Gamer To Farmer

Chapter 7: Happy Birthday Tint

A/N: Welcome to the weekly update of Gamer To Farmer. Every week, on Mondays, I will update a new chapter. Depending on how much work I have for school, a second chapter may show up on Fridays. Please view my profile for a complete listing of review times and dates. Thanks for reading and for all the reviews.

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Mineral Town had been a bustle of activity over the past week and a bit. Today was the twenty-seventh, my eighteenth birthday. It was exactly eleven days since the trail had occurred, where I nearly was sent home. I had been lucky, dodging the bullet by one vote, which sent Doctor Tim packing.

Nobody saw Tim leave. Elli showed up at work as the new doctor the next day and had found all of Tim's possessions gone. Some say he left very early that morning. Others say that he had vanished into the wilderness and was living off the wild. I didn't really care, even though he had threatened to get his revenge.

An unfortunate event had befallen Elli and her family. Ellen, her grandmother, had fallen extremely ill. It turned out that Ellen had cancer. Elli moved the family into the second story of the Clinic, ensuring that Ellen would receive the proper care. Elli was pretty torn up about the incident, so I made sure that I was there to offer a shoulder to cry on.

According to Doctor Elli's diagnosis, Ellen had a pretty good chance of surviving. Doctor Elli. It had taken me a day or two to get used to calling her that. Elli actually surprised herself and the entire village by proving she was a very competent doctor.

Poor Stu had nobody to play with. Elli was too busy and Ellen was sick. I had volunteered to take care of Stu during the day. Quite often May tagged along with us. I took the kids all around town. But the thing they liked most was playing with my animals.

My shoulder was healing nicely. Elli guessed that I could remove the cast by the end of Spring. It would be good to actually do the work around Mage's Farm instead of watching the Harvest Sprites. The Harvest Sprites had done a wonderful job. I tried to help where I could, but wasn't of much use. I counted almost thirty sections of crops growing. Everything would be ready to harvest before the end of the season.

As payment for all of their work, I was going to get something sent from my home. After all, the Harvest Sprites had given up their tea party to help me. I made a phone call home one day. Luckily, it was Neil who answered the phone. Out of everyone, he was the one I got along with most. I explained the situation and he agreed to send the item I requested.

A few days later, the item arrived. The Sprites were overjoyed, especially after seeing the logos on the box. Starbucks and Tim Horton's. Ironically, they never did show up to work the next day. I never did figure that one out.

Business was booming and the profits were rolling in. I already had three chickens with a fourth on the way. The chicken coop expansion would be finished tomorrow, according to Gotz. I already had purchased the largest rucksack from Jeff. Chances are that by the end of the season I would have enough money to upgrade all of my tools and buy a cow. Not a bad start.

The morning of my birthday had arrived. I ate breakfast, fed Homer and headed outside. The Harvest Sprites were just arriving. Each one carried a thermos, which they placed inside of Homer's doghouse. Maybe I shouldn't have introduced this new tea into their system. They were pretty addicted to the stuff. At least three times a day, one of them would collect the thermoses, head home, and come back with refills.

I gave Epona a brush as she went galloping by. She had grown a small bit since I got her and was just as energetic. Next, I fed the chickens and placed the eggs into the shipping bin. All part of the daily routine that I had developed.

I made my way to the Clinic. I opened the door and walked inside. "Morning Elli. Morning Stu." I called out.

"Good morning, Tint!" Stu yelled as he came bolting down the stairs and out the door. I could hear Elli coming down the stairs.

"Where is he off to so early?" I asked when Elli came into sight.

"Apparently Kai is coming today." Elli replied as she began sifting through a medical cabinet.

"Who's Kai? I don't think I've seen him yet." I questioned. I took hold of a tray of medical instruments that Elli nearly knocked over.

"He's just some jerk that shows up for the Summer, pisses off quite a few of the villagers, and leaves once the first leaf falls. I think you two might get along." Elli stated sarcastically.

"Me? Get along with someone?" I stated just as sarcastically. Elli quickly turned around and glared at me. I just smiled innocently back at her until I got her to laugh.

"I can't stay mad at you." She stated before giving me a kiss. "Come back after I'm done work today. We'll do something for your birthday then, ok?"

"Sure thing." I kissed her goodbye and left the Clinic.

I found myself at the bar. Surprising how I always go there when I have nothing else to do. During my time at the bar, I had observed quite a lot about the relationships in this village. Most of these observations were made with Doug's help. I must have been his second best customer. Take a wild guess as to who his best customer was.

I noticed that it was almost always Rick who would come get Karen when she got tipsy. Then he would usually glare at me and the shot glasses that had accumulated in front of me. I hope Elli understood that there was nothing going on between myself and Karen. At least nothing that we could remember.

Doug was clear to point out that sparks were flying between Ann and Cliff. They couldn't tell, but we could. Neither of them seemed to be willing to ask the other out. That changed one day when Doug forced them on a date. Ever since then, they have been more open with each other.

Today Doug had something else on his mind. He seemed to be in a bad mood. "What's the matter?" I asked as I sat down at the counter.

"Ah! A customer! At least there's someone in this town who has good taste when it comes to food." Doug stated.

"I take it business has been slow today." I commented.

Doug set down a plate of food before me. "Kai decided to show up early this year. He owns a little café of sorts down at the beach. Usually he doesn't open until Summer begins, but this year he opened up early. I always have lower business when he's around."

"At least you'll have Karen and me on weekends." I said with a laugh.

Doug chuckled. "Thank the Goddess for that. You two provide me with half of my weekly profit."

"I think I should pay this Kai a visit." I commented as I got up from my seat. I paid Doug for the food and left.

Next, I headed to the beach, where Kai was supposed to be. I felt obligated to meet someone that caused so much trouble around town. I found him sitting in front of his store. He was talking with May, Stu, and Popuri. I could see that Popuri was obviously attracted to this guy. In my opinion he looked gay in his purple headband.

Stu noticed me approaching. "Hey Tint. This is Kai."

Kai extended his hand to me. "I've heard quite a bit about you, Tint."

"Likewise." I replied as I shook his hand. It was weird that my reputation preceded me. I was used to being the unknown.

"Think that your arm will be healed before Opening Day?" Kai asked. "It would be good to have some decent competition this year."

Popuri noticed that I looked somewhat confused. "The Opening Day festival is when we celebrate Summer. All the guys in town have a swimming race."

I nodded my head in recognition. "It should he good before then."

Stu and May suddenly got very excited. "I bet you a gold piece that Kai will beat Tint." May called out.

"No way! Tint can beat Kai with one arm tied behind his back!" Stu bragged.

"Oh yeah! Prove it!" May challenged.

"Fine! I will. Tint go swim!" Stu ordered.

I walked over to Stu with a smirk. I picked up the kid with my good arm and headed towards the ocean with him tucked below my arm. "Wait! What are you doing with me!?!" Stu began to squirm as I took off my shoes at the waters edge.

"I'm proving something." I stated as I stepped into the water. I could hear the others laughing behind me as Stu struggled in vain to free himself.

I grabbed hold of Stu's feet and dangled him above the water. Slowly, I lowered him towards the water. "Don't you dare get me wet! I'll tell Elli!"

"And what will you tell her? That I took you swimming? Good luck." The next thing I knew, someone had tackled me at my legs. The blow caused me to drop Stu as I fell face first into the water. The water wasn't that deep so I quickly sat up. I looked behind me and saw May's beaming face.

Stu quickly got to his feet beside me. "I'm telling Elli!" He called out as he splashed away from me. I got up and began chasing after him. May was hot on our tails as we ran up the beach.

I found myself chasing Stu all the way to the Clinic. He had a good enough head start on me that he got inside and slammed the door behind him. I pulled open the door and rushed inside. Instantly, I stopped, seeing Elli glaring at both of us. We were both entirely soaking wet and were creating a large puddle under our feet. "Who started this?" Elli asked.

I looked over at Stu, who immediately pointed at me. I pointed back at the accusing child. May came running into the Clinic and immediately noticed Stu and me pointing at each other. She instinctively pointed at both of us as we pointed at her. Elli just shook her head.

"Stu go upstairs and get ready for supper." Elli ordered. Stu ran up the stairs leaving a trail of water behind him.

"Can I stay?" May asked.

"Sure you can. Just run home and tell your Grandpa what you are doing." Elli agreed. It was May's turn to run off.

"What about me?" I asked.

"You can just go home. I'll be there in an hour." Elli said with a smile.

"See you then." I replied.

Exactly an hour later there was a knock at my door. I walked over to the door, opened it and was surprised by what I saw. It was Elli, just as I had expected, but it was the way that she was dressed that had me surprised. Gone was the doctor's cloak, apron, and simple dress. Now, she was dressed in a low cut blue tank top and a pair of jean shorts.

"Wow, you sure look different." I whistled.

"You like? Figured you would like something a little more like what the girls back at home wore." Elli explained as she smiled sweetly at me.

"Well actually, I'm from Canada. The girls all wear parkas and snow suits most of the time." I commented jokingly.

"Canada. Where's that?" Elli replied just as sarcastically.

"Ouch... harsh." I shook my head as I stepped outside. "So, where did you want to go?"

Elli pointed up Mother's Hill. "There's actually a secluded spot up there that we could go to."

"Why would you want to go to a secluded are?" I asked with a smirk, hoping that I would be getting repayment for her birthday gift.

"You'll find out when we get there." A simple reply that had me wondering.

Elli had apparently set up the area earlier. A picnic had been set up beneath the night sky. Upon seeing the bottles of wine and booze I was immediately happy. Elli sat down and cracked open one of the beers for herself. I flopped down beside her and downed a drink.

"I have some questions for you that I need answering." Elli stated bluntly.

I groaned. "Like what?"

"First of all, is the only reason that you love me that fact that I look like your dead girlfriend Mage?" Elli was serious.

I had no idea how she had found out about that. I had been dreading this question ever since I had met Elli. "I won't lie. Truthfully, the reason I was attracted to you at first was the fact that you did look like her. But, since then, I have fallen in love with you, not her looks."

"That's a good enough answer for me." She replied as she leaned over and kissed me.

Suddenly the bushes behind us began to rustle. I jumped to my feet and headed over. Crouching behind the bushes were Stu and May. I smiled triumphantly as I grasped hold of the two children and hauled them out of their hiding spot. "And what are you two doing here?" I asked sternly.

"Nothing." Stu lied as he began struggling to break free.

"That's right. Nothing." May agreed.

"Does Grandma know you followed us?" Elli asked.

"Uhhhh... no." Stu replied.

"That means that she's probably worried sick about you. Go home this instant and apologize." I set the two kids home and watched as they took off down the path. "Now, where were we?" I asked as I turned back to Elli.

Elli pulled me down beside her. "Second question. How serious are you about this relationship?"

Someone must have had a good talk with her about me. Normally she didn't ask me anything more than simple questions about the farm. "I'm willing to take it as far as you are willing to go." I answered.

Once again the bushes rustled. I got back up to my feet and headed over to the shrubs. "For the last time, May and Stu, go home!" I shouted.

"I have no intention of going home." A voice from the shadows replied. The person got up to their feet. I could hardly recognize Tim based upon his wild appearance. But, I could clearly make out the gun in his hand.

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A/N: That can't be good. What is Tim planning on doing? What will happen to Tint and Elli? Find out next Monday.