April 7th, Spring, Year 20
Yeah.. I am bad about keeping up with this. And Muffy would say I don't say half the things I probably need to. But meh. I'm fine, and it's fine. I write when I have time.
Anyways, the Goddess Festival is tomorrow! I can hardly wait, it's one of the two days in the year where I can dress up all pretty (the other being the Flower festival), and look more girly.
I mean, I like jeans and all, and I think they're pretty comfy for every day, but sometimes I just want a change. I've thought about asking Muffy if I could borrow one of her dresses, but that was back when I didn't have farm work to do every day. And now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea with Damien around. Goddess knows he tried to take advantage of me even when I was just wearing pants!
I have to leave soon though, if I want to join the girls. Muffy and I are going to be staying with Pony, Lumina somehow managed to convince Nami to come (I have no idea how, but she is just that good) and those two along with Celia will be staying at Doug's Inn. I have no idea what the guys are going to do, but if they're smart they'll probably come over tomorrow morning.
Pony says she's managed to get a dress for the festival, which is good, since Mom's dress didn't ever fit her… and it's mine anyways. She can't have it.
Ack, there's Muffy, I'd better scat!
Claire tossed her pen in the notebook and closed it as Muffy pushed open the door.
"You actually write in it?" she teased. "It's a miracle."
"Oh hush," Claire retorted. "Half a moment, I still have to put the dress in my bag, and then I'll be ready."
Carefully, reverently, she lifted the dress off its hanger, and folded it into her bag, making sure to try and keep it from wrinkling. Muffy shook her head in amusement, but didn't comment, knowing full well that the dress had been made from silk granted to Claire's great-grandparents by a Harvest Goddess of a saved town. It was a work of art all its own, and the blonde farmer treated it as such.
Then she shouldered the bag and grinned at Muffy, excited.
"Alright, let's take off!"
It was passing eleven pm when the group of girls arrived at the entrance to Mineral Town. Muffy and Claire split off to head to Pony's, and the other three heading tiredly to the Inn.
Pony was waiting for them at the entrance to the farm, tapping one foot impatiently. Claire waved, then yawned.
"I thought you guys were going to be here hours ago!" Pony complained once the pair of blondes were within hearing range.
Claire just shook her head, smiling fondly at her little sister.
"We ran into a few delays," Muffy chuckled. "First Lumina learned that Nami didn't have a dress, so we all had to head back to the mansion to get one. And then there was the boys... Did you know that Marlin didn't want to come?"
Pony's purple eyes widened, and Muffy nodded, propping her hands on her hips.
"Most of the guys didn't want to come," Claire commented. "And Flora said she wasn't interested in the least. Then again she doesn't have anything to wear either, and unlike Nami, 'Mina can't bully Flo into anything!"
"So.. are we going to have an influx of just girls?" Pony asked, as she led the way into her house.
"No," and Claire's grin was mischievous. "Vesta threatened Marlin, Griffin shut up the bar before we left, and Gustafa and Rock both said they would amble over in the morning."
"Oh good," and Pony let out a relieved sigh as Muffy and Claire hung the dresses up on hooks. "I was worried there for a minute. Oh! And Muffy, I'm really going to need help. I've been voted to play the Goddess this year!"
"Well congratulations!" both blondes cheered, making Pony blush with pride.
"This means you'll get to dance really close with Gray," Claire teased, trading overalls for pajamas.
She ducked the newspaper that Jill threw, laughing. It hit Muffy instead, and that started a pillow war that didn't end until the wee hours of the morning.
Despite the lack of sleep, all three girls were up shortly after six. First Claire and Jill took care of all the farm chores, watering, weeding, and caring for the animals. This gave Muffy time to braid the flower wreathes they would wear for the festival.
Then it was breakfast time, followed by quick baths for each of them. Once that was finished, Muffy the fashionista took charge of the situation. Her makeup had already been completed, and she made Claire and Pony hold still while she fixed them up.
For Jill, Muffy decided that the ponytail would just have to go for the day. Much to Jill's dismay, it mean Muffy got to have her way with the brush and comb and pins.
Her dress was a simple thing, and both Claire and Muffy knew that she had gotten it from Manna, the village gossip. While Muffy worked on Jill, Claire worked on the dress, turning it into something that would flatter her sister's figure. If she'd had more time, and more fabric, it was likely she could have made it something amazing… but that would take more than the hour they had before the festival began.
After all, Claire wanted to see her sister happy. Jill had suffered the most when their parents had died—she had been the closest to both parents—so it was only fair that something good come out of it all. Apparently Gray had been Jill's comfort and confident, so—in Claire's mind—the universe was behaving appropriately.
"Ow!" the younger farmer complained as Muffy dragged the brush through her hair.
"Well if you took down that ponytail every once in a while and brushed it yourself, it wouldn't hurt!" the only non-farmer in the room shook her head. "Don't squirm, you'll ruin this. Don't you want to look nice for Gray?"
The comment accomplished what Muffy had wanted it too. Jill fell silent, blushing. Claire chuckled but kept her own commentary to herself as she sewed.
"I'm taking this with me when I leave," she said after a long minute, nipping a thread. "I'll make it look better in time for the Flower Festival."
"Really? Thanks sis, I wasn't sure if you'd have the time to spare."
Claire winked.
"When it comes to family happiness, I always have the time. Anything interesting going on recently?"
Jill started in obediently on the gossip of Mineral Town as Muffy finished the last of her hair work. Jill's hair was fastened in a half ponytail with a purple, sparkly butterfly clip that Muffy had brought with her. There wasn't much she could do about the straightness, but for Jill it was good enough.
"Wait, repeat that?" green eyes narrowed at one of Jill's comments. "Some weird guy?"
"Yeah," Jill nodded carefully, taking the dress that Claire offered. "He sleeps all day at Doug's, and is out all night. No one really knows where he goes. But Ann says he's pretty cute. And a flirt. A big flirt."
Muffy glanced at Claire, who's cheeks had turned a very light shade of pink.
"Interesting," she commented. "Okay Claire, your turn!"
Claire stifled a groan and put away her sewing things, taking the seat that Jill had vacated. For her, Muffy styled the hair slightly into waves similar to the green-eyed woman's own. Unlike Jill, who actually had an abundance of hair once it was taken down from the ponytail, Claire's stopped just past her shoulders. Most of the time it was actually pinned back in a bun, since loose hair around farm work left Claire annoyed.
The wreathes remained on the table as Muffy turned from hair to makeup. Jill was already dressed in her gown, and Muffy had to admit that Claire's sewing skills were impressive. The drab violet dress now fit close to Jill along her bust, and flared out around her hips. The sleeves had been removed, and she could tell by the look in Claire's blue eyes that the girl wanted to alter the dress even more.
But a pointed glance at the large grandfather clock reminded all of them that they were running rather short on time. Claire grinned slightly in defeat, and closed her eyes as Muffy administered a pale blue shadow across her lids. A pink gloss—Claire refused to wear lipstick because it just felt too weird—was put on the blond farmer's lips, and a smattering of glitter dust went into her hair and on her cheeks. Jill got the same, excluding the eye-shadow. Hers was a dark violet.
Muffy already had green over her own eyes, and a bright red color on her lips. Jill looked at her sister's dress, then down at her own with a wistful sigh. Claire felt a little guilty about being able to wear the rainbow hued dress, but Muffy smacked her hand when she would have rubbed the back of her head.
"Come on, we've got to hurry!"
Green eyes glanced between the siblings as Claire shed her towel and carefully pulled on the family heirloom, assessing. Jill zipped up the back of the dress, and adjusted the fall of the off-shoulder straps. Claire giggled a little as her sibling's fingers tickled.
"Hey sis, I didn't know that you got a tattoo!"
Muffy blinked, and Claire laughed a bit more, this time in embarrassment. Sure enough, revealed by the low back of the dress was a string of flowers. Roses, in various shades. In the center was a large pink rose and blue butterfly.
"Yeah uh… I went and had it done in the City before Mom and Dad could think to protest," and her smile became a little sad. "Not that they ever got the chance to tell me what they thought of it…"
Jill bit the inside of her cheek as her sister's blue eyes went distant. The chiming of the clock however, brought all three girls back to reality. Wreathes were snatched up and placed over the coifed hair, slippers were pulled on, and all three started out at a quick clip from the farm.
They were joined by Gray, who had been waiting to escort Jill, Griffin, who was Muffy's escort, and Popuri, who lived next to Jill. She walked with Claire, and sighed sadly about how Kai wasn't in the village and he never was during this festival.
Claire, used to this, nodded and made sympathetic noises at the right time. Popuri was infatuated with Kai, but Rick, her brother—who would be arriving later since he was taking care of the chickens, and technically was Karen's escort—loathed him with a passion.
It made sense to the blond farmer. Popi was a little bit scatter-brained and childish, though she made up for it by being an absolute sweetheart. And really, it was hard to blame her for her faults, Rick simply was too over-protective. She hung off of Claire's arm, chattering away, and Claire was able to focus on the bright blue of the sky overhead, her mood steadily improving.
The Square was brightly laden with flowers and petals by the dozens, which the dancers would use to shower the 'Goddess' with during the opening and ending dances. At the far end of what would be the dance floor were large tables of food and drinks to keep the festival goers happy.
Claire's mood brightened perceptibly, as the girls detached from their willing—or blackmailed in the case of Marlin—escorts, and drifted over to congratulate Jill. The brunette blushed, and laughed, and they spent the rest of the fifteen minutes prior to the music starting gossiping.
When Thomas announced the start of the festival—and the music began—everyone jumped, hurried to collect their baskets of petals, and got into position.
Petals showered onto Jill as they all danced, and onto Gray when he joined her. For a moment, Claire felt a pang of jealousy as she saw her sibling's face light up, but she firmly squashed the feeling. It wasn't Jill's fault that she was so picky, and it was only fair that the youngest of the family be happy after the winter disaster.
Once the opening dance was finished, it was time for the free dances, and in those, Claire managed to forget her depression entirely. She partnered with everyone from Cliff—the shy drifter who spent most of his days at the church and his nights at the Inn—to Griffin whenever she could get him away from Muffy.
But it wasn't til midday that she saw him again. He seemed to have gone out of his way to be unobtrusive this time, simply sitting on a bench and watching. Lit from the glow of dancing, she made her way over to Phantom Skye and offered him her hand.
"Why not join in?" she asked, blue eyes twinkling. "It's more fun than being a sideliner."
Skye was surprised that she was being so bold. He hadn't expected her to approach him. Though they met at the pond, the impression she gave there was a shy one, not this extroverted brightness he was seeing.
He had been watching ever since she'd arrived looking as though she was sad. And had kept watching as her mood had become light and carefree. Clearly, the music and the dancing was making her bolder than normal. In a way, he approved. She was much more beautiful, shining like this.
One sea-green eye winked at her as he stood.
"How could I refuse an invitation from such a lovely maiden?" he chuckled as her cheeks seemed to become even more pink. "Especially one who blushes so adorably from such an innocent comment?"
Her chin lifted slightly, a sparkle of challenge in her eyes. He could compliment her til the cows came home, and yet she seemed to be stubborn about not giving in.
"Bring it on," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him out into the Square.
Skye could dance with the best of them, and despite what Jill had said, he seemed to have eyes only for her. His unwavering stare was… a bit disconcerting.
A misstep made her trip on the hem of the skirt, but before she could fall too far Skye had caught her and swept her back upright. Her bright, golden laugh rang out across the Square.
The bright laugh had caught the attention of Jill, Gray, Muffy and Griffin. All of them watched with varying expressions of amusement, it had been a long time since Claire had laughed so freely.
"It's good that Claire's found someone to like," Jill said after a minute. "She's always so focused on making sure everyone else is happy, you know?"
"I agree," Muffy nodded. "though I have to admit it would be kind of nice to know who he is, and what he does. If he's a lazy lay-about like Rock over there, we might have to stage some sort of intervention."
"Muffy," Griffin chided gently. "Claire would hit you if she heard you, you know."
"She wouldn't dare," Jill laughed. "No one else will make her look pretty the way Muffy can!"
Muffy laughed herself, and shook her head lightly. There was an tinge to it that made Griffin and Jill look at her askance, but the bartender merely smiled, and they didn't ask.
Jill shrugged after a second then looked back up at Gray, purple eyes glittering with mischief.
"Shall we go and cut in?" she asked.
Gray was a little uncomfortable with the thought, but he'd known both girls since they were young, so he shrugged his reply. He knew that even if he didn't want to, Jill would insist, and it was getting harder and harder to tell her no. The brunette gleefully pulled him towards her sister as the music changed into something slower.
Muffy and Griffin exchanged rueful looks, and retired to a bench to watch.
Claire hadn't expected the sudden change in music. Fast songs were good because while she might trip over her own two feet occasionally, she could still keep Skye at arm's length. The look he was giving her made her stomach clench up in nerves, she hadn't ever slow-danced with anyone who wasn't… well, family before.
However before he could ask, Jill and Gray cut in, and separated them both. Claire blinked in surprise, and tilted her head p at the apprentice blacksmith. Who shrugged one shoulder.
"She insisted."
Claire chuckled, and shook her head lightly.
"Here, instead of a dance that will make us both uncomfortable, let's go and get something to drink," she suggested. "I'm parched!"
Gray was fine with that, so away they walked.
Skye was less pleased at the interruption, but Jill gave him a brilliant smile akin to her sister's and he found himself unable to refuse. Reluctantly, he put one hand on her shoulder and the other at her waist.
"What are your intentions towards my sister?"
The question was a fierce one, belying the pleasant smile on Jill's face. Skye blinked down at her, then chuckled slightly.
"My, you're a blunt one," he commented.
"Answer the question," purple eyes flared dangerously. "She's been trying hard for a long time to pretend it doesn't matter that everyone else in town hooks up naturally leaving her to stand on the side. And our parent's deaths haven't made it any better."
Skye mulled the thought in his mind. At the moment, Claire was someone to tease, a pretty girl to talk with whenever her own curiosity coaxed her out along the path of the Goddess Pond. And maybe someone to dance with and laugh with on occasion.
"If you don't have any intentions, leave her alone," and there was such force behind Jill's words that the both stopped dancing. "Claire would never say it, but I will."
And she poked the thief in the chest, sharply. All pretense at playing nice had faded, and Jill felt that it was finally her turn to do the protecting.
"And if you hurt her, you're going to regret it."
Skye blinked a few more times as Jill, finished with what she'd intended to say went and caught up with Gray and her sister at the drink table.
Claire just shook her head as the music changed again and Jill dragged Gray out for more dancing. Skye approached her after a moment, and leaned over her to retrieve his own cup. He liked the way it made her blush.
"Is that your sister?" he asked.
"Yeah," and Claire smiled a little ruefully. "I'm sorry, she's really pushy when she wants to be. Did she say anything awful?"
He shook his head, then pushed silver hair out of his eyes.
"I think she was just being protective," and he smiled at Claire warmly. "The way siblings should be."
And to his surprise, she laughed that bright, golden laugh again. Something about it made him want to treasure that laugh, that smile, that sparkle in her blue eyes.
"You have siblings too, don't you?" she asked. "Only someone who's dealt with siblings can say that with a straight face."
She paused, and played with her empty cup.
"There's still time before the closing dance if you.. you know, weren't scared off by my sister."
He chuckled, setting both ups neatly to one side, and swept her back out into the dance.
"Well, at least Jill didn't scare him too badly," Muffy smiled. "Doesn't she look happy Griffin?"
The old musician-turned-bartender nodded thoughtfully.
"It's been a while since Claire's smiled like that," he noted. "But when did she get that tattoo?"
Sadly, the festival had to come to its conclusion, and after the final dance people began to drift homeward, happy and sleepy. All the girls were chattering as they left the square, but Claire was oddly silent. Muffy dropped back, curious and a little worried.
"Something wrong?" she asked gently. "You seem out of it."
Claire raised tired blue eyes and smiled wanly. She wasn't really sure what she was feeling about that thief, but right at that moment exhaustion was eclipsing everything else.
"I haven't danced that much since Dad first brought me here," she said. "I'm just really tired Muff, no worries."
"Well, if you get too tired, I'll make Griffin carry you piggy-back," Muffy teased, glad that her cousin was all right.
Claire chuckled and shook her head lightly.
"I think I can make it home okay," she said. "But once we get there I'm going to drop."
Now it was Muffy's turn to chuckle.
There was a brief stop at Jill's so that Muffy and Claire could change back into their normal clothes. Claire nearly dropped onto Jill's bed, but stopped herself through sheer stubborn will. There was only one other festival where she would spend the night and she couldn't afford to be away any longer.
However, the inevitable happened and after nearly falling off the mountain path Muffy bullied her into accepting a rise on Griffin's back. Not that she took a lot of convincing, the farmer was more than ready for her tired legs to have a long rest.