Author Note: Sorry it's so short and took so long to post. I've been sick.
Summer Start-Ups
Despite Violet's best efforts to fall asleep right away, the farmer had trouble letting herself slip into unconsciousness. Even with Bruno at the foot of her bed, using her feet to prop up his enormous head as he slept, the young woman still felt uneasy about the depictions in the tapestry. Were the visions of the events just her imagination of what it would have been like to be a person inside the wordless story? While Violet could be creative at times, the experience felt far too realistic. The shadow that appeared in her window looked eerily similar to the victims on the textile. The terrified shadows tearing themselves from their respective humanoids as the bodies melted away. The thought of the embroidered faces still chilled her. But Violet had to admit Abigail was probably correct that she was not likely in any immediate danger. The shadow, as creepy as it had been, did not end up causing any physical harm in the end. Violet was not entirely convinced that nothing would happen, but eventually her mind relaxed enough to allow sleep.
Much to her horror, the farmer still woke at the crack of dawn, not quite fully recovered from the lack of sleep the night before. After some consideration, Violet decided it was best to lay in bed a little longer until she felt ready to face the day. Bruno, however, did not share in his human's desires to stay put and abandoned her to chase a particularly twitchy squirrel he spied from the window. Eventually, as the sunlight's warmth began to increase its intensity, Violet begrudgingly rolled out of bed to begin her day's work. While the farmer had cleared the weeds the day before, it seemed that some magically appeared again overnight. So some basic maintenance was required before Violet could till the soil for the new crops this season. Luckily her prep work saved her some time, however, and Violet filled her watering can and left all her tools but her hoe in the storage chest so she could fit as much into her bag as possible.
Before she left for town, Violet checked the cave for the mushrooms Demetrius claimed would be growing in there now that he set things up. Sure enough, there were six common mushrooms, which the farmer immediately tucked away in her bag. As she headed out of the cave, the woman remembered the tappers that she and Bex had made a week ago and wondered if they had produced enough to harvest. Upon inspection, the pine tar and oak resin were ready, but the maple syrup still needed more time. She emptied the two full tappers and replaced them gently, taking great care to ensure they were properly installed.
As much as she wanted to sell the viscous liquids, Violet knew that they were among the items the forest spirits requested. Violet decided to make this trip more efficient by grabbing more items that the Junimos wanted while she was making the trip anyway: stone, wood, and the slime core from the slime she slayed in the mines. Shouldering her bag, Violet made her way toward the abandoned building to say hello to her little forest friends. As she passed the bus station, Violet spied a small purple flower, which she gently plucked from the soil. The woman recognized the sweet pea from the list of summer foraged plants. "I'm being so damn efficient today," Violet praised herself, adding the flower to her bag's inventory.
The Junimos greeted Violet happily as she entered the old Community Center. While it was clear the Junimos could not speak many human words, Violet found that she could understand quite a bit of what they said when they chose to speak. "Our Lady is here!" a particularly plump Junimo sang as more of the creatures flooded the central room. Flashing a smile, Violet presented the items she brought for them and the small apple-like creatures beady eyes widened in delight. Gingerly, several forest spirits stepped forward to accept the stone, wood, and mushrooms, and took them to the correct room to place on the golden scrolls. Violet was still unsure if the tiles simply kept things fresh or transported the items somewhere else entirely, but no matter what happened to the bundles, it clearly made her rotund friends happy. And if the Junimos were happy, so was the farmer.
Pierre seemed ecstatic to see Violet when she opened the door into the General Store. "It's farmer Violet!" he announced as she walked toward the counter. The woman was not used to this much fuss over her business, but she supposed Pelican Town was much smaller than any other place she used to live. "I've got new Summer seeds," the bespectacled man told Violet. "And the best quality in town!"
Violet groaned when she saw the prices, knowing fully well that she was going to be broke for a while after buying all the seeds she wanted. Pierre smiled with a trace of smugness at the corners of his mouth as the farmer surrendered the gold owed for the transaction. Despite her grumpy thoughts, Violet returned the smile politely and gathered up the seeds and extra fertilizer she purchased and immediately headed back home.
The shadows began to elongate with the late afternoon sun when Violet finally finished planting her summer seeds. She had a nice variety: blueberries, corn, melons, peppers, radish, tomatoes, and wheat. Violet decided not to grow flowers just yet, if she was going to at all. Sure they were beautiful and decorative, but flowers would not feed the town, and Violet was determined to provide fresh produce to her neighbors. After sprinkling some fertilizer on about half of all her crops, making sure to give the melons and corn a bit extra since the Junimos requested higher-quality for their bundles. Violet decided not to bother fertilizing the wheat and radishes, they grew fast enough anyway and the crops that would continue to produce after the plant matured were more important. When the new farmer was satisfied with her work, she stood in front of her large garden with a wide grin on her face. Another successful start to a growing season! Violet only felt more assured that this career change was a good choice, even if it had been an impulsive one.
After rinsing off in the shower from all the dirt and sweat, Violet texted Sebastian. *I'm finally done with farm work for the day. Stop by whenever to try out some magic tests.*
*I'll be by soon.*
Sebastian confirmed a small magical ability on his own by accident that morning. He spilled his morning coffee all over Demetrius' notes, so his step-father asked Sebastian to copy the notes into a clean notebook. At first, the young man wanted to object, but it was technically his fault the notes had been ruined and if Demetrius had helped with the addition of windows to Sebastian's room, the young man decided he would put forth effort on his end as well. Sebastian descended the stairs to his room and cleared his gaming table, griping to himself that the project would last all day. But as he sat down and his dark eyes darted across the page to read the words, the hoodie-clad man found the clean sheets of paper began to fill all on their own at an impressive rate.
It was not much in terms of magical ability, but amanuensis was a useful skill. Sebastian was elated that he finally had the first tangible proof of magical ability, even if it was just a minor spell. The programmer had tried a few of the more dramatic spells on his own time since the night after he saw the shadow creature. However, most of them were likely too high level and did not produce the expected result. Regardless, Sebastian lacked a magical staff, an impressive beard, and a balrog to properly recreate Gandalf's dramatic scene. The dark-haired man began to feel a bit foolish for not trying more simplistic tests sooner.
The discovery was worth the wasted coffee, if not just to see the dumbfounded expression on Demetrius' face when his step-son handed him the crisp, identical copy of his soiled field notes in less than ten minutes. "There's no way..." his step-father began in annoyance, but as Demetrius examined the flawlessly copied notes more closely, the older man's words ceased for a moment. "That was... incredibly fast work," Demetrius said quietly. The shock in his voice sounded like music to Sebastian's ears.
And so Sebastian spent the rest of his day as he normally did, working on programming jobs he had taken from small companies who wanted his quality work without the price of someone with the fancy letters behind their name to up the cost. Sometimes he still wondered if it would be worth it to finish his degree after all. He never formally went to college. Just some online courses here and there, and quite frankly it bored him to no end. So for the most part, he made money off of relatively simple programming jobs, but every once and a while Sebastian would snatch the opportunity for a true challenge. Sadly, this was not one of those days. So Sebastian spent the day more impatient for Violet's text than he would care to admit.
"Finally!" the man exclaimed when his phone chimed, revealing Violet's message. Sebastian grabbed a few of his table top RPG books for spell ideas and dropped them in his bag in addition to the manga he needed to return.
Maru was working in the lab when she heard Sebastian shout and her father cursing under his breath in the kitchen. Part of her wanted to immediately rush in to make sure that the situation did not escalate, but Maru stopped herself from interfering when she heard two annoyed, yet calm voices conversing. Huh. Maybe she and her mom were finally getting through to the two men of the house.
Sebastian exited the kitchen and retreated to his room, the stairs creaking slightly under his feet. It was then that Maru decided to casually investigate what occurred. Pretending to just get a glass of water, the young scientist greeted her father, who stood at the sink doing some dishes. "Morning, dad!"
Demetrius looked up at his daughter and smiled, "Good morning, Maru. How are those petri dishes doing today?"
"The cultures are growing as expected," his daughter reported nonchalantly, picking up a plate from the drying rack and wiping it with a towel to put away in the cabinet. "We should have enough for an acceptable sample size in a few more days."
Her father nodded, scrubbing a pan from breakfast. "I'm glad to see that your work with me is not being effected by your personal projects," he informed Maru earnestly.
"I can multi-task," the brunette assured Demetrius. She plucked a few utensils from the pail and patted them dry before tucking them away in the drawer. "Besides, after the initial research, it's just checking in with Alex and going over his progress with him. He's performing comfortably well, so I might up the difficulty with this week's incremental changes."
Demetrius chuckled under his breath, handing off the newly cleaned pan to his daughter. "You're trying to make that boy suffer a little, aren't you?"
Maru shrugged. "He asked for a challenge, so it would be a disservice to not adjust the plans to suit his ambitions." She paused and smirked at her father. "I see you're not so opposed to the idea of my helping Alex anymore," the overall-clad woman observed.
The man shifted his stance awkwardly. "You're not a fearlessly curious child trying to eat poisonous wild fungi anymore..." he replied solemnly. "You know how to handle yourself. Just make sure you think things through and trust your instincts."
"Mom talked to you, didn't she?" Maru teased her father, ribbing him gently.
Demetrius laughed, "Quite a lot," he admitted sheepishly. "I find I need more practice trusting how your mother and I raised you and your own autonomy as an individual."
Maru beamed, "That's more like it!" she praised Demetrius, giving him a quick side-hug. "So I suppose this means you're okay with my going over to the Mullner's for dinner on Tuesdays?"
"What now?"