Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Black Mesa was the final straw. That was it, that was the end. Gordon was tired, he was done, everything had gone to shit and he was just. Tired. 

Sitting in his living room with the, just as exhausted extended science team, Gordon wanted to collapse completely. There was nothing here anymore, just family that wouldn’t reach out to him and painful memories. 

And, as he usually did at this point, he thought back to his grandfather. Gordon frowned for a moment, before slowly sitting up. Tired eyes of the extended collected group flicked to him for a moment, before he was standing, moving into his bedroom down the hall, rifling through his drawers. That letter had to be in here somewhere. “Hah!” 

With letter in hand, he moved back into the living room, plopping back onto the couch where he had been before getting up, sandwiched between Tommy and Benrey, Darnold on Tommy’s other side, and the grandpas (which included G-Man, when Gordon thought about it) all in a strange pile on the other bend of the couch. 

“Whats that?” Tommy asked, quiet, as not to disturb the strange peace that had settled over the group, and Gordon smiled slightly. 

“Before my granddad died he gave this to me, told me not to open it until... whatever set of instructions he had were set. Basically when I got tired of where I was.” 

The implication of that settled across the group, bringing them to awareness, the group slowly sitting up to pay more attention as Gordon broke through the old wax seal, pulling out a folded letter, holding it for a moment. 

This was. A lot. He had held this letter for years, through college, through his transition, through his entire life, and now. Now he would open it. After so long, Gordon was going to open the old letter. 

And he did. 

What he didn’t expect was the deed to a farm. Gordon frowned at it for a moment. Stardew Valley was... a memorable name, something that ticked the back of Gordon’s brain, but he had already shown he barely remembered his childhood. “Pelican Town...” 

“You can’t keep us waiting over here, Gordon.” Coomer gently teased, and Gordon looked up, smiling sheepishly. 

“How do you guys feel about farming?” 

Chapter Text

The bus rumbled underneath him, heavy and loud as it bounced along an old street, one that seemed a bit too old to have been serviced recently. Gordon stared at the window quietly at the country side passing him by, the trees wiz past the window. Gordon glanced to the side towards Darnold, who was sitting next to him, rather engrossed in a book. Gordon wondered, vaguely how Darnold could manage to read in a moving car, even the thought of such turning Gordon’s stomach. 

But, to each their own. 

On the other side of the bus, Tommy and G-Man sat side by side, Tommy on the side of the window, peering out quietly, the end of a plastic pendent in his mouth, chewing on it absently. G-Man was simply staring past Tommy’s head out the window as well, hands folding into G-Man’s lap. Gordon wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed like Tommy was leaning back against ver father’s arm. Gordon blinked at them for a moment, before leaning back a bit, to see if he could get a glimpse of Coomer and Bubby in front of Tommy and G-Man. 

Bubby was the one in the aisle seat, back straight and tense, one leg bouncing. Xe also had a stim toy to chew on, though his was stuck to xyr teeth at the moment. It didn’t seem xe cared much though. Just barely in Gordon’s line of sight, and only because Bubby had curled xry arms close to xry chest, Bubby had Coomer’s hand in a death grip, one that Gordon thought that even Coomer might have complained about, if his arms hadn’t been made of metal. 

In front of Gordon and Darnold was Forzen and Benrey, leaning against each other between the seats, Forzen snoring softly. Gordon didn’t think that either of them needed to sleep, but they both liked to on occasion, and riding in a bus to the middle of nowhere was the perfect opportunity to indulge. 

After all, once they got there, Gordon knew well that both of them were going to be on guard. New places were always like that for the two of them, on guard and awake for a few weeks before they settled enough to even think about taking a nap. 

Which might work in their favor, actually. Not in the idea that Gordon was scared of the people in the upcoming town, but more in the fact that none of them were really going to be good at farming. 

He had sent a letter ahead of time, warned of his, and this entire group’s, coming, and then set off. They all had bags with them, but the main bulk of whatever they had was in one of G-Man’s voids, in order to transport more stuff. There was a lot they didn’t want to leave behind. 

Sunkist was there too, since she was far too big to fit on this rickety old bus. She also, according to Tommy, got really nervous on car rides and would always want to sit in ver lap, so Gordon guessed it was just easier for everyone involved if she wasn’t there in the first place to get nervous. No one wanted a nervous two hundred pound dog nearly the size of Tommy. 

The bus pulled to a stop, and Gordon frowned, leaning his head against the window to see that in front of them was a very horribly broken down bus, reclaimed by nature at this point, blocking the road. An old man stood on the dirt in front of it, and the bus doors opened. 

So. This was it. 

Gordon nudged Darnold, who looked up, blinking a few times before marking his place in his book sheepishly, standing and grabbing his back pack, allowing Gordon to stand as well, the two of them waiting for first Bubby and Coomer-Bubby nearly falling in xyr haste to get off the bus-then Forzen and Benrey, before G-Man lifted a hand to allowed Darnold and Gordon to pass first, the father and son duo following after. Gordon heard Tommy’s bright voice thank the driver as they stepped off the bus, back packs in tow. 

Fae walked around the front of the bus to the grass on the side of the road, grinning over at who he assumed to be Mayor Lewis, but, well, it never hurt to ask. “Lewis?” 

“Ah! Gordon, I presume, with your entourage!” Mayor Lewis grinned bright, in a way that reminded Gordon a lot of Coomer, and Gordon grinned back, holding out his hand to shake Lewis’s, the group moving to the side of the road to allow the bus they came on to turn back the way they came. 

“That’s me. We can get names out of the way when we’re not standing on the side of a road though.” Lewis laughed, and turned, leading the Extended Science Team down a dirt path, onto a second. Lewis gestured to his left. 

“That way’s town, but I assume you’d want to stop by the old cabin first! I’ve got Robin, the local carpenter, making sure she’s all fixed up for you all to stay. Might be a bit cramped, but I know she’d be willing to build a second on the property.” 

Gordon nodded along, and followed Lewis down the dirt path towards the farm, which he could already see was over grown as hell. 

“The properties a bit of a mess, but I’m sure with some love and care it’ll be up and going again.” 

“A mess is a bit of an understatement.” Bubby muttered, kicking aside a rock that xe almost tripped over. 

The entire property was covered in weeds and tall grass, trees and rocks strewn about so that Gordon couldn’t even see the other end of the property. He knew the layout, since included with the deed had been essentially a map, detailing both the property and the town to the west. It was a small town, probably just a few people, and Gordon planned on updating that map of his to fit the current year. It had been years since his granddad had died, and even more since he had been here. 

There was a noise inside the cabin, and the group looked towards it just in time for a woman with bright red hair to come out, shutting the door to the cabin behind her. “Couldn’t have done better work if I had built her with my own hands!” Robin called from the steps, stepping down them to greet Gordon, sticking out the wrong hand for Gordon to properly shake her hand, but he went with it anyways, watching her blink and glance down, then go red. “Oh shoot-” 

“It’s fine.” Gordon grinned at her, shrugging his shoulder. “Not the first time won’t be the last.” He pulled his back pack up his shoulder a bit again, glancing to the side to be sure the others weren’t getting to antsy. It seemed that Coomer had gone back to staring out along the farm, eyes narrowed slightly in a way that meant it was planning something. Gordon looked back to Robin. “Don’t sweat it. You said the house was good?” 

“A bit dusty, but that’s nothing opening the windows up wont’ fix. Should be enough room for the lot of you, though some of y’all will have to share rooms.” Robin grinned. “You ever want more space...” 

“You’re the carpenter.” Gordon grinned. “Lewis already told us.” 

Benrey appeared at Gordon’s side, and he was really unsure if he had moved or teleported, but for all of their sake, fae hoped that dae had walked up. “Uhhh got. Got credentials? Passport?” Robin blinked, confused, before Gordon lifted his hand. 

“Don’t. Listen to him. Promise you, it’ll save you the trouble. Benrey, why don’t you go inside?” 

For a moment, Benrey stared, processing, before turning and going up the steps into the house without a word. Hopefully that would tamper down on daer nervous tick for the time being, being able to inspect the house to his heart’s content. 

“Oh... it’ll probably be a bit more cramped for you.” Robin and turned to Tommy and G-Man while Gordon watched Benrey disappear, and Tommy just smiled at her. 

“It’s fine! We’re kind of used to having to bend down anyways!” Tommy grinned, bright as usual, but Robin frowned. 

“Well, if you ever do get that cabin, I’ll make sure you two won’t have to do that.” 

“Now now, Robin, they just got here, no need to promote your business. I’m sure they’ll get something from you eventually.” It was obvious Lewis was teasing, and Robin huffed a laugh. 

“Fine, fine, alright. Whatever you say.” Forzen, without prompting, stepped past them into the house as well, probably looking for Benrey. “Well we should get out of your hair, let you settle in. You’ll come around and meet the town tomorrow, yeah?” 

“Yeah, some of us should.” Gordon grinned slightly, shaking her hand again, doing the same to Lewis. “Thanks for cleaning the place up for us, you really didn’t have to.” 

“Nonsense.” Lewis grinned, patting Gordon’s back. “The town takes care of each other, and you’re part of the town now.”

Gordon grinned slightly, then waved the two of them off as they set off to home. He glanced around and noticed that Coomer and Bubby had left their bags with G-Man, who was holding them, and G’s own, on G’s arm, and had disappear into the overgrowth. Darnold was inspecting some of the wildlife around them, and Gordon left him too it, leading G-Man and Tommy into the cabin for the first time. 

There was an upstairs, which Gordon noted first, eyes darting around as he took in the kitchen and living room, G-Man and Tommy both shrinking just a bit to fit comfortably into the house, or at least without having to bend over the entire time. It was sparsely decorated, but there was a TV and a table, with a small kitchen, that Gordon knew G-Man was going to take over as soon as they had settled in properly. There was a doorway to the side and Gordon went that way first, as Tommy rounded into the kitchen, calling out a ‘There’s a cellar down here!’ as he went. 

The main bedroom, as he assumed it was, was also empty and undecorated, but for a large bed in the middle. Gordon figured this room was going to be for Bubby, Coomer, and G-Man, whenever G-Man had the need to sleep, which wasn’t often. He was already planning on where Bubby’s sleeping tub, full of tube goo that was also in the void currently, was going to have to go in here, when Benrey popped in at his elbow. 

“Sup. Two rooms upstairs. Got a sick lil bunk bed up there already.” 

“You and Forz claim it?” 

“Yup.” Benrey popped the p at the end, and Gordon nodded at him. 

“So me, Tommy, and Darnold still need a place.” 

“Second room near the bunk bed one.” Benrey turned, and Gordon followed him up the stairs, where small hallway split the upstairs into two rooms, one which had its’ door open to reveal the bunk beds that Benrey had been talking about, and the other which had it’s door closed. Opening it revealed a second room with two beds on the inside, the one nearest to the window Gordon claimed and set his bag down onto. “You gotta cuddle.” 

“Don’t mind it as long as they don’t.” 

Benrey nodded, bouncing on his feet slightly, looking out the window, which was a bit unfortunately placed to face a cliff side, before looking back to Gordon. There was a question in daer eyes, and Gordon shrugged a shoulder. 

“I dunno Ben. It’s different but I think it’s gonna be a good different, y’know?” Benrey nodded again, then turned and left the room, crossing into the other room to get into a weird mostly silent argument about who got the top bunk first in the new house. Gordon sat there for a moment longer, before following Tommy’s calls of a cellar back down the stairs, grinning slightly as he went. 

Chapter Text

When Gordon woke up the next morning-buried under both Tommy and Sunkist-he had no choice but to lay there for a moment, taking in the new room still. It was mostly undecorated still, but Benrey must’ve wandered in in the middle of the night and stuck up a poster for All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 they had found one time and Benrey had refused to pass by. The thing had spent it’s new life hanging in Gordon’s room, no matter how many times fae had tried to move it, and it seemed the tradition continued. 

Tommy rolled over slightly, not a lot on this small bed, but enough for Gordon to wiggle free carefully. He woke Sunkist, but that ended up helping, as she lifted her body up to free Gordon completely, then settled back against Tommy’s side in the warm spot Gordon had left behind. Gordon slipped on the pair of dog slippers by the bed-they all had matching animal slippers, even G-Man, which was a feat completed only because Tommy’s puppy dog eyes were lethal-and shuffled out of the room into the hallway. Still barren, but for the few random things that Benrey had took upon daemself to hang up in the night. 

Gordon followed his nose down, thankful that G-Man really didn’t mind carrying shit in the void as much as G-Man pretended, as it caused this breakfast, probably made by Coomer. Even so, it was going to be good, since breakfast foods was one of the only things that people trusted Coomer with in the kitchen. 

As expected, Coomer was making breakfast, with Bubby already curled into a chair at the table, a cup of steaming coffee in front of xem. Bubby lifted xyr head as Gordon shuffled in, then jerked xyr head back to the counter behind xem, were the coffee pot was full and still warm. Gordon grinned thankfully, pouring himself a cup and leaning against the counter, watching as Coomer bounced about the small-ish kitchen, working on breakfast. 

“Good Morning Gordon!” It called, an unknown amount of time later, and Gordon hummed, lifting his coffee in response. He knew that Coomer couldn’t see it, but Coomer just hummed louder, as if he had sensed it. The routine stayed. 

With that done, fae moved over to the table, setting his cup down on the right of Bubby, since Coomer always claimed xyr left for whatever reason, and finally tuned his attention to the package sitting on the table. “You open it yet?” 

Bubby shook xyr head slightly, still nursing xyr coffee, blinking slowly behind his steamed up glasses. “It’s addressed to you.” 

“That’s never stopped you before.” 

All he got in return was a grin. 

Gordon sighed, then dragged the package over, finding it rather easy to open, though is had been unopened before. Usually the science team didn’t care. 

Inside was parsnips seeds. Gordon blinked at them, lifting them out of the box, then grabbing the note that they were balanced on. 

“Just something to get you started” Gordon read aloud. “From Lewis.” 

“Hm. Gotta clear out some space for it.” Bubby sipped at xyr coffee, shifting back into xyr chair just in time for Coomer to start setting plates out. Any moment now the rest of the team would emerge from their various hidden spaces for breakfast, and Gordon nodded slightly, setting the box onto the floor at his feet, folding the note around the seeds and setting those inside the box as Coomer set a plate in front of him. 

“Thanks Coomer.” 

Coomer nodded, just as Tommy shuffled down the stairs, some how looking wide awake, and still making a bee line for the coffee. Dragging behind him was Benrey and Forzen, Benrey shuffling along with his hands buried in the same hoodie he had worn yesterday. Forzen was already dressed and ready, aside from their own green gator slippers. Tradition carried on. Gordon’s shoulders relaxed, just a bit. 

G-Man emerged from the cellar, brushing dust from one shoulder. Gordon didn’t bother to ask what G had been doing down there, already knowing he wouldn’t get an answer and instead turned to focus on eating breakfast. 

“Me and Coomer are gonna head into town, see what it’s like.” Bubby took a sip of xyr coffee, grinning into it as Tommy lit up. “See if we can find anywhere to get more seeds than Lewis’s ‘to get you started’ thing.” 

Tommy glanced to Gordon, who kicked the box under the table towards Tommy. Ve glanced down at it, then kicked it back to Gordon, the squirrel tail on the back of his slippers shaking slightly as he did. Gordon blocked the box before it slid too far away from the table, tucking it back between his feet. 

“I’m gonna go with, I wanna meet people!” He glanced to Benrey, gently elbowing his side as dae played with daer pancake stack. “I wanna drag you with though. We can get seeds and get them back here quicker.” Benrey nodded slightly, tearing shapes into his pancakes before eating them. 

“Then I’m claiming Forzen, we need to clear a space for a proper farm anyways.” Forzen looked up at their name, then nodded slightly as Gordon grinned over at them. 

“There’s a lake just near here.” Gordon glanced to Coomer. “You can start there, so you have a good water source. Bubby and I didn’t see a well anywhere on the property when we wandered last night.” 

“Think Robin would do that?” Bubby asked, glancing between Coomer and Gordon, both oh whom shrugged. 

“I can... go up and ask her. I do believe... there is a path north... to where she lives.” G-Man volunteered and Gordon nodded slightly, clearing his plate and leaning back in the chair with his cup in his hand. 

With the general gist settled, the group dispersed rather quickly once finished with breakfast. Gordon, once dressed, stepped out into the sun, Forzen at faer side, to get started clearing out the debris. 

Bubby clung to Harold’s hand, not out of any nervousness on either side of them, but more for the comfort of the heavy hand in xyrs, tapping a small beat into the back of Harold’s hand. Tommy and Benrey trailed along behind the two of them, Tommy carrying Benrey on his back. 

The town they came across wasn’t too far from the farm, small but spread out, in order to give it the illusion that it was larger than it was. Tommy lit up upon seeing a store the stumbled across first, labeled as Pierre’s, and started his way over to it, passing by Bubby and Harold. They sent a look to each other, before following Tommy in, as Tommy ducked into the store, rather surprised that he was able to stand up straight inside. 

“Oh! Are you the new farmers?” The man at the front desk called out to them, Bubby assumed he was Pierre. Tommy nodded. 

“Some of them at least! I didn’t think I could stand in here.” It was a just barely thing, his head rather close to brushing the ceiling. G-Man would have had to bend. Benrey dropped from Tommy’s back to stare at Pierre quietly. Bubby considered it lucky dae weren’t asking for the poor guy’s passport. “You wouldn’t happen to have more seeds?” 

“Sure do.” Pierre came around the counter, walking over to a section of shelves, and that was when Bubby checked out, looking towards Harold, who was paying attention and still holding Bubby’s hand. Xe were trapped for the time being, and xe turned to Benrey, raising an eyebrow, and then Harold’s hand in xyr own. Benrey sent back a sharp grin, and Bubby knew dae would be no help. 

Instead, Bubby let xyr eyes wander about the small store, what one would expect of a rather small town general store, though it seemed to have a certain focus on farm stuff. Which was good for them, at the very least. 

The door dinged behind them, and Bubby glanced back, before xyr eyes went slightly wider and flicked to Harold, who had also glanced back. The moment it hit, Harold’s grip on Bubby’s hand tightened all at once, not enough to really hurt him, but enough to sting. 

An older couple had come in, probably a few years older than him and Harold. The older women held the door open for her husband, letting him roll over the small bump there into the store, and Harold made sure instead to focus back onto what Pierre was saying. Unfortunately for them, he had just noticed the two of them come in, lighting up a bit. 

“Evelyn, George! I didn’t realize you’d be coming in today.” This time, Harold’s grip got tight enough for Bubby to hiss slightly, causing Harold to let go almost completely, though Bubby knew exactly what was going on. The name had all but confirmed it. 

“Well, we ran out of a few things, thought you’d might have them.” Evelyn smiled, while George just huffed. “And I thought it might be nice to get out of the house for a bit, for the both of us.” 

“Never seen you around.” George said, eyes darting around the group, and Bubby turned slightly, having to let go Harold’s hand to do so, but Harold was currently calming himself, so it was up to xem. 

“Just moved into the valley.” Bubby shrugged, leaning against Harold’s side, letting xyr husband shift, wrap and arm around xem, turning to properly do so. “Just came into town to grab a few things.” 

“Ah, that old farm I assume? Glad to see its gonna get some use from now on.” Evelyn smiled, walking about the fresh produce in the area, smiling to herself. George just narrowed his eyes at them. 

“I’m Bubby. My husband.” He tapped Harold’s arm, causing Harold to glance at xem, then look back to what Tommy was doing, engrossing himself in that rather than anything else. “Is Harold, Tommy’s the tall one, and Benrey’s the other one. There’s a few more of us, but I’m sure you’ll run into them on your own at some point.” 

“Hey Dr. Coomer?” Bubby glanced over as Tommy turned, Harold pulling his arm from Bubby’s shoulders to go over and help Tommy carry the bag of seeds they go, settling it over his arm. 

“A doctor?” Evelyn’s question led Bubby back to the two of them, and Bubby grinned. 

“Most of us were scientists, but legally we aren’t allowed to talk about it anymore.” Bubby had leaned forwards conspiratorially at the end, then couldn’t help but laugh at the look on their faces. “No, no, it’s fine, there was a minor workplace accident and then we were collectively let go, as the main victims of the whole thing.” Calling the Res Cas a ‘minor workplace accident’ almost made Bubby giggle again. 

“I hope you were alright!” 

“Oh, most of us came out with all our limbs.” Bubby glanced back to Tommy and Harold, still talking with Pierre, eyes narrowing slightly. Benrey looked over, then raised a hand to wave at the group. Somehow, xe had gotten stuck with small talk. 

“Most of you?” George asked, raising an eyebrow, and Bubby just winked, as Benrey moved over to the three of them, eyes darting between the two older, before looking to Bubby. 

“Yo, they’re uhhh they’re stuck. Unskippable NPC dialogue.” 

“Well that’s not fun.” Bubby was far too used to Benrey’s video game connections, by the look that Evelyn and George gave-George’s much more severe than Evelyn’s-but that was just how Benrey was. 

“Gonna... break you out. Go look at things.” Benrey grabbed onto Bubby’s arm and Bubby nodded slightly, looking towards Harold. 

“Hey Harold?” When xyr husband looked back, he gestured to Benrey. “We’re gonna go, probably gonna be easy enough to find us if you look.” 

“Alright love! See you back home if we don’t.” 

Bubby nodded, then glanced to the other two near xem, as if Benrey wasn’t tugging incessantly on xyr arm. “Probably gonna run into you two again. Until then.” 

“Bye dear.” Evelyn smiled, while George just huffed, and, as they turned back to the produce, Benrey dragged Bubby from the shop, Bubby stumbling slightly before finding xyr footing as Benrey relaxed a bit in the air. 

“You good?” 

“Yeah. Closed in. Didn’t like it much.” 

Bubby of all people could understand, nodding slightly as Benrey dragged xem down what he could assume to be the town square, squinting a bit. “Is that a beach down there?” 

Benrey blinked, then grinned, and began to drag Bubby towards the bridge, Bubby huffing but along for the ride. 

G-Man had been correct in saying there was a northern path up the mountain side to a home, that G-Man assumed as the one Lewis had spoken about for a brief period of time, the carpenter’s shop. G-Man carefully walked down the steps, as the front door opened to reveal someone in all black, their hair flopped over one side of their head. They stuck an unlit cigarette into their mouth, flipping the lighter open, rounding the house and jumping slightly upon spotting G-Man. 

“Woah.” G-Man raised a hand in greeting, stepping down the last few steps to make G-Man’s height just a bit less intimidating. “Damn. Seeing you in the dark gotta’s be freaky for someone who doesn’t know you.” 

Admittedly, that got a smile out of G-Man. “So I have been... told. Dark clothing doesn’t... help the experience.” 

The person nodded a bit, sticking a hand into their front hoodie pocket, unlit cigarette still stuck between their teeth, lighter flipping in their fingers. “So you one of the new farmers?” 

“Indeed. Is... Robin home?” 

“Yeah, Mom’s inside. She’s talking with Maru and Demetrius right now, but she’ll be ready to help in a few minutes. Sebastian, he/they.” Sebastian didn’t stick a hand out to shake, so G-Man didn’t either, rather preferring it that way. 

“G... no pronouns.” 

Sebastian nodded, then glanced towards the door. “Well. Nice meeting you.” With that, they ducked past G-Man up the stairs, lighting the cigarette in his hand and taking a small path that G-Man hadn’t noticed before. G-Man watched quietly, before carefully walking along the path to the door, carefully opening it and ducking under the doorway, hunching a bit to fit inside the home. Not too much, but it was still a bit uncomfortable. If only G-Man could shrink, but Robin was already rounding the corner. 

“Oh! Hey!” Robin smiled up at G-Man, and G raised a hand in greeting. “What brings you up the mountain?” 

“I was... asked. There is... inquiry to if you... would be willing to dig... a well... on the property.” 

Robin hummed softly, brushing past G-Man and going over to the desk. “I sure could! If you save some of the rocks around the property, we can cut some of the costs of it. There should be some good rocks around. We find a good spot for it, it’s sure to be helpful.” 

G-Man nodded slightly. “With... the help of rocks... how much would the cost end up?” It wasn’t like any of the science team had to worry about costs, but might as well take the discount if given. Humans tended to take those as often as possible. 

Before Robin could answer, two other people rounded the corner. G-Man glanced to them, as the smaller of the two, by a small margin, jumped slightly, eyes tracking up to G-Man’s face. G-Man lifted a hand once more. 

“Oh. Wow you are... okay. Sorry, I’m Maru, she/her, are you one of the new farmers?” 

“G-Man, none, and yes.” 

“None as in no preference or none as in no pronouns at all?” 

“The second.” 

Maru nodded, moving over to the desk that Robin as behind, as who G-Man assumed, through process of elimination, was Demetrius, stayed in the doorway. 

“Sorry, just popping in for a second to say that, Mom, you stole our thermometer.” 

“Oh!” Robin dug in her pockets and handed the small object over. “Sorry hun.” 

“It’s fine. Dad just needed it for the recording. Gotta resterilize it, but no big deal.” Maru turned and rounded the corner again, disappearing, as Demetrius smiled up at G-Man. 

“Hey, you find any plant life on the farm you don’t know, feel free to call us down. Might be nice to learn something new about the valley.” 

G-Man hummed. Darnold would like Demetrius. “Of course. Darnold... could bring it up. He has an... interest, one could say.” 

“Demetrius, hun, you can talk science later.” Robin curbed the growing excitement G-Man could see on Demetrius’s face, and G-Man smiled softly. “I’ve got business to talk.” 

“Ah, right, sorry hun.” He moved over, the two of them sharing a quick kiss, before disappearing around the corner once more. 

“Back to it then.” Robin grinned, and G-Man shifted slightly, and turned back to Robin to talk business.