Safe & Sound//Sebastian Sallow

fourty-eight.

As soon as we made it home, I went to the bathroom to bathe again. My reflection caught me off guard as I looked into the mirror; my skin was bright red, my hair was wild and I was covered in soot. I grimaced as I took a brush through my hair before removing my robe and stepping into the shower.

I let the water run over me for a few minutes, flinching as it hit my skin. I wasn't in the burning house for too long, but it had been long enough to make me sensitive. Thankfulness filled me as I thought of how much worse it could have been.

The adrenaline from the entire situation was starting to wear off and my feet began to ache along with my skin. I looked down and saw that they were covered in small cuts and abrasions from leaving the house without shoes. I knew I'd be casting Episkey as soon as I was done.

After the water began to run clean off of me and I felt like I'd rubbed myself raw, I exited the shower. I quickly dried off and healed my feet before getting dressed. When I exited the bedroom to go to Sebastian, I saw that he was in the kitchen, accompanied by two people I recognized: Anita and Damian.

"You two can't seem to stay away from me," I joked as I joined them.

"Could say the same for both of you," Anita replied, a slight smirk on her face. "Trouble seems to follow you."

"When we learned about the explosion and where it was, we volunteered to come ask questions," Damian chimed in.

"I'm just glad the family that lives there wasn't home. Only homes were destroyed tonight, thank Merlin. No lives were lost," I told them as I sat at the table next to Sebastian.

"Because of you," he said, resting his hand on mine and looking at me gratefully. I noticed he looked exhausted with his eyes bloodshot and his hair all over the place.

"Sebastian was just filling us in about how you saved that little boy. Although I'd never expect less from you, I'm still impressed," Anita complimented. This was a huge deal, coming from her, and I'm sure my face would be blushing red had it not already been red from the fire.

"Any of us would have gone in after him," I began, "I was just the first with the opportunity."

"The whole community is thankful for that, I'm sure," said Damian. "Like Anita said, Sebastian was filling us in a bit, but we need you two to go over everything that happened tonight, start to finish, and if anything has seemed out of the ordinary lately."

We spent the better part of the next hour and a half going over what had happened. It was all so quick and unexpected that it felt like we were just talking in circles, but I knew they were just trying to be thorough. When it came to the events leading up to the event, we left out our time in the basement and just said we'd had Ominis over for a short visit. They'd said they'd be visiting him to see if he'd noticed anything unusual. After they seemed content with the answers we'd given them, Anita and Damian said their goodbyes and promised to keep us updated the best they could.

Sebastian poured us each a small glass of fire whiskey once they'd left. We didn't say anything as we clinked glasses and drank. It burned my throat more than usual, probably due to the smoke inhalation.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to sleep for at least three days," Sebastian said, putting our glasses in the sink once we were finished.

"I second that," I replied, a perfectly timed yawn happening as soon as I spoke.

We went to the bedroom and I climbed under the covers while Sebastian undressed. His toned back caught my eye, but I was far too tired and sore to let it turn me on. We'd have to wait for a more appropriate, well-rested time. Once in his pajama pants, Sebastian climbed into bed next to me and gently pulled me close to him, squeezing me lightly so he didn't hurt my tender skin. I rolled over so I was facing him and kissed him softly.