"Yoba, Robin, you look exhausted." The farmer dumped the last of the hardwood onto the growing pile she'd been accumulating since the beginning of the week. Eighty pieces as requested Robin's request on the special orders board. "Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Robin rubbed a hand over her face, as if that would have re-energised her. She took another long drink of her triple shot espresso, and one look at the other cups scattered around the shop told the farmer this was definitely not her first of the day. The bags under her eyes could easily compete with Pierre's largest backpack upgrade. "Fine. Yeah. Just a little…" She paused to yawn. "Tired."

"Could've fooled me." She leaned against the counter, trying to meet Robin's eyes which were clearly struggling to focus on anything. "Bad sleep?"

"Oh, don't even get me started." Robin side-eyed the closed door leading to the lab and lowered her voice. "Demetrius has some new monitor set up in our bedroom for… something. And it makes these sounds all night. The beeping and the whirring and the random alarms so he can get up to check whatever the heck it is he's measuring and it's been keeping me up for the last four days. Four. Days."

"Don't you have earplugs or something?"

"They're not good enough, Farmer, I can still hear it," she snapped. "Even now." Robin reached over the counter, gripping her arms with a crazed look in her eyes. "I can still hear it."

"Easy, tiger." She carefully eased Robin's hands away. "What you need is a break. And I think I have an idea."

"Can't," the older woman said almost robotically. "Have to run the shop."

"I'll meet you here when you close and then I'll show you."

"Can't," she repeated, voice somehow even heavier with fatigue than just a second ago. "Have to run the shop."

The farmer blinked. "Okay… after you run the shop."

"Can't. Have to–"

"I'm just gonna meet you here anyway. See you at five." The farmer strode towards the door before pausing and turning around. "And bring your swimsuit."

"Swimsuit…?" the older woman muttered under her breath as the door swung shut. Her head lolled forward and she had to will herself not to fall asleep right there at the counter. Instead, she forced another gulp of coffee down her throat, continuing to ponder about the farmer's strange request.

XXX

Robin was lucky that the farmer was the only person in town who consistently came in to make purchases. It meant that she could zone out for the rest of the day, staying just about lucid enough to briefly speak to Lewis about the year's taxes but otherwise, counting and recounting inventory to pretend to be productive.

When five o'clock rolled around, Robin locked up the register and flipped the 'open' sign to 'closed'. Walking to the bedroom felt like dragging her body through molasses, the only break being the rush of angry adrenaline she felt when she heard that damn monitor again. She grabbed her swimsuit and a towel and by the time she returned to the front of the shop, the farmer was there waiting for her.

If Robin had been tired earlier, she was certainly wide awake now as she laid eyes on her companion. The farmer wore a simple flannel shirt, with shorts instead of overalls now that she wasn't on the farm. The key difference was the buttons of her top, none of which were done up, revealing the red bikini she wore underneath. Heat rushed to Robin's cheeks, along with another part of her.

Oh Yoba…

"Ready?" asked the farmer.

Robin swallowed thickly, eyes squarely fixed on the farmer's face and nowhere else. "Yes."

She followed the farmer's lead, exiting the shop and turning right, passing Linus' tent towards a path she'd previously thought had been blocked off.

"When did this open up?"

The farmer shrugged. "At the start of the season? I heard a rumble during the night and found it open the next day."

"I didn't even realise…" Her voice was cut off by another yawn.

"No wonder you don't know what's up here. The other townsfolk must not know either. I was surprised that it isn't always packed here but hey, I'm not complaining." She led her a little ways up the mountain, towards the train tracks that Robin honestly forgot existed. The summit would have been somewhere up ahead, but the farmer instead headed left towards a building with high ceilings and glass walls. A small fountain bubbled by the door. "Have you seriously never been here before?"

"No. That path's been blocked off for as long as I can remember."

The front room of the place was bare, but the farmer didn't bother lingering, instead heading straight for the door on the left which Robin soon found out led to a locker room.

"In hindsight I should have just told you to wear your swim stuff since you live so close," the farmer realised sheepishly as she shed her shirt, leaving her in that red bikini top. "But now you know for next time."

Robin's mouth went dry when those shorts were removed, revealing the farmer in all her youthful glory. Her body was well toned from all the farmwork, skin beautifully tanned from hours toiling under the sun every day, and Robin had the sudden overwhelming urge to trace her tongue along every defined muscle the farmer had exposed in that moment.

She blamed those thoughts on her tiredness. There wasn't enough energy circulating throughout her body to make her brain think clearly.

"I'll leave you to change. Just come through when you're done." Miraculously, the farmer didn't notice her hopeless staring, or was too polite to bring it up, instead leaving Robin alone with her horny thoughts.

The older woman shook her head and took a break to splash some water onto her face, hoping that would get her thinking straight again. It didn't do much, but it was better than nothing. As she removed each article of clothing in the privacy of the locker room, she couldn't help but scrutinise every part of her body after having just seen so much of the farmer's.

The differences were glaring. Sure, Robin was by no means out of shape – her career pretty much made athleticism a basic necessity – but looking at the stretch marks on her hips and thighs, the way her breasts sagged from years of breastfeeding, the belly fat she couldn't lose after two pregnancies, her insecurities skyrocketed. Sure, she might have had a little crush, but one, Robin was married (these days, she had to repeat that reminder like a mantra), and two, the farmer wouldn't want her. No young man or woman would want her when physical excellence was available right down the road. At least Robin had a one piece swimsuit as opposed to a bikini, covering most parts of her body that she hated.

Once she was changed, Robin went in the direction the farmer had gone, the changing room giving way to what looked like a large heated pool. The air was steamy and humid, and it reminded her vaguely of the farmer's greenhouse. The woman in question was already in the water, floating on her back and staring up at the sky through the glass roof. For a moment, Robin stared at the way the water moved around the alluring curves of her body, droplets shimmering on her skin. Then, she reminded herself to not be a pervert. She clearly needed more sleep.

"As much as I'm enjoying getting away from the shop for a while, I'm not exactly in the mood for laps," Robin called.

There was a little splashing when the farmer righted herself, taking a moment to swim over. "Trust me, this is a lot better than laps," she assured her with a knowing smile.

The older woman was still sceptical, but dipped her toes into the warm water nonetheless. "What's the point of this, Farmer?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Just wait." The farmer was back on her back once again, hair fanning out around her head like a halo. "Be still and wait."

Still endlessly confused, Robin submerged herself, the water coming up to her neck. She had to admit the warm water was soothing, doing wonders to dispel the exhaustion she'd been feeling over the last few days. The view of the farmer stretched out over the water's surface didn't hurt either. Her fatigue was slowly but surely beginning to ebb away, but not just because of her companion's presence, nor the relaxing feeling of the water. There was more to it than that. "What…?"

"It's great, isn't it?" The farmer spoke into the ceiling. "I come here whenever I'm low on energy between mining or farming or fishing or whatever. The water comes from a natural spring just off the mountain and must have some special properties. It always leaves you feeling like a new person."

The more she spoke, the more Robin realised she was right. She felt more awake than she had in days, better than even before Demetrius set up that infernal machine in their bedroom. Her muscles were relaxed, her brain was alert, and she had no one but the farmer to thank.

"You are a miracle worker," Robin gushed.

She simply brushed her off. "I didn't do anything. I just showed you this place."

"Oh, Farmer, this is all just… incredible." Robin swam around a little in the water, circling the farmer and drawing a laugh from her. "Yoba, I could kiss you right now," she swooned before plunging herself beneath the surface, partly to take full advantage of the water's re-energising properties but mainly to deal with the record scratch moment in her head because what the fuck was that?

Robin's mouth must have still been a step behind her brain. That had to have been the only explanation. She said stupid things when she was tired, but that usually entailed giving her kids bad directions on how to do something or snapping at her husband. Not saying something like that, even if it could easily be read as nothing more than an innocent comment of gratitude.

Because in reality, it held more truth than Robin would ever be able to admit.

When she could finally will herself to come up for air, the farmer was simply treading water, no longer floating on her back. They were close now, closer than they had ever been since they wandered in here. There was a red hue to the farmer's cheeks, and Robin was certain she herself was blushing even more fiercely.

Neither spoke for a moment, both bobbing in the mild current the other created. Despite the calm and relaxing atmosphere, Robin's words still lingered and her heart raced in her chest, not even daring to breathe. It seemed like the farmer was doing everything in her power not to meet her gaze, and that just made her worried. Had her careless slip of the tongue somehow ruined things between them, making it awkward and getting rid of the chance of any more easy conversations?

Then the farmer did look at her, flicking between Robin's eyes and lips, and that just worried her more. They were so close Robin could feel the farmer's breath against her skin. What would happen if either of them closed that distance? Made it so their lips came together in blissful union? Would Robin be able to stop it?

Would she even want to stop it?

Robin didn't even need to think to know that she wouldn't.

Then, their eyes fell onto Robin's mermaid's pendant, even more obvious now as it bobbed up and down in the water. The older woman cringed. Even though her marriage was… tense… Robin didn't have the heart to remove it. That would seem like too much of an admission to her immoral thoughts.

And now, the shimmering blue against the backdrop of her pale skin screamed out like an alarm, forcing them apart before things could get out of hand. Good, Robin tried to tell herself, though her subconscious didn't seem very convinced.

"What's the monitor Demetrius has set up in your room?" the farmer finally asked, clearly changing the subject and drifting back an inch or two to put some much needed distance between them. She smiled at Robin as if the whole situation was forgotten. Robin couldn't tell if she was relieved that things were nothing but normal, or disappointed that the kiss comment had been completely left behind. Because now that it had been, they'd never be able to revisit it. It shouldn't have been a topic of conversation anyway.

No matter how much Robin may have wanted it to become a reality.

A/N - Hello dear reader! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Robin is down bad and it only gets better from here. As always, let me know what you think and until next time, stay safe.

This story is also available on AO3. I also have a Twitter kayasmuttytoast where I post behind the scenes content, polls, writing updates and more. I also have a Tumblr and Bluesky kayassmuttytoast. The links are in my profile!