Rating: PG-13 (alcoholic references, mild language, fluff)
Pairings & Characters: Rock/Main Character (Shiina), Griffin, Doctor Hardy
Summary: Based on Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life, this story explores the lowdowns on Hiromori Farm after marriage and beyond. Rock/MC (Shiina), written in a series of vignettes.
Author's Note: Hello, HM fandom! And I've been a fan of Harvest Moon ever since my darling little cousins introduced me to "Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town." I may not've been a fan for very long, but I love the series dearly. So I bring you fanfiction! Each installment will be rated separately, but the story overall is PG-13. The main character is called Shiina in this fic, because that's the name for my character. I figured since this is my own characterization, I might as well get to name her too. Character design(s) belong to Marvelous Interaction and Natsume for translating.
Anyway, reason why I made this fic... In the beginning of the game, you spend your happy time picking flowers and finding recipes, wooing the guy of your pixilated dreams (...maybe) and watching amusing little cut scenes that make your heart go pitter-patter (...also maybe). But then after finally getting Mr. Right to accept your Blue Feather, and you finally get hitched, what next? In my opinion, lots of the play factor seems to go downhill from then on, aside from trying to BRAINWASH your child, even though some (read: a lot) of the time, he's too caught up in his own interest to succumb to your BRAINWASHING. This story explores all that happens on the farmland after marriage...
This is my first HM fanfic, so I dearly hope Rock's in character. But hey— He's drunk in this installment. And you know how crazy and different we can get when we're drunk. Until then, I'm going to have fun molding him as I please. I'm just trying to spread a little light on him, since a lot of people seem to think he's "mental" or so (which I don't agree with...I know plenty of normal people that are three times as eccentric as Rock). For those of you that hate him and are still reading on, please give this story a chance. You just might like what you read...
I am pretty damn sure that Griffin will be OOC, because I haven't befriended him in the game, and I don't see what makes him distinguished between everyone else in the Valley, so I'm sorta winging it here.
There is very little Shiina characterization in this chapter, so please bear with me for now (for she may or may not appear cliché or Mary Sue-like from the conversations). Shiina will show her true colors in the following installments. Enjoy what's up for now, though...
I'm really bad at writing short author notes...
Time Frame: A couple of days or so after the Blue Feather proposal; After accepting a Blue Feather from Shiina Hiromori, Rock "comes to his senses" and distresses over the fact that he might not exactly be husband-material... (watch out for these...I may or may not go out of timeline order, depending how my muse is treating me)
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I : In Which the Blue Bar Inspires Shakespearean Discussions
He often got into these sort of ordeals without thinking, whether he meant to or not. It seemed like no fun to him to take the time to worry, and so he dedicated the majority of his life to shooting the breeze and painting the town red. Of course, things weren't terribly exciting in a small, quiet valley like the one known as Forget Me Not, and thus hardly anyone would be able to catch him using more energy than need be. So how could someone expect him not to accept something just a bit out of the norm in his everyday life?
He soon discovered that this was possibly the worst mistake he could've ever made. The little slap of reality that was known as Shiina Hiromori was all it took for him to realize that he had quite possibly wasted a good 20 or so years of his entire lifetime and before he knew it, the life that he swore to never ever worry about had him rapidly spiralling downward into an abyss of self-pity and sorrow. Sure, he could go on and on about genetics or that old habits die hard, but when it came down to it, being engaged to possibly the hardest worker in the Valley was like putting together oil and water; they just didn't mix. For being such a small, secluded place, word broke out incredibly fast, and soon everybody in town was talking about it— He had overheard bits and pieces from his fellow neighbors, that she was engaged to the most notoriously lazy and incorrigable rogue ever to walk upon the face of the earth. Normally, true to his motto, he would never let such a thing bother him in the slightest, but surely the farmer had bewitched him mind, body, and soul, enough to allow him to think rationally for just a moment in his lifetime, and each bit of rumor or scandal broke his heart more and more.
He spent the rest of his evening at the Blue Bar, pestering the bar keeper and drinking more than a person his age ought to. Drinking himself silly sounded like a reasonable—although temporary—solution until he could find a more suitable one for his problems, but, for the time being, it seemed like he was perfectly content with wallowing in his own sorrows amid the smell of cocktails and old spice. Clearly, she must have thought of him something great— enough to be a capable, responsible, settled-down husband at least. Normally he would've soaked up the pleasant thought like a sponge, but taking one look at the Blue Feather had him utterly depressed again. So, deciding to drown out his sorrows with whatever he could reach, he found another bottle of something and opened it and tried to look for a solution at the bottom of the bottle. It wasn't there either. These bottles were obviously defective. Maybe the next one would be better.
If he thought about it, it really was an unfair cycle. Gain a lifetime of comfort and sink deeper into his habitual laziness. Eternally burden an innocent young woman. He couldn't possibly live up to being the settled-down husband to compliment the unfortunate farmer and didn't dare live down to what he truly was. Either way, he couldn't win, and because his seemingly meaningless life never taught him otherwise, he couldn't understand why. He only understood things when he was drunk.
Or did he?
"Griffin, what am I going to do?" Rock said miserably, teetering another bottle to and fro in his hands. "I mean, she's amazing, with all the sense of independence in the world and I'm a penniless, lame-brained, skirt-chasing bum. The last thing she'll need is another mouth to feed, much less one that doesn't even work for it."
"What were you thinking," said Griffin dryly, entirely used to dealing with customers drowning their woes in alcohol, only to be back up on their feet the very next day.
"That's what has me baffled," said Rock with a sulky expression, taking another generous gulp of his drink.
"That you weren't thinking?"
"No, that I was." He raked his hand through his hair with a sigh and then thumped his forehead against the bar counter, exasperated. "You know me, Griffin. I've never had a single thought in my head since the day I was born, careless as I am, but this...It would've taken every bit of will in me not to wonder. All I could think about was how— hic— nice it would be spending the rest of my life with a wonderful city girl seeing what happens on a farm day in and day out. But while I get a life of security, she gets a lazy vagrant for a husband. 'S not fair."
"I suppose you've forgotten, Rock, but she's utterly and madly in love with you."
"I know. 'Still gets me, that part. In all my years, I've amounted to absolutely—" he hiccupped expectedly, "—nothing... Griffin, you bastard, why didn't you say something? I blame you. It's your fault she's stuck with someone like me for the rest of eternity." He paused. "Has your shirt always been neon pink?" he asked rather drunkly, leaning over the bar counter to squint at Griffin's shirt closer before thumping his head against the counter again and staying there.
"You know, Rock, you're not getting anywhere by crying about what can't be helped. Shiina chose you for a reason, whatever it may be, and I'm certain it wasn't so you could go out and drink and mope all night long," he sighed as soon as he noticed that Rock wasn't listening to a single word he was saying and defeatedly picked up another bar glass to dry. "...Why do you do these sort of things to yourself, anyway? Shiina's a sensable girl, and if she saw you as nothing but a useless bum, I'm sure she wouldn't have gone off proposing, but she did, and that's all that should matter. She's waiting for you out there, Rock. She wouldn't want this. Good evening to you, Doctor Hardy."
"Good evening, Griffin," the valley doctor remarked with a nod as he entered the Blue Bar, carrying his bag of whatnots as he always did. He seated himself upon a bar stool and then took into account the number of liquor bottles littering the counter— not to mention the adjacent consumer of said bottles behind it all. "Good evening, Rock. Heavens, you seem rather tipsy tonight."
Rock managed to pick himself up from the counter, gazing at the valley physician through blurry vision. Ignoring the spots dancing before his eyes, he smiled the sad sort of smile that only a drunk would be able to pull off and raised a half-empty bottle in salutation. "I assure you, Hoctor Dardy, I am perfectly sober."
"Hmm, yes, you must be. What, pray tell, has got you so down?"
"Nothing," he hiccuped. "Everything. You know, Doctor Hardy, at times like this, life just isn't fair, 'specially when it comes to mine. Sure, I could go on about philosophical hoo-ha and inner peace, but somewhere out there the poor girl's going to be quite dis'ppointed in me...in an understatement-of-the-century sort of way, and I just don't know how I can bare it all...Sweet Shiina. She's made a mess of her life now, a mess that should've been mine and only mine in the first place, but how could I say 'no' when my heart just kept screaming for release? But I should've! Oh, how I should've! ...And now I've got to worry 'bout 'sponsibility, the 'sponsibility of her happiness, a load that she somehow came to believe I am capable of handlin'...Not to mention that she's going to be stuck with a cad like me for the rest of her unfortunate life! How it'll break her heart when she witnesses for 'erself just what a walking disappointment I am. Oh, but don't blame poor Shiina, it's all Griffin's fault. No, don't look at me like that. I certainly didn't know what I was gettin' myself into. It's all his fault and yet I'm the only one sufferin'," said Rock with a cordial smile, momentarily pleased that he could entertain the thought of pawning off responsibility onto someone else, but the feeling was short-lived as soon as he took another mouthful from his fourth bottle and he felt utterly despondent again. "...Well, maybe not the only one. She doesn't deserve this," he sighed with a theatrical gesture to the heavens. "An' I'm definitely not worth it."
Doctor Hardy couldn't help but feel slightly amused by this whole ordeal. "Rock, do you love her?"
"Of course I do!" said Rock, baffled that the doctor would even ask such a thing.
"Have you told her?"
"Well she certainly knows!"
"Have you told her?" Doctor Hardy repeated firmly.
"...Well— I— er— um— no. That is— I haven't. That is— 'can't," said Rock, looking miffed and deeply ashamed at the same time.
"And why not?"
"'cause..." he trailed off.
"Because why?"
"'cause she won't believe me!" he cried indignantly, revealing that the alcohol was starting to affect his irritable side. "Why should she? In all the years you've known me, haven't you noticed? I'm just a vain coward that flits from girl to girl anyway...Why should she think any differently of me?"
"You must've forgotten that she loves you," said Doctor Hardy.
"I know!" said Rock between hiccups, "I've already been through this 'efore—"
"No, I'm afraid you do not know, Rock," Doctor Hardy replied strongly, staring at Rock hard with his one good eye. "She loves you, as senseless as it may appear. You may be a jobless bum, or a womanizer, or, as you so charmingly put it, a 'vain coward that flits from girl to girl,' but she loves you, either for it or despite it, and for your sake and hers, you're going to learn to understand that if it's the last thing I ever do."
The normal Rock would've come up with some sort of half-witted remark to defend himself with. But this Rock was drunk three fourths out of his skull and no where near being able to stand upon his own two feet without assitance, let alone stand his own ground. So all he could manage was an exasperated sigh and a whisper of doubt. "...Doc, I'm terrified."
"I know," said Doctor Hardy patiently. He fished into his coat pocket and pulled out an emerald-green flask, three fourths full with a translucent liquid. "Drink this."
"Wha' issit?" Rock slurred, squinting at the flask in his hand skeptically, which, to the "perfectly sober," really ended up being his forearm instead.
"'Something that will make you realize just how happy you can be. Drink it."
"Whatever," said Rock and promptly emptied the flask of its entire contents in a matter of seconds.
After engorging himself upon bottle after bottle of alcohol, this new substance wasn't exactly a pleasant or welcome trip for the poor drunk. The liquid was harsh against his throat and burned terribly, and the taste was incredibly bitter and quite unlike any other medicine or herb he'd ever been forced to consume. He sat silent upon his bar stool for a good minute or so, not entirely sure how he should react, and then, still feeling a bit like himself despite all the alcohol, decided on taking the dramatic way out and began gagging relentlessly.
"Euuugh! Dear Goddess, Doc, what the bloody hell was that! It was poison! I know it! Doctor Hardy, how could you do this to me after all we've been throu—"
And then it occurred to him—upon realizing that he had managed to say a full sentence or two without so much as a sign of a hiccup or a slur—that he was, indeed, perfectly sober.
Rock gaped lamely, staring at the bottle in his hand with an incredulous expression. "I— ah— uh— Doc, what was that?"
"A new experiment of mine," said Doctor Hardy with a sincere smile. "Neutralizes the presence of alcoholic content in the blood upon consumption. I've been working on it for as long as I can remember, actually, so I suppose you can't call it new."
"No kidding?" said Rock, gazing at the empty flask in admiration. "Geez, Doc. This stuff's pure genius. No, I'm being serious for once. You'll make millions."
Doctor Hardy's smile did not waver. "Hmm, I'm afraid not," he said with an air of amusement. "That was the only one in existence."
"...Doc, I don't know what to say..."
He shook his head and waved off the comment with a calm wave of his hand. "Save yourself the thinking, Rock. Go talk to Shiina. She's smarter than you."
Rock grinned despite the obvious jab and nearly lept out of his seat in pure joy, overtaken by this sudden wave of euphoria. "You don't have to tell me twice!"
Quick as a cat and twice as enthusiastic, he burst through the double-doors of the Blue Bar and bounded his way towards Hiromori Farm, taking it leaps at a time, feeling wholly lighter in this new carefree state. It took all the willpower in him not to loudly verbalize how increadibly happy he was, but he managed to contain himself until he finally reached the farmer's doorway; thank goodness the farm wasn't far. Pakkon's ears perked up slightly. He blearily gazed up at the intruder with his head still resting upon his little paws and barked tiredly. Rock merely grinned with one hand ready to knock. "Not now, Crusher, I'm about to admit my undying love to the woman most dearest to me."
He knocked three times—knock knock knock—before the woman of interest answered the door. She had her pajama top on (pale blue with yellow baby chicks, he noted in amusement), but with her signature jeans and tool-apron as well. He had obviously caught her in the middle of changing for bed. Normally, he would've taken the chance to admire and say something lude, but he wasn't going to ruin the opportunity now, especially when his wife-to-be looked ready to murder. Shiina glared at him with the intensity of a thousand suns and opened her mouth to speak, but before she had the chance, he had seized her by both arms and was very nearly crushing her smaller body to his own.
"Mmrrrrph!" said Shiina incoherently, voice muffled against his chest.
"Shiina, Shiina, Shiina... where do I begin? Look, I know it's one o'clock in the morning, but before you say anything, just hear me out. You know, I can't imagine how I could have lived this long without you. Being born from the city myself, I never expected to find anything remotely exciting in this quiet little place, which you can imagine often leads to my most infamous catnaps, as you've witnessed yourself— You should honestly try it sometime, my dear, they're quite inspiring...Ah, yes, my mind's not quite as empty as you might think. Quite the opposite, I think best during those times, evaluating life's mysterious questions, and more importantly, wondering who Mrs. Right is and when I'd be able to find her, but I've been staring at destiny right in the face all this time, and now I know from this day forward that I never wish to be parted with you again. The moment you showed me that blue feather of yours, I knew you were the one...That was terribly unfair of you, you know? I would've proposed to you if you hadn't done so first...but beggers can't be choosers, and I know better than to argue with my wife-to-be, if she so desires! ...I honestly can't believe it's taken me this long to see just how incandescently perfect we are for eachother, star-crossed lovers, just like the fairytales talk about; I could be your Romeo, and you could be my Juliet! ...I can't say I didn't have my doubts, how you could love a worthless rogue like me so wholly and unconditionally. But I don't think I have to worry about that anymore. Because I love you wholly and unconditionally, through thick and thin, till death do us part and all that other holy macaroni stuff, and for as long as I live, I promise you we'll have a happily-ever-after of our own."
Shiina managed, after much struggling, to push herself far enough from his chest to catch her breath. She fixed a forced glare upon her husband-to-be. She had every right to beat him senseless for speaking such nonsense at this time of night, but he had the goofiest smile on his face and the sweetest look in his eyes, and she didn't have the heart to say that neither Romeo nor Juliet had quite the "happily ever after" he was imagining in his goofball brain. Her glare melted away before she even realized it, and she settled for smiling slightly and furrowing her eyebrows together instead.
"Have you been drinking?"
He looked slightly wounded for a bit, which neither of them took seriously, before another bright grin broke out upon his face. "Do all my romantic moments have to be alcohol-inspired?" he replied with a chuckle. "Born-again sober, my dear! Don't you love me for it? ...I've done all of this just for you, you know. You should be thanking me, not questioning my motives." It really wouldn't have been fair if he didn't give some due credit to Doctor Hardy, so he silently thanked the doctor in his head and fixed on his most charming grin.
From her expression, it looked like she had not believed a single word he had said, but her head was tipped back in just the right angle and the moon was catching her features in just the right light, and nobody would have expected him not to kiss her soundly then and there. She still looked slightly perturbed when he pulled away—possibly annoyed that he had caught her off-guard, or still vexed that that he had visited her in the middle of dressing for bed after a long day of farmwork, or just in general—although considerably more glossy-eyed than a few seconds ago. She glowered at him and opened her mouth to speak, but he silenced her with a second kiss before she had the chance, and a third just for good measure. Shiina was thoroughly dizzy and marginally unsteady from his kisses at this point, and he briefly amused himself by wondering if this was what he looked like but a few moments ago at the Blue Bar, but the hand fisting around the front of his shirt called for his attention, or rather its possessor did, so he pushed the thought aside and gazed down at his betrothed with the best "Who, me?" look he could muster.
"You won't be able to solve everything with just kisses, you know," she said with a glare, although the look in her eyes told him otherwise. The corners of his mouth quirked up slightly.
"I love you," he replied fervently, knowing it must have sounded like it had very little to do with the topic at hand to her; but to him, it made all the sense in the world.
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Excluding the main character and the bachelors, Doctor Hardy is one of my favorites (if not my overall favorite). You just gotta love that Terminator-eye...And that cutscene between him and Mukumuku was touching and hilarious at the same time. It is comedy and tragedy rolled into one.