Author's Note: Buckle in for some drama and fluff, dear readers. The next few chapters are gonna be a bumpy ride, drama fans! Enjoy!

0o0o0o0

"Here, just like this... You've got it. Dump that red wine on my white shirt and you're dead," Karen stuck out her tongue at her friend.

"B-But I-"

"To Mystic Acres and the first tomato flowers of the season! The start of something big! Cheers!" The brunette clanked her glass against the blonde's and took a sip of alcohol in unison with her friend with intertwined their arms. "See? Not so hard, huh?"

Claire giggled. "I guess not." She touched the beverage to her lips and contemplated the dark, fruity notes of the wine. This selection was different than Karen's usual. It had quite a bit of punch; Claire found that she rather liked it as she smacked her lips in pleasure.

"There, now you have a trick to kick your date up a notch," Karen winked at her as she took a sip of wine and swirled it in her glass.

The farmer rolled her eyes; the grocer's daughter enjoyed teasing her over non-existent issues. "H-Hey Karen…"

Her companion took a swig of her wine and looked over at her. "What's up?"

Claire had been brooding nearly constantly on her interactions with the librarian the day before. "How long have Mary and Gray been friends?" She moved her gaze to her boots.

Karen took this opportunity to let out a silent sigh as she chugged the rest of her glass and ordered another from the barkeeper via hand signal. "Uh… A few years, I think. Ever since Gray moved here, anyway…" She frowned at her friend's expression; Karen knew that she had provided Claire with the answer she didn't want.

"S-So they've been close for a long time…" The farmer stared glumly into her wine glass and deflated her lungs. Mary definitely had the upper hand…

Karen stared as Doug poured another wine; why couldn't the barkeeper go faster? "I-I guess…" She replied evasively. "You stop by the library or something?"

Claire nodded. "Yeah, I went to get my book renewed."

The brunette waited for her friend to supply further details, but got none. Quite honestly, she wasn't in the mood for drawing any out of the quiet young woman. Doug passed Karen her wine and the pair drank in silence for a few minutes.

The blonde let her thoughts drift into nothingness as she stared around the room. She found it hard to brood around her best friend. The usual crowd was in tonight; Duke and Basil were sitting together, discussing the different varieties of grapes the winery grew. In short, the naturalist sounded interested in what type of grape produced the largest yield, and Duke was more focused with what made the best-tasting wine; she couldn't tell if they were arguing or agreeing most of the time. It may have actually been an interesting conversation if Claire knew anything about winemaking, but she didn't. Her eyes traveled across the room.

Saibara sat at his designated stool on the far end of the bar. He stared off into space with his usual glass of hot sake. The old man's facial features were never readable; Claire wondered what went through his head on a regular basis. She was a little startled when he saw the blacksmith signal for Ann and the waitress took a seat in the stool beside him, giggling and swinging her feet. They seemed like an unlikely pair, but Claire supposed if anyone could make a grumpy old man like Saibara smile, it was Ann.

Her gaze traveled to the staircase on the other side of the bar. The farmer made frequent trips up those stairs around this time of evening to catch a moment with Gray alone. She heard the heavy wooden door's customary loud squeak and saw a grin spread across Karen's face as she took another swig of her drink. Claire didn't have to turn around to know that the chicken farmer had arrived; the blonde took this as her cue.

"W-Well, I should probably be getting ready to head back home… B-But first…" Claire's eyes drifted longingly toward the well-worn oaken stairs.

Karen snorted and raised her eyebrows. She knew all too well of her friend's little habit; in truth, the entire town did. The grocer's daughter tried her best to stamp out any wayward rumors about Claire that she overheard in the town square, but it was difficult when the farmer visited the infamous Bachelors' Pad on a near-nightly basis. Now that the room for long-term guests was full with three tenants, Karen's mother giggled with her friends about how lucky Ann was that her father was collecting handsome young suitors for her and gathering them all in one room. Sasha had once tried to drag Karen into this conversation and the young woman rolled her eyes, stating that Ann could probably beat each of them in an arm-wrestling match, spitting contest, or belching competition. Manna had implied not-so-subtly that if Ann didn't pick out a boy in that room she wanted, a certain blonde farmer was going to snatch one up first.

Granted, Claire never stayed up there for too long, and she was anything but predatory, but it was enough to give bored housewives something to talk about. Karen had been furious at Manna's insinuation, but the brunette kept quiet and headed over to Rick's, more willing to listen to him rant about misbehaving chickens and a particularly poorly-behaved cock than listen to a few ignorant women blab on about someone they never bothered to get to know. The grocer's daughter didn't have the heart to tell Claire that the farmer was often the subject of gossip. "Alright, alright. Go mack on that roomful of boys, you little flirt." She kept her tone playful but raised an eyebrow as she finished off her glass of wine and shooed her friend away with the wave of a hand.

"I-I'm n-not! I'm just… saying h-hello!" Her face felt hot as she slung her bag over her shoulder and flounced up the stairs, oblivious to the curious way the old blacksmith was watching her as he sipped on his alcohol.

0o0o0o0

"You know what? Stop by the Beach Shack sometime and I'll cook you something special. What do you like? I can do snow cones, pizza, inari, baked corn, takoyaki, spaghetti…"

"Ah, those all sound good!" Claire giggled shyly as she played with the straps on her rucksack.

He flashed her a bright smile as he folded his arms across his chest. "I know someone in this inn who could probably eat all of that in one sitting…" Kai chuckled. "I never pay Ann in all-you-can-eat free food anymore unless it's leftovers. That girl can pack it away!" He nodded in approval; Ann was definitely an interesting woman.

"I'd like to be paid in free food," Claire remembered the delicious treats from Beach Day. The food he served reminded her of the hot childhood summer festivals with her friends from the city. Cotton candy, taiyaki, roasted corn… The farmer drooled just thinking about it. Just the memory of the flavors gave her that carefree, summer vacation nostalgia.

Kai caught the look on her face and the two laughed heartily for a few moments before they were interrupted by Gray, who was clearing his throat loudly.

"I-It's getting late. Shouldn't you be getting back to the farm now?" The blacksmith recited.

Kai shot him a dirty look. His longtime friend never acted this way around him before…

Claire struggled to hide the disappointment on her face; she seriously doubted he was rushing their conversation so that he could finally walk her home. A new thought popped into her head as a hint of a smile played at her lips. "Uh, yeah… I guess so… I hope you can make something out of the copper I brought… It was nice meeting you again, Kai." She gave the friendly new tenant a wave.

"Likewise. Have a good night, Ms. Dumont." He bowed to her with a great flourish, flashing her a charming grin.

"And you as well, Mr. Alana," Claire returned with a giggle. Her eyes drifted to the blacksmith's apprentice and he was folding his arms across his chest as he stood in his corner. Her heart gave a tiny leap. He hadn't offered to walk her, but he had reacted, at least. "W-Well… Bye…" She shyly left and closed the door behind her. Her face felt too hot; she was getting far too bold.

The farmer had actually given a gift to Gray while Kai was in the room. She had been carrying the scrap of copper in her pack all day and didn't care that the apprentice's roommate was there. The new resident had said nothing about the behavior; he had politely asked how she was feeling since her illness and she realized she had been talking to Kai the whole time instead of Gray. Maybe she had made the apprentice jealous; she wasn't blind to his surly mannerisms as she left… A tiny smirk spread across her mouth.

She was so preoccupied on this potential mini-victory that she almost stepped on the cat in the hallway. The farmer managed to dodge the feline, but she collided with the third tenant in the process.

"Claire, are you okay?" The young man had dropped several packages of herbs all over the floor, but he made no motion to pick them up.

She rubbed her shoulder where she had bumped into her friend. "I'm okay… I'm so sorry, Cliff. That was stupid of me!" Flustered, she gathered up the parcels near her feet. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Cliff touched his own shoulder while he crouched down to gather some bundles. "Nah, I'm fine," He offered her a friendly grin, excited to see her today.

The yellow tabby rubbed against the young man's legs and let out a loud mew, completely unfazed by the fact that she had nearly been landed on by the farmer. The blonde snickered as she knelt down to pet the cat. "Well, you don't seem to have any worries," She gave the feline a reproachful look.

"Ah, The Tabster doesn't worry about anything," Cliff laughed. He rubbed the cat under the chin with his free hand. "Do you, Tabs? You're the queen of mellow, huh?" Claire almost laughed aloud at the deafening volume of the cat's purr; the feline had a silly smile across her face and her eyes were closed in pleasure. "You know, Claire, you practically jumped in front of me back there; you kind of startled me." He chuckled, continuing to load bundles of herbs in the crook of his arm.

"I-I'm sorry!" She repeated and her face felt warm as she hastily gathered up some herb packets, nearly fumbling them in her frenzy. She wished she could follow the example of the cat and relax. Why did Gray have to make her emotions go haywire, and why did they have to become exacerbated now and make her look like a fool around Cliff?

"Do you have any worries?" He asked carefully as they gathered the rest of the spilled items. His deep blue eyes reflected concern as they stole a glance at her. The color reminded her of the wild blueberries she picked in the mountains with Karen.

The young woman blushed, but she didn't answer his question. The grocer's daughter was the only one the farmer had revealed her crush to and she intended on keeping it that way. "Here, I'll help you carry some of these to your room," Claire insisted; he had been carrying far too many packages to begin with. Honestly, she wasn't sure how he had managed to collect so much in one day all by himself.

He was aware that she had dodged the question, but didn't call attention to it. The young man forced a small smile on his face. "Th-thanks… I got a little carried away today. Your shipping bins are pretty overloaded including the ones in the barn and chicken coop, and I left you a list under your door, like always."

Claire's jaw dropped; Cliff's feat sounded humanly impossible. "W-Wow! I-I'm glad; that's awesome! So this must be the season to get rich, huh?"

Cliff shook his head; herbs didn't bring in too much on their own, but he had done some rough calculations and had come to the conclusion that he had earned a couple weeks' worth of rent today. The young man knew he should be feeling good about this, but he was concerned about the future. "No, that will be in the fall; that's when I'll be making the big money." He prayed that this autumn would reveal the wildlife he had so desperately been attempting to track since he moved to Mineral Town.

Claire noticed a stray flower among the bundles. It was an especially pretty pink cat with delicate pale petals. "Ah, were you going to make an offering at the spring?" He must have been too busy working to stop for a break and thank the Goddess. She carefully picked it up and held it out to her friend.

The young man took it in one hand as he turned a bright shade of red. "Ah… um… I w-wanted to give you a thank you gift." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and held the flower back out to his friend.

For a brief moment, the blonde wondered if he was fibbing to flatter her. Cliff didn't strike her as the type to lie, and he looked so genuinely flustered over it. Claire gave him a sympathetic smile; he seemed so nervous. "That's really sweet of you, but I don't know what you're thanking me for."

"F-for being such a good friend…" He stared at the floor shyly.

She knew exactly what he meant; the people she spent her time with while she lived in the city could hardly be considered friends. "I'm glad we're friends, too, Cliff. Thank you for the beautiful flower." She accepted the bloom with her free hand, twirling the stem in her fingers, admiring the pink petals of the wildflower before she carefully tucked it behind her ear. A grin crept across her face. "Let's go out together sometime soon, just you and me. No work. No foraging."

"O-okay!" She had never seen his cheeks so red; his entire face lit up and his posture became less slouched. His blue eyes were dancing as he let out a delighted laugh.

Claire found herself giggling. "It'll be fun!"

"Yeah!" Cliff shuffled the goods in his arms and pushed the door open with his foot.

"I mean, really; you're going to complain about that? Most guys-" Kai's voice trailed off as the friends entered the room. His eyes snapped to the newcomers. "Hey, new roomie! You got any goodies for me?"

"W-Well…" Cliff joined the men at the table and gestured for Claire to follow. They unloaded their arms of bundles, creating a hefty stack on the table's surface. "I found a lot of wild mint…"

Gray snorted. "If you're giving Kai stuff for his shop, you had better charge him for it. Don't just give it away! Goddess, show a little backbone!"

Kai stared at his friend incredulously; the young man's short temper was quickly wearing through the cook's normally thick skin. "What crawled up your ass? A bit of friendly banter is allowed here, no? I said nothing about a handout!"

The apprentice didn't say anything, but reddened and tugged his hat lower on his face to conceal it.

"Welcome back, Lady Claire," The young man adjusted his purple bandana and gave her a kind grin. "Don't worry about the Duke of Grumpington over here. Someone as sweet as you is welcome here any time," He gave her a playful wink and the farmer felt herself relax a bit. The encouraging tone he spoke with made her worry dissolve, and she realized that his flirty mannerisms and words were just part of his outgoing personality. Kai had been very honest with Claire when they met on beach day, complimenting the young woman on her appearance and confessing that he liked beautiful women the same way someone might declare that red was their favorite color. "Cute flower. Did your buddy get that for you?" His eyes traveled between the two friends.

The young woman's hand flew to the blossom in her hair and she shyly nodded her head, subduing the curious feeling in her stomach as she looked among the three roommates. Gray had leaned back in his chair with an expressionless face, Kai had a smile across his lips as he sat in a very relaxed posture, twiddling his thumbs, and Cliff's head was down as he sorted through his packages of herbs with trembling hands and she could see that his ears were red.

"Mineral Town is a nice place," She replied, folding her hands in her lap. "The people here are very kind."

"I-I agree," Cliff chimed in, looking up and giving his female friend a bashful grin.

The happiness faded from Kai's face for a brief moment, but he quickly recovered. "Well, some people are, I suppose. Everyone at the inn is cool, at least." He let out a laugh for good measure.

Claire was familiar with his tone of voice and facial expressions; she had seen them often enough when she had caught her own reflection in the public restroom mirrors at the nightclub and the office back in the city. The lack of enthusiasm, the sad eyes despite the grin and hollow laugh… Kai had been bullied. The young woman bit her lip; she couldn't see why someone wouldn't get along with the friendly, charismatic young man.

"I always feel like I've got an extended family here at Doug's, and this year I've got a new brother!" Kai beamed at his newest roommate. "Welcome to the family!"

"Ah… F-Family?" The color drained from Cliff's face and he wiped his sweaty palms off on his pants.

His roommate let out a hearty laugh. "Sure! You can be my little brother; I'll keep you out of trouble! Me and Gray got your back! That's what big brothers do, right?" He gave Gray a nudge and the two chuckled.

Both roommates were oblivious to the ghost white face of the forager. The young man forced a pained smile on his face, but the look in his eyes was pleading for the conversation to end. He closed his eyes for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed. She watched as he slowly relaxed them, the worry lines fading from his forehead. He swallowed and greeted the world with open eyes that were void of emotion. Claire stared at him in concern, her heart pounding in her ears; her friend's behavior was disturbing, to say the least.

"I'd think if anything, Cliff could keep you out of trouble, Kai," Gray smirked, tugging on the bill of his cap. "That kid goes to confession every day."

A set of deep brown eyes widened. "Every day? Damn… So what are you in for? Adultery? Bank heist? Genocide?" His laughter faded when he saw his companion shaking his head emotionlessly, growing paler still. The cook realized he had crossed some sort of line and pulled off his bandana, setting it on the table, revealing dark, disheveled hair underneath. "Hey, sorry man… That was unfeeling."

It took a few moments for Cliff to take down the barrier he had put up. He blinked a couple of times and flashed his roommate an empty smile. "I-It's fine…"

Kai shook his head, keen on the consoling look the young woman was giving her friend. His eyes traveled back to the brunette and he was aware of the lack of real emotion in his face. "No, it's not. People are insensitive to me, and I shouldn't spread the negativity. Forgive me."

Cliff's facial expression mellowed out. "Already done."

"So…" The apprentice's eyes traveled to the farmer.

Kai quickly cut him off. "Ann's birthday is in a few weeks. There's still time to order something from Won. What do you guys wanna do? Joint gift? Individual? I'll do the cake!"

"You'll have to fight with Doug on that one, and you know it," Gray reminded him as he shifted in his chair; grateful for the change in conversation topic.

Kai rolled his eyes, running a few fingers through his messy hair. "Like Ann's going to get upset about two birthday cakes. I'm doing it!"

"I-I'm going to make her something," Cliff's voice was soft as his eyes traveled to the corner of his room where he kept his belongings. "I've got a deer hide left over from last season. I'm going to make her a holster for her cooking utensils."

Claire's eyes widened; she had forgotten that another birthday was coming up. Perhaps she would make something as well; the notion of a handmade gift gave the farmer a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Her heart gave a throb of guilt. If she had known in advance about Cliff's birthday, she could have made him something. Her eyes traveled to the basket of bamboo shoots in the young man's corner of the room; she felt bad about the hasty gift, but she felt a little relieved to see that he had been eating them.

"Don't do that! You're essentially providing her an ammunition belt!" Gray shook his head emphatically as Kai roared with laughter.

"That sounds awesome! I want one for my birthday, too!" The young man grinned. "I promise I'll pretend to be surprised!"

"I'll need to think of something, too," Claire mused aloud as she straightened the stacks of mint on the table; the smell was crisp and delicious and made her feel relaxed. "Wh-What are you going to get for her, Gray?" She played with the ends of her blonde hair.

The young man shrugged. "Probably a bag of candy. Maybe I'll buy her a huge jawbreaker so that she has to pace herself," He smirked, tugging on the bill of his cap.

"Or break her teeth!" Kai chuckled.

"Hey, be nice!" Claire's grin at the young man hardly made it look like a scolding.

"She's right," Gray quipped, "Ann would never do that! She eats efficiently! If anything, she'll attempt to swallow the whole thing in one go."

Cliff turned pale. "Gray… Don't give her one. She… might just try that."

"Ah, I guess you're right... I'll get her something that young children can handle just fine," The apprentice replied with a smug grin.

The brunette gave him a relieved smile; it seemed he really didn't trust how far Ann would push her limits. "Good…"

Claire looked around her; all of the smiling faces were making her giddy. She loved this feeling, being surrounded by happy people. Her heart throbbed as she savored the moment. Claire listened with eager ears to the young men's banter and was pleased to hear that the quiet brunette added his own parts to the conversation here and there. The young woman nodded and laughed where it warranted it, but she found her eyes traveling between the apprentice and the forager. The two of them were so very different from one another, but they managed to get along just fine under the same roof. She got the distinct feel that Kai and Gray had been close friends for years, and the combination of personalities in the room was interesting. Claire cupped her chin on the heel of her hand and stared at the pile of herbs, admiring the delicate veins on the lush green leaves, feeling her eyelids droop.

"Getting tired, Claire? I'll take you home," Cliff's voice was gentle as he gave her a kind smile.

The young woman sat up and blinked her tired eyes a few times, suddenly aware that she had started to drift off.

"Don't fall asleep on us, now!" Kai grinned. "We'll see you later! Thanks for the encore appearance!"

Gray gave her a friendly nod. "See you."

Claire waved goodbye to the roommates as Cliff opened the door for her. "Good night!"

Her energy returned to her as she saw the grin on her friend's face. "It was nice getting to chat with you and the guys together."

"Yeah. It seems like a lot of fun here," She admitted, smiling at the yellow tabby in the hallway curling up for the night; it looked like Claire wasn't the only one off on their way to dreamland.

"It… is fun." His face lit up in realization of this as they walked down the hallway. Cliff flashed his companion a grin as they bounced down the stairs, side by side. Maybe he really could have a new family and friends here; it was becoming less of a dream and more of a reality. "Ah, w-wait!" He halted the blonde at the bottom of the stairs.

"Huh?" His friend stopped suddenly looked at him curiously, her eyes moving back to the top of the stairs. Did he forget something?

The pink cat was falling out of Claire's silky locks from her romp downstairs. The young man moved a trembling hand toward her, but retracted it quickly, reddening. "Ah, you're losing your flower," He shyly gestured to his right ear.

The farmer ran her fingers through her hair, sifting out the stem. "Oh, thanks. I'm going to take it home and put it in my vase." She carefully tucked it back behind her ear and when she looked up at her friend, she was aware that his eyes had been glued to her.

Cliff didn't say anything, but he was staring at the young woman in a very particular way that gave her stomach a curious jolt and a surge of warmth spread through her body. Those eyes were a very nice color, Claire decided. She gave him a friendly smile, unsure of what to make of the strange sensation. "Sh-Shall we?"

"Of course."

The pair walked past the bar together, giving the waitress a kind wave as they did so. The redhead's eyes were drawn to the new addition of the beautiful flower in the blonde's hair as Cliff opened the door for her; he was looking at Claire with those wide blue eyes again and, surprisingly enough, the farmer appeared to notice this time.

Ann bit her lip and tightened the white ribbon on her braid as she turned back to the bar, collecting an armload of empty beer steins and hurrying back to the kitchen.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Is anyone else picturing "Doug's Boys" as a greaser gang now? I have this whole fantasy playing out in my head with a rival girls' gang in the Valley… And it's so FREAKING awesome! …Help!(?)