Chapter Text
The next few days brought Rus a lot of work around the farm. He took his time clearing more space on his farm, storing the wood and stone for later so he could get a barn or coop built. He made a fence to put around his current patch of crops and a few sprinklers from a simple crafting recipe Sans gave him. He ran a few errands for people in town in his spare time and spent some time foraging in the forest close to his farm. After a few days he had made a little bit of money and enough resources to get a coop built, and once it was confirmed, he laid in the grass for a few hours.
It was harder and yet easier than he thought it'd be at the same time. Nobody was checking in on his progress or pushing a deadline, nobody was breathing down his neck. He had all day to do his farm tasks, not just a handful of hours, and there was plenty of time to rest, goof off, or do whatever he wanted outside of his work, and he could take a break whenever he wanted. Sure, the work was difficult and he was sore at the end of each day, but he could take on whatever projects he wanted and set things down when he wasn't interested anymore. He didn't have to do too much in any specific order, but there were still guidelines on what to do.
It was…freeing.
Satisfied with the last week's work, he decided to answer some of the letters he'd received throughout the week, starting with the school. He wandered down the lane until he saw the steeple with the bell, per Toriel's instructions, and when he entered, five little heads swiveled around to stare at him as a large, motherly-looking goat woman (presumably Toriel) looked up from her storybook.
“Oh! Children, we have a special guest,” she said cheerfully, bookmarking the book and setting it aside. “Everyone say hello to our new neighbor, Farmer Rus!”
“Hi, Farmer Rus!” The kids said in unison, waving at him. He waved back with a chuckle.
This was quite a surprising gaggle of kids, as they went around the circle and introduced themselves. A little white goat boy name Asriel that was the spitting image of Toriel, of course, and then two humans; one an androgynous child named Frisk in a purple striped sweater, big gold eyes and shaggy brown bob, and the other a well-dressed little boy named Germaine, with a curly mop of hair and grey-blue eyes, both looking at him curiously. Then there was an orange cat monster named Sinclair, which was interesting; not that he'd met everyone, but he hadn't seen any cat monsters about. The last was a head taller than the others, Gabi, a young female skeleton with curling purple flames where humans might have hair. That was fascinating, he wondered which skeleton was her parent. Was it someone he'd yet to meet?
He spent a good hour chatting with Toriel and the kids, telling them about his farm and offering her to bring them for a visit tomorrow. Then the kids all went outside and he helped them plant a little vegetable garden, and promised to come back and take them on a nature hike to learn what was forageable.
“You're so smart, Mr. Rus!” Gabi told him as they put little signs on the garden to show what was planted where. “My daddy says when you grow your vegetables, you would give some to the tavern! I'm so excited to try them! Uncle Sans doesn't grow anything fun.”
He chuckled. Mystery solved, she's Papyrus’ daughter, it seems. “well i should have some things ready to harvest tomorrow when you kids pop by. how about you each get to take a fresh veggie home?”
They all clamored with excitement at that, all asking what would be ready and trying to plan around what veggie they would take, when Toriel rang a bell.
“That's all for today, kids. Time to head home and do your chores.”
They all groaned and complained, asking for more time with Rus, and she shooed them all away to get their things.
“Thank you for stopping by! They had a lot of fun,” she said sweetly, and Rus felt relaxed in her presence, an ache deep in his soul for his own mother.
“no problem, kids are fun,” he said, shrugging. “not many chances to hang with them in the city, so i was happy to do it.”
“I don't think I've ever seen Sinclair smile so much! He really loves gardening, I hope you'll take him under your wing someday. Maybe he'll own his own farm in the future!” Toriel chuckled, glancing fondly at the orange tabby cat monster as he played tag with Frisk and Asriel.
“is asriel yours?” He asked, and she nodded.
“And Frisk, and Sinclair, sort of,” she said. “I adopted Frisk from the city, and Sinclair was left behind at one of our bigger festivals. We've never found either of his parents, so I took him in…it's only been about a year. Poor thing.”
Rus nodded solemnly. He'd seen plenty of failed or abandoned children in the city, both in the obvious sense of hopping between foster homes and in the sense of the ones who may have a place to sleep but still were out far too late, too far, or too much without so much as a single adult eye wandering their way. At least Sinclair had people watching over him with warmth in their hearts.
After a little more small talk, he bid Tori goodbye, leaving the school grounds just in time to catch the couple from the coffee cart wandering up.
“hey, grillby, muffet,” he said cheerily, giving them a wave as they angled up towards the schoolhouse. Muffin scuttled along on the end of her bedazzled leash and, upon sight of him, began to scuttle faster and more excitedly to paw at his jeans with her many legs. He chuckled, leaning down to give her some gentle pats and scritches as she chittered happily. “and of course, muffin! what brings you two, er, three, down to the schoolhouse?”
“We're here for Gabriola, of course,” Muffet said sweetly, waving the set of arms not wrapped around Grillby's own, enthusiastically flagging said child down behind him. “Gabi, dear! It's time to head out!”
Rus turned, curious, watching Gabi drop from where she'd been climbing a low-branched tree in the schoolyard, waving goodbye to her schoolmates as she jogged over.
“Dad! Today the new farmer came and taught us all about seeds!” She said as she drew close, reaching her arms out as Grillby gracefully leaned down to pick her up and into his arms, balancing her easily on his hip and listening intently to her story. “He even said that if we come by his farm t'morrow, he'll let us take something home!”
“Did he?” Grillby hummed, tilting his head with an amused grin. “What kind of vegetable do you think you'll get?”
“I was hoping for a potato, or maybe a carrot! But Muffet, you like turnips, don't you?” She asked, leaning over to grin at (as Rus was rapidly realizing) her stepmother.
“Love them,” Muffet confirmed. “But you should get something you want, dearie. I can go ask the farmer for a turnip myself, if I like, so don't you worry about little old me.”
That prompted Gabi to look at Rus, her violet eyelights shining. “Farmer Rus, can I get a turnip and a carrot?”
“i think my carrots have a few more days to grow, but the turnips will be ready,” he said. “how ‘bout you take the turnip tomorrow and i'll bring a carrot ‘round to the coffee stand when it's ready?”
“Deal!” She swung her hand out for a shake and Rus humored her, allowing her to shake it enthusiastically like a cowbell.
As they left, Rus could only chuckle and shake out his hand a little, angling away from the schoolhouse himself. He'd had some good luck foraging the short hiking trail lately, but it usually took a while to do the whole loop; if he went now, he could probably get it done before dark.
His mind was wandering, wondering how many upgrades he'd need on his tools before he could tackle some of the stuff blocking the other trails. He'd heard there was a temple up there, and even a hot spring, if only the path was clear…he was so busy imagining it, he had almost completely missed the two stalls set up near the mouth of the trail.
He paused, looking them over. Odd, to see market stalls and a tent here; usually they would come into the little circle at the center of town beside the coffee stand.
The stall closest to the trail didn't seem to have any stock at first, until he grew closer and realized it was a butcher stand. The handwritten sign was plain, unadorned, with cuts and prices of deer, boar, and “seasonal meat”, whatever that meant. The stock itself was probably on ice somewhere.
The stall beside it was much more decorated, covered in knickknacks and carvings made of wood and other things that Rus supposed must be bone, antler, and other things. The sign there was much more decorated, covered in sweeping handwriting, swirls, shapes, doodles, and the stall was just as crowded full of things. Rus had only begun to look closely at them when there was a prickle of warning on the back of his neck--
He swiveled, turning towards the butcher stand, suddenly manned by a hulking skeleton with a butcher's apron. The skeleton had a dusty blue bandana on and a white t-shirt, his apron and gloves seemingly handmade from leather of some kind.
What gave Rus pause, though, was the dead socket; it seemed to have a small crack in it, traveling up and disappearing behind the bandana, and the other one had a huge, red eyelight that seemed to glare down at him menacingly.
“oh! uh. sorry. didn't see a bell t’ring or anything, was just lookin’...”
The new skeleton just stared at him, waiting. Rus stared back, unable to look away, unsure if he should. They stood that way for a long minute, before the rustling tent flap caught his attention. A skeleton much taller than him had appeared, with a slight hunch and a large smile despite his teeth looking painfully crooked. He carried a basket of bracelets and he shook a finger scoldingly at the hulking single-eyelight skeleton.
“Brother, you're scaring the customer! You're supposed to say hello, at least!”
The large red eye looked back at him, and the skeleton seemed to consider, then slowly said “...hullo.”
Rus waved back, stunned silent by the two strangers for a moment.
“That is much better!” The tall one said, placing his basket of bracelets on the more decorated stall. “My name is Sugar, and this is my brother, Axe.”
“m'rus,” he answered, reaching to shake Sugar's hand as he extended it. “just moved into the farm on the hill.”
Sugar shook his hand and then snapped, smile widening. “That's right! I had heard that someone new had moved over there. You are Blue's brother, correct?”
“yeah, that's me.”
Sugar turned to Axe. “Remember Blue? The UFC fighter who spends winters here?”
Axe only stared at him, then Rus, and shrugged.
Unfazed by his brother's non-response, Sugar turned back towards Rus. “Anywho, this is my stall, and that is my brother's stall! We live up in the mountains and do a lot of hunting and butchering. When we have extra, we come down here and my brother sells his cuts of meat! I make many different things from what is left of the hides, leathers, and bones, too, so that's what my stall has, mostly! Whatever craft has captured my attention is usually in large supply.”
He gestured to the bracelets, woven from strips of leather with what looked like antler beads to decorate.
“waste not, want not,” Rus said, reaching out to peruse the bracelets, and Sugar beamed.
“Exactly!” he said cheerfully. “By the by, in case you are wondering ‘Why Sugar! You and your brother live in the mountains, pay no rent, and hunt for your food! What on Earth could you need money for?’ Well, that's a good question, and I have an answer! All the money from my sales goes to the fund for my dental work!”
He opened his jaw, a slightly terrifying and painful sounding creak accompanying, to reveal a mess of orthodontics; having had braces as a teen, Rus could recognize a permanent retainer and a spacer when he saw one. He must have to have those for now, until he can afford braces.
…honestly, Sugar with braces was quite the adorable image, now that he was sort of getting used to him.
“i wasn't gonna question you, but m'happy to support the process,” Rus said, digging in his pockets for some gold. “i'd love two of these bracelets--i bet blue would love one.”
“That'll be 2 gold,” Sugar said, handing him the basket to pick.
“1 per? that's not gonna get you anywhere fast,” Rus offered. “here.”
A few days ago, a 100g tip would have felt impossible. But now? He gets paid daily for his shipments, they buy practically anything he grows or scavenges, and despite being a farmer for approximately a week, he had made quite the profit since he had no bills to pay and plenty of energy for foraging. The coins made a satisfying clink clink as they dropped into Sugar's empty payment jar.
“!!”
He looked over at Axe in confusion, wondering how exactly someone could make a surprised noise without words or really any noise at all, finding the stoic skeleton's sockets wide as he looked at him in surprise.
“Wowie, that is quite generous of you!” Sugar said excitedly, drawing Rus's attention back. “I'll have to think of something nice to make you!”
There was a loud THUNK as Axe suddenly dropped a large hunk of meat, neatly wrapped in butcher paper, on the wood in front of him, and Rus hardly even saw him move to the tent, how could someone so big be so fast? He blinked at him, confused, before realizing it was probably because he'd revealed he had money to spend.
“oh! uh, yeah, i could buy some meat, too–”
Axe pushed his hand away, pushing the meat towards him. Something in his expression told Rus that he was thanking him for the tip, and he didn't protest further, taking the package. It was heavy in his hands, “deer backstrap” scrawled across it in messy handwriting.
“thanks,” he said awkwardly. “dunno what to do with deer backstrap, but i can probably figure it out.”
Sugar gave a soft expression to his brother, crooked teeth twitching upward in a smile, before turning back to Rus. “Well, it's the perfect cut for grilling and pan searing. If you've made a steak, you can make backstrap.”
“i have never made a steak, but i think i have a friend who might know what to do with this,” Rus said, thinking of Edge's ceviche. “good luck with the stalls! do you set up every day?”
“Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” Sugar confirmed, handing him a cute pink polka dot paper bag with his bracelets. “The rest of the week is for hunting and crafting!”
“great,” Rus said, stepping back, feeling Axe's gaze still lingering. “i'll see you guys around, then!”
“Come again!” Sugar said, waving excitedly. Axe simply stared, but by now Rus had gathered that he didn't mean anything by it.
He had been intending to take a hike, quite literally, but seeing as he now had a good piece of meat for dinner, he figured it would probably be better to head into town and see if he couldn't get someone to help him with it.