POP!

❃ ↷ ˊ-          pelican town is all abuzz about YOON AHNA, our resident 25-year old BARISTA. you know, the one who looks like IM NAYEON? i don’t see it, but maybe that’s just because they remind me of running through fields of flowers, singing along to perfect road trip playlists, & dancing in the moonlight every time i see them at THE BEACH. word around town is that they’re increasingly FREE-SPIRITED and INQUISITIVE, but can get rather ALOOF. hope to see them around the valley soon! 

nabi freezes, caught red handed—chocolate handed!—in joja mart, blinking at the shorter woman like this isn’t the consequence of her many, many terrible ideas. the first being when she was ten-ish and started a rumour about a chocolate goblin living in stardew valley, and provided proof to everyone who’d listen by nabbing their chocolate. it was the work of the goblin, clearly!

and now the local goblin’s all grown up and admitted her childhood pranks because she hadn’t thought the three years ahead to her graduation, and her return to stardew after revealing all her secrets. the younger woman grins and waves awkwardly at ahna, victim to her ingenious method of free chocolates when she was younger. she’d confessed the truth right before she left, and, well, this is only what she’s gotta make up for, so nabi picks up another ice cream bar, big chocolate label printed on it. “okay!” a grin, and a little jibe, “i think the chocolate goblin’s back!”

❝  it’s time the chocolate goblin gives back what it took from me  .  i’m not a little kid anymore i can’t be scared out of my sweets  .  ❞  ahna grinned in return  ,  her tone teasing as she watched her chocolate ice cream be added to nabi’s purchase  .  she also didn’t add that she still feared many things just as she did when she was ten   --  she just no longer feared that which she couldn’t see  .  but put a spider in her path and you could guarantee she would scream  .  ❝  if the goblin tries to come at my ice cream i will throw fists  . ❞  both her small hands came up clenched  (  though the form was all wrong and she would break a knuckle if she actually threw a punch  )  .

✧

“ and  who  exactly  told  you  that ??  your  mom ?? ” no ,  it  wasn’t  the  most  respectable  comeback ,  but  noeul  was  still  too  shell-shocked  that  this  was  really  happening  to  think  of  anything  better.  she  wished  she  would  just  wake  up  from  this  atrocious  nightmare ,  but  it  was  no  use.  she  had  to  face  the  music.  ugh.  horrendous.  what  made  it  even  more  horrendous  was  watching  as  ahna  picked  up  a  fallen  toy  and  put  it  in  her  basket.  " gee ,  thanks  for  helping  pick  that  one  up ;  are  you  planning  on  counting  it  as  your  yearly  good  deed ??  if  i  knew  i  would  be  lucky  enough  to  be  chosen ,  i  would  have  prepared  a  speech. “  the  sarcasm  dripped  from  her  lips  and  noeul  was  finally  finding  her  footing  in  this  battle  of  wits. to  think  that  they  had  ever  been  friends  was  genuinely  mystifying. ” maybe  you’re  giving  me  too  much  credit , like  i  gave  you  all  those  years  ago. “  noeul  shrugged ,  letting  her  guard  down  for  an  instant  before  stiffening  back  up.  the  thought  of  the  rose - colored  history  that  passed  through  them  wasn’t  welcome  here ,  not  when  they  were  currently  glaring  daggers  at  one  another  in  aisle  five. ” i  may  look  like  a  dog ,  but  trust  me ,  ahna ,  you’ll  always  be  the  bitch. “

      he reacted to her words about how most of the letters could have been e-mails with a simple shrug. “ of course, e-mails might be a little bit easier to send and reply to and all, but i feel like certain things are better to be received via mail. no matter how old-fashioned it might be. now get this; would you prefer a heartfelt message from a friend or a lover sent via e-mail or would you prefer a handwritten letter? ”  in haru’s eyes the answer was crystal clear and if she replied in an unexpected way, he would see anha in a different light. a bit dramatic maybe, but not to him.

     her genuine reaction brought a smile to his face; this was why he loved his job, even if he had to get up at ungodly hours of the day. seeing a person happy because of a post card sent by a friend on vacation was enough to be the highlight of his morning. sometimes it was even enough to be the highlight of his day … which said a lot about its’ quality. “ you’ve never been to a place like that? you look like you’d blend in with … whoever lives there, really. i would’ve thought you would have gone at least once. ” haru didn’t have a reason as to why, he just felt like she would. he himself had never left his hometown and looking at the post card ahna had just read his heart ached for a split second. 

ahna considered his words  --  obviously the answer was clear in that regard  ,  where something like sentimental value was involved  .  however  ,  the invoice that the cafe had made their bi-weekly milk purchase could most definitely have been an email  .  there was nothing that came to the shop that needed to use up paper and kill more trees  .  then again  ,  it was the paper mail that rewarded her with seeing haru regularly  .  ❝  okay when you put it like that anything from the heart is definitely better handwritten  ,  it makes me think of a diary entry and you can feel the emotion  .  which is definitely not able to be read over any kind of digital format .  but all of those papers you just handed me about the shipment of stir sticks are about to be shredded without even being read and a tree will have been cut down for nothing  .  i’m really just thinking about the environment here  .  ❞  ahna tried her best to explain her point of view as she moved about behind the counter to prepare his drink  .  ❝  but don’t tell anyone i suggested it because i want to keep seeing your face come through the door in the early morning  .  everyone else is grumpy when they see me  .  ❞ 

❥  ≀ㅤclosed starter to @moonbcams｡ location: the stardrop saloon. generated prompt: tsuki and ahna dancing.

❝  c’mon ,  ahna  !  ❞  tsuki  lightly  tugged  at  the  girl’s  hand  and  guided  her  toward  the  open  area  of  the  saloon  where  people  had  been  dancing  for  a  while  already .  ❝  i  love  this  song  so  much ,  we  have  to  dance  !  ❞  although  she  wasn’t  the  type  to  go  out  at  night  frequently ,  ahna  had  encouraged  her  to  leave  the  house  for  a  few  drinks  and  pleasant  conversation  between  the  two .  and  now ,  as  her  body  began  to  move  to  the  familiar  song  blasting  through  the  speakers  of  the  establishment  the  girl  felt  thankful  that  ahna  had  been  so  insistent .  it  felt  so  good  to  be  able  to  let  loose  and  laugh  without  a  care  —  tsuki  didn’t  remember  when  the  last  time  she  allowed  herself  to  have  this  type  of  fun  had  been ,  usually  deeming  herself  as  “  too  busy  “  preparing  the  week’s  school  work  for  the  little  ones  she  held  so  dearly  in  her  heart  ;  an  excuse  she  had  grown  far  too  comfortable  with ,  unfortunately .   ❝  you  have  to  teach  me  that  move  !  ❞  she  exclaimed  in  between  giggles  of  joy ,  watching  the  older  woman  feel  the  beat  as  well  .

ʾ ｡  ﾟ  ʚ   ♰   ɞ  ﾟ  ｡ `   𝒀𝑶𝑶𝑵 𝑨𝑯𝑵𝑨.

 time  moved  slower  in  pelican  town  .  at  least  ,  that’s  what  it  seemed  like  while  nara  gazed  over  the  various  plants  sprouting  within  the  gardens  .  a  spot  that’s  visited  through  frequently  is  suddenly  so  quiet  ,  too  quiet  even  .  a  summer  evening  breeze  harshly  passes  the  boy  by  ,  causing  leaves  and  buds  alike  to  flutter  and  dance  for  a  moment  .  chills  run  down  his  arms  ,  but  the  feeling  is  welcomed  .  there  was  something  about  the  air  in  the  valley  —  a  sensation  that  was  both  foreign  and  homey  at  once  .  it’s  not  something  he’s  used  to  ,  and  chang  nara  isn’t  quite  sure  if  it’s  something  he  will  ever  become  accustomed  to  .  for  now  ,  at  least  ,  he  chooses  to  not  think  over  it  too  much  .  final  decisions  could  be  saved  for  later  .

 nara  takes  a  deep  breath  ,  feeling  the  usual  chaos  in  his  chest  dwindle  down  every  time  fresh  air  coated  his  lungs  .  it’s  both  warm  and  cold  ,  and  the  paradoxical  atmosphere  of  pelican  town  is  not  lost  on  him  .  most  nights  before  ,  nara  struggled  in  finding  a  proper  footing  around  town  .  how  could  someone  be  a  stranger  and  a  familiar  face  at  once  ?  he  knows  he  can’t  recall  some  of  the  older  ladies  —  but  they  say  they’ve  seen  him  ,  and  his  mother  ,  all  grow  up  before  their  own  eyes  .  it  brings  nara  both  discomfort  and  comfort  .  ❝  were  you  heading  into  the  community  center  ?  ?  ❞  his  voice  is  slightly  delicate  now  ,  a  genuine  yet  small  smile  breaking  into  his  features  .  perhaps  one  of  the  few  people  he  could  breathe  as  freely  as  he  was  doing  right  now  was  with  ahna  —  the  reverse  mirror  image  of  his  own  self  .  ❝  it’s  pretty  empty  last  i  checked  .  ❞

when ahna got into her own head she found it often helped to take a walk  --  she didn’t have a location or purpose in mind  ,  just aimlessly wandering letting her feet carry her this way and that  .  she enjoyed the way the quiet noises of town floated past and the scenery that so rarely changed  .  she had walked this route at five  ,  fifteen  ,  and now at twenty five  .  it remained the same as she was the one to transform from stubborn child  ,  to clueless teen and now a lost adult  .  she makes one final turn and finds herself standing in front of the community center  .  the place that had also seen many of her milestones and countless others in town  .  it’s quiet  .  of course  ,  it’s late  .  she shouldn’t have thought it would be any different  .  but  ,  ahna had never done well with the quiet  ,  with stillness  .  perhaps that’s why she needed to be on the move when things got to be too much  .  why she always sought adventure and the company of others  .  it was easier when she wasn’t alone  .

her slowly sinking heart leaps in fear at the first sound of a voice  ,  then slowly settles into something that feels like relief  .  ahna presses her hand to her chest  .  ❝  is this what it would feel like to be in a horror movie  ?  i almost just jumped out of my shoes and that would be quite the feat since i’m wearing high tops  .  ❞  ahna voices her inner thoughts aloud as she turns to finally face nara  .  of all people it seems fitting that she would find him out here  .  actually  ,  now that her initial spike of panic has settled  --  she’s not surprised at all to have run into him  .  ❝  well  ,  it’s not empty anymore  .  we’re here  .  unless of course you plan on staying out here in the shadows to frighten the next unexpected pedestrian  .  though  ,  i wouldn’t recommend  .  it might be morning before anyone else comes by  .  ❞  she teases with a light voice  .  ❝  should we go see if there are actually ghosts in there  ?  ❞