Sebastian Smythe.
Twenty four years young.
Twenty four years young.
“Something stupid like Cherry. ‘Cause I’m uncreative like that.” Is Charlie’s response. “Yours would be something like…Well. I don’t know. You strike me more as a high class escort than a prostitute. You’d be…Ace or something.” Sebastian’s not shy about his past, even his aspirations as a sex worker, and Charlie likes that. She understands that people make mistakes, or do stupid things, but those things make you who you are. And if you’re ever going to be happy with the person you are, you have to own up to those little bits and pieces and building blocks. Even if you don’t go around telling your life story in normal conversation, it all has to be something you’re eventually willing to cop to. Charlie wouldn’t drop her father’s verbal abuse on Sebastian right now, but if anyone ever asked, she wouldn’t hesitate to tell the story. It might make her cry a little, but it made her stronger and so she refuses to be ashamed. So maybe wanting to be a sex worker isn’t a…strengthening experience, but it’s nice to meet someone who isn’t afraid to own up to the seedy parts of their past.
“Sebastian has to help. And by help, I don’t mean sit next to me and eat all of the blueberries.” She sets the coffee maker on and while it does it’s thing, she starts moving around the kitchen. It’s dorky, like the living room, but every piece of equipment is as state of the art as she can afford. It’s well organized and the fridge and cabinets are well stocked with different foods and ingredients. Besides comics and video games, cooking is one of Charlie’s favorite past times, so she takes pride in her products and the things she uses to make them. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you ruin them, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” She raises an eyebrow at him, though her smile is still ever present as she returns to the coffee maker. One coffee, black, for Sebastian. Sitting his in front of him, she sets about making her own. Sugar, milk…and just a squirt of chocolate syrup. She’s sipping it as she grabs the measuring cups, sitting them on the counter and opening the bag of flour.
“Cherry? Cherry’s are delicious. Right up there with blueberries, actually.” Any and every fruit if Sebastian had to be honest. He’d grown up to love fruit and hate vegetables. He was such a fussy eater. He felt more sorry for Rory than his mom. Sebastian’s mother had gained at least twenty years knowledge, whereas Rory had only had to deal with Sebastian’s fussy attitude towards food for all of a few years. Not to mention his metabolism. He had a metabolism of the speed of light. Pizza after pizza, he still kept his figure. He had to eat his way through a thousand pizza’s before he gained any weight at all. He liked it that way. He always had done, and refused to change his ways. He didn’t see how it was affecting anyone around him. Even if it was, it only told him to extract those people from his life. “Ace. Ace. You’re good at this, Cherry. Better than I.” He shook his head at himself— at them. What a conversation to have had. It was true Sebastian was far from ashamed of his past. He was a strong believer of “everything happens for a reason”. He didn’t choose his path in life. Life chose it’s path for him. Sometimes it just so happened to be a different one to others his age, leading him into trouble. A lot of trouble. He was honest. About one of the only positives about him was his honesty. If someone asked about his past, he was blunt about it. He regretted nothing. If he had to pick one regret, it would have been a person, not a life choice.
“Done and done.” She knew exactly how lazy she had to allow him to be to make him happy. Indulging in the blueberries sounded like a fair plan. Fair in his eyes, not anyone else’s. He took the mug in his one hand before even thinking to thank her. “— Thank you.” He remembered. Manners. Oh so many manners. He couldn’t wait for the coffee to lose it’s heat. He finished it off quicker than most. He’d had a lot of practice, it was fair to say. Coffee was his muse. It was his music. His comic books. His baking. Apart from his dogs, all Sebastian would have done all day would have been drink mug after mug of coffee until he’d put himself into a trance of no sleep. Those trances were the perfect dog walking stages. He could leave early in the morning when not many people were walking their dogs. Princess got a little too playful. He needed a quiet area for his dogs only. He hated interactions at thebest of times. “You better not. I am starving.” He eyed her with a serious look to see if she took it as serious as it looked. He was hungry, but he exaggerated on the starving. He wouldn’t have cared too much if the muffins were ruined. She’d tried. No one was perfect.
There’s not a lot that Charlie really finds rude. Her Grandmother used to call her Duck, because nothing ever bothered her. Like water off of a duck’s back. It’s translated into people thinking she’s a doormat, which does bother her and she doesn’t hesitate to correct them, but otherwise, she doesn’t let things get to her. It’s less not having a backbone, and more believing that there’s just not enough time for it. There’s not enough time to be stressed or angry or have your feelings hurt for really no reason at all. She doesn’t know why she’d waste time being upset that some asshole said something mean that really has no bearing on her life at all, when she could put on some music and make cookies. Or go for a run or video chat with her best friend and her kids. So Sebastian’s safe with her. Even when he voices his dislike for her sister, it’s less of a point of tension for them and more of a “You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to mine, let’s move on” sort of thing.
She shrugs. “You can never tell with a former aspiring prostitute.” Charlie teases, though she’s sure Sebastian doesn’t miss the way her smile widens just a bit at the Joker quote. “I don’t have any muffins, sadly. But I’ll put on some coffee.” Turning, she bounces up the stairs and into the kitchen. “I do have some spinach basil pesto on angel hair in here I could warm up…” She rounds a corner, but only for a second, sticking her head back out and grinning. “Or we could make muffins.” After dropping the suggestion, she’s gone again, starting on some coffee for Sebastian. No milk, no sugar. That’s simple enough, she can remember that.
Sebastian did indeed catch her smile. She liked the quote. He was’t a complete buzz kill when it came to making conversation. Conversation’s were far from his strong point. He was a brilliant arguer— He swore to have won every argument he’d been a part of. Small talk, or civil conversation’s were a lot harder to keep up for him. They either started off well, and ended terribly, or started off terribly and ended the same. Charlie’s attitude made it a little easier for Sebastian to get used to the fact he was in a lady’s house. He had to kind. Not all around kind, but kind enough. Respectful was the right word. “I wonder what my name would have been—” He actually stopped to think. He allowed his mind to wander far too often. Thinking about his prostitute name amused him. “Or yours? What would yours be?” He thought about her’s in a little more detail. “Charlie— Charlie … ?” He hoped she had something. “Fuck it.” He dismissed the name. “Just Charlie.” Charlie was fine as a name.
“Make muffins?” God. Sebastian’s drive for perfection could never deal with his excuse for cooking. Baking was a whole new level. “You can. Charlie can. Sebastian can’t. Sebastian’ll watch. And annoy, because that’s what he’s good at.” It sounded like a reasonable plan to him. “Spinach, what? I have no idea what you just said.” He really didn’t. He narrowed his eyes as he always did when he found himself confused. He hated feeling confused. He liked to be on top of everything. “I’ll stick with the muffins and coffee, doll.” He felt bad for not knowing her coffee order. Did she even drink coffee? She looked like a girl who drank coffee, but then again, what did Sebastian really know about her? It was easy for him to have sat and guessed, but being wrong was something he didn’t handle too well. Perhaps he should have learned before jumping to conclusions. He followed the blonde into her kitchen, eyeing the walls. She really did have taste. As expected, the dork owned the dorkiest things.
Yep. Charlie still has no idea what’s going on. But Sebastian…he’s amusing. And even if her sister doesn’t like him, Charlie does. Even when he’s being a snarky asshole, it mostly just makes Charlie giggle and she doesn’t really know if that means she’s just entirely too tolerant of people, or something else. Tying the drawstring on her shorts closed, Charlie jumps down the two stairs separating her living room from the rest of her apartment and makes her way over to the front door. Opening it up, she smiles at Sebastian…with his hand halfway through his hair. “Mr. Smythe. How nice to see you.” Stepping back, she gestures for him to enter the apartment. It smells of vanilla cupcakes, thanks to Charlie’s recent shower, but for how similar she and Quinn’s apartments may be in layout, in design, they’re totally different.
Quinn’s is elegant. Refined. Almost like a designer got ahold of it. Charlie’s is…more like Charlie exploded all over the place. There’s a different game system in each pocket of the entertainment system housing her flat screen. There’s a bookshelf full of DVDs beside it, full to bursting and the bookshelf on the other side is mismatched to say the least. Cookbooks, J.K. Rowling, Dan Brown, Tony Kushner, Toni Morrison. A Fight Club poster on one side of the room and a Dali replica on the other. The place could’ve been decorated by 3 different people but…it works together. Maybe only for people who know Charlie, but it does. “So.” Shutting the door behind Sebastian, she smirks a little. “How would you like to do this? Should I wine and dine you first or am I just going straight for the dollar bills?”
Sebastian had already made himself comfy in her doorway before she gestured for him to enter. He might have not walked straight in, but it was cold. He made selfish decisions as small as being rude and walking inside a door before being asked. To him, they were nothing. To a lot of other people, they saw it as being disrespectful. He only hoped Charlie wasn’t one of those people. She seemed laid back enough. She owned a comic book store. Not many girls were brave enough to admit their love for comics. Charlie was the first girl Sebastian had actually met that admitted to her obsession with superheroes. Like anyone, at first, he thought it was bizarre. He’d been under the impression all girls were the same for too long. “And you, Miss. Fabray.” He’d always mentally cringed at the name “Fabray”. He felt like he was talking to Quinn. The only way he reminded himself he was with Charlie, and not Quinn was their eyes— As awkward as finding someone’s eye’s was, it was the only way he could tell the difference. They had a different voice, but no one would have been able to tell that from a distance.
He sure found himself surprised when she mentioned what he was there for. She was serious about it. That surprised him the most. Charlie Fabray was serious. “You’re serious? Hah, no. Why so serious?” He couldn’t help himself. Charlie was a comic book dork, and Sebastian was madly in love with Batman. He never refrained. If he found something amusing in his head, he didn’t stop to speak it. “Wine, and more than likely blueberry muffins, or a traditional money grabbing strip— You should never give a Smythe options.” He made his decision almost as soon as she suggested the two. He kept her waiting in the dark, not that it was that much of a suspense. “A man can’t dance on an empty stomach. No wine, mind you— I don’t drink.” That was partly true. He drank on occasions. He hardly drank around people. He saved the alcohol for quiet nights in. With no one to push over the edge, he only found entertainment in the liquid while alone. “A coffee? No milk, no sugar.” The first step of getting to know a Smythe in general was knowing their coffee order. Charlie had a lot to learn.
You don’t think your wife would be part of that life you’re ‘living’?
I just thought we were friends, is all.
She’d get in the way. It wouldn’t be a life any more. You’ll learn that soon enough.
I don’t have friends. I have a friend— Two, actually. Rory and Harmony. You’re just a distraction.
You always have something important. It’s getting a little repetitive, don’t you think?
I don’t have a wife. Instead, I have a life, and I intend on living it.
Do you expect you to be one of my priorities?
I’m not going to answer that.
I really don’t think you do. If you did, you would’ve come to my wedding. Instead you disappeared.
Clearly.
I had stuff, believe it or not. Important stuff. More important than a piece of paper you’re inclined to keep safe for the rest of your life.
It’s not like you care.
How was the after party sex? As good as me? Silly question: obviously not.
I care if you’re happy. Not necessarily about the wedding.
Ask Away!
1: Let’s start with a tricky one; what is the real reason you are confused right now?
2: Do you ever get “good morning” texts from anyone?
3: If your significant other smoked pot, would you care?
4: Do you find it easy to trust others?
5: What were you doing at 11PM last night?
6: You’re drunk and lost walking down the road; who is with you?
7: What would you do if you found out you had been cheated on?
8: Are you close with your dad?
9: I bet you kissed someone last night, right?
10: What are you listening to?
11: You can only drink ONE liquid for the rest of your life - what is it?
12. Do you like hickeys?
13: What time do you go to bed?
14: Is there someone who continuously lets you down?
15: Can you text as quickly with one hand as you do both?
16: Do you always answer your texts?
17: Do you hate the person you fell the hardest for?
18: When was the last time you talked to one of your best friends?
19: Is there someone that makes you happy every time you see them?
20: What was your last thought before you went to bed last night?
21: Is anyone else in the room with you?
22: Do you believe what goes around comes around?
23: Were you happier four months ago than you are now?
24: Is there someone you wish you could fix things with?
25: In the past week, have you cried?
26: What colour is the shirt you are wearing?
27: Do people ever call you by your last name?
28: Is anyone ignoring you right now?
29: Do you have a best friend?
30: Would it be hard seeing someone else kiss the last person you kissed?
31: Who was your last call from?
32: Are you mad at anyone?
33: Have you ever kissed someone older than you?
34: How old will the last person you kissed be on his/her next birthday?
35: How many more days until your birthday?
36: Do you have any summer plans yet?
37: Do you have any good friends of the opposite sex?
38: Are you keeping anything from your best friend(s) now?
39: Do you have a secret that you’ve never told anyone?
40: Have you ever regretted kissing someone?
41: Do you think age matters in relationships?
42: Are you available?
43: How many people have you had real, strong feelings for since high school ended?
44: If you had to get a piercing (not ears), what would you get?
45: Do you believe exes can be friends?
46: Do you regret anything?
47: Honestly, what’s on your mind right now?
48: Did you ever lose a best friend?
49: Was your last kiss a mistake?
50: Why aren’t you pursuing the person you like?
51: Has the last person you kissed ever seen you cry?
52: Do you still talk with the person you LAST kissed?
53: What was the last thing you ate?
54: Did you get any compliments today?
55: Where are you going on your next vacation?
56: Do you own anything from other countries?
57: Are most of your friend guys or girls?
58: Where have you lived most of your life?
59: When was the last time you took a long drive?
60: Have you ever played Spin the Bottle?
61: Have you ever TPd someone’s house?
62: Who do you text the most?
63: What was the last movie you saw?
64: What’s preventing your current boyfriend/girlfriend from going back to their ex?
65: How many boyfriends/girlfriends did you have in 2010?
66: Is the last person you kissed younger than you?
67: Do you curse around your parents?
68: Are you happy with where you live?
69: Do you collect anything?
70: What’s your favourite colour?
71: Does the last song you listened to remind you of anyone?
72: Has anyone ever cheated on you?
73: What are your plans for tomorrow?
74: Do you have siblings over the age of twenty-one?
75: Does your last ex have a job?
76: What would you do if you found out your most recent ex was in a relationship?
77: Where is your cellphone?
78: What colour is your cellphone?
79: What did you dream of last night?
80: Are you atheist?
81: Will you change your name when you get married?
82: Are you ready for autumn weather?
83: Have you had any big storms recently?
84: What kind of bottoms are you wearing?
What the fuck. What. The. Fuck. Charlie has absolutely no idea what her life is, at this point. Wasn’t she just depression baking at 11:30 at night like 2 days ago? And now…what? She’s going home to await a strip tease from Sebastian Smythe? Who…may or may not have some sort of weird history with her brother in law and certainly isn’t a friend or fan of her sister’s. Of course, she’s lived without these people for the past almost 15 years, so it’s not as if she’s suddenly going to start planning her life around them, but still. And where did the offer for a strip tease even come from? Okay, Charlie’s not at all opposed, but she’d been thinking one of those free ballroom dance classes, or a club or something, since Sebastian hadn’t shown at the wedding. She’d be a liar if she said she wasn’t planning to bribe him with muffins if she had to to get at least one dance out of him while they were in Florida (dude needs to smile a little, jeez). She’s still trying to decide if this is a better alternative.
Her cab smells like cigarette smoke, and she’s only 2 minutes away when she sends Sebastian her address. So she figures, in the 15 minutes it’ll take him to get to her place from
hisRory’s, she can manage a shower so she doesn’t smell terrible when he gets there. Thankfully, she cleaned last night, so she’s not inviting him into a pig sty either. She’s just tugging her t-shirt (Dear NASA, I was big enough for your Mom. Love, Pluto) over her head after she’s blowdried her hair when there’s a knock at the door.
Sebastian only agreed to things whenever he was in the weird mood he often found himself in. His mood hadn’t changed for a while. He felt himself getting older, and losing interest in things he used to find thrilling. He couldn’t joke with anyone. The friends he had, the minimal closest ones, like Rory— They were too introverted for him. He needed at least someone extroverted in his life. He had no idea if Charlie was that, but he knew she was different. He gave her a chance. Everyone deserved a chance, even if it was just the one. He had no reason not to give her his grace. From what he could tell, she was nothing like Quinn. He hated Quinn’s guts. Everyone put it down to jealousy, but even before Blaine, Quinn was far from his favourite person. She made his blood curdle. She was far too much like himself. A female version of himself was not what the world needed, let alone New York. He pretended as if he missed Quinn and Blaine’s wedding by a simple misjudgement of time, but he hated to lie to himself. Around Quinn, and around Quinn only, he acted civil. Everywhere else - To anyone else, he let slip his real attitude on their relationship. He viewed it as fake love. He didn’t believe in love at the best of times, but what Quinn and Blaine had, he turned his nose up at.
Sebastian needed something new. He needed something to take his mind off of future; the future everyone so wanted to figure out for him. Only Sebastian could figure out his future. He needed help, guidance, support. He found the blonde’s apartment fine. He expected what he saw. She was a Fabray, after all. Despite only being a fraternal twin, the two had their similarities. They weren’t quite matching apartments, but close enough. He didn’t hesitate to knock. If it had been Quinn, he would have just walked inside. He was just as sly as his mother. Being Charlie, he wanted to act a little more chivalry. She hadn’t wronged him just yet. She still had yet to wrong him. If his past experiences were anything to go by, it wouldn’t have been too long before she did. He ran a smooth hand through his hair. She’d commented on his hair once before, saying how she preferred it. He was one to impress. He listened to her words and acted upon them.
Wouldn’t dream of missing the show.
Smart girl.
