Flufftober 2022 - Sebastian x Reader

Day 3 - Thick as Thieves

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You can't believe this.

You absolutely, utterly can't believe this.

You're standing outside Pierre's shop, peering in through the window with your mouth agape. Inside, you can see multiple bins, full of produce that you grew and sold to him. Above the bins are signs. "Home-grown at Pierre's!"

This asshole is taking credit for your work.

Maybe it shouldn't be such a huge deal. He still paid you for the crops, and it's not like where they came from really made a difference. But this... this prick is still disregarding the days of sweat and labour that you poured into growing those. Being a farmer is damn hard work, and you can't believe he's shoving that aside for his own selfishness.

Unfortunately, Pierre's shop is closed on Wednesdays, otherwise you would have stormed inside and torn into that poor excuse for a salesman. However, Pierre usually doesn't leave the house on Wednesdays, and while he's inside, the door is locked. No way for you to get in.

You want to do something. Anything. The powerless feeling flooding through you right now is horrible, but for now, you just have to accept defeat. On the plus side, you can always go back tomorrow. Pierre isn't going anywhere, he'll be there for you to berate in the morning.

You let out a groan of frustration and bury your face in your hands. It's not fair that Pierre just gets to claim your work as his own and get away with it. And even if you did go in to yell at him tomorrow, you can't make him change the signs. You sold him the produce, it's his to do what he wants with it, including lying about where it came from.

"You look frustrated." The voice comes out of nowhere, and you quickly remove your hands from your face and glance up to see none other than Sebastian. His hands are in his pockets and he looks almost bored, but he does seem curious about why you look so distraught.

"I am frustrated," you reply. Gesturing at the window, you watch as Sebastian's gaze turns to the inside of the store, and he squints to read the sign above the crops. "I'm the one who grew those. I sold them to Pierre just yesterday."

"Well that's a dick move, isn't it?" says Sebastian. "Can you do anything about it?"

"Not today, it's closed." You deliver a light kick into the side of the building. "I'll have to wait until tomorrow, and even then, Pierre might not actually do anything to change it."

"Have you tried the door?"

"It's locked."

"Not for long." You watch as Sebastian steps forward, rifles through his pockets for a moment, and then produces a ring of keys. He fumbles through the five or six keys present until he finds what he's looking for, then inserts it into the door of Pierre's shop. The door unlocks with a light thunk.

You stare at him in shock as he opens the door and turns back to look at you, an amused smile present on his face.

"Abby's always locking herself out, so she gave me a spare key to rescue her when she needs it," he explains. "I'm technically not supposed to use it to break into the store, but desperate times call for desperate measures, hm?"

"R-Right." You take a step toward the door, which Sebastian is still holding open for you. "Thank you."

"Happy to help. Justice needs to be served." You shoot Sebastian a grateful smile and step into the building, expecting him to depart there, but instead, he follows you inside and gently shuts the door to prevent it from making any noise.

"I'm not sure what to do now," you admit. "I suppose I could go find Pierre, but I don't think he'd be impressed that I've broken into his home."

"Who needs Pierre? You have access to the sign right now, how about we just fix it?" Sebastian starts to wander through the store, searching the shelves, until he finds a packet of sharpies. Tearing the package open with his teeth, he pulls one out—hot pink, and almost blindingly so—and hands it to you.

"Ah, so we're adding stealing to the list, are we?" you ask, reaching out to take the sharpie from Sebastian's outstretched hand. "Also, a weird choice of colour."

"I'll pay them back at some point, don't worry about it," Sebastian replies. "And the pink is bright, it'll stand out."

You question the morality of that a little in your head but decide that it isn't worth worrying about. Uncapping the marker, you step over to the sign, scribble out "Pierre's," and add a few extra words so that the sign now says, "Home-grown at Stardew Farm!"

"You have nice handwriting," Sebastian says as you recap the Sharpie. You hadn't even noticed that he had moved to stand behind you, but now that you've been made aware, you can't help but dwell on the fact that there are barely two inches between you. Plus, while he isn't tall, he's still taller than you, making you feel a little extra self-conscious when you turn and have to angle your head upwards to look him in the eyes.

"Oh, um, thank you," you say. "I guess I'm just good with my hands. I work on a farm, after all."

It isn't until Sebastian quirks an eyebrow up that you realize what you said, and your cheeks immediately start to burn. "I mean... um, fuck, I don't know what I meant. I don't know why I said that."

Sebastian simply chuckles, a sound that both terrifies and relieves you. But it seems that he found nothing but humour in your little fumble, which makes you feel a little better.

Taking a glance back at the modified sign, a new worry rises in your mind. "What will I do tomorrow? It's not like Pierre won't notice, he can just change it back."

"By the time he notices, it'll probably be too late. Others will have seen the sign by then, if he changes it back he'll look like the bad guy, which is bad for business," Sebastion points out. "So I wouldn't worry about it. Embrace the victory."

He nudges you with his elbow, which makes you smile. He is right. You've won, at least for now. You might as well appreciate it.

"Thank you again for your help," you say. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"As I said, I'm just happy justice has been served," Sebastian replies. "You deserve credit for your hard work, and you shouldn't have to sit by and accept defeat just because Pierre has decided he wants to be selfish."

You nod. You really are grateful for everything that Sebastian has done for you today. Not only helping you get into the store, but accompanying you to make sure that you could accomplish your task. It means a lot, especially since this matters so much to you.

"This was actually more fun than I thought it would be," Sebastian notes. "I like our 'partners in crime' vibe."

"Thick as thieves," you add, laughing. Sebastian chuckles as well.

"Thick as thieves," he agrees.

You take one last look at Sebastian. Taking in his face that still lacks a smile but has the warmth in his eyes that you saw during the night at the saloon. You still don't know him all that well, but it's nice to realize that maybe you can continue getting to know him.

Your new partner in crime.

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