Winter was Molly's busiest season.
Though her profits in fall fell drastically short of what the Harvest Goddess informed her she needed (what profits had to do with saving the island Molly still couldn't fathom), she greatly exceeded her earnings in both spring and summer. This increase proved that through hard work, earning 60,000G in one season was entirely possible, though she failed to see how exactly she could make the expected amount in winter farming alone. Her sparse amount of animals ensured she wouldn't in animal products.
In a series of productive planning that Molly didn't even know she was capable of, she devised a plan to invest her cash in animals. She'd take a beating feeding them, but the expectation was that they would be more profitable in the coming months and she would still set aside enough money to grow a few winter crops to sell. Molly was quite proud of this plan, even though it meant she couldn't slack off for the winter and gorge herself on hot chocolate and marshmallows while watching her static-y television. Maybe she'd even have enough left over to buy some creature comforts for her house, better heating being her top priority.
On the third day of the season, Molly put her careful planning into practice and filled her poultry farm with chickens and ducks and purchased an additional cow and two sheep. She also bought as much feed as she possibly could and a few paltry crop seeds while she was at it. This set her back a pretty penny. In short, the farmer had gone from rolling in it, to nearly flat broke in one day and her days grew increasingly busy.
In the morning, she would feed her plethora of animals and take care of her solitary row of buckwheat; these tasks would frequently occupy her until the afternoon. With the utmost routine, she would spend this time foraging in the Fugue Forest, filling her rucksack with whatever she could sell. While she was there, Molly would spend a few tentative minutes to never more than an hour, visiting the Witch Princess.
After what usually amounted to a lecture on her life choices, the farmer would rush back to her farmhouse (often chilled to the bone) and take care of any daily necessities. These necessities usually pertained to her stomach, and making sure her house was heated enough for her cat. Usually, she spent some more time cutting the lumber she couldn't afford to purchase for her home.
It was exhausting work that left her little time to socialize.
The Wizard understood her newfound dedication to her work, though her visits decreased substantially. Often, he had taken to stopping by her home in the evenings with a dinner of some sort, otherwise he wouldn't see her. He had taken to be comfortable in her home as well, and she had often fallen into a deep slumber late in the afternoon and awoken to the smell of a home-cooked meal being prepared after her gentleman caller had let himself in, with her prior permission being granted.
Evidently, Molly had no qualms with this progression. At first his presence was awkward, but she had grown used to his quiet persistence. Gradually, she developed a different sort of affection for him, though her teasing never stopped.
The townsfolk talked gossiped mercilessly about the relationship, and how the couple was not yet married but spent so much time in each other's company. Hamilton had even gone so far as to tell her how to acquire a blue feather for marriage (Molly of course protested that it hadn't even been two weeks and what was he thinking). Molly didn't see why the villagers cared so much; the Harvest Goddess certainly didn't. The Wizard did not push matters either.
He always made the first moves though; Molly considered herself old fashioned like that. Finn usually made himself scarce during the visits (opting to spend time in his sock drawer rather than the Goddess' spring due to the cold weather), lest he interrupt the 'mushy stuff'. The farmer didn't know what he was worried about; she still only had a single bed after all.
All in all, aside from her financial situation (something she fervently wished would be on the upswing on the Starry Night Festival), everything was working out all too perfectly. This meant something needed to give.
And on the eighteenth day of winter, it did.
As per their new usual routine, the Wizard was cooking a dinner of buckwheat noodles and Molly, limbs aching, was dozing in her seat. They were conversing sparsely over the sizzling of the stove about a particular novel the Wizard had brought Molly to read, and she hadn't read more than a few chapters (but was trying desperately to cover that fact up and her addled mind wasn't quite up to the task of deception). However, their chat was disrupted enough by the low vibrating of her rickety house.
Disturbed, Molly focused on the weather outside her home.
The wind was swirling snow worse than she had seen during the entire season. Usually, she wouldn't have been too concerned, but given she wasn't exactly informed about the weather pattern of the land, Molly figured she should ask, just in case.
"So, um, Wizard..." she started tentatively, "Does Castanet get, like, storms in the winter?"
The man paused mid-stir, "...Yes, however the weather report did not... indicate anything for today..."
Molly continued to gaze at the white blur outside her home, "Because it's looking awfully nasty out there!"
The Wizard gave his concoction one final stir and made his way tentatively over to her window. Finn, who was seated in his usual drawer, gazed apprehensively at the angry swirls.
"I..." started the Wizard, before a loud howl resounded and Molly's home suddenly went black.
The farmer figured it was just her luck.
"Hold on, I have candles. I bet you thought I wasn't prepared!" shouted Molly as she knocked around a few belongings, trying to dig out her emergency supplies.
"...It's a good thing dinner is done..." offered the Wizard, in a display of oddly-placed mirth that Molly was slowly becoming more accustomed to experiencing.
Molly was actually glad she wasn't alone. It was one thing to lose power in the summer, but quite another to lose it in the winter! At least she wasn't about to die alone in her farmhouse with her cat and an annoying Harvest Sprite!
She struck a match and lit one of her candles, filling the room with a dim light. The Wizard dutifully brought over dinner soon after.
"Now what..." muttered Molly as she slurped noisily, and received her only reply from the furry shape under the table.
She was suddenly worried for the animals, but consoled herself by thinking that they had more than enough food and their housing units were, in all honesty, better constructed than her own.
The Wizard looked as if he was going to say something, but didn't quite have the nerve.
"You can't let him go back out there, Molly!" Finn informed her from across the room, and she resisted the urge to stare at him accusingly.
She wasn't a heartless monster! Though the situation wasn't exactly the way she wanted to force her relationship forward. They hadn't exactly gotten that close yet, but she wasn't going to ignore divine intervention on the part of the elements.
"Well, um, if you're comfortable staying here, I'm not going to force you out there. But I don't exactly have a couch, and there's just that single bed... So it'll be squishy, but I'm okay with that if you are, I guess?" offered Molly lamely, glad that the dim light hid her embarrassment.
Had anyone ever told her that she would someday be sleeping with a Wizard, Molly would have called them crazy. Then again, the same could be said of conversing with Harvest Sprites and growing crops to save an island.
"...I am fine with that decision... as long as you are..." he told her softly.
The Witch Princess was going to ream her out for this one, and if her house didn't implode and she didn't freeze to death, the townsfolk would have a field day if they found out (which they usually did, somehow). Molly was sure it was the meddling Harvest Sprites; otherwise Hamilton had hidden cameras in her house.
"Well, we don't really have any other options, not that I mean that in a bad way or anything." Molly shrugged, though she was sure he couldn't see her.
They busied themselves with finishing the rest of their meal, after which the Wizard took another of Molly's candles with him into the kitchen so that he could deposit the dishes in her sink and clean as best as possible in the dark. The farmer spent her time scrounging for extra blankets, dismayed to find most covered in cat hair. Finn gave her an accusing look from his perch above where she was rummaging.
"...You should invest in a fireplace... these storms can happen often... this season..." offered the voice from the kitchen, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, it would be handy. I've been meaning to get one, this house loses heat so fast and I hate the cold!" Molly laughed awkwardly.
"...It would be good for hot cocoa... and cooking as well..." the masculine voice in the kitchen informed her.
Their banter continued about the positives and negatives of a fireplace, and Molly told herself that one would be her first purchase as soon as she could afford it. House extension be darned, heat was more important and she didn't relish the thought of another night without heat! She was incredibly thankful for the extra blankets, however, which she tossed on the bed haphazardly.
"Well, um, I'm going to sleep... I'm exhausted. Farmer life sucks." Molly attempted, as her companion made his way beside her, rubbing the back of his neck.
They removed little, though Molly felt herself becoming increasingly less apprehensive after a few accidental elbowing as they struggled to become comfortable with the arrangement. The cat, as per usual, took the least opportune moment to join them and take up the most space. The Wizard was unperturbed.
"Um, good night," offered Molly, already dozing with the added body heat, "I guess I should buy that double bed..."