After nearly one season of life on Waffle Island, Angela had only learned one thing: Harvest Sprites were damn annoying.
After all that hard work, he dropped his badge in the river after frolicking on the bridge. At least, that's what she gathered in between the sobbing. Why were all the mythical creatures on this island so sensitive anyway?
"Uh, don't worry. I'll find it for you."
Angela hoped he had a pot of gold though; it didn't even need to be a large one. At this point, she'd settle for just enough gold to add carpet to her shack and maybe just enough extra to buy a few cocktails at the bar. It wasn't like she was demanding much here. Times were tough, after all.
"Really? Well, that river leads back into the ocean, so it should have ended up somewhere around the Gull Islands!" Ben stated in his chipper little voice and promptly began waving frantically and disappearing before Angela even had the chance to venture another word. Harvest Sprites really did have an attention span comparable to a butterfly.
Angela sighed and turned on her heel, putting her dangerously close to the pond beside her. The stray cat nearby eyed her suspiciously; naturally, she decided to stare back at it. Squaring off against the district's cats was always an enjoyable form of entertainment.
What was she supposed to be doing again? Oh, right, finding Ben's badge somewhere on the Gull Islands. It wasn't like she had anything better to do anyway; her crops were watered, her cow was fed and she had already visited the mayor once today and was quickly running out of believable reasons to do so again. Besides, the cat was getting bored of their game faster than she was; such occurrences were rarely a good indicator of her mental condition.
It was almost noon, if she hurried she could still make it to the Gull Islands and hopefully find Ben's badge before dark. Maple Lake District, with its distinct lack of a populace, was depressing anyway.
Angela bid farewell to the cat, jammed her watering can in her fraying rucksack and made her way towards Waffle Square.
After three hours of searching, Angela finally came to the rather obvious conclusion that the badge wasn't anywhere to be found; on the current island she had access to anyway. She had however procured another rainbow recipe after spilling the contents of her watering can on another unhappy sprite. Somehow, through the incredible power of the process of elimination, the farmer also managed to figure out that Ben's badge must be on the other island and she had to make another rainbow to get there.
On the bright side, at least she had managed to forage for some herbs and fruit she would have otherwise missed on Waffle Island. Things were looking up; she might even be able to afford a cheap TV by the end of the week. The sad part was that she wasn't even joking this time.
Before her master plan of buying a cheap TV could even make it's way into fruition, she had to get off this island. Angela took a deep breath and made her way toward the rainbow; even though she had crossed it many times before, the shock of taking a few tentative steps through Ben's rainbow fazed her more than she was willing to admit.
Luckily, that wasn't the case this time and Angela managed to scramble over the rainbow with relative ease, praying no one would see her mad dash from the square at the other end of the rainbow. They never did, but she still worried nonetheless.
Within minutes, she was setting her feet on more reliable ground.
A quick glance towards the clock tower told her it was already past five o'clock; the town hall would be locked up tight by now. Angela felt her heart lurch at the thought.
"It's not like he's ever there anyway..." she mumbled to herself and forced herself to walk towards the stairs in the far corner of the square.
"Looking for someone, idiot?"
It wasn't fair. She hadn't even taken two steps yet.
"Go away, Gill. I'm not interested in talking to you right now."
Or ever, but it wouldn't do her very much good to alienate him. He had his uses, after all. His lack of jubilance was rather irksome, though.
He chose to ignore her snide comment. "...I've noticed more rainbows are returning to the island." Gill's voice lacked any particular emotion, not that it was unusual for him.
Actually, she had only made one rainbow, but Angela felt that was beside the point. What was he getting at? After the business with the quilt it should have been obvious she was the one behind making the island's sole rainbow. So why wouldn't he come out and say it?
"Really? I hadn't noticed. Now if you'll excuse me..." Angela attempted to squeeze past his stationary position squarely in front of the stairs.
... And was promptly blocked by the blonde at the edge of her vision. Damn it. Shouldn't he be cooped up in the town hall right now anyway?
"Angela. Why are you doing this?" Gill actually turned to face her this time, with a rather intense look spreading across his features (or maybe it was just that squinting thing he was prone to doing, she could never really tell). In some other life, if Angela was some other girl, she may have found it rather enticing.
It was a pity that his somewhat decent looks were offset by his general lack of humility and absence of human emotions; though, she had always possessed a certain adoration and long-held bias for men who were actually beautiful on the inside. Angela always did seem to have non-conventional preferences.
"Hmm? Doing what exactly, Gill?" she struggled to hide the smirk that was creeping across her face.
"Stop acting like an idiot." he snapped, more irate.
"Well, even if I had any inclination before, I hardly feel obligated to answer any of your questions now. So, mind moving? I have places to be."
"Yes, I do mind..."
Screw it, enough mind games. Mayor's son or not, Angela wanted to get away from him and get out of the square now.
So, ignoring the more sane answers to her predicament, she decided there was only one possible way out of this asinine situation.
Angela body checked him. Not hard really, but with enough force to clear an escape down the stairs and away from the persistent jerk. She could even hear the tail-end of what was more than likely a curse.
Game, set and match.
The bar was just finished opening by the time Angela meandered her way in. It must have been just past six as Selena hadn't even begun to grind at the top of the stairs yet. In the city, such antics were usually the product of one too many alcoholic beverages; here it was labelled a 'cultural' performance.
Waffle Town really was backwards.
Somewhere in the far corner of her mind, Angela wondered if it would be more profitable to open a strip club rather than run a farm. Even if it wasn't, it would almost be worth it to see the look on Gill's face when she applied for business license. Alas, despite it's many flaws, she wouldn't want to put the quaint little Inn out of business.
"You ordering or working today Angela?" Kathy said, finally catching sight of Angela and jolting her out of her dreams of entrepreneurship.
"Oh, uh, do you need any work done tonight?" Angela replied, rather dimly.
"We always need work done! Come on back here!" Kathy trotted away from the door and towards the backroom of the bar forcing Angela to reluctantly follow at her heels.
"See all these?" Kathy made a gesture to a rather massive stack of dishes littering the sink and counter top. "We need 'em washed for tomorrow, as well as any that turn up tonight."
Angela detested dishes and dishwashing. However, at the rate her crops were growing, if she wanted to continue eating and purchase even the barest necessities of life, she had better get to work.
Luckily, everything passed without incident. Angela only broke one dish, Gill didn't come storming in after the blow to his pride and she managed to sneak a few glances in a certain someone's direction. However, admitting just who it was would be a rather large blow to her pride.
All in all, it was a pretty decent night. Her hands were rather dry, but she was now 200G richer. If only farming was as lucrative as dishwashing. After buying a barn and a cow, Angela was beginning to wonder if she'd ever break even.
Oh well. Angela thanked her employers and made her way out the Inn doors and into the cool evening. Maybe if she did manage to gather all the rainbow recipes things would begin to look up?
The thought was oddly optimistic and foreign to Angela. She had gathered the ingredients for the first two, sure, but the recipes were becoming increasingly difficult to fill. The farmer had to admit, she'd more than likely sell any of the rarer items on the recipe list should she ever come across them.
Self-preservation was almost always first on Angela's priority list. No beautiful woman with wings could convince her otherwise or wealthy son of a certain mayor for that matter.
Concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, Angela briskly began to make her way home.
Things would look up, they always seemed to and even if they didn't, a home back in the city was just one short boat ride away.