August [Deleted Scene #2] (Patreon)

Another deleted scene from the vault! Small little fun fact: but the bar scene was actually supposed to be between August and MC before I changed it to Seb and MC. That was from the fiiiiiirst draft! I thought it didn’t seem very August-like to have their first meeting at a bar. (Which is funny because it doesn’t feel very Sebastian-like either but alas.) Anyway, here it is! The conversation is a lot longer than this, but I really like this moment with a humorous MC!

> You point to the game in their hand, smiling. “Bored?”

They look down, their eyes latching onto the game. Their face twists into a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I, uh my sister went to the bathroom and I didn’t want to stand around—“

“Looking lost?” you tease, which makes them shut one eye in embarrassment.

“Yeah.” They avert their gaze, not meeting your eyes. “Exactly.” The word escapes them in a tiny sigh and you can’t help but laugh.

> “I think playing a game in the middle of a venue looks worse than standing alone.”

The embarrassment on their face only grows and they chew on their inner cheek, successfully caught. You only want to grin, finding a unique kind of satisfaction out of pulling such a reaction from this person. You don’t know if it’s the drug you took in the bathroom or the very atmosphere of the venue, but you feel high. Joyous.

When their throat bobs and they gaze around, that feeling only grows. They look back at you, their lips parting and their eyes narrowed. “I hope you didn’t come up to me because of how pathetic I looked.”

> “Looked?” you tease.

When they appear briefly uncomfortable, you decide to spare them and shake your head. “No. You don’t look pathetic. Trust me, I’ve seen worse at these places.”

“Like what?” they inquire. Suddenly, they don’t seem lost. Suddenly, they seem increasingly interested. You feel a bit victorious that you’ve managed to get them off their game, something not even an actual party like this one could do.

> “Unlocking information like that takes a lot more than one conversation,” you joke. ♥

They lift their chin an inch higher, as if gazing at you anew. A self-deprecating smile rises on their face. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

It's funny, August seems a lot more open here. It just made more sense to have Clare (August's sister) as a buffer, hence why we get the scene at the party instead!