Careful

Violet spent the next couple of days trying her best to save up enough for the ruby red backpack that called her like a siren each time she entered Pierre's shop. The greatest limiters to her efficient productivity was the lack of capacity in her current bag. So after tending to her field and foraging for spring onions and salmonberries in the Cindersap Forest, Violet dedicated her day to casting her line wherever she could find a shady spot to fish. After nearly a fully day and a half of labor, Violet gave the Junimos a sardine, a carp, a bream, and a sunfish. Finally she had the necessary funds to make the desired purchase. But as she ran to the front door of Pierre's shop, the thick glass did not budge.

Her heart sank as she realized the day of the week: Wednesday. Pierre closed his shop on Wednesday and therefore Violet was barred from buying her new bag. "Ugh, this sucks..." the woman groaned. While Violet knew she could technically live just fine by waiting another day, it was the fact that she was not able to get instant gratification for all her hard work that irked her so. The farmer paused to consider what to do with the rest of her day. While she could go to The Stardrop Saloon, Violet did not feel like socializing. Although she had not spoken to anyone other than Willy recently, Violet still needed to recharge her social energy to prepare for the weekend. Not to mention that Bex would arrive on Sunday to visit for a few days. While Violet was ecstatic to see her friend again, she was a bit nervous for her two worlds to collide.

What if Bex did not like her new friends and neighbors? Or, what if the people of Pelican Town did not like her best friend? Violet would be crushed either way. As long as no one fought, there would be no problem, though. Right? The woman sighed. With her luck, something would inevitably go wrong. Violet would just need to keep the peace.

So, the disappointed newcomer returned to her farm to prepare her inventory as much as possible before heading to the mines. She dumped most of her fish into the bin for Mayor Lewis and the rest into an ice chest to keep for later. Violet did not think she would need her fishing pole for the mines, so she left it at home and used the slot to bring a supply of field snacks instead. The farmer put up her hair to keep it out of her face since she knew she would likely encounter creatures to fight. The last thing Violet wanted was to get caught off-guard and get injured because her hair blocked her vision.

After taking the northern trail to the mountains, Violet spied the bearded man in yellow. She still did not know his name, ever after two weeks in town. So, while the farmer had no desire to be social today, Violet was determined to at least learn what to call him instead of "Jumanji Robin Williams," which she used as a placeholder when referring to him in her head.

Putting on her friendliest smile, Violet approached the man's campfire with a gentle wave. "Hi!"

The man's clothing rustled like the leaves Violet suspected they were as he turned quickly to face her. For a moment, the farmer thought she saw a fierceness in his eyes that frightened her, but it dissipated instantly, assuming she had not imagined it. The young woman did notice that his eyes were a similar amber color to Elliott's, though otherwise the two looked nothing alike. "I just wanted to say 'hello,'" she assured the man. "I've lived here a few weeks and I still don't know your name."

The man scratched at his snowy beard, then replied, "Linus. The name is Linus." The way he glanced at her reminded Violet of the way a squirrel scanned the area for predators and she wondered what made Linus so fearful of others. "I have to be wary of strangers. Most people don't like a 'wild man,'" he told her, as if he read her mind.

"Oh, uh..." Violet was not sure how to respond to such a statement. "Don't mind me, Linus. I'm very much a 'live and let live' kind of person, unless someone's behavior is hurting someone else."

Linus looked her up and down again, "We'll see," he muttered to himself, as he turned back to tending his campfire.

Violet pursed her lips, holding her tongue. She wanted so much to reassure Linus that she was trustworthy, but she knew from the look in his eyes that her words would fall flat until she earned Linus' trust organically. "Sure..." she finally said. "You have a good rest of your day," she told him as she veered down the eastern path that would take her to the mines.

After Abigail practically jumped him in Joja Mart that first day, Sam had been unable to wipe the smile off of his face the rest of the week. Even his mother, Jodi, noticed a change in her son's demeanor. It was not as if Sam was usually melancholy, but he started smiling in a way she had never seen on her eldest son. It reminded her of the look Kent would get when they first started dating. Jodi remembered that time fondly. As a doting mother, Jodi was dying to ask, but did not want to invade her son's privacy. It turns out, she did not have to wait much longer anyway.

That night, at family dinner, Sam proudly announced that he and Abigail were a couple. Vincent, being a typical little boy, proclaimed that all girls were gross except his mother and miss Penny and that his brother was not allowed to forget about him to hang out with Abigail all the time. "You always come first, Vincent," Sam assured his brother, sneaking a mouthful of vegetables off of Vincent's plate.

"Hey!" the child protested, gobbling down the rest of the broccoli to ensure Sam would not steal it all. The blond knew his brother hated vegetables, but Vincent was protective of what was his. It was a fun trick to get his little brother to eat his food, Sam noticed some time back. It felt sneaky, but Vincent needed to eat stuff that was good for him in addition to all the candy he was able to sneak when their mother was not looking.

Sam turned back to his mom. "Hey, mom. Is it cool if I invite Abi over for dinner tomorrow night?" The young man even offered to do most of the cooking, though Jodi had to admit she did not trust either of her sons in the kitchen as far as she could throw them. Not that she ever attempt to throw Sam or Vincent, of course.

Jodi was so proud of her son for taking initiative trying to make Abigail's favorite meal: spicy eel. While she had worried that she had coddled her boys too much by not asking them to do chores around the house, it was clear that at least with Sam that he wanted to make his girlfriend happy, even if that meant doing something he had never tried before. The mother hoped that he would start taking an interest in other things around the house if things got serious between the two. Not to mention Jodi had secretly hoped for some time that Sam would hit it off with Abigail someday. She and Caroline were already best friends, so being in-laws would surely be much easier than with a stranger. Then there was the issue of helping with the grandchildren, which would be simplified if both sets of in-laws lived in the same town, too. But maybe Jodi was getting ahead of herself... She was far too young to be a grandmother, after all.

Still, Jodi had never seen her son so happy since Kent left for Gotoro with the Army of the Republic. The woman knew it had been tough on her to go about her daily life without Kent, but she could not imagine what it was like for her boys to be without their father. Jodi knew that both Sam and Vincent loved their dad dearly and looked up to him with the utmost respect. Their mother thought of the letters her husband sent her, ones she did not share with the boys about what things were like overseas and how Kent was trying to keep it together to protect what he loved most. Jodi did not want to be a war widow, but what she most feared was that Kent would not be able to re-adjust once he returned to his family. As much as she hated to admit it, what kept her up at night most often was the thought that Kent would be left on some distant, foreign shore and the person that returned home would not be her husband or the boys' father. Kent had been dreadfully fatalistic in a few of his letters, as he believed his chances of returning at all were dwindling. It killed her inside to read some of his words.

Jodi, honey, if I don't make it, please remember the me that walked down the aisle with you as crazy teens. We had no idea what the hell we were doing, did we? Still, I'm glad you were the one by my side all this time. I miss you so much.

I know you didn't get to do all the things you wanted because we got married young, but I hope one day you'll forgive me. Remember the happiness we shared as a family and know that I did this to keep you all safe. I know you say you're proud and I know it was a lot to ask you to raise the boys all this time without me. But, please, please don't hate me if I don't make it back to you and the boys. Jodi, I love you and I want you to live a long and happy life...

The words in Kent's chicken scratch handwriting tore her heart to pieces. Jodi wanted to write back and reassure her husband that he was strong enough and that he would come home safe and sound, but the woman already knew that to be false. Kent was not okay. He was too kind and gentle a soul for the horrors of war. But he also had a strong sense of duty and purpose with the army and when the call came for volunteers to defend their country, Kent could not resist. Part of her resented that her husband left, but the other part of her directed her anger at the rest of the men in town. Then again, if she expected the eligible men to go to war with her husband, Sam might have left, too. No, she could not handle that. The solider's wife knew that much. Her feelings were complicated and contradictory, so unfortunately there was not much to be done about them. Jodi often spent the lonely evenings in her room sobbing silently into her pillow. She did not want to boys to see her like this, Jodi knew she had to stay strong, especially for little Vincent. Perhaps now that Sam was seeing Abigail, she could focus on other things for a while. Jodi could use a happy distraction.

"Of course Abi can come over," she told her oldest and after some debate, Jodi reluctantly accepted that Sam would be her sous chef for the following evening. Vincent, not wanting to be left out, offered to help as long as he got to finally use a knife. This compromise took much longer, but once Sam vouched for Vincent's potential Jodi finally relented that she should give her boys some experience in the kitchen or they would never be any help to their future spouses. "Only if you do exactly as I say, Vincent. The instant you use the knife to do anything other than cut food safely, I will take it away. Do you understand?"

Vincent's large eyes shone with excitement, "Yes, mom!" He flashed her a charming smile and went off to play in his room. This left Jodi alone in the kitchen with Sam. "So..." she began, trying not to sound too prying. "Did you ask Abigail out or did she ask you?"

Sam blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as he scooped another bite from his plate. "She didn't really ask... Abi just kinda kissed me at work and that was that." Her son made sure to take his time chewing so he would not have to answer any more questions right away.

But Jodi knew her son's tricks. "Oh, my!" she said, acting shocked, but the mother knew that Abigail had never been a shy girl. It good for Sam, since he was a social person himself. Abigail would likely not try to change him in that way. The only concern Jodi had was that Caroline often spoke of Abigail's obsession with the occult. Was it something that she would pull Sam into? Or would they balance each other out? Jodi chose to believe that the two would complement each other. But there was one important topic they needed to discuss while Vincent was occupied with other things. "Um, Sam, dear..."

The blond looked up from his plate, "Yeah, mom?"

Her brown eyes focused on the surface of the table between them as she fiddled with her fork. "I just want to make sure that you and Abigail are... safe," she began.

Sam's eyes widened and his face flushed with embarrassment when he realized where this was going. "We aren't even -" he began to protest, but his mother stopped him.

"I-" she paused. This was an uncomfortable topic for her and Sam both, but it needed to be done. She was not going to let Sam and Abigail repeat the mistakes she and Kent made. "Maybe not now," she continued, "but in the future you might engage in more physically intimate activities..." Jodi could feel her color rising in her cheeks. She brushed her light auburn hair from her face. The shy woman never expected to have this conversation with either of her boys. Kent should be the one giving this talk... she thought sadly. "And I want to make sure that you and Abigail are aware of how easily one thing can lead to another..."

Sam's face was so red that in combination with his spiky gold hair, he looked like a fiesta daisy. "Mom! We're not gonna do anything like that," he protested, "We'll just wait until we get married like you and dad!"

Jodi's face fell slightly and she pursed her lips coyly. "Sweetheart, you and Abigail have known each other a long time, so how you two progress might be a bit different than what your father and I had." She braced herself, "Though, I'm ashamed to admit it," she told him in a low voice, probably to make sure Vincent did not overhear, "I was not immune to your father's charms. We thought we were already pregnant when we got married, but it was a false-"

"No, STOP!" Sam interrupted, covering his ears. The blond did not want to ruin the narrative he always believed that his parents married young because they just knew they were meant to be and could not live without each other. He refused to even consider the fact that they had a shotgun wedding. His mother looked at him pleadingly and Sam's childish resolve immediately melted. "Look, mom... I'll be careful," he promised. Sam immediately correctly himself, acknowledging his mother's point that this did not just affect him. "We'll be careful."

Standing up from the table, Jodi nodded in understanding, "Thank you, Sam." While she did love her son, Jodi knew what it was like to be young, in love, and impulsive. Sam was an excellent son to her and older brother to Vincent, and she could only hope that translated to being a good, respectful boyfriend to Abigail.

Abigail knew she had to be in trouble when her mother called her to the kitchen by her full name. The sound of it made her wince in anticipation of this lecture. "Come here, please," Caroline urged when her daughter had yet to appear after the desired wait time.

"I'm coming mom, chill out!" her daughter hollered back as she entered the gathering space and headed toward the kitchen. The young woman wondered what her mother could possibly be mad about. She had helped make dinner and clean up afterward and all she wanted to do was play some of her video games for a while. But, as she rounded the corner into the kitchen, her mother's reasoning was no longer a mystery.

"There's someone here to see you," Caroline practically giggled, patting Sam's shoulder as she left the kitchen. "You two have fun now," the emerald-hair woman added with a wink.

Abigail's gaze followed her mother in disgust, "She knows, doesn't she?" the pale woman moaned miserably. She had been trying to keep her relationship with Sam on the down-low so her parents would not make a big deal about it.

Sam laughed nervously, "I... may have something to do with that," he admitted. Gently, the brown-eyed man pulled a bouquet of flowers out from behind him. "Your dad kinda asked who they were for..."

Normally, Abigail did not like flowers much, but this particular set was special. Mind you, only because her father had started a ridiculous tradition in town in order to make sales, and Sam was only encouraging him by playing along. Despite herself, Abigail's lips pulled back into a smile and she accepted them from Sam's outstretched hand. "You're a hopeless romantic, you know that?" she told Sam.

The skater shrugged, "Isn't that why you wanted to take our relationship to the next level?" he replied.

The amethyst-haired woman laughed and ran a hand through her boyfriend's spiky hair. "Nah, it's just the hair," she teased. Abigail liked that she could just touch the soft downy hair on his head now. She supposed there were some perks to officially being a couple.

Sam was pleased that Abigail was more willing to casually touch him, she could tell from the way he looked at her. "So what do you wanna call each other?"

Abigail's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean? Do you want me to call you Samso-?"

The blond covered her mouth to silence her, "Shhh! I get into trouble whenever someone uses my full name!" he informed his girlfriend. "It never fails!"

Abigail laughed at her boyfriend's superstitious. "Isn't that because the only people who call you by your name are your parents when you're already in trouble?"

The blond shook his head, "Negatory, babe." Sam laughed, "You apparently called my name when you came to pounce on me at work and while it was a lot of fun, I did get written up."

"I said I was sorry," she replied, picking at the ribbon on the bouquet to get it open and place the flowers in a vase. "I just... got really worked up beforehand."

Sam smiled, "Yeah, remind me to thank Alex," he suggested with a wink. "I've got a new wing man."

Abigail sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork," she told him, finally getting the ribbon undone. The woman filled the vase part-way with tap water and gently lowered the stems inside. Abigail placed the vase on the table and stepped back to admire them.

"I'm your dork now," Sam chuckled, tugging at Abigail's unbuttoned vest to pull her closer. He tilted his head to the side with a mischievous grin. "So what are you going to do with me?" he asked her with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Her bright blue eyes glanced toward the hallway, to make sure her nosy parents were not watching. When Abigail realized the coast was clear, she lifted herself up on the balls of her feet and gave Sam a peck on the cheek. "Wanna go make out?"

"Hell yeah!"

Sebastian was still in the habit of going to the lake each night when he would normally smoke, but at Maru's insistence that it would be detrimental to his "recovery journey" he did not return to his usual spot. Instead, he decided to walk around the lake to get some exercise. He tried exploring the mines for a little bit, but with no weapon and a swarm of bats heading his way, Sebastian decided to make a quick escape instead of pressing further. "Must be an unlucky day," he thought out loud. He usually at least found some interesting minerals, but that was not the case today. Maru had noticed that the "spirit forecasts" that the fortune teller gave on TV strangely coincided with the ease at which one could explore the depths of the mines. When she told him, Sebastian did not quite believe it, but lately he checked the forecast before entering the mines to confirm the prediction for himself. Sure enough, today the spirits were supposedly "very displeased."

The dark-haired man wondered how Welwick did it. Was the fortune teller legitimate? The possibility of his own magic powers made him wonder what else might be out there. He pondered on this while he walked back toward the house from the broken quarry bridge. The dim light of the hearth in the Adventurer's Guild, or as Sebastian used to call it the Tall Tales Club, flickered in the window as he passed. The young man had never entered the building, but he always spied the old warrior at the town festivals. It was one of the many parts of his hometown that you could not find anywhere else. The line where "normal" and Pelican Town's own breed of normalcy were blurred in his mind, but Sebastian was slowly beginning to realize things he took for granted were not normal outside of the Valley.

As he approached the entrance to the mines again, Sebastian noticed movement along the outside wall of the cave. Something fluttering in and out of sight that he could never quite comprehend no matter how hard he focused. Curiosity got the better of him and the dark-haired man poked his head inside the cavernous entrance. His dark eyes widened in alarm, "Oh, shit!" he shouted, running to the unconscious woman lying flat on the stone floor. Violet's eyes were closed and tiny claw marks covered her arms and shoulders. "Violet!" Sebastian cried, checking her pulse, but failed to read it properly from her wrist. He was terrible at things like that. So he lowered his head to Violet's chest and pressed his ear against her body to make sure her heart was still beating. Sebastian exhaled with relief when he could faintly hear a heartbeat and he felt the rise and fall of her breath against his cheek.

"Violet, c'mon," he said urgently, shaking her shoulder gently. "Wake up!" The farmer did not stir, but now that he knew she was breathing, he noticed the subtle movement as the air flowed in and out of her lungs. "Violet!" Sebastian shouted, hoping the increase in volume would wake her. The young man did not know if he should be frantic or not. She was clearly injured, but nothing seemed to be bleeding profusely. Sebastian could feel the adrenaline pumping throughout his body the longer Violet did not wake up, however. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath, as he realized he was not strong enough to carry the farmer in his arms. Instead, Sebastian finally managed to get Violet on his back and carried her home as quickly as he could.

"Maru!" Sebastian shouted, kicking on the bottom of her bedroom door from the patio. "Violet's in trouble. I think she's hurt!"

His sister, who had been getting ready for bed, opened the door immediately and helped Sebastian lie Violet down on her bed. "What happened?" Maru asked.

Sebastian shook his head, "I-I dunno, I just found her in the mine entrance like this," he explained. "I tried to get her to wake up, but she isn't responding."

The nurse took note of Violet's vital signs and nodded encouragingly, "Her pulse and breathing are fine," she told her brother, who was looking more pale that usual with worry. Maru smiled to herself and added, "So I think she just passed out from exhaustion. The little scrapes are probably from some creatures in the mines, so I'll make sure to disinfect them, but they are too shallow to need much else." The young woman's warm eyes glanced at her older brother, "I guess we should have warned her about unlucky days, huh?" she chuckled.

"This isn't funny, Maru," Sebastian snapped, "Violet could have been seriously hurt!" Part of him worried since he had not seen Violet since the Egg Festival that he did or said something wrong. But why had he worried so much? He only saw his best friends on the weekends, too. And he had his own work to do during the week, so why should it be any different with Violet? She was a farmer and Sebastian ventured to guess that it took a lot of work to grow all those crops from seeds. And yet this stubborn girl did not know when to call it quits and rest when she needed it, apparently. Why was she so reckless?

"You're right, Violet could have been hurt more severely," the nurse agreed, "but if she got up to safety before she passed out, Violet has an impressive amount of willpower!" Maru nudged her brother with her elbow, and gave him a teasing smile. "Not to mention a lot of luck, since someone found her and brought to her to the nearest local medical professional." But the bespectacled woman recognized that Sebastian was too consumed with worry when he did not get embarrassed by the comment. Her brother paced back and forth along the length of the room, unsure of what else to do.

"Hey, Sebastian," Maru said firmly to catch his attention.

The concerned man's dark eyes focused on his sister and he paused his anxious motion, "Yeah?"

"Don't worry about what could have happened and focus on what did," the brunette reasoned. She stood up and took her brother's hand, "Violet's going to be okay and the best thing you can do for her is to let her rest." Maru pointed out the door of her room, "Now either stop pacing my room like a caged animal or get out," she ordered. "I'll let you know when she wakes up."

Sebastian's face flushed as he reluctantly left the room and Maru knew then that she finally got through to him. The young nurse glanced at Violet, unconscious and lightly snoring in her bed. "He's got it bad for you," she said, though Maru knew that the farmer would not respond. "My big brother is so cute when he's worried," the scientist said to herself as she sat down to work on some of her notes. After a while, Maru realized that there was a faint light emitting from the sleeping woman from the corner of her eye. Looking at her head-on, it was difficult to notice the subtle shift in the bright room, so Maru decided to turn off the lights to see if that would aid in her search.

Sure enough, Violet's right hand bore a small golden ring that glowed faintly. "That's peculiar," the researcher said aloud, gently removing the ring, and leaving the room to go study the ring under some of her lab equipment.

Sebastian sat in his room pretending to read one of his comics. His leg that jiggled up and down on the ball of his foot gave a clear sigh that he could not focus right now. The programmer had even tried doing some of his odd jobs to take his mind off of Violet's limp form. Sure, Maru said she was fine, but she had clearly gotten herself into trouble this time around. Violet got lucky and everyone's luck eventually ran out. What if next time she wasn't able to get out in time? What if she...

The dark-haired man tugged on his tapered bangs, trying to pull himself out of that frame of mind with another sensation. Sebastian could not understand why his emotions continued to cycle through a combination of anger, anxiety, and relief. "She should've just asked for someone to go with her. I literally live on the way to the damn mines..." he muttered to himself. Admittedly, he probably would have not been interested if most anyone else had asked him. Sebastian only ever entered the mines when he was especially desperate for something to kill his boredom and Sam was not available. He much preferred combat that did not involve much physicality, which is why he always chose caster classes when given the choice. Hell, he could have tried practicing to see if anything else from his RPG spell books worked for him if Violet had asked him along. The creatures on the first few levels would have been great targets. But no, she had to go solo without letting anyone know where she was going in case something went wrong.

He sighed, stopping himself. Clearly reading was not distracting enough, so Sebastian decided to raid the fridge for a snack. Shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket, Sebastian climbed the stairs and headed into the kitchen. There was a bit of leftover bean hotpot from the other night, so he stuck it in the microwave and stirred it a few times before it was a consistent temperature throughout. The green goo was decent for soup. Not his favorite, but it was hot and filling. He swirled his spoon around making patterns in the hot liquid as he watched the steam rise and disburse into the air. It reminded him of the smoke of a cigarette and the craving immediately gripped him. "Just one..." he whispered to himself, rubbing the patch on his arm. "One can't hurt, can it?"

He had tossed his cigs in the trash, but there was nothing else in the small can in his room and the garbage had not been collected for the week yet. He could just - His train of thought was broken by a sign of movement from across the room. It was Maru. "Violet's awake," she informed her brother and immediately turned heel to go back to her room and reclaim her bed. It was way too late to conscious for the scientist.

Sebastian stood up, accidentally knocking the bowl of bean hotpot and spilling some on the table, but he did not care. He needed to confirm that Violet was okay with his own eyes. As he entered the shop to get to Maru's room, he barged in without announcing himself. An annoyed Maru frowned and pointed out the door back into the shop. "Violet's not in here. She went to the bathroom. I'm going to bed!"

Feeling foolish, Maru's brother shut the door behind him and waited awkwardly in the carpentry shop until Violet emerged. "What the hell are you doing?" Sebastian asked himself in disbelief. "She's going to think you're being weird."

"For talking to yourself?" a voice rang out in quiet laughter. "Nah, I do it all the time."

The dark-haired man knew it was Violet behind him before he turned. While he was completely mortified she overheard him and did not want her to know, Sebastian could not help but turn his head. The young man saw the exhaustion on her pallid face with grey circles under her dark sapphire eyes and the soft, weak curve of her smile. "I heard you got me out of there," Violet told him and he noticed a slight tinge of color creep onto her cheeks. "Thanks..." she whispered apologetically. "I guess I underestimated those damn bats," she confessed reluctantly.

"You're damn right you did," Sebastian snapped. "You could have gotten yourself seriously hurt! Do you have any idea how freaked out I was to find you like that?" When his dark eyes met hers, however, he saw how Violet was on the verge of tears and his anger evaporated like the steam from his bean hotpot. He scowled, "Look, don't cry. I can't handle crying." Glancing her way again, Sebastian could tell Violet was trying to hold it in now, "Just don't ever go in the mines on unlucky days again," he lectured, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. "It's not worth the risk, okay?"

"O-okay," she sniffled.

"I said stop crying!" Sebastian reiterated feeling the flush in his face. It was weird seeing her be so vulnerable.

"I don't handle people yelling well! Especially when it's my fault!" Violet countered, a few tears escaping her eyes. She covered her face to hide them and turned around so Sebastian would not see.

Sebastian sighed heavily, "It's... not your fault. Someone should have warned you." He closed the gap between them and reached out a hand toward her shoulder, but decided against it at the last moment. The young man did not know how to deal with these awkward situations. Social graces were not his forte, after all. "I just... want you to be more careful. It's been a long time since we've had someone new in town who had such an accident-prone streak in them."

Violet twirled around to make a rebuttal, but her mouth froze half-open when she realized how close Sebastian was standing to her. She recovered quickly, however. "I-I'm not accident-prone!" she argued. "One instance doesn't mean I'm a klutz."

Her companion smirked in that way that made Violet's heart leap out of her chest, "Oh, yeah?" Sebastian chuckled, "Falling into the lake doesn't count?" For a moment there was silence between the two and the programmer began to feel like something was off. "... You okay, Violet?"

The woman blinked slowly and her eyes refocused. She went pale and cleared her throat, and frowned. "Of course the lake incident doesn't count!" she reasoned. "I didn't need anyone to come to my rescue. I got out of the water just fine!"

"True," the hoodied man relented, "but then there was the shadow creature."

The farmer huffed, "That was not an accident, either. The shadow was - is? - just a coincidence and completely not my fault." Her blue eyes darted in his direction, "Besides, I haven't seen it since."

"Well, you didn't see it the first time, either."

Her cheeks puffed out adorably as she obviously held in her words. "I thank you for taking care of the issue," she said in an eerily level tone. "Supposedly."

"Oh, so now you're doubting the magic abilities?" Sebastian wondered out loud with a chuckle. "I thought I was the pessimist between the two of us."

Violet tilted her head in confusion, "Oh? Why is that?"

Sebastian balked at the gentle push-back, unsure of how to respond. Besides, they should not be having this conversation right now. He shook his head, "It's late," he said.

The young woman nodded, "Oh, yeah, of course. I should head home." She paused, looking up at him, and blushed when she saw Sebastian looking down at her with a soft look in his inky black eyes that she had not seen before. While the two had been shy about how close they stood at first, after a bit of conversation, it seemed more... natural. However, it was still his eyes that entrapped Violet most. The farmer did not want to look away, even though it frightened her that Sebastian would somehow know her secrets if he gazed into her eyes long enough. Her breath became a bit shaky, though as to why, Violet was unsure.

The man before her chuckled, "Look at you. You're zoning out, you're so tired," he said, turning his head away to break their eye contact. "Go home and go to sleep," he ordered firmly.

Violet nodded in agreement and side-stepped Sebastian toward the door, but something strange happened. Her body suddenly felt heavy and she could not keep her eye lids open. "What?" she whispered in fear and confusion. The farmer felt her body drop, but she could do nothing to stop it. She heard Sebastian's voice as she lost consciousness, but she could not discern the words.

Sebastian, upon seeing Violet start to fall, panicked, "Shit!" His outstretched arms broke her fall and he pulled her in close to his body to keep his balance. He looked down at her, "What the hell, Violet?" he asked, trying to shake her awake again, but to no avail. The young man looked around to see if Maru or his mom had been awakened by the noise the two had made. Nothing stirred in the silence of the house, so Sebastian figured help would not be arriving anytime soon unless he wanted to shout and wake the whole household. "Who falls asleep that quickly?" he muttered to the woman, as he wrangled her unconscious body onto his back.

He held the position with her on his back and considered the options for a moment. Did he really have the strength to carry Violet home down the mountain? Sebastian was young, sure, but he did not work out enough to give him confidence in his ability. Then again, if Violet stayed here, he would probably lend her his bed and sleep on the couch in his room. But if he did that, there were the stairs...

While there was a slim chance of falling, Sebastian opted for letting Violet sleep off whatever this was in his room and he would not risk his strength giving out half-way to Violet's house and stranding them both outside in the middle of the night when it was supposed to rain the next day. This way, they could all get more rest. Surely Bruno would be fine if Violet did not come home tonight. The dog seemed incredibly self-sufficient.

So, slowly and carefully, Sebastian descended the stairs, hauling Violet on his back. Once he got into a rhythm, it was not so bad, actually. The handrail definitely helped. As gently as he could, Sebastian lowered Violet onto his bed and pulled off her boots. He had not seen these ones before, but he was relieved to see she was not the kind of woman who would ruin a perfectly good pair of leather boots with gaudy rhinestones. Placing the boots off to the side, Sebastian covered the unconscious farmer with the blankets and pulled a spare pillow and blanket from his closet. Violet had not moved since he set her down and it made Sebastian laugh to himself a bit, "You sleep like the dead," he told her, though he was certainly Violet could not hear.

After getting ready for bed, Sebastian settled down on the couch and lie down. Usually, he enjoyed having complete silence when falling asleep, but he noticed the quite sound of Violet's breathing was a pleasant one. "Night, you weirdo..."