This was supposed to be just another plain, boring evening. I was supposed to just come home from work, slump into my couch, enjoy a couple hours of mindless entertainment, then go to sleep. But alas, it seems like fate has something else planned for me, because just a few minutes after booting up my laptop, I find a cavalcade of messages from Sebastian flowing in, and they're not his usual messages. They're wild, partially incoherent, and apparently typed incredibly frantically, if the speed I'm getting them is anything to go by, and it's difficult to parse what's actually going on. However, I can understand that it's something about a particular song, with one message saying "makes me fucking cry every time I hear it, and I've had it on repeat for 5 hours". Another one reads "I have been crying for 5 hours", and then he also sent a message saying "I'm hot and sweaty" for some reason, and I'm not quite sure just what that has to do with anything, but whatever.
What is clear is that he's going through some sort of episode with this song, and I should at the very least check in on him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. So with that in mind, I quickly set off and head towards his place. Thankfully, he doesn't live too far away, and the streets are well-lit, so getting there isn't too difficult despite night already having fallen over the town. I do take a moment to appreciate the starry night sky—I've never really paid much attention to it; I never considered it to be that worthwhile, but Seb would always tell me how he saw a particularly pretty constellation or something like that. Maybe I should try stargazing with him some day? Well, that's something for another day, because right now, I'm pretty sure he's totally mixed up.
Before long, I arrive at his house, a little one-floor number with a small backyard, and I hop over the fence, trying to not be seen. Last thing I want is someone calling the cops, and I'm sure that Seb wouldn't answer the door if I knocked or rang. Sure, I might look incredibly suspicious skulking around his backyard, but since I know about the spare key to the back door hidden in that little fake rock, this is probably the only way I'm getting inside. And so I dig out that fake rock, get the key, and come in through the back door. Once I step inside, I can already hear what must be that song Seb was talking about—he's got it turned up so loud it's audible through the entire house. It takes me a few moments to get my bearings in the darkness and find a light switch of some kind before I start making my way to his bedroom, which leads to me hearing the song loop fully about two times. I have no real idea what it's about—it seems to be some sort of really electronic song about love, but also birds and a TV show? But then again, I was never someone that's good at deciphering meaning from song lyrics.
Sure enough, once I enter his bedroom, I find it in the kind of state I expected. Blinds down, just a small lamp giving off a minuscule amount of light that struggles against the darkness of the room, that one song blasting its sound so hard it goes through the walls, and there, sitting on the bed in a near-fetal position, is Seb, lost in whatever world he's in. Eventually, he takes note of my arrival and looks up at me, tears in his eyes and an unreadable expression on his face. It looks like whatever he's going through has thoroughly blown his mind. I find the settings for his audio system and allow myself to turn the music down to at least a more reasonable level before I get hearing damage, but leaving it still audible, then sit down on the side of the bed. "Hey. You alright?" is all I ask him. I don't want to assume he's in a worse situation than he actually is, so I'll let him explain.
It takes him a few moments to catch up with the changes in the situation, since he evidently just spent five hours curled up on the bed, listening to the same song over and over again, but when he does, his response comes quite enthusiastically. "It's... it's amazing. It's like a whole new world has just torn open right in front of me, like I've seen divinity. It's beautiful, it's terrifying, it's demonic, it's godly... oh, I just don't know how to describe it!" he gushes, arms flailing in gesticulation as he tries to explain.
In response, I simply crawl over to him on the bed, wrap my arms around him and pull him into an embrace, gently rubbing his back. And in an outrageous display of affection that I never thought someone as boring as me would just show like that, I even give him a little kiss on the forehead. "There, there. It's OK. Just take a deep breath," I tell him calmly, and sure enough, after taking a deep breath, he starts to calm down a little. He's still clearly very mixed up and excited, but at least I've gotten him to slow down just a little bit. He looks up at me, a vague smile on his face, and I break the embrace, instead settling on kneeling next to him and laying an arm around his shoulder. "Now, tell me about this song. What's in it that's gotten you this excited? It's about love, right?"
With a wistful sigh, Seb gives me a short appreciative glance before he begins to explain.