#rybastian

Sebastian showed up at the pokemon center with Cassius on one hip and Cinna scrambling all over his head and shoulder. The Minccino hadn't stopped chattering and bouncing since he'd found out who they were going to have dinner with. In his free hand he had two bags filled with groceries, not knowing what they would need or what the kitchen would have but wanting to be prepared. Cassius was wearing the chefs hat, although it covered past the green part of his head and made it impossible for the little pokemon to see. He kept giggling happily and attempting to push it up, but it fell back into place whenever Sebastian took a step. He headed back to the kitchen part of the center, an area reserved for travelers who didn't have the resources to order out and needed to cook. He smiled when he saw Ryder there. It was nice to see him again, after so long. Talking through the dex- well, flirting, really- was nice but it definitely wasn't the same. "Hey, Ry," he greeted with a little hum, immediately setting the bags down on the countertop. "I got some groceries. Wasn't sure what you had in mind but there's bacon, if nothing else."

Ryder , knowing that he was meeting Sebastian at the Pokemon Center that evening anyway, had spent most of the afternoon in the building, volunteering his services and helping out wherever the Ecruteak nurses would let him. It was certainly one of the most pleasant afternoons he had had in a while, despite the fact that most days had been pleasant since arriving in Ecruteak; he had long loved feeling useful and like he was making a difference, and watching healed Pokemon return to their trainers was usually at the top of his list of rewarding things in life. He had finished up about fifteen minutes earlier, had cleaned himself up a little bit, and then had taken a seat in the kitchen, responding idly to messages he had missed on his Pokedex while Pippa shuffled around him, eagerly awaiting Cinna. Ryder was aware instantly when Sebastian entered the room because the Piplup chirped happily, hopping up and down and hoping that the Mincinno would soon come down to her level and say hello. Ryder wasn't quite as exuberant as his Piplup, but a pleased grin definitely crossed his face at the sight of Sebastian. He hadn't expected to miss the other man quite so much, but after traveling together and then going a few days without seeing him, he was definitely psyched for dinner. Especially when he caught sight of how precious Cassius looked in the overly large chef's hat. "Hey dude, good to see you," Ryder said, refraining from winking at Cassius as the hat fell over his eyes again. The Ralts's giggling caused him to chuckle lightly as Sebastian set the groceries down on the table. Ryder barely remembered that he probably shouldn't use his default hug greeting, instead shooting Sebastian a thumbs up. "Well, honestly, if there's bacon what else do you really need?" he teased lightly.

Sebastian smiled back at the trainer, glad to see that he seemed to be doing alright. Cinna immediately jumped down from his shoulder and bounced across the floor to Pippa, greeting so enthusiastic that he toppled both of them over. The Minccino giggled happily, affectionately stroking the Piplup with his tail and chattering happily before nuzzling against her. Sebastian glanced down at them and rolled his eyes a little, though he had to say that he was just happy that his pokemon seemed happy again. "Mhm, good to see you too," he hummed, meaning that for once in his life. It was really strange, having a friend like this, but it was definitely a good strange. There was still a lingering in the back of his mind that told him he might like Ryder more than he was supposed to, but by now he had learned to bury that away and live with the fact that nothing was ever going to happen. Nothing ever could happen. Ryder was much, much too good for him, no matter what the other man believed, and there was no way he would ever go for him. But that didn't mean that he couldn't have fun by incessantly flirting with him with maybe some cuddling thrown in there. Ryder was still a single man after all, no matter how much he liked someone else, and Sebastian was prepared to take full advantage of that. Cassius immediately frowned a little when he wasn't hugged, a cute pout forming on his face. Sebastian looked down at him, pushing the hat back a little bit. "What, too shy to hug us now?" he playfully asked Ryder, flashing him a charming smile. "Come on, you can't disappoint Cass. He's missed you." He laughed lightly at Ryder's question. "I suppose that is true, but I figured we might want a little bit more than just that."

Ryder shook his head in an amused manner at the sight of his Piplup getting essentially tackled by Sebastian's Pokemon. Ryder had certainly never seen anything like it; he had thought he was amused watching Pippa interact with Sam's Squirtle, or even with his own Wooper, but it was nothing compared to the love sick penguin he saw in front of him whenever Cinna was around. She cooed as Cinna stroked her with his tail, nuzzling against him in response and doing her best to reach out and pet him clumsily with her flipper. "Welp, I'd say that effectively undoes all the progress Lucks made in getting her to act all mischief-makey again," Ryder chuckled as the Pokemon turned their backs on their trainers, wholly focused on each other. His grin turned sheepish when Sebastian called him out on the lack of hug as greeting. After all of the flirting Sebastian had done this week - which Ryder had to admit he had found to be kind of flattering and had gotten him overly smiley on more than one occasion, even if it also made him really flustered - he hadn't been sure if that was overstepping a boundary between them, giving Sebastian some kind of false hope, but... Well, he wouldn't have wanted Sam to treat him any differently if he ever found out about Ryder's feelings, so he resolved to treat Sebastian the same way. "Of course - anything for the little guy," Ryder said lightly, opening his arms and wrapping both man and Pokemon in a warm embrace. He let his hold linger as he addressed the very pressing issue of bacon. "Don't underestimate my skills, dude - I could seriously insert bacon into just about every dish imaginable and it would be totally delicious."

Sebastian definitely hadn’t seen anything like it either. Cinna had never been charmed like that, and the little pokemon had certainly never harbored affections for another. He honestly hadn't known that it was possibly but apparently it was. Cinna moved so that Pippa could pet him, obviously pleased by her reaction to him literally wallering all over her in his greeting. "Yes, the cute charm strikes again, and apparently it's super effective," Sebastian replied, also looking down at their two pokemon. Cinna allowed Pippa to stand after a moment, wrapping his tail around her in a hug. He happily hugged Ryder back with his free arm, and Cassius happily hugged the other trainer as well. "Oh, of course, of course," he hummed, aware of how close their faces where now that he was looking at him and talking while still hugging him. Not that it wasn't nice, but it made the urge to kiss him incredibly strong. He could control himself though, at least for the moment, especially since he was hungry and didn't want to drive Ryder away before he got him to make him dinner. "Bacon is delicious in anything. I'm definitely not arguing with that, Ry." He smiled at him, smile growing when Cassius pulled the chef's hat off of his head and climbed all over Ryder to carefully fit it on his head. The Ralts then wrapped his arms around Ryder's neck in a cute little hug before fleeing back to Sebastian's arms, giggling happily at himself. Sebastian laughed a little as well, taking in Ryder in the lopsided hat. "Definitely looks good on you, though it's not like anything wouldn't," he told him, tone light. He winked at him playfully as he spoke.

Ryder chuckled as Sebastian commented on the effectiveness of the cute charm, and could only nod in agreement. "Yep, she is definitely just as far gone as ever when he is around. I bet I could even wave some of the bacon in her face right now and she wouldn't go for it, if it meant that she had to move even an inch away from him," he added, his head changing from the up and down motion of his nod to a light, judging shake from side to side. "I'd have to say, he's got great taste... Like trainer like Pokemon," Ryder teased, pulling back from the hug slightly in order to stick his tongue out at Sebastian. He figured if they were going to do things like hug and cuddle and treat the situation as if it was entirely normal, then he may as well make light of it and show that he wasn't at all uncomfortable. He had been, initially, but now he was mostly just flattered by the fact that someone so notorious for sleeping around actually respected and liked him as much as he did. It was kind of a cool feeling, even if Ryder didn't share the sentiment. He finally stepped back from Sebastian, feeling a need to put a little bit of distance between them after the direction his thoughts had been wandering, scratching the back of his head sheepishly and adjusting the chef's hat. "This is one of the greatest moments of my life. I feel like now, with this hat, I am finally on the road to becoming a true Master Chef," Ryder said, doing a triumphant fist pump. He poked Cassius in a light, affectionate manner. "I'm sure it looked just as good if not better on you though, buddy," he informed the Ralts affectionately before letting his gaze wander back to Sebastian. "Awesome, dude. So do you have any particular requests before I get to work here? Aside from one onion volcano for the little guy?" Ryder asked cheekily, ignoring the wink and the way that the tips of his ears were blushing from the compliment, which he still was unaccustomed to receiving on such a frequent basis.

Sebastian laughed lightly. "Oh no, she wouldn't even go for the bacon? What has Cinna done to her?" he asked with a playful little gasp. He wasn't sure if Cinna had ever actually had bacon, considering that he mostly liked to keep him on a vegetarian diet. Plenty of fruit and berries but he didn't really feed him any kind of meat besides the occasional pepperoni on a pizza. "Another compliment, I see. Going to have to add it to the rest of them," he said, grinning a little bit. "But Pippa also must have great tastes. The cute charm can't possibly be responsible for all that." He rolled his lips in a little when Ryder stuck his tongue out at him, thinking about the warning he had given him in their conversation earlier. It was almost like he was just taunting him by putting his tongue out in the open like that but Sebastian managed to control himself. Food. He needed food and then he could allow himself to do risky, stupid things like that. He stepped back as well, sitting Cassius on the counter top so he'd be out of the way but could still watch everything that was going on. Cassius smiled happily when Ry poked him, covering his face with his hands since he wasn't close enough to bury his face against Sebastian. Sebastian thought about the question for a moment before shaking his head. "Not really," he told him with a little shrug. "I'm not picky. Whatever you want to cook is fine by me." Cassius looked especially excited by the mention of an onion volcano. "Yeah, you better not forget the onion volcano. Cass has been looking forward to it all week." The Ralts clapped his hands happily, nodding in agreement.

Ryder nodded, a grim expression on his face. "Life just isn't as enjoyable without bacon," he said solemnly, barely managing to keep his face serious while he finished speaking. He then broke out into a wide grin, glancing over at the two Pokemon, who still seemed to be in their own little world. "Is there an actual list?" Ryder asked him playfully. "Like someday you'll just have a book full of magical Ryder Lynn compliments?" Even though there was slightly more space between them now, Ryder nudged him lightly. "You know, for those occasions when for some reason you need to be even more egotistical than you already are?" Ryder's light air vanished, though, when Cassius covered his face again just seconds after smiling. "Uh... did I do something wrong? To like, scare him again or something?" Ryder worried, kneeling down a bit to peer at Cassius. However, the Ralts seemed to perk back up at the mention of the onion volcano, so he relaxed slightly, beginning to rummage through the bags. "Does stuffed chicken sound okay?" he murmured thoughtfully, beginning to organize ingredients as the wheels in his brain started to turn. He adjusted his chef's hat again slightly, beaming proudly every time he remembered he was actually wearing it, and then turned back to Sebastian. "The onion volcano is all his so long as there is an onion," he added, resisting another childish urge to stick his tongue out as he went back to looking for the vegetable among the groceries.

Sebastian raised a brow at that, taking a moment to try to figure out if Ryder was being serious or not. But then again, was Ryder ever really being serious? The answer to that question seemed to be no. He nodded solemnly when he asked him about the list. "Yes, of course there is. Mental list that needs to be written down, though I don't think I'm going to be forgetting them any time soon." He grinned at him. "A small book. So far we only having 'not bad looking', 'distracting', 'has good taste', and 'handsome'. Well, you also called me hot, I think, but I sensed sarcasm there so I'm not sure if it makes the list or not." He laughed lightly. "Is it possible for me to get more egotistical? I thought I had already maxed out in that category," he said, tone playful. He didn't know what about being around Ryder that made him so playful and smiley, which were ways that Sebastian Smythe was not. He had to control himself, really he did. Normally when he acted this way it was just an act, but there were no acts around Ryder. Sebastian shook his head when Ryder asked if he did something wrong. "No, of course you haven't. He's just excited, that's all." He gave Cassius a little kiss and the Ralts squealed happily. "Oh, stuffed chicken sounds amazing," Sebastian replied, licking his lips a little at the thought. It would be nice to have food he didn't have to purchase already cooked for once. He leaned against the counter as he watched the other man sort through the ingredients, the smile never leaving his face. "I definitely made sure to get an onion, so I think we're good."

Ryder shot an exaggerated pout in Sebastian's direction as he rattled off the list of compliments. "Dear Sebastian," Ryder teased, shaking his head in disappointment. "I believe the phrase I used was actually very good-looking. It's no wonder I'm so stingy with the compliments when you seem to struggle with very important modifying words. And who says the hot was sarcastic?" Ryder added, winking at Sebastian. "Although I'm afraid with the drawbacks of typed out communication, you may just never know for sure." He was sure that he was smirking at the other man by now, but he had grown to enjoy the light-hearted banter that they had back and forth. Most of the time it stayed at about this level, which Ryder could handle without feeling like he was in too deep. He sometimes worried that he was leading Sebastian on, but then he remembered that he was Sebastian Smythe, cool and sophisticated and yeah, kind of a player. Part of him felt like surely he couldn't hold Sebastian's interest for very long anyway, and that he might as well enjoy the closeness to the man that not many others seemed to get to appreciate while he could. Ryder sized him up carefully, arching an eyebrow at him. "I mean, can't say you don't have any reason to be egotistical, but... Yeah, maybe tone it down a little," the younger man said, wrinkling his nose at Sebastian to show his displeasure with the occasional ego trips. His features quickly brightened, though, when he saw how happy the other man looked. It was nice to see him so relaxed, and it was an added bonus that Cassius now seemed pleased as well. "Awesome, man - I mean, I can make like, 8 different types just off the top of my head... I joked about opening my own stuffed chicken restaurant one time, just with all different recipes and stuff, but..." Ryder rambled slightly, his attention focused on the ingredients once again. "Welp, since there are no breadcrumbs, and since I'm currently heir to the bacon throne and stuff, I figure I'll make you my favorite one, which is stuffed but then wrapped in bacon. It's pretty delicious, not gonna lie," Ryder said proudly. "And then I can throw Cassius's onions on top... in a probably not very artistic way, because, you know, making stuff look pretty is more Kurt's thing," he added feeling a bit rambly again.

Sebastian laughed lightly, reaching up and running a hand through his hair, since Cinna had thoroughly messed it up by climbing all over his head. "Alright, very good looking then. Sorry, sorry," he hummed. He had said so much to Ryder recently that he barely even remembered the entirety of their conversations. He might have been just a little drunk when the hardcore flirting had happened, but honestly, when was he not just a little bit drunk? No regrets, either way. Drunk him just tended to be a little bolder, but they had the same feelings. "Hm, well, maybe I'll add that to the list. But I'm pretty sure when you said 'all hail the most sexy and distracting Sebastian' you were definitely being sarcastic." He grinned a little wider when Ryder winked at him, pleased by this. Their friendship was definitely a surprise. Sure, they had been friends before, but he had heard that sex normally ruined friendships. Luckily, it hadn't seemed to have that effect on them; it actually seemed like the were closer if anything, which was definitely a good thing. He was just glad he had come out of his low point, pulled himself together, and had straightened himself out. That definitely made things a lot easier. He didn't bother straightening up when Ryder looked over him, knowing he looked incredibly sexy in any position and not at all opposed to being looked at. "Mm, that was almost another compliment," he said playfully. "Alright, alright, maybe I'll try to tone it down, but really, all this has no off switch." He moved to sit on one of the stools at the bar so he could comfortably watch Ryder cook and be close enough to talk to him at the same time. Cassius moved to snuggled close to Sebastian, though he still kept his eyes on Ryder, even though he hadn't started cooking yet. Sebastian let the Ralts take his hand and play with his fingers, barely even noticing. He was focused on listening to Ryder ramble and thinking about how incredibly adorable he was. "Sounds perfect," he said, having only half listened to him. He had heard something about no breadcrumbs and bacon so he was able to piece together a decent response. "I don't think it has to look pretty. It just has to taste good. Which I'm sure it will." Cassius nodded his agreement.

Ryder shrugged, trying to act mysterious even though he was always one to show exactly what he was thinking through his facial expressions and body language. He was pretty much an open book to the people around him, after all. "Well, perhaps you'll never know my true intentions with that statement then, oh sexy and distracting one," Ryder teased lightly. "I hope you'll forgive me if I don't actually do the hailing part," he added, smirking again as he turned his attention from the groceries on the counter to rummaging through the cabinets instead in search of a cutting board. He searched high and low, finally having to stand on his tiptoes, shirt sliding up and revealing part of his stomach as he pulled the item out of a cabinet above the oven. "Man, I don't know how they expect tiny people to reach stuff like that! They'd have to climb up on the countertops," Ryder muttered to himself, shaking his head absently as he arranged the cutting board on the counter and put a couple of chicken breasts onto it. He grinned over at Cassius, who was still watching all of this happen intently, and then he finally returned his attention to Sebastian. "Wow, well it must be your lucky day then, if I'm starting to pass out compliments in the first few minutes that you're here. It's a good thing that I haven't had any alcohol or I might just start telling you you're perfect again," Ryder laughed, enjoying giving Sebastian a hard time as he shook his head slightly, adjusting his new hat in the process. He pulled out a paring knife, carefully making an incision in the side of the chicken and lightly humming to himself as he did. "Besides, you have plenty of other pretty things to look out without the food being beautiful, right?" Ryder said, winking in a manner that he picked up from spending too much time around Sebastian and Sam. He figured it was safer than continuing to stick his tongue out, not sure how serious Sebastian had been the other day with his threat to kiss his tongue back into his face if Ryder used his signature move around the other man. Although there were certainly worse things that had happened to him before, he thought to himself, catching himself before he could let his eyes wander to Sebastian's lips and instead focusing on slicing into the second chicken breast as well.

Sebastian couldn't help but grin at him. Even if Ryder was being sarcastic, it was still incredibly nice to hear. Not that Sebastian really needed to hear it; he knew how hot he was and how to use that to his advantage. Anyone who thought he doubted his looks was sadly mistaken. Sometimes he lost self confidence in his personality and life choices, yes, but never in his image. That he knew was perfect. "I suppose I can't expect everything from you, Ry," he said with a playful sigh, pretending to be disappointed. "I mean you are only human, after all." He watched him as he moved around the kitchen, amused by his lack of being able to locate whatever he wanted. But then skin was peeking out between the other's shirt and pants and he was very much distracted. He licked his lips, very much enjoying his view. "....Well, I think you're human, at least, though those abs suggest otherwise," he teased, eyes flicking back up to Ryder's face when he finished stretching up to reach the cutting board. "I'm glad you could reach it. I thought I was going to have to come over there and help you." He winked at him playfully, using the inch height difference as an advantage. "Mm, you know, I thought about bringing a bottle of wine. I'm really not sure why I didn't.... though okay, maybe I already drank it, but I didn't want to bring you something without at least tasting it first," he hummed, shrugging a little. "Next time, though. I'd love to hear you ramble on about how perfect I am. Hm, and maybe the dex has a recording option, so I could keep it saved forever and use it against you if you ever try to tell me that you don't think I'm perfect." He watched him cook with just the slightest bit of interest, really more interested in Ryder than what he was cooking. He arched a brow at the man's statement, though he definitely couldn't argue with him. "Mhm, yes, much prettier," he agreed with a little laugh, pleasantly surprised that Ryder had initiated that. And then that wink.... how was he ever expected to control himself? He had no idea how he was going to make it through this dinner. He already struggled enough to keep his hands and mouth to himself.

Ryder hummed lightly to himself again, giving Sebastian a chance to absorb the new batch of compliments as he went to work on the lesser ingredients for the chicken. He grabbed a block of cream cheese, unwrapping the foil and putting it into a small bowl so that he could soften it in the microwave. "Well, I hope you're not worried about the calories messing up the nice abs or anything," Ryder teased again, "because I sort of feel like I end up eating like a bird when I'm on the road, so I'm not really counting the health factor on this meal." The microwave beeped, and Ryder spun around with an unnecessary flourish as he went back to the device, stopping to ruffle Cassius's head on his way. "Little dude, I promise your onion is coming up," Ryder informed him, all smiles. He wanted to make sure the Ralts knew he hadn't forgotten about him, even if he was slightly preoccupied with his trainer at the moment instead. Ryder pouted slightly at Sebastian, pretending to be stung by his words. "Aww well see, already you're expecting me to be a disappointment, if I can't provide everything you need," he teased, shaking his head and feeling surprised when his hair didn't flop into his eyes like it normally would if he weren't wearing a hat. He made sure the hat was firmly in place, furrowing his eyebrows as he placed scallions on the cutting board as well, carefully chopping them up into small but equal pieces before tossing them into the softened bowl of cream cheese and stirring them with a mixing food. Ryder kept his eyes carefully focused on the bowl in order not to let Sebastian see his cheeks turn pink when the other man commented on his abs. He still wasn't used to receiving compliments, especially about his looks - he really hoped the blushing would go away soon, in particular around Sebastian and Sam. "Oh, I haven't really tried much in the way of wine still," Ryder said, intrigued. "I still totally ramble - you know, more than I already too - when I've been drinking. Although I am now 2 for 2 on getting drunk without hangovers now, thank you very much," Ryder informed him, smirking at Sebastian, who had warned him of the dangers of the morning after drinking. Ryder ducked his head, flustered again when Sebastian agreed with his pretty statement, even though he had walked right into that. What was he doing? Why was he enjoying this sort of attention so much? He wasn't sure, so instead he used the spoon to start filling the inside of the chicken breast with the cream cheese and chive substance, humming lightly as his focus returned back to the meal he was making.

Sebastian shook his head, definitely not worried about that. He normally burned more calories than he consumed, considering he forgot to eat more than he forgot to work out. "Not worried about that at all, Ry. These abs are here to stay, so don't fret," he hummed, smiling at him slightly. He felt like his expression was set in an arched brow, which he returned to when Ryder spun around with a little flourish. "Were you a coordinator in a past life?" He teased, trying to keep his facial expression as serious as possible as he asked his question. Cassius giggled happily when Ryder petted him, and Sebastian could see the hearts in his mind that were coming from the Ralts. He rolled his eyes a little at that, though he wasn't upset or jealous or anything like that. He was really just glad that Cassius liked Ryder as much as he did. "Aw, I don't have any doubts about you providing what I need," he told him. "Believe me, I've realized you're the whole package by now." Personality, looks, cooking skills, really, what else did he possibly need in a man? He noticed Ryder's blush but he pretended that he didn't. "Well, I really wouldn't want to bring you any wine unless it was from my family's vineyard. But then again, ic I started you out on that you'd never be able to drink cheap wine again." Sebastian just shook his head when he told him he hadn't had a hangover. "Uh huh, you're time is coming, Ryder Lynn, its coming," he promised him. He watched Ryder cook, feeling relaxed and comfortable.

Ryder chuckled lightly at Sebastian's comment. "Look at you, using those psychic skills to figure out exactly what my real concern was. Glad that you won't be ruining the nice view anytime soon," Ryder teased him. Now that the chicken breasts were stuffed, he sprinkled the outside of the chicken breast with a light herb seasoning, adding in a slight flourish just for Cassius and Sebastian's entertainment. "Hmm... I feel like I would be a little bit less clumsy if I had been a coordinator in a past life. And I might have better fashion sense, too," Ryder pointed out, pointing proudly at the day's hoodie choice. "Although this hat is a step in the right direction," Ryder added, winking at Cassius, who he had a feeling would be getting another chance to wear the hat later just because it was super adorable. Ryder hummed lightly, acknowledging Sebastian's statement about being the whole package but feeling too flustered to acknowledge it. He still wasn't really sure what Sebastian saw in him - if anything, because really he could just still be teasing the way that Ryder was - but he had a feeling that he should go ahead and get used to his cheeks being warm all the time around his friend. Perhaps he could even start looking into something that would help to hide his blush. He busied himself wrapping the seasoned chicken breasts in raw bacon, careful to wrap each piece completely without too much overlap. He poked a toothpick through the top to hold the meat in place, finally feeling settled enough to address the other man again. "Ah, dude, I always forget that your family has a vineyard! Unova, right? That's pretty awesome. Have you ever gotten to actually make your own bottle?" Ryder asked as he placed the chicken onto a baking pan and then made to wash his hands. "My time is coming, huh?" Ryder asked, arching an eyebrow. "Does this mean you're going to see to it that I get very drunk with you sometime soon?" His tone was light and amused as he absentmindedly pet Cassius again, almost ready to set to work on the onion volcano for the Ralts.

Sebastian laughed lightly at that. "I have to use them on something or I'll get out of practice," he hummed. "Maybe if you're really lucky you'll be able to convince me to bend a spoon." He hadn't done that in a while... Hopefully he still could. He really needed to get back into practice with stuff like that. "Or maybe that's exactly why you're clumsy," he suggested. "The universe is paying you back for being such an amazing, graceful coordinator in a past life." He watched Ryder finish preparing the chicken, not bothered that he only got a blush in reply to his comments. He was incredibly pleased that he could make the other man so flustered so easily. It was incredibly entertaining. He was well aware that all of Ryder's commentary were teasing but his definitely were not. Though they were delivered in a playful tone, he definitely meant everything that he said to him. "Mhm, yeah, in Unova," he told him with a little nod. "I have made my own, yes, but it'll be another 20 years before its actually ready. It had to sit for years and years before it becomes decent. Aged to perfection and all that." He nodded again. "Yes, we're definitely going to get very drunk together. And if you're not hungover after, then I suppose I'll shut up and admit you're the one person in the world that doesn't get hangovers." Cassius smiled happily when Ryder petted him, humming happily. He was a lot more patient than his trainer, though his trust was just as hard to earn.

Ryder snapped his head back to face Sebastian at that. "Wait, seriously? You can actually bend spoons? Like, not using your hands and stuff?" Ryder had mostly been kidding, so his eyes widened in surprise. He knew that there were some trainers who could do that, like psychic gym leaders and other people like that, but he hadn't expected his friend to be one of those people. "That's either seriously awesome or seriously scary," Ryder admitted honestly. He was still getting used to being around so much psychic energy; he preferred the unpredictableness of the water to the unpredictableness of the mind. "Oh man, so karma's being a bitch, basically?" Ryder said, pouting lightly. "It's a good thing I'm at least coordinated enough to not slice myself open chopping up the onion volcano," Ryder informed Sebastian as he closed the chicken breasts into the oven and washed off the cutting board before picking up a knife and going to work on creating thick slices of onion. Once they were ready, he pressed the flat side of the knife down on them before busying himself finding a frying pan. "Do people really stomp around in big buckets of grapes and stuff like they do on the wine-making documentaries? Because that part looks pretty fun," Ryder admitted, grinning slightly at the image of Sebastian doing that, whether it was real or not. "You seem to be almost as good at getting drunk as Santana, and she took me under her wing as her grasshopper, so getting drunk with you should be fun," Ryder informed him brightly. Honestly, at this point any excuse to hang out with Sebastian was fun for him - he was immensely relieved that there was no lingering awkwardness here. "Well, Kurt always makes sure I have lots of water and headache medicine and stuff before I go to sleep... Maybe you just need somebody to take care of you and then you wouldn't get them either," Ryder shrugged, his focus more on the food preparations he was doing than on the words that were coming out of his mouth. He sprinkled some cooking oil into the frying pan as he addressed the smiling Pokemon once more. "All right, buddy, it's almost time for the show - you ready to see your volcano erupt?"

Sebastian nodded, a little surprised that Ryder was so surprised. He was a psychic trainer, after all, and it ran as deep in his gene pool as alcoholism did. His mother's starting pokemon had been an Abra that was now a Kadabra... though he couldn't even remember what had happened to the pokemon? Had it died? He really wasn't sure and he tried not to linger on the thought. She had tried to convince him to go with Abra when he had been picking his own pokemon, as they were easy to come about at the game corner, but he didn't want easy and had instead went with his Ralts. He definitely didn't regret it, of course. He loved Cassius more than anything... well, maybe not more than Cinna, but differently than Cinna. "Mhm, I can. Or at least, I used to be able to do it. I haven't really done it in a while since I don't have a lot of metal spoons around when I'm on the road, but I had learned to do it while I was in Unova," he told him, wrapping his arms around Cassius and giving him a little squeeze. "Cass can do it easily, of course, but we're not quite on the same level... yet at least." He smiled at the Ralts before wrinkling his nose at him. Cassius pulled his eyes away from Ryder for once and nodded in agreement. "It is kind of scary, yes. Just be careful not to get on my bad side," he warned him, unable to make his tone serious even though he had tried. He had never used his psychic powers against anyone, well, at least not in a way to hurt them physically. He had used them to steal pokemon but that was about it. Even when Kurt had yelled at him, had been that close to full out attacking him, he hadn't thought to dip into his psychic arsenal. Maybe that had been his mistake. He really wasn't sure. "Mhm, I suppose that's the bluntest way to say it," he agreed with a little bit of a nod, eyes wandering to try to find Cinna. He spotted him with Pippa only a few yards away and immediately let his attention go back to Ryder. He didn't care what Cinna was doing, but he liked to know that he was close by, just in case. "Oh, yeah, they do that sometimes. Really that's the old fashioned way of doing it, but sometimes, when it comes to things like that, doing it the old way is doing it the best way," he hummed, watching as he cut the onion. He hadn't stomped the grapes that way but he was fine with Ryder thinking that he had. He hadn't made that many barrels, instead just making the one that was supposed to be for his wedding. Of course, he needed more wine than just that, but it would be a good start, if nothing else. "I don't really know Santana that well, but I don't think anyone could be better at getting drunk than me," Sebastian informed him with a solemn little nod. "I'm definitely the best, and if she thinks she can challenge my title as master then maybe we should have a little chat." He was kidding- mostly- and it was obvious. He definitely thought he'd love to get drunk with Ryder, and he briefly wondered if that would loosen the other man up enough to make him more willing to make out with him or maybe even more. He decided that he definitely didn't need to be thinking about that right now, considering it wasn't very noble or appropriate... but since when had he been either of those things? "It would definitely be fun. Plus, it'd be all on me. Not going to get you drunk and then not even buy your drinks." He winked at him playfully. He frowned a little at Ryder's suggestion. Maybe that was true. But it wasn't like people were just lining up at his door wanting to take care of him. That'd probably be a hard position to fill, and he didn't really see the point in making the effort. "Yeah, maybe," was all he said in reply, not really interested in Kurt and Ryder's relationship. Not that he was jealous- okay, maybe he was a little bit- but really he just didn't care. It wasn't any of his business. Cassius nodded happily, bouncing a little in place as he waited for the real show to begin. "He wants me to tell you he's ready," Sebastian said with a little laugh, affectionately shaking his head at the Ralts.

Ryder drummed his fingers on the countertop before turning his focus towards laying the onion pieces one on top of each other in the pre-heated frying pan. He stacked them carefully one on top of the other while he listened to Sebastian talk about his psychic abilities. He supposed he probably should have given more thought to this before; he knew surprisingly little about Sebastian still, considering how much time the two men had spent together recently. "I guess I just never thought about it that much, but you do have, like, all psychic Pokemon on your team. Is it - I mean, is it weird being able to do that kind of thing? Bend stuff with your brain and whatnot? I'm totally buying you spoons so that you can practice, because I kinda want to see this," Ryder admitted sheepishly. He tended to be easily impressed, and he had a feeling that it would be another chance for him to boost Sebastian's ego if he were to witness that sort of psychic spectacle. "What other kinds of stuff can you do? Dude, you and Cassius should totally do synchronized spoon-bending for me... It would be like the equivalent of this onion volcano that's about to happen," Ryder teased, although his light tone turned to a slight shudder at the thought of being on Sebastian's joke about getting on his bad side. He brushed it off as a joke, not wanting to admit that the psychic abilities of his team still made Ryder uneasy at times, and the idea of Sebastian being able to execute such an attack himself only unsettled him even more. He knew that his friend would never do that to him, of course, but he didn't want to picture him being able to do that sort of thing to anyone. Ryder liked to think the best of all the people he cared about, and while he knew that most people gave Sebastian a bad rap, the man had continued to be nothing but kind to him. "What kind of scary psychic things would you do to me?" Ryder asked, raising an eyebrow and trying to play off his reaction as lighthearted and teasing. Ryder adjusted his hat, trying to find a glass of water so that he would be ready to extinguish the volcano when the big moment finally arrived. "Dude, well it sounds entertaining. Too bad it takes like 20 years for you to actually be able to drink it - I mean, it seems like it ought to be for a special occasion for something, since you're waiting that long," Ryder said lightly, shaking his head. Perhaps that was just his own impatience speaking; he had always been one of those kids that woke up at the crack of dawn on Christmas day for presents, and the rest of his life had been pretty similar in terms of wanting to know things and have things that he wanted. He tried to be patient with people and Pokemon, but that was about as far as his tolerance for waiting extended. "Heh, dude, I'd love to see both of you in action at once. All on you? Dude, no, I at least get to buy you some sort of cool shot or something. Preferably one with a hilarious name like 'The Sexy Alligator' or 'Screaming Orgasm'. Drink menus are entertaining places to be, you know?" Ryder mused lightly, picking back up his spatula to ensure that the onion pieces were flattened enough to stay in position and then twirling it around almost as if it were a baton. He was amazed that he hadn't dropped it. "Well, since I'm such a pro at not getting hungover, I will totally be the awesome dude that gives you water and tucks you safely into bed and makes sure that you have a trashcan there just in case you need to throw up," Ryder said with a cheeky grin. He had a feeling that his drinking skills wouldn't last forever, but he liked to act superior towards Sebastian for now, no matter how facetious he was being. Ryder turned to Cassius, scooping the Ralts up off the counter and bringing him over to Sebastian, sliding an arm around the other man in order to transfer Cassius to him most effectively. "Okay, dudes - time for the big event!" Ryder said, turning to hover over the stove. "Be prepared to be amazed!"

Sebastian didn't really share a lot about his life with people, so it really wasn't that surprising that Ryder didn't know that much about him. He really didn't see anything wrong with it. It just took a lot for him to trust people, but he found himself conversing easily with Ryder and not at all bothered by the fact that he was talking to him about things like this. He was happy to follow any train of conversation that Ryder wanted to board. It wasn't like he was hiding anything... well, okay, he was, but he didn't expect Ryder to ask about those kinds of things. Either way he was a good liar. He shrugged a little. "Weird? I don't think it's really weird, but I suppose it is something that I've grown used to by now, I don't really even think about it by now. It's just something I can do." He laughed lightly when he said that he would buy him spoons. "Alright, sounds good, but you can't laugh at me if I can't do it on my first try. It's been a while and I've had a lot of alcohol since then." But if it would impress Ryder, he'd be happy to attempt it. "Oh, you know, just the normal stuff. Push things around a little bit, slight levitation, you know. Haven't really gotten in to any of the interesting stuff, mostly because I've been more focused on training the abilities of my pokemon more than I've been working on my own." They went hand in hand a lot of the time but not always. "Cassius would be more than happy to bend a spoon for you. He can do anything you'd like him to. The possibilities are nearly endless for him." Sebastian shrugged a little. "I mean, I really don't even know. I've never wanted to use them against anyone, believe it or not. Even when I've been threatened before, I didn't think about using them. I guess hurting people isn't really what they're for for me." Not that he couldn't or wouldn't use them if he had to, but he really didn't want Ryder to know that. He liked the idea Ryder apparently had of him in his head and he didn't want to pervert that image with the truth if he didn't have to. "Yeah, they're really wanting to save it for my wedding. If I ever do get married." He laughed lightly at the drink names. "I mean, I'm not going to turn down a free drink, and I'm really not picky. Though the stronger the better." He smiled at the thought of Ryder taking care of him like that. How oddly domestic. "Glad that you've got my back," he hummed, moving so he could take Cassius from him and stand so they could get a better view. Cassius giggled and clapped happily. "Alright, we're both completely prepared. Amaze us."

Ryder arched an eyebrow at Sebastian, listening intently to his reply as he went to work on cutting a few other vegetables up - bell peppers, mushrooms, chopping more of the onion into smaller slices, and even mincing some garlic. He made a face as he sliced the onion into its smaller pieces, feeling his eyes water slightly. "Dude, I promise I'm totally not crying... Although if I was would that be enough to scare you off yet?" Ryder teased, sticking his tongue out at Sebastian but then quickly stopping the action because he needed to rub his eyes. He blinked once, twice, three times to make sure that his eyes were cleared before tossing the vegetables into a tupperware and then mixing them together by putting the lid on and then shaking up the box. He would let the vegetables simmer for a while once the onion volcano was done, but he wanted the theatrics early on for Cassius. "Yeah, I guess I just even grew up around a lot of water trainers, what with the Cerulean gym leader and all that. Cool dude," Ryder mused, at risk for going off on another tangent until he focused his attention back on the handsome man across from him. "Dude, would I ever laugh at you? I mean, okay, I would totally laugh at you, but would I ever do it in a mean-spirited way?" Ryder pursed his lips together, furrowing his brows at Sebastian's statement. "Dude, how much alcohol would it take to get rid of that kind of ability? I'm starting to think that you're just drunk all the time," Ryder teased, not sure how serious he was with that statement. He did know that Sebastian drank a lot, but he had never stopped to consider whether it might actually be a problem or not. He shrugged to himself, assuming that if it was a real issue he'd notice it gradually over time as they traveled together and would try to address it with him then. "Dude, that kind of thing is normal? That's pretty badass. What do you consider the more interesting stuff?" Ryder asked, his interest piqued. He turned his attention back to Cassius, shooting the little Ralts a thumbs up. "Turns out you're even cooler than I thought, huh little man?" His tone was affectionate with the Ralts, who he had grown to care about just as much as most of his own team. Ryder ducked his head sheepishly, thinking about people who may have threatened Sebastian. Based on accounts from both men, he had a pretty good idea that one of those threats had come from Kurt, but... Well, it embarrassed him a little bit to think that he had caused such a dispute between two men who were both growing to be more and more important to him every day. He decided to let the subject drop, but he smiled lightly at Sebastian at his comment about not really being interested in hurting people. Ryder liked to think that people who really caught his attention the way that Sebastian had were mostly good people, and so far he felt that his assumption had been right. "Your wedding? Ha, have you told the folks about Rachel yet?" Ryder teased, but feeling his spirits drop a little bit. He wasn't sure why the engagement of his two friends bothered him so much. Maybe it was because it went against his hopeless romantic ideas about what love should be like; maybe it was because he didn't think it was the healthiest relationship for either one of them; maybe there was simply a small part of him that hoped he could keep being like this with Sebastian forever without anyone else getting in the way. That last thought terrified him a little bit. "I doubt that's an if, though, dude. Even if Rachel falls through you're totally a catch," Ryder offered, fidgeting with his hat once more as he turned the burner up on the stove. "Dude, always - although I can't promise the best results with these strong drinks you're promising," Ryder informed him. "I could totally end up spilling your good night, sleep tight water all over you or something if you get me too drunk. Or I could just flop over and pass out on top of you, which would also not be good." Ryder shot Sebastian and Cassius a thumbs up as he finally went to put on the big show for them. He made sure that the onions could slide around on the oiled bottom of the pan before pulling a lighter out of his pocket and pulling back out the bottle of cooking oil. "Okay, guys, wish me luck on not burning all my hair off!" Ryder tilted his wrist, poured a significant amount of oil into the tower of onions, and then left a trail to the edge of the pan, which he took the lighter to. He pulled his hand back quickly and watched as a spout of flames came out of the middle of the onion pile. "Awesome! I actually did it!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

Sebastian watched him cut up the rest of the vegetables that he had brought, hearing his stomach growl a little. He made a slight face at himself, trying to think back and remember the last time he had actually eaten something of substance. He had fed his pokemon strawberries and grapes the day before, but he didn't really remember eating any himself no matter how hard Cinna had tried to get him to eat something. He really hadn't been hungry and had been more concerned about spending his time and money on alcohol rather than food. "Hm?" he replied, having not been focused on the conversation. He saw Ryder's eyes watering and remembered what he had said. "Oh, no, it definitely wouldn't be. Maybe if you cried all the time, but I can handle once or twice." He knew that he wasn't crying because of any emotional problems. Cassius would have warned him of that almost immediately. He nodded a little as Ryder talked about how he had spent a lot of time around water pokemon as a child. That really did make sense. "Uh huh, well, maybe I'll practice before you get to witness it, just in case. Wouldn't want my pride to take a hit, now would we?" he asked playfully, winking at him. "Though I'm sure you could boost it back up in a couple of moments." He shrugged a little when Ryder suggested he was drunk all the time. "I'm not drunk right now. Haven't had anything today," he informed him, though really, he had been at least a little tipsy most nights this week. Was it because he was living with Rachel now? Was he just board? He had absolutely no idea, but he still didn't think that he would consider it a 'problem'. He could handle it himself without any issues. "Normal enough, yeah," he hummed. "I mean, some people can do things like mind control. They can take over your body by just using your mind, which is pretty incredible." Cassius smiled at Ryder, bashfully hiding his face against Sebastian at the compliment. He shook his head when Ryder asked him about that. "Oh, no, I'm definitely not going to tell them about it until I'm 100 percent sure that it's happening." Right now he was about five percent sure that they were going to get married. "It's so far in the future and so uncertain that there's really no point in me telling them now. Though I'm sure they'd be happy to find out that I planned on settling down with a woman after all." He definitely didn't think it was going to happen, but really he wouldn't be upset either way. It wasn't like he had anyone else in his life, no matter how much he wanted it. Rachel was pretty much his only option. He wasn't sure how he had ended up with this but it was definitely that way now. He raised his brow at the compliment, surprised. "A catch?" he repeated. He was charming and good looking, oh, and rich too, so maybe he was a catch. "We'll have to see about that." He laughed a little again, smiling at him. "Well, if we're both drunk I probably won't even care about any of that. Either way it'll be an enjoyable night." He had gone this long without having anyone to take care of drunk him so he didn't see why he couldn't survive one more night. He watched as Ryder started pouring in the oil, taking a step back. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ryder, but he had Cassius, who was craning over to get a better look, in his arms, and he wasn't about to take any sort of chances with the little Ralts. Sebastian smiled when the onion burst into flames and Cassius gasped, golden eyes wide with surprise and excitement. "You did. It looks awesome," Sebastian complimented. "Cassius is the most impressed, by the way. I think you've pretty much won him over with that little stunt, so good job."

Ryder quirked an eyebrow at Sebastian when he heard his stomach growl, but chose to let it go. He had noticed that the other man didn't really eat a lot during their travels together, so he had done his best to feed him a lot while they were on the road, even if by the end of the meal Ryder had still pigged out way more than his companion had. He briefly worried that Sebastian had gone back to not eating since they had separated in Ecruteak, but he hoped that he was imagining things and that maybe he had just been saving room for dinner today. Another thing for him to perhaps keep a better eye on, though... He blinked slightly, realizing just how much thought he was putting into ways to make sure that he took care of Sebastian. It was a bit unsettling, but the thought of it also made him feel warm and happy at the same time. He likes to make sure that the people he cared most about were doing okay, and somehow Sebastian had managed to find his way onto that list. "Awww, but just think, if I wounded your pride, I would feel obligated to spend lots of time helping repair it as well," Ryder said, winking lightly at him and chuckling when Sebastian's words seemed to match up with his. It was nice, to have someone be able to follow his train of thought. "Well look at you go, Mr. One Day Sober," Ryder teased again. "I'm just so proud." He resisted the urge to shudder when Sebastian mentioned that people could take over an entire human body with mind control - the thought of someone else in control of him made him feel unsettled, and nervous. He tried to brush away the fact that Sebastian thought it was incredible; it would take an incredible amount of power to accomplish such a thing, he supposed. He instead focused his attention on the bashful Cassius, who helped return the huge grin to Ryder's face in less than an instant. "C'mon, little dude, we're gonna work on getting used to compliments together," Ryder informed the Ralts, holding his hand up and hoping that the Pokemon would remember to give him a high five. "Oh... They're not big fans of you being in to guys?" Ryder questioned, feeling his stomach drop a little bit at the realization that he still hadn't communicated his own preferences to his mother, despite the fact that all of Johto knew now. He wondered how she would react... That was a thought for another day too, he supposed. Ryder shrugged coyly at when Sebastian repeated his words; instead keeping his focus on the pile of flames that had ignited in front of him. He gave a small bow before hurrying to find the glass of water he had prepared, dumping it on top of the volcano to put out the flames. "Sorry it was so short, buddy - wouldn't want to light the Pokemon Center on fire!" he informed Cassius as the water sizzled off of the pan and turned into steam.

Sebastian smiled a little at that. "Well, that is true, I suppose. And I'll take any excuse to spend more time with you, especially if you're going to spend the entire time complimenting me," he hummed. "And lots of time does sound promising. So maybe you should bruise my pride." His smile widened a little when Ryder winked at him and he chuckled lightly, shifting his grip on Cassius. "Thank you. I'm glad you're proud of me, then," he said, rolling his eyes playfully. "But I haven't even made it 24 hours yet, so I wouldn't assume anything. The day is still young and the town isn't quite out of alcohol yet." He noticed how Ryder's moon seemed to change when he had mentioned such intense telekinetic abilities and he wondered if he had said something wrong. He had just been telling him information, right? He couldn't really even remember. But then the other man was talking to Cassius and smiling again and he had forgotten all about it. He nudged the Ralts a little to get him to straighten up and look at Ryder so that he could high five him, which he happily did. "I mean, really, they're used to it by now," Sebastian told him with a shrug, not worried about it at all. "It's not like I haven't always been this way. I can't remember not being into guys, even when I was younger. By now they've learned how to live with it and I just don't flaunt my life choices around them." At least, he normally didn't. His parents preferred to keep out of his life anyway, so it wasn't really that big of a deal. He watched as Ryder stopped the fire, moving to lean against the counter again now that he knew it was safe for his Ralts. Cassius smiled happily in response, nodding a little. Sebastian laughed. "Yeah, I think that burning down a Pokemon Center is at the bottom of the list of things I want to do today."

Ryder grinned impishly at Sebastian. "Do you really need an excuse? I'm basically offering my time up to you on a silver platter, dude." Ryder was teasing him again; he had grown to enjoy the nature of their relationship. He liked the playful give and take that they had, even if it still puzzled him that the other man was able to tolerate Ryder's goofy antics. As if to prove his point, he grabbed a silver platter that he had set out on the counter earlier, presented it to Sebastian with a bow, and tipped his chef's hat to him. "See, good sir? My time is yours." Ryder left the platter in Sebastian's hands, turning his attention back towards the work to be done on the stovetop. He set a pot of water boiling for angel hair as he added the rest of the vegetables to the onion pan to be sauteed. He cocked an eyebrow at Sebastian when he mentioned the town and alcohol, rolling his eyes but mostly choosing to ignore him. Instead, he focused on the tight feeling in his chest when the subject of parents came up. "I have no idea how my mom will react, if I ever come home with a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend," Ryder admitted, eyes slightly downcast as he focused on the work on the stovetop before turning to stalks of asparagus that he had laid out earlier as well. "So, uh... Your parents wouldn't be supportive, if you ever found a guy who was worth more than just a one night stand to you?" Ryder tried to keep the intense curiosity he was feeling out of his voice. He busied himself again, pulling out a package of garlic and herb cream as well as prosciutto to wrap around the asparagus as a decorative hoers deuvre. "Dude, it's been so long since I cooked that I'm kind of going crazy here with all the stuff I'm making... I'm totally going to have to make sure that I didn't destroy your abs with all of the calories at some point," Ryder mused absentmindedly, carefully cutting the thin strips of ham into thin slices and wrapping them around the green stalks. When the first one was done, he held it up to Cassius, wanting to offer the Ralts the first bite. He raised his eyebrows at Sebastian, asking silently if it was okay or if he should just continue to brandish the vegetable at Cassius as if it were a sword.

  Sebastian laughed lightly, grinning back at him. "No, I suppose you don't. But I would accept your time even if you offered it to me on a paper plate," he teased back, raising a brow when he was literally offered a silver platter. Well alright then. He playfully rolled his eyes at him, accepting the plate if only so he could get back to cooking. Cassius giggled quietly when he bowed, entertained. "I'll accept it with dignity," he hummed, not holding the plate for long before sitting it back down on the counter. He slipped back onto the bar stool with Cassius still held in his arms. The Ralts didn't seemed bothered, though his eyes were still studying Ryder as he cooked. Sebastian watched him as well, though he was more interested in his facial expressions and the way his body moved instead of how and what he was cooking them for dinner. "I'm sure that it'll be fine," he told him encouragingly. "I mean, you're really close to your mom, aren't you? I'm sure that she'll love you know matter what. That's what parents are supposed to do, you know, when they actually care about their children and all that." He knew that his parents really didn't care about him and that didn't bother him. He was used to it by now. He shrugged at Ryder's question. "I think that they would be happy that I'm not sleeping around anymore," he decided after a moment of thought. "Because they hear about it when I sleep around. They wouldn't have to hear about it if I just focused all my energy into one person." He briefly wondered if Ryder was trying to suggest that he might want to be that one person, but he quickly pushed that thought out of his head as an impossible one. There was no way. He laughed lightly at that, the smile returning to his face. "Go as crazy as you want, Ry, these abs aren't going anywhere," he hummed. "Though you're more than welcome to see them any time you like. If you really behave yourself, I might even let you touch them." He winked at him playfully, thought he knew it wouldn't take much persuasion to get him to let Ryder touch his stomach. He'd let him touch him anywhere in a heartbeat. He nodded a little when he offered the asparagus to Cassius. Cassius leaned forward and opened his mouth, taking a bite of the vegetable when Ryder offered it to him. He made a little pleased sound. 'Good!' the Ralts sent out telepathically, allowing both the trainers to hear it. Sebastian smiled, pressing a little kiss to the back of his head. "Good. I'm glad you like it. Vegetables are good for you."

Ryder stuck his tongue out at Sebastian from the other side of the stove. "I have one of those around here somewhere, too... But I thought you might appreciate me being all fancy for you," Ryder teased, flipping the vegetables in the pan to keep them from burning and pouring in a small amount of marsala cooking wine. "When do you ever not do things with dignity?" Ryder added, taking his chance to roll his eyes at Sebastian. Ryder was always so playful and goofy; Sebastian always seemed so dignified and serious in comparison. It still amazed Ryder that they were able to get along so well, and the thought briefly crossed his mind that Sebastian would probably get bored with him soon and move on to bigger and better things. Ryder's eyes flickered briefly to Sebastian, glancing at the older man through his eyelashes before returning his attention to the water, which had begun to boil. He dropped in angel hair, watching as the noodles twisted in the water. "Yeah, we're really close, but... I don't know, what if it's a bad surprise to her? I've never really dated anybody before," Ryder reminded him, shrugging lightly. "I just don't want to disappoint her." He deposited a few of the completed asparagus rolls onto the silver platter, nodding to indicate that Sebastian could try now too as he popped one into his own mouth, eating the entire stalk in one bite. He winked at Cassius, glad that the Pokemon had enjoyed it, and an unsuppressable smile spread on his lips as he chewed, watching the affection between Pokemon and trainer. "Really? Do they listen to Radio Johto too?" Ryder joked, seeming surprised that Sebastian's parents were aware of their son's reputation. He had a feeling that if he were notorious for something like that, his dad would have... Well, he couldn't know that. He hadn't seen his dad in over a decade. But the man he remembered would have tried to get Ryder to be a little bit more focused. A dark shadow crossed his face, and he checked the timer on the oven, noting that the chicken would be done soon and dinner could be served. He was glad for the distraction when the conversation returned to something lighter, and he shook his head laughingly at Sebastian. "Oh really?" he teased, cocking an eyebrow as he reached out to poke Sebastian in the stomach, smirking all the while.

Sebastian grinned at him, licking his lips a little when Ryder stuck his tongue out at him. Luckily for the other man they were separated by a counter and a hot stove or he would have been making out with him by now. It was so hard to have control, especially since it was something he definitely wasn't used to. Now he understood why people always wanted what they couldn't have. That was the exact situation he had put himself into. "If you're being fancy just for me, then I suppose I can't complain," he said with a little laugh. He considered the question for a moment before shrugging. Sometimes he wasn't exactly the most dignified person, especially when drunk, but he tried to keep it as classy as possible. "Touche, touche." He really didn't consider himself that serious, but maybe that was why he liked being around Ryder so much. The other man was so ridiculous and it loosened Sebastian up and allowed him to relax a little. He didn't think he was going to get bored with him any time soon, though part of him really wished that he would. Maybe that would make things easier... but since when had he ever wanted to do things the easy way? He smiled when Ryder glanced up at him, wondering for a moment what he was thinking about. He listened as he talked about his mom. "Ah, well, I'm sure it'll all work out," he told him, not good at things like giving advice, especially when it came to things like parents. He was completely clueless when it came to dealing with parents that you actually loved and loved you in return. That had never been his lifestyle. "I'm sure that she'll be accepting. It seems that most people really are these days. And I'm sure that as long as you're happy, she'll be happy. You won't disappoint her." He nodded a little, taking a bite of the asparagus and giving what he didn't feel like shoving into his mouth to Cassius, who ate it happily. "Oh, no, but honestly there have been worst things said about me," he told him. "I don't think that they can get Radio Johto in Kanto... but I'm sure that if they can, my mother is listening. She's the gossip lady of Kanto, really. She knows so much about people, people who don't even matter. Gossip is like air to her." He rolled his eyes at the thought of his mother, the crazy woman. He couldn't even remember the last time he had spoken to her and he really wasn't bothered by it. Sebastian grabbed Ryder's hand when he poked him, moving his hand so it laid flat against his stomach. "Really," he replied with a grin, trying not to think about how it felt to have Ryder's hand against his abs, even though he was the one holding it there and even though his shirt was getting in the way.

Ryder had his head ducked down, focusing on putting the finishing touches on the meal he was making, and he didn't even notice the way that Sebastian licked his lips at him. If he had, maybe he would have remembered that he needed to be more careful how he acted around his friend - he knew that he didn't let himself read into anything when he was around Sam, but he couldn't be sure that Sebastian would act the same around Ryder. "Well I don't see anyone else around to be fancy for" Ryder teased as a timer went off on the oven and he searched grabbed oven mits. He opened the door, took out the pan of chicken, set it down, and then proceeded to clamp the red oven mitts at Cassius, pretending to be a crab. He wasn't sure how the Ralts would react - this was normally the ind of silliness he would display around Pippa, but the Piplup was still preoccupied with Cinna, despite the now overpowering smell of bacon. Ryder turned the knobs off on the stove as well, draining the pasta and putting it onto two separate plates. He took the vegetable/cooking wine medley and carefully poured it over the pasta; it had thickened into a pasta sauce as he had been working. He nodded his head lightly to show that he was still listening to Sebastian. "Worse things? Like what?" Ryder asked, hoping that Sebastian didn't care that he had glazed past his offers of support and had instead fixated on the statement that made him most curious. Ryder made a slight face at Sebastian's description of his mother; he couldn't imagine what having a family like that must be like. However, he was quickly distracted again when Sebastian took his hand and placed it flat on his abs. Okay, so Sebastian definitely worked out - that wasn't exactly a surprise - but Ryder felt his face turning red and he blushed again, waiting for Sebastian to release his hold.

Sebastian felt his mouth water for a reason that was more about the food and less about Ryder. He swallowed, stomach still growling, and thought about how he couldn't even remember the last time he had been this hungry. Maybe eating was something he needed to get around to doing again. It would probably help his alcohol tolerance, if nothing else, so that was something to consider. "Mhm, I don't either. Though I think that being fancy is always an option in my life," Sebastian hummed, leaning against the counter. Cassius turned his attention to his trainer, touching his nose and transferring lots of happy thoughts to him. Sebastian chuckled lightly, running his hand over the Ralts's horns. Cassius quickly turned his golden gaze back to Ryder when he started acting so silly, eyes widening for a moment before he started giggling loudly. He reached out his little hand enough to transfer a picture of a Krabby to Ryder before quickly snuggling back up to Sebastian. Sebastian shrugged in response to his question. "One time there was a rumor that got around to my parents that I was actually selling myself for money," he told him, thinking back. He watched as Ryder fixed their plates. It looked delicious, if nothing else. "I think that's probably worse than the STD thing... though maybe it's not. Both are falso, so I suppose it really doesn't matter." The blush on Ryder's face at that moment made the entire dinner worth it. Sebastian couldn't help but grin at him, though he quickly released his hand. "See? Perfect," he said, tone light. "I normally live a 'look but don't touch' lifestyle, but I had to make an exception for you, like always." He didn't like a lot of contact that he didn't initiate.

Ryder blushed slightly. "I guess being an exception's not so bad," he admitted, ducking his head down and removing his hand from Sebastian’s stomach in order to nervously run it through his hair. He recovered his composure and shooed Sebastian away, urging him towards the table as Ryder himself headed in that direction with silverware. He quickly set the table, even putting a spot with a booster seat and a miniature set of silverware for Cassius just to make sure that the little Ralts felt welcome. "Sit down, silly - I can't be all fancy and serve you food if you're standing hovering over my masterpiece," Ryder teased, even though he had already plated most of the food. He put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder, trying to nudge him towards his chair before returning to the counter and arranging the last of dinner on the plates. He put a couple more asparagus on a tiny plate for Cassius, assuming that the two men could share with him as they saw fit, and he juggled all three plates as he headed back over to them. He managed to set Sebastian's food in front of him with no problems and put Cassius's plate down as well before he fumbled with his own food and dropped it a few inches onto the table. He grinned sheepishly, shrugging, before taking his own seat across from Sebastian. "Really? Like a prostitute?" Ryder asked, Sebastian's words finally hitting him. "Sorry, I was kinda slow on that one... Probably not the best topic to start dinner on," he said with an embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his neck to try to stop himself from blushing slightly at him.

Sebastian grinned at him. "I'm glad that you're finally learning to accept it," he hummed, watching him as he moved away, eyes drifting down to linger on his backside. He glanced up when Ryder was suddenly shooing him towards the table. He stood after a moment, gathering Cassius in his arms. "Alright, alright, I'll sit," he told him, though apparently he wasn't moving fast enough, since Ryder was nudging him again in moments. He made his way over to the table, sitting Cassius down at the seat meant for him. The Ralts made a small pleased sound, playing with the silverware for a moment by lifting it up and juggling them in the air in front of him. "Cass, behave yourself. Remember your manners," Sebastian scolded very lightly as he sat down beside the pokemon. Cassius blushed, slowly sitting the silverware back where it had been, and kicked his feet a little as he waited for his food. Sebastian glanced back over at Ryder, raising a brow when he saw him with all the plates. "Need some help?" he asked, prepared to get up, but Ryder was then sitting food in front of him and Cassius. He licked his lips, reaching for his fork but not lifting it off the table, distracted by Ryder's question. "Oh, yeah, like a prostitute. Apparently a cheap one too," he told him, rolling his eyes at the thought. He picked up his fork, unable to wait a moment longer and took a bite of food. He shrugged at Ryder's next comment, taking a moment to chew before replying. "No, it's fine. Doesn't bother me." He wasn't easily fazed, especially not when he was this hungry and had such a delicious plate of food in front of him. Cassius happily nibbled on one of the asparagus stalks, looking back and forth between the two men.

  Ryder arched an eyebrow at Sebastian, letting out a slight laugh. "Well, you should take it as a compliment - it's not often I let someone change my mind, you know. I'm quite stubborn." He winked at Sebastian before adjusting himself in his chair, automatically putting his napkin in his lap. He crossed his eyes and looked upwards at his hat, which was causing his hard to stick to his forehead in what he felt like must be strange directions. "Whadda ya think? Keep the hat, or is it time for me to go out of chef mode?" he asked lightly, trying to adjust the hat as he spoke anyway. Personally, he wanted to see it on Cassius again, because that had kind of been the cutest thing ever, but he knew that it would just swallow the Ralts and make it hard for him to eat his asparagus. He would hate to deprive the little dude that opportunity when he had seemed so pleased with the food he was receiving. His musings were interrupted when Cassius began juggling the silverware, and Ryder let out a hearty laugh. "And in this moment, I could see Cassius fitting in with my team," Ryder teased, sticking his tongue out at Sebastian again from across the table. He shot Cassius a thumbs up. "What do you think, buddy? Could you play among the best of the crazy watermon?" He dropped his hands back to his silverware and picked it up, immediately cutting a large bite off of the bacon-wrapped chicken and watching as a little bit of the cream cheese oozed out onto the plate. He shoveled it into his mouth, swallowing and adding, "Man, I forgot how hungry playing with them all day can get. I wear myself out here more than I do when I'm on the road," Ryder said, rolling his eyes self-deprecatingly. He hummed in understanding - or at least what he hoped seemed like understanding. It seemed that his family problems and Sebastian's were much different. "Dude, you'd totally be one of the ones drawing in the high-paying clients," Ryder joked, trying to make light of the situation just in case it was something that actually bothered his friend. He shrugged lightly, promptly returning to the plate of food in front of him. "Everything taste okay? Gotta make sure in case I need to do better next time," Ryder added as an afterthought right before a forkful of pasta went into his mouth.

Sebastian chuckled a little bit at that, chewing a bite of chicken. He was definitely impressed by the younger man's cooking skills. He couldn't do that well, not even in a kitchen, but then again he had also never had any practice. When he was growing up he'd always had a chef that cooked for him and his family, even in Unova. Now that he was on his own he didn't really have access to a kitchen, so most of the things he ate were packaged for travel or purchased from a restaurant. This was definitely a welcome change. "You do seem like the stubborn type, but I don't know if I'd consider you that stubborn," he said with a little shrug, after swallowing his bite of food. "I think I'm more stubborn than you are. And I also think that if we were ranking people we know on a level of stubborness, Kurt would be hands down at the top." He watched him as he adjusted the hat, considering it for a moment. "Mm, maybe you should take it off now that you're off the clock," he replied, tone light. Cassius reached for the hat. "Gimme!" the Ralts thought, pouting at Ryder. Sebastian raised a brow, and the pokemon quickly added, "Please, Ry Ry, please." Sebastian nodded a little and took a bite of pasta, finding that more acceptable. He had definitely raised Cassius better than to demand things, though his interactions with other people were still a little iffy, if only because he wasn't used to it. Sebastian was honestly surprised by how openly and willingly his adorable, shy little Ralts communicated with the other trainer.Cassius's eyes widened a little when he suggested being away from Sebastian and around all of Ryder's rowdy water pokemon and he quickly shook his head. Sebastian watched the pokemon, reaching over to comfortingly place his hand on his little arm. "Not quite there yet, I don't think," he told Ryder. "He's still shy around other pokemon, when it comes to playing. But we're getting better, aren't we?" He ruffled the Ralts's hair before pulling his hand away and returning to his food. "I can imagine. The pokemon center probably needs a lot of help. Plenty of things to do to keep you busy without you even realize you're working that hard," Sebastian commented, sliding a vegetable off his fork and into his mouth. Even though he was starving he ate at his normal pace, which was slow and somewhat uninterested. He laughed when Ryder made the comment about him getting high paying clients, almost choking on his food. He managed to pull himself together enough to reply with, "Yes, I would hope so," and shoot the other man a charming smile. "Also, that's definitely a compliment. Don't think that's not going in the book, because it totally is." Now that he thought he wasn't going to choke again he wrapped some noodles around his fork and took a bite, nodding in response to Ryder's question. "Everything is excellent, Ry," he told him after he had swallowed. "Honestly. If being a medic or a trainer doesn't work out, you could be a chef. I have no doubt about that." He smiled at him again. "And you already have the hat and everything, so you'd be ready to get to work."

Ryder was enjoying having a home-cooked meal for a change; he hadn't really gotten much of a chance to work out of a kitchen on his travels. It was one thing he had really liked about the routine he established at home with his mom; he loved that she would cook breakfast for him when he was in a rush to get to the Pokemon Center in the mornings (and okay, maybe she packed his lunches for him sometimes too), and he also loved that he had free roam over the kitchen to cook dinner while he waited for her to get home from work. He would have to remember this so that he could cook dinner more often when he was stopped in towns - he had made a cheesecake in Cherrygrove for Kurt, after all, he didn't know why he had forgotten he had this as an option. Ryder put on a faux pout when Sebastian spoke again. "Me? Not as stubborn as you?" he teased, but quickly shut up and nodded fervently instead. "Oh yeah. Kurt is the king of stubborn. He always gets his way," he assured Sebastian with a laugh. Not that Ryder minded... He really liked being able to make Kurt happy, even over stupid little things. His thoughts returned to the present moment as Cassius insisted on taking the Chef's hat from him, and Ryder promptly removed the hat from his heat, resting it gently atop Cassius as if it was a crown. It promptly slid down to cover part of his eyes, but the Pokemon didn't seem to mind, and Ryder stuck his hand out for another high five. He was shocked by how used to hearing Cassius inside of his head he had grown in the past two weeks; it had reached the point where it almost didn't phase him at all to hear the Pokemon's voice - it was almost just like hearing someone speak to him aloud. He also couldn't help but smile at the fact that Cassius seemed to be calling him by nicknames now, either - he hoped he would get to keep seeing more of the little psychic mon. He would just have to keep it a secret from Nemo... "Compliment book? Awww, come on, I thought you were kidding about that. My compliments are not worth putting in a book," Ryder said, blushing in embarrassment. He was pretty sure that half of the time he was just rambling and saying things that probably made him sound like an idiot, and he was still shocked that Sebastian seemed to like them so much. He was glad for a reprieve from being flustered, flashing a pleased smile at the other man when he said he was enjoying the food. "I dunno, dude, I don't think I'm that good... Plus it would totally be more fun to be a personal chef than to work in a restaurant," Ryder said, not liking the idea of having to work for tons of people from a set menu. He loved being free to experiment with different recipes on a whim. "Besides, I've actually started looking in to more about what all it would take to be a medic. I dunno, maybe it would be a good route to try. And if not, there are a lot of cool water mon in these areas I can go look for..."

Sebastian nodded a little, glad that Ryder had agreed with him. He really didn't know Kurt that well, but it seemed like every time they had to interact their stubbornness came into play. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was sometimes annoying. He wanted to like Kurt, he really did, but it was difficult when he knew that the chances of the other man every liking him were very slim. By now he had just decided to say screw it and do what he wanted, whether that went in line with Kurt Hummel's opinion on things or not. He didn't think he was really going to get mur-- okay, so he definitely thought that Kurt might kill him, but that was a completely different train of thought. He focused on the current goings on when Ryder moved to put the hat on Cassius, who giggled happily. He high fived Ryder, able to place the palm of his little hand perfectly in the middle of the man's even though his eyes were completely covered. Sebastian shook his head, mouth stuffed full of food, and took a moment to chew before answering. "Nope. Definitely wasn't kidding," he told him with a grin. "And they're definitely worth writing down, since they're so rare." His tone was playful and the grin never left his face. "Mm, yes, I suppose being a personal chef would be more your style." He raised a brow when he mentioned being a medic, though he wasn't really surprised. "A medic?" he repeated. "I can definitely see you doing that, Ry. Would probably be a good career option for you." He finished all of his food, pushing his plate a little bit away from himself and leaning back in his chair, stretching. That had definitely been the best meal he had had in a long time.

Ryder wrinkled his nose slightly at Sebastian, pulling his hand away from Cassius's with a smile. "Dude, seriously," Ryder laughed lightly, shaking his head. "It's just like, Ryder word vomit spilling out. I get all flustered and I start saying stuff that doesn't make any sense and that I get all embarrassed about once I realize what I really ended up saying, and yeah..." Ryder ducked his head shyly, realizing that he was, in fact, rambling again. He instead started to absentmindedly drum his fingers along the edge of the table, creating a rhythm while he was waiting for Sebastian to finish eating as well - Ryder had managed to inhale his food in record time. He beamed at the other man when he pushed the plate away from him, always happy to receive a compliment - especially one that was for some sort of talent he actually had and not for something that would embarrass him. When Sebastian stretched out comfortably, he took that as his cue to go ahead and start cleaning up all of the dishes he had accumulated while cooking, and leapt to his feet, collecting Cassius's plate, Sebastian's, and his own as he headed towards the sink, expecting the man and his Pokemon to stay comfortably at the table. Hmm... He probably should have made some sort of dessert, but it was too late for that now. He wrapped an apron around himself to keep from splashing water all over his clothes as he set to work in the sink. "Yeah, dude, I mean - Brittany and I have been friends for ages, since we worked in the Pokemon Center together, and she seems really happy doing the medic thing. And that guy Adam? I've talked to him a little bit, and it just seems... I don't know, I feel like I might be happier doing that. It's nice to have a team full of Pokemon and to train them and stuff, but I feel like I would be happier, helping out like that. I mean, as much as the storm in Violet sucked, I felt useful when I was there afterwards." He shrugged, watching bubbles fill the sink as he picked up the first plate and started to scrub.

Sebastian smiled as the other man rambled, managing to keep focused on the conversation. "Well, even if it is just word vomit, it's Ryder word vomit and it's adorable," he teased, not minding his rambling in the slightest. He blinked when the other man got up and immediately removed their dishes. He had been planning on doing that himself but if Ryder wanted to he definitely wasn't going to argue with him. He sat there for a moment, watching Ryder put on the apron and thinking for a moment about how incredibly domestic this was. Maybe it was a lifestyle he could get used to. He realized after a moment that this wasn't a good angle for conversation, so he moved over and leaned against the counter by the sink, now able to hear all of what Ryder was saying. Cassius teleported from his spot in the chair to go bother Pippa and Cinna. Sebastian nodded a little at Ryder's words. "Yeah, well, you need to do whatever makes you the happiest," he told him, watching as he scrubbed the plate. He grabbed a towel and dried it off once he was done, placing it to the side to put away later, since he didn't know where anything went. "You can still train pokemon and be a travelling medic at the same time. So you might as well try it out, at least. What kind of training is it going to take? Or have you not looked into it that far?" He had never considered any actual kind of career path, so he really didn't know anything about how or wear to get training.

Ryder shrugged, focusing his attention on a stray soap bubble that was floating upwards out of the sink rather than meeting Sebastian's eyes. He blew a puff of air in the direction of the bubble and watched it pop just a few inches away from his face. "Shhhh, you're crazy, dude," Ryder tried to tease, feeling the tips of his ears turn pink. "I am most certainly not even kind of adorable," Ryder added firmly, ducking his head to pick up the next dish. This was the sort of compliment he didn't think he would ever get used to; he had never even remotely considered himself attractive. Goofy, kind of a nice guy, sure, but adorable? Handsome? All these other things people around here seemed to keep calling him? Yeah, they were all nuts. Ryder went to put the next clean plate on the drying rack and noticed that he was much more... well, alone with Sebastian now that Cassius had joined the other Pokemon. He blinked, not sure why that even mattered, and plastered his lopsided smile back on his face once more. "Mmm, happiness is certainly a good thing," Ryder said with a nod, images of his journey through Johto flashing through his mind. He definitely didn't want to stop the traveling, or stop being with any of the people he had met... Even Sebastian. Yeah, he was a lot more fond of the psychic trainer than he had ever expected to be, that was for sure. "Dude, I've totally looked into it, but it seems like most of the training will take a long time and have me kind of stuck in one place for a while. I'll keep checking it out, though - haven't done a bunch of thorough research." He arched an eyebrow at Sebastian curiously. "So are you just interested in doing the whole gym challenge/top trainer thing? Or do you have other big plans I should know about?" he teased, sticking his tongue out at Sebastian playfully.

Sebastian chuckled lightly at his response. He had thought that by now Ryder would be used to him calling him adorable. He felt like he did it all the time. "Complimenting you in person is much better than over the dex," he commented, voice a playful hum. "In person I can actually see you blush and get all flustered which is half the fun." He nudged him playfully with his arm, acting like he was kidding even though he definitely wasn't. He didn't really notice how alone they suddenly were, probably because he didn't mind in the slightest. This was what he wanted. They were pokemon free and he had already eaten, so there wasn't a threat of losing his chef. He was free to do whatever he wanted to do. All he needed was the right opportunity. He nodded at Ryder's response. "Well that's good," he told him, drying off the next dish and sitting it on top of the other one. "I'd say go for it." He was about to answer Ryder's next question, but then the man was sticking his tongue out of him and he knew he had to act quickly. He leaned in, easily capturing Ryder's tongue in his mouth. Mm, the lack of height difference definitely made kissing a whole lot easier, and he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He cupped Ryder's cheek with one hand, gently holding his head in place while he kissed him deeply, skimming his thumb over his cheekbone before letting his hand slip around to rest at the back of his neck.

Ryder knew that his thoughts were elsewhere; he was so busy looking to the future and thinking about what life would be like if he actually became a traveling medic that he didn't even have time to notice what hit him. As soon as he used his signature childish move, Sebastian captured his tongue, and Ryder let the dish he had been holding fall back into the bubbling sink. The other man's hand was clutched onto his neck, and Ryder didn't even think; he let his body react. One wet, soapy hand clung to the fabric of Sebastian's shirt while the other he snaked through his hair, keeping Sebastian as close as he could. As much as he tried to pretend he didn't, Ryder had definitely enjoyed this part of things the last time around - okay, maybe he had enjoyed more than just this part - feelings or no. He pulled back only enough to catch Sebastian's bottom lip between his, clinging on to him and completely forgetting where he was for a moment, losing himself in the feeling of Sebastian kissing him again.

Sebastian wrapped his free arm loosely around Ryder's waist, knowing that he needed to tread lightly. He wanted this to be able to last as long as possible, so he didn't want to do anything that would immediately make Ryder pull away. Instead he just focused on kissing him. He eagerly moved his lips against Ryder's, licking into his mouth and suddenly remembering very very clearly how amazingly nice it was to kiss another boy. Ryder especially. He didn't even care that his shirt- and hair- were now definitely wet and soapy. He could have cared less, honestly. This was Ryder and Sebastian had kissed him and now he was kissing him back. Honestly this couldn't have gone any better, at least int Sebastian's opinion.

Ryder felt Sebastian's hand curl around his waist, and he unclenched his own fist from the other man's shirt, instead sliding his hand underneath and sliding it up his bare back, using his palm to press their bodies closer together. He didn't let himself think, he just sighed into the kiss, letting Sebastian's tongue explore. He let the hand that was tangled in Sebastian's hair slide downwards until it was resting on his lower back, catching himself before he let it go any lower. He blinked, momentarily wondering what he was doing, before pressing himself impossibly closer to Sebastian, staggering towards the counter.

Sebastian eye's widened just slightly when he felt Ryder's hand slipping under his shirt, surprised but definitely not disappointed. Well if Ryder could do that... He slipped his hand under Ryder's shirt so it rested against his lower back, very much enjoying the feeling of his warm skin under his fingertips. He moved with Ryder when he moved them, making a small noise against his lips when his back hit the counter. His hand that was at the back of the man's neck moved up to card through his hair, tugging lightly at the strands. Oh, they were so so much closer than he expected them to be and all he wanted was to be closer. He would have given Ryder absolutely anything in that moment, whatever it took to get more from him. The memories by now were blurred. He had forgotten how much he liked Ryder until they were kissing again, and it all came flooding back to him.

Ryder pulled away slightly, gasping for breath but not wanting to lose the closeness. His eyes stayed firmly shut, and he thought about other warm bodies that he had been close to... Not this close, but he would have liked - no, he reminded himself firmly, not daring to let his mind start wandering again. He couldn't keep thinking about one of his best friends while he was hooking up with... well, possibly another one of his best friends. He didn't know. But there was no way this would go that far, right? This was just friends kissing in a Pokemon Center, and maybe shivering a little bit when Sebastian touched his bare skin, and... Ryder let his lips trail over to Sebastian's ear, biting down gently on the lobe before trailing his lips down to Sebastian's neck.

Sebastian studying Ryder's face a little when he pulled away for breath, own lips slightly parted as he tried to keep his breathing steady. He noticed how Ryder's eyes were shut tight and wondered for a moment what he was thinking about. Then he realized he honestly didn't care. What did it matter if the other man wasn't thinking about him? It wasn't like there could ever or would ever be any feelings returned. If thinking about someone else was what it took for Sebastian to be able to be intimate with the man he actually liked again, he was perfectly okay with that. He let the tip of his nose skim down the bridge of Ryder's, own eyes closing as the other man moved to lightly bit his ear. He let out a very quiet moan, a sound that easily formed Ryder's name, and he quickly bit down on his bottom lip to keep from making any more noises. His fingers curled against Ryder's back, pulling him forward a little more, if that was even possible. He lifted his chin a little, giving Ryder more room to work along his neck.

Ryder let his hips be pulled forward when Sebastian dug his fingers into his back, pressing their bodies even closer together than before. Ryder gasped, knowing that this was headed towards dangerous territory, towards something that he didn't want to happen again. He blinked his eyes open again, remembering that they were still, in fact, in the Pokemon Center kitchen. Water was still rushing in the sink, Cinna and Pippa and Cassius were presumably still on the other side of the room somewhere (thank goodness Pippa was probably too distracted to be watching), and it still felt good, even if it was Sebastian and not Sam. It's not like he could ever have this with Sam, anyway. Or with Ku... Woah, where the hell did that come from? He shook his head, nuzzling his nose into Sebastian's neck as he sucked lightly on the skin there. Yeah, maybe he should just keep doing this... Get thoughts of other people out of his head. Still, Ryder let his eyes flutter closed again as he slid his other hand under Sebastian's shirt as well, enjoying the feeling of warm skin and... Not thinking. Yeah. Not thinking at all.

Sebastian could easily reach the sink from there and he used his hand that wasn't buried under Ryder's shirt to hit the handle and cause it to turn off. The last thing they needed right now was to flood the pokemon center. And he didn't want any kind of distractions from this moment, especially since Ryder was now sucking on his neck and he really couldn't believe that this was happening right now. He had never thought that his simple- alright, well, not really simple- kiss would lead to this. For once he really wasn't sure that to do with himself. He was afraid if he made any sort of move Ryder would immediately pull away, but he wanted, ugh, he wanted it so bad. Ryder was pressed so close to him and it was impossible to not grind against him a little bit. He let his hand wander farther up Ryder's back, fingers trailing up and down his spine as he just thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Ryder was this close to him again. He didn't have to think about anything either.

Ryder was slightly startled by the stop of the water; in the absence of the sound he could hear the pounding of his own heart against his chest as he drew back from Sebastian's neck, leaning his forehead against the other man's as he took in a deep breath. He should stop. He really needed to stop. This didn't mean anything to him but their hips were starting to grind together and Sebastian's hands were sending shivers up his spine. And he was sick of wanting things he couldn't have. Why couldn't he just enjoy this for a little bit longer without having to read too much into it? He was sick of spending all his time worrying. He tilted his head up ever so slightly, crashing his lips hungrily onto Sebastian's again.

        Sebastian whined just a little when Ryder pulled away from his neck, unable to hold back the sound. He looked at Ryder when their foreheads touched, cupping the man's cheek in his hand and wondering if he was about to be told to stop. That would probably be a good idea, considering that the pressure of Ryder's hips on his own weren't doing anything to help him when it came to trying to stay calm. He was trying not to get too worked up but after the biting and the grinding and that kiss how in the world was he supposed to be calm? But then instead of Ryder telling him that they should stop he was kissing him again, just as hungrily and desperately as before and Sebastian couldn't help but groan into his mouth. He kissed him back, roughly pushing the other's lips apart so he could intertwine their tongues, enjoying the taste of him more than he ever had anything else. He needed more. Anything more. He moved them so it was Ryder who was pressed back against the counter, finally allowing himself to take control of the situation. He pulled Ryder's lower lip into his mouth, sucking on it lightly.

Ryder let out a gasp of surprise as Sebastian shifted him, pressing him against the counter. He moaned softly as their tongues intertwined, letting his hands slide out from under Sebastian's shirt, trailing fingers slowly over his skin as he did. He used his hands to hoist himself up onto the counter. It was just the right height for him to wrap his legs around Sebastian's waist, and he drew the other man closer to him again, bringing his hands back up to cup Sebastian's cheek and tangle into his hair again. Who knew that kissing a guy could feel so good? He could only imagine what it would feel like if it was with someone he actually cared about instead. Not that he didn't care about Sebastian at all, of course - but he didn't get that same kind of swooping in his stomach as he did around Sam. And he didn't feel safe, and warm, and happy, the way he did with Kurt, and - why the hell did he keep thinking about that? Stop thinking, Ryder, he reminded himself firmly, letting Sebastian take his lower lip into his mouth.

Sebastian chuckled a little when Ryder gasped, pleased by the reaction. He shivered a little when Ryder's fingers trailed over his skin, thinking once again that he was about to be told to stop. But then the other man was up on the counter and he took the initiative to help lift him, definitely wanting this. He let out a little groan when Ryder's legs tightened around him and pulled him forward, causing their hips to meet. Sebastian lightly gripped Ryder's hips, feeling the complete opposite of calm by now and not even caring, shifting his hips against the other man's to provide them both a little friction as they continued to kiss. After a moment he let his hands wander down, gently playing over Ryder's thighs, enjoying their chance to roam over his body like they hadn't been allowed to before. He finally broke the kiss himself, but the movement was only so he could kiss along his neck instead, leaving hot, openmouthed kisses against his skin.

Ryder let out a moan that was stifled by Sebastian's tongue still roaming his mouth. He jerked involuntarily closer at the pressure on his thighs, surprised by the feel of Sebastian's hands roaming to other parts of his body but not sure why that surprised him at all. It wasn't as if Sebastian was exactly the type to hold back... And that was why he probably should, Ryder realized to himself. He couldn't do this again, couldn't deal with how he would feel afterwards even if it did feel good in the moment. He eased his clenched leg muscles, about to slide away from Sebastian and tell him they needed to stop, but he was derailed by the feel of the other man's lips against his neck. His legs pulled Sebastian forward again, and the tips of his fingers dug into the bare skin of Sebastian's back.

Sebastian loved the way that Ryder was reacting to his touches and kisses. He really couldn't have dreamed of a better reaction, and he had definitely been dreaming about this moment for quite a while. He was done being the one that was holding back. This wasn't him. If Ryder was giving him the signs that he should go for it then he was going to go for it. Not sex, Arceus, no, he wasn't stupid, but something. Anything. Especially when Ryder pulled him closer. Urgh. Urgh. He gave Ryder's thigh a gentle squeeze before running hand up to hook around the waistband of pants, just curling his fingertips under the material to just touch the skin on Ryder's hip, tugging him forward to get better friction. He moved his lips up to place a kiss under Ryder's ear, the action oddly affectionate coming from Sebastian. He then completely ruined the affectionate moment by licking around the shell of Ryder's ear. "Mm, Ry, let me help you," he muttered, voice low and deep from his arousal. "Please. I'll do anything for you."

Ryder hummed lightly as Sebastian seemed to stop holding back, hipping his head to catch Sebastian's lips in his own again. This wasn't so bad, really, even if it didn't have the feelings attached that he would have liked to... It wasn't like anyone reciprocated how he felt, anyway, and now that he had ruined everything with Marley there was no one left for him to possibly hurt. And then it all clicked in his brain, right as Sebastian's hands trailed along his hip. Rachel. Rachel was engaged to Sebastian technically, right? Didn't that have to mean something, no matter how much they claimed that they were allowed to cheat on each other? He would say this definitely would count as cheating, and he was far, far from okay with that. He pulled back from Sebastian, ready to voice his concerns, when his hands slipped inside the waist band of Ryder's pants. He instantly froze, panicking at the idea of anything more than this. Images of his babysitter flashed through his mind, and he stiffened against Sebastian. Arceus, he really needed to stop being so afraid of sex. Not that he would be having sex here, but the thought of being touched still terrified him sometimes. How on earth was he going to find someone who would put up with that whenever he had feelings for real? Maybe he should just... And there was the deal breaker. Ryder sprang backwards, looking at Sebastian with his eyes wide. "I - you - what?" he blanched, hands instantly going for his hair to smooth it down into place.

Sebastian hadn't even thought about Rachel through this entire thing. It wasn't like he didn't like or care about her, but he still didn't see the thing they had between them as being an actual relationship. And even if it was, they had both agreed to cheat. Rachel had her date with Brittany, and there was no telling what was going to happen with that. So why couldn't he make out and possibly give a handjob to Ryder? It was basically on the same level, right? Even if it wasn't, he didn't see the big deal. Three years from now if they actually got married maybe things would be different. But right now Rachel Berry was the absolute last thing on his mind. He blinked when Ryder pulled back, lips slightly parted and swollen from all the kissing. And when he froze at such a simple touch, he knew something was wrong. He mentally kicked himself at what he had said, that he had even tried this in the first place. He immediately moved his hand and Ryder's legs so he could step back, hoping his hard on wasn't obvious. "I'm sorry, Arceus, Ry, I'm sorry," he rambled, horny and out of breath and completely terrified that he had just ruined everything. Of course he had done nothing but initiate the kiss- Ryder had done the rest of it- but he still felt incredibly guilty. "I-- just-- no, nothing, I'm sorry."

Ryder fought to catch his breath, although now for entirely different reasons. He had totally just panicked - he had gotten himself in way over his head, he had given Sebastian the totally wrong impression, he had freaked out when there were feelings and hands places where he wasn't used to being touched. His heart pounded against his ribcage, and he ducked his head, not meeting Sebastian's eyes and shaking his head. "No, no, no, don't apologize. That was my fault, I'm sorry, I shouldn't... I should have just stopped you sooner, because Rachel, and because Sam and K - Marley," Ryder choked, blinking in surprise one more time. What the actual fuck was going on inside of his brain right now? He took a calming breath and finally raised his eyes to meet Sebastian's. "I... we can't do stuff like this, dude. It's not fair to anyone else involved, and... yeah. I'm sorry," Ryder murmured lamely, not sure what to say or how he could possibly undo what had just happened. What if that had just smashed their friendship to pieces?

Sebastian ran his hand through his hair, which was messy, since Ryder had just had his hands all in it. He quickly attempted to smooth it down, feeling more nervous the longer it took Ryder to reply. He blinked when Ryder mentioned Rachel, unsure of what that had to do with anything. "I know. I know," he told him with a small sigh. "I just... I know you like Sam, Ry, and I know that should matter to me but it really doesn't. It doesn't. I really don't even care if you think-- nevermind. Nevermind. It doesn't matter. I just don't want to lose you," he told him, cutting off his rambling before he got too out of hand. He wasn't even the slightest bit drunk. Why in the world was he rambling like this? He bit down lightly on his bottom lip, nodding in agreement to what Ryder said. "Yeah, I know, Ry, I know." Even though he wanted to. He really wanted to. Because really, who had to know? No one had to know. And it had felt so amazing. There was no way that that couldn't have not felt good for Ryder, not when he had been reacting the way he had been. "....Please don't hate me," he added after a moment, tone quiet.

Ryder felt a lump form in his throat as he listened to Sebastian apologize. He wasn't used to hearing the other man sound so honest and vulnerable; the only other time he had really experienced emotion from him had been via text message, and he didn't think that was quite the same. It certainly hadn't had this kind of effect on him; the effect of making him feel like an absolutely horrible person for leading his friend on like this, for letting things get out of hand the way they had. "No, I mean... I'm dumb, for liking Sam in the first place," Ryder protested, shaking his head and cutting off this train of thought. "Even if he weren't with Quinn he'd never like me, I just..." He furrowed his brows, trying to think of what he could say to ease the tension that had sprung up between them now. "What - uh, what doesn't matter?" Ryder asked curiosity getting the better of him. He wanted to understand what was wrong; he really did. He smiled half-heartedly at Sebastian, clapping a hand on his shoulder in the most platonic way he possibly could. "Dude, you know I could never hate you. You're not gonna lose me, okay? We should maybe just... You know, I should maybe stop sticking my tongue out at people all the time," Ryder conceded, shaking his head and almost wanting to laugh at the fact that such a childish maneuver had started this whole thing.

Sebastian quickly shook his head when Ryder said that. "Ry, that's not true. There's no way that's true. I mean, I don't know Sam very well, but if he was single, he would have to be the stupidest man on the face of the world to not want to be with you," he told him, meaning that completely. "It's not your fault who you like." Or who he didn't like, which was probably even more important in this moment. He blinked when Ryder asked that question, wondering what he should say, and swallowed nervously. "It doesn't... It doesn't matter how I feel about you. Because you could never feel that for me and I understand that. It's fine. It's completely and totally my fault and... ugh." He took a step away, running his hand through his hair again. He looked at Ryder when he touched his shoulder, which stopped him before he started pacing. Pacing really probably wasn't the best thing to do right now anyway. He needed to take a deep breath and calm down, which he did. Well, he took a deep breath anyway. He didn't know why he had told Ryder that. It wasn't like he was going to magically change his mind about how he felt for him, no matter how much Sebastian wished that that would happen. He wished that he could be different, that he could have been a better person so that maybe he could be worthy of someone like Ryder liking him. But he couldn't go back in time, so he had to live with himself and his decisions. He smiled a little when Ryder said that he could never hate him, though it was slightly forced. "Alright, yeah," he agreed with the tiniest bit of a nod. "And you might want to keep your tongue in your mouth. When you don't, you're just tempting people, and that's just asking for trouble."

Ryder gave him a sad half-smile, wishing that he could actually believe what Sebastian was saying to him. But he couldn't - he had long ago accepted that he wasn't good enough for Sam, or for Kurt, or for any of the people that he really cared about here. He wondered if that was really how Sebastian felt about him, and his eyes flickered away guiltily. He blushed slightly, humming in agreement. No, it wasn't his fault who he liked - he wished he could change it. But even if he could, would he want to like Sebastian? As much as the other man assured him that he, Ryder, was too good for him... Ryder thought that the way he had just freaked out at the slightest touch sort of proved that he wasn't what the other man would want, at least not for long. He shot him another forced, lopsided grin, hopping down off the counter finally and returning to washing the dishes. This was a safe position. If he could just keep his damn tongue in his mouth, maybe he would be safe here, with his back turned and the bubbly water clearing his thoughts away as he washed the dishes mechanically. "I don't..." Ryder began, wishing Sebastian would see that even if Ryder ever did reciprocate his feelings that he would just grow bored with the younger trainer. He shook his head, deciding to try and get away with dropping the subject and turning back to lighthearted joking. "Well no one ever told me I led them into temptation before," he teased, shaking his head at Sebastian. "But I suppose I'll find a new method of mocking you."

Sebastian wasn't sure if the way Ryder said absolutely nothing to his confession was better or worse. All he knew was that he couldn't handle this right now. He was either going to say or do something stupid and he really couldn't risk that. He couldn't risk his friendship with Ryder because he knew, no matter what, being without him would be worse than this. He just had to get over his feelings and move on to a point where he could make out with Ryder and feel nothing, like he did with everyone else. It would happen eventually. He just stood there for a moment, watching Ryder do the dishes and still not speak to him. He swallowed. That's what he thought. Ryder could never like him. No one could. He could live with that. "Yeah, I suppose you will," he told him with a little smile. He snapped his fingers and Cassius popped over to him, immediately making a distressed sound and hugging Sebastian around the neck. He frowned a little when Cinna didn't immediately come over to him. He decided to give him a couple more moments. "Alright, well, Ry, I think I'm going to head out. Thanks for dinner and... everything else. It was really nice. Next time dinner will have to be on me." He snapped his fingers again and Cinna came scampering over, climbing up to sit on his shoulder. "Bye. I'll see you around."

Ryder was sick of it. He was sick of all of it. He hated the questioning himself, he hated the never knowing for sure what he was feeling or who he was feeling it towards. And with his date with Marley tomorrow, he didn’t feel right not knowing for sure, not having a real answer to give her about whether he liked guys or just girls or both should it come up. He just wished he could find the answers that he needed. Each time he had a conversation with Dave, or with Kurt, where his confusion was put on the table, it just left him feeling more miserable. He took a deep breath, looking around the room that he shared with Kurt. His friend was out for a bit, and the silence was driving Ryder insane. He rose to his feet, removed his Pokeballs from him, and kissed Pippa on the forehead, telling her to be good. The little Piplup protested at her trainer leaving her behind, but he was already out the door, padding through the hallways of the hotel to a room number that he was pretty sure was correct. He wasn't sure what he was doing; he usually wasn't one for such impulsive actions. But the man behind the door, Ryder had decided, was the only person around who might be able to help him get some definite answers, and quickly. Then he wouldn't have to wonder anymore. Then he would at least know... Even if he might hate himself for it later. He supposed he would just have to wait and see. Raising a hand and trying to control the way his knees were lightly shaking, he knocked on Sebastian's door.

Sebastian had been in Blackthorn for a few days, and he was just enjoying the fact that he was back in civilization. There was nothing he needed more than a shower and a hot meal. Probably a good lay as well but he was feeling much too lazy after such a long trip to feel like venturing out to check out the bar scene. He had filled the bathtub with water and his stupid Slowpoke was currently inhabiting it. Sebastian found it easier to keep the pokemon locked away in another room, and he had noticed that he enjoyed being in a bathtub full of warm water more than anything. They had bonded a little over the last few days but he really wasn't anymore attached to him. He just found the dopey pokemon annoying, albeit cuddly. He had plenty of cuddly pokemon though, one of which he was currently snuggling with when he heard a knock on the door. He blinked, immediately looking up at the door and wondering who in the world it could be. He actually hadn't invited anyone over and wasn't expecting any sort of room service or anything, which was why he was only in a pair of boxers while the rest of his clothes were being cleaned. That couldn't be his dry cleaning already, could it? There was no way. He got up out of bed with Cinna, who was just as curious, perched on his shoulder. He decided to pull on a pair of basketball shorts before going over to the door, peering through the peephole. Ryder? He undid the deadbolt and opened the door fully, smiling at the other trainer. "Why hello there," he greeted, voice a pleasant hum. "What a pleasant surprise. Need something, Ry?"

Ryder gulped when Sebastian opened the door wearing nothing but basketball shorts. He tried not let his eyes linger for too long on the bare torso in front of him, but he was fairly certain that he failed in that endeavor. He bit his lip, wondering if he should just leave now. Maybe he could take the fact that he was checking a shirtless guy out as answer enough. Maybe... Maybe not. He had been dealing with that ever since he had arrived in Johto, after all, and he still felt no more certain than he had before. Instead, he inhaled and met the eyes of the man in front of him. He had come this far; he would not chicken out now. Ryder Lynn was not a quitter, no matter how terrible his ideas sometimes might be. He felt the tips of his ears turn slightly pink when Sebastian addressed him, nodding slightly. "I... well, yeah, sort of. But first - uh, happy birthday dude," Ryder stammered, sure that he seemed very foolish. Now that he was actually here, what if Sebastian wasn't even interested in his proposition? What if he had misread all of his interactions with the other man?

Sebastian raised a brow when it took Ryder a moment to respond. Something was definitely up with this guy and he had no idea what it was. He absently scratched at his chest, smiling when he told him happy birthday. "Oh, well, thank you," he said with a little laugh. He hadn't really told anyone so he wasn't expecting any kind of celebration. He really didn't consider his age that big of a deal now that he was out on his own and didn't have anyone to buy him presents. Cinna had been extra affectionate though and had brought him a few berries as a surprise... along with a watch he had nicked off one of the patrons of the hotel. "Come on in. There's no need for standing around in the hallway." He stepped out of the door, letting the other trainer walk by. Cinna peered all around Ryder, chattering unhappily when his Piplup friend was nowhere to be seen.

Ryder forced a smile that he feared looked more like a grimace as he followed Sebastian through the door without a single word. "Thanks, " Ryder managed to mutter appreciatively, although if he thought that being inside would Make him feel any less exposed, he was certainly mistaken, Sebastian might be the one wearing hardly any clothes, but Ryder was feelingvery vulnerable and... naked . He distracted himself by looking to Cima apologetically. "NO Pippa tonight, pal, " he explained, feeling his stomach drop, He knew exactly what his best Poke mon would think of what he was about to do-well, try to do, anyway-and he had a feeling that She wouldn't approve.But then again... He still wasn't Sure of what he was doing either, He Could still just write this off as a friendly birthday greeting and retreat, right? He didn't have to listen to all those times when Dave had suggested he try stuff with a guy to Make sure that he was actually interested in guys and that whatever mixed up feelings he had for Sam weren't just a fluke. He didn't have anything to prove, right? So then why was he sitting down on the edge of Sebastian's bed without even waiting for an invitation? "Um... "Ryder began, trailing off uncomfortably again.

Sebastian closed the door once Ryder was inside, turning to watch him come in and sit on the edge of his bed. He frowned a little, able to sense that there was something wrong. The goofy trainer he was used to seemed to be gone. Ryder was being much too quiet and even more awkward than normal. He reached up, scratching Cinna behind the ears as he went over and sat on the bed beside him. Cinna crawled over him to sit on the shoulder closest to Ryder, worriedly chattering at him and reaching out to stroke his cheek with his tail. "Something the matter?" Sebastian asked, deciding that if the other man wouldn't talk he would.

Ryder let his eyes flicker up to Sebastian's face, and he felt his stomach do a flip. He could do this. He could just ask, right? Was that how people worked? Or was that going to make it seem like he thought Sebastian was a prostitute or something? But didn't prostitutes require money? Ryder inhaled deeply again, willing himself to stop overthinking things. This was nothing. This was just a way to shut up all the voices in his head. A way to make him stop wondering. "Um... Um, yeah, I guess you could say that. I just..." Ryder blinked, trying to choose his words carefully. How did one explain this to someone else? Especially to someone who was always as sure of himself as Sebastian? But then again, he reminded himself, that was why he had chosen to come here. He wanted that same kind of surety, that same sense of self-assurance. He bit his bottom lip, and then tried to voice his thoughts once more. "I'm just... I'm sick of people telling me that I need to go out and figure out for sure if, er, you know... If I'm into girls and guys. I just... I want to find out." There. He had said it, albeit in the most vague way possible. Maybe Sebastian would get what he was talking about. Or maybe he was being as awkward and weird as he felt like he was being as he shuffled his weight from side to side on the edge of the bed. He tried his best to smile upwards at Cinna, perched on his trainer's shoulder, as he waited for his words to sink in... If they did.

Sebastian waited for Ryder to finish speaking, wondering if the words would ever actually amount to something. He raised a brow as he finally got to the point, wondering what the other really wanted from him. A long heart felt talk about being bisexual? He wasn't sure if he was willing to offer that. He had always known that he was into both genders, anyone, everyone, he wasn't opposed as long as they weren't ugly. Sebastian looked at him for a moment, trying to decide what he wanted to say in response. "I mean..." He trailed off, not knowing for sure what Ryder wanted from him. He didn't even consider the fact that the other trainer might be here for sex. He was pretty sure Ryder was a virgin, and though they had flirted he would have never expected such a bold move. "Are you wanting to like, talk about it or what?"

Ryder shook his head fervently. "No. No, I'm sick of talking," Ryder said, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. He couldn't tell what Sebastian thought of him right now. That he was pathetic? That he was a loser? Ryder took a deep breath, examining himself and not even sure what to make of the situation. Was he really saying this? Did he really want this? At this point, he didn't care. He was here. There was no turning back. "Talking hasn't gotten me anywhere so far," he added, trying not to sound too bitter about it. Bitter wasn't usually his style. Usually it was so easy for him to brush things off and to let things go. But tonight... Tonight he had snapped. Tonight, that would all change. "Can... can you help me?" he asked quietly, not quite able to meet Sebastian's eyes, his face burning with embarrassment.

Sebastian nodded a little bit, secretly pleased. He was never one for talking anyway, so the fact that he didn't have to try to help Ryder through his sexuality crisis was a good one in his mind. But Ryder was still here. He obviously wanted something from him. It finally clicked when he heard his question and paired it with the blush and everything else he had been saying. Ryder wasn't here to talk. He was here for sex. Sebastian tried not to show how triumphant he was feeling. And he really hadn't even had to try. Ha, Kurt Hummel, he was about to break all of his rules. He smiled at Ryder, now only confused about why he suddenly wanted this now. "Was I not at least supposed to buy you dinner first?" he asked him, tone light and teasing.

Ryder nearly jumped off the edge of his seat when Sebastian spoke again, shaking him out of his own thoughts. He blinked once, twice, three times in confusion, parting his lips and then drawing them closer together again. "Dinner? Is that... Is that how this kind of thing is supposed to go?" In any other state, Ryder would have been able to recognize the joke. He would have been able to make the connection to all those dumb romance movies he had seen, those stupid stories that had done him absolutely no good and had only given him totally unrealistic expectations about life. He frowned slightly, afraid that he was being stupid again - that part, at least, wasn't anything new to him, even if the rest of this was horribly unfamiliar and leaving him feeling wholly unsettled. "I, uh... I don't really know what..." He trailed off again, turning his face away in shame as he stuttered and stumbled his way through a conversation with someone as smooth and confident as Sebastian.

Sebastian laughed lightly when he made him so flustered so easily, reaching out and resting his hand on the other's shoulder. "It was a joke, Ry," he said gently, smiling at him. "I just thought that that was what it would take if I ever got serious about trying to lure you into my bed." His smile widened. "Relax. It's fine. I'd love to help you." He couldn't help but feel excited. This was his favorite thing to do. Ruin people's innocence. Plus, it would infuriated Kurt, which was always a plus.

Ryder felt some of the tension leave his shoulders when Sebastian, but he instantly tensed up again. Oh, God, oh, God, he had no idea what he was doing. And... had Sebastian thought about this? Ryder supposed he wasn't surprised - he had figured this was the best place to go for a reason, after all - but that suddenly made him feel like there was more pressure on him to... well, perform. He was sure he looked highly unappealing right now, somewhere between a ghost and a confused child, but Sebastian was still smiling at him, at least. That was better than giving him some sort of judgment stare. So far he didn't feel compelled to dive under the blankets and hide. "Cool. Erm, good. I... thanks," Ryder said, averting his eyes again. Cool? Cool? He was about to lose his virginity and all he could say was cool? No wonder no one had ever wanted him before.

Sebastian moved his hand up to just touch Ryder's face, tilting his chin up so that he looked at him. He studied him for a moment. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, letting his hand drop. "I mean, I actually like you, Ryder. I don't want this to ruin our friendship for you or anything ridiculous like that." But really he didn't want him bailing last minute. When he got going he didn't like to have to stop.

Ryder felt his arms prick with goosebumps as Sebastian lifted his face. He met his friend's scrutinizing gaze, biting his lip slightly but then nodding with determination. No. No more being scared. No more hiding behind confusion and uncertainty. He was done with that, and this was his opportunity to prove it. This was his chance to move past all of the things he had kept bottled up since he had arrived in Johto. "Positive," Ryder said, shocked that he kept the wavering out of his voice. "Totally positive." He took another deep breath, trying to muster up a bit of normalcy in his interactions with Sebastian now that what he could only hope was the most awkward part was out of the way - the asking. "And don't worry, I'll still be happy to kick your team's butt on a regular basis even afterwards." He ignored the part where Sebastian mentioned actually liking him, partially because he was sure that was meant in a merely friendly way and partially because... Well, if on some off chance that wasn't what he meant, then that would only make this more complicated and reopen a train of thought he wanted to keep off his mind for the evening. The only people here were Ryder and Sebastian; he wouldn't let the person that he couldn't get out of his head enter into this particular encounter.

Sebastian nodded when he said that he was positive. Good, he was glad that the other had obviously thought about this for a while. He raised a brow when he said that, giving him an incredulous look. "Uh huh, in your dreams," he said playfully. He had definitely meant like in a friend way; being in any kind of relationship hadn't even crossed his mind. He looked at Ryder, licking his lips a little and wondering if it was appropriate for him to make the first move or if they needed to slip into casual conversation first. He was really never one for small talk but this was different.

Ryder shook his head lightly, finally starting to relax a little bit. "Pfft, whatever. I'm not the one dreaming around here, apparently," he teased, thinking back to Sebastian's earlier comment about what it would have taken to actually get him into bed. Well, he certainly was making that easy for him, at least. Or as easy as it could be when Ryder still felt a bit like a fish out of water in his current situation. He rocked back and forth slightly, not sure if he should playfully nudge Sebastian or not. The kind of goofy affection that came so easily to him when he was around Kurt or Sam seemed totally out of place here, and Ryder quickly felt himself retreating into his shell again, unconsciously crossing his arms across his stomach from his perch on the edge of the bed.

Sebastian exhaled quietly when Ryder seemed to disappear into himself again. He gave Cinna a subtle little nudge and the pokemon hopped over to sit in the other trainer's lap, babbling cutely and stroking his face with his tail, trying to get him to cheer up and relax a little bit. "Yeah, we'll see about that," Sebastian told him. "I could best you with any of my pokemon. Except that slowpoke."

Ryder couldn't help but smile as Cinna climbed onto his lap, stroking his face with his tail and even eliciting a giggle from him. Not many people were aware that he was ticklish - he only recalled letting that fact slip to Sam thus far - but the little Pokemon seemed on the brink of discovering his secret as his bushy tail brushed across Ryder's skin. "Dude, no faith in the Slowpoke! You finally get a nice watermon and all you do is hate on it," Ryder said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. Honestly, Slowpoke wasn't on the top of the list of Pokemon he would want on his team either, but he wasn't the one who had added one to his team. "Maybe it really should eat all of your pants to take its revenge," he teased, feeling at ease now that the Mincinno was in his lap and water mon were being discussed. For a moment he even forgot the purpose of his visit.

Sebastian was pleased that Cinna had done his job, and the little pokemon seemed content to snuggle against Ryder. "He's completely useless though," Sebastian told him. "I tried working with him and it took him five minutes to respond to my commands." He had told him to use water gun and the slowpoke had hit him with it several minutes later. "If you want to see him he's in the tub. I've learned that he's pretty happy and I can keep him locked in there so he cant get out at night and cause chaos.

Ryder instantly perked up at that. "You mean I finally get to meet the rabies-ridden beast I've been hearing so much about?" Ryder laughed, his head turning in the direction of the bathroom door. "Seriously, he's just hanging out in there all by himself? What kind of chaos are you expecting him to cause?" Ryder was endlessly amused by the Slowpoke. He did have a hard time picturing it on Sebastian's team; the other trainer didn't seem like he would have much patience for the often dimwitted Pokemon, but that only made it all the more endearing to Ryder. Ryder rose slowly, wrapping his arms around Cinna to support the little Mincinno as he headed in the direction of the dreaded Slowpoke. He half expected Sebastian's most trusted Pokemon to leap out of his arms and return to his owner as he neared the door to the bathroom.

Sebastian nodded. "Yeah, he loves it in there. As long as there's water he's fine," he told him, getting up to follow after him. Cinna climbed up on Ryder's shoulder, wrapping his tail around his neck and making himself comfortable. Sebastian moved around him, unlocking and opening the door. There was water all over the floor and Cato was half hanging out of the tub, looking content.

Ryder appraised the situation in the bathroom with a smile. Cato had made a mess to rival even Pippa' s greatest disaster. His thoughts briefy flickered to his beloved Piplup, guilt sinking in for leaving her alone in a room not too diffrrent from this one... But he couldn't worry about that, he reminded himself, sure that he actually shook his head. Pippa would only stop him, and sure, maybr rightfully so, but this was his mistake to make. He turned his focus back to his surroundings; to Sebastian, suprisingly calm about the havoc his Slowpoke had unleashed on the bathroom; to Cinna, a reassuring warmth perched on his shoulder; finally to Cato, lolling happily in the half filled basin. "A mon after my own heart... Knows that all it takes is a little bit of water and the world seems brighter." He knelt by the side of the tub and moved his face forward to examine the Slowpoke.

Sebastian just rolled his eyes at the mess. He wasn't going to be the one cleaning it up and it was just water anyway. Cinna finally bailed on Ryder when he entered the bathroom, wrinkling his little nose at the mess. He hopped onto the counter and then up onto Sebastian's shoulder, chattering Wh him and then pointing at Cato. "Oh, I see it," he told him with a small sigh, scratching behind his ears. "It's okay though." He looked over at Ryder and the lazy pink pokemon, who was blinking curiously at them. He stared at Ryder for a moment before licking the man's nose.

Ryder blinked in surprise, finding himself unable to back away from the Slowpoke. Why had he never noticed these Pokemon had abnormally large tongues before? He was sure that the look on his face was a strange contortion of horror and amusement. "Erm... That wasn't what I bargained for. But at least he didn't decide that my pants were edible," Ryder said, shrugging as if this was some sort of accomplishment. After all, it seemed a lot easier to wash Slowpoke slobber off his face than it seemed like it would be to buy a new pair of pants that he actually liked.

Sebastian laughed when Cato licked Ryder's face, one hand coming up to politely cover his smile. "He must like you," he hummed. "But don't worry. I don't think Lick is in his move set so you're safe from paralysis." He drooped his hand, grinning at him. Cinna giggled happily. The Slowpoke noticed Sebastian and his smile immediately widened. Sebastian's smile faded and he wrinkled his nose at the pokemon.

Ryder blanched at the other trainer's words. "Oh no... I didn't even think of that..." he said, now eyeing Cato warily. "You are a sneaky little dude, aren't you? If it's not rabies and clothes eating it's paralysis scares!" But despite the tone of gentle scolding, Ryder had reached out to scratch the top of the Slowpoke's head affectionately. He turned back to wrinkle his nose at Sebastian and Cinna once he was relatively confident that the Slowpoke was too content to cause anymore mayhem. "Still think he's a cute little guy... And look how much he likes you!" Ryder was amused by just how enthralled the pink blob was with his trainer. It put him more at ease; it helped him to further relax. He wasn't picking a bad guy to figure things out with, right? Not if all his Pokemon seemed to like him so much.

Sebastian finally ventured over to the bathtub, carefully avoiding the puddles of water as much as he could. He patted the slowpoke on his head and he made a happy sound. Sebastian was very good with his pokemon, there was absolutely no doubt about that. "Alright. He's kind of cute, I'll admit that at least," he said with a little sigh. "When he's still or asleep." At all other times he was still wary about his new pokemon.

Ryder smiled lightly when Sebastian conceded and came over to pet his Pokemon. "Aw, such specific criteria! You mean him sticking his giant tongue in my face wasn't appealing to you at all?" Ryder said with a laugh. He looked at Sebastian sideways, nodding slightly. This was good. This he could do. Cute Pokemon, lighthearted teasing, playing in the water... Maybe the psychic trainer would even forget what Ryder had come here for. Maybe that would be for the best? But then the thought of another handsome man with love and respect for and from water Pokemon crossed his mind, and Ryder sighed, knowing there was no way he could just forget about things. The thought of Sam shouldn't confuse the hell out of him the way it continued to do on a regular basis, and he had to know if it was just a fluke, or if... Well, Dave had always been so crude about it, but maybe he had a point about testing out the waters and seeing how it felt. He nodded again, hoping Sebastian didn't notice, and continued to focus on the water mon in front of him for the time being.

Sebastian laughed, smiling at him. "Well okay, maybe that was kind of appealing too, but I think the slowpoke was less appealing than the person he was licking," he teased, playfully nudging against him. He was also wondering if this was really going to happen, or if they were just going to chat and then pretend like the subject had never been brought up. "I suppose we're both just lucky that he doesn't splash like I'm sure your water mon do." He was just glad that Ryder was actually speaking to him again and not stuttering awkwardly.

Ryder raised an eyebrow at Sebastian suggestively, trying his best to be bold. "The person not the Pokemon huh? Well then I suppose tonight is your lucky night," he said, winking at him. That was how people flirted in movies, right? As opposed to his usual tactics of teasing and joking around? Arceus, he was awkward. He really had thought that once he asked it would be easier than this, but maybe Sebastian had only agreed to his crazy proposition to be nice and not make him feel humiliated for misreading all the flirting.

Sebastian eyes widened a little, in surprise more than anything. Pleasant surprise, of course. "I think you're mistaken," he hummed, grinning at him. "Tonight is going to be your lucky night, Ryder Lynn." While neither of them were watching, Cato managed to flop out of the tub right onto Ryder. Sebastian moved back as water splashed over the edge onto them, trying not to get wet. The slowpoke immediately latched on to Ryder's pants, tugging at them a little. "See, it's not funny now, is it?" Sebastian asked, though he was trying hard not to laugh.

Ryder felt the tight feeling in his chest subside a bit; Sebastian really was at least doing his best to make him feel totally comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as someone with Ryder's background could possibly be right now. "Is that so?" Ryder responded, smirking at Sebastian. Breathe, Ryder. Just be normal. "Well then I'm glad I came to the right place." His train of thought was only slightly interrupted by the Slowpoke flopping into his lap and nibbling on his pants, and he found himself laughing heartily. "I dunno, dude - I think he's just trying to be helpful. He can just sense people who hate clothes," Ryder joked, stroking the Slowpoke, who was now sprawled across him and still chewing on whatever part of the pants he could reach.

Sebastian nodded in response to his question. "Mhm, it is," he hummed, smirking back at him. This was much better. Who knew that stupid slowpoke would be able to ease the tension between the two of them. "And yes, you definitely came to the right place." He looked down at Cato, watching him happily chew on Ryder's pants. "That's quite possible," he agreed with a little nod. "Maybe he's just giving you a hint to lose the pants." He moved closer to him. "You know, I'd be willing to volunteer to help you with that."

Ryder cast a sidelong glance at Sebastian, letting out an amused huff. "Very tempting. I'd have to say, putting you in charge of that sounds quite a bit more appealing than letting Cato here do the honors," Ryder said, gaze shifting towards the Pokemon. He was certainly cute, and amusing, and he also seemed to have pointed things back in the right direction, allowing Ryder to regain the courage and purpose that he had left his own hotel room with.

Sebastian smiled at him. "Yes, I'd definitely agree with that, since I can actually work buttons and zippers. I don't think you want that slowpoke's mouth around there," he told him, reaching over and tapping the pokemon's nose. Cato made a small sound, letting go of Ryder's pants to turn his attention fully to his trainer. "I'd get up now, while you still can," he whispered to Ryder, tone playful. Cato had of course forgotten what he had been doing, had actually forgotten that Ryder was even sitting there.

Ryder nodded fervently in agreement. "Nope, definietly not Slowpoke territory," he affirmed. "I'd rather leave that in your hands." Ryder's heart hammered in his chest, and he fought down another bout of nerves as he took Sebastian's hint, clambering to his feet as soon as Cato released him. The floor was still slippery from the mess that the pink blob of a Pokemon had made with the bathtub, and Ryder, clumsy as always, nearly slipped, reaching out to hold onto Sebastian for support.

Sebastian seemed pleased by that remark. "Don't worry, you're in experienced hands," he hummed, glancing around the bathroom for his slowpoke's pokeball. He noticed Ryder almost trip and quickly stood to steady him, wrapping his arm around the other man's waist to keep him upright and instinctively pulling him closer. "Whoa, you okay there?" he asked with a little laugh, grinning down at him. "I thought you'd be more used to water than that."

Ryder flushed slightly, instinctively leaning in to Sebastian as the older man wrapped his arm around Ryder's waist to steady him. He let out a small hmph of indignation as the older trainer teased him. "Generally I prefer to keep water where it belongs, and last I checked, sloshed all over a tile floor wasn't on that list of places," he said matter-of-factly. "Or maybe I'm using my clumsiness as an excuse to get closer to you," he added with a smirk, even if that really hadn't been his intention at all.

Sebastian tightened his arm around Ryder when he leaned into him, having the overwhelming urge to keep the younger safe and steady. This was not okay. Was this what Kurt felt like around the trainer? He wasn't sure that he wanted to delve into that mind but he was going to assume the answer was yes. "I'm sure with your crew there's plenty of water all over the place," he replied, smiling at him. "Hm, well, I'm going to hope that that's the reason then. Wouldn't want to bruise your pride." He was so adorable. That smirk was precious. And before he could really even think about it or give the other man any time to respond to what he had said, he was dipping his head down to gently meet his lips.

Ryder didn't even have time to wrack his brain for a witty comeback before he felt Sebastian's lips claim his. He blinked in surprise, but didn't even hesitate to reciprocate the action. He hadn't mentioned the fact that he'd only ever been kissed once before in his life to Sebastian, and he hoped that it didn't show. His eyes slid closed and he felt his own hand go upward, cupping the side of Sebastian's face as his body hummed in pleasant surprise. Maybe Dave had had a point when he had said he should figure out how he felt about guys firsthand...

Sebastian had definitely kissed more than one person in his lifetime. By now he couldn't even remember who all he had shared kisses with; the list was quite long. It was something he normally quite enjoyed, though he never showed it. He found himself very much enjoying kissing Ryder though. He made a soft sound, pushing the other's lips apart with his own and not hesitating to lick into his mouth, ready to explore all of this new uncharted territory. Ryder was obviously reacting well, so he felt confident in his actions and what they were doing. His fingers curled into the other's shirt, gripping lightly at the fabric.

Ryder suppressed a groan as his lips parted and made way for Sebastian's tongue to explore. He felt the slight tug at his shirt, and his hips swayed forward, pressing his body into Sebastian's. His own tongue trailed along the inside of Sebastian's mouth, and his fingers slid across Sebastian's cheek before raking his scalp and clenching around his hair, as if he were desperate to keep Sebastian as close to him as possible.

Sebastian allowed the kiss to go on for several long moments before finally pulling away. He rested his forehead against Ryder's, lips slightly parted as he tried to catch his breath. He slowly untangled his fingers from the other man's shirt, though he kept pressed close to him. "I have to put my pokemon away," he told him quietly, eyes never leaving Ryder's. "But then I definitely want to come back and do a lot more of this." He didn't like having to put Cinna away but he knew that it was necessary.

Ryder nodded automatically, almost dizzy from the kiss that was now broken. "Yeah. Yeah, good idea," Ryder murmured, resisting the urge to kiss Sebastian again. Maybe this wasn't a bad idea at all. It certainly felt right - every part of his body protested as Sebastian broke contact to put his team away. He didn't want to think about what might come of this later; right now he was focused on the fact that for now, he seemed to have his answers. The rest would come in time. "Oh good, because I promise there's plenty more where that came from," Ryder teased lightly.

Sebastian gently nudged him back into the main area of the hotel room. He needed him a few feet away so he could control himself for a moment. "There better be," he said with a little laugh, finally locating the slowpoke's pokeball. He grabbed it and returned Cato to it, moving back into the living area with Cinna on his shoulder. The Minccino was already pouting, but Sebastian talked to him in quiet whispers and got him to calm down. He pulled Cinna's pokebal out of it's slot and returned him to it, placing the ball on the nightstand beside his bed for easy access. He then turned his attention to Ryder, fully aware that they were finally completely alone. He licked his lips in anticipation before motioning to the bed. "Care to join me?"

Ryder let himself be ushered back into the bedroom, although there was something surprisingly fun about being inside of a water-covered bathroom. He shot a sympathetic look to Cinna as the Pokemon pouted about being put inside of his ball; another reason for Ryder to have left his own team behind. It was more than just the embarrassment of being so forward, it was that this wasn't something they needed to see, even if they did approve. Ryder felt a jerk of excitement as Sebastian licked his lips, and nodded automatically. "I'd love to," he chuckled, following Sebastian's lead.

Sebastian got onto the bed, sitting on his knees. He didn't give Ryder much of a chance to move before he was pulling him on to the bed, a small laugh escaping his mouth as they tumbled down onto the bed together. He pinned the other trainer underneath him, one hand on the side of his head for support, and smiled down at him for a moment. He quickly closed the space between their lips, eager to get back to exploring his mouth. He enjoyed everything about Ryder; the way he tasted, the way he felt, everything was so nice.

Ryder collapsed onto the bed with a barely suppressed fit of giggles. His eyes flickered upwards, meeting Sebastian's, and shivering slightly as the space disappeared and their lips collided once more. Hmm. He really should have started kissing boys sooner, he though to himself as he tugged at the hand Sebastian was using to keep himself propped up in an effort to throw off his balance and bring him ever closer.

Sebastian didn't allow Ryder to push him off balance, gripping at the sheets a little to keep himself stable. First things first, he wasn't going to be the only one half naked. He reached down with his free hand, hooking it under the other's shirt and tugging it up. He broke their kiss long enough to yank it over his head, only giving them both a moment to breath before he was hungrily attacking his lips again. He finally shifted to give Ryder what he had wanted, lowering himself onto him so they were pressed as closely as possible, very much enjoying the skin on skin contact.

Ryder barely even had time to pout when Sebastian's lips left his; he eagerly lifted his arms above his head, willing his shirt to come off faster. It was only out of politeness he had worn one in the first place; he had spent all day without one, but he was sure it would have seemed even more presumptuous than he already had been if he had arrived shirtless. Normally he never let such self-conscious thoughts plague him, but this - this was different. With Sebastian's body finally pressed against his, Ryder realized that he definitely enjoyed the warmth of another body; this was different than all the cuddling he had grown used to with Kurt. He doesn't bother to fight for control; he was more than content to have Sebastian on top and in charge of the situation. It was what had made the thought of coming to him appealing in the first place, after all.He snaked his right arm around Sebastian's waist, sliding it upwards until his arm was curled around him, keeping him pressed closely to his chest.

Sebastian was beginning to regret his decision to put on clothes when Ryder had got here. If he had just stayed naked it might have made this process a lot quicker, not that he was complaining though. It may have been awkward at first but now that they had finally plunged into it it didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Ryder was letting him take the lead, which was definitely something he appreciated. He slipped his leg down between the other's pressing down against him to see what kind of reaction he could elicit from him. He pulled away from their kiss, which he assumed was more familiar territory for the other man, and began trailing hot, openmouthed kisses along his neck.

Ryder groaned appreciatively as Sebastian's leg pressed against him, feeling himself jerk in response. He gasped for air as Sebastian's mouth met his neck, and he dug his fingers into the flesh of his back, feeling almost incapacitated by the influx of new sensations. His fleetingly hoped that he wasn't a total bore or disappointment; his lack of experience had never seemed quite as embarrassing as it did now that he was pinned under Sebastian, reacting involuntarily to every touch.

Sebastian chuckled lightly when he felt Ryder immediately push up against him. Definitely a good sign. He found a nice spot right above his collar bone and bit down lightly, testing the waters. He felt a need to mark his new conquest as his own. He slipped his hands down, quickly undoing the button on Ryder's pants before slowly undoing the zipper. He had a feeling that Ryder wasn't going to be able to last that long, considering his inexperience, and he didn't want to waste any of their time.

Ryder tried not to gasp when Sebastian bit down on his collar bone; he definitely hadn't been expecting that. Instead he focused on the fact that his pants were now undone, and he fumbled to do the same to Sebastian, forgetting that the other was wearing basketball shorts. He felt the tips of his ears turn pink as he realized that he had slid his hands down across the smooth fabric, clumsily stroking Sebastian in the process.

Sebastian bit down a little harder, working the area to leave a pretty red mark against his smooth skin. He took in a sharp breath when he felt Ryder's hand brush along his length, even though it was accidental. "Watch out there, killer," he teased, wiggling Ryder's pants down so he could toss them to the side. "If you're going to touch me, touch me. Don't go leading me on." He slipped out of his basketball shorts, leaving them both in just underwear, which he believed was a good place to be at this point in time.

Ryder swallowed hard, hesitating. God, he really needed to stop focusing on how clueless he was and just go with what felt right. Maybe he should have taken a shot before he left his own hotel room or something - people always said that drinking took the edge off, and he was certainly edgy. He watched as his own pants were tossed to the side and he drew from his earlier resolve. "Well I'd hate to be too much of a tease," Ryder declared, surprised by the words coming out of his own mouth. Before he could second guess himself, his hand slid back downwards and cupped Sebastian firmly through his boxers.

Sebastian chuckled, amused by how bold he was being now that they were really going to do this. "Believe me, I wouldn't want you to be a tease either," he told him. He moaned very quietly when Ryder finally touched him, instinctively pushing against his hand. He didn't hesitate to dive right under the waistband of Ryder's boxers, wrapping his hand around his length and giving him a little squeeze. He was polite enough to touch him back, at least with Ryder he was anyway.

Ryder squirmed in Sebastian's grip, hips rocking forward slightly of their own free will. His mouth hung slightly agape, and he nuzzled at Sebastian's neck to try and recover his senses. So this was what it felt like for someone else to touch him... It felt like every inch of his skin had been electrified, and he squeezed his eyes shut, rotating his wrist so that he was stroking Sebastian's bare inner thigh. He blinked his eyes back open, hoping that the other would take the lead once more.

Sebastian was definitely going to take the lead. He wiggled to push Ryder's legs apart, slipping down between them. He pulled his hand away, rolling his hips down into the others and moaning quietly at the feeling. It had definitely been way too long since he had had sex. He needed to make sure to keep up with his appetite more.

Ryder let a soft moan escape his lips at the friction from Sebastian's move between his legs. He gasped, trying to catch his breath as one hand snared through Sebastian's hair and the other hand moved to brush lightly across the side of Sebastian's face before his fingertips settled on taut shoulder muscles.

Sebastian felt his breath coming more quickly by now as he focused on grinding down against the other man. He was definitely ready to shove himself up into that tight little hole of his. He forced himself to still his hips, looking down st him. "Have to get stuff," he told him, leaning down to give him a quick kiss before rolling off of him to rustle around in his bed for a condom and lube.

Ryder gulped thickly as Sebastian rolled off of him, rummaging for... whatever things it was he was looking for. He trusted that Sebastian knew exactly what he was doing and what they would need, so he was glad that his faith didn't seem to be misplaced. His eyes wandered around the room, feeling too self-conscious to actually let his gaze linger on the other mostly-naked man in the room. Ryder gripped the comforter with one hand, trying to calm his shallow breathing with another. He had come this far, and he had been enjoying himself, right? So long as he didn't think too hard about what was coming next or about who he wished he was with instead, he definitely considered things to be going well. And there was the small part of him that was comforted in knowing that, okay, he for sure was bisexual. It wasn't just feelings for Sam ('don't think about that right now, Ryder,' he reminded himself); he was definitely turned on by what was happening with Sebastian. His heart hammered against his chest again, and although his body hummed in anticipation of Sebastian's next move, his heart and his brain revolted. He could still leave now, right? Making out and fooling around were one thing, but actually giving up his virginity to someone that he didn't have romantic feelings for... Ryder bit his lip, thinking of how considerate and almost sweet Sebastian had been. How comfortable he had been trying to make Ryder feel. No, he couldn't just bail on him, he realized. He had come much too far for that, no matter what his inner turmoil was pointing towards him feeling later on. Plus, there was more than just his confusion about his sexuality to overcome. So far, this night had been a promising move forward for him in more ways than it was feeling like a step backward. He released his lower lip from his clenched teeth and managed to put on a coy smile before Sebastian turned around, sure that there was no longer any external sign of the hesitance he was really feeling.

Sebastian easily located the items that he always kept in a ready supply. He ripped a condom off of the strip of them and grabbed the bottle of lube before moving back over to the bed. He tossed both items onto the bed before returning to his previous position. "Miss me?" he asked with a little smirk, playfully trailing his fingers down Ryder's stomach and ghosting them over his cock.

Ryder felt his breath hitch as Sebastian returned, now clenching the sheets in his fists for entirely different reasons. He attempted to respond, but only a garbled sound came from his throat. He swallowed, licked his lips, and settled for nodding instead. "Mmhmm," he agreed with a murmur. Definitely missed him.

Sebastian couldn't help but laugh when Ryder failed to be able to form words. "You're so adorable," he teased, leaning down and giving him a kiss. He didn't let it linger for long though and was pulling away before it really even began. "I can't wait to ravage you." He smirked down at him, running his fingers through Ryder's hair in an almost affectionate manner.

Ryder blushed furiously, whether from the fact that Sebastian thought he was adorable or whether it was from the promise of what was still to come. His back arched, thrusting him upwards as his body searched to find more friction. "I'm...er, sorry that I really don't know what I'm doing," Ryder murmured awkwardly in response to Sebastian, hiding his face in crook of the older man's shoulder and scraping his teeth lightly across the skin, testing things out.

Sebastian gave him the friction he was searching for, pushing his hips down into the other man's. "Mm, don't worry, you're doing fine," he told him encouragingly, letting out a small moan when his teeth met his skin. "Mhm. Definitely doing fine." He curled his fingers around the waistband of Ryder's boxers, hesitating a moment before pulling them down and off. "...Are you really sure you want to do this?" he asked him quietly, moving so they were looking at each other again. "I mean, I really don't mind if you just want me to blow you or something." Last chance to bail.

Ryder let his eyes trail downward to where he was now completely naked and exposed, taking longer than he should to think about the question at hand. "I... d'you not want to?" Ryder blurted out, wondering whether he had managed to do something wrong within the last couple of minutes to change the other man's mind. Brown eyes trailed back up to meet Sebastian's, and he willed himself to not look too puzzled. He slipped his thumbs inside of the waistband of Sebastian's boxers, lightly trailing his fingers around the skin at his hips. "Because I really want to," he admitted rather shyly, opting to follow his body's instincts and leave everything else off the table.

Sebastian shook his head. "No, I definitely want to," he promised him, also letting his eyes wander down Ryder's naked form. Oh, he definitely wanted to. "I was just giving you one more chance. Being a gentleman and all that." He smiled at him, grabbing the bottle of lube and popping the top off. He wiggled himself back down between the other's legs, spreading them apart. "Be aware that this is going to hurt."

Ryder couldn't help but chuckle lightly."Thought gentleman wasn't your style once you actually got someone in bed," he teased, letting his fingertips graze across Sebastian's abdomen. He tried not to let his body tense too much at the other's warning; he hadn't really taken the time to consider the unpleasant physical effects that might come along with this. "O-okay," Ryder stammered, nodding firmly. He could do this. He had said he wanted to do this. He could handle a little bit of pain.

Sebastian laughed lightly along with him. "There are always exceptions," he reminded him. "And it looks like you're becoming one of them." He lubed up his fingers before placing the bottle to the side for easy access later. He was going to have to restock his supplies soon, but he would think about that later. "Just stay relaxed and you'll be fine," he hummed, placing a little kiss on his chest as he let his finger's tease over Ryder's entrance. He planned on being slow and thorough so there wasn't much pain to be had. Maybe he also planned on torturing him until he begged for it, but that was really just a bonus.

Ryder shivered slightly at Sebastian's touch, feeling goosebumps prickle across his skin. "I think I could learn to like being an exception," Ryder murmured against the his skin. He focused on breathing in, breathing out, and trying to keep himself relaxed. Sebastian obviously knew what he was doing, and there was nothing for him to be afraid of or tense about.

Sebastian definitely knew what he was doing. He spread Ryder's legs a little farther apart, circling around his entrance with just the tips of his fingers before gently massaging the smooth ring of muscle. He wanted to be able to get a nice stretch out of him, even though he knew that doing so would take a lot of time. He would have to try to put his impatience aside this once and take his time with him. After a few moments he carefully slipped a finger inside of him, going slow and giving him plenty of time to adjust to the feeling of being penetrated.

Ryder let his body go slack as Sebastian massaged him, helping him to feel comfortable and ready. He resisted the urge to cling to the bedsheets to steady himself, instead tugging at the boxers that Sebastian rather inconveniently still had on. "Not fair," he began, unable to finish formulating his protest to the clothes as Sebastian's finger actually entered him. Ryder let out a gasp, and he was sure that he squirmed. He bit down on his lip, initially feeling uncomfortable but slowly easing into the feeling.

Sebastian helped him to slip off his boxers, having to wiggle a little to do so with just his one hand, but he made it work. There, finally naked. He gave Ryder a moment to adjust, letting his forehead rest against the other man's. "You okay?" he asked in a whisper, moving to gently meet his lips. "Mm, just tell me if it's too much and I'll stop." He was so incredibly tight and he couldn't wait to take him. He began to slowly pump his finger in and out of him, wanting to get him adjusted as quickly as possible.

Ryder nodded in response to Sebastian's question, not wanting to break the contact between their lips. It was much easier to relax when he could be distracted by kissing at the same time. His eyes widened when Sebastian's clothes were finally off, feeling a tug of arousal in his abdomen. "I'm good," Ryder affirmed, feeling his body thrust against Sebastian's finger.

Sebastian hummed against his lips in response. He could definitely tell that the other man was good by the way he was pushing back against him. He slipped another finger into him, giving him a moment before scissoring them inside of him. He moved down to pepper kisses against Ryder's chest, skimming his tongue over his nipple before pulling the little nub into his mouth and sucking lightly.

Ryder inhaled sharply, clenching around Sebastian as another finger entered him. He bit down on his lip hard as he adjusted to the feeling of being filled like this. He drew in a rasping breath, releasing his death-grip on the comforter as the pain morphed into pleasure. "Oh my god, S...Sebastian," Ryder choked out when the other man's tongue went to work on his upper body. Ryder let his hand across the muscles on Sebastian's bare back, his face flushing in embarrassment. Holy. Shit. Had that really just happened? He hadn't exactly been very vocal throughout all of this because he had no idea if people were supposed to talk during sex, or if they were what they were supposed to say, but he was pretty sure it was a complete and total faux-pas to say someone else's name... But it definitely hadn't been Sebastian at the tip of Ryder's tongue. He squeezed his eyes shut, thankful that there would be no way for Sebastian to realize that he had been thinking about Sam - again - since their names started with the same letter. He pushed those thoughts out of his head, not for the first time tonight, and fluttered his eyes back open, determined to enjoy the moment. After all, there was nothing he could do to stop it now, and it was a pretty damn good moment, if he was being totally honest with himself.

Sebastian groaned quietly when Ryder clench around him, biting down a little on his nipple. He glanced up at him when he said his name, a small smirk forming on his face. He pulled away with a lewd little pop, licking his lips appreciatively. "I think Seb is appropriate," he muttered, kissing the corner of his mouth. "I think we're there now." He moved the short distance to meet his lips full on again, pushing them apart to slip his tongue into his mouth. He crooked his fingers just enough to rub his fingertips against the other's prostate.

Ryder supposed that his inclination to say stupid things would never end, because he blushed slightly at Sebastian's statements, not quite sure what he meant. He would have asked where it was he thought they were - was there something that Ryder was supposed to be doing differently? - but he was silenced by lips crashing onto his and tongue probing his mouth again. Their positions shifted slightly, and the placement of Sebastian's fingertips left him arching upwards, desperate to be even closer.

Sebastian hadn't thought that what Ryder has said was stupid. He had very much enjoyed it, actually, and was just letting him know. He quickly pumped his fingers in and out of him, making sure to hit him at just the right angle to get the perfect reaction out of him. He slipped his free hand around to gently squeeze Ryder's backside before slipping his hand down, playing his fingers down his thigh. He pulled his leg up around his waist.

Ryder moaned again, though he didn't dare to say his name - or anyone else's - out loud. Instead he let his lips trail away from Sebastian's, nibbling slightly on his earlobe and then, feeling self conscious again, trailing down to the safety of his neck, where he could easily bury his face and hide. Sebastian moved one of his legs up to his waist, and Ryder rocked slightly against his hand, bringing his other leg to wrap it around Sebastian as well.

Sebastian moaned a little more loudly when Ryder nipped his earlobe, eyes sliding shut. He did have a thing for being bitten... maybe that was a fact he should have voiced out loud, considering that Ryder had already moved on to something safer. "Guh, bite," he whispered to him, tone a little breathy. "Please, Ry, go ahead." He slipped in another finger, spreading them inside of him. He was feeling an overwhelming need to be inside him and he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait.

Ryder felt emboldened by the fact that Sebastian actually seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. He grazed his teeth slightly along his neck as he trailed his way back upwards, nuzzling the side of his face as he went to bite gently on his earlobe a second time. "Oh..." he breathed heavily, feeling a third finger inside of him. The initial unpleasantness was there again, but this time Ryder's clenching was less out of fear and more of anticipation for that moment when it started to feel good again. He sighed heavily when that point hit, rocking against Sebastian as he navigated inside of him.

Sebastian was incredibly pleased when Ryder was a good boy and did what he was told to do. He moaned, pushing his hips down to grind against the other man's leg, needing some sort of friction. That was it, he couldn't possibly wait any longer. He pulled his fingers away from him, grabbing the condom and ripping open the package with his teeth, since his other hand was messy. "Ready?" he asked him, tone low and a little rough from arousal. It was a slightly irrelevant question though, considering he was rolling the condom onto his length anyway.

Ryder whimpered in reply, sure that he couldn't form any kind of coherent sentence. His hand trailed over the smooth skin on Sebastian's stomach, though, and he let his own hand join with Sebastian's, helping him roll the condom onto himself. "Now?" Ryder asked hoarsely, nodding to show that he hoped the answer would be yes. His eyes never wavered from Sebastian's; he was determined not to let the small part of himself that was still scared show through.

Sebastian groaned quietly when Ryder touched him, letting him take over. "Mhm. Right now," he answered, smirking down at him a little and keeping the eye contact. He wiped the remaining lube off on himself before positioning himself at the other's entrance. He teased against him with the tip of his cock before just barely pushing into him. He knew he was going to have to take this slow, no matter how torturous it was going to be.

Ryder bit his lip in anticipation, shyly looking away from Sebastian just before he pushed past the tip. His lips fell open to form an 'o' as his legs tightened around Sebastian's waist to keep himself from squirming. He still hadn't been totally prepared for this, even after everything leading up to it, and he let out a half groan, half whine as he stretched open for Sebastian to fit inside.

Sebastian let out a little grunt as he tried to control himself. It had been such a long time and Ryder was so amazingly tight. He had forgotten about how nice virgins were. He slowly forced his way into him until he was completely buried inside of him, placing comforting little kisses all along his neck as he waited for his cue that it was okay for him tostart moving.

Ryder shivered slightly, goose bumps peppering his skin as Sebastian kissed his neck. His fingertips dug into the skin of Sebastian's back as he steadied himself, breathed heavily, and he nudged Sebastian's face upwards with his nose, kissing him hungrily to show that he was ready for more.

Sebastian took the hint and moved to kiss the other man back just as eagerly. He pulled Ryder's bottom lip into his mouth, running his tongue along the curve of his nip before nipping down lightly. His hands slipped down, gripping his hips as he began to slowly pump in and out of him. He found Ryder's name escaping his lips in a quiet moan and he struggled to not move as quickly as he wanted to, needed to.

Ryder pulled his face back, letting his head loll to the side on the pillow. He was worried that his fingernails were starting to dig into Sebastian's back, but did nothing to fix it; with each movement, he clung more tightly to the man on top of him. He gave up on trying to worry about what sort of sounds he was making, low moans coming from him as his back arched to allow him to take Sebastian deeper.

Sebastian definitely didn't mind the way Ryder's nails were digging to his back. After a moment he let go of his hips, allowing the other man to push up against his thrusts should he feel the need to do so. He moved his hand up to run his fingers through Ryder's hair, tugging enough to move his head so he could roughly meet his lips again. Kissing was something he definitely enjoyed and he eagerly swallowed down those delicious moans that were escaping from the other. His rhythm began to quickly speed up as he lost the control he had been trying to cling to. He shifted his hips before withdrawing almost completely and snapping them forward again, nailing right against that little bundle of nerves that he knew would drive the other man crazy.

Ryder whimpered into the kiss as Sebastian hit a spot that had him close to coming completely undone. He felt heat pooling inside of him, but he dug his nails further into Sebastian's skin, trying to calm himself even as his body rocked against the other man's. He knew he had the excuse of being a virgin on his side, but he still didn't want to lose control too early. "Please," he murmured, lips vibrating against Sebastian's as he begged for him to keep going.

Sebastian wasn't going to stop, no way he could really stop even if he wanted to. He needed this release and it was so close he could almost taste it. He had to keep in mind that that was all this was, just him having sex with someone. It didn't mean anything, but part of him wished it did and that was terrifying. This was what he got for having sex with someone that he could actually stand being around, someone who's friendship he actually enjoyed. But that wasn't something he could think about now. He drove down into him over and over, rhythm getting more erratic as he focused less on controlling himself and more on just getting the both of them off as quickly as possible. He wrapped his hand around Ryder's cock, rubbing his thumb over his tip before he began stroking him in time with his thrusts.

Ryder gasped out as Sebastian's movements became more unpredictable, and he groaned as Sebastian's hands stroking him were added into things. He bit down on Sebastian's shoulder, hopefully not too hard, as he thrust upwards into Sebastian's hands.

Sebastian groaned when Ryder bit down on his shoulder, turning his head to bury his face against the crook of his neck. "Close," he whispered to him, lips pressed right against his ear and his tone husky. He let his tongue dart out to trace along the shell of Ryder's ear before gently sucking on his earlobe.

Ryder clenched involuntarily around Sebastian as he let go inside of him, moaning as the heat that had been pooling in his abdomen became too much to bear and he also spilled out his release. He buried his head into Sebastian's chest, panting and hiding the blush that had crept onto his cheeks.

Sebastian whimpered quietly when he felt Ryder clench around him, letting out another low moan. He worked the other man through his release before letting his hand slip down onto the bed. He clung to him for a moment, trying to steady his breathing and regain his ability to function. That had been different... good different. Very good different. Something he could see himself repeating over and over again.

Ryder tried to catch his breath, sweat sticking his hair to his forehead as the rush of blood in his body calmed and other parts of his body started to come into play. He forced a shy smile in Sebastian's direction, remembering his resolve not to act strangely after the other man after all was said and done, but the wheels were already turning inside of his head...

Sebastian found himself not only smiling back at him but leaning down to kiss him gently. His head was still such a cloud from his high that he hadn't quite come down from that he really wasn't thinking about anything. After letting the kiss linger a moment he slowly pulled out of him, ridding himself of the condom and tying it off before he threw it in the trashcan beside his bed. He then returned to Ryder, wrapping his arms around him and gently pulling him close. He had never actually cuddled with another person before but he was assuming it couldn't be that different than cuddling with a pokemon. He cleared his throat, trying to think of something to say. "...Well, that was nice," was what he ended up with, laughing lightly at himself.

Ryder felt his heart pound in his chest, but for entirely different reasons this time. Fortunately he was well versed in forcing a smile - and at the very least, he didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable around Sebastian as he would have expected himself to. He supposed that was one thing he could add to the positives column for today, even if the list of things was slowly shrinking now that he was thinking clearly again. He let himself kiss Sebastian back, not quite returning the gesture with the same passion as he had earlier but assuming that he might seem tired enough for that to be okay, too. He let himself be pulled closer to Sebastian, nestling his head lightly on the other man's chest and thinking to himself, horrified, that there was somewhere else he should be right now, and someone else he had promised to always provide cuddles to.

Sebastian looked down at him, a little surprised when he got no kind of response in return. He ran his fingers through Ryder's hair, lightly brushing the sweaty strands that were clinging to his forehead back into place. "You alright?" he asked quietly, unable to keep the concern out of his tone. Ryder was his friend. He could be worried about him, right? "I mean, I didn't hurt you, did I?" He thought back through their little romp together and couldn't even remember seeing him wince or anything like that. He didn't think twice about the other being uncomfortable with cuddling him; if he cuddled with Kurt, why couldn't he cuddle with him too? Speaking of, he was going to have to relate this little incident to his dear friend Kurt Hummel. As soon as possible. but right now his attention was elsewhere

Ryder sighed, curling closer to Sebastian, trying to make his body as small as he currently felt. "Yeah... yeah, I'm good," Ryder murmured, blinking to look up at Sebastian and feeling a real smile cross his face. Well. He had just lost his virginity, and he really didn't feel... Anything. He had expected to feel different, and there was the surety that he had lacked regarding his sexuality prior to tonight, but aside from that, he felt a little bit numb. Sebastian certainly hadn't hurt him, and physically, things had been great - and it was nice to have him showing concern right now. At least he didn't feel as if he had been used. Unfortunately, it did make him start to feel as if he was the one using somebody else, and he had never been that guy before. "I... definitely good," he concluded, unsure what other lie he could tell.

Sebastian smiled back at him, pleased by that response. "Good, I'm glad," he replied, sounding a little relieved. He had wanted it to be good for him, had actually put effort into pleasing the other person for once. He was glad that he had been successful, though it wasn't as though he had ever doubted his abilities. He let his fingers trail lazily up and down Ryder's spine, for once in his life enjoying the company of another person after sex. "So," he said, swallowing a little. He knew what he wanted to say but wasn't sure how to word it. "If you ever feel like exploring your sexuality again, feel free to let me know." Hie grinned at him. He didn't know how to tell him that he would really like to do this again, maybe in a better way. Perhaps with dinner, or at least with drinks beforehand.

Ryder tried not to show his surprise when Sebastian flashed him that handsome grin and offered to do this again sometime. Wasn't he supposed to be the one night stand guy? Now that he was proud of that fact, but that had sort of been why Ryder had thought coming to him for help might be a good idea. "Dude, didn't think that was your style," he said with an easily forced laugh, trying not to blush at the prospect. He liked Sebastian, sure, but right now he was already beginning to not like himself for having sex with someone who was nothing more than a friend to him. His eyelids closed briefly, and he pictured a different face, a different body next to him... His stomach fluttered slightly, and he really did blush then. Man, what had he done?

Sebastian laughed at that, his own not forced at all, and gave him a little shrug in response. "I already told you that you were the exception," he reminded him with a little hum. He watched curiously as his eyes closed, watched that blush spread across his face and wondered what in the world Ryder was thinking about. He had this odd churning feeling in his stomach that something wasn't right here, that his feelings weren't right or that something was just off. He ignored it though, like he did most of his instincts when it came to things like this, pushing the bad feeling to the side and pretending like it had never happened. "And I believe that someone said he could get used to being the exception."

Ryder murmured in agreement, trapped by his own words. "I suppose I did say that," he admitted, doing his best to sound coy rather than nervous or uncomfortable. Sebastian didn't want to actually date him, right? Because that wasn't what was supposed to happen at all. He was sure he was misreading the situation completely; his own mind was already clouded by the fact that what he had just done had drastically gone against all his grand romantic plans for the first time he gave himself to somebody else, he didn't need to start feeling the weight of disappointing somebody else, too. "Guess you'll just have to hold me to that promise," he added in a whisper, nestling closer again and trying to just stop thinking.

Sebastian felt the uneasy feeling returning to him and this time he couldn't fight it down. He could tell that Ryder was uncomfortable with him. He had been living with a Ralts for the last seven years, he knew how to feel and read the emotions of others. Most of the time he used it for his own benefit to find out interesting information or to prey on people when they were the most vulnerable, but it looked like it was finally coming back to hurt him. This had just been about sex. Nothing more. Ryder had come to him because he was a well known man-whore and that was it. He swallowed, chuckling lightly at his statement. He was a master of hiding his own emotions so nothing showed. He'd get over it. He had just gotten caught up in the moment and he would get over it. "I guess that I will," he whispered back, pressing an affectionate little kiss to the top of his head.

Ryder sighed, not sure what to do in this situation. "I...uh... I don't really know how this part works either, you know," Ryder admitted, biting his lip with embarrassment again. He had assumed that once he had gotten through the sex aspect of the evening, the rest would be natural, but this time he didn't even have his body's reactions guiding him. Was he supposed to stay? Was he supposed to leave? Were they supposed to just have a normal conversation right now? Even without all of the other people crowding inside of his head right now, making him confused, he wasn't sure how to act. "Like... um... do you actually like cuddling, or are you just doing this because you know I do?" The tips of his ears must be flaming red by now - he never actually talked about cuddling with anyone but Kurt, after all.

Sebastian blinked when he spoke. Ah, well, he didn't actually know that. Normally he just pulled away from the person and gave them a few moments before asking them to leave, or leaving himself if he wasn't where he was staying. "I do like cuddling," he admitted to him, figuring it wasn't really that big of a deal to admit. At least, he liked cuddling with his pokemon and he wanted to cuddle with Ryder. "But if you want to go that's fine. I understand if you have somewhere to be." Someone to get back to, meaning Kurt and his team. But he didn't say that. He didn't want him to leave.

Ryder shook his head, feeling guilt creeping through his veins. Sebastian's exterior was still cool and calm, but something about the way he was speaking to Ryder made him feel like something off. He offered to let him leave, and a part of Ryder definitely wanted to take that opportunity to leave. The other part of him, though, dreaded facing Kurt, dreaded having to look anyone else in the eyes after this. He wasn't Ryder Lynn, the good guy, the innocent one, anymore... At least he wouldn't be in their eyes. If only they knew that he hadn't been that way for a long time... But that was another thing he didn't dare get into. If Sebastian liked cuddling, he may as well stay here, stay safely in somebody's arms, even if they were the wrong ones, for a little bit longer before the storm in his head caught up with him. "Nope, nowhere to be," Ryder said, smiling appreciatively. "Nobody's gonna miss me just yet."

Sebastian tried not to look surprised when Ryder didn't immediately get up to leave, and he relaxed a little more. He hadn't even realized he had been tense but apparently he had been. He nuzzled against him a little. "Alright, well, if you're sure. Guess I won't force you out of my bed," he hummed, smiling back at him. He felt a little better even though he knew he shouldn't, knew that this didn't mean anything at all, shouldn't mean anything for either of them. "At least not this time, since you managed to behave yourself."

Ryder chuckled lightly. "Oh, was I a good boy, then?" Ryder hated himself for joking around like this when he knew that he was the complete opposite. For crying out loud, he had a date in less than 24 hours with a girl that he really, really liked. Was he just trying to sabotage himself right now? He tried to calm himself down; it wouldn't have been fair to Marley to not know whether he was bi or not, right? He just maybe could have picked a better way of finding out. Ryder opened his mouth to try to make another joke, to try to ease the tension that he had been feeling, but instead he laid eyes on something sitting atop pink, sparkly wrapping paper on the room dresser. "Uh, dude... what is that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Sebastian laughed when he said that. "Mhm, you were," he told him, snuggling a little closer. He blinked when Ryder asked that, not understanding what he was talking about. "Hm?" He raised his head, eyes following Ryder's gaze over to the package he had received that morning. He laughed at the memory and how ridiculous it was, turning his head to muffle the sound against Ryder's shoulder. Yeah, that was definitely an article that was going to be had to explained. "It's a collar," he told him. "My, ah, fiance, I suppose, sent it to me."

Ryder just continued to look puzzled, not understanding why Sebastian was laughing into his shoulder. "A collar? Is she getting you a pet dog mon or something?" Ryder blinked thoughtfully, trying to picture Sebastian with a large puppy-like Pokemon. "Er... actually, you strike me as more of a cat guy. Is she getting you a pet cat?"

Sebastian couldn't believe that they were having this conversation. Aw. Poor Ryder. "Still so much to learn," he teased, gently poking his side. He knew the other man was ticklish. "Apparently I have more to teach you." He motioned toward the collar. "That collar isn't for a pokemon, Ry, it's for me. Apparently... well, I don't even know what else to say about it. I was incredibly surprised to receive a present like that from Rachel."

Ryder squirmed, putting on his best pout. "Not fair! I'm totally ticklish," Ryder whined. His eyes narrowed slightly as Sebastian motioned towards the collar, not quite grasping its purpose still. "For you...?" he questioned aloud, and then suddenly it clicked. "Oh! Oh," he repeated, blushing furiously. Rachel had sent him a collar? "I must seem pretty boring in comparison to that..." he managed, trying to picture himself ever using such a thing. He thought of sweet, innocent Marley, and a stab of guilt crossed through him again, both for what he had just done with Sebastian and for even thinking about her while he was in his present situation, so he pushed that away. Then his mind started to wander to other people... If possible, his blush deepened, because okay, he could kind of see how that might be exciting...

Sebastian laughed lightly. "I know that you're ticklish, which is why I tickled you," he informed him. He waited for it to click with him and smiled when it did. "Mhm, yeah, now you get it." He immediately shook his head when Ryder said he was boring. "Definitely not. I mean, Rachel didn't even know that she was going in a sex shop when she went in to buy it, so I don't think all of it's uses were in her mind. I really don't even know what she was thinking, honestly."

Ryder continued to pout in his direction. "Not fair, why does it seem like everyone knows my secret tickling weakness?" He attempted to poke at Sebastian, huffing slightly. "Plus it seems like nobody else is ticklish back." Ryder's eyes widened at the mental image of Rachel Berry in a sex shop. "Uh... how does one, like, go into a sex shop without knowing it? Where would you even find something like that?" Ryder knew that he was sort of rambling; he was saying the first thing that came to mind to try to keep his mind from creeping back towards the hollow feeling that was still lurking there. He could have a normal conversation, right? He and Kurt had normal conversations when they were cuddling, and that wasn't weird. There were just more clothes on, he supposed. When his brain finally caught up to his words, he sputtered, "Not that I want to know for... I just didn't... I'm gonna shut up now."

Sebastian had to admit that he wasn't ticklish, at least not in his sides. He playfully pushed Ryder's hand away from him. "I suppose you just seem like the ticklish type," he informed him. He raised a brow when Ryder said that, laughing lightly. "Honestly I don't know, but there're some in the bigger cities. She stumbled across one in Goldenrod." He smiled at him when he tried to backtrack. "Don't worry, I didn't think that you were wanting to know because you wanted to visit," he assured him. He felt warm, in a strange new way, and he knew it wasn't good. Maybe he should just let the other man leave.

Ryder continued to pout in Sebastian's general direction as he moved his hand away. "Do I get to find out your secret weakness, then, since you already know mine?" He wasn't really sure why he bothered to ask because he was fairly certain that Sebastian either didn't let anything effect him enough to have a secret weakness, or if he did he kept it hidden and would have no real reason to share it with Ryder. "She didn't notice, like - wouldn't there be really weird stuff in there? Like, all kinds of awkward things that would be a sign she was in the wrong place?" He leaned his head to the side thoughtfully, allowing himself more pointless musing to keep him from thinking about any of the real things that were waiting to be dealt with later. "I bet Rachel would find a totally non-sexual use for the collar if she could see your right now... Needs to keep her fiance on a leash, that one does."

Sebastian shook his head, the smile still on his face. "What makes you think that I even have any weaknesses?" he asked him with a playful smirk. "Even if I did have some, it'd take more than one night before I started revealing them to you." He shook his head again. "Apparently she noticed some of the things but it just confused her. She's pretty oblivious." He laughed lightly, fingers curling lightly against Ryder's back. "A leash? I'm really surprised that that wasn't in with the collar, actually. But I don't think we're going to have any problems. I'm not to be tied down and she knows that." At least not to a woman, at least. He would admit that he kind of liked Rachel, but at that moment the way he felt about her was a lot different than what he was feeling now about Ryder. He thought Rachel was entertaining, yes, but that was about as far as his emotions went. That was as far as he thought they could go, but apparently he had been wrong. Unfortunately, he had been wrong. Hopefully it would just all go away.

Ryder shrugged. He wasn't planning on spending any more nights with Sebastian like this, but he could play along, right? It wasn't like he was going to crawl under a rock and never see Sebastian again, after all. He was a pretty cool guy, despite what some others seemed to think, and he enjoyed hanging out with him. He would just not go seek him out in his hotel room anymore; that should be easy enough. "Oh of course... I would never dream that you had a weakness," Ryder responded with a smirk of his own. "But just in case, perhaps I should be prepared to do some investigating..." He lazily let his own fingers trail over Sebastian's skin; okay, so maybe he was used to cuddling with Kurt these days, but it was never quite like this. "You guys are crazy. What's the point in even thinking about marrying someone if you're not, like, head over heels in love with them?" Ryder held in a sigh, not wanting to draw Sebastian's attention to him, as he began to think about the idea of being with someone he really had deep feelings for and he began to retreat into himself again.

Sebastian just hummed in reply. Maybe he did have weaknesses that he hadn't even noticed until tonight. It wasn't a nice thought. "Mhm, maybe you should start investigating," he agreed, pressing a small kiss to Ryder's shoulder. "Don't think you're going to find anything though." He was confused when Ryder spoke like they really were getting married. "It's not like it's actually going to happen," he told him, looking down at him. "She's not getting married until after she wins the Grand Festival here in Johto, and I'm pretty sure that's never going to happen, so I'm safe." He could never be in love anyway, so it's not like he would marry for love. He couldn't have those kinds of ties. But if he did get married to Rachel, it's not like it would be that big of a loss if someone kidnapped her or something. Speaking of kidnapping... He studied Ryder for a moment. "Why are you in Johto again?" he asked suddenly.

Ryder shivered slightly, hating the fact that Sebastian kissing him still felt good even after he had already determined that everything that had just happened had been totally wrong. "I've got some pretty awesome sleuthing skills," Ryder teased, even though that was decidedly untrue. He was generally pretty oblivious to most things. He let out a chuckle when the conversation returned to Rachel and Sebastian's "wedding" plans. "Dunno, dude - you say that now, but she seems pretty dead set on it happening. She's pretty determined seeming too, so she'd totally never stop until she got you to go along with it." Ryder frowned slightly when the conversation changed abruptly. He couldn't remember if he'd ever told Sebastian the real reason he was in Johto or not; he knew it was something that a handful of people know for sure, but wasn't positive that it was common knowledge. "I - uh, this is probably going to sound pretty stupid, but I guess... Well, my dad disappeared the night before my 10th birthday, right? And I've never known what happened to him. There used to be some rumors, back when Team Rocket was around, but then obviously those went away. But when Sue escaped, people talk, you know, and I wasn't sure if... I know it's a long-shot, and that the odds of me finding him are like, 0, but - I have to try, right? I can't - I can't not try." His words came out very quickly, and he was sure that the tips of his ears were turning pink again, this time from feeling foolish and naive for still having any sort of hope that he would find his father someday.

Sebastian was definitely pleased that his kiss had gotten that reaction out of Ryder. He had to admit that he was incredibly proud of himself for being at this point at this moment, having the ability to kiss and touch him as much as he wanted. No one was off limits to Sebastian Smythe, and he had proven that. Unfortunately, he hadn't expected the feelings that had come along with actually having sex with someone he liked. It wasn't something he had expected. He wrinkled his nose at Ryder when he spoke about how determined Rachel was going to be, really hoping that wasn't going to be the case. "At least we've already agreed to cheat on each other, not have kids, and not kill each other. I guess I could do a lot worse," he told him with a shrug. "I'll have to invest in a roll of duct tape to get her to shut up, but other than that I think it'll probably be fine." He listened to Ryder as he spoke. So he had made the right connections. The man currently being stored in Tina's father's basement was in fact the father of one adorable water trainer known as Ryder. Good to know. "And you haven't heard anything about him?" he asked, frowning a little. It was so easy to pretend like he didn't know. He wasn't sure if he was going to tell him or not. He could use this information to lure Ryder back to him if he tried to leave... but was that really the way he wanted to go about this? If he did want to acknowledge the feelings he may or may not have for the other man, did he really want to force him to like him by baiting him with information? He wasn't sure.

Ryder shook his head at Sebastian with a small 'tut' of disapproval. "How romantic of you." He vaguely wondered how far he could push with his teasing, and stuck his tongue out at Sebastian as if he was a little kid - totally not the right thing to do when you're naked in bed with somebody, he made a mental note of that for if he was ever in this position again. "So that means it's okay if I run off with Rachel for a little bit, then? I promise I'll even return her with the duct tape back on." The dark shadow crossed over Ryder's face again when Sebastian asked about information regarding his father. He drew his arms up to his chest, crossing them around himself as if he was giving himself a hug. "I mean... Not a lot. Not enough to be helpful. But enough to wind up here in Johto, right? I just... I don't really have any leads. I talked to Marley about it, sort of, but she hasn't heard that much about Team Rocket members underground here or anything either." He shrugged, trying to act like it didn't matter to him when clearly it, more than any of his other problems, had been consuming him for the last decade.

Sebastian grinned at him. "Mhm, I though so. You know me, I'm the super romantic type," he said, raising a brow when Ryder stuck his tongue out at him. He had never expected to like someone as goofy and childish as Ryder, but apparently he did. His eyes widened a little when he asked him that and he wasn't really sure how he felt. He was unable to hide his shock for once, so surprised that any other man would even want to be with Rachel. "What?" he replied. "That'd by a pretty dick move, Ry, to run off with my wife. I'd have to say that I wouldn't be okay with that, no, but Rachel and I have already made an agreement that we won't cheat on each other with anyone of the opposite gender." He watched as Ryder curled up in himself, tugging lightly at his arms in an attempt to get him to relax and cuddle him some more. "Yeah, I don't believe any of those Team Rocket rumors," he told him, nuzzling against him and trying to be comforting. He could help Ryder. And maybe telling him would make him like him more. He hesitated for a moment, looking him in the eye and trying to make a decision. "Ry.... I know where your dad is," he told him quietly.

Ryder poked at Sebastian affectionately, surprising himself a bit. "You could be if you tried, you know. If you ever actually found somebody that you liked," he added as an afterthought. "And don't worry, I won't actually steal your wife... Although I totally could if I wanted to," he added jokingly, not meaning it at all. Rachel seemed pretty set on marrying Sebastian, after all, and Ryder didn't exactly have the charms to be a trophy husband for her, no matter how cool he thought she was. "I'm not that kinda guy, though," he added, again as an afterthought, almost as if he was trying to convince himself. A few hours ago, he would have been able to say that for sure, but now he felt as though he had lost himself, like a lot of the things that had been guiding him were suddenly gone and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get them back. All of that was pushed to the back of his mind, though, when Sebastian spoke next. He felt himself tense up, and he met Sebastian's gaze with wide eyes. "You... you what?" Ryder asked quietly, sure that he must have heard him wrong.

Sebastian chuckled a little when Ryder poked him, appreciating the affectionate gesture. "Uh-huh, we'll see about that," he told him, sounding unbelieving still. Maybe he could be romantic. He had the ability to woo someone. He had just never had the right motivation to use that ability. But maybe now he finally had a reason. He raised a brow at the confidence in that statement, though he quickly caught on that he was joking. "You better not, or I might have to fight you," he said playfully. "And we wouldn't want that, now would we? I'd feel bad having to hit you, ruin that handsome face." He tapped Ryder on the nose to make his point. He blinked when Ryder tensed, suddenly wondering if he shouldn't have said anything after all. It was much too late for that now. The only thing he could do was repeat himself. "I know where your dad is," he told him again, tone more sure this time.

Sebastian chuckled a little when Ryder poked him, appreciating the affectionate gesture. "Uh-huh, we'll see about that," he told him, sounding unbelieving still. Maybe he could be romantic. He had the ability to woo someone. He had just never had the right motivation to use that ability. But maybe now he finally had a reason. He raised a brow at the confidence in that statement, though he quickly caught on that he was joking. "You better not, or I might have to fight you," he said playfully. "And we wouldn't want that, now would we? I'd feel bad having to hit you, ruin that handsome face." He tapped Ryder on the nose to make his point. He blinked when Ryder tensed, suddenly wondering if he shouldn't have said anything after all. It was much too late for that now. The only thing he could do was repeat himself. "I know where your dad is," he told him again, tone more sure this time.

Ryder made a face at Sebastian when he was tapped on the nose. "I've never actually been in a fight before... Maybe that would give me exotic bad boy points for trying to woo Rachel away from you. Although I guess that it wouldn't work so well if I'm fighting you, hmm..." Ryder placed two fingers on his chin, pretending to actually plot ways to steal Sebastian's fake fiancee. Sebastian repeated himself in regards to Ryder's father, though, and the younger man bit down hard on his lip to keep from asking a thousand questions all at once. He had heard him right after all. "You - but... but... How? Where?" He let out a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding in.

Sebastian found himself incredibly enthralled with how adorable the other man was at almost all times. "Well, I have been in a fight before, several, so I'd watch yourself," he warned him, tone still having a playful edge to it. He couldn't see himself actually fighting Ryder, but to be honest he couldn't see the man actually taking Rachel away from him. He supposed it would be another story if it actually happened or if his feelings for Rachel were real. He nodded when Ryder stammered, showing him he was telling the truth. "I don't know exactly where he is, but I know who has him. It probably wouldn't be that hard to find their location, I don't think," he said. "There's this girl, I don't know if you've met her, but her name is Tina Cohen-Chang. And she told me about your father's whereabouts."

Ryder raised his arms in a faux-boxing position and playfully punched Sebastian's shoulder. "I dunno, I might have first time luck or something on my side," he laughed, ignoring the playful threat. There was no way anything would ever happen between Ryder and Rachel - and the odds of anything happening between Sebastian and Rachel, even, seemed sort of slim to him at the moment. Maybe it would be a different story if the two ended up in the same part of the region, though. "Oh... okay," Ryder said, suddenly feeling alarmed. Sebastian had known where his dad was? How long had he known this information? And why did some girl's dad have Brandon Lynn hidden somewhere? "Okay. Um. Yeah. Okay. So he's... No, I don't really know her. But... wow. I just... I..." Ryder was aware that he was unable to say anything - if he thought he had been incoherent earlier, it was nothing compared to what he felt now. "So... well, I guess that's good to know that he's alive. And that he didn't just... You know, he didn't take off 'cause I wasn't good enough or something. Okay. Yeah." He repeated himself, taking in a calming breath but clutching tightly onto his own arm muscles.

Sebastian laughed as well. "You can't have first time luck all the time, Ry," he reminded him. "And I definitely think my experience will give me an edge. But like I said, I don't think I'd be able to hit you anyway." He watched as Ryder took in the news. He really hadn't known about it that long, and he had actually done some research to make sure it was really the same person. He had wanted to be a hundred percent sure before he told Ryder anything. Plus, it wasn't like he had seen him any time soon, and that was really something you told people in person. "No, he definitely didn't just run off," he told him. "He was kidnapped, though I'm not really sure why her father wanted to kidnap him, out of all people. Did your dad do something important?" That was really the missing puzzle piece. He knew who had kidnapped Ryder's father and where they had taken him. All he was missing was the why.

Ryder finally uncovered his chest, but only because he needed to raise one of his hands to his eyes in order to rub them. Was this really happening? Had he just managed to sleep with the one person he knew who could give him any sort of information about his father? All without him bothering to mention it, as if anything else was going to be more important to him? Ryder tried to remain calm; it wouldn't do to get angry at Sebastian and lose the only real lead he'd had in ten years. "I guess... I suppose after a while you kind of stop thinking they were taken and you start to expect that they just didn't want you. But... holy shit," Ryder said, trying again to catch his breath. "I just... I always assumed he was just a normal trainer. I never noticed anything that would have made him more than that, at least," Ryder admitted, now frustrated with himself that he didn't remember more about any odd behaviors his father had had during his childhood.

Sebastian honestly hadn't thought about telling him before. It was information that had been pushed to the back of his mine when a handsome man showed up at his door wanting sex. He had a slightly short attention span and there seemed to be so much going on right now to muddle his mind. He nodded a little, moving away from him to finally stretch, but he rolled onto his side to face him again after only a moment. "Yeah, I guess I can understand that," he told him, absently scratching his chest. "But at least you know now. And you could probably find him, if you wanted to. I don't think it would be that hard. After what, ten years, they can't really be expecting someone to come break him out." He frowned a little when Ryder failed to provide him with anymore information. "Hm. That's intriguing, then." His father had to have been involved in something if Sue had wanted him so badly. It was definitely strange.

Ryder scrunched his nose up, feeling completely paralyzed. "Of course I want to find him. More than anything, seriously. But... How? And why do they have him still after like ten years?" His mind was racing too fast to bother thinking about the fact that Tina sharing these things with Sebastian was odd. The fact that there was probably some reason behind it was lost on him as he tried his best to dam up all of the emotions running through his head. "I just... It's been ten years, Sebastian. Do you know how overwhelming that is? To think that after ten years, I might actually have some kind of hope of seeing my dad again?"

Sebastian had made sure to choose his words carefully in hopes to not reveal his own ties with the organization. He had nothing to do with the kidnapping of Ryder's father and overall though it was an incredibly stupid decision for them to have made, so he really didn't think twice about it. "Then find him," he told him simply. "Johto's not that big of a region. You know so many people too, you could have people searching in towns in the region in a matter of days. Plus they would never know who was coming, even if they realized someone was, which is unlikely." He had no faith in the organization at this point, especially when they had someone like him available yet hadn't used him in anything worthwhile. He was quiet and just listened to Ryder speak for a moment. "I mean, no, I don't know, but at least you know for certain that there's something you can do about it. That has to be a good thing, right?"

Ryder ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at it lightly as if he wanted to pull it right out of his scalp. "Yeah... Yeah, I really want to do that. I... um, did this Tina girl know anymore information? And I guess I'm like, traveling with a police officer, and I'm kind of close to another one..." His thoughts went back to Marley again, and God, he was such a douche bag for still being excited about going on a date with her tomorrow even after all of this. He briefly considered talking to her about the issue when he was with her, but he really wanted to make sure she actually had a good time and that he didn't scare her off. "It's a lot to... I just... Thanks," Ryder said abruptly, finding himself hugging Sebastian. He needed time to formulate a plan, to think this through, to make decisions - but right now he was overwhelmingly grateful just to know for sure that his dad was alive.

Sebastian nodded a little. He knew one of the local police officers, Marley, and while she was cute and nice she didn't always seem to be the most effective member of their police force. He supposed she was the new girl, though, so he had to cut her a little bit of slack. "No. I didn't really ask a lot of questions though because I didn't want to seem too interested. Then she wouldn't have told me anything," he told him. He opened his mouth to tell him that it was no problem, but then Ryder was hugging him and he really didn't know what to do with himself. So he just wrapped his arms around the other and gave him a little squeeze in return. Okay, maybe Ryder had been right when he had said that hugs weren't that bad. Or maybe Sebastian was just finding out that, once again, Ryder was proving to be the exception.

Ryder nodded, his cheek brushing against Sebastian's as he refused to let go of the hug. "Yeah, yeah I understand that," Ryder said softly, wishing that he could know more but supposing that this was enough for now. He didn't want to share this information with anyone else, though - he wasn't even sure if he would tell Kurt. What if somehow word spread out and it caused him to lose his dad again? He couldn't let that happen. Ryder felt like the rollercoaster of emotions that he was riding was about to reach its final drop, but he chose to push it away again, holding on to Sebastian as if holding on for his life because really, everything he had thought he knew had been turned upside down, and he was going to have to figure out how to cope with that moving forward.

Sebastian turned his head a little to push his nose against Ryder's neck. He so wasn't used to this kind of contact and he had to admit that it was making his heart beat a little faster. He knew that the other man was clinging to him just because he happened to be the one who was here, but that really didn't make anything different. He might have been telling himself that in his head but it really had nothing to do with what his heart was feeling, which up until that moment he had always thought was a giant black hole. He thought with his dick, not his heart, and something was obviously wrong with him now. "If you need any help, you I'll help you," he told him gently. "And we can talk about this again, if you want, at a better time. I might try to dig around, see if I can find anything else for you." He could always talk to his dad.

Ryder merely nodded again, still feeling at a loss for words. After all this time, his dad really was still alive, and he really was here in Johto. As easy as Sebastian made it sound, though, he knew there would still be a long road ahead of him if he really wanted to be able to find him and get him out of his current predicament. Ryder lifted his chin from its resting perch on Sebastian's shoulder so that he could meet his eyes. He hoped that he looked calm enough and that he wasn't making crazy eyes of any sort when the other man offered his potential assistance in the matter. "Seriously, man? That would mean so much to me... I don't even know where to start."

Sebastian nodded, meeting his gaze. "Yeah, I mean, of course I would help you," he told him. "I wouldn't just drop all this information on you and then not help you out with it. That would be a really dick thing of me to do, and, contrary to popular opinion, I am not an awful person." At least around Ryder he wasn't, anyway. He finally let his arms drop from around the other man, knowing that even though he wanted to hold him that probably wasn't going to he happening any time soon.

Ryder smiled at Sebastian fondly, appreciating the fact that he was being so supportive of him and that he had finally opened a door for him that could lead to answers. However, it also made him feel another pang of guilt for the fact that he had just used Sebastian because of the exact sort of hearsay that he was contradicting. "I never thought you were, man," Ryder assured him, overcome by a bizarre urge to squeeze his hand. He quickly pulled away, almost as if he had been burned, and he pulled his knees up to his chest, making himself small again. Part of him was so overcome by relief, but there was this other part of him that was suddenly feeling very, very frightened, knowing that the thing he wanted more than anything was there for him to take.

Sebastian returned the smile, feeling that strange sense of warmth begin to creep into him again. "I know you didn't," he told him, trying to brush the feeling away once more. He didn't really think that Ryder would come here and have sex with him if he hadn't at least expected to be treated well. That didn't seem like him, even though this whole situation didn't seem like him. Even though he had talked a lot of talk, especially to Kurt, this had never really been part of the plan. He blinked when Ryder pulled away from him so suddenly, confused by the action. He moved to rest his hand on top of the other man's, studying him for a moment before deciding to say something to break the forming bit of tension. "So, looks like you accomplished one of your life goals," he said playfully, giving his hand a little squeeze. "You got to see me hug someone and enjoy it."

Ryder sighed, hating the fact that he felt really content right now even though he felt no attachment greater than friendship to Sebastian. He wondered what this might be like someday if he was able to be like this with someone else, and he blinked again, trying not to let that feeling bother him or let him his mind roam back into the things that would make him uncomfortable. There was plenty of time for that when he was alone, when the hope of his dad still being alive had faded and the consequences of the night caught up with him. "Well look at that," Ryder said, grinning broadly at him. "I can check that one off of my top secret list. Just be careful or you might get bombarded with hugs allllll the time," he teased, mock threateningly.

Sebastian laughed when he said that. He really wouldn't mind hugs coming with Ryder, especially naked ones, though he didn't see that ever happening again. He wasn't stupid. He could deal with a one-night stand. "I can't say that I would be opposed to that," he told him with a smile. Nope, he definitely wouldn't be opposed, he knew that for sure after letting his eyes roam along Ryder's still naked form. He tried to be subtle, but that wasn't something that he was used to. He quickly glanced back up at his face, clearing his throat a little and hoping that the other hadn't realized he had been staring. He wasn't really sure where they went from here but he had an idea that putting some underwear on would probably at least be a good start. Not like he cared about being naked around Ryder, but he wasn't sure how the other man felt.

Ryder blushed slightly again, noticing that Sebastian's eyes were roaming over him again. He had kind of managed to forget about the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothes in the excitement over finding out that his dad was still out there somewhere, but now he felt extremely shy and exposed. "Er... uh..." Ryder began, not wanting to somehow insult Sebastian by asking if he could put clothes on. He always liked to make sure people around him were happy anyway, and he felt an especially strong urge to keep on Sebastian's good side now that he was the only link to his dad. Well, him and this Tina person.

Sebastian raised a brow at him, pretending to be surprised by his sudden reaction. "Now Ry, how are we supposed to join a nudist colony together when we're uncomfortable around each other naked?" he asked him playfully, stretching out on the bed to reveal his full, lithe form. He had absolutely no shame. "I suppose it's something we can work on later, though." He winked at him, an act that was quickly followed by a grin and a little laugh. "But since we're not there now feel free to get dressed. You aren't offending me."

Ryder couldn't help but let his eyes widen in surprise when Sebastian stretched out on the bed, shyly trying to avert them. "I think the nudist colony thing is only gonna work if the people there are a little bit less distracting and attractive and stuff," he stammered shyly, reaching out to pick up his boxers and trying not to be too clumsy and flustered as he put them back on.

Sebastian chuckled a little when he got the reaction he wanted from Ryder. He had to admit that he loved being looked at. "Good to know that you find me both attractive and distracting," he said, his laugh a little more evident now. He sat up, locating his own boxers and tugging them on. He'd have to get in the shower, or at least clean up, considering he was still covered in the other man's cum. Not that he was complaining.

  Ryder shrugged innocently. He couldn't help it if he found the other man objectively attractive, even if he wasn't feeling any sort of emotional pull towards him. Part of him almost wished that he were starting to feel that; it would make him feel less like he had wasted a really special moment later on. He blinked that thought away too, though, when he noticed the time on the clock. Shit. Was it really that late? He was already dreading having to face Kurt, knowing that he had just done something stupid - even if it was sort of more enjoyable than he cared to admit - but he was sure that his friend would be starting to suspect something was up at this point. Plus, he had his date with Marley tomorrow, and he really needed to sort out the chaos he was feeling before then so that he could make sure everything was totally perfect for her. "I, uh - it's sorta late," Ryder muttered stupidly. "I should probably get going, yeah?" He reached out for his shirt now as well, rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully.

Sebastian watched him get dressed, feeling too lazy to really moved. That had probably been the most enjoyable sexual experience he had ever had, and it was with someone he would never be able to repeat it with. It was ironic, really, that he had ended up liking Ryder so much. He thought momentarily about trying to win him over someway but realized that wasn't really him. He would get over it, keep doing what he was doing, because it had obviously worked this time. Maybe it would work again. Either way he didn't plan to stop flirting with the other man any time soon. He sat up when he said he should go, catching himself before he could ask him to stay. No, Sebastian, don't be ridiculous. That would just be making it obvious that he felt something for Ryder, and he couldn't have that. So instead he nodded a little, standing up and running his hand through his hair. "Yeah, it is pretty late. Wouldn't want you to be missed," he told him, walking over to him. He might not be able to ask him to stay, but he could still do one more thing. He closed the space between him, lifting Ryder's chin with the side of his hand so he was looking at him. He then kissed him full on the mouth, gently, like he was trying to convince him to stay through the action even though he was telling himself he wasn't.

Ryder was caught completely by surprise when Sebastian kissed him good-bye, but after his initial shock Ryder found himself kissing back, hands going up to snare his hand in Sebastian's hair. This was definitely getting into dangerous territory, and he used all of his will-power to break away from the kiss, gasping slightly for air. "I... yeah. People gonna start missing me and stuff," he murmured, running his fingers through his own hair nervously as he tried to flash Sebastian a smile even while he took a slight step backwards from him.

Sebastian didn't hesitate to deepen the kiss, wanting to enjoy every last moment of Ryder while he still had him here in his arms. He couldn't control the whine that slipped past his lips when the other man pulled away, own lips slightly parted from his quickened breathing. Why was that always so good? He didn't understand. He licked his lips, nodding a little in response. "Okay, well, good bye then, I suppose," he said, not really sure of what to say for once, though he managed to smile back at him and just let him go.

Ryder smiled shyly one last time before turning the doorknob and pulling open the door. The outside world was waiting for him there, and he felt different leaving than he had felt when he arrived. It was nice to feel more confident, and he hoped that he would be able to channel that feeling at least instead of the wave of trouble that was hidin just beneath the surface. Breathe, Ryder. You can deal with this. He raised his hand in a wave. "See you around?" he said, trying not to let the slight hint of hope slip into his voice as he said that.