Compassion and Oblivion

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Warrior, The Wizard, and The Healer

Author's Note:

Hello, lovelies!

Surprise! Here's the next chapter, a day early! I have to be up at 5:30 tomorrow morning, so I figured that it would be easier to post this now, instead of trying to find the time to do it tomorrow.

Just a heads up - this entire chapter is from Sebastian's POV, catching you up on what he's been doing for the last few chapters. It was a fun challenge, trying to keep his persona up throughout the chapter. I also want to mention that time does skip around quite a bit in this chapter. The beginning of the chapter is the day after (Y/N) gives Sebastian the necklace. Then, we are going to backtrack a little bit while Sebastian reminisces about the past month, and he will also go into a little bit of detail about his adolescence. After that, we will jump back forward. I hope that all makes sense, and it's not terribly confusing as you're reading. I hope you enjoy it!

I wanted to make a quick mention that we will be taking a bit of a deeper look into Seb's home life, and it isn't exactly comfortable. No physical or verbal abuse is explicitly detailed in this chapter, but it does make brief mentions of both. Keep that in mind moving forward - as always, I'd be more than happy to provide a brief summary if needed!

Enjoy!

TW-Mention of Alcohol

Over the next few weeks, Sebastian found himself struggling to focus on his work, goals, and hobbies.

He couldn't get through band practice without Sam yelling at him for getting distracted. He just couldn't get into it for some reason.

He hadn't completed a project for work in weeks. Thankfully, none of the projects on his agenda had specific deadlines - he's his own employer, after all.

He couldn't even manage to get through an entire chapter of the sci-fi novel that he'd been fixated on.

Worst of all, he was losing his touch at pool.

The night after (Y/N) had given him the frozen tear necklace - that hasn't left his neck since then - he was really off his game. Sam even beat him in their first match. Sam!

What the hell is happening to me!? is the recurring thought that has been constantly cycling through his head since then.

He walked into the bar that night to find Sam and (Y/N) already there, in the middle of their own game of pool. Sam was giving her pointers, reminding her of the rules since she hadn't played in a few weeks.

You sure you want to listen to him, (Y/N)? he chuckled to himself. Regardless of her questionable judgment call, seeing his best friends playing his favorite game made him pretty happy. He stood back at the bar, waiting for Emily to have a free moment to take his dinner order, contentedly observing their playful interactions. You can really tell how much they care about each other.

Suddenly, a calloused set of petite fingers interlaced his own. He jumped back at the unexpected contact, pulling his hand away from Abigail, who he hadn't seen approach him.

"Jeez, Abby," he spat. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"God, relax!" she snapped with an eye roll. "Besides, you know you love it."

Not really, Sebastian sighed to himself as she walked off towards the billiard room.

The rest of the night, Sebastian couldn't focus on the game. He could only focus on the cold piece of crystal pressing against his chest through his t-shirt. Despite it being cold to the touch, it made his body feel warm and fuzzy, just thinking about (Y/N)'s reasoning behind the gift. It was so considerate, and it included one of his favorite things. Has anyone ever given me something so thoughtful before?