A/N: Day 2 was a simple theme - "Starry Night." Could be used for any couple in Harvest Moon, easily. But I settled on Luna and Kasey, 1) because Luna is one of my favorite bachelorettes of all time and 2) because Kasey (and the male protagonist farmers in general, except for Jack maybe) is rarely featured in fanfiction, it seems. And I was also curious about what might happen if Starry Night weren't actually quite so starry. So enjoy! -CCM
Not-So Starry Night
Tonight was the night of what was possibly the most important romantic event of the year in Castanet, and one that Luna did not want to miss. Especially now that she finally had an actual date.
Not that she hadn't had a date to the Starry Night festival before; no, quite the opposite, in fact. She had usually gone to watch the stars with the mayor's son, Gill, in many years past, back when they had still been considered an item. But this was her first Starry Night with a guy who wasn't Gill, and she wanted it to be special.
With any luck, everything would fall into place perfectly, just as she imagined.
Luna had just been applying the finishing touches of mascara to her eyelashes in her vanity mirror, hoping her hair would stay properly curled in place (after all, it had taken hours to get the curls in her usual pigtails especially perfect this time), when the expected knock came on the door. She flung the makeup brush to the countertop with a squeal. "Oh! He's here!"
Her older sister Candace had answered the door for her date - this, Luna knew, because the blue-haired young woman in question had scurried quickly into the bedroom just as Luna brushed past her, hiding her steadily reddening face in her hands. Candy always seemed to do that when an attractive young man came to Sonata Tailoring; she just clammed right up and found an excuse to escape at the earliest convenience possible.
She would have to help her work on that, Luna sighed to herself, but there was no time for that tonight; this was her night for once. Knowing her older sister would be perfectly fine dateless and comfortable at home this Starry Night with their grandmother - dates made her terribly nervous, anyway - Luna shrugged off those thoughts for the time being and entered the shop room with a proud flourish. Her tall, brown-haired date was standing there by the door, just as predicted, and her grandmother Shelly clapped her hands together with a smile on her face.
"You two have fun tonight, dear!"
"Thank you, Grandma! I'm sure we will! And please, you have a nice night here with Candace, too!" Luna grinned at the both of them as Kasey stared at her in amazement, and she twirled in place to show off her new burgundy winter dress, complemented perfectly with the fashionable matching boots and ribboned hairpiece that Candace had helped her dress in. She just hoped she wouldn't get too cold outside in a skirt.
"You look... really beautiful," Kasey stammered. "That's a nice dress."
Luna beamed ever brighter. "Oh, thank you, Kasey! I guess even a farmer like yourself can appreciate good taste in fashion, even if he doesn't exactly... put it to work on himself."
She laughed off her own comment before either her grandmother or Kasey himself could accuse her of insulting him, and added with a wink, "Don't worry, I'm only joking, Kasey. You look very nice. You clean up well; I like that in a man."
Yes... Nothing was going to go wrong on this date. Still beaming, Luna allowed Kasey to lead her away by the hand, took one step outside the door, looked up into the sky...
...and shrieked.
"Ah, Luna!" Kasey flinched backward and stared at the small woman incredulously, wondering what in the name of the Harvest Goddess had gotten into her. "You startled me. What are you doing? What's wrong?"
"Look!" Dramatically, the pinkette jabbed a shaking finger into the air, pointing toward the sky above.
The sky... was covered in a blanket of thick grey clouds. Not a single star to be seen.
"Oh, this is a disaster! A Starry Night... with no stars? I've never heard of such a thing!" She crossed her arms over her chest huffily, glaring up at the clouds over their heads as though they personally had wronged her. "What a joke!"
"Well, uh... maybe it'll clear up in a bit," Kasey attempted to console her, though even he was less than convinced by his own words. "We can still go on our date; a couple of clouds won't change things."
"If you say so," Luna grumbled, though she seemed to lighten up a bit. "It certainly does ruin the effect, though. I really wanted to try and make a wish on a shooting star tonight; now I can't even see one."
"It'll be fine, Luna. Um... Your hair looks nice, too, by the way," Kasey commented, hoping to ease the tension of the moment and return his date to her former cheerful self of just a few moments ago.
"Oh, thank you!" Apparently, he had said just the right thing. Luna looked somewhat startled albeit genuinely grateful for the compliment, as though she hadn't expected a man - and a farmer, at that - to even notice the time and careful effort she had put into her elaborate hairstyle. Clothes were one thing, but her hair?
She patted her hot pink curls smugly, taking extra care not to crush the minuscule flowers that adorned her pigtails. "This style takes a lot of work, you know. It's nice to have a man actually appreciate all the effort I put into looking good."
"I'm sure you would look good even without all that effort," Kasey added sincerely. Luna rolled her eyes.
"Yes, but that's not the point. I'm not just trying to look good; it's a fashion statement, Kasey."
Luna found that Kasey had led her halfway down the street before she had even noticed where her feet were taking her. She glanced around at their surroundings; while it was certainly cloudy up above, at least it wasn't snowing. She didn't even feel the cold yet, which was a plus, though she honestly wouldn't mind having to cuddle up to to her date a bit for warmth.
"So, let me guess... We're going to Flute Fields?"
Nearly every couple in Castanet watched the stars in Flute Fields during the Starry Night festival; it was an unspoken tradition amongst the villagers. The small hill overlooking the wide snow-filled field was usually a perfect stargazing spot, and it looked uniquely beautiful in the soft white starlight reflecting off the snow's sleek surface. It was a shame the stars weren't out this time around.
Kasey looked just the slightest bit taken aback, but quickly brushed it off. "Well... That was the original plan. I admit, it got pretty cloudy out, so you can't even see the stars at all... But we can still head over there if you like."
Luna nodded in agreement. "It's still a nice spot to sit. And you brought the goods, right?"
"The goods..." Kasey stared at her, uncomprehending, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah, that's right... The goods! Uh, you mean the pie, right?"
She couldn't help but laugh at him as they continued walking. "Yes, Kasey, the pie. The one you told me you would bring. And the blankets; I hope you didn't forget them...?"
"Uh..." Kasey gripped the strap of the rucksack on his back, his eyebrows knit in thought as he tried to remember whether he had actually packed what he promised he would. In the meantime, they came upon the snow-covered plains of Flute Fields, which would have been sparkling and glowing almost magically in the starlight had there actually been any stars out to speak of.
Luna was still annoyed about that.
"Here, I found a good spot to sit. And I found our blankets! Guess I did pack them after all." Kasey dug a pair of slightly worn-looking patterned quilts out of his rucksack, which he spread out on the space in front of him that wasn't completely covered in snowdrifts, as well as a small tin of food. "And I have the pumpkin pie, too."
He presented the pie in the tin to his date, looking slightly sheepish. "I admit, I didn't make it myself, though. It was actually my sister's pie. Honestly, I'm really not that much of a baker."
Luna shrugged. "A pie's a pie. And I know your sister is a great cook; I should probably be grateful." She took the tin from him and daintily sat down on the quilt, gesturing for Kasey to join her. He quickly sat down beside her, the pumpkin pie and two forks between them.
"Speaking of sisters... Does your sister have a date for Starry Night?" Kasey asked abruptly, genuinely curious. The blue-haired older sister of the Sonata Tailoring duo was about as shy as they come. Every time Kasey himself stopped by the tailor's shop to visit Luna and tried to make small talk with the timid girl, she would clasp a hand to her mouth as though shocked someone actually had an interest in speaking to her and turn bright red; an occurrence that was proven by what had just happened when Kasey came to the door that very night, in fact.
"Oh, Candace?" Luna stifled a small giggle behind her delicate hand. "Candy doesn't have a date this year, surprise surprise."
She shook her head, sending her puffy pink pigtails swinging. "Not that there aren't any men with an interest in her," Luna clarified. "Julius stopped by yesterday, like he always does, and tried to ask her out for Starry Night, but you know how she is. She's just so... dense, when it comes to guys, and she's really shy about it too, and so she turned him down without even realizing that he was trying to get a date with her!"
She sighed, though she could barely conceal her laughter. "A shame I wasn't there at the time to nudge her in the right direction, so to speak. I mean, sure there are probably better guys out there, but it's quite obvious that Julius likes her a lot. But, goddess, he could probably dance around in front of her wearing absolutely nothing but an "I love you, Candace" sign around his waist, and Candy still wouldn't get the hint!"
Kasey shuddered at the thought of the flamboyant violet-haired man in such disturbingly revealing attire, and quickly pushed it far out of his mind. Not the kind of thing he needed to be thinking about ever, thank you very much.
"Uh... alrighty then."
They sat in silence for a few moments, Luna still giggling at the expression on her date's face as she took another bite of the pie. It really was delicious, and not only because she had a huge sweet-tooth rivaled only by that of Maya. Then again, Maya would probably eat anything.
"So, what made you decide to go on a date with me?" Kasey finally asked, glancing at the pinkette with a teasing glint in his eye. "Surely you must have all the guys scrambling to spend a Starry Night with you."
"Oh, please... not true." Luna shrugged, waving the assumption aside with one flick of her delicate wrist, though there was a definite pinkish tinge to her cheeks that certainly wasn't just from the cold alone. "You're a good guy, Kasey, you know? And while you're certainly not.. perfect, to put it lightly, you're lot more fun than Gill, at least."
She sighed, glancing back up toward the cloudy, disappointingly still-starless sky. "You know we used to date… He was so uptight about everything! It really got on my nerves sometimes! But you seem much more easygoing... nearly to the point of pure laziness, I'd even say."
Ah, Gill. The mayor's own son, future mayor of Castanet and most in need of a good cocktail or two to loosen that stick wedged up his ass. Yeah, he and Kasey weren't exactly on the best of terms.
"Hey..." The brown-haired farmer frowned at his date in mid-bite, "Don't bring up Gill right now; this is our date. And I'm not lazy... I do work hard, you know. It might not be as official as Fancy-Pants Gill's mayoral-lite duties, but crops don't grow themselves, you know!"
"Oh, I seem to have touched a nerve, haven't I?" Luna smirked at him, twirling her fork between her fingers. "I know you do a lot of work on the farm, I really do... but Gill does a lot for this town too, you know. And... at least he didn't smell like dirt."
"Hey," Kasey shot the pinkette an exaggeratedly offended glare, "what do you want me to do about it? I mean, I am a farmer."
"Well, you could always shower." Luna rolled her eyes, though her voice let the farm boy know that she was only teasing him good-naturedly. "Funnily enough, I don't recall your sister smelling quite so… musty. And she works on the farm with you, too!"
This time, it was Kasey's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever, Luna. You're lucky you're so... cute. Or I wouldn't bother dealing with your shit."
"Oh, Kasey," Luna hummed, "You know I'm just kidding with you. See, I do have a sense of humor."
To the farmer's surprise, she set the half-eaten tin of pie down on the quilt in front of them and settled herself against his side comfortably, curling up in an almost catlike manner.
"This is... nice. Though it's a shame the stars aren't out." Luna frowned up at the sky. "Can you believe it? A Starry Night with not a star in sight!"
Kasey shrugged. "Well, at least it'll be one to remember. The Starry Night That Wasn't, or something like that."
Luna nodded with a laugh. "A Not-So Starry Night?"
Kasey paused in thought for a moment, glancing down at the beautiful pink-haired girl curled up against him, and then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Honestly? I'm sorry this date isn't really the best... I truly did want it to be something special for you. Something great, you know? ...With some nice and quiet, romantic stargazing, and shooting star wishes, and..."
He trailed off.
Luna smiled at him, and this time, it wasn't a teasing, self-satisfied smirk, but a genuine, happy smile. "Are you kidding? This is great, Kasey. Perfectly imperfect, I'd say."
Kasey looked up at the cloudy sky once more. "...Even without the stars?"
"Even without the stars."