Work Text:
It was 9 in the morning. You had worked the whole week before, pulling many part-time jobs in the area, from helping to deliver flowers to harvesting hay to helping to groom Pokemon for many of the people around town that your hands had gone numb. You could’ve sworn it was still vibrating from the power of the clippers you’d held for a while.
You were exhausted; that was all you knew when you had come home last night. It was 9 in the morning now.
“Baaaaah!”
And there was a Wooloo outside your window, bleating up a storm.
How long had it been out there?? No, that wasn’t the question you needed to ask. The better one to ask was “whose Wooloo was it?”. Because if it belonged to who you thought it belonged to, then today was going to be interesting to say the least.
“Baaaah!” You raised a hand to your line of sight. It still felt as though it was made of lead. Tossing the covers of your bed aside, you hesitantly sat up and rubbed your eyes. The early sunlight of the morning blinded you briefly before turning to face the edge of the bed.
You had been in Turffield for two-and-a-half months. Since then, the community had openly welcomed you into their world, greeting you with warm smiles and friendly gestures. It had been obvious from the get-go that you were a city girl, but you quickly adjusted to small-town life and enjoyed the comfort of knowing everyone you met on a daily basis.
This also meant that you saw certain people very often. One of which, to the amusement of the townfolk, was the local Gym Leader, Milo. Your initial interaction with him had been one of certain… awkwardness, to put it lightly. One of his Wooloo- you found out its name was Betsey, by the way- had been snagging your stuff and running off with it after you had picked it up, believing it was a stray. Milo, being the kind soul that he was, returned it with a note that ended with an invitation to meet him at the gym. And boy , did you meet him. It’s not that he made you anxious, not at all. It’s just that he seemed to be worlds different from you, like a whole other league away from you.
Even after the meeting, this feeling of being under-qualified compared to him didn’t stop the two of you from getting to know one another as you began to pick up work in the small town. You’d see him either chasing after a wandering Wooloo or loading some hay for another farmer (by which you’d noticed that oh good heavens he can lift whole bales of hay with no effort ), or he’d find you carrying groceries for the little old lady that lives back behind the Gym or walking a mini-herd of Yamper while their owner was taking care of her little newborn. Your little chats with him while working were sweet and informative. He had a little brother named Caleb, you had two sisters back home in Johto. He had been working the fields since he was young while your first job was just after getting out of high school. And, according to some of the ladies in town, he was apparently one of the most eligible bachelors in the area-
“Baaaaaahhhhh!!” “Baaahh!!!”
You frowned as you finally checked outside the window. There were three Wooloo out there now. Putting on your work clothes, you sighed as the tight grasp of exhaustion slowly eased off your shoulders. Your house was somewhat spotless as you roamed through it getting ready for the day. A banana for breakfast, and a bottle of water for hydration. Weather seemed to be cooperating so far, but it could get surprisingly hot during the midday time, so you got a beat-up baseball cap and a bandanna for protection from the sun. Work gloves were the last things you grabbed, and with them, you were ready for the day! Stepping outside, you saw Turffield once more in the morning light. The quiet town was very quaint, and you could tell why Milo was hesitant to ever leave. In the morning light, each house looked as though it’d fit right in to a painting in a museum, and you’d wonder for a moment what it would be like to share a house with-
“BAAAAHHH!!” You turned to face the Wooloo, and they stared back at you with that same blank stare that said “ if we can’t sleep all day, then you can’t either ”.
“What?? Don’t look at me like that! I don’t need a living alarm clock.”
“Baaahh!!”
“Don’t sass me this early in the morning. Now come on, which farm do y’all belong to?”
“Bah!!” One stepped forward, and you could see around one of its long strands of wool that a green ribbon had been tied around it. Well, at least he made it easy for me this time , you thought to yourself. On days like these, Betsey and a few of Milo’s Wooloo would get away and wander to your house, almost insisting that you came to help herd them if you weren’t already busy. MIlo had told you that one day they had come over and lingered for about an hour before he had to come find them, only to find out that you were out helping the local florist with a massive order for a wedding that day; Milo later told you out of earshot of the woolly Pokemon that they had thrown a tantrum over you not being there.
“Alright then, let’s get y’all back to the farm. Come on!” You walked near the Pokemon and began to point them off towards the road, and they began to roll from the house. As the Wooloo with the green ribbon rolled away, you suddenly found a small envelope lying on the grass. You would have barely noticed it had it not been for the small leaf-shaped sticker on the back of it. By now it had been a common thing for the farmer to write a note in the morning; apparently he’d gotten a kick out of the first note he’d left you that he continued with them despite having a cell phone on hand. As the Wooloo moved along, you followed behind them, keeping an eye on the small group while also trying to read the letter that laid inside:
Mornin’ to ya, Y/N! Sorry if the Wooloo wake you up, but they keep a tight schedule when it comes to work!
I hate to ask this of you because I know that you’ve been awfully busy the past few days, but I’m short-handed this morning. My parents are busy with work out of town on a family friend’s farm, and my brother is sick at the moment. I can handle work on my own when everyone’s gone, but with Caleb not feeling well, I’m a tad bit worried. He’s taken on a very high fever, and wasn’t able to hold last night’s supper either, so I’ll have to keep an eye on him while Mum and Dad are gone.
But even if it’s just for chores around the farm, I’m hoping it’s not too much to ask if you could help me out? I completely understand if you don’t-
You folded up the letter and quickly put it into your jeans’ pocket. That was all you needed to read to wake up for the rest of the day. Poor Caleb being in such a state reminded you of having to take care of your own sisters a few times. But that meant there was no time to dawdle. “I hope I’m not too late,” you said to yourself as you focused on getting to the farm as quick as you could.
“Y/N, you made it!”
Yes, you had finally arrived. And Milo was already broken out into a sweat from working; he had to have been hard at it for a few hours already. You held back your own thoughts as the Wooloo you had herded quickly joined the rest of the flock behind the gate, with Milo shutting the gate behind them and wiping at his forehead with the back of his arm. “Yeah, it took a little bit. Your Wooloo sure do love to sniff at every flower they pass!”
The farmer chuckled, seeming just barely winded from the work he had done so far. “Yep, that’s Gertrude and Molly for ya! Those two can’t get enough of dandelions when they come up, so I’m mighty shocked we still have any around here. Guess you read my letter then, huh?”
“Yessir, I did,” you answered back, just a little distracted by the guy practically blinding you by the sun shining through the sweat that covered his bare arms. You weren’t one to stare, you’d swear by that, but it sure made looking at the rest of him hard when half your vision was compromised. “How’s Caleb doing right now?”
“Sleepin’ like a log as far as I’m aware. Got a Yamper in his room keepin’ watch over ‘im, so if he wakes up and needs anything, we’ll know right away.” Milo sighed, glad to take something of a break. “Had anything to eat for breakfast yet? I can whip somethin’ up right quick before we get back to work.”
“N-no, I had a quick something before I came out,” you said, a little disheartened that you had decided on the banana earlier, but eager to get whatever work needed to be done dealt with. “So, what needs to be done first?”
Milo’s sights roamed to the remainder of the farm, calculating what had priority over what. “Right, well, there’s some crops to be seeded, and we’re definitely gonna have to keep an eye on the newborns we have right now. They’re gettin’ a bit too adventurous for our liking. Our biggest job is gonna be picking the vegetables on the south side of the farm. Most of it goes to the market to begin with, but it’s sat for an extra two days, so some of it is well overdone. We’ll keep the overgrown stuff and take everything else to market, so we’ll need to get the Mudsdale ready for the cart. I think that’s all of the major work.” He looked back to you, a glimmer of concern in his eyes. “Remember, you don’t have to help if you don’t want to..”
You grinned back at him, taking time to stretch and get another drink of water from your bottle before you said anything. You failed to notice his eyes seemingly traveling the length of your body, and when you looked back he had only the faintest of blushes on his freckled face. “Nah, I came to help out, and help is what I’m gonna do!”
Two hours later...
The both of you had agreed to start the seeding first, while also intermittently checking on the newborns. Once or twice, a baby Wooloo would manage to get out and make it past the field you were seeding in, so either you or Milo had to round it up before it got away. The third time it did it, it went the opposite way and got caught by the Yamper that was watching Caleb; at that point, Milo stopped to check on his brother while you carried the baby back to the pen. You wouldn’t admit it after dealing with Betsey, but you found the baby Wooloo to be quite adorable. It got really content in your arms, unfortunately, and once you went to put it in the pen, it would raise a fit like it didn’t want to be put down. This went on for a good 10 minutes before you gave up and sat down with the baby Wooloo, stroking it lovingly as you rested for a brief minute.
“Well I’ll be darned!” The farmer had come back to the sight, with two water bottles in hand. He found it a hoot while you explained (well, stammered) that the Pokemon didn’t want to leave your grasp. It even protested when Milo went to put it back in the pin. “I don’t think I’ve seen a newborn get so fussy like that before,” he remarked with a lopsided grin. “Little one must've been really comfortable in your arms!”
The comment made your ears go red, and it was a shame you didn’t wear a wide hat to shade them. “It was probably just tired from running around so much. Mine are all skin and bone anyway, they probably really love being in your arms more than mine!” The moment the last word left your lips, you felt the heat go from your ears to your face. Oh no I said that out loud howcouldIsaythatoutloud- “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that!” You looked back to him to see him wiping more sweat from his brow with his scarf- and trying in vain to hide the spreading color on his cheeks. “Milo, you alright?”
Milo looked back to you, by this point unable to rid himself of the reddish tinge to his face. “Y-yeah, I’m fine! I forgot to say earlier, Caleb's doin’ much better now but he still won’t be able to help out today. When we finish up out here, you’ll be able to meet him for a bit!”
“That’s good,” you sighed as you stood back up, faltering a bit as you realized that one of your legs had gone to sleep while holding the baby Wooloo. But rather than getting your footing, your leg refused to act right and sent you falling to the side…
Right into Milo’s unprepared arms. He’d seen your stance wavering but hadn’t quite expected you to fall, so when you started heading down, it took him a second to react yet thankfully managed to get a hold of you before you hit the ground, dropping the water bottles instead. “Goodness, Y/N, are you alright??”
“Y-yeah! I’m fine! it’s just that…” You looked up at Milo and came face to face with eyes as green as the rolling forests back home; they were filled with concern, way too much for your own heart to handle as your brain froze for a full minute. “I-I-I’m f-fine!” You finally managed to squeak out as you ached to get out from inside his arms; you had unfortunately discovered that his arms were the rough equivalent of being wrapped in a plush blanket nestled between two Arbok- and if you stayed longer in them, you might not have wanted to leave. “My leg fell asleep, that’s all…”
“You sure?” Milo was still looking at you with full worry, and if you hadn’t been so flustered about falling on him, you might’ve hoped he was fighting a similar battle within himself. “We can stop for a bit, I can make you somethin’ to eat right quick-”
“No, it’s fine!!” Finally, you managed to stand upright and pry yourself from his arms, regretfully as your hand lingered on his chest. One of Milo’s hands stayed on your shoulder; the farmer’s hand almost seemed to be sweating. He must be exhausted from working so hard , you thought to yourself. “Um, we still need to get the vegetables picked for market, right? What all needs to be picked?”
Milo looked back at the garden that flanked the south part of the farm, and as you followed his gaze, you realized that the garden his family had was massive . You swayed at the magnitude of the garden, and you felt a gentle hand fall firmly on your shoulder again. “We’ve got carrots, cabbage, and broccoli on the back rows, and there’s two rows of green beans and snow peas back towards the front. We’ve also got beets and radishes in excess, and that’s about all we’ve got ‘til later on in the year!” He once again looked to you, searching your eyes for an answer. “But we don’t have to do that right now if you’re not up for it, Y/N. If you need a break, we can have one. I don’t wanna wipe you out just from helpin’ me!”
You laughed it off, eager to finish off the rest of the chores. “Nah, I can handle it. Let’s get it done!”
Four hours later, you were thoroughly wiped out. The two of you had gotten most of the vegetables picked and loaded into respective carriers, and after prepping the Mudsdale for the cart and loading the harvested vegetables, the two of you went to town to deliver the load. The merchants at the local market found it cute that you were helping Milo out, especially after Milo told them that Caleb had been out of commission and that he’d asked for your help. You, of course, told them that you didn’t mind helping out, but they could tell that you were ridiculously tired from working the previous week and the whole morning. And you really didn’t mind… It was just that you felt as if the life had been sucked out of you. Upon making it back to Milo’s house, your legs gave up on you as you reached a bale of hay, unceremoniously plopping down onto it.
Milo laughed and sat down on another bale; upon coming back he had released the Wooloo and the newborns, and they were now wandering around the farm under the farmer’s watchful eye. “Guess I overworked you, huh, darlin’?”
“Naaah, I’m fine,” you started, but didn’t quite have the energy to finish the rest of your response. Your mind hitched on that last word. “Darlin’”? Did he always use pet names? “Hah, I guess I’m still tired from yesterday… You said you can usually handle this much work alone??”
“Just about,” Milo replied, removing his hat and running and hand through his hair; you could see the sweat had absolutely soaked through his hair and shirt, yet he wasn’t near as worn-out as you were. Compared to him, you felt like a chewed-up rag-doll. “It’s just a matter of stayin’ on top of the workload so it’s not so hard the next day. Leave it alone for too long, and you wind up in over your head. Used to do it a lot when I was younger and didn’t know better, now workin’ the farm is like second nature to me. I gotta ask though… have you worked on a farm before, Y/N?”
“Me? Nah. I grew up in the city far from any farms,” you said. You didn’t want to admit it, but despite your hesitance to talk about your life back home, you figured that it might not hurt to open up a little bit to him. “But when I was little, we did go to the MooMoo Farm by Olivine City when we visited my grandparents. I loved playing with the Miltank there, and the Gym Leader back home used one in her battles…”
At the mention of the Miltank and Gym Leader, Milo’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know you did Johto’s Gym Challenge. I mean, you’ve never mentioned it before-”
“I… don’t usually like talking about it.” Milo looked to you and saw that you had a far-away look in your eyes; by now it was obvious that you didn’t like talking about a lot of things from life back home. Unknown to you, it pained him that you felt that you couldn’t be open about it all. “It didn’t end well for me, let’s just put it at that.”
The farmer smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “Ain’t no shame in that, it took me a few tries to beat the Gym Challenge here.”
“But that’s different. It wasn’t just losing the challenge, it was…”
“It was what?”
Your throat felt like razors, and your ears felt red hot. You couldn’t do it. Not today. “... I’m sorry.” You stood up from the hay bale, brushing off any straws that may have stuck to you. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll head home for the day.”
“Oh, that’s alright.” For a split moment, you could’ve sworn that there was a hint of sadness to the man's voice, almost seeming disappointed. “I bet you’re rightly tired after helping out today.” Milo stood up as well. Indeed, you could tell that he was sad to see you leave despite the smile on his face. “But you really must let me treat you to something for today’s work. I couldn’t have done it without you!”
“No, it’s fine, you don’t have to do anything for me,” you said, shaking your head. “I’m sure Caleb is wondering where you’ve been since the last time you checked on him, so you go on ahead and take care of him!”
“I’ll do that, don’t you worry about it.” Milo grinned, putting his hands on his hips. “But I’m still gonna treat you for your hard work! I promised it after all, remember?”
You had turned away to look back towards your house, but stopped to face him with confusion. “Huh? Promised??”
“Sure did! I said I’d cook supper for you when we were through with everythin’. I wrote it in the letter I sent earlier with the Wooloo, didn’t I?”
Your face went beet-red in .01 second as it slowly dawned on you that you didn’t remember at all. How could you? You didn’t finish the letter after all! “Uhh, I must’ve missed it!! I’m so sorry, I left so quickly after hearing about Caleb that I rushed over here!”
Milo’s face went red as well when he realized what had happened. “It’s alright! That’s my fault, I should’ve asked if that was okay with you first. To be real honest, I didn’t really have anythin’ planned except for beef stew since Caleb might not’ve been able to eat anything else, but now that I’ve got time to plan ahead, I’ll be sure to make you somethin’ real good!”
“That’s alright, we’ll make a date of it-” The temperature of your body spiked as the words left your mouth- and subsequently, your soul left your body. You quickly wiped the sweat from your face with the back of your arm, trying to hide the crimson wave that rushed your cheeks. “Day! We’ll make a day of it!!
Milo laughed, wiping the sweat from his brow as he too tried to hide his face for a brief minute. “Agreed! We’ll make a day of it!” He held out a hand to you, that ever-present grin on his face. “Deal?”
You eyed his hand, still pink in the face from your earlier embarrassment, but nodded quickly. “Deal!”
Your trip back to the house had been nothing short of riding on cloud nine as you went over the day’s events, and as you managed to make it in and lock the door behind you, it took all of your energy to not plop down onto your couch and fall asleep right then and there. Despite how hard you had worked, all you could really muster at that point for supper was another banana that luckily didn’t last very long. You dragged yourself to the bathroom to clean up in a hour-long shower, and finally by the time you made it back to the living room, the comfort of your bed was calling for you.
But as you moved to head to the bedroom, you realized that you didn’t need to leave your dirty laundry sitting in the middle of the floor. Picking it up, you went to bring it to the laundry room when Milo’s letter from earlier peeked out from one of the pockets.
“Sure did! I said I’d cook supper for you when we were through with everythin’. I wrote it in the letter I sent earlier with the Wooloo, didn’t I?”
You sighed heavily, pulling the letter out as you tossed the dirty clothes into a nearby basket. You walked to the bed and finally, after what seemed like an eternity, you were able to lay back down and could quickly feel the soft pull of sleep reeling you in.
But of course, you had to finish Milo’s letter before that happened:
But even if it’s just for chores around the farm, I’m hoping it’s not too much to ask if you could help me out? I completely understand if you don’t want to, or can’t even. But I know I can trust you to give it your all when it comes to lending someone a hand, right? I don’t mean to embarrass you or anything, but I see and hear it all around town. You’re always helping people, no matter what the job is! I knew you were a good soul when I met you, but you’re reliable, too! That’s why I want to treat you to a meal when we’re done working, as a thanks for all your hard work.
Even in your exhaustion-filled haze, your cheeks- or rather, your whole face- burned at the thought of him cooking for you. You hardly ate as it was because of your work and chores, among just not always being hungry, but never before had anyone offered something like that for just helping out . You were used to barely every getting a “thank you” for holding a door open back in Goldenrod.
I hope to see you soon, no matter if it’s here at the farm or later on in town. If you aren’t able to help out, I truly do understand. But I wouldn’t mind getting to cook you a meal even if it’s just for fun!
‘Til next time, darlin’!
~ Milo
You were so glad that no one was around to see you go from pink to fire-engine red. You could barely hold on to your giddiness as you drifted off to a peaceful sleep atop the bed, the letter from that kind-hearted farmer still in your grasp.
And, you had decided after all, you were glad to hear him call you “darlin’”.