Natural Light

Maru woke up early that Friday morning, excited to get the family project finished before Sebastian got home. Her father had grumbled about the manual labor involved at first, but after seeing all the preparation and work Robin put into making the structures, it occurred to Demetrius that it was the only meaningful way both he and his daughter could be involved. Robin gave careful, precise instructions, and the father-daughter duo would execute the plan. It was the first time the young scientist had helped with a home improvement with her parents and she was glad they were all doing something for Sebastian to show they cared.

Yesterday, Maru had called off work to take a personal day. Luckily, business had not been too busy this time of year and Harvey was more than willing to allow it. So, the trio had chosen two prime locations for the new windows that would neither undermine the integrity of the basement and the structure of the rest of the house above it, nor be too inconvenient for Sebastian's bedroom layout. The hardest part had been removing the correct stones and shoring the area above them while Robin installed the window framing. But once that had been done, reinforcing the window wells, pouring in proper drainage materials, and re-doing the interior walls were not so bad.

As mid-morning arrived, the trio made the finishing touches on Sebastian's room. He now had two fairly large east-facing windows: one above his bed and the other above his bookshelf. Maru had even thought to put in curtain rods and window sills, so her brother could still block out the light if he wanted and display some of his collectibles where their mom may not think to try and clean. They would let him choose the color of the curtain panels, of course. "Do you think Sebastian will like it, Mom?" Maru asked, admiring their work.

Robin smiled at her daughter and gave her a hug, "It was a very thoughtful idea, dear. I'm sure your brother will appreciate it."

Demetrius wiped the sweat from his brow and stood proudly in front of their work. "It looks great, Robin. You amaze me as always."

The ginger chuckled, "I could not have done it without my strong, brainy assistants!" She gave her husband a kiss and the two smiled at one another lovingly as they embraced. Maru was happy that her parents were clearly still in love, but she was not particularly interested in watching them show it to the world all the time.

"I'm going to let Sam know he can let Sebastian come home now," she told them, though she did not think they were paying attention. Entering the house, she grabbed her phone from the carpentry shop counter. *Hey, Sam! Sebastian can come home now. We're all finished with his room. Thanks for keeping him out of the house for us!*

*No need to thank me. I'm always down to hang out with my brother from another mother. I'll see if I can get him to leave.*

Sam, being a loyal friend, had covered for Sebastian for the last two nights so his family did not know what happened. The first night Sam simply did not mention that Sebastian had left his house after less than an hour. Sure, upon being called to action by Abigail the next day, Sam could have told Robin and Demetrius that their oldest had been under an enchanted sleep due to a shadow creature, but that would have complicated the matter. Since no actual harm was done, it was probably best not to get their parents involved. Last night, Same let Sebastian's family continue to assume he had been hosting their kin. While Sam thought that Sebastian's sister would not see the harm in spending the night at Violet's, his best friend's parents might object in a similar fashion to that of his own parents.

This whole thing had actually worked out well. Sebastian's family needed him out of the house for a surprise and Sebastian was either asleep or not yet prepared to return home anyway. It was a win-win and neither party was the wiser regarding the others' plans. Now all Sam needed to do was ensure that his friend actually went home today. That should be easy enough. Today was Friday and the scheduled pool rematch of guys vs. girls, so either way, he expected to see Sebastian that evening. However, it was wise not to chance these things, so he messaged Sebastian to make sure he knew the situation. If they did not have their story straight, problems may arise, after all.

*Hey, fam! Ready for the big re-match this evening?*

*You might want to swing by your place before tonight. Your parents think you've been staying with me. Let's keep it that way, eh? ;D*

Sebastian awoke to darkness again, but this time he felt the rough texture of a printed page upon his face. Lifting the book from his face, the young man looked around to find the house empty. Unsurprising, of course, as the occupant of the house was likely doing farm work outside. The avid reader had stayed up most of the night, until he finally was satisfied that the shadow would not return and he was tired enough to sleep. Sebastian had no real way of knowing the time. He left his phone in his bag and the idea of leaving his pillow fort next to the fire did not appeal in the middle of the night.

Oh, fuck. I didn't tell my family I'd be out again last night, he thought. Sebastian scrambled out of bed to find his phone and text Robin, hoping that his mom did not call the cops. That's the last thing he needed right now, for some ZuZu City cops to come all the way out here to find a missing guy less than a mile out of town. Demetrius would be pissed.

But, much to his surprise, there were no frantic messages asking him about his location or when he would return home. Just one from Sam the night before informing Sebastian that he need not worry and took care of things. He sighed in relief.

The click of a door opening came from behind him and Sebastian realized that Violet had just been in the bathroom getting ready for the day ahead. She was already in a green t-shirt, jeans, and thick-soled boots. "Morning!" she greeted her guest through her teeth, which held her hair tie as she gathered up her locks. When she was satisfied, she freed one hand to grab the elastic ring, and fastened her hair in a high ponytail. "I didn't expect you to be up this early," she told Sebastian.

"Early?" Sebastian repeated, looking around the brightly lit room in confusion. "It's so bright out."

The female farmer laughed, "It's only 6:10," she informed him with a teasing smile. Her laughter only intensified as his face fell in disgust and horror.

"I'm going back to bed," he informed her without hesitation, falling face-first back into his pile of pillows on the trundle bed with a grunt.

"Be my guest," Violet replied, donning her grandfather's old straw hat. "I, on the other hand, have a garden to water and some parsnips to harvest." With that, exited the house.

The young man peered out from the pillows to watch her go. Why was she being so nice to him? Violet had given him a place to crash with boxes of books to read and seemed to be in no hurry to kick him out. She did not even seem upset that he had not offered to help with the farming. To say he was suspicious would be an understatement, but part of him also wondered if he was overthinking things. Sebastian had stayed the second night to make sure she was safe from the shadow creature and they had already agreed he should return home this evening the night before. Why would anyone see anything wrong with that? Sebastian sighed and sunk back into the pillows. He sank back into the fluffy mound and tried to drift back to sleep.

Shane rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Since he had gone to bed in his Joja Mart uniform, there was really no reason to get changed since he would be heading straight back to work anyway. Snatching the breakfast burrito from the freezer, he pulled it from the wrapper, and threw it into the microwave. His dark eyes stared blankly at the frozen block spinning slowly, round and round, like he did every morning.

When had life become so monotonous and void of meaning? Was it when he broke his arm during his final high school gridball season when the scouts came to watch? Shane had trained for that chance for years, all of it to be destroyed by some guy nearly a foot taller than he when they collided. He just did not have the body mass and the physics had not been in his favor. The shattering of his arm cost him all sorts of opportunities and the doctors told him he would likely never play again.

His own foolishness cost him as well. Shane had only bothered to apply to universities whose gridball teams he considered worthy of his time. He could have applied to other colleges the following year, but when the time came, he had not listened to the doctors' warnings and still had not fully recovered. Shane loathed the stupidity of all those decisions. If only his hubris had not gotten the better of him. Once his dream of going pro had died, a large part of him did, too.

His parents were not an option. Hell, he did not even know where they were at this point. He had lost contact years prior and they certainly could not be bothered to initiate contact, either. So, when his father's sister Marnie had offered him a place to stay, Shane had been surprised. But Marnie was already taking care of her niece, Shane's second-cousin Jas, after the accident that killed her parents. Shane promised David and Lila that he would help take care of their daughter when he became Jas' godfather. So in the end, he accepted aunt Marnie's offer because it made some sense to have both of Jas' guardians living in the same house.

Jas' father, David, was Shane cousin once removed, but Shane had always thought of him as an uncle. The cool kind that kept your secrets, gave good advice, and a safe space when Shane needed to talk things out. The loss of his favorite relatives left a gaping hole in his life and in combination with his injury, it was all just too much. The drinking slowly became a more prominent part of his life over the last few years and now Shane felt like he would never be able to see the light from the bottom of the hole in which he found himself. So here he still was, stocking shelves at the tiny local branch of the largest grocery store chain in the country, and helping Marnie tend to the ranch. Was this really all there was to life? Shane wondered if he actually believed that things would get better one day or if the sheer inertia of his monotonous life just kept alive.

The microwave dinged, announcing it had performed its duty. Shane yanked open its door and pulled out the breakfast burrito. Taking a bite, he realized it was still cold in the center, but he was so beyond caring at this point, he ate it anyway. It was just how his life would always be, he decided. No dreams, no hope, no future. Just repeating the same schedule day in and day out, waiting for something to take him, too.

But Jas... Then who would Jas have left other than Marnie? Resigned, the man exhaled, rubbing his face. The scratchy sensation of the stubble on his hand brought him out of his downward spiral long enough to remind him that he had to get to work. If he showed up even a second late, the new manager Morris would write him up. Not that he was ever late, but Shane at least had enough spite left in him to not want to give the bespectacled snob the satisfaction. So, Shane headed off to work and walked a little bit faster that day, just to make sure the manager did not get on his case. He really was not feeling it today.

Alex finished his complete breakfast that Granny made for him and rushed out the door to start his spring training as he thanked her for the meal. Evelyn smiled at her grandson's healthy appetite and called after him, "Don't forget ol' Dusty!"

The spiky brunet paused and returned to the kitchen to snatch up the salmon skin Granny saved for his dog. "Thanks again!" he called to her appreciatively. Gramps shouted that they be quiet during his favorite program, but Alex did not pay much mind. George's favorite show always seemed to be whatever was playing in front of him anyway.

As the jock reached the fence line, Dusty jumped up on his haunches to greet his human. "Hey, boy!" Alex smiled at his loyal companion, "Here you go." He tossed the salmon skin into the air and the old dog positioned himself to catch it just before it hit the ground. "Saved at the last second once again," Alex commented, pleased that Dusty had not dropped a treat yet.

The old dog smiled at his master and barked happily. Alex reached over the fence to pet Dusty's head. Looking into those soulful brown eyes, the young man knew he could not leave his loyal companion in the dog pen all day. It was gorgeous outside and the farm girl offered to let Dusty come over any time to play with Bruno. Alex beamed and quickly ran inside to grab Dusty's leash. "Be right back, boy," he promised.

The old dog sat patiently, as his person ordered. Dusty was rewarded when Alex returned with his leash. The loyal dog's tail wagged furiously in excitement and he leaped up toward the gate to leave the pen. Alex clipped the leash onto the collar loop and opened the gate. The mutt's tongue was hanging off to one side of his mouth as he grinned ear to ear.

The wannabe pro gridball player felt validated in his decision to take Violet up on her offer. Dusty already looked so happy. "Let's go to the farm, boy!"

Sebastian woke again a few hours later, with his phone buzzing in his face. It was Sam again, asking if he was ready for the re-match tonight and a not-so-subtle reminder that he really needed to go home today if they wanted to keep the appearances that he had slept over at his best friend's house and not with the new farm girl. *No worries, Sam. I'm heading out shortly*

Reluctantly, Sebastian rolled off the bed and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get dressed. When he emerged, he glanced over to Violet's bed, realizing she had laid out her pajamas. Just to make sure, Sebastian decided to more closely inspect the shirt that she wore the night before to confirm that it was his and not just something similar.

Sure enough, the shirt had the same design and feel as his missing shirt. Sebastian checked the tag, which bore his initials. Okay, so this is definitely my old shirt, the man thought. So how did Violet get it?

"Wha'cha doing?" a voice asked him from behind. Sebastian jumped, dropping the shirt back onto the bed as he turned to face the questioner. It was Violet.

"Uh... T-the shirt - I thought it was someone else's," he replied awkwardly, trying not to look too guilty. Sebastian did not want Violet thinking he was some kind of pervert.

Violet did not seem surprised by his answer, though. "Oh, yeah," she began to explain. "Maru wanted to borrow one of my shirts for some pollen sample or something, so she offered to let me borrow one of hers. It was at the bottom of the drawer, so I figured she doesn't wear it very often. I can't imagine why, though. It's so comfortable!"

So it was... an accident? Sebastian did love that shirt, but part of him liked that Violet wore it so often, even if people did not tend to see it. She looked good in it. The young man tried not to think about it too much. He did not want to repeat the incident from last night and come off as some kind of pervert. "No wonder it looked familiar. It's the same shirt," Sebastian responded. He should leave now, before things got more awkward.

The black-haired man looked around to make sure he had not forgotten anything. Nothing of his was in sight, so he threw his bag over his shoulder and lingered in the doorway. "I guess I'm out, then. Thanks for letting me crash."

The farmer smiled, "It was nice to get to hang out one-on-one," she told Sebastian as he descended the porch stairs. "And I think it's safe to say you officially put a ward against shadow monsters on my house, so thank you." There was actually no real way to confirm unless another creature showed up, but Violet chose to be optimistic about the situation.

The black-clad man paused on the final step and thought for a moment, "I wish I knew why it worked, and if it's just me... or something else that triggered the magic."

The female farmer nodded thoughtfully, "I suppose we'll have to experiment sometime," she suggested. "See what works and what doesn't."

"Hey, farm girl!" a voice called out from the east, interrupting their conversation. It was Alex and his dog, Dusty. "You sure it's still cool if Dusty hangs out here with Bruno for the day?"

"Oh, hey Alex," Violet said as he got closer. She was annoyed that the walking letter-jacket likely either forgot her name or did not care, but there was no reason to punish Dusty over his owner's negligence. The woman smiled at the sight of old Dusty, clearly excited to be able to run around free. "Of course Dusty is welcome to play with Bruno whenever he wants," the farmer confirmed. "Don't be shy about bringing him by."

Bruno, who realized there was a playmate on the property, charged toward the group and barked a greeting. Dusty whined to be set free from the leash and Alex unlatched the tether from the mutt's collar. The two dogs bolted toward the pond, probably about to get incredibly muddy in the water. They seemed happy, however, and Violet was not about to stop them from enjoying themselves. She lived on a farm after all.

Sebastian, who had been completely ignored by the jock the entire time, stood in awkward silence, shifting his weight between his feet. Should he leave now or wait to say goodbye properly? Alex answered the question for him when he spoke up, "Hey, it's the goth guy." The corners of Sebastian's mouth twisted down in a frown. I'm... not goth, he thought to himself. Alex, on the other hand, took notice of Sebastian's bag and he smirked in realization. "You work fast, don't you, man?" he laughed with a congratulatory wink and a light punch to the shoulder.

The athlete turned to Violet. "See you around, farm girl! I'll be back later to pick up Dusty," Alex said to excuse himself as he headed back toward town. "Thanks again!"

The programmer had no idea what Alex's weird comment was supposed to mean, but he had a feeling it was not a compliment. Violet looked equally lost, but shrugged it off. "Well, I guess I'll see you at The Stardrop Saloon tonight?" she asked her new friend.

"Yeah, sure thing," Sebastian confirmed, "but the girls are going to lose this time." He smiled at Violet and she returned with one of her own.

"We'll see about that," the floral-haired woman countered with a chuckle. "Abigail seems to have been waiting for her chance to grind you boys into the dirt."

The dark-haired man adjusted his bag on his shoulder, "Hey, at least I have some skill to back my trash talk, you were just as bad as Sam."

Violet wanted to defend her honor, but Sebastian was technically correct. She huffed and shooed him off her property. "Go home!"

Sebastian gave her that cocky half-smile that made her heart pound against her rib cage before turning to head up the northern path toward the mountain. He knew he won that spat. Damn bastard, she thought as Sebastian shouted, "See you later, Violet."

Sebastian took his time walking home, assessing the events of the last few days. He wondered how to best test his magic. There was really no guide book for this. Well, maybe it existed in some ways. The young man realized he could go through some tabletop gaming spells and see if any others worked for him. That could be a lot of fun. Then, this was all still assuming that he did actually cast a protection spell on Violet's house and it was not by coincidence that no other shadows appeared on the farm.

But how damn cool would it be to have magic? he thought to himself with excitement. It did not feel real. Hell, a lot of the last 48 hours did not seem real to him. Granted, a good chunk of that time he was asleep - presumably because the shadow did something to trigger it or his body needed some kind of rest after casting. It would have been his first spell, after all. Right?

Sebastian tried to think back to any inexplicable events in his past that could potentially be caused by some kind of magical element. Nothing came to mind but the fact that Krobus, whom he been made to believe was an imaginary friend, might in fact be one of those shadow people intrigued him. But how to get back in contact, assuming the shadow was still around town? The young man decided that would be one of his missions going forward.

The other, more complicated thought that came to mind was how this magic manifested in him. Was it because of the Valley? If the land were a source of magic, it was likely that more people in town might have it, too. That would be something to research as well.

There was also the uncomfortable possibility that it was... genetic in some way. Sebastian felt confident that his mother would have told him if there was a possibility if he received the magic from her, but who knows? Then there was the less appealing idea. Was it from his father? The one his mother never mentioned unless pressed, the one who abandoned him, the one who never even cared to contact him? He sighed, despairing at the idea that he may never get answers if that were the case.

Aside from the magic, then there was Violet... Abigail had just rejected him, so how could he possibly have feelings for someone else so quickly? It made no sense to him. Sure, he undeniably still feelings for Abigail, but he knew he would have to let the hope for a romantic relationship with her die. He wanted to respect her wishes and focus on the friendship aspect of their relationship. And to be fair, Sebastian acknowledged there was definitely overlap in his feelings for each of them, just in varying degrees. With Violet, things were different than they had been with Abigail. Sebastian felt more relaxed around her when they talked. Maybe it was because she had more to say about the kinds of things he liked, but he could not be sure. It was a strange, but welcome feeling.

If not for her moving into town and all the change that catalyzed in the town's dynamics, Sebastian might still be stuck in the same position he had for the last several years: pining fruitlessly over Abigail. While it was not necessarily Violet herself who caused the events over the last several days. The fact that there was a new, single young person in town did, however. Still, he had to wonder why Violet was so damn nice to him in particular. Everyone wanted something from their relationship with others. So what was her motivator? It was hard to venture a guess from only knowing her so short a time.

Her laugh rang in his ears, even now. And the cute way her cheeks puffed out when he called her out on her lack of pool skills made him smile. Violet was a lot of fun to talk to about - well, anything really. Sebastian felt a small twinge of pain in his face. Lifting his fingers up to find the source, the young man quickly realized that the muscles in his face were simply not used to smiling for more than a few fleeting seconds at a time. "Huh..." he muttered to himself. It was weird to go from feeling so low to this in such a sort span of time.

Before he realized it, Sebastian was home. He opened the door and the bell chimed, announcing his arrival. The young man did not notice that his mother was missing from the shop counter. The youngest male in the family turned the knob of the door down to his room and headed down toward the basement to crash for a while. He was mentally exhausted, but not entirely unhappy about it.

The black-clad man threw his bag into a corner, walked across the room to his bed, and collapsed into it. As he lie there, he had to turn away from the window so the light was not so bright in his eyes. At least it was not as bad as Violet's place. No wonder she got up so damn early every morning. After a few moments, Sebastian began to notice something was different, but he could not see anything out of place in his room. The table he kept at the ready for his RPG games with Sam looked as it should, the purple rug on the floor was still in the same place, and his computer desk seemed to be untouched. Wait - his lights were off and he could still see everything. Sebastian shot up into a sitting position and looked up behind him. His room had natural light! "WHAT THE FUCK?!" he shouted in surprise, nearly falling out of his bed as his brain processed that the wall now had two windows.

His mind began to race with so many different thoughts. Who did this? When did this happen and how? Sebastian was so overwhelmed with the sudden change and the potential implications behind it. What was the meaning of this? His family hated him, why would they install windows in his cave if they left him there to rot? He ran upstairs to demand an explanation.

Maru was doing her usual work in the lab when she heard the chime of the front door. That must be Sebastian! she thought with excitement. She heard the familiar clunk of his boots on the floorboards and the squeak of his bedroom door opening. The young scientist did not want to intrude on her brother's privacy, but she really wanted to see the look on his face. Maru tilted her head toward the hallway, hoping to hear something to indicate what he thought of the new additions to his room.

Then, without warning, a shout erupted from the basement. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

His younger sister cracked a smile, knowing that despite the profanity, the reaction meant he liked the improvements made to his room. Maru continued to peer into her microscope to view the specimen when she heard the thundering up the stairs. "Maru!" Sebastian cried as he entered the lab, panting slightly from coming up the stairs so quickly. "What the hell happened in my room?!" he demanded to know, pointing at the door leading down the basement.

Maru turned to face her brother and her grin widened when she saw how his jaw still hung wide open in disbelief. "We thought you needed something like this," she told him sweetly, her arms wrapping around him. "We should have done it sooner, sorry bro." He did not try to shake her off as he normally did. She suspected that the cognitive dissonance between his firm belief that his family never listened to him or cared and the fact that they had spent the last day-and-a-half installing windows in his room were messing with his worldview. It was a good thing, Maru decided, squeezing him in a hug.

"When...? How...?" Maru could hear Sebastian's voice shake slightly as his forehead lowered to rest on her shoulder. "I don't understand... What are you all trying to pull?" Was this some kind of sick joke? The young scientist patted her older brother's head.

"We love you, Seb," Maru assured him, with a pat on the back. "I got some good advice recently and it made me realize we don't show you enough. So mom, dad, and I wanted to do something for you," she explained. "We asked Sam to keep you out of the house for a few days so we could work on putting in your new windows." She gently grabbed his shoulder and held him at arm's length. "So I guess if we're trying to 'pull' anything, we're trying to pull you closer so you feel how much we love you." Maru adjusted her glasses, which became slightly askew when they hugged. "C'mon," she coaxed him with a playful tug at the back of his shirt. "I'll help you get your room the way you want it."