Denne had made it a habit to go to Gus' Stardrop Saloon for brunch and dinner until she'd afford to have Robin upgrade her cabin to a size big enough for a kitchen. She smiled at the barkeep while she sat when he looked up from the counter he was currently cleaning.
"Denne! Trying to get another drink so soon?" He greeted with a chuckle once he noticed Denne's flushed cheeks as he handed her a menu.
"Still red, huh?" The farmer mumbled as she removed her glove from her hand, then proceeded to pat her face with both free hands. "I just went through something kind of embarrassing earlier, I promise I'm not even a drinker," She began. "I also haven't worked myself that hard. Not yet, at least." She assured him, her eyes now scanning the menu.
"I'll take a plate of spaghetti and some coffee, please."
Gus nodded as she handed him back the menu. "I'll make sure it's the best you've ever had! They don't call it Gus' famous spaghetti for nothing!"
"I'll make sure to give you my most in-depth review when I get a taste!" Denne gleefully called, now full of excitement. She looked around the saloon, seeing if there was anything she missed the first few times she was inside. The two arcade machines that stood below the purple "ARCADE" sign on the wall caught her eye and she decided she'd play Journey of the Prairie King while she waited for her meal to be prepared.
Denne struggled with the game for a while, barely getting past the first level. She sighed when Gus finally called out her name and headed back to her seat in front of her food.
"Tough game, right?" He asked with a sympathetic smile. "You should see the young ones trying to beat it on Fridays." He chuckled.
"I probably will," She started, twirling her fork into the pasta and then bringing it up to her mouth. "Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who's bad at it." She then hummed happily once she started working on the spaghetti.
"You weren't kidding! This is the best I've ever had."
After a flattering 5-star review of Gus' Spaghetti from Meal Connoisseur Denne, she headed out to plant the seeds she had bought earlier during the day. Then she spent the rest of the day foraging for the Community Center bundles and fishing to make that sweet, sweet house and tool upgrade money.
"Oh, Shane,"
He heard his name being called once he entered Marnie's home. He looked to see Marnie at her usual spot behind the counter, looking at him. "Did you get to introduce yourself to the new girl yet? She's taking over her grandfather's Faible Farm right behind us, you know." She asked, adjusting herself on her seat and pointing in the direction of the farm with her thumb.
"That overgrown forest of a farm?" He asked, a hint of a chuckle in his voice. Marnie gave him a stern look.
"I talked to her." Shane took note of her face and answered with a roll of his eyes.
The rancher's eyes lit up at this. "And how did that go?" She asked, hopeful that he made a good impression of himself.
"I asked if she was done talking and then told her to not talk to me again." He responded honestly, now beginning to make his way into the kitchen to heat up some frozen pepper poppers in the microwave.
He heard Marnie sigh and looked across the room to see her place an elbow on the counter, then lowering her chin into her hand. She had an exhausted look on her face, and he didn't know if it was from work or the conversation they were currently having.
He hoped it wasn't the latter.
Before she was able to open her mouth to complain, he added a "Don't see what the big deal is." as he started the microwave. "Just another person in town to deal with..." He said quietly to himself.
"Is that really what you think of everyone?" Marnie began with an unusually loud and cross voice, causing Shane to flinch in surprise. "That they're all just obstacles to deal with if they decide to bother talking to you?"
The humming of the microwave throughout the building sounded almost deafening to him as he avoided her concerned glance, unable to think of a response that wouldn't sour her mood even more. She was usually such an understanding person, but his words seemed to have struck something in her this time around.
"Even the nice young lady that moved into Pelican Town only days ago is already an annoyance to you? Next you'll say that's what you think of me and Jas, your only family! And you wonder why everyone's intimidated by you..."
Shane's used to these chats with Marnie, but this time felt different to him. He knew he was defeated once she brought herself and his goddaughter into the picture. This happens every time they have these talks, but her last comment caught him off guard.
"Y-you know I don't think of you two that way." He struggled to say, his chest suddenly feeling as if an anchor had been dropped onto it. "Slammed" might have been a bit more apt. His throat made his words sound scratchy and low.
"At this point, that's hard to believe when it's coming from you." Marnie huffed, a hint of sorrow in her voice. "And after all the times we've had the same talk too..." Shane heard her mumble.
After what seemed like forever, the microwave finally let out its beeps to signal the meal's preparation. He opened the door to grab his food.
"If I don't find out that you apologized to at least that girl by the end of the Spring, you'll be in big trouble, young man. You still have time to make a good impression on her." She spoke as he took his food into his bedroom to eat and make use of his beer stash.
"I'll be sure to put that on my to-do list." She heard him murmur in a sarcastic tone before shutting his bedroom door.
"What am I going to do with that boy..."
Denne had been sitting at the beach, fishing rod in hand and bucket next to her, on the pier by the lonely rock when her stomach suddenly growled. She then looked up at the sky and reeled in her rod.
Time to try out that meal of the day.
After heading to her farm to stash some fish into the shipping bin while the others went into a chest for items needed for bundles, she made her way towards the saloon.
Shane groaned when he got to his last beer can in the stash he kept under his bed.
Time to get even more drunk at the saloon, where the inhabiting villagers can watch him make bad life choices and then proceed to regret every past one he's ever made.
He opened his bedroom door a slight bit, making sure the door creaked as little as possible and checking to see Marnie was still around.
The coast was clear.
He arrived at the saloon and made a beeline towards his usual spot, but then froze in place when he noticed someone sitting at his usual table.
There sat the famous farmer, making quick work of a bowl of rice pudding and a can of Joja Cola. Shane could barely believe someone didn't bother to tell her he usually sits there. Out of all the tables in the building, she just had to choose his.
He grumbled to himself and continued to walk to the table until he stood next to her.
The muffled, delighted sounds coming from her direction grew louder as he made his way to the table. Her empty stomach made Gus' food taste absolutely heavenly.
Denne finally looked up once she noticed a shadow above her. There stood Shane, looking down at her. Finally able to get a better look at him than earlier, she took in his shaggy, dark purple hair accompanied by his dark green eyes. Instead of his usual Joja sweater, he wore one in a darker shade of blue. She then took note of the stubble along his jaw. When was the last time this guy shaved?
After a few seconds, she chewed and swallowed her food quickly, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and straightened herself up in her seat.
"Oh, hi, Shane," She began. "Did you want to sit with me?" She then asked, motioning over to the empty chair across from her.
He thought to ask how she found out his name at first, but decided that wasn't important at the moment.
"You're in my spot." Shane almost growled.
Her eyes widened and she inspected the table and its chairs as if she had lost something. She then looked back up at him and shrugged.
"Did you write your name here anywhere? I wouldn't be here if you did."
After a few seconds of awkward silence accompanied by one of Shane's well-known death stares, Denne let out a cough.
"Just kidding. I'm already kind of comfy here though, so I promise I won't bother you and I won't sit here again in the future." She said awkwardly, shifting in her chair.
"Whatever." Shane sighed and sat across from her. She resumed her meal.
"How was-Nevermind. Ignore that. I'll be calmer the longer I've lived here." She stumbled over her words, remembering the promise she had nearly broken not even a minute after having made it. She then wondered if he was already bothered. If the promise was already broken. She sighed and rubbed her temple. It would take another few days at most for the nervous jitters to completely leave her.
Shane only looked at her for a moment, confused. He then sat back in his chair, watching Emily make her way towards him.
Can't move to another table now.
"Hey, Shane! What can I get you tonight?" The blue-haired barmaid asked him, then noticed Denne's condition. Maybe she should have warned her when she first saw the farmer sit at the table.
"The usual." Shane answered plainly, to which Emily smiled with a nod.
"Gotcha, be back in a moment!"
And then she was gone. He was left to look back at the mess that was Denne looking at him nervously as she drank from the blue soda can.
"What's 'the usual'?" He heard her ask, her words slightly echoing from being spoken into the can.
"The usual." Shane repeated, crossing his arms.
The farmer finally got the obvious hint that he was annoyed and only looked away, getting back into her rice pudding without a sound. The promise was definitely broken by now. Shane noticed her hand slightly trembling as she took spoonfuls of her food.
It was at that moment that guilt hit the man. Maybe he was being a bit too harsh. He then remembered Marnie's words earlier. Now was a good time to apologize for being a jerk and then explain that meeting new people isn't a favorite pastime of his.
Emily came back around the table with a cup of beer and a plate of pepper poppers. The pinkette curiously eyed the plate.
After Shane gave the barmaid a quiet "Thanks", he went back to looking at Denne, whose eyes quickly resumed to avoid his gaze. He had to think of how to word his apology.
It was when he heard some giggles from afar that he looked up from his drink to see Sam, Abigail, and Sebastian looking straight at him from the saloon's arcade room.
He groaned. "Alright, what do you want?" He asked, making it clear he was talking to the three. Denne turned towards the direction he was looking at, confused.
The three had gotten up and started making their way towards the table, chuckling in between each other. They then stood near Denne, ignoring Shane's question.
"We have a spot for you where we usually hang out," Sam started, looking at Denne. "I'm surprised Gus hasn't put up a big, red 'DANGER' sign at this table yet." That earned him a few laughs from the other two. "Good one, Sam." Abigail said, nudging the blonde guitarist with a smile.
It took Denne a moment to respond, until she heard a groan from Shane.
"Um, you still want me gone, right?" She quietly asked him.
He thought for a moment, his eyes darting towards the farmer and between the group of three. His apology would have to wait. Guess he wasn't getting it over with on the first day, after all.
"Take her away." Was all he said as he took another swig of his drink.
"With pleasure." Sam grinned, tapping Denne's arm.
This got a quiet, surprised "Oh, okay." from her as she picked up her bowl and can. "Guess I'm gone, then. 'Night, Shane."
She made sure to push her chair back under the table with her leg, giving him one last look before turning around to follow the others.
The look he gave Denne in return confused her. He looked less irritated and more...disappointed? Did he not want her to leave after all? She wanted to get a better look but decided against it and only shook her head as she sat next to Abigail on a couch.
"Phew," Sam began, wiping off his forehead as he stood by the farmer. "Denne, you are so lucky we were here today. We saw you sit over there and started praying to Yoba that he'd skip the bar today for your sake!" He finished with a chuckle.
"Impossible for him, though." She looked in the direction of Sebastian's voice to see the tall, pale young man with black hair and a similarly colored sweater. He seemed to be around Sam and Abigail's age. She recalled seeing him a few times as she walked around the mountainous area of the valley but decided he'd looked too busy for her to introduce herself to him.
"Sam begged for us to go rescue you with him." Abigail added. "He was too scared to do it on his own. 'Uh, uh, guys! We gotta get her outta there before he scares her to death!'" She teased in a mocking voice and laughed, earning herself a shocked look from Sam.
"I do not sound like that!" The blonde responded in a defensive tone with a pout.
"Riiiight!" Abigail chided, her laughter growing louder as Sam rolled his eyes and looked back at Denne.
"I thought I was handling everything pretty well..." The pinkette commented.
"Didn't look like it to us," Sam started. "Anyway, we're usually only here on Fridays, but I wanted you to meet our friend over here. He lives outta the way so we thought you'd have trouble finding him." He then nodded towards the dark clad man.
"Sebastian. Hi." He simply said, raising his hand from his pocket in greeting.
Denne gave him a small smile, returning the gesture. "I'm Denne, but you already knew that." She said with a nervous chuckle.
The four then engaged in conversation for a while, talking about what they did during the day and the things they liked. Denne was amused to learn that Sam's a huge fan of music, Abigail likes hanging out around Cindersap Forest and the mines, and Sebastian usually stays in his room to work at his computer.
"I guess that's everyone crossed out on the 'Meet The Villagers' list, huh? Too bad 'Mr. Doom n' Gloom' had to be part of it." Sam joked with a sigh. "I hope this week's been good to you, though! Don't be too shy to hang out with us or anything!" He assured Denne with a grin.
"Yeah, we don't bite!" Abigail added with a friendly smile. "It's always nice to have another young person in town to spend time with."
Sebastian only nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, guys. I'll make sure to let you know whenever I'm free." The farmer smiled in appreciation as the group stood up to say their goodbyes and leave the saloon.
She then headed home, proud of the accomplishments she made today.
Shane, however, couldn't stop himself from watching Denne leave as he lingered alone at his table with his drink.
For some reason, I struggled pretty hard with this chapter, but I think I have some good ideas for future ones! Obviously, I'm not the best writer but the urge to write my own lil fic was too big to ignore :'3. I hope you enjoyed reading so far!
