Buttercup Baby Ch 6
Pairing: Sam/Male Farmer OC
Rating: T for Teen
Word Count: 5,136
A/N: FIRST: There is some discussion of war violence, and I want to give you a heads up that it's in this chapter. It's not super graphic, but it's there,
The cake discussed in this book can be replicated by following this recipe! Yay!
And lastly I don't want to hear any Rent fans telling me that it's "Christmas Day" not "New Year's Day" I went with the lyrics from the movie, so apologies.
Anyway enjoy!!!
You can find it on ao3 here
~~~~~~~
It was time to water his plants, but Léo was still lying in bed, eyes closed shut. He was wearing his headphones, music turned nearly all the way up.
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
Léo let out a shuddering breath. Today was the worst day of the year. Of every year. And the funny thing was, it used to be the best day ever. Léo used to love his day, used to love everything about it. It was a day to celebrate after all. But it was tainted now.
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up, when September ends
He squeezed his eyes shut, listening to his brother’s favorite band, music blaring into his ears. Léo had been doing this every year since 2015 on this day. He would find his brother’s favorite songs, or songs that Léo believed he would like, and would play them at full volume until he didn’t feel like dying anymore.
He was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when his phone buzzed. Someone was texting him, and he really didn’t want to stop listening to the music to see who it was. His phone buzzed again, and he finally picked it up, looking to see who so desperately needed to be in contact with him.
Léo’s heart jumped into his throat when he saw that it was Henri. He had sent a picture of him, Léo, Elfie, and Léo’s twin brother José. Henri and Léo were flashing matching peace signs, and José had his arm around a blushing Elfie’s waist. Henri had sent a second text accompanying it.
Living with my bitches #live
Léo couldn’t help it, he laughed out loud. His bitter mood began to fade as he sat up, trying to think of the perfect response.
Where did you even get this pic from?
Honestly, Léo didn’t even remember this picture being taken. It looked like it was from their trip to the Rosario Islands. Léo smiled as he thought about that trip. The four of them had been so happy hanging out together. José and Elfie had entered their 3rd year of being together during this trip, and Henri had been teasing them about when they would finally get married. José had teased Henri right back, asking when he and Léo would finally get together.
Léo felt tears sting at the corners of his eyes, and he tried to push that part of the memory out of his mind. Luckily another message came in.
It’s from 2013 during our spring break trip. Remember that?
Léo snorted. How could he forget? This was the trip when Léo realized he had a crush on Henri, who he had met the previous year. He smiled and scrolled up to the picture again. Four 19 year old idiots on the spring break trip of their life.
Of course! That trip was a blast. Nice Chainsmokers ref
Henri responded not even two seconds later.
I remember José used to love that damn song.
Even though it was nothing like the emo stuff he usually listened to.
Oh, also before I forget…
Léo waited with bated breath, wondering what Henri wanted to tell him. A few moments later a link was sent to him, leading to a play list called ‘José’s Playlist.’
Did you make a playlist for him????
If Henri took the time to make a playlist for his brother for today…maybe he still cared? Léo didn’t dare hope that Henri actually wanted to be in his life, but this was so personal, so intimate.
Well yeah
I figured you’d need it today
Léo smiled at his phone and then sighed. What was he doing? Henri was being a friend, that was it. They weren’t together, they were over. Henri had ditched his sorry ass, and they were over. But what if…?
He jumped as his phone rang. It was Elfie. He quickly took the call, and he and Elfie discussed today, a day that was hard for both of them. Léo considered telling her that Henri had sent him that playlist, and that she should listen to it. But he could just hear her sighing deeply and telling him that he needed to not be texting his ex, especially when he was feeling vulnerable.
Full of a new vigor, Léo got up, threw his farm clothes on and got to work. But this time, he put his headphones on and listened to the playlist that Henri had made. It was mostly Green Day, which made sense. José had been obsessed with them. The occasional Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco song were sprinkled in. The playlist ended with #Selfie which made Léo chuckle. For some reason, his brother had heard that song and had become obsessed with it.
When he finally finished up, Léo got ready to head into town. What he really wanted to go do was head to the beach and relax. It had been way too long since he had been down there, and it would be nice to watch the waves roll in. He had tossed on some shorts and a loose tank top. He wondered if there would be anyone down on the beach this afternoon.
Léo passed a few people as he walked down to the beach. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Caroline’s flirtatious greeting. She was always doing this, much to the chagrin of Abigail. He was used to it by now, and Pierre seemed completely oblivious to it.
“I don’t get it, she knows you’re gay!” Abigail said, exasperated.
“Maybe she’s doing what I do when I see a hot straight boy,” Léo said. Abigail gave him a curious look, and Léo elaborated. “Cross my heart and hope he’s bi.”
Abigail burst out laughing, and the mood had lightened considerably.
When Léo finally reached the beach, he noticed he wasn’t alone. Sam was sitting on a beach towel and watching Vincent build a giant sand castle. Vincent was consumed in his project, and Sam had a fond look on his face. Léo approached, and Sam looked up.
“Hey Léo! Nice day, isn’t it?” Sam said, and patted a spot on the towel. There was room for two, so Léo sat down.
“Yeah, it really is,” Léo said, and watched Vincent pick up a stick and some seaweed, making a flag for the top of the castle.
“I’m just keeping an eye on my little brother,” Sam said. “It’s good for him to get some fresh air on a day like this.”
“Oh for sure,” Léo said. “It’s getting warmer too, so the beach is the perfect spot to head to.” They watched the waves in silence, and Léo noticed Sam scoot a little closer. Léo moved his hand closer to
Sam’s and leaned in his direction. Sam smiled softly.
“Our dad used to take us to the beach on sunny days like this,” Sam said, looking off into the distance. There was a smile on his face, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“That must’ve been amazing. What is he like?” Léo asked. Before Sam could respond, the sound of someone running on the sand make the two men look up. Vincent was standing there, a nervous look on his face. He looked up at his brother and took a deep breath.
“Sam…? Is dad ever going to come home?”
Sam’s eyebrows flew up into his hair, and Léo felt his throat begin to close up.
“Mami?” Léo asked, pacing around his dorm room, phone to his ear. “When is José coming back again?”
“I don’t know,” his mother said with a sigh. “He hasn’t written in a while.”
Léo tried to shake himself out of his memories, and watched as Sam got down on one knee, placing his hands on Vincent’s shoulders.
“Of course Vince,” Sam said, clearly trying to keep his voice steady. “Dad’s going to come back as soon as he possibly can.”
“But I heard some grow ups saying that…” Vincent choked back a sob, tears rolling down his cheeks as he continued, “That all our troops are getting shot to pieces.”
“They identified the body as his,” Léo’s father said, arms wrapped around his sobbing son. “It was…difficult, but he’s…he’s…”
Léo clutched the beach towel tightly and tried to focus on his breathing. He was here to relax, not to have a panic attack. Who the hell was saying this stuff around an 8 year old? A child whose father was in the war? If Léo ever found out, those people would get their noses bloodied.
Sam visibly tensed, eyes going wide.
“Don’t believe everything you hear!” Sam said quickly. Vincent didn’t look convinced, and Sam arranged his face into something more neutral.
“Don’t you remember how strong Dad is? He’d never let a pathetic Gotoro grunt get him like that! Don’t you worry!”
“…stepped on a landmine…blown to pieces. If it wasn’t for his dog tags and a blood test, the body wouldn’t have been identified…”
“And always remember that Mom and I are here to play with you if you ever feel lonely.” Sam enveloped his brother into a hug, and Vincent smiled at him.
“Okay!” he said, his mood significantly improved. He ran back to his sandcastle, and Sam stared at him, his face crumpling.
“To be honest, I have no idea if my old man will come back…we’ve all read the reports. Our soldiers are falling by the thousands.”
“Right,” Léo said, trying to steady himself. If he focused on Sam, focused on having a normal conversation, maybe he could shake himself out of this.
“But what am I going to say to Vincent?” Sam asked, running a hand through his hair.
“You did the right thing,” Léo said, looking at Vincent. He seemed happy, putting the little flag he made on top of the castle. “Kids should have hope.”
“Yeah,” Sam said, breathing out heavily. “Kids should play and have fun while they still can.” He turned and looked at Léo. He frowned, looking down at how tightly Léo was gripping the towel.
“Hey, did I tell you the band’s starting to come together?” Sam said, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from the war. Léo smiled gratefully at him.
“Oh yeah?” Léo said.
“Yeah!” Sam said happily. “It turns out Abigail’s a pretty good drummer. And Sebastian seemed to really want her in the band…if it wasn’t for his totally obvious crush on Elfie, I bet they’d get together.”
“Y-yeah,” Léo said, trying to be a good participant in the conversation. Clearly it wasn’t working.
“You okay?” Sam asked. Léo felt all his feelings well up, and before he could stop himself, tears were streaming down his cheeks. Embarrassed, he pulled his knees up and hid his face.
“Léo?” Sam said in an alarmed voice. Léo let out a sob as a response.
“Hey, whoa whoa whoa,” Sam said softly. “Come here,”
Léo peeked at Sam, and noticed how concerned his friend was. He sat up, and suddenly felt Sam’s arms around him. He wrapped his arms around Sam and held onto him for dear life. His friend gently rubbed his back, whispering “it’s okay,” into his ear over and over again.
“It’s going to be okay Buttercup, I promise,” Sam said gently, and softly kissed the side of Léo’s head. Surprised, Léo looked up at Sam, who looked shocked at his own actions.
“I guess…I guess I should explain,” Léo said.
“You don’t have to,” Sam said, and took Léo’s face in his hands, wiping away his tears with his thumbs. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”
Léo was speechless, and knew his face was flaming. He cleared his throat, and Sam’s hands dropped away. Léo suddenly felt the loss of Sam’s warm hands, and found himself missing their touch.
“I want to,” Léo said, and Sam nodded. Closing his eyes, Léo took a deep breath. “It’s my birthday today,” he said. “And also my twin brother’s birthday. He’s…not with us anymore. Today is…it sucks.”
Sam seemed to understand that Léo had more to say, and waited patiently. “He was drafted at 18, but never had to actually go into Gotoro territory. He would come back at least once a year. But our soldiers keep falling, and soon they had to take people directly to the fight who weren’t front line soldiers. My brother was chosen and…he stepped on a land mine.”
Léo heard Sam suck in a breath. He sighed. “There was barely enough of him to identify him, he was…he was blown to pieces. They found his dog tags and took a blood sample from…from what they found, and ID’d him that way.”
“Léo that’s…that’s awful,” Sam said, and put his hand on top of Léo’s in a comforting gesture.
“Yep,” Léo said. “It was 8 years ago, almost 9, but still. I’m not even close to being over it. I haven’t been able to celebrate my birthday without feeling guilty. Guilty that I get to celebrate being another year older while he…he’ll never get past 20. You know…he used to date Elfie.”
“Really?” Sam asked, shocked.
“Yeah, and I was so pissed at first. My brother was hot. We were fraternal twins and he got the best genes. People would pretend to be my friend just to get a shot at flirting with him.”
“That’s shitty,” Sam said.
“Yeah it was. Turned out Elfie wasn’t even interested in him at first. José made the first move,” Léo said with a small smile. “They were still in high school when they got together. Today is hard for her too. She hasn’t dated since then, which is why I’m happy that…well you know.”
“That she might be into Seb?” Sam asked.
“Yeah,” Léo said. “I’m glad to see her learning to love again.”
“Well,” Sam said after a moment, “I think you need a distraction today,”
“You think?” Léo said with a chuckle.
“I have the perfect one too!” Sam said happily. “Have you ever played Solarian Chronicles?”
“Yeah, but it was a long time ago,” Léo said. “I remember my character though.”
“Ooo!” Sam said excitedly. “Tell me about them!”
“Well,” Léo said “He’s a Lizardfolk Wizard named--”
“You’re a lizard wizard!” Sam burst out excitedly. Léo rolled his eyes, but Sam looked adorable in his pure joy at this new information.
“I guess,” Léo said. “Anyway, his name is Caesin and he’s pretty awesome.”
“I bet!” Sam said. “Mine is a Tabaxi named Mimi. Well, Nekomimi Mimi is her full name,” Sam amended. Léo choked on air.
“Why is that her name?” he asked.
“Abigail was trying to tease me by calling me “Nekomimi” so I wore it as a badge of honor and named my lovely cat girl Nekomimi Mimi. She’s a Rouge.”
“Nice,” Léo said.
“Well, Abby, Seb, and I are going to have a Solarian Chronicles night! We were going to start a new campaign, you could definitely jump in.”
“I…” Léo wasn’t sure, but the hopeful look in Sam’s eyes made up Léo’s mind for him. “Yeah, that sounds great!”
“We’re starting at 5 at my place,” Sam said. “You better be there!”
“I will!” Léo said, and the two grinned at each other. After a bit, Léo bid Sam and Vincent farewell, and went home to change. After a long consultation with Gordito, Léo went with the Solarian Chronicles t-shirt he forgot he had. It was black with a cat playing with a D20 that said “Dungeon Meowster” on it.
Léo’s parents called to sing him happy birthday over the phone, and a few people sent him birthday wishes. The day had started off terribly, but all Léo had to do was remember how sweet Sam had been on the beach, and his mood brightened.
Finally the time came to head over to Sam’s. He hoped that Abigail and Sebastian wouldn’t mind that he was coming over. Léo was sure they’d be fine with it, but he couldn’t help but worry that this was a special thing the three of them did together.
All his doubts flew away when he entered Sam’s room and was immediately tackled by Abigail.
“Léo!” she said happily.
“Abby quit it,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “You’re gonna scare him off if you grab him like that.”
“Nah, you weirdos have me hooked,” Léo said, and the three of them laughed. He couldn’t help but notice that Sam wasn’t there.
“Where’s Sam?” Léo finally asked.
“In the kitchen,” Abigail said. “He’s grabbing snacks. Can you go check on him?”
“Yeah he’s been gone forever,” Sebastian said with a sigh.
“Seb gets cranky if he doesn’t have his daily meal of cheeto puffs and JoJa Cola,” Abigail said, causing Sebastian to scoff, but Léo knew he wasn’t really mad.
“I’ll go check on our favorite 80’s mullet,” Léo said, and walked towards the kitchen. He was plenty used to coming in and going straight to Sam’s room without greeting anyone else, but it always felt strange to do so. Jodi and Vincent hadn’t been in the living room when Léo arrived, and he had decided against poking around looking for them. But the house felt oddly quiet as he made his way through it, and he wondered where they were. He rounded the corner and jumped in surprise as he entered the kitchen.
“Happy Birthday!”
Léo stared at the bundt cake in front of him, with a candle shaped like a 2 and a candle shaped like a 9 stuck in it. Sam was holding the cake and Jodi and Vincent stood on either side of him, beaming at Léo.
“Sam!” Léo said, feeling slightly choked up. “You guys made me a cake?”
“Sam did,” Jodi said quickly. “All by himself! He found a recipe for Colombian black cake and insisted on making it for you.”
“I put the candles in!” Vincent piped up and Léo smiled at him.
“The most important part,” he said, and Vincent giggled. “Sam I…wow. Thank you. This means so much,”
“You deserve a good birthday,” Sam said firmly. “No matter what you might think…you should have a day to celebrate all the great reasons for being alive. And…and you shouldn’t feel--”
Léo swooped forward and kissed his cheek before his friend could continue, and Sam almost dropped the cake.
“Thank you,” Léo said, and Jodi had a wide smile on her face as she lit the two candles.
“I’ll get Abby and ‘Bastian!” Vincent said happily, and rushed off.
Soon Abigail and Sebastian arrived, and everyone was singing to Léo. His heart felt full for the first time in years. The people he loved most in this town had banded together to make sure that he had a great birthday. They were all here, celebrating him.
“Alright, make a wish and blow out your candles!”
I wish for more birthdays with Sam
Léo blew his candles out, slightly surprised by the wording that popped into his head for his wish. He had meant that he wanted another birthday like this one, but maybe that could only be true with Sam. Well, he certainly wouldn’t complain if Sam showed up to his future birthday parties.
Everyone tried the cake, but Vincent was unsure.
“Prunes?” Vincent said cautiously, and poked his slice gingerly with his fork.
“Try it, you’ll like it,” Léo said and nodded encouragingly. It wasn’t the most kid friendly cake in the entire world, but he was sure Vincent would like it at least a little bit. The small boy took a tentative bite, and made a funny face.
“That’s not chocolate,” he said.
“That’s ‘cause it’s not a chocolate cake,” Sam said.
“But it looks like one!” Vincent said, taking a full bite.
“That’ll be the burnt sugar,” Léo said. “But sometimes people cheat and put chocolate in to make it darker. Oh! You guys should let the cake sit out for at least 3 days,” he said. Everyone stared at him, and Léo blushed.
“My mom always wrapped in in plastic wrap and tin foil for 3 days, sometimes 5, before we served it. It lets the flavors really bloom.”
“Ah. Yeah I took a few short cuts,” Sam admitted. “I hope it’s still good though!”
“It’s wonderful,” Léo said.
Once everyone was done with their cake, the four young adults parted from the group and headed to play Solarian Chronicles.
“I got a new shirt!” Sam said happily as Léo closed the door. “Check it out!”
He was holding out a cream colored shirt with colorful dice on it. Above the dice was written “I love SC” And underneath was “Selling Crack”
“Nice,” Abigail said giving him the thumbs up. Léo snorted, and Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
“Where are you going to wear that?” he asked. “Your mom would kill you if she saw you wearing it.”
“In here!” Sam said, pulling his shirt off and tossing it, smacking Léo in the face.
“Hey!” Léo said, taking the shirt off his face.
“Whoops,” Sam said apologetically. He was wearing the shirt, and looked very proud of it. Sam truly was the most ridiculous person Léo had ever met.
“Alright, let’s get to it,” Sebastian said, clapping his hands together. “Sam says you’ve played it before?”
“A while ago,” Léo said as Abigail set out a map on the floor, and retrieved some dice and figurines.
“Well I can refresh your memory,” Sebastian said, and for the first time ever, he actually sounded a bit giddy. Clearly this was something he truly enjoyed.
“Basically, these cards here are all the campaigns we can run,” Sebastian said, holding up a small box. He opened it up and took out a few cards along with some small booklets. “These books go each with card. There’s a structured story, but it’s choose your own adventure style. The booklet will tell you what happens if you roll high or low, and sometimes you get lines of dialog. Usually we make that up ourselves,” Sebastian said with a grin. “Instead of just saying stuff like ‘you rolled a 1, you don’t get to pass’ we’ll have the troll say something. Whoever is DMing gets to choose the script.”
“And I’m DM tonight!” Abigail cheered.
“This should be a blast!” Léo said happily. He introduced everyone to his Lizardfolk character, and everyone introduced him to theirs. Sam was a Tabaxi named Mimi, Abigial was a Gnome named Breena, and Sebastian was a Tiefling named Iados. After arranging all of their figurines on the map, a card was drawn and they began.
The game was a lot more fun than Léo remembered, and enjoyed himself immensely. Sam was absolutely ridiculous the whole time, flirting his way through every encounter. Abigail had to stifle giggles, and Sebastian would grumble, trying to keep them all on track. Sam also liked to greet all the Tabaxi NPCs, insisting they were his family and that it was very important that he speak to them all.
“Okay let’s see…” Abigail said, turning the page. “We’re at the docks where there are a lot of Lizardfolk workers, and we need to convince someone to sneak us aboard the ship going to Selduria. Who do we question first?”
“Well who’s around?” Sebastian asked.
“Looks like there are a few guards, two female dock workers, and a male dock worker, all Lizardfolk. There is also a Tabaxi standing in the shadows with a cloak on.”
“It’s my dad!” Sam said. “We need to go talk to him.”
“The Tabaxi isn’t your dad,” Sebastian said with a sigh. “And I disagree. Caesin should talk to the Lizardfolk. They’ll probably like him more. Abby, does it say anything about them preferring to talk to Lizardfolk?”
“Yeah,” Abigail said. “There’s a charisma boost.”
“Okay, so let’s talk to them.”
“But I want to talk to my dad,” Sam whined. “Or maybe he’s not my dad. I’ll strut my stuff over there and flirt with him. Then he’ll tell us what we need to do.”
“Sam…” Sebastian said, sounding exhausted. “That’s so dumb.”
“Why don’t you flip a coin?” Léo suggested. “We’ll go with the choice of whoever wins.”
After a few seconds of searching, Abigail found a quarter.
“Call it,” she said
“Heads!” Sam shouted.
Abigail flipped the coin. There was a tense moment before Sebastian groaned and Sam cheered.
“Time to turn on the charm,” Sam said. “Okay, I approach the Tabaxi, a sultry look in my eye. I say ‘Is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?’”
“Roll for charisma,” Abigail said.
“Oh fuck,” Sam said, and Sebastian laughed.
“You got a 1?” Abigail said. She quickly looked at the book. “The Tabaxi says ‘It’s a knife, and I’m willing to kill you with it if you don’t leave me alone.’ Do you keep talking or try someone else?”
“Try someone else,” Sam said moodily, and they went back to the dockworkers. Sebastian began to question the workers, and Léo found himself looking at Sam’s guitars. He sighed, and didn’t realize how loud of a noise he had made until Abigail asked if he was okay.
“Hmm? Oh yeah, I just wish I had brought my guitar from home. I couldn’t bring a whole lot on the bus with me here so I left my guitars with Elfie.”
“You can play one of mine anytime you want,” Sam said.
“How about now?” Sebastian asked. Everyone turned and looked at him. “What?” he said. “The game can wait.”
“Did you just say that the game can wait?” Sam asked, sounding shocked. “You must really want to hear him play.”
“I guess I could,” Léo said. “But these are all electric, they’ll be super loud for how late it is…hm. Wait!” he said suddenly. “What if we turn on some music and I sing for you? I promised Sam I would.”
“Good idea,” Abigail said. “Can I pick?”
“Don’t let her,” Sebastian said. “The last time I let her pick I was stuck singing that Avril Lavigne song, Girlfriend.”
Léo cackled and he and Abigail high fived. “That’s amazing.”
“It wasn’t,” Sebastian said.
“You did really well! It only got weird when your mom and Demetrius came into the Saloon when you were singing about how you can ‘do it better,’”
“Yeah and that sucked!” Sebastian said, annoyed.
“Do you like the musical Rent?” Abigail suddenly asked, pulling Sam’s laptop in front of her. “Sam, put in your password.”
“Are you even gay if you don’t know every word to Seasons of Love?” Léo said as Sam typed away.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Abigail said. “You should sing Out Tonight.”
“Oh shit yeah! That’s a good one!”
They quickly found a karoke version of the song, and Léo prepared himself. He grinned when he heard the opening guitar and began. His friends seemed surprised that he was able to hit every single note, and Léo felt a surge of pride.
“Let's go out tonight! I have to go out tonight! You wanna play? Let's run away, we won't be back before it's New Year’s day! Take me out tonight…” Léo looked directly at Sam before saying, in a very breathy tone “Meow,”
Sam turned pink as Léo continued the song. The ending lines were sung in a sensual voice, and he noticed Sam looking at the floor as though it was the most interesting thing in the entire world.
When he finally finished, everyone clapped and cheered.
“I didn’t know you could sing like that!” Abigail said. “Wow, you really could be in a Broadway play! Or a band! Oh my God you could be our vocalist!”
“Hey, that’s my job!” Sam said. “You can’t take that from me.”
“You can still be lead guitar,” Sebastian said, and Sam groaned.
“Not you too!”
“How about I join you guys for practice sometimes, but I’m not the official singer. And when you guys land some gigs, I’ll cheer you on.” Léo said. “Everyone wins, yeah?”
“That works,” Sam said. “Practice will be fun with you singing with us.”
“Thought you didn’t want him to be the singer,” Sebastian teased.
“He can sing with us! I just don’t want to be replaced!” Sam said, giving his signature pout.
“Nobody could ever replace your annoying ass,” Sebastian said, smacking Sam on the back. “You’re a rare kind of stupid that we’d never be able to find.”
“Yeah, you’re like a puppy,” Léo said, ruffling Sam’s hair. “A little golden retriever. You’ve got brains, but you’re still silly.”
“And cute?” Sam said. Léo knew he was joking, but decided to play along anyway.
“Very cute,” Léo said. “Maybe I should start teaching you tricks.”
“Ugh, make out already!” Abigail said, exasperated, and Léo burst out into laughter. Sam’s face was on fire, and Sebastian was wearing a rare grin.
“You guys as a couple would be--”
“Speaking of couples!” Sam interrupted, “Seb, you should ask Elfie to the Flower Dance!”
“Wait, what?” Sebastian asked, face paling. “It’s on a Wednesday, she’s probably busy. So uh, no I won’t.”
“You’ll never know unless you try,” Léo pointed out. “I’m sure she’d say yes. She really liked hanging out with you before. And I know you guys talk.”
“We don’t talk that much,” Sebastian grumbled.
“Oh yeah? Well Elfie told me you guys talked on the phone yesterday.” Sebastian froze, and Abigail and Sam let out matching ‘ooo’ sounds.
“She told you that?” Sebastian said. “What else did she say?”
“Nothing? Should she have?” Léo asked curiously.
“Were you getting freaky on the phone?” Abigail teased, and Sebastian grabbed his figurine and chucked it at her.
“No,” he said, glaring. “I just wanted to know what she said, that’s all.”
“All good things,” Léo promised. “But I agree with Sam, you should ask her! She owns the damn shop, so I think she can leave the store to one of her employees for a day,” he said. “It’d be great to show her around a little more. Think about it, okay?”
“Yeah whatever,” Sebastian said. “I’ll think about it.”
It was a little past 1 when Léo realized he needed to get home.
“I’ll see you later!” he said, waving at Sam as he left.
“See you later Buttercup!”
“See you later cachorrito!” Léo said. Sam blinked.
“What?”
“It means puppy,” Léo said with a wink. “Have a good night.”
“Yeah…you too,” Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck, a faraway look in his eyes.
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