Stardew Valley Fanfiction:

'The Farmer Witch'

Chapter 23:

Alice watched him go for a few moments before heading back inside. It was dark by now and she needed to turn the obsidian shield back on for the night.

After activating the shield, which she kept behind her home on a little stone porch, Alice returned to Sebastian inside. He looked… tired. He sat glumly at the tiny kitchen table, holding his coffee mug in his lap and staring blankly at the floor in front of him. From the looks of his mug, he hadn't even taken a single sip yet.

"Hey…." She started, not sure what to say to cheer him up. "You came over at a good time at least… Internet is coming by the end of next week…"

He looked up at her, still pale and a little shaken. "Yeah…. Thanks again for letting me stay here for now…" He did make an effort to smile, but it came out looking more like a painful grimace.

"Look, at least you're out of the house now." She sat beside him, pulling up a chair so she could pat his back sympathetically. "I'm not even home most of the day, so you'll have the place to yourself almost. Your own bathroom upstairs. And I promise I'll knock~" Nudging him, trying to convince him that this was a good thing. And honestly, she felt it was. She didn't really need the extra space for now and Sebastian had needed a change.

He nodded quietly as she spoke. "I didn't mean for it to happen this way though." He admitted, more to himself then to Alice.

"I know." Rubbing his back. "But now that it has, let's just make the most of what we can." What else could they do, right?

He nodded again, this time with more conviction, finally taking a sip from his mug. The coffee or the words must have helped, because soon he was working on getting the rest of his things upstairs, becoming productive once again.

"It's not much…" Alice admitted, as they pile things into the large empty room. "But there is electricity and a roof, so…."

Sebastian shook his head. "It's great. It's all I need. I'll run to Sam's tomorrow to finish up the project I've been working on and tell my clients I can't take more work until next week sometime." He couldn't exactly do his programming without the internet.

"You know, if I didn't know better I'd say you planned all of this just because you knew I was getting high-speed on the farm~"

He chuckled, actually smiling now. This made Alice happier than anything. Things were going to be okay after all. Maybe a little awkward at first, but once things settled down-

"I promise to pitch in for utilities and what not." He promised, setting down some blankets for a makeshift bed for the night.

"Don't worry about that. I own the deed to the farm so rent isn't a problem." The last thing she wanted for to take his money.

But Sebastian insisted. "If you don't want rent, I won't argue, but I'm going to be using the water and electricity and internet, so at least let me pay my share of those."

She could tell by the look he was giving her that he wasn't going to back down. "Okay, yeah. That works." She didn't want to tell the man that she'd be rich if the Fall went well. With her kegs working and the amount of pumpkins she was going to get from her harvests, the farm girl was going to be making absolute bank. But it would be weird to talk about that right now. Like bragging or something.

Soon he was settling in for the night. There wasn't much to really do, since he hadn't taken any furniture with him.

"Goodnight Seb. I'll try not to make too much noise in the morning. But you know me – up and at 'em by six~"

He groaned. "I still don't know how you manage that. But don't worry. Just do what you normally would. Pretend I'm not even here."

Alice closed the door to his room, heading downstairs and to her own bed. It was late and she was exhausted. It had been quite a night. She knew they probably needed to buy some furniture tomorrow, but her usual place to get furniture was probably…. not a good option to visit right now.

She fell asleep thinking about ways to make the house homier for them both.

A short chapter now and hopefully I can get another one out later today. Got some stuff to work on first. Let me know what you think by sending me a message or a review! - Mystical Jelly