The Lack of Ability to Think Things Through is a Pain
“Sebastian, this is final! We’re doing what’s best for you. We took you in as our ward, raised you like our own, and you spit it back at us?” King Demetrius raised his voice. “This is a chance to bring peace, an end to a long war that has hurt both of our kingdoms and you decline the offer?”
Sebastian kept his eyes on the floor, not daring to look up at Demetrius’ stern glare or Robin’s disappointed expression. He knew the guards outside would be able to hear. He could imagine Sam’s face when he got back to his room and had to explain the situation without breaking into tears. He could imagine having to explain to Abigail that he’d never be able to accompany her out anymore. The thought of leaving everything behind and go live somewhere else just to solve a war that could be settled in many other ways left him feeling sick. Sicker than usual at this hour.
“Demetrius…” Robin hummed, “it’s late. Perhaps we should continue this over breakfast?”
“Right.” He sighed lightly, “Sebastian, we only want what’s best for you. You’re constantly locked in your chambers here, perhaps a change of scenery is for the best. Sleep on it, we can discuss the proposal more in the morning.”
Sebastian nodded where he stood, using most of his energy and willpower not to let his voice waver. “Alright. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” Robin gave a weak smile as Demetrius simply nodded. With that being the end of the conversation, Sebastian turned and left in the halls.
He could go back to his chambers. He could. Try to ignore Sam’s questions and concerns, huddle in bed and not come out until breakfast or more likely lunch. It irked him though, as he walked through the halls, the idea of having to deal with all of it in the morning. The rain pelting against the windows made the decision even more difficult. If he went out he’d end up getting soaked especially considering he was dressed down slightly due to the time he was summoned at. A button up, pants, and undone hair. He’d get a chill at best and sick at the worst.
Despite the rational part of his brain telling him not to, he found himself going towards the gates. Sebastian knew he had nothing flashy to show, so when he walked past the guards without trouble he couldn’t consider himself surprised. Call it being much more gifted at night than in broad daylight, not that anyone could notice considering how much black he typically wore anyways. Sebastian could feel himself slowly get coated in the warmth of the darkness, walking along the path he walked only a few days ago into the forest. He liked being in the darkness, though one of the main drawbacks is he couldn’t exactly feel the best physical situations during it.
It was when the shadows dropped from him, bleeding back into the shadow under him, that he felt a chill rack through him. He looked down at himself, finding his shirt soaked enough to be practically transparent and his pants clinging uncomfortably to his skin. He knocked on the door hesitantly while stifling a yawn, ignoring how warm his face felt in comparison to how cold and shaken his hands were.
The door creaked open, already letting out some of the warmth and light from inside the building. There was soft chatter in the back, as if whoever stepped away to answer the door abandoned an engaging conversation.
“Hey, look, I know it’s late but uh- is-” Sebastian wasn’t expecting the wave of exhaustion to pass over him as quick as it did, he also wasn’t expecting warm hands to grab his cold ones and pull him inside.
“What are you doing out so late?” Andy frowned, eyebrow furrowing in concern, “are you alright? Are you sick? Hurt?”
“No- well-” Sebastian let out a small chuckle as the door clicked behind him. “I just wanted to see you.”
“You’re soaked!” Andy exclaimed as she tugged Sebastian further into the house, “come in, gosh, who let you outside? You’re going to get ill.”
“I- I admire the concern, but really I-” Sebastian was promptly forced to sit on the ground in front of the fire- “oh, okay.”
“I’ll get you some soup, you stay here and warm up. I’ll get Dave to get you some dry clothes to change into.”
“Hey!” There was a faint protest from the kitchen. Sebastian assumed it was Dave.
He chuckled slightly, not finding much energy to keep up a losing fight. “Alright. I’ll… be here.”
The fire was warm and Sebastian was grateful for it. He found himself starting to doze as the recent events still ate away at his energy. The talking in the other room slowly became white noise as his eyes shut. He didn’t even feel his body hit the floor.
"Hey." There was a nudge against his back. It wasn't hard, but it was enough to bring him from the murky darkness of sleep. "Hey, get up. Don't you whine at me."
"Dave! Be nice." Andy scolded as Sebastian opened his eyes. He found himself laying on the floor, a blanket he didn't remember pulled over him.
"He interrupted dinner then passed out on the floor, I think I can be a little rude in waking him up." Dave defended, poking Andy's nose as he nudged Sebastian with his foot again.
"I- I'm up." He voiced, noting that it sounded a bit raspy which was different than the typical groggy tone.
"Good," Dave huffed, dropping clothes onto the blanket. "These'll probably fit you, no promises, but it'll be better to sleep in than your wet ones."
"Right, uh, thanks." Sebastian nodded, sitting up as he tried to ignore how dizzy the motion made him.
"Andy…" Dave weakly punched her shoulder, seemingly startling her back into reality.
"Right, uh, let me show you where the bedroom is. You can change there." She spoke fast, fidgeting with her hands.
"Thanks…" Sebastian stood up, grabbing onto Dave to stabilize himself as Fizz poked her head into the room.
"Everything okay?" She asked softly and Dave nodded, walking over to her.
"Yeah, let's leave these two alone." And taking Fizz by the upper arm, Dave ushered her out of the room to leave Andy and Sebastian alone.
"O-Okay?" Fizz mumbled with a confused look as she disappeared from the doorway.
A small silence came over the room before Andy motioned for Sebastian to follow her. He picked up the clothes and did as told, glancing around the house as they walked up the stairs. The room they entered was moderately sized, though much smaller and more modest than his in the castle. That was to be expected though. The bed was made and there were a few decorations littering the surfaces of a dresser, a desk, and a few small tables. There were quite a few books as well on these surfaces, along with half-finished sewing projects and a variety of sharp objects.
"Those are Dave's." Andy commented softly as she noticed his eyes longer on the small knives, "I took them away. You can change here."
Sebastian nodded hesitantly, putting the dry clothes on the side of the bed as he started to unbutton his shirt with shaky hands.
"I don't really know where he keeps getting them. I always think I have the last of them then he miraculously finds more, and no one in the town is a blacksmith so I doubt they'd just go ahead and give up their knives for him just to have and spin around- oh I'm rambling aren't I- uh- oh!" It was at this moment that Andy realized Sebastian was in the process of stripping, she could feel her face light up red. "I- I'll leave you be."
"Uh?" Sebastian turned around just in time for the door to slam closed. "Okay…?"
Now left to his own devices, he changed into the dry shirt and pants he was given. It was no button up, but it did the trick. Keeping what Andy said in mind, he steered clear of the sharp objects that she took off of Dave and opened the door.
"Uh-" glancing around he realized he was alone on the upper floor. Well, there goes any conversation to be had, really. At least, Sebastian assumed that as he stepped out of the room.
“Hey!” Fizz smiled, popping out from the stairway. “Andy’s downstairs, if you were wondering. What were you doing out in the rain?”
“Uh-” Sebastian frowned slightly, thinking about a way to phrase it. “I got sidetracked, really.”
Fizz nodded in understanding, seemingly pulling a bowl of soup out of nowhere and offering it. “There’s extra, Andy made it so you should probably have some. It’ll warm you up on the inside!”
He nodded slowly, not really having a chance to oppose before the bowl was essentially dropped into his hands, and then almost dropped onto the floor. The bowl was really hot and his cold hands nearly gave out under the new weight.
“You alright?” Fizz questioned, tilting her head slightly.
“I think I just… need to sit down.” Sebastian nodded, walking to the stairs.
“Alright… Say goodnight to Andy for me!” She smiled at him before disappearing into another room.
Sebastian sighed quietly to himself, readjusting his hold on the warm bowl of soup before he headed down the stairs.
Andy had gotten used to being a ghost. It was hard at first and she found herself crying over everything she could no longer do since becoming non-corporeal. Being a human in a town with a majority population of monsters was hard but okay, being a human ghost on the other hand in a town with a majority population of monsters was even harder. It was a struggle to leave the farmland, to farm, and to do anything but float around and go through walls. She’s grown used to feeling helpless in the situation and grown to accept it, especially after Shane passed as well. Thankfully he wasn’t haunting the farmhouse alongside, but his own house he moved back into. That happened a while ago, and now the human population had dwindled down to none- most humans nowadays stayed within the cities. It came as a surprise to her at least, when a witch and a human showed up on the overgrown farmland she’d come to accept as the remains of her home.
“So you’re looking for a ghost?” The green haired boy asked, crossing his arms. “Like any in particular or just one specific one?”
“Well one that has significant energy to them, y’know? I just get a vibe from here so I think we’re close.” The purple haired witch grinned, “this is exciting, right?”
“A bit.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Like those lame youtube series, the ones with the really bad effects.”
Perhaps the boy was a medium, Andy mused to herself. That would explain why a human would be ghost hunting, though the witch said she was the one that felt the energy so it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.
“Yeah, but this is real!” She grinned, stepping over sticks and rocks as the boy stumbled along behind her.
“Of course it’s real, we don’t have a video camera.” He rolled his eyes, glancing around the property as Andy darted behind a tree.
She recalled Shane not being able to see her once she died, so it wasn’t like she needed to in order to go undetected by the human. She found herself doing it anyways, it was second nature by now to try to avoid people poking around the property until they start disturbing shit.
“Yeah, well it’s better to live in the moment, y’know? Plus, we don’t wanna go accidentally trapping any ghost if it’d just piss them off further.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He agreed with a nod, “how are you so good at walking through this? I thought you grew up exclusively in the city.”
“I have my secrets.” She winked back, approaching the run-down greenhouse. “Think there’s any ghosts here?”
“You’re the one that can feel them!” He sighed, stumbling over the uneven ground faster as if that would help anything. “Let’s have a look-see.”
Andy stayed behind as the two entered the greenhouse. Their talking got muffled slightly by the walls. She took this time to collect herself and piece together everything. They seemed nice enough, really. They said it themselves that they didn’t want to accidentally inconvenience a ghost.
Lost in her thoughts, Andy neglected to notice the passage of time as the two walked out of the greenhouse with her in plain sight.
“Hi miss ghost!” The girl startled Andy from the thoughts. “Do you live here?”
“Uh-”
“I mean I think that parts obvious.” The boy mumbled, “ghosts don’t tend to wander too much Fizz…”
She nodded slowly, “right, right. My mistake. How do you know so much about ghosts?”
“I get bored sometimes.” He sighed. “Uh, miss ghost, do you have a name you go by?”
“...Andy.” Andy replied hesitantly, giving the two a curious look, “and you?”
It was summer so Dave was doing what he did everyday after watering the crops with some early morning discussions with the girls; he was going to the dock. Of course he was tired and of course he probably should’ve just gone back to bed for a quick nap but the day was here and he had to catch a special fish. According to Andy– who he decided was now the supreme god of knowledge of the place, without asking anyone– it started around noon, so he figured that he’d have enough time to make it to the beach with a few minutes to spare looking for shells and checking the traps.
Shouldn’t be that hard, right?
The sun was bright and it was hot out, the beach didn’t make it much cooler. Sure, the water was cold but the humidity didn’t make the relief last. It was quick enough though, bringing in the crab buckets and taking out what was in there to replace it with bait. Dave took in a deep breath, standing up with perhaps a little bit too much force needed causing his head to briefly spin and dots to cloud his vision. It passed just as quick as the onset but the strange feeling in his head didn’t leave. Whatever. He was blaming summer for it, he was never one to rejoice over the season.
It was the creak of a wooden door that caused Dave’s head to shoot up as Elliot came out of his beach hut. Catching his eye, Dave smiled and waved at Elliot as he walked over. Perhaps it was the slight stumble or sway, or perhaps it was the slightly vacant look in his eyes that gave it away.
“Dave,” he started as the farmer stopped in front of him, “you look puzzled-” that definitely caused the farmer to look puzzled as he gave a confused look and tilted his head to the side.
Elliot gave a light sigh, “I guess the summer air can make us a little dizzy.”
Dave gave a bright chuckle and nodded, something he would regret perhaps a little bit later. “Yeah… Things are a little spinny.”
“Oh? Is that… normal for you?” Elliot frowned slightly, eyebrows furrowing.
“No, well, not in this situation, I was a college student.” Dave attempted to joke, dismissing the worry with a wave of his hand, “I’ll be fine, I think I just need to sit down or…”
As if on cue, Dave fainted right there. Elliot didn’t know how to respond, he was a struggling writer not a life guard. Sure, a lot of romance books had fainting scenes but this was going nowhere like any romance book he ever read. Thankfully it was nothing serious since just as Elliot knelt down on the sand Dave was already starting to wake up.
“Hey, are you alright?” He asked gently as Dave squinted up at him.
“What? Of course I am, everything’s peachy.” Dave grumbled.
“You… Fainted?”
“Maybe I just fell for you, what about that?” He pushed himself up as Elliot was left perplexed.
“...Is that a pick up line?”
“Wh-” Elliot could very clearly see the cogs turning in Dave’s head as he sat up with a faint blush. “Oh, it could be taken like that, couldn’t it-? Ugh I got sand in my hair.”
Elliot nodded, standing up and offering Dave a hand which he accepted.
“Farming can be draining but take care of yourself.” Elliot let go of his hand. “Your body is your tool, like a singer, you shouldn’t overwork it.”
Dave nodded slowly, “right, thanks. I’ll remember that, sorry if I worried you.”
“Could I walk you to town?”
“No thanks,” Dave gave a polite smile, “I’ll just sit under a tree for a bit, thanks for the offer though.”
Elliot nodded, “of course. If you don’t mind then?”
“Shoo,” Dave chuckled, waving him away, “go get your inspiration.”
He laughed brightly in return nodding, “alright. Stay safe.”
Writing about things was never hard for Dave. They thrived in the field of psychology, and writing papers analyzing old and new data through different lenses. Of course they didn't expect the drive that kept them going through university to last forever, and that's what brought them here. On a strange run-down farm sitting by a grave with their laptop open. It was a weird setting to write in but it helped them focus so they weren't going to question the ethics behind assuming a ghost of someone you didn't even know believed in you. They really weren't thinking hard about it. Not at all.
The run-down farm had thick overgrown weeds and bushes, lots of trees and large stones that nearly caused them to destroy their laptop by tripping a couple of times too. The frogs were one of the few upsides though, they made cool noises and kept most of the bugs at bay so they didn't have to deal with swarms on their laptop whilst writing.
There was some crunching, the sounds of sticks breaking and gravel shifting under weight. Dave assumed that perhaps it was a squirrel or a bunch of frogs. They assumed wrong of course when a voice broke the ambience they grew used to.
"What are you doing?"
Dave jolted where they sat, glancing up at the lady where the voice came from.
"N- Nothing. Poetry?" They lied. Nailed it.
"...Poetry?" She raised an eyebrow as they nodded.
"Poetry."
"You're writing poetry at my grandfather's grave?"
"...Yes." They nodded before pausing. "Wait, this is your grandpa's grave?"
"Yes."
"..."
"This is also my farm."
"Oh- am I trespassing?"
"...Yeah basically." She shrugged with a sigh.
There was a long pause of silence as they both just stared at each other, Dave started to slowly close their laptop as if that would help the situation at all.
"Do you have a house... or somewhere to stay?"
"I mean I have a place in the city?" Dave hummed, sliding his laptop into his backpack, "it's a pain to get to and from but I think the train comes by s-"
The lady cut them off, "can you commit mass deforestation?"
"...That sounds illegal." Dave gave a small smile.
"My land, my rules." She sighed, "my name's Andy Terrell, it's nice to meet you."
"Dave, well, David Shay. They/them and he/him please." They smiled, offering a hand.
"I need to cut down a lot of trees but no one in town would be a good hire, but I already have my hands full keeping the farm and place in working condition. If you do it you can stay here and write your..." Andy glanced at their bag, "poetry without worrying about train times."
They nodded, "this sounds very shady."
Andy frowned slightly at that but Dave quickly shook their head.
"I- That's not bad, I promise. I'll do it, I just need to put my bag somewhere."
Andy smiled at that, nodding. "Of course, you can put it in my house for now. Say, if you help me on the farm I'm sure we could end up getting your own bunk."
They nodded and couldn't help but smile as well, "of course."
It was a cold rainy morning and it was only the second week of spring, but Elliott had found himself once again pacing the floor of his cabin. The sounds of rain hitting the structure and the waves outside did little to distract the swirl of thoughts in his head. The uncertainty of the future kept it’s claws sunk firmly into him, even if he had his book published there was no guarantee it would take off, and there was no guarantee the royalties it produced would be enough to sustain him. There wasn’t a lot of guarantees in his life, though he knew that long before he moved to Pelican Town to pursue creative writing. I mean, really, what could you do with a bachelors in English? Nothing, or at least that was what Elliott found himself with before moving out.
He shook his head with a soft sigh as a knock pulled him out of his thoughts. Turning to the door he watched as Dave stuck their head in. They were absolutely soaked and Elliott couldn’t help the small smile at how silly they looked with their hair plastered to their face.
“Hey, Dave.” Elliott hummed as they entered and pushed the hair out of their face.
“What’s up?” Dave smiled, walking over to him. “Anything cool or new going on in that head of yours?”
Elliott’s smile dropped slightly as his thoughts reared back into the focus, “nothing, really.” With a sigh, he shook his head briefly “sorry, I'm just… feeling morose today. I wish there was more certainty about the future, you know?”
Dave nodded slowly, shifting their weight from one foot to another as their hand slipped into their pocket. “What if… you came to live on the farm with me?”
Elliott gave a small smile, “you offered already and I appreciate it, but I’d hate to impose-”
Dave huffed and covered Elliott’s mouth, causing the man to stare at them in confusion. “I know that! You wouldn’t be- I- give me time to phrase it, please, I’m no good at these things.”
He nodded slowly so they took their hand away from his mouth. “Alright… take the time you need.”
They took a shaky breath, nodding. The shack was quiet for a few moments, the only sound being their breathing and the rain. Elliott would be lying if he said the long pause wasn’t making him anxious.
“Y’know, I was going to wait until summer or maybe autumn…” Dave started quietly, “but, uh, I’m impatient. I see everyone else with their significant others and I just miss you more. We’ve been dating for a while and I was wondering if you’d make me one of the happiest people in town and become my husband?” They pulled out the mermaid pendant and offered it towards Elliott who was struck speechless.
Tears brimmed his eyes as a bright smile spread across his features, “I accept! I- I’ll set everything up.” He hugged Dave tightly, nearly picking them up. “We’ll have a ceremony in three days, okay?”
“Okay.” Dave grinned, bubbling with happiness. “I can’t wait, I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” Elliott kissed Dave on the forehead. They grinned brightly, clasping the necklace around his neck.
“It looks good on you.” They winked, “the blue brings out your eyes a bit more than usual.”
Elliott couldn’t help but blush at the compliment, smile growing a bit bigger. “Really?”
“Maybe I just like knowing you’re mine,” They hummed, hugging him again. “I’m excited for you to meet Muffin too.”
“Muffin?”
“He’s Andy’s cat, but he’s mine.” Dave snickered, “he’s a big softie, I promise you’ll love him.”
“I’ve never had a pet.” Elliott admitted, “though perhaps I’ll charm him by smelling like the sea?”
Dave giggled at that with a nod, “he will be our little furbaby.”
