Soft music filtered through the bar, accompanied by chatter and laughing. It was a Friday night, the second one of Spring, and the place was full. The door was constantly opening and closing, so no one paid any mind as a young woman entered slowly, her gaze flitting around. She had been here for two weeks now, but the faces were still new, and she had yet to make any real friends yet.
"Hey, Blue!" A very familiar face waved at her from the counter, a small smile on her face. Blue sighed a sigh of relief and moved around people to get to the bar itself. A purple-haired woman with pigtails, only a year or two younger than her, patted the seat next to her. Blue plopped down with a sigh and grinned at her friend.
"Saturn, hey. How long have you been here?" Blue checked her watch: only 8pm. Saturn shrugged and kicked her booted feet.
"Only about a half hour or so. I've been chatting with Gus and Emily here." Saturn bobbed her head at the people behind the counter, and Blue followed her gesture. Heat flushed through her face as she made eye contact with a blue-haired woman – Emily, she remembered. She lifted her hand in a wave, willing herself to get over this suffocating embarrassment.
"So," Saturn said, pulling Blue out of her thoughts, "do you want something? Wine, beer? I mean… that's really it, but I'll pay!" Saturn's rough face looked almost excited, something she hadn't seen in a while, so she smiled and nodded. And then her face fell.
"Saturn… we share a bank account. You don't have any money of your own." She hoped it didn't come out harsh, but… it was the truth.
"Oh." Saturn's face screwed up for a second. "Right. Well then, I hope you don't mind that I'm having a few too." She gestured to the beer sitting in front of her, but Blue just shrugged and waved at Gus. After sliding another glass of wine towards Pam, he grinned widely at the two women and walked over.
"Can I get… a beer, please? That's 400, right?" Gus nodded, almost impressed, and Blue dug through her backpack to find her coin purse. So far, the duo hadn't made quite enough money to constitute carrying around a whole wallet, so she left the big bills at home (in a safe under her bed) and carried the rest in a small polar bear shaped purse. It wasn't that she didn't trust Saturn… but she didn't trust her enough yet. After all, they hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years. They had both changed a lot since then.
After counting out the money, Blue slid it across the counter. Already, her small brown hands were gaining callouses, and she could see dirt hiding under the nail beds. She frowned. No wonder Haley always looked so offended when she saw the farm girls. Gus grinned again, sliding a huge, frothy mug of ale towards her in exchange. Or maybe he hadn't stopped grinning. Either way, she returned polar bear to its rightful place and turned to Saturn.
Saturn waited for Blue to take a sip (after which she frowned, then continued) to smile softly and raise her glass. "To Milky Way Farm." Blue grinned and lifted her glass to cheers before taking a longer sip. She visibly relaxed as she glanced around the bar. Shane, standing in the small alcove beside the fireplace. Robin and Demetrius, slow dancing, not paying attention to anyone else. Someday, she hoped she had that love. Marnie and Lewis, drinking and laughing together. Leah, sketching at a table by the wall. She didn't miss Saturn's glances there, either. Or towards Shane. Harvey sat a stool away from them, seemingly falling asleep. And way far in the corner, in the other room, Sam, Seb, and Abigail were smiling and shooting pool. Her new neighbours.
"So, what did you do today?" Saturn dragged her out of her thoughts again, her gaze sitting on Shane. The man had heavy dark circles under his eyes, sipping his beer, looking… not so hot. But she wasn't to judge. Blue took a sip before replying.
"Chopped down some trees, broke some stones, donated some things to the museum… I foraged a bunch of stuff to be shipped. Hopefully, we'll have enough to really plant some good crop. By the way," she added, "thanks for doing all the watering. I know you'd rather be doing another job." Saturn shrugged.
"I don't mind watering. I like the tedious and repetitive chores." Blue waited to see if she was joking, but she didn't seem to be. She mustered a very soft 'okay' and Saturn continued. "It doesn't take long, anyway. Hopefully, we can get some animals soon. They're my soft spot." She smiled a bit. "I went to the mines for a while today. Got some copper. Clint over there said he'll stop by in the morning to talk to me about that." Blue looked over and jolted. She hadn't even seen Clint over there. He was chatting with another older man.
"That's good. I'm sure copper will be super useful, right?" Saturn raised a hand in an 'I don't know' gesture and gulped down the rest of her drink. She raised two fingers to Gus and he nodded.
"Clint seems to think so. By the way, you look stressed as hell. You okay?" Blue rubbed at her eyes. So, Saturn had noticed. Obviously, they saw each other a lot at the farm, but still. She figured she probably looked tired since she arrived in Pelican Town. After all, she came from that terrible Joja job. Screw Joja. Gus slid another beer her way and she realized that her other one was already empty. Immediately, she picked up the new one and took a heavy gulp.
Saturn had her eyebrows creased together in a worried look. "I'm okay. Just, you know, trying to get the farm in order and actually making a profit. Right now, we only make enough to keep ourselves going, and that's only from foraging… we can't even fish yet. No one has rods. I'm good at that, actually, but I can't do it. So, it's just… what if we go down from my poor management? Also, trying to have a social life amidst this stress is literally impossible. How are you not stressed?"
Saturn looked completely taken aback now. "I am." Blue looked at her with eyebrows raised. "You forget that I'm used to a rougher life, but now… I know we're going to make it. As soon as our crops ripen we can sell them and make a good profit, you know? Then we'll have a surplus, and we'll keep that cycle going. Sure, we'll have rough spots, but… we'll make it. I've always wanted to do this. I'm so happy here. As for a social life… have you even talked to everyone yet?"
Blue thought a moment, but shook her head, her black hair waving with it. "I'm too busy. I barely go into town. I'm just whipping the farm into shape right now." She downed more of her beer and Saturn smiled sadly.
"How can we have switched roles so drastically? Come on, finish that and let's go. Get another, though," she added, and waved at Gus again. Another empty. This was so unlike Blue, she knew, but she desperately needed to de-stress. This was the first free moment she had, and damn if she wasn't going to make the best of it. Gus passed her another and Saturn dragged her to her feet.
She wobbled a bit the moment she stood. The room spun, and the unfamiliar faces weaved in front of her face. She swore and rubbed her eyes again. Saturn laughed and supported her with her arm.
"Gosh, you lightweight. What were you doing in university?" Blue frowned playfully, her bottom lip emerging in a pout. The room stopped spinning so damn fast and she shrugged away from Saturn. The other girl only laughed and clasped her warm hand in hers.
"I was busy studying. I did go out sometimes, you know." Saturn giggled, a foreign sound, and Blue found herself giggling with her. Why? She didn't know. But she was having fun, somehow.
Saturn began to pull her towards the room she had only looked into before. She let out a loud 'hey!' as they entered, and Abigail popped to her feet, a cooler in hand.
"Saturn! Oh, and Blue! What a surprise!" Even Abigail seemed in higher spirits tonight. Maybe that's what Friday nights were for here, Blue found herself thinking. Not all work, no play. Fridays are for play. And it had been a very, very long day.
"Hey Abigail! And Sebastian, and Sam! The golden trio." Blue laughed at her own joke, and the others grinned too. Sebastian nodded at her, his black hair flopping over his eye.
"Blue, eh? I'm not sure we've actually met." Blue gazed at him for a second. Maybe not. She probably nodded to him as she sprinted by, on her way to do some important thing. Sam butted in with a laugh before she could say so, though.
"Probably because you stay in your room and emerge only at ungodly hours of the night," he joked, and Abigail rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, and because you're lame." Sebastian looked fake-hurt, and Sam and Abigail high-fived. Saturn laughed with them and squeezed Blue's hand. Abigail sat back down on the overstuffed blue couch and the two followed, plopping down on the other one. More like Saturn dragged Blue over, who tried very hard not to stumble too much. The boys returned to their pool-off. Currently, it seemed like they both sucked. Badly.
"This is the most energetic you'll probably ever see Seb. Most of the time, he's just an emo nerd in his parent's basement." She grinned at the farmers and took a swig. Blue smiled and followed suit. She was still figuring everyone out, how to act and fit in with this crowd. It didn't seem hard, though.
"Why doesn't anyone else hang out over here with you guys?" Blue ventured, and Abigail shrugged noncommittally. She thought for a second though, her gaze flicking over the others in the bar. The arcade machines lit up her face with blue light, and Blue realized the vibe in here was different from the other side. Younger, maybe. She couldn't tell.
"Well, Shane is a co-worker of Sam, but he's pretty quiet. He keeps to himself. He'd probably fit in though, a fellow depressed youth of a rotten world." Blue must have looked shocked, because Abigail followed up with, "I'm only half-kidding. You must know the feeling, though, from what I've heard." Blue looked at Saturn, who shrugged. She obviously brought her over so that Blue could do some mingling of her own. In fact, she chose that moment to excuse herself to go chat with Shane in the corner. He seemed visibly surprised, but didn't protest too much, apparently.
"Anyway. Penny doesn't drink. Her mom is an alcoholic, so she's understandably opposed. Either way, she's different from us, you know? She gets on well with Maru, so they're pretty close friends. Just different circles. Then there's Leah… she's secretive, too. She prefers to watch. Also, she seems a hell of a lot more mature than us. Who else is there?" Abigail squinted for a second. "Oh. Alex and Haley, I guess, they're the popular kid type. We may not have a proper high school, but it can be cliquey. Then… everyone else is kind of old. Harvey, especially. He's actually not, but the pedo-mustache makes it seem so. Did I miss anyone?"
Blue could only shrug. Abigail copied, and they sat for a second, watching the boys. They had the same amount sunk as when she had arrived, but they were having too much fun to care much. Abigail seemed to be thinking hard. It was as if she had never asked herself that question before. Then, maybe she hadn't.
"Oh," she said eventually, "have you meet Elliott yet?" Blue shook her head. "He's… wow. He's a writer and he lives on the beach, and I really mean it, wow. A true-blue hunk. Again, a reason he doesn't hang out with us. I'm not sure I've ever seen him here. He and Leah are sort of similar, now that I think of it." Abigail smirked and looked over into the main room. "S seems to be hunting two, huh?"
Blue followed her gaze to see Saturn sitting at the table at the far wall with Leah, chatting as Leah drew something in her sketchbook. Saturn seemed to be really into it, and Blue only smiled. "She's getting along well with the villagers. I mean… you guys." She frowned. Her speech was starting to slur a bit and she realized she was, yet again, on empty. Since when? Abigail giggled.
"You good, Blue? Maybe you should get home. It's getting late." Blue nodded softly, stumbling to her feet. Across the room, Saturn saw her and excused herself, saying goodbye to Leah. Leah smiled after her, returning to her drawing. Shane watched her go by, too, Blue saw, and smiled. She waved at Emily as Saturn reached her, linking arms.
"I think it's time to go. Gotta be up in the morning. See you later, guys!" She said to the others, and they said their goodbyes too. Blue frowned. It was a bit hard to hear. Soon, before she really realized what was happening, they had left the bar and were on their way back.
There was a cool nip to the air, holding onto winter's chill. Saturn had two backpacks in hand, and Blue was inwardly thankful. She was glad she had chosen Saturn to join her on this little adventure. She was also very glad that Saturn was there at the bar and stayed with her. By the time they made it back to the farm, she was about ready to collapse.
Saturn climbed into bed beside her, mumbling about being too tired to go back to her cabin. Blue didn't really hear – she was already passed out. They would have to get up in a few hours, but she had finally gotten a bit of freedom. Maybe the farm life was the life after all.