How is he?
You blinked in the sunlight that was streaming in through your blinds. Your alarm was screaming at you, telling you to get out of bed.
You rolled over, groaned, and hit snooze. You shuffled back into your cozy green duvet, fluttering your eyes closed. You were ready for sleep to come and take you for another few minutes.
But, sleep didn’t come again. Your troubled thoughts of Shane sprung up in your mind, forbidding sleep from the equation.
You yawned as you sat up. At least if I’m up I can get a head start on my chores, you thought.
You put on work clothes and quickly tied your hair back. You meandered outside to meet your chickens who excitedly ran up to the fence at your presence.
“Good morning!” You giggled. You opened the gate, and sat down, allowing the chickens to crawl over you. “At least you guys will never give me headaches.” You said. One of your large white hens grabbed a strand of your hair and pulled down ferociously. “Ouch. Never mind.”
You fed your chickens, then the cows, and then watered your plants. Your second batch of cauliflower was almost ready. You reminded yourself that Jodi wanted one when they were fully grown.
Even with the tedious chores, your mind was still racing. You went through a walk in the mountains to clear your mind. You heard there were mines somewhere close, but had never actually gone.
As you approached the bottom of the mountains, passing Robin's house, you noticed a man with a bushy white beard standing thoughtfully outside of a cave.
“Hello.” You said tentatively.
He grunted in response. “I haven’t seen your face around.”
“I just moved here earlier this month.”
“You been in the mines?” He asked. You shook your head and he grunted. “Figures.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Young folk like you don’t want to get their hands dirty nowadays.”
“I literally work on a farm.” You said defensively.
“Oh. You’re the one that took over that farm?”
“Yes.”
The man looked you over and nodded. “Strong arms.” You opened your mouth to tell him to stop looking at you, but he raised his hand to silence you. “No, I mean, I bet you could carry a sword.”
“A sword?” You asked.
“Have you heard about the monsters in this cave?”
“Well, they always taught us in school that monsters show up in rural areas…” You said.
“Ever thought about fighting them?” He asked bluntly.
“I hadn’t considered it.”
He chuckled, his scruffy white beard moving with his chin. “Well if you are ever going into the mines, you’ll have to fight. Here, let me give you a starter sword. It ain’t a great one, but she’ll do.”
You watched him enter his log cabin, and after a moment, he reappeared, carried a rusty looking sword. “For you.” He said, placing it into your hands.
“Oh. Um… thanks.” You smiled.
After saying you should be heading off, he told you his name is Marlon. He told you you had to kill 10 slimes to join the ‘Adventurer’s Guild’. For now, you just carried the sword thoughtfully in your hands while you considered his words.
You dropped the sword off at home, and debated whether or not you should go to the clinic to see Shane and Harvey. Your concern for Shane won over the thoughts in your head that were telling you ‘no, he probably wants to be alone’.
You put your sword into storage, and promised yourself to pull it out again soon. For now, you had bigger things to worry about.
You walked up to the door of the clinic, mentally preparing to go in. Every time you went to turn the handle, you hesitated.
“Hey. What are you doing?” A familiar voice came from behind. It was Maru. Her hair had been tied back into a ponytail, and she was wearing her clinic uniform.
“I’m… going in. I just…”
“Hey, don’t worry, we can walk in together.” Maru smiled. Her brown eyes were so sparkly, shining kindly at you. Her umber arm reached to hold open the clinic door so that you could walk in.
Harvey was waiting at the front desk, flipping through a newspaper. “Oh, hello.” He said. He looked surprised to see you. He straightened his posture, and adjusted his tie. “Maru, I’ve got a stack of files to sort… y/n, can we talk in private?”
Maru shot you a curious glance, but went to stand at the counter to do her job.
“Here, we can talk in this back room here.” He led you to the examination room and closed the door behind him.
“Hey, how’s Shane?” You asked once the door was closed.
“He’s still here. Awake now. Look, I don’t think he wants to see you right now.” Harvey sighed. He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“I get it.” You said quickly.
“No, it’s not… He’s embarrassed. That’s really what it is. I think it’s a mix, he’s glad to know you care so much, but how he acted…”
“I really get it, Harvey. I’ll go now.”
“No, wait.” Harvey said, grabbing you arm.
You paused. His large hand was wrapped easily around your forearm with a grip you didn’t expect. He’s strong, you thought. You looked up at him with wide eyes, and for a moment he stared back at you. You felt a pulse of electricity from his grip all the way down your arm.
“Sorry.” He said, releasing you.
“Don’t be.” You said. You fully meant it. You wanted to tell him to grab you like that any time, but you weren’t that bold.
“I don’t want you to feel bad about it. That’s all.” He said, his soft brown eyes looking pleadingly into yours.
“I don’t.”
“Good. Um, I also wanted to say… even though it was kind of an intense night, I really enjoyed your company. If you were serious about wanting to learn to build things…”
“I was.” You said. Like I’d turn down an opportunity to spend time with a hot doctor, you thought.
“Well, let me know when you’re free.” Harvey said.
After swapping phone numbers and available times, you turned to leave the clinic. You passed Maru at the front desk, who softly waved at you. You gazed at how pretty her face was for only a second. Sure, she was always pretty, but with her hair back you were able to get a great look at her clean and perfect skin.
You left the clinic, and decided to go update Gus on your last couple days.
Thankfully, the saloon was empty, except for Gus at the counter shining a glass.
“Hey!” You called.
“Hey! How’s it going?”
“Ready for a bit of a long story?” You asked. Once Gus assured you he was, you updated him on everything from the past few days.
“Wow.” Gus said, taking it all in. “Sounds like you’ve got all these men falling at your feet.”
“No! Gus! That’s not the point!” You said.
“I know Sam’s come in here looking for you. So has Sebastian, Alex, Elliot, and Shane… and now you’ve got the doctor.”
“When you put it like that I sound like a whore.”
“No, no. Not at all.” Gus said amiably. “Just a pretty girl who rolled into town and caught everyone’s eye.”
“I don’t want to date anyone right now.” You said truthfully.
“There’s some charmers in this town, you’ll eventually change your mind.”
“Probably.” You admitted, putting your head down on the counter. “Ugh, how do I pick who?”
“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you tell me once you also liked girls?” Gus asked, putting a clean glass back behind the bar.
“Yeah. And?”
“And, there are many girls in town, too. Maybe your pool of potential lovers is too small.”
“Don’t say lovers, Gus, it makes you sound old.”
“Okay, then potential partners?”
“That’s better.”
“Am I wrong, though?”
You thought of Abigail and the time you spent kissing her. No, Gus wasn’t wrong. Maybe you needed to ignore the boys for a little bit. “Who would be good?”
“Penny. I don’t know if she’s into girls, but she is such a sweet girl. Just don’t go breaking her heart.” Gus said wistfully.
“Fine, I’ll go find Penny. But only so I can ignore my current problems.”
“That doesn’t sound nice.”
“Jesus, Gus, I’m going to be friends with her first.”
“Then proceed.” He said, waving you out.