Sebastian couldn't help smiling when he found the stack of books on the side table. Penny had seemed more reserved than normal that night. Even after he thought she'd come out of her shell, she was as shy as ever. It was a little frustrating.

But then he found the books, and he imagined how she must have been struggling to hand them to him. She might be shy, but there was something...endearing about it.

He'd never read The Truth of the Mountain, but he'd heard good things. And since it was clearly well-loved, he trusted that it was worth a read. The next day he rushed through his work to get to reading it.

If there were enough hours in the day, he would have finished it in one sitting. But the book was way too long for that, and he had a project due that week and couldn't shirk too much work. Still, he was done with it in about a week, just in time for the trip Abigail had planned for them to see the first Solarion movie in theaters.

Sebastian wished he'd had a chance to talk to Penny alone before the group trip so they could really go into detail about the book, but maybe they'd find a moment here or there.

He got to the bus stop a little early, and as he'd hoped, Penny was there too.

"Maru's running late at the clinic," he said when he reached her. "She's gonna take the next bus."

Penny nodded. "I haven't seen the other two, but knowing Sam, it's probably good we picked an early bus. We said five, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I last heard." He checked the time on his phone. "It's 4:55."

Sebastian waited a few seconds before diving into what he really wanted to talk about. "I finished The Truth of the Mountain."

Penny brightened immediately. "Really? Did you like it?"

He nodded and smiled broadly.

"Oh, good." Her smile was warm and genuine. "I thought you might. You know the author of the Solarion Chronicles—"

"Was inspired by it when coming up with Urugon's backstory? I know! I found an article about it. And you can totally tell when you reach the end and—"

"And he's not the prophesied hero after all! It's been his son all along!" Penny finished his thought excitedly.

"Ugh, that was incredible! I should have seen it coming but I didn't at all!"

"I know, it feels so obvious after the fact, but the story is just always one step ahead of you!" Penny was beaming, but the bus pulled up and put a stop to their enthusiastic discussion.

"Should we call Sam and Abigail?" Penny asked as they boarded.

"I'm sure they're fine, they're always missing buses." He sat down next to a window. Penny looked unsure for a moment before deciding to sit beside him.

He normally didn't think about it, but Sebastian suddenly felt self-conscious that he smelt like smoke. She didn't notice though, or at least didn't let on that she cared.

It was a little harder to keep up their animated discussion on the bus, both because they were sort of pressed together awkwardly, and because there were other passengers around them who they didn't want to disturb. They did their best to keep their voices low.

"I haven't been to the movies in ages," Penny mused, half to herself. "My dad used to take me sometimes."

"And he's...?" Sebastian didn't want to pry.

"Oh, he's not dead or anything, he just left us."

"Ah, I'm sorry. That makes two of us."

"It's nice you have Demetrius, though, right?" Penny said uneasily.

Sebastian couldn't bring himself to fully agree, but he nodded noncommittally.

"Sorry, did I say something wrong? I didn't mean—" Penny turned and faced him, which made her feel even closer.

"No, I shouldn't complain, it's just..." Something about her entreating eyes made him want to share what he shouldn't. "I don't think Demetrius has ever really seen me as his son."

Penny's brow creased in concern. "I'm so sorry...Maru's never mentioned anything like that."

Sebastian had forgotten how close Penny was to his sister. Maru had probably told her everything there was to know about their family. All about the skeletons in their closets. At any rate, Penny certainly knew more about his family than he did about hers.

And when he thought about hers...Sebastian thought back to all the nights Pam had spent drunk at the saloon, leaving Penny to pick up the pieces. How could he sit here and whine about Demetrius when that was how she was living?

"It's really nothing," he said. "I shouldn't have said it. And don't tell Maru, please."

She nodded seriously. "I won't. But I think she might like to know how you feel, if you ever feel like telling her."

They fell into silence for a while, until Penny broke it suddenly.

"I love my mom," she said. "I really do. But that doesn't mean I can't wish things were different or wish that she was different. And maybe some people see it as all or nothing, like someone can only be all good or all bad. But people are more complicated than that." She flushed. "Um, I just mean that if you ever wanted to talk about your step-dad, the good or the bad, that I would listen. Sorry to ramble."

"Thank you," Sebastian said, and it was his turn for his cheeks to redden. "I'll remember that."

Thankfully they pulled into the bus stop in Bluejay Town before Sebastian had a chance to spill any more of his innermost feelings and secrets.

The walk to the movie theater was short, but they were pretty early, so they bought some popcorn and drinks while waiting in the lobby for their friends. They were nearly to the bottom of the bucket by the time Abigail arrived.

"So, what do you think!" Abigail was decked out in a full-on wizard cosplay, with long purple robes and even a Solarion staff.

"Wow, Abigail, that's incredible!" Penny gushed. "You look just like Dunthor!"

"I know right? It took me all week!" She gave a little spin. "Well I didn't have to make it all from scratch; I had the cloak from an old Spirit's Eve costume. But the staff is all drift wood and duct tape."

Sebastian had to admit it was pretty impressive. "You always commit, don't you?" he said with a laugh.

"Weren't Sam and Maru on the bus with you?" Penny asked.

"Hmm?" Abigail was still absorbed in showing off her outfit. "Oh, Sam sent me a vague text that something had come up. I thought Maru was with you two."

Sebastian checked his phone again. "Oh, I missed a text from her, she says they've got a patient and she can't make it."

"Aw, that's too bad," Abigail said.

Personally, Sebastian didn't care much one way or the other, but it felt unfair to Penny. He knew she would feel most comfortable with either Maru or Sam around, and it might be weird for her to have to hang out with just him and Abigail. But looking at her, she didn't seem uncomfortable. She almost looked relieved?

"We'd better get our seats," Abigail said, and they went into the theater. She whispered, "Penny, you sit in the middle, because Sebastian tried to murder me the last time I asked him a question during a movie."

Sebastian snorted.

"It's not a crime to be confused during a movie, Seb." Abigail stuck out her tongue at him, and Penny shuffled past him to sit between them.

As soon as the opening notes of the score played, it felt like falling into his own comfortable bed. He knew this movie backward and forward. Penny seemed to know it just as well. Sebastain spent half the movie just watching her out of the corner of his eye as she silently mouthed along to the dialogue. Occasionally, she would lean over to kindly answer some question of Abigail's without a hint of the annoyance that he would have shown.

They went out for ice cream when it ended. Abigail raved about the movie, and kept giving him a hard time for not telling her about it sooner. Of course he had told her about it, but he was in a pretty good mood, so he let it go.

They caught the last bus back to Pelican Town. Penny got on first and Abigail took the seat next to her, so Sebastian sat in the row behind them. He was glad that Abby seemed to have taken to Penny, maybe she didn't see her as a 'square' anymore.

In classic Abby fashion, like a kid who had eaten too much birthday cake, Abby fell asleep almost as soon as the bus started moving.

Sebastian tapped Penny's shoulder and she looked back at him. He pointed to the seat beside him and whispered, "Do you want to come around?"

She nodded and crept past Abigail's knees. "Thanks," she whispered as she sat next to him.

"Did you enjoy the movie?" he asked.

She smiled. "Mm-hmm. I had a really good time."

"Abigail didn't bother you too much, then?"

Penny shook her head, then laughed. "You know, I used to think the two of you were so cool."

"What, we're not cool anymore?"

"You know what I mean, like untouchably cool. Like way up here on the coolness scale." Penny waved her hand high in the air.

"You're joking." Sebastian had certainly never seen himself that way.

"I mean it. And now I don't know why I spent so long being intimidated by you when you're such a nice person."

Sebastian didn't know where to look. 'Nice' wasn't the first word that came to people's minds when they described him. "I think you're tired," he said softly.

"I think...that for the last few weeks, all you've done is help me. And I'm really glad to have gotten to know you better."

He could feel her gaze on him, pulling him. He turned slightly to look at her, and she was warm and smiling and so, so close.

Then Penny leaned forward and pressed her lips gently to his cheek. Not in the middle, but further forward, just a centimeter from the corner of his lips.

She pulled back just as quickly as she'd leaned forward. The spell was broken, and she hopped clumsily out of her seat. "I'm sorry! Oh, Yoba, what's the matter with me! I didn't, um..." She looked around like she didn't know where to go, then climbed back over Abigail to take her original seat.

Penny didn't turn around for the rest of the drive, leaving Sebastian, who hadn't moved a muscle, to watch the back of her neck turn scarlet.

Sebastian knew what the kiss didn't mean more than he knew what it did. It wasn't an indicator of romantic interest, he knew that for sure. The girl was still completely into Sam, and that wasn't going to change. But it was an indicator of...something.

He wanted to laugh. At Penny for being so dorky about the whole thing, and with her because, frankly, he was also happy they'd become friendly. For her sake, though, he restrained himself, because any noise he made now would probably mortify her. Thank goodness Abby was still asleep.

Soon they were home and managed to get a groggy Abigail off the bus. She took all their attention until they dropped her off, so there was nothing for Penny and Sebastian to say to each other until they parted ways. Sebastian went north up the mountain, and Penny went to her trailer.

The next day, Sebastian got up early and walked into town. He got to Harvey's clinic right at nine, and thankfully Maru didn't work on Fridays.

"Good morning, Sebastian, what can I do for you?" Harvey asked as he puttered out to the front desk.

"Hi, Dr. Harvey. I was hoping you had a minute to talk?"

"Of course. No appointments today." He picked up a desk calendar just to be sure. "Why don't you come around and we can talk in the exam room?"

Sebastian followed him into the back. "Do you need me to—" Sebastian pointed at the paper covered table. 

"No, no, just a chair is fine." Harvey pointed him to the seat opposite his own rolling chair. "So what's on your mind?"

Sebastian rubbed his neck nervously. Something about doctors' offices, even one captained by the least intimidating man in the world, put him on edge. "I was just gonna look it up online, but then I thought it might be best to come talk to you. I'd...like to quit smoking."

Harvey smiled. "I'm glad to hear it, and you were right to come to me." He took off his glasses and cleaned them on his tie. "Now, it might not be easy, but it's different for everyone, and there are a number of resources available. I'd like to set up some regular check-in appointments, so we can keep up with your progress. And keeping up an otherwise healthy lifestyle will be greatly beneficial through all of this. Now where did I put those..."

Harvey rifled through a filing cabinet, eventually finding a folder of brochures and literature. He gave a number of them to Sebastian, and they got down to making a plan, discussing the various medications and counseling services that were available, and talking about what to expect. It was overwhelming, but Harvey was so enthusiastic that Sebastian felt more at ease.

"If you don't mind my asking, is there a reason you've decided to quit now?" Harvey asked when they were finally finished.

Sebastian tucked the papers out of sight in the inside pocket of his jacket. "I've always half felt that it was dumb of me not to quit, but it was annoying how many people were on my case about."

"Not 'dumb'," Harvey interjected kindly.

"But someone else got on my case about it lately, and I guess I just want to listen to them."

"It sounds like they really care about you."

Sebastian shrugged and stood up to leave. "Listen, could you not tell Maru about this? Not yet, anyway."

"My lips are sealed."