Tension
The rest of the band practice the night before had gone well. There were a few choice words involved for the first two hours, but Abigail finally hammered out how to successfully keep track of the beat with the drums and bass pedal simultaneously when necessary. Sam made a few improvisations that actually worked well enough that he decided to make them a regular part of the song and after a few tweaks, Sebastian adjusted the frequency of his sounds to the point at which they harmonized well with the others.
Violet offered to let the gang keep their equipment at the farmhouse, since she had the space and they had decided as a group that the farmhouse was the ideal location to play as loudly and for as long as they wanted. Abigail, while grateful for not having to haul her drums back and forth, realized this meant that she would only be able to practice with a drum pad at home.
When Robin came by after finishing the cabin half-way through band practice, the ginger traded both sets of keys to the new guest house for the jars of sample hops for Maru. The carpenter left then, adding a "You kids have fun now," with a wink as she exited the house. So, while Violet no longer needed to make a trip to the mountain to give Maru the mutant hops, now she had a new task.
As Sam and Abigail were leaving, Violet began to follow them out to hide the new guest cabin keys where her brother could easily find them in case he decided to drop by at an inconvenient time. He never did specify when he would visit, after all. The guitarist snatched the keys away. "Abigail and I can do that for you," he assured the farmer.
"It's the least we can do since you're letting us invade your house whenever we need to get the band together," Abigail said, patting Violet on the shoulder. "You two just relax and we'll catch you at the Luau tomorrow," she added with a wink, though Violet could not determine to which of them it was directed.
When the couple closed the door and were well out of sight beyond the soft glow of the porch light, Sebastian simply stated, "Congrats, you just handed them the keys to their own personal Love Shack."
The pastel-haired woman blushed at the blunt accusation. "What do you mean?"
Sebastian began to put the books he had borrowed back on the bookshelf with care. "You just gave them the key to an uninhabited cabin well away from any other residences. Those two can hardly keep their hands off of each other most of the time, but they both live with their parents, so they probably don't get a lot of time to be actually alone…" he voice trailed off as he picked up the next few volumes of the manga series Violet had loaned him.
The young woman was pleased Sebastian was eager to continue her favorite series, so it took her a while longer to process his words regarding their friends' intentions for helping her. Violet reddened when she realized he was probably right. "Well, it's not like I planned on living there, so I don't really mind, I just... " the cultivator cleared her throat, embarrassed by even the idea of having a conversation about it with the couple. "I think I'll just feign ignorance and we can all just live and let live."
"Until your brother shows up," Sebastian snorted, casually going back to the kitchen table for more snacks.
"Oh, he deserves whatever happens," Violet indicated decisively. Her friend seated himself on the couch, already beginning to read as she continued. "By the way," she began. "I've been meaning to ask you about something…"
That got his attention. Sebastian's dark eyes left the comic book in his hand and focused on the farmer. "Oh, yeah?"
Violet was not sure how to broach the subject, so she decided to be direct. "Uh… did you do anything to my crops that day you tried all those spells? I have some hops and blueberries that definitely have some magical nonsense going on…"
Sebastian perked up at this news. "The only plant of yours I touched was that sapling," he admitted hesitantly, wondering if the amateur arborist was still upset about it.
The young woman waved off that answer. "I'm not talking about the pomegranate tree," she replied dismissively. "Besides, that's mostly recovered now." Violet almost wished she had not given Robin the samples so she could show Sebastian. It was too dark to go out and examine them properly now. "Are you sure you didn't do anything to the watering can? I thought maybe you had refilled it for me…"
Eyebrows furrowed, "I suppose I did refill the watering can using magic," he answered sheepishly. "I kinda felt bad for ditching you so suddenly that night…"
Violet's eyes lit up at the news. "So they're probably magic somehow!" the farmer exclaimed. "I knew it!"
"Maybe they'll have a cool status effect," the sorcerer smiled. Violet was pleased Sebastian seemed curious about the potentially magical crops. "Do you mind if I take some with me to show Krobus?" the rookie magician requested. "He might know more about what could have happened…"
The flower-hued hair on Violet's head bobbed as she nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! I'll have to wait to get a few more tomorrow, though…"
Sebastian nodded thoughtfully but seemed distracted as he approached the remaining snacks on the kitchen table. It was then Violet noticed that her joke about stuffing the evidence of lobster murder in the snacks had successfully deterred Abigail away from the maki for the rest of the night. There was one roll left!
Since Sebastian had eaten three of them over the course of the evening, Violet shouted, "That one's mine!" The programmer did not respect the proclamation however, and immediately shoved one of the pieces in his mouth. True to her warning the day before, Violet bit Sebastian's hand in retaliation as he reached for the next one. The look of shock on his face was priceless, but not as priceless as when she parroted his own words back to him. "It's every man for himself when it comes to sushi…" It had been a sweet victory.
Or at least, so Violet had thought… While she had possession of the plate, Sebastian kept jabbing at the six remaining slices with his chopsticks, forcing the Violet on the defensive to swat his hand away. But the woman realized too late that it was a distraction. While Violet was preoccupied with the chopstick offensive, the synth-player snagged a piece with his free hand.
"Hey!" Violet snapped, both with her teeth and her voice, but it was all in vain as Sebastian shoved it down with a cackle.
"Oh, this means WAR!" the pastel-haired woman announced, setting the plate down and bowling the programmer over onto his stomach, sitting on his back at his center of gravity and pinning him to the ground. Sprawled on the floor, the hoodie-wearing man could not reach the plate, but Violet could, so the farmer helped herself to two pieces before she suddenly the world flipped.
Only this time, the young woman found herself on her back, her friend straddling her hips, with her arms pinned at the wrists by Sebastian's left hand while he reached for his prize with the right. "All's fair," he chuckled as Violet struggled beneath him, grunting, and hissing her displeasure. She could only watch in anguish as he consumed the delicious seafood snack. Sebastian's dark eyes danced with delight between the last piece of the rice-covered roll and Violet as he plucked it off the plate.
"You bastard!" Violet roared indignantly, baring her teeth. "You're just taunting me now!" As Sebastian merely laughed in response, the woman realized that not only had the synth player denied her the last maki roll, but also that she was literally at the dark-haired man's mercy. Her cobalt eyes widened as he smirked down at her in the way that made her heartbeat flutter.
Sebastian lowered his face close to hers, so that their noses were nearly touching. Violet saw a glint in his obsidian eyes that she had not noticed before. "Maybe just a little," he conceded in a low voice, with that cocky grin still plastered to his face. Violet could feel her cheeks flush with color as she felt his hot breath on her neck. Involuntarily, she reacted with a small, gasping moan. Violet had not expected it and from Sebastian's actions, it caught him off-guard as well. Even he went a little pink in the face.
The hoodie-clad man promptly dropped the last bit of maki roll into Violet's open mouth and hopped to his feet. "I should head home now if I want to wake up in time for the Luau tomorrow," he said quickly, grabbing his bag before making a quick exit. "See you then, Violet."
It was a while before the young woman regained her composure to process what just happened. She chewed the maki thoughtfully as she took in a few deep breaths. Violet had never been so mortified and aroused at the same time. "Oooooh, no…" the farmer exhaled shakily, slapping her face with her hands to make sure it had not been a dream. For a moment, Violet had forgotten all about the sushi. Instead, she had focused on Sebastian's eyes, how soft his lips looked, how it felt to feel his body on top of her. Violet blushed at her own train of thought. "Stop!" she shouted to no one in particular.
He must think I'm a freak! Violet screamed internally. No wonder he wanted to get out of here so quickly. It took ages for the farmer to calm down enough to fall asleep after that.
Marnie had already been awake for hours, trying to scrub the giant cauldron that would hold the communal soup from the grime and dust it accumulated in the barn over the last year. Luckily, since the rancher kept it covered, the layer of dirt and stray straw were kept to a minimum.
Using the sprayer on her hose, the rancher rinsed the large container clean, the dirty water sloshing out from the vessel. "You're only now cleaning that up?" Lewis sighed in exasperation as he approached. "The cauldron needs to be down at the beach ASAP! The Governor will be here in a few hours and it takes ages for that soup to heat up properly!"
"It'll get done, Lewis," Marnie countered, fighting an intense urge to spray the Mayor with the hose. "Like I do every year," she reminded the elected official. "I usually get clear this old thing out earlier, but I've been busy with other things."
Lewis' grey mustache twitched. "Ah, I suppose things have been different since the 'accident,' keeping an eye on an unemployed drunkard."
Marnie could feel her blood pressure rising, "Shane is not a drunkard," she hissed. The woman wanted to keep her cool. The Mayor always accused her of being too emotional, especially in her personal relationships. "It was an accident," the rancher insisted, referring to Shane's fall from the cliffs. "I don't need care for your condescension, you old prune." The brunette tossed her braid out of the way and rolled up the sleeves of her dress to avoid getting it wet as she pulled the cauldron to an upright position. "And not that it's any of your business, but Shane is on medical leave, so he is technically still employed."
"I hardly call him 'clean' after a few days' sobriety, Marnie," the Mayor responded, tweaking the end of his facial hair. "And there's no need to get into petty name-calling because I'm being realistic."
The livestock seller frowned deeply. "I'll call you whatever I please, since you still haven't apologized for what you said at the Flower Dance and you keep wagging that disrespectful tongue of yours."
Lewis balked at the accusation. "I see no reason to apologize for speaking the truth, Marnie. I can't help that you refuse to see what's right in front of you," he snapped, adjusting his cap. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go greet the Governor soon." His dark eyes rested on the soup cauldron. "I hope your sour mood won't affect the taste this year."
Marnie shook with rage but declined to answer. Instead, she stomped off in the opposite direction to fetch Shane to help her load the cauldron into the truck to take to the beach. Little did she know, both her niece and nephew hid behind the bar door and heard the whole encounter.
Jas' large eyes looked up at her godfather. "Shane, the Mayor isn't very nice to Aunt Marnie, is he?"
Shane's usual glower deepened. "No, he's not, Jas." Then his lips tugged back into a smile as he crouched down to his goddaughter's level and draped an arm around her tiny shoulders. "What do you say we teach the old geezer not to mess with our family?" He leaned in conspiratorially. "But we've gotta keep Marnie out of it so Lewis can't try and blame her if we're caught, okay?"
Jas beamed at Shane, her face bright with excitement. "Let's do it, Shane!" she giggled. "What should we do?"
"You bet I do," the stubbly man smiled ear to ear. "Jas, do you know where those silly purple 'jester' shorts went?"
As she tended to her garden, Violet did her best to keep her thoughts away from the events of the night before. Instead, she tried to keep her focus on her haul of fresh produce from her fields today. The young woman was especially excited for her first melon and tomato harvests. The fruits looked beautifully ripe and healthy. It was as if seeing the literal fruits of her labor gave Violet an extra boost of energy.
She smiled as she separated out the crops she would sell versus the ones she would keep for herself. Recipe ideas danced in her head as she brought her harvest inside the house for safekeeping while she finished the stone path to Zach's guest house. The last thing she wanted was for the crows to steal all her produce.
The path itself was already clear, so it was only a matter of laying out the stone in a functional, yet decorative manner to keep the weeds at bay. While part of Violet was tempted to make the trail especially bumpy and filled with potential hazards, the woman did not want to provoke her brother any further than she inevitably had already by moving the location of the cabin. It took a few hours to get it just right, but by the end she was happy with her work.
Violet enjoyed keeping the farmland that she was not using a well-wooded area. It provided plenty of shade, trees to tap, and the groves would continue to produce more trees that she could use for lumber when she required it. Besides, the young woman realized that since she moved to Pelican Town, she often slept well and deeply. It was almost as if she could feel the life in the forest pulsing with a soft, quiet rhythm that lulled her to sleep each night.
Satisfied with a job well-done, Violet decided to head to town to sell her normal crops. The blood red hops she kept on the vine for now. Hopefully, she would get some answers from Maru soon, but the farmer did not except those results immediately. Maru not only had a part-time job, but she had a lot of on-going personal projects between helping Demetrius in the lab, working with Alex on his physical training, and cataloging with the pictures her drone gathered. Well, that last one was no longer an option. The drone was lost to the sea the night Shane fell from the cliffs. Perhaps Maru would build a new one.
In any case, Violet did not want to take advantage of someone doing free research on her potentially toxic plant. Briefly, the granger considered visiting Maru to wish her a belated happy birthday, but that would mean potentially bumping into Sebastian in front of his family members when Violet had no guarantee either of them could keep their cool after last night.
She sighed, dreading the decision. Wait, hadn't he mentioned a Luau? Violet realized she had not checked her mail in a few days. Sure enough, there were a few envelopes enclosed, one of which was a reminder for the annual Luau at the beach for tomorrow with yesterday's date printed on it. "How much do people get into the theme?" she wondered aloud. Surely people did not wear coconuts and palm skirts and there was no way Violet would have time to prepare all of that on such short notice anyway.
Hmmm, a swimsuit would probably be expected, though… Just in case people want to swim or do some watersports. Even if nothing ended up happening, she could always wear her swimwear underneath normal clothing. Nothing wrong with that. Violet ventured back into the house to find the appropriate attire. Digging through the back of the drawer where Violet knew she had unpacked her swimsuits, she instead found a note attached to a bikini:
No one-piece for you, conejita. ¡Muestra tu cuerpo de granjera caliente!
- Bex
"Of course, you stole my regular swimsuit, puta," the farmer cursed to the air. Bex was long gone and Violet had not noticed that her best friend had messed with things when they unpacked together. The pastel-haired woman groaned. Who knew what other havoc the cosmetologist had caused during her visit that Violet had yet to discover? That was a sweep of the house that Violet would have to make later. She did not have time to do it all today.
Violet held up the light tangerine-colored bikini. Bex had thought of the color when she picked it out, clearly. And while it was a strapless top, it seemed pretty sturdy in its construction, no shoddy sewing or thin material that might cause a wardrobe malfunction. The bottom did not expose too much. There was even a matching green sarong with flowers the same color as the swimsuit. "Fine, you fashion fascist," she growled, making mental note that she would have to get Bex back somehow.
The young woman quickly changed into the swimsuit, wearing the sarong over the bottom half and a white v-neck t-shirt on top. Donning her grandfather's straw hat, Violet looked in the mirror and decided her look was complete. Now to figure out what to contribute to the communal soup...
A dark, sleek car with tinted windows rolled up to the bus stop of Pelican Town and parked on a grassless patch of earth just off the road. Out stepped a tall, blond man clad in an expensive suit. He exhaled deeply, lowering his sunglasses from his green eyes down the bridge of his nose. "Well, this town has gone downhill already," he observed with a frown. From the state of the old, grey bus, which now sported old leaves and moss, the transport had clearly not been in service for a while.
Pushing his shades back to their proper position, he grabbed his weekend bag from the trunk and clicked the "lock" button on his car key. The vehicle chirped to signal its security had engaged and he walked westward toward his sister's property. Whether or not the man brought his sister home to NuNu City like their mother wanted, someone was going to be angry with him by the end of all this. It was the curse of being the oldest, he supposed. Dad certainly was not going to be of any help. "Let's get this over with…" he muttered to himself.
Abigail grinned happily as she rested her head on the pillow, studying Sam's sleeping face. The light poured into the room gently from the far window, illuminating the room in a soft yellow glow. For once, her boyfriend's hair was not perfectly styled and it fell softly around his face, framing it as he snored quietly.
All that pent-up frustration from over half a season of teasing touches and secretly sneaking into each other's rooms at night had been released. She sighed dreamily, knowing that she could relax. They did not have to worry about their parents, Vincent, or anyone else walking in on them.
Abigail felt the warm smoothness of their bare skin brushing against one another under the blanket. It made her hungry for more, but she did not want to wake Sam. He had earned a full night's rest in her opinion. So, instead her fingertips brushed the hair from his face so she could better trace Sam's features with her bright blue eyes, affectionately tracing and burning the image into her memory.
After a while, the blond stirred, sleepily opening his green eyes. "Morning, sexy," he purred, pulling her into an embrace for a passionate kiss. Abigail could feel his lips stretching into a wide grin each time their lips met. She was not sure how long it was before they surfaced for air. "Wanna go for another round?" he asked with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows. "I'll let you be on top this time…"
Abigail pushed him over, pinning his shoulders down. "Let me?" he repeated questioningly. "That's not how I remember things…"
The blond rested his hands on his girlfriend's hips, gazing up at her with a goofy grin and a shrug. "Either way, I think my friend has recovered by now…"
A twitch beneath her made Abigail realize Sam was not all talk. Abigail could not help but laugh as she leaned over him and he held her close.
The amorous couple was too distracted to notice the footsteps on the porch or the turn of the doorknob as the intended occupant entered the cabin. "I didn't realize this town welcomed newcomers with a threesome," a male voice chuckled. "But that's the kind of hospitality I can get into!"
Violet selected her contribution to the communal soup for the Luau. She still had a beautiful hot pepper from her most recent harvest. A little kick on a soup was a welcome addition in the farmer's opinion, and if this soup was as big as Violet was led to believe, it should not make things too spicy for those who were not as enthusiastic about the flavor. As she stepped outside, the young woman spied a familiar face walking toward her.
"Zach?!" the beachgoer shouted in both greeting and surprise. "What are you doing here?" Violet demanded to know.
The sandy-haired blond lowered his sunglasses. "Violet, is that you, kid?" He removed the glasses completely and replaced them with his normal pair. "Damn, I would not have recognized you if my ears weren't bleeding from your shrill voice…"
"Fuck you, too, egomaniac," Violet replied sweetly, flipping him the bird. She grinned at him, lifting her head to view her brother more clearly from under the sunhat. "Don't you just love your cabin? Robin really did great work!"
Zach did not miss a beat. "Yeah, but the welcoming committee left a bit to be desired with their immediate disappearance after I arrived. They even had the audacity to start without me," he stated with a casual shrug. He glanced down his nose toward his younger sister. "I request housekeeping to provide a change of sheets immediately."
Violet's reaction was somewhere between second-hand mortification on Sam and Abigail's account and unadulterated mirth that things did not go Zach's way. "I've got some extra," she admitted, shielding her cackle behind her hand. "But you'll have to put them on yourself. The maid is on vacation this week," the farmer informed her older brother sarcastically.
The lawyer rolled his eyes. "Fine," he exhaled in a huff, giving in to his sister. "And while it's none of my business that you open a bordello on property, I humbly request that you put a halt to all business when I'm in town."
"If you gave me better warning, I might have been more careful to whom I gave the keys."
The suited man frowned, but kept his mouth shut. "Either way, I see you have plans for your little… beach party," he observed, glancing over his sister's attire in a judgmental manner than only a brother can muster. "I'll find you later after I've settled in my rustic little cabin in the woods."
"Please don't embarrass me," Violet moaned miserably. "In fact, feel free not to show up at all."
Zach loosened his wine-colored silk tie, the heat getting to him. "How am I to report back to Mumsie if I don't see you interacting with your playmates?"
Violet growled in annoyance. "Fine, whatever, but I'm not moving back to the city!" She tossed him her spare key to the farmhouse, making a point to stay as physically distant from her brother to display her repulsion by his mere presence. "You're welcome to use the kitchen if you need it," she informed him. Just because Zach was being a pest did not mean he was not family anymore. "Don't mind Bruno, he's harmless."
The male name piqued the blond's interest. "Found a boyfriend already, Vi? He sounds like the strapping farmhand type," Zach cooed mockingly. "I might have to steal him from you, baby sister."
"Don't you dare," Violet warned, trying to play along without revealing that Bruno was – in fact – a dog. "He's my fuzzy cuddle buddy."
One of Zach's eyebrows rose quizzically. "I didn't take you for the lumberjack type, Vi," he nodded as he imagined his sister's new boy toy as a rugged, bearded man. He shrugged, "But I suppose the farm life does change a person for better or worse."
"I'm heading out now," Violet announced, not waiting for more of her siblings' commentary on her life choices. "Either come to the beach later or don't," the farmer said dismissively. "I'll probably be out late."
"How bold of you to leave me alone with Bruno!" Zach cackled, twiddling his fingers in a little wave as she left.
Violet hid her laughter until she turned toward town. Perhaps Bruno would bowl her brother over with his muddy paws and deflate Zach's oversized ego.
Author Notes:
Okay, readers - As you probably know, 1.5 recently came out. Since I'm trying to stay as true to canon as possible, I'm going to need to figure out what changes in dialogue and events occurred between now and 1.4 to see if I want to incorporate any of those changes in the near future. There are some obvious changes that don't really effect plot, such as additional farm animals. I'm going to have to figure out what matters for my future plot plans.
I use the wiki a lot and the version history page will be especially helpful, but if anyone else has any resources they want to share to streamline the process, they would be much appreciated. Either way, I may take a short break before the next chapter due to the holidays and to play 1.5 and make some judgment calls.