Work Text:
Sam let's out a sigh as he stands in front of the door, trying to compose himself, trying to squash the jittery excitement from bubbling up again, trying not to get his hopes up.
Another breath in. Hold for a few seconds. Release it in a puff.
Okay.
Shuffling the drink tray in his hand, he takes his keys out of his pocket to let himself into the condo.
His first stop is to drop his bag and keys into his the guest bedroom, quickly changing out of his black dress pants and plum button-up shirt and into dark grey sweatpants and a red hoodie. Then he walks down the hall in search of Sebastian, carrying the drink tray.
He finds him in the living room, lounging on one of the black sofas and reading a comic. The sight of him still wearing his black-rimmed glasses makes Sam's stomach flutter. No matter how long they've been friends, Sebastian so rarely actually wore them — very much preferring his contacts instead — that it always catches him off guard.
"I thought I heard you come home," Sebastian says as Sam walks into the room, wiggling to sit up on the couch to make room for Sam to sit on the other end.
Sam ignores the way his chest tightens. Home. Despite him having to decline every invite to move to Zuzu City and stay with Sebastian for as long as he wanted, Seb always called this his home, too.
Sam moves to stand in front of him, lifting one of the plastic cups of iced caramel latte complete with whip cream and a caramel drizzle from Sebastian's favourite coffee shop around the corner out of the tray and waving it front of him. Sebastian eyes it.
"Seriously, dude?" Sam rolls his eyes. "You always do this. Every time. For the last two years. You know you don't have to be a depressed emo who only drinks the most bitter of black coffees around me, right?"
Sebastian gives him a flat look as Sam waves the drink in front of his face again, ice making a very satisfying rattle. The corner of his lips twitch as Sebastian takes it.
"Thank you," Sebastian mumbles, taking a sip. "So… how did it go…?"
Sam sighs as he settles on the other side of the couch, slumping down until the back of his head rested against the arm. He stretches just enough that he could rest the tops of his feet under Sebastian's crisscrossed legs. It was their compromise, just a small touch. Seb generally hated touching, cuddling. Which was fucking weird in Sam's opinion, cuddling always gave him energy, especially when he was drained or stressed or worried. Not that he would ever let that cross Seb's boundaries.
He had just gotten home back from an interview. To be a junior composer, of all things, on a kids show. Insane when he thought about it. Unsurprisingly, Sebastian had let him crash at his place to get ready.
"I think it went well but I don't think I'll know for sure for a couple days. The main guy doing the interview did walk me out and kinda said that he looked forward to working with me, though." Which, again, fucking insane. He still didn't believe that was real.
He watches as a bright smile pulls across Sebastian's face. "Are you serious? Dude that's amazing! Congrats!" In a very uncharacteristic move, Sebastian leans forward, pulling Sam in for a hug, which he eagerly returns.
"Please don't congratulate me until I actually get the job," he mumbles against Sebastian's shoulder.
Sebastian pulls away but shifts so he was sitting closer. "I guess, but, I mean, unless that guy was being a complete douchebag…"
"I don't want to get my hopes up," Sam says quietly. The jittery excitement was threatening to bubble up again. "What if the other two guys didn't like me? What if they hated me? This isn't something I've ever done before. I have zero experience and—"
"You have experience!" Sebastian interrupts. "You're the one who composed everything for my game, remember? And you wrote all those songs for Goblin Destroyer! What did they say about your demos?"
Sam shrugs, leaning against Sebastian. "They said they liked them but who knows how many other people's demos they already listened to, and how many they still have to go through."
He begins to pull away, figuring he's probably pushed his luck on Sebastian's touch tolerance. So, colour him incredible surprised when Sebastian shifts even closer, wrapping his arms around Sam's shoulders and pulling him against him. He tries not to, but he can't help but tense for the briefest second. It immediately pours out of him when Sebastian puts his chin onto his shoulder.
Dropping his head back against the couch, Sam sighs. "I can't believe I applied to work on a kids show, though. I mean, music for TV is so cool but… The Happy Junimo Show? It's not exactly what I had in mind."
"Yeah but you've always wanted to do something with music. This is a really good opportunity for you. Just think of it as a stepping stone in your career, something you can put on your resume if something you like better comes along."
Sam purses his lips to the side for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But it's not exactly a dream job…"
"Maybe not. But I know you're going to be really good at it," Sebastian says encouragingly for the hundredth time. "Plus, Vin and Jas are ten, they still watch kids shows…" Sam raises an eyebrow at him. "Okay, maybe not little kid's shows anymore but still… you've been around that kind of music for ten years. So, thinking like a kid should be easy for you." Sebastian smirks.
"Hey!" Sam protests, swatting Sebastian's arm, then sighs. "Fuck, I know you're right. I just have to think of it as a stepping stone. Get my foot in the door, build up contacts and networking and shit. I just… I can't keep working at Joja."
"I know," Sebastian says quietly. He pulls away, just enough to release his hold around Sam's shoulders but still stays pressed against his side. "Now the fun will begin of planning to move here."
"Fuck, your move was the such a pain in the ass. I'm not looking forward to that again." Sam groans, remembering how sore he was after. His next shift at Joja was a couple days later. He had the whole weekend to recover, he had just lazily helped Sebastian unpack boxes over those couple of days, but he still could barely hold up a mop that day.
"Just don't hire the same movers I did. They were fucking shit."
Yeah, no kidding. They had showed up an hour late, forgot their dolly in the city so they could only carry one thing at a time up from Sebastian's childhood bedroom in the basement. They refused to delay slightly longer once they did get back to Zuzu to get their dolly — which would have made unpacking go quicker — so, again, they only carried one box at a time. Sam knew that Sebastian was paying them by the hour, so when only a third of the truck was unpacked after an hour (even though he was quoted the whole truck within that time), Sam had stepped in to move as much as he could. Sebastian had protested of course — "I'm fucking paying them, Sam, let them do it!" — but eventually gave in to help too.
"Maybe I'll just rent a truck and do it myself? I don't have that much shit. I can offer pizza and beer for it." Sam nudges his shoulder against Sebastian's, earning an eye roll. "And I'll have to start looking for places, too. I'd like to stay in this neighbourhood if I can, I've kinda gotten used to it." Plus, you're here, he thinks but doesn't voice.
He feels Sebastian tense against him, face going completely blank. "Umm… Yeah. It's a good neighbourhood."
Sam's chest tightens. He couldn't identify it but he didn't miss the small tone in his voice. "What?"
"What?" Sebastian shrugs.
"Sebastian…"
"Samson…" Sebastian sighs when Sam raises his eyebrow at him, not wanting to drop this. "It's just… you literally have a room here, so…"
Sam's stomach flutters. "I stay in your guest room, that's not exactly me literally having a room."
Sebastian's gaze drops to his hands in his lap, with a shrug. Nonchalant, Sam guesses he's going for. "No one else stays in that room except you. When anyone else has stayed over, they stay in the actual guest room."
They do? Sam's heart skips a beat. "But… You've lived here, alone, for two years. You don't want someone coming in messing with that."
He wasn't quite sure why he was protesting this. Yes, he knew Sebastian loved living on his own, loved the independence of it. Could get up when he wanted, go to sleep when he wanted. If he wanted to stay up all night playing a video game, there was no one making judgmental comments. If he got up at night to move outside onto his balcony to have a smoke, there were no judgmental looks. But, despite all that, he also couldn't count on his hands how many times Sebastian had offered him a place to stay, a place to live if he ever decided to move to the city.
If he was honest with himself, he had come home back hoping to hear the question. So, why couldn't he just say yes?
Sebastian stays quiet for a moment before he nods. "Okay."
Before Sam can respond to him, his phone rings, heart immediately begins to race as he checks the number. He moves off the couch automatically, swiping to answer it before he was even out of the room, walking down the hallway to take the call. It lasts less than five minutes, leaving him feeling like his heart was going to leap out of his chest.
He makes his way slowly back into the room, holding his breath. He lets it out in a puff as he eyes Sebastian sheepishly.
"So, umm… still looking for a roommate?"
Sam watches as a slow grin pulls across Sebastian's face. "You got it?"
Stunned, Sam stares down at his phone in his hand, half expecting it to start ringing again, the man calling back to tell him they called him by accident, they meant to call another candidate. "Umm… yeah. I guess."
It would have been comical how quickly Sebastian was off the couch, pulling him into a hug, if he was brain wasn't all staticky.
"I knew you'd get it!" Sebastian whispers. "Welcome home, roomie!"