“Magic is fucking wild sometimes,” Briar said.
Kieran snorted a laugh.“Took the words right out of my mouth.”
“I can imagine that was a lot to deal with,” Delilah guessed.When Kieran widened his eyes and started nodding vigorously, Delilah asked, “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Not really,” Kieran admitted.“I’m just…exhausted.Still need time to process, I think.”
“You can say that again.”Delilah glanced around the room.“This whole day was a lot for all of us.I, for one, think we deserve a chance to relax.”
“Did you have something in mind?”Briar asked.
“Maybe if we ask nicely, Santiago would let us raid his liquor cabinet.We could have a little party.”Delilah’s eyes moved to Sebastian.“After all, I think I speak for everyone when I say you’re a member of the crew now, Sebastian.And it might be nice to get to know each other better without blood or swords involved.”
Sebastian’s face brightened a bit.“I’d like that.”
“Perfect,” Delilah said.A big smile warmed her face.“Not this evening, since we’re all exhausted, but maybe tomorrow after dinner?”
“Definitely,” Briar said.
“Sounds good to me,” Sebastian agreed.
Part of Kieran would have preferred to curl up in a ball and sit in the dark for the foreseeable future, but that probably wasn’t the best way to process his feelings.After all, he deserved to have a little fun with his friends after everything.
Finally, he nodded.“Count me in.”
The next day, Delilah went into full party-planning mode, searching through closets and storage containers for anything they could use as decorations.Kieran did his best to help execute her vision, hanging strings of lights on the observation deck and helping to clean anything that hadn’t been addressed since they’d taken off.He suddenly realized just how much of the cleaning his great-aunt Adelaide had done on their journey last spring, but with her absent this time around, it occurred to him that he needed to pitch in more.
That night, Santiago made an expansive dinner for the crew, breaking out a number of the dishes that had been served back at his family’s restaurant in Esperona.They had plate upon plate of ham-and-manchego croquettes, chorizo-filled dates with a red wine glaze, custardy egg-and-potato pancakes, and fingerling patatas bravas with a garlic aioli.Santiago even let them enjoy a sangria made with some of his favorite red wine.Briar made a show of trying to fish the fruit out of her glass to eat while Santiago berated her manners, much to the delight of everyone else at the table.It also gave Kieran the chance to sneak scraps to Seaweed under the table.
Kieran kept an eye on Sebastian all evening.While he’d shared meals with them before, he’d always seemed tense—doing his best to deflect attention and eating as quickly as he could without seeming impolite.Now, though, he actually smiled and laughed as Briar shoved her entire fist into her wineglass and Santiago shrieked as if he’d been touched by a hot poker.A few times, he’dglance Kieran’s way and their eyes would meet for a split second before they both turned back to the conversation at hand.
Kieran mentally berated himself for staring.It was hard not to, though.There was something enthralling about Sebastian’s smile, his rounded cheeks growing redder and redder with each glass of sangria.Soon, his whole face was flushed, and his laugh had gone from a quiet chuckle to a full-throated howl.
And despite himself, Kieran couldn’t stop smiling.
When they finished with dinner, Ariel and Santiago excused themselves to head for the control room.They explained that they were going to do some “route planning,” to which Briar responded by muttering, “Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?”Kieran nearly snorted the wine he’d just sipped up his nose.
Once they were gone, Delilah stood on her chair and clapped her hands.“Everyone, downstairs!I snuck a few bottles of Santiago’s wine down there earlier and hid them between the couch cushions.”
The four of them cleaned up the table before snagging their wineglasses and heading to the observation deck, with its glass walls that looked out over the land below.Seaweed was clearly tired of their loud chatting and refusal to feed her more; Kieran gave her one last bit of sausage before she vanished up the stairs.
Downstairs, they rearranged the chairs that had been set to look out the windows and arranged them in a circle.While Delilah poured wine, Kieran set up the turntable he’d grabbed from the kitchen.He thumbed through Santiago’s collection of records, eventually settling on one with a song he’d heard Sebastian hum once or twice.
“Oh, hey,” Sebastian said as the music kicked on and Kieran took a seat next to him.“I love this band.Did I tell you that?”
Kieran shook his head.“No.I just guessed.”
Sebastian’s smile grew, and Kieran turned his face the other way, hoping Sebastian wouldn’t notice the rush of blood from Kieran’s throat to his ears.
Delilah pushed Kieran’s now-full glass back to him across the table.As he took it, she cleared her throat, pulling Briar from the conversation she’d been about to start with Sebastian.
“I,” Delilah said, swirling her glass around in her hand, “think we should play a game.Something to get to know each other better, Sebastian.”
For a moment, Kieran didn’t recognize the look on Sebastian’s face.His eyes had widened just a bit, and a vein in his throat jumped as he swallowed.Then it occurred to Kieran what that meant.
Sebastian was nervous.
“I…Of course,” he said, tone not betraying any of what Kieran had just seen flash across his face.It was strange: The more time Kieran spent with Sebastian, the more obvious it became when he was trying to follow a mental script.“Did you have a game in mind?”
