Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, Karen, or any related characters or
events; to the best of my knowledge, they're all owned by Natsume. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is purely
coincidental. This story is based primarily on the plot of Harvest Moon 64.
Wine Red no Kokoro
by flame mage
Part 5: Veryberries and Grand Designs
**********
It was a warmish Spring night, and I was feeling good. Farm Boy hadn't come in, the flow of people was good but not too heavy, and all in all it was the perfect night for drinking. (Although there is very rarely a bad night to drink around here.)
The last person I was expecting to see was Ann, but there she was, sliding through the doors with Gray behind her. "I'm just gonna talk to Karen," she told him. "Have a seat." He sat, and automatically I brought his drink around. I always keep the first round of the regulars' drinks ready under the bar, waiting for them to come in. Gray's was beer with a twist of apple.
"What's up, Ann?" I asked, coming over. "You finally decide to take me up on that offer of hooking you up with my cute cousin?"
My so-called "cute" cousin looked over at me and made a face. He was still a little peeved at me for insisting that he leave Cain outside.
Ann shook her head. "I got an idea."
This made me nervous. I hate it when Ann gets ideas. It's usually a bad sign. "Yeah?" I prompted her.
She gestured over her glass of milk (tall, frosty, sometimes a hint of strawberry) at Harris, who was at his regular table in the corner. "Look at Harris."
I looked. He appeared to be arm wrestling Kai. I wasn't sure who was winning, although I probably wouldn't have bet on Kai. "What about him?" I asked.
"Doesn't that look like the face of a guy who is lovelorn?" she asked.
I blinked. "It looks like the face of a guy who's about to make Kai pay for the next round to me."
"Look harder!" she demanded. "Can't you just see him pining for Maria?!"
"Maria?" I was confused. "Harris and Maria?"
"Who did you think it was?"
I thought about that one and replied, "Not sure. I knew it was someone, because he comes in here staring at his drink" (a shot of hard whiskey. He liked to keep the glasses at the table so he could see how drunk he was getting, too) "and sighing until you're ready to throw yourself out the window."
"Right. So why doesn't he get involved with Maria?" she asked.
I shrugged. "'Cause he doesn't want a relationship right now, or she likes someone else, or--"
"NO!" Ann bellowed. "Because he's too shy, and she's too shy, and they're never gonna get together that way!"
Everyone in the bar was staring at her. Kai took advantage of the lapse and pinned Harris' hand to the table.
"Go back to drinking!" Ann called cheerfully to the bar, and everyone obliged.
"So what'd you come in to tell me this for?" I wanted to know. "You could've gotten milk at home and saved yourself the money and the trip."
"Because we have to do something about it! It's our duty as their friends to see that they get together!"
I wasn't sure about this one. I figured if they weren't together, there must be a pretty good reason why, but she did kind of have a point. We were friends--not really close friends, but good enough to give each other presents at holidays and birthdays and talk a little when we met on the street--and if Ann was meddling in someone else's life, she couldn't rearrange mine. I've never really forgiven her for the time she set me up with Rick.
"So give me the bottom line," I told her. "What are you going to con me into doing about it?"
"It's simple. We're just going to come up with a Grand Design for bringing Maria out of her shell!" Ann explained, in a tone of voice suggesting that it would be easier to explain nuclear physics to a barnacle than to try to get me to grasp a simple concept.
Ehh, I figured, how bad can it possibly be? In a couple weeks she'll be on to something else.
"Okay," I said.
I put in another late night at the bar, working straight through until midnight. Some nights I'd even been keeping it open until one, just to be doing something. But that night Duke pushed me out at midnight, saying he'd close up. I stepped out into the warm air gratefully, and I was halfway out of the village when I heard a door slam and footsteps. I started walking a little faster. Then the footsteps sped up, and I knew--just knew--I was being followed. You know that creepy feeling you get when someone's watching you or coming up behind you? I had that, big time. I broke into a run, but then a voice called out, "Karen, wait up!" and I stopped, deflated. Damn! Farm Boy!
He caught up, a little out of breath. "Do you work out or what?" he huffed.
"Don't need to." I started walking again, a little slower. "I'm on my feet pretty much all day. Working at the vineyard, I get pretty strong. And did you stop me at twelve-fifteen in the morning just to ask me about my exercise habits?"
Farm Boy shook his head. "No. I picked this today and I thought I'd give it to you. It's one of the last of the season." He handed me a Veryberry.
I turned a little so I wouldn't have to look at him. "Why are you doing this anyway? It doesn't matter. You'll be gone soon anyway."
"Nope," he said cheerfully. "You're stuck with me for a while. I've gotta stay here."
"Why?" I asked. "If I could leave, I'd be out of here on the first ferry."
He took a potato out of his pocket and munched it. "I have to prove to my dad that I can run the farm. He wants me to go work with him at his job, do nine to five in a cubicle. And I just can't do that. When Grandpa died, he told me I had one chance: if I could prove to him that I was a man, that I could run Grandpa's ranch, he'd let me stay."
We walked in silence for a while, and he finished the potato. "I have two years. When Dad comes back, I have to have made it. I can't sit behind a desk my whole life!"
He was really getting worked up. I said, "I know what you mean. Sometimes you just feel like the work is smothering you."
In the darkness I saw the edge of his mouth quirk up. "How would you know?"
I shrugged. "My father...I used to think he cared about the vineyard, but he doesn't. He can't work. He can't think. He stands out there by the door every day and glares at me. And behind his back, the vineyard is dying."
The vineyard was coming into view now, at the base of Moon Mountain. "My father is annoying and my mother cries...is it such a bad thing to leave here?"
He didn't say anything. As we neared the vineyard, I asked, "What's your name?"
"Jack," he told me.
"...I...I'm Karen," I said.
We were at the gate now. "I guess I'll see you later, then," he said.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "You hang around too much."
He just grinned. "All right, I don't think you're getting it. Here, let's try it one word at a time. Say it with me. Seeeeee...you're not saying it...yooouuuu...laaa- -"
"Okay, okay!" I was laughing now. "See you!"
Wine Red no Kokoro
by flame mage
Part 5: Veryberries and Grand Designs
**********
It was a warmish Spring night, and I was feeling good. Farm Boy hadn't come in, the flow of people was good but not too heavy, and all in all it was the perfect night for drinking. (Although there is very rarely a bad night to drink around here.)
The last person I was expecting to see was Ann, but there she was, sliding through the doors with Gray behind her. "I'm just gonna talk to Karen," she told him. "Have a seat." He sat, and automatically I brought his drink around. I always keep the first round of the regulars' drinks ready under the bar, waiting for them to come in. Gray's was beer with a twist of apple.
"What's up, Ann?" I asked, coming over. "You finally decide to take me up on that offer of hooking you up with my cute cousin?"
My so-called "cute" cousin looked over at me and made a face. He was still a little peeved at me for insisting that he leave Cain outside.
Ann shook her head. "I got an idea."
This made me nervous. I hate it when Ann gets ideas. It's usually a bad sign. "Yeah?" I prompted her.
She gestured over her glass of milk (tall, frosty, sometimes a hint of strawberry) at Harris, who was at his regular table in the corner. "Look at Harris."
I looked. He appeared to be arm wrestling Kai. I wasn't sure who was winning, although I probably wouldn't have bet on Kai. "What about him?" I asked.
"Doesn't that look like the face of a guy who is lovelorn?" she asked.
I blinked. "It looks like the face of a guy who's about to make Kai pay for the next round to me."
"Look harder!" she demanded. "Can't you just see him pining for Maria?!"
"Maria?" I was confused. "Harris and Maria?"
"Who did you think it was?"
I thought about that one and replied, "Not sure. I knew it was someone, because he comes in here staring at his drink" (a shot of hard whiskey. He liked to keep the glasses at the table so he could see how drunk he was getting, too) "and sighing until you're ready to throw yourself out the window."
"Right. So why doesn't he get involved with Maria?" she asked.
I shrugged. "'Cause he doesn't want a relationship right now, or she likes someone else, or--"
"NO!" Ann bellowed. "Because he's too shy, and she's too shy, and they're never gonna get together that way!"
Everyone in the bar was staring at her. Kai took advantage of the lapse and pinned Harris' hand to the table.
"Go back to drinking!" Ann called cheerfully to the bar, and everyone obliged.
"So what'd you come in to tell me this for?" I wanted to know. "You could've gotten milk at home and saved yourself the money and the trip."
"Because we have to do something about it! It's our duty as their friends to see that they get together!"
I wasn't sure about this one. I figured if they weren't together, there must be a pretty good reason why, but she did kind of have a point. We were friends--not really close friends, but good enough to give each other presents at holidays and birthdays and talk a little when we met on the street--and if Ann was meddling in someone else's life, she couldn't rearrange mine. I've never really forgiven her for the time she set me up with Rick.
"So give me the bottom line," I told her. "What are you going to con me into doing about it?"
"It's simple. We're just going to come up with a Grand Design for bringing Maria out of her shell!" Ann explained, in a tone of voice suggesting that it would be easier to explain nuclear physics to a barnacle than to try to get me to grasp a simple concept.
Ehh, I figured, how bad can it possibly be? In a couple weeks she'll be on to something else.
"Okay," I said.
I put in another late night at the bar, working straight through until midnight. Some nights I'd even been keeping it open until one, just to be doing something. But that night Duke pushed me out at midnight, saying he'd close up. I stepped out into the warm air gratefully, and I was halfway out of the village when I heard a door slam and footsteps. I started walking a little faster. Then the footsteps sped up, and I knew--just knew--I was being followed. You know that creepy feeling you get when someone's watching you or coming up behind you? I had that, big time. I broke into a run, but then a voice called out, "Karen, wait up!" and I stopped, deflated. Damn! Farm Boy!
He caught up, a little out of breath. "Do you work out or what?" he huffed.
"Don't need to." I started walking again, a little slower. "I'm on my feet pretty much all day. Working at the vineyard, I get pretty strong. And did you stop me at twelve-fifteen in the morning just to ask me about my exercise habits?"
Farm Boy shook his head. "No. I picked this today and I thought I'd give it to you. It's one of the last of the season." He handed me a Veryberry.
I turned a little so I wouldn't have to look at him. "Why are you doing this anyway? It doesn't matter. You'll be gone soon anyway."
"Nope," he said cheerfully. "You're stuck with me for a while. I've gotta stay here."
"Why?" I asked. "If I could leave, I'd be out of here on the first ferry."
He took a potato out of his pocket and munched it. "I have to prove to my dad that I can run the farm. He wants me to go work with him at his job, do nine to five in a cubicle. And I just can't do that. When Grandpa died, he told me I had one chance: if I could prove to him that I was a man, that I could run Grandpa's ranch, he'd let me stay."
We walked in silence for a while, and he finished the potato. "I have two years. When Dad comes back, I have to have made it. I can't sit behind a desk my whole life!"
He was really getting worked up. I said, "I know what you mean. Sometimes you just feel like the work is smothering you."
In the darkness I saw the edge of his mouth quirk up. "How would you know?"
I shrugged. "My father...I used to think he cared about the vineyard, but he doesn't. He can't work. He can't think. He stands out there by the door every day and glares at me. And behind his back, the vineyard is dying."
The vineyard was coming into view now, at the base of Moon Mountain. "My father is annoying and my mother cries...is it such a bad thing to leave here?"
He didn't say anything. As we neared the vineyard, I asked, "What's your name?"
"Jack," he told me.
"...I...I'm Karen," I said.
We were at the gate now. "I guess I'll see you later, then," he said.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "You hang around too much."
He just grinned. "All right, I don't think you're getting it. Here, let's try it one word at a time. Say it with me. Seeeeee...you're not saying it...yooouuuu...laaa- -"
"Okay, okay!" I was laughing now. "See you!"