Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon, plain and simple.
AN: This is a mostly HM64-based fic, however, some things (veggies, herbs, flowers, ect.) I'm pulling from other versions so pretty much the whole money system veggie-wise is screwed up. Not like I'm really talking about that that much, but... hey, it's worth mentioning. Deva is an OC, take her and I will sic the Harvest Sprites on you.
*grins* Lastly, I'm trying to write this on a day where every member of my family seems bent on interrupting every time I come up with the next sentence, so if things "feel" a little disjointed at points, blame them. =P
What Only Love Can Do
By Lioness Blackfire
Chapter One - Deva the Pretty Redhead
-Spring 20-
Jack awoke to the sounds of his alarm clock blaring, rain falling on the roof, and someone pounding on the door of his house. Switching off the alarm, he yelled,
"I'm coming! Give me a second!" Quickly he pulled on a t-shirt and overalls, stomped to the front door, and pulled it open. "What?!" he asked irritably, then shook his head and cleared his throat. "Oh, um, sorry. Mornings aren't my thing. Come in, it's pouring."
"As if I didn't know that." his visitor grumbled as she stepped inside. Then, quite suddenly, she thrust a chicken at him. "Here, it was out in the field and I could hear it clucking when I walked up." Jack looked at the girl curiously. He wasn't sure what color her short hair was, as it was some dark, indistinct shade while wet. Her clothes, bell-bottomed jeans and a fuzzy black long-sleeved high-collared shirt, as well as a denim backpack, had been saturated with the rain and were dripping on the floor while her brown leather boots were trailing mud and grass. She looked down at herself and grimaced. "Sorry. I'm messing up your floor and I don't even know your name."
Jack chuckled in a lighthearted manner. "Don't worry about it. There's not enough floor to worry too much about it getting messy. I'm Jack, by the way."
The girl stooped to take off her boots and smiled. "I'm Deva." she looked up at him through long, dark lashes. "Nice to meet you." Jack, for a split second, found his brain unable to comprehend what he saw. Her eyes were blatantly mismatched - the left one one purple and the right green.
"Your... eyes..." he stuttered.
She laughed outright and stepped out of her boots. "Man, I just love that. No two people react the same way."
"You do that on purpose?"
Instead of answering, Deva smiled saucily and pushed her hair out of her face. "Got a towel?"
"Oh! Yes, sorry." He crossed the room and dug around in the bedside drawers, finally coming up with a small bath towel and handing it to her. "Sorry it's not much, I haven't managed to have a bathroom built yet."
She paused a moment in drying her hair. "You don't have a... bathroom? Where did I manage to end up, anyway?"
"Flowerbud Village."
"Landmarks...?"
"Well... we're near the ocean... the beach is kinda southwest of here."
"Hmmm... Well, that might be enough. Water doesn't come this close to a forest in many places on this island."
Jack looked at her suddenly. "You've been other places on this island?"
Deva raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah. It's in my job; traveling, that is. I'm sort of a wandering bard."
Jack nodded appreciatively. "Very cool."
"Thanks." She pulled the towel off her head and shook her now bright copper-red hair. "Much better. If I'm going back out there, I'd at least like to have some rain protection. My hair is thick enough it serves as that for a little while at least."
"Back out there? It's raining cats and dogs!"
"Yeah, but I hate to impose on you too much and I don't think you have anything in my size anyway."
Jack shook his head. "You're not imposing. And I have to go out there anyway to feed my animals, so I'll just take you to someplace better equipped for a wet wanderer than here. Give me a minute to finish getting dressed and we'll go."
Deva watched Jack curiously as she slipped her muddy boots back on. His brown eyes sparkled as he pulled on his own pair of black boots, whiteish gloves, and tied a red bandanna around his neck. Then, standing, he adjusted his blue and orange cap and looked at her critically. "What?" she asked after a moment.
"I'm trying to decide where I should take you. You're pretty tall for a girl around here... there's only one person as tall as you and there is no way I'm taking you to her place. But..." his eyes lit up. "Ann's brother is only a little taller than you, maybe he'd work!"
Deva shrugged. "You're the expert."
"Well, come on then." He walked toward the door while pulling on a poncho. They stepped outside and he grabbed her wrist. "We're gonna make a run for it, okay?" He called to her as wind lashed their faces and thunder boomed.
"Got it!" And they did run, all the way to Green Ranch where they quickly knocked on the door of the main house.
"Coming!" called a female voice from inside, and soon the door opened. "Jack! Get in here! You're gonna catch a cold out in this weather." The girl at the door stepped aside and Jack and Deva entered. "Who's this?" she asked, motioning at Deva with her head as she closed the door.
"Ann, this is Deva. Deva, Ann. I was hoping she could borrow some of your brother's clothes while hers dry. Her pack was soaked through out there."
"Not surprising, with how it's coming down." Ann paused and looked Deva over quickly. "You are almost as tall as Gray, I guess. Get those boots off and I'll go see what I can get from Gray." Deva nodded and Ann walked off toward the back of the house.
"She seems nice." Deva commented after she had taken off her boots again.
Jack nodded in agreement. "She is. Always smiling and looking on the brightest side of a situation." he frowned, which Deva found strangely glooming. "She's sort of a balance for her brother, I guess. He's..." he seemed to search for a word.
"A social disaster." Ann answered, approaching. "Luckily he didn't ask why I wanted to borrow some of his clothes. The pants are probably too big, so I got a belt from my room, and some underwear." she whispered the last part and Jack couldn't hear.
"Thanks." Deva replied gratefully.
"No problem. The bathroom is just to your right, there are clean towels and washcloths in the closet, and a basket of soaps and such by the door to the bath."
Once again Deva nodded, and headed for the bathroom. After locking the door behind her, she quickly peeled off her dripping clothes and exchanged them for the ones Ann had given her. They were simple - a pair of khaki pants that she folded up about three inches, a light blue button-up shirt that she had to button the wrong way at the cuffs so her hands were free, and a belt to keep the pants up. Then she gathered her clothes from before and exited to the hallway, padding softly in bare feet.
"Okay, now I'm curious." A voice Deva didn't recognize said. "If he's here, something must be going on." She approached to see Ann, her back to Deva, talking to a boy whose orange-red hair was visible under a blue cap that shaded his eyes and made them hard to see. At that moment he looked past Ann, and saw her standing there in his too large clothes, and quite suddenly he wasn't sure what to say.
"Gray?" Ann asked, then looked behind her and spotted Deva. "Oh, Deva, this is my brother Gray. Gray, this is Deva. She's... ah... the one borrowing your clothes until hers dry."
Gray, for a moment, stared at the girl with his clothes hanging loosely on her petite frame. Then he blinked twice and frowned. "Hn." he grumbled, and turned to leave. "Make sure she returns them when she's done." he mumbled, and then left.
Ann shook her head as he turned the corner. "See what I mean? He's always like that when people are around." She sighed gustily and put her fists on her hips, looking at Deva carefully. "Hmm, those almost fit you. If I tried to wear that, it would just look ridiculous."
"You're not that much smaller than me." Deva replied.
"Yes, but two inches when the clothes are already three inches too long makes for something really funny-looking. This yours?" she pointed to the backpack making a puddle near the front mat.
"Oh, yes."
"Okay." Ann picked up the soggy thing and held it a safe distance away from herself. "There's not enough room in the house, but if you don't mind, we could hang your clothes in the barn. There's a line in there for days just like this that's high enough that the animals can't reach the clothes."
"Sounds fine."
"Good. I figured I'd ask because some people wouldn't want their clothes near animals no matter what I said. Hmm... Jack, you go wait in the kitchen, okay? We'll be done in just a minute."
Jack shrugged. "Alright, but I'm going to need to get home pretty soon."
"No problem!" Ann called after him. "This way, there's a hallway between the two buildings." As soon as they went through the door to the hallway, Deva could tell they were getting close to animals. On the other end, they were greeted by a large brown horse. Ann giggled as he nuzzled her. "Okay, okay. This handsome fellow is Cliffgard. Say hello, Cliff." The horse whickered and Deva grinned.
"That's really neat! I didn't know you could teach a horse to actually greet people."
"It's no different than teaching them to gallop when you say giddyup or something." Ann replied, shrugging. "Here, hand the clothes up to me and I'll hang them." she climbed on top of the animals' stalls as she spoke, and reached down for something.
"Are you sure you're not going to fall?" Deva asked as Ann deftly hung the clothes.
"I don't think I've ever fallen from here, so no." She hung a shirt and looked down. "That the last of it?"
"Yep."
"Cool." She hopped down and they headed back to the house. Jack was in the kitchen, conversing with a red-haired man about what would be the best animal to get after chickens: sheep or cows.
"Ah, Ann!" he called as his daughter entered the room.
"Yea dad?" she replied.
"Don't forget that you're supposed to take the new cow's milk to the bakery for it to be rated today."
"I won't forget."
"And... I'm sorry, I don't believe I know who you are."
Deva blushed slightly, knowing it must look very odd for a teenaged girl he'd never seen before to be wandering around his house barefoot in his son's clothes, and with slightly wet hair, no less. "I'm Deva, sir. Just a wandering bard who got caught in the rain. Ann's been very kind to me already."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Deva. I'm Hall, owner of Green Ranch."
"Nice to meet you too, sir."
They shook hands and Hall nodded sharply. "Well, I'm off to open the shop. Goodbye!" Everyone called goodbyes and he left.
"So you're a bard?" Ann asked curiously.
"Mm-hm. My family wants me to settle down and start a family, but I enjoy wandering, singing. A performer at heart, I guess."
Ann grinned. "That is very cool. Want something to drink? You too Jack. There's water, milk, orange juice, and cranberry juice."
"Cranberry, please." Deva replied.
"Orange for me." Jack requested.
"Kay. I wouldn't have guessed you're a bard, where's your instruments?"
Deva grinned. "My instruments are here," she pointed at her throat, where her voice box was, "here," she jabbed a finger at her temple, "and here." she pulled her hand out from behind her back and in it she held a beautiful hand-crafted wooden lute. Ann nearly dropped the drinks.
"How'd you do that?" Jack asked, blinking confusedly.
Deva grinned again. "Now that's a trade secret. If you ever feel like becoming a bard, then you'll find out."
"Pphhh, just like all the other magicians." Ann scoffed, but smiled.
"But it wouldn't be spectacular if you knew how it worked." Deva replied, replacing the lute behind her back. When Ann glanced over, it was gone.
"True, true..." she said, raising an eyebrow at the other redhead's subtle antics.
"So," Deva began after trying the cranberry juice, "What's this place like? Got anyplace for an oddball like me to hang for a while?"
"There's the inn." Jack pointed out. Deva looked interested. "It's open from six in the evening to six in the morning. It's sort of a bar-ish thing..."
"Ooohh, and the Flower Festival is coming up, on the 23rd." Ann said excitedly. "I bet you'd love that." she pushed her orange-red braid back over her shoulder.
"Sounds like a lot of fun. As soon as the rain lets up, I might make camp on that beach you told me about, Jack."
"You sure about that?" Ann asked quickly. "You could stay here with us if you don't have enough money for the inn."
Deva shook her head. "I just like the outdoors. Fishing, campfires, and there's no obligations."
Ann wrinkled her forehead. "But don't you get cold in winter? Or lonely on holidays?"
Deva frowned slightly. "Sometimes it gets cold in winter... that's when I'll check into an inn. And holidays..." she shrugged. "Getting to experience all the things I do kind of makes up for it." She turned her head to look at Jack. "So, what time would you suggest for starting my performances around here?"
"Around ten. Everyone gets up pretty early, so we don't stay up too late."
Deva nodded thoughtfully. "I'll arrange something with the innkeeper. Thanks."
Jack nodded, then stood and stretched. "Well, thanks for the orange juice, Ann, and for letting us in. Unfortunately, I need to get back and take care of the farm." He did the traditional Japanese bow, and smiled. "Ja!"
"Bye, Jack!" Ann called, and Deva gave a short wave. As soon as he was gone, Ann stood up and rubbed her hands together. "Well, I need to do my chores too. Tell you what - I'll take care of what I need to do and by that time your clothes should be dry, and you can come into town with me."
Deva nodded agreeably. "Sure. But while I'm here, want a hand with your chores?"
Ann looked surprised. "Well... only if you like animals. My job is to groom and feed the horses, cows, and sheep."
Deva shrugged. "Sounds fun. I don't usually get to be close to animals. And if you're selling, I might even want to buy a horse before I move on."
For the second time, Ann looked surprised. "Buy a horse from us?" Deva nodded. "Well... you'd have to talk to my dad about that. Usually nobody wants to buy our horses."
"Well, if there's one I really like around the time I leave, I'll see what we can work out." They started walking toward the barn, Ann grabbing an extra brush on the way. Once they got there, Ann looked around at the animals. All seemed to be in relatively good moods, despite the weather.
"Okay, how about you start on the end near the door and I'll start over here. We'll work our way toward the middle. You know how to do all this?"
"M'family's farmers, this is a piece of cake." she headed for the far end, still talking. "Brush 'em down, look for stones, mites, and the like, and put some fodder in their feed bins."
Ann smiled. "Sounds like you've got it. Just call if you need any help."
"Okay."
Half an hour later, both Ann and Deva were on their fourth animal, and Gray walked in. For a moment he was unobserved - Ann was used to him being around and Deva was quite focused on the mare she was brushing. He watched her brush through tangles in the mane and wondered just why she was helping out. To pay them back for staying there during the storm?
"Hey Ann, what's this one's name?"
Ann glanced over at the horse Deva was brushing - a spirited mare that was mostly a light chocolate brown with darker brown mane and tail, as well as cream colored socks and star. "Eon. A beauty, isn't she?"
"No kidding." Before looking back at the sheep she was attending to, Ann glanced at the door and saw Gray. Then she did a double-take while wondering why he was just standing there, raised an eyebrow, and went back to work.
It took another half-hour to finish all the animals in the barn, and by that time Gray had already finished his own chores and was gone.
"My clothes ought to be dry by now... at least mostly dry." Deva said thoughtfully, looking up at them. "I hate to trouble you more, but I wouldn't trust myself up there. Could you get down some of my clothes for me?"
"No trouble at all." Ann chirped cheerfully, and hopped up on top of the stalls again. "One of everything, right?"
"Preferably a pair of socks, though." Deva joked.
Ann smiled and rolled her eyes. "I'll remember that. Here, two socks." Deva chuckled and took them, as well as the jeans, shirt, and undergarments handed down to her. "Just change in the bathroom again. I'll get the new cow's milk sample and meet you by the door."
"Alright. Thanks again, I'll be ready in a sec!" and she jogged off toward the bathroom. She changed in record time and looked critically at her expression in the mirror. "Looks a little plain... but this is a quaint town, maybe just-" she snapped her fingers and rubies appeared at her earlobes. "Much better." She gathered up the clothes she had been wearing before and opened the door, immediately coming face-to-face with Gray.
'Well well well, just when you've got someone pinned as a moocher, they prove you wrong.' was one thought running through his mind, alongside 'She's aweful tall for a girl. Wait, is she blushing?'
And indeed she was. "Ahh... excuse me." she said, backing up a step.
"Oh." he mumbled in reply, and moved out of her way.
"Deva! Alright, you look much better in that. Just put the clothes in the laundry hamper there... yea, that one." Deva did so and walked over to the door where Ann was waiting. "Put on your boots first." Ann instructed when Deva reached a hand out for one of the ponchos Ann was holding. "And don't forget to tuck your jeans into your boots, otherwise you'll have a heck of a muddy mess."
"What's with the strict mother thing?" Deva asked as she tried to get some mud out of her boot zipper.
Ann wrinkled her forehead and pursed her lips, then said, "Where'd you get those earrings from? I don't remember you having them before."
'If that was supposed to make me forget my question, it didn't work. At all.' Despite her thoughts, Deva smiled and winked. "I just love trade secrets."
"Free instruments, free jewelry, must be fun, being a bard."
Deva pulled a poncho on and looked at Ann sternly. "It's not free. You always have to make or buy something before you can mess with it magically. The only thing you can make out of thin air is a song." she paused and smiled. "But yes, it is fun."
"Well that's what counts, then. Ready?"
"Whenever you are."
"Alright, let's go!" and she threw open the door and they plunged into the rain. Despite being at least seven-thirty in the morning, it was nearly pitch black out. The rain beat down on the two redheaded girls hard, but the wind had let up a bit and there wasn't so much lightning and thunder as before. Deva could tell when they reached the main part of the town because suddenly there were little squares of light - windows. They half ran into the bakery when they got there, and shut the door hard behind them.
"Ann!" A brown-haired girl in a dress and apron hurried over to them. She was shorter than Deva but taller than Ann, and a little more soft and rounded in face and body where Ann was rough and muscled and Deva was thin and petite. "Darling, you didn't have to come all the way over here in this weather." she said in her musical alto voice. "And..." she paused. "Oh, I don't believe we've met."
Deva smiled and bowed gallantly in a way that made Ann think of knights in times of old. "Deva, miss. A wandering bard."
The girl chuckled and curtsied for the fun of the moment. "Well it's nice to meet you. I'm Elli. Jeff and I run this bakery." Mentioning Jeff, she stepped slightly aside and motioned at him. He was a relatively handsome man in his mid or late 30's, and he gave a small friendly wave to them. Ann smiled and shook her head slightly, then pulled out the bottle of milk.
"Well, now that introductions have been made, here's the milk I promised. Shall we try it?"
"Yes, we'll go into the back room and try it out. You're welcome to come, too, Deva." So Deva shrugged and followed them.
"Testing" the milk turned out to be grabbing some cookies and having a midmorning snack while discussing the recent happenings in the village - more accurately, gossiping, and explaining to Deva. So there, though she wasn't sure why it mattered, she found out that the mailman was sending love notes to the librarian (who was also the mayor's daughter); that the bartender/daughter of the vineyard owner was thinking of leaving the town for good; and that she was actually the second person that week to show up on Jack's doorstep.
"So..." Ann began, shushing her voice a bit. "Is the surprise party still on?" Deva blinked. That was a rapid change of subject!
"Of course! I just hope it doesn't rain." Elli looked out the window worriedly. "Everybody knows what they're supposed to do, right?"
"Of course! You and Jack are refreshments, Karen's in charge of decorations with Lillia and Basil helping, Maria is supposed to keep the little kids from wrecking this before it begins, Rick is bringing his new camera to take pictures, and my job is to keep Popuri occupied until one in the afternoon, and then getting her to the clearing."
Elli grinned. "The way you know this plan, I'm surprised it wasn't your idea in the first place."
"So whose birthday is it?" Deva finally asked.
"Our friend Popuri's. She's the daughter of the flower shop owners, and monday is her sixteenth birthday." Ann's eyes lit up, and Elli, across the table from her, knew an idea had struck. "Heeeyy, you're a bard, maybe you could be... musical entertainment or something!"
Deva shrugged. "Maybe, but wouldn't it be a good idea if I met this 'Popuri' first? Musical entertainment at a small birthday party isn't exactly the biggest job in the world."
"Yes, it probably would be a good idea, but this is no small party. Most of the town will be there." Ann pointed out.
"Most of the town?" Deva's eyes widened. "Birthdays a really big deal around here, or is this just a really small town?"
"Both." Elli said. "Sixteenth birthdays here on the island mean you're legal. If you're sixteen, you can get married, drink, go off and live by yourself, or whatever else. Say, how old are you, anyway?"
"Ano... sixteen, til' late summer."
"Alright!" Ann exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "Summer birthdays! I was starting to wonder if I was the only one anywhere..."
Deva chuckled and stood. "Well, you're not. The rain seems to be letting up now, so I'm going to go see what I can arrange with the owner of the bar. Thank you both for including me, and I'll drop by your house later, Ann, to pick up my stuff."
"Alright. See you later, Deva!" Ann called cheerfully.
"Yes, ja!"
"Bye!" and she slipped out the door. For a bit after she left, Ann stared at the door.
"Such a strange girl..." she said momentarily. "Maybe she'd get on well with Gray." Elli looked at Ann oddly, shrugged, and started up a new conversation about the price of milk and eggs.
End Chapter One
AN: Wow! Nine whole pages! That's longer than any one part of anything I've ever written! Yeah!
Okay, so I'm thinking of taking votes. I know what pairings I'm going to end up with, and a lot of things that will happen regardless, but who will flirt with who in-between? I'm very open to ideas (even ones that involve people of the same gender with each other) so give me all you've got!
Next time, Popuri's Birthday Bash! Tune in!
AN: This is a mostly HM64-based fic, however, some things (veggies, herbs, flowers, ect.) I'm pulling from other versions so pretty much the whole money system veggie-wise is screwed up. Not like I'm really talking about that that much, but... hey, it's worth mentioning. Deva is an OC, take her and I will sic the Harvest Sprites on you.
*grins* Lastly, I'm trying to write this on a day where every member of my family seems bent on interrupting every time I come up with the next sentence, so if things "feel" a little disjointed at points, blame them. =P
By Lioness Blackfire
Chapter One - Deva the Pretty Redhead
-Spring 20-
Jack awoke to the sounds of his alarm clock blaring, rain falling on the roof, and someone pounding on the door of his house. Switching off the alarm, he yelled,
"I'm coming! Give me a second!" Quickly he pulled on a t-shirt and overalls, stomped to the front door, and pulled it open. "What?!" he asked irritably, then shook his head and cleared his throat. "Oh, um, sorry. Mornings aren't my thing. Come in, it's pouring."
"As if I didn't know that." his visitor grumbled as she stepped inside. Then, quite suddenly, she thrust a chicken at him. "Here, it was out in the field and I could hear it clucking when I walked up." Jack looked at the girl curiously. He wasn't sure what color her short hair was, as it was some dark, indistinct shade while wet. Her clothes, bell-bottomed jeans and a fuzzy black long-sleeved high-collared shirt, as well as a denim backpack, had been saturated with the rain and were dripping on the floor while her brown leather boots were trailing mud and grass. She looked down at herself and grimaced. "Sorry. I'm messing up your floor and I don't even know your name."
Jack chuckled in a lighthearted manner. "Don't worry about it. There's not enough floor to worry too much about it getting messy. I'm Jack, by the way."
The girl stooped to take off her boots and smiled. "I'm Deva." she looked up at him through long, dark lashes. "Nice to meet you." Jack, for a split second, found his brain unable to comprehend what he saw. Her eyes were blatantly mismatched - the left one one purple and the right green.
"Your... eyes..." he stuttered.
She laughed outright and stepped out of her boots. "Man, I just love that. No two people react the same way."
"You do that on purpose?"
Instead of answering, Deva smiled saucily and pushed her hair out of her face. "Got a towel?"
"Oh! Yes, sorry." He crossed the room and dug around in the bedside drawers, finally coming up with a small bath towel and handing it to her. "Sorry it's not much, I haven't managed to have a bathroom built yet."
She paused a moment in drying her hair. "You don't have a... bathroom? Where did I manage to end up, anyway?"
"Flowerbud Village."
"Landmarks...?"
"Well... we're near the ocean... the beach is kinda southwest of here."
"Hmmm... Well, that might be enough. Water doesn't come this close to a forest in many places on this island."
Jack looked at her suddenly. "You've been other places on this island?"
Deva raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah. It's in my job; traveling, that is. I'm sort of a wandering bard."
Jack nodded appreciatively. "Very cool."
"Thanks." She pulled the towel off her head and shook her now bright copper-red hair. "Much better. If I'm going back out there, I'd at least like to have some rain protection. My hair is thick enough it serves as that for a little while at least."
"Back out there? It's raining cats and dogs!"
"Yeah, but I hate to impose on you too much and I don't think you have anything in my size anyway."
Jack shook his head. "You're not imposing. And I have to go out there anyway to feed my animals, so I'll just take you to someplace better equipped for a wet wanderer than here. Give me a minute to finish getting dressed and we'll go."
Deva watched Jack curiously as she slipped her muddy boots back on. His brown eyes sparkled as he pulled on his own pair of black boots, whiteish gloves, and tied a red bandanna around his neck. Then, standing, he adjusted his blue and orange cap and looked at her critically. "What?" she asked after a moment.
"I'm trying to decide where I should take you. You're pretty tall for a girl around here... there's only one person as tall as you and there is no way I'm taking you to her place. But..." his eyes lit up. "Ann's brother is only a little taller than you, maybe he'd work!"
Deva shrugged. "You're the expert."
"Well, come on then." He walked toward the door while pulling on a poncho. They stepped outside and he grabbed her wrist. "We're gonna make a run for it, okay?" He called to her as wind lashed their faces and thunder boomed.
"Got it!" And they did run, all the way to Green Ranch where they quickly knocked on the door of the main house.
"Coming!" called a female voice from inside, and soon the door opened. "Jack! Get in here! You're gonna catch a cold out in this weather." The girl at the door stepped aside and Jack and Deva entered. "Who's this?" she asked, motioning at Deva with her head as she closed the door.
"Ann, this is Deva. Deva, Ann. I was hoping she could borrow some of your brother's clothes while hers dry. Her pack was soaked through out there."
"Not surprising, with how it's coming down." Ann paused and looked Deva over quickly. "You are almost as tall as Gray, I guess. Get those boots off and I'll go see what I can get from Gray." Deva nodded and Ann walked off toward the back of the house.
"She seems nice." Deva commented after she had taken off her boots again.
Jack nodded in agreement. "She is. Always smiling and looking on the brightest side of a situation." he frowned, which Deva found strangely glooming. "She's sort of a balance for her brother, I guess. He's..." he seemed to search for a word.
"A social disaster." Ann answered, approaching. "Luckily he didn't ask why I wanted to borrow some of his clothes. The pants are probably too big, so I got a belt from my room, and some underwear." she whispered the last part and Jack couldn't hear.
"Thanks." Deva replied gratefully.
"No problem. The bathroom is just to your right, there are clean towels and washcloths in the closet, and a basket of soaps and such by the door to the bath."
Once again Deva nodded, and headed for the bathroom. After locking the door behind her, she quickly peeled off her dripping clothes and exchanged them for the ones Ann had given her. They were simple - a pair of khaki pants that she folded up about three inches, a light blue button-up shirt that she had to button the wrong way at the cuffs so her hands were free, and a belt to keep the pants up. Then she gathered her clothes from before and exited to the hallway, padding softly in bare feet.
"Okay, now I'm curious." A voice Deva didn't recognize said. "If he's here, something must be going on." She approached to see Ann, her back to Deva, talking to a boy whose orange-red hair was visible under a blue cap that shaded his eyes and made them hard to see. At that moment he looked past Ann, and saw her standing there in his too large clothes, and quite suddenly he wasn't sure what to say.
"Gray?" Ann asked, then looked behind her and spotted Deva. "Oh, Deva, this is my brother Gray. Gray, this is Deva. She's... ah... the one borrowing your clothes until hers dry."
Gray, for a moment, stared at the girl with his clothes hanging loosely on her petite frame. Then he blinked twice and frowned. "Hn." he grumbled, and turned to leave. "Make sure she returns them when she's done." he mumbled, and then left.
Ann shook her head as he turned the corner. "See what I mean? He's always like that when people are around." She sighed gustily and put her fists on her hips, looking at Deva carefully. "Hmm, those almost fit you. If I tried to wear that, it would just look ridiculous."
"You're not that much smaller than me." Deva replied.
"Yes, but two inches when the clothes are already three inches too long makes for something really funny-looking. This yours?" she pointed to the backpack making a puddle near the front mat.
"Oh, yes."
"Okay." Ann picked up the soggy thing and held it a safe distance away from herself. "There's not enough room in the house, but if you don't mind, we could hang your clothes in the barn. There's a line in there for days just like this that's high enough that the animals can't reach the clothes."
"Sounds fine."
"Good. I figured I'd ask because some people wouldn't want their clothes near animals no matter what I said. Hmm... Jack, you go wait in the kitchen, okay? We'll be done in just a minute."
Jack shrugged. "Alright, but I'm going to need to get home pretty soon."
"No problem!" Ann called after him. "This way, there's a hallway between the two buildings." As soon as they went through the door to the hallway, Deva could tell they were getting close to animals. On the other end, they were greeted by a large brown horse. Ann giggled as he nuzzled her. "Okay, okay. This handsome fellow is Cliffgard. Say hello, Cliff." The horse whickered and Deva grinned.
"That's really neat! I didn't know you could teach a horse to actually greet people."
"It's no different than teaching them to gallop when you say giddyup or something." Ann replied, shrugging. "Here, hand the clothes up to me and I'll hang them." she climbed on top of the animals' stalls as she spoke, and reached down for something.
"Are you sure you're not going to fall?" Deva asked as Ann deftly hung the clothes.
"I don't think I've ever fallen from here, so no." She hung a shirt and looked down. "That the last of it?"
"Yep."
"Cool." She hopped down and they headed back to the house. Jack was in the kitchen, conversing with a red-haired man about what would be the best animal to get after chickens: sheep or cows.
"Ah, Ann!" he called as his daughter entered the room.
"Yea dad?" she replied.
"Don't forget that you're supposed to take the new cow's milk to the bakery for it to be rated today."
"I won't forget."
"And... I'm sorry, I don't believe I know who you are."
Deva blushed slightly, knowing it must look very odd for a teenaged girl he'd never seen before to be wandering around his house barefoot in his son's clothes, and with slightly wet hair, no less. "I'm Deva, sir. Just a wandering bard who got caught in the rain. Ann's been very kind to me already."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Deva. I'm Hall, owner of Green Ranch."
"Nice to meet you too, sir."
They shook hands and Hall nodded sharply. "Well, I'm off to open the shop. Goodbye!" Everyone called goodbyes and he left.
"So you're a bard?" Ann asked curiously.
"Mm-hm. My family wants me to settle down and start a family, but I enjoy wandering, singing. A performer at heart, I guess."
Ann grinned. "That is very cool. Want something to drink? You too Jack. There's water, milk, orange juice, and cranberry juice."
"Cranberry, please." Deva replied.
"Orange for me." Jack requested.
"Kay. I wouldn't have guessed you're a bard, where's your instruments?"
Deva grinned. "My instruments are here," she pointed at her throat, where her voice box was, "here," she jabbed a finger at her temple, "and here." she pulled her hand out from behind her back and in it she held a beautiful hand-crafted wooden lute. Ann nearly dropped the drinks.
"How'd you do that?" Jack asked, blinking confusedly.
Deva grinned again. "Now that's a trade secret. If you ever feel like becoming a bard, then you'll find out."
"Pphhh, just like all the other magicians." Ann scoffed, but smiled.
"But it wouldn't be spectacular if you knew how it worked." Deva replied, replacing the lute behind her back. When Ann glanced over, it was gone.
"True, true..." she said, raising an eyebrow at the other redhead's subtle antics.
"So," Deva began after trying the cranberry juice, "What's this place like? Got anyplace for an oddball like me to hang for a while?"
"There's the inn." Jack pointed out. Deva looked interested. "It's open from six in the evening to six in the morning. It's sort of a bar-ish thing..."
"Ooohh, and the Flower Festival is coming up, on the 23rd." Ann said excitedly. "I bet you'd love that." she pushed her orange-red braid back over her shoulder.
"Sounds like a lot of fun. As soon as the rain lets up, I might make camp on that beach you told me about, Jack."
"You sure about that?" Ann asked quickly. "You could stay here with us if you don't have enough money for the inn."
Deva shook her head. "I just like the outdoors. Fishing, campfires, and there's no obligations."
Ann wrinkled her forehead. "But don't you get cold in winter? Or lonely on holidays?"
Deva frowned slightly. "Sometimes it gets cold in winter... that's when I'll check into an inn. And holidays..." she shrugged. "Getting to experience all the things I do kind of makes up for it." She turned her head to look at Jack. "So, what time would you suggest for starting my performances around here?"
"Around ten. Everyone gets up pretty early, so we don't stay up too late."
Deva nodded thoughtfully. "I'll arrange something with the innkeeper. Thanks."
Jack nodded, then stood and stretched. "Well, thanks for the orange juice, Ann, and for letting us in. Unfortunately, I need to get back and take care of the farm." He did the traditional Japanese bow, and smiled. "Ja!"
"Bye, Jack!" Ann called, and Deva gave a short wave. As soon as he was gone, Ann stood up and rubbed her hands together. "Well, I need to do my chores too. Tell you what - I'll take care of what I need to do and by that time your clothes should be dry, and you can come into town with me."
Deva nodded agreeably. "Sure. But while I'm here, want a hand with your chores?"
Ann looked surprised. "Well... only if you like animals. My job is to groom and feed the horses, cows, and sheep."
Deva shrugged. "Sounds fun. I don't usually get to be close to animals. And if you're selling, I might even want to buy a horse before I move on."
For the second time, Ann looked surprised. "Buy a horse from us?" Deva nodded. "Well... you'd have to talk to my dad about that. Usually nobody wants to buy our horses."
"Well, if there's one I really like around the time I leave, I'll see what we can work out." They started walking toward the barn, Ann grabbing an extra brush on the way. Once they got there, Ann looked around at the animals. All seemed to be in relatively good moods, despite the weather.
"Okay, how about you start on the end near the door and I'll start over here. We'll work our way toward the middle. You know how to do all this?"
"M'family's farmers, this is a piece of cake." she headed for the far end, still talking. "Brush 'em down, look for stones, mites, and the like, and put some fodder in their feed bins."
Ann smiled. "Sounds like you've got it. Just call if you need any help."
"Okay."
Half an hour later, both Ann and Deva were on their fourth animal, and Gray walked in. For a moment he was unobserved - Ann was used to him being around and Deva was quite focused on the mare she was brushing. He watched her brush through tangles in the mane and wondered just why she was helping out. To pay them back for staying there during the storm?
"Hey Ann, what's this one's name?"
Ann glanced over at the horse Deva was brushing - a spirited mare that was mostly a light chocolate brown with darker brown mane and tail, as well as cream colored socks and star. "Eon. A beauty, isn't she?"
"No kidding." Before looking back at the sheep she was attending to, Ann glanced at the door and saw Gray. Then she did a double-take while wondering why he was just standing there, raised an eyebrow, and went back to work.
It took another half-hour to finish all the animals in the barn, and by that time Gray had already finished his own chores and was gone.
"My clothes ought to be dry by now... at least mostly dry." Deva said thoughtfully, looking up at them. "I hate to trouble you more, but I wouldn't trust myself up there. Could you get down some of my clothes for me?"
"No trouble at all." Ann chirped cheerfully, and hopped up on top of the stalls again. "One of everything, right?"
"Preferably a pair of socks, though." Deva joked.
Ann smiled and rolled her eyes. "I'll remember that. Here, two socks." Deva chuckled and took them, as well as the jeans, shirt, and undergarments handed down to her. "Just change in the bathroom again. I'll get the new cow's milk sample and meet you by the door."
"Alright. Thanks again, I'll be ready in a sec!" and she jogged off toward the bathroom. She changed in record time and looked critically at her expression in the mirror. "Looks a little plain... but this is a quaint town, maybe just-" she snapped her fingers and rubies appeared at her earlobes. "Much better." She gathered up the clothes she had been wearing before and opened the door, immediately coming face-to-face with Gray.
'Well well well, just when you've got someone pinned as a moocher, they prove you wrong.' was one thought running through his mind, alongside 'She's aweful tall for a girl. Wait, is she blushing?'
And indeed she was. "Ahh... excuse me." she said, backing up a step.
"Oh." he mumbled in reply, and moved out of her way.
"Deva! Alright, you look much better in that. Just put the clothes in the laundry hamper there... yea, that one." Deva did so and walked over to the door where Ann was waiting. "Put on your boots first." Ann instructed when Deva reached a hand out for one of the ponchos Ann was holding. "And don't forget to tuck your jeans into your boots, otherwise you'll have a heck of a muddy mess."
"What's with the strict mother thing?" Deva asked as she tried to get some mud out of her boot zipper.
Ann wrinkled her forehead and pursed her lips, then said, "Where'd you get those earrings from? I don't remember you having them before."
'If that was supposed to make me forget my question, it didn't work. At all.' Despite her thoughts, Deva smiled and winked. "I just love trade secrets."
"Free instruments, free jewelry, must be fun, being a bard."
Deva pulled a poncho on and looked at Ann sternly. "It's not free. You always have to make or buy something before you can mess with it magically. The only thing you can make out of thin air is a song." she paused and smiled. "But yes, it is fun."
"Well that's what counts, then. Ready?"
"Whenever you are."
"Alright, let's go!" and she threw open the door and they plunged into the rain. Despite being at least seven-thirty in the morning, it was nearly pitch black out. The rain beat down on the two redheaded girls hard, but the wind had let up a bit and there wasn't so much lightning and thunder as before. Deva could tell when they reached the main part of the town because suddenly there were little squares of light - windows. They half ran into the bakery when they got there, and shut the door hard behind them.
"Ann!" A brown-haired girl in a dress and apron hurried over to them. She was shorter than Deva but taller than Ann, and a little more soft and rounded in face and body where Ann was rough and muscled and Deva was thin and petite. "Darling, you didn't have to come all the way over here in this weather." she said in her musical alto voice. "And..." she paused. "Oh, I don't believe we've met."
Deva smiled and bowed gallantly in a way that made Ann think of knights in times of old. "Deva, miss. A wandering bard."
The girl chuckled and curtsied for the fun of the moment. "Well it's nice to meet you. I'm Elli. Jeff and I run this bakery." Mentioning Jeff, she stepped slightly aside and motioned at him. He was a relatively handsome man in his mid or late 30's, and he gave a small friendly wave to them. Ann smiled and shook her head slightly, then pulled out the bottle of milk.
"Well, now that introductions have been made, here's the milk I promised. Shall we try it?"
"Yes, we'll go into the back room and try it out. You're welcome to come, too, Deva." So Deva shrugged and followed them.
"Testing" the milk turned out to be grabbing some cookies and having a midmorning snack while discussing the recent happenings in the village - more accurately, gossiping, and explaining to Deva. So there, though she wasn't sure why it mattered, she found out that the mailman was sending love notes to the librarian (who was also the mayor's daughter); that the bartender/daughter of the vineyard owner was thinking of leaving the town for good; and that she was actually the second person that week to show up on Jack's doorstep.
"So..." Ann began, shushing her voice a bit. "Is the surprise party still on?" Deva blinked. That was a rapid change of subject!
"Of course! I just hope it doesn't rain." Elli looked out the window worriedly. "Everybody knows what they're supposed to do, right?"
"Of course! You and Jack are refreshments, Karen's in charge of decorations with Lillia and Basil helping, Maria is supposed to keep the little kids from wrecking this before it begins, Rick is bringing his new camera to take pictures, and my job is to keep Popuri occupied until one in the afternoon, and then getting her to the clearing."
Elli grinned. "The way you know this plan, I'm surprised it wasn't your idea in the first place."
"So whose birthday is it?" Deva finally asked.
"Our friend Popuri's. She's the daughter of the flower shop owners, and monday is her sixteenth birthday." Ann's eyes lit up, and Elli, across the table from her, knew an idea had struck. "Heeeyy, you're a bard, maybe you could be... musical entertainment or something!"
Deva shrugged. "Maybe, but wouldn't it be a good idea if I met this 'Popuri' first? Musical entertainment at a small birthday party isn't exactly the biggest job in the world."
"Yes, it probably would be a good idea, but this is no small party. Most of the town will be there." Ann pointed out.
"Most of the town?" Deva's eyes widened. "Birthdays a really big deal around here, or is this just a really small town?"
"Both." Elli said. "Sixteenth birthdays here on the island mean you're legal. If you're sixteen, you can get married, drink, go off and live by yourself, or whatever else. Say, how old are you, anyway?"
"Ano... sixteen, til' late summer."
"Alright!" Ann exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "Summer birthdays! I was starting to wonder if I was the only one anywhere..."
Deva chuckled and stood. "Well, you're not. The rain seems to be letting up now, so I'm going to go see what I can arrange with the owner of the bar. Thank you both for including me, and I'll drop by your house later, Ann, to pick up my stuff."
"Alright. See you later, Deva!" Ann called cheerfully.
"Yes, ja!"
"Bye!" and she slipped out the door. For a bit after she left, Ann stared at the door.
"Such a strange girl..." she said momentarily. "Maybe she'd get on well with Gray." Elli looked at Ann oddly, shrugged, and started up a new conversation about the price of milk and eggs.
AN: Wow! Nine whole pages! That's longer than any one part of anything I've ever written! Yeah!
Okay, so I'm thinking of taking votes. I know what pairings I'm going to end up with, and a lot of things that will happen regardless, but who will flirt with who in-between? I'm very open to ideas (even ones that involve people of the same gender with each other) so give me all you've got!
Next time, Popuri's Birthday Bash! Tune in!