Author's Note: EDIT OCTOBER 11 2008 This was originally going to have a lot of chapters but my Harvest Moon MM phase lasted a total of 2 weeks so I'm bored of it. X3 Since there's not really any loose ends that need tying it can remain a one shot until I get interested in HM: MM again.
Jack sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow with an aching arm, the sun was at full force and he still had another field of land to till in preparation for planting the summer crops. He'd been up since 6am and it was now almost 2pm, eight hours of non-stop physical labor was enough to drastically weary even the fittest man but Jack persevered, determined to finish his duties before the next season rolled around.
"Jack!" The farmer heard someone shout. He turned in time to catch a glance of bubblegum pink hair as he was tackled to the ground in an enthusiastic hug.
"Hey Nina, what're you doing here this time of day? Aren't you meant to be helping your mom today?" Jack stood and offered a hand to Nina to help her up and she grinned in return. It was clear to Jack she was interested in him, and she hadn't made much point of pretending otherwise. He on the other hand, wasn't exactly sure what to make of her. She was sweet and very pretty, not to mention she shared a lot of interests with him but he didn't really think of her as anything but a close friend. Though apparently the rest of the town had already decided they were perfect for one another and if he had to hear "Nina really is such a wonderful girl for you Jack!" one more time he would scream.
"I got the afternoon off and I thought you could use some company," Jack smiled politely but didn't say anything in reply; company was the last thing he needed. He just wanted to get this damned tilling finished so he could rest, now he'd be stuck entertaining Nina all afternoon. "How long have you been out here? You know Jack; you really shouldn't exert yourself so much. I worry you'll hurt yourself. Particularly when it's this hot out, it's not healthy for you. You might faint! Then you'd have to go to the doctors and I know how much you dislike taking time off tending your farm but-" Jack winced as she continued to ramble. Normally he enjoyed being around her, but not now. Every inch of his body ached, his feet, his hands, his elbows, his knees, his toes -
"And did you know there's a new doctor in town? His name is Alex; I wonder what he's like?" His fingers, his back, his head – most of all his head. It was throbbing violently and his vision seemed to blur and tilt, or was it him tilting? Nina's words became muffled and suddenly the heat seemed tenfold intense, the last thing he heard was the violent thud of his head as he hit the ground and Nina's concerned gasp.
Blinking wearily, Jack came to. How much time had past? A few seconds? A minute? He squinted and attempted to bring his vision into focus, where he'd expected to see the blazing sun and blue sky he saw white walls and a blurred figure casually approaching him.
"Ah you're awake I see, and how are we feeling?" Jack blinked at the unfamiliar voice and stared blankly at the stranger as his vision finally returned, in his disorientation he'd entirely forgotten Nina's mention of a new doctor and apparently his face was painted with confusion as the new doctor chuckled.
"Sorry, my name is Alex. I'm new to Flowerbud; it's a shame we had to meet under these circumstances, though having read over your file you are no stranger to this clinic I take it? You seem to have somewhat of a habit of overexerting yourself according to this, but I do hope this is the last time I'll see you in here under these pretences."
"How long have I been out?"
"Several hours, your friend brought you in earlier. It's already 9pm so you're welcome to stay the night if you don't quiet feel up to leaving yet, no extra charge of course."
"Thank you, but I still have to finish up some work on the farm so I should be going."
"Out of the question. You need to rest for several hours at the very minimum."
"But I feel fine and I've got so much to do, I've got to get the land tilled before next season, I've got to gather some flowers for Nina, I've got to tend to the animals, the list is endless."
"In that case you can come with me and get your flowers; I've got to collect some herbs and gentle walking shouldn't be too much of an issue, that way you can get one of your chores done if you're so concerned about it and I'll be able to rest easy knowing I haven't sent a patient off knowing full well they'll wind up straight back here tomorrow."
"If you insist," Jack sighed, no sense in arguing and he probably could do with a little rest after all.
The two made their way up the gentle slope of the mountain towards the peak where they knew the best herbs and flowers grew, the full moon illuminating their path. They'd walked most of the journey in a solemn silence, and with at least another 2 hours hike remaining it was possibly the most awkward experience Jack had ever endured.
"So… Why search for herbs now? Why not in the morning?" Jack asked more so to break the silence then out of curiosity.
"I've got to be at the clinic all day so I don't really have the time. I know staying up late isn't good for your body, but it's so nice to be up here at night. Everything's sort of surreal, the way the moon reflects from everything. Sounds kind of lame huh? But … It's just nice…" The doctor replied with a faint smile. Jack glanced around, he'd been up here at night plenty of times but it wasn't until now he was noticing how beautiful it actually was. Alex was right, it was almost surreal. Jack stole a glimpse of the doctor, his ebony hair was bathed in moonlight and his eyes glistened reflecting the still night. It was almost like stepping inside a painting.
"What about you, collecting flowers for Nina? That's the girl who brought you into the clinic right? She seems to care about you a lot, and you must care about her a lot as well to be going to all the trouble of coming up here to gather flowers for her."
"It's not so much I'm going to the trouble of it than it is she demanded them and I don't want to seem like an ass for not getting them for her. She's really sweet, but I'm not sure if I'm that into her. But everyone expects us to marry, it's like the town's forced us together." Jack grabbed a stick from the ground and knocked it against rocks as he walked past, he wasn't sure why he was being so open with Alex. It was probably going to be all around town tomorrow that he's breaking up with Nina, but it was good to at least talk to someone who wasn't biased towards the whole idea of him and Nina being perfect soul mates.
"So you're leading her along then?"
"I've never really thought of it like that, I just figure I'm so involved with work on the farm at the moment that my priorities are too focused on that to really put much into a relationship. I'm sure I'd be more interested in her if I had more time to even consider commitment or whatever, but you know how it is."
"If you like someone then you like them, there's no such thing as being too focused on work to like someone, only being too focused on work to make time to be with them. It's a different thing."
Jack narrowed his eyes at the ground in thought, why didn't he have any interest in Nina? She was practically perfect. His work was his only explanation, though from what Alex said it wasn't a plausible excuse and he'd never really considered it much before, at least not enough to doubt it.
"Ah!" Jack was jolted from his thoughts by Alex's abrupt exclamation and watched in amusement as the doctor darted excitedly towards one of the odd purple-colored herbs that Jack had often seen on his ventures up the mountain before but always bypassed.
"There are many precious plants in this village, so my work is a little easier. After all, medicine is expensive and hard to come by. That's why I transferred here, I didn't become a doctor for the cash, I became a doctor because I want to help people live quality lives, but the expense of medicine sure doesn't make it easy so the bounty of herbs and plants here is a blessing. One herb isn't enough though, let's scale to the top that's where the best quality herbs are. After a break anyway, this hike really takes it out of you doesn't it?"
Alex made his way towards the bridge that crossed a river that was slowly trickling by and Jack followed, crossing his arms as he watched the doctor heave himself onto the bridge railing and dangle his legs casually above the small drop below. "It's a shame we didn't bring any fishing rods, I could go for a nice big serving of dace sashimi right about now." The ebony haired man commented, staring into his reflection below.
"You don't need a rod to catch fish, look," Pulling up the hems of his pants, Jack marched forward the trudged into the water, not quiet sure what he was trying to prove but determined to show Alex he was skilled nonetheless. It was almost intimidating that Alex was a doctor and he was just a modest farm boy, he needed to even the playing field somehow, otherwise it put Alex in the position of authority and power. Basically, just another one of those subconscious dominance-battles between men.
Alex quirked a brow as Jack stood several feet below him in the shallow banks of the water, carefully surveying for a potential catch. Jack had no idea what he was doing. He'd never caught a fish like this in his life. But he'd seen bears on TV do it, if a bear can do it, he can do it. Fo sho.
Jack noticed a prominent shadow approaching and poised himself for attack. Alex watched with a bemused grin as Jack slowly drew his leg forward and the fish swam closer. Jack narrowed his eyes, concentrating on the shadow then when it was only about a foot from his grasp, he pounced.
Alex laughed as Jack wrestled with the slippery fish which was much bigger than he'd anticipated, its tail smacking him in the face repetitively as it struggled to get free from his clutch. With one final slap to Jack's face, the fish slid from his grip and disappeared beneath the surface leaving the defeated farmer drenched and fish-less.
"Hahahaha! If ….only… I was as skilled… as you!" Alex hollered between laughing. Jack glared and splashed water angrily up at the doctor, causing him to lose his balance and tumble off the bridge railing into the deeper portion of the water. Jack laughed and intended to splash him when he resurfaced, but his laughter faltered as one too many moments passed.
"Alex?" Another few seconds past and Jack called out again, but when the elder man didn't resurface Jack panicked and rushed forward, diving down and ignoring the pain as he dove a little too deep, too fast in a place that was still rather shallow and grazed his chest along a sharp rock as he kicked forward. Recognizing Alex's limp form before him, Jack kicked forward as fast as he knew how and embraced the doctor, kicking him back to the bank and dragging him ashore, sitting my his side.
"Alex?!" He shouted worriedly, shaking the doctor's shoulders. Suddenly, Alex's eyes flickered open and he grinned. "That'll teach you for knocking me off the railing," Jack looked at him stunned and shouted.
"You idiot! That wasn't funny!"
"It was a little funny,"
"You have one twisted sense of humor then."
"Comes from being a doctor. Part of the package."
"And what's the rest of the package? Feeling the need to scare people shitless?"
"The rest of the package that comes with being a doctor in small towns like this is having to be the responsible one all the time, never being able to have any fun because at any time you have to be there to save someone's life and that wears you down because you're always on guard, always assuming that at the next second someone's going to come through that door and whether they live or die is dependant on you. If they live, then you've done your job. It's no big deal. If they die, it's your fault and you live with that burden. Now you've experienced what I have to experience as a doctor, so the next time you get the urge to try and show me what you experience as a farm boy, at least show me something you're good at."
Jack stared blankly, completely speechless. Alex stretched out and tucked his hands behind his head, his wet, ebony hair tumbling messily over his forehead and white surgeon's coat clinging taunt to his body.
"Ugh I hate wet clothes; they feel so heavy and constricting." The doctor sat up and unbuttoned his coat in frustration, casting the garment aside and laying back down shirtless, grains of sand from the riverbank clinging to his back and sides.
Jack glanced downward at the doctor beside him, stretched out over the riverbank shirtless. He was slender and pale, but his body was incredibly toned and tight and almost delicate in appearance, like a human china doll. Beads of water balanced unsteadily on his smooth, naked chest and Jack deliberately cast his glance aside, there was something so overly sexual about a man lying shirtless and wet on the sand, it was unsettling and awkward but in a perverse way, almost arousing.
"It's now the season with the smell of green. Spring sure is nice isn't it? It'd be nice if it was spring all year long, but part of the attraction is the relief after making it through winter." Alex murmured his eyes half-closed and focused on the full moon.
"In winter, no crops will grow. My farm is almost 100 dependant on what produce I harvest, and the cash I make from my animals is hardly enough to survive on. It's tough, so when spring arrives, it really is the biggest relief each year."
"Isn't your farming duties your excuse for having a lousy relationship with Nina? In winter, that shouldn't be a problem right?"
"It shouldn't, but then I guess I'm stressed about money all winter so I'm more concentrated on that."
"You really have an excuse for every season don't you? Why don't you just admit to yourself you're not interested in her and move on to another girl, no sense in staying in a loveless relationship."
"I'm not interest in any other girl, so it's not like she's holding me back. I just feel like I'm expected to marry her, start a family… Like everything's already been mapped out for me."
"Oh yeah? And who's drawn the map?"
"The people, this is a small town, you don't know everyone yet, but here it's like being in a game and your goals are all imbedded in your mind by the people around you. A day doesn't go by when someone doesn't make a remark about me marrying Nina and starting a family, and I know she's expecting me to propose. On one hand, I just want to settle down, do what's expected of me and live a happy, normal life. But on the other hand, I feel like it's not enough, like if I do that, then I'm missing out on something, or ignoring a part of me that's looking for something bigger or different. That all sounds real stupid huh? But … I don't know… It just seems like I'm caught between two choices but I don't know what either are."
"So just do what you want to do."
"It's not that's simple."
"Yes it is, but you're making it complicated. Just forget everything you know and be you. I'm a doctor right? I cure people, and right now I'm curing you of this mentality you have about your life being completely dictated by the people around you. You care too much what others think, do something unexpected, something you'd never usually do because you're too afraid of what others might think. Even if it's something you wouldn't do either way, just do it."
Jack laughed and tossed a pebble out across the river, watching it skip several times before sinking.
"Like what? Dump Nina? I can't do that."
"Start small. Do something random and crazy right now, this very second."
"I'm not the random and crazy type."
"Look, when I'm in that clinic, I am serious and professional. In retrospect, it's hard for me to break that persona I build and be who I am outside of hours and away from patients. You're the same, you be what you think your job and people require you to be."
"What do you suggest I do then?"
Alex paused in thought for several moments then sat up and started wriggling out of his wet pants. "Let's get naked!"
Jack stared wide-eyed as Alex kicked off his pants and briefs and ran towards the river completely naked, the moonlight bathing his pale skin in an obscene glow. The doctor glanced back over his shoulder at Jack.
"Are you coming or not?" Continuing his dash towards the river, Alex strode in until he was bellybutton deep and turned to face Jack, grinning at him expectantly. Hesitantly, Jack fingered the hem of his shirt before deciding 'what the hell' and tearing it off. His tanned abs rippled as he moved, a result of countless hours of physical labor in the sun.
Quickly shuffling out of his pants, Jack raced towards the water with the moonlight behind him and dive bombed into the center of the river. Alex laughed and threw a large clump of reeds at the other before sighing and settling onto his back to casually float.
"I could just float here forever," He murmured, gazing up at the full moon. Jack smiled and glanced up at the moon also, wading to stand beside the doctor and dumping a clump of mud onto his face. "So could I," Jack grinned.