Sebastian's Time in Portia (Stardew Valley/My Time in Portia)

Day Seven - March 7 - Back There

The mood in the house was unpleasant, even more, unpleasant than the mood was after everyone thought Abigail was pregnant.

Standing in the kitchen, sipping his coffee, Demetrius wondered if Sebastian being absent from the household was a good thing, as both females in their family household were fuming mad at Sebastian after learning he wasn't there. "Then again, the reason they're so angry is because he's not here, so my idea of him getting away for a few weeks backfired. The last thing I wanted was for him to come into a more toxic environment than before, particularly when he's done absolutely nothing wrong."

Robin said nothing, but the look on her face said plenty.

Her response was cold, emotionless and she wasn't in the mood for dealing with anybody at that moment, not that Maru paid much attention to her mother's mood, having never gotten on the bad side of her parents like Sebastian often did, but then – she didn't have the issues Sebastian did that made him such a challenging child growing up, which made Sebastian think himself broken.

They were supposed to be eating their breakfast before Maru and he headed off to their respective labs and Robin manned the counter of the carpentry shop. Sebastian, on the other hand, wouldn't join in, nor would they notice when he came out for something to eat later in the afternoon, but today—

Everyone noticed Sebastian wasn't there. It was hard to when Demetrius came home the night before and discovered Robin sitting at the table, looking blankly at the wall; he'd not expected her to notice so soon, so he didn't expect that to be the reason she was staring at the wall and instead suspected her to be lost in thought regarding a new project. Maru came in, the first to start fuming about Sebastian being gone, nor did she hold back.

"When did you find out that Sebastian ran away?"

Robin looked up at her, the blank look turning to one of anger. "I just found out."

Demetrius turned his back to them, so they couldn't see his face as he took in the knowledge that he knew Sebastian hadn't run away and instead was trying to make an honest attempt at getting his life straightened out, but in those moments the world seemed so cruel. "At least Sebastian isn't here."

Maru stormed off, slamming the door to her room while Robin muttered to herself. "Are you going to say anything?"

"How'd you find out?"

"That Sebastian isn't here, and hasn't been for some time? Sam told me."

"I see." Which made sense, given the fact Sam was good friends with Sebastian, but it felt good that Sam was looking out for him, albeit his actions created a major hitch regarding when Sebastian might be able to come home. Already his mind contemplated what he might say to Sebastian that would hopefully not set his stepson off.

"I didn't even notice, but he..." Robin stood up. "I'm going to head on to bed."

Demetrius watched her leave, his mouth opening. At that moment, he decided to sleep on the bench in the entranceway, knowing what he was keeping from her, including the care package he'd sent just that morning which would hopefully arrive Monday morning. "I'd rather she be pissed at me, rather than him, though. I'm the one who decided it was a good idea to cool his head for a bit and let her cool her head."

He got up first, starting the coffee. When she wandered in, she said, "You didn't come to bed last night."

"I didn't want to wake you." Which wasn't a lie, but he'd keep his mouth mum for as long as possible.

She picked at the food he made her and they waited for Maru to get up. A night's sleep, Demetrius saw, didn't help to improve her mood, but instead seemed to leave her to her own thoughts regarding the matter, to stew and become even angrier. Maru's door slammed and she came into the kitchen. "Maru, please don't slam your door like that."

"Why?" Maru muttered, sitting down in the chair and resting her hands in the palms of her hands. "I'm not allowed to be mad at him?"

He looked at her, noting the tears in the corner of her eyes. He said nothing and instead watched. Robin stewed, poking her food, but Demetrius certainly didn't want to be on her bad side.

"Okay, so I get why you aren't saying anything," Maru glanced at him, before turning her attention to her mother. "But you? Aren't you mad that he ran away from home?"

"Of course, I'm furious, but there's not anything I can do about it, can I?"

"What..."

Robin pushed her food around on her plate. "I'm not sure if I'd have the energy to deal with him."

Demetrius felt the corner of his mouth twitch, wanting to tell them both that Sebastian was still a virgin only to know just how mortified Sebastian would be if he revealed that particular information. Silence fell over the kitchen and Demetrius took a drink of his coffee, still contemplating how he should tell Sebastian that he might need to stay away for a bit longer – that the girls needed a bit more time to calm down.

"Well, I'm pissed off with him always running away like this," Maru finally muttered. Demetrius' eyes blinked, his mouth opening as he thought of how that wasn't how he and Robin raised her. "Why is it he can never do anything right?"

"That's not true." It was when both Robin and Maru looked at him, looks of surprise on his face that Demetrius realized he said something. He cleared his voice. "Look. I know it's not my place, but..."

"I don't get it," Maru muttered, pushing her food away. "Normally you're the first one to come down on him when he's done something wrong, but you've stayed silent ever since Abigail – well, I know it turned out not to be true, but you said nothing. You didn't yell at him, lecture him, tell him off. Because it's not your place? This is why..."

"Maru," Robin spoke, her voice firm. "If you're not done with your breakfast, can you finish in your room? I need to talk to your father."

Maru reluctantly got up, but the door to her room closed quieter this time while her unfinished bowl of cereal remained on the table. Demetrius took a deep breath, wondering if Robin figured out the secret.

"She has a point, you know."

"That it isn't my place, or I should have made it my place? I honestly never know, do I, when it comes to Sebastian." Demetrius took a deep drink of his coffee, then cleared his throat. "Don't you think he was getting it bad enough from you and Maru? And what about the fact none of it was true in the first place?"

"It turned out not to be true. There's a difference." Robin looked at her food. "Why didn't he tell me he was leaving?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you weren't listening in the first place? Of course, I wouldn't have gotten him out of this household if you'd been listening in the first place." He could have said all of that but didn't. He didn't think it would help.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that, as if you had the answer. This isn't like him though, to run away." Robin let out a sigh. "But then, I expected him to take responsibility as well."

Demetrius dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink. "I'm going to go and get to work in my lab." He set the cup on the counter. "You should get to work as well, as there's nothing you can do about him not being here."