"Hell yeah, I think it's done!" I said.
Noe tilted his head from on my shoulder, "are you going to finally tell me what you're making?" The sprite asked.
"It's a grain analyzer," I explained. "It was almost impossible getting all the components I needed, I had to order in so many parts from the mainland, priority shipping has bled my pockets dry… I may have needed to improvise with certain pieces."
"A grain analyzer?" He asked, "I don't remember any of the past farmers that lived here having one of these."
I dropped the rusty wrench into the toolbox and stepped back to marvel at my masterpiece. I had been tinkering with it for days out back of the farmhouse. I was lucky the weather had been good.
"One of the spectrometers at my old lab broke and some of the functions couldn't be repaired. They finally got some new funding to replace it. I called in and asked if I could buy the junk one off of them. Then I stripped it down to its bare bones and recycled some of the tech to make this! If I pour kernels into here," I pointed at a large plastic funnel, "they'll run through the system and adsorption readings will sort them by quality rank. Then, I'll plant the best seeds to get the best corn!"
"That seems like a lot of work," he said, "You know you can just kind of eyeball the best crops and over time the quality of your produce will raise?"
I nodded, "But the harvest festival is at the end of the season and by the Goddess, I'm going to crush it! There is no time for guesswork selective breeding!"
He frowned, "well, alright then."
"I've got some pride I need to win back," I said. "It's bad enough Henrietta Lacks lost the beginner's level at the chicken festival, but I'm a plant expert! I can't lose that!"
"I'm just glad you're finally showing some interest in farming," he admitted.
"Here, let's test it out," I said. I poured some grains in. The machine hummed for a few minutes and the grains fell down into three slots.
I pointed at the leftmost, "So those I'll plant and the rest can be chicken feed."
We ran the test a few more times. The machine began to make some weird noises.
Noe grinned, "Alright this is actually kind of cool!" He hopped off of me weightlessly to sit on the analyzer, then he jumped upright. "Yikes, it's hot!"
"Hot?" I asked in confusion. "It shouldn't be."
I touched the contraption and bit my lip in regret, hastily pocketing the seeds I had already run.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
The machine began to vibrate, and I quickly picked him up before he fell off. "We should probably stand back," I said. "Guess I'm not exactly a regular MacGyver."
I walked us around to the front of the house and grimaced.
"What are we doing?" He asked.
"Just being-"
A large boom shook the ground.
"Cautious," I finished.
We peered around the house to find in the spot that once had the machine, only a burnt mess covered in debris remained... debris from my house. Impressively, a large chunk of the back wall had collapsed in.
"Well, that invention ended up bombing…" I commented.
We were silent for a moment.
"Chelsea! What the heck did you just do?" Noe cried.
I paused and then sighed. "You know, I've been thinking for a while that my life would lend it's self perfectly to a sitcom. It's too bad, it sure would make things a lot easier. That last line would have been a great end to a cold opening. Then we could just roll the intro so I don't have to actually explain myself and we can skip to the future at the next interesting scene without feeling like we lost all connectivity."
"What are you-"
"Oh hell with it," I shrugged, "Let's do it anyway."
Upbeat music plays
A bird's eye shot of the island panning around to show its full majesty.
A sweeping shot of the town, villagers are out performing oddly specific actions that hint at their relationships with one and other as well as their professions and unique personalities.
Mirabelle's ranch, Julia laughing with her mom in the window, Vaughn behind bein' all mysterious and stuff. Me even further in the background being all stalker-y and stuff.
A callback to that party on the beach. A callback to that time we were all at the diner. Intermittent shots of Vaughn doing nothing because although he was never in any of those scenes he's a pretty major character and really hasn't been represented enough- plus he's the flashy eye candy that keeps viewers locked in.
Vaughn working, removing his hat to fan himself in the summer heat. His clothes are in disarray, clinging to his body. Fan service, don't question it.
Music ends on a shot of strawberries growing on the farm - end scene.
"Did you have a good sleep?" Asked Julia, yawning as she entered the kitchen.
"I didn't expect you to be such a cuddler," I commented.
She laughed. "Aha, sorry about that, I grew up with a lot of stuffed animals on my bed as a kid, I guess I always did cling to them when I slept."
Mirabelle glanced up from the stove top where she was frying eggs. "Well, we feel terrible about what happened to your house! It's a good thing you're not hurt! You can absolutely stay until Gannon gets to repairing your wall!"
Oh boy.. I hadn't thought about that. I wasn't even sure I had the funds for the repairs. I had ended up blowing a lot of money on my various contraptions and in the meantime, was too distracted building them to put any time into mining or foraging. Plus, my spring harvests hadn't really netted me much since I couldn't ship my strawberries. Wait... was I actually a terrible farmer?
I didn't want to say anything out loud, I was scared Mirabelle would try and help me out. As someone who was technically sitting on a couple million dollars, I really didn't want to put any economic pressure on the struggling people of this island.
Julia frowned, "By the way, why exactly did your house blow up?"
I sighed, "I'm not good at that whole sitting around pining for my man thing. I get bored, and when I get bored… I get a little too creative. Really this is Vaughn's fault for only being here twice a week."
"That didn't explain anything," she said.
I glanced at the front door longingly. "When will my husband come back from the war?"
"He should be here any time now," Julia commented, "It is Wednesday… oh wow, I'm a little scared to see how he'll react when he finds out you're living here."
The doors to the shop opened and the bells rang out softly, I quickly perked up, and just as quickly deflated.
"Elliot!" Julia said in delight.
A light blush crossed his cheeks, "H-hey Julia. I got a package for you."
I put a hand to my mouth in shock. Never had a porn line been delivered with so little conviction but still… "How daring," I said. "Right in front of us too! Get a room already!"
Julia and Elliot turned deep red. Mirabelle just shook her head- I loved that lady, nothing ever phased her. She was probably a wild child back in her day.
"Uh, here…" He said, handing her a cardboard box. "I… I think I'm going to go."
He rushed out and Julia skipped back to the table. "Honestly Chelsea, you scared him off!"
"Sorry," I said.
She leaned in and whispered to me excitedly, "but he was kind of cute when he got all embarrassed though right?"
"Not my type," I said blandly.
"So what exactly does 'do it for you' then?" She asked.
I paused in thought, "I'm not really sure, why don't you keep a running list for me? I'll tell you whenever something comes to me."
"Alright…" She said.
The front doors opened again and this time it wasn't a false alarm.
"Vaughn!" I said in delight. He wedged himself inside, struggling with the door as both of his hands were full with tools and his overnight duffle bag.
At the sound of my voice, he looked at me and recoiled. "Ug," he said. With that, he took his bags and headed to his room to unload his stuff. Honestly: arrow through my heart. I loved the way he looked at me.
I gripped Julia's arm. "That," I said seriously.
She gave me an odd look. "Really?"
"Mm," I nodded. I glanced down at my watch. "I need to be getting to the farm," I commented. "I'm starting later than usual."
"Oh, well, have a good day," she said.
I grinned, "Thanks Hunny!"
I headed to the door and paused. "Oh, don't tell Vaughn I'm staying here, I want to see his face."
"You're so evil," she laughed
Noe had been waiting for me at the gate. As I approached, his eyes got teary and he sniffed. "Chelsea! I started to get scared you weren't coming back!" He blubbered.
He really had some abandonment issues. He's been… a little clingy, something about being isolated on the abandoned farm for a few decades had gotten to him. At least he was pretty knowledgeable about farming, and his magic sprite presence or whatever seemed to have a calming effect on the dog so he's been pivotal to speeding up the 'taming' process.
It was so much easier to take care of an animal that wasn't snapping at you.
"It's... alright," I said. "There, there." I pat his head awkwardly around his pointy hat. His scalp felt kind of grossly like a newborn baby's. It was a little weird to know he was at least a hundred years old.
"You do know that I am going to leave someday, right?" I asked.
"Don't say that!" He sobbed.
I sighed. "let's just get to work."
We worked together on watering the crops and I blew through the animal care, starting with the chickens and then moving on to the barn.
All that was left was the cow. I grinned excitedly as I tried to wrap up my last farm chore. "Guess who's back on the island today girl!"
Kary Moolis glanced at me lethargically and Moo'd.
"Vaughn! It's Wednesday!"
I handed her a treat and she slobbered it up. "Alright, now head outside so I can go pester him."
She didn't move. "Come on Kary," I begged.
She sat down and I groaned. "Please," I begged.
"Dolly's already outside with Noe, don't you want to go join her? It's so nice today!" I insisted.
Kary dropped her head on the straw-covered floor.
"Chelsea, what's wrong?" Noe materialized on a haystack.
I glanced at the harvest sprite, "You don't think my cow is sick do you?" I asked.
He tilted his head curiously. "I don't know, let me check."
He hopped down and inspected her. "Uh… no," he said hesitantly.
"Really?" I asked incredulously.
"She doesn't seem very happy though does she?" He said.
"What's wrong girl?" I asked.
"She's probably lonely," A voice that was too deep to be Noe's piped in.
I groaned, how many freaking people were invisibly living here this whole time?
I glanced at the barn entrance and froze. "Vaughn!" I said in surprise. "Aw, you came to see me? Did you really miss me too?"
He grunted in annoyance. "Hardly."
He walked over and Kary rose her head to look at him. "Don't come to close now," I grinned, "You're so hot you might just denature our proteins~"
He ignored me and bent down, stroking Kary's nose. She perked up and buried her face into his pant leg.
His expression softened for just a second and then he sent me an accusing look. "You need to start taking your animals seriously!"
"I am," I defended. "She's fed, milked, brushed and healthy."
He stood up, "Why is it that you've been a farmer for this long and still only have one cow and one sheep? They're herd animals you know? You need to consider more than just their basic needs!"
I grimaced and glanced at Noe. He nodded. "It's true Chelsea, your animals would probably be a lot happier if you had more, and your farm would be way more profitable."
I didn't need animals, I was still planning to leave eventually. Cows were so expensive it would take a couple of seasons before I started turning a profit, and there was no way I was going to stick around for winter. At least with crops, I could make a clean break after the harvest.
"The sheep can't keep the cow company?" I asked.
"Usually cow's prefer other cows, or at least horses or donkeys," he said.
I sighed, "You're quite the businessman there Vaughn, I'd almost be sold. Too bad I couldn't really afford another cow right now even if I wanted one."
He looked at me in disgust, "What do you mean if you wanted one?"
"I'm more of a plant person…" I admitted, "Taro kind of forced me into the other part."
He pulled himself further away from me with a scowl. "Where's the dog?" He asked.
"He's in the stables," I said. "It's probably about time I let him outside but…" I trailed off. He still was a wild dog, I didn't necessarily trust him to not go after my animals. "I wasn't sure about his prey drive," I admitted.
He nodded in understanding. "I came to see him before work," he said.
I grinned. "Sure, Let's go with that, that's why you're here. Definitely not because you grew a taste for getting tied up by me and were secretly hoping I'd do it again in a more private setting."
He looked at me indignantly.
"Personally I just couldn't get that sight out of my mind. Been thinking about it all week," I said.
My smug grin faded as I spotted Noe looking at me in confusion. It was difficult to be as flirtatious as I had planned to be when a tiny creature with an innocent baby-face was soaking in everything I said. Darn, I felt dirty in a bad way.
He tilted his hat down and tried his best to ignore my comment. "You did put them all away properly right?"
"Yeah, yeah, you're safe… for now," I winked. I sighed, "You know, you never react to anything I say anymore."
"Only 'cause I know you want to get a rise out of me," he said. "I'm not giving you what you want."
He lightly pulled at Kary's collar and the cow stood up, willingly following him to the pasture.
"Traitor," I muttered.
As Kary began to graze I noticed Vaughn staring off wordlessly into the distance.
He looked like he belonged on a movie poster, he was so hot when he was looking all introspective. Where's Julia? We need to add a couple of things to the list. Then I noticed what he was looking at and I laughed nervously.
From the back of the farm, you could see the back of my house. Or the lack of a back to my house.
We both stood there.
He sighed and jammed his thumbs into his pockets. "I'm not gunna give you the benefit of my asking."
"I'm like one of those high energy dogs," I said, "I get destructive if you leave me alone for too long. You should just stay by my side!"
He kept staring at my house.
"Admit it," I said. "You kind of want to ask."
He hesitated then finally responded. "No. I'm not giving this to you. I don't care, just take me to the dog. Let's get this over with."
"Right away," I grinned. He'll probably have more questions once he finds out what this means for our living situation.
We headed to the stable and Noe thankfully didn't follow.
The doors swung open gently as Vaughn entered the stable and I followed in confidently.
The dog perked up from his corner and sauntered over to us with unusual energy. His back wriggled with his wagging tail as he paced around Vaughn.
"He remembers you," I said.
He inspected the dog critically. "He's doing well," he said.
I leaned against the wall. "Taro says I should keep him."
"Then we'll have to get him socialized," he said.
"Really?" I asked in disappointment. "You're not going to disagree?"
"Let's just see how he does," he said.
So it's been a while, a lot's happened since my last update. I've taken a lot of bio courses since. I finally had to take genetics this term since it turns out I actually am going to need that knowledge. I just had my final yesterday. Also, I hate it, so props to Chelsea. At the very least I've got a lot of new puns I can make. Good thing I hadn't named any of her animals yet.
Smurf2005- Hope things are looking up at least a little, reading the last review on here, your unfortunate events have been going on for a while now. It would be nice to know if anything is going well :( -Very late thanks for your review
Psycho Kay- Okay the question for anyone else maybe reading this: 'where does this fit in chronology with Beyond the Road's end?' that part where Chelsea goes to Echo village hasn't happened yet. It'll be in a pretty obvious part of the plot- but I also won't mention her going to Echo Village that time in this story. In that chapter, she was on her way to sell the seeds. So it will coincide with when she finally decides to sell her seeds in this story. I won't give away too much on the events that lead up to that though or the circumstances, happy guessing ;)
Fluttershy 2059123- Yeah I get what you mean, the descriptive word is escaping me too. I guess eccentric, and confident enough to be pretty unapologetically herself. Definitely not that grounded though XD Thanks for your review :)
CAPJHMPAgirl- Not sure if she was so much warming up to it as resigning herself to it. She's pretty go-with-the-flow. Thanks, glad you like non-Vaughn character conversations they feel super filler when I'm writing them but it's really hard writing a story centred around a guy that's NEVER THERE. I half want to just write about Wednesdays and Thursdays but I also don't want it to seem like she doesn't do anything in the time she spends waiting for him.
Hyphen-Aw thanks so much for your reviews here and on Beyond the Road's End, they were really sweet. I agree Vaughn doesn't seem to realize it now but he deserves some affection. I'm glad you like her relationship with Julia too. I needed someone of the island to be proof people weren't just toys to her, cause otherwise, her potential relationship with Vaughn would be a little disturbing