Lucie and Shane tiptoed around each other for weeks.
It was surprisingly easy. Summer arrived before they could blink, and suddenly Shane had to pick up extra shifts at JoJo Mart, and Lucie was getting rid of all the plant life that seemed to grow overnight. Weeds loved her farm. Crops less so.
Lucie was constantly tired, and constantly aching. Trips to the Clinic became more frequent, and her wallet ever lighter. At least she hadn't actually fallen asleep in the middle of town again. By Yoba, that had been the most embarrassing thing to have to live through, waking up in a Clinic with no clue as to how, or why, or where, or even when.
She didn't think about the fact that not talking to Shane made her feel lonelier than she'd ever felt in her life, despite the close friendship she now had with Haley, Emily - and hell, even with Alex. She saw people daily, she spoke and laughed and worked daily, but she still felt as though something had dropped out of her. She ignored the fact that she would go seek out Marnie whenever she knew Shane to be out, gift her something meaningless in the hopes that Marnie would talk to her about him. She pretended like she didn't go by the Stardrop more often because she knew she'd see him there.
She ached from missing him and yet didn't feel entitled to miss him.
Marnie suddenly slammed the coffee cup on to the table, shattering the silence which filled her ranch. Coffee spluttered and splashed from her mug, sloshing over the sides of the white ceramic and splattering across the wooden table. As she glared at Shane, the coffee slowly seeped into the wood, forming a stain which would never come out.
"Would you just apologise to the girl already?" She snapped. Her arms rested on the table, millimetres from the spreading coffee stain. Her gaze flickered to the stain for less than a heartbeat, then flicked back to Shane, not letting him escape her penetrating stare. Shane at least had the good grace to look ashamed as well as startled. Marnie tutted and pushed her chair back, heading to the sink as she spoke. "She has been here every day - every day - not quite asking after you. Clearly she cares about you, so would you just apologise?"
"Why should I?" Even as the words came out of Shane's mouth, he cringed at how bratty they sounded.
"Why shouldn't you?" Marnie countered, not looking around. "She's a wonderful girl, always coming around with something for one of the three of us. Her heart is clearly in the right place, and she has decided to care about you - something you make extraordinarily difficult to do - so just…" Marnie took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder towards Shane. "Apologise to Lucie."
At the name Lucie, Jas's head snapped up. She was used to Marnie and Shane having their little arguments, but Lucie was still a novelty.
"You upset Lucie?" Jas asked, her big eyes rounding even further. Shane looked at her and pressed a finger to his lips, but Jas ignored him. "Penny was asking if you were dating yesterday."
Shane choked on his coffee.
Lucie was taking out the day's frustrations in the mines. She barely even felt bad about killing the creatures that dwelled in there as she smashed apart rocks, and sifted through the dust for ores. She'd found quite a few precious-looking stone that might interest Gunther, and plenty of iron ore, so at least her sulking was productive.
Glancing to the bag that she held in her left hand, then to the one she'd left by the now-working mineshaft lift, she sighed. If she filled either much fuller then they'd break before she even got half way home, but she hadn't found the fire-quartz she'd been asked for. She was going to have to leave everything else that she found that wasn't fire quartz, no matter how interesting it looked.
She ended up down about 50 levels in the mine, and finally found the fire quartz. Glancing at her watch, she swore and snatched up her bag, heading towards the lift. She only had half an hour to get to the blacksmiths and give Gunther all the interesting things she'd found that day.
If only the stupid mine carts worked, then she'd get there in a few moments. But, of course, they didn't work, because she was still short hardwood to give to Junimos.
Lucie pressed a hand to her head and sighed as the lift creaked up towards the surface. It was strange how quickly she'd gone from being terrified of the little forest spirits, to hunting down seemingly random items for them. It was even stranger how the lift seemed to go so slow when she needed it to move quickly.
And what was that noise?
The lift doors slid open with a small ding, and Lucie saw what the noise was.
Because a thunderstorm was exactly what she needed right now.
Shane got out of going to apologise to Lucie thanks to the skies opening mid morning. The rain was torrential, bouncing loudly off the metal sheet roofs that made up Marnie's barns. He could see little pinpricks in the soil where the rain had hurled itself so harshly that there was a small crater around each impact site. The constant pounding of rain against the roof drew Shane's gaze upwards, occasionally surprised to find the roof was still in one piece.
He sat in his room all afternoon, an open beer permanently at his side, and lost himself in the video game.
Marnie was shaking out the sheets that she'd had to rewash, thanks to the unexpected downpour, when a movement out the window caught her eye.
Some poor soul was trudging home through the thunderstorm, lugging two large sacks behind them. It was far too short to be the wizard, so that meant it must have been -
"-Lucie?" Marnie flung open the window, the wind immediately pushing it back against her. "By Yoba, you're soaked to the skin - come inside."
Leaving the sheet abandoned, crumpled in the basket, Marnie hurried down the stairs and rushed to the door. Lucie stood under her porch, squinting under the weight of the water that ran into her eyelashes.
"What did you say?" She asked, a little feebly. Her bags lay at her feet, and her shoulders were slightly rounded, arms wrapped protectively over her stomach. "I couldn't hear over the rain."
Marnie clicked her tongue sympathetically, and grasped the young woman by the arm, hauling her inside. A second later, Marnie's arms reappeared in the darkened evening, and plucked the bags up like they were nothing.
"Shane! Come light the fire!"
"It's the middle of summer!" The closed door called back, disgruntlement evident in the door's voice.
"Please - no. Don't go to any trouble for me, I'm just headed home. It's round the corner, Marnie, it's fine," Lucie protested, trying really hard to hold in the shiver. She failed. "Marnie. It's, like, a mile," It was three. "I'll be okay. I'll just go now, it's really fine."
Marnie looked at her sceptically.
The door to Shane's room had flung itself open half way through Lucie's speech, and now he stood staring at her. His expression was much less readable than Marnie's had been, and Lucie covered her torso with as much of her arms as she could. She rubbed her shoulder self-consciously, as Marnie snapped her fingers and repeated her order to Shane. He moved obediently into the lounge to his right, and knelt before the fire without a word. Marnie shoved Lucie into the room after him.
"I'm going to make you a hot drink," She announced. "What would you prefer? Tea? Coffee? Hot Chocolate - I think Jas has some hidden away."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly use any of Jas's supply," Lucie answered quickly, smiling at the small shape that lurked near Shane's doorway. A small squeak sounded, and the figure quickly hurried away. Lucie turned back to Marnie. "I'm fine, I don't want to put you to any trouble."
"She drinks tea."
Lucie jumped at the answer. Marnie smiled, and nodded, before heading off to the kitchen, shutting not just one door behind her, but two.
Lucie and Shane were alone.
Shane was very focused on lighting a fire. Lucie rubbed her arms, out of nervousness or self-consciousness, or simply because she really was cold, she did not know.
"How did you know I drink tea?" She asked, finally breaking the awkward barrier between them.
Shane glanced up at her, and sat back on his heels, still kneeling in front of the now-lit fire. His hands rested on his knees. Lucie hadn't noticed how long his fingers were before. They were the kind of hands that made you want to watch him type, or play a piano, just to watch them move. He flexed them, and she could see the tendons and veins flex under his skin, blueish in the firelight. A small voice in the back of her mind wondered what it would feel like to have them trailing down her skin, to feel them on her wrists, on her neck, anywhere. A much bigger part of her told that voice to shut up, and she was so glad she could blame the burning sensation on her face on the fire.
"You always offer it first," Shane was saying. Offer what? Oh, shit, yeah, tea. Right. Focus. "You kinda pause between 'tea' and 'coffee' like you forget that there's any option other than tea. And you only ever come into the JoJo Mart to buy teabags." The fire must have gained a lot of heat as his face was starting to grow a little pink too.
"Oh." Come on, Lucie, say something more than 'oh'. Pathetic. Shane lifted an eyebrow at her.
"Do you take sugar?" Marnie's voice seemed to emerge from nowhere, and both Shane and Lucie looked at the still shut door with a healthy amount of fear.
"Erm, no. Just - just milk, please!" Lucie managed to choke out. Marnie's footsteps loudly retreated to the kitchen, and Shane couldn't help the small laugh that rose in him. Lucie rounded on him, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow at him.
"Do you hate people looking after you or something?" He asked. "You look terrified every time she offers you something."
Lucie bit the inside of her cheek. The response that rose in her was not one that needed voicing, not today.
"Guess I'm just not used to it," she offered instead. Shane didn't need to hear her bemoan that relying on people looking after you was just a waiting game, and that eventually they'd bore of being nice and leave. It was a stupid thing to think.
"Well. Get used to it," Shane responded, standing. He was tall. Oh, and he was close to her now that he was standing. She had to tilt her back to look at him, and her breathing got tangled in her throat. "Marnie looks after everyone."
"You should get out of those wet clothes, you know," Marnie said lightly as she handed Lucie the mug of tea. "You can borrow something whilst yours dry."
Lucie took the mug gratefully, but still refused any further help from Marnie.
"I couldn't impose any longer than I already have."
"Lucie." Marnie sat on the couch and looked at her with a disapproving look that would have made Lucie's mother proud. "If you think I am letting you leave this building whilst it is still raining, you are a fool."
Lucie looked into her tea intensely, blinking heavily. Her voice didn't work the first time she tried to speak so she swallowed around the lump in her throat and tried again.
"Well. That's me told then," she smiled weakly. "Thank you, Marnie." Her gaze flickered to Shane. "And, thanks."
Shane nodded brusquely. Then, he was sent out of the room to go find a clean t-shirt - and I mean, clean t-shirt, Shane - and some joggers.
Marnie placed the mug down on the coffee table, and moved over to Lucie. She tenderly took the mug away from the woman, and placed it next to her own.
"I'm going to give you a hug now," she told Lucie.
"Okay."
"And you are going to stay for tea, without complaining."
"O-okay." Lucie welled up slightly. Marnie wrapped her arms around Lucie.
"And if it's still raining by 8, you will be staying here all night. I will lock you in and hide the key if I have to."
"That sounds like a fire hazard to me. What if you're unconscious due to smoke inhal-" Lucie felt Marnie look at her, even though they were still embracing. "Sorry. I promise I'll only object once, and do it very weakly."
"Good girl. Now, drink your tea." Marnie let go of Lucie and placed the mug back in her hand. She moved back to her spot on the couch and smiled at the bedraggled young woman.
They had returned to their previous places just in time, as Shane re-emerged with two very soft looking items of clothing.