Chapter Text
A new farmer had just moved in. Not that Sebastian cared. They would leave quickly enough, anyway. He didn’t listen to a single thing his mom droned on about; he blocked her out completely as he tried to finish up the program he had been working on for a few weeks.
He couldn’t remember when she finally left; the silence made itself known after a while. Sebastian sighed a breath of relief that the code was finally complete – and working. His sudden tranquility was interrupted by a “ping!” that had sounded from his computer. He debated not opening the chat message but knew that might mean an uninvited visit from whatever friend he was ignoring. He opened the chat message; it was from Sam.
Sammy: “hey man! has ur mom told u about the new farmer? abigail n i met her at the south bridge earlier! she’s super pretty n cool tbh.”
Seb: “Yeah. I was trying to focus, though.”
Sammy: “seriously?! u need to meet her. i invited her to the saloon on friday. u better be there. i think u’ll like her. apparently she knows how to play pool. ;)”
The part where Sam mentioned the farmer knew how to play pool was, surprisingly, enough to convince Sebastian.
Seb: “Yeah, ok.”
— —
You were late. You hadn’t been able to come into town except once so far; working on a farm was exhausting, especially with zero prior knowledge of growing crops. You had raised multiple house plants and succulents, which vaguely helped, albeit not enough. Either way, that didn’t matter because you had gotten lost.
After what felt like ages, you finally saw the lantern burning outside of Pierre’s shop. The town was finally in view, and you let out a breath you had no idea you were holding. You stood still and scanned the area. There was a building that had a “SALOON” sign hanging from the roof. Light pooled out from it's windows, illuminating a path for you to follow. You trek onward, picking up your pace so as to not be too late.
The saloon door was in front of you. Anxiety and dread suddenly filled your whole body. Sam told you that a big portion of the town went to the saloon on Fridays, and, well, it was currently Friday. Talking with so many people you had no idea if they would be friendly or not was terrifying. You tried to reason with yourself, thinking, “This won’t be like that one time Bianca made me go to that club. That place probably had all of Zuzu there; this is way smaller. This is a small town. It’ll be fine.”
Your pep-talked calmed your nerves a bit. You took a deep breath in, then out, and opened the door.
It was definitely lively in there. You heard people laughing with music playing in the background. It smelled like alcohol and pizza. The whole room was illuminated by lanterns with a soft light; it wasn’t too dark or too bright.
Almost everyone ceased their conversations to look at you. Your anxiety came back worse than before. The silence was deafening, and you hoped someone would finally say something.
Suddenly, the whole room boomed with a “Welcome, farmer!” Most people in your view smiled, and a few waved.
Robin walked up to you, practically bouncing with excitement. “I didn’t know you would be coming today, I know you’ve been busy!”
You smiled nervously, “Hi Robin. Yeah, I am pretty busy but Sam invited me, and I could never turn down a chance to eat and get a bit tipsy.”
You wanted a drink already; it made you more outgoing and less scared of social interaction. You didn’t want to fall back into old habits, but it’s okay if it’s only once, right?
Everyone went back to talking amongst themselves, except for one person. A man with glasses and a mustache walked up to you. You immediately stiffened as you felt his eyes bear into you.
“Hello, my name is Harvey, I’m Pelican Town’s doctor. My office is next to Pierre’s, have you seen it? I would appreciate it if you could swing by sometime soon so we can schedule your yearly appointment.”
He extended his hand for you to shake, and you shakily took it, your grip loose. Your smile couldn’t stay consistent, and your whole body was vibrating in fear. You weren’t sure why this man in particular was scaring you more than anyone else, but you knew you needed a drink.
“Hi. I’ve seen it, yeah. I’ll come by soon, I’m pretty busy.”
“That would be great,” he smiled “I’ll be available most of the time. You can probably imagine how much traffic a clinic gets in such a small town.”
“Excuse me, but I really need a drink.”
You blocked out the rest of what Harvey was saying and walked up to the front counter. The man behind it looked up from the glass cup he was cleaning and smiled brightly. “Hey! I’m Gus, I’m the owner of this here saloon. Behind me is Emily, she’ll introduce herself when she’s not busy makin’ drinks for Pam over there.” You looked to where Gus subtly moved his head and saw an older woman with two empty glasses. She was currently drinking a third, and you watched as she practically downed the whole thing in less than ten seconds.
“‘ey Gus, gimme another one. Promise this’ll be the last.” she hiccupped.
“...Okay, Pam, one more and I can’t legally serve you anymore. Emily, do you have the drink ready?”
A young girl with short blue hair was now in your view, who was walking towards Pam. “Here you go, Pam,” she said, monotone.
“Thanks, ‘ppreciate it.”
You looked away, instead focusing your gaze on Emily. Emily’s empty expression suddenly did a 180°. “Hey! I’m Emily! I’m sorry, I’m a bit busy now, but I’ll introduce myself the second I get a chance.” She sped away, presumably go clean the dishes.
You looked at Gus, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m really sorry, I know this isn’t the best first impression, but can I get a drink and put it on my tab? I really need one. I’ll pay it back fully in a few days once my parsnips are ready to harvest, they’re looking super good right now.”
Gus’s face twitched so fast you almost didn’t notice. “Alright, I can do that. Do you want a pizza as well? I can make a mean pizza. It’ll be on the house since you’re new here.”
“Sweet! Yes please, thank you so much, I promise I won’t short you.”
You got your drink and an entire pizza - you had assumed he meant a slice, for some reason- and went towards the room to the right. Sam had told you to meet them there; apparently, this was their Friday tradition. You told him you knew how to play pool when he mentioned they play, but you honestly could only do it when you were, at the very least, tipsy. Another reason you felt justified in drinking, as you didn’t want to embarrass yourself when you barely know these people yet. You didn’t want to fall short of anyone’s expectations.
You walked in and saw three people in the room. You saw Abigail on a couch in the farthest corner of the room, Sam was at the pool table with… someone?
The mysterious person in question had dark purple hair, the left side (from your perspective) longer than the right. He had an earring of a cross on his right ear with smaller piercings adorning the rest of it. A thick hoodie matching his hair color hung a bit loose on his body, with dark gray pants hugging his legs. You were a bit enamored by him; Sam and Abigail were your type, but this guy was super your type.
All three of them looked at you. Sam smiled and sped over to you; his arm wrapping around your shoulders, careful not to knock the whole pizza and beer out of your busy hands.
You took a swig of your beer.
“Hey, farmer girl! We’re so glad you made it! Did you make it here ok? You’re pretty late.”
You laughed lightly, “Yeah, sorry, my bad. I got lost.”
“Oh my god dude, if you couldn’t remember your way back to town we totally would’ve picked you up!”
“I didn’t want to make you come get me if you were already here. Besides, I’m here now, at least.”
You felt eyes other than Sam’s on you still. Abigail and the mystery man bore their gaze into you. It felt like they were twisting knives into you with their eyes.
“Sooo… you’ve met Abigail, obviously. This is Sebastian. He finally came out to meet you.”
The purple-haired man – Sebastian – seemed to be scrutinizing you more than before.
“Nice to meet you. Hey Abigail.” you smiled.
Abigail waved and a small smile plastered her face. Sebastian simply nodded.
“Ok, now, you better play pool against Sebastian, I have a feeling you’ll have a better shot than me at beating him,” Sam said.
“Are you sure? Aren’t you in the middle of a game?” you asked.
“Yeah, but I’m losing, anyway. I’m throwing in the towel. I wanna play the arcade, anyway.”
“... Sure,” you replied as you took another sip from your beer, Sam walking away at your answer.
Sebastian reset the balls before you could even move. You set down the pizza on the nearest table. “Hey, you guys can share this pizza with me by the way. Gus gave it to me on the house.”
Sam came running back instantly, “Yooo, thanks farmer! You’re awesome.” He left as quickly as he arrived. Abigail walked up and also grabbed a slice. Unlike Sam, she stayed.
“Do you think you can beat Seb?” she asked, monotone.
You pondered for a moment. “I don’t know, I haven’t seen his play style yet.”
“Are you good?”
“I’d say slightly above average.”
“Good luck, then. You’ll need it.” Suddenly, she was gone.
You suddenly felt nervous, feeling the pressure. Isn’t this supposed to be fun? Is Sebastian really that serious about pool? That doesn’t sound fun.
Your thoughts were interrupted by Sebastian. “I’m going to break.”
You didn’t answer, distracted by being taken aback by his voice. It was a bit raspy as if he rarely used it. It was deep as well.
The game was more fun than you originally thought it would be and you were able to relax. You got more confident the more you drank. Your shots somehow got steadier and your aim was better than when you were sober. It made no sense, yet it always worked. In the end, Sebastian still won, but you were surprisingly close.
Sam and Abigail had migrated to the table at one point during the game, barely speaking as both of the players had been in complete focus mode, also unspeaking. But now, Sam loudly proclaimed,
“Wow! That’s the closest either of us has ever gotten to beating him! You’re crazy!”
You smiled brightly, your face showing your drunkenness. “Thanks!”
To your surprise, Sebastian suddenly said, “Good job.”
You blushed and shyly replied, “Thanks, Sebastian."
Sam cut in “Hey, let us take you home. You’re kinda drunk and you might get lost again.”
“Sure. Thanks.” You were so happy they, or at least Sam, cared about you enough to be willing to walk you home in the dark.
All four of you walked out of the Saloon and began the long trek back to your farm. Sam was the main one talking as if he had so much pent-up energy from being quiet the whole pool game. Abigail occasionally added to the conversation. You tried your best to listen, but you couldn’t stop getting distracted by Sebastian. You were drunk, but he was just as hot as before, maybe even more now. You noticed he kept glancing at you before darting his eyes away in embarrassment when he noticed you glancing too. You blushed, but it was too dark to tell if his face was as red as yours.
Everyone arrived at the farm, and you felt even more grateful they didn’t lure you with the promise of safely taking you home just to murder you instead. You shook your head, damn, you really drank too much, apparently. You rarely had these thoughts from one beer, usually.
You walked up the stairs to your porch and looked back at your new friends. “Thanks for taking me home guys, I totally would've gotten lost, I’m too drunk.”
“It’s no problem, farmer! We’ll see you soon, ok? Whenever you come into town next, if you see me give me your phone number so we can stay in touch.” And with that, Sam and Abigail walked back towards the path they came from.
Except Sebastian.
You and Sebastian stared at each other. His expression was indistinguishable, and that made you anxious.
“It’s a good thing you got home safely.”
Then he disappeared into the night.
“What? Who says 'you’re welcome for walking you home late at night' like that? Does he mean it in a nice way or is he implying there’s actually a threat I need to be protected from?”
You were too tired, and admittedly, too scared to stand outside any longer. You quickly walked inside and locked your door for the first time since moving into Pelican Town.
— —
Sebastian walked up the mountain path from the farm. He couldn’t stop thinking about you. He wanted to be with you more. As he walked, the more and more protective he felt. He didn’t want to tell you, but he saw the way Harvey made you uncomfortable at the bar. How Clint was staring at you more than he ever did with Emily. He convinced himself that was the only reason he silently agreed to walk you home.
But he knew it wasn't just that. He was starting to feel obsessed with a girl he just met. He wanted to go back down towards the farm and be with you, or at least see you. He was jealous when Sam put his arm around you, or the way he laughed when you said practically anything. When Abigail was withdrawn and couldn’t stop staring at you; he knew that meant she had a crush. He wasn’t filled with rage, but he did feel a bit of anger rising in his chest. He was, however, filled with rage about Clint and Harvey.
“I’m going to protect her no matter what.” he decided.