run to your mama, boy !

and then came the unexpected kiss to his cheek . is was brief , only a flicker of a moment , but it was enough to send sebastian twisting his head in the opposite direction , and the vertebrae in his neck cracked in protest to the sharp motion .

❝ u-uh . right . ❞ the hint of embarrassment in his tone was hardly a hint . it flooded every syllable , just as the dusting of red flooded his cheeks . ( move on , sebastian , forget about it ! )

❝ so a few days ago this little fella popped up in my campsite, ❞ the topic change came to him smooth as butter, and as he spoke, he pulled out the cartridge from his jacket's chest pocket and replaced the other game with it. what was it doing there? ❝ and picture this, he's a cranky frog. couldn't get any better than that! my first thought was no way, sebastian moved in to my town. and he likes rock! ❞ amidst another wave of a verbal avalanche sent to smother sebastian, sam booted up his save and made his little avatar move to where the animal in question lived.

the words spilled forth from sam in a relentless torrent , barely leaving a mark on sebastian's mind . the sheer force of sam's verbal barrage nearly sent sebastian tumbling off the bed . yet , as sam nestled against the wall , finding his comfort , it somehow anchored sebastian back to the present moment .

without much thought , he shifted too , pressing his back against the wall and feeling a wave of relief wash over him as the tension eased from his spine . leaning to his left , he peered over sam's shoulder , curiosity piqued by the glowing screen .

❝ come on , samson . you know this . ❞ he chided lightly , a playful reprimand in his voice . ❝ electric types are strong against water , yeah . but grass types are both strong against and resistant to water . ❞

a soft sigh escaped him as he slumped against sam's shoulder .

❝ hmm hmm ... okay, let's get this bread, ❞ with clear determination in his voice, sam pressed the buttons on his console, the letters almost completely faded with how much time he had put into his gaming. clearly the device was well-used and loved, adorned with frog and pizza shaped stickers. a small tribute to his favorite thing ... and the only friend he truly had in town.

the advice from sebastian seemed to have worked in sam's favor, as the gym leader no longer posed a danger & he could progress in the game. the focus on his face faded and gave in to a bright smile, followed by let's goooo mouthed wordlessly. ❝ oh wow, sebby! you're the best! not gonna lie, i spent like ... three days trying to figure out what the problem was. mwah. ❞ the sentence ended with an impromptu peck on sebastian's cheek, because that would be an accurate response to your best friend helping you in a game. slowly, he then proceeded to rest his head on sebastian's shoulder. all the pieces of this puzzle were in the right places, the planets were aligned just right.

oh thank yoba― sam wasn't upset . sebastian would have been shocked if the blonde were truly angry over anything , but the anxiety gnawed at the back of his mind anyway , despite knowing better .

there was something so soft and sweet in the way that sam moved about the room , so familiar with the dingy space . his words droned on in sebastian's mind , mostly going in one ear and out the other , but the programmer treasured the muffled prattling anyway , even if he struggled to retain half of it .

the music began , and sebastian found his head bobbing to the infectious beat , delicately balancing consuming his meal with letting the tune wash over him . it was a perfect blend― just upbeat enough to stir the torpid neurons in his brain , but not enough to overwhelm .

sam really knew him way too well , huh ?

❝ cool , ❞ he murmured around a mouthful , now balancing more than three stimulants all at once . but the talk of games was a familiar comfort , as was the sight of sam giving himself not-so-subtle reminders of the conversation ideas that seemed to escape him all too quickly .

❝ i , uh― ❞ slender fingers twisted the drawstring of his hoodie , centering his mind and allowing for focus .

❝ i finally snagged a female combee a few weeks ago . it's yours if you want a vespiquen . ❞

maybe that would appease the other― just a little bribe to make up for sebastian's absence .

❝ oh, wow! sebby, you really don't have to! i mean ... i'm still looking to complete my pokédex ... so that's a generous offer ... ❞ he audibly gasped at the gesture, doing some mental math on whichever pocket monsters he needed for his goal to be achieved. it was soon put to an end as he couldn't for the life of his remember which ones were already sat snuggled in his boxes. ❝ but a trade is a trade! i'll get you something in return ... once i get lucky enough. ❞

with his console booted up and ready to go, sam invited himself to sit up on the bed, back leaning against the wall. as the intro played on the screen, he peeked at sebastian, actively eating something that wasn't junk or quickly scraped together in the kitchen. he knew those depression meals all too well & they never looked good ...

❝ okay so i'm kinda stuck at the water type gym ... i've been grinding in the grass but ... dunno. i know electric type's good against water, but quagsire won't budge! it's so annoying. think you could help me? ❞ the endless chatter wouldn't stop, as a clearly frustrated sam scrolled through his party. eventually, the game universe was bound to suck him in harder than reality, and it was up to sebastian to either drag him out or enable the behavior.

next in the line on the cassette was dream on with its gentle intro on the keyboard sam loved so much. gently bobbing his head to the rhythm, he beamed tenderly.

❝ 'ppreciate it . ❞ sebastian murmurs , a blunt response to the blonde oh so kindly covering for his absence . sam was always good at that― even if he didn't completely understand , he still stood by sebastian through and throughout .

sebastian appreciated that more than he was necessarily willing to let on .

the thick , sweet scent of maple wafted from the boxes . even though the pancakes within had been rendered a bit limp from the trip up the mountainous trail , they elicited a growl from sebastian's stomach , and he sighs , betrayed once again by his own body .

it was then that his bed was intruded by the exuberant other . in truth , sebastian didn't mind too much . ( it's not like it was the first time they had shared a bed or anything ) . but with the following interrogation , his pierced brow furrows in thought . mixtape― ? oh ... was that what his mom had left at the door a few days ago ?

as if by some innate instinct to transfer his nurturing onto sebastian, he thought very little before leaning in and combing stray hairs from the pale face. with a soft tuck behind the ear, his job was finished, and no greasy streaks would get into the way of nutrition. that's what besties and bros do, yes? break the personal bubbles & get uncomfortably close?

❝ hope you're ready for some good ol' guns n' roses, elo, and kiss ... 'cause that's what i've got on repeat these days, ❞ he hummed, getting up once more to make a short walk to the aforementioned destinations. as usual, the radio was unplugged, and the wall socket area was covered in a thick layer of dust. sam, used to his music players always being exhausted to the point of machine death, couldn't really wrap his head around this phenomenon. but that wouldn't be the first time they'd differ for whatever reason, making their relationship all the more confusing to bystanders. just a little shuffling around, popping the cassette in ... and soft drums of don't bring me down filled the void of the basement room immediately.

sammie

i thought a lot every damned summer why dont i just tell him something like "yeah boi i wanna hang out with you lets go"

listless stormcloud eyes lazily drift towards the intruder visitor , glazed over from the excessive time spent in the dark . it was as though a ray of light had beamed in through the door ( and definitely not from the hallway above ) . sebastian nearly had to squint against the radiance of the other .

alright , sebastian , time to sit up … his brain pleaded with him, desperate to unfurl from his shrimp-like state , but the blankets were so wonderfully warm and cozy , a siren's call amidst the storm of wallowing despair .

slowly , he ascended , several cracks thundering through his spine and a groan rumbling in his chest . ( how long had it been , again ? ) .

sebastian's attention was drawn to the little acorn figurine that sam held out to him , nothing more than a little trinket , but made with love all the same . from vincent ? what a cute kid . sebastian found himself wishing that he could go back to a simpler time like that as he reached out to grasp the figurine , turning it over in his shaking hands .

his concern grew by the minute, but he still decided not to say a word about sebastian's ... indisposition. it shouldn't have been this much of a surprise, given how long they've known each other for. and yet ... it was never easy to look at. sam couldn't even fathom how difficult it had to be to live in sebastian's own skin. well, maybe if he could play this out well, his best friend could forget about the bad stuff for at least some time. that was the point. after all.

❝ i'll tell him that! he's been asking about you. so the story is you caught a cold and you're sweating it out. in case he hijacks my account again & texts you. ❞ sam smiled, glad the token of appreciation from his little brother was well received. maybe next time he should contribute to the gift? but his presence is a gift, right?

with his trusted tote bag at the ready, he paced towards sebastian's bed and set the goods by it, slowly but thoroughly unveiling its contents. as expected, there was a bunch of joja cola cans, followed by a plastic box with - now cold and a little soggy - pancakes coated in maple syrup ( courtesy of jodi for sure ) and a couple of bags of gummies ( likely stolen from vincent ). he was ready to serve that glucose in copious amounts it seems.