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sunspray-peak · 5 months

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Ch. 66: Appreciation & Acknowledgement

TUESDAY - WINTER 23

“And you say you don’t hold a grudge, you punk,” Alex tittered, looking at the $230 worth of art supplies they had purchased for Leah’s 33rd birthday. He shook a pack of markers—the very same $70 pack Achilles had purchased for Emily the past Spring—underneath Achilles’ twitching nose. “Those are the same ones Leah threw a huge fit over, right? You just can’t help but be shady, can you.”

“How dare you.” Achilles snatched the markers and waved Alex away from the gift bag between his hands. “Perhaps I’m genuinely celebrating her with some well-deserved, high quality art supplies.” He took a final count of the items—markers, oil pants, brushes, check, check, check; after consulting his mother, he had painstakingly selected everything himself over the weekend, as Alex, in his own words, “didn’t know a dang thing about art”—before reaching for a stack of gold tissue paper.

“We’re all in her debt here, you know. Consider this: if she hadn’t thrown her little fit, I probably wouldn’t have gotten blackout drunk and we never would’ve had our super deep and personal chat on the boardwalk that ultimately catalyzed this beautiful love story of ours. Hell, Elliott may have never finished his novel, never found an agent. Perhaps would’ve still been living in his cabin with one broken chair believing I ignored his letter out of hatred and spite and what not…”

“Do you even remember our super deep and personal chat on the boardwalk?”

“Bits and pieces, bits and pieces…” Achilles glanced up from the gift bag he’d been merrily stuffing with paper. “I mean, no, absolutely not, I just said I was blackout drunk. You have the card?”

“Yessir.”

Though Alex and Leah had probably chatted one on one twice in their respective lives, she’d been kind enough to invite him to her birthday party as well. It was nothing extravagant, just a little get together at her cottage.

Achilles had only visited a handful of times—for whatever absurd reason, the two had always found themselves meeting up at Elliott’s sad sack of a shack (though Achilles knew he had been discussing renovations with Robin recently, and, in the meantime, had finally purchased a second chair) despite the fact that both his and Leah’s homes were, in every way, shape, and form, just plain better.

The cottage was tucked into the edges of Cindersap Forest just south of Marnie and Shane’s ranch. Stuffed to the brim with various knick knacks and trinkets, it still managed to ooze cozy rather than stuffy. Leah had made sure to bring the outdoors into her home; the walls had been papered in leaf-pattered greens and blues, and a great many potted plants were scattered about the hardwood floors. She had painted vines along the edges of the massive cherry wood bookshelf, while small clay figurines and carvings sat along the fireplace mantel.

Mismatched paintings had been hung along every wall—mostly abstracts that she had painted herself, but a few still lifes and landscapes she had attributed to friends. There was little cohesion among the art but hey, as she had said to Achilles the first time he had stopped by, she was an artist, not a designer.

They were third to arrive—Elliott was already there, naturally, but to Achilles and Alex’s surprise, so was Haley.

“Who invited you?” Alex couldn’t help but ask when she sauntered over to say hello, drinks in both her hands.

“Leah did, obviously. And it was a real invite, too, not a pity plus-one,” she sniffed, stubbornly shoving a glass of red wine into Alex’s refusing hand. “Emily’s coming, too, she just has to finish her shift.”

During Achilles’ previous visits, canvases and driftwood had usually littered the floor, but tonight, Leah must’ve pushed her work bench and easel into her bedroom and out of sight. Instead, she’d moved her coffee table on top of the blue rug in her living room and had set out a nice spread of various vegetarian dishes.

“Very adult,” Alex said, marveling over little balls of burrata. He turned to Achilles and whispered, “How do I eat this?”

*****

Emily, as well as three of Leah’s old friends from Zuzu City, arrived over the course of the next hour. Leah had prepared a few games—board games, card games, puzzles; it was no wonder she and Elliott managed to get along so well despite their rather disparate personalities— and had more or less manhandled her guests into playing them, though none had put up much of a fight.

Alex, after a ruthless early elimination from the card game at hand, lounged in a forest green bean bag, one hand draped lazily over Achilles’ shoulder, and was chatting animatedly with Elliott.

Remarkable really, Achilles couldn’t help but think to himself. Alex and Elliott had probably exchanged less than five words before Achilles had moved to the Valley, and now they were chumming it up easy—though, Achilles had to admit, Alex could usually chat with anyone with relative ease, and few things came easier to Elliott than words.

Achilles had been joking earlier, but perhaps one really could attribute at least part of this camaraderie to Leah’s angry outburst over Emily’s $70 birthday gift so many seasons ago… He glanced over at Leah who was biting her nails deep in thought as she selected a card to throw in the center pile and a peculiar bubbling sensation overcame him. Her sulking had led him to one of his worst nights of the year, and now, here he was. Here they all were.

“Aaand you’re out!” One of Leah’s friends—Skyler, Achilles believed it was—jabbed their finger into his face.

“Oh.” Achilles glanced at the overturned cards. It seemed he had indeed chosen poorly. “Damn.”

Alex gave him a sympathetic pat on the back, but Achilles gently shook it off to stand and grab himself another glass of cider. But in heading to the kitchen, Haley seemed to appear out of nowhere and nearly yanked him off his feet as she pulled him rather painfully aside to an alcove behind the fridge.

“I want to talk to you.”

“Yes, I assumed, considering the way you ambushed me and dragged me over to this lonely little corner—”

She cut him off with an impatient click of her tongue. “I’ll get to the point. You’re not stringing him along, are you?”

“Pardon?”

Haley rolled her eyes before narrowing her gaze. She was a beautiful girl, that was undoubtable, but the stark blueness of her pupils never failed to bring a little shiver down his spine, and ice cubes only continued to flow through his veins as she tightened a chilling grip on his wrist and clarified her question. “You’re not stringing Alex along, are you?”

“What?”

“Fuck you, Achilles, I’m not going to say it again—”

“No. What? No—of course not—” Achilles pinched the bridge of his nose in a (failed) attempt to stave off any twitching. “You of all people should know I’ve basically been in love with him since the Summer—”

“The Summer?” Haley cackled, and the sound made Achilles’ hair stand on end, but she had at least relinquished her grip, her hands now resting on her hips. “That’s generous, according to Emily you’ve been thirsting over him since your first week in the Valley.”

First day, more like it. “I mean—sure. Fair enough. Exactly. So why are you asking me this?”

“Can’t hurt to confirm, can it?” She batted her eyelashes and trailed her fingers along the butcher block countertops. “Thought things may have changed. It does happen, you know. Maybe he couldn’t live up to whatever lofty vision you’d spent the whole year building up in your head. Maybe you just finally realized how painfully generic looking a man he is.” She shrugged. “Could’ve been anything.”

“No.”

But she seemed unconvinced. “Hmm.” She turned to face him again, tapping her finger against her chin as she slowly tilted her head in a way not dissimilar to Alex. It was discomforting. “So to confirm: you like him?”

Yoba, this was infuriating. Why did he have to justify himself to her? But Achilles was conscious of their proximity to the rest of the partygoers, and, despite their hoots and hollers, made sure to keep his voice low and calm even as his nose really began to take on a life of its own. “Yes, Haley, I like him. Satisfied?”

“Do you like like him?”

“What is this nonsense, what are we, in seventh grade?”

“Nonsense, shmonsense, babe. Does he know you like him?”

“Of course he knows—wait.” Oh no. The thought washed over him like another douse of ice water. His nose had even stopped twitching.“Does he not think I like him? Haley, did he ask you to ask me this?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Haley, I swear to Yoba—”

But before he could finish his side of the interrogation, she gave him a hard shove backwards straight into the edge of the countertops before sprinting (in platform heels, no less) back out to join the others in the living room.

Fuming, Achilles picked himself back up and stalked out with neither an answer nor the cup of cider he had aimed to refill. In fact, the only thing he was leaving the kitchen with was a newfound pain now sharply radiating from the hollow of his back.

“Absolutely maddening, that woman…”

*****

“What’s up? You good?”

“Hmm?” Achilles blinked himself back to the present to see Alex watching him from where he still sat sprawled across the bean bag.

“Why’re you looking me like that? You ok?”

“Oh. You’ve… just got something on your face.” He immediately regretted the words as he watched Alex wipe the corner of his mouth with a cloth napkin. Should he have said something a little flirtier? Or perhaps he should’ve wiped Alex’s face himself, instead. Well. Too late now.

Was Achilles a bad… well, boyfriend isn’t the right word, but you know what you mean…

Was Alex having doubts?

Achilles wanted answers, but this was neither the time nor the place for a private conversation. With some degree of difficulty, he set aside the nagging feeling in his stomach and moved to pat Alex on the head.

“Uh. What are you doing?”

“I— I don’t know.” Great job! Who the fuck pats someone on the head? He happened to notice Haley’s wrinkled nose and judgmental grimace from across the coffee table and, with difficulty, swallowed some choice words.

“You want to switch seats?”

“Yeah, might be easier for you, you’ll be closer…”

During his and Haley’s absence, the group had started another round of the game. Achilles had declined to be dealt in, and was now easing himself into the bean bag while Alex slid down to the rug below.

“How are you doing, my dear friend?” Elliott asked, leaning over from his wooden stool. It seemed his chess skills did not translate to cards, he’d been the first to be eliminated once again.

How had Alex draped his arm around him so effortlessly earlier? Did he just have longer arms? It had to be the longer arms, because there was no way Achilles could do the same comfortably… although, maybe if he sat lower… Yoba, why was this all suddenly so hard?

Don’t overthink it. You don’t have all the facts, yet. Don’t let her get to you!

He settled for leaning his leg against Alex’s side.

“I’m—I’m all right. And yourself?”

“Very good, very good! Alexander was just telling me that you have started writing again.”

No surprises there. It was exactly the distracting conversation Achilles had anticipated, though he was cautious in his curiosity to hear Elliott’s thoughts.

Back in the day, he’d found that a small, but rather vocal minority of authors were determined to gatekeep the literary world, believing children’s novelists to be middling, second-rate writers who simply lacked the skill to write for older audiences.

In the beginning, he had found the discourse easy enough to ignore—it was so much more fun to write for younger readers, why wouldn’t he write for them? It came more naturally, there was something about writing from their point of view that appealed to him. Perhaps, looking back now, he had been drawn to it due to his own unique childhood. Had wanted to capture the same sparkle and glow for other children. Yes, he had easily concluded that it wasn’t a lack of skill, but a different kind of skill; those authors were wrong.

But they had gotten to him in the end, wearing him down more and more each year with their whispers—their pretentious ideas had ultimately become, of course, one of the key factors that had fueled his determination to produce something more “elevated,” something with “merit” and “cultural impact.”

That had been the true beginning of the end, hadn’t it? When he had begun to listen to only those voices and tie his image and his pride to the target age of his work—because in the grand scheme of things, the battle in his mind between adult and children’s literature should never have been nearly as distressing, as high stakes, as it had been. It was all so silly, really.

But adult literature had become more than just a mere format, at that point. It had grown to symbolize, for him, something greater—his skill, the respect he deserved (or didn’t deserve), his purpose. His degree of importance, his degree of impact.

And after the lukewarm reception that adult “something” of his had received, Achilles had had to wonder—perhaps those authors had been right about him after all. Perhaps he really was an unskilled hack riding on his father’s coattails. Perhaps this really wasn’t for him.

He felt differently now, of course. Or, at least, a little differently—it was still very much a work in progress, but he was slowly learning to let go of his disruptive need to gain the respect of those he himself respected little.

But would Elliott still respect him? Would he still want his feedback? His advice? Would he look down on him now? Of course, Elliott was familiar with his work, he knew he had begun as a children’s author, but would he find Achilles’ decision to return to that part of the writing world… distasteful? Surely not… Definitely not, not Elliott, who had always been so supportive…

Achilles gave his head a little nod as he craned his neck to the side to better face his friend. “Yes. Yes I have, I suppose your advice the other day must’ve worked—”

“Oh ho! Yes, my advice,” Elliott chortled with a splashy wink. “Well, I for one am utterly delighted to hear the news. If I may, Alex didn’t say… would you be willing to perhaps share what it is this marvelous new project of yours entails? A sequel to Apparition, perhaps—?”

“No—no. Definitely not. It’s… well. I’m going back to the old stuff, I think. Not Henry Spector, but something similar… a little horror, a little urban fantasy. A bit older than Henry, though, I’m thinking around middle-grade…” He paused. “No great works of literature for me, I suppose. My dreams of a Pulitzer dashed…” A dry laugh, his fingers curled into the folds of the bean bag, nails digging into the velvet. “You’ll have to win one for both of us, now, I suppose.”

The sarcasm seemed to fly over Elliott’s head, though, for he nodded earnestly in response before clasping Achilles’ shoulder. “Perhaps no Pulitzer, but a Newberry, surely, my dear fellow! As for great works of literature… why, you sell your audience too short, my friend—is Evelyn of Blue Bowers not a classic? The Marvelous Magician of Ma?”

With a clap of his hands, Elliott gave what seemed to be almost a squeal of a cheer.

“Oh, but how excited I am to hear of these developments—truly, truly! The announcement of your return to children’s literature shall echo throughout the literary world, I am sure of it. What an incredible—what an admirable—choice, my friend. I would dare to argue those wonderful works that constitute children’s literature may be the most vital, the most influential, stories of our entire craft— for a child who falls in love with a good book will likely be a reader for life, will they not? Their first peregrination into that most expansive world of imagination! I say, it would not be an exaggeration to declare that much of the success of our industry rests upon the tiny shoulders of children—and on the shoulders of those special authors, such as yourself, who choose to support them.

“The stakes are high, the consequences crucial—but I can think of no one more worthy to undertake this behemoth of a task than yourself, Achilles Robinson! Or shall we say Achilles Desrosiers, assuming you plan to continue the use of your lovely pen name!”

Achilles had long turned red at Elliott’s grandiose, and perhaps overly-obsequious, speech. “Now let’s not get carried away…” He had to look away from Elliott’s wide smile. “But thank you, that means a lot.”

There it was again, that peculiar bubbling sensation in his stomach. But it was only nearly half an hour later, when Alex had preemptively fetched him a mug of earl grey tea, that he realized what that sensation was.

Gratitude.

He turned back to the writer, though their conversation had long transitioned to a different topic. “You’re a good friend, Elliott.”

“Oh ho! As are you, Achilles! As are you. Now, as you were saying about those prairie dogs…”

*****

Perhaps it was because nearly everyone at Leah’s party was over the age of 30, but they had all mutually decided to call it a night far earlier than any previous birthday soirees Achilles had witnessed this past year. So at 8:30pm, Alex and Achilles headed back to the farmhouse for their usual chamomile tea and “sleepy time scones,” as Alex was apt to call them now.

“Though my grandma always told me it isn’t good for your digestion to eat right before bed.”

“She’s probably right. Maybe we ought to ask Harvey.”

Afterwards, Achilles had suggested they retire to the living room, but Alex was apparently determined to stay in the kitchen; Leah had given everyone a tiny jar of sourdough starter as a party favor, and he was now quite set on baking his own bread.

“It’s 9:00, Al. Can’t we do it tomorrow?”

“No, see—it’ll need to proof; this is perfect, if I do it overnight, I can bake it tomorrow morning.”

“Can I help at all—?”

“Nope. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Go! Go write or read or— actually, you should stretch. How about you go do that for me, hmm?” With a cheery smile, Alex kissed Achilles’ cheek before violently pushing him away.

“Right…” Achilles just managed to avoid slamming into the pantry door as he stumbled out of the kitchen. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

In truth, he didn’t want to leave Alex to it at all. He’d wanted to talk to him the moment Haley had dropped her little bomb and danced away from him earlier, but Leah’s party had obviously not been the time to have the conversation, and tea time hadn’t felt quite right either. He’d hoped to chat after, but Alex seemed awfully excited about this bread business of his, and he wasn’t going to ruin that for him.

So Achilles bided his time for just a little longer. He’d do it tonight, before bed.

Evelyn said you weren’t supposed to eat right before bed. Achilles had read you shouldn’t argue with your significant other (not that he’s your significant other. Yet.) right before bed either.

But this didn’t have to be an argument—in fact, there was no reason for this to be one. It was just a discussion—some clarification, really. There was nothing to even disagree about.

Then why are you so damn nervous?

*****

“Hey, you—the incredibly hot young man over there by the fridge who just finished making their bread dough, yes you. Get over here.”

Alex glanced up from the cheese drawer, his head tilted in mild confusion. But upon meeting Achilles’ expectant gaze, he abandoned his search for sustenance to skip over to the living room.

“I was just seeing if you had any… what was it called? Brata? Burtha?”

“The cheese? Burrata?”

“Yeah, that. That was good.”

“I don’t, unfortunately, but we can buy some tomorrow.” Achilles disguised the tiny tremble in his hand by patting the couch. Best get this over with as soon as possible. Clear communication! Perhaps it’d been good that Alex had been so intent to make his dough at night, it’d given Achilles time to work out his words. Keep it casual. “Oi, you know I like you, right?”

Alex took the seat. “Huh? I mean… yeah. Of course.”

Take that, Haley!

“Fantastic. I just want to make sure I’m being clear about it all. I like you a lot and—”

But the words seemed to be provoking the opposite of their intended effect, for Alex’s face instantly fell. “Oh heck. Shoot. Shit. Haley said something didn’t she—”

Throw her under the bus, do it.

But his morals won out. Somewhat. “Now I didn’t say that—”

Alex groaned, turning away to fall backwards into the throw pillows. “I told her not to—”

Achilles clambered over to where Alex lay, taking a seat on his outstretched legs. “Al, if you’re feeling this way—if there’s ever something that’s bothering you—I want you to feel comfortable telling me directly so we can talk about it, can I—”

But Alex only groaned again, this time into one of the aforementioned throw pillows he was now holding over his own face. “I know, and I—well, I meant to, but it—but I thought about it, and it isn’t anything serious, I was just weirdly anxious about it, it was a real spur of the moment convo I was having with her, you know, it’s—it’s not a big deal.”

Achilles wrenched the pillow off his face (“Don’t smother yourself, please.”) and gave his knees a friendly little pat (what is with you and patting today?) before cramming his way between the back of the couch and a still-supine Alex, joining the latter in lying down across the loveseat. “Well regardless of how big a deal it is and who said what, the cat’s out of the bag and I feel like I owe it to you to—”

But before he could get even one more sentence into his prepared remarks, Alex uncharacteristically rushed ahead. “I just told Haley that I, I don’t know, I feel like… I sometimes feel like. You sometimes still… see me as… I don’t know. A friend. Just a friend. Just sometimes. A friend you, like, sometimes make out with when nobody else is around. I don’t know. I’m stupid.

“Really, I don’t mean to be, like, blamey, it’s not a big deal, and honestly it totally makes sense, we started off just being friends, I don’t expect there to have been a big shift or anything, especially since it hasn’t been that long and, you know, we’re not, like, having sex. Which I know is obviously my fault—”

“Don’t use that word, it’s not a ‘fault’ and—”

“—and in a way, isn’t a boyfriend just basically like a friend whose a boy that you, like, also have sex with—”

“Well, no, I wouldn’t say—”

“Not that I’m your boyfriend!” Alex rushed to add. “But I… I do really like you, Achilles. And I know it’s early, like super dee duper early, but I’m really… well I’m serious about this. About you, and… us.” He pulled himself up so that he was now leaning against the armrest of the sofa. “And I totally understand if you’re not there yet, which is why I’m saying what I said to Haley isn’t a big deal, I’m probably overthinking it. I mean, this whole experience has been sudden for me, I can’t even imagine how sudden it must’ve been for you, like I didn’t even use the word date until you showed up at the Stardrop because I’m an idiot—”

“Alexander—”

“—but yeah, I guess every once in awhile maybe I just… well I get a little anxious that maybe you’re not actually into this in, like… I don’t know. A… romantic way. If that makes sense. Not that I know what romance is anyway…

“Now to be clear, I don’t think for a second that you’d ever… I don’t know, lead me on or anything, like I don’t think you’re lying to me or, like, just playing around with me or something. But I just… well like I said. I’m… I’m serious about this.

“I… I really do love you, Ash. Like I said, you’re my best friend. And I really am in love with you. But really, I mean it when I say I don’t expect you to feel the same right now, not at all, like I said, I know it hasn’t been that long and I’m probably just moving too fast because let’s be real, I don’t know what I’m doing. But I guess I do hope that, you know… you can get there, to that place, too. That you… want to get there, too. In time. Because, well… you’re really important to me.”

Achilles hadn’t moved—hadn’t found a good moment to, really, he was still squeezed tight next to Alex, lying on the couch; but despite his proximity (or maybe because of it), Alex was choosing to look down at the throw pillow in his hands, nervously smoothing out the wrinkles in the fabric.

“Oh.”

Alex remained silent.

“I see.”

Achilles needed a minute to further gather his thoughts—but only a minute, for there was a plead in Alex’s eyes that deserved a prompt response. He slowly clambered up from the couch and returned to his previous position, straddling his knees on either side of Alex’s legs, and lay his hands atop the throw pillow between them.

“Hi.”

Alex returned his smile, though it didn’t quite reach the small wince in his eyes. “Hi.”

“Thank you for sharing that, Al.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Robinson. Now, are we in a classroom or Alcoholics Anonymous?”

Achilles laughed. He leaned forward and slipped his hand into Alex’s palm. “I’m sorry. For making you feel like I wasn’t serious about this, because I am.”

“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better, Ash, I understand. We all move at different rates, right, and I had a bit of a head start—”

“Alexander—baby, I wanted to ask you out on a date the first day I met you.”

“What?”

Instinctively, Alex seemed to pull back in surprise; Achilles could feel the tug in his hands, but he refused to let go.

“And I’ve been in love with you ever since you ruthlessly bullied me into rowing out into the middle of the Gem Sea with you to see jellyfish. Feeling this way hasn’t been sudden for me at all.”

Alex still looked to be somewhat in disbelief—his green eyes were wide, his mouth still slightly agape, but the tension in his hands and his brow seemed to have softened, so Achilles continued.

“Alex, I like you so, so much, I can scarcely describe it. Everything about you, your essence, your very being, has spent the past year etching my soul and my heart, and even when you’re not here, I still feel like I carry you with me. Even if this… doesn’t work out, Al, for whatever reason, I believe I’m forever marked by you.”

He felt Alex curl his fingers into his own, felt the sudden rush in heat burning through his body.

“You’ve made me better. You’ve made me want to be better. Being with you, it’s like… it’’s like standing on dry land. Steady. Secure. I know that’s not a very sexy metaphor, if I had more time, I’d like to think I’d come up with something a little more original—” Alex laughed. “—but you make me feel safe.

“I like you and I love you and I’m in love with you and I should’ve said it earlier. I should’ve been clearer, and I’m sorry. I guess I’ve just spent so long feeling this way that I’d forgotten that what was obvious to me wouldn’t necessarily be so obvious to you.” Achilles concluded himself with a little shrug and half a smirk. “Just me being selfish, I suppose.”

It was Alex’s turn to take a minute. Achilles used the time to lay back down on the couch. He rested his head in the nook above Alex’s shoulder and lay his hand across his chest. It was nearly a minute before Alex finally spoke.

“Since the Summer? Really?”

“Yeah. Something about having you witness about fifteen panic attacks in a season just really did it for me, I suppose,” Achilles said drily. “Also you wearing that white lifeguard uniform of yours. I suppose that did it for me, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you ask me out?”

“Mmm bit of a medley of reasons—I didn’t think I was in the right headspace for dating, I don’t do casual and I wasn’t sure how long I’d stay in the Valley for, I worried maybe you’d be disgusted I asked, I thought that you were straight… a myriad of excuses. Tell me, would you have said yes, had I asked you out over the Summer?”

Alex wasn’t one to lie. A tentative little “Ah…” left his lips, and Achilles gave his shoulder a light smack.

“Mmhm. That’s what I thought. You should know my ego can’t take that kind of rejection.”

It was a joke (somewhat), but Alex nevertheless expressed his contrition with a kiss on the forehead. He wrapped his arm around Achilles, rested his hand on the nape of his neck.

“To be honest, though…” Achilles continued in a bit of a drawl, sliding his pointer finger down the bridge of Alex’s oh-so-perfect nose. “There was also the matter of George.”

“Oh.”

After the chat on Evelyn’s birthday, Alex had told Achilles that it seemed like things had been going, if not great, better. George hadn’t returned entirely to his old self—though neither Alex nor Achilles had expected that anyway—for there was still a strained stiffness to their interactions. But Alex had shared that his grandpa had, at the very least, become more cordial. A promising sign, he hoped.

“Are you saying my grandpa cockblocked me?”

“Can you really call it cockblocking if you were going to say no to me anyway?”

“True that…”

“If I’m honest, though, I actually did consider asking you out, though it was earlier this season instead of Summer.”

“But?”

“But what held me back was the chance you’d want to say yes. Call it the ol’ narcissist in me.”

“Hmm.”

Achilles could feel the soft pat of Alex’s fingers tapping against his chest.

“You were nervous that if I said yes, that you’d out me prematurely to my grandpa.”

“Yes.”

“So you waited for me to make the first move instead.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.” Alex brought Achilles’ hand to rest lightly against his lips. “Well here we are.”

“Here we are.”

“So just to make sure. You like me?”

“Yes, I like you.”

“Huh.” Alex gave a very Haley-like titter as he turned to look back up at the ceiling. “A thing like that.”

*****

Eventually, they moved from the living room to Achilles’ bedroom (“so we don’t have to cram ourselves like sardines on my couch”) and readied themselves for the night. But even after the showers were taken, the teeth brushed, and the clothes changed, it was scarcely 10, and Achilles couldn’t help but continue their conversation.

“Tell me how you like to be loved, Al.”

“What do you mean?”

“So I can be better. I don’t want you to feel like this is just a friendship, I want to know what I should be doing to make it clear that I care—”

“I told you, Ash, I was overthinking it… and I already feel better after that conversation, really.”

“Well tell me anyways. So it’s clear for both of us moving forward.”

“Well…” Alex turned to his side, resting his chin atop Achilles’s shoulder. “I don’t know, I guess I like it when you… touch me. Like, kiss me and stuff. Outside of when we’re, you know… in bed.” Achilles had turned off the light, but he could feel the heat of Alex’s embarrassed blush creep into his neck. “Not like a lot of PDA or anything, I know you’re not into that, but even just small things when we’re out and about… I just like feeling… you. I guess.”

He paused, then quickly added, “Which I know is all crazy and doesn’t make sense with the whole no sex thing—”

“Yes it does, Al, touching doesn’t have to just be sexual, it can be romantic, too, we’ve talked about th—”

“—and I know you’re not really a touchy person in public so I get it—”

“We’re not talking about me. Just tell me what you like, Al.”

��I liked it when you told me you loved me… though who wouldn’t like that?” Alex laughed, and Achilles could feel the reverberations course through his stomach. “I like it when you call me baby, is that weird? As, like, a dude? Whatever, I don’t care, I like it. And I like when you explain things to me without making me feel stupid. And I liked when you bought an apron and that really fancy razor for your bathroom for me and those funky salmon skin snacks because I said I liked them.”

Alex curled further into him, settling himself underneath Achilles’ arm before resting his head atop his chest “But how about you? How do you like to be loved, huh?”

“Mmm.” Achilles trailed his fingers through Alex’s hair, wrapping his pointer around a loose curl before gently tracing it down Alex’s forehead and nose until it rested lightly against his bottom lip. “I just like spending time with you, Al.”

“Well there’s gotta be more than that, man.”

“I like that you buy me flowers and say nice things about me, how about that?” A dry chuckle, then he continued softly, “You’re very generous with your love, Alex.” Achilles kissed him lightly on the forehead. “Maybe it’s you, maybe it’s my gargantuan ego, but I’ve never had any doubts. Guess I got the lucky end of the stick.”

“I dunno about that,” Alex whispered, just barely stifling a yawn. His eyelids were beginning to droop, and his voice was soft with sleep and maybe something more. “I think I’m pretty lucky, too, ya know. To have finally fallen in love like this, and to have it be with someone who loves me back.”

#llnks #sdv fanfic #stardew valley fanfiction #stardew valley alex #stardew valley oc #stardew valley farmer

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elliotts-pocket-crab · 2 years

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Ok one more for today (maybe). What the marriage candidates would give their farmer for Christmas or their birthday as well as the present they would love in return

Yess let's get it! If some of the gifts given seem vague its bc I'm trying to keep it to where anyone can fill themselves into the farmer's character so less specific gifts since idk everyone's personality and what they like

Da ladies:

Haley: she's a sucker for name brands, she likes to flex her fashion. As for giving, she'd give you something equally as expensive as she expects

Emily: she'll make you something! She'd want something spiritual like crystals or tarot cards, or she'd like something you baked. It doesn't have to be fancy, if you baked her some banana bread she'd probably tear up

Penny: she'd probably take you somewhere instead of buy you something, and she insists she doesn't want anything, but she'll love anything u give her

Abigail: swords. Women love swords, just trust me. Give her a sword. As for your gift, she'll get you a souvenir from attempting to go in the mines. Probably just some copper ore or something

Maru: completely unrealistic present but one that she'd love if money weren't an issue is a star. You know how people pay to have stars named after people? She'd invent something that would help you with your daily life

Leah: unsurprisingly she'd sculpt or paint you something loll. I think she'd like a set of watercolor paints bc they can get mad expensive to keep buying

Da guys:

Harvey: if you made him a photo album of you guys together he'd cry. He'd do the same as penny and take you somewhere instead of buy u something

Elliot: he'd buy you the most beautiful jewelry you've ever seen. He'd tell you that he doesn't want anything but you, but will be so happy to get whatever you give him. He'd especially like if you did something cheesy like write him a poem/song

Sebby: if you ask him what he wants he'll say "i dunno", but i think he'd like a pet frog. He'd name it after you and everything. He's not the best gift giver so he asks robin to help him pick something out for you. He'll probably go with a stereotypical present like a candle from bath and bodyworks or something

Sam and alex: they both look for something as beautiful as they find you. (Yes, you too boys. You can be beautiful too) they've been saving up for a while to get you something amazing

Shane: he'd give you something that took him all season to put together. He might build you something and keep it locked in the shed in secret. He's good at surprises. He'd tell the chickens the progress he's making all month. As for what he'd like, he'd insist that you dont get him anything. If you give him something, he'd prefer something you made or something that didn't cost much or make you spend too much time on it. Honestly you could make him a friendship bracelet and he'd secretly wear it every day tucked under his sleeve

#stardew valley emily #stardew valley haley #stv #stardew valley haru #stardew valley shane #stardew valley harvey #stardew valley alex #stardew sebastian #stardew valley hcs

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sdvharveybby · 3 years

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How the Bachelors and Bachlorettes surprise the farmer on Valentines Day!

So, my friend @soft-bois-make-me-simp and I decided we wanted to collab for something on Valentines Day!! As this was our first time doing a collab with another person, we actually had a ton of fun throwing around ideas and getting stuff together! Not to mention that they had so many ideas that my mind was swimming, it was honestly so cool. I have a hard time writing about the bachelorettes, but they just blew me out of the water. I couldn’t have done this post without them and it was totally worth it. We had a ton of fun so we hope you enjoy this!!! All the Bachelors and Bachelorettes are below, thanks and WE LOVE Y’ALL. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

I did all the bachelors! @soft-bois-make-me-simp did all the bachelorettes!

Bachelors~

Harvey

Oh, he spends a lot of time trying to present you with the best Valentine's Day present. He researches ideas on how to do that. In the end, he decides he wants to surprise you with dinner at his place and he is prepared. Throughout the day he spends it gifting you different presents like flowers, little love notes, and even a box of chocolates! Then, he calls you up and invites you over. Opening the door to the clinic, rose petals line the floor leading up to his door upstairs. Stepping into his room, the lighting is low with candles and jazz quietly breaking up the silence in the background. There’s a table set up in the middle of the room with a lacy pink tablecloth, dinner is set up, and rose petals decorate the floor. “H-hey!” He says nervously to you, “I-I wanted to surprise you, d-do you like it?” Even without the room completely lit up you know he’s blushing, but you can see that he’s wearing a nice undershirt like he always wears, but without his long green coat, and he’s wearing dark dress pants. He approaches you and softly gives you a kiss on the cheek, he then pulls you into a big hug. The dinner was delicious and you two spend the time complimenting each other and being in each other’s company. After dinner you help him clean up, you then see that he had been researching on how to be romantic… by watching romance movies. His efforts to show you how much he appreciates and loves you shows no bounds. He walks you home and before you walk through the door he says, “I love you, you know? I really do love you.”

Elliott

You wake up at your usual time and head outside to do your daily chores. You head towards the mail box and it’s stuffed to the brim with letters! Eyes wide, every single one is addressed from Elliott, you carry the stack of letters inside and as you open them they’re all love notes with various dates on them. By checking each date you realize he had been writing love notes, with you mind, for an entire month! You check the one for today’s date and it’s the shortest letter within the stack. He explains that he wants you to meet him at his place around 8pm but he doesn’t explain why (his signature has many red hearts around it.) Arriving at his place at 8pm he greets with a big hug and a tender kiss, “I could hardly wait for you, my love!” In his small shack he put together a wonderful dinner for you two to enjoy. During the meal he explains his love for you the only way a poet would, it goes from him desiring your beauty over the sun to how excited he gets whenever you’re in view. After dinner he gestures for you to sit and relax on his bed. The evening ends with him playing the piano, he wrote a piece (for the first time) completely inspired by you and the love he holds for you… and only you.

Alex

He is up and ready at 6am. With groggy eyes you open the door to see Alex with a big goofy smile holding flowers. “Good morning! I just wanted to say that I love you!” He says this all in one breath and thrusts the flowers to you, “I’ll come pick you up at 6pm. I love you, bye!” It seemed over in a flash once you accepted the flowers, but he seemed confident and happy- you couldn’t deny his puppy dog eyes. At 6pm he strolls up the path, and linking your arm with his, you both begin to walk to the beach. Nervously scratching the back of his neck, he blushes and says, “You’ve been there for me a lot. I know I’m not book smart or anything, but you’ve been my-” he reaches in his pocket to pull out a scribbled note, “-light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve never loved anyone more than I’ve loved you,” He awkwardly laughs, and with the sun setting behind him he stops and holds both your hands in his. His eyes are full of love and devotion, “I found these in Zuzu City, I hope you like them,” He pulls out matching necklaces giving you the one with ‘A’ on it. “See, this one has your letter on it! I hope you like it,” You couldn’t say no and he helped you put the necklace on. With his large and goofy smile you two end the evening in each other’s company, holding hands and watching the sun set.

Sebastian

Sebastian gets really excited to show you a new DND adventure that he’s compiled for you two to play. He explains that he’s thought about this for a while and through a slew of note writing and trial and error, he is convinced that he has made you the best gift for Valentines Day. It’s an odd adventure that asks you to find Sebastian his one true love- you laugh thinking it’s just Sebastian being goofy but you play along. Through fighting and exploration you begin to gather clues as to who his true love is supposed to be, the clues are subtle but explain the personality and appearance of the one he wants to be with. At the end of the campaign you smile because all along, through all the notes you’ve gathered throughout the adventure, they all describe you. You are his one true love and the only one he wants to be with.

Sam

Sending you a letter in the mail, Sam explains he wants for you to be home around 8pm. Course you comply, a bit curious considering you had no idea what he had planned. Coming up the path, carrying his guitar, he gives you an awkward smile. He seems nervous and his voice sounds shaky when he greets you, “I wasn’t sure what to give you for Valentines Day, so I did what I know best,” he says, unlocking his guitar case. He gestures for you to sit and with a shaky voice begins to play the guitar and sing you a love song that he created himself. Sam avoids eye contact with you for a bit as he plays, unsure of how you feel about it, but as time went he grew more confident. When he locks eyes with you it’s filled with appreciation, love, and admiration. After finishing his song he gives you a hug and a kiss on the cheek- he didn’t want to be with anyone else.

Shane

Shane decides that he wants to take you out to the Stardrop Saloon for Valentines Day. He opens the door for you and as you two sit he gives you a peck on the cheek. You can tell he’s certainly trying as you see he has gel in his hair and he’s wearing clean clothes. “I… Look, I don’t do sappy stuff, b-but you know, I really enjoy your company and I-uh I wanted to try and do something special for you.” He explains as a blushy mess, he avoids eye contact with you as he says this, but you can tell by the sound of his voice that he really means it. Without ever ordering, Gus approaches the table with a big smile and sets down a pizza that’s in the shape of a heart! “I-uh… I really like you, you know. I’m not good with this stuff, but you mean a lot to me so let’s enjoy some pizza!” He remarks trying to divert the conversation from anything sappy. Through the rest of the night he spends it trying to make you laugh, and you didn’t know how late it had gotten until Gus had kicked you guys out. When he walks you home you see him noticeably get sadder, you realize that he never wanted the night to end.

Bachelorettes~

Abigail

Abigail wants to take you for an adventure. One where it’s quiet and a place only she knows about, or so she thinks. Telling you to clear your schedule that day and to meet near the wizard tower she’ll blindfold you. It’s a secret she wants to share with you, but when she reveals the secret forest you smile at her. Hesitating for a second to tell her that you’ve been here often though when she’s about to lead you to a dead end and you tell her; she knows it wasn’t a secret to you. She asks you to lead the way to the pond where she has a blanket prepared and asks you to sit down. Once you are settled she plays you a piece on her flute that you haven’t heard before. It’s calming and beautiful, you would even describe it as enchanting. After she finished she tells you it was an original piece inspired by you.

Emily

Waking up you find Emily gone from her side of the bed. In her place was a wrapped up box tied together with a bow and a note saying Open. Inside was an outfit that was absolutely stunning in your favorite color. It was a more formal attire then what you both normally wear but that wasn’t all that was in the box. Another note attached to it saying she hopes you get a positive energy from the outfit as it was made with love. For another surprise please wear it and meet at the bus stop at 7pm. Wearing your new glamorous outfit that fits like a glove you see Emily dressed up and waiting for you. She takes you to ZuZu City where to your surprise the bus stops in front of a ballroom studio. Emily tells you she’s been taking a class on the “Dances of Love” and wanted to show you what she’s learned. You spend the rest of the night dancing, both getting lost in the music and each other.

Haley

Haley didn’t mention to keep your schedule open or to come at a certain time but you knew Valentine’s Day was important to her. It was a day she looked forward too each year and you were excited to spend it with her. After the chores around the farm were done you headed to her house with a pink cake you made yourself and a sunflower pouch Emily helped you make. You put the cake in the kitchen and head to her room. She was standing in front of the vanity, but when you walked in you heard a closing noise, almost like a book being closed. She is holding something behind her back when you approach she shoves something into your hands. It’s a scrapbook decorated in pink and sunflowers with both your names on the cover in a heart. Opening it, it's a collage of photos she’s taken over the time you’ve spent together. Polaroids of the first gift you gave her, your date with the cows, some of the mornings you’ve spent together and all the events you’ve been to together. She goes over how special each moment is to her and tears up saying how much of a better person you made her. Thanking you for coming into her life and showing how beautiful a photo can truly be when you’re in it.

Maru

Waking up you were excited as Maru asked you to meet her tonight. A special viewing of the stars with you space girl is something that always makes you happy. Though walking out you see all your crops have been waterd, in fact next to your crops were sprinklers. Confused, you walk to the mailbox where you find a letter from Maru telling you she built some sprinklers for you and if they are something you liked she’s happy to make more. She also reminds you about tonight and to dress warm! When the time arrives you head to the mountain and enjoy hearing her talk about space. That is until she mentions one star that you’ve never noticed before. She asks if you know the name but it’s one you are unfamiliar with. Maru smiles at your confusion. Telling you that for Valentine’s day her present besides the sprinklers, was getting you a star. A way that if you ever need to be reminded of her love just look up and know that she loves you more than all the stars in the sky.

Leah

Everyone in town was buzzing about a big Valentine’s event happening this year. It was something that was kept a big secret and nobody in town knew what was happening just what time to go. Leah was not one to usually express extreme interest in going to town events but she seemed very excited for this one. If not to find out what was the big event you decided to go for Leah. She mentions having to finish up some work and she’ll meet you at the event so heading alone you’re floored when you see it’s an art show. Not just any art show but one Leah is putting on! It’s a Valentine’s day art show with each piece centered around the theme of love. She tells you how you inspired these pieces and how you are her muse. Not just for today but forever.

Penny

Ever since the chili incident you have been trying your best to avoid Penny’s cooking. You love her, you really do and want to support her but cooking was just not a strong point. So when she asks you to a Valentine’s day picnic where she plans on cooking the food you’re a little hesitant but seeing her eyes light up talking about it you tell her of course. Walking into the forest you see her and a large basket next to her. She starts talking out dish after dish and encouraging you to try them all. You take a pepper popper and eat it. It was really good! You try all the different dishes from the stuffing to fish stew all delicious. She tells you she’s been practicing with Gus and is very happy to see you eating her cooking. Penny tells you she has one more surprise and gives you a book. It was your favorite book, looking inside you noticed a message. It was a message from the author, she got your book signed by your favorite author. Penny tells you to look on the last page as well where she wrote a note, although this book may be your favorite, our story will always be mine.

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stardew-saloon · 3 years

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Weird headcannon request: what would your favorite villagers do in an apocalypse

Listen listen listen. I fucking love anything to do with the apocalypse, especially when zombies are involved. So I’ll write about that !!

This one took a while, sorry ! I wanted to include at least all of the bachelors, and then bachelorettes in another post maybe if I’m not lazy.

Also I follow someone on my other account and I really liked how they like, used different colors to highlight names, so I think I’m gonna do that ! It’s just cute okay :)

Bachelors in the Apocalypse

Alex

Alex thinks of himself as the most ready for the apocalypse. He’s got what he and his family need to survive for months. Food, weapons (Mostly just old baseball bats), clothes, and the Will to Survive.

The zombies probably come from Zuzu city. City people are dumb and get infected right when the virus hits. Everyone in SDV is safe. For now, at least.

Alex, unlike the other villagers, refuses to interact with anyone but his grandparents. He keeps contact extremely limited with people. The only time he ever interacts is when he goes to drop off cookies at Haley’s house, per Evelyn’s request.

He does miss his best friend, though. He misses everyone. He misses that time where he didn’t hear zombies going around the town, banging on doors and smacking their heads against windows. It sucks!

Alex takes a number of zombies down. He’s easily one of the toughest bachelors, plus he’s super strong. He wants to eventually take out all of them, make the valley a safe haven like it used to be. There’s still a long ways to go, but he’s slowly making progress.

His grandparents, especially Evelyn, help out by cooking for him and others. Alex helps out other villagers by dropping off little care-packages. It’s cute! It’s also his way of keeping in contact with everyone and making sure they’re okay.

Alex is the one in a zombie apocalypse movie to survive until the end. He makes the smartest choices and keeps his family safe. He can’t afford to lose anyone else.

Harvey

As a doctor, Harvey’s first thought when he hears about the zombie apocalypse is that he needs to find a cure.

And so he tries to. For about a week. Maru is in the office with him for a while, going back and forth from her house to the doctor’s office. It’s tough experimenting on zombies and it feels.. wrong.

Even though they’re a zombie, Harvey knows that there’s a person in there. Was a person. So he gives up on the cure and instead focuses on keeping the citizens healthy.

Harvey is a goddamn tank. Were he to be partnered with Alex, the zombies would be gone within two days. However, they have different concerns. Alex keeps the zombies away from the valley, and Harvey keeps them away from houses.

They have a good system. Harvey goes around the houses to do checkups, trying to keep some form of order in the new world. He makes sure the oldies stay healthy, despite being cooped up, and that the people that are out fighting stay un-zombieified.

I think Harvey would almost last to the end, but makes a careless mistake and gets bit. Fortunately, a cure comes around! He still did research on the zombies during the apocalypse, and his notes came in handy.

Elliott

You’d think by now that Elliott would be used to being cooped up in his house. He’s practically a hermit! The only time he used to go out was to sit by the ocean or see Leah at the bar.

Now that he has to stay in, he doesn’t like it. It’s the same as all of us with quarantine. Elliott never went out much before, but now that he can’t, he wants to.

He feels like dying of boredom within a week. Fortunately, the sense of impending doom creates a good writing atmosphere. He finishes at least three books during the span of the apocalypse.

However, Elliott isn’t very smart about his survival. He either forgets to eat the food that Alex drops off, or eats it before the week is up. It’s tough.

Eventually, Elliott decides he can’t survive on his own like this. He feels like he’s going mad. It makes for nice poetry, but for now, he needs to prioritize his health.

So he makes his way to Leah’s! He figures it’s probably a good idea. Nobody ever said that you couldn’t hang out with friends, or stay with them.

While going to Leah’s, he’s not very careful with avoiding any zombies. He’s not attacked, but he is followed. Leah let’s him in of course, and then end up holed up in her house. She’s lucky enough to have the forest near her house, so she can rely on that.

Elliott probably trips up somewhere and ends up dying first, joining the rest of the zombies. He’s not very good at being a zombie, though. Which might be for the best! He doesn’t run around very much and usually just hangs back by himself.

Sam

Sam thinks he’s going to be good at the whole apocalypse thing. He’s like “I’ve played enough first-person shooter zombie games to know how to fight them off.” Then the second he’s put into combat, he falters and doesn’t know what to do.

Lucky for him, Jodi is good at fighting. Kent knows how to defend the house. Vincent knows how to ask dozens of questions about what’s going on.

And Sebastian knows how to sneak into Sam’s window at night when they haven’t seen each other in a while. They still try and keep close, but most of their conversations are over the phone. It gets lonely, sometimes.

Sam isn’t necessarily smart about the apocalypse because he doesn’t need to be. He feels bad about relying on his parents, but you would too if you had his kickass parents.

He knows how to keep Vincent safe! Vincent is taken out at least once a week, mostly to see Jas. He misses her a lot. Sam likes to see Shane, too! He misses working with his buddy, even if his body was a grouchy alcoholic that waved him off whenever Sam got within ten feet of him. Good times.

Sam really wants things to be normal again, so he tries to stick with Alex whenever he sees him out. They’re good at fighting, but Sam is very chatty and often gets distracted by other things.

Other things are usually Abigail waving out of her window and whisper-shouting for Sam. Sometimes she’ll whip out the Samson!!! just to get his attention. It usually works. Alex will take a minute just to tease him.

Sam either survives until the end of the apocalypse, or dies about halfway through while on his many night trips to see Sebastian and Abigail.

Sebastian

Apocalypse? He doesn’t even know her.

Sebastian’s life is literally the exact same. Aside from hearing less people upstairs, nothing has changed about his life. Demetrius is upstairs working on a cure or something (Seb tuned out the second he started talking) and Maru goes off with Harvey sometimes.

He heard Robin say something about building a wall or something to keep the zombies out. He wasn’t planning to help very much, seeing as the others mom and some other villagers wanted to help out. Really, the only place the zombies are coming in is through the tunnel for the bus, so if they block that off, they’ll be fine.

Sebastian is more focused on other things. Like staying in contact with Sam and Abigail to make sure that they’re still kicking. Demetrius doesn’t let anyone outside of the house, so Sebastian sneaks everywhere, whether it’s outside to go smoke or to see his friends.

He’s pretty good at fighting, though. He can defend himself a whole lot better than Sam, who he thoughts would have more experience. They both thought his video game theory was true because they’re both dummies.

Those few times where Seb does get out of the house, he’s like a zombie killing machine. It’s too bad he’s doesn’t do it very often. He’s good at sneaking around, too. Those years of tiptoeing around the house to avoid his stepdad yelling at him are really paying off.

Honestly, the whole apocalypse could end and the zombies could dissapear, and Sebastian would have no idea. He'd still be down in the basement, messaging his friends and working on his coding.

Or, for a worse ending, zombies could storm his house, saving him for last, and he wouldn’t know until it was too late and he was surrounded by a horde.

I think Seb would end up surviving, though. He’s not necessarily good at the apocalypse, he’s just good at avoiding it.

Shane

When Shane thought about sobering up, he never imagined he’d have to do it like this. The apocalypse is pain in the ass for him.

He stays with Marnie and Jas, rarely leaving the property. He doesn’t like being holed up inside for so long because then he’s just alone with his thoughts, so Jas keeps him going most of the time.

As much as he hates to admit it, he misses his old life. He hated being employed at Joja, but it gave him something to do. And yeah, he misses his annoying coworker. Lucky for him, he gets to see him one a week when Sam and Vincent pop in.

Shane can act like he’s annoyed all he wants, but now? It’s he apocalypse. Why should he be so bitter?

I’m not going to say that the apocalypse changes Shane’s attitude, but he definitely has some revelations about himself that he wouldn’t have had under different circumstances.

Shane doesn’t like fighting zombies. Not as much as Alex does, anyways. But he still helps him out if it’s ever necessary. Shane is infinitely better at defending than he is attacking. He makes sure to keep the zombies away from their house, and the town in general.

Sometimes, Marnie will ask him to deliver stuff to Leah’s house, or Sam’s since they’re awfully close. It feels like a job to him, so he actually enjoys it. He’s surprised to see Elliott at Leah’s and immediately assumes they’re banging. He doesn’t ask any questions, though. He doesn’t care.

Shane probably ends up dying after a tiny mistake that could’ve easily been avoided. He doesn’t see it as that bad, since Jas is still safe. That was all that mattered to him, really. He either dies after a few months, or an entire year into the apocalypse. Either way he does not go down easily.

I would like everyone to know that I wrote these thinking that Lewis holes himself up in his house and does not help anyone out, so they kick him out and elect Alex as mayor. It was a silly thought I had, but then I just went with it.

Alex for Mayor 2020.

It’s not necessarily like, an official position, but they all kinda trust Alex to protect them, so he just assumes the position. He’s not the smartest, which is why Penny was elected to be Vice-Mayor (Alex’s words). They do a good job running the place.

Anyways that’s all! Hope you enjoyed! Sorry this took so long, it was a lot to write hah.

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incorrect-sdv-quotes · 3 years

Text

Okay so I know this is a SDV Incorrect quote blog but I really wanted to show off my SDV headcanon’s so you may ignore this post if you wish (I’ll go back to the normal posts after this, I have like 13 quotes queue’d up right now)

Headcanon’s under the cut:

1.Alex’s real first name is Alexander he just prefers to go by Alex

2.Alex is a trans male so he was born female but transitioned to male at age 13

3.The bachelors ages are (listed youngest to oldest):

Alex: 19

Sebastian: 19 (one month older then Alex)

Sam: 20

Harvey: 25-30

Elliott: 36

Shane: 38

4.Despite Sam being older then him Alex is taller (if you put them side by side Sam looks taller but that’s only cause of his hair if you flattened it you could see Alex was taller)

5.Sebastian is secretly a vampire (He does look like one anyway)

6. Haley and Alex kind of have a Hazel and Xander from Bunk’d relationship where they’re kinda friends but one of them *cough cough* Haley *cough* has a huge crush on the other to where it’s at yandere point- Haley is not QUITE as crazy about Alex that Hazel is about Xander and unlike Hazel Haley can hide the craziness she does have around people but when it’s just her and Alex she’s all crazy and clingy-

Like, she’ll call him pet names like “My jock prince” or “Alex-zandy-” or “My knight in shining armor” Etc. etc- or hug him and never let go until someone LITERALLY prys her off- Talk about nutty nutty nut-so-

7. My headcanon voices for the bachelors are: (Well some of them, if a name is in strike through that means I don’t have one for that one- yet)

Alex: Shining Armor from MLP

Sebastian

Sam: Rottmnt Leo/2020 Sonic the Hedgehog/Dewy from Ducktails (this one might change)

Harvey: Fozzie Bear (Harvey: WaKa WaKa (I’m sorry))

Elliott: Gunther from Shake It Up

Shane

8.Shane is basically the god of chickens he’s such a good caretaker of chickens that he could summon an army of chickens to peck the eyes out of everyone in town with one “Babock” CHICKEN ARMY!!

If you decided to read this post and you liked my headcanons then this is it for now more might be added later as I play the game and scroll through the SDV tags on Tumblr more

EDIT 1: More headcanons!:

9: Elliott is an amazing actor but a horrid horror-movie actor (It’s just his screams are unrealistic he will literally just say “Aaaah” otherwise it’s the same as the rest of his acting) (This scream-glitch is an easy fix if you yell “Ghost” more on that in 10)

10: Elliott is TERRIFIED of ghosts even those cute and/or clearly fake ghosts (Why else do you think Spirits Eve/Halloween has Skeletons every year and not ghosts? No one wants to scare anyone Too bad.) Actually Alex dared Elliott to watch the Disney Junior show Vampirina which went fine until Demi came on screen- Elliott literally wet himself and screamed for 3 whole hours- (Poor Alex who had to listen to that the whole time-)

11: Elliott treats his pocket crab as his ACTUAL son, not as his pet but as his actual biological son (it’s actually really cute)

12: The portraits in this video for a portraits mod is how the characters actually look to me (Excluding Elliott Sam and Sebastian they still live in my brain with their cannon looks): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmBW8BzSZpU&list=WL&index=1&t=5s

13: Krobus is Sebastian’s father (yeah you THINK it would not make sense along with Hc numb.5 but if you think about it if his father is a monster and his mother is human he’s gonna be born as a human-looking monster! Which is a Vampire!)

EDIT 2: Damnit. I was scrolling through this and I realized I missed a Hc and it slipped through the original post and the EDIT 1!

14: Alex has Dyslexia (this bugger Hc belonged in the original post but it slipped through both edits)

EDIT 3: MORE HEADCANNONS-

15: Both Abigail and Sebastian used to have hair to match their parents (Abby’s was brown (Like said in game) and Sebastian’s was Ginger) but due to their “Unusual” parents (Abigail: Wizard Sebastian: Krobus) their hair changed color when they got older and their mothers just pretended they died their hair so both the towns people and Abigail and Sebastian themselves would not freak out

16: Sebastian has snake bite piercing's but he only wears them when he’s alone (he got them in the first place cause 1: Sam dared him and 2: he decided it would be a fun way to rebel against dead to Sebastian Demetrius, he didn’t have to keep them but he ended up liking the look)

17: Sebastian owns a giant frog plush, it’s twice the size of him, is really soft and is incredibly fat (it’s to the point it’s just a circle that has stubby legs) he loves it more then anything Excluding Alex but he does not want anyone finding out he loves it let alone owns it so he stuffs it under his bed when people are in and/or near his room

18: Sebastian’s first word was literally “Froggy”

Ex:

Robin: Can you say “mama”?

Baby!Sebastian: ...Froggy!

Robin:

Robin: Out of all words your first word is “Froggy”? Really?

19: The shortest to tallest Bachelors are:

Shane

Sam (If you take his hair and go *Squishes flat*)

Alex

Sebastian

Sam (If you count the added height from his Mullet)

Harvey

Elliott (Tall stinky sea dude)

20: Sam got Sebastian to scream “Bubbles” for 5 hours straight

Details on that:

Sam: It’s impossible to say “Bubbles” threateningly

Sebastian:

Five munities later:

Robin: Uhhhh Sam? Why is my son on the roof screaming “BUBBLES”?

21: Sebastian owns a biker jacket but he only wears it when riding his motorcycle cause the jacket makes him look way more goth then emo and he prefers the emo look over goth look despite he acts more like a goth

22: One Feast of The Winter Star Sebastian got everyone an empty box and when they opened it Seb said: “It’s a void of nothingness. Just like life.” He did not get in trouble or nothing cause your allowed to give what you want but he did not do that again

23: Sebastian requires glasses to read, he can see perfectly but when it comes to reading on a computer or on paper he needs glasses

24: Sam does a perfect Darth Vader voice and Darth Vader breathing noises

25: Sebastian has vampire powers (cause he is a vampire (Hc 5)), he knows about them and is chill about it but he does not use them unless necessary cause he just does not feel the need to use them otherwise (His powers include, immortality (he also can’t be killed cause on my take on Vampires the stuff that “Traditionally” harms/kills them is just a mith and actually does nothing to them), super strength, increased speed, fast self-healing, telekinesis (I know this is not “Traditionally” a vampire power but Seb does have it) and the ability to change into a bat)

26: Both Sebastian and Elliott are actually pretty jacked (Not Alex level jacked but still) you just can’t see it unless they’re shirt-less (but in Seb’s case at least loose the hoodie)

27: Harvey’s doctor’s mallet weapon is just as heavy and as big as himself so he rarely goes into combat cause he has trouble welding his own weapon-

Harvey: Time to explore the mines! *grabs his giant doctors mallet*

Harvey: Nope going down. *falls backward with a thud*

28: Elliott carries at least one very sharp pencil with him at all times so if he sees a very annoying person or a slime that escaped the mines he’ll grab it and go *StAb*

29: Everyone else makes Hermit jokes around Elliott which he finds funny and annoying at the same time (They used to do the jokes about Sebastian as well but they stopped cause when they did Seb strangled them Darth Vader style) Ex of the hermit jokes:

*singing* Someone’s on the beach with a hermit! There’s a hermit on the beach I know I know! Someone’s on the beach with a hermiiiit! And the hermit’s name is Elliott!

30: If you think Elliott’s cannon SDV schedule is anti-social you should see how anti-social he gets when writing a book-

EDIT 4: Surprise, there’s more

31: Elliott is a mermaid merman (he’s a human by day half human half fish by night but he’ll change forms sooner if you dump water on him- found that out by Haley throwing water on him in hopes he’ll melt-)

32: When in ‘fish’ form Elliott’s tail is incredibly strong (if you get hit by it you’ll go flying 900 feet in the air in 5 seconds at full strength)

33:Elliott only lets Harvey call him “Elly” if anyone else does so expect Elliott to dump water on himself then hit you with his fish tail)

34:Vincent will sing The Little Mermaid song “Under the sea” around Elliott and Sebastian (Sebastian cause think about it and Elliott cause he’s an IRL Mermaid)

#sdv #stardew valley #sdv headcanons #stardew valley headcanons #headcanons #not a quote #I have to edit this like 100 times cause I'm dealing with a strikethrough glitch

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hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis · 3 years

Text

Caught in Between 26. Fallen Friend

Summary: Athena Dumont has finally found a place to call home after many years of foster homes and traveling. She had finally tamed her supernatural side and just wanted to live a normal teenage life. She quickly discovers that there is nothing normal about her hometown, Mystic Falls and gets sucked right back into the supernatural world.

Post Date: 12.15.20

Word count: 2k

Based off: 04x06 “We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes”

I wake up the next morning to find multiple calls from Elena. I call her back and she answers and starts speaking so quickly I couldn’t understand.

“Ok. Ok. Just calm down,” I say.

“Can you just get here as soon as possible?” She asks frantically.

“Yeh, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I say and hang up.

I get ready as fast as I could and headed to Elena’s. As I made my way into her house, I find her walking back and forth freaking out. As I make it further into her house I find Jeremy laying on the couch, although it does not look like he’s asleep, more like unconscious. Damon comes in almost as soon as I make my way to Elena.

“What happened?” I ask ignoring that Damon had arrived.

“I uh couldn’t sleep so I came down to get some milk. And um I saw the hunter and next thing I know I stab Jeremy in the neck with a knife,” Elena explains.

“Ok well, at least he still has the Gilbert ring,” I respond.

“I can’t believe this happened. What--what am I going to say to him?” Elena says freaking out.

“Thanks for not ditching the family ring after it drove Ric crazy?” Damon suggests.

“Damon…” I say and look at him annoyed.

“You should have called Stefan,” Damon says, clearly unsure of why he was there.

“I don’t want to talk to him. He’s been lying to me and hiding things from me. He compelled Jeremy to forget god knows what,” Elena explains.

“In all fairness, I mean, I think you killing him kind of trumps that. I mean, you should have called Stefan,” Damon suggests once more.

“I don’t trust him right now, Damon,” Elena says.

And just like on cue, “Hey,” Stefan says walking into Elena’s house.

“P.S. I called Stefan,” Damon says as I roll my eyes.

“What happened? Why didn’t you call me?” Stefan asks.

“I just--I need to go upstairs and shower. Clean all the blood off my hands,” Elena says and walks off.

“Could any of you listen to Elena, once?�� I ask before Jeremy wakes up.

“Welcome back. How you feeling?” Stefan asks.

“What happened?” Jeremy asks.

“Long story. Buy the E-book,” Damon says and walks to the kitchen. I head into the kitchen after Damon and help him clean up the blood staining the floor.

“You know you could be a little more sensitive right?” I tell him.

“Ehhh…” Damon says.

“Damon… it’s her brother,” I give him an annoyed look.

“Where’d Jeremy go?” Damon asks as Stefan walks in.

“School. Bonnie has him volunteering for some occult exhibit,” Stefan explains.

“Or maybe he didn’t want to linger in a house where his sister just jammed a knife in his neck,” Damon says.

“It’s Klaus,” Stefan says looking down at his ringing phone.

“Ooh, time to face the music, pay the piper, dance with the devil,” Damon says.

“You know, I’m glad you find this amusing. If he finds out I told you about the cure, he’ll kill both of us,” Stefan says confusing me.

“Quit avoiding him. You’re being shady. Shady people get outed,” Damon says as Stefan answers his phone.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Stefan says.

“Well, I can’t imagine why what with you ruining all my plans for a hybrid-filled future,” Klaus says.

“Well, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t sworn me to secrecy,” Stefan says.

“Life’s full of ifs, Stefan. Let’s extenuate the positives, shall we? The hunter was one of the five. We’ll find another. It may take centuries, but we’ve got nothing but time, right?” Klaus says.

“You’re using your calm voice today. Who’s getting killed?” Stefan asks.

“Not you, if that’s what you’re worried about. But I am concerned about your beloved. Have the hallucinations started yet?” Klaus says as the three of us exchange looks.

“What do you know about that?” Stefan asks.

“I’ll tell you. Where are you?” Klaus asks back.

“I’m at her house,” Stefan says.

“How convenient. So am I,” Klaus says before we hear a knock on the door. Stefan quickly moves and heads outside.

A few minutes later Elena comes down looking like she saw a ghost. “No!” She says before running outside.

Damon and I follow her but we find that she had been whisked away by Klaus and Stefan was standing alone on the sidewalk. Stefan explained to Damon and me about the hunter’s curse, and about the cure to me. I call Bonnie knowing that she was our only luck in finding Elena. Once she arrived we explain what happened.

“You lost her?!” Bonnie asks.

“Well, ‘lost’ is a very strong word. We technically don’t know where she is,” Damon says.

“We do know that Klaus took her,” I say.

“I’m more worried about what Klaus said about the hunter’s curse,” Stefan says.

“How does Klaus even know about this?” Bonnie asks.

“How does Klaus know anything? The guy’s like a billion years old,” Damon says.

“He said it was a witch’s curse,” Stefan says.

“You know if I could do anything to help I would, But I--,” Bonnie says.

“But nothing. Wave your magic wand, hocus pocus, be gone, hunter, ghostess, whatever,” Damon says.

“The spirits won’t let me do the magic I need to break the curse. But I can ask Shane for help. He knows everything about everything,” Bonnie explains.

“Great. You two do your thing,” Stefan says.

“Where you going?” I ask Stefan while he walks away.

“I’m gonna get her back,” Stefan says.

“I’ll come with you. Maybe he’ll listen to me for once,” I say and follow Stefan outside.

“I don’t need help getting Elena back,” Stefan says sitting on his motorcycle.

“Maybe not. But I am good back up. At least if he listens to me. We might have a better chance, than if you go by yourself,” I explain.

Stefan takes some time to think, “Alright hop on,” Stefan says and starts his motorcycle. He stops just past the town clock tower and makes a call to Caroline. We then make our way to Tyler so they can explain what’s going on.

“Haley is the one that helped me break the sire bond. She showed me what to do. How to help. When she showed up here, I thought it was just a coincidence but it turns out she’s been helping one of them. Her friend Chris. And she came to help us get the rest of them out from under Klaus,” Tyler explains.

“Including me,” I say waving my hand.

“So...Are you telling me that Chris and you aren’t sired anymore?” Stefan asks looking at me.

“That’s exactly what he’s telling you,” Caroline confirms. We all then come up with a plan and of course, I’m the one who goes to talk to Klaus, but what did I expect. Stefan, Tyler, and Caroline head out as I head to the Mystic Grill where Klaus was.

“Place looks pretty good considering your hybrid got blown up in it,” I say walking up behind Klaus whose drinking at the bar.

“Athena. To what do I owe the pleasure? You never seek me out on your own, I tend to have to come to you, even if you’re staying with me,” Klaus says.

“I want you to give Elena back,” I say standing by the bar.

“Ahh. They sent you to sweet talk me. Well, good form, But I’m afraid I can’t do it,” Klaus responds.

“Why not?” I ask.

“She needs my help,” Klaus says as I scoff at his statement. “Look, I’m not going to burden you with the gory details. I know you’d rather be doing other things, painting or hanging out with your friends,” Klaus says.

“Can’t do that, if Elena isn’t around,” I respond.

“Can I at least offer you a drink?” Klaus asks.

“Yeah, thanks,” I say knowing it’ll keep him out of his house longer.

“How uh… was your trip to Italy? I assume it was for business, Klaus Michaelson doesn’t do vacations,” I say.

“It was very productive. I’d be glad to tell you what I’ve been up to, soon though,” He says as I feel a buzz from my phone. I look down to find a text from Tyler sayings that Elena had escaped. And another text from Damon saying that Jeremy is the key to stopping the hallucinations.

“So here’s the thing. I didn’t just come here to try to get you to release Elena,” I say.

“You don’t say,” Klaus says with a smile plastered on his face.

“I came here to distract you so that Stefan could go to your house and break her out,” I start as his smile falls. “Which he did and don’t get mad, but then he lost her,” I finish and Klaus doesn’t hesitate one moment to move from his seat. “Klaus!” I say.

“Athena. You’re beautiful and the love of my life. But if you don’t stop talking, I will kill you,” Klaus says surprising me.

“They figured out how to stop the hallucinations,” I say stopping Klaus in his tracks.

“Ok. You have 10 seconds to tell me,” Klaus says with haste in his voice.

“You have to find a potential hunter and have them kill another vampire. The catch is...it’s little Gilbert,” I explain.

“Well, this leaves us no choice. Let’s find us a little Gilbert and a hybrid,” Klaus says.

“Damon already contacted him. We’ll meet them at Tyler’s,” I say.

“Well, let’s not waste any time,” Klaus says taking my hand in his and pulling me with him. We make it to Tyler’s house and go over the plan.

I watch as Klaus walks into Tylers and the next thing I hear is Klaus yelling. As the hybrid was starting to make his way out of Tylers, Stefan rushes in, staking him. And soon after Jeremy follows in and finishes the hybrid off. I follow in after and see Jeremy standing over the body, Klaus with a big smile on his face, and Tyler and Haley standing in shock.

“Alright, let’s go home,” Klaus says grabbing my arm.

“No, I’m staying here,” I tug my arm away. Klaus doesn’t try to stop me, but instead just leaves.

The next morning I wake up to find Haley asleep on the couch and Tyler sitting there with a bottle in hand.

“Tyler?” I ask walking into the room.

“It’s just us. Paying our respects to Chris,” He says and takes a sip of the alcohol.

“We didn’t have a choice,” I explain, sitting in the chair next to him.

“I told him we had his back. I told him if he helped us, he’d be free,” Tyler explains.

“We needed to help our friend,” I say.

“Yeah, we helped our friend by handing over another friend,” Tyler says. I sat in silence not knowing how to respond. “Chris was a friend. He’s like us. Part of my pack. All he wanted to do was be unsired by that disgusting, piece of...How did you even get Klaus to agree to give up one of his hybrids?” Tyler asks.

“Well, I didn’t have much to offer nor do I want anything to really do with him but…” I say.

“I agreed to go on a date with him,” Caroline says walking into the room. Tyler stands up facing Caroline. “I just thought that it might help keep up the ruse between you and Haley,” Caroline explains. Tyler doesn’t respond but instead, he throws the alcohol bottle against the wall, scaring both Caroline and me.

“What the hell is going on?” Haley asks waking up.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. Just celebrating the life of a fallen hybrid friend,” Tyler says shifting his eyes between Caroline and me.

I decided to leave Hayley and Tyler alone for the rest of the day and go check up on Elena.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” I ask her as we walk into the kitchen.

“Better now that the hunter is gone. Thank you for your help,” Elena says.

“No problem. I’d hate to lose you too,” I say.

A/N: This is just a filler, I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading.

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athenagc94 · 3 years

Text

Delving Beneath the Surface

Hello! Here is the first chapter of my new Stardew Valley fanfic - Delving Beneath the Surface. Follow my farmer, Verona, as she searches for dwarven artifacts to learn their language, lost to the ages. If you’re interested in following along, I’ll be updating it here on AO3 and here on Wattpad. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~

The Stardrop Saloon was the place to be on a Friday night.

More accurately, it was the only place to be in Pelican Town on a Friday night.

Verona chatted amicably with Emily as she fixed her a drink behind the bar. She asked Haley to join her, but she chose to spend the night with Alex instead. She mentioned something about not wanting to interact with her sister more than she thought was necessary, but Verona struggled to understand why. Sure, Emily had her quirks, but in the end, she was sweeter than Robin’s strawberry crumble.

And she always gave her a discount on drinks when Gus had his back turned.

Emily slid her drink across the beaten counter. “You should really stop by more often. You brighten up the room with that aura of yours.” She motioned to her, the crystal beads on her wrists catching the light like a disco ball. “It has this shimmer I don’t often see around here. Maybe because you’re from out of town.”

“Thanks,” she heard the doubt in her voice, “I think?”

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s a compliment.” She sighed dreamily. “I think you’re rubbing off on Haley. Her aura used to be so blah, but now it’s much brighter. I suspect you have something to do with it.”

She merely smiled as she took a sip of her drink. The orange juice and grenadine barely masked the burn of liquor. Emily was also very generous with her alcohol. One of her mixed drinks left the room spinning if she drank it too quickly. And she never needed more than one. It was a mistake she only made once after she woke up, half-naked and covered in hay, with Shane. The pair agreed never to speak of it again. They had taken to avoiding each other ever since.

Even now, he refused to meet her eye from across the bar.

Clearing her throat, she set her drink aside and said, “We both know she’s a lot nicer than people give her credit for. She just needs to warm up to someone first.”

Emily leaned against the bar, cradling her cheek in her palm. “Oh, I know how sweet she can be, but I like to see her hanging out with someone who isn’t Alex. I love that boy, I really do, but he’s a bit bland for my tastes.”

Verona shrugged. “Alex is fine.”

“No one wants to be described as fine,” Emily said with a knowing smile, “Unless they’re being called fine.” Verona shook her head, earning an airy laugh. “You know I’m right.”

“I will neither confirm nor deny such things.”

Emily pouted. “Boo. You’re no fun.”

At the end of the bar, a harried-looking Elliott plopped down in a seat and waved Emily over. She eyed him warily, then turned back to Verona. “He must have finished another long writing session,” she whispered so only she could hear, “he always comes here for a celebratory glass of wine, but if you ask me, his first order of business should be the bathhouse.”

Verona hid her smile in her drink.

With a smirk, she added, “I got to keep working, but let me know when you need a refill. It’s on the house. Just don’t tell Gus.”

“You spoil me.”

“Anything for my sister’s best friend.”

Like she said, sweeter than strawberry crumble.

Drink in hand, Verona wandered over to the game room on the far side of the saloon. Abigail and the boys normally laid claim to it before she arrived. The enduring smell of cigarette smoke and old pizza proved that much. To her surprise, the trio was absent that evening and the game room abandoned. She stepped inside, studying the games consoles on the long wall.

She lingered on one – Journey of the Prairie King. The monitor transitioned between the trial and the high scores.

The coveted first place belonged to someone with the initials SQM.

She glanced back at the bar. No one paid her any mind. The chatter was loud enough to drown out the jaunty music coming from the console. Surely, no one would miss her if she played a game or two.

Fishing a coin from her pocket, she shoved it into the machine. The monitor transitioned away from the high scores and straight into the game. The goal was simple enough. Shoot enemies and avoid getting touched. She could manage that.

Her fingers flew across the control pad. Dodge, shoot, collect. She enjoyed the thrill that came with these games. No strategy needed. Something to kill time and sweep her away. That was exactly what she needed after a long week of farm work. Ten minutes came and went in the blink of any eye. The LED lights on the marquee lit up followed by the crawl of the ‘high score’ animation across the screen.

She threw her hands up and whooped triumphantly. “Take that SQM.” She replaced their initials with her own – VDS. The screen popped up and she took a moment to revel in her victory. Pulling a coin from her pocket, she started another game. At the very least, she could knock SQM to third place before she called it a night.

“What are you doing?”

Verona whipped around. Sebastian leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed tight over his chest. She shifted in front of the console and sputtered, “Me? I was just killing time, or whatever.” It beeped and flashed, signaling her loss. “And I’m not very good.”

“Whatever.”

He made a beeline for the pool cues on the far wall. She watched as he reached for one, then seemed to reconsider, grabbing the one beside it. He weighed it in his hand with a satisfied hum and turned to the table.

“Playing pool by yourself?”

He ignored her as he organized the balls in the triangle rack. She stood opposite him, watching quietly. The soft clack of plastic filled the empty air between them as she waited for him to acknowledge her. A minute passed before she sighed and took the cue ball, rolling it idly between her hands. “Not much of a talker, eh?”

Silence.

“Haley mentioned that you like to keep to yourself.” A muscle in his jaw tightened. “And that you don’t get out much, which seems kind of mean if you ask me. One could argue that I don’t get out very much because I—”

“Look,” Sebastian cut her with a glare, “I’m not interested in…”

He trailed off, zeroing in on her chest. Her blood coated her veins like a thin sheet of ice. She should have been used to the stares by now. It happened all the time in Zuzu City. On the street, the subways, around the Joja office. Eyes followed her wherever she went. She hoped Pelican Town would be different, but evidently not.

“Where did you get that?”

Her brow pitched. “Where did I get what?”

He took a step towards her. She matched it with a step back. Surprise colored his features as he studied her. The full brunt of his gaze unnerved her, but it felt far from predatory in the way that she was used to. The fear that swelled in her gut must have translated on her face because he stepped back, giving her the space that she needed. The pressure that weighed on her chest lightened until she could breathe again.

“That.” He motioned to her chest. She followed the line of his gaze to the pendant hanging off her neck. A pale blue gemstone on a simple chain. “Do you know what that is?”

She found the gemstone while exploring the mines earlier that week. Amongst the snow and ice coating the lower levels, she almost missed it, but it caught the light of her flashlight just right. When she got home, she decided it would make a lovely necklace and threw it on a chain.

“It’s a necklace.”

He gave her a long look. “That’s a frozen tear.”

She stared at him. Was that supposed to resonate with her or something? He scratched irritably at the nape of his neck. The shaved underside of his head had grown out and curled around his ears. She noted the reddish hue at his roots and bit back a smile.

“Legend says those are the tears of yetis that inhabited the mines thousands of years ago. The museum used to have one, but it was stolen with the rest of the collection.” He gave her a once over – like he suspected her of stealing it. She had a killer alibi considering that happened years before she arrived in town – and they both knew it. “How did you manage to find one?”

“I found it while gathering ore the other day.” She brushed her fingers over the gemstone, marveling at how it still felt cold to the touch. Maybe there was some truth to the legend after all. “I had no idea these were so rare.”

“Wait. You went down to the mines by yourself?” She braced herself, already anticipating the direction this conversation was about to go. “Why? Wouldn’t that ruin your manicure or something?”

She threw her whole body into the eye roll she gave him. He had no idea. With all the work she did on the farm, there was no hope of salvaging her cuticles. The closest nail tech was two hours away. She had neither the money nor the time to do anything about it.

“Well, yeah, it does,” she deadpanned, “but I also want to commission some tappers for trees to make a little extra money, but Clint’s ore prices are ridiculous.”

“You’re telling me that little miss pageant princess went down to the mine alone?”

Verona resisted the urge to groan. If she had known that rumor would spread like wildfire, then she would have kept that chapter of her life to herself. Granted, she never expected a polite conversation with Jodi to end with half the town knowing about her history with frilly gowns and tiaras. She came here for a fresh start, but she couldn’t escape her past that easily.

Sebastian sized her up. “And you came back unscathed? I call bullshit.”

“I wouldn’t say unscathed.” She teased the sleeve of her sweater. “I had to buy a drugstore worth of bandages and antiseptic from Harvey when I got back. Those bats are merciless.”

She pushed up her sleeves and showed him the bandages wrapped around her forearms. The cuts had stopped bleeding, but a few gashes still looked nasty, so she kept them wrapped until they healed a little more. Harvey warned her that a few would probably scar, so there went her flawless skin. Her mother would have a meltdown if she ever found out, but she could cross that proverbial bridge later.

“Okay,” Sebastian grimaced, “but why go down?”

“The prices here are ridiculous,” she reiterated, “Pierre already bleeds me dry at the turn of the season when I buy seeds. I can’t afford Clint’s ore prices on top of it. If I can gather it myself, then I will.”

“Fair enough.” He turned back to the pool balls, signaling the end of their conversation.

Verona was never one to pay attention to those signals. “So, are you playing pool alone?”

He sighed. “Sam got stuck re-stocking shelves at work and Abigail is helping her dad with inventory. They’ll stop by later, but I decided to come ahead and set things up for us.” He swiped the cue ball from her hands and set it on the table. “So, no, I’m not playing alone.”

“You don’t strike me as someone who plays pool.”

He snorted. “Yeah, well, I would have never pegged you as a gamer.” He nodded to the consoler. “I was ranked number one, but I guess I’ll have to settle for second place.”

Her blink betrayed her surprise. “SQM?”

“Sebastian Quincy McCarthy. What? You thought Sam had the high score?” He rolled his eyes and turned back to the pool table. “I love the guy, but the guitar is the only thing he has going for him. You de-throned me, so thanks for that.”

With a shrug, she said, “In my family, second place is unacceptable.”

“I’m used to second place, so whatever.”

A frown toyed on her lips. What was that supposed to mean? Before she could press, her phone vibrated in her back pocket. A text from Haley greeted her, followed quickly by three more. She skimmed the messages and cursed. Alex ditched her for a last minute gridball game and she wasn’t taking it well. She tucked her phone away. That meant her night and this conversation was officially over.

“I gotta go.”

Sebastian hummed in response, which was better than being ignored, so she took it. Turning to leave, she stopped short. Her gaze fell back to the necklace. Genuine awe like his was hard to come by. It’s not like she needed this frozen tear. She had plenty of gems to make jewelry at home. This obviously meant something to him.

“But before I go,” she pulled the chain over her head, “I want you to have this.”

She offered it to him. He made a face, caught somewhere between surprise and his usual jaded indifference. The two emotions fought for control until he ducked his head. The crown of his head burned crimson. “What? Why?”

“Consider it a gift.” She kept her hand outstretched towards him.

Sebastian shook his head. “No. You’re the one who found it. It’s your prize for surviving the bats. I’ll find one eventually.” He hid his hands in the pockets of his oversized hoodie. Verona sucked irritably on a tooth. As if that would save him.

“I find plenty of cool things in the mines,” she countered, “I can make necklaces from a jade or ruby. This means something to you. I want you to have it.” She took another step towards him, nearly flush with his chest. His breath hitched as she peered up at him through her lashes. It might have been a cute moment if not for the fierce determination coloring her features.

“I insist.” Standing on her tiptoes, she managed to drape the necklace over his head.

His fingers wrapped instinctively around the gem. The corner of his mouth twitched up into the faintest hint of a smile. “It’s still cold,” he breathed in disbelief, “but how? It’s the middle of the…” His eyes fluttered as he refocused on her face. Sawdust and cigarette smoke clung to him, barely masked by the smell of peppermint on his breath.

“Thanks, I,” he swallowed hard, “I appreciate it.”

She beamed at him as she stepped away, breaking whatever that moment might have become. “I’m glad I could give you something you really wanted.” If possible, his blush darkened. “And if you ever want to play pool and the others aren’t around. I’d be more than happy to—”

The bubbly beat of Haley’s ringtone cut her off. Verona swore under her breath and brought it to her ear. “I’m on my way. You can tell me everything over a glass of wine.” She threw a wave over her shoulder as she hurried out of the saloon, not bothering to look back and see if he returned it.

#stardew valley #sdv #sdv sebastian #sdv fanfic #sdv emily #sdv farmer

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hibiscustea9 · 3 years

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Hi! You have some great rare pairs in your fic. I was curious if you have other favorite pairings between villagers that you ship or enjoy reading about in other stories?

Thank you for the question and compliment! I do enjoy reading rarepairs, especially ones that go into depth about how they ended up together. Suffice to say, Elliott/Sebastian, Leah/Shane, and Abigail/Sam won’t be the last rarepair that makes an appearance before “Fire Walk with Me” is over; we’ll get to see another one crop up a few chapters into the autumn arc.

Some of my favorites that I’ve read in other fics include the following:

Shane/Alex: Given how Shane was a gridball star in his own right back in the day, I can only imagine how Alex had some hero-worship going on. Alex’s determination and drive, if put toward helping Shane break out of the cycle of self-loathing and making him realize how much people actually do care about him, creates the potential for such sweetness and growth for both of them. I would love to see a future for Shane and Alex where they settle into raising lots of blue chickens + Jas together and Alex comes to terms with his latent bisexuality and helps Shane through his alcoholism and they give each other the home life they always wanted to have.

Marnie/Gus: Marnie and Gus are both people who take care of others and care for them deeply. I’ve seen this pairing once before (and a pox on my house, I didn’t save the fic as a bookmark, argh!) and was surprised at how much I loved it. Marnie deserves so much better than Lewis and Gus deserves a relationship with someone who appreciates him for what a good, decent, kind man he is. I get the impression that Marnie and Gus both went through much of their lives not necessarily believing they would ever really be happy in the conventional way and so have made the best of what they have, not trying to seek out something that would actually make them happy. When two people who care so deeply end up together, it’s pure magic.

Harvey/Elliott: I don’t think this is quite so much a rarepair now, given that I’ve seen several fics recently writing about them, but I adore Harvey and Elliott together (to the point where I even had them once having a brief fling pre-“Fire Walk with Me”). They both are in a place in their lives where they seem to understand who they are and what they want or need, and they would be very good for each other. Elliott’s gift for words would provide the praise and care that Harvey so desperately needs, and Harvey’s work ethic and stability would really help to ground Elliott and give him a place of security. Plus, they’re both so damn sweet.

Kent/Sebastian: While I don’t particularly care for reading about fics with cheating, I have read some really wonderful explorations of a relationship between these two broken people, usually after Kent and Jodi get a divorce, and the image of them finding comfort in each other and offering support as they both try their best to navigate a world that seems in many ways to have left them behind. I can very, very easily see Sebastian having had a longstanding crush on Kent from when he was younger, perhaps being the first indication that he wasn’t straight (which I’ve offered some hints at in “Fire Walk with Me”), and of how a relationship of just friendship or companionship between them evolves into something neither expected but both desperately need.

Haley/Abigail: I really like this pairing, particularly where I’ve seen it as Haley and Abigail originally being friends as children but growing in different directions and their friendship falling apart after they went to high school and ended up in different circles. I think there’s a lot here that they can help each other with. They both have a need for some purpose in their lives, both of them have dreams that they’re afraid of pursuing, and both secretly want to be thought of as more than just what they appear as on the surface. I’ve seen some really lovely explorations of how they each help the other grow into the woman she’s meant to be.

Gunther/Penny: This one I have never actually seen in a fic, but I mean. Penny so desperately needs stability and comfort and someone who understands her, and Gunther is so lonely and never even goes out. I see both Gunther and Penny as suffering from terminal shyness and secretly pining for each other for a long, long time. They would be so good for each other - Penny could help Gunther come out of his shell and integrate more fully into the town, while Gunther could provide a home and a place where Penny feels completely herself.

Thank you so much for the question, and I’m glad you’re enjoying “Fire Walk with Me”!

#ask ht9 #stardew valley

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chain-unchained · 3 years

Text

December 12 - Part 2

It was like déjà vu, walking into the mines; it was hard to believe that their nearly ill-fated adventure was only a few months past. It felt like a lifetime ago, even though the harrowing encounter with the slime boss was still fresh in their minds.

For Abigail of course it was just a brand new adventure, uncharted territory waiting to be explored. “Alright, so how does this work?” Her impatience dripped from every word as the boys filed in behind her. “Do we sign in or something?”

“Yeah—er, well,” Ashe stopped at the sight of the unmanned rescue station, “usually, at least… that’s… weird. I could have sworn that Ellie would be here today…” For Abby’s sake, he clarified, “Usually there’s someone here to check us in.”

“Oh, you’d have loved her Abby.” Sam elbowed her with a grin. “She was a real cutie. Real shy, too. Totally your type.”

Her face fell. “Really? Damn it. I’ll have to sneak up here on another day and try to meet her. Penny’s the only other girl in town that I’d consider and she’s too into Maru to pay me any mind…” She sighed. “You boys have it so easy.”

“Well,” Ignoring that, Sebastian blew on his frigid fingers to warm them as Ashe looked over the log book, “what’s the plan now, Ashe? Are we still gonna go in or what?”

“… It… should be okay.” There was real hesitation in his voice, though his uncertainty was eased somewhat by the sight of Percy’s signature on today’s page. Besides, if something did happen to go wrong, he did have that as a last resort. “I think as long as we sign in we’ll be okay.”

Abby cocked a brow. “Why do we need to sign in if there’s no one here?”

“Trust me, Joja will know and you’ll be banned in a heartbeat.”

He scrawled his name hastily in the entry beneath Percy’s and stepped back so that his friends could do the same. While they did that, he stepped behind the station and retrieved a box full of safety equipment for them to make use of. After what happened last time—not to mention this growing sense of foreboding-- he didn’t want to take any chances.

By the time he returned to the sign in desk, Abby had finished adding her name to the book. At least, he had expected it to be her name, but instead—

“Really?” Sebastian was wholly unimpressed. “You used your Discord handle?”

“Like I’m dumb enough to put my actual name in here.” She twirled the pen between her fingers, wearing a cheeky grin all the while. “I’m not gonna risk mom and dad finding out. They’d flay me alive.”

Both Sebastian and Sam exchanged a long look; after a second, Sam snatched the pen from her and they both hastily amended their sign ins.

“Speaking of Discord,” she pointed a painted nail at Ashe, “you need to give me yours so I can invite you to our server. I’ve been meaning to ask you for awhile now but it always kept slipping my mind. And don’t even think of giving me that ‘I’m too busy’ b.s.,” she added as the farmer opened his mouth, “I know for a fact that you’re scrambling for stuff to do now that winter’s here.”

“I-I wasn’t going to say that--” he absolutely was, “--I was just going to say that I don’t have a Discord.”

“Well you have a phone, right? Or a laptop?”

He shook his head. “Not anymore.” That one day of rotten luck had seen to that.

“… Wait, really? But—” She was aghast. “How do you survive?”

Sebastian paused in the middle of strapping a hard hat onto his head. “Really? You’re just now learning this?”

“I already said that it kept slipping my mind!” She strode forward and grasped Ashe’s face with both hands. “Seriously, how do you not have at least one of those things in this day and age?!”

Now Ashe was feeling quite embarrassed. “I just—never have the time to use them, so there wouldn’t be a point to replacing—”

“Oh, I so know what you’re getting for the Feast this year.”

“N-No no, actually no, please don’t—” He paused. “Wait. Feast?”

Sam tugged off his gloves and tugged on a pair of work ones. “Yeah. The Feast of the Winter Star.”

“… What’s that?”

“Oh, right, you’re from the city. It’s just another festival. It’s how Pelican Town celebrates Christmas.” He grinned. “There’s a big feast, and everyone does a Secret Santa present exchange. Nothing too crazy, but it’s kinda fun to shop for a gift for a different person every year.”

Sebastian grimaced. “Yeah, it’s fun until you get Haley as your secret buddy. I got her last year.”

“And I got her the year before.” Abby strapped on some protective gear, but stopped short of the hard hat. “God, that sucked. She totally shit on the gift I got her.”

“Haley does kinda have rich white girl tastes,” Sam nodded.

Even if she did… “I know that she can be… hard to deal with,” Ashe fidgeted with his own hard hat, “but she’s not that bad…”

All three of them looked at him like he’d just said the earth was flat.

“Yeah, she’s over the top, and she’s loud, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, but… she’s a person too, y’know? And she knows that nobody likes her…”

Now their attention shifted from him to each other. “Are you feeling alright?” Sam finally asked.

“Huh? Yeah, of course… I just… Y’know what, nevermind.” He slapped his own cheeks and unstrapped the pickaxe from his back. “Why are we standing around talking when there’s loot to be had?”

The sudden about-face didn’t go unnoticed by his friends. It was eerily similar to the one he pulled the last time—compounded by him just not seeming like himself recently. But it was hard to have a conversation with someone’s back, and so they had to hastily follow him into the elevator leading into the left mineshaft—well, Sebastian and Abby followed, dragging a reluctant Sam behind them. The blonde had a severe case of claustrophobia and fear of elevators.

“This is new.” Sebastian said, with Sam clinging to him for dear life as the elevator began its rickety descent into the depths of the shaft.

“Mhm. Joja installed it… last month, I think?”

“Damn. You’ve been hitting this place that hard?”

Ashe grinned meekly.

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Because I have no sense of restraint and this is par for the course for me?”

“… Actually, yeah. That just about sums it up.” He patted Sam’s back. “You’re okay, Sam. Nothing’s gonna happen. You can let go of me now.”

“Y-You don’t know that for sure!” If anything, Sam only clung to him harder, and Sebastian just rolled his eyes and put up with it. There was no getting out of that vicelike grip once it was locked.

####

Even though it was the bastion of the very thing that he was once addicted to, Shane still made it a habit to visit the Saloon after work. It was a place to go that wasn’t straight back to ranch—of course he loved the place, but there was something suffocating about heading straight home after an eight hour hell shift stocking shelves. And the free sparkling juice that Gus would slip him was nice. It helped with the cravings.

“Hey Shane!” Emily was the first to greet him as he stepped in through the swinging double doors. She usually was, always with a smile. “Glad to see you! I wasn’t sure if you would be up to visiting with all that snow out there.”

“I mean, this place is right on the way home, so it’s not like I have to go out of my way or anything.” He took a seat at the bar, and on cue Gus set a cup of sparkling something in front of him—might have been cranberry just on first sniff. “Thanks, Gus. This a new drink or something?”

“It is, it is.” The portly fellow was all smiles as well as he cleaned a mug. “Courtesy of our favorite farmer. I thought you ought to have the honors of giving it the first tasting.”

“Well shit, I better not say anything bad about it.” He took a swig and let the flavor mull over his tongue. It was equal parts sweet and tart, and nicely carbonated—it tasted vaguely like the fruity drinks that he once was into, back in his edgy high school years. “That’s pretty nice.”

“As expected of produce from Ashe’s farm.” Emily leaned against the counter. “Speaking of, how’s he doing lately? It feels like an age since I last saw him.”

“Fine, as far as I can tell. Still a crazy busybody always doing something.” He sighed and swirled the deep red liquid around in the cup. “Won’t lie, I’m starting to get real worried about him.”

“Oh? How come?”

“Just—how do I put it? He just doesn’t seem like himself lately. He’s saying and doing all the usual stuff, but… iunno,” he shrugged his shoulders, “I just get this feeling that it’s an act.”

“Well, if anyone could tell it’d be you. You know more about him than anyone else.”

“But that’s just it!” He threw his hands up. “He’s so tight-lipped that even after—fuck, how many months has he been here--?”

“Nine months,” Gus answered, bemused.

“Thank you-- after nine months, I know basically fuck-all about him.” With his fingers he began to count what he did know, “I know he lived near the capitol, I know he used to work for Joja, and I know—well, I’m pretty sure that his mom died. That’s it. Fuck, I don’t even know if he has allergies. That’s bad, right?”

Emily tapped her finger against her lips, contemplating. “Mmm… Not necessarily? Doesn’t it just mean that that stuff hasn’t come up yet? I mean, are you expecting him to just sit you down and go ‘this is my life story’ like in a badly written movie or book?”

“No, what—of course not.”

“Well then, what’s the problem? If it really bothers you so much, talk to him about it. Tell him that you would love to hear more things about him from time to time.” Playfully she poked him with her elbow. “Some people just need that little extra nudging to open up, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right on that… Maybe I can get the ball rolling on one of our dates. Oh, speaking of,” he set his glass down and turned to Gus, “can I reserve the back room for the next few Sundays?”

Once more Gus looked amused. “Are you finally going to take me up on that offer I made when you first got together?”

“Maybe. This is literally the only thing I could think of to make him take a break, short of strapping him to a chair in front of a TV.”

Emily hid a laugh behind her hand. “I’m glad you’re choosing this instead of that. Maybe you can talk him into stopping by sometimes, too. I miss that sunshine he brings with him.”

“I’ll try, but no promises.” Shane finished off the drink and paid for the reservations. Honestly, he missed that sunshine too…

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