Mira's P.O.V.
"Oh! I've got you now!" I shouted, pulling hard on my fishing pole. It was about 7:30 in the morning and I was sat by the river outside of Emily's house, doing some early morning fishing. It was Summer 9th and the sun had finally shown itself after days upon days of stormy weather, so it was the perfect time to get out and make the most of it. I'd been trying to catch a rainbow trout at Robin's request, but the fish had been eluding me so far… But I was so close I could almost taste it.
"You're MINE!" I gave the bamboo rod one last hoist before watching the rainbow trout break through the water's surface, the sun reflecting off its multi-coloured skin as it flew through the air in an arc, finally landing in my lap, flopping about. "Ahh… COLD!" I gasped, the damp, slimy fish slipping through my fingers until I finally managed to place it into the water bucket beside me, feeling prideful. Luckily, the sun quickly started drying up the wet patch on my overalls. As I watched the fish swim around in the bucket drawing a figure of eight with its iridescent tail, I caught sight of a blue jacket approaching down the forest path out of the corner of my eye.
"Shaaaaaaaaane!" I sprung to my feet and ran down the path, springing into a jump hug. I wrapped my arms around Shane's neck, feeling his breath tickle my ear as he tiredly sighed before gently prying me off of him. "What happened?" He glanced sceptically at the wet patch on my clothes, to my dismay. "Did you pee yourself?"
"Good morning to you too," I puffed out my cheeks grumpily, "And no. I've been fishing." I gestured to the bucket of water by the river.
"At this time in the morning? Crazy farmers," he smirked, walking over to take a look at my catch. "How'd you manage in the storms?"
"Oh! Pretty well, actually," I smiled. The storm had gone on for days, and since I had no animals on the farm yet, all I had to do was maintenance my crops and stop them from getting too waterlogged. It was a pretty dull few days, especially since the weather stopped me from getting into town to see anyone. "What about you? Joja Mart's been closed until today, right?"
"Yeah, thank god for the break," Shane's face shone a genuine smile. "Aunt Marnie's been teaching me about chicken care. She even lets me feed them."
"Oh! Really?"
"Yeah," he laughed energetically, "I've really grown attached to Marnie and Jas, you know. We're not exactly an average bunch but it kind of feels like a family." His face settled into a faraway expression as he watched the rainbow trout swim around in the bucket, the sun still reflecting off of its skin into lovely colours. "…I never really had much of a family as a kid. So this is something special to me."
"That's great, Shane!" I grinned. I felt warm inside knowing that he'd managed to reach out to Marnie and Jas – I couldn't imagine being so distant to people living under the same roof as me. Just looking at his face made me feel strange; a good kind of strange, though. I'd never seen him smile so tirelessly.
"Yeah." He turned my way, smiling back. "What's the fish for, anyway?"
"Oh!" I looked at the rainbow trout. "Robin wanted me to catch one. Apparently Demetrius wants to study one."
"Huh."
"Fishing's pretty fun," I tilted my head to one side, a little proud of myself for finally catching such an elusive fish. "Maybe I'll do a little fishing at the beach later."
"You're seriously going to risk going to the beach today?"
"I don't really have a choice… I've lost my watering can and I think I dropped it at my birthday party…" I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. "Since the weather's slowly getting better now I can't really afford to be without it."
"Trust you…" Shane rolled his eyes. "What time were you even planning to go? It's supposed to be rainy again tonight, you know…"
"Well I have to head up the mountain soon, and then I'm supposed to be planning some farm buildings out with Robin…" I pondered, staring down at my feet, "So I was planning to go down at about 6pm. I should be able to go find my watering can and get back to town just before the storm hits."
"Ever the optimist," he scoffed. "Speaking of time… I'm probably gonna be late to work at this rate…"
"Go, go!" I pushed Shane down the path lightly. "I'll meet you at the Saloon later after I look for my watering can, okay? Then you can tell me all about your days off!"
"Alright, alright…" he sighed amusedly. "See you later then, Rain."
"Yep!" I waved before putting my fishing rod away and unsteadily picking up the bucket. "Jeez, this is heavy…" I mumbled to myself, setting off toward the mountain.
…
It took me a while, but I finally, exhaustedly made it to the top of the mountain. The fish was still fine, too – I was off balance the whole way, but I'd managed not to spill more than a few drops of the water. I was panting by the time I turned the handle on the door to Robin's house – the bucket was pretty heavy and the sun was bearing down on me. I stepped through the door into the shade and my whole body relaxed in cool relief.
"Ah! Mira!" Robin, who was behind the front desk as always, noticed me as I closed the door behind me. "I've drawn out all the plans for your coop! Did you bring the trout?"
"Yup!" I lifted the bucket precariously and held it out towards Robin.
"Great! Let me just get these papers in order and we'll talk business. Could you go take that to Demetrius in the kitchen for me in the meantime?" She pointed to the kitchen with the tip of her pencil.
"Oh! Sure!" I toddled over to the kitchen, trying to stay balanced as to not spill water everywhere. Walking from the front desk to the kitchen was like travelling through time – the creaky hardwood floor became pristine white tiles. The whole room looked clinical – more like a lab than a kitchen – with little phials containing all sorts of weird looking liquids on the counters. In all the times I'd been to Robin's house I'd either stayed at the front desk with her or been down in Sebastian's basement room, so I'd never seen the rest of the house before. A tall, dark man in a blue t-shirt turned around to the sound of my footsteps, a clipboard in his hands. "Ah, if it isn't Mira from the farm."
"Hi!" I held up the bucket once again. "This is for you!"
"Oh!" He carefully reached for the handle of the bucket. "Thank you! I'm doing some research on the rainbow trout's behaviour and diet."
"Sounds… Fun!" I was lying. It sounded boring. But he seemed so into it, that it kind of made me happy to see.
"Yes, it's really interesting stuff," he smiled, placing the bucket on the kitchen counter.
"Mira!" Robin called, "I've got the plans ready!"
"Okay~!" I skipped along back to the front desk, a little thankful that I didn't have to stick around to listen to Demetrius talk about his work. Robins desk was disorderly littered with papers, but somehow she seemed to know how they were all organised. "Right!" she hit the desk with her hand, looking purposeful. "Take a look at these plans. Then we can head down to your place and you can show me where you want it."
"Okay!" I sifted through the pieces of paper looking at the designs and materials. She wanted to make it out of wood, and it looked like the dimensions were just the right size for the space I'd cleared, as predicted. I reached for my wallet. "It looks great, Robin! So this is 4000 gold, right?"
"That's right," she smiled, taking the money from me. "Shall we get going to your farm, then?"
"Yep!" We waved goodbye to Demetrius and set off down the mountain.
…
We made the journey down the mountain and through town. It was still scorching hot and the pressure in the air made it humid, but the trip was much easier without trying to balance a bucket of water. It took us a good few hours, but we made a fence around the area where Robin was going to build the coop – she seemed a little surprised that I'd managed to clear the space all by myself during the storm. "Whew, looks like we're done," Robin clapped the dirt off of her hands as the evening clouds started to gather in the sky, "Shouldn't you be getting down to the beach? It looks like it'll rain soon."
"Oh, yeah," I'd told Robin all about my watering can woes while we were making the fence, "I shouldn't be too long, so hopefully I won't get caught out in it."
"I see," she laughed. "Well, I'll be back tomorrow to start the construction. Good luck at the beach, Mira!"
"Thanks!" I waved as Robin made her way back up the mountain via the path above the farm before setting off through town myself. The evening air had a cool breeze to it, but my clothes still stuck to me a little in the humidity. It was about 5:30pm by the time I made it to the beach, and after a quick scan of the area I couldn't see my watering can yet. "Well, time to get looking," I sighed, the sand shifting beneath me as I stepped.
"Agh… No good…" Digging in piles of sand, dismantling sand castles to look inside and tracing along the edge of the water all turned up nothing. I'd been there for much longer than anticipated and still hadn't found what I'd come for. Little droplets started to appear on the surface of the sand, and I felt cold raindrops pelting my skin. Oh no, the flash flood's coming… I was right. Before long the beach was a sea of its own, my disgruntled sighs drowning in the downpour. Just as I was about to give up hope and hightail it back to town I heard a metallic sound – like rain hitting a tin can. I looked down the pier. A silver object was being pelted by droplets of water. "Ah! My watering can!" I exclaimed to myself, running down the slippery pier. "Why are you even down here?" I picked up my watering can, talking to it as if expecting a response.
"I could ask you the same question," a deep voice from behind caught me off guard, sending a shock up my spine.
"Ah!" I turned around sharp. A pale man wearing a black hoodie walked towards me down the pier, a black mop of hair stuck to his face with rainwater. "Sebastian?"
"Hey, Mira." He smirked quietly, unfazed by the rain engulfing him. "I heard mum mention that you were coming down here. I saw the rainclouds gathering and I guess I got worried."
"Ohh, I'm fine," I pushed my wet hair out of my eyes, "I just came to look for my watering can. I was hoping to be here and back before the weather changed, though…"
"I dunno," he mumbled, standing next to me at the edge of the pier, "I always thought the sea looked beautiful in the rain." His eyes clouded over. "And sometimes it's nice to come out here when no one else is around."
"Yeah…" I stared out at the expanse of the sea. The torrent of rain that was overwhelming me just moments before really were just tiny drops in the ocean – literally – as I watched them become one.
"…I don't feel that way around you, though." He stood quietly for a moment before lifting up an umbrella and putting it up. "…We're getting soaked. Come on, there's room for two." He glanced my way with a profoundly warm expression and offered a small smile. Time seemed to slow down as I stared at his face. "Ah… Okay." I smiled back a little shyly, shuffling under the umbrella with Sebastian, our arms touching, strands of his black hair tickling my cheek. Now that we were being masked from the rain and I could see him properly, the way Sebastian's clothes clung to his body in the rain showed that, for a shut-in type of guy, he was actually quite muscular. I held onto the umbrella's handle with my right hand, and his hand overlapped mine. It was warm, but damp from the rain. We stared out into the sea in a comfortable silence, the sound of the raindrops pelting the umbrella all we could hear.
Shane's P.O.V.
I stood in the middle of the beach, the rain drenching my skin and clothes, the wet sand getting into my shoes and between my toes. I couldn't really feel it, though. I could only feel a sensation burning up through my stomach and into my chest. A green monster setting a fire in my heart.
When I finished work I saw the clouds starting to gather and I figured a storm was about to break, so I thought I'd head to the beach and help Rain look for her watering can… Or maybe I was just looking for an excuse to see her. Since no one would be going to the beach that day because of the forecast warnings, I thought that maybe I'd get to see her alone, and… Well… Tell her how I felt. I was nervous about it and had my doubts, but I could barely be around her without getting lost in her eyes and her full-of-life aura. That morning, after having not seen her for days, it took every part of me not to just kiss her there and then. I spent the whole walk from work psyching myself up to tell her what she meant to me, and I finally felt ready – well, as ready as a loser like me could ever be to confess to an amazing, beautiful woman. The last few steps onto the beach sent my heart and stomach into a flutter, my breath becoming a little short. Then, my eyes scanned up the beach through the flood and the flutters stopped altogether. Rain and that goth kid… cozied up under an umbrella together… I clenched my fists and my teeth bitterly as the schoolboy giddiness within me turned into fiery hot rage, turning my back on the scene. Stupid me, putting my trust into someone again. Falling for someone again. Finally letting go of my all-too-true cherophobia for long enough to let it all come crashing down around me, all over again. Stupid, stupid me, for thinking she could ever fall for a pathetic waste of air like me.
My shoes squelched hard against the wet pavement until finally I slammed open the door to the Saloon, water droplets from my clothes soaking into the carpet. I gave Gus 'the look' and he poured me beer after beer. My head grew cloudy and my thoughts grew resentful. Must've been real funny for her, I thought, to pretend to care about a guy like me. Well, fine. If she wants to run off with some emo brat and laugh at me behind my back, then she can see if I even care. I took a huge swig of my drink and slammed the glass on the counter, my mind delving into the familiar groggy haze I'd come to know so well over the years. Screw falling in love. I'd rather drink myself into oblivion instead.
Author's Note:Okay. This chapter is VERY late even though I said I was back and I'm sorry! Writer's block is annoying and there's a lot going on, but I'll continue to do my best. :3
When the Stardew Valley update comes out I was considering starting a new save to pursue Shane and streaming it on Twitch, so I'll probably post details at the end of a chapter when the time comes in case anyone happens to be interested!
In response to Mnemah's review saying that Shane is the new Gray; I AGREE! I've loved Gray since I first played Mineral Town (when I was very young - I've loved the Harvest Moon franchise ever since!) and they're so similar, so unsociable and adorable!
That's all for now. See you soon! ~Nyannygiri