Yay! Second chapter already!! As promised it is in Gray's POV. I'm reasonably happy with this chapter, but I thought the farming part was a bit boring. I was so happy with the reviews I got that I started working on this chapter immediately afterwards. Thank you to those who have reviewed. Also, I would like to inform you guys that I won't be sending back responses to you. Seeing as I started getting non signed reviews, it would be better if I answered all reviews in the following chapters, unless I was answering a personal question. Anyway, enough rambling, ON WITH THE STORY!
Disclaimer: I have forgotten to do this so far... oops. I do not own Harvest Moon.
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A sea of faces were before me. Only one stuck out: Claire's. She was walking towards me. She smiled that adorable smile of hers and then sat down in front of me. I heard cymbals in the background and wondered, what are those for? I leant down and kissed her, and she kissed me back. And then Claire finally spoke. "Gray I lo-"
"WAKE UP!!!!!!" a female voice screamed in my ear.
"Arghhh!" I yelled sitting up fast. My head was all fuzzy and confused from the sudden move. Through my still half closed eyes I saw Claire fully dressed, holding cymbals, and looking slightly pissed.
"Honestly, Gray! I've been trying to wake you up for ten minutes! I even used cymbals." she said.
"What time is it?" I asked, yawning.
"Six thirty." She stated plainly.
"Six thirty! Are you crazy, woman?! Let me sleep longer." I lay my head back down on the pillow.
"Oy, if you want to stay in here, and not become a creepy hobo, you better get your butt moving."
"But, I'm tired." I whined.
She let out a low growling sound before moving to the end of the bed. She tugged off the comforter. It was freezing! She started pulling on my feet, trying to drag me out of bed. I laughed. Claire may be strong, but she isn't strong enough to move me. I'm really heavy. Not cause I'm fat! Muscle weighs a lot.
Giving up, Claire moved back up towards me, and stretched out her arms towards me. "Hey, what are you- ahahahahahahaha!" I writhed underneath her fingers that were tickling me furiously. Sadly, as my best friend, she knew almost everything about me...including where I am most ticklish: my sides.
"F-fine! I'll g-get up! Just s-s-stop tickling meeeeeee!" I had trouble getting the words out as I was gasping for breath.
"Promise?" Claire said, stopping.
"Nope!" I smiled and pulled the comforter back on top of myself.
Claire muttered something under her breath and pulled the blanket off again before I could hang onto it, and resumed tickling me. "No? Are you sure Gray?"
"Y-yes-s, I promise!" I screamed.
"Good." She grinned.
"So his there hanything hi can do for you?" I added on an 'h' to most words, so that I was breathing in her face. Ahhhh, morning breath.
"Urgh, disgusting Gray..." She crinkled her nose in disgust. "Go have a shower and get dressed while I make breakfast. We have a big day ahead of us."
"Fihne" I said, breathing in her face one last time. She stuck out her tongue at me and went into the kitchen.
I gathered my clothes and stepped into Claire's squeaky clean bathroom. It was simple, but kind of pretty at the same time. Like the rest of the house. Once in the shower I turned on the water.
"Ahhhhhhh!" I whimpered as cold water shot at me from all angles. I heard laughing in the kitchen. Curse you, Claire...
I was going to get out of the shower when I realised I had no towel. That's a problem. It's not like I can go and walk out in front of Claire in the nude and ask for a towel. What can I do?
"Um... Claire? I need a towel..." I opened the door ever so slightly, barely enough to peek out.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll get one, just one moment." I heard some rustling around and then the door opened a crack and Claire's blushing face was seen for only a second, before a towel was pushed through.
"Thanks" I called through the door.
I got dressed in some light jeans and a red flannel shirt, matching the things that Claire was wearing. Yesterday, while she was waiting for me, I dropped by the supermarket, and got these, just so I could surprise Claire. She laughs at these kind of things.
As I walked out of the bathroom, the savory smell of bacon and eggs hit my nose. Mmm, bacon. Claire froze when she saw me. "Are you wearing my clothes?!" she asked incredulously, before giggling.
"Nope. I got these from the supermarket yesterday. It's a guy version of what you're wearing." She smiled before gesturing me to sit down in a chair.
Her smile reminded me of something in the back of my mind. I couldn't figure out what it was... Oh yeah, my dream. Why did I have a dream about my best friend? Cause you like her, a voice argued in my head. Do not. Do to. Do not. Do to. DO NOT! DO TO! You know what, I don't care what you think. Yes you do. Or at least you should. Why? Cause I'm your conscience. Oh. Take that. What if I don't want to. You have to. I'm your conscience. Who says? Me. Other than you? ... dude, just give in. No!
"Gray, are you okay? You're making all these weird faces. Kind of as if you were an actor doing the role of two people." Claire interrupted my mind fight.
"N-no! I'm fine, I was just..." I didn't finish, and Claire stared at me before letting it drop.
Jaina, Claire's golden retriever, whimpered for some bacon. I took a bit off of a piece and threw it to her. I pat her head gently, before finishing my meal.
"That was good, thanks Claire." I said, helping her put the dishes away.
She mumbled a 'thanks', before pushing Jaina and I out the front door.
"All right, so here's the deal. I'm going to show you how everything works on my farm, and you can choose what you do. Okay?"
"Yeah." I said.
"First, I'll take you out, and show you the way I gather things to put in the bin."
We walked off her farm into the forest. "Here's where you get the blue grass. Make sure you cut it only mid-length so that it can grow again." She handed me scissors, and I cut it, as directed. She approved. "Put it in the bucket."
We then went to the waterfall. Ann and Popuri were there staring at the water cascading down. Ann noticed us first. "Oh. My. Gosh. You're twins!" She put on a look of horror, before smiling.
Popuri then noticed us. "Aw! You look so cute together!" I blushed, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Claire do the same. Why do people enjoy teasing us so much?
Claire was talking to them animatedly, but I tuned out her voice, and instead focused on her hair. It shimmered every time she moved her head. Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah. Shimmer. Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah. Shimmer. Blah. Shimmer. Shimmer. Blah Blah Blah. Shimmer.
"Blah?" My brain automatically inserted a Blah instead of what she actually said. Wait, she's talking to me. I snapped out of my trance. Claire's eyes were on me now, confused and a little creeped out. I guess I looked weird staring at her hair.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then, I have to show you how to take care of the animals." We waved to our companions, and returned to her farm. "The chickens will probably hate you for a bit, as they did to me, but after two days they start loving you. Watch out, they will peck you."
We stepped into the chicken coop and I saw eight chickens running around in circles. Stupid birds. Peck. I felt a stab in my leg.
"Ow!"
"Told you." Claire said.
A chicken suddenly attacked me in the face. I know that sounds stupid, but it really happened. You see, it was a magical chicken. Wait, no. It just happened to be able to fly. I thought chickens didn't fly!
I growled as the chicken knocked off my hat. "You little..." When I tried to move the chicken, it squawked in alarm and all the other chickens turned to me with hate in their evil eyes. Uh oh. I ran out of the chicken coop screaming like a little girl. Claire finished feeding them and soon followed, covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Claire showed me how to milk her cows, shear her sheep, brush them, and bring them outside. Her horse, Streak, was at least familiar with me, and did not have any death wishes. She didn't need to show me how to help her on the field, I had already helped her before. It was easy for a strong man like me.
"There's honey in that tree." Claire informed me as we walked up to a small tree. "Watch out for the bees." I, being very stupid ignored her, and shoved my hand in. And as I pulled it out, what looked like a million bees crawled everywhere on my hand. By the time they had all gone off I had a few stings.
Claire gave me a disappointed look and I smiled tentatively. She wouldn't stay mad at me long. She can't. Why? Cause I'm irresistible. Well, not really. But I could be!
We ate lunch quietly while listening to Claire's radio. This time I made Claire dance. A song came on, and the only way to dance to it was the belly dance. So there was my best friend, doing a belly dance, in farmer clothes. She attempted to smile seductively. The weird thing about that is that well... I did find it seductive. Do these thing happen to other people? I chuckled as she did the last bit as if it were club music. Her moves didn't go with the song, on purpose, and she laughed, knowing she looked like an idiot. People would wonder about us if they chose to come onto Claire's farm more often.
We went back out and worked on the field until five, and returned inside, where we took turns showering. I made sure I had my towel before I started.
*****
"Want to have pizza and watch a movie?" Claire proposed. She was in her night dress thingy again. It was far too high up her legs for my comfort. Honestly, was she trying to kill me or something?
"Sure." We watched pink panther together. It was really funny. Especially the 'damberger' part. Claire quickly made chocolate cake and cut each of us pieces. I was surprised by how fast she made it. We ate it almost as fast as she made it.
"So Gray, what do you want to do?" Claire asked, putting down her fork.
"I think I'll mine, fish, and help you on the field. I don't really want to spend to much time around your animals, and I won't remember the location of the herbs."
"Okay" Claire agreed.
We scraped out plates into the garbage, and brushed out teeth.
"I do hope that I won't have to repeat the whole tickling process in the morning." She grumbled as we climbed into bed.
"I'm not promising anything." I smiled lightly, and fell into a deep sleep.
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So what did you think? Did it suck? Was it good? Let me know :)