Flufftober 2022 - Sebastian x Reader

Day 9 - Game Day (Sports)

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For a town as small as Pelican Town, they sure do have a lot of yearly events. The luau, the flower dance, the feast of the winter star, and this year's newest addition, the Pelican Town Sports Day.

Mayor Lewis came up with the idea of it, and it's to be held on the first day of Fall every year. It's a large collection of sports and games, such as a three-legged race and an obstacle course, and the whole town was required to—at the very least—attend to "boost morale." You're surprisingly excited. Farm Work has boosted your athletic abilities by quite a lot, and you're sure that you can beat the town in most, if not all, of the strength-based activities. Your agility isn't half bad, either. You've gained quite a bit of stamina from running around the town all day every day for the past six months.

You arrive in the town square at 9:00, though only half of the events will be taking place there. Most of the races have been pushed into the Cindersap forest for the sake of room. It's still nice, though. There are a few banners up and a lot of the townsfolk are already milling around, observing the sights before the actual games begin.

You spot Sebastian over by the saloon and are about to head over and say hi, but he sees you and starts in your direction before you can move. His look is deadly serious and you're almost intimidated at the sight of him walking toward you with such purpose, but when he stops in front of you, the words that leave his mouth are, "I need your help."

"Um, sorry, what?" The absolute intensity both on Sebastian's face and in his voice causes you to be a little taken aback. Especially since you didn't expect him to ask for your help.

Sebastian sighs. "Abby and Sam bet that they could beat me in every one of the events today. I need you to help me prove them wrong."

"Why me?"

"You're a farmer! You're strong, and you're fast, and I trust you to have the abilities to secure this win for me." His voice quiets a little, and he adds, "Plus, I think we work well together. Partner in crime, right?"

You consider his proposition for a moment. There are quite a few team events, like the three-legged race, wheelbarrow race, tug-of-war, the relay race... You hadn't planned on participating in those, but with Sebastian, you figure it might be fun.

"Alright, I'm in," you say with a grin. Sebastian's face immediately brightens.

"Awesome! We're going to kick some ass." The determined grin on Sebastian's face is almost cute. Not only will it feel good to help him, but he's right, getting victories for yourself will feel great too.

It's then that Mayor Lewis enters the plaza and addresses the gathering crowd. He explains what events will take place at which times, which events are solo and which require pairs, and most importantly, what the winner will receive. The winners of each specific event will get a medal, but the person or pair with the most medals at the end will win a trophy. Lewis had it specially made to represent the town, and it features a golden pelican clutching a checkered flag in its beak. You don't even particularly want the trophy that much, but it's what it stands for. Victory over Abigail and Sam.

The first event is the three-legged race. When all of the pairs arrive at the Cindersap forest and line up at the start, Jodi comes along to tie your legs together, and then you just have to wait for the actual race to begin. Abigail and Sam are to your right, and Abigail leans over to you, whispering, "Good luck, Sebastian has the grace of a fish out of water."

"We won't need luck," you shoot back, feeling oddly defensive even though it's just a game. Abigail sticks out her tongue at you and turns her attention back to Sam.

A moment later, Mayor Lewis blows a whistle and the pairs take off running. You're already ahead of Maru and Penny, and Vincent and Jas are too busy giggling with each other to actually try and race. Alex and Haley seem like they may be competition at first, but Alex is trying to focus on speed while Haley focuses on rhythm, so they fall behind rather quickly.

Abigail and Sam are barely ahead of you and Sebastian, and it's because the two of you are just out of sync. You're moving, sure, but your pace is just mismatched enough that it's slowing you down. Sebastian's eyebrows furrow in concentration, and before you know it, he grabs your hand and starts tapping a beat on it with his thumb. You quicken your strides ever so slightly to match the rhythm Sebastian is providing, and soon, you're perfectly in sync and even manage to speed yourselves up. With your new synchronization, you're able to slip ahead of Abigail and Sam just in time to cross the finish line.

An elated smile immediately forms on Sebastian's face, and he turns to you with a look of pure victory. His hand still clutching yours, he lifts the pair of them to the sky and lets out a single whoop. Abigail and Sam, standing a few feet away, both look disappointed in their loss, but they seemed amused in Sebastian's glory.

"First race and you've already beaten Abby and Sam," you say when Sebastian seems a little calmer. "Good start, hm?"

"Absolutely, but we're far from finished." Sebastian grips your hand a little tighter, a surge of determination flooding through him and into you. "We are going to demolish them."

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The rest of the day goes magnificent.

You and Sebastian dominate in every single event. You win the partnered horseshoe toss by a landslide, the wheelbarrow race is easy for you as a farmer, and Alex joins you during the relay race for an amazing victory. At the end of the day, you and Sebastian each have half a dozen medals around your necks. They're cheap and definitely have no value, but it's what they represent. Sure, Abby and Sam did manage to snag one win from you (damn you, scavenger hunt), but it's clear that you and Sebastian have proven your point to them.

It's around 7:00 when the event comes to its close, and Mayor Lewis gathers everybody to the plaza to announce the winners. Unsurprisingly, it's you and Sebastian. Nobody else had even come close.

The two of you head up to collect your Pelican trophy, and after Mayor Lewis gets a picture of you holding it to commemorate the "first annual game's day," everyone splits off and starts to head home.

You release your grip on the trophy and push it towards Sebastian. "You can keep this. You wanted to beat Abigail and Sam, right? There's your prize!"

Sebastian turns the trophy over in his hands, and after staring at it for a second, he holds it out to you instead. "I'd rather you have it. I owe my victory to you, it only feels right."

You hesitate for a moment, feeling bad to take the only memento of your win to keep for yourself. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Sebastian replies. "Plus, it'll give me an excuse to pop by now and then. Make sure you're treating our greatest accomplishment right."

You giggle, but finally reach forward and take the trophy from Sebastian's outstretched hands. "Thanks."

"No need to thank me. You earned it." With a nod and a slight upturn of his lips, Sebastian waves goodbye and turns to head back to his house in the mountains.

When you get home, you put the trophy on the mantle of your fireplace. And every morning, when you wake up, it's the first thing you see. It makes you think of Sebastian every time.

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