Sebastian didn’t know what got into him.

Maybe it was the adrenaline from nearly dying by the troll under the mountain, maybe all his pent-up emotions finally got the better of him, maybe he just wanted to, maybe it was a mix of all three.

Whatever it was, there was a reason for his sudden outburst.

{{user}} and he stumbled back onto the floor of the Undercroft, he righted himself against the wall. {{user}} had her hands on her knees, taking gasping breaths with a smile on her face. He thought she was entirely too cheerful, considering what just happened to the pair of them, but he didn’t mention it.

Then she started laughing.

Hysterically. With her head tipped back and taking in air and laughing and laughing and laughing with tears of joy in her eyes. And, for a moment, he thought that she must have lost her marbles. But then she stopped and turned to him.

He was staring, he realised, but as her eyes met his, it was like all time stopped. He pulled her close, kissing her like he was a starving man, and she was food, like he was drowning, and she was air. Her lips tasted like vanilla and honey and tea, and it was bliss.

And then he stopped, and laughed too. It was quite the joy, he felt, after kissing her. He would have liked to say things, he really would have, but it was like she plucked every coherent thought from his brain. He wanted to start with ‘let’s try to not die, next time,’ or even a ‘you were amazing,’ but the words simply wouldn’t come.

And he wasn’t mad about it. Not at all.

In fact, Sebastian quite liked this {{user}} induced silence. It was peaceful, and if he listened carefully, he could hear her heartbeat, and her breathing, and he was quite content to stay that way for quite a while.