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Chapter Text

Abigail heard all of the excited chatter about the new farmer. It even came up at the dinner table one Wednesday night, when the store was closed due to those 'damned Joja capitalists', as her father would put it. Abigail herself minded a little bit, but sometimes it was nice to have family dinner, although she would never admit that to anyone else. If Caroline brought up her future or her classes or, Yoba forbid, her hair, the dinner would turn sour and Abigail would be dreading the next Wednesday.

"Did you hear about the new farmer moving in?" her father asked. 

Her mother nodded. "Robin told me about it during aerobics class yesterday. Quite a surprise, isn't it? Stardew Valley is a small town."

"That it is," replied her father.

"I heard about it," Abigail blurted out. "It's weird. Why here? Stardew Valley is probably the most boring place ever." She regretted the words as soon as she said them, but there was no way for her to take back what she had said. The dinner table was awkward and Pierre and Caroline and Abigail all stared down at their food and tried not to look at each other. Abigail lifted her head up ever so slightly so her mass of purple curls wouldn't touch her dinner.

"Maybe they were looking for a change," her mother finally said quietly. "Away from the buzz and the city."

That excited Pierre, and he was back to rambling and ranting about Joja Corporation. "Maybe they used to work for Joja! I could definitely see why they would want to get away from there...ugh. Such slimy thieves, those Joja monsters..." he trailed off, muttering to himself.

Abigail used that as an excuse to clear her dish, and even offered to clear her parents'. Caroline smiled ever so slightly and refused, and it was as if Pierre hadn't even heard her. He was still mumbling to himself, and Abigail got up and cleared her plate into the sink, the food barely touched. She felt guilty about wasting her food, and wished she had just put plastic wrap over her plate and put it in the fridge. But there probably wasn't much room in the fridge anyway...

"Good night, Abby," her mother said to her as she passed by the table to leave the kitchen. Abigail nodded absentmindedly in return, and then smiled to herself. With all these levels of Revenge of the Prairie King to beat, she would not be getting any sleep tonight.

-

The next day, when Abigail was on her way towards JojaMart, or the river beside it, she was stopped by an unfamiliar face. She assumed it was the farmer, and the girl standing in front of her was not what Abigail had expected. She was almost as pale as Abigail herself and had long, chestnut brown hair. Her eyes were ocean colored, and she had an almost apprehensive smile on her face. She was also hopelessly attractive, and Abigail was immediately caught off guard.

"Um...hello!" the girl said. Her voice was lower than Abigail assumed it would be. "I'm Beatrice, but I guess you can call me Bea. I'm the new, uh, move-in, I guess."

Abigail had no way to respond, so she naturally took the worst route and responded aloofly. "Oh yeah. I heard someone was moving in on that old farm. It's kind of a shame, really. I always liked exploring those overgrown fields by themselves."

Bea smiled sadly. "Sorry about that. My grandfather used to live there and entrusted it to me for when I needed change in my life. I had been working at Joja Corp. for almost my whole adult life and I finally grew sick of it."

The way Bea pronounced Joja also caught Abigail off guard. The people in Stardew Valley had always pronounced it 'jo-yuh' but the way Bea pronounced it was just so foreign sounding, so...interesting, for lack of a better word. She pronounced it 'oh-ha', and it was so odd.

"Um...yeah. I could see why you'd think that," Abigail nearly stammered, terribly unable to find words.

Bea smiled then, and Abigail's anxiety levels rose to the roof. "I heard that there was a JojaMart here, though," she said sadly. "Do you know of it?"

"Yeah." Abigail said. "My father runs the local general store, so JojaMart's slowly leeching away at his business," she explained. "It's kind of said, because he's so angered by its existence and the business monopoly to the point of obsession. Sometimes he mutters and mumbles about it. It makes me feel bad. Otherwise, my parents and I don't talk much."

Bea nodded thoughtfully. "Well, do you want to come with me to the farm? There's this rocky part with lots of things to mine that I'm very interested in exploring, and since you used to explore the farm I'd love to know if you'd help me try and look for something interesting?"

Abigail didn't think about it much and found herself nodding quickly. "Uh...yeah! Sure."

Bea smiled cheerfully. "Thank you! Just follow me, I guess!" She nearly skipped away, out of pure joy Abigail assumed.

Abigail heard snickering in the background and turned around. She glared at Sebastian, who was standing by a tree, smoking, and Abigail assumed had been watching the whole time.

"You're fucked," he said, smirking at her.

"Shut up," she retorted before following Bea towards the farm. She still heard his snickering in the background and shrugged it off.

-

The farm was more overgrown than Abigail remembered.

"Help me clear it up?" Bea asked. Abigail nodded. "Thanks," said Bea.

Abigail nodded again, and cringed to herself.

As the two were working together, Bea started asking questions to Abigail.

"So, tell me about everyone here!" Bea cheerfully said, clearing debris out of the way.

"Well..." Abigail paused, trying to think of what to say. "There are Haley and Alex, who are probably the most conceited, self-entitled people I've met here. They're meant for each other," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm. Bea nodded thoughtfully. "But Alex's grandparents are nice, although George is a bit old-fashioned." she laughed to herself.

"I see," said Bea.

Abigail smiled. "Evelyn, or Granny as she prefers, is super nice though. She bakes cookies all the time and they're the best. You have gotta try them."

Bea smiled. "I'll make a note of that."

"And then my friends, Sam and Sebastian, they're great. Sebastian's edgy as fuck though, and it takes a while for him to warm up to people. Sam's pretty chill though." she said. "And then there's Maru and Penny and Elliott. I used to call them the supernerds, and Elliott is friends with this girl Leah who lives in a tiny ass cottage in the woods. I guess it connects her to nature, which I guess is her muse or something. Maru's a genius, though, and very sciency. Penny's quiet and reads a lot, and she teaches the kids stuff."

Bea nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I hate to cut this off, but I'm hella tired. Who knew clearing debris was this exhausting?" She smiled apologetically at Abigail. "Maybe we could catch up sometime?"

"That would be nice," Abigail said, almost cautiously.

Bea half-smiled and waved goodbye to Abigail, who turned around and walked down the path back to Pelican Town.

-

"You're late," her father said when she opened the doors.

"Sorry," she shrugged. "I was with Bea."

"The farmer?" Caroline asked. Abigail nodded.

"Yeah, she's nice." Abigail said.

"That's good, honey," her father said. "But still, I don't want to worry about you at night passing out in the middle of nowhere and getting hurt, alright? You still live under my roof and I still want to protect you, okay?"

It was hardly a question, but Abigail nodded, half paying attention. "'Course, Dad."

Pierre smiled and ruffled her purple waves. "When will she get rid of that dye..." she heard him mutter as he walked away.

Abigail entered her room and continued trying to beat Journey of the Prairie King. She still was on level one.

-

The next day, Abigail did not see Bea all day. She hung around the shop, hoping Bea would come around, for what reason? To buy seeds? Abigail shook her head and checked the clock on the wall. It was around three, and Abigail decided to head over to the saloon to meet up with Sam and Sebastian. The three didn't hang out together as much as she would like them to, but they had conflicting schedules, Abigail supposed. She reminded herself to send an email to one of them later.

As she pushed open the saloon door, she saw Sam and Sebastian playing pool over by the video games and the Joja Cola dispenser. She wrinkled her nose at the Joja Cola dispenser, hating that stuff (maybe she was biased because of her father?), but she knew Sam liked it.

"Hey, Abby," Sebastian said once he saw her. "Band practice on...uh...Monday?"

"Sure," she said flippantly. "Who's kicking whose ass today?"

Sebastian's facial expression turned grim. "Sam, for once."

Abigail laughed at Sebastian's reaction, then turned and looked at Sam, who was concentrating on the game. "Good for you, bud," she said, but she doubted he could hear her. He was clearly really focused.

"Have you guys met B-the new farmer?" she asked them as nonchalantly as she could.

Sam nodded. "She's nice. Ran off though after introducing herself."

Abigail made a noise of understanding. "What about you, Seb?"

"Uh...I haven't talked to her myself." Sebastian said. He then smirked "But, I did find out that-"

"Shut up," she interrupted, knowing full well what he was about to say. She listened to their banter as they played pool and Sam, shockingly, won. Sebastian bought him a Joja Cola as a winning prize, and Abigail almost thought about playing Journey of the Prairie King, but she was terrible at it and didn't want to embarrass herself.

"Hey, you!" that all-too-familiar voice cheered as the couch Abigail was sitting on had a plop on it. Abigail turned and smiled brightly at Bea and felt a pang of envy at how effortless she dressed. She was wearing jeans and a white short sleeved shirt tied into a knot just above the waist of her jeans, along with black low-tops with white laces that Abigail was shocked she kept clean. Working on the farm was guaranteed to dirty your white clothing, wasn't it?

"What's happening?" Bea asked. She nodded over at Sam and Sebastian and shot them both the same dazzling smile and then focused her attention on Abigail. "I've just changed, because I checked out the mines today. Apparently there was this giant blockage in front of them, and there are these creepy ass bugs in there, and I kind of just mined some stone and got my poor ass out of there. I don't think I could handle the bugs yet," she admitted.

"You've been to the mines? Lucky!" Abigail gushed. "I remember when that blockage blocked me off from exploring, but you're right about the creatures living in there. I just avoided them as best as I could, but I could never find anything of that much interest. I remember finding an amethyst once. It was the best. I still have it in my room," she admitted. 

"You like amethyst, huh?" Bea's eyes had a twinkle in them.

"Uh...yeah." Abigail said almost sheepishly.

"No need to be sheepish!" Bea said cheerfully. "Amethyst is very pretty."

Abigail nodded in agreement.

Bea then gestured towards Sam and Sebastian. "Who are they?"

"Oh! Bea, these are my friends, Sam and Sebastian. Sam, Seb, this is Bea."

Sebastian nodded.

"Hey," Sam said. "What's up?"

"Not much," Bea said. "I'm surprised by the weather, honestly."

"Why?"

Bea laughed. "It's hella hot in the city where I used to live. It always is, except when it's winter, because then it gets kind of regular temperature, like 60 degrees Fahrenheit."

Sebastian looked amused. "Hella?"

Bea laughed again. "Hella."

She then looked outside and sighed, before getting up and moving towards the door. "I guess I should go, then. Debris doesn't clear itself. See all you guys later!"

"See you later, Bea," Abigail said.

"Bye Abby!" she waved before exiting the saloon. Abigail watched her leave, and watched her form disappear through the window.

"You're gay." she heard Sam say behind her.

Abigail bent forward and put her head in her hands. "For the love of Yoba, shut up." Sebastian's snickering annoyed her, but there was nothing else for her to do.

She numbly sat, willing herself not to think of the farmer.

Damn it.

Chapter Text

Abigail didn't think it was coincidental that Bea gave her an amethyst the day after she professed how drawn she was towards them. It was the color, Bea had insisted. The color had reminded her of Abigail's hair. Abigail hoped it was more than that. Bea had also gifted Abigail a bright, shining topaz, claiming that she thought Abigail would like it. At first, Abigail had thought she had done this for all of the other people her age. Bea was probably just a flirt, or just very friendly.

"Why's the farmer girl giving you all this stuff?" Sebastian asked one Friday. Abigail shrugged. "I dunno, but it's pretty great," she responded. "She's really nice." Abigail had joked that the topaz looked delicious and Bea had laughed, calling her funny, before skipping off. 

When Abigail had posted a 'help wanted' notice, asking for a daffodil (for Vincent). Abigail knew you could find one foraging easily but she honestly didn't want to go search for a present for Vincent. She would rather explore the mines and play her flute, and she knew it was selfish, but she hoped that her 'hey, could someone get me a daffodil? asking for a friend :)' message seemed nonchalant enough. Bea had answered her help wanted notice and had tapped her on the shoulder one day and then handed her the daffodil with a wink. "For your friend, right?" she'd asked, before giving Abigail a quick embrace, and then Abigail noticed that Bea had slipped something in her back pocket.

"Damn," Alex had said. "What's so special about you?"

"Shut up," Abigail had responded. "Don't you have to, I don't know, fuck Haley or something?"

Alex had smirked poisonously at her and said, "Thanks for the reminder, Abby."

"Yoba, no!" she had exclaimed. "It was rhetorical!"

But when Alex had asked her what was special about her, it had made Abigail think.

As a matter of fact, she was still thinking about it. She hadn't seen Bea since, but she didn't want to actively search for her because she didn't want to be needy or clingy.

Abigail had looked at what Bea had slipped into her pocket: an earth crystal. It was a muddy brown color, but beautiful nonetheless. Abigail had started putting the stones on the shelf in her bedroom along with her various other trinkets.

The Egg Festival was tomorrow, anyway, and Abigail had to win. She had won the egg hunt for the past eight years, since she was 13. She knew that, sure, she should let either Jas or Vincent win, but Abigail wasn't that type. Abigail was competitive. She wondered if Sam and Maru were competing again. They weren't that great, but at least they tried. A for effort, and that crap.

Abigail continued trying to beat the first level of Revenge of the Prairie King: Console Edition, but she was a miserable failure.

She heard a knock on her door, and got up to open it. It was Bea, who smiled and handed Abigail a topaz, for her to 'expand her collection'.

"Bea?" she asked. Bea nodded, and Abigail gestured for her to come on in. Abigail then sighed. "I've been playing Journey of the Prairie King for hours and I can't even beat the first level." she said, annoyed. "This game is ridiculously hard!" she groaned. "Well..." she mused, "either that or I'm just terrible at it." She then had an idea. "Hey, do you want to try this level together with me? I think I might do better with your help." 

"Sure!" Bea said. "That sounds fun." She then sat down by Abigail and took a controller, and Abigail started the level.

To Abigail's annoyance, Bea was fantastic at the game. She managed to nearly carry the team, her fingers nimble on the controls, and when Abigail died, she managed to continue trying to beat the level by herself until she was sadly killed.

"Fuck!" Bea yelled out in frustration. "This game is hard!"

"Let's try again." Abigail suggested, and Bea nodded, determined.

"Hella yes!" she cheered as they shot down the monsters. "Let's beat these motherfuckers down!"

Abigail smiled and continued fumbling with her joystick. Eventually the two beat all of the enemies and beat the level.

"Awesome!" Bea said. "This was fun!" She got up to leave, and shot Abigail a bright smile as she exited her room.

Abigail nodded along and waved goodbye, absentminded.

She felt a bitter sense of something she couldn't identify when she tried to pick up the game controller, and then decided to go to sleep. She grimly concluded that it would be harder for her to win the egg hunt if she had little sleep, so she reluctantly turned her lights off and went to sleep.

-

She woke up early to the smell of coffee brewing, which roused Abigail. She sat up, and then got out of bed, before getting dressed and heading to the kitchen. She was greeted by her mother.

"Good morning, Abby." Caroline said. "Your father's outside setting up his stand for the festival. Do you want some coffee?"

Abigail nodded and gladly accepted the mug offered to her. She took a sip of her coffee. She wanted that rejuvenating energy from it for the egg hunt. Because if there was one thing Abigail was besides a video game addict and a purple-haired girl, she was competitive. And she was really good at finding eggs in bushes.

When she finished her coffee, she put her empty mug in the dishwasher and then exited the general store.

Tables of food were set up everywhere, and she noticed the other Pelican Town residents walking around and eating food. She saw her father cheerfully operate his stand, proclaiming his strawberry seeds for sale. 

It was about 8:30, and people were still helping put food dishes out. Abigail looked around and found Sam and Sebastian by some bushes. When she stood with them, Sam nudged her slightly and pointed towards her left.

"Look at them." he said.

Haley and Alex were making out by the flowerpots.

"Oh gross!" Abigail commented. "That looks so slobbery."

Sebastian gave Abigail a weird look.

Abigail was about to say something, but she felt someone's hands cup over her eyes.

"Guess who?" Bea asked.

"Bea, you bitch!" Abigail giggled.

Bea uncovered Abigail's eyes. Abigail then caught a glimpse of Sebastian mouthing 'She just giggled' to Sam, who laughed silently. She decided to ignore them. 

"You ready to snatch some eggs?" Bea asked Abigail, who then turned towards Bea and nodded excitedly.

"Fuck yeah!" she exclaimed. "I am ready to win."

Bea raised her right eyebrow. "Are you sure you're gonna beat me?"

Abigail glared at her. "If you make me lose my 8 year winning streak, I will lock you in the mines." she threatened jokingly.

Bea merely smirked at her.

Mayor Lewis called everyone participating over, and after saying a few words, sent them off to find their eggs.

-

Abigail won by 1 egg, so she didn't have to make do on her promise of locking Bea in the mines.

"Good game," Bea said, offering Abigail her hand. Abigail took it, and as the two shook hands Abigail felt her hand being slightly squeezed. Bea then waved goodbye to her and then left Pelican town, going down the path to her farm. Abigail then went home and went to sleep after playing an indie game on her computer for a few hours.

The next day, she was shaken awake by her mother.

"Your friend's here. You overslept," Caroline said matter-of-factly.

"Bea?" Abigail murmured to herself as she got out of bed and got dressed. Caroline wouldn't refer to Sam or Sebastian as 'your friend', so Abigail assumed it was Bea.

When she got outside it was raining. Bea was waiting for her, and then handed her a box. Abigail opened it, and gasped when she saw a chocolate cake, luciously frosted, although slightly smushed.

"Evelyn mailed this to me," Bea admitted. "I'm going out into the mines later today, so I don't think I should be eating a ton of sugar and carbs because that energy dies quickly."

"Seriously? You're giving it to me?" Abigail asked. Bea nodded giddily. "I seriously love this! You're the best, Bea!" She smiled and said cheerfully, "I would hug you, but that'd smush the cake."

Bea laughed. "Well, I just wanted to stop by and give this to you. I have to clear up some debris on the farm, the storm last night knocked some trees over." She waved and then left Abigail alone, in the rain.

Abigail kept the cake in her room, and while playing some video games she ate some cake. It was a wonderful breakfast.

Afterwards, she decided to go up to the mountain, by Sebastian's house. Seb was a good guy, and she wasn't going to his house anyway. She just wanted to be in nature, alone in the rain. She brought her wooden flute to play because she loved the sound it made along with the rain in the background.

She passed by Sebastian's half-sister, Maru, who was walking, under an umbrella, with Penny. The two were whispering to each other and Penny had a soft smile on her face. Abigail continued walking along the path.

She liked the rain, and she stood under a tree and placed her flute to her lips, and began playing a tune. She loved the melodious aspect of playing in the rain, the melancholy of the rain, which she had remembered someone calling it Yoba's tears. Did she even believe in Yoba? Or was he just an expression now, for one to be like, "Oh, for Yoba's sake" or "Oh my Yoba". 

She then saw Bea standing near her and freaked out. "Bea! What are you doing out here in the rain?"

Bea smiled. "I could ask you the same question," she said.

"Oh. I see." Abigail said. "I came here to spend some time alone," she admitted. 

Bea then looked like she were about to leave and Abigail interjected. "But I-I don't mind your company!" she proclaimed. She noticed that Bea's white shirt was getting water spots on it and her white bra was noticeable. Abigail took pity on her. Her hair was damp and in clumps. "You're getting soaked...come stand under the tree." Bea smiled and she did. Abigail felt melancholy and poetic, and then professed, "It's impossible to describe this feeling...watching the curtains of rain whisper above a silent lake. 

Bea then smiled at her reassuringly and pulled from out her backpack a mini-harp. Abigail gasped.

"Hey! A mini-harp!" She smiled and blushed slightly when she said, "You're full of surprises, Bea. I'm impressed." 

Bea smiled and played a few strings. "Want to make music?" she asked. Abigail nodded, and the two played music together in the rain for hours.

-

The next week and a half were relatively uneventful. Abigail got invited over to Bea's house for Bea to show off all of her upgrades she had Robin do, and all of her old swords and daggers (well, there were only four) she slayed monsters with. It was amazing how strong and quickly Bea could get all of these weapons. She smiled wickedly and pulled an old pirate's cutlass off the wall. "Ahoy, matey." she smirked and jokingly swished her sword. Abigail watched in awe.

However, today was the Flower Dance. Abigail grunted and grumbled as her mother tightened her white dress for the dance and brushed her hair, muttering things about the knots. She then deemed Abigail appropriate, and sent her outside. She saw Sam and Sebastian looking equally uncomfortable in bright blue suits. She couldn't laugh at them because her dress was ridiculous.

She didn't see Bea and complained about the outfits, made fun of Haley's 'dancing', made fun of Alex's obvious staring, but then Bea swung up behind Abigail and tapped her on the shoulder. They talked for a little bit and then Bea popped her lips and then smiled. "Dance with me?"

Abigail smiled brightly. "Sure." she responded. Bea was probably a better dancer than Sebastian ever would be.

Sebastian was cheerful at the idea of sitting out of the dance, and he merely smirked at Sam who danced with Penny, who looked aimlessly to her right. Alex and Haley were annoyingly the best at the dance, but Bea's added little moves made Abigail laugh.

At the end of the festival, after eating and drinking and laughing, Bea smiled at Abigail.

"You looked really nice in that dress, but I think I like you better in your normal clothes. They're so much more you."

Before Abigail had a chance to respond, Bea smiled again and dashed off with a 'See ya later!'

Abigail was left alone with a new, fluttery sense in her stomach. She probably drank too much punch.