Stardew Valley Fanfiction:

'The Farmer Witch'

Chapter 25:

She woke up only when she heard Sebastian return, the front door opening and closing in the room next door.

She got up just as Sebastian knocked softly on her door. "Alice?" It was almost a whisper.

"I'm awake, Seb." She grabbed her jacket, pulling it on as she opened the door and smiling at the man on the other side. "Everything go okay at Sam's?"

"Yup, all finished with my project. Got a message out to my clients that things are on hold for a bit. Sam about flipped when he saw me. Guess the whole town thinks I left town for the city."

News about Sebastian's move-out had spread fast it seemed. That's what you get for living in a small town. "Who's spreading that rumor I wonder." It was rhetorical. She assumed Maru had mistakenly spread the false rumor around. But then again Alice couldn't exactly blame her. Sebastian always talked about leaving for the city, so that would be the logical assumption of where he'd gone.

"Yeah, well Same called Abi right away and she came over. Even Jodi was surprised to see me. Gave me a hug and everything. Guess I have the whole town worked up right now." He rubbed the back of his neck. Alice knew he had a lot of respect for Jodi, as Sam's mom and as a military wife. He probably felt really bad for worrying her in particular.

"Guess so. But you told them all what happened? That you're staying here?"

"I did. Sam and Abs were just happy that I'm still in town. Jodi told me I should call my mom and tell her I'm still local. Apparently, mom's been crying since I left." He looked a lot less guilty over this than he had about upsetting Jodi. "I mean, I hate knowing that she's sad, but I just can't deal with any of them right now." He looked at Alice like he was asking for confirmation of his feelings.

"I get it Seb, you don't have to convince me. You don't need to talk to them until you're ready. But I do hope you talk to your mom once things settle down."

"Yeah." He looked a little relieved that Alice wasn't judging him too harshly for avoiding his only family in his mother. "I asked Jodi to pass along to the town that I'm fine and that I'm here. I mean, it isn't a secret or anything. I just needed some space…"

Alice patted his shoulder and walked past him into the kitchen. She grabbed some snack bars and went to put on her shoes. "We still taking the bike?" She questioned.

"Yeah, let me pull it around." He left out the front door again, going to retrieve the motorcycle which they'd put behind the house by Alice's Obsidian Shield pedestal.

Alice followed him shortly after. He tossed her the extra helmet and helped her onto the bike behind him.

"Hold on, alright."

"You must think I'm stupid or something." Alice commented sarcastically. Of course she knew to hold on.

He chuckled, revving the engine and slowly pulling them out of the farm and onto the path towards the bus stop.

Once they were on the highway to Zuzu City, they really picked up speed. Alice held on tightly around Sebastian's waste. It occurred to her that this was sort of like a date. It had been hard to think romantic thoughts for the last twenty-four hours given all the drama that had transpired. But now she was left with a slightly giddy feeling again and butterflies in her stomach at the closeness she was sharing with the man. It was nice.

Once they were in the city, Alice pulled out her phone to check the signal. She sent a message straight to Damon, letting him know that they were in the city furniture shopping. He responded back almost immediately.

'Tell me where! I'll meet you!'

Alice smiled at her phone, sending the info on the shop she and Sebastian had decided to head to first. It wasn't anything fancy. Cheap yet sturdy was all they needed.

"Does your Master know I've moved in?" Sebastian asked awkwardly.

"Nope~ So there's a fifty-fifty chance he'll try to hex you before the day is done." Alice was teasing. Mostly. Damon was protective and hadn't ever gotten along well with any of her other boyfriends.

"Great…. Looking forward to it."

Alice pat his shoulder reassuringly, as she always did. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. I've mentioned before about having a friend with family troubles in town. Worse comes to worse I'll just tell him that you're gay."

Sebastian gave Alice a look of confusion. "Excuse me?"

She chuckled and walked into the store ahead of him. They searched around and found a desk for Sebastian and a decent bed. They were just starting to look at sofas when a familiar voice called to the witch from behind.

"Long time no see farmer~"

Alice happily flung herself at her master, wrapping her arms around his neck in a warm embrace. She got a little teary-eyed unintentionally. She really had missed him so so much.

"None of that now." The tall, dark-haired man commented, wiping away her tears. Although he himself had some wetness threatening to overflow his lashes as well. Damon was a sensitive, quiet-spoken guy. He was almost timid, but he was dependable and intelligent as well. He was a good friend and a great warlock.

Alice tugged him over to Sebastian, who smiled and shook his hand politely. "Damon this is my friend Sebastian." The man smiled kindly.

After some general greetings, Alice pulled Damon aside while Sebastian went to look for a desk chair. She explained him staying at the farm for the time being and the events with Sebastian's family that had led up to the events of the night before. Damon wasn't too pleased with the idea of her having a male roommate, but he was sympathetic to her friend's situation once Alice explained things further.

"I know it's a small town. I imagine he doesn't have much of anywhere else to go?"

Alice shook her head. "Nowhere. He's saving money to get his own place, but it could take some time. He isn't any trouble though Dad, he's polite and mostly keeps to himself during the day." She often called her teacher by the familiar term. Damon basically was her dad. She loved her real parents, but neither had known what to really do with her after her powers awoke, so they had basically let Damon raise her as she got older.

The warlock sighed. "It isn't the day time I'm really concerned about…." He muttered, shifting on his feet uncomfortably.

Alice smacked his arm. "You must think I'm a real floozy or something!" She whispered back harshly.

"Ouch!" He rubbed his arm, backing away slightly. "I didn't say that! I just don't know the boy is all and I'm not the most comfortable with this."

"Well I do know him, and he isn't like that." She crossed her arms over her chest. Clearly the warlock knew her mind wasn't going to be changed, because he sighed again and relented.

"Fine, but I'll definitely be dropping by the farm to check on you two. Randomly."

Alice rolled her eyes. "You do that. It's not like I've been begging you to come by for the past two months or anything."

They hunted down Sebastian and returned to the hunt for a good sofa. Damon mostly tagged along, catching up with Alice and occasionally quizzing Sebastian with random questions. Interrogating is more like. But it was still a pretty fun day and even the two men seemed to be having a good time by the end of it.

Alice gave the information for delivery to the staff while Damon was busy with a long-winded explanation of staffs versus wands with Sebastian. The young man was fascinated by magic and the science behind it, having compared it to the coding of a computer on more than one occasion when talking to the witch about similar subjects. Spells were commands that altered the coding of the universe. Damon seemed to like this analogy and kept the conversation up all the way next door to the pizza shop where they had decided to grab some dinner before the trip home.

Sebastian talked more with Damon than Alice even did. But the girl was thoroughly amused by the two men getting along so well. It was hard to get them to eat instead of talking the whole time. They were definitely similar, she thought. Maybe that's why, once she had gotten to know him better, Alice had gotten along so well with Sebastian.

It was sad when they all had to part ways. But Damon promised the girl that he would visit soon. He wanted to see her pumpkin patch after all~ And the warlock promised to bring Sebastian some of his arcane tomes when he came to visit. Sebastian, nerd that he was, seemed thrilled at the opportunity to read 'some real fantasy shit' for a change, as opposed to his comics. She waved goodbye to her master from the back of the motorbike, the tall man looking proud of his apprentice, but sad to see her leaving so soon. He waved back as the two took off down the city street, heading back to the valley.

You can probably guess who Damon is by now. Let me know how long it took you to find out, lol. Pretty sure It was semi clear even from chapter two and on. He'll be back in the story soon, there is still so much more to come - Mystical Jelly