs to his room. 

He thinks it’s cool…

It wasn’t like Sebek was friends with the human boy, or even wanted to be friends with him. He was a thief, and rude, and ignorant. But having someone know he was only half-fae and think it was cool…well, it was nice, for a lack of a better descriptor.

Although it was unlikely he’d ever meet him again, Sebek never quite forgot the boy that wandered into Briar Valley looking for a grocery store, stole an apple from his backyard, ended up staying at his house for hours, and then called him cool.

Sebek wasn’t a particularly sentimental person. Crazy encounters like that were simply hard to forget.

Chapter Text

Everyone in the house knew that whenever you entered Sebek’s room, there were some unspoken rules. 

Number one: Always keep his books organized if you’re going to borrow from his shelf. He keeps them separated by genre in alphabetical order. Do not attempt to move around his books just to mess with him.

(Exhibit A: The bite mark on Soleil’s hand that still hasn’t faded.) 

Two: Do not give in to the temptation of reading Sebek’s little diary. Even if it is right in the open on his desk, calling your name. This time, he’s the one messing with you.

(Exhibit B: Naboris’ hair, which suddenly became a ridiculous shade of pink.)

And those… Well, those were actually the only rules. Just two simple rules. The Zigvolt family had always followed them, for Sebek’s sake.

Then, Sebek was tasked to get an apple.

And then, he met the strange human boy.

And then , there was a new rule.

This time, it wasn’t unspoken. Sebek personally sat the rest of his family down in the living room and forced all four of them to cram onto the couch, before placing his hands on his hips.

“Don’t open the window,” he said.

Except he didn’t just say it, he shouted it at them because that’s how Sebek always spoke. (Esme felt both proud and a twinge regretful that her son clearly took after his grandfather). 

“Don’t open the window,” He told his mother out of nowhere while he helped her make salmon carpaccio, and she giggled and ruffled his head in affirmation.

“Don’t open the window,” He huffed at his father when, bless his soul, Lidaeus realized that the warm air wasn’t getting in and it would be detrimental for a half-crocodile-fae like Sebek, but he caved to his son’s demands.

“Don’t open the window,” He scolded Naboris and Soleil when they tried to sneak back inside the house through his bedroom window after playing with the other kids in town without telling anyone (their parents found out anyway).

It was the strangest rule in Sebek’s room. “He used to always leave it open,” Soleil whispered to Naboris, because he was always the most observant of the Zigvolt kids. 

“We kept it open because it makes the whole place warmer, but now it’s always closed. I don’t get it.” Unfortunately, being observant didn’t mean that he knew the answer to everything.

Even so, time did not wait for an answer.

And the Zigvolts' lives continued.

It started on a Saturday.

During a late afternoon, Sebek Zigvolt felt brave enough to sneak out of the house (like his brother and sister always did) to go to the town square. 

By the time the sun was about to set, he was being chased. And not the fun kind of chases that Sebek read about in his books, like tag or capture the flag. This chase involved thrown rocks and hurled insults that somehow hurt more than the lucky pebble that was able to hit him in the back of the head. 

“Look at that little freak running around,” He could hear the baker whisper to the florist. “Causing a ruckus. It was a wonder that Baul let his daughter stay when all she can offer him are disappointments.” 

The florist snorted, “Esme is a lovely lady. Her husband is the one dragging her down. Her first two… hmph. They’re fae enough.”

“I can’t say the same for her youngest.”

He was so stupid to think that he could walk around town freely like the twins. There was a reason why his mother never let him join the other kids to play. Why even his human father rarely brought him along during grocery trips. Why Naboris and Soleil never told him that they were sneaking out to town. 

But could you blame him?

“He’s running away to the forest!”

“Chase after him then!”

He was so lonely .

“Ugh, it’s not worth it anyway.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re already tired.”

Was a friend so much to ask for?

“Shut up! Let’s find another game to play besides hit the freak.”

They stopped chasing him the moment he entered the forest, but Sebek never stopped running. 

He never slowed down. Not even when his muscles burned and his lungs screamed at him to let them breathe.

Once the house came into view, Sebek didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He stumbled inside, deliberately ignoring his mother’s angry shout and his father’s worried call of his name, heading upstairs as fast as his legs could carry him. 

The moment he reached his room, he slammed the door shut. He didn’t bother trying to lock it, if the suddenly quiet footsteps around the house were any indication that they were giving Sebek his space. 

For a moment, Sebek wished that they ignored how loud he shut his door. That any moment now, his mother and father would scoop him up into their arms and ask him what was wrong. That Naboris, or maybe even Soleil, would enter his room without knocking to take care of his scrapes and scratches.

None of that happened. He was only met with silence and a stinging that definitely didn’t come from the still-forming bruises. 

What did happen is Sebek curling into himself on his bed, only to yelp when something hit the back of his head. He immediately sat up, staring out his window. With shaky hands, he pulled up the windowsill, slowly peeking his head out to see if someone was outside. 

Was it one of the other children? Were they here to continue their game?

Another pebble hit him right on his forehead, and he stumbled back, landing on the floor with a loud thump. “Oh, crap!” A weirdly familiar voice exclaimed, and suddenly the memories from last week returned to him with full force. 

He looked out of the window, and sneered at the sight of the same human boy who stole his apple. 

“Are you insane!?” He hissed, making sure to keep his voice low with his other family members in mind. “Attacking me in my very own home!? You’ll pay for this!” He shook his fist in the air. 

The human dropped the bunch of pebbles in his hand, looking a bit shocked. “I didn’t mean it! I was trying to-”

“Shame on you! Shame on your family! Shame on your cow!” He interrupted whatever shabby excuse he had. 

The human snorted behind his hand, before quickly waving his hands around at Sebek’s offended face. “I didn’t know how else to get your attention! Why do you even have your window open!? Bugs will get in!”

“What I do with my window does not concern you! Now, leave! Get out of my sight!” 

The human groaned. “You’re not even gonna try and hear me out!?” 

“You hit me with rocks! Twice! You’re just as bad as the other children!” 

He had the decency to look embarrassed at that. Well, at least Sebek wasn’t the only person being humiliated tonight. 

“I didn’t mean it! How was I supposed to know that you were right by the window?” 

Sebek huffed, “Baseless excuses! Leave before I tell my mother about your unforgivable slight!” 

Instead of following his order as he expected, the boy walked forward, placing both hands on the wall. Then, he started climbing .

Sebek gaped at him. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” His eyes darted between the rapidly approaching human and his bedroom door, hoping that no one would come in. 

"J-just help me up!"

 "WHY WOULD I DO THAT!?"

With Sebek too occupied freaking out over the human who casually decided to break into his house, the boy was able to get in through the window, albeit with small scratches on the palm of his hands.

He immediately covered Sebek's mouth, despite the offended glare sent his way. 

Once he felt sure that Sebek wouldn't tattle on him just yet, he removed his hand and grinned devilishly. “Bet ya didn’t expect that, huh?” 

Sebek stared at him, dumbfounded. Was he serious? He continued staring before bonking him on the head. “I DIDN’T , BECAUSE NORMAL PEOPLE WOULDN’T CLIMB UP A WALL, IDIOT!” Seriously! It was as if the human thought that was something to be proud of! 

“Now, get out !” 

The boy frowned at him. “But I just got here! That’s, like, poor manners! Hey— Ow!” Another hit on the head shut him up quickly. 

“You— you break into my house, through my window, and you expect me to welcome you!?” Sebek fumed, pointing a finger at him. “N-not only that, you stole my apple!” 

“Jeez, are you still angry about that?” The human rolled his eyes. “Grow up! It was just a stupid apple. Plus, that was, like, a week ago!” Maybe it was the fact that Sebek’s forehead started throbbing right as he said that, but suddenly, Sebek’s hand made its way to the human’s stupidly long hair—

And pulled .

A yelp of pain immediately escaped the boy. “HEY! STOP THAT!” His protests only made Sebek pull harder. Tears started to form in his eyes, but that didn’t stop him from trying to fight back.

He pushed on Sebek’s face with his foot, hands gripping Sebek's own in an attempt to get him to release his hold on his hair. 

Suddenly, they were tipping over, and both of them crashed onto the floor with a loud thud.

“Sebek?!” Came his mother’s worried shout from downstairs, “Are you alright!?” Sebek quickly stood up, dusting himself off and cupping his hands together to shout back (as if he needed his voice to be any louder than it already was), “I’M ALRIGHT, MAMA!” 

Silence. Sebek counted it as his mother leaving him be.

He turned back, an insult on the tip of his tongue only for it to falter and die at the sight of small tears. Carefully carding his fingers through his hair, the human boy sniffed, before sending a vicious glare at Sebek. “What are you looking at!?”

“I-I’m not looking at anything!”

 “YES, YOU ARE!” 

Sebek groaned, grabbing a pillow from his bed to throw it at the boy. He caught it, clutching it to his chest before Sebek could grab it back. "What's your problem!?" The boy shouted. "I'm just trying to be your friend!"

"Friend!?" Sebek spat out, disbelief evident in his tone. What kind of friend threw rocks at people’s windows!? "You're just some foolish human who got lost on the way home!”

“Plus, you’re a thief, and— and you don’t fit the definition of a friend at all!” Sebek clenched his fists. “Friends are supposed to be n-nice! And kind! They visit you every day, and they— they play games with you outside! Like… hide and seek! O-or tag! Friends ask you about your day, and they bring you gifts during special occasions to show how much they appreciate you!”

He blinked away the tears starting to form in his eyes before continuing. “Friends hug you, and w-whenever they do, it makes you feel warm and fuzzy! They invite you on sleepovers, they tell you their secrets, and both of you pinky promise not to tell anyone! Friends are supposed to make you feel special !”

“And you !” Sebek curled his lip and sneered, “You are anything but a friend to me!” 

By the end of his little rant, Sebek was gasping for air, trying to hold back more tears. His brows furrowed at the unimpressed look sent his way. “What!?” The boy only laughed, and Sebek’s insides only hurt worse. How dare this human humiliate him!

“Did you get that from a book or something?” Sebek was about to retort, only for the words to die down on his tongue. The human was… unfortunately, correct in his assumption. “You did!” He tried (and failed miserably) to contain more of his laughter. “That’s so pathetic!” Sebek shrieked, grabbing a potted plant from his desk, raising it over his head and throwing it. It missed the boy by just a hair, but it seemed to get the point across when he noticed his pale face.

The pot shattered with a mighty crash, scattering tiny shards across the floor as dirt scattered everywhere. With all the noise they were making, Sebek was surprised that neither of his parents had come up to check on him.

“Why would some— some dumb human like you want to be friends anyway!?” Sebek continued to scream, the previous tears coming back in full force while his throat started to close up. “Like you said, I’m pathetic!” How could he be so unbelievably stupid? If he had kicked the human off the windowsill— If he hadn’t tried to sneak out of the house in the first place—

 “Just leave me alone!” 

Sebek flung himself onto the bed, burying his face in the covers. Both of them stayed there in awkward silence, the only sounds in the room being Sebek’s sobs. After a few minutes, the boy shuffled closer, coughing into his hand to grab his attention. Sebek glared at him. His eyes were still rimmed red from crying. “Um… Sorry, I guess.” 

“T-That sounds completely insincere!” 

Well, at least he had the presence of mind to look sheepish. “I don’t really… apologize, okay? Be glad I’m even doing it right now.” 

Sebek sniffed, “Oh, sure, let me praise you for doing the bare minimum!” 

“...What does bare minimum mean?”

Oh boy. “Not only are you superficial, you’re also stupid.” The insult might have had more impact if Sebek didn’t still sound like he was holding back tears, although they’d dried by now. 

The boy groaned. “Now you’re just using big words to make fun of me!” Had this human ever picked up a book? Maybe even a simple dictionary?

“Look, I didn’t mean to offend you, or something.” Sebek scoffed. Another halfhearted apology. “And I DEFINITELY didn’t mean to hit you with a rock.” Now that just sounded like a lie! “It’s just what the kids in my town do, you know? Throw a rock at your friend’s window to get their attention.”

…Now that sounded dumb. 

“That sounds dumb.” Sebek replied. 

“Well, normal people don’t usually open their windows at NIGHT.” The boy spat back, arms crossed on his chest. 

What kind of nonsense was he spouting? “If you don’t remember ,” Which he probably didn’t, due to Sebek’s less than fae-like features, “I am of fae blood.”

The boy just looked confused. “And you also have human blood in ya. What does blood have to do with how you open windows?” Sebek groaned, opting not to answer the human’s question this time around. Truly, patience was a virtue. Despite how far his was being stretched.

“...So, I was wondering if—” 

“No.” Sebek interrupted him. 

“I haven’t even said anything yet!” And Sebek would like to keep it that way, thank you very much. 

“Everything you’ve said so far is dumb. And stupid. And did I mention dumb? Cause it’s very dumb.” 

The boy whined, “Come on! It’s not that hard to close your window for me, yeah?” 

It actually was, considering the fact that Sebek needed it closed for his body temperature to not go haywire and do horrible things to his health and also possibly kill him. A bit exaggerated, but Sebek doesn’t want to take any chances. He is not dying just because it was colder than usual. “My answer is still no.” 

“Please? Please, please, please, pretty please-”

“Ugh, just do it with your friends from your town! Didn’t you say that’s what they all do?” 

“But… I don’t have friends.”

Sebek gaped at him. "You don’t have friends, so you decided to break into the house of the guy you stole an apple from!?"

 "Hey, I did NOT steal it! Can we move on from that?"

This human was absolutely infuriating ! "JUST GET OUT OF MY HOUSE ALREADY!" Sebek screamed, gesturing wildly to the window.

 "You want me to jump out?" 

Sebek hoped he did. "Anything to get you out of here!"

"Come on!" The boy pleaded with him, "I don't have friends, and you don't have friends, so let's be friends with each other! It's a win-win situation!"

"I am not going to sully my family's name even further by— by befriending a human !" What did this boy not get? Did Sebek have to spell everything out for him?

"If they find out that I let myself stoop so low , I’ll never hear the end of it!” 

The town’s treatment of him and his family would worsen. It would only be a matter of time until they got more violent. He could already hear their condescending sneers, condemning the boy who was barely even “one of them” in the first place and then had the audacity to bring in a human—

The boy huffed, grabbing Sebek by the shoulders and shaking him, “Who cares about what they think, anyway!? Being “low” just because I have some impure blood or something is stupid! And this town is stupid for making you feel bad about yourself, and you’re stupid for believing them!” 

How dare he insult Sebek’s hometown like this?! Sebek opened his mouth and took a deep breath in, ready for their “conversation” to devolve into another shouting match, when he noticed the boy’s pointed gaze at the floor. His hands still tightly gripped Sebek’s shoulders. 

Slowly, the boy raised his head, and there was a fire, a spirit in his eyes that Sebek had never seen before. “Give me a chance to change your mind.” 

What? 

“What?”

 The boy looked determined, a huge grin lighting up his face as if he was ready to face the entire world and come out on top. “I’ll prove to you that— that judging people based on their blood is fucking stupid , and then we’ll be the best of friends in no time.”

“W-What did you just say?!” Sebek almost missed the rest of his statement in his shock at— Such foul language! 

“I said—”

“I heard you the first time! Just… Don’t say that word!” Sebek was old and mature enough to know that fuck was a word he should never say, and he’d be thoroughly punished by his parents if he ever did.

The boy seemed confused at first, before the grin came back in full force, this time with a teasing edge. “What, you’ve never said fuck before?”

“S-Stop that!” Sebek was horrified . He said it again!

The only response from the boy was a maniacal cackle. Sebek smacked him on the back of the head for that one, but that only made him laugh harder. “Just you wait! We’re gonna be such great friends!” He gave Sebek a thumbs-up, looking absolutely ridiculous. 

“But of course, I’ll need to visit you everyday to ensure our friendship will blossom and grow into the sweetest of flowers, so then you’ll have to close your window for me just in case I accidentally hit you with a ro—”

“YOU’RE STILL GOING TO THROW ROCKS AT ME!?”

“At you and at your window are two different things!”

Sebek heaved a weary sigh, placing his head in his hands. How did he even get in this situation!? He needed to find a way to make this boy shut up! Suddenly, an idea formed in his head. A masterpiece of an idea. The absolute greatest idea of every idea that he’d ever thought of in his a-little-bit-more-than-eight years. (Excluding the time he braided Soleil and Naboris’s hair together after they took one of his books without permission.)

“...Fine. I’ll give you a month, and not a day longer.” Sebek huffed. He had nothing better to do for most of the summer anyway, and he was certainly not returning to town anytime soon. “HOWEVER! If my feelings towards you remain unchanged, then you will LEAVE ME ALONE! PERMANENTLY !” 

“Challenge accepted!” The boy immediately accepted, before beaming at him. “So, does that mean you’ll close your window for me—” 

“ ABSOLUTELY NOT! ” 

“But it’ll be fun! It could be, like, our thing , you know? Like a secret thing that only we do! Please? Please, please, please, please?” The boy pleaded with Sebek, practically vibrating where he stood. 

“DO NOT TEST MY PATIENCE, HUMAN!” Sebek shouted, and the boy immediately deflated. He went back to playing with his hair while staring off to the side. 

Silence. Just the way Sebek wanted it to be.

But Sebek took a look at the boy's hunched form. The shifty eyes. His downcast gaze.

This human… Was somehow, in a small way, just like Sebek.

Lonely.

…Sebek was going to regret this in the future. He just knew it.

"...I suppose," Sebek crossed his arms, trying to find the right words, "I could keep my window closed. Just for you."