Wherever Phineas went, Sebastian followed. If Phineas' suspicions weren't confirmed before, then they certainly were for. Sebastian shadowed Phineas' every move. Like a dog that was obsessively loyal to his master. Was that what Phineas was to him? AS tempting as it was to revel in the idea that Phineas might have any influence over this monster of a man, he didn't fool himself into thinking that assured him any sense of safety.
Over the past few days, Sebastian had become clingy and Leo had distanced himself from everyone.
Phineas sat in the living room, so naturally Sebastian sat next to him. The fire roared and sent waves of heat into the room. The pair sat comfortably on a red fabric sofa together. Phineas read a book written by an Oxford professor on the limited information there was on the gods of ancient Celtic society. Nowhere could he find any evidence of a moon goddess. Well, there were plenty of female goddesses or possible moon deities, but not any that fit the description of the woman on the mural at the manor. He suspected that Sebastian was also glancing at his book from time to time, but it didn't seem to interest him. Instead, he sat with his eyes closed and his arm draped over Phineas' shoulder. Phineas slouched under the weight of it. He couldn't be sure whether Sebastian was actually asleep or not. It made it hard to concentrate on reading when he was too busy making sure that Sebastian's appearance stayed exactly as it should. He wasn't sure where to look. To his left to keep a watch of Sebastian's face or to the left to ensure his hands stayed exactly that.
Leo sat opposite them. He was typing something on his laptop, he'd type for ages, reread his work, then delete everything and start over. A pensive look crossed his face.
"Are you alright?" Asked Phineas.
Leo glanced over the top of his laptop. He was chewing on his thumbnail before he stopped when he noticed Phineas' gaze. "Fine. I just... never mind. It's nothing."
The room lapsed back into silence apart from the crackle of the fireplace and the wind rushing past the windows outside. It stayed like that for a few minutes until the phone began to ring. Phineas jumped at the sound. Sebastian tightened his arm around Phineas. Was it meant to be comforting? Phineas wasn't sure if he saw it that way.
"I'll get it," he said. He managed to slip from Sebastian's hold. Those black eyes followed his every move. "I didn't realise people even used landlines anymore." He attempted to joke.
To his surprise, Leo gave a small chuckle to it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is that Phineas?"
"Yes."
"It's me, Callum."
Phineas turned round and looked at Leo. Leo raised an eyebrow at the attention. "Oh, hi Callum." He overemphasised. Leo's eyes widened. "How are you?"
"I'm good, thanks, Finny." Finny? Phineas smiled at the name. His Grandpa used to call him Finny as well, most people tended to call him Fin or Phineas. He let the nickname slide, finding it oddly endearing. It helped that he had a favourable perception of Callum. "I was just wondering if Leo was home?"
"Oh, Leo..." he looked at the man in question. Leo shook his head and mouth, 'No! No!" Phineas could've been cruel if he wanted to, but Leo seemed so down lately, he decided to be kind. With his spot in heaven secured, he answered Callum's question. "Sorry, Callum. Leo's out running some errands at the moment. We'd starve to death with out him, honestly. Can I pass on a message for you though?"
A defeated sigh came over the phone. "Oh, okay. can you just let him know that I called? I haven't heard from him in a while." There was a short pause. "I hate to bring down the mood like this, but um... gods I don't even know how to say this."
"Is everything alright, Callum?"
"Yeah. Actually, no. Sorry, I don't know why I lied. Um, okay, I'm just going to be blunt. You remember my Gran? Well, she wasn't really herself when you came round, she hadn't been herself in a while. It was a form of dementia, kind of, she wasn't all there and that was why she was acting so... feral, I guess you could say. Anyway, she's been missing for a few days now, but we finally found her."
A lump of bile rose into his throat. Sometimes he thought that he could still hear her. That wretched choking sound she made as she howled in hunger. He knew what happened to her. So, how cruel of him then to ask, "Is she okay?"
"No." Callum choked out. "No, she's not. They found her body actually."
"Oh, Callum. I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine what you must be going through. How could this happen?"
"I don't know." Callum sniffled. "Apparently she was found at the bottom of a cliff on the west of the island. My dad thinks she just managed to get out of the house and wandered around lost and confused, until she-" the phone went silent.
"Callum?" Phineas asked gently. "Are you there?"
He heard another sniff. Callum's voice came back, it was hushed and restrained. "Yeah, I'm sorry. It was such a shock. Even now, it doesn't feel real. Tomorrow, there's going to be a ceremony in town to honour her memory. If you and Leo could make it, I'd really appreciate if you guys could come."
"Of course." Phineas immediately answered. "I'll ask Leo when I see him, but I will definitely be there."
"Thanks, Finny. I really appreciate it. If you don't mind though, could you not bring Sebastian? He can be... kind of intense."
"Yeah, that's fine. Anything you want. I am so sorry for your loss, Callum. I'm so sorry."
"Thank you. You're a good guy. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you." Phineas hung up the phone. He placed the phone back on the wall and went and sat with Sebastian again. Sebastian placed his arm back over Phineas' shoulders, even going so far as to move slightly closer to him as well. "They found his Gran's body near a cliff. There's going to be a wake for her tomorrow in town, he's asked you and I to go."
Leo nodded, his face remaining blank. "That's fine." He closed his laptop. "Thanks for making an excuse for me."
"He'd really like to talk to you."
"I know." Leo stood up and picked up his laptop. "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow, Phineas." He left the room, the stairs creaking as he went up to bed.
And then there were two.
The storm raged outside. A downpour of rain pattered against the windows and drummed against the roof. The night sky mixed with the storm cast an oppressive darkness over the land outside. When Phineas, looked out the window, he could make out no discernible details of the world outside.
"Should you go talk to him?" Phineas asked Sebastian.
Sebastian's fingers threaded themselves through Phineas' hair. He stared at it so intently, as if something about the bird nest that Phineas called hair was fascinating to him. "I don't know what I'd say." His voice rumbled.
"Huh? But, when I first met you, Leo said that you two had a bond closer than brothers."
"We do."
"But you don't know what to say to him?"
"No." He said. "I never know what to say to him and I think he feels the same way towards me. Never have we expressed," Sebastian thought for a moments, "anything to each other."
"Are you serious?"
"Most the time we show it in the way we work together."
Phineas closed his book, folding the corner of the page to book mark it. He placed it on the coffee table to his right then turned himself to face Sebastian. He leaned his head into the palm of Sebastian's big hand and bright Io his leg so that it rested over Sebastian's thigh. Sebastian always seemed calmed by these small moments of intimacy. His face would relax and he would smile, sometimes Phineas could swear that his eyes lightened, a hint of brown in that inky blackness. "When was the last time you and Leo worked together?"
Sebastian's hand massaged his thigh. "A few days ago. He has talked much to me since though." It dawned on Phineas what they had done a few days ago... by a cliff... poor Callum. "You'll need to do some more work soon as well. As much as I love spending all day inside with you, I don't want you to get in trouble either."
"Will you come with me?" The wind howled outside and for a moment it sounded just like her. "I don't want to be alone."
"Of course, I will." He smiled with those big pearly teeth. Big enough to eat someone with. "I promised, didn't I?"
The two stayed sitting down in the living room for a while longer. They would listen to the storm and wait for a clap of thunder. Then Phineas would count how long it took for the next roll of thunder. It was a game his mum had taught him when he was just a boy.
"What's the point?" Asked Sebastian.
"It's supposed to be able to tell how far the storm is from us. If you count the time between thunder and the time gets shorter, then the storm is getting closer. If the time gets longer, the storm of going further away."
"Which is it now then?" Asked Sebastian.
Phineas waited a moment. A clap of thunder. "More time I think. Storm's getting closer."
The two headed to bed. At some point over the past few days, it had become routine for the two of them to part each other at the stairs and get ready for bed in their individual rooms. Phineas would go into his well organised room, whilst Sebastian moved his broken door to the side to enter his torn up tip of a room. In his defence, he had done his best to repair the scratches and obliterated furniture, but there was only so much he could do. It was one of the few moments in the day which Phineas was allowed privacy. He went into his en suite and locked the door behind him. Not that a lock would do any good against something like Sebastian.
There was a contradictory dichotomy Phineas felt whenever he was alone. To love and to fear. Strangely, he missed when Sebastian wasn't around. Now that his voice had mended, he was fun to talk to and his obvious desire for physical affection was endearing. Like a dog staring at a piece of meat, it would wait patiently for his treat even though it was desperate to devour it. Was Phineas a piece of meat? His hands trembled as he brushed his teeth. So hungry. She had been starving. When did things like that reach the point of starvation? When was the last time Sebastian ate? How close was he to starving?
He placed down his tooth brush and rinsed his mouth out in the sink. He dried his mouth and hands on a towel and headed to bed. The bed was cold. Phineas' body instinctually curled in on itself to generate whatever warmth it could. That was what was nice about the next nighttime ritual the two had fallen into to.
The door creaked open and the lights went out. He waited. The floorboards creaked and the bed sank. The covers rustled as they were pulled back and he slipped in. Immediately, Phineas embraced him. He rested his head on Sebastian's chest and —despite the thick winter pyjamas he was wearing— he tried to get as much of his exposed skin to touch Sebastian's. He was so warm. As if Phineas had stolen a part of the fire and had smuggled it into his bed. Sebastian wrapped his arms around Phineas' back. His large warm hands rubbed his back and he kept on kissing the top of Phineas' head. The warmth had become a must have for Phineas to be able to sleep, the kisses was something he was still unsure about. They hadn't kissed since that day and Phineas was unsure if they ever would again.
All he had to do was survive until his three months were up. That's all he had to do.