Sebastian paused his texting and then clicked his phone off, staring up and into the middle distance. “I think I’m gonna stay with them for a while after tour.”
Reno raised an eyebrow. “How long?”
“Just a few weeks. Write some music. See Sweden for longer than a day or two. Get into the Scandes, hike some. Camp.”
“Whoareyou?” Reno teased. “Camping.”
“I used to go with my family before I moved. I know I should take our time off to go back to see mom and my sisters, but the flight to Montevideo is so long. I just don’t have the energy to do it after this tour.”
“And hiking a mountain is less energy.” Reno nodded, still teasing.
“See, annoying. This is why I don’t tell you things anymore.”
“You love me so much.”
Sebastian sighed, relenting. “I really do. If you weren’t horrible and annoying, my life would be far worse off.”
“What an odd compliment. Thank you.”
“You are an odd creature,” Sebastian said before clicking his phone back on. “I will be sure to work while in Sweden.”
“I have no doubts you will. Just be sure to have fun too, it is your only break this year.” Reno watched as Leeds appeared in view. He pulled out his phone to snap a few photos of the moreinteresting buildings they passed on the way to the station. “I might go hang out in Nice with Amelia, depends on if I can bribe Luka to fly to England or not.”
“Don’t let Amelia hear she's lower on your priority scale than your new boyfriend.”
Reno sent the photos to Luka, who either hadn’t returned from his run or had forgotten to text before clocking into work.
“She will live, she understands matters of the heart.”
“Then why is she dating an aromantic man?” Sebastian laughed and Arnaud picked that moment to turn around from the row in front of them. He peeked his head around the side of the chair to glare at them.
“Amelia knows I care for her in my own way. Don’t be close-minded, not all of us are classic romantics like you two.” He turned to Jaewon like he’d support Arnaud’s claim but he only turned the page of his book, ignoring them all. Arnaud made a frustrated noise. “Amelia has her lovers in Nice. It works for us.”
“Works for me too,” Reno said, making a filthy gesture at Arnaud who scoffed and settled back into his chair.
“You two gonna stop fooling around now that there’s another person involved?”
“Already did as soon as Luka responded to me,” Reno said, “I just love giving mon capitaine?1 grief.” He plucked at a stray thread on his pants before giving up and asking, “Honestly, how do I even approach that one? I’m asking Luka to trust me a lot here, like, yes I am happy to be monogamous with you but on tour I will still be sharing a room and a bed with my best friend that I’ve regularly fucked for the last five years. No, don’t worry, it’s not romantic in the slightest but we are codependent and can’t sleep well or function without each other? We can live without the fucking, but we won’t sacrifice each other for anyone.”
“Saint Valentine, help this poor soul,” Sebastian prayed. “Así no se puede?2, you are a disaster."
“See, it’s insane. All of us function on such a weird level with each other; it’s hard to imagine dating someone who isn’t also in the industry and understands that the closeness we have to our mates is not a threat to the relationship but rather a feature. God, it's like I’m asking Luka to date the entire group. He’ll hate this.”
Sebastian put his hand to his chin, his thick brows furrowing as Reno watched him think. He did this often enough for Reno to know that his answer would be a good one and worth waiting for.
“First off," Sebastian said after a while, “he already knows that dating you will not be normal. It already hasn’t been normal, but he still flew to New York to have, in your words, ‘crazy hotel sex’—which I have trouble telling how it would be any different than sex with you on a normal day—proving that this man might either be as insane as you, or just really into you. Wait no, that makes him insane either way.”
Reno made an offended noise and Sebastian held his hand up before Reno could protest.
“Secondly, every relationship is formed differently and has different boundaries. How do you know he isn’t ok with you still sharing a bed with Arnaud? How do you know he wouldn’t be okay with you two still fucking, too? Have you asked?”
“No. We haven’t had a lot of time to talk since I got here.”
“Okay, you’re making a lot of big assumptions about someone you’re still getting to know. You two can make your own rules; you don’t have to be conventional about things. You’re not a conventional person, so why would you try to be now?”
Reno crossed his arms over his chest. “You think he really knows what he’s getting into?”
“Sure," Sebastian said, “I don’t see why not. He can’t be totally oblivious to what your life is like; the insane schedule, your crazy fan base, all the works. And yet, he’s still talking to you.”
