Grace clung tightly to Sebastian as he pulled away from her farm, the sense of complete freedom a little unnerving at first. It didn't take her long to sit up and watch the scenery as it rolled by, hands still gripping the sides of his jacket. It wasn't a long ride and they passed Maru shortly before arriving at their destination. After pulling into the garage they dismounted and he placed both helmets on a bench next to his bike.
"I'm sure Maru is correct about the safety thing, but that was so much fun!" Grace's eyes were bright and she was practically bouncing. "Thank you so much for offering to drive me here!"
Sebastian couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm, it had been a long time since anyone had gotten so excited over his motorcycle. "Anytime Grace, it's nice to have someone else appreciate it. Let me know when you're done with Mom and I'll walk you up to Marlon's place." He led them both into the house just as Maru rounded the corner, hurrying to make it through the door he held open.
"Hello and welcome! I'll be right there!" Robin's voice called out from somewhere in the distance and Sebastian told her to wait there while he and Maru split ways to other areas of the house. A moment later Robin came into view, a smile lighting up her face.
"Grace! I'm so glad to see you! I've got that list ready for you, I was just finalizing it actually, had to get out my address book for Jeric's number. Normally I conduct business here in the front room," she spread a hand out towards the room they were currently standing in. Grace had seen some tools and papers covering the counter in here, along with some seating in the corner which made sense now. "However, I think we'll be more comfortable in the kitchen, plus I've got coffee and snacks we can have while we chat."
Robin led the younger woman through the hallways of the storefront and house, pointing out various rooms as they went. The basement had been turned into Sebastian's room, there was a room off the top of the basement stairs that had been converted into a laboratory for Demetrius and Maru, up the hallway was Maru's bedroom, and they passed the master bedroom before finally reaching the kitchen. Grace knew a 'tour' of one's house was normal, but she couldn't help the warmth that crept up within her. The normalcy of it was a balm to her battered heart, the part of her that felt so alone latching onto it with thin tendrils of hope. Acceptance, friendship, perhaps even belonging; she could barely put names to the feelings she longed for, that she sought out subconsciously.
Sitting at the kitchen table with Robin, talking about nothing and everything reminded Grace of her mother many years ago, before she got sick. They would sit together at their own kitchen table after Grace got home from school, sharing a snack and telling each other about their day. When her mom fell ill they kept up the tradition for as long as possible, but eventually it became too much for her to continue. Even after treatments and surgeries and recovery however, they had never picked it back up. Grace didn't realize until this moment, sitting here with someone who she could see becoming a mother figure in her life, how much she had missed this. How much she still needed this.
Eventually Robin pulled out some frozen Joja Mart pizzas, with a strict promise not to tell Pierre or his family, and everybody gathered for lunch. It was an interesting dynamic. Grace noted once again, like the previous night in the saloon, that Demetrius' relationship with Sebastian seemed strained where it flowed easily with Maru. It was pretty evident Demetrius wasn't Sebastian's father, but she couldn't help but wonder about the cause of the tension between them. Robin kept her entertained with stories of Sebastian as a child, a few of which seemed to embarrass him so she shared a few of her own in solidarity.
As they finished cleaning up from lunch, Sebastian and Grace excused themselves to head up to Marlon's cabin. He was quiet as they started walking and, unsure what to say to this man she barely knew, she also stayed silent. Clearing his throat and running a hand over his hair, he finally spoke quietly. "Thank you, by the way. For sharing those stories about yourself. Mom doesn't always realize that telling those stories can get embarrassing. She does it to make up for the whole Demetrius thing, but I'd rather just be ignored most of the time." He chuckled as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "As if that wasn't cryptic, sorry. He's not my birth father, obviously," he shrugged his shoulders, seeming to indicate the difference between his pale complexion and Demetrius' notably darker skin. "My dad left when I was a baby, Demetrius is my step-dad. The older I get the more tension there is between us. I don't even remember how it started at this point, but Mom has a tendency to...overdo it when she tries to pay attention to me, especially when we have company."
Grace laughed softly at that. "So I noticed. I'm sorry there's tension between you and your step-dad though, I get that. Not the step-dad thing, but tension with family I mean. Coming here -" she paused to blow out a heavy breath, "coming here brought out a lot of bad stuff in my family. There's tension between me and, well everybody I guess at this point." She trailed off, already having spoken more of her family than she wanted to. "Point being please don't feel the need to apologize for family dynamics, they're all a little weird when you get right down to it."
Sebastian smiled gratefully at her and the pair switched the conversation to more mundane topics as they finished their trek up to Marlon's. The meeting there was brief, Marlon being a man of few words. He provided her with a copy of The Monster's of Ferngill Republic to study; it provided all the information she could possibly want, or not want as the case may be, on the types of monsters she was likely to face. She was also handed a rusty sword, with instructions to come back when she had a little extra spending money for an upgrade. After telling her to head out back to practice on the dummies he turned and picked up a conversation with an older gentleman in a rocking chair, effectively dismissing her and Sebastian.
"Well that was not what I was expecting," Grace commented as they walked out back of the cabin. Sebastian showed her how to properly swing the sword then backed away for her to practice. "I never thought I'd own an actual sword."
Thwack
"Yeah, Marlon doesn't mess around with the monsters. Everybody around here has some form of protection though." He bent over to pull a dagger out of his boot to prove his point.
Thwack
Grace shivered at the idea of being that close to a monster. "That's a little too close combat for my comfort, the sword is bad enough. Does he have anything like a spear or something?"
Thwack
"Afraid not, at least not that I've ever seen. Thing is they seem more interested in the stuff you have in your pack than anything else, nobody's been killed by one yet. It's the yet that keeps us wary of them though."
Thwack
Studiously ignoring Sebastian's assessment of what the monsters were after, she swung the sword a few more times before her arms gave out. "For being so rusty this thing holds up far better than I thought it would. Better than me, that's for sure," she said in frustration.
Sebastian chuckled, "Give it a little time, it'll get easier the more you use it. If you want some real practice head into the mines." He nodded in the direction of the cave like entrance they had passed on the way to Marlon's cabin. "There's a lot of the smaller monsters in there, plus there's a ton of ore and gemstones that you can sell and use for projects around your house. Two birds one stone, or sword as it were. Plus you might find some better equipment down there; I haven't spent much time down there myself but I've found a few things here and there. Anyway, when you've got some extra cash let me know and I can come back here with you to help you pick out something better if you want."
Grace thanked him and the pair started their trek back to his mom's house. After getting directions to Pierre's she bid the rest of his family a quick good-bye and made her way into town. She wanted to know if he had a catalog of seeds she could look through; this first season would be a short one for her as she had so much prep work ahead of her to even clear the land, and was hoping there were crops that would grow quick and provide a halfway decent harvest. She had found a single packet of turnip seeds while cleaning yesterday with Robin, but wasn't sure how old they were and didn't want that to be her only source of produce.
She finally reached the little shop she remembered from her childhood and stepped inside to a flood of memories; Pierre hadn't owned the store when she visited Gram and Gramps, but not much had changed. There was still the penny candy barrel by the antique register, the same worn planks made up the floor, even the layout was much the same as it had been. The smells that greeted her as she walked in were a mix of old and new, she was pretty sure there was incense in the background which had never been there before.
"Hi there, you must be Grace! Lewis mentioned you might be by today. I'm Pierre, owner of this little store. I've got all your farming needs and will even buy produce from you for a good price. I hope we can work together to inject some new life into our little community!"
"Y-yeah, that sounds great," Grace replied hesitantly. He was a bit intense, reminded her of her old neighbor's Jack Russell. "I was actually just wondering if you had a catalog of seeds I can look through for the time being until I can get some of the land cleared out at the farm."
"Sure thing friend!" He rummaged around behind the counter for a moment before pulling out a small, dusty booklet for her. "Here you go, haven't had anyone ask for one of these in a long time. Oh by the way, I've got some extra packs lying around that might be bigger than the one your grandfather had if you're interested at any point. Stop by any day but Wednesday and I'll get you set up with anything you need."
"Pierre, are you already hounding that poor girl into buying stuff from you? At least give her a proper valley welcome first." A lovely woman with bright green hair rounded the corner with a warm smile directed at Grace. "My name is Caroline, and this business oriented individual" she glanced toward Pierre with a smirk, "is my husband. We've owned the store for about 10 years now. Your Gramps was a loyal customer, but more importantly a good friend; I hope we can continue that friendship with you now."
Grace's throat tightened and tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. She smiled and nodded in response, unable to articulate what that meant to her. The moment was broken by a young woman with the most beautiful shade of purple hair Grace had ever seen.
"Mom! I can't find my – oh! Hi there, you must be the new girl who moved into the farm outside of town, Dad mentioned you might stop in today. Nice to meet you!" She turned back to Caroline who quietly cleared her throat and glanced back towards Grace. "Oh! My name is Abigail, sorry about that!" She offered her hand in greeting as she apologized.
Grace chuckled softly as she shook Abigail's hand. "I am indeed, it's nice to meet you as well. My name is Grace." She smiled as she watched Caroline wrap an arm around Abigail's shoulders and go back where they had come from to find whatever it was that had gone missing.
She nodded goodbye to Pierre before walking out of the store. Ahead of her was the Mullner's house, who she vaguely remembered, and a little further was the saloon. There was a structure she didn't remember though between the two, just a little fenced in area, and she heard soft squeaky toy noises coming from within it. Curiosity got the better of her and she peered over the fence to find the most adorable little mutt of a dog she'd ever seen in her life.
The dog immediately perked up when Grace's head appeared over the top of the fence and she couldn't resist going around to the front and greeting it. She was surprised to see there was no gate or tether of any sort keeping the dog, Dusty she read on the little plaque on the dog house, inside the fenced in area. Must be a really well behaved puppers!
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind her. "I see Dusty got to meet you before I did, lucky dog."
She turned to find a rather attractive young man standing before her, and immediately felt heat crawl up her face at being caught inside the fence. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have just wandered in here! I just . . . it looked so friendly and I couldn't help myself," she glanced back in the direction of Dusty.
The man turned on a mega watt smile, "Yeah, he's a real friendly boy, loves everybody. I was just jealous he beat me to it that's all." He continued with a wink, "I'm Alex by the way. I heard you moved into the farm outside of town, seems a shame to have that pretty face get all dirty with hard work out there every day."
Choosing to ignore the last part of what he said she simply replied, "I'm Grace, nice to meet you Alex. You too, Dusty!" She focused on the adorably derpy face of the dog leaning into her leg now, giving him a good scratch behind his ears before turning back to Alex. "Well, I should be going, lots of hard work to do out at the farm and daylight's wasting!" She cringed at the high pitch of her voice and edged around him and out of the fencing.
She heard Dusty let out a mournful 'woof' and turned to see his paws on top of the fence, sad eyes watching her walk away. She continued to walk backwards for a few steps, waving to the poor dog and feeling guilty about leaving him when she heard a door open and shut rapidly behind her. As she turned she was barreled into by a mass of green tweed. She felt a hand reach for her as she fell but as she latched onto it she managed to pull the poor individual down on top of her!
With her breath completely knocked out of her she just laid there for a moment, trapped under the body of a stranger. She felt them lift up on their forearms, then to their hands and knees before she opened her eyes, mortified about the entire situation. When she did she found herself staring into the most brilliant pair of green eyes she had ever seen.
Grace clung tightly to Sebastian as he pulled away from her farm, the sense of complete freedom a little unnerving at first. It didn't take her long to sit up and watch the scenery as it rolled by, hands still gripping the sides of his jacket. It wasn't a long ride and they passed Maru shortly before arriving at their destination. After pulling into the garage they dismounted and he placed both helmets on a bench next to his bike.
"I'm sure Maru is correct about the safety thing, but that was so much fun!" Grace's eyes were bright and she was practically bouncing. "Thank you so much for offering to drive me here!"
Sebastian couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm, it had been a long time since anyone had gotten so excited over his motorcycle. "Anytime Grace, it's nice to have someone else appreciate it. Let me know when you're done with Mom and I'll walk you up to Marlon's place." He led them both into the house just as Maru rounded the corner, hurrying to make it through the door he held open.
"Hello and welcome! I'll be right there!" Robin's voice called out from somewhere in the distance and Sebastian told her to wait there while he and Maru split ways to other areas of the house. A moment later Robin came into view, a smile lighting up her face.
"Grace! I'm so glad to see you! I've got that list ready for you, I was just finalizing it actually, had to get out my address book for Jeric's number. Normally I conduct business here in the front room," she spread a hand out towards the room they were currently standing in. Grace had seen some tools and papers covering the counter in here, along with some seating in the corner which made sense now. "However, I think we'll be more comfortable in the kitchen, plus I've got coffee and snacks we can have while we chat."
Robin led the younger woman through the hallways of the storefront and house, pointing out various rooms as they went. The basement had been turned into Sebastian's room, there was a room off the top of the basement stairs that had been converted into a laboratory for Demetrius and Maru, up the hallway was Maru's bedroom, and they passed the master bedroom before finally reaching the kitchen. Grace knew a 'tour' of one's house was normal, but she couldn't help the warmth that crept up within her. The normalcy of it was a balm to her battered heart, the part of her that felt so alone latching onto it with thin tendrils of hope. Acceptance, friendship, perhaps even belonging; she could barely put names to the feelings she longed for, that she sought out subconsciously.
Sitting at the kitchen table with Robin, talking about nothing and everything reminded Grace of her mother many years ago, before she got sick. They would sit together at their own kitchen table after Grace got home from school, sharing a snack and telling each other about their day. When her mom fell ill they kept up the tradition for as long as possible, but eventually it became too much for her to continue. Even after treatments and surgeries and recovery however, they had never picked it back up. Grace didn't realize until this moment, sitting here with someone who she could see becoming a mother figure in her life, how much she had missed this. How much she still needed this.
Eventually Robin pulled out some frozen Joja Mart pizzas, with a strict promise not to tell Pierre or his family, and everybody gathered for lunch. It was an interesting dynamic. Grace noted once again, like the previous night in the saloon, that Demetrius' relationship with Sebastian seemed strained where it flowed easily with Maru. It was pretty evident Demetrius wasn't Sebastian's father, but she couldn't help but wonder about the cause of the tension between them. Robin kept her entertained with stories of Sebastian as a child, a few of which seemed to embarrass him so she shared a few of her own in solidarity.
As they finished cleaning up from lunch, Sebastian and Grace excused themselves to head up to Marlon's cabin. He was quiet as they started walking and, unsure what to say to this man she barely knew, she also stayed silent. Clearing his throat and running a hand over his hair, he finally spoke quietly. "Thank you, by the way. For sharing those stories about yourself. Mom doesn't always realize that telling those stories can get embarrassing. She does it to make up for the whole Demetrius thing, but I'd rather just be ignored most of the time." He chuckled as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "As if that wasn't cryptic, sorry. He's not my birth father, obviously," he shrugged his shoulders, seeming to indicate the difference between his pale complexion and Demetrius' notably darker skin. "My dad left when I was a baby, Demetrius is my step-dad. The older I get the more tension there is between us. I don't even remember how it started at this point, but Mom has a tendency to...overdo it when she tries to pay attention to me, especially when we have company."
Grace laughed softly at that. "So I noticed. I'm sorry there's tension between you and your step-dad though, I get that. Not the step-dad thing, but tension with family I mean. Coming here -" she paused to blow out a heavy breath, "coming here brought out a lot of bad stuff in my family. There's tension between me and, well everybody I guess at this point." She trailed off, already having spoken more of her family than she wanted to. "Point being please don't feel the need to apologize for family dynamics, they're all a little weird when you get right down to it."
Sebastian smiled gratefully at her and the pair switched the conversation to more mundane topics as they finished their trek up to Marlon's. The meeting there was brief, Marlon being a man of few words. He provided her with a copy of The Monster's of Ferngill Republic to study; it provided all the information she could possibly want, or not want as the case may be, on the types of monsters she was likely to face. She was also handed a rusty sword, with instructions to come back when she had a little extra spending money for an upgrade. After telling her to head out back to practice on the dummies he turned and picked up a conversation with an older gentleman in a rocking chair, effectively dismissing her and Sebastian.
"Well that was not what I was expecting," Grace commented as they walked out back of the cabin. Sebastian showed her how to properly swing the sword then backed away for her to practice. "I never thought I'd own an actual sword."
Thwack
"Yeah, Marlon doesn't mess around with the monsters. Everybody around here has some form of protection though." He bent over to pull a dagger out of his boot to prove his point.
Thwack
Grace shivered at the idea of being that close to a monster. "That's a little too close combat for my comfort, the sword is bad enough. Does he have anything like a spear or something?"
Thwack
"Afraid not, at least not that I've ever seen. Thing is they seem more interested in the stuff you have in your pack than anything else, nobody's been killed by one yet. It's the yet that keeps us wary of them though."
Thwack
Studiously ignoring Sebastian's assessment of what the monsters were after, she swung the sword a few more times before her arms gave out. "For being so rusty this thing holds up far better than I thought it would. Better than me, that's for sure," she said in frustration.
Sebastian chuckled, "Give it a little time, it'll get easier the more you use it. If you want some real practice head into the mines." He nodded in the direction of the cave like entrance they had passed on the way to Marlon's cabin. "There's a lot of the smaller monsters in there, plus there's a ton of ore and gemstones that you can sell and use for projects around your house. Two birds one stone, or sword as it were. Plus you might find some better equipment down there; I haven't spent much time down there myself but I've found a few things here and there. Anyway, when you've got some extra cash let me know and I can come back here with you to help you pick out something better if you want."
Grace thanked him and the pair started their trek back to his mom's house. After getting directions to Pierre's she bid the rest of his family a quick good-bye and made her way into town. She wanted to know if he had a catalog of seeds she could look through; this first season would be a short one for her as she had so much prep work ahead of her to even clear the land, and was hoping there were crops that would grow quick and provide a halfway decent harvest. She had found a single packet of turnip seeds while cleaning yesterday with Robin, but wasn't sure how old they were and didn't want that to be her only source of produce.
She finally reached the little shop she remembered from her childhood and stepped inside to a flood of memories; Pierre hadn't owned the store when she visited Gram and Gramps, but not much had changed. There was still the penny candy barrel by the antique register, the same worn planks made up the floor, even the layout was much the same as it had been. The smells that greeted her as she walked in were a mix of old and new, she was pretty sure there was incense in the background which had never been there before.
"Hi there, you must be Grace! Lewis mentioned you might be by today. I'm Pierre, owner of this little store. I've got all your farming needs and will even buy produce from you for a good price. I hope we can work together to inject some new life into our little community!"
"Y-yeah, that sounds great," Grace replied hesitantly. He was a bit intense, reminded her of her old neighbor's Jack Russell. "I was actually just wondering if you had a catalog of seeds I can look through for the time being until I can get some of the land cleared out at the farm."
"Sure thing friend!" He rummaged around behind the counter for a moment before pulling out a small, dusty booklet for her. "Here you go, haven't had anyone ask for one of these in a long time. Oh by the way, I've got some extra packs lying around that might be bigger than the one your grandfather had if you're interested at any point. Stop by any day but Wednesday and I'll get you set up with anything you need."
"Pierre, are you already hounding that poor girl into buying stuff from you? At least give her a proper valley welcome first." A lovely woman with bright green hair rounded the corner with a warm smile directed at Grace. "My name is Caroline, and this business oriented individual" she glanced toward Pierre with a smirk, "is my husband. We've owned the store for about 10 years now. Your Gramps was a loyal customer, but more importantly a good friend; I hope we can continue that friendship with you now."
Grace's throat tightened and tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. She smiled and nodded in response, unable to articulate what that meant to her. The moment was broken by a young woman with the most beautiful shade of purple hair Grace had ever seen.
"Mom! I can't find my – oh! Hi there, you must be the new girl who moved into the farm outside of town, Dad mentioned you might stop in today. Nice to meet you!" She turned back to Caroline who quietly cleared her throat and glanced back towards Grace. "Oh! My name is Abigail, sorry about that!" She offered her hand in greeting as she apologized.
Grace chuckled softly as she shook Abigail's hand. "I am indeed, it's nice to meet you as well. My name is Grace." She smiled as she watched Caroline wrap an arm around Abigail's shoulders and go back where they had come from to find whatever it was that had gone missing.
She nodded goodbye to Pierre before walking out of the store. Ahead of her was the Mullner's house, who she vaguely remembered, and a little further was the saloon. There was a structure she didn't remember though between the two, just a little fenced in area, and she heard soft squeaky toy noises coming from within it. Curiosity got the better of her and she peered over the fence to find the most adorable little mutt of a dog she'd ever seen in her life.
The dog immediately perked up when Grace's head appeared over the top of the fence and she couldn't resist going around to the front and greeting it. She was surprised to see there was no gate or tether of any sort keeping the dog, Dusty she read on the little plaque on the dog house, inside the fenced in area. Must be a really well behaved puppers!
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind her. "I see Dusty got to meet you before I did, lucky dog."
She turned to find a rather attractive young man standing before her, and immediately felt heat crawl up her face at being caught inside the fence. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have just wandered in here! I just . . . it looked so friendly and I couldn't help myself," she glanced back in the direction of Dusty.
The man turned on a mega watt smile, "Yeah, he's a real friendly boy, loves everybody. I was just jealous he beat me to it that's all." He continued with a wink, "I'm Alex by the way. I heard you moved into the farm outside of town, seems a shame to have that pretty face get all dirty with hard work out there every day."
Choosing to ignore the last part of what he said she simply replied, "I'm Grace, nice to meet you Alex. You too, Dusty!" She focused on the adorably derpy face of the dog leaning into her leg now, giving him a good scratch behind his ears before turning back to Alex. "Well, I should be going, lots of hard work to do out at the farm and daylight's wasting!" She cringed at the high pitch of her voice and edged around him and out of the fencing.
She heard Dusty let out a mournful 'woof' and turned to see his paws on top of the fence, sad eyes watching her walk away. She continued to walk backwards for a few steps, waving to the poor dog and feeling guilty about leaving him when she heard a door open and shut rapidly behind her. As she turned she was barreled into by a mass of green tweed. She felt a hand reach for her as she fell but as she latched onto it she managed to pull the poor individual down on top of her!
With her breath completely knocked out of her she just laid there for a moment, trapped under the body of a stranger. She felt them lift up on their forearms, then to their hands and knees before she opened her eyes, mortified about the entire situation. When she did she found herself staring into the most brilliant pair of green eyes she had ever seen.