ft. eloisa barcelos // @barcelcs
“i get dad not wanting to come, but why are we doing this again? weren’t we supposed to be having fun?” sebastien’s eyebrows furrow as he looks at his older brother, with lists of books they were supposed to collect for their father’s shop (and some for their personal library). just one look from nikolai, though, and the younger shuts up with a roll of eyes—it was always like this, truly. his siblings couldn’t handle him sometimes, the blabbermouth of the family, the child everyone has to keep an eye on, even though he is supposedly old enough to take care of himself.
after the last time he traveled on his own, however, neither of his parents were willing to let him go wild into other kingdoms; not when they have a secret to be kept and much less when he had managed to cause the anger of several highlander men all at once not too long ago. even with a life of his own, it is nikolai who seems to be the one who has to watch over his brother and back him up if anything happens. “alright. so… books…” the younger gives in with a small dramatic sigh as they walk together through the place.
focused on the task, they drift away to accomplish the mission faster, each with a list in hand—sebastien moves around the bookshop, checking the titles carefully so he wouldn’t miss them, and it is with the biggest smile that he holds three heavy ones on his arms when he reaches for the last one he needed, hand bumping on someone else’s. he lifts the eyes to the girl, having to blink a few times as the smile fades off his lips. almost instinctively, he pulls his hand away, holding back a frown.
it is as if his parents were right not to send him alone—and they surely were, as all kingdoms were coming together and, even thought chances of these two bumping into each other being minimal, it happened. sebastien’s eyes move away from her, only to check around, making sure none of her family was around to corner him. “you can have it,” he gestures at the book then, looking at her again with a light, polite smile.