rock me!

maeve smiled a little at sasha. “i guess i just needed a fresh start.” she said, remembering the flyer she found about this small town. “my old job was becoming quite a chore so my feet led me here. other than the allergies and the insects, everything has been great.” besides the sunscreen she had in her purse, she also made sure to carry around bug spray - a lesson she learned after the town’s camping trip. “oh yes, the spa is lovely,” she continued, “i went there a few days ago and i’m planning to go again in a week or so. the season’s just great for relaxing, don’t you think?”

oh, well then. that definitely wasn’t the reaction finley expects, and though their smile didn’t break, their eyes narrowed ever so slightly for a quick second. “i just thought a tip from a fellow dewer would be helpful, you know?” they chuckled, rubbing at the back of their neck. and a celebrity buying from the general store would surely make for good publicity, right? they took in her oversized shades, her celebrity status, and her already apparent holier than thou complex, and decided on a different approach. their smile grew the slightest bit more bashful. “i– you’re sasha fiorini, right? i was so excited when they announced you were headlining.” they have only heard one song from her. didn’t like it.

   Jillian shifted, clearly uncomfortable at the old nickname — and, honestly, at Sasha’s presence in the Valley. Someone who knew so much about you: who really knew you, and seemed to have no qualms about going on the offense was a dangerous kind of person to have around.   “   The only problem I have,   ”   There’s a long bear of silence. The original intention, the ever-so-scathing ‘ is with you ’, sounds immature — she IS, but she doesn’t want to sound it.   “   Is that you and your little fans are giving all your money to the store that’s sucking the life force from my home.   ”    She looks at Sasha, almost challengingly.   “   Or ours, no matter how much you’d like to forget that.   ”

“i’m sure you’re still a bully who thinks they’re above everyone still given how defensive you are.” she said with a shrug, tilting her head to look at her. malia could forgive and forget but in this case, she had just left everyone on bad terms and a nasty taste in their mouths. she shrugs at that, “yeah well, i didn’t really get to have a say if i stayed or go so.” 

it was always like that in the valley. from the day she was born, everyone felt like they knew sasha, the mayor’s daughter, and her own shadow suffocated her. she crumbled under the pressure and created the sasha malia knew, and she didn’t know who or what she was anymore, especially not back at home. but one thing remained the same. the way the others spoke to her made her blood boil, and she snapped before she could stop herself.

athena squealed loudly as the thing in her hand moved, dropping it and jumping away from it as an automatic response. her heart was racing, and while she felt bad for dropping what looked like to be a live creature, she couldn’t help but panic. “what the fuck?” she exclaimed, earning weird looks from the people around her, “is it a fuckin’ government spy or something?”

“thank you so much,” she said as sasha wrote down the brand name on a piece of paper. she never really expected to have a conversation like this - much less in joja. “yeah the outdoors and me haven’t really been tight either,” she lightly laughed at her own expense. sure she loved the valley but being a city girl all her life came with a lot of adjusting. “i’ve been dealing with allergies and the occasional mosquito attack. So i usually stay at home - or in the library for work. i sure miss galway, though.”

“oh, trust me i’m really not jealous.” she said before rolling her eyes. seeing her obvious irritation there was the immature part of her that wanted to press on that bruise a little more. she had been mad that she left, without warning, and how she didn’t seem to care. she was mad that she hurt her friends feelings. malia was a lot of things but she loved her friends. she quickly pushed past sasha. “it’s good to see you haven’t changed.” she said over her shoulder. 

finley caught the ends of her wrinkled expression, but decided not to comment– it wasn’t really worth it. instead, they plastered on a casual grin, waving a hand dismissively at her words. “not particularly, no. just thought i’d tell you that i wouldn’t really recommend joja mart for your, uh, purchases.” they glanced at the store in the distance, wrinkled their nose. “their stuff isn’t really that good.”

   It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Attitude she could shoot back, kindness she could ignore, sadness she could stifle — but this sort of genuine aggression being shot back at her made her uncomfortable, to say the least. And she didn’t like the idea of being bested, of Sasha being able to get under her skin so quickly. She was right, which made it worse: Jillian did think Sasha was better than her. She left and she stuck with it and she succeeded. She was a story with a happy ending, lauded as she came back to town. Jillian was … what ? A failure who abandoned the place she loved the most and then came crawling back ?   “   Right, it’s … all on me.   ”   Jillian said sarcastically, that gnaw of anxiety and anger still eating her from the inside out.   “   I go to therapy or feel about my feelings and all of a sudden calling me a sellout who can’t survive in the real world is a compliment ?  I’m not stupid.   ”   

“i feel the same way,” she said with a smile, wiping the sweat from her brow. “why don’t you stay for a while? i’m sure the town would love to have you around. there’s just something about the valley that’s so - welcoming.” she didn’t really have a better word to describe it other than that. things just fell in place when she moved here a month ago. the sound of the bin being knocked over jarred her from her thoughts. “oh dear,” she said, “oh well i guess we’d better place these back.” she chuckled at that and began to gather them back in the bin.

athena made fake gagging sounds as she examined the thing again, sage’s suggestions fresh in her mind. the beach was beautiful, of course, but if it produced whatever the hell this was, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be brave enough to dip her toes into that water again. “i just hope it’s not alive, whatever it is,” she said, unable to look away despite her disgust.

maeve found that she was actually enjoying this conversation. she was afraid that the other lady might think maeve was intruding on her errands. “oh, uhm - sure, i’d appreciate it” she said. it was her birthday a few months from now so that could be a well-deserved treat - if she could afford it. “sunscreen is definitely one of my necessities,” she had one in her purse right now, she burned up like a tomato in the summer if she didn’t slather enough on. “and same actually, i’ve always been cooped up in big buildings.” maeve never really spent a lot of time outdoors - unless she was biking. “the valley seems to have changed that for me but it’s been all good.”

“it’s great to meet you too, sage.” she said with a smile. “don’t worry about it,” she readjusted her grip on the bag as it was almost full. “there’s always a first time for everything. i haven’t done this since uni actually so i’m learning as i go.” it was great to see the townsfolk all coming by to participate in this cleanup. it was quite different from all the big cities she’d previously lived in. “how are you finding the valley, sage?” she found herself asking. she’d only been here for a little less than two months but she already loved it - she hoped everyone did. 

“i’m sure you’ll knock the socks off of all of us,” athena said, her smile genuine as she took her glove off and disposed of it to shake sage’s hand. she made a mental note then to look up sage and the sibling he mentioned when she got home, wanting to get familiar with their stuff before the big day. she just hoped they didn’t suck. “in the meantime, though,” she said, her face wrinkling in disgust as she picked up something slimy with her gloved hand, “what the fuck is this?”

there had been a lot of moments at stardew valley that she had loved and cherished simply because they made sense. today was one of those moments. a volunteer effort beach cleanup? her little naturalist heart pitter pattered at the thought. although she had been doing a sort of clean up by herself each morning, ken knew that she was outmatched and she was glad for the help. stopping just before the volunteer sign up, ken adjusted her pack that was full of bags for scooping, gloves, masks, sanitizer, and other tools that would help her along the way. “oh, hey there. okay, so. basically, you sign up at the tent and they’ll give you a quadrant and then you go to that quadrant and clean that portion up. once you’re finished, you come back and get another if you want,” ken smiled broadly at the person before her. “do you want to work together?”

“that’s really cool,” athena said, a genuine smile coming across her face. she loved listening to people talk about what they loved, even if she knew next to nothing about their passion. the light in their eyes was enough. “i have zero musical talent, so i can’t even imagine getting up there. i’ll have to catch your set,” she said, making a mental note to come through with her promise, “but i’m glad you’re enjoying yourself in town. i’m athena, by the way.”

malia was quietly nursing a beer when the person asked a question. she looked over at them for a moment, trying to process what they just said before it finally caught up to her brain. “i’m very basic with my drink order. i just get a beer. sorry.” she offered an apologetic smile. “every now and then i’ll switch it up with a shot of vodka though.”

Ezra gave a shrug at the answer. “Nah, that’s fine. It’s not your job to know all of the drinks this place offers,” they joked with a smile tugging at their lips. “Any good local beers though? What are you drinking?”