Who: Sebastian, Greg, and Hunter Where: High School When: After basketball practice, Tuesday, Nov 28 Status: Complete
Sebastian knew he should consider himself lucky, that the consequences of fighting at school could range from detention to suspension, but he still hated being benched from a game. Running laps rather than participating in practice had been painful and he knew sitting out at tomorrow’s game would be even worse, especially with it being the first of the season. But he wasn’t the only one forced to sit it out and the black eye blooming across Kyle’s face kind of made it worth it. Even with his hand pulsing and his head pounding, Sebastian didn’t regret hitting him. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to, holding onto all that anger and frustration, but if anyone deserved it, it was Kyle. He hadn’t told the coach that though. Neither of them had been willing to talk, no matter how loud coach yelled at them in his office, for which Sebastian was thankful.
By the time practice ended, he’d cooled down completely, but was in no hurry to run back to the locker room and shower. Things had been fine before he came out, awkward afterwards, and now he had no idea what to expect and he wasn’t in the mood for any new surprises. So while most of the team shuffled off to clean up, he stayed behind, picking up a basketball to shoot a few hoops.
Most of the team was leaving but Hunter and Greg stayed behind, watching Sebastian a bit warily. Neither of them had ever seen him like this, which was saying a lot when it came to Greg who'd known Sebastian most of his life. Hunter was honestly glad to see that Greg was as baffled as he was, but that didn't change the fact that Sebastian had gotten into a fight. He'd even thrown the first punch.
It was Hunter who headed out to the court first, tentatively reaching out to touch Sebastian's face as soon as he stopped moving and acknowledged his presence. He winced as if he was the one with the black eye, quickly withdrawing his hand. "You okay?" he asked, his voice quiet.
Greg followed him. He didn't care if the boys were having a moment or whatever, his best friend had just lashed out and punched a guy, that was.. that was something. "Dude," he said simply, but unlike Hunter he was... not so much shocked as he was proud. Violence was not the answer and blah blah blah, but sometimes it was the only language people spoke and yeah, Greg was impressed.
Sebastian wasn’t all that surprised to see Greg and Hunter hang back to talk to him, though one triggered a very different response than the other. There was Hunter, moving close enough to touch him, hot and sweaty in his basketball shorts, and even though his touch was gentle, Sebastian would have jumped him if they’d been alone, no matter how much his body ached. He didn’t quite understand why punching Kyle made him want to blow Hunter, but the feeling was undeniable. But there was also Greg, who he’d always been able to depend upon when it came to distractions, who could have pushed him on the court until Sebastian no longer cared what anyone thought, so long as he could pass out afterwards. Greg probably knew better than anyone what it took to make him snap and that this was about more than just Kyle, even if he’d been the recipient. “Yeah,” he said, half answering Hunter, but also addressing Greg. “I know I shouldn’t have hit him, but…” He sighed, giving a little shake of his head. “He fuckin’ deserved it.”
"Yeah, he's deserved it for a while," Greg said, still watching Sebastian curiously. He hadn't been there to witness the fight so he didn't know what made Kyle so deserving this time around. He'd only heard there'd been a fight and then coach had dragged Kyle and Sebastian off and after that he'd yelled at the team that they needed to stick together, focus on the enemy, the enemy was the other team and so on. "What the hell did he say?"
Hunter had been about to ask the same thing but he could guess. Some homophobic slur, probably something he didn't want to know. He'd heard about gay guys having tough skins because they were used to abuse, how it was so tough being gay that it made gay kids stronger but he'd never had to deal with any of that first hand. Now his boyfriend had been in a fight and it felt both surreal and a little scary.
Sebastian thought about that for a second, trying to replay the start of it all over in his mind. It had happened so fast, so little had actually been said, but Kyle had pushed him and Sebastian had snapped. If he hadn’t already been wound so tight, he might have told Kyle to back off. He probably wouldn’t have risen to the bait. Instead he’d finally reached a breaking point. “Nothing that isn’t true,” he sighed. Because, yeah, he was a cocksucker. So was the entire cheerleading squad though and they weren’t getting shit for it. Probably praise. Not that he wanted that kind of praise from Kyle. “I’m just so… so tired of the bullshit. And… it felt like… like I shouldn’t let him push me around.”
Hunter reached back up, this time cupping the back of Sebastian's neck in a comforting, tight grip. "I know," he said soothingly because he understood. He was sick of this shit and it was only affecting him through Sebastian so he knew his boyfriend was getting the worst of it all.
"So how bad is it?" Greg asked because he might care more about football but he still had a competitive streak and he did not want to see their team get crippled just because Kyle was a homophobic asshole. "You can still play, right? What did coach say?"
Sebastian’s eyes locked with Hunter’s for a moment, finding comfort in the touch, an understanding that no one else could manage. It made him wonder what his boyfriend thought about all this and if he’d ever gone through anything similar. It always sounded like it was easy for Hunter, but he knew that might not be the case, that most people didn’t like to talk about the bad stuff. He also knew the situations were different, that some of this might have been avoided if he’d come out years ago. “We’re both suspended from the first game,” he said, looking back at Greg. “Which sucks, but it could be worse, you know? He’s not even reporting it to the principal.”
"That's bullshit!" Greg shouted as he did a full-body reaction that said as much, arms outstretched to his sides as he took a few steps back then let his arms drop with a loud, frustrated groan. "Fuck you, coach. It's so obvious what's going on, he could have just benched Kyle but nooooo."
Hunter's initial reaction had been one of rage but he couldn't help but smile faintly at Greg's extreme reaction. "It's just one game though, right? And you'll still be there with us so..." He shook his head because he wasn't happy about this either but he needed to look on the bright side for once. "Just one game."
Maybe if Sebastian had been willing to tell Coach what had gone down, he’d have benched Kyle and not him, but it felt like there was some kind of power in keeping silent, at least this time. Plus, nobody liked a tattle-tale. He didn’t want Coach to fight his battles for him. He’d just prefer that there were no battles to fight. “We could have gotten detention. Or an actual suspension,” he reminded Greg with a hint of a smile. “This doesn’t go on my record and it’s just one game,” he added, agreeing with Hunter. “But if we lose, totally blame it on me being benched.”
"Yeah, see," Greg replied, still fired up. "That would have been worse but this is still bad. Just because something is worse doesn't mean the bad thing is okay, you know? He shouldn't have benched you, it's so fucking unfair." He looked about ready to go give coach a hard time about it but for now he just stalked around uselessly, fuming.
"Okay yeah, it's bad," Hunter said, barely suppressing his laughter despite his worries about the whole thing. It didn't have much to do with the actual sport and more to do with the team and how they'd all get on this winter. What if this fight between his boyfriend and Kyle was only the start of something? What if it got worse from here? Hunter was not a fighter, he was crap at dealing with adversity in general.
“I didn’t say I was happy about it,” Sebastian snickered as he passed the basketball over to Greg. “But the only way out of it would’ve been to tell Coach what went down and… I just didn’t want to go there.” If Coach knew the details, then maybe Coach would’ve let him play. But not likely, since he technically threw the first punch. He was too stubborn to let it go, a trait that reared up at the worst times, though it had never been this bad. “I probably should’ve just kept my mouth shut, but…” But then it felt like Kyle won. And he couldn’t stand the idea of that asshole winning. “What’re the other guys saying?”
Greg ran off, dribbling the ball as he went. "They won't say shit to us, you know that," he said as he tossed the ball at the basket, doing little cheering motions when it went through the hoop. "Clearly we need a spy."
Hunter watched him and smothered a little sigh. Some people were just annoyingly good at everything they did and he wasn't going to be jealous of that. Instead he focused on Sebastian - who was pretty close to being one of those people too but then Hunter saw him as perfect no matter what. "They won't say anything to me," he said with a little shrug and that was worrying all on its own. The team was polite to him but he definitely didn't feel welcome except with Greg and Sebastian and maybe a couple of other guys who were chill.
Sebastian went after the ball, liking the distraction it provided, giving him something to do with his hands. He’d hoped Greg and Hunter would at least hear the gossip to give him a feel for where everyone else stood, but he knew that was hoping for too much. If they were uncomfortable with him, they’d feel the same about Hunter, and none of those guys were going to bad mouth him to his best friend. “Who would spy for us?” He asked, playing off Greg’s idea because, though ridiculous, it felt easier than reality. “I need to talk to ‘em. Separately. I just don’t want to hit anyone else.” If he could win them over, then he could help Hunter as well. He hated being singled out, but it was even worse for his boyfriend to be dragged along with him in this case. It wasn’t fair, not to either of them.
Hunter decided to hang back and let them play, feeling a little subdued and like maybe he should quit the team, not that he was going to tell Sebastian that, no, he'd hang in there and put on a brave face. He just wasn't used to this kind of adversity. Even the guys on the swim team - who were a lot more naked during practice! - were cool about him being gay. He supposed he'd just been extremely lucky.
Greg was seriously thinking about Sebastian's question, as if there was anyone they could get spying for them for real. "Can't you like conjure a familiar or something? Like a tiny rat that can whisper secrets in your ear?" he said, only half joking.
Sebastian gave Greg a look, one brow raised and his lips twisted in amusement. “I’m not a wizard. And if I had a familiar, it wouldn’t be a rat,” he smiled. It would probably be a puppy, or some other cute and cuddly creature that served no purpose except to snuggle with, which probably negated the entire idea of a familiar, but whatever. He didn’t even know if that was a thing. “I just wish I knew what I was dealing with, you know? I think it might just be Kyle, but… I mean, none of the other guys have given me shit, so… I dunno.” If it was more than just Kyle, he wasn’t sure how they were going to operate as a team. He didn’t want things to be uncomfortable or awkward. He wanted them to be normal again, whatever that meant.
"You need to be a wizard?" Greg snorted softly. "I don't know this stuff, man. It was joke." He grabbed the ball as soon as Sebastian had gone for the hoop, bouncing it around a few times. "A rat is better for sneaking into a locker room than like... a cat or an owl or something. Rats are cool. You'd for sure know what you're dealing with if you had a rat." He winked at his best friend and tossed the ball over hard enough for it to bruise an unseasoned player. Good thing Sebastian was good at basketball.
Even though he knew Greg was joking, Sebastian honestly had no idea what a witch’s limits were. Familiars seemed just as likely as the invisibility spell that would allow him to sleep over at Hunter’s. They were both things that would be useful, but he probably wouldn’t know about until the need was long past. “Rats are disgusting,” he said, wrinkling up his nose as he caught the ball, taking the impact with his hands, rather than his chest. He began to casually dribble the ball, moving towards the free throw line as he considered his options. “If I had to go with something small that might go unnoticed, maybe a chipmunk or a bird? I dunno. Maybe it’s better not to know what they’re saying when I’m not there.” He wanted to be optimistic, but now he was worried that it might hurt more than help. It was one thing to think he’d lost his friends and another to actually know. Then again, maybe they weren’t talking about him at all.
"Aww rats are cute," Greg said as he tried for the ball. "They're just misunderstood!" He bumped Sebastian playfully, unsure what to say about the situation he was currently dealing with so jokes were better. Maybe it was better not to know but then maybe it was better to actually know so they could deal with it somehow. It was just such new territory for him, he couldn't imagine someone not liking them, especially for such stupid reasons. So what if Sebastian was gay, he was still the exact same dude Greg had grown up with.
"I'm gonna hit the showers," Hunter told them. Time wasn't kind, it always seemed to go by too fast when he wasn't doing something boring but then he was also feeling a little down now and he definitely needed to clean up after practice.
Sebastian froze up, a new worry striking him as Hunter made to leave. Had he missed something? He’d been so caught up in his own drama that he hadn’t noticed that something might be wrong, but now he felt it, catching him off guard like a missed step. He tossed the ball in Greg’s direction, not even looking to see if he caught it, and jogged over to Hunter before he could leave entirely. “Hey,” he said softly. “Are you okay?”
"Yeah," Hunter lied since he didn't really want to burden Sebastian with more crap, especially since it was all so hypothetical. "Just don't feel like playing and-" he trailed off and shrugged. "Feel pretty gross after practice." That bit was at least true, as much as he loved sports, he hated being sweaty for long, especially when he started cooling down. He glanced past Sebastian to where Greg was back to dribbling and tossing the ball, then leaned up to give Sebastian a little kiss.
Sebastian shuffled from one foot to the other, sure that that was a perfectly reasonable answer, yet still feeling like something might be wrong. It made him aware of how bad he was at this, that all his experience with fake girlfriends didn’t equate to much when it came to real relationships. “Okay,” he said reluctantly after kissing Hunter back. He’d thought he might give him a ride home, but if he was ready to go… Sebastian wasn’t really sure what to do. He didn’t really feel like playing either, but it felt weird to leave Greg, especially when he knew Greg was only there because of him. “I’ll… I’ll be right behind you. You still want a ride?”
Hunter nodded because the thought of being alone in a car with Sebastian was a great deal more tempting than hanging around in the gym all sweaty and miserable. "Take your time," he added. "I might come back if the guys are still in there." he did not need to get into a fight, or whatever else kind of trouble Kyle might cause him if he was alone. It was weird since he'd never had any kind of hassle from the guys before but now that Sebastian was out, things just felt different. "Or I'll just hang out there and play a game on the phone or something."
Sebastian couldn’t imagine staying much longer if Hunter was waiting for him, but he felt better letting him go if he was guaranteed to see him after. “Kay,” he said, then pulled him in for one more little kiss before releasing Hunter to go shower. “I won’t be long.” He backed away then, giving Hunter a small smile before he turned to Greg and made an attempt to steal the ball from him. “First person to sink five,” he said, feeling like a little one on one would be a nice little rush, but wouldn’t take either of them too long.