Chapter 11: Gray

I sat on the forge banging the metal into the ideal shape. The forge's heat had been intense all day, but it was another cold winter night, which made it somewhat more bearable when I went to take breaks. I had been working all day on this project with some smaller tasks scattered, but I prided myself on completing jobs at a quick pace. Today I was upgrading a watering can from the farmer over in Forget-Me-Not Valley, Pony. I had asked her if she wanted a temporary can while this one was being worked on, but apparently she's got "people" for that. I was upgrading it to mystrile status, a metal only rediscovered a few years ago by Claire and a metal I had learned how to manipulate perfectly only recently. I can't depend on my teacher to tell me my flaws, I've got to learn and adapt on my own now.

A year ago my grandfather, master blacksmith Saibara, had me undergo a trial where I had to fix the flaws in multiple tools made of different alloys. It's faster than completely upgrading a tool, but it was still a worthwhile test of my skills. I worked all day fixing all the dents, holes and rusted parts of each tool to make sure they were perfect for my grandfather. Each metal had to be tended to differently and I called upon all the lessons my grandfather drilled into me while recalling all the studying Mary and I went through. I had made a promise to myself that if I passed this test I would propose to Mary, so I think that extra bit of motivation, along with my preparation, allowed me to pass with flying colors.

Nowadays, I'm an official blacksmith and married man. My grandfather has been taking it easy nowadays, enjoying life more and while he's still a cranky old man, he's mellowed out a bit. He's also off my case way more often than usual, so I am extremely grateful for that. Mary and I moved in together after we asked Gotz to renovate the library tower to accommodate a living space for us. Can't live with her parents forever and while I love the inn, I like my own place to call home.

"Hmm, that about does it," I said to myself as I put the finishing touches on the watering can. "I can mail this out tomorrow morning."

I've essentially taken over the smithy as I am no longer an apprentice, which has made me extremely busy. I've also had to take up orders from Forget-Me-Not Valley occasionally since Mineral Town is the closest smithy, but I don't mind the work. Though, now I have less time to spend reading my days away with my own wife.

I looked at the clock notcing it was 10pm causing me to cringe. I had meant to stop at 6pm and finish the rest tomorrow, but the extra work pushed me back and it had been dark ever since around 4pm, so I hadn't really noticed anything different outside. Though, it did explain why I was so hungry and tired; I felt I was about to collapse.

"How did grandfather manage this for all these years?" I asked myself.

"Well first of all, I wasn't an undisciplined city boy like you. The forge was my home and that's where my heart still lays," A voice called out.

I jumped up, my hat flying off my head and nearly into the still hot forge before I had caught it. Saibara was sitting on a bench reading a book titledForging for Absolute Geniuses. How humble...

"Oh Goddess above, boy. How could you not notice me, I came back ages ago? I taught you diligence, dedication and perfection, not blindness. Pay attention to your surroundings, there's a lot of dangerous equipment here," My grandfather yelled, once again scolding me. This time his advice was somewhat right.

"I was about to leave till you opened your mouth! Also, I did notice you, I just forgot you were here..."

He let out a long sigh, which meant he was about to begin a lecture.

"You've no sense of time management and can't even notice the people right next to you. You're too focus on one responsibility that you ignore the rest."

"What are you talking about, I've been multitasking all day!?" I rebounded. How could he say I have no time management when I've completed every job I've gotten on time without error?

Grandpops began stroking his beard while wearing an intense expression on his face. It made me flinch a bit, his facial expressions are always so intense.

"Have you gone to see Mary all week, at any point in the day? At any point in the week? Can you tell me what she's been doing while you've been working non-stop? I at least gave you time to yourself with your reading and what not, but you've overextended yourself. You only see her in the morning before you leave, at night when you're extremely tired and whenever she has a chance to visit. You've been negligent, Gray. Mary is suffering and you need to help her."

I… I hadn't thought about that. In reality nowadays I've been the busiest I've ever been in my life and it feels good to hone the skills I left the city for, but have I really been going that overboard? I noticed during the few exchanges we've had in the past week she's looked rather tired and a bit sickly, though I didn't pay her well-being much mind. What a great husband I am…

I looked over at my grandfather, but he was already back to ignoring me. Guess he said all he needed to say, now I've gotta act.

"Tomorrow I'll mail the watering can, but I'm taking the day off. Can you cover for me, thanks!"

I quickly grabbed my things and ran out the door before I had time to hear his reply. I've taken up more work and responsibilities that I cannot ignore, but in the end I up neglecting time with Mary. I must make up for my mistakes.

"Yeah yeah, just get out so I can sleep," Grandfather ordered. He always had to have the last word.

It was brutally cold outside, but after being exposed to hot metal all day, this was a welcome change so no jacket was required as I ran back home. As I came to the library I noticed the lights were still on which was strange, Mary should be asleep by this hour or at least preparing for bed. I was careful to open the door, just in case Mary was asleep, but had forgotten to turn off the lights anyway. She might've taken up the habit of waiting for me to come home, which will just make me feel worse.

Instead, when I entered into our grandiose library I found Mary collapsed on the ground with multiple books, papers and pencils sprawled across the floor.

"Mary!" I panicked running over to make sure she was fine. "Mary, please wake up! Tell me you're okay!"

"Hmmm", Mary mumbled. "Gray is that you? Why are you yelling, I was resting my eyes."

Mary let out a big yawn and stared at me with a dazed expression. She seemed a little out of it today. Eventually she realized what was wrong, it may have been due to my hysteric expression though besides the fact she fell asleep on the floor.

"What's wrong Gray? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Hehe, more like a corpse. I thought something terrible had happened to you while I was out working, why were you sleeping on the floor, that's not like you at all."

"Oh… Guess I overdid it again today," She sighed with a forlorn expression. "I'm sorry to have worried you Gray, you seem rather upset. Oh no! This probably isn't the best time, but as you can imagine I couldn't prepare dinner either. Don't be mad..."

Mary looked rather guilty, so I couldn't help, but calm down quickly. Seeing her unhappy really puts on a damper on my mood, no matter how I'm feeling. Seeing her make light of her health or overwork herself steels my resolve above all else though.

"I'm not mad, just concerned. This hasn't happened since you working on your first published book. You promised you wouldn't push yourself as hard and yet here you are, collapsing out of exhaustion!"

When she was working on her first book Mary worked around the clock to make sure it was perfect for the publishing company. She spent many late nights working on it, but I was there every step of the way to make sure she never pushed herself too hard. Now that I'm working full time I can't afford to watch her, so I guess this was expected.

"I didn't mean to, Gray. It's just that the publisher has such high expectations that I can't stop thinking about the book, so I have to keep writing. I might've caught a slight cold, but all my readers are looking forward to the sequel. It's become impossible to uphold our promise!"

I remembered the promise we made. After she had finished writing her first book, I made her promise to not overwork herself on the sequel, right there on Mother's Hill with the Harvest Goddess as my witness (I hope she saw it at least).

I was going to retort her statement, but I let out a huge yawn and my stomach grumbled. I'm too "hangry" for this.

"Look at you Gray, looks like you've been neglecting yourself too. Don't worry, I'll stop by Mother and Father to check if they have any leftovers," Mary said as she slowly put on her coat to walk over to her parent's house. "Sit tight!"

I watched Mary walk out, but only for a few seconds. I looked at everything she had dropped and began to pick them up to place on her desk. Might as well clean the place while I waited. As I approached her desk I noticed there were 3 empty coffee mugs on her desk, a pile of reference books on the floor with papers on top of that. Then I walked over to the computer we had bought after her first book was published to check the word count on her story so far.

"Yikes," I scrolled through page after page of her story. "She's certainly gotten far."

So, this is what she's been doing while I've been at work all this time. With no one to keep her in check or provide any support she's devoted herself to her work. I doubt even her parents know, they've always taken to the notion that Mary can do no wrong. They were right most of her life, but this book has made her careless.

I walked away and sat down on one of the tables in the library. Our room was upstairs, but I needn't go there yet. I needed time to figure out what I should say to her when she comes back inside. I have to apologize. After a few minutes to think of a proper apology, Mary finally came back.

"Good news, my parents made a lot of baked corn, your absolute favorite! We're eating great tonight! A good snack, then I can get back to work!"

"Mary, please forgive!" I blurted out.

She stared at me a little dumbfounded until she spoke. "Uh, whatever for?"

I took a big gulp and began to spew my thoughts. "I have been neglecting you in exchange for my work! I haven't paid enough attention to you lately and that's not right! I'm so sorry. I noticed you've gotten ill while I was working. I should've been there to prevent that..."

"Gray..."

"That's why I'm taking a bit of a break. I hate to admit, but my grandfather was right. I can't be consumed by a single responsibility, so I am taking some time off! Meanwhile, you're gonna get lots of bed rest!"

"Uh, no Gray it's okay. I feel fine, you don't have to stop everything for my sake!"

"It's because it's for your sake I have to stop. You're my wife and I love you, so please let me take care of you!"

Mary began blushing for some reason and began covering her face. She hasn't been this shy with me in awhile. Maybe I was a bit too forward.

"Um, I'm sorry again. I don't want to impose my wants onto you," I explained sheepishly.

Then Mary began giggling. Now I was truly and utterly lost.

"I know it's rude to laugh, but you sound just like my first novel's protagonist! I swear you said some lines verbatim to the story," Mary said in between laughing fits. "This must be sign I married my own character."

At this I tilted my hat to hide my blushes. I didn't know I sounded so romantic. I had read her story, but I didn't remember every line in it. This was mortifying.

"Okay, we have a deal. I'll get some bed rest and take a break from the sequel for a while. As long as you promise to read with me more often!"

I lifted my hat up to look at her smiling face and bright eyes behind her round glasses.

"I had the exact same plan as you. Word for word or vitamin as you put it."

"Verbatim. I said verbatim, it means word for word!" Mary said laughing once again.

At this point I had begun laughing as well. Just the two of us laughing in the middle of a library at 10:30pm. Baked corn on the counter, books strewn everywhere, a tired blacksmith and a beautiful librarian. Gotta say, I'm glad I moved to Mineral Town.


Author's Note

There we have it, the final normal Mineral Town marriage candidate. The bachelors and bachelorettes of this game are without a doubt the most popular in the series and for good reason. They've appeared in the most games, have lots of good dialogue and interesting stories. Overall, just great characters to see, even in future installments. I've always liked Gray, I was surprised as a kid when I learned he and Mary would end up together. I didn't understand how they would initially, but after learning more about them, they likely have the most functional/best relationship compared to all their friends. Which is why I wasn't sure what to make the conflict in this chapter be, but my most devout reviewer (Who I won't name unless they permit me) gave me the idea of how their workaholic tendencies would collide.

I like to think I got their respective personalities right, Saibara as well. He was easy though, condescending, wise old man is always fun. Gray and Mary might be a little different, but marriage changes people, so that's my excuse : P

Now this is far from over. The female version of the game actually has THREE extra bachelors compared to the male version. One is super easy and actually beneficial to befriend, one is the Harvest Goddess, but more tedious and less worth it. Finally, I must say the hardest love candidate to marry in any Harvest Moon/farming sim ever. I can't wait to start because all of them share one trait: They really WEIRD!