hmfan: There's not a lot of Rick x Claire fanfiction on here. I decided to pick this game up again and got Rick up to a red heart. Bleh, I don't know why I always go for him now. I used to go for Kai... Anyway, this was very nostalgic to write and fun. Hopefully it's just as fun for you.

Quick note: Not sure on the consensus of the fanbase, but I call Claire - Jill.

Rick found it funny how his recorded voice sounded strikingly different from the voice he heard come from him. Sure, he felt a few cracks here and then, but it wasn't anything to laugh at. He frowned discontentedly as he looked over to his ex-girlfriend with her husband of quite a few years. They were mocking him in the middle of the Inn's Bar. It could've been the close-call with the sick hen from earlier or the amount of alcohol he had began to store in his system, but he was at the end of his wits.

"Jack, fresh feed is the best feed for hens!" Jack, the farmer, waved his finger. He was currently intoxicated as he had enough money to purchase enough bottles of wine to surpass his seemingly infinite tolerance. Jack was normally quiet and Rick saw him as a good friend most of the time. "I wear long hair to compensate for my tiny dick."

Karen was cracking up. She couldn't get one word out and mimicked Jack's impression by waving her finger as well. From what he could tell, she wasn't pregnant which seemed uncommon to Rick. The soil wasn't the only fertile thing on Jack's farm. It seemed that within the 4 or 5 years he and Karen were married, their birthrate had surpassed India's. Karen must have treasured the few days that she could drink in between birthing their 3 or 4 children. It was quite probable that the causes of the high birthrate was Karen's drinking habit.

And the farmer was no dummy. What kind of man would he be not to take advantage of such a voluptuous and sexy woman? Why, even through his rage, at that moment, Rick was tempted. However, Rick's intoxication wasn't accompanied by boldness and he'd be reluctant to do anything more than look.

Jack caught his eye and slammed down his glass. "Get. your. damn. eyes. off. my wife." He was ignorant of the glances he attracted. The small village was in need of something to gossip about. Desperately.

Ann hurried over, covering her swollen belly. It was more likely than not carrying a massive amount of food, but to everyone's knowledge it was carrying her husband's child. "Will you guys cut it out or I'll have to kick you out of my inn?" Her presence far surpassed Cliff who stood a few feet behind her. He lifted his hand as if getting ready to say something, but promptly returned it to his side.

Rick stood to his feet and brushed himself off. Sweat dropped from Ann's forehead and she regretted her threat, "You don't have to go anywhere, now, Rick. Sit right back down if you want."

"Stay..." Cliff said his one word and attracted more attention that what he had liked. He did an about-face and went into the back room.

Karen stood up and raised her hands in the air enough to lift her shirt and expose her belly. "Everybody! My sister-in-law, Jill is coming to be a farmer here, too." She nearly staggered but managed to maintain a good sense of balance in her stupor." She's really cute and innocent and has big tits. Be nice to her!"

"Kare! Now, I want you to get your ass back down here before you cause a goddamn scene. I'm not gonna tell you one more goddamn time."

No one had noticed Rick's departure. He escaped to the town square and decided to look up at the sky and contemplate the stars. It was nice, at times, to fade into the back ground. He began to stroke a nice bench suitable for resting. The cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom. The snow from last week was barely in existence. His nose was aggravated by the spores that floated in the warm wind. This was still his favorite season.

Elli was taken. Mary was taken. Popuri had been whisked away by Kai without Rick's consent at all. Karen was taken and it took him years to recover from that rejection. No one was left for him. Chickens and business were Rick's world and the lack of a love interest didn't irk him quite as much until the day he realized how hard it'd be to settle down.

Yes, all he wanted to do was settle down and nurture. He desperately needed someone cute and innocent and...

Rick jumped back in his seat. Before him was the chest of a girl who had an unfamiliar voice. "Who is it?" His voice cracked. And when his head tilted up to see the girl's face, his heart jumped and the embarrassment sank in. It was a stranger to his mind, but seemed rather familiar otherwise.

"E-Excuse me!" She jumped back, too, but then composed herself enough to ask her question, "Do you know where the Good Farm is?"

He nodded and got to his feet. "Do you want me to take you?"

The girl was quite short and tiny looking compared to Rick. She was older than a child but possibly younger than an adult. Her shiny blonde hair nearly reflected the moon and stars out of the corner of his eye. She nodded, "Thank you..."

"Call me Rick." He smiled and reached for her hand and meant to assume that she was much younger than he was. However, when he reached for her hand, he felt an odd reaction. It was almost as if he was attracted to her. Rick was no pedophile and yet walking down the dark pathway to the farm, his intoxicated mind began to wander onto even darker pathways.

"Jill!" Jack's voice thundered from behind them. Rick jumped as he was anxious about storms, but could barely see what was blatantly wrong about his current actions.

Jill looked back and grinned, "Brother!"


For a few nights in a row, Rick could not sleep for one of the first times in his life, for he had been dreaming and showering and dreaming and showering repeatedly through the night. Why was he having such dreams, thoughts, and feelings because of one encounter? Never have his dreams been this graphic... She was just a girl, too. What if Rick was a pedophile?

Jill had been haunting Rick's dreams in the sickest way possible. During the day, he'd be paranoid that she'd one day suddenly show up at his mother's shop and all his thoughts would bleed out to the surface. All of Rick's emotions were obvious when the stirred up - anger, sadness, lust - anyone could tell what he was feeling in the respective moments. Of course his only exception was when he was drunk.

He could exhale now, for the ranch was minutes from closing for the day. He turned the knob of the chicken coop to lock it according to routine and carried on his merry way to home. However, as he turned this knob, he heard his mother, "99 chicken feed. That would be 990 gold. Thank you." Hastily, he shut the door and leaned his forehead forward. His breath became labored as the desperation came forth. There was only one person who would order such a copious amount of chicken feed.

"Rick." said a low, annoyed voice that was muffled by the heavy door. "Dammit, Rick." The door was forced open and Rick fell backwards all the way to the ground. Jack stood, looking to the floor at Rick. Jack seemed to manage to be condescending without many words. He was snarky and witty in at all the right times, but nearly silent otherwise. It was almost impossible to tell what he thought of you. Of course his only exception was when he was drunk.

The Chicken Chaser looked up, dusting himself off to look presentable to the ever-so cool farmer. "Sorry. That door's just so heavy sometimes. Gray needs to come down and fix it some day." So it was just Jack.

"Mhm..." there he went. His gaze seemed distracted but then he reached into his pocket. "Here, have an egg. I got some to spare."

Rick was dumbfounded by the items Jack would pull from his pocket. It was a nice gesture of course, but still just a little weird.

"Brother? "

The strawberry blonde's heart pumped. Her voice. She was there after all. He was excited. Rick's glasses fogged up and he stood to attention as Jill exited his house. In the day, she looked even cuter. A giggle grew in his throat, so he cleared it. "My name's Rick." He extended his hand forward and scratched the back of his head that wasn't itching at that point. After realizing he'd already introduced himself, he wanted to retract his offer, but felt it'd be rude to do so.

Jack sighed and continued on without much else to say.

Jill jumped back a bit. She still wasn't used to the friendliness of the small town. It's not that it bothered her, but it was just an acclimation from the city to the country that was taking place. For a second, she looked back to Jack, but he had since turned the corner to his farm. Her focus shifted back to Rick, "Sorry. My name is Jill. How are you?"

She gave the sweetest smile, he swore. Their hands touched. "Um...spa..." his voice cracked so he cleared it, "Spa-boiled eggs are for dinner tonight. I think you should stay and have some since you're new and all." He was acting surprisingly natural around her. It was nice already. "Do you like eggs?"

"I've never had spa-boiled eggs before!" she said a little more excited than she had wished."I'd love to try some."

It's funny how something so simple could have such an effect on someone. Rick felt his heart skip a beat even though he barely knew Jill. It was silly to assume it was anything more than relief, but the warmth that radiated down his limbs was euphoric to say the least. He invited her in and they sat with his mother like a boy bringing a girl home would do. Rick tried not to see it as something intimate, but he couldn't help it.

At dusk, when they had finished eating dinner, Jill and Rick stood under the quiet sky alone. Rick tucked his hands into his pockets and stood on the back of his heel. Jill looked up, "Do you...you should visit my house sometime. If that's okay." She turns around, unable to take the seconds that succeeded her boldness.

Rick looked at Jill, remembering how Karen would "innocently" invite him over her house with ulterior motives and had hoped - at that moment - to see those ulterior motives in Jill. But of course they weren't there. Jill was more than likely just returning to favor and inviting him over. "Yeah, sure..." said Rick with a near sigh.

The smile that grew on her lips arouse poignant thoughts in Rick's mind once more. He wanted to lean forward and plant a kiss, but that would be completely inappopriate. So Rick did what he did best and began to freak out. "I can't come over tonight because I never go home with a woman on the first night or else they get too clingy and I'm not the kind of man that can handle clingy women. Maybe it's just my performance and the size of my...chickens...my chicken population is growing. I should go check on them. Have a nice time going home tonight. Hahahaa!"He literally ran off into the chicken field leaving Jill alone in the darkness.

Yes, Rick was flustered.

hmfan: When I wrote the drunk scene, I pictured them all having country accents, so sorry if that bled through too much. haha... Um, like I said this was fun to write and I don't expect it to get much feedback, but if you read it I hope you liked it.