Disclaimer: I do not own Stardew Valley

...

As I walked through town and towards the path that Maru had spoken about, I couldn't help but feel nervous. This time it wasn't just nerves from having not been able to do much on the farm that morning due to the damages on my hands. It was more so to do with the fact that I had actively been invited to somebody's house out of...I'm not quite sure what.

Sure, Maru had some old gloves that she wanted to give me to help prevent myself from hurting myself again, but was that all that was going to happen? Would I just pick up the gloves and then be on my way? Was I expected to stick around for a while and make polite conversation? I mean, it would be rude not to, but would I be intruding?

My thought process was shattered as I came upon the residence which I could only assume Maru lived in. From where I stood it was the only building in the area other than a small, somewhat out of place, shack on the other side of a lake. Given the one in front of me actively looked more like somewhere somebody would sleep I counted that as the better option.

Swallowing my nerves, I knocked on the door.

"It's open."

Well, that was a good start. However, it wasn't Maru's voice that I had heard on the other side. So, did that make it a bad start or was I just overthinking things. Probably overthinking things. Hopefully.

Opening the door and stepping inside I was slightly taken back by the entrance almost looking like a storefront, complete with a counter which Robin was standing behind. I guess the house doubled as her business.

"Hey Taylor, welcome," said Robin with a smile as she leaned against the counter. "So, are you ready for me to come working on your property yet? Looking for a barn or a coop perhaps? Maybe looking to expand your home from what your grandfather left you? Imagine, being able to shower inside."

Seems like she was forever the saleswoman and while I couldn't really afford anything at the moment, actively showering inside seemed like a good goal to chase.

"I'm just kidding," said Robin playfully as she straightened up. "Maru told me that you were coming by. She's in her room, just down the hall and on the left."

"Ah, thank you," I replied as I walked towards where she had indicated. I silently really wished that Robin had said that she would tell Maru that I was here but she seemed to be casual enough to let me roam through her home/work. Before getting to the hallway, I couldn't help but notice the different work environment that adjoined. Beakers, petri dishes, microscopes. Yeah, I had done enough science in school to know not to touch anything. Who knew what would mix poorly together.

I swiftly found myself at the designated door and politely knocked. "Come in," came Maru's voice from the other side. Swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat, I entered Maru's room and had to pause a moment as I considered what I assume were merely decorations. The shelves were aligned with gadgets and gizmos, many of which I didn't have an idea as to what they would actively do.

"How are you going Taylor?" asked Maru, reminding me that there was indeed an actual home among all this machinery. She was currently sitting on the floor in front of another doohickey of some description with a screwdriver in hand.

"I'm fine," I replied slowly before asking the question that was immediately on my mind. "Did you build all these?"

"Most of them yeah, others are just for inspiration," answered Maru as she placed down her screwdriver and stood up, brushing herself off. "Let me get those gloves for you."

"Thanks," I said meekly as I watched Maru walk over to a set of drawers, opening up and pulling the items out. Even from where I stood I could see that they were a little damaged. A couple scorch marks here and there from what I could only assume was when an experiment hadn't particularly gone to plan.

"Here you go," said Maru as she offered me the gloves.

"Cheers," I said as I took the gloves. I knew full well that even if they were a bit tattered and damaged, it was better than nothing.

Then the silence began, like I knew it would. Was I meant to say more? Was I meant to wait until she said something to me? Should I just excuse myself and be on my way?

"I should leave you to it," I blurted out. "It seems you're rather involved with whatever it is that you're working on. I wouldn't want to keep you from making progress."

There was an immediate look of uncertainty crossing Maru's face but she seemed to accept my words. "Well it was good of you to stop by," she said, more out of politeness than anything else I felt. "I'll see you around okay."

"Sure, see you then," I said as I turned my back to the young woman and exited her bedroom, rubbing at my temples the moment I had closed the door behind me. What was that? Was that how people communicated between one another? That was terrible!

Yeah, I needed to leave now and hide myself from further embarrassment.

"Couple things before you run off Taylor," called out Robin before I had a chance to exit the building.

"Yeah," I said slowly, really not feeling like one for conversation right now.

"If you're heading back home, there's a passage just around the West fence which leads straight to your place and should take a good ten or fifteen minutes off your walk," stated Robin.

I blinked a couple times as I absorbed this information, a shortcut was a good thing to keep in mind. "Cheers," I said gratefully. "What else did you want to tell me?"

"If you want, most of the town gathers at the Saloon tonight for a bit of a catch up, it'd be great to see you there."

I truly struggled to keep the smile on my face and I may have even twitched as I tried to look like I enjoyed that offer. "I'll keep that in mind," I finally choked out.

"Excellent, I'll see you there tonight."

Great, now she was expecting me. "I'll see you there," I said with no amount of confidence whatsoever. Given I had made the commitment, I felt compelled to go regardless of what I felt internally. I didn't want to be known as somebody who would bail without any real reason.

Anxiety didn't count.

As I said my goodbyes, I was glad to learn of the shortcut. I just wanted to get back to the farm and hide from the world under my blanket until it was time to go out.

That seemed like a good way to spend my time.

...

I kept nervously pressing down the clothes I was wearing, having gotten dressed up in my Sunday best for the night. I hadn't wanted to get this outfit dirty or damaged that it had got to the point of whether or not I would ever have worn it in the first place. Thankfully, it turned out their was a reason to do so although whether it would just live in the bottom of my suitcase after this was yet to be seen.

Standing outside of the saloon, I could actively hear the jostle happening inside from the other side of the door. It sounded busy, which, given the smaller nature of the town was a promising side. If what Robin had said was true and a majority of the town met up every week to have a drink and socialize it was a great thing. Small businesses needed the support of locals and if a vast majority of the population were providing patronage at least once a week it would keep the place running.

Pushing open the door, the volume of the customers crashed into me. Closing the entrance behind me, I surveyed the terrain and just who was here. Robin was currently on the dance floor, boogieing away with someone who I could only assume was her partner. Lewis was another person I recognized, the Mayor in deep conversation with a woman with thick bushy hair.

Meandering forward to the bar, I was greeted with a smile by the barkeep. "Hello there," he said professionally. "Are you after food or drink?"

My response was almost instantaneous. "A beer please."

"Coming right up," they said cheerfully, moving down the line to get my order. While a feed did sound tempting, I wasn't really sure how long I would stay here. All things considered it was rather overwhelming and if I chose to make a quick exit I didn't want to leave half a meal lying around.

The second bartender working flashed me a smile, complete with a small wave. The wave I returned was rather weak all things considered but I believe part of it was because I couldn't quite get over the fact she had very, very blue hair. It was a little surreal.

"Here you go," said the barkeep as he placed my drink in front of me. I quickly paid for my purchase before ascertaining just where I should sit. It wasn't like I wasn't known in town but I was only known through word of mouth as the new farmer. These people didn't know me but I in turn didn't know them. All things considered, there were only a handful of people here who I had had a conversation with and that didn't particularly make us friends by any stretch.

I knew I would feel really uncomfortable if I sat down at a table and tried to introduce myself. Given how my interaction with Maru had finished today, I wasn't sure if it would top that awkward situation or not.

"Yer Taylor, ain't ya."

Seemed like now was the time to see whether or not I could make more of myself. Looking at the person who was currently walking towards me, he seemed like a scruffy man but the most defining feature was that he smelled of salt water. "Yes, and you are?"

"Willy," he said, extending his hand. I had to quickly shuffle my drink to the other hand in order to give him a handshake. "I'm surprised I haven't seen ya sooner."

"Oh?"

Wasn't I the riveting conversationalist.

"I left ya a letter 'bout three days ago," explained Willy.

"Oh," I repeated. Vaguely I could recall the letterbox that stood next to my house. I only ever looked at it in passing, completely ignoring the fact that there was a possibility people would actively put anything in it. "It must have slipped my mind."

"No harm," chuckled Willy. "Yer Grandfather was a mighty keen fisherman in his day, wanted to know if the apple didn't fall far from the tree?"

Internally I struggled to recall the last time I had actively been fishing. It wasn't like there was a local pond or anything back in the city that I could have gone to. I did enjoy it back as a child, or at least from what I as able to remember but that didn't particularly count for much at the moment.

"I find it nice and relaxing," I said. I know I didn't really answer the question that had been given but I felt it was still a suitable answer.

"That it is," said Willy with a smile. "It's good to see that at least one of the younger generation still appreciates the art of fishin'. I've even put up flyers lately offering to pay people to fish, just to keep the art alive."

"Flyers?" I repeated.

"There's the noticeboard out the front of Pierre's General Store," explained Willy. "People advertise for all kinds of stuff, 'appy to pay all sorts for random things. Some people want certain veggies for a recipe, others want stone or wood, Clint pays for ore from the mines if he's running low. There's almost a new advertisement every second day if not more often."

"I see," I said as I took all of this in. Doing odd jobs around the town wouldn't be a bad way to earn a little bit of pocket money while waiting for my first batch of veggies to grow. Any income was better than nothing. "Thanks for that tidbit."

"No problem," said Willy with a genuine smile. "Do you have your own rod?"

"I didn't bring mine down with me unfortunately." It was a complete and utter lie. I didn't own a rod in the first place but making it sound like I did was probably the better option here.

"I might 'ave a spare one for ya if ya need," said Willy. "Can't guarantee you'll be able to catch much with it but it's better than nothin'."

"That's awfully kind of you Willy," I said.

"In which case, I'll see you down the beach sometime," stated Willy. "You take care of yerself tonight."

"You to," I said as the two of us clinked out glasses together before Willy ventured towards the table he had come from.

Thankfully that had gone better than expected. Now though I found myself once more standing by myself in the middle of the bar, looking as I expected people to come up to me in order to make conversation. Glancing around, I didn't want to particularly take a seat next to someone who was in the middle of a conversation.

Looking to the far side of the saloon, there was a few adults closer to my age crowded around a Pool table. Two young men looked to be bantering with one another over who the better player was while a woman sat on the couch, content to watch the bickering in front of her play out. I couldn't necessarily play pool all that well, but at least a friendly game to introduce oneself wasn't a bad option.

All I had to do, was walk over there and ask to play the winner of the next game. It was simple. Just walk over there. Say hi. Ask to play.

I downed the drink in my hand and placed the empty glass on the bar top before signalling the bartender. It seemed more liquid courage was necessary.

...

The groan that escaped my lips the following morning was without a doubt justified. My head felt like it had...actually, I didn't know what this felt like. All I knew was that I reaped what I sow. I couldn't even remember what time I had managed to get home. I hadn't even managed to make it to my bed by the looks of it, pushing myself off the ground where I had slept.

The empty bottles scattered across the floor indicated that somehow I had gotten hold of a six pack to bring home with me and had successfully gotten through the entire thing without an issue. I was not proud of that.

Stepping outside, I had to shield my eyes as the morning sun bore down on me. Taking a few hazy steps around my house, I went to where my running water was accessible and began drinking straight from the tap. As undignified as it was, I needed water immediately.

I could of been there for the better part of half a minute as I quenched my thirst. The noise I made as I turned off the water wasn't polite by any stretch as I made my way back to the front of my house. Before stepping inside however, I actively opened up my mailbox and grabbed the letters within, making an internal note to check it a little more frequently.

Before I did step inside, it looked as if some of my crops were ready to be harvested. At least that was one positive regarding this morning. I'm sure I could muster the energy to do what was necessary and get them all sorted. I'm pretty sure the General Store was open as well so I could actually make a sale. While I was there, I could actually check out this notice board that Willy had mentioned.

I just had to do all of this while ignoring the current thumping in my head.

No biggie.

Stepping inside, I found myself stopping in place as swift realization kicked in regarding just why I had slept on my floor. Or more precisely, it looked as if I had slept on the floor because my bed was occupied by someone else. In my condition last night, I had managed to convince someone to come home and keep drinking with me.

As they squirmed beneath my covers, I couldn't help but wonder whether I should have stayed home last night after all.

...

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