As the sun beat down on me, I struggled to keep going with my crops. They weren't growing as fast as I'd like, but I was still a little scared to infuse my mana the way I had been doing. Instead, as soon as I started to feel a little tingle of drain, I would stop. Of course this still helped me grow faster than the average farmer, but getting such a late start was really taking its toll. It already took most of my morning to water everything that needed it, and the majority of the afternoon making sure there were no weeds or any insects that could harm them. The rest of the day was generally spent tilling new crop plots, or meditating in the woods to regain some of my spent energy. Speaking of, my special crops were looking rather nice now. This made me happy, especially since someone was coming onto my farm to ask about them.

Stardust XIV

By: Satashi

"Afternoon!" Leah called out to me as she got within speaking distance. "You look amazing."

I was wearing some of my new clothes, ones I didn't want anyone else to see me in. Leah was a little different, though. She has seen me in much less, and her eye for art made it so much easier to open up to. "Thanks!" I accepted the compliment and braced myself up on my hoe, panting slightly. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"To see you nice and sweaty, as well as request some chilies for dinner tonight." Leah rocked on her heels and eyed me, making no effort to hide the fact she was enjoying it. "So is my night going to be hot and spicy or…?"

I coughed and blushed, looking away and getting giggled at. "I do have some peppers for you over here." I lead her over to my special plot and knelt down. "Here, these are ready to be picked."

Leah knelt down beside me, really close. She bumped me on purpose and laughed with her eyes before observing my produce. "Oooh, these look great. Have you been doing your little hocus pocus magic thing on them?"

"Yeah, these get a little mana fed to them every day. The rest gets cycled so I don't have another fainting spell like before. I could probably go a lot farther than I am, but I want to keep track of how it makes me feel before I really cut loose. But what's for dinner?"

"Spicy Thai coconut curry. I thought I'd try something new and exciting!" Her slender fingers plucked a few of my peppers and she put them in the backpack she let fall from her shoulder. "Oh, look at that! I have all the ingredients here with me. Would you like me to cook dinner for you?"

"Smooth."

"Thank you." She bit her bottom lip while waiting for a reply.

I really wanted something filling tonight after a hard day of tilling, and I knew that Leah's dish wouldn't have any meat in it. Despite this, the inquisitive look I was getting, along with the adorable fact that she planned all this made it so I couldn't say no. "I'd love for you too."

"Great!" She stood up and dusted off her knees. "You normally eat at five, right? I have just enough time to get it ready for you if I start now. May I use your kitchen?"

"It would be hard for you if I said no, wouldn't it?" She popped me on my arm and jogged over to my house, doing a small spin along the way to wave at me along her way. I gave a content sigh, pleased at not having to cook now at least. Briefly I debated heading in already, but decided to finish my current task beforehand. I only needed a little time to finish this plot, and I wanted to plant before the predicted rain.

To stress the point, I heard a loud roar of thunder over head. Redoubling my efforts, I went back to work. My hoe worked fast and steady, along with my mixing of fertilizer and seeds. Normally I would have left the soil loose and airy, but it was already starting to sprinkle on me so I packed the dirt as best I could to make sure everything I just planted wasn't washed away.

I could smell the rain as it fell. I inhaled that damp, thick scent as I worked, frantically trying to finish on time. As lightning struck somewhere close, I decided to call it quits before I got electrocuted. Jogging over to my shed, I put my tools up and made sure none of them could get wet. I mentally scolded myself for not getting Robin to update the shed yet, but my money was starting to dwindle. I needed more crops and another farmer's market some kind of bad. I briefly wondered if the girl I met on the beach a while ago would be there. I made a mental note to send her a text at one point to thank her for the advice on my farm. I didn't even know to plant those crops, and was pleased at how fast they were growing.

When I made it to my house, the storm had decided to let loose with everything it had. I just managed to make it in while only being slightly wet. "Dodged that bullet," I greeted her while looking out the window. "It's supposed to storm some kind of bad."

"So I heard," Leah mused while paying most of her attention on her phone that held the recipe on it. "This is taking a bit longer than I thought, I'm sorry…"

"No worries. I have time for a shower?"

"Depends, am I joining you?" Leah gave me an over exaggerated wink. "Yeah, you have time, but don't stay too long, okay?"

"You got it." I helped a Junimo off the back of the couch to the floor and he followed me to my bedroom. I closed the door and began stripping, careful not to toss my dirty clothes on any of my house mates. After looking over at my desk I took a moment to observe the framed drawing Leah did while I was on my mana burn sickness. It was me laying in bed with Abigail behind me, hand in my hair to stroke my head. I smiled fondly at that and placed it back down so I could wrap a towel around myself and head over to the bathroom.

I saw Leah look over at me as I went to the bathroom and she gave me a chuckle. "Shave those legs!"

"I wear overalls, who cares?" I challenged back playfully.

"I can get the scythe if you need it!" Leah's voice made it to me just as I closed the door.

I dropped the towel and looked at my legs. Maybe they were a bit over due… I made it a quick priority and groaned as my razor was slightly dull. Had I left all my femininity back in the city along with my makeup, nail polish, and earring? Deciding to do a fast makeover, I completed the boring tasks of my legs, under my arms, and doing my hair. I made extra sure to scrub myself as well as possible, and when I got out I quickly dried my hair and brushed it. I decided to leave it down for now, and kept moving the brush through it, shaking my hair dryer to try and remove the inward wave where my scrunchie normally was.

I gave myself one good look in the mirror and a dash of perfume before getting dressed in my cow print white and black pajamas. Leah was almost ready for me in the kitchen and I stood next to her happily to watch her finish up the meal. She sniffed a few times before turning to me and beaming at my appearance. "Your hair is so long!" She realized. I turned for her and she gave a light whistle. "Good job!"

"Thank you," I mused happily. My hair went down to my butt when it was let down, but was probably nothing compared to Leah's. Her braid almost touched her butt as it was, and I was sure it'd go lower when undone. "Hey, how often do you re-do your hair?"

"Only when it gets loose. I have to scrub it pretty good in the shower to be sure no paint or anything gets in it, but I've gotten really fast at doing it up. Do you only ever ponytail yours?"

"It gets in the way of absolutely everything," I sighed out, crossing my arms. "Sometimes I want to lob it all off, but then I realize I would probably cry if I did that."

"Don't you dare." Leah went back to inspecting her food. "You know I love ponytails."

I suddenly realized something. "Hey, I saw some pictures of the Spring Dance when I went to see Emily a few days ago. You danced with Abby didn't you?"

"Sure did! She's a great dancer."

"And she had her hair in a ponytail!"

Leah was smiling. "I told her the day before that I really had a thing for them. I was really happy, she looked wonderful."

"I don't have to worry, do I?" I asked before stopping myself.

The braided girl laughed heartily at that. "No! Of course not!" She held up her hands to make a cup. "Bowls?" I pointed and she went to grab some. "You're the only one crushing on Abigail right now." Taking the bowls, she placed them on the counter so she could fill them up. "Though, if you're into that kind of thing, maybe I could be persuaded." She smiled coyly at me. "If she puts her hair up again, that is."

I felt my face burn when I caught her meaning. "I-I don't know who's worse, you or Abby."

"Abigail for sure." Leah looked proud. "I'm a mature lover, she's a horny teenager." I opened my mouth to protest that, but found myself really not being able to. "There's nothing wrong with that, though." she continued while we say at the table. "I was too when I was nineteen. Live and learn. Know I sure did."

"Did you have many lovers?" I asked while inspecting my dinner. Just as I expected, it was meat free. After trying a careful bite I realized I did love the flavor… minus the craving for chicken in it.

"Lovers? No. Boyfriends: a few. Girlfriends: One." She tried a bite as well and looked impressed with herself. "I did enjoy a good make out session, though. Yourself?"

"A few," I admitted to her. "In high school I fell for a boy. Ended up being used one night. Not my proudest moment." I took another bite and got hit by some heat I wasn't expecting. Giving a small cough, I forced it down and drank some milk. "Spicy!"

"I know, right!?" Leah looked pleased. "I'm so proud of myself for actually trying it! But anyway, go on?"

"You really want to know about the people I slept with?"

"Not so much, but I'd love to know more about your past. That includes your past interest as well, as long as you don't mind?"

"Not a whole lot to say, really. Uhm… I dated a girl when I first got out of school. She was nice but it didn't really go anywhere. She moved away after a few weeks of dating , which kind of sucked because she was a sweetie. After that I was single for a while then one guy at my office where I worked. Then someone I met at a pub, aaaaand…"

"Wow, get around much?" She teased me with a light laugh.

"Hey you asked!" I defended her tease. "I didn't sleep with all of them!"

"I hope not!" We both laughed together and took a moment to calm down before I went on.

"But for real, not super proud of all of them, but you make mistakes in life. I'm a better person for it, and now I realize that not everyone who looks at you nice deserves your intimate thoughts. I think I was trying to make up for that high school disaster. Like prove that I was worth it and he made a mistake."

"And now?"

"He let something great pass by!" I looked proud of myself, I knew. "I'm awesome." My statement would have been a lot more impactful if I had not almost chocked on the curry again.

"You get that down, awesome girl."

"Thanks," I wheezed, tapping my chest. "It's good. It's very good. I just can't handle hot things well."

"You should have told me!" She almost yelled at me. "I could have done something else!"

"No, this is fine. I want to eat what you wanted to cook for me." I gave her the best smile I could while my mouth was on fire. Was this what Abigail tasted when eating a ruby? I'd have to ask. "Okay, back to you." I motioned with my spoon. "How long you been single?"

"About two years. You?"

"Three years." A bite. "Favorite color? Oh wait, that's emerald green. Uhm-"

"Too late, that counts." Leah leaned forward. "Favorite hobby?"

"Collecting retro video games." I felt like we were speed dating, but it was way too much fun to stop now. "Favorite art medium of all time?"

"Carving wood. How do you relax?"

"I love napping." I tried to think. "Uhm… How do you relax?"

"In the winter and fall I love to cuddle under a blanket and read a book while drinking wine."

"Oooh, Wine?" I raised an eyebrow. "Do you stay dressed under that blanket, or does it seduce you too?"

" Yes wine, and wouldn't you like to know?" Leah took a long drink of her milk and sighed happily. "That was fun."

"Hey, you have to answer!"

"I did. You asked if it was indeed wine, to which I said yes." Leah leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "I'm so full." A bright flash of lightning lit up the house, followed by crash of thunder that rattled my windows a bit.

"Oh wow, it's really coming down out there isn't it?"

"Extremely…" She pouted. "Not looking forward to walking home."

"You can stay here if you want."

"Will that be awkward?" She pondered, observing me. "You know I'm going to be cuddling you all night if you let me stay. Fair warning."

I blushed at her boldness. "I-I can't make you go home in that…"

"Accepted." She noticed I was done eating and stood up, taking my bowl.

"I can-"

"Shush, you've had a hard day at work." I watched Leah clean both bowls in my sink and then even go as far as putting the leftovers in a container and then into my fridge. "There we go. What should we do now?"

"I don't know…"

"What do you normally do?"

"Play some games, talk with my Junimo friends, head into town if I need things, watch some T.V. or so." I stood up and walked into the living room with her to sit on the couch.

"Let me watch you play a game." She nodded at the screen. "Any game you want."

"Okay…" I went over to my Atari and popped a game in. "Here, a Trek Wars game." I adjusted the switches on the ancient system and moved back to sit in front of Leah on the floor. She adjusted her legs on either side of me and ran her fingers through my hair. I tried to focus on the screen and play, but she was being exceedingly distracting.

"What's that bird flying around?" She asked curiously.

"That's not a bird, that's the ship I'm controlling." I moved the very crude space ship rendered in only a few pixels around on the map. "That's the Starship Falcon."

"And the camel down there?"

I bit back a comment about appreciating the classics. "That's an TA-TA walker. They're part of the Rebel force lead by Khan." I continued blasting little pixels out of the sky and then taking out the walker rather skillfully. "And level one complete! What do you think?"

Leah hummed. "I think you could have called this game Bird Vs. Camel and no one would have argued with you."

I sighed. "To each their own."

She must have realized I wanted her to like it because her hands stopped moving for a moment. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"No, it's okay… We can't all like old games like this. I'm just weird."

"I like weird." Her hands started working again and I started to play the second level. Mid way through blowing things up I realized that she was dividing my hair up into three parts. After a while she began braiding it, gently tugging every now and again to make sure it was tight. "How is your farm coming along?"

"A lot better thanks to that girl we met on the beach. She told me some great pointers on making some fast cash. I hate always being about the money, but just as soon as I thought I was getting ahead I had some weird bills come in. I really need to update this old place too. If not for Joja's wireless internet service then I wouldn't be able to do much of anything here."

"Big on the internet?" She pulled my hair a little more and adjusted the strands. I could tell she was taking her time on purpose, but I didn't mind.

"Not so much, but I do love having video whenever I want it. That's my only real need here. Well, that and some games. Not as much as Abigail, though."

"Nobody plays as much as Abigail." Leah laughed with me. "She's so bad at them, but you can really tell she has fun. I haven't seen anyone talk to the screen quite like she does."

"Hehe, I know, right?" I closed my eyes briefly to enjoy the sensation of my hair being played with. It was something that I haven't felt in years, and I wanted to savor a little of it. After what only seemed like a few minutes, I felt the end of my hair being twisted and a small tug and popping sound finished the job. Leah had tightly bonded the bottom so it couldn't come undone. Picking it up, I looked at it and realized she had placed her own clip at the end. As I looked back I saw her undoing her braid and letting it fall down. "Wow, I've never seen you with your hair down before."

"Sounds familiar." Leah finally shook her head and let her orangish red hair fall around her. It was extremely wavy and a little frizzed from being out of its normal place, but she looked rather charming. "What do you think?" Despite not being straight, her hair was still pooled on the couch around her.

"You look weird, but a good kind of weird."

"I can say the same for you!" She poked my nose. The wind picked up then and the rain started pounding my house a lot harder. "Wow, will your crops be okay?"

"They'll have to be." I was a little worried, but surely one hard storm wouldn't do any damage. "So, movie?"

"Movie." Leah watched me get up and turn on the small box by my TV and I accessed my computer from it. "How in the world did you hook your laptop up to that ancient thing?"

"Wasn't easy. I had to call in a favor from one of my friends from the city. They know all sorts of tricks. Maybe one day I'll cave in and buy a new one." I let her pick a movie to watch and turned out the lights. When I plopped back down I instantly felt her scoot closer and lean against me. I froze at first, but her soft chuckle made me ease up a bit. "I told you I'd snuggle."

"S-so you did…" I felt her lean a bit more and I knew that motion. I had done it more than once when wanting someone to put their arm around me. I slowly did so and she made an approving sound.

"If I'm going too fast, just let me know."

"No, It's okay!" I said the words a little too fast, and was giggled at. I was shy by nature, but I had never been the one to put an arm around shoulders before. It wasn't bad, but a little awkward being in the different place. Even though we both seemed to enjoy it, I could only stay like that for so long before I just had to move. She shifted along with me and somehow I found myself with my head in her lap. She stroked my hair with one hand and rubbed my arm with the other. It was soothing, and I felt the day's work start to creep up on me. I closed my eyes just for a moment and took a long breath of air.

"Wake up, silly girl." I heard my friend speak to me. She was gently tugging on my ear to get my attention.

"Not asleep." I yawned out my denial. "Just closed my eyes a moment." Despite this, I noticed the credits rolling. "Oh… Oops."

"Long day?"

"Not so much, but I wake up a little before the sunrise. This is actually about my bedtime."

"It's a little after nine!" Leah readily teased me. "I stay up till like one in the morning most nights."

"Yeah, and sleep in till noon."

"I wake when my art calls out to me." She said the words wistfully, clearly making fun of the over dramatic artists of the world. "But for real, I have a whacked out sleep schedule. I work most of the day, so my sleep comes whenever I need it."

"I can stay up a bit more." I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"No, you can crash if you want. I can carve some wood or something."

"You have your stuff here?"

Leah nodded. "I was actually outside doing it earlier before I decided to come over. If I have my backpack, I generally have my sketchpad and wood carving tools. Never know when you'll get inspired."

I couldn't disagree with that. "True." I yawned again. "I really want to stay up with you."

"How about some pillow talk?" Leah stood up and offered both her hands down to me. I accepted them and was pulled to my feet. I felt the weight of my braid as it fell back and noticed her hair was clear to her thighs. I was a little jealous at first, but then realized she probably kept it in a braid so she could function normally. My hair was bad enough as it was. Maybe having it so long was more of a pain than anything else.

"Pillow talk?" I looked at her excited face. "Isn't that what you do after sex?"

"I thought we could skip that part for now and get right to it." She twirled me around and started pulling me toward my bedroom.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" I pondered aloud, getting a good blush.

"No, if I was going to seduce you, you'd be seduced by now." She gave me a cute wink. "I want to know more about you." Once we were in, she stopped and looked down at herself. "But I'm a little dusty from being outside all day, you don't need that in your bed."

"Oh real smooth!" I laughed at her.

"I didn't mean it like that!" She actually bonked me on the head. "Now who's the perv!?"

"Hehe, sorry sorry." I looked over her and thought about it a moment. "I have a nightshirt that could fit you. It's a super baggy one so should be just right for your height." I dug through my dresser and found it. "Here you go." I sat on the bed and faced the wall so she could change.

"You can peek a little, if you want." She told me coyly.

"I would prefer it be in a more romantic mood, if I were going to watch you undress." It was true. Right now I felt a little shy, but there was no build up for it. When she finally joined me on the bed I felt my cheeks color a little bit more. She was on my bed, at night, wearing my clothes…

"I will admit, this is the first time I've been in bed before our third date." Leah's joke made me laugh.

"Okay, so, pillow talk." We sat facing each other. "What do you want to know?"

"Honestly? How are you holding up with us?"

I kind of felt that coming on. "It's weird. I feel kind of bad, like I'm stringing you two on."

"But you're not, you know that right?"

I looked down at my lap. "Sometimes I wonder… I'm not closer to finding an answer than I was a month ago. If anything, I keep falling for you both more…" I turned to meet her eyes. "Leah, I do really care for you… I just… I don't know… I care for Abby too… and it rips my heart when I think about having to pick between you two."

"I know," she reached to take both my hands again. "I've been thinking as well, and I know I've hinted at this, but I'll say it officially now, okay?" I gave a small nod for her to continue. "I really don't know if it's because of my last relationship, or if I'm just capable of understanding things like this, but… Kim, I'm ok with a poly relationship." I opened my mouth to deny the idea, but she interrupted me. "No, Kim, look at me." I did as she requested and she said it again, slower. "I want that relationship." She squeezed my hands.

"I…I don't… really know what to say to that…" It was a relief, but at the same time terrifying. I knew people could do it. Heck I knew a small group of guys back in the city who had such a complex poly relationship that I had to draw myself a chart to remember who was dating who. But the idea of being in one myself was… scary. Could I do it? Could I love two people? Is it possible for me to really, truly, love two people?

"What are you thinking?" Her voice was worried.

"I-I don't know…" My voice was shaking. "It's… such an easy solution, but…I don't know if I'm capable…I mean… It's scary. What if I can't? Like what if we do and I start to like you or her more? And Abby? What if she freaks out!?"

"Whoa, Kim, calm down." She moved her hands to my shoulders. "Hey, easy there. I'm sorry, I didn't know this would scare you like this. Let's just take a moment and breathe, okay?" I nodded and tried to take a deep breath. "There. That's better. Okay, let's take it slow. I know it's a huge thing to think about, but I wouldn't bring it up unless I thought it could be a thing."

Nodding, I gathered myself. "I can't give an answer right now… I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She tried to smile at me the best she could. "I'm sorry I freaked you out… how about we move onto something else? Give you time to digest?"

"Yes, please."

We stayed silent a while before she finally spoke up again. "I could just seduce you?"

"Not helping!" At the moment a large flash of lightning came and my lights flickered a second before turning off, casting us completely in the dark.

"You sure that's not sign?" Her voice was playful, and I took comfort in her ability to cheer me up.

"I don't know how long it will take to get power back on here. I think the power lines are all underground because my Grandpa never liked them… so that means it's in town. That's a plus."

"So now what? My phone is in the kitchen so I don't have any light."

"Mine's in the bathroom, so yeah…." Another awkward moment passed between us, broken only by a yawn.

"Sleep?" I nodded at her, fully expecting her to continue her thoughts until I realized she couldn't see me.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind. Are you able to sleep this early?"

"Don't really have a choice." She shifted on the bed. "Uhm… I'm not sure where your closet is or where the extra sheets are in the dark."

"You can stay with me," I said at once. "I'm not going to make us stumble all around trying to get you set up."

Leah moved her hand over my leg, searching for my hand to hold again. "You sure? Will it be okay?"

"We're just sleeping, not like it's anything bad. I'd share a bed with anyone really."

"You're lucky I'm not Abigail, she wouldn't let that joke pass."

I gave a soft chuckle at that, knowing it was true. "Sure wouldn't. But, well…" I moved and shifted to get under the covers, helping guide her along the way as well. "Let's get some sleep?"

"Officially requesting permission to snuggle."

"…Permission granted."