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it’s fucking freezing in sam’s room.
if he’s being honest, though, sebastian figures he shouldn’t be too surprised by this because even though it’s winter in pelican town, sam has both his ceiling fan and box fan on – both at their highest speeds and rattling the quiet air between them. it’s been like this ever since he’s known him. he’s always been the one needing the air conditioning on and sebastian, well… he’s currently taking refuge under one of sam’s sparse blankets on his bed because it’s freezing. it’s currently snowing from what he can see in the lamplight outside the window, only adding to the fact that it’s a little bizarre to be hot at a time like this, and sebastian curls into the comforter more at the thought.
(to be fair, during yearly physicals and check-ups, doctor harvey will usually tell him one of the reasons why he’s so cold could be due to his anemia, and to take iron supplements to help with that, but it’s fine. he’ll be fine. he’s made it this far in life, right? definitely a lot longer than he thought, so that has to count for something.)
the sound of sam groaning and haphazardly tossing his nintendo switch off to the side catches his attention, and he glances up from his phone to see him lying down and staring up at the ceiling with a defeated look on his face.
“did you die?” sebastian asks before he can stop himself, and his voice sounds a bit scratchy from going unused for so long. he almost hates the way he shatters the near silence of the room, but it’s honestly a bit amusing how sam’s eyebrows furrow and his mouth twists into a bit of a pout.
sam huffs and, without looking, reaches for the abandoned switch and starts furiously pressing the buttons once it’s in front of him; sebastian isn’t sure if he’s starting the game again, or exiting the game, but it’s endearing nevertheless. he observes almost a bit shamelessly, though, resting against the wall and focusing on the faces he makes at the screen before he sees his hands readjust on the console.
fuck.
his hands are nice, his fingers flexing at different angles to press buttons rapidly. his arms are nice, on full display since the maniac is wearing a tank top in the dead of winter – and listen, he’s not blind. he can appreciate these small details in secret.
the switch is suddenly moved and sam is glancing up at him, probably realizing he’s been under his gaze for a minute or two, and he asks, “what’s up?”
“it’s cold,” he says point-blank, tugging on the comforter to emphasize his point. “and you’re sitting there in a tank top. with fans and the ac on, in the winter–”
“the ac isn’t on,” there’s a playful roll of the eyes that follows, like that would be too ridiculous or something, “last night i had it on, but i seriously thought my dad was going to put me outside or something.” he shrugs, as if that wouldn’t be a likely outcome and sebastian can quite vividly picture it in his head. “that’s why both fans are on.”
he hums. “he should’ve, you would’ve been in your natural habitat then.”
sam scrunches his nose at that, and sebastian tries not to let his gaze linger on him for too long (he’s already gotten caught for that!) as sam stands, setting his switch down on the nightstand. it’s now when he realizes that it is off, and he had probably saved the game and exited it in his frustration.
“are you cold?” he asks, quieter than before and when sebastian deadpans a no, he sees an odd look in his eye; one that he easily recognizes due to being friends for so long but still can’t decipher – a mix between playfulness and… adoration?
(maybe that’s the wrong word, but he doesn’t know what else it could be. it does make his heart flutter though if he thinks too much about the slim chance that he likes him back like that… even if he knows that it’s probably unlikely. oh well, at least sam’s comments about him crushing on abigail – which weren’t wrong, but those feelings have since simmered out – have finally died down and he doesn’t have to hear that anymore, so that’s something.)
sam makes his way onto his bed and settles down right beside him, tossing the comforter over his lap. if this was anyone else, sebastian would immediately back away from them – but the proximity surprisingly doesn’t startle him, and he actually leans into the warmth; he hopes that not flinching away from his soft, sweet touch and searing heat doesn’t make it too obvious that he likes this so much. he likes sitting like this… and he likes being next to him. a lot.
“well, i’ll use my ability to keep you warm, then.” he says wholeheartedly, sneaking an arm around his shoulder. sebastian freezes for a millisecond, before allowing himself to lean on him. “you could’ve told me you were cold,” he continues, “you’re shivering.”
“i’m always cold-“ he starts, but it cuts off with a small sound that escapes when sam not only pulls him closer, but he moves the hand from his shoulder down to his waist. “maybe you’re just too warm, or something.”
sam snickers. “i am the proclaimed furnace, after all.”
it’s quiet for a few moments before sam wiggles out from under the comforter to grab his phone from the nightstand. sebastian sighs, feeling a small wave of disappointment wash over him at the loss of contact, but it quickly disappears when sam not only returns to the same spot but also wraps his arm around his waist again. he unlocks his phone and mindlessly scroll through tiktok - and sebastian rests his head against his shoulder to see the phone screen.
“cute,” he whispers, and sebastian isn’t sure if he’s talking about the sudden cat video that is playing or if he’s talking about him. though the playful comment isn’t uncommon, it still catches him off-guard and it only adds to the fluttering feeling locked deep in his ribcage.
curious, and insisting on playing along, sebastian asks, “who?”
sam looks up at him almost immediately, a shocked expression on his face and a light dusting of a blush on his freckled cheekbones. he regains his composure in a flash, though he’s still flustered by being caught, and he glances back at his phone as he says, “you, obviously… dude.”
okay. he can work with this, he thinks as he watches sam quickly swipe up on multiple videos, not quite paying attention to the content.
sebastian rolls his eyes, reaching over to swipe down to view a previous video – not to watch it, but to get him to pause what he’s doing and chill out for a moment. “don’t call me ‘dude’ after calling me cute. it’s counterintuitive.”
sam seemingly doesn’t expect that to come out of his mouth – and honestly, neither does he. it just slips out effortlessly. still, that odd (but endearing) look on sam’s face returns and he relents with a laugh, gently guiding him closer as he says, “alright, alright. i’ll call you ‘bro’ instead of ‘dude’ next time, how about that?”
“why am i not surprised?” sebastian huffs, though it’s all in jest as he rests his head against his shoulder again to watch the videos, but to also hide his face from his gaze again. “call me a cute bro next time and see what happens.”
it’s an empty threat, really but it actually works and sam, always up to a challenge, leans in to whisper, “bro, you’re so cute,” in his ear.
damn. okay.
he feels heat rising to his face, his cheeks running hot as sam pulls away and cackles unabashedly despite it being late and the rest of the household being asleep.
he loves the sound though, even if he won’t openly admit it to anyone but himself.
“c’mon bro,” sam says, attempting to get his laughter under control as sebastian tries to steal the comforter away from him in faux annoyance. he curls into the blanket more, and sam suddenly changes the topic by asking, “you’re still cold?” he quickly reaches over and pulls him closer by his hips, tugging him onto his lap as sam rests against the wall, and oh – the instant proximity alights his entire body, his face burning red as he quietly ducks it down into the crook of his neck; a bit counterproductive, only adding to the heat he feels rising up within him.
he quickly rationalizes that this was the next step, after all. he’s just using his body heat, but… does he have to sit on his lap? it’s nice, though – feeling sam’s calloused fingers press up against his hips, against the bit of skin that peeks up from his t-shirt; feeling his heartbeat sync up with his own; running his hands through sam’s blond hair, washed free of any hair gel and half-tied back in a messy ponytail.
the silence of the house causes him to relax a lot more than if it were earlier, simply because he doesn’t know what he would do or even say if jodi – or heaven forbid, kent – saw a quick glimpse of this happening. they’d probably get the wrong idea. not that he cares, because he doesn’t, but he’d rather refrain from their inevitable questioning when it’s – at best – a misunderstanding to begin with.
(he doesn’t want it to be one, though, he wants this to mean something even if it’s nothing.)
“is this okay?” sam asks after a moment, which is ironic considering the fact that they’ve been sitting like this for a few minutes at this point. sebastian gives a hum in response, only mumbling out a small yes when he realizes he wasn’t too clear. “okay, cool. hopefully you can warm up.”
“you know that turning off the fans would help, right?” he deadpans without a second thought, despite continuing to hide his face to keep warm and to avoid the look he knows he’s getting.
“y’know that would require me to move, right?” sam parrots back in the same tone, tightening his hold on him – and alright, fair, he’ll take that as an excuse because he really doesn’t want him to move now that he’s here and comfortable, either.
he readjusts the comforter around his shoulders before mumbling out a small rebuttal of, “shut up,” into the crook of his neck. sam doesn’t say anything else on the matter, resting his head against his – and sebastian should feel suffocated by this but he doesn’t.
it falls quiet once more, and he listens to sam’s breathing as it soon evens out with his own.
sebastian isn’t sure what time he fell asleep, but as he slowly wakes up and shifts a bit, he realizes that the two of them are still in the same position as before. sam’s head is resting back against the wall, his neck craned up and exposing his jawline; in his sleepy haze, he really wants to lean forward and pepper kisses along –
he shakes his head a bit, pushing that thought away before it even fully manifests in his head. a twinge of guilt clenches around his ribcage and as he tries to get out of his hold, sam’s grip tightens and his eyes slowly blink open. good, he thinks, he’s waking up.
“are you uncomfortable?” he asks quietly as sam brings a hand up to run at his eyes before it returns to where it had been on his hip – and sebastian tries not to think about how natural it feels.
“nah, man,” he answers back, looking at him and slightly tilting his head off to the side – and sebastian swears he’s like a golden retriever in human form, “why would i be? are you uncomfortable?”
sebastian shakes his head, quicker than he expects himself to but he really wants him to know that this is fine.
“i feel bad for your knees.”
“my knees are fine, i’m on them all the time–” he doesn’t miss the way sam’s eyes spark with an unreadable expression, but sebastian huffs and swats at his chest while saying, “–fixing my motorcycle, dude.”
sam clears his throat. “yeah, for sure.” he pauses for a brief moment before asking, “do you want to lay down or something…? i’m sure that would be better. my ass is a little numb, too.”
sebastian nods at that. before he can get off, though, sam easily – almost haphazardly – grabs his hips and all but tosses him down onto his back. for a quick moment, he thinks he’s going to get on top of him (not that he would mind that) but he only snickers at the soft gasp that leaves sebastian’s throat and instead lays down beside him. “asshole,” he manages to get out as a last-ditch effort, trying not to sound so out of breath.
sam makes a sound of acknowledgement with a bit of a shrug, but he continues with, “we can still huddle for warmth if you want, as long as you don’t put your cold feet on mine.”
“no promises,” he mutters, shifting closer to get more comfortable and warm. he knows he should probably say something about this, how easily they’ve gotten into this under the simple guise of him being cold (he is, and he knows that’s all it is to sam anyway) but he doesn’t want to bring attention to it. “how are you so warm…?” he asks instead, and sam wraps his arms tightly around his waist.
“i am the human furnace, after all.”
“you could’ve just turned the fans off,” sebastian laughs a bit, pausing for a moment before shaking his head and saying, “it’s fine, though… i’d rather have this instead.”
shit. he can’t think. he feels like his brain is bluescreening, or like error pop-ups are repeatedly alerting him along with that annoying shrill that usually plays.
“oh?” sam asks, and sebastian blankly looks at him, he can see a slight sparkle in his eyes, “what do you mean?” he’s well aware of how awkward it is that he’s not speaking, fumbling over any attempts to say anything, but he thankfully interrupts with, “like, me holding you?” as his freckled cheeks burn red.
(he thinks it’s honestly endearing, but he keeps his mouth shut on that.)
“or,” he continues, arching a brow, “anyone holding you?”
sebastian’s eyes narrow, his words pouring out quicker than it had been – almost defensively. “who else would be doing this with me?”
“i don’t know! you’re always cold, maybe abby does whenever i’m not around or something!” sam’s voice raises, and sebastian almost moves to cover his mouth so that his parents don’t wake up and hear him.
“i’m–no, she does not!” he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a heavy sigh as he thinks on what to say next. “i like it when you do this. i like winter specifically for this.”
and it’s… quiet.
while he figures he hadn’t admitted too much, it’s still a lot more than he’s said out loud to anyone, and… oh god, was this a confession? what the fuck is he doing?
sam’s smile slowly returns, and sebastian feels like he’s looking into the sun; like it’s daylight and his grin is so bright and cheerful. “you’re so cute,” he says then, and he feels his fingers tap against his hip bone. “i’ll keep doing this for you then, because i like it too.” that honestly gets his heart racing – more so than it had before – and he lets out a shaky breath, unsure of when he had been holding it. “go back to sleep,” he reminds him softly, “it’s still pretty late.”
sebastian hopes they’ll be able to talk about that in the morning – or, later, since it’s four am from what the clock on his dresser says. “alright,” he says, though he’s not sure if he’ll actually be able to do so. “good night.”
“good night,” he responds, a sleepy smile on his face. sebastian tries to calm his racing heart, and ducks his head down into sam’s chest, tucked under his chin. “cute,” is what follows, a slight whisper that is soon replaced with soft snores, his chest evenly rising and falling.
sebastian tightens his hold on him. even if he’s not ready to face the morning, at least he still has this.