Chapter Text
Lonan - the eccentric man who moved away from a big city to become a farmer here - finally became acquainted with every townsperson after hitting his second year in Stardew Valley. Sebastian's family and Abigail's family, being the local carpenter and general shop owner, have seen Lonan quite a bit; Maru and her boss Harvey, on the other hand, apparently hadn't spoken to him more than five times outside of the holiday gatherings.
The new farmer had workaholic potential. For more than several times, Sebastian had seen Lonan riding his hazelnut-coloured horse home through the town square near midnight. He was genuinely a bit jealous, for he couldn't drive his motorbike around so much like that. Also the horse was cool.
But the early mornings and late nights paid back and Sebastian witnessed how the tools in Lonan's hands gradually upgraded. He began to slow down and say hello to people in the town, even occasionally giving out small gifts. A few more months ahead, Sebastian's mother received a commission for his cottage expansion. Immediately afterwards everyone started receiving Lonan's cooking.
The man was such a wondrous cook, who knows why he decided to become a cubicle office clerk rather than a chef.
("I'm unwilling to make food I don't get to eat" was Lonan's answer when asked.)
Sebastian and the farmer became friends.
“The reviling from Azathoth rung through your being. Its content was more vulgar and vicious than any intelligent race could ever perceive. Furious growls crashed upon your mind, together with piercing music that has no rhythm nor meaning. As you faced the most wicked and fearsome deity in the universe, you need to do a sanity check. The investigator loses 1D20 sanity points if you succeed; if you fail, that's 1D100.”
Sebastian scratched his head and rolled the dice on his app. His character had gone through too many events to stay mentally stable, so only a miracle would save their almost-at-the-bottom sanity.
The miracle didn't happen. When it came to determining the amount of sanity loss, the number he got was even greater than the investigator's character's entire existing sanity point. The investigator's gonna be crazy through and through.
"Bout of madness automatically succeed. Roll a 1D10 to choose the symptom."
4, paranoia. His intelligent yet neurotic investigator fell into eternal madness.
Lonan sighed melancholically but also contentedly.
"The investigator's attempt to find a successor musician has failed. As the result of not having enough musicians, the dance and music performed by the remaining band cannot completely soothe the Sleeping Chaos. The Blind Idiot God of all things is slowly and irritably waking up from his dream. Perhaps in a year, or perhaps in a million years, humanity and civilizations, together with nature and this planet, everything will break apart with the end of Azathoth's dream. The doom is nigh."
And it's not only the investigator. The NPCs who are not saved in the end, the grieving family and friends who saw the forever insane investigator, the client who was tortured by the guilt as they had issued this quest... No one gets peace. No one gets happiness.
"This character has completed 23 episodes so far. I even have a special ending for him! " Lonan flipped open the binder and pulled out a sheet of paper that had a bright red sticky note on it.
"In the hand of Nyarlathotep, The Faceless God, there was a small and helpless human soul. It was speckled with marks and scars left by mythical creatures of all types, and even the soul itself was in tatters. A rare plaything, he thought, how unfortunate there wouldn't be a second chance if it breaks this time."
Lonan's sessions as the keeper had always been embellished and narrated from his own perspective. His stories all had their own beauty; some heartwarming, some heartbreaking. In the boundless universe, the insignificance of human beings and the immensity of the gods intertwine, leaving a bittersweet taste like a slightly dark fairytale.
Elliott, being a self-claimed professional writer, appreciated Lonan's stories (Lonan used the library printer for their game sessions and got caught by Elliott) and even said he could help to network for publication.
Lonan had to politely decline the offer every single time due to copyright issues, but he did put his scripts online for free after some revisions.
"Well, time for shredding~" Lonan gleefully snapped a photo of the character information sheet as a commemoration, then sent it to the shredder without mercy. Sebastian packed the dice and keeper rulebook, leaving only a few Coke cans and a bag of half-eaten chips on the table.
"D&D next time? I'll host and call three more people."
"In that case, let me borrow your book and map to prepare, I've never played it."
The two ate the last bits of snacks, each occupying a side of the small coffee table with no regard for posture whatsoever. Lonan came to Sebastian's home after watering crops and tending the animals; he gave up raiding the old mines for the day and made up his mind to take the day off. Sebastian had also just finished a commission, so they took full advantage of the leisure and ran through a 12-hour session in one go.
Both the player and the host used up a lot of brain power. As the thrill of walking through the story faded, neither of them really had the energy to chat, and for a while, the only sound left in the room was from crunching potato chips.
"Hey, don't fall asleep." Sebastian saw Lonan slipping in and out of consciousness and decided to take the greasy package away from him first.
Lonan shook his head and finished the last sip of Coke, the considerably weaker fizz tickling his throat and bringing him a bit of clarity. "'m fine, it's not even 1o'clock, I'm not that tired yet..."
But his reaction and movements were slower. Surely he wasn't that far away from passing out. Since when did Sebastian start to know him so well?
"It's going to rain tomorrow." Lonan's chin rested on the table, his words slurry from both his position and sleepiness. "Are you going to the beach?"
Sebastian nodded.
"With that biiiiig parasol of yours?"
"A straight umbrella is so much cooler than a foldable one, Okay??"
Lonan snorted. Sebastian threw his empty soda can at him, but unfortunately, he dodged.
"Well, then I should go there to fish and get some seashells too, I'm kind of craving a sashimi platter with at least three kinds of fish..."
"You really didn't need to say that in such detail. Now I want it too."
"...You know, Sebastian, freshly caught fish made into sashimi isn't always tasty anyway."
"What!?"
Within a second, Lonan was all in high spirits again. He spent almost ten minutes elaborating on how aging and anti-oxidation work, and Sebastian had never been so clueless. In the end, the lesson learnt was how good Lonan was as a chef to be able to age sashimi at home, and how Sebastian should just shut up and eat and praise the cook.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?"
The two chatted and cleaned up the messy table. Lonan picked up his backpack, looking back at him from the doorway.
"...Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."
Hearing an affirmative answer, Lonan smiled a little before he actually shut the door and left. The stairs rattled all the way up, followed by the door's creaking.
In that brief ten-ish seconds, Sebastian never managed to do his own thing. He would uncontrollably listen to the sound of Lonan leaving.
The small basement window had begun to provide moonlight. A few moments later, the window delivered the gradually distant sound of a horse clip-clopping, stepping down from the mountain.