Work Text:
Sam straightened his bedspread for the fifteenth time in the last half an hour, making sure no wrinkles could be seen. He gave his room a tentative sniff and then sprayed half a bottle of the air freshener his mother had bought him couple of weeks ago - the special one that didn't bother his allergies (much) - around, setting the bottle back on top of his bookshelf. He glanced around again to make sure no dirty underwear was on display, and, rather more importantly, that his box full of toys was tucked safely under his bed, before he was finally satisfied.
"I guess that'll have to do," he mumbled to himself when he heard a knock at the door, followed by his mother's pleasant 'go ahead in Sebastian, Sammy's expecting you.'
"Sam?" his best friend ask as he opened Sam's door. "What's the big news? What did you want me to …" His voice trailed off as he noticed the television sitting on Sam's old desk, next an ancient video player. "You got a tv?" he asked.
"Yeah, I went with Mom and Vince to the second hand store in Grampleton to get some clothes for Vince for school, and they had it on sale for 20 gold. And the video player was only 10 gold on top of that." Sam said excitedly.
"That's cool, Sam," Seb grinned at him. "You've always wanted a tv in your room."
Sam grinned back. He knew Seb would remember. He always remembered stuff about Sam. It was part of why Sam loved him so much… not that Seb knew that, of course.
Sebastian and Sam had been friends since they were kids - ever since Sam's first day in Town when he'd fallen off his skateboard and landed in the river right in front of the stairs Seb had been taking into town. A frog had hopped out of the water and croaked indignantly at Sam, before hopping back in the water, using Sam's knee as a springboard. Seb's eyes had lit up and he identified the frog as a Northern Leopard Frog, before he then helped Sam out of the water. They'd been friends ever since.
Sam's crush had developed much later and had seemed to hit him overnight. One day, they'd been best friends. The next, Sam found himself getting warm whenever Seb smiled at him with that smile that seemed to be reserved just for Sam. He'd thought about telling Seb about his feelings a million times, imagined himself doing so at least 100,000 times, and had even tried exactly once - an attempt that had ended up with Sam, once again, lying in the river when he'd tripped on his untied shoelace before he'd even finished saying the word 'Seb.'
"Oh!" Sam added when he realized he'd just been standing grinning at Sebastian for a wee bit too long, "I got this too!"
He pulled out a box set of movies from a bag under his desk.
"The Yobafather?" Seb asked.
"Yeah!" Sam said eagerly. "It's my favourite movie!"
"I thought your favourite movie was Wumbus?" Seb teased. "You always cry at the end."
"Shut up!" Sam shoved Sebastian with his shoulder, trying not to blush as his arm made contact with his friend's.
Seb looked like he wanted to continue teasing Sam, but instead he took the first movie in the series out of its case and popped it in the video player. "Should we sit on your bed and watch?" he suggested. "Or on the floor?"
Sam was sure his ears were turning red, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to suggest the bed, so they climbed on it, leaned against the wall and hit play. The opening credits rolled and Sam couldn't bite back a grin. He really loved this film.
"Do you know the cat that the Yobafather is holding in this scene was a stray cat the director found on the movie lot?" Sam whispered as the opening played.
"No," Seb said with a small smile.
"Yeah, the cat purred so loudly that they had to loop in some of the dialogue."
"Fun," Seb added, pulling Sam's pillow off the bed and placing it between him and the wall.
"Oh and that guy there," Sam said a little while later. "The guy who plays the son? He was the father in the movie about the dwarf who was raised by Father Winter Star and moves to Zuzu City to find his real dad."
"Mm-," Seb mumbled, a small smile on his face.
"Oh and since it's set like after the second Global War, the cars in the movie all have wooden bumpers," Sam grinned, turning to look at Seb.
"What?" Seb asked, blinking at him.
"Yeah, I guess during the war, car owners would remove their metal bumpers and they'd be melted down for the war effort or whatever, and they wanted the movie to look authentic, so they did the same thing for the film," Sam explained.
"Huh," Seb frowned. "I'm glad I don't have to melt my bike down for the war or anything," he said, chewing on his lower lip as he thought things over.
"Me too," Sam agreed. Otherwise I wouldn't have any excuse to hold on to Seb's waist, he thought. He shifted slightly in the bed so that his arm was leaning against his friend's. "Oh!" he said suddenly. "This guy here," he pointed at the screen with the hand opposite from the one that was lightly resting against Seb's. "The guy who plays Luca," he clarified for his friend.
"Yeah?" Seb asked, smiling again.
"So apparently he was so nervous about working with the guy who played the Yobafather that he messed up some of his lines, but the director thought it added to the scene, so he kept the nervousness in the final movie."
"That's cool, Sam," Seb said, and Sam felt himself growing warm again for a different reason.
"I'm sorry," Sam mumbled suddenly. "I didn't mean to info dump on you or anything,"
"What?" Seb asked, looking confused. "I don't mind, Sammy," he said, leaning into Sam. "It's kind of cute," he muttered in a voice so low Sam knew he wasn't supposed to have heard it.
Sam's brain misfired. It's kind of cute? What does that mean? Does Seb think I'm cute? Like cute cute? Or cute as in little kid cute?
"Okay," Sam giggled nervously. "Well, in the scene where the Yobafather is carried into the house, the actor put weights under his body so that it would be harder to lift him," he said quickly. "Like as a prank!"
"And then," he added before he could barely even take a breath, "the director had improv sessions where the people playing the main characters would sit down for a family meal but had to stay in character the whole time so that they could try to figure out how the characters would interact with each other."
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! Sam was screaming to himself inside his head, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from speaking.
"And that line about leaving the weapon and taking the dessert? That was improvised," he said, trying to ignore how Seb was staring at him, a combination of mild amusement and slight horror. "And then…"
Seb leaned over and kissed him, effectively shutting him up. The running commentary in his mind stopped as his brain reset, quickly replaced by Holy Fuck, Seb is kissing me!!!
He was about to kiss Seb back, but he pulled away, his cheeks as red as Sam's suddenly felt. "What?" Sam stared at him, the movie still playing in the background. "Seb? What? Why… why did you kiss me?"
"Seemed like you needed something else to focus on for a minute," Seb said quietly, his eyes studying Sam's. "Thought it might help," he added, looking nervous.
"So you were trying to do me a favour?" Sam asked, his heart plummeting. He doesn't like you. He was just trying to shut you up since you wouldn't stop talking, he felt tears pricking the back of his eyes.
"No, Sammy," Seb said, biting his lower lip. "I…" he let out the longest sigh Sam had ever heard from his friend. "I like you," he mumbled.
"You do?" Sam's voice squeaked on the second word.
"Yeah," Seb said with a frown that confused Sam until he realized he hadn't kissed Seb back or told him he liked him back.
"I like you too," he added quickly, his heart skipping a beat at the way Seb's eyes lit up. "I have for a while."
"You have?" It was Seb's turn for a squeaky voice.
"Uh huh, for ages" Sam confirmed, feeling happier than he'd felt even when he'd found the television. "I even tried to tell you before, but I fell in the river again." Seb laughed. "Hey, um, do you think we can kiss again Seb?" Sam asked, unable to keep the grin off his face.
"What can I say Sam?" Seb answered, his eyes gleaming as he leaned forward. "You've made me an offer I can't refuse."