Sabastion's House

A simple classic little cottage with an over run garden located in an older neighborhood of Athens Harbor.



Emily was still curled up in the perfect warmth and safety of Sebastian's bed when morning came to call. She was too comfortable, too swathed in his scent to want to leave, even if her brain did wake up just enough to tell her she probably should. Sebastian would be waking up for work soon, and he might be unsettled to find her slumbering in his bed, even if he had given her permission to do so. She refused to open her eyes, though, refused to move even an inch towards getting out of bed. He would be going to work, and maybe he would find something endearing about waking up to her sleeping so peacefully in his bed, something that would stay with him all day and make him smile at work. At least, she hoped that was the reaction he would have. Or, maybe, he would be too groggy himself to notice. Perhaps he would just roll out of bed and head off for his run or a shower without considering the extra weight on the other half of his mattress. Maybe she was just that invisible, still. These thoughts were enough to keep her mind awake, but her body fought the waking still. Her body felt heavy and numb, from her head to her toes. She was far too comfortable to move, even if her mind was awake and her worries and self doubt attempted to provoke movement from her. Instead, she reveled in his smell, in the way his warm sheets felt against her skin, and the way his breath sounded beside her.

Luckily for Emily, she found herself next to an astute man, and so before his eyes opened Sabastion was acutely aware of the other body next to him. The odd differentiation of warmth between his left side and right, the slight dipping of his mattress. For a moment he was back in college, trying to remember her name. Bridgette? Michelle? Oh he could not remember, but he remembered they were different. He opened his eyes a crack and carefully turned his head to look at her. The jet black hair threw him back into the present reality. He wasn't in college, and neither of them had had such beautiful black hair. Emily. This was Emily. She must have come to his bed at some point in the night. A quick mental check said he had not done anything uncouth, or not as far as he could tell anyway, and so he turned his focus to her instead. She seemed peaceful there, she wasn't curled up on herself or even scooted close to the edge of the bed. She seemed to be rather enjoying it. Her rhythmic breathing made his lips quick up again- not that she could see it- and instead of getting up he rolled over, propping himself up on one elbrow and lowered his lips to her ear in one smooth motion, muttering in her ear with a voice rough from sleep, "You are not a good actress, дорогой."

A smile weaved its way across her lips, haloed by a breathy half-laugh through her nose. She was relieved. He wasn't angry, wasn't awkward, but her heart did not slow. She opened her azure orbs and shifted just enough to look up at him. "I wasn't trying to be." she whispered back up at him. A bit bravely, she touched feather light fingertips to his stubbly jaw. "I didn't bother you, did I? Did you sleep well?" she asked, her smile faltering and her brows creasing slightly with newfound distress.

Sabastion shook his head rather than answer and tilted his chin a little so he could press a lingering kiss to her forehead. "There is too much worry in here," he commented, the words a tad muffled where he was keeping his mouth pressed to her skin. "You'll give yourself high blood pressure, or at the very least, headaches, nausea, loss of appetite-" He leaned back a tad to give her his best serious doctor face, a perfect carbon copy he might show a cancer patient, but his sleep mussed hair, stubble, and lack of a shirt ruined what might have been an otherwise sobering image. "Shall I prescribe something?" His lips quirked up and his hand found her hip, resting there securely, but not forcefully. "A few injections, perhaps?"

The sound that rolled out of Emily's lips was light and excitable. She moved her hand down from his chin to his chest and brushed her fingers along his chest hair, her hip twisting a little to push up under his hand. "Do you have time to give my treatment now?" she asked playfully, worried she might make him late for work. "I can wait until tonight, if you need to go.."

Pausing just before indulging in her slim, pale neck with a few kisses, he glanced at the clock on his night stand and gave an unhappy sigh. "It appears it will need to wait," he informed her, his tone for once less neutral than disappointed. He abandoned his approach of her neck to instead give her a chaste peck to the lips. "Forgive me," he apologized, resting his forehead against hers for a moment. "Try to get a bit more rest, there is no need for you to come in early. Have a proper breakfast." Another small kiss to her forehead then he shifted away and carefully climbed out of what he supposed was now "his" side of the bed. Humans were creatures of habit, it was unlikely their positions would change in the future. "We will see each other at work shortly, correct?" he confirmed, giving her a raised eyebrow as he stretched his arms over his head, relaxing his sleep logged back muscles.

"Yes," Emily confirmed, sitting up in the bed herself. Her black tresses fell around her head and shoulders in a sleep-mussed mess. "I work from ten to eight tonight." Ten hour shifts were common for nurses such as herself. She looked at him and admired him briefly with a smile. "I'll go make us breakfast while you shower. You can scarf it down on your way out the door." she teased.

"We know better than to 'scarf'," Sabastion chastised mildly, emphasizing his lack of bite by setting one knee on the bed so he could lean over and kiss her cheek. "Just rest," he instructed as he once again left the bed and went about the room gathering a clean outfit. "I won't leave without saying goodbye, I promise," he assured her, offering a little upward quirk of his lips before disappearing from the room to head to the shower.

Emily smiled as she watched him go, her cheeks blazing pink. She felt her insides warm, and she laid back down in the bed as he instructed, curling back up against his pillow and sheets. She took a deep breath of his scent as it mingled in those threads, and closed her eyes. She was just so happy to be in this place with him. As much as she wanted to stay put in his bed, snuggled and cradled in his smell and the warmth of where his body had just been, she also knew she would feel terrible if she let him go off to work without food in his belly, or at least a coffee. She pulled herself from his bed and headed downstairs, starting up the coffee machine and pulling out the frying pan to make him something hot. She started to gather the ingredients to make him a hot egg sandwich.

It was just as the breakfast was complete that Sabastion appeared in the kitchen, his timing surprisingly good even so early. He gave the food and coffee a look of mild surprise as he walked to the table, pausing only to kiss her hair, then took a seat. Who was he to turn down a meal by a beautiful woman? He was as perfectly put together as Emily always saw him: clean shaven with hair swept back, a white button down and black trousers. He might as well be sitting before her in the hospital, just like any other day, were she not clearly actually standing in his home, in his kitchen, still mussed from last night. He didn't seem to mind however as he took to his coffee, checking his phone to look at his work emails. He had a new appointment this morning that hadn't been there yesterday. He supposed catching up on paperwork could wait. Tending to patients was always more interesting anyway.

Emily was more than happy to receive his kiss to her hair and watch him sit to eat. She admired him in the brief interlude while she waited for her egg to finish cooking so she could throw it on her own homemade sandwich, and only drew her attention away from him when the smell of the cooking egg, slightly browned on the edges, told her it was done. She slid the egg onto her plate of toast, cheese, warmed ham slices and avocado, and once her creation was complete she brought her own plate and glass of Orange juice to the table and sat herself beside him. She ate quietly, allowing him to read his work emails in content silence.

This was surprisingly domestic. Sabastion's eyes glanced at Emily but only when he was absolutely certain she wasn't looking. Perhaps she was only so intense in the afternoon/evening? Perhaps having a day off had affected her mood? Perhaps it was the release of pent up frustration at her ex-room mate or of whatever she felt for him. Whatever the reason, she seemed calm now. What a curious change. He finished the last bite of his sandwich and took his dishes to the sink to quickly clean them and leave them in the rack to dry. He was moving with a bit more purpose now but he made good on his promise and stopped by Emily on his way out of the kitchen, one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table as he leaned down to sneak a kiss onto her cheek while she was chewing. Once again he was gracing her with that upward quirk of his lips. "I have an early appointment, they need me to come in now. I will see you there later," he bid her farewell, kissed her cheek again, then finally managed to get himself out of the kitchen, out the front door, and on his way to the hospital.

After watching him go with an endearing smile, Emily finished her breakfast with that same content silence as before when he'd been sitting beside her. Only when her plate was clean and her belly full did she rise and wash the dishes with quick but thorough scrubs, set them out to dry, and then carry herself back upstairs to shower. She had some time to spare before work, so she took her time lingering in the shower, just letting the hot water soak her through her flesh. She washed thoroughly and shaved meticulously--never having been a fan of stubble on her legs--and upon her exit of the warm shower, she decided to put a bit more pep in her step and hurry to finish getting ready. Her daily routine saw a bit of makeup, sweet smelling lotions and perfume, and a pair of clean and ironed nurse's scrubs in a lovely pale blue that made her hair seem darker and her blue eyes brighter. She donned her non-slip, white nurse shoes, grabbed her backpack of work items, and headed out the door. She only paused a moment to admire the key to Sebastion's house and marvel at where she was now, when only days ago she was doing nothing more than admiring him and daydreaming about him from afar, and then locked the door and hurried on her way to the hospital.

---

Emily was a bit too happy to be back home. She unlocked the door, feeling Sabastion not far behind her, and stepped into the house. She instantly moved to her bedroom and set her bag down. She started soaking her scrub top in the kitchen sink with some dish soap so the coffee wouldn't stain, and tried to keep concentrated on it so the tears wouldn't start up again now that they were home.

Behind her, Sabastion locked the front door then leaned back against it, watching her disappear then briefly pass by a moment later the doorway to the kitchen, all the while thinking how best to approach this. To be honest it was new territory for him. The women usually left the next morning, but Emily was still here. And she was crying. He couldn't recall this ever happening before. Still it was probably his fault and his grandmother had always stressed taking responsibility for errors. Ignorance was no excuse, she insisted. So, after taking a deep, and silent, breath to brace himself, he approached the kitchen. "Emily," he tried again, this time to get her attention. He remained at the table, not certain it would be alright to cross the distance between them. "I'm sorry I upset you. It was not my intention."

Emily paused in her furious scrubbing and dipping of her uniform shirt to glance back at Sabastion, looking a little confused. "Upset me..? You didn't..." she said softly, turning back to face her shirt. She sighed and decided to let it soak in the water so she could face him again, blushing a little. "You didn't upset me... I guess I was just confused. I thought I had upset you. I thought you were angry with me... aren't you?" she asked, wincing a little as she waited for his response. "I mean... I know I should have asked you before inviting Nathan over for dinner. That was so inconsiderate of me... but I honestly didn't think you would be so put off by it."

"Not angry, just concerned," Sabastion repeated what he had told her in the hospital. This time, he did take a small step toward her, holding her eyes with his own. "Let me guess. You were worried-" Another step. "That I thought you were interested in this 'Nathan'." Another step. "That this dinner was some sort of date with him, and so you hurried to assure me otherwise." He stopped in front of her, being several inches taller than her he was looking down at her steeply. He raised an eyebrow. "Is that correct? And that is why you were extra clumsy today?"

Emily looked up at him in return, her blue eyes peering up at him from under long, dark lashes and delicate brows creased with guilt. She gave a slight nod of her chin and a mousy, "yes..." without breaking her gaze from his. She was still leaning against the sink, her hands gripping the smooth porcelain of it with pinking fingers. Her heart was racing as he stood looming in front of her like that, a familiar fluttering in her stomach and chest. Something in her pelvis and thighs tightened too.

"And as I told you, you have no idea what I think." Sabastion lifted a hand to brush his fingers along her jawline, sliding back until he was cupping her face. "You are so ready to blame yourself. I am not worried about you trying to date other men, especially not in my own house. What concerns me, from what you said, is that he may be interested in you and this may inadvertently lead him on." He leaned down slowly, keeping eye contact, until he was almost nose to nose with her. "Do I need to defend my position as your lover?" he asked softly. "Or were your fears unfounded? It can not be both ways. Either I am insecure, or I am not being clear. Which did you think?"

Her eyelids dropped a little as he cupped her cheek, and her face leaned into it a little. She breathed a shaky wisp against his lips and her cheeks warmed and pinked. "I-I... I don't know... I can't think straight right now." She admitted. That much was true; when he was this close, he smelled so good, and he was so handsome and slightly intimidating, but in a good way, and it aroused her faster than anything she had ever known. "I'm sorry, Sabastion," was all she could think to say.

"There is no need to be," Sabastion assured her, stroking her cheek with his thumb. He tilted his face up enough to press a soft kiss to her forehead. "It will take time for us to get know know one another properly. Misunderstandings are inevitable. Now-" He righted himself and removed his hand. "You were concerned I was burned. Do you wish to check or should I perform an exam myself?"

She had closed her eyes when he kissed her head. Even with his lips on her head, her heart raced and thudded loudly in her ears. She raised a hand to his chest, touching one of the areas of fabric that had been assaulted by the hot coffee, and said, "I want to give you a good look over.." Her cheeks darkened, a rosy tinge to Her normally pale flesh, and then hook her hands under his scrub top and started to tug it up and over his head.

Sabastion obliged her silently, bending over slightly when it became too high for her to pull anymore so she could remove it. As she set it aside he removed his undershirt himself, tossing it on top of where she left his top. Bare chested now, he stood still so she could look at the few light pink splotches that marred his skin. They were warm but didn't sting, indicating they were not as bad as hers.

She eyed the spots silently a moment, guilt marring her features for only a brief moment before she leaned on and planted her lips against one in a soft kiss. She felt so bad for having hurt him, even if she didn't really. It had been her fault. She kissed another just as lightly as the first, and then looked up at him, smoothing her hands up his chest, around his neck and into his hair. "I think you'll live." she whispered playfully, even if her sky blue orbs still reflected that guilt.

Sabastion chuckled and draped his arms loosely around her waist. "I agree with your excellent diagnosis, but I don't recall seeing this course of treatment in any medical text," he teased. "It's very effective. Perhaps I'll write a paper describing the technique, have it published in a medical journal." His lips quirked up but he was done joking for the moment. She was incredibly warm and his arms tightened just before his lips met hers in a final release of tension. Thank god for scrubs, they were a beautiful lie to distract from the truth he knew lay underneath.

A happy little sound escaped Emily as he kissed her. Mostly she was relieved. He wasn't mad at her, not for Nathan, not for the spilled coffee.. She kissed him back eagerly and deeply, fingers tangled in his hair and body pressed fully against his. When she broke the kiss, She blew a happy sigh between pink and swollen lips, and whispered, "I feel hot, Doctor... I think I need a closer, full-body exam..."

"Ah, well, let me have a look," Sabastion replied, his voice half medical and half rough already. His lips quirked up in a familiar gesture before he pulled her away from the sink and carefully guided her backwards into her room, never breaking the kiss he was happily bestowing on her.

She moved with him, walking clumsily in step with him so she wouldn't have to pull away from him or their kiss as they moved into her closer downstairs bedroom. She started to strip out of her clothes as they went, untying her scrub bottoms and peeling out of her shoes. She hit the edge of the bed with the back of her calves and fell back with a small yelp and a laugh.

When Nathan's Prius pulled up to the address Emily gave him, the man breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like a sweet little fairy-tale cottage straight from the pages of a Mother Goose rhyme, garden and everything! Suddenly much more at ease with whoever the young student's new roommate was--although the notion of her moving without Nathan's knowledge was still irksome in and of itself, not to mention the circumstances surrounding her sudden move--the realtor stepped out of his car, checked his phone with a dark expression, pulled a covered dish out of the backseat, walked to the front door, knocked, and took a moment to scowl at his phone again while waiting for the door to be answered by sweet, little Emily, or the grandmotherly figure she was now living with.

In the back room of the first floor of the little cottage home, Sabastion reluctantly broke the kiss he was rather enjoying with Emily pinned and squirming under him. It felt like they had just gotten started and someone had decided to visit. That's what he got for wanting to take his time he supposed. "Hold that thought-" he told Emily and was about to give her another little kiss but paused just before contact. "Or lack thereof," he corrected, finally giving her a deep, albeit short, kiss before carefully extricating himself to go answer the front door. A foggier part of his mind reminded him they had been expecting someone but he didn't care enough to remember who, and so it was only with the vaguest sense of understanding that he checked who was on the porch out the little window in the door. He didn't recognize the face but he pulled the door open anyway, raising an eyebrow at him and defaulting to the squared shouldered, straight backed posture he had at the hospital, though it looked rather odd with his mussed hair and bare chest. Luckily, he had yet to lose his pants, though he couldn't say the same of Emily. "Hello," he greeted pleasantly enough. "May I help you?"

Still wearing a rather sour expression, the bespectacled realtor looked up to see...oh. Well. Clearly he was at the wrong address. "Yes, do you know if any of your neighbors had a new roommate move in? A pale, brunette girl about yea tall?" He tucked his phone back into his pocket before gesturing an estimate of Emily's height.

"No... but that sounds like Emily," Sabastion replied calmly, then his other eyebrow rose to match the other as it clicked. "Oh, right, you must be Nathan." Well now his previous activities really were on hold. Depressing. He stepped back, holding the door open for him. "Please, come in, and excuse my current attire, I will go change." More pointedly, he called to the back. "Emily, Nathan is here." Hopefully she understood the need for clothing.

For a few seconds Nathan stood in front of the door with the dessert in his hand, utterly stunned and attempting to process the situation. Emily. Miss Cornary. New roommate. This guy? What? He's half-naked. What. Finally he adjusted his glasses before actually stepping into the house. "As you are obviously aware, I am Nathan Kerr, Miss Cornary's realtor. And you would be...?" Boyfriend? Visiting relative of the roommate? Anyone but the roommate themself, please...

"Sabastion Panas," the doctor introduced himself, holding out his hand reflexively after shutting the door. Somehow despite being shirtless he was holding himself rather impressively. Still, he'd rather go get a shirt and change out of the scrub bottoms if they were having a guest. "The owner of this home, which I also makes me Emily's landlord and room mate. Please, have a seat-" He gestured to the furniture in the living room. "Emily will be right out I'm sure."

There was a small, "Eep!" from inside Emily's room down the hall, followed by a thud. Emily was trying to get back into a pair of pants and had fallen back against her desk. She sighed irritably. Why did Nathan have to show up so... promptly? He couldn't have been late this once? She pulled up her jeans and replaced her soaked undershirt with a plain t-shirt that was light peach in color and bowed down in an sweet scoop neck. Once she felt like she was decent enough--and her blood didn't feel as hot--she headed out of her room. "Nathan!" she greeted, though the blood rushed back into her cheeks when she realized Sabastion was still shirtless out here. "I see you've met Sabastion," she laughed awkwardly, reaching for Nathan. Her left hand touched his forearm, and she momentarily forgot about the bandages around her forearm.

Was he breathing? He was pretty sure he stopped breathing. How does breathing work, again? Poor Nathan could not recall how to inhale until he heard his client call his name, prompting him to turn towards her...and lose all the color of his face, making his own bruise stand out more even as he took note of hers. When her hand touched the arm holding the dessert, his free hand laid on top of hers--careful to not touch the bandages--and he spoke in a stern, urgent tone: "Miss Cornary. Please go pack up any necessary items and bring them to my car. I will make sure this man doesn't stop you. In fact," he let go of her hand only to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone, "first, please call the police and let them know we will be at the station in three minutes to fill out a report for assault charges."

Emily had just been about to ask Nathan about the bruises on his face when he suddenly mentioned calling the police and packing her things. She blinked at him in confused surprise, then started to stammer, "O-oh, no, no Nathan, that's not necessary-" He was already pushing his phone into her hand and that's when she remembered her bandaged burns, cut fingers, bruised arms and thighs, and healing black eye. She realized she must have looked a mess! "Oh gods, Nathan, no, this isn't-" she began to stutter, looking at Sabastion for help explaining.

Sabastion crossed his arms over his chest and watched the exchange with a calculating eye. When Emily seemed to want his help however he spoke up, "Nathan I assure you she is fine. Her wounds are very minor and all accidental. She is in no better care than that of a doctor. I should be the one to ask you why you placed Emily in her last home that was so obviously ill suited to her. You could have hindered her education and for a less bright student that might have resulted in failure. Luckily she is an incredible young woman and that wasn't the case. I am, however, concerned about the emotional and physical stress she received there and her overall well being. I trust myself to take care of her significantly more than I do you right now." He wasn't angry, never angry, just as he told Emily earlier, only concerned and it showed. His voice was calm but he was frowning, not accusing Nathan, merely being honest.

"'MINOR'?! And 'accidental', yeah, sure, first time anyone's used that story," Nathan hissed at Sabastion, still pushing his phone into Emily's hand. "She's been in your house for ONE DAMN DAY AND LOOK AT HER. She can't even speak for herself in this house, apparently. What, is she scared of you? Well I'm not."

"Nathan!" Emily yelped insistently again, taking his phone but moving between them. She stood in front of Sebastian and held up her hands, one closed around his phone. "Nathan, it's not like that at all! These injuries really were accidents! Sabastion is the one who treated them!" she insisted. "Please just calm down!"

"What kind of accidents? Did he 'accidently' dump bacon grease on your arm? 'Accidently' push you into a barbed wire fence? WHAT KIND OF 'ACCIDENTS' WERE THEY?!" Nathan had started out asking Emily those questions, only to turn and scream them at Sabastion partway, clearly using examples that were far more specific than what people usually thought of if they had not seen such things before.

Oh, did he want him to answer? Alright, well he could try. Sabastion pointed to the area on Emily has he explained each one. "Coffee she was bringing for a distraught family member of a patient, table, doorframe, other table, Last roommate-" Pointed glance at Nathan. "Those-" He pointed near her biceps and frowned, then raised his eyes to Emily. "Even I don't know. And I'm betting there's a new one from whatever happened in the bedroom just now?" He raised an eyebrow.

Emily blushed deeply, but conceded that fact with a nod. She would probably have a bruise on her lower back or tail bone after hitting the dresser the way she did. She looked at Nathan again but stepped back against Sabastion, sliding an arm around his middle and resting the other hand on his chest. "Nathan, Sabastion and I are... Together." she said, trying to explain and hoping he would understand.

Nathan's face went pale once more as his expression melted from that of rage into one of abject horror. He remained silent through Sabastion's inventory of the injuries and even Emily's announcement. After a few beats of silence, he finally spoke up, his voice hoarse with something that Emily would have never heard before from him. Something far beyond anger or regret. "Cash hit you?"

"She assures me it was an accident," Sabastion put in to try and soothe him even as his own arm reflexively wrapped around Emily in response to her attention. "And I don't believe she would lie to me-" He looked down at Emily seriously. "Or color the truth to hide something more serious from me." He looked at Nathan again. "Luckily it was only a bruise and her face will heal to its natural perfection very soon without the need for surgical intervention." He squeezed Emily before carefully extricating himself. "Please excuse me but I really must change. Emily, could you please show Nathan to the kitchen and decide what you wanted to have for dinner? I will be right back." He lifted her bandaged hand and gave it a gentle brush of lips to her knuckles, a final nod to Nathan, then stepped out of the room and upstairs to find some different and more effective clothes.

Emily watched Sabastion exit the room with a daydreamy sort of smile on her face, light and wistful and just so happy. Her attention didn't return to Nathan until Sabastion was out of her sight, and when she acknowledged the realtor again, she grabbed his hand and gently tucked his phone back in his fingers with a gentle smile. "It really was an accident, Nathan. I ran into the door as Cash was closing it on me. You've seen how clumsy I can be... Cash didn't mean to hurt me." she assured him. She led him into the kitchen and offered him a seat at the little table in front of the windows, and started to grab out things to make them a healthy chicken pasta dinner.

Taking deep breaths--in through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose, out through the mouth--Nathan barely noticed Emily returning his phone until she started to walk into the kitchen. He put the phone back in his pocket before setting the covered dessert on the table and offering in a cracked voice: "W-would you like some help, Miss Cornary?"

"Oh, sure!" Emily smiled. She was trying to keep herself calm and happy. Maybe if he saw her that way, it would help him calm down, too. "You can chop some onion and garlic," she said and offered the vegetables to him. She then set about filling a pot with water in the sink and pulled down some noodles. "Nathan, really... You don't have to be so worried. I'm alright. Cash and I had our differences.... But he never intentionally hurt me." At least, she didn't think he had.

"I know he wouldn't...or...at least I thought I knew that..." Nathan rocked on his heels as he washed his hands before starting to chop, "that's really what's bothering me. I've lived with Cash, Miss Cornary. I've known him for years. He's an ass. He's selfish and thoughtless and wouldn't even think to give the shirt off his back unless someone said it might earn him a medal. But he's predictable. And can't take me in a fight. I don't know anything about your new roommate--Mr. Panas. And since you two are romantically involved..." he paused to adjust his glasses, careful to do so with the heel of his palm so he would not smudge them with onion oils, "I'm not convinced, yet, that you do, either. Emotions can blind people. You just saw what worry does to me. ...Why didn't you call and tell me that things were that bad with Cash? I could have moved you into my apartment and taken your place in his. A few months until we found you a lease wouldn't be near as bad as the year I spent with him before."

Emily laughed lightly and shook her head. "I had not even considered that as a possibility, Nathan. You're my realtor. How could I have ever thought that was an option?" she asked in a kind rhetorical question. She tilted her head at him. "You're too kind, and so caring, but I couldn't have--wouldn't have--done that to you, no matter how much I was suffering."

"Miss Cornary, I no longer have to study at home. I have an office for such things. It certainly would have been a better situation for me than for you," Nathan sighed as he continued to chop, "to be entirely honest, the only reason I send people to Cash when they can't afford to go anywhere else is because he has me on speed dial if anything goes wrong. I mean something he would actually notice, such as a fire or break-in. It is my job as a realtor, Miss Cornary, to make sure my clients are safe, healthy and happy--usually in that order. If you did not, at the very least, feel safe living with Cash then that is my fault. I'm sorry."

She gave another soft giggle and shook her head at him. "Safety was not an issue with Cash. I never felt unsafe with him. Unhappy, however..." She trailed off a moment, her blue eyes growing distant, before she brought herself back with a shake of her head. She went back to stirring noodles and adding a bit of oil to the water so they wouldn't stick to one another. "But I'm alright, Nathan, and I'm happy here with Sabastion. He takes very good care of me."

"That is certainly up for debate," Sabastion put in his thoughts as he stepped into the kitchen to join them. He had acquired a pair of khaki trousers and a white button down shirt but he still had the same secure posture and indifferent expression as before. "I think you have sustained more injuries in the past two days than I have seen on you over at least weeks. Perhaps this move was a bad idea..." he teased gently, his tone tipping toward agreement with Nathan as he stepped over to the cabinets and took down plates and utensils to set the table for three.

"I'm sure she'll be fine if strap pillows on every wall and article of furniture. Or just cover her in bubble wrap," Nathan remarked as he chopped the last of the ingredients he as charged with, "Miss Cornary, what else would you like me to do?"

Emily looked up at Sabastion as he came back into the room and graced him with another, pretty and wistful smile. She laughed at both the men's comments about her, though her cheeks darkened. When Nathan asked what else he could do, she motioned to the fridge. "There's some frozen garlic bread in the freezer... To ahead and pull it out so we can pop it in the oven." she requested politely. She went back to letting the noodles boil, then began to mix up the sauce with the vegetables Nathan had chopped in a sauce pan.

"Were it up to me, she would lay among soft pillows all day," Sabastion commented mildly, no hint of his underlying implication in his tone, but he was fairly certain Emily could decipher it. He set plates and utensils in front of three of the chairs. "That seems like a much more reasonable course of action to ensure her safety."

"A bed-bound medical student..." Nathan mused as he pulled out the garlic bread, "I suppose that might work...there are some doctors that work without interacting with their patients, yes? Through paperwork and x-rays...specialized fields. Would you find it satisfactory, Miss Cornary?"

Sabastion's implication was not lost on Emily, despite the lack of tone in his voice. She was staring at him, blue eyes wide and cheeks rosy pink as Nathan and Sabastian seemed to discuss her spending a lot of time on her back. She coughed and said to Nathan, "o-oh, no... A big part of why I enjoy my job so much is the interaction I have with my patients." she said and gave Sabastion a look that was fiery in a subtle way--full of playful lust. She shook her head at him and rolled her eyes a little. The sauce in the pan began to bubble and spit, and she instinctively stepped back from it, the cautionary part of her brain warning her of the risk of acquiring more burns.

"Pity. I will just have to double my efforts to keep you safe at the hospital then," Sabastion commented calmly as he took one of the seats and calmly watched the two move about his kitchen. Emily's motion made him frown. "There is an apron in the pantry." He pointed to a narrow slatted door in the kitchen wall. Inside was dry goods in a space not even large enough to stand in, but the inside of the door hung his grandmother's floral apron with antique lace on the edges. Her mother had actually made it for her as a wedding gift. He didn't think it would protect her arms but he wasn't sure what to do about that.

"There's security people at the hospital, right? Find someone tall enough to reach on high shelves for her and pay them extra to play bodyguard," Nathan shrugged as he took the initiative in turning on the oven and arranging the bread on a pan. "Or you could find chainmail shirts and gloves...but the bodyguard might be cheaper." Finally he sighed as he put the bread in the oven: "Somehow my mind keeps going back to bubblewrap..."

Emily thanked Sabastion for suggesting the apron and after another brief stir of the sauce to keep it from burning, she moved to the pantry to find it. It was floral and lacy, and not at all like anything Emily would normally wear, but she put it on and tied it around her waist. Better to be safe. She smiled at Sabastion again prettily and as she went back to stirring the sauce and noodles, she asked, "so, Nathan, what is new with you? Anything exciting?" She motioned to the bruise on his face with a waggle of a saucey spoon and added, "because it sure seems like exciting times."

"Oh..." Nathan let out a deep, world-weary sigh. "Another client is taking in tenants. Half the town, it seems, actually. I'd be more worried about her than I am about you, but she's old friends with two of them and the niece of another. They'll at least keep an eye on each other, I think." Here he glanced over his shoulder at Sabastion, as though gauging the man's reaction before continuing to address Emily: "Also, Cash broke into my house, again. Stole the brandied cherries I was making for his parents' anniversary. Weeks of work down the drain, and I don't have time to redo it all! Bastard still hasn't called me back, so I doubt he even knows what they were for..."

Emily paused in her attention of the sauce and turned to look at Nathan with a skeptical expression. "Call me crazy, Nathan, but friends don't break into each other's houses and steal things from one another. Is he the one who gave you the shiner, too?" she asked, raising her brows.

"Now, don't go putting words in my mouth, Miss Cornary. Cash is not my friend. His brother is. Besides, it's not like Cash jimmied the lock, he just knows where I keep the spare...A terrible error on my part, clearly. And, no, one of my client's new renters did that," Nathan admitted as he leaned against the counter. "Apparently he was having a bad day and my asking questions only made it worse. All he needed to do was confirm who he was and that Miss Sachiel knew he was there, though."

Emily stirred the sauce on a continuous but leisurely loop as she listened to Nathan explain. She still glowered at him though and shook her head. "That's terrible. You should report them both." she said, pointing at him with the spoon again and then glanced at Sabastion. "This is a great insight into what Cash is really like for you. He puts my things out on the curb while I'm out at work and breaks into acquaintances' houses." She scoffed a little through her nose and shook her head again. She checked the noodles, pulled one out and blew on it before biting into it to test its done-ness, and then drained the noodles into a strainer in the sink. She added the sauce to the noodles in the same big pot and stirred it slowly. The smell of hot, red sauce pasta permeated the house, coupled with the garlic bread in the oven. She bent over and opened the oven to check the bread and hummed.

"It's not breaking and entering if you use a key," Sabastion pointed out as he relaxed back in the chair he'd taken. "And at least moving your things was easier as they were all packed. Would you have preferred he did not do as he did? You would probably just be finishing packing. The last two days would not have happened."

She straightened up and contemplated that thought briefly before turning back to Sabastion and adding bashfully, "Well, in that case then, I should probably thank Cash." She smirked at him and then cleared her throat and looked at Nathan. "So, uhm... anything else interesting we should know about?" she asked conversationally, not wanting to linger on her innuendo. She used oven mitts to pull the tray of garlic bread out of the oven and place it on the other half of the stove top.

"There, see, now you're thinking like Cash does, and that's a scary place for any man to be, because it starts making sense." Nathan informed Sabastion with a shudder before turning back to Emily. "Now that you mention it, Miss Cornary, I feel I've been giving the man who punched me too little credit in this conversation and I must clarify: His moodiness was largely due to his house burning down just minutes before."

"Luke Michaels struck you? I would have guessed it would take more than his house burning to provoke him. He's so mild mannered... You should really let me have a look at that by the way." Sabastion motioned for him to come over and take the seat next to him.

Emily was a bit surprised that Sabastion would know who Nathan was talking about, but she stubbornly shook her head at Nathan. "Be that as it may, he shouldn't go around punching people who are just trying to help. It doesn't solve anything--it doesn't rebuild his house." she insisted as she started dishing out plates of pasta and garlic bread and sat them on the table, the first in front of Nathan because he was the guest, the next in front of Sabastion. She took her own plate to her seat and sat down carefully with a small wince. Her lower back already hurt.

"I was trying to help Miss Sachiel, not him. I thought he might be a burglar," Nathan admitted as he went to sit next to Sabastion, "if someone else hadn't called right then and vouched for him, I would've hit him back. And as Miss Kathryn pointed out, I was being very rude." He smiled calmly when the food was placed: "Thank you very much, Miss Cornary. It looks delicious."

"Miss Kathryn? Do you mean Haidee or her mother?" Sabastion asked conversationally as he had Nathan look straight at him then held up a finger, having him follow it side to side, up and down. That seemed fine. With delicate fingers he gently probed the bruise forming, not to hurt him but to find the extent of the damage. "Nothing shifting, no underlying damage it seems." His lips quirked up and he removed his hands. "Good news, Mr. Kerr. You were lucky, it is only a bruise. Albeit a very severe one, but it will heal on its own. Another inch to the side this might be a different story. Your nose would have broken instantly." He turned to the plate Emily had left for him, giving her a soft thanks before carefully twirling the pasta on his fork.

Emily responded to the men's thanks for the meal with a subdued, "You're welcome," and a smile as she watched them take the first bites. She didn't bite into her food until they had. She chewed slowly and looked at Sabastion, inspecting him mindfully. It seemed he knew quite a few people around town. She supposed that wasn't completely out of the question; he was a fantastic doctor who had worked at the hospital for years. The same could be said for her, but she knew that she didn't remember nearly as many patient names off the top of her head. Medical facts, sure... but names and faces? She would probably better recognize people based on their scars or injuries.

"Haidee Kathryn," Nathan confirmed before allowing Sabastion to examine his bruise, not looking surprised at all at his conclusion: "Yeah, I know what that feels like." He shrugged before finally taking a bite of chicken. "So, I assume you two met through work?"

Saucy pasta was still dangling out of Emily's mouth when Nathan asked her that. She bit into her forkful, politely shielded her mouth with her hand while she chewed, then cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes," she said as she swallowed, "we've been working together for the last two years." she explained with a smile. "It was just a stroke of good fortune that Sabastion was looking for a roommate right when I needed one."

"And you two started a personal, less-than-platonic relationship when...?" Nathan raised an eyebrow before taking another bite.

Emily's cheeks flushed pink and she glanced at Sabastion bashfully before saying to Nathan, "pretty much right away... I've always had a huge crush on doctor Panas, and... Those feelings were made known after I moved in." She tried to smile It off, but Nathan's probing questions were starting to make her fidget. She stuffed more pasta in her mouth to afford herself a moment of silence to recuperate.

"The attraction was mutual," Sabastion explained while letting Emily eat and recuperate. "I've always thought of Emily as a brilliant young woman, I was flattered, after I heard that she was looking for a new place and I offered to allow her to live here, to find out she was interested in me romantically. I have done my best these past couple of days to see to it she is happy. It has been.. an adjustment, however." His lips quirked up at Emily though, letting her know despite the frustrations he hadn't lost patience yet, then took another well curled bite of pasta.

Nathan set down his fork and adjusted his glasses before turning to Emily with a serious expression: "Who initiated?"

Emily almost choked on her pasta this time. She covered her mouth less gracefully and grabbed a napkin, needing a few moments to cough and wipe her mouth. "W-what kind of question is that?" she asked Nathan, blinking at him. "It was mutual, I think... But what does it matter?" she asked, shaking her head. "Nathan, please, I promise you everything is fine."

"I feel that my question is valid. And if I explain my reasoning at this time, I would never know if your answer was compromised by what you thought I wanted to hear. Er. Want." Nathan gave a half-shrug before continuing his blank, serious look.

"It's better not to ask questions you yourself wouldn't want to answer," Sabastion cautioned Nathan, though he was giving Emily glances to make sure her coughing settled before he went on. "Our attraction is mutual, I assure you, and through the biological understanding of body language, we noticed each others' reactions to one another, asking and giving permission along the way, and confirming those assumptions with verbal confirmation, often." He turned back to his pasta, carefully twirling another forkful with a spoon as a guard and guide. "I was reluctant but Emily is... persistent, and persuasive, by her very nature. I have no regrets and I hope she does not either." He raised his eyes, seeking affirmation.

Emily still had her napkin in front of her mouth, pinned by both hands and not so much to cover her coughing as to hide her red face. Her pale blue orbs met Sabastion's across the table and the smile under her napkin reached them. She shook her head and as she lowered her napkin again she said, "No regrets here, either." She looked at Nathan then and insisted, "So why all the questioning?"

Nathan watched Sabastion carefully before nodding and turning towards Emily: "Just trying to determine--as much as I can in a first meeting--how healthy this situation is. As I told you before, Miss Cornary, I know nothing about Mr. Panas and I'm not quite convinced that this will end well. But...he's been reasonable enough so far, from what I can see. Of course I'll do anything I can to help if that ever changes." With that, Nathan continued eating as though his impromptu interrogation never happened.

Sabastion was really appreciating Nathan's effective way of speaking like he wasn't there. "'Mr. Panas'," he repeated thoughtfully. Nathan had called him that more than once. He looked at Emily with his eyebrows raised just slightly. "That's a form of address I've not heard in a while. Mr. Kerr, why are you a realtor?" he continued conversationally as he gathered pasta from his dwindling serving. "You seem more suited to social work."

Nathan opted to ignore Sabastion's first comment in favor of answering the second one: "I don't see much difference, Mr. Panas. A home ought to be a sanctuary. A place of rest where every resident has the right to feel safe, healthy and happy."

Emily's eyes flicked between them both and her lips pulled thinly at the corners in something other than a smile. "Please, Nathan, you can rest assured that I am safe, healthy, and happy in this house with doctor Panas. Far more so than I was when I was living with Cash, and certainly far more so than if I was living alone. So.. Can we please stop with the awkward interrogation and have a pleasantly bland small talk instead?"

"I've asked all of my questions for today," Nathan raised his hands in surrender.

"For today," Sabastion repeated again and looked at Emily with that same upward quirk of his lips. "It looks like we get to look forward to another visit then," he said, directed more at her than at Nathan, but he clearly wasn't being annoyed by the situation. He did feel somewhat bad she was annoyed though. He picked up his finished dishes and took them to the sink to wash. "Mr. Kerr, what is it that you brought with you?" he asked, indicating the container he had brought in on his arrival.

Nathan could not help but smile faintly at Sabastion's observation, a little relieved that he seemed so accepting of the realtor keeping tabs on his clients. His smile only widened proudly at the mention of the dessert he brought: "Glazed ginger apple upside-down cake. I got the recipe from a friend of mine a few weeks ago and have been meaning to try it. I hope you two don't mind being my guinea pigs for this?"

Emily was grateful for the transition in conversation. She let out a breath, finished her own pasta and garlic bread and said, "not at all, Nathan, we would be happy to." Her smile had recovered and she stood to take her plates to the sink. "I'll get us a knife and plates. Sabastion, so we have any dessert wine or anything to have with it?"

Sabastion thanked her for the dishes and set about washing them as well as he thought. "If I have wine it's on the small rack on the bottom of the pantry," he said, though he honestly wasn't sure. He couldn't remember the last time he had drank. He really needed to stop becoming a recluse, he had had friends in college. "I should also have coffee or milk."

Nathan stood with his own plates and brought them to the sink before picking up a kitchen towel and drying what Sabastion had already washed.

Emily moved to the aforementioned cabinet and started to peer inside for any wine. She managed to find a bottle, checked the label, then held it up with a jiggle at Nathan. "Would you like some?" she asked, brushing a layer of dust off the bottle. She stood and took it to the counter to start searching for stemware.

"Only if I'm not the only one drinking," Nathan responded.

"Three glasses then, please Emily," Sabastion instructed, indicating the cabinet where she could find the glasses she was looking for. He finished the last dish and dried his hands on a different towel before opening a drawer. He gave Nathan a knife (carefully) and a spatula for his dish, and a cork screw for Emily.

After gathering the wine glasses and the cork screw, Emily worked on uncorking the wine bottle. She tried to do so with slow caution, so as not to risk hurting herself or either of the men beside her, and with a clear prepatory wince she released the cork from the bottle with a loud pop. She deflated in relief and poured out the three glasses, then carried them carefully to the table. "There we are..." she said and took a sip of her own. "Mm, that's actually pretty good!"

After thanking Sabastion for the knife and spatula, Nathan chuckled a little at Emily's caution--although very happy that she did not manage to give herself a new bruise or scrape in his presence--as he uncovered and began to slice the cake.

"Little daredevil," Sabastion muttered in Emily's ear in a tone that was part compliment, part tease, as he leaned past her at the table to take one of the glasses. He realized belatedly what Nathan would need and strode quickly to a cabinet to retrieve new forks and three tea saucers, setting them next to the container Nathan was working on and assessed the cake while taking a sip of his wine. "Your friend that gave you the recipe, did they mention why ginger apple and not the traditional pineapple?" he asked conversationally.

"Thank you," Nathan nodded to Sabastion as he started to serve up the cake: "Actually, the cake itself is a spiced ginger cake, and we both agree that it should taste better with apples than pineapples."

"I concur," Emily said, waving her glass at Nathan a little with a nod. "I am not a huge fan of pineapples." She shrugged and sipped her glass again, but her blue eyes danced on Sabastion's face. A chill had run up her spine when he'd whispered in her ear, and she still wasn't sure the goose bumps had left her arms. She sipped her wine slowly and licked her lips.

Sabastion hummed thoughtfully and accepted two slices, carrying them over to Emily. "It's almost like apple pie cake then," he said curiously and handed Emily hers before delicately separating a small bite of his own, offering her the loaded fork. "I bet it's delicious with vanilla ice cream as a whip cream substitute."

"My thoughts exactly...but my freezer was looted along with my windowsill and there wasn't time to stop by the store on the way here," Nathan remarked dryly before taking a sip of wine.

Emily eyed the bite Sabastion offered her for a moment, a blush warming her cheeks. She smiled at him and slowly closed her lips around the proffered treat and the tines of the fork before pulling back and chewing slowly. "Mmm, that is really good, Nathan. Even without ice cream." she smiled at him. She licked her lips again and gave Sabastion a wink.

Sabastion blinked at her, only the fractional pause giving away his reaction before he was looking at Nathan again. "Well, we would be happy to have you for dinner again. There will be other opportunities when your kitchen has not been raided."

"I would hope so..." Nathan muttered to the piece of cake on his fork before shoving it into his mouth: "Thank you for the offer, Mr. Panas, but if we ever dine again, I believe it is my turn to supply the entre and venue next. Although, I'll admit, your house is certainly more impressive. A family home, I presume?"

"My grandmother's," the doctor confirmed with a little nod. "Her grandfather actually built it. When he intended to propose to my great-grandmother he wanted to make sure he could offer her a home, a life much better than they came from. Every generation of my family that has come after has aspired to be, or have, such honorable men as well."

Emily's eyes were still lingering on Sebastian as she finished the bite of cake he'd given her. Absently, she commented, "I would say they have all succeeded." She blushed and smiled at Sebastian and then moved to sit at the table, sipping at her wine and starting to munch at her own cake with a hum of appreciation.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at Sabastion's story, then the other one matched it at Emily's response. Even with the blush, she seems bolder with the doctor than Nathan ever thought he would see. "So...he waited until after it was built to propose? Or just to finally have the ceremony?"

"The former," Sabastion clarified and set his own plate of cake on the table, careful to keep the fork laying on top from rattling so the movement was mostly silent. "You seem to care very much about family and homes, Nathan. Do you have a family of your own?"

Nathan nodded in approval at the answer before taking another bite. He took a moment to chew on the cake and his answer before finally responding to Sabastion's question: "...Yes...but not my relatives."

True to form, the doctor understood in half a breath and nodded his head, accepting the meaning silently. Out of habit he glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned slightly, noticing it had actually gotten rather late. "Unfortunately, as pleasant as this visit has become, I'm afraid we'll need to call it a night," he said, looking at Nathan again. "I'd love to do this again sometime, however. Perhaps a bit earlier, so we can talk a bit longer?"

"Actually, if you two have the time tomorrow, a friend of mine is having a party. Mostly clients and colleagues, but his guest list tends to expand via word-of-mouth," Nathan offered.

Emily perked up at this. She had mostly just been sitting, listening in on their conversation without speaking into it and just eating her cake, but the mention of a party interested her. She looked at Nathan with raised brows. "A party? What time? Where?" she asked. "Whose party is it?"

Sabastion's lips raised in the all too familiar doting quirk at Emily's sudden interest. Not quite a smile, it always hovered between affection and amusement heavily tempered by patience. "We accept your kind invitation," he agreed a bit more formally when his eyes had returned to Nathan a moment later. When was the last time he had been to a party? He supposed if he didn't count birthday dinners, it had probably been years. He certainly hoped this wouldn't be like some of the louder ones he'd attended in college, however. He wasn't sure his liver could keep attending with him.

"Risk Delorme's," Nathan answered before supplying the place and time as he set down the now-empty plate. Then a thought crossed his mind: "...It's...on a yacht, but don't worry about dressing any fancier than to, say, a house-warming party. Risk's a show-off, but he's casual enough outside of business."

"Its on a yacht?!" Emily echoed in absolute awed surprise. She blinked, then smiled widely and looked at Sebastian. "We're definitely going, right?" she asked hopefully, sitting up in her seat. She had never been on a yacht before.

"If you don't have to work then yes, we will go," Sabastion replied calmly with a nod before standing. "We will see you tomorrow then, Nathan. Thank you for coming, you are welcome any time. Would you like to take the rest of the cake with you? We could return your dishware the next time we have dinner together if you prefer."

"Glad to hear it," Nathan smiled, chuckling under his breath at Emily's excitement. "No, no, I brought the cake for you two. Yes, I'd appreciate that."

Emily rose from the table with Nathan as they finished their cake, waited for him to shake Sebastian's hand and say goodnight, and walked with him to the door to show him out. "Thank you so much for stopping by and checking on me, Nathan. It wasn't necessary, but I appreciate it all the same." she giggled lightly. "And thank you for the cake! It was delicious. We'll see you tomorrow at the party." She couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as she said the last part. She kissed his cheek and bid him good night, waiting until he was in his car before she closed the door and turned off the porch light. She returned to Sebastian in the kitchen and smiled as she looped her arms around his middle from behind. "I believe you and I were in the middle of something..." she purred.

"And that is why you are still a student," Sebastion replied as he turned to face her, carefully breaking her hold. "Still learning, and I'm still teaching-" His lips turned up at the corners again, almost imperceptibly. "We were not in the middle, we had barely begun." And in one smooth motion his hands found the backs of her legs, lifting them around his waist as his lips met hers and he carried her back to her new bedroom, intent this time on not coming out until morning.


BotO Athens Harbor
Blood of the Olympians