Passion | | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Seventeen

That night they had made camp in an open field, thankfully this time they were more prepared for their journey so instead of having to sleep on the uncomfortable ground, they actually had tents and supplies. It would make it a whole lot more manageable to get sleep and overall just improve their performance on the journey now that they were more prepared.

Astoria was setting up a campfire for the night, collecting stones from the nearby stream and finding some firewood while Sebastian and Ominis set up camp.

She pulled out her wand, pointing it at the structure of wood and stones. "Incendio." She said then fire burst from the tip of her wand, immediately lighting the campfire up and brightening the area around it. Astoria gave a satisfied smile and put her wand away, turning to the two men who were setting up the tents behind her.

"You know when you think about it, this could just be considered as a really long camping trip." She joked.

"Do most camping trips involve facing death multiple times?" Ominis asked blankly. "I'm not sure that was on the sign-up sheet."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, lightly scoffing. "What's camping without a little bit of adventure, Ominis?" He chuckled. "Usually that's why people do it, to get a feel for nature, to get out and explore. You know, all the fun stuff."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know almost dying was fun." Ominis joked. "But, if you say so."

Astoria rolled her eyes. "You two act like brothers, unsurprisingly." She chuckled. "The way you two act reminds me a lot of how me and my brother used to act. Sure, I just found him annoying because he's my younger brother but my point still stands."

"This must be a very healthy brotherly relationship then because my brother and I are nothing like this," Ominis said, with a small chuckle. Way to lighten up the mood with dark humor, Ominis.

"Your childhood scares me sometimes, Ominis," Sebastian said, shaking his head. Ominis laughed, "I'm sure that's a good thing, Sebastian. I would be worried if it didn't scare you. Or at least, was extremely unnerved by it." Ominis said.

"I think I was the only one with a normal family here," Astoria said. "I may have had my moments with my parents but at least they never did anything horrendous to me– or my brother."

"Let's just face it, we're all extremely dysfunctional," Ominis said with a shrug. "One of us is a traumatized blind man, another is an orphan who coped by blowing stuff up in his youth, and the other one of us is a Ravenclaw perfectionist with self-esteem issues, that itself deserves its own category."

There were a few moments of silence after his words.

"Yeah, I mean, you aren't lying." Sebastian said with a voice and face of agreement, "But I think blowing things up is an amazing coping mechanism that is completely underrated and way too frowned upon. It's fun."

Ominis sighed. "Add mentally insane onto that one too."

Astoria giggled, sitting down by the fire. "You two are so lighthearted about serious things but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me laugh. It makes times like this much more bearable and fun. Because when you think about it, we could be walking into our deaths here yet we're standing here making jokes and laughing like the situation is nothing serious."

Sebastian chuckled. "That's how you keep life fun and happy, Astoria." He chuckled. "I can't tell you how many times Desmond and I found ourselves in the worst situations ever. Stuck in caves, being chased by wild animals three times our size– you name it. But we were always laughing through it, I feel like that's one of the reasons why I like my job so much. The people I get to work with are great and life seems a whole lot more bearable and enjoyable then."