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"I'm so sorry, Sebby," his mother was saying in his ear. "With the roads closed, I'm stuck here at the farm, and Demetrius and Maru are stuck in Grampleton."
Sebastian peers out of the window of his mother's carpenter shop in the front of their house. Not that he needed to bother. The storm currently raging outside left everything a complete whiteout and he couldn't see more than five feet in front of him.
"No, it's fine. I can't even see the path down to town. Everything's just white," he tells her, turning to move away from the window.
"Okay, well, enjoy the house to yourself. We should all be back tomorrow once the roads all clear. Candles and flashlights are in the chest in the shop. And keep your phone charged!"
"I will."
"And happy birthday, Sebby!"
"Thanks, mom."
Happy birthday to me, indeed, Sebastian thinks as he hangs up the phone.
He moves behind his mother's work desk. Opening the small chest she kept behind it, he finds several candles of various sizes, a few flashlights, and batteries that he assumes goes with them. Checking a few of the flashlights to make sure they work, Sebastian takes them and a few candles with him as he makes his way back down to his windowless bedroom. Just in case, since the lights had already flickered a few times.
This wasn't a combination he ever got: birthday nearly forgotten and being left completely alone.
At least his mother had acknowledged it today. He hadn't even seen Maru and Demetrius, they had already left to do some shopping in Grampleton before he had even woken up. And he hadn't heard from his best friends yet. He knew they were busy. Abigail was studying for her last final on Friday. And Sam was at work because Joja never closes, even when the weather was absolute shit. It wasn't uncommon for him to get birthday wishes a couple days, sometimes even a week, later. Hell, his own sperm donor father had completely forgotten more times than not.
He couldn't blame them, really, for forgetting. Everyone was busy this time of year. Luck of having a birthday around Winter Star. The holiday was just around the corner and everyone was running around doing their shopping for that. Or running around getting ready for Winter Star parties. Or working on last minute projects, like the farmer wanting their home upgraded just before Winter Star.
And it wasn't that he cared. He never actually gave a shit about his birthday. It was just another day, he just added a number to his age. Usually, the last few years, he was working on a contract for a client or two, trying to get it done before the Winter Star deadline.
Today, though, he also got the pleasant luck of having the house to himself. This was incredibly rare on a normal day but having the luxury to do fuck all, without comments about him getting a real job — like his literal, real money-paying job wasn't a real job — or comments about how he never left his room, especially on his birthday… Honestly, this was the best gift he could have gotten.
Placing the candles and flashlights on his Solarion table, he sinks onto the couch with a sigh. It would, of course, have been better with his friends. If anything, they'd at least have been entertaining. Maybe if the power was still on when Sam got home from work in a few hours, they could play one of their online games together.
Looking around the room, he tries to decide what he wants to do with his free time. He did have a contract he could work on but he was nearly finished with it — as long as the code continues to cooperate the way it was — and it wasn't due until next week. He settles on entertaining himself with a game for a while.
Or, at least, he tries to until the lights flick off. For ten seconds. Just long enough to annoyingly shut off the game just before he could get to a save point.
"For fuck's sake!" he groans, dropping the controller onto the couch beside him.
Despite being in the basement, he could hear the howling of the wind as it hits against the house. He hadn't bothered to close his bedroom door and, in the absolute quiet, can hear pelting against the windows, so the snow must now be mixed with ice.
His stomach lets out a long growl. He hadn't even realized he was hungry. "Yeah, I should probably do that now," he mumbles to himself.
He had purchased a bunch of snacks yesterday from Pierre's when leaving after hanging out with Abigail. But did he want to eat those now? The power was still on but for who the fuck knows how long. Maybe it would be better to try to make something now, saving his snacks for when, or if, the power actually went out.
Making his way upstairs to the kitchen, he pulls open the fridge. Ingredients. Only ingredients, nothing that he could do up really quick. The freezer proved more helpful, stocked with a couple frozen pizzas. Could he chance the power staying on the fifteen minutes that would take?
Deciding fuck it, he pulls it from the packaging and shoves it into the oven. Then, deciding to just wait upstairs, Sebastian hops up, sitting on the counter and watches the snow pass the window.
He always liked winter. It was simpler, in a way. He did always feel bad for the frogs, though. He knew the ones native to Stardew Valley all hibernated either underwater or under a leaf or log, but he couldn't help but worry about them. I guess they would be used to it though, like me, he thinks.
The time went by relatively quickly, so lost in his own head that he was startled by the alarm he had forgotten he had set.
His birthday luck runs out, it seems, because the moment he takes out the now-cooked pizza, the lights flicker once… twice… off.
Sebastian sighs. Well, that was perfect fucking timing.
Silence envelops around him as he sets the pizza tray on top of the oven, reminding him that he was completely alone in the house. It also reminds him that he didn't need to go back to the dungeon that would be his pitch-black bedroom. He could stay and eat upstairs where light came in through the windows and he could watch the storm.
It also reminds him that he had stupidly left his phone along with the candles and flashlights all downstairs on his Solarion table.
Well, the pizza did need to cool down a little anyway.
Thankfully, he was used to the dark hallways of the house. He often got comments for coming upstairs late at night after everyone else had gone to bed to grab food to take back down to his room.
At least it's not completely pitch-black. There was enough light coming from the windows upstairs that he had no trouble making his way to the stairs that lead to the first floor. That part of the hallway was quite dark but there was light pooling in from the doorway that led to his mother's carpenter shop.
As he nears the top of the stairs, there's a shuffle sound and he freezes. What the fuck was that?
He creeps to the bottom of the stairs just as a dark figure comes through the doorway at the other end of the hall. At the same time his heart nearly stops from panic, a bright light turns on and—
"Fucking Yoba, Samson!"
Sam startles with a scream, whipping around towards him and shinning the light in his face. "Holy shit! You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!"
"You?!" Sebastian nearly shouts. "How the fuck did you get in here?"
"The door was unlocked!" Sam yells back. "And apparently the bell on it doesn't work. You should let Robin know that." He pauses, looking around. "Why are you in the dark?"
For a moment Sebastian can only stare. Was he fucking joking? Sam was covered in snow and his face was bright red from the cold, so surely he knew that there was a storm ragging outside. Right?
"How the fuck did you get here?" He eyes Sam suspiciously.
"I walked?" Sam's tone screams that that should have been obvious. Which, sure, under normal circumstances it would have been.
"You walked?" Sebastian repeats slowly, still not comprehending.
Sam lets out a deep breath. Which, annoyingly, sounds a little like it's in frustration. "Yes, I walked here. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Me?!
A roll of his eyes then Sam bounds down the hall, pulling him into a hug and pressing a kiss to his lips. "Happy birthday, baby!" There was a peck of a kiss on his cheek, Sam pulling away with an exaggerated, playful mwuah!
Sebastian pushes him off. "Dude, you're freezing. And shaking!"
Sam grins. "Sorry. It's a little cold out. Anyway, happy day of being pushed out of your mom's—"
"I swear to fucking Yoba, don't you dare finish that sentence!" Sam's grin widens and Sebastian sighs. "Look, not that I'm not happy you're here, but… what the fuck are you doing here?"
"It's your birthday!"
"Yeah, no, I got that part." Sebastian gestures towards the shop, where he could hear ice pelting the windows. "There's a literal blizzard happening outside."
Sam gives a nod. "Yeah, I noticed that."
Sebastian gives a frustrated groan, slipping past Sam and begins to move downstairs. "You're a fucking dummy, do you know that?"
"I've been told that before. And yet, you still love me," Sam says, shinning the light as he follows him down the stairs. "So, mom called your mom earlier and Robin told mom that she was stuck at the farm and that Demetrius and Maru were stuck in Grampleton. Which meant that you were completely by yourself on your birthday. And that's just not fun."
Oh.
"Your mom sent you up here?" There was absolutely no fucking way that was true.
Sam snorts, apparently agreeing with his thought. "Of course not. I was home when she was talking to your mom."
"You weren't at work?" Sebastian asks, pocketing his phone and throwing his book bag full of snacks over his shoulder. "We're going upstairs where there's some light," he explains when Sam looks at him confused.
"Oh, that makes sense." Then Sam shakes his head. "And nope. Morris decided to be a good guy today and closed early. Mostly because they were going to pull the bus and he would have been stuck at the store for the night because he wouldn't have been able to get home."
Sebastian's eyebrows shoot up in disbelief. "Wow. For once, only thinking about himself benefited his employees."
"Right!" Sam grabs the flashlights off the Solarion table, tossing them into Sebastian's still-open backpack. "Anyway, I heard our mom's call and grabbed some shit and come up now before it gets worse. The paths were already a little scary in some parts."
Sebastian's chest tightens at that and he wraps his arms around Sam's waist. "I appreciate it, Sammy, of course I do, but you could have gotten hurt and no one would have known."
Sam shrugs against him. "I wasn't going to let my boyfriend spend his birthday all by himself. And besides, I'm fine. Although, I might need to sleep over. Probably shouldn't go home tonight."
"Yeah, you're not going anywhere until this stops." Sebastian shakes his head with a roll of his eyes. "I actually just finished making a pizza before the power went out. Want half?"
***~~~***
"Fuck. I can't believe I walked in that! It's really coming down. You can barely see five feet in front of the window!"
Sebastian rolls his eyes, dropping another piece of wood into the fire that he had made. Perks of having a mother who did carpentry. There was always pieces of spare wood around and fires in the living room fireplace weren't uncommon, especially this time of year. So they would have no issues with being warm tonight. "Yeah, no shit, Sammy."
It was a little bit later and they were now lounging in the blanket fort Sam had insisted on building — "Dude, why not? There's no one else here!" — and watching the snow and ice swirl outside.
Sebastian crawls back into the fort and Sam throws the blanket they were sharing over him once he's settled against him. "I still can't believe you fucking walked in that," he says, shaking his head.
"And what would you have done all day by yourself?" Sam questions, raising an eyebrow. "You definitely wouldn't have built this kick-ass fort. You probably would have just sat on the couch, looking outside and moping around, all by yourself."
Well, yes. That was exactly what Sebastian was going to do.
Before he can come up with a retort, Sam's stomach growls. Loudly.
Sebastian chuckles. "Ya know, the rate that you normally eat, we might run out of snacks," he teases.
"Fuck you! I brought snacks, too." Then Sam's eyes go wide, letting out a gasp. "Oh! Speaking of! Stay here!"
Throwing the blanket off himself, Sam crawls out of the fort and disappears from view without another word. Sebastian can hear the zipper of his backpack being pulled open followed by some shuffling.
What the fuck is he doing?
The only hints he gets is the striking of a lighter and a flickering light coming from Sam's direction. What the fuck did he just light on fire? Knowing Sam, he'd never guess.
"Okay, it's ready!" Sam announces. "Umm… can you come out? I don't want to accidently set the fort on fire."
Cautiously, Sebastian pushes the blanket off himself and slowly crawls out of the fort. And is met with Sam's large, bright grin holding a cake.
"Happy birthday!"
For a moment, Sebastian just kneels, staring dumbfounded at Sam. "You got me a cake?"
It was the one consistent he had with his birthdays. He could count on one hand how many times he hadn't gotten a cake on his birthday. Including the one time he had technically gotten a cake. He just got it two days early because his mother lost track of the days.
Sam holds out a round, plastic container with a single-tier cake. The bottom half of the sides were frosted in white, the rest of the sides and the top in green. It even included two… are those chocolate kisses for the eyes?
"It's a frog!" Sam happily announces though, surprisingly, he didn't need to.
"Dude, this looks so good! Where did you get this?"
"Made it myself!" Sam beams at him.
Sebastian can't help as his stomach turns a little. Don't get him wrong, he absolutely loves that Sam had taken his time to make this but… he's also experienced Sam's cooking and baking over the years.
Apparently he has some kind of expression on his face that Sam doesn't miss, based on the roll of his eyes. He does keep his playful smile on his face. "Don't worry. Mom supervised me making this yesterday. Although…" Sam turns the container until the back of the cake is in view. "She wasn't overly impressed with it's little butt."
Sebastian bursts into laughter. Well, despite the number of cakes he's had or seen over his lifetime, one with a crease to represent an ass wasn't exactly something he's seen before.
"I love it," he says, pulling Sam into a hug carefully so he didn't accidently drop the cake. Or set either of them on fire.
When they break apart, Sam moves the container closer to Sebastian. "Gotta make a wish!"
Sebastian pauses for a moment then leans forward to blow out the candle. Once a thin line of smoke floats up from it, he leans even closer to capture Sam's lips in a kiss.
"Thank you. I love you," he says, before getting to his feet and moving towards the doorway. "Alright, come on. I want a piece."
"What did you wish for, baby?" Sam asks curiously, following behind him.
Sebastian turns his head, smirk curling the corner of his lips. "That this cake is edible."