It was early spring in the valley and the first flowers had started to bloom. Shane found it all just so exhausting; he hated seeing the world so young and new around him while he ached and aged. He felt those aches as he made his way to the Joja Mart across town where he worked. As he was crossing the bridge he noticed that there was something different about this walk and he stopped at the top of the bridge to look around. It took him a moment before he realized that there was stranger sitting at the opposite bank.
The stranger had her pants rolled up above her knees and a sunhat shielding herself from the sun. Her legs hung over the edge of the bank into the water while she watched the edge of her fishing rod, waiting for a bite to hit. Shane's eyes were drawn to the open beer and cooler next her rather than the woman that was drinking it and he felt his mouth watering for a cold one. As he stared, the woman looked up at him and gave him a curt nod as she raised her beer to him.
His brow furrowed as he remembered that there was a person attached to that beer and he grumbled before he hurried off to work. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was curious about the strange woman who drank beer at 9am in Stardew Valley.
As Shane headed to the saloon after work he glanced over to where the mysterious stranger had been sitting before. She was still there, but now there was a basket full of fish, a lawn chair, and several empty beer cans littered around her. She wasn't fishing anymore, just staring at the sunset as she sipped at another can of beer. Shane was shocked that a woman that looked younger than him could drink so much and hurried to the saloon to get his own pint.
Not 10 minutes after he had settled in next to the fireplace, the girl walked into the saloon, leaving her basket outside by the door and sat at the bar near him. Shane's face scrunched up at the smell of beer, fish, and river that radiated from her.
"Gus, I'll have a pizza," she said just loud enough for Gus to hear. "Sure thing, farmer. I'm not serving you any alcohol though… I can smell it on you," he replied with a bit of a sour expression. "Yeah, yeah. I know, I just wanted to eat before I walk home." As Gus walked away to prepare her food she took off her hat and set it on the bar and ran her hands though her long chocolate hair. Her eyes were such a deep dark brown that they appeared to be black.
Those dark eyes glanced over to Shane and she smiled awkwardly, "hey. I'm Stevie." As soon as she finished he snapped back at her, "I don't know you, why are you talking to me?" She rolled her eyes and looked forward again, "just trying to be friendly." He didn't say anything else to her.
Stevie only ate a couple of slices and turned to him again. "Go ahead and have the rest. I was going to ask if you wanted to share anyway."
Shane felt the heat rise to his face when she said this, feeling a pang of guilt in his stomach. "Whatever… I'm not hungry." He watched as she gathered her things and left the saloon. Almost immediately after she left he began scarfing down the pizza as if it was the first thing he ate in days.
He ignored the judgmental looks that Emily and Gus gave him but he couldn't ignore the curiosity she sparked in him.