The Grass is not always Greener: A Stardew Valley Saga:
Chapter 1: Meeting the locals
Feedback is always welcome as long as its constructive.
At around 6am, Johnny finally awoke, though still felt deeply tired from the previous day.
"Should I sleep in or should I check on River?" He pondered to himself out loud. "I mean, it is our first day here and all. I doubt she'd be up this early anyway."
Not wanting to take a chance about it, Johnny chose to get up, running over to her home just to make sure she was ok. However, he didn't pay attention to his surroundings, feeling a sharp pain in one of his feet as soon as he left his home.
"GAH! SON OF A-!" He shouted angrily. He then kicked the object in frustration that he had stubbed his toe on, adding, "STUPID ROCK!"
Not surprisingly, this got River's attention, asking him while peeking her head out the window, "Johnny? Are you alright?"
"Yea, I'm fine I guess." He answered, deeply irritated. "Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you."
"No, don't worry about that." River reiterated. "What happened?"
He groaned exasperated, "Oh, I rammed my foot into one of these infernal rocks in the yard is all. We really need to clear out this damn field the first chance we got."
She nodded in agreement, "Agreed. The last thing we need is someone hurting themselves if they visit. Give me a few minutes and I'll be right out."
"See if you can find any tools to help while you're at it." Johnny suggested. "Anything will work."
"Right… be out in a bit."
River then turned back inside; searching everywhere she forgot to check the day before. Managing to pull out a couple old tools out of a closet, Grandpa's or Lewis's she didn't know, but they still looked helpful, so she threw on her day clothes and hurried best she could without dropping her haul.
Johnny meanwhile was sitting on the ground, still rubbing his sore foot with his right hand, when an unknown guest came walking up to him, none other than an adorable looking black kitten. It even began to adorably meow and rub up against left arm.
Not being able to resist, Johnny began to pet him on the head and back. The black kitten quickly purred happily as he did this.
River soon this scene herself, asking with a smirk, "Well, well… make yourself a new friend I take it?"
Eh, he just sorta…wandered over." Johnny explained with a smile. "He sure is a friendly stray. Super cute looking too I have to say."
River slowly put the tools down next to him, as the cat turned their attention to her, meowing and rubbing against her leg. Not surprisingly, the kitten too began to melt her heart when it did this.
After petting it for a bit, she said to her brother, "Well, while I agree he is a cutie, we shouldn't get too attached to him until we know for certain he doesn't have a home. He might belong to someone here in the valley."
"I suppose that is a good point." Johnny acknowledged a bit bummed out. "Well...let's clear out some of this mess first and then we can ask around about this little guy. Worst case scenario, we'll give him a home."
"Worst case scenario…?" She giggled as the kitty jumped on her shoulder "Wow, you sound like you want to adopt him already."
"Hey, can you really blame me?" Johnny argued. "Kittens are just too cute."
"Oh, I agree he is, bro." River replied. "Still, I'd hate to see you get your hopes up and then we find out later he has an owner."
"Yea, yea, I know…" Johnny said, looking away sad. "Very well then… we better put him away before I start feeding him and who knows what else."
After the kitten was put in Johnny's home to keep it safe and out of the way, the two siblings worked around the farm for hours, clearing out rubble while also storing away a bunch of wood in what looked like an old shed. Johnny even suggested to River that they make something good out of that later.
After some time, River sat on the porch, her arms sore to the point of almost feeling like jelly.
"Tired already?" Johnny playfully teased, leaning against a stump.
"I...think I need a minute or so to catch my breath." She answered, taking a swig from her canteen.
"Well… I think we made good enough progress for now." Johnny said. "How about we take a break and see if we can find this little guy's owner?"
"Probably a good call." River replied with a nod. "You see which way he came from?"
"He came from that walkway over there." Johnny answered, pointing in that direction. "Maybe someone has a place we can check."
"Well…what are we waiting for then?"
As if the cat knew what they were talking about, he began to scratch at Johnny's front door, meowing to be let out. Johnny then let him out, where it climbed on his shoulder, rubbing its face against his adorably. It even began to lick the side of his face too, making her brother laugh in response before petting it some more. Not surprisingly, River couldn't help but smile at the sight of it.
"It's been a while since I've seen you smile like that." Johnny said to her with a slight chuckle.. "Almost forgot what it looked like."
"Well...I haven't had much of a reason until now." River explained. "But, now that we're here, it's almost as if I'm starting over. Plus, the trees and flowers here are just so pretty to look at. Even the sky looks like a lovelier shade of blue too."
"Yea, I must admit it's very peaceful here." Johnny said. "Maybe coming here was a good idea after all…"
Before River could respond to that, they were then interrupted by a sound in the distance.
Johnny slowly arched his eyebrows in response, inquiring, "Wait… was that a cow I just heard?"
Deciding to check it out, River jogged a little bit up the trail, coming to a large open clearing in the woods. Spotting two houses, an oddly decorated one on the river, and a large ranch style brick building connected to a barn. Sure enough, grazing in a fenced off area, were a few different cows just happily munching away on some grass.
Her eyes lit up, and she ran happily up to the fence, leaning over the side, "Johnny! Come on over! We're next door to another farm!"
She reached down, grabbing a fresh dandelion, offering it out to a lazy looking brown cow. The cow looked up, slowly sauntered over and cautiously ate the treat from her hand. The girl then taking the chance, reached over gently petting it on the head, smiling when it leaned its heavy head into her palm.
"Alright, let's not get too attached to the cow here." Johnny suggested, sauntering up next to her, "We don't even know the state of our barn yet."
"Oh c'mon I was just saying hi." She said, scratching the cow behind her ear. "Still...I wouldn't mind looking into getting some of our own later."
Her brother shook his head chuckling, "One thing at a time sis. C'mon, let's check in with some of our new neighbors."
"Right…"
River slowly hopped off the fence and started for the door, when without warning, it flew open right in front of her.
"AGH!" She screamed as something heavy ran straight into her, taking them both to the ground.
"HEY!" Johnny yelled out running to River's side, "Are you okay!?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" She said, trying to pick herself up.
"Ugh…" River looked over, seeing a relatively disheveled looking man in a worn out looking jacket also picking himself up off the ground.
She started up apologetically, "I-I'm so sorry are you-"
Before she could finish, the guy glared angrily at her, "Could you watch where you're going? You could've really hurt someone just standing there!"
She was almost taken aback at his sudden abrasiveness, "I-I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Hey! Lay off, dude!" Johnny interrupted, glaring at the purple haired male angrily. "You ran straight into her! If anyone should be saying sorry, it should be YOU, buster!"
The unknown male oddly enough didn't even acknowledge Johnny's words, instead muttering angrily after scrambling to his feet, "Ugh! Dammit, now I'm late!"
If that wasn't odd enough, he now glared at River, telling her sharply, "Be more careful next time, will ya?!"
Before she could say anything else or Johnny for that matter, he turned around and took off running back down the road towards town as fast as he could.
What a total jerk… Johnny thought to himself deeply disgusted. I ought to ring that guy's neck for being so rude like that! Just who does he think he is anyway?!
"Shane, wait a minute!" A heavier set woman hurried out, stopping just short of the fence exhaling a little exhaustedly. "Oh goodness…"
The woman then turned to the two as Johnny helped River to her feet. "Are you okay, dearie? Not too hurt are you?"
River merely nodded as she continued, "I'm so sorry about that...you'll have to forgive my nephew, he really doesn't mean any harm."
Johnny scoffed in response, muttering, "Could've fooled me, especially with THAT attitude…"
After a brief awkward silence, the woman perked up a bit, "Oh are you our new neighbors? Lewis told me about you two yesterday. I'm Marnie and I run this here ranch!"
"I'm River." The blue haired female greeted her with a smile. "and the guy next to me is Johnny, my brother."
River soon shook hands with the ranch owner. Not wanting to be rude, Johnny did so as well.
After letting go of Marnie's hand, it was then he noticed a new face across the field, one that deeply piqued his interest.
Well, well, who do we have here? Johnny pondered with a smirk. She seems really cute, very pretty too, might I add. Maybe I ought to go over and introduce myself.
While Johnny was lost in thought over this new girl, Marnie asked the two of them, "Anyhow, would you like to come in for some coffee? It's the least I can do for your troubles after all…"
"Oh it's okay." River said dusting herself off, "We were actually looking around for-"
"Actually…" Johnny interrupted. "Maybe you could stop over for a few minutes. Why don't you get to know Marnie in the meantime? I got something to do anyway."
"W-what?" She turned to him confused, arguing, "I thought we were going to look for this kitten's owner. Why don't you want to…"
It was then River finally looked in the direction Johnny was, and there she saw her too. It was a lovely red headed girl, her face buried in a notebook while trying to sketch something down.
"Oh don't tell me you got the hots for her already…" River said annoyed.
"N-no, I'm just uh… going to say hi is all." Johnny replied sheepishly. "Besides, weren't you the one who wanted to meet the locals here yesterday?"
"Well, yes, but…"
"I won't be too long, ok?" Johnny reassured her. "Plus, maybe she could help me locate this kitten's owner too. So, I'll see you later."
"But Johnny…"
River though couldn't get another word in, as he practically took off in the direction of the woman.
She sighed and turned back to Marnie who was stifling a giggle at the sight of it.
"Well, looks like someone's in love." The ranch owner playfully teased.
"More like my brother is being a player again who can't stop flirting with all the pretty girls…" River muttered under her breath, shaking her head. "Ugh, what am I going to do with him?"
After a long awkward pause, River asked of Marnie, "So uh… is that coffee offer still available?"
"Of course dear!" Marnie answered with a beaming smile. "Come on in, we'd love to get to know you!"
While River began to get acquainted with the ranch owner, Johnny soon got a closer look at the girl he had seen in the distance. Not surprisingly, he was even more smitten by her appearance after seeing her beauty up close, thinking to himself, Oh wow… she's gorgeous! I wonder if she's single.
Johnny was now tempted to introduce himself with the kitten on his shoulder, but soon stopped in his tracks, pondering out loud, "Hmm… maybe I shouldn't introduce myself to her with the kitten in tow. She might hate cats for all I know."
Johnny then gently placed the kitten near the fence with the cows, saying with a playful pet on his head, "Sorry, my furry friend, but I can't have you making a bad first impression for me just in case she doesn't like you. So, wait here, ok?"
Not surprisingly, the kitten let out a sad meow after he put him down, wanting to follow the brown haired male. Johnny however grabbed the young cat by the neck before it could, saying a bit firmly, "No, you stay here. I'll play with you later."
The kitten though just adorably licked his face, as if trying to get Johnny to change his mind. Johnny nevertheless stuck to his guns, now placing the kitten inside the fence with the cows, telling it, "Stay here, ok? Go play with the cows if you want something to do."
This time, the kitten didn't follow him due to the fence being very tall, but it still meowed deeply saddened after he left.
Johnny oddly enough couldn't help but feel a little guilty inside, but quickly shrugged it off, saying softly, "I'm sure he'll be fine. Besides, if this girl does like cats, it'll definitely give me incentive to keep it should it not have an owner."
Within thirty seconds, Johnny finally made his way over to the girl nearby, saying after clearing his throat, "Hello there, miss."
The red headed girl quickly turned around to see who was talking to her, replying with a faint smile, "Oh, hello… can I help you with something? I don't think I've seen you before."
"That's because I'm new around these parts." Johnny explained with a smile of his own. "So, I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Johnny. What's your name?"
"You can call me Leah." She replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, I assure you the pleasure's all mine, Leah." He told her with a flirtatious smirk.
Leah gave him another smile before turning back to continue drawing, as he asked her after seeing her notebook, "So, you're an artist, huh?"
"Yea, you could say that." Leah answered. "I sadly haven't gotten too much notice from those around here, but eh… it could be worse I suppose."
"Aw, that's a shame." Johnny said. "You seem really talented from the looks of it."
Leah couldn't help but blush a bit at his words, saying, "Thanks, but hey, I still got a long ways to go before I can draw as good as I want to one day."
"Well, I'm sure you'll get there before you know it." Johnny said with another smile. "Just don't give up and keep moving forward.'
Deep down, Leah couldn't help but find his words very sweet, replying, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Johnny."
It was then the brown haired male noticed a unique thing from her, asking Leah, "So, uh… do you normally draw barefoot and dip your feet in the lake at the same time? I hope you don't mind me asking. I'm just curious is all."
"Oh no, I don't mind." Leah replied. "But yea… I do it quite often."
"I see. Although, don't you ever worry about your notebook getting wet and all?" Johnny inquired. "I mean, it looks pretty risky to me."
"Nah, not really." Leah explained. "The water in the lake is very gentle, so it's not like I have to worry about the water splashing me and all, not unless it's a very windy day or some of the villagers come here to take a swim, which is a different thing entirely."
"I see…" Johnny said. "I'll have to take a dip in here myself sometime. It looks really nice."
"Oh it really is…" Leah reiterated with a chuckle. "I spend a lot of time around this lake when I draw or need to clear my head. Heck, sometimes during the summer season when it gets dark out, I'll come out here to…"
Leah then stopped speaking, as if she didn't want to finish that sentence. Johnny though was deeply curious, asking, "Come out to what? What were you going to say?"
Unknown to Johnny, Leah was heavily blushing, answering while trying to compose herself, "Uh… it's um… not really important now. But, let's just say the lake can be very therapeutic to me."
"Ah, I gotcha." Johnny said.
Not surprisingly, Johnny was tempted to press her about it, but realizing he could turn her off by meddling in something that was none of his business, he decided to drop the matter.
Maybe if the two of us become close, I'll ask her more about it then. Johnny deduced in his mind. But I better watch my step here. Last thing I want to do is make her mad and not even want to become friends with me.
A few seconds later, Leah cleared her throat, saying, "Anyhow, um… I should probably be going now. I'm really starving and could use some lunch."
"Oh, uh… I understand." Johnny replied. "Although, I am curious, what were you going to eat for lunch?"
"Oh just a garden salad with some oil and vinegar is all." Leah explained. "I doubt it'd interest you.'
"Are you kidding?" Johnny retorted with a smile. "I love salads!"
"Oh, do you now?" Leah inquired, not sure what to think of this.
"Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but uh… would you mind if I had some salad with you?" Johnny asked her politely. "I'm pretty hungry myself from the farm work earlier."
At first Leah was in deep thought, as she wasn't sure how to answer this. After a long pause however, she smiled at him, answering, "Sure, I suppose I could share some of it with you. Plus, I wouldn't mind the company anyway."
"Great… let's go." Johnny said.
And with that, the two of them walked towards Leah's cottage.
"So, you live here, huh?" Johnny asked, eyeing her home. "It seems pretty small though I have to say."
"Yea, but it's really cozy and warm." Leah explained with a chuckle. "I don't need a fancy home anyway. That and I got fed up with that kind of life in the city I was in."
"Oh, you lived out in the city too." Johnny commented. "How come you moved out of there?'
"Eh, I really rather not talk about that now." Leah told him with a frown. "It's not a pleasant memory to be frank."
"Oh, I see… I'm sorry to hear that." Johnny said with a look of sympathy.
Leah though shrugged it off, muttering, "Don't worry about it. Ever since I moved here, I've never been more happy and content."
"Well, that's good to know." Johnny said with a smile.
"Anyway, let's have that salad, shall we?" Leah suggested.
"Sounds good to me."
As they made their way inside, Johnny thought to himself, Well, if Leah can get past a bad experience in the city, I'm sure River will too one day. I'll do everything I can to help her move on from that nightmare, no matter how long it takes.
Within minutes, Leah set the table and brought out the salad in a large wooden bowl with a pair of tongs to dish it out.
"Well, here it is." The red haired female announced, placing it on the table. "Hope you like it."
Johnny then got a closer look at the salad to see what all was in it. He soon found it ranged from romaine lettuce, kale and a white cheese he had never seen before. Being the curious type, he asked her about it.
"Oh, that's feta cheese." She explained. "It's a mix of sheep and goats milk. I buy it fresh from Marnie's ranch."
"No kidding, eh?" Johnny inquired, eying it the cheese up close. "It looks really tasty."
"Oh believe me, it is." Leah assured him. "ESPECIALLY with my homemade oil and vinegar dressing."
"Well, I guess only one way to find out." Johnny said with a big smile.
Leah didn't answer him this time, but merely nodded her head, dishing a small portion in a bowl for the brown haired male with the tongs.
"You can have more if you like it." Leah explained. "But… I rather you tried a small sample first just to be on the safe side."
While Johnny was slightly disappointed by his portion size, he didn't protest it. Instead, he decided to be chivalrous by dishing out Leah's portion for her.
"Oh, uh… thanks." She said with a slight blush. "But, I can serve myself."
"I know, but I just thought I'd show my gratitude for letting me eat here by helping you out." Johnny replied. "I hope you don't mind."
Secretly, Leah didn't mind this at all, but not wanting to admit it to him just yet, she instead answered with a chuckle, "Well, maybe a little, but I appreciate the thought nonetheless."
"Ok, let's eat!" He declared, licking his chops.
After Leah passed him the dressing and he poured it on his salad, he quickly took a bite, eagerly wanting to see how it would taste. To his great surprise, it left him nearly speechless. It left him so speechless in fact, he almost dropped his fork.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked, deeply curious. "Do you like it?"
Johnny at first didn't answer the red haired female, but then gave her a smirk, saying, "Be my bride, Leah…"
Leah nearly spit out her food in response, asking with confusion, "E-excuse me what?"
"You heard me…" Johnny said with a wink. "Be my bride. Run away with me."
Leah then looked at him puzzled and almost annoyed before she started laughing, saying, "Oh, I get it. You were joking around with me. That's cute."
Secretly, he wasn't, but deciding to play along, Johnny said with a nervous chuckle, "Uh yea, you got me. But seriously, this is DELICIOUS!"
"Really? You like my dressing that much?" Leah asked surprised.
"I don't like it, I LOVE IT!" Johnny told her boldly. "It's so good I could eat this for weeks!"
Leah now couldn't help but smile and blush at his words, saying, "Well, I'm glad to know someone else likes salads as much as I do."
"Yea, the only thing from it being perfect is some croutons." Johnny replied. "Other than that, it's one of the best salads I've ever had!"
Leah then frowned after hearing this, saying, "Oh, you like those, huh?"
"I take it you don't?" Johnny asked puzzled.
Leah quickly shook her head, answering, "No, I hate them to be frank. In fact, I hate pretty much anything bread related, so don't expect to see them on any of my salads."
"Oh, that's a shame." Johnny commented. "Croutons can really add lots of flavor to a salad. But hey, we all have our likes and dislikes, so it's cool, Leah. You do you."
Leah couldn't help but smile at his comment, as the brown haired male asked her, "So, uh… may I have some more of your heavenly salad please?"
Leah now giggled at his words, replying, "Of course, Johnny. Have as much as you like."
For the next thirty minutes, the two of them nearly ate the entire bowl of salad, as they had numerous helpings, especially Johnny. He enjoyed every single bite of it. They even had some goat's milk to wash it down as well.
"Wow, you must have been really hungry." Leah teased with another giggle. "Usually it takes me days to eat all the salad in this wooden bowl."
"Yea, I guess I was." Johnny replied with a slight blush. "Thanks so much for letting me have lunch with you, Leah. I really appreciate it."
"You're more than welcome, Johnny." She told him, blushing back at him. "I mean, it actually felt nice to have company for a change. Usually I eat by myself."
"Really? No one's ever come by your house to have lunch or dinner with you?" Johnny asked.
Leah shook her head again, answering with a sigh, "No, unfortunately not. Most of the villagers don't care for my type of cooking since I'm mostly a vegetarian."
"Ah I see." Johnny said. "That's a shame. "They're really missing out here."
"You're too sweet, Johnny." Leah replied, blushing at his words again. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." He told her with a smile.
After a long pause, Johnny cleared his throat, suggesting, "Anyway, uh… how about we talk some more outside? I'd actually like to try dipping my feet in the lake since it looks really refreshing."
"Well, you can if you want." Leah said with a chuckle. "But you'll have to take your socks and shoes off unless you don't mind getting them wet."
"That's no problem." Johnny replied. "My feet could use some airing out anyway."
"Alrighty then, let's go." Leah acknowledged with a nod.
Two minutes later, the two of them now sat on the edge of the field, dipping their feet in the water.
"Ah… that really hits the spot." Johnny commented with a sigh of relief, wiggling his toes in them. "I can see why you enjoy this lake so much, Leah."
"Yea, that's exactly why I bought this cabin when I moved here." Leah explained. "I wanted a place where I could relax near a lake and also be close enough to town when I needed to buy some supplies."
Johnny then gave her a smile, saying, "I envy you, Leah. You really got it made here. Well, location wise anyway."
"Oh, uh thanks…" Leah replied with a smile of her own. "But, don't you like the farm you have? I mean, I won't lie, I'd love to have some farmland of my own to grow some crops if I could have afforded it."
"Well, to be fair, it's not really my farm." Johnny explained, looking away saddened. "It's… more of my stepsisters actually. I just tagged along with her to be completely honest."
"Oh, I see…" Leah said. "Still, it's sweet of you to help her with it. I'm sure she's going to need all the help she can get knowing how big that farm is and all."
"Actually, I didn't tag along just to help her with the farm." Johnny clarified. "There's more to it than that I'm afraid…"
"Really now?" Leah inquired. "Well, why did you tag along then if I may ask?"
Johnny at first was hesitant to tell the red haired female, but when she pressed him about it, he looked at her intently, "Ok look, you've got to promise to keep this to yourself what I'm about to tell you, Leah. I don't want River knowing you know about this."
"Don't worry, Johnny, I can keep a secret." Leah assured him. "Whatever you tell me, my lips are sealed."
Realizing he couldn't back out of it now, Johnny let out a heavy sigh, he said to her, "Ok, the truth is… River went through a horrible traumatic experience months ago and had I not been there, she would have died."
Leah instantly gasped in shock after hearing this, asking, "Are you serious? She nearly died?"
"Unfortunately so…" Johnny answered, shaking his head. "I'd rather not go into the gory details, but let's just say River is in a really bad place now, so I'd really appreciate it if you'd be extra nice to her. She needs all the love and support she can get now."
"The poor thing…" Leah commented with a look of deep compassion. "Well, I'll be more than happy to treat her good. I normally do it with everyone anyway, so it won't be too much trouble for me to give her a little extra."
Johnny at that moment was almost tempted to kiss this girl after hearing this, as he was deeply touched by her kindness. However, not wanting to ruin their special moment, he instead gave her a warm hug, saying, "Thank you, Leah."
"You're more than welcome, Johnny." Leah replied, hugging him back.
After they let go, Leah asked of him, "So, uh… tell me more about your sister. What's she like anyway?"
"Well, River is one of the sweetest and kindest gals you could ever meet." Johnny explained with a smile. "If anything, she's too nice for her own good."
"What do you mean by that exactly?" Leah inquired.
"Eh, I rather not go into detail about it, but uh.. let's just say she has a tendency to let others push her around and then apologize, feeling like she did something wrong." Johnny replied with a frown.
"Oh, I see…"
"Yea, I always hate it when she does that." Johnny said, frowning even more so. "I keep telling her to stand up for herself, but eh, she just doesn't have it in her to fight back. She's a gentle spirit at heart."
"Hmm… well, while I agree with you River shouldn't let anyone push her around, there's sadly not a whole lot you can do about it." Leah advised. "So, I'd just let her be and only intervene when absolutely necessary.'
"Yea, that's what she tells me too…" Johnny said, shaking his head. "I can tell she gets annoyed by how protective I am of her, but I can't help it, Leah. She's the only family I have. If anything happens to her that I could have prevented, I'd never forgive myself."
Leah couldn't help but find it touching by how much he cared, saying, "I understand, Johnny, but… the last thing you want to do is push her away by smothering her, so… just give River some space when necessary. I'm sure she'd appreciate that from you."
Johnny again sighed, saying, "Yea, I suppose you're right…" After a long pause, he added, "Anyway, um… how about we change the subject here? I really rather not talk about this any longer to be honest."
"Oh, uh… ok then." Leah replied with a nod. "What would you like to talk about then?"
"Well, tell me more about your art." Johnny answered with a smile. "I'd love to know more about it. Do you only draw in your notepad or do you do other kinds of art too?"
Leah instantly smiled big after hearing this, as she soon went into detail about it, even mentioning her sculpture work.
"Oh, so you work with wood too, eh?" Johnny asked, deeply curious. "That's really cool."
"Heh, yea, I guess you could say I really enjoy it on the side." Leah explained, blushing again. "I don't know, there's just something really fascinating about working with wood, especially with its multiple layers. Once you get past the outer layers, you can start to see its true nature and what it all represents."
"Ah, I think I understand." Johnny said. "People can be like that in a sense too."
Leah at first didn't know how to respond to that before she let out a laugh, saying, "Oh yea, I guess that is true. I never thought of it like that before."
"Yea, sometimes I can be a deep thinker on some things." Johnny explained with a shrug. "Although, I can joke around about other stuff when necessary.
"Oh, like what exactly?" Leah inquired, deeply curious.
"Heh, well… now that I'm a farmer and my last name's Greene, I guess you could say… I better learn how to grow stuff or I'll never get those lovely greens."
Even though it was a lame joke, Leah couldn't help but find it cute, saying while giggling, "Hee hee… indeed. Well, I'm sure you'll get those lovely greens by… developing a green thumb if you know what I mean…"
Johnny couldn't help but laugh at Leah's lame pun as well, saying, "Yea, if I don't, I'll have to change my last name to mud or something."
This got both of them laughing heartily, as Leah said after they settled down, "Oh, Johnny, you have such a good sense of humor. I have to say, I wasn't so sure what to think when I heard someone new was moving into that old place, But now that I've gotten to know you, I can tell you're going to be a pleasure to have for a neighbor."
"Aw, why thanks, Leah." Johnny replied. "But hey, it's a pleasure to have you for a neighbor too, especially one as talented and cute as you."
Leah playfully punched him in the shoulder, saying with another giggle, "Oh, stop! You're too much!"
"Oh, you have no idea." A voice from behind muttered annoyed
The two then turned around in surprise, before Leah looked at her, asking, "Oh! Can I help you with something?"
"Yea, I'm just here to get my brother Johnny actually." River explained.
"Oh, so you must be his sister that I've heard so much about." Leah said, giving her a warm hug. "I'm Leah, you're new neighbor! It's a pleasure to meet you, River."
Not wanting to be rude, the blue haired female hugged her back, though a bit more awkwardly, replying, "Y-yea, uh… nice to meet you too, Miss Leah."
After they let go, River cleared her throat, saying, "I uh...hate to be an interruption, but, Johnny… weren't we in the middle of something..?"
Johnny soon saw the kitten next to her, meowing at him. He slowly let out a heavy sigh, saying, "Ah right… that." He then looked at Leah a bit disappointed, telling her, "My apologies, Leah, but uh… we do sadly need to be going. We're trying to find this kitten's owner."
"Oh, it's ok." Leah replied with a smile. "I fully understand."
"Maybe after we take care of this, we can talk some more." Johnny suggested, now getting his feet out of the water to put his shoes and socks back on. "Would that be alright with you?"
Leah gave him a friendly smile in response, answering, "Of course! If you're not too busy later tonight, you can meet me at the Stardrop Saloon in the town square. I tend to go there every other night to socialize."
Johnny's eyes instantly lit up, replying, "Absolutely! Sounds like fun!"
"Great!" Leah quickly stood back up, picking up her sketchbook, "Anyway, I should get back to what my art. I don't want to lose too much daylight on it, so I'll see you then!"
And with that, the two siblings waved goodbye to Leah and began to walk towards the town.
"Well, she seems nice." River commented nonchalantly.
"Oh she definitely is." Johnny replied with a little pep in his step, "She's lived here a couple years before us. In fact, she told me she's a nature artist and even makes wood sculptures too."
"And I'm guessing she's totally single as well?" She inquired, giving him a sideways glance.
"Yea, she is." Johnny clarified. "Is that a problem?"
"Oh c'mon, don't play dumb with me!" she interrogated, lightly shoving him in the shoulder, "You only talked to her because you think she's hot! Deny it!"
Johnny though shrugged in response, retorting "Ok, so what if I did? Is it really so wrong for a guy to like what he likes?"
"No… but I think it DOES get to be a problem when said guy flirts with every pretty girl in a 20 mile radius." River shot back with an annoyed glare.
Johnny quickly rolled his eyes at her, muttering "Ugh, quit the dramatics, will ya? I haven't been THAT bad!"
"Not that bad?" River inquired, glaring at him some more. "The last city alone you were dating Sally, Kitty, Jessica, Minerva, Lizzy, Kelsey, Nina, Vee…"
"Ok look, the one with Vee doesn't count." Johnny told her. "She stalked me first and I only tried dating her was because I thought she was cute about it. How was I supposed to know she was completely psycho?"
"The point I'm trying to make here is that I'd prefer you didn't get half the girls in this town to hate you because you decided to see more than one at once!" River told him firmly.
"Hey, cut me slack here, will ya?" Johnny said, losing patience. "Besides since you're getting a fresh start here, I will too. Trust me."
"I'll actually believe that when I see it." River replied, rolling her eyes.
He shook his head as they kept on walking, saying "Anyway, I'd REALLY appreciate it if you didn't tell Leah or any other girl I become friends with here about my past. They don't need to know about it."
"Well, as long as you don't break any girl's heart here, I won't have any reason to." River retorted. "Sound fair?"
Johnny slowly sighed in defeat, answering, "Yea, yea…"
After another ten minutes of silent walking, the dirt path turned to brick and they came up on two older, quaint looking houses. Seeing the state of the first yard, River could tell a decently sized family lived there.
Johnny meanwhile looked over to the right, admiring the overview of the sea, saying, "Well, looks like we'll have an ocean to view too. Nice… I'll have to check it out sometime."
Before River could respond to that, they heard a shout from someone behind them, yelling, "One side, dudes!"
The siblings barely had time to jump out of the way of an oncoming skateboarder.
"Hey, watch it!" Johnny scolded.
The guy briefly slid to a stop, turning to face them, saying a bit embarrassed "Ah, sorry about that! I'm kind of busy at the moment, so we'll talk later!"
And with that, the young male turned and took off again.
Not too long after that, a small pink headed kid hurried out the house, yelling, "Sam, no fair! Wait up!"
Without even looking, the kid booked it after the skateboarder.
"Huh… I guess we picked a day when the whole town is in a hurry to get somewhere." Johnny said, shaking his head.
"Hey c'mon now, we don't know what everyone's going through." River cautioned him. "It could be something important. Try to be a bit more understanding of others, ok?"
"Yea, yea, I know…" Unknown to the blue haired female, Johnny was still a bit miffed about Shane's antics earlier.
Moments later, the kitten jumped out of her arms and started trying to chase down a butterfly, as River took a look around, commenting, "Seems like a pretty good sized town. Maybe we should split up to cover more ground."
"That's probably a good idea." Johnny acknowledged with a nod. "I'll take the left side and you take the right. We'll meet up in an hour or two."
"Are you sure I can trust you to not get 'sidetracked' this time?" River inquired, annoyed.
Johnny quickly gave her a bit of a dirty look in response, muttering, "I won't get distracted this time!"
She snorted, as if not believing a word of it, saying "Right… if you say so."
"Look, could you please stop holding everything I do over my head?" Johnny demanded, losing patience. "No one's perfect."
"True, but that doesn't mean you couldn't try a little harder to break your bad habits." River shot back. "I really don't think that's too much to ask."
"Ok, ok, I get it already, sis." Johnny told her, now out of patience. "I'll try my best to not get distracted this time as long as you promise to have a little faith in me. Sound fair?"
"Not really, but I guess that's the best I'm going to get from you." River teased. "Ok then… see you later, bro."
After River walked away, the kitten meowed adorably at him, wanting to be petted. Not being able to resist, he did so, though was still a bit miffed by River's words.
"Get distracted… can you believe her, little guy?" Johnny muttered with a frown. "She really thinks I can't do a simple task of finding your owners. Well, I'll show her. I'll knock on every door in this area to find your owners or adopt you myself. I'll make her eat crow about me this time if I have anything to say about it."
A couple of hours soon passed with little to no results. No one Johnny talked to knew anything about a missing kitten, let alone was looking for one. The only good thing that came out of his search was he met a couple of nice guys around the town.
The first one was a suave looking male with very formal looking long hair and a gentleman like demeanor named Elliot. Johnny found out from talking with him he lived in a small shack near the beach and even wrote poetry. The next one he interacted with was an athletic male by the name of Alex, a young male with six pack abs who loved sports, particularly gridball. Unlike Elliot, Alex lived with his grandparents, a couple he had yet to introduce himself to, but would eventually.
After talking with Elliot and Alex for a bit, Johnny couldn't help but hit it off with them, especially Alex due to his own love for gridball. However, he didn't talk with them for too long due to not wanting to risk getting scolded by his sister for slacking off.
Nevertheless, Johnny walked away with a smile, thinking to himself, You know… one of those guys would be perfect for River should she ever want to date again. I mean, they seem really nice, especially Elliot. Maybe one day I'll look into setting up a date with the two of them. I mean, what girl doesn't love poetry and a guy who's charming to boot?
After doing one more look around the town just to make sure he hadn't missed anything, the brown haired male groaned in defeat, muttering, "Well, so much for that… I guess this little guy doesn't have a home."
He then knelt down to pet the kitten, saying with a smile, "So, I guess we'll just have to give you one instead. Would you like that?"
The kitten quickly showed he was indeed, purring and nuzzling Johnny's hand adorably.
"Ok, I suppose I better find River now and…"
Johnny could not finish that thought, as he soon saw a female from a distance he hadn't seen before, one that also took his breath away. It was another red head, though her hair was longer in comparison to Leah's. She even wore a lovely yellow blouse and red skirt.
Oh wow… who is that? Johnny pondered to himself. She's so pretty! I wonder what her name is and what she's up to.
Johnny soon found out the answer to his second question, as she was currently reading a book.
Should I go over and say hi? Johnny pondered again. Maybe I shouldn't… I mean, River will just give me another I told you so if I do.
After thinking about it some more, he let out a smirk, deducing in his mind, Well, considering I already finished my search around town, I don't see why I couldn't take a little break to get to know another villager of the valley. I mean, it's not like I can't at least introduce myself, right?
Deciding to go for it, Johnny slowly, but confidently walked over to this new girl. Once he was close enough, he cleared his throat, saying to her, "Hello there, miss."
Penny was nearly startled by his presence due to how quietly had walked up, but quickly settled down, replying very timidly, "Uh, h-hi… can I help you with something?"
"Not really." Johnny answered with a suave smile. "I just thought I'd come over and introduce myself since I'm new here. I'm Johnny, what's your name?"
"Uh… it's uh… Penny." She answered, still looking away bashfully.
Trying to break the ice with her, he extended his hand, saying as politely as he could, "Well, it's really nice to meet you, Penny."
"Um… y-yea, same here." Penny replied, shaking his hand as well, though very weakly due to her shyness.
"No need to be shy around me, Miss Penny." Johnny told her with a smile. "I don't bite."
"S-sorry…" the red haired female stammered, looking away. "I'm uh… not exactly what you would call a social butterfly, let alone good at small talk."
"Ah I gotcha…"
"A-anyway, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but um… would you mind if I got back to my book?" Penny asked him nervously. "I really don't have a lot of time to read to be frank."
"Oh, I see…" Johnny said, looking at her a bit saddened. Deciding to take a chance, he asked of her, "Well, would you mind telling me more about this book you're reading?"
"Um… I don't think you'd like it." Penny explained, blushing heavily. "It's uh… not exactly a book guys would be into."
"Well, why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Johnny suggested politely. "I mean, as the old saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover."
Penny let out a heavy sigh, replying, "I guess you got me there. Alright, but um… don't say I didn't warn you."
After taking a deep breath to compose herself, she said to him, "W-well, it's uh… a novel about this aristocratic woman who's tired of living where she is and decides to move to a much smaller community far away, one with people not as wealthy, let as educated as she is. However, she soon discovers it's what she was looking for when it came to satisfying her needs. Not only that, she becomes close friends with three charming gentlemen."
"No kidding, eh?" Johnny inquired, looking at her intently.
"Y-yea, but then she finds out all three of them are madly in love with her and want her to be their wife." Penny explained. "She also feels the same way about them as well, but she soon discovers no matter what choice she makes, she's going to break the heart of the other two and thus, she delays her decision for a long time because she couldn't bear to hurt them."
"I… see…" Johnny was now starting to feel uncomfortable, thinking to himself, Good grief… this hits a little too close to home. What are the odds a girl I might be into is reading this kind of book?"
"A-anyway… I'm currently on the chapter where she has to make a decision." Penny reiterated. "Needless to say, it's a really good read so far, but also heartbreaking as well. I mean, can you imagine being in her position? That must be so awful knowing you can only make one of them happy."
"Y-yea, I… uh… couldn't imagine." Johnny commented awkwardly.
Penny couldn't help but notice his change in demeanor, asking, "Uh, did I say something wrong?"
"N-no, of course not." Johnny answered, clearing his threat. "Sorry, uh… I… I'm just not sure what to make of this book is all."
"Oh, so you don't like it then?" Penny inquired with a look of disappointment.
Trying to save face, he replied sheepishly, "Y-yea, I suppose I don't. My apologies, Miss Penny. I guess you were right about it."
"It's uh… ok really." Penny told him with a faint smile. "I mean, it was sweet of you to ask about it to be honest. I mean… no one's ever asked me about my books before other than my students."
"Students?" Johnny pondered out loud. "Wait, you're a teacher then?"
"Y-yea, you could say that." Penny answered with a smile. "This valley sadly doesn't have a school, so I uh… volunteered to teach the kids here."
"No kidding, eh?" Johnny inquired. "How many students do you have if I may ask?"
"Um… only two." Penny replied, looking away embarrassed.
"Oh, that's a shame." Johnny said with a look of sympathy. "Do the other kids not like you or something?"
"N-no, it's not that." Penny explained. "The truth is… there's only two to teach. One is a girl named Jas and the other is a boy named Vincent."
"Really? That's kind of sad." Johnny commented. "I mean, I bet you're super smart and have a lot of knowledge for a teacher, Miss Penny.""
Penny then heavily blushed, replying with a nervous giggle, "S-stop… I'm uh… not that smart. Plus, I mostly just tutor them at the local museum anyway. It's nothing that special."
"Still, you've got to be pretty smart to be able to tutor like that." Johnny told her with a warm smile. "I find that a very admirable feat, Miss Penny, especially with how difficult it is to teach kids and all."
Penny gave him a bashful smile in response, brushing some hair out of her face, "It's nothing really. I just think the kids we have in this town deserve a chance at a good future, and if I can help with that in any way, why shouldn't I?"
"Indeed." Johnny acknowledged with a nod. "You know, I really love how kind and considerate you are about the children here, Miss Penny. You really should get more commendations for it."
"You're too sweet, Johnny…" Penny said, exhaling a bit, "Anyway, I guess I'll have to read my book another time. I'm in charge of cooking tonight and mom expects me to have dinner ready by the time she gets home."
"I understand." Johnny replied. "Well, would you like to grab a quick bite at the saloon with me and my sister later?'
"N-no, it's fine, really." Penny said, looking down a little sullen. "Besides, I hate that place to be honest.'
"You do?" Johnny inquired, confused. "How come?"
Penny then looked away with a look of anger, answering, "I'm sorry, but uh… I really rather not answer that, Johnny. It's uh… very personal if I'm being honest."
"Oh, I see…" Johnny said, now looking at her awkwardly. "My apologies, I didn't know."
Penny though gave him a faint smile moments later, saying, "I-it's ok, really. I understand that you're new here, so uh… don't worry about it."
"I guess we'll talk another time then." Johnny suggested. "Ok then, take care, Miss Penny. It was really nice talking to you."
"Y-yea, same to you too, Johnny." Penny replied, blushing at him. "See you later."
Penny then waved and turned to walk away.
Johnny let out a happy sigh after she was out of sight, saying, "Well, that went better than expected. I think I made another friend." After a long pause, he added, "Anyhow, I better find River and…"
Johnny was unable to finish that sentence, as the split second he turned around, he saw his sister glaring at him, even giving him a despondent look.
"Oh, uh… there you are, sis." The brown haired male said sheepishly. "I was wondering what you were up to now."
"Yes, I was wondering the same with you too, bro." River said, frowning at him. "So much for not getting distracted."
"Hey, for the record, I didn't get distracted this time." Johnny told her bluntly. "I looked around my side of town… twice as a matter of fact. So having some time to kill, I thought I'd get to know one of the locals here."
River shook her head, retorting, "Yea, it's funny how you seem to make time to meet all the locals here as long as they're pretty girls you want to date."
"Oh would you seriously lay off about that?" Johnny demanded, frowning at her. "Besides, I didn't just meet her. I met some of the other townsfolk too."
"Such as?" River inquired, not believing him.
"W-well, there was this guy named Alex." Johnny answered. "He seems cool. He even enjoys gridball like me. I might watch some games with him sometime. Maybe you ought to come too."
"Yea, I'll have to pass on that, bro." River told him firmly.
Before he could argue with her about it, the blue haired female added, "Anyway…I haven't had any luck with finding anything about the kitten's owner. How about you?"
Johnny shook his head, replying, "Nope, not a thing. No one here's heard anything about a missing kitten." He then looked down at the kitten as he jumped up on the bench, adding "So...looks like this little guy all alone."
"Poor little thing…" River commented, leaning over, scratching behind her furry friend's ears. "We can't just leave him all by himself."
"Of course not. We'll just have to give him a home instead." Johnny suggested. "Besides, he may come in handy to chase off any rats we might back at those old houses."
"Do we even have a place to keep him though?" River inquired.
"Not exactly, but he can stay in my cabin in the meantime." Johnny answered with a smirk. He then looked at the adorable feline, asking, "Would you like that, my furry friend?"
The kitten meowed excitedly and nudged River's arm with his head, fully making her heart melt, saying with a smile, "I think we can take that as a yes."
After a few minutes of giving their new friend attention, Johnny stopped to check the time, saying with a slight gasp, "Oh, shoot… we're supposed to meet up with Leah now. I guess we'll have to take this little guy with us in the meantime."
River sighed in defeat, muttering "I suppose you're right…let's just not take too terribly long with this, ok?"
"No worries, sis. I'll keep it an hour or two at most." Johnny reassured her. "He should be fine until then."
The two of them slowly got up, and turned to face an old fashioned building with a semi worn looking sign reading "The Stardrop Saloon" hung from the wall. A few people were already funneling themselves in, looking tired from a seemingly long day.
Johnny ran a little bit ahead of her, even opening the door for his sister to be polite. As soon as she walked in, she was greeted by an old fashioned styled restaurant and bar. Multiple people were sitting either at the bar or the miscellaneous tables, deep in conversation or just having a good time.
"Hey! Johnny, River, over here!" A familiar voice shouted towards them.
Looking to their left, they saw Leah already at the table waving at them to come sit with her.
"Glad you were able to make it." Leah said after they sat down. "So, how was your first day in town?"
Johnny gave her a confident smile, answering "Honestly, it went better than expected. This town's pretty nice I have to admit."
Leah smiled warmly in return, saying, "I'm happy to hear that! This is the perfect place to get away from everything hectic in life."
"Yeah...farm seems like it's going to be a bit of a chore to get fully up and running," River chimed in. "But, I think once it's cleaned up, we can get something good going."
"Well, with the two of you working together, I'm sure it'll be no problem." Leah told her with a chuckle. "Just try not to overwhelm yourselves by doing too much at once. As the old saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day."
"We'll be sure to keep that in mind, Leah." Johnny replied with a smile.
After a long pause, Leah cleared her throat, inquiring, "So, I'm sure you guys are tired from running around all day. What would you like to order? If you need any advice on the menu, let me know."
River meanwhile looked over the menu, commenting, "Everything sounds so good. What do you think, Johnny?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure…" Johnny answered, distracted.
It was then she looked up and noticed he wasn't checking the menu at all, but their new friend, asking her, "What would you suggest we get, Leah?"
Leah chuckled a bit in response, replying "I'm fairly particular with my order, so you're probably better off figuring it out for yourselves."
"I really wouldn't mind hearing it." River said, trying to hide the fact she was getting annoyed at her brother staring at Leah.
"Well, if you do insist…" Leah said with a shrug. "Anyway, I usually get the Waldorf salad."
A Waldorf salad?" Johnny inquired. "What's that?"
After Leah explained it to him what it was, he quickly turned up his nose, saying, "Yea, I think I'll pass on that. Never been one for nuts and fruit in a garden salad."
"You serious?" Leah inquired a bit dumbfounded. "They're so good! Gus makes it better than even my own salad."
Well, more for you then, my friend." Johnny replied with a smile. "I'll just get the Caesar salad instead. Hope you don't mind."
Leah let out a laugh, replying, "Nah, it's cool, Johnny. Like you said earlier, you do you."
River meanwhile wanted to eject herself out of this as soon as she could, asking, "Anyway, how about I go make our orders from the counter itself?"
"Oh?" Leah now looked at her a little confused, asking, "But you haven't figured out what to order yet."
"I'll figure it out on the way over." She replied with a faint smile. She then stood up from her seat, adding, "You two just carry on with what you have."
"You sure that's what you want, sis?" Johnny asked, looking at her intently.
"Y-yea…" River answered awkwardly with a nod. "So uh… I'll see you two later."
"Uh… ok then." Johnny said.
And with that, River walked away.
After she was out of sight, Leah asked Johnny with a look of concern, "Is she alright? I couldn't help but get this feeling she didn't want to stick around, as if she wasn't comfortable."
"I honestly don't know." Johnny answered, looking saddened. "But, I think you might be right about her not being comfortable. River sadly has a very low self esteem about herself, so sometimes she feels she's getting in the way of other people's fun when she's really not."
"Poor girl…" Leah commented with a look of sympathy. "I guess you weren't kidding about her not being in a good place mentally. I wish I knew how to help her with that."
"Believe me, Leah, I've tried." Johnny told her with a heavy sigh. "I think this is something she's going to have to figure out on her own because no matter what I do, she… she…"
Johnny couldn't not finish that sentence, as he then saw a familiar face and not one he wanted to see.
What's that jerk doing here?! Johnny thought to himself with anger. Hasn't he caused enough trouble for one day?
"Johnny, is… something wrong?" Leah inquired, deeply puzzled.
At first Johnny didn't want to tell her about it, but after Leah pressed him about it, he quickly caved, asking her, "Tell me something… what do you know about that guy in the corner?
"Which one?" Leah asked, confused. "There's more than one guy over there."
"The one with the short purple hair." Johnny clarified, this time with a tone of anger.
"Oh, you mean Shane." Leah deduced.
"Yea, HIM."
Leah now couldn't help but notice Johnny's anger, asking him, "Why do you sound so upset? Did something happen with him earlier today?"
"Yea, you might say that…" Johnny told her, still in a foul mood. "When we went to visit Marnie earlier, that creep just flung the door open right in front of her, knocking my sister down, not even apologizing! He even had the gall to blame her for it! too"
"Oh, I see…"
"I swear if he didn't leave right away, I would have given him what for!" Johnny told her sharply. "The NERVE of that guy being so rude!"
Leah now let out a heavy sigh, saying, "Look, Johnny, I don't blame you for being angry. I'm not exactly very fond of him either to be honest, but… please don't judge him too harshly. I've heard he's going through a lot emotionally from some of the other patrons here. That's why he acts the way he does."
"That doesn't make it right though, Leah." Johnny argued. "Even if he is going through a lot, it doesn't justify his awful behavior!"
"Johnny, would you please calm down?" Leah pleaded. "Yes, I agree it doesn't make it right. Still, why let him ruin your evening? After all, we're here to have fun. Is he really worth all the fuss?"
Johnny slowly let out a sigh of his own, muttering, "Yea, I suppose you're right. He's not worth it."
The brown haired female however wouldn't be able to relax for long, as he soon saw River talking with him and Shane being… less than friendly with her in response to put it lightly.
Why that no good… Johnny thought to him with rage. THAT DOES IT! I've had it with him! It's bad enough he was rude to my sister before, but now he's doing it to her again? I'm done holding my peace…
Johnny then stood up to walk over to Shane. However, before he could, Leah asked of him, "Hey, where are you going?"
"Sorry, Leah, but I'm going to take care of a certain problem." He told her sharply.
"Johnny, must you really do this?" Leah asked, losing patience. "C'mon, just let it go."
"Let it go? Look at him!" Johnny argued with a fierce hiss. "He just hurt her feelings for no reason at all! No, something's got to be done about that creep, Leah."
Johnny was about to storm off, but Leah firmly grabbed his arm, saying now angry, "No, don't do this, Johnny. You're going to get in big trouble with Gus if you start a fight."
"But, Leah…"
"Johnny, listen to me…" Leah told him bluntly. "I get it. I know Shane can be a huge jerk and all, but we came here to have a good time, did we not? You're going to ruin it if you go over there and start something with Shane. If you care about my feelings at all, you'll let it go."
Johnny was tempted to argue with her further, but seeing how upset he was making Leah over it, he finally backed off, sitting down, asking with a sigh of sadness, "What am I supposed to do though? Just let that jerk treat River horribly? She doesn't deserve that."
"No, she doesn't, Johnny." Leah acknowledged. "However, she's an adult, is she not?"
"Yes…"
"Then let her take care of this herself." Leah advised. "Besides, Gus and Emily will step in if Shane gets out of line. Trust me on that, ok?"
Deep down, Johnny didn't want to, but realizing he was in a no win situation, he nodded his head, saying, "Fine, I'll… let River handle it herself." He then added with a look of pure anger, "But I swear if that creep so much as hits her one time, I'm stepping in. I'm sorry, Leah, but she's gone through enough abuse in her life. I'm not about to let another hurt her."
"I highly doubt Shane will do something like that." Leah said, rolling her eyes. "He's all bark and no bite from what I can gather."
Not surprisingly, Johnny didn't believe Leah on that, but didn't argue with her about it any further.
Before he could stew on it some more, a short blue haired female came by with the salads, saying "Here you go, you two. Enjoy!"
"Thanks, Miss." Johnny said with a smile.
"You're welcome." She replied with a smile of her own. "You can call me Emily. Let me know if you need anything else, ok?"
"I think we're good for now, Emily." Johnny told her.
"Alrighty then, I'll let you get back to your date." She playfully teased with a wink.
Not surprisingly, Johnny nearly spit out his drink after hearing that, asking, "Wait, date? Does she seriously think we're…?"
Leah though just giggled, explaining, "Ah, don't mind her. Emily just likes to kid around with the patrons like that. It's harmless."
"Oh, uh… I see."
"Anyway, how about we stop talking and start eating?" Leah suggested, eyeing her salad like a ravenous animal.
"Fine by me." Johnny replied, licking his chops like before.
As Johnny began to eat his Caesar salad, he soon discovered it was almost as tasty as Leah's from earlier.
Wow, I can see why Leah praised the salads so much. Johnny thought to himself with a smile. Gus does make a mean salad. I'll definitely have to order this again sometime.
A minute later, River finally returned, asking, "So… uh… did I miss anything interesting?"
Trying to downplay Johnny's behavior earlier, Leah answered with a shrug, "Nah, not really. Just me and your brother having a nice chat is all."
"Oh, uh… that's cool." The blue haired female said with a smile.
Johnny however couldn't let that slide, asking his sister, "River, why did you let that jerk treat you like that again?"
"What...do you mean..?" She asked, trying to downplay it.
"C'mon, sis, I saw the whole thing." Johnny told her with a heavy frown. "I saw how upset he was making you and everything. I nearly went over there myself to give him a piece of my mind."
"Johnny please..." River said with a sigh and a look of sadness, "Don't start a fight just to protect me. It's our first day here. I want us to get off on a good foot with this town."
"I do too, sis." Johnny reiterated. "Believe me, I'm not looking for trouble, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let anyone walk all over you either."
"I appreciate you looking out for me, bro, but I can take care of this on my own." River told him firmly. "All I want from you is to get along with everyone and not make any enemies. Can you please do that for me?"
Johnny let out a heavy sigh, answering, "Fine, I'll try, sis…"
Trying to lighten the mood, Leah said with a smile, "Well, if it's any consolation, I think you two are making good progress in that department. On the way over here I heard a lot of good comments from other people talking about the both of you."
"Really now?" Needless to say, Johnny was surprised to hear this.
"Honestly, as long as you two work hard on that farm and keep your nose clean, I think you're both going to blend in here just fine." Leah said.
Trying to make an impression on this girl, Johnny replied with a smirk, "Well, I'll make sure to keep that in mind then."
For the rest of the night, the three of them enjoyed their time at the saloon, though mostly ended up a two way conversation between both Leah and Johnny while River quietly ate her burger.
Thankfully the rest of the night went along rather uneventfully. By the time they were walking out the door and saying their goodbyes, the cloud hanging over them fully dissipated.
"Wow, that was a lot of fun."Leah said with a big smile, "We should for sure do this again sometime!"
River chuckled a little nervously at her words, responding, "You should probably make that a date for two. I don't want to be… a third wheel, you know?"
"Don't be silly!" Leah slightly scolded her with a frown. "I enjoyed your company too, River. I mean it. You're really nice and sweet."
"Oh, uh… t-thanks." River replied, looking away embarrassed.
"So when we can hang out again, don't be a stranger, ok?" Leah advised her.
"I'll uh… keep that mind, Leah." River said, giving her a faint smile. After a long pause, she added, "Still, I'm probably going to be more busy putting Papi's farm back together so…he's going to have more free time than me."
"True, but that doesn't mean I won't help you out when necessary, sis." Johnny reiterated. "The farm may be in your name, but it's just as important to me too.'
"I know, but I also know you pretty well, bro." River teased. "You enjoy socializing more than farming." She then added with a sly smirk, "Which means Leah…you might have to keep a close eye on him. He might be more trouble than he's worth."
"HEY!" Johnny blurted out a little louder than he intended.
"Duly noted." Leah giggled, "Well I suppose it's getting late, we should probably turn it in. But if you ever get bored sometime tomorrow after work, feel free to stop by. Door's always open!"
Johnny smirked, "Also noted, have a good night neighbor."
And with that, the red haired female walked away.
After the two waved at each other, River meanwhile walked, searching for their little furry friend. She soon found him yawning and stretching on the bench.
"Ready to go home, little guy?"
After an enthusiastic mew of response, she extended her arm, letting him bounce up and onto her shoulder, before following her brother up the road back home.
Wanting to break the silence, River spoke up again. "You know...if we are going to keep this little guy, he's probably going to need a name."
"Well…" After a moment of silence he turned to look back at River, saying, "This is your place, so why don't you name him?
"Are you sure?" River inquired. "You found him first after all."
He waved her off in response, replying, "Eh don't worry about it, I'm no good with naming things anyway."
After a moment of thought, she looked at the little guy on her shoulders, batting at fireflies, suggesting "I think...he looks like a Shadow to me. What do you think, little guy?"
The kitten meowed, nudging her face before, jumping from her arm to Johnny's shoulder.
"I think he likes it." Her brother commented, scratching behind the kitten's ears.
As the two approached the gate to the farm, Johnny held the gate door for River, asking her "So...you happy we finally got a chance to get around today?"
River nodded, answering, "For the most part yeah, nearly everyone seemed pleasant…"
Johnny noticed her slight drop in tone, inquiring of her "Let me guess… that jerk at the bar still bothering you?"
"N-no! I just...I don't know, there was something about him." River explained awkwardly. "Something that felt…different."
"I suggest you stay far away from him, sis." Johnny told her sharply. "He's bad news."
"I'll be fine, ok?" She replied, her tone dropping as she spoke, "It's not going to happen again."
She adjusted herself as she walked up the stairs.
"It better not…" Johnny reiterated with a tone of anger. "Because I swear if he doesn't stop causing trouble, I'm going to…"
"Johnny, enough already…" River told him firmly, now tearing up. "I told you before; let me handle this. I'm a big girl. I can take care of this on my own."
Johnny was tempted to press the matter, but seeing how upset he was making her, he sighed heavily, saying, "Look, I'm sorry, ok? I just care about you that much. You're the only family I have and I almost lost you once. I couldn't bear to have that happen again."
After hearing this, River softened up, saying, "I appreciate that, bro. Believe me, I do." She then added a brief pause, "Nevertheless, you're going to have let me live my life instead of trying to control every aspect of it when it's not to your liking. I mean, would you like it if I did the same thing to you?"
Realizing she had a point, Johnny shook his head, saying, "Alright, I'll… try not to smother you too much from this point on, sis."
"Thank you…"
"But just so we're clear… if anyone dares to lay a hand on you, I'm not holding back on them." Johnny severely warned her. "Understood?"
"Duly noted…" River said, shaking her head annoyed. "But until then, I better not see you starting any trouble. I want to get along with everyone, so PLEASE be on your best behavior, alright?"
"Alright, alright…" Johnny conceded with another sigh. "Anyway, it's getting late. We should probably call it a night now."
"I guess so.." River acknowledged with a sigh of her own. "We'll need our rest if we're going to clear the rest of this field out tomorrow."
"Indeed…" Johnny replied with a nod. "Try to get some sleep if you can."
"As long as you try not to flirt with any more girls in your dreams, it's a deal." River teased.
"Ha ha… real cute." Johnny said, rolling his eyes.
"No, but in all seriousness, bro, I think having more than the two would be problematic." River cautioned him. "So try not to flirt with anymore if you can avoid doing so."
"Well, I can't make any promises, but I'll keep what you said in mind." Johnny said. "Anyway, good night, sis. Sleep well."
River gave him a faint smile in return, replying, "You too, bro. Night…"
And with that, the two siblings walked away.
Now along with his thoughts and the kitten on his shoulder, Johnny let out another sigh, saying softly to himself, "I really don't understand why River doesn't want me to deal with that jerk Shane. I mean, is it so wrong he needs to be put in his place? I'm not going to thrash the guy like her ex, at least as long as he doesn't give me a reason to. I was just going to set him straight about his horrible behavior is all. Is that really so wrong of me to do?"
Realizing he was in a no win situation about it, Johnny shook his head, muttering again, "Well, I guess as long as he doesn't cause any more trouble for her, I'll leave him be. Shane better watch his step though because it's not going to take much for me to give him what for. He crosses the line with me or River; he's going to get it!"
To be continued…