It’s two days later that Sebastian comes up to Jordan—in the middle of vacuuming the hallway—and knocks softly on his shoulder. Jordan stops, turns off the vacuum and pulls the earbuds out of his ears. ”Yes,” he says, turning to face Sebastian.
After two days safely inside, Sebastian looks put together once more. He’s bathed, his hair once more fluffy. His nails have been trimmed and painted a pretty blue color that sparkles when the light hits it. He’s clean-shaven and the shadows under his eyes… haven’t really lessened, but they haven’t gotten any worse.
”I can take you to meet Mrs. Wilde now,” Sebastian says. His eyes are steady on Jordan’s face, his gaze unwavering and relentlessly calm.
Jordan’s eyebrows furrow. ”Who?”
”She’s an old lady,” Sebastian answers. He shifts on his feet, his shoulders hunching down a little. He says, ”The streets are pretty clear right now; we can make it to her easily. She lives just down the road.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
”Out—” Jordan gulps, grip tightening on the vacuum. ”Outside? You want to go outside with me? You want to take me outside? Into the streets? Where the—where the zombies are?”
Sebastian lays a warm hand on his arm, softly squeezing once before quickly letting go, fingers clenching by his side. Jordan falls silent, his eyes glued to the scorched flesh Sebastian was just touching. He licks his lips, shaking his head gently and brushing his hair behind his ear, fiddling with a strand of it. ”Outside?” he repeats, voice breathy and weak as he slowly lets go of the vacuum and steps back until his back strikes the wall.
”Outside,” Sebastian confirms. Jordan licks his lips again. They’re very dry, suddenly. Sebastian eyes him, eyes narrowing for a moment before his face smoothes out and he says, ”I won’t let anything happen to you. You’ll be fine.”
”It’s—” Jordan’s voice strangles slightly, and he almost hisses, ”It’s zombies, Sebastian. I’m not like you, I can’t even fight. What am I suppose to do if we run into any?”
Sebastian is silent for a second, then he says, again, ”I will protect you, Jordan. I will keep you safe. Just stay behind me and follow my orders, and nothing will happen. Most of the zombies have cleaned out in search of more food, and this is a fairly cut off area. We’ll just be leaving through the front door and going through the alley, nothing complicated or strenuous. Mrs. Wilde is expecting us and will probably have cookies and tea waiting.” Sebastian takes a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before he deflates and he swears, ”I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Jordan gulps. He pushes a hand through his hair and hugs himself slightly, his hand rubbing over his arm. The thing is—he can’t stay in here forever. He can’t; he’ll go insane if he tries. He needs to talk to other people, and do… socializing stuff. He needs to have space to be a person.
(He needs to have somewhere to go if Sebastian doesn’t come back one day.)
”Okay,” he finally croaks, after a solid three minutes of consideration. Sebastian perks up, head rising and Jordan repeats, ”Okay. I will…” a sharp inhale, ”go with you to meet this Mrs. Wilde.”
Sebastian rocks on the heels of his feet, not stepping closer but very obviously wanting to. ”Good,” he says, and Jordan kind of wants to laugh. Going outside into a zombie infested town can’t possibly be called good. Maybe it won’t be all bad, maybe Mrs. Wilde will be really nice and they won’t cross path with a single zombie… but, fuck, it’s still a terrifying idea.
He presses a hand to his eyes and, after a deep inhale and equally deep exhale, waves at Sebastian as he pushes off the wall. Sebastian moves out of his way without a word and Jordan picks up the discarded vacuum, his grip intermittently tightening and loosening for a moment before he gathers his thoughts. He turns his head slightly toward Sebastian, using the vacuum almost like a crutch as he asks, ”When do we go?”
”Now, if it’s okay with you,” Sebastians says. He doesn’t even sound worried.
Jordan nods. ”Okay.” He takes a deep breath, holding it in until the count of four, and then lets it out again. He says, ”Okay,” again like Sebastian didn’t hear him perfect fine the first time.
In the middle of trying to figure what to do with the vacuum, Sebastian holds out a hand toward him. Jordan eyes it, then glances at the other man. Sebastian doesn’t say anything, though, simply flexes his fingers and waits. His eyes are still on Jordan, and his back is still straight, and he’s still standing steady.
Jordan grabs his hand, his fingers instantly enveloped in warmth as Sebastian closes his fingers around Jordan’s. He squeezes, stepping forward until there’s barely any space between them, and Jordan leans into the motion before he knows what he’s doing. Sebastian’s grip is so gentle, and he’s looking at Jordan with such soft eyes, that Jordan’s bath catches in his throat. He stares. His own fingers curl around Sebastian’s.
Their touch is scorching.
Sebastian closes his eyes, pulling in a sharp breath and says, voice deep and almost hoarse, ”I will keep you safe.”
Jordan bobs his head in silence, gulping painfully. ”I believe you,” he says at last and—he does. Sebastian has never done anything but keep Jordan safe, and Jordan maybe… really believes him. Really, actually, trusts him to do so even out in the open on zombie-infested streets.
Sebastian doesn’t really smile, but his shoulders ease up and the tension in his face that Jordan hadn’t even recognized lessens. His eyes gentle somehow even more, and he leans forward for the briefest second, forehead connecting with Jordan’s for less then a moment, and he breathes deeply. Then he lets go, and Jordan’s fingers clench around empty air.
Ty for the chapter
Thanks for the chapteeeer~
Why so sweet and romantic? 😀
Sebastian… paints his nails? Uuh, okay… He doesn’t seem the girly type at all, though, rather, he seems tough, so I’m surprised…
I can understand Jordan. Going outside where Zombies roam feeely… Uuhh…
Men can paint their nails, but they would be shunned by society if the do it because it’s “girly”.