Eudaemonia || Sebastian x FemOc

   The wind-chilled night of spring gusts against my hair as we walk towards the bathhouse.

"It's heated, right?" I ask, holding back a shiver.

  "Of course", Abby states, smiling. "We're not that psychopathic."

  The two of us hike up towards the mountain, and I'm careful not to show how out of breath I am. The perk of the cushy job at Joja was that there wasn't much physical labor involved. I guess now that I'm living on a whole farm, I'm going to get used to it. It would honestly probably do me good to get into a little better shape.

   "We're here!" Abigail sings, snapping my head out of my thoughts.

   "This looks really nice," I say honestly. I wasn't expecting an actual bathhouse for this little town, but I was pleasantly surprised.

  "They're probably already inside."

As Abby pushes the doors open, the heat is immediately almost suffocating. She and I make our way to the locker room where we then stripped of our clothes expect for the bathing suits underneath. She must've saw me hesitate to walk to the door as she turns to look at me.

  "Jules, aren't you coming?"
 
  I nod. "Yes, of course, I'm just super nervous."

  "You are perfect, I promise. No one will think otherwise. The boys need some eye candy anyway. The only time they get to see a little skin is when Linus takes his baths in the lake."

I'm about to ask who Linus is when Abby pushes the doors to the pool area open and shoves me inside. I instinctually bunch my towel in my wrists and hold it up to my chest.
 
"Hey," Abby says, drawing out the Y's. "Stop being gay in here. The girls are here."

"Says the only gay one," I hear Sebastian say, smoking a cigarette while he sits above the pool.

Abby saunters over to Sebastian, picking his cigarette out of his hands. I hear a protest in the form of a whine, like 'heyyy', as she brings the cigarette to her lips and blows the smoke in his face. She pops it back into his mouth and flicks his head with her finger before jumping into the pool, effectively soaking Sebastian.

I admire Abby a lot for her confidence. Lest, she's known these two since childhood. But I don't think I'd ever be brave enough to mess with someone like that. And if I did, it would be really embarrassing to watch me try. Like a baby deer taking its first steps.

"Jules!" Sam boasts. "Come in, it feels great!"

"Okay," I mutter, laying my towel neatly on a bench and shuffling towards the pool.

I come to a sitting position on the edge, slowly lowering myself into the bliss of the warm water. It soothes the screaming aches of my muscles from labor that I wasn't used to, and I can't help myself but 'aahhh' in delight.

"Feels good, huh?" I'm snapped out of my trance to see Abby basically materialize beside me. Her hair is wet, partially sticking to her face, and her mascara is runny, but it genuinely suits her. She looks like an album cover.

"You don't even know," I say, leaning back against the pool's tiles. "It's like, orgasmic."

Sam chokes from across the pool. "It's like what?"

Abby sends a splash of water his way. "How old are you, Samson?" With an eye roll she turns back to me. "Men, that's why I don't like 'em."

"We can't all be as fortunate," I laugh. "Luckily I play both sides though."

"No shit," Abby says, "Not sure how I didn't pick up on that sooner. My gay-dar is usually on point."

"Are you guys gonna ki-" Sam starts, but is interrupted by another splash of water, but this time much larger and partially inhaling it. He clambers to the pool edge, coughing manically.

"Bad! Gross!" Abby shouts.

"I- cough was just- cough- ASKING- COUGH"

"Men." Abby and I say at the same time, giggling.

"You totally deserved that," I hear Sebastian chime in, still sitting on the edge.

"You weren't thinking it?" I hear Sam mutter, trekking out of the pool and towards his towel. He plants himself next to Sebastian while vigorously wiping it on his face.

We hung out for a couple of hours, chatting about whatever comes to mind (while shutting Sam down about whatever comes to his). A few yawns began to filter between us and we decided it was time to call it a night.

I stopped in front of the shop, waving Abby goodbye. I shiver and began walking with a brisk pace to the farm, as the cold bathing suit underneath my sweater sticks to my skin like a cold blanket. Even so, my body feels fuzzy from the new founded-friendships. I never knew that interacting with others would feel so natural, and it genuinely felt euphoric to me. Even Tear had almost slipped my mind. Almost. He always seemed to weasel himself back in. I suddenly found myself missing talking to him even more. He would be ecstatic to find out I had actually made friends. He's gonna have an earful when I finally get to call him again.

As soon as I walk in the front door, I start the fireplace and peel off the freezing garments. I change into warm, dry clothing and take Ivory's cat bowls from dinner, putting them into the sink. I make a mental note to redial the internet provider tomorrow morning from the landline at Abby's and possibly start saving up to get my own. I cuddle up with Ivory once situated in bed and begin to drift as soon as my head hits the pillow.