Summer - Part 1

"Who gave you the fairy rose, dear?"

"I found it."

...

"Hey Jas. Where'd you get that flower?"

"In the woods, uncle."

...

"Again? Is it even the season for fairy rose's, dear? Who gave you it?"

"A friend, auntie."

"What friend? Jas? Jas, don't ignore me! Jas!"

...

"Jas, Marnie says you ignored her when she asked you what friend gave you the flower. Now I'm going to ask. Where are you getting those? They're not even in season… I'm waiting for an answer, Jas… Jas, why aren't you answering me?! Jas, don't walk away!"

"Ow! You're hurting me Uncle Shane."

"Answer me right now! Who gave you that flower?!"

"A friend!"

"What friend, goddammit?!"

"It was the elf king, it was the elf king!"

"What? Wait, Jas, don't run from me! Jas!"

Stardew

She sat under her favorite tree, where she liked to skip all the time, crying into her knees. She didn't hear him so much as sense his presence beside her. She felt him kneel in front of her. She felt his eyes on her. He didn't need to ask the question for her to know what it was. "Uncle Shane got so mad, and he held my arm so tightly… He was scaring me… I smelled the yucky juice he drinks, but it wasn't as strong as it is sometimes when he comes home really late, so I don't think he had too much of it. But he was still so mad, and I was still so afraid, and so I told him it was you who gave me the flower, but he didn't believe me! He didn't!"

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him it was the elf king who gave me the flower."

"It does not matter whether he believes or not. You know it to be true. When next they ask the truth of you, you will say to them, 'I plucked it from the farmer's garden.' They will ask you if you stole it, and when they do you will tell them the farmer allowed you to pick the roses there."

"They'll be mad at me. I'm not supposed to take things from strangers."

"Is the farmer a stranger?"

"To them he is. Besides, fairy roses aren't supposed to grow now anyway so what do I do if they think I'm lying even then?"

"Bring them to the garden, and the farmer will speak to them and ease their minds. You know what rules to follow to come into the glade."

"Come not here at the fall of night, tread not here 'til the morning's light."

"Good. Now dry your tears, little one. All will be well."

He reached out, his finger softly brushing away her tears. She sniffed and wiped her nose, nodding. He drew her to her feet and sent her on her way wordlessly.

Stardew

Shane sat at the kitchen table, head in his hands looking miserable. Marnie sat across from him holding her tea in her hands and hoping Shane would start to drink his soon. "It wasn't your fault she ran, Shane. Maybe you held her arm a little roughly, but you didn't strike her, did you?" Marnie soon asked.

"No! I would never do that!" Shane immediately defended.

"Then it wasn't you she ran away from. I'm… I'm afraid she's running away because she doesn't want to tell us the truth," Marnie said.

"What's so harmful about telling us where she got a stupid flower from?" Shane demanded. "There's no reason she needs to be this closed off about it, right? Right?! What's she so ashamed of that she won't… that she won't even tell us? Me?"

"We'll just have to ask her together when she comes home," Marnie assured. "We'll figure out the truth. What did she tell you?"

Shane sighed. "She said something stupid. A ridiculous lie. She said it was the elf king. I don't even know how she came up with that unless Penny's been sharing fairy stories with her and Vincent. I'm gonna have to talk to her about cutting back on them, because Jas is starting to take it a little too seriously," he answered.

Just then the door opened. Both gasped, looking sharply over. "Jas!" Shane said in relief, rising.

"Jas!" Marnie repeated in concern, hurrying out to her.

"I'm sorry I ran away," Jas said to them sadly, bowing her head.

"Honey, I'm so sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to, I promise I didn't! Does it still hurt? Is there a bruise?" Shane asked quickly, kneeling in front of her and gently taking her arms this time. She didn't flinch away, so that was a good sign.

"No," she replied.

"Are you alright, darling?" Marnie questioned.

"I'm okay," she answered.

"Thank goodness," Marnie said, breathing a sigh.

"I… I'm ready to talk about the flowers now…"

"Y-you are?" Marnie asked.

"Yes auntie," Jas replied.

"Oh. Well alright? Um, where do you get the flowers from, dear?" Marnie questioned.

"I pluck them from the farmer's field," Jas answered.

"Jas!" Marnie said in shock.

"When you say pluck, do you mean you pick them without asking?" Shane asked

"No Uncle! He told me I was allowed to pick the roses from his field if I wanted to. He gave me one once, when we were passing by each other. I wanted to know where he got it, so later in the day I snuck into his field to see, and I saw them! They were just so pretty, and I asked him if I could have one because he was working outside and caught me spying, and he said I could take one any time I wanted to."

"How can the farmer grow fairy roses this time of year? They aren't supposed to be available until fall."

"But they are, auntie! He helps them."

"Jas, that's not possible," Shane said.

"I can show you, Uncle!"

"Enough, Jas! Enough," Shane shot. Jas bowed her head lowly, deeply upset. She turned and left the house without a word to go attend her lessons with Miss Penny and Vincent. Shane, looking worried, made to go after her, but Marnie gently caught his shoulder and shook her head. Shane sighed and nodded in agreement.

Stardew

"Jas, where do you get such beautiful flowers?" Penny asked.

"I don't think you'd believe me Miss Penny," Jas replied.

"Why wouldn't I believe you, sweetie?" Penny said

"Because Uncle Shane and Aunt Marnie didn't."

"Well, try me. I won't laugh, I promise," Penny said. No response. "Jas?" she asked, frowning in concern.

"The elven king gave it to me," Jas said quietly, forgetting to use the cover.

Penny blinked. "The… elfin king? Gave it to you?"

"You don't believe me…" Jas sadly said.

"…What did the elfin king look like?" Penny asked after a moment.

"You do believe?" Jas asked in hope.

"I do," Penny replied, smiling. She walked away to fetch the books they'd be using today.

Vincent watched after her. When she was gone, he turned to Jas. "I want to meet him too, Jas. I want to find the elf king too!" he said in a hushed voice.

"I don't find him, Vincent. He finds me," Jas replied.

"Please Jas? Please?"

"Well…"

"Please, please, please, please?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Yay!"

"We'll go into the woods and play, um… hide-and-seek again! I'll count and you hide, and maybe he'll find you this time instead of me!"

"Alright!"

Stardew

He shouldn't have hidden in the farmer's field. He was worried about being caught trespassing there. Maybe the farmer would be really, really mad and really, really bad things would happen. He hoped not. He was a good hider, so he should be okay he thought. Jas would never look for him here. So far he hadn't had any luck being found by the elf king. Maybe he would hide deeper in the forest next time. He didn't know anyone was there until he felt a presence behind him. He yelped, jumping about a foot in the air and spinning around with eyes wide. The farmer! Vincent held his breath in terror, bracing for anger. Instead the man simply summed him up with a tilt of his head. Nothing else.

"Child, why have you come into my fields?" he questioned.

"I was trying to hide. My friend Jas is the seeker and I'm the hider, and I wanted the best place and I didn't think she'd come onto your farm and I'm sorry that I did, but I just wanted to hide, I promise!"

The man simply summed him up quietly, reading him. Then, to Vincent's amazement, what the man looked like was suddenly something else entirely… His appearance didn't change, in fact it remained the same. Except now he saw the ears and how they seemed to change and become pointy, and he saw the glow. He saw the robes and cape and the flowered crown, and he realized in that moment what he was staring at… But he wasn't shocked. Or alarmed. Or anything. In fact, he felt a bit more comfortable than he had before.

"If you desire to hide in my fields, so be it. Would you like me to show you a good spot?"

"Yeah! I mean, yes please." The elf king smiled, offering his hand. Vincent took it cautiously, and the king led him into his garden and brought him to a vineyard of grapes! "Whoa! Those are my favorite!" Vincent exclaimed, growing excited. The elf king plucked a bunch of grapes from the vine and held them out to Vincent. "For me?" Vincent asked in awe.

"Of course. Eat to your heart's content, little one, then slumber here in my garden. Your friend will not find you, but it will be alright. You will see her again tomorrow. You have my word," the elf king answered. Vincent noticed the sun was starting to go down and frowned worriedly. Jas had said he wasn't supposed to be here after the sun went down, or before it came up. "You are safe, little one," the king vowed. Vincent shifted uncomfortably, feeling like he should run, but then a wave of calm came over him and he smiled, perking up again. He immediately went to the grapes and began to eat as many as his stomach could handle. The elf king watched silently. As the last light of the sun was disappearing, the child fell asleep…

He woke up in his bed the next day. He asked his mother and brother who had brought him home. They had been confused. They said he had come back on his own… Later that day, the erl-king brought him some grapes when he was by himself. He wasn't sure how the fae had gotten into the locked house. He asked his mother if she'd let the elf inside. Jodi frowned in concern and slight displeasure to hear him ask that.

She told him she'd let no one inside and that no one had been here at all…

Stardew

For days Jas and Vincent went around telling everyone who cared to ask or hear exactly who gave Jas the fairy roses every week, forgetting the lie they were supposed to tell. For a while Shane and Marnie would explain the truth to whoever had been told Jas's fantasy, but as the weeks went on and the girl became more steadfast in her belief it was an elf king, they became more concerned. Not only them, but the whole town. Even Penny had cut back on fairy tales, to Jas and Vincent's dismay.

"You believe me, don't you Miss Penny?" Jas asked, sounding a bit hurt that no one though she or Vincent were telling the truth.

Penny hated the question because if she answered honestly, she'd have to say she didn't believe it. She was pretty sure it was just the children's imagination. Maybe Vincent was rubbing off on Jas. At the same time, she didn't want to ruin their fantasy. "Tell me about him," she finally settled on saying. She'd humor the little children, she decided, and so she sat in rapt attention as Jas went on to describe him.

"He's beautiful, Miss Penny. He has long hair that's so pale it's almost white, but it isn't. I think it's just really, really, really light blond, but it's so silky and smooth. He's pale like the moon, and his skin is almost like it shines. His eyes are so pretty too, like a stormy sea or angry sky. Blue but also grey at the same time. He's very tall as well, and he's just… just…"

"Majestic? Otherworldly?" Penny asked, smiling fondly.

"What do those mean?" Jas asked.

"Well… it means amazing, maybe is the better word to use for you," Penny replied.

"He is, Miss Penny," Jas replied.

"He has a sword! It's so awesome! And a bow and arrows, and armor, and a cape and crown and staff and everything. Lots of animals come say hi to him all the time, and he can grow anything Miss Penny," Vincent added.

"He sounds wonderful," Penny replied with a smile, resting her chin in her hand in amusement.

"He is Miss Penny," Vincent confirmed. Jas nodded in agreement so solemnly Penny almost giggled. She kept a straight face though, simply nodding with a smile.

Stardew

"You need to stop Jas from speaking this nonsense about elves, Marnie dear. Vincent is starting to ask me strange questions now. His imagination is running wild. He asked me today if I had let an elf inside! He said it had gone to his room and visited him and brought him a present of all the ridiculous things. No one came into our house, I promise you that. I would have known. Wouldn't I?" Jodi said as she spoke to Marnie that day at their exercise club.

"Of course you would, Jodi! I'm sorry for Jas's fantasies. I'll speak to her about spreading them around. That girl is filling her head with as much nonsense as Vincent usually does. No offense," Marnie replied.

"Oh, none taken. I know my son," Jodi said with a rueful sigh, brushing some hair out of her face. "Jas was always the more grounded of them, so I'm surprised she's the one telling the tale this time. It's really worrying me."

"I've talked to Penny. She's cut out the fairy tales and she's been explaining the differences between fantasies and realities to the children. The poor dear is trying to be supportive of their imaginations, but she's also struggling to point out to them the lines between what's real and what's fake without crushing them," Marnie said.

"She's a good girl. She'll figure it out," Jodi said confidently. "Until then I'm going to tell Vincent no more nonsense about elves." Marnie nodded in agreement. "They went extinct long ago, if they ever actually existed in the first place. Which I doubt. Gunther seems convinced of the existence of the dwarves, but I have yet to see him back the existence of elves."

"I'll be sure to put my foot down on Jas's elf fantasies," Marnie said. "I hope I don't make her cry, but I probably will. I hate having to do that."

"The struggles of parenting," Jodi said, smirking ruefully. Marnie chuckled sadly, shaking her head.

Stardew

Evelyn watched sympathetically as a dejected looking Jas went around town, that second week of summer, sad and upset. She'd been in this mood many days now, always near tears and often looking towards the forest like she wanted to go into it but wasn't allowed to. She had been confined to her immediate property and the town, but was forbidden from going to the woods or beach alone. Now, Evelyn wasn't deaf to the stories Jas had been telling. Stories about an elfin king who gave her gifts of fairy rose. She stopped rocking in her chair - dear Alex had moved it outside for her so she could get some sun - and lay down her knitting as the little girl passed close by.

"Jas dear, come here a moment," Evelyn called gently out. Jas looked over sadly then approached, becoming a bit curious. "Why are you so sad, my sweet pea?" Evelyn questioned, moving aside her knitting and patting her lap. Jas climbed onto her knee and bowed her head low. She didn't answer. "Is this about the elf king?" Evelyn coaxed.

Jas looked quickly up, eyes a little hopeful. "Yes! How did you know?" Jas asked.

"I've heard your stories of him, dear," Evelyn replied, smiling gently.

"They aren't stories! They're true!" Jas insisted. "They're true but no one believes me except Vincent, and now I'm not allowed to go into the woods anymore. Or to the beach alone either. Aunt Marnie told me I couldn't, and she told me to stop talking about elves because I'm filling Vincent's head with nonsense, but it's not nonsense, it's not! He's seen too!"

"I know it's true, sweet pea," Evelyn said.

Jas caught her breath, eyes bugging wide. She stared at granny in shock for a whole five seconds before breathing again. "You do?" she asked in an awed whisper.

"I do," Evelyn replied. "I've seen the elves too. Long ago, when I was a very little girl just like you. Once upon a dark autumn night…"

Evelyn laid in her bed, gazing out the window at the stars and the woods so near her home. She couldn't get to sleep no matter how hard she tried. Maybe if she took a walk it would help! She longed to go out. The stars were so pretty, and the woods were so quiet and serene. But grandmother had told her once to never go into the forest alone after dark, for that was the time when the faerie people danced and sang in their fairy circle, and should one venture there before the light of day and come across them in the dark and deep woods, then the fair folk would steal their soul away for many years ,if not forever, trapped entranced by their song and dance until the time they deigned it right to release their prize. But myth and fairy tale, Evelyn decided, wouldn't keep her from the path through the forest. They were only stories told to scare little children, and she wasn't little, she wasn't! She rose from her bed and snuck out…

She felt eyes upon her. Hidden in shadow and always watching. She began to worry, then, that she'd made a mistake, but something seemed to keep pulling her deeper into the forest, towards the thickest parts of it, and though she was starting to be so afraid, she felt her fear start to wane and calm until she wondered if she were even still awake of if she were dreaming. Like she was becoming totally detached from humanity... And then she saw it…

Gold and silver shone all around, a thousand lights dancing on the ground. She saw them dancing and singing in a magic ring by the waning light of a fire, tall and proud and wondrous fair. Grandmother had called them the people of the earth, the dark, and the air. Grandmother had warned her that should she go into the woods alone at night, to bring with her iron, for most of the fae hated iron. It was too unnatural to them. Grandmother had told her that if they called to her, she wasn't to obey or let them near, but Evelyn felt like she might not have a choice. However, Evelyn hadn't ignored all her grandmother's words, and she had brought with her some things made of iron just in case. She watched the dance in wonder and awe, hypnotised by all she was seeing and hearing. At their head sat a king, tall and beautiful and graceful, upon on a chair fringed with gold and silver, holding a carven staff of oak. He wore a crown of autumn leaves and berries. At his side was an old bearded one, and Evelyn was unsure if that one was elven or human or something else, but he was important to the king whoever he was, given his seat of honor. She tried to turn away, but try as she might she couldn't. She felt frozen, but even though she knew she should be scared, she wasn't. She felt safe and okay, and she didn't leave. Maybe she never would have, except an elf maiden caught sight of her and smiled and approached her.

Grandmother had told Evelyn about changeling children, and Evelyn was afraid again. Afraid this elf maid would make her one. As the maiden reached out to her, though, her necklace with the iron pendant slipped out and the maiden screeched in horror, leaping back. The king's eyes found the little girl quickly and darkened, and she knew terror unlike anything she'd ever felt before. The king rose to go to her, but the old one at his side reached out, gently catching his arm and murmuring something to him. Reluctantly the king sat once more, and the old one stood and came towards her. She shook in fear, watching with tears burning her eyes as he approached.

He knelt before her. He told her she shouldn't be here. He told her she needed to go, and that this time they would let her free because she was only such a very young child, but that next time she wouldn't be so fortunate. She nodded quickly. He gently took her and led her down into the fairy ring and presented her to the king, and that king looked at her with eyes so unfathomable… He took her upon his lap and fed her from his own plate, keeping her near and safe from the others with the backing of the old one. She fell asleep. When next she awakened, she was back home in bed as if she'd never left and it had all been a dream…

"So, when Vincent said the elf king brought him home on the night I couldn't find him…?" Jas began.

"Then it was so," Evelyn answered. Jas appeared entranced by all this.

"When did you stop believing it was a dream?" Jas wondered.

"When I was a young girl in my teenage years, my life at home began to be… not so pleasant. Father was killed in war, mother was never the same. It was as if she'd forgotten I was there at all, and grandmother wouldn't take me in. The sight of me pained her too much. Reminded her too greatly of her son, my father's, death. I felt so very alone… Then one cold, silver winter's day, I heard an otherworldly call. I knew what it was, and that was when I knew it hadn't been a dream. I left my home, and my mother and grandmother and all I had, and went into the forest once more. The farther I went, the clearer it became and the more tired I grew until I stopped, finally, to rest. I lay down upon the green grass and let sleep come. I felt the forest wrap around me as if it were a blanket. I knew I would never leave, then. I didn't care. I awoke to the Fair Folk dancing around me singing, and there I stayed, listening to them in wonder and never leaving," Evelyn said.

"But you're here now," Jas pointed out.

"I emerged from those woods seven years later, unaware of how much time had even passed. I emerged and found everything I once had was lost. Grandmother had died, mother was gone—dead or alive I never did find out—my home was no longer my home but someone else's, and I was now no longer a teenager, but a young woman walking out into a world she didn't know anymore. I tarried there in those woods to watch the fairy ring, and so I had been enthralled for years. I was so afraid… Then I found George, and he took me into his home and gave me a place to stay, and the rest as they say is history."

"And the elven king?" Jas asked.

"He was the one who set me free," Evelyn answered. "Whether what they did was malicious or kind, I'm not sure to this day. Perhaps he knew what my home life was like and so kept me safe there far from all that pain and drama. Perhaps he did it simply because he could. You never can tell with them, so when he tells you not to go into his garden or wander too far into the forest in the night, he means it and you'd do well to listen to his warnings lest what happened to me should happen to you. Tell Vincent the same should he get it into his little boy's head to go seeking the erl-king one night."

"Is… is the elf king wicked?" Jas asked.

"He isn't wicked, my dear. Nor is he kind. He simply is," Evelyn answered. "But mind my warnings, sweet pea, and don't worry. I feel that perhaps there are more than just me in this town who believe you."

Later that night, the elf king came...

Evelyn's sat in her chair knitting before bed. Alex and George were already fast asleep. She was alerted to the presence when suddenly a fairy rose was dropped in front of her eyes into her lap… She looked quickly up and she saw him there bathed in an ethereal light. Her breath caught in her throat as he gazed at her. "So it's true. It is you. You've come back..." she soon said to him softly. He held her gaze as he faded away into nothingness, an approving smile spreading across his lips.

Stardew

Willy stood at the end of the dock fishing in the rain. It was a gloomy summer day, but that was fine with him. He liked to fish in weather like this. Left him alone to his thoughts… But that day he wasn't alone…

The farmer came, his path crossing the fisherman by chance. He came up to Willy and they began to fish together in silence. After some time, Willy tried to strike up a conversation with him. He spoke, the farmer listened quietly. Every so often the man would interject something, but those moments were rare… Then Willy began to speak of the merfolk he'd seen…

The mariner breathed the subject of the merfolk tentatively. Most people he told of his encounters laughed, say for the wizard, Evelyn, Elliot—who he was sure only devoured the stories to use as inspiration in his own writings—and Linus. Anyone else told him he'd been on the sea too long. However, the moment he mentioned the merfolk in caution to his companion, the farmer immediately become much more involved in their conversation. The farmer encouraged him to tell his tale. The farmer explained in detail the motive behind every action Willy had seen the merfolk take… Then the farmer began to speak of his own encounters, and of conversations that sounded more like councils or kinships. The farmer had asked if Willy should like to meet one some day. Willy had joked he was too old for that sort of thing. The farmer had looked out over the sea then left... Then the farmer came back, late in the evening as Willy was preparing to return to his shack, and in his hands he held a conch shell...

He waded into the water up to the waist and stood there. Willy paused, watching. The farmer lifted the shell to his lips and he blew loud and clear. It echoed loud and mournfully over the ocean… No less than a minute later the water rippled. Willy watched in wonder and awe, lips parting slowly, as from the sea four heads lifted, eyes peering barely above the surface. His heart skipped a beat and he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. He could hardly believe what it was he was seeing. Until this moment, all he had ever had to go by were glimpses of creatures that looked too human to be coincidental. Now… now everything had changed…

Their eyes fell on the farmer and vanished beneath the waves once more. Then they were there, lounging at the man's feet and gazing up at him as they spoke to one another in another tongue, a language Willy had never heard. Their heads turned to the fisherman, who was pretty sure he almost dropped dead when it happened. They approached him, taking in his appearance and curiously reaching up onto the docks to touch his clothing and skin as if fascinated, while he stood like a statue. He wasn't sure if he could have moved even if he'd tried. Smiles parted their lips and they disappeared once more under the waves. He passed out unexplainably and woke the next morning in the spot he'd fallen.

He had heard their singing all that night in his dreams…

He wondered if all of it had been a dream. The farmer was nowhere to be found, but from that day on the man became a more regular presence by the beach or the river when Willy fished. Willy didn't speak of that night to him again, whether or not it had been a dream or reality, and chose instead to continue to treat the farmer as if he was just another man. That he believed otherwise now was inconsequential. The farmer, he sensed, was actually grateful for the fact Willy's demeanor towards him hadn't changed… Then one day the farmer vanished…

Stardew

No one knew why it had happened, no one knew where he had gone. They feared some evil had befallen him. They searched everywhere they could. He was nowhere to be found. There were some signs he still existed. For instance, requests sent in letters or pinned on the billboard would be answered, but no one would see him drop off the things asked for. No one, it seemed, knew what had become of him. The only residents who appeared unconcerned about it were the children, the Wildman, the wizard, the old woman, and the fisherman. In fact, it was like they still saw him, and none of them acknowledged his vanishing when asked why they weren't concerned. It was… unsettling, but in time the other residents stopped asking. Asking was getting them nowhere anyway.

Elliott watched Vincent and Jas walk out of Cindersnap forest. A cluster of grapes was held in Vincent's hand, and Jas clutched a flower close to her, inhaling the scent. A Fairy Rose… Now, Elliott had been one of the many Jas had gone around to telling that it was the elf king who gave her the fairy roses. Elliott had also thought there had been something mythical about the farmer who had come among them. His writer's imagination had put the pieces together long ago. He knew who the man was. He'd known from the beginning. He'd gleaned it from the stories the Mayor and Robin spread about his beautiful farm. About how it didn't deserve to be called a farm and was more a garden, about how he never harvested a single thing he planted say for a few items, and yet seemed to be able to grow anything. He'd heard talk from Maru and Haley and Demetrius about the man's regular excursions to the Community Center. Elliott had gone in one day, after the man had left, and seen the scrolls on the ground and been mystified. He'd gone to the library and scanned the books there and read the fairy stories and had understood. Yes. He'd known from the beginning, from the farmer's reclusive nature down to his tendency to stick to the forests and river over anything else, what he was. Now, seeing the children exit the woods with their little gifts, he knew beyond doubt that it still lingered here…

He'd never confronted the fae about what he knew, not even when Jas's stories about how she came by her fairy roses all but solidified his theory about the 'farmer'. Elliott preferred to keep to his own reclusive lifestyle. House, beach, house, bridge, house, on occasion forest or saloon, house, very little else. He was off this 'erlking's' radar. He liked it that way, being an unknown and keeping to himself, but he couldn't stay silent this time. If the children still regularly saw it? Needless to say, that… didn't sit entirely well with him. To let them go on oblivious.

"Jas, where did you get such a beautiful blossom?" Elliott asked as she was passing by with Vincent.

"The Elf King gave it to me," she answered before slapping her hands over her mouth with a gasp. "I-I mean, I'm sorry. That-that just slipped out. Auntie and Shane told me not to tell stories about elves anymore or say that. He-he wasn't an elf. He was just the farmer! He…"

"Dear Jas, I believe you," Elliott said. She started, along with Vincent, and the two looked up at him with wide eyes. "You must be careful around the Elf King. Both of you," Elliott warned. "The fae are not toys to be played with. They are as dangerous as they are gentle, and as beautiful as they are unpredictable. The elf king, children, is just as likely to throw you under a curse as he is to grant you a wish."

"He can do that?!" Vincent exclaimed.

"Never make wishes or bargains with the fae. Both their yes and their no mean the same thing. Unless you are very, very particular with your words, you put yourself at risk of a wish ending… very badly," Elliott said.

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked.

Elliott hummed, thinking over his answer. Soon he knelt in front of them. "What do you wish for most?" he asked them.

"Daddy to come home," Vincent answered sadly.

"My parents to come back," Jas quietly said, hanging her head.

"Let's… try wishes that won't have such, um, disheartening—that is upsetting—explanations," Elliott replied, grimacing. Wish for someone to come home, they may indeed come home. In a body bag. Or different than you remembered them. Wish for the dead to come back, he need not go into detail about all the ways that could go wrong. He doubted the elf king had that kind of power, but better safe than sorry. The children looked uncertain. He thought a moment. It seemed he would have to make up the example. "Pretend there is woman who very much wants a child of her own, but she cannot have one."

"Why can't she?" Jas asked, frowning in concern.

"Because… because something is wrong inside of her. She goes to find the Fair Folk and she bargains with them for a baby to call her own. They give her one."

"How can that go bad?" Jas wondered.

"Because the baby never grows up. It stays a baby. Forever. It never gets older, always stays little," Elliott replied.

"Why?" Vincent asked.

"Because a baby was all she'd asked for. The faeries kept their promises," Elliott said. "So, when I say be careful with the elf king, be very careful with him. Ask of him nothing, let him do the offering. Listen to every warning he gives you, he gives them for a reason… And if anything ever goes wrong or happens, find me. I'll do all I can to help you fix it. There are wishes that cannot be loop-holed, if one selects the right words and puts them in the right order. No one in this town is better at words than me."

"How would you fix our wishes?" Vincent asked.

"That I won't tell you, because I'm concerned you'd actually try to ask them of him, and just because I can't see a loophole doesn't mean he won't be able to," Elliott answered.

"Elliott, please," Vincent pled. "I won't ask him, I promise! Daddy's coming home soon anyway, so I don't need to."

Elliott was quiet, thinking it over. "I would wish for my father to come back alive and well and the same as I remembered him being," he soon answered. Vincent paled. He caught on, now, to how wishing for his father to come back could have otherwise ended without specification. Jas didn't even ask to have her wish specified.

"Will they always cheat you?" the girl questioned.

"To say they cheat you is debatable, they keep their word to the letter, but I understand your question. No, I don't suppose they would always cheat you. They choose for themselves how to grant a request, they choose for themselves how dumb they play it, they just… tend to lean towards the more mischievous or ambiguous decisions. However, he seems to be quite fond of you two. I do believe that if you wished for anything he knew was a mistake, he would try and warn you before agreeing to grant it. But who can know the elfin king's mind and heart?" Elliott answered.

"Is he safe?" Vincent asked.

Elliott smiled ruefully. "There is no one safer… And no one more dangerous… Know how to handle him, and you'll be alright. You've been fine so far, after all," he said. He sent the children off with a smile… Then he felt eyes on him… His smile fell, and he looked around quickly. He saw nothing, but the feeling never left… The farmer didn't seek him out, the farmer didn't grant him gifts, but the farmer did begin to appear to him in his dreams...

The elf king knew that he knew…

Stardew

Now there were those whose brains were wired for logic and reason, and there were those whose brains were wired for creativity and feeling. Each had their strong point, each had their fair points, neither part was better than the other, neither part was wrong or right. Sometimes logic was more useful than creativity, sometimes creativity was more useful than logic. Harvey was a very practical man, solidly based in logic. Elliot was a very fanciful one. Harvey saw what was in front of him, Elliott saw beyond. They weren't what you'd call close friends, and rarely would you see them together without it ending in some sort of argument. Nevertheless, Elliott did still have his health to look out for, and Harvey did still have his job to do, so it was inevitable they'd cross paths. Be it at the saloon or the clinic, they'd cross paths. In a village so small it was impossible not to. In the saloon they could ignore each other or engage in at least a little small talk before going their separate ways. In the clinic not so much.

Harvey listened to Elliot's chest through the stethoscope, monitoring it. Soon he withdrew it. "You're healthy as always, Elliott," he said.

"Thank you, doctor," Elliott replied. "I do try."

"You succeed," Harvey answered, standing up and returning the stethoscope to its place as Elliott lowered his shirt again and rose to get his jacket. "Elliott, I have… a question for you."

"You know how well such things end between us, dear doctor," Elliott replied.

"I know. And I don't expect it will end differently this time either, but I need to know," Harvey replied.

Elliott sighed. "I had so hoped to avoid argument today. Very well. What is it?"

"Have you been encouraging Jas and Vincent's fantasies about an elfin king in the forest?" Harvey directly asked, turning to Elliott and leaning against the counter.

"Fantasy? Dr. Harvey, I can assure you those children are far from living in a fantasy. The elf king is very much real, and very much out there," Elliott replied.

"That's preposterous, Elliott, and you know it," Harvey said. "There are no such things as elves. If there ever were, they went extinct long ago."

"And yet one lives and walks among us," Elliott replied. "From out of the mouths of babes, and all that. Sometimes, doctor, children know and understand things few adults could ever hope to. I wouldn't be so quick to write off Jas and Vincent's claims as fantasy, were I you."

"You're as fanciful as them," Harvey said, frowning deeply.

"And Evelyn, evidently. I get the distinct impression she believes them as well. I get the distinct impression she isn't the only one," Elliott replied. "So many in this village are blinded by what they can see in front of them, like you and Demetrius and most certainly Shane, and never think that perhaps there really is more to some stories than there appears to be at first glance. A curse more than a blessing, I'm afraid. Alas, even many of the more creative thinkers in this town can't fathom the idea of there perhaps being something more to the children's story of elves. Admittedly I'm more than a little disappointed in both Leah and Penny for brushing it off as just children's imaginings. I expected more from them. Doctor, there is a wizard living in our midst and a veteran fisherman who swears on his life he's seen merfolk. We have a museum curator who identifies dwarven artifacts on a regular basis, we have a mine full of monsters of all sorts one never would have believed existed, and you brush off Vincent and Jas's story as mere fantasy? Frankly it's… well, it's embarrassing," Elliott replied.

"Don't lord it over me, Elliott. What's embarrassing is a full-grown man believing in fairy tales!" Harvey snapped slightly sharper than he'd intended to.

Elliott hummed, examining Harvey in silence with an unimpressed and slightly disdainful frown spreading over his lips. He thought over his answer carefully. "So, you think there's nothing to the tales. Then why don't you enter those woods at night?" he asked.

"Because I never did," Harvey flatly replied. "There's no reason to go into the forest at night anyway. It's pointless."

"Being alone with one's thoughts and taking time to meditate on the day is never pointless," Elliott replied.

"I can do that at home reading a good book and sipping coffee," Harvey answered.

"It's pointless talking to you, Harvey. You, like Shane, are so set in your ways that you ignore everything that might challenge them. Can't teach an old dog new tricks, I suppose," Elliott insulted. Harvey started, offended at the slight against his age. Which wasn't that old, thank you very much! It wasn't as if Elliott was all that much younger than him. "Now if you've said your piece, I'd like to go. It's obvious there's no discussing this elf conundrum with you."

"I'll prove to you there's no elf king!" Harvey called after Elliott as Elliott made to leave.

Elliott froze in place, hand on the door. "What?" he asked after a moment, looking back with a guarded frown.

"I'll prove to you there's no elf king," Harvey repeated.

"How?" Elliott suspiciously asked, turning fully around and actually starting to seem a little concerned.

"I'll go into those woods tonight, after sunset. I'll explore them thoroughly, and I'll prove there's nothing to fear there," Harvey said. "And since the poor farmer is suspected of being somehow connected to this 'elf king', I'll even go so far as to enter his field and pick some strawberries from it. Maru loves those anyway. It wouldn't be a waste."

"No one has said anything about the farmer being connected to the stories. They've said he's strange, yes, but never claimed he was connected to this elf king the children speak of," Elliott bluntly stated. Harvey tensed up ever so slightly. "So, you do have some apprehension of your own." Harvey remained quiet. Elliott tried to dissuade the doctor from his chosen course by making it sound as utterly unappealing and twisted as possible. "Now Harvey, you'd break your own moral code and steal from a man's private property?" Gods, if the doctor went through with this plot of his, he had more guts than anyone gave him credit for, including Harvey himself. No one else, even those who didn't believe the stories, liked to enter that forest or that farm without a damn good reason, and never at night since Jas and Vincent began talking about it. Just to be safe, no doubt. Harvey said nothing, though his jaw clenched slightly and he seemed a bit more uneasy about it. "It isn't worth it, Harvey. To prove a point? Why bother? You believe what you like, I'll believe what I like. No one has to break any laws or do anything stupid."

"These elf rumors have gone on long enough! Someone needs to put a stop to them. For goodness sakes, we can't live in fear the rest of our lives. I'm betting this elf king is in fact the farmer, and I'm willing to guarantee he's just a man. Not some fairy tale creature, not some vassal of one, just a man who's…" Harvey began.

"Being singled out by even you who claims there is no elf, yet still understands there is something very, very not right about that farmer," Elliott cut off.

"There's nothing wrong with him! He's a human! I'm squashing these rumors once and for all. The forest is just a forest, the farm is just a farm, the elf is just a man. I'm so certain of it that yes, yes I am going against my moral code to prove it," Harvey replied.

"Harvey, listen to me. Just-just say for one moment Vincent and Jas are right. Play devil's advocate and consider that there's a possibility the farmer is not a farmer at all. Let's say he really is fae. Do you truly want to risk your life and everything you know and love just to prove he isn't? No one's gotten hurt, no one's going to be hurt. Children's fantasies aren't permeating lives, no one's being aversely affected by the rumors say for maybe the farmer himself, but even he hardly cares!" Elliott protested.

"Is that concern, Elliott?" Harvey asked, smirking amusedly.

"Against my better nature, yes," Elliott replied. "Yes, it's concern. Because what if, what if, you're wrong?" Harvey was quiet. "Just… think about it. Please. For your own sake. If… if you do go, be sure you bring something iron with you. Preferably a weapon of some kind."

"Iron? Why?" Harvey incredulously asked.

"Just trust me. On that at least," Elliott answered. With that, he left Harvey to muse over his words. Uneasily the doctor shifted, looking down at the ground. He'd never liked what ifs…