Chapter Text
The evening light was beautiful in Krimson City. As usual, Sebastian Castellanos was heading home from work, leaning on the car door and driving through bustling traffic. He had never been annoyed by the constant traffic, unlike many people around him. If you’re living in a city, you have to expect that traffic will back up now and again, especially if you have places to go, things to do. Sunlight filled the space around the tall buildings, and Sebastian was admiring it all as he worked his way home. It wasn’t that his home was too far away from work - his job as a detective consisted of either boring desk work or days that he had to go out in the field. It wasn’t always physically exhausting, but since it was mentally, he liked to take time to sit around and drive instead of walk the whole way.
As of that evening, he had to stop at the library. Sebastian wasn’t a huge fan of hobbies that required a lot of energy. Reading was one he could sit around and enjoy without putting in a lot of work. He frequented the library a lot because of this. Reading in the morning, reading on breaks at work, reading if Joseph was driving, reading when he got home if something interesting wasn’t on or the news wasn’t engaging him enough. Reading was something he had grown accustomed to - he even had a chair in the living room he only sat in if he planned on taking a while to read.
There was a break in traffic when Sebastian turned off the main road. Cars were still constant, but things had begun to pick up as he drove to the library. It was just a few blocks from his house, which was nice. The library itself was rather grand. It wasn’t as nice and expensive as the one near the center of the city, but it was one with multiple floors because many college students and the like tended to visit if their own libraries were closed. This one was always open, ready to be a service to people in need of a decent book.
Sebastian pulled into the lot, quick to get out of the car and to the door. He wasn’t really a regular, he wouldn’t think. Nobody really recognized him - or if they did they didn’t say anything about it. The only reason anyone would greet him going in is if they were from the neighborhood and knew him - many people liked living around a detective. It must make them feel safe having an enforcer of the law living just down the street. His personal house number he gave to a few of his direct neighbors. Rarely was he called upon, but some of them had been broken into and had called him up as a result.
The new inventory shelf had nothing of particular interest to Sebastian. He was interested in just about any read, but nothing really caught his eye there. He was more of a fan of older works, something more serious. A few times he had tried to read teen fiction, but always he had thought that it was a little strange or unnecessary.
He resigned to just wandering the shelves, looking from book after book. A few would catch his eye, but then he would read the description and first couple of pages and quickly lose interest. There was now a bit of an ache in his muscles to get home and rest, but he wasn’t prepared to stop just yet. Sure, he had to do a tough chase of a suspect that day, but a good book and a long night’s sleep were just around the corner. He wasn’t going to give up now.
Rounding one of the shelves, Sebastian felt himself collide with something. It wasn’t heavy, but he jumped back in surprise as he looked to see what it was.
Or rather, who.
“Watch where you’re going.”
Sebastian didn’t recognize the man standing in front of him, arms full of books and a glare on his face. Well, what Sebastian could see of his face. His entire head and hands were covered in bandages, but his eyes and nose and thin lips were uncovered. He was glaring, pale eyes glowering in annoyance at Sebastian. Medical books were all in his grasp, and Sebastian instantly pegged the man. Medical student. There was a med school not far from the library, smaller than the public university but full of little geniuses with a lot of aggression and very little tempers.
“Sorry,” he said. The man began to walk by him, haughtiness in his step. Sebastian watched after him, raising a brow as he was in thought. Those eyes, while full of anger, were startlingly stunning. He hadn’t expected to see such beautiful eyes. Normally he kept to himself in libraries and places like that. This man was really something else.
There was an instinct to pursue that formed in him. He wasn’t much for the idea of love at first sight. That kind of crap didn’t exist, he knew that. There was easily lust at first sight, and he wondered for a moment if that was what he was feeling when he saw this young man in front of him.
“Just forget about it,” he muttered. Turning, he began to move on when he felt something under his foot. Looking down, a wallet sat there. Crouching down, he picked it up and flipped it open. There was a student ID sitting in the place someone would typically put their license. “Ruben Victoriano…” The photo looking up at him was obviously of that man. Those pale eyes looking up and full of… Sebastian couldn’t tell. It was mysterious to him, those eyes. Normally he noticed other things about people first but… The way this man looked, his entire face and the way it worked out. It was beautiful.
Turning, Sebastian was going to call for the man when he saw that he was gone. “Shit…”
Sebastian was the type to want to return things instantly. He began to jog around the shelves, looking around for Ruben. He wasn’t in sight. Going to the entrance and the counters, he didn’t see him there either. The parking lot was void of life as well, looking out there. “You can’t be serious…” Sebastian walked back inside to give the wallet over to the front desk. He hesitated, wondering if there was anything that could show where Ruben was living so he could just bring it directly over.
“Don’t be an idiot, give it to the desk, it would be creepy for you to just show up at his house…”
He fished through the wallet anyway, and found himself holding a small key card with a labelled hall. The medical school didn’t really have dorms, they had rented apartment buildings for their students. Sebastian recognized the one on the label. He found himself smirking a little. "Poor kid better have a physical key or he’s not going to be able to get into his place,” he said. The key card was one to swipe. Poor guy, being flustered when he was just trying to get some books.
“Well, I guess I better do the right thing and bring this over there.”
He drove over to the apartments, and found himself grinning when he saw the young man sitting on the steps and on his phone, looking irritated as he talked to the person on the line. Parking, he pulled into the lot and got out of his car, strolling over with his hands in his pockets.
“... I don’t care, I am not going to let Marcelo keep fussing over me if I can’t get into my room he’s going to insist I keep living there,” Ruben’s voice was sharp, cold as ice. It was almost cute. “Can you just let me in?... Why didn’t you tell me you were still at the labs? Useless!” He hung up the phone and sighed, then he spotted Sebastian and looked even more angry. “So the man who bumps into me is suddenly my stalker. Oh joy.”
Stopping a few feet away, Sebastian pulled the wallet out of his pocket. He felt amusement as he saw Ruben light up in front of him, jumping to his feet right away when he recognized his property. “You were so angry that I ran into you that you dropped this. You’re lucky I saw your key card, or I wouldn’t have known where to find you.”
Ruben snatched the wallet from his hands and looked through it to make sure everything was where it belonged. When he was satisfied, he pulled out his key card and eyed Sebastian thoughtfully. “You’re one of the head detectives here in Krimson City, aren’t you?” he said. “I’ve heard about some of your cases. I take an interest in criminology for medical purposes. Things like morticians are a fascinating subject to me.”
“You’re thinking of taking a shot at it?” Sebastian said. He glanced down at the medical books that Ruben had taken from the library. A few of them he noticed were in fact about morticians and morgues. Curious that a man like this would be interested. From the name Victoriano, Sebastian knew this kid was practically swimming in money. Why he was living in the smallest apartment home, why he was just scrambling to remember something like a key card, it was a strange thing indeed.
Ruben nodded a little at his question. “I hope to, yes…” An annoyed look crossed his face and he picked up his books. “Anyway, thank you for returning my wallet. If you’ll excuse me…” He went into the apartment, the door closing behind him. Sebastian watched after him, eyes set on the door. Why did he want to keep talking to this kid exactly? He found himself enjoying the guy’s company. Shrugging, he went to his car and began to drive home.
When he got home, Sebastian stepped up to the small porch and began to fumble with his keys when it hit him.
He never got a book.