Hey, super long time, I know. But I have the urge to continue, in this crazy world we are living at the moment. So I hope ya'll still wanna know what happens. What I wanna do in this story is still with me. Power of day dreams, tbh. I still though had to reread of what all I wrote, haha. Anyways, I sincerely hope you continue to bear with me as I try my very best to finish this whole story.
Whoever is reading this, you are VERY much appreciated.
When festivals came around, Claire never was one to remember. This festival she did.
But it wasn't because the festival in question was known for a huge potluck for the inhabitants of Mineral Town plus a huge pot where everyone that goes throws something in it. That, that being food, was a plus, yet not the main event for Claire.
Since she had a brief conversation with Mary on the day of Stu's birthday – the one which the young blacksmith was primarily the subject of – since that day, the blonde tried looking for excuses to talk to the curious librarian.
When you came to Mineral Town a couple seasons ago, Gray started to change.
For some unknown reason to the blonde-haired farmer, that particular sentence stuck with her, but more than that it bothered her. What did it mean? Why did Gray started to change? Was it because of her arrival? Why, if so? She was nobody special, save for the odd genius moments. It did not make sense. A guy that seemed very rough on the exterior initially – and quite frankly rude in their first encounter – a guy that seemed to hate her guts at first – why would she be the reason for his change?
Questions like these was exactly why she made it a point to visit Mary the morning of the Harvest Festival. To her luck, the farmer's little friends from another world whom she had gotten to know a bit more were more than happy to look after her crops and animals for the day. This allowed her to drop in unannounced at Mary's Library.
"Hi, Mary." The farmer timidly waved at the librarian when the door opened.
"Claire. This is a surprise." Mary blinked, not exactly knowing what to think.
"I do apologize for dropping by unannounced and this early. I'm sure you don't get many in the library at this hour, let alone on a festival day." Claire paused, expecting Mary to say something, but when that didn't occur, she continued. "I was wondering if we could discuss some things that have been on my mind."
"Sure." Mary gestured her unexpected guest to come in. "Take a chair from somewhere and we can talk at the check-out desk."
Claire obeyed then sat down. She had never been in the library before. As she looked around the surroundings, guilt somewhat crept upon her. Even before the whole Mary giving people the cold shoulder and before being on the receiving end of Mary's apparently pretty decent glares, the farmer never really had the time or took the time to visit her. Noticing the intricate details from the specific pictures that were hung to the delicately placed books on the shelves to an amazing upper open floor which one could see from where she was, she stared in awe. She had been in her past to libraries which seemed cold, damp, and foreign. To find a very homey feeling in one somewhat surprised her. Then again, Mary had always gushed about her love for books to anyone who would listen. The farmer had witnessed this herself as well as heard many stories from people like Ann.
Taking one last glance around, she concluded that everything had its place and that the black-haired librarian treated each and every book as if it were some prized gem. Much like a personal collection. The farmer thought to herself.
"What's on your mind, Claire?" The librarian meekly asked the somewhat distracted farmer.
Jolting back to reality, Claire responded, "This is gonna sound... stupid, but I kind of can't get what you told me when we both left Stu's birthday party..." The blonde trailed off, mumbling a little near the end. Noticing the librarian squinting at her through her glasses, Claire decided to continue to elaborate more. "Specifically about Gray and something about he changed. And I fully realize that it is ironic to even mention this considering I had said I didn't want to mention this..."
Mary smiled then replied, "It is just my observations, Claire. Something which I have noticed."
"Yes, and the logical side of brain knows this and shouldn't even be thinking about it-"
"But you're at the point where overthinking is happening and it is giving you a headache. Have I summed that up appropriately?"
Damn, she sounds like my good friend Kale. The farmer thought to herself. "Pretty much." Claire sighed. "Sounds stupid, right?"
"No, Claire, not at all. It is more than some of the characters I read about do." Mary smiled to herself. "You want to figure out why something ails you and you've decided to take action and figure it out. Nothing wrong with that. What exactly would you like clarification on?"
Claire started to fidget with her hands. "Why did you say those things?" Even though the farmer had a few questions she had wanted answered, she was finding it extremely difficult finding the words to express those questions to the kind-hearted woman in front of her.
"Look, Claire." Mary began which prevented Claire from having an inward conversation with herself. "Like I said, these are my observations. I'm sensing you are having difficulties in asking the exact question or questions you want to ask."
Claire nodded in agreement. "And that is okay." Mary reassured her then continued. "So allow me to sum my thoughts up to the best of my ability which I hope will help. As you probably have guessed when you met Gray, he can be a bit rough and distant. Even grumpy and snappy when he gets angry. But as you might have now guessed that once you get to know him and he gets to know you, he is quite charming in his Gray-sort-of way." The black-haired lightly chuckled to herself, not realizing a small blush was creeping on her face. She pressed on, "I've known Gray for a number of years now before you came. And like I've said, I have seen him happy before. Like when he got overjoyed when he finally understood a concept his grandfather was trying to teach him. It was a small moment before he went back to his old self, but it showed me he does feel.
"Then you arrived in town. I never saw him get so bothered about someone like he did with you. You pushed all his buttons the wrong way and I still cannot explain how and why."
"I could say the same thing about myself... if I am being honest here."
"I'm sure. I mean, I have theories but they are not facts. But anyways, every time he came to the library he just could not resist in complaining about you in some way. Some of the complaints were ridiculous too."
"Like?" Claire wondered.
"I won't justify them by repeating them. Not worth it. But just think of the most ridiculous thing one can complain about and chances are that is pretty close to what he said."
Claire stifled a chuckle. The librarian continued, "But that shouldn't be the main focus here. When he stopped coming to the library, I starting observing his behaviour more. And yes I know how that sounds like but," she sighed, "then I had a crush on him. I'm sure you can understand that feeling."
"Oh too well." The farmer nodded. "The stories I could tell you..."
"Yeah." Mary pushed her glasses up more on the bridge of her nose and continued, "Claire, I don't know how to be more blunt with you then to say that he is different around you."
"Happier?"
"That is a conclusion, one which I hold. I only base that on the fact that he visits you a lot more than he did before you two made amends. And the fact that, from what I observe, he doesn't seem as distant as before."
"Huh."
"I don't know what else you want me to say." Mary paused then continued. "There is one possible thought I can add, but I'm not sure if you will like it."
Claire shrugged her shoulders. "I mean you told me that I made an impact on him which I don't even know what to say to that. So you might as well continue with your thoughts because I just want to not think about this anymore."
Mary bit her lower lip, debating whether or not to appease the farmer's curiosity. Gaining courage, she continued, "Have you considered he has developed possible feelings for you?"
"No." Claire almost laughed. "We're just friends."
"I did not imply that you two were a thing. And friends can develop feelings for each other. So, do you think he has feelings for you?"
"I'm not a mind reader." A blush slowly crept on Claire's face. Though sometimes I wished I was... The blonde trailed off in her thoughts.
Mary sighed. "Okay, do you have feelings for him?"
The blonde-haired farmer stared at the grains of the desk in between the two women. She expected her conscience to make a voice appearance to her, but she quickly realized that that was not going to happen. The one time – onetime I want an answer...
"Claire?"
Outside of the library unknown to the two women inside, a certain young blacksmith was sitting down on the steps in front in full earshot of the current conversation. He had noticed the blonde farmer walk by the blacksmith since he had been called by his grandfather to come in for a bit to make sure an order was ready to be delivered. As soon as he had finished with what his grandfather wanted him for, he had immediately followed the farmer to the library. There he had debated whether or not to eavesdrop.
It took some time to convince himself to eavesdrop, after cursing himself for becoming too much like Ann. His curiosity just had to be satisfied, so he had concluded.
Of course he had to fully eavesdrop precisely when Mary asked Claire whether or not she had feelings for him. He was thankful there was nobody around to first wonder what he was doing and to secondly overhear the conversation he had just convinced himself to listen to. Hell, he wasn't even sure whether or not he should be listening himself.
He barely heard what the farmer told the librarian. He cursed underneath his breath but then heard something of interest.
"I thought I knew what my view on him was, but as time goes I don't know what to think. I get his frustrations with his grandfather, with his work. I've experienced similar feelings for different circumstances, but as time goes by, at least for me, lessons come. I don't know if it's like that for him. I'm not him. I do know that I believe he has the talent he needs for the profession he has chosen; he is just way too hard on himself to fully realize this."
The blacksmith continued to sit where he was, blocking out anything else that the either the farmer or librarian would say. He contemplated on what he clearly heard. He had never had anyone say anything to that effect concerning him or his training, till he met the farmer. People had encouraged him before he met Claire, but for some unknown reason, he couldn't understand why Claire's words struck him more than the others.
He decided he had eavesdropped enough and went for a walk before the Harvest Festival started. Perhaps a walk would help him further think or so he had hoped.
The blonde-haired farmer arrived with her companion to Rose Square. The two of them smiled at each other then departed from each other, with Claire towards her brother and Ann and Mary towards her parents.
The farmer's brother and ginger-haired friend looked at one another, wondering the same thing. It took the ginger to speak up first when the blonde arrived. "Okay, Claire, spill. Why did you and Mary arrive together? Did you have some sort of secret meeting or something?" The ginger raised her eyebrow.
"Don't be so paranoid, Ann." The blonde rolled her eyes. "Do you mean to tell me with what is at your disposal that you can't simply eavesdrop to whatever conversation you desire?"
"What is she talking about, Ann?" The farmer's brother enquired, confused at his sister's question to his girlfriend.
"Not important." Ann pointed her finger in the air then turned her attention back to her friend. "And what I have is limited."
"I highly doubt it. I know what to look for when I see stuff like that."
Andrew grew more agitated. "What are you two even talking about?"
Ann ignored her boyfriend. "I'm telling you the truth, Claire. It is limited. Besides, I don't always have the time and definitely not earlier." She blushed at the thought.
"It's as if I'm not even here." The dark-haired man said dryly.
"My dear, it really is nothing important." The ginger locked arms with him, lightly squeezing his arm. The three of them headed more towards the rather large, long table filled with different types of foods. The conversation for the moment died.
While gathering some foods on her plate, Claire glanced around. Not everyone in town came out which puzzled her, considering one, the vast amounts of food and two, it was a potluck. It seemed strange to her, but the more she thought about it the more she thought it would be best to enjoy her time instead. People have reasons. She concluded to herself.
As she sat down where tables and benches were set much like one sees at a fair, she decided to eavesdrop on everyone's conversations that walked by them. It also gave her an excuse to not pay attention to Ann and her brother's semi-arguments and semi-PDAs. Since the three of them were among the first in line for grabbing a plate of food, she had the opportunity to hear most if not all conversations that walked by them.
The conversations ranged from "what are you going to put in the big pot?" to general concerns on what will be put in the pot. She even overheard Sasha, Karen's mother, tell the story of how Karen threw chocolate in the pot one year. She even briefly heard Ann speak up to her dad about trying to control what goes in the pot – how he should just calm down and let it be. Then her skin began to creep on her which usually indicated to her that someone was or had been staring at her.
She scanned her surroundings and briefly locked eyes with the person whom she had been talking about with Mary earlier. To her puzzlement, the young blacksmith immediately looked away as if he had been caught red-handed stealing cookies or something. She squinted. That was weird, even for him. She thought to herself. Then again, who knows what the hell goes on in his head.
Again, she had expected for her conscious to at least make some sort of quip but apparently today it just wasn't in the cards. Oh, I am definitely losing it here...
Nothing. She pushed those thoughts away, deciding to concentrate more on eating. Though before that, she chuckled to herself as she saw Popuri and Rick sit next to Gray. She knew that he would have a hard time escaping that conversation.
"Claire?" A voice snapped her back to her nearby surroundings.
"Hey, Gotz!" She greeted the gentleman. "What's up?"
"Carter and I were wondering if you would like to join us. I know you are sitting with your brother and Ann but-"
"Their antiques can be a bit much? Not gonna disagree on that." Gotz chuckled. "Sure, Gotz, I'll join you two. Perhaps my brother will actually remember he has a sister..." The farmer trailed off. She didn't mind that Andrew was more focused on Ann. In fact, she was overjoyed that he grew a pair, but just because she was happy for him that didn't necessarily mean that she wanted to be ignored or forgotten about like she had been in recent days.
Taking a deep breath, Claire rose up from her spot then went with Gotz to join Carter. She never got to know the two men well, but with what she did know about them, she knew they were incredibly kind. They were proper gentlemen which she had thought did not exist anymore. She was glad she had been proven wrong on that. The three of them talked about anything from family to friends to stories from their past. She wondered to herself why she never talked to these two gentlemen more then made a mental note to fix that sometime in the future.
In between a joke Carter had told which was interesting to say the least, she managed to ask Gotz about the potential of building a building from scratch. "It depends." Gotz said to her. She explained to him how she had wanted two floors to it as well as a basement. The carpenter stroked his beard, contemplating her enquiry. He then told her that it would be a rather large expensive project. "But you guessed that, didn't you." He said to the farmer.
She nodded. "It's a dream, at the moment." She responded.
"Dreams are always good. You let me know when you are ready to act and have all the resources." The woodsman added. "Then we'll see what we can do."
"Trust, I will." The farmer smiled brightly.
After the time came to throw an item into the pot, the end of the festival rapidly arrived. The farmer was glad when the festival ended since she wanted to get a good night's sleep before a long day of toiling in her fields. As she was about to leave the square, after saying her goodbyes to Carter and Gotz, she abruptly got stopped by her brother. "Claire, I'm glad I caught you."
"What's up, Andrew." The farmer yawned, trying to be patient as possible.
Her brother blinked then continued. "Look, I know I have been 'occupied' with Ann lately-"
"Andrew, I know what you are going to say, and you don't need to." She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm really happy for the two of you, and to be frank I don't want to get in between." She took her hand away from his shoulder. "I do though appreciate the fact you are trying though."
"But sis, that doesn't excuse the fact that since Ann and I started dating, I haven't exactly spent much time with you."
"Andrew, it's fine. I know I'll always be your number one." The blonde grinned, eyes closed.
"Always, sis." The dark-haired man ruffled her bangs. Claire blew her bangs in an attempt to regain their posture. "I'll be seeing you around then. And we're going to have a brother-sister day sometime." He declared as he was leaving.
"Sounds fun." The farmer chuckled to herself as she headed out of the square. It had taken some time, but things with her brother had drastically improved since spring. She was glad too cause it brought some hope to her life that maybe everything was going to be alright.
The farmer did not get far when, again, she was stopped. This time from someone she had expected in a weird way. "Need company?"
"I mean, I'm going back to my farm, Gray. If you wanna join, I don't mind... much." Claire added. Ever since her talk with Mary earlier, her view on the young blacksmith was very confusing to her. Well, it wasn't as if it was clear to her before. It was just now, it was even more confusing. On one hand she realized she did not mind him nearly as much as she used to; but on the other hand, his actions confused her to the point of annoyance.
I guess time will exactly tell me what to think. She thought to herself as the two of them headed towards her farm. It was a quiet walk, which the farmer was grateful for. It allowed her to clear her thoughts, and she imagined that it did the same for Gray.
When they arrived at her farm, the farmer realized that her little friends were still in her fields. She had thought they would have been done before she came back and was now concerned what the blacksmith would think. She paused then decided to speak up. "I'm sure you are wondering who are out in my fields."
"What are you talking about, Claire? All that is there are your fields." The puzzled blacksmith responded. "Are you feeling well?" He enquired automatically. "I only ask cause I thought I saw Karen throw something in the pot she wasn't suppose to."
Now she was confused. She clearly saw Timid, Hoggy and Nappy in her fields – the same three who were now making their way towards her and her guest. "You mean to tell me you don't see anything different in my fields? Like nothing?"
"If by different you mean a difference since you came. Sure. But I think you either had too much stew from the pot or you've been watching too much TV." Gray said dryly.
"Naturally, you have to take a jab at my TV..." Claire mumbled almost incoherently.
It was enough for Gray to hear though. He rolled his eyes.
The farmer semi-ignored him while she watched Timid, Hoggy, and Nappy walk by her and the blacksmith. The three of them waved at her as they left. She wondered why the blacksmith was unable to see them. Was she indeed watching too much TV to the point of not knowing what is real and what isn't? She shuddered at the thought, but at the same time it was a legit concern as much as she wanted to deny that.
Y-You aren't losing your s-senses, budum. A familiar voice rang through her head. It was Timid! We do not show ourselves to those we do not know or are unsure of. This is how our existence has b-been kept a secret, budum.
Even though the farmer wondered why only Timid spoke to her, she was grateful that she wasn't losing any marbles.
"Claire." The blacksmith started the conversation back up since he thought someone should. The mention of her name brought her back to the present. "I was wondering if I could ask you something."
"Um, yeah, sure." Claire finally focused. She would try to make sense of things later.
"I have to run an errand down to the valley tomorrow-"
The valley? The farmer thought to herself. More things which puzzled her.
"-And was wondering if you were like to join, perhaps." The blacksmith pulled the rim of his cap down.
She ignored the fact that this man in front of her had asked for her company for the next day. That in itself was more than enough for her to overthink about later. However, that wasn't what currently was bothering her. "Gray, I don't want to sound stupid here, but what is 'the valley'?"
"Forget-Me-Not Valley?" Gray raised his eyebrows as he pushed his cap up to see better. "You mean to tell me you haven't heard of it since you've been here?"
"I wouldn't be asking if I did." The blonde squinted at him, somewhat snapping at him. "I don't exactly get out much save for festivals and maybe when my brother comes by, but that has been awhile. All that time he failed to mention of a 'valley.'" She made a mental note to chew her brother out for not telling her. How the hell does one not mention something about another place where people are? She thought to herself.
"Okay, blondie." The young blacksmith responded, somewhat getting annoyed by the farmer in front of him. He regained his composure and continued, "There's a little village. Fairly decent people there too. That's all there is. Gramps wants me to check up on two farmers there – see how their tools are and any other equipment issues. I figured you might want to tag along."
"Well, obviously I'm gonna. I need to know who these people are and whether anything else is worth the interest."
"Alright. Day trip it is. I'll see you tomorrow." With that and a small smile on his face, he exited Claire's farm before she could say anything else.
"A village in a valley? My Rassilon, how big is this island?" The farmer mumbled to herself. The more she learned about the island she was living on, the more she wondered why nobody on the mainland knew – why there wasn't any news on something like this island. She fully understood the consequences if word got out, but something wasn't sitting right with her. Somebody had to knew, right?
She pushed those thoughts aside then realized that if she had accepted Gray's invitation, to which she was now wondering why he invited her, she would need the Sprites' help again for her farm work. Don't w-worry. I'll pass it along, budum. The familiar voice rang again in her head. A-and s-sorry for i-invading your t-thoughts a-again.
The farmer couldn't help but smile. Timid at least at the guts to talk to her like this, though she wondered why specifically Timid and why not the others. She pushed those thoughts aside as she entered her house for the night.
"At least tomorrow will be some sort of holiday, I hope. I swear, sometimes I miss the city." She quickly rebuked herself for even saying the latter sentence as she turned in for the night.
Thanks for reading! Feedback most definitely welcomed!
