Emotional Complications

Maru sighed heavily, wondering where in the world Harvey could be if not in the hospital area of the clinic. It was not a large building, so he had to be somewhere. Or perhaps Harvey took a step outside for some air? It was unlike him to be late for an appointment, however.

It was then Maru saw Violet making a mad dash out the front door. The nursing assistant peered around the corner to see Doctor Harvey poking his head out of the exam room. "Is everything alright?" Maru asked the mustached man.

Harvey adjusted his tie and cleared his throat. "It seems Miss Violet got her dates mixed up and interrupted another yearly check-up," he explained before returning to the small room and shutting the door behind him.

Maru froze. If Violet's appointment was not today, then whose…? The young woman hurried to the front desk and checked the doctor's schedule. "Oh, dear," the bespectacled woman uttered, stifling a giggle behind her hand. "Sebastian is in there."

While it was none of her business, Maru had to wonder what made Violet so embarrassed that she felt the need to flee. Or perhaps the farmer was just easily flustered. Either way, Maru could not have planned this better herself. This was sure to get the two talking again after whatever it was that Sebastian was keeping from the farmer.

But that would have to occur more organically. Her brother had the rest of his appointment to finish and she had work to do. It was tedious compared to her personal projects, however.

"I'm so sick of preparing these samples..." she thought aloud. The process was the same, day in and day out. Filing, processing samples, scanning the documents from each appointment into the electronic files. Maru knew she could do so much more to help Harvey around here, but he either refused to delegate or did not believe in her ability as a nurse. The whole thing was discouraging. Part of her considered quitting in the past, but Maru always held back knowing that the clinic was a necessity for their community.

While she was lost in thought, Sebastian burst through the swinging door from the back, pulling his hoodie over his head as he entered the waiting room.

Maru startled at the unexpected noise and dropped the vial onto the floor, shattering it to hundreds of tiny glass shards. "Agh! Oh no!" the woman cried in alarm. Examining the wreckage, the scientist realized the futility of trying to recover any of the contents. "The whole sample is ruined..." she moaned miserably.

Sebastian backed away to avoid the spill and looked at his sister remorsefully. "Sorry," he apologized, realizing the accident was at least partially his fault. "Are you okay?" the dark-haired man asked.

His sister shook her head. "Harvey's going to kill me..." she groaned, the dread in Maru's voice sounded awful. "Sebastian, what should I do?"

"You're asking me for advice?" Sebastian replied skeptically. The young man shrugged when his sister nodded in confirmation. "Tell Harvey it was an accident," he proposed. "I did scare you, so it's not like it was entirely your fault," the programmer reasoned, gesturing to the broken sample bottle. The corner of his mouth twitched before he added, "And I'll help you clean it up, if you want."

Maru exhaled sharply, slapping her cheeks lightly with her open palms. "You're right, I should just tell him the truth," the nurse agreed. The woman went to find a broom and when she returned, she gave Sebastian a pair of safety gloves and goggles.

As Maru mopped up the liquid, her brother did his best to sweep up the glass off the floor. "So what had you so zoned out anyway?" Sebastian asked her, trying to start a conversation. Maru smiled at his attempts to socialize with her, especially after their conflict earlier. She sighed, "Oh, just… thinking about what more I could do around here."

"From what I hear, the doc sings your praises. I doubt you need to put in any extra work," Sebastian mused, catching his haul in the dustpan. "Harvey adores you." There was no doubt in his mind that Doctor Harvey had a huge crush on his sister, but for some reason, Maru was still oblivious.

"But I want extra work! I want to do more than all these low-tier tasks he sends my way," Maru insisted, emphasizing her frustration as she thrust the contaminated cloth into a sealed bag. "I'm capable of more than just," she grunted as she searched for the right words. "Secretarial work!"

Sebastian could not help but smile seeing his younger sister fired up like this, even if it meant she was annoyed. "Wow, even perfect little Maru has things that bother her," he teased, prodding her with the handle of the broom gently. "Who would have guessed?"

Despite herself, Maru returned the grin, "Oh, c'mon! I'm a person, too!" she complained, swatting the broom away.

"Funny, I always assumed you were some kind of robot," Sebastian shot back with a wide smile.

While Sebastian's behavior was somewhat irritating, Maru found herself appreciative that her brother was acting - well, like an actual sibling. He spent so many years just brushing her off or pushing her away, it was refreshing to finally have this kind of relationship. If only they had figured it out before they were both into their twenties. Maru could not help but wonder how their dynamic would have been different growing up.

"But seriously, Maru," Sebastian said, collecting the last bits of glass he could find in the trash. "If you want to be treated more like an equal here, just say so. You've got the credentials."

Maru pondered for a moment, then bobbed her head in agreement. "Alright, I'll talk to Harvey about it soon."

"Today!" Sebastian asserted, urging his sister to action as removed the gloves from his hands.

His sister scoffed, "I'll tell Harvey today if you show me what you're hiding in your pocket." Sebastian's face went white as a sheet and Maru stifled a laugh. She already knew what it was from the size and shape of the box and her memory of the clinic's inventory, but this was a great way to both tease her brother and get him off her back.

It did not matter much though, as Harvey stepped into the waiting room, thus ending the conversation between the siblings. "What happened? I heard something break..." he asked, scanning the room for any signs of what occurred.

"I accidentally dropped one of the samples," Maru explained, gesturing with the bag of hazardous materials. "I'm so sorry..."

"I appreciate you telling me the truth, Maru," the brunet man returned with a small smile. "Don't worry about the sample, we'll just get another one."

His assurance seemed to assuage his assistant's worry. "Thanks for being patient with me, Doctor Harvey," she said appreciatively, flashing a grin of her own in return.

"Of course," the doctor stated plainly, "you've been a big help around here." He stole a glance at Maru before letting loose a nervous chuckle. "I don't know what I'd do without you!"

It was then Doctor Harvey noticed that they were not alone. "Sebastian? You look a little pale... are you feeling okay?" He had not drawn any blood today from the patient, so perhaps the sight of blood from the broken vial disturbed him?

Sebastian shook his head, "Ugh, I-I'm fine," he responded awkwardly. "I'll see you around, doc."

Sam stood on the shoreline, enjoying the sun and sea air tousling his hair as he watched his little brother construct a sandcastle. Vincent expression appeared troubled, the blond noticed, and sauntered over to sit beside the boy. "Something on your mind, buddy?" he inquired casually, tacking a shell onto the fortress.

Vincent frowned, prodding the monster he fashioned out of seaweed with a piece of driftwood. "The knight has to defend the princess from the sea monster," he explained, giving the pile of limp green aquatic flora another poke.

His older brother nodded. "Oh, is the monster trying to eat her?" Sam queried the small boy.

A huff escaped Vincent, "It's worse!" the child exclaimed, "He wants to marry her!"

"Oh, yeah," Sam jested. "I can see how that would be a problem, bud." He picked up the large, conical shell that represented the princess. Probably because it looked vaguely like a dress. "I'm guessing this isn't a Beauty and the Beast kinda deal, huh?"

Vincent waggled his head vigorously. "No, the knight loves the princess and he's gonna marry her someday," he reported to Sam. "But he's not old enough to get married yet, so he's gotta bend off other suit horse!"

Sam tried to process his little brother's world through the filter of a kid who mispronounced or misunderstood adult words all the time. "Fend off other suitors?" he guessed. It made the most sense of the possible meanings.

"Yeah, that!" Vincent agreed, launching the seaweed monster in an arc and into the oncoming tide. The woven green mass began to be dragged out to sea by the current.

The blond shrugged off his denim jacket to better enjoy the sunshine on his skin, leaving just his yellow t-shirt. He knew from experience that kids often reflected things they worried about in their play. Hell, when dad left for the war, that's all Vincent wanted to play for months. Enacting their father's departure, countless battles, and whether or not he would return home safely. It freaked their mom out to be sure, to the point where Sam made sure that Vincent only played with him when he needed the outlet. But this was not as dire, so Sam had to know who this "sea monster" was and which girl in town Vincent had a huge crush on. Was it still Penny or had the kiddo moved on to someone more his age?

"So what's up, Vince?" Sam asked, leaning back in the sand. "You normally like to play with dinosaurs and aliens, rather than knights and princesses. What got you interested lately?" The little boy grinned and immediately dumped a bucket of sand on his big brother. Sam feigned annoyance, but he let his kid brother bury him in the sand for a while.

Vincent added another shovelful of sand onto his brother's legs. "Miss Penny says that she likes 'gentlemen,'" the boy huffed with a pout. "And Jas says that Elliott is a princely knight kind of guy." The strawberry blond was distracted for an instant by a hermit crab before he continued. "So I have to be more suh-fist-tah-gate-ed so I can marry Miss Penny when I grow up."

"Oh, so Elliott likes Penny, huh?" Sam recapitulated with a smirk often found on old gossips. He had a hunch there was something up since they danced together at the Flower Dance, but he and Penny did not have as much time for catching up once he started dating Abigail. Now that Sam thought about it, he had been rude not to let her know why they were not hanging out as often. He should stop by and talk to her sometime soon. "How did you find out?"

The little boy tugged at his striped shirt, trying to remove the sand. "Elliott came by during our summer reading session with Miss Penny yesterday and he gave her the same silly look you give Abigail."

Sam chortled at his little brother's observation. "The exact same one, huh?"

After a moment of contemplation, Vincent disagreed. "No, your face is more… toothy," he stated. "You smile in a way that makes mom worry you're going to give Abigail a baby."

The blond sputtered at the latter sentence, sitting up abruptly and disturbing all the sand Vincent had piled upon him. "Where did you hear that?"

" I heard mom talking about it with Mrs. Caroline yesterday," Vincent informed his older brother. His large, innocent eyes gazed up at Sam adoringly. Sam was dumbfounded as his brother continued. "Are you gonna marry Abigail and give her a baby so I can be an uncle?" he asked. "It would be cool to have another boy to play with. And if I'm an uncle, Miss Penny will see how grown up I am!"

For once, Sam was at a loss for words before he stumbled upon a response. "I-I… I mean, someday it might be cool to like, get married and start a family, but not for a while."

His older brother's hesitancy quickly made Vincent lose interest in the topic. "Well, even if you're lame," Vincent began as he jut his forefinger toward the shack on the beach, "I'm gonna defeat my rival and marry Miss Penny!" he proclaimed.

Violet finally stopped to catch her breath once she reached the Cindersap Forest. Though no one was around, the farmer still felt the need to shield her face so she would not keel over dead from the humiliation of making the same mistake twice in one week. And this time it was so much worse!

Sebastian was shirtless. Violet had just seen the guy she had a huge crush on without his shirt. Oh, damn. Admittedly, the young woman had not seen much, but when Sebastian helped her up after she fell and smacked her head against the wall, she felt enough. The young man's chest had been warm and slightly damp from sweat – probably from the warm summer air. She had to push herself away almost immediately for fear that Sebastian would notice how much her heart raced as he held her against his body.

"AH!" she shouted, trying to release her pent-up frustrations. This was her own doing, after all. The farmer was the one who decided she was going to take things slow. Violet had no one to blame but herself, right? Still, the pastel-haired woman somehow felt the lingering sensation of this touch on her body. She blushed as her mind wandered to the idea of exploring more of his unclothed form.

"What is wrong with me?!" she disparaged herself, holding her head in her hands and tapping on her skull, as if that would knock some sense into her.

"I dare say nothing is particularly wrong with you, Miss Violet," a voice answered quietly. "Though your volume appears to be disturbing the wildlife."

There was never any privacy in this town, was there? Violet turned to see Elliott, who stood in his everyday finery. She sighed, "I'm sorry, I just made a fool of myself and thought I was alone to yell as loud as I wanted."

The poet smiled coyly. "Ah, shouting into the void, as it were?" he commented with a slight tug at the corners of his mouth. "I have yet to participate in such an activity myself," the light-haired brunet confessed, "but I dare say it sounds positively freeing!"

"You should try it sometime," Violet said encouragingly. The farmer had never seen Elliott let loose at all and thought it might be good for him. Then again, it might cause more stress than relief.

The poet pondered the idea. "Perhaps a Shakespearean-style monologue than shouting at the heavens would be more appropriate for one such as myself," he mused aloud. "I am afraid I am not one to raise my voice to anyone."

Elliott was soft-spoken, Violet had to admit, despite his verbosity. "Well, no pressure. It's just supposed to help you feel better."

The author nodded. "Yes, I noticed your expression has already transformed quite soundly," the well-dressed man observed. "Pray tell, Miss Violet. What irked you so much that you felt compelled to venture into the woods for solitude and release?"

Violet blushed at Elliott's word choice. She was sure that Elliott was not referring to the kind of "release" her mind did, but it was too late now. "I-it's nothing important!" the pastel-haired woman lied. The farmer tried desperately to shift the focus away from her. "What about you? Are you here to visit Leah?"

Elliott's head oscillated to and fro. "No," he replied. "Ironically, Miss Leah and I trade locations on days such as these." He gestured to the lush forest around them. "I come here to seek a muse among the bird song and greenery and Miss Leah heeds the call of the sea."

"So you both just need a change of scenery once and a while?" Violet repeated. "That makes sense. I'm sure it gets stale staring at the same thing every day, even if it is beautiful."

The poet smiled. "It is for that very reason I firmly believe nature has its seasons and we all must age," he shared with the farmer. "There is beauty in the subtle differences of the day-to-day, even if one may not notice until looking back at how things once were…"

Violet found herself struck by Elliott sincerity. "I never thought about it that way," she admitted, "but I like the way you make it sound."

A smile stretched across the man's face, reaching his amber eyes. "I am flattered by your compliment, Miss Violet. It is a writer's greatest pleasure to hear that their words have touched the audience in some manner."

The woman grinned back at the tall man before her. "Well, I for one look forward to seeing how famous you get! Remember the little people when you're surrounded by fawning fans at book signings!" she teased, indicating her intention to leave with a small wave. "I'll see you tomorrow at The Stardrop Saloon for our usual Friday night meal, right?"

"I would not miss it for the world," Elliott assured the newcomer with a smile as he jotted down a few notes, lest he forget before he arrived home to write. The poet had to admit that his conversations with Miss Violet often had an immediate effect on his creative process and he must not waste the opportunity. Elliott hurried home to begin writing a tale of everyday beauty the author suspected would influence the romantic confession in his novel. Or… perhaps to someone else?

Shane looked to Cheryl when it came time for him to sneak out early. Although he made arrangements with his red-headed supervisor ahead of time, they had specifically not involved Morris in the conversation. The guy was more likely to spontaneously combust than approve a schedule adjustment when the employee could take an unpaid day from work.

When they both knew that Morris was in the back triple-checking the inventory counts, Shane grabbed a small pack of candles and threw them on the register counter. "I'll take these before I head out," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder, and expecting the bow-tied boss to be standing behind him.

"So, a little girl's birthday, huh?" Cheryl said casually as she rang up the tiny wax candles. "I didn't know you had a kid."

Shane pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed her the cash he owed. "Jas isn't my daughter," he clarified, "but I guess I'm the closest thing she's got to a dad." He scoffed at the irony a slob like him could be anyone's father figure. Least of all a smart kid like Jas.

Cheryl was curious about the situation but knew that Shane was not the kind of guy to talk too much about his personal life at work. Besides, if she pried, the woman would feel obligated to share, too, and she had her own problems she did not want to air out with her co-workers. "Well, that's more than a lot of real fathers do for their kids," she sighed, clearly depressed by the reality. "So, good on you for being there for her, Shane."

Her subordinate slid the box into his pocket and leaned against the counter casually, his back to Cheryl. She noticed how deflated he looked from behind, as if he were putting on a brave face any time someone looked at him, but the rest of his body language could not keep it going.

"I sometimes wonder if she'd have been better off with someone else," he thought out loud. "Or if I'd been more responsible, I wouldn't have had to move in with David and Lila. Maybe Jas' parents would still be around..." Before the woman could comment, Shane pushed off the counter and left through the front door to be less conspicuous. "Thanks for everything, Cheryl."

When Shane arrived home, Marnie was working on clearing the storage room to set up for the party. These things used to be stowed away in the loft of the barn, but a tree branch fell on the roof and made a sizable hole, which made dry storage nearly impossible for months. Robin did fix the problem when Marnie finally had the time to take the trek up to the carpenter's shop, but neither of them ever got around to putting all the stuff back up there since. Shane figured he may as well get that done now if they were going to move the animal feed, hay, and barrels anyway. Why move all this shit twice?

Shane did most of the heavy lifting and made a pile by the ladder up to the loft. This was going to be a pain in the ass to get everything up to the loft by himself. Marnie was too busy decorating inside. After a while, the husky man found a rope and managed to fashion a makeshift lifting system with one of the support beams on the roof. It took a bit of finagling, but it was better than trying to push all the barrels up the ladder while trying to climb it himself.

Unfortunately, the whole project took longer than Shane anticipated, so he only had half an hour to clean up before the party and a good portion of that was spent in the shower trying to remove the grime from his face and straw from his hair. When he emerged, he found a flouncy dress on his bed. It looked strangely large to be for a little girl.

"Marnie, what the hell is this pile of fluff on my bed?" he shouted from his doorway.

"That's your princess costume, Shane. You promised Jas, remember?" his aunt's voice replied flatly.

Shane glanced at the pink ruffles indignantly. He did not recall promising Jas he would wear this thing. In fact, he specifically recalled asking her never to ask him to wear it again. Which Halloween was it again? Jas insisted they go as a princess duo, but he could not remember which. He sighed heavily and tried to pull the dress up over his body, only it caught around his gut. Never in a million years did Shane think he would be so grateful to be too big for an article of clothing. "Ugh, Jas…" he called out into the main part of the house. "My dress doesn't fit," he informed his goddaughter, trying to feign disappointment. "I'm gonna have to go as something else."

Emily knocked on the door to the ranch house holding Jas' pink cake well away from the door in case the excited child tried to charge her as she opened the door. The woman's precautions were rewarded when Jas flung open the door and threw her arms around Emily's waist. Then, remembering the theme she had chosen for the evening, Jas straightened her posture and curtseyed. "Welcome to my tea party, Miss Emily!"

The sapphire-haired woman followed the birthday girl into the house and set the cake on the kitchen table before joining Jas in the western-most room with the fireplace. Marnie and Shane had cleared all the hay bales, animal feed, and barrels of supplies they usually stored in the room and replaced them with decorative streamers and a long, low table set for eight. Emily wondered about the others who made Jas' guest list.

Emily sat with Jas and played with her dolls until another knock came at the door. Jas rose to her feet elegantly. "That must be our other guests, Princess Emily," the little girl stated as she glided toward the door. "Welcome my fellow princesses!" the dark-haired girl cooed, backing away from the entrance so the guests could queue into the house.

Each guest wore a pastel dress with a ribbon around the waist, all except for Elliott who appeared befuddled as his eyes glanced over the rest of the partygoers. "My invitation did not request a literal dress code…" he said apologetically, searching for the card in the inner pocket of his tasseled coat.

"That's because you're the prince!" Jas told the man, taking him by the hand and seating him beside her at the table. Emily could tell that the little girl was smitten with the poet, but Jas also made sure that no one else could sit next to him other than Penny. The barkeep wondered what the birthday girl's intentions were with the seating arrangements.

Vincent, in his little pink dress, seemed both pleased that he was finally permitted to be the Flower Queen - or in this case, Princess, like he always wanted - but also annoyed that his older brother was here to cramp his style. Penny's attention was constantly either with Sam or Elliott and the little boy could not stand it.

"That's a lovely shade of sunshine yellow on you, Sam," Emily complimented the eldest of the brothers. "And that blush color suits you, too, Vincent."

"Thank you, Miss Emily," the little boy responded politely, giving her a combination of a bow and a curtsey as he lifted the skirt of his dress with an outstretched arm and bent his body over the other.

Emily could not help but think Vincent's behavior was adorable. Not to mention she was relieved that the invitees all wore their requested attire, even the young men. Jas would have been heartbroken if someone had made a fuss.

Sam approached Emily and flashed her a friendly smile. "Does this dress make me look fat?" he asked her, spinning his head around to peek at his backside comedically.

The seamstress chuckled. "You're lovely, Sam. A beautiful princess!"

"Same to you, Emily. I don't know what to call that pinky orange color, but you work it." His green eyes glanced around the room, as if looking for someone. "Have you seen Shane around?" he asked the young woman. "I wanted to ask him about playing pool again tomorrow."

Emily shook her head, "No, I haven't seen him yet," she notified her fellow party guest. "I assumed he was still helping Marnie with the snacks in the kitchen."

Sam messed with the flower barrette in his hair for a bit and nodded absent-mindedly. "I'm gonna go find him," the blond decided. He tilted his head toward Vincent. "Do you mind keeping an eye on him, so he doesn't get too jealous of Elliott over there? Apparently, they're 'love rivals' or something," the man hooted.

The brown-eyed woman joined in on the merriment. "Is that so?" she acknowledged with an exaggerated interest. "I would love to hear about it from him."

His older brother laughed. "Oh, good. He can give his speech to a real lady this time," he said teasingly before disappearing into the next room.

Shane heard Sam's distinct cackle before he saw his co-worker, but there was no mistaking that sound. "What the hell, Sam?!" the dark-haired man demanded. "You can't just burst into someone's room like that!"

The blond wheezed slightly before speaking. "Dude, are you seriously wearing underwear over tights like that to a Princess Party?" Sam could not contain himself, no matter how much he tried, assuming he did at all.

"Jas found these purple 'shorts' in Marnie's room and insisted they were perfect for a court jester's uniform!" Shane roared defensively. "I'm not gonna say 'no' to her on her birthday, even if it is humiliating."

Sam straightened himself, wiping the tears from the corners of his moss green eyes. "You're right man, I'm sorry." He examined Shane up and down. "I just didn't expect this when I walked into the room. It caught me completely off-guard."

"Speak for yourself," Shane shot back, pointing at his co-worker's attire. "You're wearing a dress."

"It was the dress code for the party, man." Shane did not detect a single shred of shame or defensiveness in his voice. What he would not give for that kind of confidence. The younger man wiggled his hips, "It's actually nice and airy," Sam commented aloud. "Girls have it lucky if they can get this much of a breeze-"

Shane cut him off. "I don't need to hear you talk about your bal-" he stopped immediately when he noticed Emily approaching behind with Vincent in tow.

"The tea is being served," Vincent announced with as much formality as he could muster. "It's time to gather around the table for the party!"

Other than the first initial giggles at his attire and a strange look from his aunt Marnie, the tea party for Jas went without a hitch. All he had to do as a court jester was tell a few bad jokes and try to juggle. All the items Jas and Vincent handed him fell flat on his face, but kids enjoyed physical humor, so it was not so bad after all.

After the guests left and Jas was too exhausted to do much other than get into her pajamas and head straight to bed, Shane and Emily stood in the party room, cleaning up the last remnants of the festivities.

"I think Jas had a lot of fun this evening," Emily told her friend, folding up the tablecloth and draping it over her arm like she often did with napkins at the bar. "She could not stop smiling, it was infectious!"

Shane stacked the chairs atop of one another and shoved them into the corner of the room for now. "As long as she had fun, I guess."

"Oh, don't sell yourself short," the sapphire-haired woman asserted, touching his shoulder lightly. "You do so much to make Jas happy and she clearly adores you."

The oddly dressed man removed the leaf from the table and the two of them pushed the two ends together to become its shorter alternative. "I think she would have been better off with her parents raising her. I can't help but think I'm no good at it," he confessed, sliding the wooden plank into its slot under the rest of the table.

"No good comes from thinking that way," Emily told Shane, "You can't change what happened to her parents and you're doing a great job, Shane." Her small hand reached out for his and gave it a tight squeeze. "And the important thing is that you love Jas. No one doubts that."

Shane's dark eyes avoided Emily's gaze for a moment. "It was supposed to be David and Lila raising her. Not me…" he stifled a sob. "I mean, they were more like parents to me than my own. They were way more qualified than I'll-"

Emily pressed a finger to his lips. He could feel her entire body trembling, though he could not figure out why. "Shane, look at me," the woman demanded. "I know it's easy to go back down that dark path in your mind, but you need to trust me. It's only going to make you suffer. So please, please believe me when I say that no one in this town thinks of you like that. You're a great father-figure to Jas, okay?" she pleaded gently. "You deserve to live in the present…" She paused briefly, before posing a question. "Why don't you imagine what they would tell you right now? I'll bet they would be singing your praises too!"

Shane sniffled, wiping the snot from his nose with his sleeve. "Dammit, Emily. Why do you have to be so damn nice all the time?"

"It's not just being nice if it's true," she reasoned, pulling his head toward her shoulder so he could lean on her. "Now why don't you tell me some of the good things that Jas' parents taught you? Maybe that will help you shift your perspective…"

"Fine, you win…"