Happy Together: Sebastian (Stardew Valley)

Chapter 4: Comfort

It's been a few days since I had hung out with Abigail, Sam and Sebastian. I had a lot of fun with them and couldn't wait to hang out with the three of them again. At the moment there more important things to get done though, so it would have to wait for a while before the three of us did something together again.

I needed to make another payment on my coop. After that I could check out the mines and see if I found anything cool. I hadn't been in yet, so it was worth checking out.

I made my way up to the carpenters shop, soaking up the spring sun as I walked. I wasn't a giant fan of the heat, but it was a nice day out, and I might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

"Hey Robin!" I greeted her as I opened the door. "Hey Avery, good to see you!" She said as she leaned on the counter. "I wanted to bring you another payment! I know you just finished the coop a few days ago but I don't wanna get behind," I chuckled and sat the payment on the counter.

"Thanks Avery! I appreciate it," she replied. "Oh hey, not to change the subject, but is Sebastian around?" I asked. I  had run into Sam and Abigail in town since we all hung out, but I hadn't seen Sebastian yet.

"Yeah, he's downstairs in his room," Robin replied with a certain glint in her eye. I noticed, but didn't really think much of it. "Thank you!" I smiled before heading downstairs.

I was excited to see him again. We didn't really talk much, but I valued his friendship equally to Abigail and Sam's. The stairs creaked as I stepped down them, and there was the familiar poster covered door at the bottom. I carefully knocked on it.

"Go away mom," Sebastian's voice came through the door. "It's Avery," I replied. Hopefully he didn't mind me wanting to visit. "Come in."

I opened the door, walking into his room. Posters lined the walls, and there were comics everywhere. His room was huge though. It was the basement after all, so I wasn't sure what I was expecting. It felt very "Sebastian" for sure.

I looked over at him, and he was sitting behind a computer, typing away. "Just give me a sec here," he trailed off, continuing to type. I waited for him, looking around at the decor in his room in the meantime. "Alright. Sorry about that, I had to finish what I was working on before I lost my train of thought," he admitted as he slid the keyboard away from him.

"What were you working on, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked, walking to stand near him. "I do freelance work as a programmer," he explained. He seemed a bit proud to be talking about his work. Just then, his computer dinged. Sebastian's eyes scanned the screen and he sighed. "That was Sam. I guess he wants to hang out... I just don't really feel like going out today."

I could hear footsteps coming down the stairs, and Robin peaked her head around the corner. "Hey Sebby? I know you don't like when I come down here but I ran into Abigail at the store earlier and she was looking for you." "Did you tell her that I'm working?" Sebastian questioned.

"I did... but she said she would probably stop by anyway," Robin replied. At that, Sebastian was visibly frustrated. "Why does nobody take my job seriously? Nobody ever bothers Maru when she's working at the clinic! Does everyone just think I sit here on my ass all day?" He questioned with an annoyed look on his face. "Whatever," he shook his head.

"I'm sorry honey..." Robin spoke quietly, not sure what else to say before heading back upstairs. "I hope I'm not bothering you... I'm sorry if I imposed," I apologized. If Sebastian didn't want to see Sam or Abigail today, I felt kind of bad coming into his room while he's working. "No no you're fine," he shook his head. "Whenever it comes to Sam or Abigail, they just end up getting in the way of my work or distracting me. They don't mean to, it's just hard to get stuff done when they hang around all the time," he explained.

"Besides, I'm trying to save up to move out of here, so I need to be able to focus a little more on getting my stuff done. If I went to college it would have been a completely different story. I just didn't want to be another part of society's sick race to get things done."

"I know what you mean," I nodded, thinking of life in the city. Everyone was always trying to one up others or put people down. It was a gross environment to be in. "Well, I don't want to kick you out, but I really should get back to work. I have to get this finished by tomorrow," Sebastian yawned as he stretched back in his chair.

"No problem! It was good seeing you," I smiled at him. "Good seeing you too," he replied. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips before I left. The sight left my heart feeling warm.

• • •

I  left the mines and pulled my heavy backpack up a little higher on my shoulder. It was nighttime now, and the moon was reflecting beautifully off of the mountain lake. I was staring at its reflection when I heard... muffled yelling?

I walked a little ways longer before realizing it was coming from Sebastian's house. I could only catch bits and pieces from the distance I was at. Then all of a sudden I heard it clear as day.

"You care so much about this family image that I'm an outcast to you now and it's disgusting!"

The door to the shop slammed shut with enough force that it nearly sounded like a small gunshot. I watched as someone walked away and it was... Sebastian? It dawned on me now that it was his yelling. His anger. His hurt.

He was headed towards the forest between here and the farm. I didn't want to put my nose in their business... but I also wanted to be there for my friend. I found myself walking after him, and following him into the darkness of the woods at night.

"Sebastian?" I called out. As much as I wanted to go looking for him, I also didn't want to get lost in the middle of the woods. "Here," he muttered loud enough for me to be able to follow the direction his voice came from.

Sebastian was sitting under a large oak tree in the middle of a clearing in the woods. The moon seemed to beam onto that tree especially, and it was beautiful, but eerie at the same time.

I walked over to him slowly, and sat down beside him. "Hey... are you okay?" I asked him quietly. There was silence. A long, long silence. I opened my mouth to apologize for being nosy about it, but Sebastian cut me off.

"No. No I'm not," he admitted, pulling his knees to his chest. He started into the clearing almost calmly. "Everything just feels so suffocating today. I don't get it," he began. "I just feel like everybody only cares about their own interests. Everyone is so focused on themselves sometimes that they don't stop to think about how it affects other people. How it affects me," he lowered his chin to his knees and sighed. "I just wanna get out of here and get to the city."

"People are selfish sometimes without realizing it," I agreed. "That doesn't mean they care about or respect you any less. That's the whole reason I left the city," I admitted. Sebastian looked at me curiously but didn't say anything. "I had an office job in the city. My own cubicle, I had my own apartment. On the high floor too. It was a great view, especially at night. As nice as it all seems, everyone there was so greedy. Repulsively greedy, ya know?" There was a small pause between the two of us before I continued.

"I was so sick and tired of being stuck where everyone was so artificial with me. All of that changed when I came here though. Everyone here is so nice to me. I'm not saying there aren't any exceptions, because things like that happen wherever you are. But the city isn't really much of an escape from that either," I explained.

Sebastian stayed thoughtfully quiet for a while, keeping his eye focused on the clearing in front of him.

"Thank you Avery. I know it wasn't much but I really needed that," Sebastian thanked me as he stood up. He offered his hand to help me up, and I accepted.

"No problem Sebastian. I'm always here for you. That's what friends are for, right?" I smiled as I stood up off of the ground and dusted my butt off. Sebastian gave a genuine smile and nodded.

Sebastian led us out of the clearing, and out of the woods to the path between his house and the farm. We were both silent the whole time, but it didn't feel that words were necessary. The two of us had something of an understanding now. It felt like I had closed some kind of gap that was between the two of us, and it made me happy.

"I'll see you tomorrow Avery," Sebastian smiled at me. "Goodnight," he said with a wave. "Goodnight Sebastian," I waved back, and set off back home.