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The fresh and chilly air carrying traces of honeysuckle and freshly cut grass attacked Park’s senses as soon as he lay one foot off of the bus, but it was wholly welcome; it was nice knowing that he’d smell something other then sterile plastic for once in his life. He looked around in awe of the all of the greenery and shuffled forward to inspect a vibrant looking flower near his suitcase, when two heavy booted feet appeared in the corner of his vision. They looked steel-toe capped and heavy duty, so when he got to his feet and was met with the sight of a petite framed woman, Park made sure to flush all of his stereotypes out of his head from now on. The auburn must have noticed his surprise because she raised a sly brow at him before holding her hand out with an easy grin Park instantly envied.
“Hey there! You must be the new farmer. I’m Robin, I live up in the mountains and I’m the Valley’s carpenter. So come on by if you want some coops or stables built in the future okay? I can give you a discount if you’re good.” She laughed, taking Park’s hand for him when all he could do was blink at her, astounded.
“I...? Thank you? I’m Park?” He stammered dumbly, earning a snort from the woman, who now that he was surveying her, actually towered over his 5,6 ass and had arms like harpoons.
“You don’t sound very certain!” She teased, slapping him heartily on the shoulder. He awkwardly laughed and dropped his eyes to the flower from before.
“Ahah...your confidence dazzled me.”
The half-compliment seemed to sit well with Robin because her smile grew tenfold and she snaked her arm around his shoulders. “What can I say~?”
“You’re not bullying our new farmer are you, Robin?” A new voice, low and gravelly called out from behind them, and they both simultaneously looked over to see a stocky suspenders-donning man strolling towards them with a haughty flair that Park was certain the man had practised in the mirror. He stopped a few feet away, put his hands on his hips and smiled warmly at Park like he’d seen something nostalgic; the soft infatuation in that brown gaze made an embarrassed heat creep up Park’s neck the longer the man stared.
“Uh. Lewis? Hello?” Robin called impatiently, and the man- presumably Lewis snapped out of his daze instantly, going straight back to that calm and proud demeanour.
“Ah, yes. Pardon me, Parker. You just resemble your Grandfather so dearly it’s like I’m staring right at him- it must be the blue eyes. He was a good friend of mine you see, so do excuse me if I act aloof.”
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“Oh...no it’s okay. Maybe you could tell me more about him sometime?” Park suggested out of politeness more than anything, but the Mayor’s eyes instantly lit up.
“That’s a perfect idea! Perhaps we can arrange that once you’ve settled in, hm? Now come this way, we have a lot to see.”
Lewis gestured him and Robin to follow him with a limp hand, and the three began trekking down a flora-filled pathway where warm sunlight flooded in through cracks in the trees like some kind of heavenly light. He was brought out of his admiration by Robin‘s calloused hand gripping his shoulder just as a rickety looking gate came into view and he peered over his shoulder at her in question. For the first time, she looked nervous.
“Robin?” He asked quietly, watching as her hazel eyes temporarily flicked over towards Lewis’s back before they returned to his face.
“Hey..I know it looks bad, but I promise I can repair it eventually. It’s not as terrible as it looks.” She whispered, much to his confusion.
“What? What’s bad?” He mumbled back, then gave a tasteless remark of agreement when Lewis mentioned something about leaves and ants before directing his attention back to Robin. “Are you talking about the Farm? Is it that bad..?”
Her face scrunched up into a conflicted sort of expression that Park didn’t like one bit. “..Well—“
“Here we are!” Mayor Lewis exclaimed before she could finish, and steeling himself, Park slowly turned his gaze towards the...mess of logs, rocks and weeds. And...wow, how many decades of gruelling work and effort had his grandfather put into this place, only for it to turn into some kind of decaying entanglement of moss and junk? It sent spikes of painful anger stabbing through Park’s stomach the longer he stared, but gritting his teeth, he turned to Lewis with the gentlest smile he could muster.
“It’s kind of unkept, isn’t it?” He asked lightly, and while Robin’s eyes widened in..probably awe that he hadn’t immediately had a breakdown- he could have one of those later-, Lewis’s shrank.
“A-ah- ahem, yes. It’s Uh..we really thought you’d have turned up sooner, you see..” he managed, all the while looking just about everywhere but Park’s face.
“It’s...a bit of a do-er upper-“
“It’s a dump.”
“Robin!”
“But didn’t you say it’s repairable? I don’t mind the shack being less then perfect, but the roof could be a problem..” Park asked, absentmindedly kicking a weed with his shoe. Robin made a surprised noise, then suddenly her arm was over his shoulders again.
“I hear ya. Yeah, I can fix it Honey, but it won’t be cheap to do. Then again, I’ll do a lot more then just stick some tape to the roof tiles.”
“O-Of course-! I had Robin do some maintenance on the place before your arrival.”
“And by that he means I got the hot water running.”
Park felt the need to sigh as he side-eyed the carpenter. “Electricity?”
“You have a generator and a fireplace. I’ll show you how to use it.”
“Well, at least that’s something.” He weakly laughed, running a hand through his dark wavy hair. “I think I’ll survive like this until I can afford an upgrade. It’ll give me time to work out what else the place needs anyway..”
“Ah- see? I knew you’d see things positively! Just like your dear old man. Although..” Lewis’s gaze grew dark as he leaned on one the huts support beams, his face solemn. “You mustn’t aim for gold right away, you understand son? This place is going to take a lot of hard work to get up and running again, and your dear old grandfather worked himself into the grave.”
Park’s breath hitched and he nodded slowly. His Grandpa had only been 47 when he’d passed, and everyone had been devastated. As far as he knew, his grandfather had been exceptionally healthy with a balanced diet and no illnesses to boot, yet he’d died of cardiac arrest in his bed from extreme fatigue. Alone.
He flinched when Robin squeezed his shoulder, feeling slightly dizzy like he’d just woken up, and the woman waved her hand in front of his face with a tense expression. “Park? What’s the matter? Do you need to sit down?” She asked seriously, and he quickly shook his head.
“No I’m good- just tired from the bus ride down here.” As long as he’s not dying, he’s fine.
“Then I suppose we should leave you to it then and let you get settled.” Lewis concluded, pushing off of the support beam and walking to Robin’s side, who’s arm reluctantly slid off of his shoulder after a long worried stare.
“Yeah, thank you for coming to meet me both of you.”
“That’s perfectly alright! Oh, and one more thing. There’s a small bundle on the table in there just to help you get started; some of your grandfathers tools, some seeds- the lot. I recommend you start your first plot near a water source so you don’t have to keep walking miles back and forth for more water. And remember, take your time. Farming is hard work, and I’d hate to see you match your old man’s fate.” Lewis patted him on the back, offering him a smile that seemed tight around the edges. It felt strange to be worried about, especially by strangers he’d met a total of today. Embarrassing. Nice, but really embarrassing. His parents had never been maternal even when he was a baby, and he only has memories of his grandfather giving him presents on his birthday’s, but even so, he doesn’t hate his parents. At least he has parents who gave him everything he needed. He had friends who didn’t.
He suddenly felt a little choked and fiddled with his hair to ground himself. “Okay, thank you so much.”
“We have a clinic in town- you can’t miss it. So if you feel the slightest bit ill or exhausted then you need to go pay doctor Harvey a visit.”
“Um..yeah, thank you.”
“Even if it’s just a cold.”
“..yes.”
“It could come back to bite you later if you don’t-“
“Okay Lewis, I think he gets it.” Robin intercepted, and Park silently thanked her.
“You- fine.” The moustached man said defeatedly, and the tall woman guided him by the shoulders towards the farm’s exit.
“Bye Park! Maybe one of these days you can visit the town square and say hello to everybody. They’ve been dying to finally see a new face around here!”
Oh Yoba.
“Oh really..?”
“Yeah! Stop by the saloon when your feeling like you could use a break. Gus’ll give you a free first if you’re real polite!”
“Okay Robin.” Park smiled despite himself. Robin seemed easy to get along with at least, so maybe he wouldn’t be totally alone here for the rest of his life. As the mayor’s tartan hat and Robin’s fiery hair disappeared around the bushy corner, Park hesitantly pivoted on his feet to stare down the mangled piece of land he now owned. And felt lightheaded.
He dropped his gaze to the dirt and experimentally kicked it.
“Dry.”
How the heck is he meant to work with this?
The mayor’s words suddenly popped into his head, and he stepped through the huts door in search of the promised tools his grandfather had left him. They sat on a dusty looking round table covered in all kinds of dirt, but it was better then having nothing at all, so he shoved the tools into his backpack and nabbed the bag of...parsnip seeds? On the way back out into the courtyard.
First he dumped his backpack onto a patch of less trashed soil and took out just a weirdly eroded hoe, a splintered axe that was definitely going to slice up his hands and a freaking pickaxe. Several logs of wood scattered the dirt mostly, so he got to work hacking them into smaller movable pieces before kicking them away for firewood later, and then he shoddily attempted to smash a few rocks with the hulking pickaxe he wasn’t sure he was going to get used to using. Then finally. A had enough space to till a small square and toss a bunch of seeds in the plot. With a hard smack to his own face he realised he’d forgotten to plant near a water source, but hell if he was restarting now, so he resigned his future self to having to run back and forth until these stupid things grew.
“..are you proud of me Grandpa?” He snorted to himself, lazily dropping the watering can somewhere off to the side so he could plop down on a particularly large log he’d almost broken both his arms trying to chop earlier. Though as he waited for the feeling to return to his slightly bloodied hands, he couldn’t help but think this wasn’t that bad in all honesty. Yeah, he should’ve rested before starting with this crap because his head was doing loop de loops, and sure, his arms pulsed kind of painfully, but he didn’t feel like he’d made a huge mistake by coming here, which normally happened everyday he stepped through those goddamn Joja sliding doors in the city, so this has to be a win.
It has to be.