Kay surveyed her land as she stepped out on the porch after lunch. Stone and wood stacked as neatly as she could near the spot she was clearing for a chicken coop. Though she was torn between a chicken coop or a house upgrade, she wanted chickens, but she also wanted a proper kitchen. She needed to save up for whichever she got so a choice didn't to be made just yet.
But she was beat from chopped, reaping, stacking and watering crops. At least she'd harvested the parsnips, most of which were in the sale box, so she'd have less to water tomorrow, at least until she got to the store for more seeds. Her cat, whom she named Obsidian, Sid for short, was sunning himself on the porch.
"I'm heading to the lake Sid, I'll bring us home some supper, probably. You're on mouse patrol til I get back." She scratched behind his ears and he stretched, yawned, and turned to sun his other side.
She smiled as she walked the shortcut, adding leeks and flowers to her bag as she went. Then she saw a yellow tent. living in the city she knew a homeless camp when she saw one. Most homeless people were good people who'd fallen on hard times, but some were involved with criminal activities while others were batshit crazy. She didn't feel like discovering what flavor of homeless this was today. She spotted some stairs that led her down alongside a rather large home with a telescope in the yard. A sign out front identified this as Robin's place, like many in town she ran her business out of the same building she lived in.
She made her way to the shore and chose a spot to fish from and realized a moment later she wasn't alone. She hadn't seen the old man dressed in rags and a coat made of leaves at first. He was fishing here. "Oh, hi. Didn't see you there, is it ok if I fish here too?"
The man, clearly the homeless person, regarded her with wariness. "Oh, a stranger. Yes, don't mind me." He seemed polite enough, though his attire suggested he had not recently fallen on hard times, he'd been out here a while.
""I'm Kay. So, how are they biting today?"
"I'm Linus. I just cast off when you walked up so I don't know if the lake will be fruitful today."
It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear and the temperature was nice. Linus made the first catch, reeling in an absolutely huge bass. He smiled at the bass kindly. "Fortunately for you, you are far too large for me to eat. Go, live a good life and have many offspring." He told the fish as he carefully slid it back into the water. He smiled at Kay, "The largest ones are the best breeders. I always throw them back to ensure more fish in the future."
Kay smiled, "I'll keep that in mind."
It was nice, standing in this beautiful location catching fish with this wise old man. Mostly they fished in a comfortable silence, but every time Linus did speak he reminded her of the wise hermits and wizards in the fantasy books she'd read as a child. She couldn't help but trust the man.
The light began to fade and she picked up her bucket. She really should get going, but then She heard a loud croak somewhere nearby and turned in the direction of the sound. "A Frog! we don't have frogs in the city, I've never seen one in person before!"
She crouched down and inched forward to get a closer look, careful not to spook the animal." She heard Linus walking around behind her but paid him no mind. The frog was squat and chubby looking with big, black eyes and it's wide mouth seemed to be smiling at her. "Oh Yoba, you're the cutest thing ever!" She gushed.
"Good evening Sebastian."
"Linus" A low voice replied in greeting behind her.
"Have you met Kay yet?"
Kay jumped, causing the frog to spook and jump into the water. It had not been Linus she'd heard walking up, but a young man with jet black hair falling over one of his dark eyes in a dark hoodie. This guy was fucking gorgeous, staring at her with an unreadable look.
"Kay, this young man is Sebastian, he is a good friend of mine."
"You just moved in, right?" He asked, still staring at her with those intense eyes. She nodded. "Cool." He replied then turned to Linus, talking so low she couldn't hear a word he said, not that she tried, it was obviously a private conversation, and she was not part of it.
She cast her rod for something to do. 'That guy had just walked up on me geeking out over a frog! He must think I'm a total dork!' She thought furiously. She sighed, it was just as well, she had no intentions of giving her heart to a man again. She glanced down at the faded bruise on her arm, now barely visible. Another day or two and she'd be completely healed, physically anyway.
She heard Linus bid her and Sebastian both farewell. She called "Bye" over her shoulder but was focused on the lake, the full moon and a thousand stars reflected in it's surface. There was movement to her left, Sebastian had walked up to the shore to stare out over the water, fuck, was this his thinking spot?
She felt eyes on her and glanced over just as he diverted his eyes. "Sorry, am I bothering you? I can go."
"It's fine." He replied. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, hesitated then held the pack out to her "You smoke?"
"Not cigarettes."
"Didn't bring anything better." He replied pulling one out and lighting up.
"No offense but I won't smoke with a stranger." They were silent for a long while, her fishing while he smoked.
"Okay, I have to know, of all the places you could have chosen to live, why Pelican Town?"
"Because my grandfather didn't leave me a beachfront condo in Zuzu City."
"Fair enough. See you around." She was glad to see he extinguished the cigarette then took the butt with him instead of throwing it on the ground.
Kay waited a few minutes then went home, the moon providing just enough light for her to stay on her path.
The next day was Friday. She finished up her chores and decided she may as well take Abigail up on her offer to hang out at the saloon with her friends, a girl's night sounded fun. Well, if she was going to do this she might as well do it right. After a quick bath to scrub away dirt and sweat she dug though her clothes and found her favorite tank top, black with silver skulls and blood red roses on it. She paired it with tight black shorts and knee high boots so that the flowers and butterflies inked into her thighs were on display. She left her purple hair down but pinned it away from her face with black rose hair clips then painted her lips dark red and her nails black. A choker she made herself with an antique key and black satin ribbon completed the look. She stepped back from the mirror over the bathroom sink to see as much over herself as possible.
She looked good! She still had a faint bruise around her eye, but it was almost gone and probably wouldn't be visible in the dim light of the saloon.
"Hold down the fort Sid, mama's going out on the town." She told her lazy fat cat kissing him on top of the head. That was a mistake, black cat fur stuck to her lipstick and she had to wipe off most of the lipstick to remove it then reapply it.
"Okay, let's try this again." she laughed opting to pet Sid's head this time.
The Saloon was the most crowded she'd seen it yet. Marnie was fawning over Mayor Lewis, Shane was nursing probably his third beer in his little hidey hole, willy was drinking with Clint and Robin was dancing with a man she hadn't met yet.
"Kay, it is a pleasure to see you, and might I say you look quite fetching this evening?" She turned and saw Elliot approaching from the other side of the building. He gestured to a table where a lady with braided red hair sat. "Care to join us?"
"Well, I am supposed to meet someone here, but they don't seem to be here yet." She replied gazing around the room once more. She noticed many of the men in the building had noted her arrival. "I guess I could sit with you two for a moment."
Elliot's friend, Leah, was an artist and soon the two of them were engrossed in a conversation about dead men's contributions to the artistic community. She really couldn't participate and excused herself once most of the men in the bar were no longer watching her.
She didn't think Gus had updated the music selection in the jukebox in her lifetime, but there were a few 80's hair metal songs that were still good. Then she asked Gus to give her two of whatever Shane was drinking. Shane was staring down into his empty glass when she approached. He looked up in confusion when she thrust a new brew Infront of him. "What 's this?"
"An olive branch."
He thanked her and took a drink, lighting up when he realized it was his brand. "How did you know?"
"A little birdie told me." She took a sip and frowned, "Taste's domestic."
"Yeah. It's affordable."
"Yeah. I don't drink much so I can afford to shell out a little more for the imported stuff."
"That's luxury alcoholics don't have." He continued to stare at her in confusion. "Why do you want to talk to me? I'm an asshole."
"You're honest. I was in the fucking hospital two days before I showed up here and thought I could cover that up with cheap foundation. I looked like an idiot but everyone else was scared of hurting my feelings. You called me on the bullshit."
She drank some more, she paid for it, she wasn't about to waste it. "Plus you're not looking at me like a piece of meat. I've spent the last week covered in bruises, mud, and sweat, I just wanted to feel pretty but I don't really want any male attention."
"Oh I definitely noticed you when you walked in. But a lot of the other guys are lonely and looking for a girlfriend in a small dating pool."
"And you're not?"
"Lonely? Yes. Looking? Yoba no,"
"Same. after all..." She pointed to a faded bruise. "I obviously know how to pick them."
"If it makes you feel better the nice thing about such a small town is I know these guys well enough to confidently say none of them are like that. Plus, in a community this small we are all protective of each other, if someone did put his hands on a woman most of us would be at his house to put our hands on him the next day."
"Kay, glad you could make it! Hi Shane."
"Abigail." He muttered into his glass.
Kay said bye and Abigail dragged her over towards the pool table and she realized her friends weren't actually girls but two guys who had their backs to them while they set up the pool table. "Hey guys' this is Kay."
A blonde boy who looked like he was about to go super Saiyan turned around first. He feigned mock distress and exclaimed "Oh Yoba, there's two of them now!"
The dark haired on turned and the corner of his mouth lifted in a cute half smile "Seen any frogs today?"