domstclair

[domstclair]

title: Collateral timeframe: Sometime in the first week of term tagging: Shen Lai, Meredith St. Clair, Maxence St. Clair total: 1,653 words   triggers: distant parents, manipulation, mentions of blood, outburst of violence, emotional abandonment notes: Complete.

SEBASTIAN STARED at the envelopes in his hands and studied Mafalda's scrawl. The sun shone through the windows overlooking the grounds. It'd annoy Sebastian if he weren't so stunned to see anything from Mafalda at all. She sent notes and also cards on his birthday. She sent boxes of baked treats sometimes with a quick few lines of affirmation.

She rarely sent letters. Mafalda was always working on something. He figured that her having written notes at all showed all the discipline for it she made herself muster. She was always one that liked calls more anyway. Sebastian was always touched by it. He kept all of her notes in a little book he used to press flowers. Petals and notes scattered into random pages. Any occasion where he pulled out the book gave Sebastian reason to smile for a few fractions of a minute. Just the sight of the notes was enough.

This was different.

He swallowed. Decided to read his parents' letter first. It was postmarked one day before Mafalda's was.

'Dearest Sebastian, We know you've been waiting to hear from us but we were away on a cruise and only now just got back.

His mother was the one to write this one.

You know our little travel rituals. One day before travel and one day after a return to acclimate again. The cruise was beautiful but I don't know why we ever thought going in July was a suitable idea. The Dominican is absolutely sweltering but I swear nothing would've slaked our wanderlust like this trip did.

The letter wasn't long. He was waiting for a word to jump out at him.

Anyway dear, no need to fret any more about your upcoming claim to Shen. You'll have no trouble validating the claim through the Board. Your forms will go through without any trouble. You're clear to move forward. I'd like you to set a date with Lai and leave the planning to me.

Love!

Sebastian's heart skipped a few beats. So there it was. His parents would never put in writing any of the specific details. The St. Clair clan were a careful bunch. But Maman had clarified everything for him in a few words.

So he was a Dominant. Totally and completely. A dual spike of pleasure and shame shot through him. That meant two things.

He'd enjoyed sex with a Dominant not because of any biological need. It was simply...good sex. Sebastian felt he could live with that, maybe. Even if Ihsan knew about it and so did Sebastian's bedfellows.

Really, what were a few trysts here and there when his place was secure in the world? He had all the full rights and autonomy of a Dominant. Nothing had to shift or change. He could claim Lai or Oak or whoever the hell he wanted and he'd be protected. He was still himself.

Sebastian exhaled so deeply he thought he'd deflate entirely.

He couldn't relax entirely, though. This news meant that there was something else. Something giving him headaches, making him irritable, slowing his cognitive processes. It scared him a little. It had to be serious if it was taking this much of a toll on him for this long.

His fingers hovered over the search box on his phone. He would have to make some sort of appointment. Maybe let Lai know so that the Shens could factor this information into the claim. They would want to know what was going on. Anything less could cause the Charter family to go on a warpath. Yet...something was off. He held back. Turned his phone face down on the bed beside him.

His thighs tightened as he lifted to his feet. Sebastian moved closer to the window and let his fingers touch the face of Mafalda's letter.

He opened it and her hasty scrawl spilled out over more than a few lines. He chuckled through his nose and the ghost of his smile faded from the corners of his eyes.

Caneton,

Mafalda wrote.

I want you to know that I love you. I have watched your parents take you for granted from the very day they hired me. I know there is so much going on inside of you. We didn't talk all that much when you were here but I could see it on you. You have known such few moments of happiness. You carry so much that you don't say. I hope you know that if you need to say it, I will always have time for you.

Whatever plans you and your parents have for your future I need you to know the truth.

Sebastian stopped himself from going on to the next line. His fingers trembled and the letter shook between them. He didn't breathe. Somehow Sebastian knew what was coming next.

Your test results say that you are a Switch. Your parents, they didn't tell me, but I could hear them arguing from my quarters out back. I came in to settle some tea in case your mother wanted a cup. I heard them say it out loud.

I don't think they are going to tell you the truth. So I'm doing it. Everyone deserves the truth. Especially truths that belong to them.

You do not have to be perfect in the world but you are perfect to me. There is nothing wrong with you. I know this changes what you thought was ahead of you...but all I ask is that you reach out to me when you need me. A box of your favorite cookies are coming this week in the mail.

Anything you need, Sebastian. Anything.

Mafalda

A drop splattered on the page. And then another. Sebastian looked up, expecting to see the tell tale signs of a busted pipe or a leak from upstairs. It was then that he noticed the dual tracks on his cheeks.

Oh.

Sebastian dropped the letter. He didn't feel any of the steps he took to his door, nor did he realize he'd gone outside until the heat of the dying day covered his body and lungs like a weighted blanket. His gaze was unfocused and his feet carried him somewhere he didn't recognize.

It was only when he got to the door of an empty house at the edge of Lowell's property that any cognition briefly returned for him. It was one of the claimed student condos that didn't often stay occupied for too long. Always someone coming and going. Always someone else leaving.

Sebastian pushed open the door and looked around him.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. A sweltering rage rose up inside of him. Sebastian's chest rose and fell rapidly. His vision turned double as more tears came. The skin of his knuckles grew white as his trembling hands tightened into balled fists at his sides.

He yelled. Long and loud and guttural. His temples felt like they'd implode and it was only the anguish of his lungs which made him stop.

He yelled again. Another. Throat feeling like it could tear with the force of it in his mouth. He yelled until he ran out of breath and tore the doors from one of the kitchen cabinets. He flung the fine china across the living room and shattered them against the walls. He smashed the dining chairs against the table and kicked one leg out from under it. Threw another of them into a window.

Sebastian tore down the blinds and curtains. He kicked the drywall until it busted and the wood behind it splintered.

At some point a knuckle started to bleed and he tripped onto some glass he'd spilled out over the floor. Sebastian laid there, feeling it dig into the surface of his skin. He might've stayed there forever. For good. Laying like that.

Except he pushed himself up and settled his back against the wall. His knees came to his chest and Sebastian circled his arms around them. His face hid in the crevice between like a child counting out a game of hide and seek. His muffled cries still echoed in the big vacant house. His clothes were a mess of stains and wetness when he finally lifted his face again.

After all that rage came nothingness.

His parents had lied to him. They were going to fix this whole thing. Probably had already lined up someone to file the wrong paperwork to get his claim to go through. Dissolutions were hard and they must have known that once the claim happened they could wash their hands of whatever happened next. Even the Shens would want to cover up the embarrassment of a false claim.

It was the simplest solution. The cleanest. The cruelty laid in it's Machiavellian perfection.

Sebastian was just a problem to be solved. They hadn't given him the decency of helping him through this. They just wanted him to do what he was told. To move on from it.

Sebastian's face crumpled and even his own arms around his knees didn't stop the complete and utter feeling of aloneness he felt. It couldn't keep the abandonment from creeping into his bones nor the weightlessness of worthlessness crippling his joints. He was pinned there by gravity, else he felt he might just float away.

Whatever happened next. Whatever phone calls home he made. It didn't matter.

He was alone.

Hours passed into darkness and only when the stars came out did Sebastian shift, pain shooting through his aching muscles, and he pushed himself off the floor.

Hargrave was sleeping and his door shut quietly behind him. He laid atop his covers until morning when he showered off the debris. He covered the dark circles under his eyes and phoned his parents.

"I know the truth," he said into a silent line.

A sigh was his only sign she'd heard him.

"Let me get your father."

This was the start of negotiations.

[domstclair]

title: Damage Control timeframe: Sometime in early May tagging: Shen Lai, Meredith St. Clair, Maxence St. Clair total: 1,603 words   triggers: distance parents   notes: Complete.

“CAN YOU IMAGINE? Scholarship Students on the Student Council,” Maxence shook his head.

“Surely Blackwood will quash any nominations…” Meredith opened the Arts & Leisure section of the newspaper. “As if they’d ever have a chance of winning. They’re outnumbered.”

Sebastian swallowed a piece of his croissant, usually one of his favorite pastries of Mafalda, their housekeeper. He almost didn’t taste it. He picked at the flaky layers and watched his plate.

“You know you should think about running, hm?” Meredith questioned, perfectly manicured eyebrow perked up.

“A St. Clair on the Council is good for the fortitude of the school. Headmaster Blackwood will recognize that,” Maxence still hadn’t looked at Sebastian. “Especially since the Lacrosse season seems to be a bit dry for you…?”

“Have you been tracking our season?” Sebastian knew better than to get his hopes up. “I haven’t seen you in the visitor stands.” His voice was neutral but Sebastian ‘s displeasure wasn’t hard to discern.

“Yes, well. We’ve been busy keeping the Shen’s appeased.” Maxence put down his newspaper and picked up his steaming cup of coffee. “We’ve negotiated an extra vineyard distribution center into the claim to keep them happy. Your stalling has become costly.”

Meredith didn’t say anything, just perused her pages, but Sebastian knew that she was listening. It was her way of indicating that she agreed with Sebastian’s father.

“Has he done something to displease you?” Maxence asked, a hawkish look to his gaze. Sebastian knew that look. Businesses had gone under following the appearance of that look. Sebastian knew Maxence would go on a war path if he thought the delay was caused by Lai.

Sebastian shook his head. “Shen Lai has been…perfect.” He put his hands in his lap, fingertips rubbing tiny circles in his napkin. “He’s…everything he has been raised to be.” Perhaps Lai was a little detached. A porcelain masterpiece of perfection and obedience. Sebastian wished to see life in him. Activation of his own mind, his own will, independent of anything the Doms in his life wanted. But Sebastian feared that sort of will had been engineered out of him.

“Then, what, Dear?” Meredith turned. “I’ve been telling all my girlfriends for almost a year now that we’re on the verge of planning the ceremony. They’ve been asking questions.”

Of course, that’s what they would be worried about. Appearances. What to tell their society friends. This claim was as much (if not more) about them as it was about Sebastian’s future.

Sebastian felt a tremor run through him. The Wheel of Fortune card flashed before his eyes. The assurance that a choice would need to be made. What Sebastian knew was that he wasn’t ready to be in a claim. He needed time. Freedom. He also needed not to piss off the powerful Shen family, nor dismay his parents.

So he used their worries about image and perceptions against them.

“There’s…a wrinkle,” said Sebastian. He took a silent breath, chest rising and falling in a slow cascade. He schooled his features and steeled his gaze. “Any claim has to go through a Claim Review Board. The very first thing they’ll do is a classification test.”

The St. Clair heir had never spoken these words aloud except to one person. Cassius. That had not prepared him to say them to his parents. Not when his entire existence was staked upon him being the St. Clair heir. A good deal of their affection seemed to be staked on it as well.

“You probably don’t remember,” said Sebastian slowly, gazing upon his mother’s austere face and his father’s pinched brows. “But in seventh grade I was doing a science project. It was on at home tests for classification.” He took a slow bite of his crepes, savoring it as though he had all the time in the world. “I abandoned the project idea…but not before I tested myself.”

A pause. “It came back saying I was a Switch.” All breath left him and he sat statue still. “I threw it away. It never was an issue before…but if it comes back that way now…”

“You won’t be able to make the claim.” Understanding dawned in Meredith’s eyes. She looked almost grateful that Sebastian had told them.

Meredith locked eyes with Maxence. They looked at each other for a passing minute. Sebastian read something between them. They were thinking about damage control. Yet, they weren’t angry like he’d thought. They were scheming. How to control the narrative. How to get ahead of this.

“Well,” said Maxence. “You’re not a Switch.” He sipped his coffee like they’d been discussing the new cafe down the road. “So, there’s no reason to delay.” He looked at his newspaper again. Sebastian knew a mask when he saw one. Maxence was willing this to be the truth. “You’ll take a test before you leave here. We’ll mail you the results back at Lowell.”

“Those home tests are wrong all the time, dear,” Meredith said in exasperation. “We’ll get the family physician to make a visit just for you.” She pulled out her cell and began wordsmithing a message.

“No,” said Maxence. “We’ll get one of the Murdock’s to administer the test. The CEO owes me.” He looked sharply at Sebastian for a second. “Tell no one. You will continue to court Shen. When we have confirmation of what we already know…then you’ll move forward with the claim.”

“Really Sebastian, you should have told us.”

Sebastian felt a weight burrow into his chest. It was cold and hard, like a stone. He looked up to see Mafalda watching from a crack in the kitchen door. Their dining room had swinging doors, one that exited into the halls and one that went into the kitchen. She gave him a subtle nod and closed the door gently. He stared at the spot where the crack used to be for several minutes.

“We could have put all this to bed a long time ago,” Meredith chastised. Her laughter was forced and too cheerful.

“I’m sure he just wanted to party,” said Maxence. “As boys are wont to do at Lowell.”

“Oh true,” Meredith nodded, a smile gracing her lips. “He’s only been there a year. You darling little troublemaker.”

Sebastian barely forced a tight smile. “I think I’m done with my breakfast. I’ll have Mafalda whip up some mimosas.”

“To celebrate your impending claim!” Meredith exclaimed. She pulled out her phone and started texting someone. “Ask her to make a strong batch darling.”

“And have her start on a protein shake. I’m meeting my trainer at one.” Maxence was back to staring at his paper, though he’d spared a glance at his watch, gauging the time.

Sebastian picked up his plate and carried it slowly to the kitchen, as though in a trance, feeling every bit as much a ghost as his parents had just made him feel. He was twenty-eight and yet they were still controlling his life like a PR machine. They didn’t even ask him if he had had any trouble physically. If his biology had given him any indication that he may not be a Dominant.

It was just another reinforcement that he was on his own in this world. That his future wasn’t his. It belonged to everyone else. This was their world, he was simply existing in it.

A lump appeared in his throat; and if he were any less numb he might’ve broken down at the sight of Mafalda’s expression. She was already fixing a pitcher of mimosas. She had clearly heard everything. The juicer sat on the counter ready for use.

She said nothing, simply walked over to him and cupped both sides of his face. “So handsome,” said Mafalda. She peered at him as if he were her own son. “I remember your project,” she said. “You never told me…” There was something unspoken in her gaze. She wished she’d known. Sebastian knew why. She’d have comforted him through it, as she was doing now.

“I couldn’t put you in the middle…” Sebastian glanced back toward the dining room door. If Mafalda fought for him and his parents didn’t like the appearance of her backbone, she may have been fired. “I couldn’t lose you.” He cupped her hand with his own, eyes falling closed.

“Mafalda, if the tests come back and it’s…not what we think.” Sebastian cleared his throat. “You don’t say anything.”

She tutted her tongue at him. “You don’t worry about me.” A maternal sternness came over her. “I get room and board, I eat here, my vacations are paid for when I travel with your parents. They give me bonuses. My children are grown; they send me money.” She lifted both of her shoulders. “I will be fine. If anything, they should worry about what would happen if I left them.” She looked over her shoulder. “Let them find someone who makes their shakes and mimosas and writes their cards and knows how to make the desserts their rich friends rave about at parties.” She shook her head.

Sebastian chuckled.

It was then that she pulled him into a hug. It was then that Sebastian broke. His chuckling turned to quiet sobbing against her shoulder. She held him tight and stroked his hair. It was as she had done for him as a child. She said now what she said then.

“Don’t fret, child. Everything will happen as it happens. And still we will go on.”

His eyes were dry when he brought the pitcher out to his parents. If they noticed the redness in them they said nothing.

FINIS.

[domstclair]

title: The Road Less Traveled  timeframe: Sometime in early February tagging: Oak Wilde, Shen Lai, Order of the Primrose total: 2,331 words   triggers: Thread references a tarot reading / occult mentions and a veiled threat   notes: Complete.

SEBASTIAN WANDERED into the quaint little book store near the edge of town. Binderz Books was a staple to the locals. Though Sebastian hadn't grown up in the area he was still practically native to New York. At least half of his time had previously been split between there and France.

Portsmith had been his home for a little over a year now. Each day which passed at Lowell had Sebastian feeling both more free and more constricted than the day before. How could that be? What truth could such a paradox hold? Sebastian was certain that the only valuable thing in life was certainty.

It's why he chose the path well traveled in nearly all circumstances. He also had tried to play not the hand he'd been dealt but the people who dealt it to him. His parents were the main drivers of conflict in his life. His parents and the Order of course. They all wanted him to choose the One Path which they'd laid out for him.

Sebastian, for all his virtues and faults, was a stubborn man. He wanted to have it all. But the question which kept coming up for him was...was that really possible? Could he truly choose his own way in life and still have it all?

In all honesty Sebastian believed in making his own luck. It's why his casual stride into Binderz Books surprised even himself. It was Singles & Sweethearts week and Sebastian had caught sight of a certain mystic in their midst. An esoteric named Madame Maxine, said to be a master fortune teller. She had her cards. Sebastian had his skepticism.

"Won't you come sit, child?" A raspy voice called from the corner. She was wrapped in a shawl to ward away the February cold in the drafty older building. There were small space heaters near the entrance, too.

Sebastian froze. He hadn't even been in the room for a full minute.

"I just finished a reading, but I sense...you need some direction."

She stood at the threshold of a back room. It was said these back rooms were host to a variety of book clubs and slam poetry nights. They laid on either side of the gallery which made up the main room of Binderz.

Sebastian scoffed. "Direction? Aren't there compasses for that?"

The woman -- scarcely sixty if Sebastian had to guess -- laughed raucously and shook her head. "I know why you came."

Impossible.

A chord of terror struck in Sebastian. He felt squeamish. Uncertain. This was exactly the type of feeling he'd been avoiding for quite some time. It was laid bare with just a few sentences from some stranger.

Get a grip Sebastian.

No. She was merely an old bat with too much time on her hands and an all access subscription to A&E. She must've picked up the trade of Tarot online or after a particularly rousing episode of 'Charmed.' Sebastian would be damned if he let this street corner Sybil shake him to his core.

He put a hand in his pocket and strolled into a back room. It was smokey from incense which burned on a shelf. A window shed light through the haze of the sage scented smog. Candles flickered around them. Sebastian looked toward the main entrance, thinking one last time of escape.

"Welcome, fellow traveler...I know why you came...but you must first ask for what you seek."

Sebastian stared blankly at the woman in front of him. Her graying blonde hair hung in bangs around her forehead from the purple turban keeping it up. Her gaze pierced him. As though she'd seen not only this moment but the one to come after it and the next one after that. It was as though she knew he'd stay despite being a man of skepticism.

"You're here for a reading," she rebuked.

"I'm not," said Sebastian.

Maxine clucked her tongue. "You can lie to yourself boy...but you must not lie to me. The cards know the truth. And so do I."

What was he doing here again? Sebastian thought back to all those years of law school. To his parents who would ridicule him if they saw him now. He grit his teeth.

"You must ask the Cards a question."

"You know...I know what your type do." Sebastian sat back. Steepled his fingers. Smirked. "You read a person, that's all. You prey on someone. Someone you see is struggling. You make guesses based on what they're wearing or what they do. Little expressions they make when you guess close to the truth."

Sebastian was a skeptic to the bitter end. "I've read about your kind."

"Please," Maxine said, sitting back as well. "If you don't believe...you're welcome to go. No one is compelling you to be here."

Yet Sebastian did feel compelled. In some strange way or another. He knew that logically he could get up from his seat and leave the room and pretend like the whole embarrassing charade had never happened. Yet he felt pinned to his seat unable to move.

He sensed nothing malicious from Madame Maxine. He was held only by his own burning curiosity. His own innate need for an answer. If he asked the Cards...if he prayed...if he turned to some higher power then how could he be blamed for the outcome of events? If they told him what to do...was it really his fault if anything fell apart?

"I don't believe," he said. "But I'll bite." Sebastian's gaze trained on the Cards laid out in a stack before him. "I need to know if I can have it all. Everything I want in love."

She peered at him and a grin feathered the edges of her lips. Like she already knew the answer before the reading took place. "Cut the deck for me. In three."

Sebastian's hand hovered over the deck. The door bell chimed in the front of house but Sebastian scarcely heard it. His fingers found a place to grip and cut the deck into a third. He placed the cards to his left. Then cut the deck a second time and placed it to the right of the other two stacks.

The cards were laid out in three stacks in front of him.

"This spread illuminates the past, present, and future," she waved her hand over the stacks as though revealing something in a murky looking glass. "It will tell you what you want to know."

Candlelight glinted off an opal stone ring as she drew the first card and laid it out in front of Sebastian. It looked like a couple embracing and Cupid in the corner. But they were upside down.

"The lovers, reversed," she murmured, a hint of speculation in her tone, but one absent of surprise. "You made a decision in your love life. One that's caused discord and disunity." She looked at him.

Sebastian swallowed.

"The card in this position tells me you or someone close to you had hopes for your love...which didn't exactly go to plan. It tells me that the harmony you meant to make...did not come to pass."

A lucky guess. Vagueness which Sebastian was meant to assign meaning to. That's what these con artists did.

"The reading is a mirror, boy," Maxine rebuked. As though she could read his very thoughts. "What did the cards see?"

Sebastian sat back. "I made a decision for myself. Caught between...two choices." People. Two people. But really more than two. Sebastian's parents, Lai's whole family. They were all involved somehow in this decision. Which is why Sebastian had tried to take it back.

Her ring glinted again as she pulled the card meant to represent the present.

"The World, inverted..." She crooned, seeming to divine something from the shiny surface of the painted card. "At present...there is a goal or project...perhaps a union...where you have not accomplished what you set out to do. There are steps to take but you're not taking them." She closed her eyes as though listening to faint music. "You've hit a roadblock. Or perhaps there's an outside influence...something stopping you. Someone, maybe. Yourself perhaps."

Sebastian's heart stopped in his chest. How could she know this? How could the cards be saying these things? His throat dried out. His breathing shallowed. He felt himself go cold despite the space heater keeping the room at least somewhat warm. He blinked several times in a row.

"This could also mean things are not as they should be, in your world. Perhaps the decision you made has caused these problems you're facing now. The goal you're meant to reach."

"Goal?" Sebastian had to ask, desperate for what knowledge she seemed to have.

"You tell me," Maxine said. "Is it power? Is it love?"

He searched his heart. In truth he wanted both the comforts of love and the freedom of choice but his position made that combination of things nearly impossible. He was playing the hand he'd been dealt in order to up the ante and yet all of it was a gamble. Always a gamble.

Sebastian's eyes drew like magnets to the remaining card. He didn't want her to pull it. Sebastian didn't want to know. It was only one card. It could say only so many different things. Yet he knew the immense power of a few short words and pictures. The reading so far had spliced through the doubts he'd cradled in his mind since walking in. Whatever was happening here, Sebastian felt that it had always been meant to happen. That he was supposed to hear this.

Madame Maxine seemed to sense something in him. Her fingers laid upon the next card, ready to draw, like a soldier ready to unsheath his blade. "Breathe," she said softly.

There was a subtle moment where Sebastian closed his eyes. His lips were closed but his chest rose softly to fullness. He opened his eyelids and his gaze was still hooked on that last card. Maxine seemed to take this as his being ready. Her ring glinted for the last time as she laid down another card.

"Wheel of Fortune...inverted." What did it say about Sebastian that all of his cards had been inverted? What did it mean for his love life if all the cards were saying he had it wrong?

"The future holds a stroke of bad luck. Things will not appear to go your way." She sensed his deflation at the last card and held up a finger. "But fortune is a wheel which turns. Those that are on top will one day cycle to the bottom and those on bottom can only rise with the turning of events. This is the nature of life and the wheel will turn as long as eternity exists."

She tapped the card with her finger. "Whatever decision you made...you can make another...and the Wheel will turn again. This card is a warning," Maxine said.

Sebastian was about to scoot back from the table when she reached out and gripped his hand quick as the strike of a viper. Sebastian's eyes rounded in terror and his lips parted with the falling of his jaw.

"There will be a sign," Maxine rasped. "It will come, sooner rather than later, and when it does you must heed it. You will know it when you see it. The sign. It means you have a decision to make. And the fortunes of more than one may turn because of it."

"What you seek---love, power, union---it will have a price. It always has a price. You must look at the cost and then decide."

Sebastian retracted his hand as though burned with a scalding flame. His chair scraped across the creaky wooden floor as he backed away from the table. Their gazes locked and Sebastian was uncertain what struck him in that moment. She hadn't said this as a threat. It was a warning. A look ahead. One that he didn't want. One that he hadn't considered could get so dark when he asked about love.

He didn't recall leaving through the front door, not even as the bell chimed his departure, and he never registered his steps which carried him back to the Valet car waiting to take him to Hargrave.

As he sat in the plush leather seats of the luxury vehicle the school kept on hand, Maxine's words kept playing in his head. 'There will be a sign. You must heed it. It means you have a decision to make. There will be a sign.'

Sebastian's feet carried him to his room. He'd just started coming back to himself when he slid the key into his lock and turned it. Sebastian could hear some pop music down the hall and some laughter in the kitchen but he was still dazed. He shut it all out and closed his door, sliding the lock into place, and turning around.

He had been on his way to his private bathroom. He almost missed it. A rose hung from the frame of his bed, the petals ripped and frayed. It was dripping red paint onto his bedspread. There was a photo hooked by one of the thorns in the stem. Sebastian stepped closer but somehow knew what he would see.

Oak's face smiled at him from the camera shot and Sebastian walked beside him. They'd been on the street together during Portsmith's Singles & Sweethearts week, laughing. It was an ordinary moment. So ordinary that Sebastian couldn't even remember what they'd been talking about. But he knew what it meant.

The Order wasn't gone. They were here. They were watching.

In his head, clear as day, Sebastian heard Madame Maxine's voice.

'What you seek---love, power, union---it will have a price.'

Sebastian pulled the rose and trashed it. He cleaned his bedspread. He climbed into fresh sheets that night. 

Sleep never came.

FINIS.

[domstclair]

Would you rather have sex in your least favorite position for the rest of your life or have sex any way you want with your least favorite person for the rest of your life?

  Easy. I always like doing anything I want. I would get bored doing the same position all the time. Besides, doing someone I don’t like? Gives me all the more reason not to be gentle. That can be fun, too. 

[domstclair]

What are some couples you'd like to see come together?

  That implies I really care who is together or not. I guess I’d say as long as the couples that aren’t suited to each other don’t mix then there’s no reason to care. 

  So far we don’t have couples like that. Everyone stays to their own. 

[domstclair]

Be honest- have you NEVER bottomed? Actually?

  You act like you’ve never met a Dom who doesn’t bottom. 

  There are far more shocking things about me, I promise. 

[domstclair]

Pick three Doms you'd top, three subs you'd bottom for and a switch you'd flip with.

  Three Doms I’d top? Easy. @yovngbuck needs to admit he wants it bad, @ewhitlock has a peach made for my cobbler, and @ Ashton Koble would make a great story, I’m sure. 

  I’ll just pretend you didn’t ask about the subs thing because honestly? The song remains the same. I don’t bottom, but thanks for letting me know how thirsty you are to see it happen. 

  As for the switch? The only Switch I want to flip over and split open is @lawoflowell. He’d make a great teacher’s pet in reverse.

[domstclair]

Dirty Little Secret 🗡️Seb+Alex.

TITLE: Dirty Little Secret  TIMEFRAME: Sometime in early February  TAGGING: Alex Fairchild  TOTAL: 1,921 words    TRIGGERS: Thread references past drug uses and addiction.    NOTES: Complete.

ALEX There was no way to truly avoid Sebastian. Several months ago, he appeared in class, looking every bit of prim and snark that he knew so many years ago. It was a relief to see a familiar face at first, but then he remembered the circumstances of their last meeting and had done his best to avoid Sebastian or at least not be alone with him if he could help it.

As far as Alex knew, no one else knew about his indiscretion which meant that Sebastian was keeping it a secret. Or maybe he forgot. No, not likely, but he could wish.

Alex was in the library elevator when Sebastian cornered him. He knew right away that Sebastian was coming too quickly for the doors to close on him and took a slow, resigned breath. "Hey," He greeted amiably, ignoring the pounding of his heart, "Going up?"

SEBASTIAN Sebastian was accustomed to hearing things. People were often too happy to talk about business that wasn't theirs. The rumors passed quietly to Sebastian had never been officially confirmed but people talked. That had already been one strike against Alex before he'd caught the other in his compromising position. Sebastian said nothing. It would appear, potentially, as loyalty to the Dominant. The truth was Sebastian liked having ammunition. He liked gathering it and keeping it until exactly the right moment for use.

He smirked as Alex asked his question. "Well, I'm not going down, that's for sure." An entendre. A bit of low hanging fruit but Sebastian could've been incredibly snide there if he'd have wanted.

"It's funny," said Sebastian. "I haven't seen you around much. You wouldn't happen to be avoiding me, would you?" Sebastian feigned innocence but they both knew what lay between them. "It was nice to know an old friend would be here when I arrived...if only I'd seen much of him." Sebastian's gaze lingered, then moved away to look politely up at nothing on the ceiling.

ALEX Alex sent Sebastian a flat look. Dumb joke. He was so much better than that. “Not at all,” He answered, the lie coming as easily as any truth, “You don’t graduate first in class by having much of a social life.” What would be a sad truth to some was a point of pride for him. There was a balance, he found, a very, very tenuous balance between work and play.

“That isn’t to say we shouldn’t find a time to hang out. Maybe after lacrosse practice or something.” Bait. Alex looked to Sebastian, a mask of polite imploring. It wouldn’t be hard to generate a conflict and bail on any day they planned to meet up, especially if there were others around. He’d rather jump through all these hoops than confront his past- a dirty addiction he left behind.

SEBASTIAN "Please," Sebastian scoffed, amusement on his features. He looked over to Alex. "As if Lowell's curriculum is taxing." He straightened up and adjusted his shirt. "I guess there's something to be said for having a natural talent for the subjects being taught." Alex had already boxed himself out of this category by saying he wasn't social due to studying hard. "Shame you have to while away your time. All work and no play makes Lexi a dull boy."

Sebastian's smile was comfortable and mischievous. This was his way. He often teased and dispensed his bon mots with no shortage of ease. Though he looked back toward Alex from the ceiling at the invitation to hang out after practice. Did he know what that often consisted of? Guys working off their adrenaline by having an orgasm or two? "What...you need a hand with your equipment?" Sebastian's gaze drifted pointedly down. "Interesting."

ALEX Alex held in an eye-roll at Sebastian's postulating. He wouldn't defend himself on a half-truth he made up to explain his absence. Their verbal jousting was something he missed about spending time with Sebastian, even when he ended up calling him "Lexi". He was the only one who did that.

He arched a brow at Sebastian's innuendo. "I'm not your type, St. Clair," He stated flatly, "I thought we'd get some drinks or something. You know, like friends do- you're familiar with the concept of friendship, aren't you? The kind of relationship where both parties remain clothed for the duration of the interaction."

SEBASTIAN Sebastian raised his brows. "You sound so sure. Shouldn't I be the one to decide that?" He didn't like others assuming what was best for him. Cassius would get the most leeway there but even so. Sebastian adored nothing less than utter control.

His features melted into something of a smirk. "What did I tell you? Dull boy." He quipped. "You're making me want to drag you out to a club. Loosen you up a bit." Another entendre. "You seem buttoned up." He took a few careful steps forward. The elevator dinged at their stop but Sebastian pressed the 'close door' button for a few seconds reprieve. "Maybe you just don't have the right something in your system?" He openly mused. Dusted an imaginary lint from Alex's shoulder and walked toward the now opening doors.

ALEX There was nothing he loved more than bossing around another Dom, especially Seb. He held onto Dominance like it was made out of sand.

He wasn’t sure why Seb was flirting with him as if he hadn’t been willfully avoiding him for the past several months. As if no time had passed at all. The creeping sense of anticipation when Seb paused the elevator. He held his breath as his friend put ice in his veins with words laced in heavy implication.

“Sebastian.” He took his arm to keep him from leaving and pushed the emergency stop on the elevator to hold it in place. “We should talk about... what happened.”

SEBASTIAN Sebastian was both surprised and not surprised to feel Alex's hand on his arm. He looked down at it and then back at Alex, a brief little smile accompanying the sniff of a laugh he gave. He turned back to face Alex. He was usually the one to call the shots. Usually the one to have a handle on the situation. Alex seemed to test that at every opportunity.

"What's there to talk about?" he asked, as though the secret were nothing. "Only thing that happened was I saw something I wasn't meant to. Just means you should be more careful, Lex." It was true, he should. Someone far worse than Sebastian could do far worse things with this information.

ALEX "I don't do that anymore," He said firmly, leveling Sebastian with a sober look, "It was just a phase, okay? I made some bad decisions, hit rock bottom and bounced back. It's all behind me now." Seb didn't need to know about the other rock bottoms after that since those were also far and well behind him.

"I'm not a junkie." It was his mantra. Alex needed to say it for his own benefit as much as he needed to say it to convince Sebastian of that truth. This was one of his best friends- he had to believe he wouldn't think he was any less of a good person for his past.

SEBASTIAN "That was a great speech. Really. A for effort. Narcotics Anonymous would be proud." Sebastian smiled serenely. He put his hands in his pockets. "But we all know what happens when you snort that fine powder up those cute little nostrils don't we?" Sebastian hadn't done hard drugs himself. He knew many in their social circle probably did. Many of their parents too.

"You may not be a junkie you could just as well be a high-functioning addict." Sebastian shrugged. "And what business is it of mine if you are? You make the decisions you want until you make one that has consequences you can't handle." That was the long and short of it. Though, he grew softer for just a minute. A sense of something hidden in his voice. "I just...hope you don't do something that you can't recover from." What might surprise them both to know? Sebastian meant it. Did Alex know where that line was?

ALEX "I'm not an addict," Alex insisted with rising intensity, "Not high-functioning, not rehabilitated- nothing. I haven't touched the shit in years. I'm clean." He set his jaw, brow furrowed as something shifted in Sebastian. He knew him too well not to be able to read the soften edges of his expression, the change in his tone.

"This is why I didn't say anything to you." His mouth twisted into a derisive smile, shaking his head. "Fine. Think whatever you want. Just don't tell anybody, okay? Can you at least do that?" That's what he should have started with. Nobody would understand his history with drug use- except maybe Cass who was actually there to see it.

SEBASTIAN "What?" Sebastian lifted his brows, pretend curiosity in his voice. "Don't tell anyone you're not an addict? Why would I need to do that?" He sniffed out another laugh. "You don't have a problem so there's nothing to worry about, right?" There was something there. A sense of shame around using, or something close to it, since Alex actually seemed to care if it got out. Maybe more. A fear? Sebastian wasn't sure.

"Look, it's like I said. I don't care. Do what you want." Sebastian shrugged. "Recreational users are a thing, I guess." He gave Alex a look. "If it becomes more than that, Fairchild, I'm not letting you take me down with you. So just know that." Maybe there was a little judgment from Sebastian about hard drug users. Maybe it just mattered since he had a face for that drug use now; and that that face was Alexander's. "This can be our little secret." He winked. "The next one may cost you."

ALEX ”Don’t be facetious.” It was quickly working on his nerve. Sebastian knew exactly what he was talking about, but he just wanted to twist words around to look smug and superior. As if Sebastian wouldn’t someday find himself in a similar position as Alex.

He frowned enough to tug in his dimple. “I’m not using. I just said-“ He stopped himself. This conversation was over. Alex hit the button to open the elevator door again, all while scowling at his supposed friend. “Get out.” He needed to go somewhere else. Just looking at Sebastian and his stupid little wink was going to keep him from studying like he planned. And still, he trusted his confidence on this matter. For now.

SEBASTIAN He could have held back a little. Sebastian didn't know why he wasn't buying that Alex wasn't using. Maybe its because Sebastian was suspicious that only someone who was using would need to convince a close friend that they weren't. Sebastian hadn't even made any real accusations. Just hinted at a previous situation. People tended to draw themselves out by making their own inferences.

Sebastian felt a flutter of something when Alex barked at--ordered--him to get out. Sebastian gave the barest of smiles. He walked into Alex's space and looked him in the eye. Then he curled his fingers into the nape of Alex's neck, stroking, then gripping tight, before he harshly brought their lips together. He bit down on Alex's bottom lip. Kissed. Then pulled back. "Don't tell me what to do." He turned and walked out, going about his day and leaving Alex to his.

FINIS

[domstclair]

Texts ✉️ Evander & Sebastian.

[ Evander Whitlock ( @ewhitlock ) texts Sebastian with an ask. He promises Sebastian a gift. ] 

EVANDER → TEXT: I'm bored...

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: What, no subs to distract you? TEXT: No one that needs demeaning or insulting? TEXT: I find that fixes my boredom right up. TEXT: I have a suggestion. Send me nudes.

EVANDER → TEXT: Don't you think the view would be better in-person? TEXT: There's always some fucker around who needs put in their place, but I'm not doing anymore charity work today. TEXT: What? You don't want to hang out?

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: A picture lasts longer, haven't you heard. TEXT: Is that an offer? TEXT: I could be persuaded to meet up. TEXT: But I don't do charity work either baby. I'm gonna need you to ask real pretty....since I'd be fixing your boredom, that is. TEXT: Depending how well you did I'd come see you.

EVANDER → TEXT: Alright, let me give this a shot. TEXT: Get the fuck over here, I don't like playing hide and seek. TEXT: ... TEXT: How was that??

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: It could use some work. TEXT: I could get you on your knees and have you practice, babe. TEXT: I don't like playing hide and seek either TEXT: So lets hope I won't have to when I get you naked. TEXT: And why can't we do it in my room?

EVANDER → TEXT: You're cute, but not that cute. TEXT: Ouch. You know- Maybe you don't deserve the present I have for you. TEXT: Because I asked you to come to my place. If I wanted to go to yours I'd be at your door right now.

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: Cute? I'm fucking gorgeous. TEXT: Present? ...what present? TEXT: Fine. I'll come to yours and kick my feet up. Especially if you're getting me gifts now.

EVANDER → TEXT: You have potential to look gorgeous. 😏 TEXT: When you get here, I might let you open it. TEXT: Maybe.

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: Please. Not even dignifying that with a response. TEXT: Oh come on. TEXT: You can't just have a present for me and not let me have it. TEXT: You know they say the joy you get from gifts is in the giving not the receiving.

EVANDER → TEXT: Sebastian. Just get your ass over here when you’re not busy.

[domstclair]

Texts ✉️ Sebastian & Aleki.

[ Assorted texts between Sebastian and the Captain of the Lacrosse team (a position Sebastian is gunning for) Aleki Crane. They reference an encounter they had during Sebastian’s New Year’s yacht party and also reference Ian McCallister coming in from the cold after he fell for a hazing prank and needed to warm up. @alekicrane ] 

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: Hey, Cap. Enjoy the winter break from classes and the team? TEXT: Sure did miss your sweet little forehead dimple after not seeing it everyday. TEXT: It's cute.

ALEKI → TEXT: That’s the best you can come up with Seb? TEXT: and still bagging on me after what we did at that yacht

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: Come up with? I don't know what you mean. I was just making some observations, Cap. TEXT: Hey. This is my love language. Ask Cassius. This is how I am with my closest friends. TEXT: Don't tell me you can't take a bit of razzing, Crane. TEXT: Your brother can definitely take more than that ;)

ALEKI → TEXT: I can take the razzing, among other things that I’m sure you’re aware of Seb. TEXT:  Is that why you’re texting me? You’ve had me and wanted more? I think for a guy like you, there’s a fee.

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: As if I would ever pay a fee for something I can get for free. TEXT: Actually I was hoping we could become better friends. TEXT: For when the professional rivalry thing gets tired. TEXT: Could be good. For team unity, and all that.

ALEKI → TEXT: Really Seb? You want to be friends all of the sudden? What brought this on?

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: It's as you said. Our little roll in the hay had me rethinking things. TEXT: It was quite the olive branch you extended in there ;)

[ Next day - after a group text where Cassius went in on Ian. ]

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: I'll work on getting Cassius to back off of Ian. McCallister needs some true support. Why even JB berated him in front of the team once. That's awfully demoralizing.

ALEKI → TEXT: Dude...We just need to have a talk on the trip, all of this is getting old.

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: What's getting old?

ALEKI → TEXT: All of this man, the bickering, the back and forward of us at each other throats one day, then fucking the next. I felt the night on the yacht was one of the first times we actually had a good time together. I didn't mind it.

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: I thought we were doing pretty well. I liked our time on the yacht, I agree. TEXT: Once won't be enough. We should start spending more time together.

ALEKI → TEXT: Do you want to come over?

SEBASTIAN → TEXT: I'm on my way to Ian's. But I'm sure he wouldn't mind you joining in. You do have a stake in his wellbeing, as captain.

ALEKI → TEXT: If that's what you want Seb, I'm on my way over

[domstclair]

yovngbuck·: @yovngbuck·

‘Turning the other cheek.’ A true sign of dominance, the ability to rise above one’s adversaries and move on in confidence. For a Dominant, all that matters is having the strength to move forward, to not give a second thought to the steps you’ve taken, or the people you’ve stepped over. Josue knows this, despite his hot headedness, he knows. He can walk away from this pointless encounter and not think about it, or at least he could if it was only his honor that Sebastian just spat on. In truth, he doesn’t know whether it’s the attack on his own ego or the suggestion that he’ll lay one of his grimy fingers on Cami, but Josue reacts. One hand on Sebastian’s shirt collar is all he needs to slam the other Dom into a nearby wall, on him and seething in an instant. “You’ve got a filthy fucking mouth, you know that? Where the hell do you get off speaking that shit to me?” If he wasn’t so pissed off, Josue might be impressed. It’d take him little to know effort to snap that beanpole’s spine right now, they both have to know that. And yet, he still has the audacity to call him a gold-digging slut? To degrade his girlfriend? To encroach on his territory? Now isn’t the time to turn the other cheek, though something has Josue a little bothered. He didn’t think Sebastian was the type to throw his weight around like that, most legacy Dominants would be too spineless to say anything remotely as vulgar to his face. While he’s too angry to be impressed, Josue can feel his dominance surge in the face of a direct challenge and he’s quite susceptible to his body’s urges. “Let’s put it to better use. You say you like my pecs, right? Get down and get in there then. Right here, right now.” The tone he uses is growly and intense, heavy like his breathing. He doesn’t give Sebastian any room though, keeping their faces close so they’re breathing the same air. “Fucking worship me, and do a good job at it too. Or else, I’ll pound you into a coma, skull fuck you bloody. Consequences be damned. Don’t test me, St. Clair.”

`

      So Josue had the upper hand in the moment. So he could make any number of things happen to Sebastian and he apparently felt empowered to do it. Sebastian still remained unafraid. His pulse quickened in a way that made him feel it in his neck every time his heart beat. He felt a stirring of arousal tighten his pants. He didn't necessarily get off on the rough handling, but that didn't exactly hurt matters. Sebastian enjoyed having total control over a situation and seeing Josue lose his own made Sebastian feel even more superior. More under his skin. More in control. He thought about doing what Josue asked right off. He considered it, truly, in the moment. His gaze dipped to Josue's beautiful chest and it would be easy to lean down and free one to teeth at his nipple and bite him. To suckle and mark it. Trace it with his tongue. Though Sebastian had other ideas. He'd started this encounter with one goal in mind. Getting off between those chest puppies Josue liked showing off so much. He was going to call the shots. That's what St. Clairs did. “No,” Sebastian said confidently. He smirked in that awfully infuriating way of his. “No, you're not gonna do any of that,” he said. “And do you wanna know why? Because it'll prove exactly what we've been saying about Scholarship dunces all along. That you can't handle yourselves here. That Lowell is too refined for you. That you don't belong here. A Scholarship student attacking a Legacy? Barbaric. That'd put the whole program in jeopardy. It'd send you and your little girlfriend packing. The Doublemint Twins too.” Sebastian pretended to think about this. His gaze drifted toward the ceiling as if in thought. He sniffed out a laugh. “Actually on second thought...you should do it. Go on! Make my day, Navarro.”

      “Or I can do you a favor. Forget this ever happened...forget you ever threatened me with bodily harm. And you look me in the eye and you say, ‘Please fuck my tits, Sir.’” He waited, a twinkle in his eye. “With gratitude in your heart and a smile on your face.”

[domstclair]

@theo-montgomery-ii​   gets a plotted starter!

      THERE WAS NOTHING between Sebastian and Theo Montgomery. The St. Clairs, once set on their aim of getting Sebastian claimed before he attended Lowell, had designs for the pair of them. Theodore being of good breeding, reputation, and money, would have been a sensible choice for Sebastian to claim. If only Sebastian were the sensible sort.

    He had been sure that his parents would forget the whole thing once his enrollment time had come. He let them parade a few submissives in front of him, spent some time being an incorrigble flirt with them, and then sent them on their way. Theo had been somewhat different. The boy had seemed to be -- at first -- repelled by Sebastian. Not that the St. Clair heir minded so much. Better than Theo falling madly in love with him. But as they were forced to spend more time together each male grew a sort of fondness for one another.

      It was in this way that Sebastian came to be having lunch with Theo. His arrival had prompted Sebastian to send the boy a dirty text and after an exchange of biting quips Theo agreed to lunch. Sebastian had set up a private space in the Promenade, away from other students, and gotten the kitchen staff to assemble some light bites and refreshments. Sebastian had brought a bottle of wine from his room. He poured some for Theo and sat back. “I was sure you'd enroll as a claimed student,” Sebastian mused. “After all, who could resist those cute little cheeks of yours?” He reached out and pinched Theo's cheek. Then gazed down behind his chair. “Both sets.”

    Sebastian grinned. Sipped at his wine. He wondered if he could still get under Theo's skin the way he'd always seemed to before Lowell. “No one catching your eye?” he paused. “Or is that everyone seems beneath you?” In truth Sebastian was curious. Of course the Montgomerys would want to take their time finding exactly the right guy but there were plenty who would make good matches. Economic and romantic. At least, from a practical standpoint. He also wondered if Theo had any gossip to share. They were both power players. Perhaps they could help each other out. Theo only need let Sebastian in.

[domstclair]

[domstclair]

[domstclair]

yovngbuck·: @yovngbuck·

He does not appreciate the way Sebastian is talking to him, though even now Josue doesn’t let his new etiquette education go. This spoiled prick would love that, wouldn’t he? To see Josue get bent out of shape and behave like some ‘brutish scholarship student’ is probably a wet dream he and the rest of the legacies get off to. Josue is under no illusions now, this guy is not his friend, so he displays his silent rage by getting right in Sebastian’s face, looking him coldly in the eye, and letting his words speak for themselves. “You know what? I do like the attention. I love knowing I’m the hottest stud on campus. I love that even right now you’re thinking about me naked. And I especially love that the only way you could even come close to getting me was with a bribe.” His tone is low and even with just enough edge to seem threatening. His body language was undoubtedly so, constantly getting closer, encroaching on the other’s space. Here, right now, Josue feels in charge and he’s not afraid to prove that with his fists if need be. “What’s wrong Beanpole? You got what you wanted, so why so butt hurt? Don’t tell me you were hoping I dedicated all my time on your yacht to you. Did you like the way I danced? Did you get jealous when you saw everyone else touching me? My girlfriend did, maybe you two have something in common. Like how you feel on my dick.” He’s too close now, barely leaving any space between them, boxing Sebastian in with his broader body. “Maybe I should fuck you, get it out of your system, yeah? Get your pansy ass in a nice skirt and you might be my type. What do you say? We both know your place is under me.”

`

      Sebastian knew that should it come down to it? Josue could absolutely kick his ass. But Sebastian was untouchable in many senses of the term and he remained unbothered by Josue getting up into his space and pounding his chest. In fact all that proved was that Sebastian was getting under Josue's skin. Sebastian reveled in it. “Please,” Sebastian had to laugh. “Don't you get it? You're nothing but a toy to me, Navarro. A shiny little toy that I take off the shelf and play with to amuse myself when I'm bored.” He picked an imaginary speck of dust off Josue's shoulder and flicked it away. “You're a slut. A silly scholarship slut, who offered his body to get into my party, and that's all you'll ever be. Just like your girlfriend. Here for something you don't deserve. And that's exactly how I'm going to treat you. And her.” He knew he was playing a dangerous game and yet he felt no threat at all. In fact, he was entertained. Sebastian didn't have a death wish but there were few things that truly scared him. Besides, even if he did get a black eye or whatever, Josue would have to sit detention and Sebastian could score sympathy with Lai. Maybe even get him or another submissive to take care of him. No matter the outcome of this altercation? Sebastian won. It was how things were designed. He hated the scholarship students and all their presence at Lowell represented and he was not going to hold any punches. Not especially when Josue made it so fun and seductive. “So you can brow beat all you want but I'd rather beat off between your tits and call it a day.” He shrugged. “It might teach you some manners. 'Cause I'd definitely make you say 'thank you' after. Or is that 'gracias' for the Brawny Man's illegitimate half-cousin?”

[domstclair]

yovngbuck·: @yovngbuck·

He’s up, shirtless as usual, and still a glistening a little from his pre-dawn run. Though still, Josue doesn’t feel like he was asking for Sebastian’s harassment. He’s not some sub, he’s not a Dominant’s eye-candy. “The party’s been over. I’ve bounced back, but it seems like you’ve still got your head up your ass St. Clair. Hands off. I’m not in your little sex cult.” Sure, he got him self all drunk and loose on the yacht, but that was mostly to blow off steam. In truth, it felt good to be so admired during the party even though nobody was shy about feeling him up. Still, Josue isn’t looking for that all the time or is remotely interesting in “going to lacrosse practice” so he claims. “Look, I held up my end of the agreement. That’s all you get, my gift to you. So keep your hands to yourself from now on,” he demands, shoving Sebastian back some by his shoulders. “Got it? I don’t want to have this convo with you again.”

`

      Sebastian couldn't help but grin as he was shoved back gently by the shoulders. It was almost adorale. It meant he was getting to Josue. Whatever tough exterior the jock had didn't scare Sebastian. He felt practically untouchable as it was. Hosting a party with subs and alcohol out of the Headmaster's reach did nothing to deter that view for Sebastian. If any trouble arose from Josue Sebastian had myriad ways to quash it. "You know they say anything that happens when you're drunk is a result of your inhibitions being lowered. Seems to me maybe you were just exposing your true nature." Instead of backing off Sebastian stepped closer. So close that he was in Josue's space. He looked the other male up and down. "You think I don't see you but I do. Jogging around campus with those tits bouncing. Enjoying being felt up at the party." Sebastian tilted his head. "You may act all prissy about it but...admit it...you like the attention, don't you?" He smirked. "I'll bet you even want me to put that snappy scholarship mouth to good use for a change." Sebastian respected Josue's statement not to touch him again but he still stood close, unabashed and unafraid. "Come on. This is a safe space, Navarro. Admit it." His features remained soft as his gaze attained an edge.