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Chapter Text

Winter 28 year 0
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Remus woke up with a blink and groan, knowing today was finally the day where he would move to Stardew Valley, As he sat up he thought about the last few days. He had quit his job at Joja Mart Corporate, packed up his admittedly little amount of clothes and personal belongings, set the 4 bags and one box by his door. He headed to the washroom after rubbing the sleep from his face and stretching, still thinking about everything that has happened in the last few days that led up to him deciding to leave the big city for a tiny town with only a handful of people. He made sure to shower and get ready for the day without focusing to much on how he looks, knowing that the bus ride to Stardew is long enough to not bother with doing a lot to his hair. Getting dressed in Black cargo pants, a bright green tank top and grabbing his favorite spiked vest, and to finish the look he grabs his skeleton mask that he has taken to using as a way to cover his scars better and not scare people like he did after first getting them.

After eating a quick breakfast and loading his bags onto himself to bring to the bus station, Remus takes one last look around his apartment and heads out, making sure his mask is on right and none of the bags are going to fall, he closes the door and heads out. He leaves the keys at the front desk, the receptionist giving him a smile and her best wishes that he enjoys the farm and new life he is setting out on. A quick nod and thank you before Remus heads out to start his new life.

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It'd been almost 7 hours but the bus was finally pulling into the stop at Stardew Valley. Remus turned off his music and pulled his headphones out of his ears, doing a quick stand and stretch before exiting the bus and blinking from behind the mask at the Setting sun. Looking around and seeing no one but himself and the bus driver, he grabs his bags from the compartment and thanks the bus driver kindly for their help. As he turns around he can hear footsteps coming towards him. "Hello, welcome to the valley! I'm Mayor Lewis and this is Robin, the town carpenter." Lewis smiled as he spoke and walked up to Remus, He nodded to Lewis and to Robin since the mask hid his mouth and smile. "Hello, names Remus Link, it's nice to meet you Robin and Lewis." Remus's voice was gruff and Robin was looking at him with a smile but clear confusion in her eyes at him wearing a mask, With a quick shake of her head she replies.

"Hey there, welcome the Valley, I know the bus ride is long so why don't we-" She playfully bumps Lewis's arm and points to Remus' bags. "-give you a hand with your bags and show you to the farm. I'm sure you're tired and would like to get a good night rest." she smiled as she finished speaking. Remus just nodded and agreed, grabbing 2 of his bags and the box as Robin and Lewis take the other 2 bags he has. Following them both down the path as Lewis tells him about the valley, the layout of the town and about how he knew his grandfather before they arrive. The walk short but not too short walk from the bus to his grandads farm.

"Thank you, I don't have much but I appreciate you both helping me get settled and telling me about the town." Remus did his best to sound less tired but he guesses that it shows when Robin has to stop the mayor from continuing on. "Don't worry about it Remus, we understand the struggle of moving to a new place that's very far from home. I live up on the mountain with my family, if you need anything work done on the farmhouse or anything else build in time do let me know, OK?" Robin smiled sweetly as she spoke and turned to head out with Lewis to let him rest. He gives them a wave as they head out, up a pathway on the other side of his new farmhouse. Thinking to himself that it probably leads to another path up the mountain as he takes a look around the dilapidated farm, trees, weeds, logs and stones litter the grounds, or at least as much as he can see from his front step. He wonders what earthly thing had happened to make the land look as though it has 4 corners carved into the area, with 'walls' between the areas from where the mountains remain.

With a heavy sigh at how much work he is going to have over the next few days, Remus heads inside to unpack enough to have dinner and head to bed, already tired from travelling all day. Hoping that with a good nights rest he will be able to clear a good spot of land and hopefully get some things planted. As he lays down he thinking about how this could really be a good new thing for him.

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Spring 12 year one

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Remus panted heavily as he awoke from a nightmare, reliving some of the worst moments of his life in the dead of the night. He remembers it vividly as he gets up and throws on a sweater and some socks, not wanting to go back to bed incase the nightmare returns, he grabs his pack of smokes and heads onto his front porch. It had been 3 years since the 'accident' he has always hated when people called it an accident, it never was and no matter how you look at it, it wasn't an accident that someone had let monsters into the town. Only skeletons and void spirits had come in through the gates near the skate park before. Remus was used to seeing monsters around and seeing people use various methods to deal with said monsters but at the time there was just him and his friend Jimmy 'the shark' Canviour. Remus shook his head at the memory of his childhood friend who was now somewhere on the front lines. The war against the Gotoro empire was a stupid one that has, in Remus' opinion, gone on for far to long and for far to stupid reasons.

Remus sat there, trying not to think about the nightmare and day he got most of his scars. He's kept them hidden from everyone in town so far and intends to keep it that way, although he should probably tell Harvey since he is going to be his new doctor. Dropping his smoke butt into the ashtray he has on his porch he goes inside to get his work boots on and some food before starting his day.

Remus works slowly but effectively as he clears out the grounds in front of his house, having a decent amount of space cleared for planting crops and some extra space for whatever he decides to put later as his farm grows. so far he has only planted parsnips, courtesy of Mayor Lewis gifting him some seeds to get started with, and a couple of potatoes and cauliflower, having bought the seeds when Pierre had a sale on. Remus worked at clearing the area to the left of the farmhouse, having been told by mayor Lewis that there was a shrine in the upper left corner for his granddad that the townspeople had built just after he died. Feeling that it was most appropriate to have it on the farm but not in the way of whoever else took over the farm eventually.

Even though Remus worked until about 3pm every day he decided that nearly 2 weeks of just working and only going into town when necessary wasn't doing him any good, he called it an early day, it was Friday after all. Putting away his axe and heading inside to take a shower Remus thinks about what to do for the rest of the day.

After his shower and getting changed into some 'nicer' clothes, He steps outside to have smoke before heading to the Saloon, figuring he's been here long enough to join in on the weekly gathering of almost the whole town. Personally he didn't understand why so many people had asked him to join since he himself didn't drink much or often and he hadn't been all that social since introducing himself to everyone like the mayor had suggested. Sure he had met everyone and would say hello if he passed them while out running errands, mostly on his way to see Robin about what would be needed to renovate the kitchen in his cabin. Hanging his mask on the edge of the railing of his porch railing before lighting his smoke and taking a long drag. "ahh, that's better, sweet sweet nicotine" Remus speaks out loud to himself, always having had the habit of speaking to himself out loud when alone. he grabs his mask and heads towards town. the 20 minute walk begin something he has gotten comfortable doing without his mask on, since the only people that come down the same path, are Claire and Martin. The two cashiers at Jojo mart, he had run into them after a few days in the valley hen heading into town. thankfully he had his mask on, he didn't want to scare anyone and those two seemed like good people.

after finishing his smoke and putting the butt into his pocket, littering is bad after all, he pulled his mask on. He knows the townspeople are all curious, especially Vincent and Jas, about why he wears it, why he hides his face. He hasn't given them all the same answer, it's always something different, each and every time. No one should know he thinks, they would run off or call him ugly, a freak or a monster himself. he shakes his head of the thoughts and memories of what people had told him when it first happened, he enters the town near the stairs to the old community center. Remus had been meaning to ask Mayor Lewis about the building but kept forgetting or not running into him when he had been in town. Maybe he will be at the saloon and he can talk to him there, Remus was hoping there wouldn't be to many people yet, and hopefully Gus would have something new on the menu, he did mention when he introduced himself that he changed it up every few days.

Before heading to the saloon Remus heads into Pierre's to grab a few more packets of seeds and some more smokes, having only brought the one pack he already had with him to the valley.
"Hey there! welcome to Pierre's!" Pierre greeted Remus with a smile and small wave. "Looking for anything in particular today?" Pierre asked with the same smile he wore every time Remus came in for whatever he may need. "Hey Pierre, got any new seeds in today? and do you carry cigarettes? I only brought one pack with me and I've only got 3 left." Remus replied with the same energy he always did, friendly but not to serious or loud, his gentle but rough voice only slightly muffled by his mask.

"Oh you smoke? I didn't know that, well your in luck I do carry a couple different brands, but not many so hopefully I have what you need. And yes we just got in a shipment of green bean starters and a restock of the others." Pierre smiled as he finished speaking, pulling out a drawer that held his smoke selection. Remus leaned over the counter to see what he had, internally cursing himself for not being tall enough to see without doing that.

"Ill grab 2 packs of the peter jackson reds, thanks and green beans eh? Hmm, yeah okay, I'll take a few packs of seeds." Remus replied as he leaned back to the customer side of the counter, heading over to the seed shelfs and grabbing a few packs of green beans and parsnips as Pierre grabs the smokes for him. He thanks Pierre again and heads towards the saloon, pocketing the seed packets and his smokes on the short walk over.

Remus waves to Evelyn as he passes her and Georges home, when he introduced himself she had said to call her Granny if he wanted but he didn't feel like he knew her well enough, so just a polite wave was all he felt like doing. He went into the Saloon and was met with lively music and Gus behind the bar polishing a glass. He gave him a quiet hey as he sat down. "welcome, can I get anything for you Farmer Remus?" Gus had asked with a large smile, so far all Remus knew about the man was that he owned, lived in and operated the saloon, that he loved to cook and share his cooking, and that he almost always had that big smile on his face.

"Evening Gus, got anything interesting on the menu?" Remus asked as he looked around, thankful that it was still early enough in the day that most people weren't there yet. "Yes, willy brought me some fresh clams if you like seafood?" Gus suggested. "Oh sorry, no seafood for me, it makes me really sick if I eat any, crabs, fish, seaweed, anything really from the waters sadly." Remus replied as he looked back towards Gus, an apologetic look in his eyes. "Oh in that case how about my famous Spaghetti? I've won four different awards for my recipe." Gus responded as he took out a notepad from his pocket, presumably writing down that Remus can't have seafood, after all a good cook and friend remembers peoples preferences, and seeing as the Stardrop saloon is the only restaurant or bar in town. Remus assumes he knows everyone's preferences, allergies and intolerances.

"that sounds wonderful, thanks Gus. could I get a dr pepper with that?" Remus answered, Gus smiled and nodded as he passed Remus his drink, Heading to the back to make his order. Remus turned around in the stool as he looked around. More people were coming in as he waited, Emily, who he learned worked at the saloon and had a passion for fashion. Shane, who mostly seemed depressed and tired. After a few minutes Leah, who was slightly to flirty for Remus' tastes but nice otherwise from Remus' few interactions with her, Andy, who was nice enough to give Remus a few strawberry seeds after introducing themselves, and Elliot, who was still a bit of a mystery to Remus as they haven't crossed paths that many times. Remus looked down the other end of the saloon and could just make out the edge of a billiards table and a chair on the far wall behind it. He turned back around when he heard Gus come back through the slightly creaky kitchen doors,

"Order up, one plate of my famous spaghetti. Enjoy Remus." Gus spoke as he set the plate down in front of Remus, and looked over to wear he had seen Remus looking into the arcade. "oh right there's a small arcade over there if you'd prefer to hang out there. Mostly its just Abigail, Sam, Victor and Sebastian who hang out in there, there's some arcade machines and pool table, as well as some seats and a couch with a table to relax." Remus hummed at what Gus was saying, looking back at the arcade doors, old west style just like the ones to the kitchen. "Hmm, i see, thanks Gus. I'll check it out." Remus spoke as he stood and picked up his plate, not wanting to really have anyone see his face as he eats. "of course, just don't make a mess please." Gus replied with a chuckle as Remus headed into the arcade.

No one was currently in the arcade so Remus took the chance to look around more, noticing that Gus only had three arcade machines and the one pool table with three pool cues. As he looked at the arcade machines he noticed a hallway leading to some storage room, at least that's what it looked like from the quick glance Remus had taken down it. Choosing the small table and chair in the corner opposite the hallway Remus sat and ate his dinner, poking around on his phone, as well glancing up every so often to make sure no one surprises him by coming in suddenly. After he finished eating and was just scrolling on his phone he heard people laughing and coming into the arcade. Looking up from his phone at who it was and seeing Abigail and Sam laughing at whatever they had been talking about prior. Remus stuck his phone back in his pocket and got up to bring his plate back to Gus or Emily.

"OH Remus! I haven't seen you here on Friday before, how'd you like the arcade? It's not much but i think its a nice addition to the town." Sam smiled at Remus when he noticed him stand up, Abigail smiling at him as well. "it's cool, not as big as I'd have thought but meh, better than nothing." Remus replied truthfully, knowing how big the arcades could get in the bigger cities like Zuzu, it was better than nothing. "Hey Remus, you want to hang out with us? Sebastian's on his way, usually him and Sam just play pool and I watch, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind another person to play against." Abigail spoke as she went over to the faded red couch in the diagonally opposite corner of the room, she flopped down onto it with a soft 'oof'. Remus though about it for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah, okay I'm good to hang out for a little bit. Just let me give Gus or Emily my plate and have a smoke, i shouldn't be to long." Remus gave them a thumbs up in return to the double thumbs up Abigail had given him. Heading out to the main room of the saloon, Remus set his plate on the corner of the bar where no one was standing or sitting, giving Emily a small wave as she says thanks for bring the plate back, heading outside to have his smoke.

Making his way over to the area near the bridge to the museum Remus pulled out his almost empty pack of smokes and grabs one out, getting his lighter as he puts the pack back into his pocket. Lighting the smoke and looking out over the river and the path it takes towards the ocean, He sees a few butterflies and moths fluttering about. He sighs softly as he runs his fingers over the scarred skin just under the bottom right side of his mask, remembering the pain of when he first got it. Sighing again softly as he finished his smoke, he butted it out on his boot and went back to the saloon.

Remus went back in to the arcade, seeing that Sebastian had arrived as he was out having his smoke. He knew very little about Sebastian in the almost 2 weeks he's been here, most of what he knows is what Robin has told him. He's some kind of computer programmer who spends a lot of his time working, He likes frozen tears and Obsidian, and that he's generally shy but willing to talk if its the right time. Remus has only actually met him in person once, he was with Robin at Pierre's a few days prior and had looked like he had been dragged there to help his mother carry groceries. he said hello and that was about it.

"Hey your back, welcome to the game zone I suppose." Sebastian spoke as Remus took the seat off to the right of the pool table, so he could easily see how the game between Sam and him is going. His voice was strangely calming and quiet in the loud Saloon. between the music plying and the towns people chatting Remus is surprised he heard him fully. "Thanks, I'm Remus.. by the way. I forgot to give you my name when we met at Pierre's the other day. sorry bout that." Remus spoke loud enough for Sebastian to hear since he was the closest to him but Sam and Abigail didn't seem to hear since they didn't respond or react at all to the two conversing. not that it's weird for them to be chatting or anything. But they is something about Sebastian's presence that's intriguing to Remus.

Before Remus or Sebastian could say anything else Abigail let out a loud 'uuhhggg' at the prairie king arcade machine. "I'm so bad at this!!" She said as she turned around to the other three staring at her for the sudden outburst. "What? you two know I'm not great at this game why are you so surprised that I died?" Abigail laughed as she spoke, heading back over to the faded couch she had occupied earlier. "Yeah but you don't normally say 'UHHHGGGG' at it." Sam replied as he went back to lining up his shot. "yeah I guess, my dad's been stressing me out like real bad, he's so backwards with what he thinks I can and can't do anymore. I just don't get him." She huffed at the end of her explanation and pulled out her phone to scroll. Taking the shot that he took way to much time lining up and still missing, Sam shrugged to Abigail before stepping back from the table and out of Sebastian's way.

Remus watched the interaction between the two with minor interest, thinking about either going outside for another smoke or just going home to relax and maybe chop some more wood for his fireplace. He was interrupted before he could make a decision. "So what's with the mask Remus, It seems like you're always wearing it. what's up with that?" Sam asked Remus while pointing at him, like he's done something wrong. Remus looked at him confused at first as he processed the question before looking down and glaring at his shoes. "I don't tell people why I wear the mask. and yeah I am always wearing it. is that a problem or something?" Remus looked back up at him, slightly annoyed but not really at Sam, He knew people would ask about it the more he came into town to socialize. He had slightly hoped the strangeness of it would wear off by now though. Sam held up the hand not holding a pool cue and had an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry I didn't mean to strike a nerve or anything, it's just strange to me, ya know?" "Sam, leave the new guy alone. It's none of our business why he wears it." Sebastian spoke before Remus could say anything other than look at him with a furred brow.

Sebastian looked from Sam to Remus. "Sorry about him, he's the town idiot sometimes it seems. Hope you don't take it the wrong way." He gave Remus a barely there smile, just a small upturn of one side of his mouth but it was enough to relax Remus from the sudden annoyance that Sam had brought up. "Don't worry about it, most people have asked already, I just don't like talkin about it.
I think I'm going to head out though, i could use a smoke and I gotta get these planted." He held up the seeds he bought at Pierre's and smiled at the three. "Thanks for letting me join you guys tonight, I'll see you around." Remus spoke calmly as he got up, pocketed the seeds again and pulled out the opened pack of smokes. He headed out before the others could reply, the three of them all looking at the door after he left. Abigail breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

"Good job Sam you scared off Remus, why'd you have to make it weird?" She looked at him with a serious look, Sebastian shaking his head as he goes back to the game of pool. "I didn't mean to! how was I supposed to know not to ask him?" Sam questioned as Abigail shook her head at him. Explaining at length why you don't just ask someone why they wear something like a literal mask to hide their face, especially when you just met the guy.

Remus huffed into the spring evening, it was closer to 8pm than he thought but he made his way though the town back to his farm, having a smoke on the way to help him relax, he could take the mask off once he gets inside. Making his way through the gate entrance of the farm he stops and sits on the front steps. thinking out Loud as he pulls the mask off, setting it beside himself. "Stupid people, do they not understand that I wear this mask to protect myself and them?" He sighs and gently runs his hand over his face. feeling every scar and flinching lightly as some spots still hurt with contact. "ow. forgot that hurt still, maybe I should finally talk to Harvey about them and the pain." Remus got up and headed inside, the seeds could be planted tomorrow he thought. besides he's tired so he might as well go to bed early.

Chapter Text

Spring 13

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Remus woke with a stretch and a yawn, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he gets up and ready for the day. His plan was to tend to the garden then head up to the mines just past Robins house. He hadn't actually gone up their before but he did get a letter from Morris over at Joja mart. As he eats his breakfast he thinks about what he might need to hike up there, his forest green overalls would probably be fine, he didn't have any actual weapons but he knew how useful a scythe could be against some bats and smaller bugs.

Finishing his breakfast and putting the dishes in the non-functioning sink to wash later. He puts his mask on before stepping outside, having learned the hard way that sometimes the other villagers would come up to the farm for a chat or to let him know about something at the ass crack of dawn.

While it was weird to him that they would take the semi long walk from some spots to his house, he didn't overly mind. mostly just concerned about scaring them so early in the day. Making his way over to the mailbox since the little flipper was up, what was the little flag even called properly.

He thought as he took out the 3 letters, the first being from his Mom, sending her best wishes with the farm and 250g to help him out. He mentally thanked her and made note in his mind to send her a thank you card and maybe a small gift from the valley when he can. The second letter was from mayor Lewis, reminding him of the Egg festival that's starting at 9am that day in the town square.

Remus made a noise of mild annoyance as he read over Lewis's letter again to make sure he got the times right. With a small 'hmm' he looked over the third letter, different from the other two in the sense that it was written on a deep blue paper with a night sky motif in the background. The sender, M. Rasmodius, was asking him to visit his tower in the Cindersap woods, on the other side of the lake as Marnie's ranch.

Reading over it again, Remus said "okay then, guess I'm going to meet a wizard instead today." As soon as Remus finished saying 'today' the letter disappeared right out of his hands. Causing him to drop the other 2 letters in shock. "what the what. just happened." He asked out loud to himself, still surprised that there was a magic that let you send and dissipate letters after the receiving person had finished reading it.

Shaking his head as he thought about what the wizard could want with him, he heads back onto his porch and sets the letters just inside the door before turning back to grab his watering can and get started on his daily tasks.

After watering his plants, pulling the unwanted weeds from round his little farm area and building a semi decent scarecrow to help save his plants. Andy had suggested it and told him how to make his own with some hay and old clothes, He was thankful for the information from the fellow farmer.

Spending another couple of hours clearing some of the trees that block the path towards his grandfather's shrine, he calls it a day. checking his watch and seeing that its noon, he heads inside to have a quick shower before heading into town for the Egg festival, thinking about how strange it is to have an festival themed around eggs.

Getting changed into his clean blue jeans, a pale blue tank top and a thin black and grey flannel, Remus sets out for town. Having a smoke on the way before pulling his mask back on before anyone can see him.
Pierre is the first person he sees, he has a little stall set up so Remus heads over there to see what he has.

"Hey Farmer Remus! I've got a few special items for sale that are only available during the fest. care to take a look?" Pierre asked with a smile and small wave over his items. A few fake plants to decorate his house or the farm, a few real plants to decorate the farm, and the only thing that really catches Remus's eye, Strawberry seeds.

"strawberry seed eh? I'll take a few packs, maybe 7 or 8?" Remus asked as he looked over the packs, reading the back for ideal growing conditions. "Of course! if you would like I can hold onto them until the end of the festival so you don't lose any." Pierre spoke enthusiastically. "oh right, are you going to take part in the egg hunt? most of the time Sophia and Abigail let one of the kids win but I'm sure if you joined they'd be a little more competitive."

Pierre asked as he put Remus's seeds into a small basket before looking at him. "Nah, I think I'll just watch this time, maybe at the next egg festival. I don't think I've been here long enough to participate in the actual activities and not just observe."

Remus replied with a smile, even though Pierre couldn't see it. "And Its okay, I can take my seeds now, I'm a bit forgetful with leaving things places, Thanks for the offer though." Remus took the small basket with another thank you before heading more into the center of town.

Taking in all the decorations and flowers, eggs and tables with food, he heads over to the table Clint is at, grabbing himself a plate to enjoy the spread "hey there farmer, enjoying the festival?"
Clint had turned to him and asked. "uhm.. yeah it looks good so far. I just got here though so I haven't tried anything yet." Remus replied as he grabbed himself some of the egg themed items. "Yeah it's nice to be out of the shop for once during the day, usually I'm busy with forging new weapons for the adventures guilds in the surrounding areas as well as pelican towns own guild."

Clint replied casually as he ate a deviled egg. Remus thought for a moment before replying. "yeah it must be good to get out of the heat." Looking around at some of the other townspeople enjoying the festival, he spots Dr Harvey over near Evelyn and George. "I'm going to go say hello to some more people, enjoy the food Clint." Remus was heading towards the trio as Clint gave a wave and bye to him.

Making a mental note to ask Clint another time about upgrading his pickaxe, which is what he was originally going to do today. He walked up to the three and greeted them with a small hello and wave.

"Hello George, Evelyn and Harvey. How's you days going?" He asked a good buffer question since he would feel bad just interrupting to talk to Harvey. Evelyn said hello and told him about how the town has been holding the egg festival for nearly 1000 years, almost since the town was first founded.

Which he nodded and replied to with a 'that's really neat, thanks for telling me.' Before George grumbled annoyed, complaining about why they need an egg festival at all. Harvey listened but didn't reply to either of them, instead just sipping on his punch.

"Not to sound rude or anything but do you two mind if I have a more private chat with the good doctor here for a few minutes?" Remus looked between Evelyn and George who had no objections before turning to Harvey and asking him if they could go over where there's less people. They ended up going to the bridge that leads to the museum.

"So what did you want to talk about Remus?" Harvey asked him with a slight head tilt and small smile. Remus sighed softly before explaining that he had some scars on his face that were still hurting and wondering if there was anything he could do to maybe help them heal better. Not going into to much detail since someone else could overhear, and he really didn't want the whole town to find out.

"Ah I see, well. I wont be able to help you without seeing how they've healed or how bad they are, but I'm more than willing to help you out Remus. Why don't you stop by my office on this upcoming Wednesday?" Harvey spoke while gently rubbing his chin as he thought.

"I'm assuming these scars are why you were the mask correct?" He finished as he dropped his hand to look at Remus. "Yeah, Wednesday works for me. And... there was an accident a few years back and the ones on my face never quite healed correctly. I started wearing the mask because I kept scaring my neighbors young son. It was weird to always go out with a mask on but I don't want to scare anyone else with them. " Remus shrugged lightly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I appreciate you talking to me like this Doc, I should let you get back to the festival though, I don't want to take up all your time." Remus looked to Harvey as he chuckled. "Don't worry about it, I'm glad you came to me about this issue, I hope you enjoy the festival as well, I'll see you on Wednesday okay."

Harvey patted his shoulder before heading back to chat with Maru. Remus sighed in relief, knowing that he could at least trust the town doctor to not flinch at the sight of him. He looked around again to see who else he should chat with or if he should just go see the Wizard instead.

Looking over towards Emily and Haley's house he spots the distinct purple hair of Abigail and makes his way over, noticing that Sam and Sebastian are with her. He waved to her once she saw him and greeted them when he was close enough. "Hey guys! how are y'all today"

"yall? fucking y'all? who says Y'all that casually?" Sam asked to no one in particular, looking at Remus like he had grown a second head. "Uh... I do?" Remus said, looking at Sam confused. "At least you use it in the correct context, I've got a regular client that uses Y'all in all the wrong ways and at the wrong times."

Sebastian said with a shrug, looking at Remus more than Sam. " Yeah don't be too surprised Sam, it's not like we know much about him anyways. speaking of, care to tell us more about you Remus?" Abigail poked Sam in the arm and he shook out of his confusion, glaring at her lightly before turning back to Remus. "Do you play any instruments? me and Seb have a band but we haven't decided on what style yet or anything."

"I can play a mini harp, base guitar and the drums but I wouldn't say I'm very good at any of them, mostly just for fun. and it's been years." Remus smiled from behind the mask, glad that Sam isn't pestering him like he had been the night prior.

Abigail and Sebastian both looked at him with their own faces of approval as Sam beamed and started ranting about music and how he learned, what he's able to do and what general styles he was going for, for the band. Abigail and Sebastian chiming in every so often as Remus just listened.

After a while Mayor Lewis called everyone to the town square to star the egg hunt. Abigail practically pushed Sebastian over to get into "the best starting position duh" to which Sebastian just grumbled in return at her. Remus hung back with Sebastian and Sam, watching as Lewis spoke to those participating then set the off to find as many eggs in 2 minutes as they could.

While everyone was running around for the eggs Remus looked over to Sam and Sebastian. "So, is there anything more than the Egg hunt for group participation or just this?" He didn't ask the question to either one in particular. Sebastian answered with a shrug. "We used to have  a rotten egg toss between Sam, Abby, Victor and Me, but Lewis put a stop to it after a few years when one to many 'accidentally splattered against his house."

He laughed very softly at the memory. "but otherwise no, its just this." Sam continued for Sebastian but Remus didn't turn to look at the blonde. 

Remus hadn't expected to hear someone as closed off as Sebastian laugh so freely but he knew he wanted to hear more of it, if he could. Glad for once in the last few years that he was wearing a mask, he knew his face must be red, He has always blushed easily, and being as pale as he is, there wasn't any hiding it normally.

"Cool, shame it isn't-" Remus was cut off by Lewis blowing the air horn that signaled time was up, the group looked back to where those participating gathered.

It looked like a good match between Abigail and Sophia with Sophia only winning by one egg, both Jas and Vincent looked defeated before both women handed the two their baskets, the painted eggs were just plastic after all, filled with a few candies or the occasional prank egg that was just a regular painted hard boiled egg. 

Both the children ran off to their respective Guardians, aka Jodi and Marnie full of laughter. Remus watched as they excitedly bounced around, chuckling softly as Abigail returned to the friend group. "wow, that was nice of you Abigail." Remus said when the other two stopped bugging her about just letting the kids win.

"Thanks, I'm not super big on the candies they stick in the eggs so I usually give them to either Jas or Vincent, it makes them happy and I get to let my competitive side out." She smiled at him big and full of teeth before speaking again.

"and you can just call me Abby, most of the town does, well except mom and dad but they get a pass for being my parents." she laughed lightly as Remus nodded, making note of it mentally. "Aight, cool thanks Abby. I have a few more errands to run today so I'm going to head out before it's too late in the day."

Remus spoke as he looked at his phone to check the time, not really wanted to annoy a wizard by taking forever to go see him, but he figured that he would have to know the egg fest was today. "thanks for letting me hang out with you guys, If you guys ever need a place to hang out and escape you can always stop by the farm, just don't stick around to long if I'm gone okay?" Remus added on as took the seed packets out of the basket and put them into one of his pockets, keeping the basket for any forage he might find on the way.

Abby and Sam were the first to say goodbye and invite him to hangout whenever he had some free time and wanted to. Sebastian just gave him a small smile like he had the night prior before turning to head off to his own place. He brought his hand up and gave a small wave with a 'See ya' as he left.

Remus just shook out his thoughts before thanking the other two for their invites and a promise that he would be at the saloon more often on Fridays to hang out with them all. He headed the faster way to Cindersap forest past Sam's house, then past Leah's cottage and Marnie's ranch. It took him about 35 minutes to walk from town to the wizards tower. which he didn't think was too bad, especially if the wizard needed him more frequently.

He walked up to the tower and looked up at it with a greater attention to detail. "whoa, cool" he said under his breath as he was about to knock, but before he could make contact with the door it swung open and he was greeted by the wizard.

"Please come in, we have much to talk about." Rasmodius spoke with a deep voice as he stepped aside so Remus could enter. Remus looked over the mans appearance after stepping inside, noting that he really did dress like a video game or Solarion Chronicals kind of wizard. which he had been thinking about but not sure if it was accurate. At least for this wizard, it is entirely accurate.

""Thank you." he said as the wizard motioned him in further. "Your tower is quite nice. It reminds me of the ones that line the perimeter of Castle village." Remus looked over to him and watched him as he stood overlooking the large cauldron that was in the center left of the room. 

"Yes, it is of castle village design. and Thank you for choosing to see me today, it had slipped my mind for a moment that the egg festival was today. I figured you might have wanted to come tomorrow instead. My name is Rasmodius, Seeker of the arcane truths, Mediary between physical and ethereal, Master of the seven elementals, keeper of the sacred cha- you get the point." He chuckled softly as he waved a hand at Remus. 

"I'm sure you have questions as to why I asked you to meet with me, and I will explain in a moment. Firstly though, You mentioned Castle Village. That has been the main village that borders with the Deadlands for a long time, Are you from their originally?" Rasmodius asked him with an eyebrow quirk. Remus looked at him before sighing and looking down, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I was born there and stayed there until coming here. I... don't know how much you know but a few years ago monsters broke in, Personally I've always thought it was that someone  let them in, since normally squid kids and the like Don't  normally get a chance to break past the defenses, same with serpents for that matter. But I got caught right near where they broke through.. It.. It's why I wear the mask. The doctors who saw me after I was found by an adventurer were shocked I was alive." Remus looked back up to Rasmodius, who was looking at him a look of understanding and shock. 

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. I can't imagine being caught in that situation, Have you spoken with the guild member who found you at all?" He asked as he looked over Remus, a hum as he finished made him sound interested in more than just how he ended up in pelican town after that. 

"Yeah, his name was Lance and he had been one of the first to respond when news of the attack got to the guilds. He said he had found me surrounded by the remains of skeletons, two serpents and three squid kids, I admitted that I resorted to defending myself with a trash can lid and branch from a tree. I was with my friend and sent him off to get help, saying I'd do what I could to hold them back."

Remus smiled behind his mask at the memory of himself fighting those monsters, looking up to see Rasmodius listening intently and gesturing for him to go on. 

"He said he was Impressed that I was able to hold a few off before help arrived. He mentioned that he would be willing to help if I wanted to join their adventures guild but... well I didn't know how badly I was hurt until a few weeks later." Remus bent down and pulled up his left pant leg, revealing that he had a prosthetic Leg, from mid thigh down. he carried on with his explanation.

"After a few weeks of being in the hospital and learning I had lost an eye and had countless broken bones, I learned my leg couldn't be saved... it. uh, it wasn't healing right, I don't remember exactly what the doctors had said but they needed to amputate for the rest of my health to be better."

Remus paused for a beat, "I learned after having this one installed that Lance and the first slash guild had covered the funding for me to get such a durable model. when I met up with him a few months later to thank him he told me not to worry and that it was the guilds way of thanking me for helping out. Do you know Lance?" Remus asked as he let his pant leg fall down once Rasmodius was done looking at it. 

"Indeed I do, he is the reason I have requested your presence and assistance. Joja corporation caused a landslide at the beginning of last winter, just up by robin and Linus' homes, in doing so they blocked off the bridge that leads to Pelican town and Stardew valley's adventurer's guild, they are planning to have it cleared in the next few days, my brother Marlon if the leader of that guild and I would like for you to go see him."

Rasmodius spoke, while smiling at Remus. "would, or rather should you be heading up that direction I would be appreciative if you could check in on him for me, I would do it myself but I am fairly busy maintaining the barriers that protect the townsfolk and surrounding areas from monster's invasions and the next few weeks are typically busier than other seasons. However, that is not all i asked to meet with you about." Rasmodius turned to his cauldron before looking back at Remus, with a scary serious look on his face.

"With the landslide being removed that means access to the mines will be restored, normally that would be a good thing, if it were a normal mine. This one however goes exceptionally deep and is absolutely packed full of monsters. much like those you saw invading the village prior. Lance contacted me to warn me that the monster spawn rates were increasing more rapidly than they have in the last few years, and was concerned it was happening here."

Rasmodius shook his head lightly at his own words. "You see, most of our guild members have either perished or been called upon to help in castle village. Marlon and his Husband Gil are the only two still here, Gil however isn't the spry young man he used to be. I know it seems like I'm asking a lot but, you can always decline to join them, But I just wanted to for warn you about the monsters before you went and explored such a cave. there are good resources in the mines but they are dangerous." He finished speaking with a soft sigh, clearly upset by something as Remus Takes in the information. 

"Okay." Remus aid after a moment of thinking. "I don't know if I'm fit to join a guild but I can more than check on your brother for you. Is it the path just behind Robin's house that I've heard mentioned?" Remus asked as he tilted his head, trying to remember if he'd seen other paths that looked blocked.

"No, there is one further to the right, it goes up from the mountain lake, the bridge will take you onto the right path towards the mine, its just up the mountain a bit further. my brothers home and guild building are right near the entrance in case of emergency. Thank you for doing this Remus, not everyone in town likes that the mine is left open for any to wander into but i keep a ward over it to ensure no monsters get out."

Rasmodius spoke as he stirred his potion again. "I must attend to this more closely, if you need any magical advice or are curious of the world around you do stop by for a visit. I am usually in my tower or just outside of it." Rasmodius smiled at Remus before going back to his cauldron, Remus waved as he left. 

"Well today certainly has been interesting, I guess I'll check out those mines at least a little." Remus thought out loud to himself as he walked back to his farm, thinking about what Rasmodius had told him then about the past few years in castle town.

He should ask this Marlon about a way to get in contact with Lance again, after all he was stupidly handsome and Remus couldn't help but cringe at the memory of him asking Lance if he was an angel when he had found him. then even more so at his explanation that angels were handsome and it wasn't fair. 

He shook his head at the memories when he reached his house, he had a lot to think about before heading up the mountain in a few days.

Chapter Text

Spring 18

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Remus was just finishing up his harvest of potatoes when he noticed that he had mail, Setting down the bin of vegetables as he went to open his mailbox. A small lump of quarts fell out as he grabbed the letters from inside, Bending down to pick it up and look it over before walking over to his front steps and sitting down. Setting the quarts down beside him. "cool, quarts, wonder who sent it." He said to himself as he opened the first letter, It was from Robin's husband Demetrius, who had an extra piece left over from an experiment, sending it to Remus as a bit of a late welcome gift. Remus smiled at the letter before moving on to the other one, It was from joja corp, apologizing and stating that the rock slide they had caused was now clear.

There was a bunch of legalese at the end about how everything joja was doing was well within the laws, which Remus thought was strange since it was signed by the local joja mart manager.

He shook his head before getting up, putting both the letters and lump of Quarts inside before he went back to sorting his potatoes. Most to sell and some for himself, he had bought a mini fridge after his previous potato and parsnip harvest, He took the portion for himself, putting it in his fridge, before placing the rest in the shipping bin that Lewis had put to the right of his mailbox.

Remus checked his watch and saw that it was only 11am so he shrugged and spoke to himself. "Guess it's as good a time as any to head up and meet Rasmodius' brother, and check out the mine." He gathered his mask, phone, pickaxe and some water before setting out up the back trail.

Robin had assured him that it lead almost directly to their house so he figured it wouldn't hurt to see how long it would take for him, thinking that if it wasn't to long or bumpy, then he could use it to haul things from the mountain down to his farm.

About 20 minutes later he could see the side of the carpenters home, he thought it would be a good a time as any to stop in and take a breather, the path not being to bad but rough enough that he was glad robin had mentioned it leading right to her home and store. He headed inside and could hear Demetrius and Maru chatting something far to science oriented for his understanding, he looked around and caught a glimpse of Robin coming down the hallway.

"Hey Robin." He said as soon as she had noticed him. "Oh! hello Remus, what brings you up the mountain today? You know you are always welcome to come for just a visit, it can get a bit lonely up here on the mountain all day." She smiled at him as she spoke, walking around the other side of her shop counter as Remus leaned against it.

"Good to know, I'm just stopping by to say hello before I make my way over to the adventures guild, Rasmodius asked me to check in with his brother once the landslide had cleared. but now that I'm thinking about it more, do you carry paint?"

He had been looking up at her watching as he expression changed from that of a concerned mother at the mention of the guild, to the spark of light the business woman gets at the mention of a possible sale. "Yes, I do carry paints but only a few base colours, If you're looking for something specific though I can have a few cans ordered in, What were you thinking?" 

She beamed at him as he replied. "Cool, I've always wanted to custom paint my house but since I never owned the places I had lived in prior to here I never had the chance. But now that I'm sure my grandpa wouldn't roll over in his grave at me changing how the farm looks,"

Pausing a moment as he tapped his chin in thought. "I was thinking of painting the whole farmhouse black, then doing some custom designs or murals on each side. What do you think? do you have black in stock?" He asked at the end before he forgot, glad that he had found the letter from his grandfather in his pants pocket before washing them, saying that he wanted Remus to make the farm his own and not worry about what he would think. 'because it's now yours, and I want you to make it your own little paradise.' 

"I don't have any in stock right now but i can get some ordered for you, and any other colours you may need, plus I can wait to charge you for them until the colours arrive, in case one or more isn't the right shade you were aiming for." She smiled at him, Remus had come to enjoy talking with Robin since she was helpful, informative and so sweet to all who she helped.

"It sounds like a really cool idea. If you need any help you could ask my son and his friends, I know Sebby can be a little harsh at first but he's really a sweet young man once you get to know him." Robin smiled towards the basement stairs before looking back to Remus.

They hashed out a few more details, about how much he would need and what the cost would be, before Remus took his leave and headed towards where Rasmodius had said his brothers cabin was. 

He paused a moment on the small makeshift bridge that led to the other side of the lake, taking a moment to appreciate the Beauty of it before continuing on.

He saw the cabin a few moments later as he walked up the path that had forked along the lake, the other direction only leading to a  broken bridge that had what looked like a quarry on the other side.

He made his way up to the cabin and knocked, when he didn't get a reply he looked around to see if anyone was outside before he heard a mumbling from the mountain opening when he got near it. Figuring that this was the entrance to the mines Rasmodius had mentioned. Speaking as he made his way to the entrance.

"Uhm hello anyone in here, I'm looking for Marlon?" He spoke into the empty entrance as he stepped inside, noticing a moment later the man looking into a hole that had a ladder in it. The man looked up at him, he was wearing a tattered cape that had clearly seen better days, along with a turquoise tunic, belt and sword hung from his hip, still in it's sheath.

"Ah, apologies for not seeing you." He turned to look at Remus, who now noticed that he was wearing an eye patch, thus solidifying in Remus' mind that this was Marlon. Rasmodius has mentioned he lost an eye many years ago to a shadow brute.  

"I was inspecting the mine shaft, this hole leads to the first of many levels in the mine, the guild regularly makes sure no monsters can get near the entrance, It's been abandoned for almost 40 years now. Still, there's probably good ore down there that one could find." Marlon looked Remus up and down as he continued.

"I take it my Brother Maximus sent you to check on me? no one else from town cares much about entering the mine other than Pierre's daughter and Robin's Son who occasionally look for gems in the top ten floors, or come to this entrance to smoke their marijuana."

He paused for a moment, "Neither of them are skilled enough to go down and explore further, so I have asked them not to go further, Abigail, I believe her name is, complained at first but usually listens when Sebastian, I'm certain that's his name, gets on her about safety. But you, you are different Remus." He chuckled at Remus who had visibly looked surprised that Marlon knew his name without Remus having told him. 

"My brother sent a letter this morning informing me that he had asked the new farmer in town to check on me and mentioned to me that you had spoke to him about how you've faced monsters before, in the castle town incident."

Marlon smiled faintly, remembering hearing about the invasion the monsters had managed to start about 5 years ago. he shook his head sadly at the memories, having been unable to go and assist due to his bad leg. looking back to Remus as he continued.

"My husband and I are doing well despite having been stuck up the mountain for a while. Poor Susan is also still trapped over by the spa, the pathway that is behind Robin's home is her only way into town. That one should be clear by the beginning of summer according to Joja Corp, but it is still a shame that they paths were blocked in the first place." He sighed down at the mineshaft before looking up again to Remus.

"He did ask me to check on you but he also mentioned that you ran the adventures guild here? and I have fended off a few but only with a medium sized branch and garbage can lid... it uh didn't go super well for me. I was found by a gent named Lance from the first slash guild-" Remus spoke as he rubbed his left arm lightly, having been the arm he held the makeshift shield with. 

"Rasmodius said he knew him and that he spoke to him about me, albeit indirectly. Do you know him?" Remus stepped closer to the mine shaft and took a look down it, not to far of a climb up and down if each floor was only that deep below the one above it.

"Indeed I do, to both your questions, he is an old friend of mine and previously a member of the pelican town guild, although he moved to stay in castle village many years ago. Saying he liked it better there and could do more to help than he could here. A few seasons before your arrival to town he had sent me a letter mentioning a 'young man who fought valiantly against skeletons and squid kids that made their way into the town. And that his guild had covered the expenses of a new leg, I take it that was you?"

Remus nodded to Marlon as he looked away from the mineshaft. "He was the one who had found me after i had taken down a couple monsters but a squid kid came up behind me and shot fire at my leg, I couldn't dodge by the time I saw it and ended up stumbling into a skeleton, then falling down from the pain. The skeletons took advantage of that and they beat me pretty badly. I'm certain that they only stopped when they heard some others running by the skatepark I was in."

Remus looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath before continuing, hands shaking lightly from the memories.

"I don't remember much after that but I've got scars over most of my face and left side of my body, I lost my right eye from a skeleton clawing it out with his fingers. most were from the squid kids setting the skeletons rags a light, after a few weeks they had to amputate my left leg for my safety since it wasn't healing. It had been burnt really badly before being broken. I don't remember all the details but once I could leave the hospital I went to the guild and thanked Lance, and the others of the guild for paying for my new prosthetic as well as for getting me out of there."

Remus rubbed  the chin of his mask as he thought, being more comfortable with talking about what had happened to an adventurer who has seen probably worse things than most of the civilians.

He took off his mask with a small anxious sigh so Marlon could see how bad the scars he kept hidden were, looking at him with his half blue half green left eye, and the uv reactive fake eye he had in his right socket that day. 

"He had thanked me for fending off a good number of the attacking skeletons, the 4 squid kids, and two serpents until help arrived, saying that if I wanted to than he would be more than willing to train me to join the guild when ready but... I declined because of these.-"

He smiled shyly at Marlon who was now looking at him slightly shocked but Remus could see in his eyes that he understood the kind of pain these bad of wounds brought with them, even when healed.

"These stupid injuries weren't even fully healed, so i told him I would think about it in the future, but I made no promises. One of the other guild members, Alexia, she suggested that if I was uncomfortable with people seeing my facial scars once they were healed, since they were the hardest to hide then she would make me a skeleton mask to cover them. I told her maybe but didn't go back until a few months later." 

"I kept accidentally scaring my neighbors son who was only 23 at the time so I had her make me one, this here mask, and now it feels weird whenever I take it off. People had gotten so used to seeing me wear it in castle village that when I moved here and people started asking... well I've Kinda just told them all something different. I don't want to see their looks of pity or sadness for me just as much as I don't want to scare anyone. I've gotten past that point of sadness but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about how bad they are. The only other person who knows how they look is Harvey, Even then I only showed him because some still hurt even though they've been fully healed over for about 2 years."

Remus finished speaking with a small shrug, while looking at the mask, When Alexia had made it for him she refused to let him pay for it, Only saying that she hoped someone with his bravery would consider joining their guild. He slid the skeleton mask back on as Marlon hummed to his story. 

"Well, I shall remember not to mention it to anyone but I will be sending a letter to lance so he knows we've been chatting. I'm sure he would like to know you are doing well. As I Mentioned earlier though ore wont be the only thing you'll find down there, there's a larger than most void spirit that myself, Rasmodius and a few others trapped down there many decades ago. Unfortunately their influence and entrapment have lead to a rise in monsters spawning in these mines, they always have, just not in these numbers. Were you thinking of venturing down?"

Marlon asked him, shifting to unstrap a rusty looking sword from the other side of his belt as the one Remus noticed earlier.

"I was thinking about it, the ore would be helpful for upgrading and building some stuff at the farm and for fixing my equipment up, plus I'm not opposed to fighting some more monsters, as long as you think it's safe." 

Before Remus could ask about getting Lance's mailing address, Marlon handed the rusty sword to him. "The mines can be very dangerous, take this sword for now, I'll bring you down a better one in a few days. If you do well enough I will consider letting you join the guild, then you would be able to purchase better or new weapons if needed. I know this sword is rusty and a bit beaten up but it is still sharp enough to deal with the slimes, bugs and rock crabs that inhabit many levels of the mines."

Marlon Smiled to Remus before continuing at Remus' nod. "If you can slay ten slimes and make it down to the twentieth floor, then I'll induct you to the guild if you so choose. Here, take this as well." Marlon grabbed a container out of his tunic pocket and handed it to Remus. 

"It's a strong, guild made scar cream that Harvey can't get into the clinic due to the regulations on it, it should help you with anything that is still painful or causing you trouble after this many years. I must take my leave though, I have a few other locations around the mountains to check for safety before the days end."

Marlon made his way towards the exit. "Once you make it to the twentieth floor come see me or Gil in the guild. I unlock the door from noon to ten pm daily,  farewell Remus, I look forward to your seeing you get stronger."

Marlon left before Remus could say more than 'Okay' and 'thanks', he hadn't been able to ask him if he could get Lances contact info but now that he thought more about it, maybe only other guild members were allowed to have it for safety reasons. 

Sometimes when adventurers get well known enough civilians will treat them like movie stars more than the actual monster hunters that they are. which can unfortunately, lead to crazed fans going to far and invading the person's private lives.

Remus sighed and put the weapon belt that the sword was still attached to on, no better time then now to see how bad the upper levels were. He climbed down the ladder to the first level and noticed that it was empty of monsters, he pulled his pickaxe out of its holster and began looking for the next entrance, figuring it was probably covered for safety, and he could use any good stone for building anyways.

___________________________________________________________________

Spring 19 Sebastian

____________________________________________________________________

"fucking finally." Sebastian said out loud into his room, as he finally finished working on some new security measures for a client who wasn't great to work with but paid well. He sent off the finished materials before logging out of his work programs.

Getting up from his chair and stretching with a few satisfying pops he decided to make his way upstairs and outside for a smoke, figuring he has a good chance of not running into his mother or Demetrius on the way. Not that he didn't enjoy talking to them occasionally but they both got on him about his smoking, Demetrius more so than his mom, but still. Thankfully they both seemed to busy to bug him right now.

Stepping out into the warm spring air he made his way over to the lake before pulling out and lighting a smoke. checking around him that Linus, the nature man who lived behind his own house, wasn't to close by. He knew most people in town didn't smoke but he wasn't sure about him specifically caring but still. 

He did the considerate thing and stayed farther from him while smoking. As if summoned by his thoughts Sebastian caught the man in the corner of his eye, kneeling near one of the salmon berry bushes and picking a few. He watched him for a moment before turning his attention back to the lake, there was nothing like gazing out over a body of water to help clear his thoughts. He had heard on the news that it was supposed to rain heavily tomorrow and judging by the clouds he could see in the distance, they were right. 

As he finished his smoke he noticed the new farmer coming down the path that lead to the adventures guild, looking a little more tired than he had seen him before. he stuck his smoke butt in the old gum container he had been using as a temporary ashtray and stuck it back into his pocket as the farmer made his approach.

"Hey, were you up exploring the old mines?" He asked as the man set down his backpack and stretched.  "Yeah, the Wizard Rasmodius, asked me to check on the guild and his brother when he heard the rock slide was cleared, after I met and talked with Marlon. He then gave me a challenge to make it to the twentieth floor of the mines and offered to make me a guild member, if I also killed ten slimes, but I haven't gotten anywhere near that yet, those slimes are no joke."

Remus spoke with a chuckle before pointing down to his backpack "I found a few veins of copper ore so I came back up today to collect as much as I could carry for now. I don't normally see you out by the lake though when i come up to fish. Anything interesting going on in the world of Sebastian?"

He asked with a cheery tone to his voice as Sebastian looked at his bag more closely and whistled at both the amount of copper ore Remus had collected, and what he had said about Marlon challenging him.

"Marlon doesn't usually let just anyone into the mines, let alone that deep. You must have impressed him. He gave me and Abigail permission to go down to the 10th floor since less monsters spawn up that high. We mostly go to collect gems and stuff, Abigail likes looking for amethyst and I try to find geodes, mostly to see if they have any cool looking gems ing them."

Sebastian stood back up and smiled his regular barely there grin at Remus. Only just now noticing that his right eye, or at least what he could see through the small eye holes, was fake. Being a striking deep purple compared to his other green blue eye.

"My slingshot is good against the slimes and bugs but those rock crabs are way tougher than anything I'm willing to deal with. Good luck to you though, I'm sure you'll find some cool artifacts and things too besides just metals and monsters." Sebastian looked back up at Remus who, as far as Sebastian could tell, was confused so he clarified for him. 

"There used to be a dwarvish village deep in the mountain but then the elemental war happened, the old museum curator found a bunch of artifacts and village remains in the upper levels before, but he never went down too deep, then he ran off with the entire museum collection when he was fired. I'm sure the new guy would appreciate help finding stuff but I'm not sure. "

He shrugged as Remus looked less confused and more like he was smiling under his mask. Sebastian in truth, was very confused, he had overheard about 15 different things from the other townspeople in passing or at the saloon. He had seen the way the man had tensed up when Sam had asked about the mask at the arcade the other week, so he didn't ask about it.

Not wanting to upset the handsome as hell man infront of him, but he must have been staring long enough at the mask as Remus leaned down to pick his bag back up. he stepped back a little so he wasn't going to be in the way. 

"To answer you question though there isn't much going on in my day, at least nothing more interesting that staring at code for hours on end trying to fix people's shoddy security work." Sebastian smiled to him again softly. 

"Thanks for the information about the mines and library Sebastian, I think I'll talk to the curator tomorrow, I gotta get going though, these ores wont smelt themselves down into bars, It was nice talking to you, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and make sure to take breaks, I'm sure sitting at a computer staring into codes can't be that comfortable."

Remus headed off with a wave as Sebastian waved back, Sebastian shook himself of his thoughts at how good the man looked as he walked away, why was he even thinking that to begin with. He didn't like men like that, or so he thought until this point.

Heading back into his own house after looking over the lake again one more time. He was smiling to himself as he made his way down the hall to the kitchen, running into his mother on the way. 

"Oh Hey Sebby, Remus was here the yesterday, he asked about paint and mentioned that he was going to paint his house and I suggested that you and your friends might be willing to help him if he asked, I hope that's okay."

She spoke to him with a soft smile, She had gotten better over the last 10 or so seasons with not offering him to help out when he would much rather just work on his security jobs.

"That's okay mom, painting isn't the worst thing to help someone with, and it would be a nice break from looking at security coding all day." Remus hadn't mentioned anything just now to him though, he thought before continuing. "Did you know he's been digging in the mines and Marlon might actually let him join the guild? Abigail is going to be so mad if he does." 

He spoke with a small laugh at his mother's concerned look, and at the idea of Abigail giving Remus shit for getting in when Marlon had deemed her unworthy and not skilled enough.  

---------------------------------

Remus, spring 19

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Remus smiled to himself as he made his way back down the path that lead from the mountain to his farm, his interactions with Sebastian weren't very frequent but, he was seeming to warm up to him. That thought was what had him smiling so much. He didn't know much about the Goth programmer but he did know he was very handsome, and taller than Remus himself was.

which was something Remus had recognized as the main factor in his friend and dating 'type', not that he was thinking of dating anyone at this moment but the more he thought about romance and finding someone he would want to date. His mind kept supplying Sebastian, despite his internal protests that he just wanted friends first more than anything, with any of the town members that he has slowly warmed up to.

He thought about it more as he unpacked the ores from his bag into a wooden chest he had crafted the day prior, having looked around the first five floors of the mines and not finding much other than stone and a few copper veins he couldn't reach with what he had on him the day prior.

He had made his way back home and built a few storage chests to hold the items he found, so far though it was only stone and copper with a few more pieces of quarts that he had found today. 

He smiled again as he remembered what Sebastian had said about going into the mines with Abigail before, maybe he could ask her what else Sebastian likes and gift him something if he finds anything that looks cool enough for the man. 

After heading inside, showering and changing his clothes he decided to head down to the saloon, not feeling like cooking all that much after being in the mines for 6 hours. making his way to town slower than normal since his muscles were sore from being used in a different way, he was just hoping that the saloon wasn't to busy yet since it was Friday.

He walked in and mentally sighed in relief, it was still early enough that it wasn't too busy, mostly just pam, who he had bought a drink for yesterday after seeing that it was her birthday, Andy who was chatting with pam and Gus, as well as Emily mixing a drink for Shane.

He made his way over to the bar and waited patiently till one of them was finished, sending a text while waiting to his mother, asking her if his old boxes of clothes and things were still in the attic from when he had moved out. He didn't need to wait long before she replied. 

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mom: Yeah sweetie, everything you packed away is still there, we haven't moved anything in or out since you left. Did you want us to send them to you?

Remus: I would like to have them yea, But it would be pretty expensive to send them all through the mail.

Remus: I was thinking why don't you guys come down and visit the farm at the beginning of summer? 

Remus: does dad still get the long weekend off? 

Mom: Oh that's a wonderful idea! I'll ask him when he gets home from the doctor's office. He managed to break 2 of his fingers at work earlier. 

Mom: He's okay otherwise don't worry! I'm sure he would love the trip, he hasn't been back to the farm since he was your age. 

Remus: wow, I hope they aren't broken too badly, and yeah, but you should definitely warn him that it doesn't look like it did when Grandad cared for the land. 

Remus: I'm going to be painting the main farmhouse in like 4 days, so it should look better when you guys arrive. Plus it would be easier for you to bring my things. 

Remus: If that's okay of course

Remus looked up from his phone to see Emily walk over to him, smiling cheerily at him.

"Hey Remus, It's good to see you at the saloon again. what can I get you tonight? we have a special on sashimi and Maki roll." She beamed at him, her happiness truly was infectious, as he was now smiling at her from behind the mask, glad that his anxiety over asking his parents to come to the farm was shrinking.

"sweet, wish I could eat them, but oh well, can I get some of the chicken soup? and grab two plates of sashimi and a plate of Maki rolls, I was thinking of bringing it into the arcade and sharing with whoever ese shows up." 

He scratched at his right wrist, looking at Emily. "Of course, I can bring it in when it's ready if you'd prefer to go find a seat, I know Abigail tends to take up the whole couch when she gets here first." Emily replied to him with a wave of her hand before asking.

"Would you like anything to drink with that? I can pour a pitcher if your sharing as well?" she pointed to the beer taps before Remus shook his head, "Just some coffee for me, thank you, I'll go see if i can't snag that couch from Abigail before she gets here."  Chuckling at that with Emily he made his way over to the arcade as she went to get his order ready with Gus.

As he made his way past the arcade doors he noticed that Sebastian had already been there, waiting in his normal seat over by the pool table, he looked up when Remus walked in and they waved to each other. "Hey, Didn't know you'd be here tonight, thought you might be taking it easy after hauling all that ore and stone home." Sebastian smiled his small smile at Remus, gesturing to one of the many seats in the room.

"Feel free to steal whichever seat you'd like, Abigail and Sam will be here in about an hour." Sebastian spoke as he stuck his phone back in his pocket. Remus just looked at him, glad that his mask could hide his blushing face, Curse Sebastian for looking so good in skinny jeans and Arch Enemy sweater. he tried to ignore the thought as he replied.

"I ordered some Sashimi and Maki rolls for the group... Emily said they should be here soon if you want any." He spoke softly as he took a seat on the couch, leaning back into it, tired from the mines and gardening all day as Sebastian comes over to join him from his previous seat by the pool table. Now sitting opposite him from the table between them. 

"Really? thanks! Sashimi is one of my favorites, I didn't even notice it on the menu....but wait, didn't you mention before that you can't eat seafood of like, any kind?" Sebastian looked at him confused, tilting his head just slightly, which was so fucking cute. He was oh so glad the mask hid the blush he could feel rising at the sight.

"I did, and you're right, I cant, I ordered some chicken soup for myself, but that doesn't mean I can't get them for you and the others. I wanted to..." Remus rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he picked up long ago from being to awkward or shy to admit some things. "Well I wanted to thank you guys for not well,  I don't know how to say this without being rude to anyone who has asked about it... but thanks for not making a big deal over my mask... and for stopping sam from asking anything to invasive...soooo friends?" Remus looked up slowly, having not fully had the words he said ready to say.

To Sebastian who was chuckling lightly at him, while shaking his head. Again Remus thought about how nice that laugh was to hear.

"Hey! no need to laugh..." Remus said as he crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. "Sorry, sorry it's not that I'm laughing at you, more so at the fact that I rub the back of my neck in the same manner. And it's really no trouble, after you had left last time, Sam was suspicious that I had 'barked'- He made air quotes with his fingers.

"-so quickly at him when he had clearly upset you. Both of them have seen me do the exact same thing you did, especially when it's something like hiding your face for any reason i'm sorry for that again though."

Sebastian smiled again at Remus, moving to sit cross legged in his seat. "I know Abby and Sam will love this surprise when they get here., and Abby talked at Sam about respecting people better so he should apologise when he sees you." 

Sebastian finished speaking with that gorgeous soft smile pointed at Remus, just as Emily had backed her way into the arcade, balancing three plates in her hands as she walked over to the pair. "Oh Sebastian, I'm glad your here, you get first pick of the sashimi then". She chuckled as she set the plates down on the table. "I'll be right back with your coffee and soup Remus, Did you want anything as well Seb?" She looked from Remus to Sebastian with her normal cheerful smile and he nodded. 

"Yeah actually, a coffee would be great, thanks Emily." The pair watched as she left before Remus made a point to the sashimi. "Have as much as you'd like, the others can deal with it. plus this way I can get to know more about you guys from your point of view Instead of just them."

Remus smiled at him from behind the mask but knew it reached the man as he chuckled lightly, thanking him for the food. Sebastian ate a few pieces of the sashimi before Emily returned with Remus' food and the coffees for them both. they thanked her and let her know that if they needed anything they would come out. 

Remus slid his mask off carefully so he could eat, holding it up infront of his face to keep it covered adequately covered from Sebastians sightlines. Sebastian gulped quietly at the sight, now thinking even more about what Remus had been hiding behind the mask. 

Was he ashamed of how he looked? did he have scars or a birthmark he got bullied for? Sebastian didn't know but also didn't want to stare so he looked down at the sashimi infront of him. 

"Uhm..." Sebastian started, glancing up quickly to Remus as he thought of what he even meant or wanted to say. not having thought before starting. 

"I Uhm... I know you don't want people to ask about the mask, so I won't but..." He looked fully up to Remus and with a small sigh from the man he continued. "I noticed earlier that you have a fake eye, did you loose it recently?" 

He went with the foremost question on his mind since he had first seen it earlier in the day. "Oh Uhm, kind of yeah, I lost it a few, I think 5 years ago now, there...was an incident at the skatepark I was in and it couldn't be saved by the time I got to the hospital."

Remus spoke quietly despite the two of them being the only ones in the arcade, not wanting to give to much information out since he really and truely didn't know how Sebastian would react. 

"Sorry if that was to personal to ask. I was curious since at the egg festival it was blue, I Hadn't realized then that it was a false eye." 

Sebastian looked at Remus apologetically, and looked back down at the plate infront of him. "It's okay, I'm not as paranoid about my 3ye as the rest of my face. In the same incident I got a bunch of other scars across my face, hence the mask."

Remus said with a tone of understanding, and calm feeling somewhat okay enough to give Sebastian the bare bones version of the truth. Tapping the mask as he held it infront of his face. "I got the mask to stop people from staring and bugging me about how they look." 

Sebastian looked at Remus with a soft sigh and his slight smile. "Thanks for telling me, I won't tell anybody about it. Doesn't seem like you want people to know so I promise not to. by the way my mom mentioned you were thinking of painting your house?" 

Remus was thankful for the change of subject and Sebastians promise not to tell anyone what he told him. Remus explained his plan to Sebastian for how he wanted the house to be painted. Letting him know that he would be getting the paint in a few days and that if he wanted to help he was more than welcome to just stop by. 

As they continued chatting, Abigail and Sam made their way into the arcade a little while later. Remus quickly pulled his mask back on instead of just holding it. 

"Hey!! sorry were late Se- Oh hey Remus! I'm glad you could make it again this week!"

Sam had exclaimed loudly as he sat down at one end of the table, Abigail coming in behind him and flopping onto the couch beside Remus. "Hey you two, I went ahead and got a treat for the group, Sashimi and maki rolls. I hope those are okay with you two." Remus had waved to them both as they sat, now pointing at the maki rolls and single plate of sashimi that was left for them.

"Ohh thanks Remus this is great!" Abigail said as she went or the Maki rolls. Sam looked at Sebastian before saying thanks and grabbing some for himself. "So Seb I'm guessing that empty plate once has Sashimi on it?"

He said through some laughter at the end as Sebastian turned lightly red. Remus wondered if Sebastian blushed as easily as he did as they spoke.

"It did yeah, Remus got here just after I did and surprised me with some, he did say it was for everyone.. but you know it's my favorite, I can't help myself." Sebastian said with a light chuckle, Remus made a mental note of the dish being Sebastians fave as Sebastian turned away form the group to look at the pool table.

"Hey Remus, you never got a game in last time, why don't we play a round so these two can eat and order any drinks they might want." Sebastian turned back to the man with a bigger grin than he had seen before on the mans face, one that reached his eyes. Remus' heart would definitely stop if he kept smiling that beautifully at him.

"Sure! that sounds great, You two enjoy, don't worry about saving any for me. I'm intolerant to seafood so those are all yours, but I'm sure Sebastian will finish off what you don't eat." Remus laughed as Sam looked surprised that Remus would buy fish for them, when he himself couldn't eat it.

Abigail looked confused for a minute, looking between the two, before shrugging and saying more for her as Sebastian and Remus made they way over to the pool table, Sebastian set it up while Remus grabbed the cues from the wall.

Handing him one when he finished setting up the balls. "Do you want to break or should I" Remus asked.  "You can since you're the new one to the table, I always win against Sam so I'm used to letting my opponent break." Sebastian smiled softly at him again, and man Remus could get used to that smile, it looked good on the man in front of him. plus it wasn't as blindingly beautiful as the larger smile he had a moment ago. 

the two played their game while Abby and Sam ate, both coming over to the table as Sebastian sunk the 8 ball, winning the game. The four of them swapped out who was playing pool while the 2 who weren't went and played on one of the arcade machines.

Everyone headed out after a few hours, Remus looked back at the trio before he left to the farm, thinking to himself about how he could get used to having them as his friends. He made his way home and got tucked in for the night. he had a long day of farming to do tomorrow so he needs to sleep.

Chapter Text

Spring 23

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Remus got up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, making his way over to his newly fixed kitchen and grabbing some cereal to start his day. He thought about the things he needed to do that day, while looking out the window at the light rains that had chosen to fall for the last two days. He hummed to himself as he ate, He could go fishing down on the docks of up on the mountain lake. Willy had challenged him to catch a Walleye or an eel before Spring ended. As Remus thought about it more though he didn't feel like going out fishing today since he had not had any luck the day prior, As he got up and placed his bowl and spoon in the sink.

he tapped his chin a few times while thinking. "hmm maybe I could... No, hauling a fishing rod down the mines to the 20th floor wouldn't be that easy." Remus thought out loud as he shook his head and went over to his closet. taking a look inside at his few actual clothes that weren't just overalls and sighing heavily. He was glad his parents had confirmed they could rent a truck and bring him the rest of his wardrobe and personal belongings that he had left at their house when he moved from Grampleton to Castle Village.

He grabbed his phone off of his dresser when he saw a message pop up, Robin had let him know that the black paint arrived to her and he could come pick it up whenever it was a good time for him. He sent a quick reply before getting changed into the paint covered overalls he had on the bed from yesterday. They weren't dirty enough for him to care about wearing them two days in a row.

Grabbing his mask and smokes from the kitchen table before putting on his boots and heading outside into the rain. "As much as I hate working in the rain I do enjoy it, hmm maybe I'll take a walk around town and see if anyone is out and about." He said to himself as he went to check over the plants, making sure no wild animals had decided to snack on them in the night. He finished up his chores with the plants then checked on his chickens. Finding them both still sleeping peacefully in their nests.

As he swept up some of the loose hay into one side of the coop he noticed a black blob against the hatch that let the hens outside. "whoa cool!" He said as he picked it up, it turned out to be a void egg, Remus had only seen them on tv or broken on the side of farmland. He had learned about them in high school science class. remembering that the teacher had said they weren't inherently bad or monstrous but that they were a genetic mutation caused by the magical energies of the world over the many centuries since the elemental wars.

Since he had upgraded the space in his coop to hold 8 to 12 chickens comfortably, he took the egg over to the upgrade included incubator and stuck it in. He figured that if it was just a genetic mutation then her could get a free chicken out of it, and since the eggshell was black with red speckles, he was hoping the chicken that would pop out would have the same coloration. He double checked all the information the incubator showed him about the egg before starting the incubation process, making a note in his phone that it would be six-ish days until the new chick would hatch. After finishing cleaning the coop Remus headed inside, grabbed a granola bar and his leather jacket, glad he would be getting his actual rain jackets soon, then heading towards town. On the pathway into town he ran into mayor Lewis.

"Good morning Mayor Lewis." He said as the two met in the path, Lewis had a rain jacket on and was holding an umbrella over his head. "Good morning Remus, you're just the man I was looking for, Would you be willing to come and inspect the old community center with me?" Lewis had asked with a smile. "Sure, I was just going to wander town anyways, maybe head up the mountain and pick up some paint Robin ordered in for me." Remus replied as the two began walking towards the Community center, chatting about Remus' plans for the farmhouse and mayor Lewis telling Remus about when his granddad first bought the land. When they arrived at the building they stopped outside for a moment. Mayor Lewis shook his head at the site of it.

"It's gotten more dilapidated the longer it's gone unused, It used to be where we hosted most of the town events but an earthquake hit about 95 years ago, It affected the foundation enough that we moved the events to the town square until it could get fixed." Mayor Lewis sighed before stepping forward to unlock the doors and continued what he was saying. "After all the damage was assessed and the cost to repair was figured out we closed it down, We haven't been able to get enough funding to repair it yet." Mayor Lewis and Remus entered the building, Lewis lowering and closing his umbrella before walking into the center of the room. Remus looked around the community center, noting that the walls and floor where missing pieces of wood here and there but it didn't look to bad considering what Lewis had told him, he looked down the hallway to the left, and seeing the walls and floor in much the same condition. He turned around to glance down the right hallway, seeing that it shifted to stone flooring, cracked and no longer level.

"So what did you want to inspect, even better question why do you need my help?" Remus asked with a confused tone to his voice as he turned back to Lewis. Lewis turned from the strange hut that was built in one corner and looked to Remus as Remus looked at the hut. "Everyone else in town knows how this place looks but I thought you might like to see it in person, rather than just hearing about it. It's more dilapidated than I remember though, such a shame." Lewis said as he shook his head lightly, looking rather sad that the building hasn't gotten repaired yet. Behind Lewis, right beside the strange hut Remus saw a small green blob, bouncing up and down as he stared let out a startled yelp. "WHAT the heck!?!"

Mayor Lewis turned around to look where Remus was, but found nothing. The blob had vanished before Remus' eye as Lewis turned around. Popping back up behind the mayor again, close enough that Remus could now see it had two big round black eyes, and stick like legs and arms. It was bouncing up and down again until Lewis turned back to Remus, who had taken a step back in both shock and slight fear. "What is it Remus? was there a rat or something?" Lewis asked him when he noticed Remus step back. "Are you feeling Okay?" Lewis looked around the room again before stepping up to Remus and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to go grab some lunch at the saloon, maybe you should come get something to eat as well, you aren't looking to good from what I can see of you."

Remus could only open and close his mouth while looking around the room quickly. "Well, I'll leave you with the keys, maybe you can help gather the materials or funds to fix this place up, and catch whatever scared you as well." Lewis looked over Remus once more before heading out, leaving Remus just standing there. Remus looked around more, being slightly off put by what he saw but since it hadn't reappeared he figured it was gone for now, Maybe the wizard would know what it was. He took out his phone to take a picture of the hut in the corner then switching over to his drawing app and quickly sketching the being he saw. He made his way down the hallway to the right, thinking about how much work it would actually take to fix this building up, wanting to see how bad the whole thing was anyways.

As he made his way past the room off to the left side of the hallway he noticed a glow coming from the middle of the room, as he stepped closer the glow started to materialize before his eye into a glowing scroll. He attempted to read it but had never seen the symbols that covered the page before, only really understanding the images that looked familiar, a tree in the middle of the scroll and a few flowers that dotted around the tree. He took another picture of the scroll before getting back to his feet. He took a look in the other rooms, one having been an old kitchen and what seemed to be the pantry storage for the kitchen. He made his way back to the main room and then down the hall near the broken fish, he looked into the room that had a broken safe and moldy carpet, thinking it probably used to be Lewis' office.

He turned to see the rest of the hall only to find some stone stairs that led to a rusted broken furnace, a few broken pipes still stuck in the walls. since there was nothing else out of the ordinary he made his way back outside, locking the doors again before making his way down into the ton square. thinking to himself about how weird that was, he made his way from town towards the wizards tower, hoping he wasn't to busy with anything and could help him.

The walk through the forest seemed almost magical as he barely got rained on from the trees branches protecting him along the path. HE made his way up the small hill that lead to the base of Rasmodius' tower, He knocked 4 times before hearing Rasmodius say to come in. "Ah hello Remus, what brings you to my tower on this overcast day?" Remus gave him a small nod as he took his phone out. Rasmodius walking over towards him as he did so. "You mentioned before that if I had and questions about the valley or magical beings to come to you," He pulled up the photos he took at the community center and showed them to him.

"Mayor Lewis showed me into the community center and there was this strange hut in the main room, he told me about what happened but then I saw a small green blob bouncing up and down, it disappeared as soon as Lewis would have seen it." Remus switched over to the picture he drew of the blob. "Ah so you've been poking around there, the creature you saw was a Junimo, they are forest spirits that usually come to help mother nature regain land that was inhabited by humans but has long since been abandoned." Rasmodius looked over the sketch before moving to one of his bookshelves, pulling out a tome that was faded and clearly read many times.

"Did you see anything else unusual in the building?" He asked as he flipped through the tome. "Yeah actually there was this weird glow in one of the rooms that turned into a scroll when I got closer to it. I couldn't read it other than a few pictures of some flowers around a tree." Remus replied but was still very confused as Rasmodius closed the tome and returned it to the shelf. "Really? I shall have to take a look, my knowledge of the junimo's language is rudimentary but i might be able to read it. I shall be right back." With that Rasmodius raised his hand and then disappeared, much to Remus' shock. Only really powerful wizards could teleport without teleportation totems or other tools to assist.

Remus was impressed with how powerful the wizard was, thinking about how long it must have taken him to gain so much knowledge as he looked around the room more. his thoughts were interrupted when Rasmodius returned though his front door, Remus turned to him as he spoke. "Well, you have no reason to fear the junimo's but I can't figure out what they mean entirely in their scroll, or why they've shown themselves to you, even if it was just the one, the junimo are known as mysterious spirits who only show themselves to magic users who specialize in nature related magics." Rasmodius made his way past to Remus and over to his cauldron as he thought out loud.

"We the Junimo are happy to aid you, in return we ask for gifts of the valley... if you are one with the forest than you will see the true nature of this scroll... hmmm." Remus listened to him as he watched the man stare into the bubbling cauldron. assuming that what he was saying was what had been written on the scroll. He asked after a few minutes passed in silence. "What do they mean by one with the forest? like someone born in the forest or an animal?" Rasmodius shook his head as he spoke.

"Unlikely, I think they mean someone with a deep connection to the forest..." Rasmodius paused as he looked into the bubbling potion he was brewing. He looked up with an Aha! as Remus stepped over to him. "what is it Rasmodius, did you figure it out?" "look, my cauldron is bubbling with ingredients from the surrounding forest, baby fern, moss-grub, caramel topped toadstool, can you smell it?" He looked at Remus with an enthusiastic grin. "Uh kind of? it smells mostly like fern to me."

Remus replied as looked at Rasmodius confused as to where he was going with this. "Perhaps you should drink some then. I have more of an affinity towards water and air magic and spirits. but you might be able to see the truth behind the scroll, this potion is one I'm making for a friend in castle village, it allows the drinker to become in tune with the forests and nature around them." Rasmodius spoke as he grabbed a bowl and scooped up some of the potion, handing it to Remus.

"uhm, are you sure it'll work?" Remus stared at the liquid in the bowl then to Rasmodius. "I am certain you will not e harmed, but you need to let the essence of the forest permeate your very being to get the full effect." He pointed to the bowl and waited for Remus to drink it. With a weary shrug Remus drank the entire bowl full of nasty tasting potion, after a moment he began to feel his head spinning and what he was hoping, was just the 'essence of the forest' doing what it needed to.

Over the next two minute though Remus saw trees, bushes, forest spirits and various other plant life float into his mind and vision. feeling slightly sick form the spinning but not enough to actually get sick from it. Once the images of the forest and spinning stopped he could hear Rasmodius again, but only faintly as a larger voice spoke from inside his head, totally not freaking him out or anyhting. 

"You've gained the abilities of Forest magic, well done. You may now read the true meanings of any Junimo scroll you find. Take care to learn more magic to understand better." Remus shook his head at the voice, it had been so deep yet so familiar sounding, almost like his grandfathers. He turned to Rasmodius and spoke quietly, unsure oh what he said prior. "Sorry...uh what were you saying..?"

Rasmodius chuckled softly before repeating himself. "I was asking if you were alright and im glad to see that you are. did you have any visions or hear anything." Remus told him about what he had seen and then what the voice had told him. rasmodius assured him that that meant the potion worked and he would now be able to see what the Junimos meant by helping. Remus thanked him for the potion and explaining to him about the Junimos before he headed back out and into the rain, taking a slower pace as he observed the forest around him.

As he got back into town he tried to clear his thoughts about the junimo's, making his way over to the saloon. He needed some actual food to help settle his stomach and, according to Rasmodius, finish the process of absorbing the forest essence. After eating and chatting with Gus about some recipes that he could make easily at home he headed back out and up towards the community center. He might as well see what the junimos want after all. 

Remus looked again towards where the scroll was in the room only this time there was also a junimo bouncing beside it. Remus noticed that they didn't have mouths but that it looked happy to to see him return, as he took a few steps towards the scroll it disappeared like the other had earlier. He thought to himself that they probably just didn't like being to close as he read the scroll, now understanding the symbols written, and why there was a tree and flowers. 

"Ah so you want forgeables and materials to help repair the community center." Apparently they would also repair the bridge leading to the quarry over near the mountain lake. Since Remus didn't have any of the items they were requesting he made a note in his phone before getting up and heading back out to the main room, he took another look at the hut, now knowing it belonged to the junimos he spoke towards it.

"I'm not sure how much help I can give on short notice but I'll do what I can." He shook his head at himself, talking into the air like that before he headed back out and made his way towards his farm. thinking about how his morning has been truly a weird one, even for him.

Since he had a lot to think about now he decided that he was indeed going to go fishing for willy's challenge to him, It would be a good way to think about all he would need for the junimo, and if his thinking was right, he might need some fish for the junimo. There was a broken fish tank in the main room after all, plus He also needed to figure out how he was going to give the junimo the items they were asking for. 

Chapter Text

Spring 24 year 1

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Remus woke up to his alarm blaring at him, he groaned lightly as he picked up his phone, silencing the alarm with a mumbled 'fuck off alarm'. He got up and got ready to do his daily chores, glad that he didn't have as many crops to deal with since it was close to the end of the season. With a huff as he set down the basket of harvested parsnips Remus felt his phone vibrate from the chest pocket of his overalls. 

He saw that he had gotten a message from an unknown number, the only people in town he had given his phone number to were Abigail, who didn't let him say no, Sam, who wanted to send Remus song links and music tips, and Robin so she could call him if needed for any orders he made. He looked at his phone curiously as to who else would have gotten it, seeing that it was eleven am, he swore at himself for losing track of time.  Remus opened his phone to check the message. 

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Unknown: Hey

Unknown: flower dance is today. Abby and victor are dragging me along

Unknown: She said to let you know we will be at your farm to pick you up for it in like 20 mins

Remus: uhh okay..? 

Remus: Sebastian?

Unknown: You guessed it. 

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Remus shook his head at the antics of Abigail, she did joke a lot about having to drag Sebastian to festivals, as he saved the number in his phone under 'Sebastian'. He would have put in a nickname but he didn't feel he knew the man enough to use Seb like his other friends did. He was glad he was done with his chores when the message came in so he went inside with the vegetables and stuck them in his fridge. 

Remus had a quick shower to wash away the grossness he always got from the farm work before grabbing a clean pair of overalls. Since it was warmer than it had been at the egg festival, He decided to roll up his pant legs and wear a sleeveless Avenged Sevenfold shirt, he pulled on his old combat boots to finish the look. He took the extra fabric from the back of his mask off, glad that he had asked Alesia to make it removable for warmer weather.

He heard a knock at his door just as he was finishing his hair, having the open back of the mask allowed him to have his mullet out, while fluffing out the front to cover the top of the mask. He made his way over to his door as the knocking got more impatient. 

"Ok ok I get it, I'm here, no need to break down my door." Remus said as he opened the door. Abigail had stopped pounding on it once it started to open, Remus looked between her, Sebastian and Victor, each had gotten more dressed up then Remus had seen them before, well, except for Victor, who Remus hadn't actually met since he was out of town when he arrived.

Remus gave them each a wave as he looked them over, Abigail was in a light, almost lavender purple dress, with darker purple leggings and worn boots, her makeup matching the outfit perfectly.  Victor was wearing a pale blue dress shirt with a deep blue bowtie, back dress pants and proper dress shoes. He was shorter than Sebastian but taller than Abigail. Remus closed the door behind him and locked it as he smiled from behind the mask at the new man. "Hey, I'm Remus, I've heard about you from Abigail and Sam, but it's nice to finally meet you in person." 

Remus offered his hand for Victor to shake, which he took with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you Remus, I'm Victor, when Sam messaged me that a new farmer had moved into town I was excited to meet you." "Likewise, Abigail says your very skilled at pumpkin smashers?" Remus replied as he gestured for the group to head out, His farm connected to cindersnap forest near Marnie's ranch, He had only finished clearing the path of debris earlier that morning, before he had done his harvest.

Victor and Abigail talked to each other more than to Remus or Sebastian about their various video gaming skills, Remus half listened to them but found himself admiring Sebastian as they walked through the forest. He was wearing a deep, deep blue dress shirt with his usual skinny jeans, and what looked like a new pair of high-top grey converse. Remus was still very glad he had the mask, his blushing around the other man had become more frequent over the past few days.

"So, where is this flower dance exactly anyways? I haven't come this far west in the forest before." Remus asked to Sebastian since the other two were a few steps ahead of them, whereas Sebastian was basically beside him. "It's not much further, I'd say five minutes before we get the-" Sebastian had been interrupted by Sam yelling over to the group as he walked up to them.

"Hey guys! are we all ready to get our dance on?" Sam spoke with a laugh and large grin on his face as both Abigail and Sebastian groaned at him, Sebastian even face palming at him. Remus figured it was probably because Sam was wearing almost the same outfit as Victor, although each piece was a different shade of blue and purple. Remus snickered from behind his mask at the outfit. 

"Geez Sam what did you do, get puked on by a fairy?" Abigail said through her laughter at the man, who just shrugged and turned to walk to the festival. The rest of the group following suit, laughing and chatting as they walked. Remus hadn't been paying a lot of attention to the route they had been taking but slowed down as he noticed the gap in the cliffside. 

Remus gulped quietly as he tried to stay calm and make his way over to the bridge that covered the five foot gap in the cliff. As he got closer though it got more and more difficult, He knew his fear of falling was irrational but also not, He had fallen out of a 65 foot tree back when he worked at a tree trimming company, so to him, it wasn't irrational at all. He stopped suddenly though and just stared at the planks of wood that had been used to make a bridge.

The more he saw of the drop the harder it was to not just turn around and run back to the farm, it was just one festival, not like he absolutely needed to go...right? He thought as he saw how unstable the 'bridge' looked. Sebastian was the first to notice he had stopped walking. He stopped as well, a few steps in front of him and turned around to face him fully. 

"Uhm, Remus, are you okay?" Sebastian asked, looking at Remus with concern in his eyes, but his otherwise normal blank face. "Uh...n..no not really..." He paused to take a deep breath, pointing shakily towards the bridge. "No one mentioned having to cross a tiny ass bridge over a cliff gap." He spoke quietly as he tried to calm himself with another deep breath, he knew he was shaking lightly so he took another step back away from the bridge to hopefully try and help. 

Abigail, Sam and Victor had noticed the two of them and stopped to look at him as well, Abigail being the one to speak. "What's the matter, why did you guys stop?" She was looking between Sebastian and Remus with a look of confusion, but no harm in her tone, she stepped towards them with Sam following as Victor stayed where he was. 

"What, are you afraid of falling or something?" Sam asked as he stepped closer to Remus and Sebastian, Not letting him answer before he continued. "Don't you like constantly go down into the mines and fight monsters, what's so bad about a little gap in the cliff?"  The tone and in Sam's voice and teasing laugh had made Remus momentarily more angry than afraid. 

Remus glared at Sam, who genuinely, to Remus at least, looked more like he was surprised to see Remus' hesitation at this when he had been so chill to find out Remus had been going into the mines almost daily for ores since it reopened. 

"Yeah, I do, but the floors of the mines are only ten feet in depth apart, if I fall from a ladder or down a hole from one floor to the next I'll be fine, maybe a little bruised or broken but fine."  He paused, huffing a breath of annoyance at Sam before he continued, looking at the gap. "THIS however, is at least a 90 foot drop and as much as I would like to just walk across the bridge all fine and dandy, not thinking about it, I'd rather not fall and break my damn leg or get more fucked up than I already am." 

Remus finished softer than he had started, the small bit of anger had subsided and the fear had crawled it's way right back in its place, making him shake in his boots more than before as the memories of his previous fall flooded his mind. He stared down at his boots while hugging his arms around himself. He couldn't bring himself to look at any of his new friends, not wanting to see the looks they had.  

The bridge and gap seemed to be looking back at him, tauntingly at the fact that he couldn't cross it when the whole town, except those standing with him, had already crossed it, including the younger children Vincent and Jas. 

Sebastian had been watching Remus carefully and more intently since he had slowed down before reaching the bridge, but now he was Glaring absolute daggers at Sam. He knew what that teasing tone in the blondes voice meant, he had been the subject of it many times while growing up with him and every time it meant he was going to start bugging about something he had no business bugging someone about. 

He shook his head from his anger at knowing what was about to happen and interjected before Sam could make Remus more upset, he thought that he should get his mother to talk to him about his actions and mild bullying but it could wait. "why don't you guys go on ahead and We'll catch up in a bit yeah?' The tone of Sebastian's voice made Remus jerk his head up and look at the man, he was clearly annoyed and angry with Sam. 

The glare that Sebastian was giving the other three was one he couldn't decipher at all, now feeling bad that his own stupid fear had caused a problem and was now affecting their days as well. The other three understood Sebastian's glare though because Abigail and Victor just nodded and dragged Sam across the bridge and away before he could protest or make fun of Remus further, or at least that's what they intended but Remus heard the blonde man say ' what kind of a man is afraid of heights, it's so stupid,' before he was far enough away for Remus to not hear. 

Remus knew Abigail would be going off at him anyways for the comment so he tried to ignore it for the time being. Sebastian had stepped closer to Remus and made sure the others were gone and out of earshot before he spoke. "Hey, you don't have to go across if you can't, I can cover for you and tell anyone who asks that some emergency popped up, or you lost track of time if you'd like." 

Sebastian's tone was softer and more caring than he had heard from the man before, He shook his head and looked down at his boots instead of at Sebastian. "N..no" He hated how scared he sounded in that moment. "that...that doesn't seem right...o..or fair, I don't want to lie about why I couldn't be there... I want to go, I want to see what the festival is like and say hi to everyone...but.. I" Remus chocked on a sob as he continued.

"I just...I'm so scared of falling again.." Remus was trying hard not to cry from the overwhelming memories of falling, the fear and the anxiety of having to show his second biggest weakness to someone, let alone the man who he was sure he was developing a crush on. Remus really did hate showing how scared and anxious he truly was.

Sure he was afraid when he went into the mines and had to fight a bunch of monsters, but nowhere near as much as he was over the thought or action of crossing large or small gaps, ones that he knew would be painful or problematic if he fell from or into them. Remus's breathing started to get more shaky and faster the more he thought about and looked at the gap in front of him.

He took a few steps backwards and away from Sebastian, until he bumped into a tree and stayed pressed against it. Feeling slightly more grounded as he went from hugging himself to holding onto the tree with his hands, at that moment he had almost forgotten Sebastian was standing there with him, He had gone so quiet as Remus was speaking. 

Remus took a shaky deep breath in and looked at Sebastian instead of the bridge, only just now noticing that he had taking the few steps closer to the trees and away from the bridge with him, He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out other than a chocked sob.

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Sebastian's Pov

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Sebastian had taken the few steps closer to Remus as the man had backed away towards a tree for support. Placing his hand gently on Remus's right shoulder, not knowing if he should touch the scarred left shoulder and arm. He looked into Remus's eye with concern, He had never seen any kind of weakness like this in Remus, anger and annoyance, happiness and relief, and a few other emotions in that Beautiful dual colored eye, but never had he seen the man afraid, not once in the few times they've hung out. 

"Hey, Remus, hey" He gently squeezed his shoulder and gave a small, hopefully comforting smile as he noticed Remus's eye fill with tears before continuing. "Breath with me okay, I know you're afraid but we got to get you a little calmer okay." Sebastian's voice was calm and even despite his own inner anxieties growing for the situation. Remus nodded and tried to follow along with his breathing.

After a few minutes of guiding him through the breathing exercises he had learned for his own panic attacks, Remus had looked like he calmed down a bit, it was hard to tell from behind the mask though. Sebastian took his right hand and pulled him further into the forest, not to far from where they were, but far enough that if anyone decided to leave early they would still have some privacy to talk. 

He spoke softly as they stopped by a larger pine tree, Sebastian let go of his hand as he spoke. "do you want to stand or sit and talk? you don't have to but I think it would probably be better to stay away for a little longer." His tone was calm still, and he smiled at him softly again. Remus didn't say anything but nodded and took a seat against the tree, bringing his right knee up to rest his forehead on. 

Sebastian sat down not quite in front of him, just barely off to the right, close enough that he could hear him and not have to speak very loud. He didn't want to rush him so he waited patiently and decided to look at Remus in more detail. the first thing he noticed from earlier in the day was his left leg, it was a prosthetic and looked like he had taken really good care of it, and his right leg had a hint of a tattoo poking out the cuff oh his rolled overalls. 

He thought to himself about how nice it was to see Remus showing more of himself while with others, the first time he saw him in Pierre's store he was almost fully covered, only his hands had been visible. Now though, Sebastian smiled at the fact that he had become comfortable enough to show more of himself.

He had taken the back of the mask off to let his hair out, which was a bright vibrant green that Sebastian was sure would glow in the dark or in black light. He had a sleeveless Avenged Sevenfold shirt on under his faded black overalls, Sebastian definitely didn't add a point to the mental list of reasons to like Remus as more than a friend because of the band tee, no not at all.

Most importantly though Remus was letting his scars out to be seen, and Sebastian could finally see what Remus had mentioned at the arcade the other night. Sebastian looked back up to Remus' face when he heard him sigh softly., taking him out of his thoughts.  "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to make you leave your friends to help me." Remus spoke quietly and softly, Sebastian gently grabbed Remus's left hand and slowly rubbed his thumb over the back of it.

It felt strange to be the one comforting another rather than being comforted himself but Sebastian at least knew of various things that helped, mostly for himself, gentle physical contact was one of them. "Don't worry about it, I don't mind ditching the dance entirely, in my opinion its one of the worst festivals the town has." Remus had shifted enough to look at Sebastian, a look of curiousness in his eye, his hair falling over his left shoulder. 

"There's a group dance for everyone in town that's single, the point is to maybe meet a date but it's just been the same people for the last twenty odd years, I hate dancing in front of anyone let alone the whole damn town, usually I dance with Abigail but she'd be just as happy sitting out as I am." Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand as he spoke. "The only reason we even bother to do the dance is because it makes her dad and my mom happy." 

That had earned Sebastian a light laugh from Remus, which he thought was a lovely sound. "Since you kind of told me your fear how about I tell you mine? but you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially Sam, he would never let me hear the end of it." Only once Remus nodded and confirmed he wouldn't tell anyone did Sebastian look down at their hands as he continued the gentle circling motion with his thumb. 

"I'm terrified of large, like really large, gatherings sure but... well...I'm really afraid of being alone, I know it sounds contradictory but-" Remus was looking at Sebastian and listening intently, nodding lightly for Sebastian to go on. Sebastian himself didn't know why he suddenly felt comfortable enough to tell this to the man who he has only known for barely a season, but he was kind of glad to tell someone, he hasn't even told his mother about this part of him, absolutely no one else knows. 

"I'm terrified of being alone in the world, a few hours or a couple days or weeks would be fine, it's just that my brain gets so mean and comes up with all these ridiculous ideas that I'll lose all my friends and family, never meet someone I want to date or marry, that everyone will abandon me." He sighed softly before letting out a louder 'Oof' as Remus had practically launched himself into Sebastian in a hug, shaking lightly.

Sebastian was surprised for a moment before he slowly hugged Remus back, not having hugged anyone in quite a while, It felt nice he thought.

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Remus' pov

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"Thank you... for telling me and for not dismissing my fears." Remus spoke quietly as he hugged Sebastian, He didn't entirely know what had made him suddenly hug the man but he smelled like smoke and cologne, it helped him feel better, he spoke as he slowly pulled back from the hug. "I can understand the war that goes on in your head with those kinds of thoughts and feelings, I've got real bad intrusive thoughts that tell me a lot of the same things, and are mainly why I'm afraid of falling." 

Remus leaned back against the tree and pulled the right side of his shirt over towards the middle so Sebastian could see the surgery scar he had along his side, running the length of his hip bone up and around towards his shoulder blade. "I used to be a tree trimmer, we would climb up big ass trees and make sure the branches weren't getting to close to power lines that ran along the country sides. mostly the areas between towns, but..." Remus let his shirt fall and sighed as he set his hands on his knees. 

"I was up a sixty-five footer, right near the top, I had just finished cutting off a few branches and went to move back down but my harness broke, I fell almost the entire way down, hitting branches along the way and breaking a bunch of ribs and bones in my arms." He looked back up to Sebastian who was staring at him in shock, his mouth open slightly as if he had shouted 'how' in shock. 

"Even though it wasn't running when I hit the ground I landed on my chainsaw and it buried itself in my side, Thankfully it didn't hit anything to major, after that is when I got a job at Joja corporate." He chuckled softly to lighten the mood a little. "No wonder your afraid of falling that sounds terrifying." Sebastian finally spoke, still looking at Remus in shock. "Yeah, that's when it got really bad at least." Remus stood up and fiddled with his fingers as Sebastian followed.

"I...I know this probably sounds weird but...will you hold my hand to cross the bridge?" Remus cringed at himself for the request but that little bit of contact would actually really help ground him to get across. "I know we aren't that close but it would help... keep me grounded.. or at least calm enough to get across." Sebastian chuckled lightly at his request. 

"I can do that, no problem, just go ahead of be and I'll be right behind you, okay?" Sebastian smiled at him, Remus really did feel better with Sebastian and had to mentally shake the thought of how cute he was out of his head. It was not the time to be gay and pine. "Thank you, this means a lot Sebastian." 

Remus smiled from behind the mask to him as they walked towards the bridge. "You can call me Seb if you want, I'd say we're close enough for you to use my nickname or you can make one of your own, I don't mind." Sebastian returned his smile, offering Remus his hand as they approached the bridge. Remus took it with a shaky breath as he thanked Sebastian again.

The pair crossed the bridge carefully with Remus leading as Sebastian kept him grounded and steady, once on the other side he let their hands drop apart. He thought about how warm Sebastian's hand was and how well their hands fit together for a moment before thanking him again. "I'm going to go chat with mayor Lewis about something, I'll meet up with you guys when I'm done yeah?" He asked after Sebastian had reassured him that he didn't mind.

"Sounds good, I'll make sure that Sam won't bug you about it by the time you get to us." Sebastian had smiled to him before heading off down the path to where Remus could see the others of their little group, He made his way over to mayor Lewis looking angrier than probably necessary but the man Should have warned him damnit!

After half angry talking with Mayor Lewis about making a sturdier bridge to cross that gap, which Remus said he would fund or gather the supplies for himself, only then did mayor Lewis agree. Remus had thanked him and made his way around the squared off area to say hello to a few different people, Caroline and Pierre who he bought a rarecrow from, Olivia who was Victor's mom, as well as Harvey and Maru, who he kept forgetting was Sebastian's half sister. 

He made his way over to Sebastian and the gang, Abigail elbowed Sam in the ribs for something he had said but Remus didn't hear it. "Hey, glad you could make it across Remus, I can't imagine the fear you must feel from suddenly being in that situation, especially with no notice." Victor had said with a small smile, giving him a light wave at the same time. 

"Sebastian told us a little bit about what happened but not really, just that you need some time to deal with the sudden panic and get across." Abigail continued for victor as Remus rubbed the back of his neck. thankful that Sebastian had given them the short version, he would need to thank him somehow for his kindness today. "Yeah, sorry about that, I had an accident at an old Job and haven't really handled the idea of falling again well, I'm not afraid to be up high but if something doesn't look safe or sturdy it makes it worse." 

Remus looked from victor to Abigail the to Sam, who hadn't said anything yet. "Mayor Lewis didn't tell me about the gap beforehand so it caught me off guard, but I managed to convince him to get Robin to build a new permanent bridge if I got the supplies for it." Sebastian smiled to him at that and Abigail brightened too. 

"Hey that's awesome! I've always hated what they've done for the last few years, I'm always afraid Vincent or Jas will fall, or that it'll break as someone's crossing it." Sam finally spoke, looking at Remus with an apologetic smile, but more importantly he was being nice and not commenting on Remus' fear. Remus had remembered and will remember what he said earlier, not liking the comment about 'what kind of man' at all.

"So Remus," Abigail asked, "Do you think you'll join the dancing, It's kind of old fashioned but it's pretty easy to follow along with." Remus shook his head at her question. "I don't think I'd be very good at it,  I'm not the best dancer anymore and aren't the participants supposed to be in pairs?" Sebastian nodded at that and spoke.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be like a romantic thing but no one who dances has to be in a relationship or anything, like when Sam and Victor danced together last year on a dare." Remus laughed at the mental image of the two dancing together as did Victor and Abigail. Sam just looked at Sebastian and started badgering him about telling Remus of their past hijinks.

"Oh, I see but I don't think I know anyone other than you guys well enough to ask to dance though." Remus spoke when the laugher died down, looking between Abigail and Sebastian.

"Oh I know!" Abigail said out loud with a hand raised up like she just got a bright idea. "Why don't you dance with Sebastian? Me and victor could dance together this year, Right Victor?" Victor Nodded as he spoke, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I don't mind who I dance with, as long as it's someone, my mom won't get on my case about being more social." Remus looked from Victor to Sam who had began pointing between them all. 

"But who will I dance with then?" he asked to no one in particular, Sebastian looked at him with a face of 'really? you have to ask' before speaking. "Penny, duh you've been pining for the last six years, just go ask her, we all know she would say yes." Sam looked fake offended at being called out on his crush to the redhead, Remus thought Penny was cute and sweet but he didn't know how much of a good influence Sam might be on her.

"Well... what do you want to do Sebastian?" Remus turned to the taller man who had turned slowly more red since Abigail had suggested it in the first place. "We can dance if you want to, I'm not that great but at least you'll get to join in the 'fun' " Sebastian had used air quotes as he said fun, Abigail and Remus both laughed at it, each knowing to a different degree that Sebastian had hated doing anything in front of crowds.

The group talked a little longer about various pairings that were common occurrence at the dance before mayor Lewis started talking into his megaphone, announcing the start of the dance and for all those participating to come into the middle of the square, where Hailey was getting ready to lead the group. Sam made his way over to Penny and offered his hand which she took with a smile. 

Remus followed Victor, Abigail and Sebastian over to the other end of the two lines that were forming, those who weren't dancing gathered around the edges of the square to watch. Remus was getting more nervous about it as he and Sebastian got to the end of the line, Sebastian took the spot beside Victor and Remus went beside Abigail, who assured him that he didn't actually have to do well, just try and follow Hailey or her until the dance ended. 

Remus tried his best once the music started to follow along with Abigail but he found himself looking to Sebastian more than anyone else, he knew he probably looked silly but Sebastian was smiling at him and it made his heart flutter, He definitely was getting a crush. The thought made him blush hard enough that he was sure his ears were visibly red. 

After a few moments Remus dared to look around at those who were watching, his eyes went over to Robin and Demetrius who both had surprised looks on their faces, probably at the fact that Sebastian was dancing with someone other than Abigail. He looked back to Sebastian as the two lines stepped towards each other to finish the dance, He laughed lightly at Sebastian who had rolled his eyes and mouthed 'finally' as the dance ended. 

After the dance ended Lewis announced the end of the event and asked that anyone who could and wanted to, to help clean up the area before heading out, Remus looked over at Abigail and Victor who waved him over to where they were chatting. "Hey, we don't have to stay and clean at least not really, I have to help my dad clean up the stall, but we can hang out when I'm done if you guys want to." 

She smiled at him all toothy and big, it made Remus laugh softly. "Sure, you guys can come hang out at the farm if you want, I've got a decent amount of space in the farmhouse since Robin's upgraded it for me, we could watch a movie or something." Remus looked between the three of them with his gaze landing on Sebastian yet again. 

"Sure, I can hang as long as you don't mind me smoking." Sebastian said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh hold that thought, mom needs me for something, I'll be right back." Sebastian stalked off to his mom as the group looked on after him. "His mom's probably just going to talk to him about how proud she is of him socializing more." Abigail said in response to Remus' confused head tilt.

"I would be delighted to see more of your farm Remus!" Victor spoke as Remus watched Robin and Sebastian talking. "Hey by the way, do you care if we smoke weed at your farm, we used to all the time before you moved into town." Abigail asked after Remus had nodded to Victor. "Oh yeah, definitely, go right ahead just as long as it's outside. I would already have a sesh zone set up but I won't have my smoking stuff until my parents come to visit in a week."

"Awesome!" Abigail said loudly, running off to help her dad before Victor or him could reply. "What she so happy about?" Sebastian asked as he walked back up to the two of them. "Oh I let her know that smoking weed at the farm was okay, as long as it's outside." Remus replied as he smile to Sebastian, he knows he can't see it but he can't help smiling at the man.

"Awesome, I'll remember to bring my bong for the next hangout then." Sebastian spoke before nodding his head towards the bridge. "I saw you buy one of those fancy scarecrows from Pierre, do you need a hand getting it back to the farm?" He asked while looking back at Remus.

"I can assist as well." Victor added with a nod and smile. Remus ran his hand through the length of his mullet as he spoke. "Yeah actually that would be great, uhm Victor would you mind carrying it across with Sam or Abigail? I uh.. Kinda need a minute to hype myself up enough to cross the bridge again." Remus had looked to him apologetically. "Oh, yeah of course I can do that, we will wait for you on the other side, did you want us to grab it now?" 

Victor had asked him with a point to where Sam was, he was still chatting with Penny so Remus shook his head. "We can wait for Abigail to finish, and I'm sure Sam doesn't want to be taken away from penny just yet." Remus replied with a light chuckle as he watched Sam and Penny for a moment.

After a little while Abigail and Sam both made their ways back to the others, Remus having told them what the plan was, Asking Abigail once Sam went over to grab the rarecrow with Victor. "Hey, do you mind keeping Sam focused ahead and making sure he doesn't say anything like he did before...I uh heard his comment about 'what kind of man is afraid', I really don't wanna hear anything else along those lines about it." 

"Oh absolutely hun, I can do that no problem." She winked at him and Sebastian before bounding away to distract Sam from looking back, Remus sighed in relief at her willingness to help him out. He turned to Sebastian who had turned a semi deep shade of red, Remus didn't know why, but perhaps it was from the wink she had given them, he didn't know why she had winked at them but oh well. 

"Will.. uh will you hold my  hand again..?" Remus had asked softly, looking down at the ground, blushing lightly at himself, Sebastian chuckled and offered him a small smile. "Sure, that's what friends are for after all, to help each other out when needed." Sebastian spoke just as softly as he had when they made their way across the first time. Remus stuck his hand out and Sebastian took it, waiting for Remus to go in front of him before staying close behind and helping him get across, once on the other side Remus pulled Sebastian in for a hug quickly. "Thank you again, I really appreciate it." he said as he pulled back from the hug. 

Sebastian smiled to him before they headed off to Remus' farm. he hoped they would like what he's done with the place.

Chapter Text

Spring 24, afternoon
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Robin's Pov
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robin had noticed Sebastian and his friends chatting with Remus before the dance started but what she didn't expect was for her son to dance with Remus. She knew he hated dancing in front of the town but he did anyways to make her happy, normally though he danced with Abigail. She tapped her husband on his shoulder to get his attention.
"Honey look, Sebby's dancing with the new farmer." Demetrious turned to where his wife was pointing, his jaw dropping in surprise, as Robin laughs lightly at his reaction. "It's nice to see him socializing with Remus, He seems like a good man."

She was smiling at the scene in front of her when she noticed Remus look over at her and Demetrious, She waved to him before he turned back to finish the dance. Turning to face her husband, as she spoke. "Pick your jaw up dear, it's almost time to clean up." Demetrious smiled at her and nodded. "Alright honey." The two of them walked over to Pierre's stall and waited for the mayor to announce the official end of the dance.

Once he had, Robin waved over to Sebastian who was talking with his friends, He said something to them before making his way over to her. "It's nice to see you and your friends include Remus Sebby." She was smiling at him softly as he rubbed the back of his neck, she always noticed that he did it more at festivals than any other time. "Yeah, Abigail kind of volunteered me to dance with him since it was his first flower dance, even though she knows I hate it."

Robing chuckled at that. "That does sound like her, but it was sweet of you to go along with it, Remus seemed to enjoy it when I saw you two dancing." Demetrious smiled from his wife to Sebastian. "It's good to see you getting out more Sebastian, and nice to see that you didn't immediately leave either." He said with a bit more of a judgmental tone to his voice, Robin elbowed him in the arm for it.

"Be nice, Are you coming back home right away or are you going to hang out with your friends some more?" She asked as she looked at Sebastian who was now glaring at her husband. She mentally sighed, she wished her son and Demetrious would get along better. "Yeah, we were going to go hang out at Remus's place, I was going to run up to the house though to grab some snacks." Sebastian shrugged as he spoke.

Robin smiled at him before telling him to not to be out to late, sending him back off to his friends so she and Demetrious could help clean up the decorations. After they had finished gathering everything and were ready to head out Robin paused as she saw Remus and Sebastian standing over by the makeshift bridge. She had overheard Remus talking to mayor Lewis about how unsafe it was to not have a permanent one.

She thought that perhaps Remus wasn't a fan of heights, and maybe that was one of the reasons he wore the mask, she never asked him about it directly but she had overheard some of the things he had told Caroline and Jodi. She was taken out of her thoughts as Sebastian laughed before saying something to Remus, she looked at them with a happy girn before surprise as Sebastian took Remus' offered hand and crossed the bridge.
Robin was to surprised to think of what that might mean or if she had been right about Remus being afraid of heights.

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Remus' pov
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Remus was laughing along with Abigail, Sebastian and Victor at Sam's failed attempt at a cartwheel as they got to his farm. "Don't hurt yourself Sam." He said through laughter as the man got up and brushed his pants off from the dirt. "It's not that easy! I bet none of you could do it!" Sam said as he laughed at himself. Remus looked over to Sebastian and Abigail who each had a wicked grin on their faces.

Remus watched on in surprise as Abigail did a perfect one handed cartwheel before Sebastian did a handstand and walked forward on his hands a few feet. He knew he was turning red from the heat he could feel behind his mask, Sebastian's shirt had fallen down, well up technically, which showed off his toned back. Remus was silently thanking the Void and Yoba and the universe for the magic that they worked in creating this man.

Remus shook himself of his thoughts as Sebastian flipped back onto his feet. "It's not that hard." Abigail and Sebastian spoke in unison, Sam just looking at them with his jaw dropped and surprise in his eyes. "When did you guys learn to do that?" Remus took the silence from Sam to ask what he was sure the man was thinking. Abigail responded as Sebastian just shrugged.

"I learned when I was like real young, it mostly comes down to balance and momentum." Victor and Remus both nodded as Sam sputtered about it not being fair that he couldn't do one. the group made their way over to the farmhouse and Remus set down the Rarecrow, leaning it against the siding before turning back to his new friends.

"So what do you guys think of the farm?" He rubbed the back of his neck as he continued. "I know most of it's still empty but I think it looks okay, all things considered." "It looks wonderful Remus, I'm amazed you've gotten so much cleared and done on your own." Victor spoke as he looked around in awe, Abigail and Sam both nodded and said it looked a lot better than before he moved in.

Remus was looking at Sebastian as he looked around, his signature small smirk on his face, right as Remus was about to ask what he thought the mans expression changed to surprise. "Is that a Void chicken?!!?" Sebastian said loudly, he practically ran over to Remus's chicken coop. the others following suit with laughter. "Yeah, the Incubator said it would hatch in like Six days but she popped out of her egg after like twelve hours, I have no idea why or how." Remus said with a light chuckle.

"Whoa." Sebastian had said it so softly and full of aw that Remus didn't know how to respond, he was struck by how Sebastian could go from harsh to soft and sweet in seconds. "You actually wanted to hatch a void egg?" Victor asked as he hesitantly looked at the small chick in the coop. "Yeah, I mean they are no different than regular chickens, just a genetic mutation that makes them black and red instead of brown or white." Remus replied as he opened the little gate and gently picked up the chick, stepping back and reclosing the gate.

"She's been sweet all morning and the other hens don't seem to care about how she looks, don't worry she won't hurt you." Remus added on to help Victors nerves. "She's beautiful, what's her name?" Abigail asked as she gently patted the chicks head. Remus, smiled down at the chick in his hand as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Promise not to laugh?"

Abigail and the others nodded before Remus sighed softly. "I uh, I named her after my favorite black butler character, Sebastian Michealis.:" Remus turned red at Abigail and Sam's laughter, he looked up to see that Sebastian had also turned a light shade of pink. "That's a good choice, I didn't know you watched Anime though." Sebastian spoke as he looked between Remus and the chicken Sebastian.

"Yeah, I watch a lot but black butler is one of my fave series. not as good as Yuri on ice or FMA, but she reminded me of him, the other hen's are Yuuri and Phichit." Remus was smiling form behind the mask, only telling half the truth about why he named her Sebastian, while he did because of black butler, the little chick had reminded him more of Sebastian, the real one who he was talking to.

"Yuri on Ice?" Sam looked at hi confused as he asked. "What's that one about?" Remus looked from Sebastian to him and perked right up at his question, he loved introducing people to the shows he liked. He took a second to lift Sebastian's hand and place the chicken Sebastian in his hand before gesturing wildly as he explained Yuri on Ice to the group, he wasn't sure if the others new or watched it but they were all listening.

"You know what, it's only twelve episodes long, we could watch it, if you guys wanted to... Oh my sweet void." Remus had exclaimed as he turned back to look at Sebastian, who was now practically hugging the tiny void chick to his chest, said chick was asleep in his hands, and my gods did that sight make Remus's heart skip a beat. Thankfully Abigail spoke up before he could say anything stupid or awkward.

"Awee Seb, lemme get a pick, your mom is going to love this!" She took out her phone and proceeded to take many many pictures of the adorable sight in front of them. as she did Sam spoke up. "Awe look, Sebastian holding a Sebastian, Almost seems like you named the chick after our Sebastian eh Remus?" Remus's face went red enough that his ears were definitely also red.

"Shut up Sam!" Sebastian, Abigail and Victor all said in unison, Remus just looked between the group confused so he went over and retrieved the now awake chick from Sebastian and brought her back to the coop. "That sounds like a good plan Remus, I'm going to run up to my house and grab my bong and some snacks, It's only two-thirty now so we could binge the series if it's so short."

Remus looked at Sebastian with a small smile. "Okay, yeah that sounds good to me, how long do you think you'll be? I can get everything set up and we can wait for you." "Oh Snacks is a good Idea, me and Sam can run over to my place and grab some as well, right Sam?" She looked at him as though he didn't have a choice. "Yeah! and we could grabs some extra cushions if you don't have enough Remus."

Sam turned from Abigail to Remus as he spoke. "Yeah that would be helpful actually, I only have a small couch and a few pillows that I brought with me. most of my stuff is still at my parents place." The group chatted for a few more minutes about when they would be back, and what they'd bring and where Remus was going to set up so they could smoke while watching the show.

After Abigail and Sam went of to her place, Sebastian and Victor headed off up the other path to Sebastian's place, he had asked Victor come and give him a hand with some extra pillows and stuff, Since it none of them had any plans for the next day they decided to have a big sleep over. Remus got to work with setting up the main room of his house, glad he had set up his little twinkle lights around the room after he had gotten it upgraded so he had his own bedroom proper.

He had moved the coffee table and his small couch around so he could set up the projector he had bought with his winter star bonus from Joja before he left, he set everything up and got it all lined up evenly on the wall he left clear for doing this. He looked over the area he had cleaned up and sighed at how empty his place really was. he had set two blankets on the couch and had brought his pillows from his bed out as well.

A knock at his door brought him out of his thoughts, he went over and opened the door to see Victor and Sebastian. "Hey guys, come on in and make yourselves at home, I know there's not much yet but I hope you don't mind." Remus spoke as he ran his hand through the top of his hair, he went to close the door but heard Abigail and Sam laughing in the distance. He stuck his head out the door and towards the path to town.

"Hey! we're back!" Abigail called out to him. "Come on in guys!" Remus shouted back, sticking his head back inside to help Sebastian and Victor set up their things, Setting the snacks they had brought on the coffee table around the projector, but not in front of it. Abigail and Sam did the same once they got inside, Remus had to move his laptop from the table to under it so they could put their snacks there as well.

"You guys get situated, I've got everything set up already but I need a smoke first." Remus smiled at the group before grabbing his pack of smokes and heading outside, seeing in the corner of his eye that Sebastian had followed him outside without a word to the others. Once they were outside, Sebastian had pulled out his own smoke and lit it. "Thanks for letting us all hang here Remus, I like what you've done to the place, Abby is right. it's much better than before you moved to town."

Sebastian spoke as he looked out over the farm, Remus had to move his mask enough to smoke but sighed softly. Since Sebastian wasn't looking at him he twisted it to the left side of his face, making the right side visible, He didn't mind as much though, the right side of his face wasn't as bad as it had been at first and his beard had even grown back enough to cover the scars along his jaw and chin. Remus spoke as he did. "I'm glad you like it, I uh.. wasn't to sure how people would react to it being all different."

"You worry about to much Rem-" Sebastian cut himself off as he looked over to Remus, clearly a little shocked at the amount of him that he saw, was he afraid, did he think Remus looked bad, were his scars not as covered as he thought? Remus was panicking a little so he just puffed on his smoke and looked out to his crops. act casual yeah that'll work he thought. "I didn't realize you dyed your beard green too." Sebastian finally spoke after what felt like forever, but was really only a few seconds.

"What, I don't dye it? why would I need to dye it black?" Remus questioned as he pulled out his phone to use the camera as a mirror. "Oh. It is green now." Remus said flatly, kind of shocked that his beard turned green and he didn't notice. He dyed his mullet Green sure but he did notice that after he drank the Wizard's potion his hair didn't need to be re-dyed. Sebastian let out a laugh at Remus' reaction.

"How did you not know? do you like actually never take the mask off?" He asked through his chuckles as he took a drag of his own smoke. Remus couldn't help but laugh as well at himself. "I take it off to sleep and shower but yeah, otherwise it's almost always on to some degree. I guess that forest magic made it change like the rest of my hair." Remus smiled at Sebastian, who turned a bright shade of pink as he did so. He clarified what he meant at Sebastian's confused look.

"I met with the wizard about something and he gave me a potion with 'the essence' of the forest-" Remus made a disgusted face at the memory of how it tasted. "After I drank it I saw swirling forest things, my best guess is the forest that is, and then I heard a voice speak to me from within my own head, He told me that I had gained the ability to use forest magic and talk with forest spirits."

Remus ran his free hand through his hair again as he took a drag. "I guess this is a side effect, sorry if it caught you off guard." He chuckled as he finished and butted out his smoke, Sebastian also butting his out. "Damn, you're not going to move into a spooky tower Like Ras did are you?" "Ha! no, I like the farm, it keeps me busy and it's more fun than I thought it would be." Remus spoke as he moved the mask back to cover his face fully.

Just because Sebastian hadn't negatively reacted or said anything bad that doesn't mean the others would be so kind, especially Sam. The two laughed as they made their ways back inside, the other three were laughing at some story Victor was telling. The three of them had chosen to sit and lay on the floor which left the couch for Sebastian and Remus. Sebastian sat down on the side that was farther from the laptop so Remus could change episodes when needed.

He started episode one once everyone was ready, and after three episodes Abigail said she would change the episodes if Remus wanted, which he was thankful for, it was kind of annoying to have to unblanket himself to change it, plus Abigail was closer. they watched another four episodes before Remus started falling asleep, he had seen yuri on ice at least twenty times so he didn't fight it.

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Sebastian pov
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Sebastian had been trying to pay attention to the anime, he had watched it when it came out but that was years ago, he did remember vaguely though. By the time they were on episode eight he felt a small weight on his shoulder, He looked over to find that Remus had fallen asleep and then fell over onto his shoulder. Sebastian was thankful that it had gotten darker out so the others couldn't turn around and see him blush, not that he wanted to be reduced to a blushing mess in front of his friends, he had found it harder and harder to actively try and fight it.

Remus looked so peaceful as he slept against him, Sebastian tried to stay focused on the show but was having a hard time not just watching Remus, the way he gripped the blanket around him and shifted slightly as his head nodded forward was, for lack of a better term in Seb's vocabulary, absolutely adorable. when he noticed the end of the episode he gently shook Remus's left shoulder and woke him.

He smiled at Remus as he slowly shifted himself back over to the other corner of the couch, his face and ears turning red again like they had outside before. "I could use a stretch and a smoke, any one else want to take a break?" He asked while looking at the others on the floor, each wrapped up in their own blankets and looking at him, Abigail had switched to the next episode but hadn't pressed play yet on it.

"A smoke would be great right now." Remus spoke with a slight graveliness to his voice. Sebastian stood and stretched as Abigail and victor both declined a smoke but got up to stretch themselves. Sebastian thought that Sam had been strangely quiet but now he could see why, He had fallen asleep as well, only this time his face was pressed against the floor and not leaning against him like he did when they watched movies at Sebastian's or Sam's places.

Sebastian laughed quietly as he pointed it out to Abigail and Victor, Abigail got a mischievous grin and pulled a marker out of her bag and held it up. "He's the first sleepover victim heheh." She laughed grimly and Sebastian shook his head. "No drawing anything that will make his mom to mad though." Victor said as he laughed with her. clearly those two had been planning on drawing on whoever fell asleep first, thankfully it looked like a washable marker and not permanent.

Sebastian's attention was taken away from his friends to Remus, who had grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him outside. Sebastian was confused as to why he hadn't just gone out without him for his smoke but didn't think to much on it, Remus's touch was almost electric to him.

"Sorry for falling asleep on you, I know it's probably awkward." Remus was looking at him with a soft, apologetic look in his eyes. "Don't worry about it, at least you weren't drooling like Sam does, he thinks I'm his personal pillow when we watch movies together." Sebastian had pulled out a smoke as he was speaking and lit it as he finished. "So he falls asleep a lot then eh?" Remus asked as he moved his mask to how it was before.

Sebastian watched as he lit his smoke and blew a puff out towards his fields. "Yeah, he always ends up looking like a detention center desk from high school, Abbey and Victor love bugging him by drawing shit on his face, especially since he always suggests doing it to on of them or me."

"What's up between those two anyways, I could have swore I saw them holding hands inside." Remus had spoke and what he said had caught Sebastian off guard enough to make him cough on his smoke. "What Really?" Sebastian questioned as he grabbed Remus by the shoulders. "Yeah, I'm not absolutely sure but.. wait why are you so surprised?" Remus had asked his as he pulled Sebastian's hands off his shoulders.

"Sorry, I should explain, Abigail has been crushing on Victor Since he and his mom moved here, I keep telling her to tell him but she won't." Sebastian paused to take a drag and let out a sigh with the smoke. " Then a few seasons later Victor started complaining to me that she was giving him mixed singles, and when I suggested he give her a bouquet to tell her how he feels he said he was 'too nervous' to ever do that." Sebastian had sighed aas he finished and shook his head.

Those two had been flirting for almost ten years at this point and if they had finally figured each other out then Sebastian could finally be free of both their complaining. He smiled at Remus who had begun laughing at what he'd been told and man, Sebastian could get used to hearing that laugh more, he really liked how it sounded coming from the man before him.

The tow chatted more about Abigail and Victor as they smoked, heading back inside once finished. Sebastian was thinking about how glad he was that he chose to hangout instead of just heading back home, It was a long day but a good one.

Chapter Text

Spring 25 year 1

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Sebastian's pov

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Sebastian woke up to the sun streaming in and onto his face, he went to roll over but almost fell off the couch he had been sleeping on. He stopped himself enough to not fall but blinked more awake as he looked around. Right, We crashed at Remus's place, he thought to himself as he sat up and stretched from his seated position. He looked over at Sam, who was passed out against the couch arm, snoring lightly and laughed at him quietly. 

Abigail and victor really did draw all over his face, he went to grab his phone from his pocket but noticed it was plugged in and on the coffee table, he grabbed it and took a picture of the sleeping man before he looked over to Abigail who had yawned before rolling over and cuddling up to Victor.

Sebastian smiled at the sight before opening his phones camera again ad taking some pictures of it. This would work as perfect blackmail if the Abigail ever decided to bug him about his personal life. He got up and went over to grab a glass of water before pulling his sweater on, how it ended up on the front door handle he didn't know, but whatever he thought.

Sebastian made his way outside and quietly closed the door so as to not wake up the others, He pulled his hood up and used it and his hair to block some of the bright sun as he sat down on the porch steps. Sighing softly as he had some of the water, He looked at his phone and checked the time, 7:43, much earlier than he normally woke up but no point in going back to bed now that he was more awake.

He took a look around the farm, spotting a few beehives over near the entrance that led towards town, the fenced off area that had Remus's crops, and then the broken down greenhouse that sat in the middle of the farm. Remus really had done a good job cleaning the place up he thought, as he finished his water he got up and sat the cup on the porch railing. He grabbed his shoes from beside the door and put them on to see where Remus was at.

Sebastian found him in the bottom right 'corner' of the farm property, chopping down a tree, He could see seven other felled trees that Remus had clearly chopped down earlier. He watched as he swung at the tree again a few times before it started to creak and Remus stepped back as it started to fall. Since Remus hadn't noticed him yet, Sebastian took the opportunity to admire him a bit.

While Sebastian didn't know entirely what his sexuality was at this point he did know that he liked how Remus made him feel, and for now that was good enough in his mind. Remus was wearing a white t-shirt, a pair of worn cargo shorts and had a towel around his neck. He had left the back of the mask off which let Sebastian see that Remus had a mullet, he mentally laughed at it before walking over to the man. 

"Morning, you seem to have been working hard, I didn't realize you had cleared so much already." Sebastian spoke as Remus turned around and gave him a small wave. "Yeah, I was thinking about it while watering my plants earlier, If I get this all moved and cleared out of the way then I can get Robin to build one of those pop up small houses she has in her catalog." Remus paused as Sebastian nodded, the houses were more like shed since they only had one room and a small bathroom. But they were covered by the Ferngill republic housing board since they were technically small homes.

"I figured we could use it as a smoking shed, I can get power to it and set up a pretty cool area once I get my stuff from my parents." Remus had continued when Sebastian didn't say anything, Sebastian thought for a minute about the idea. "That sounds awesome, when are your parents coming?" He asked as Remus wiped his hands with the towel that was around his neck. 

Before Remus could answer though his phone rang, Remus took it out oh his shorts pocket and answered, looking over at Sebastian, mouthing sorry to him. Sebastian looked around the area Remus had cleared, there was a small pond over in the right corner and what looked like a small quarry that ran from beside it to the edge of the area, below the path that lead towards Marnie's ranch.

He was taken out of his thoughts as he heard Remus say goodbye to his mother. "Sorry, normally she texts me before calling but I didn't see her message." Remus said as he put his phone back in his pocket, picking up his axe as he continued. "They'll be here from the first to the forth of summer, to answer your question." Sebastian nodded to him as he replied. "Oh, that'll be fuuun." 

Remus was looking at him confused since he had put so much sarcasm into one sentence, so he clarified. "That's the long weekend and Demetrious always wants us to do some big family thing but it's Awful, every year he complains or calls me specifically out in front of everyone, we uh, well we don't get along at all really, I only go to see mom happy, she has been through a lot since I was born so it's the least I can do."  He was rubbing the back of his neck and looking to the ground as he was speaking.  

"That sounds like a bad time, I'm okay enough with my parents but I really hope they don't spring my brother on me, now he is awful." Remus spoke as he started to walk back over to the farmhouse, Sebastian followed him, now with his own confused look. "What do you mean, is he that bad?" Sebastian asked as they reached the porch steps.

Remus shrugged as he rubbed at his right wrist. "Ehhhhh yes and no, he's not the worst but he really isn't that great." Remus sighed as he shook his head, Sebastian was going to ask what made him not a great dude but was caught off guard by a cat meowing and running over to the pair from between some of Remus's crops. "You.. have a cat?"

He asked instead, He couldn't quite tell but it didn't seem like Remus was up to talking about his brother to much so, he he left it. "Oh! yeah, Marnie brought him over the other week, asking if i wanted to adopt him since she found him over by the path between our farms." Remus had been petting the cat but stopped as he walked over and headbutted Sebastian's shin, this cat was adorable.

"What's his name?" Sebastian asked as Remus laughed at how much cat fur came off on his pants. "It's Potya, after Yuri plisetsky's cat, or at least the short version, Tiger puma scorpion was to long." Sebastian could tell Remus was smiling big as he looked from Potya to him. "He's been super chill so far, he stays outside almost all of the time unless it's raining." "He's acute little dude, that's for sure." Sebastian replied.

The two sat there and chatted about various pet names Remus had thought about for his other animals before the two were interrupted by Abigail and Victor coming outside. "Ah, there you two are, I thought you might have headed home by now Seb." Abigail said as she walked down the steps and into the sun, stretching her arms out and smiling. 

"You know I do enjoy being around you guys right?" He replied to her with a roll of his eyes, Remus and Victor each tried and failed to not laugh at it. Abigail had always bugged him about being more social and had literally dragged him out of his bedroom on more than one occasion to hang out. He was just glad she wasn't bugging him about what he thought about Remus.

After he had told Sam to not bug Remus by asking stupid personal questions the first time they had hung out, She had cornered him on the way home and pestered him about why he had did it. He had told her that he understood how Remus probably felt because of how much Demetrious asks or rather talks at him, about his own life and personal secrets. 

Demetrious was always going on about how a family shouldn't have secrets form each other and that he didn't like how little time Sebastian spent with them, It's not that he didn't like hanging around with his mom or Maru but all of them at once was just to much. 

Then, after the night Remus bought them all dinner she had bugged him almost the whole night after they left the saloon. She kept looking at him like she was trying to read his thoughts before she had abruptly stopped and claimed that she 'could see the butterflies in his stomach'. it had caught him so of guard that he couldn't even reply, he just kept opening and closing his mouth, which now that he thought about it, probably helped her get the idea that he was getting a crush on Remus. 

Sebastian had told her that 'no that's impossible, my heart is black' and she had just shrugged, saying it 'sure, if you say so' in a tone that he knew meant she didn't believe him. Luckily though she wasn't bugging him about it in front of Sam or Yoba forbid Remus. He turned his attention from his thoughts back to Abby, noticing that she had bent down to pet Potya who had wandered towards her.

the group talked about Remus's cat, then their plans for later in the day. Remus was going to head into the mines to see if he could find enough slimes for Marlon's challenge to him, Abigail had to go and help her dad unload and prepare the store for the seasonal changes, Victor was going to help his mother in the afternoon with redecorating the house. Sam though was still asleep inside, so Remus went in to wake him up, Bursting into laughter as he saw what Abby and Victor had done to his face with the marker.

"What THE HELL YOU GUYS!" Sam yelled after a few minutes, clearly he had gone and seen why Remus was laughing at him, Sebastian just pulled out a smoke and stepped away from Abby ad Victor since they didn't like the cigarette smell. "You suggested it!" Victor yelled back at Sam. Remus came back outside still laughing and struggling to speak. "Hahaha...He.. hahah..he's washing...hahaha he's washing his faahahahaceee." He finally manages, Sebastian laughing along with him and the other two. 

"Yeah, I got some photos of it already when I woke up, Don't tell him though, I'm gonna send them to him when he's being a dickhead." Sebastian replied after taking a moment to catch his breath from laughing. "Fair enough, oh I haven't laughed that hard in Ages, thanks for that Abby and Victor, I didn't realize how much I needed that." Remus had said after his own laughter died down. 

Sebastian was curious as to what Remus had meant, since the look in his eye made it seem like he hadn't had many reasons to laugh in the past while, maybe he would ask him about it the next time they hung out, He was lost in his thoughts enough that he didn't hear Victor or Abby's replies but oh well. He finished his smoke as he thought about what he wanted to do for the rest of the day. 

"You guys are ruthless, and now my face hurts." Sam had said, bringing Sebastian out of his thoughts and back to the present moment. "At least it was washable this time." He said as Abby and Victor nodded. "Well, yeah that's true I suppose it could have been worse, anyways I gotta get home, Penny called my mom saying she needed a day off from teaching so I'm stuck babysitting my brother." 

Sebastian snickered at that since he knew Sam hated watching his brother, not because he didn't like Vincent but the kid had off the walls levels of energy. "Yeah I should probably head out too, Dad's not going to wait for me for much longer before he gets mad." Abigail spoke with a groan. Sebastian noticed how Victor's attention had mostly been on Abigail since they got up, Maybe they finally talked about their feelings before coming outside.

"What are you going to get up to today Seb, more coding work?" Victor asked as Abigail and Sam headed off with a wave to them. Sebastian waved back as he replied. "I dunno yet, I haven't seen any new posts on the boards." he shrugged as he finished and looked over to Remus. "You said you were headed into the mine, do you want some company?" He asked.

Remus rubbed the back of his neck as he thought and Sebastian noted how much he did that, almost as much as Sebastian did at the Fall Harvest festival. "Yeah, that's probably be a good idea, I wasn't going to go to deep since I've reached the thirtieth floor already, but If you're gonna come you should get changed into something better to fight in, the bugs have been crazy in numbers according to Marlon, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind you coming along if we don't break his rule for you." 

Remus smiled to him as Victor looked surprised, Sebastian knew it was probably because Sebastian never asked to hang out with anyone, they always asked him, or at least that was the case with Victor. Sebastian just didn't know him as well as he did Abby and Sam, not that he didn't enjoy hanging out with him as well. "Oh yeah no, I don't feel like getting yelled at today by him, I miscounted my floor level and he went off at me for going down to the 13th floor, I still have no idea how he knew." 

"He's got cameras on every five floors, I noticed them when I was coming up the other day with that copper you saw me with." Remus spoke with a chuckle. "Ah so that's how he does it." Sebastian tapped his chin before looking over to Victor, who was now typing away on his phone. 

"Sorry guys, I have to run, my mother has decided to start moving things around already and needs my help, Thanks for letting us come over for the hang out Remus, Be safe in the mines you two." Victor said once he finished typing, Remus and Sebastian both waved and said bye as he headed out. "So, did you want me to meet you at your place so you can get changed or did you want to walk up together?" 

Remus asked him as he opened a chest that was beside the house and pulled out a medium length sword, wrapped in its sheath and with the belt attachment. "It won't take me long to get changed, I can wait for you to grab your stuff." He said after a moment of thought. Remus nodded to him and told him one moment before he went inside. Sebastian had pulled out his phone and waited, he looked through his notifications and saw that he had a message from his mother.

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Mom: Hey sweetie, I'm making some sandwiches for lunch did you want me to make you one?

Seb: Yeah, that'd be great, thanks mom.

Seb: Can you make a couple extra? I'm going to head into the mines with Remus and it'd be good to bring something with us.

Mom: Oh! of course, are you two going to be coming up from the farm soon then?

Seb: Yeah, Remus is just getting changed and grabbing his stuff, we shouldn't be to long.

Mom: Okay sweetie, I'll see you soon then, be safe.

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Sebastian put his phone back in his pocket as Remus came outside, he had put the sword belt on and had it hanging from his left hip with his pickaxe hanging on the right hip, a pain covered pair of overalls and a long sleeve shirt being what he changed into. "Ready to go?" He asked as he tried his hardest not to blush at how cool he looked. Remus nodded and replied. 

"Yep, you got all your stuff?" Sebastian smiled slightly as he replied. "Yep, I'm good, and my mom's making us some sandwiches to take with us." "Sweet! free food!" Sebastian laughed at Remus's excitement ad shook his head as the two set off for his house. Maybe Abigail was right he thought, Maybe he was getting a bigger crush on the man as he got to know him more. 

Chapter Text

Spring 25 

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Remus's pov

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Remus and Sebastian and made their way into Sebastian's home, Remus was waiting upstairs while Sebastian went to get changed and grab his slingshot and backpack. He had offered on their walk over to help Remus carry any copper or stone that Remus could use back down to his farm, to which Remus was immensely appreciative. While waiting he was looking through Robin's furniture catalog.

"See anything you like?" Robin had asked him after a few minutes. "The green chair look's pretty comfortable, and for only two thousand g's that's a good price." Remus replied as he looked from the book to her. "Do they take long to arrive, It would be nice to have some more seating when my parents get here." Robin was smiling to him as she nodded.

"Yes, It usually only takes two days to get here, and since you've got everything for your new barn, I should be able to bring it down with me in the truck, that way you wont have to build it alone." Remus noticed Maru had made her way over to them from the lab that was across the hall form the shop area of their home. 

"Hey Maru." He said to her as she waved and smiled to him, he looked back to Robin a he continued. "That would be wonderful, I'm decent enough at assembling furniture but help would be great."  "Hey Remus, did you finally get your internet working down at the farm?" Maru asked him as she leant against the counter. 

"Oh, uh no not yet, I've got the boxes and the receiver tower but I think I keep mixing up some wires because it never seems to want to turn on." Remus replied as Demetrious also came out of the lab. "If that's the case maybe Maru could help you, She is quite good with technology." He said as he approached them. "Oh, Yeah I could absolutely help you with that, I could stop by tomorrow in the afternoon if you'd like." 

Maru said after her father finished, Remus mentally sighed in relief,  he really wasn't the best at the technology side of his life, despite the fact that he had a really popular Youtube channel back when he was in high school, but that was long enough ago that he doesn't remember a lot of it. "That would be so kind, thank you so much." He said as Sebastian made his way upstairs.

Remus took in what he had changed into, A dark leather jacket over a plain black t-shirt, dark blue cargo pants and black leather boots. Remus was thankful that he had managed to keep his blushing face under control at the sight of how good he looked. "Okay, I've got all my stuff you ready?" Sebastian asked as he reached the group that was now standing around his mothers shop counter. 

"Oh, are you heading into the mines with Remus, Sebastian?" Maru asked as Remus calmed his blushing face more. "Yeah, I don't have any clients at the moment and it's been a while, figured I'd help him out and let some pent up rage out on some bugs or rock crabs." Sebastian relied with a small shrug  with one shoulder, his backpack hanging off the other. 

"Cool, do you think you could bring me some quarts for a project I'm working on, if you find any of course." Maru said with an excited tone to her voice. "Yeah, If we find any sure, I'll let you know if we don't as well." Sebastian said with his small smirk, he turned to look at Remus, who had just been watching the two. Remus nodded to Sebastian before looking between the other three.

 "Yeah, let's head out before it gets to late, thanks for the offer to help with my wifi Maru, I'll see you at the farm tomorrow, Bye Robin and Demetrious, have good afternoons." Remus spoke with a wave to the family before heading out with Sebastian. He sighed as they walked towards the mine entrance. 

"Something on your mind?" Remus asked as Sebastian kicked a stone into the lake. "Nothing really, I just wish Demetrious wouldn't look at me like I'm always doing something wrong, Like I get that he's my stepdad but he doesn't act like it, ya know?" Remus watched as he gestured with his hands, clearly he missed something from the interaction inside. 

"No, not really, at least I don't think so, my parents have been together for a long time." He stopped as they made their way across the bridge to the other side of the lake. "But that doesn't mean you can't help me understand." He smiled at Sebastian who stopped a few steps in front of him. "I guess I should explain a bit then eh?" Sebastian was looking at him and rubbing the back of his neck, Remus now understood why he laughed when Remus did it, It was like they both developed the same anxious actions.

The two started walking again as Sebastian sighed softly then spoke. "It's clear that he favors Maru over me, which is fine really but he always gives me these disapproving looks because I don't take to his side of science as much, I'm really good with coding and computers but all the chemistry stuff confuses the hell out of me, and then he has the audacity to try and tell me how I should be living my life as if I'm not seventy-four." 

Remus nodded as Sebastian kicked another rock into the bushes. "That doesn't sound very pleasant." He said after a moment of quiet between the two, he didn't know if Sebastian was going to say anything more as they made their way up the small hill to the guild building and cave.

"Like, he doesn't have to be perfect, nor do I really want him as my father, my dad left us when I was twelve, I don't remember him but I remember how sad my mom was for so many years after, When she met Demetrious he seemed okay at first, and he still is a good man to my mom but he makes it so obvious that he's disappointed in me." Sebastian sighed again and shook his head, Remus didn't know if he should say something or not, so he didn't.

Sebastian continued as they made their way into the cave and toward the first floor entrance. "He's constantly starting arguments between the two of us and I know mom wishes we got along better and don't get me wrong I have tried." Sebastian gestured at Remus, as he was making his way down the ladder first. "I think the worst thing is how much he hates that I smoke and don't constantly want to spend time with them, I mean you saw the look he gave me when I came upstairs right?" 

Sebastian had asked as he got to the bottom of the latter, Remus shook his head. "I didn't, I was uhm... distracted." He replied as he lightly blushed, not wanting to admit that he had been admiring Sebastian. 

"He was glaring at me like he does anytime I get ready or say I'm headed into the mines, it's like... hmm.. I think the best way I can describe it is him trying to tell me through a look 'that I shouldn't be going into dangerous situations and should know better' or like 'a career or hobby in monster fighting isn't a noble thing to do'." Sebastian was doing an almost spot on impersonation of Demetrious's voice.

"Wow, I didn't realize he looked at you like that, that's awful." Remus said while looking from Sebastian to around the room, the rocks that he busted up the other day were back and he momentarily wondered how that was possible if he broke them up prior. He looked back to Sebastian with a soft smile and understanding look in his eye. 

"Well, I guess that's kind of like how my brother looks at me, he has always hated the thing's I've done in my life, telling me stuff like 'monster hunting is for crazy people who want to die but don't want to do it themselves' or 'you aren't a man stop pretending to be one-" Remus stopped abruptly, he hadn't meant for the second part of that to come out so harshly, but his brother had never been very supportive. 

"He sounds like a douchbag." Sebastian had said, a look of slight shock mixed with anger on his face at what Remus had said. "He is, so how about we find some things to take our anger out on?" Remus said as he found and went over to the rock that covered the hole to the second floor. the first floor almost never had monsters in it according to Marlon.

"Yeah please." Sebastian was smiling to Remus as they made their way down the ladder, Remus looked around as Sebastian climbed down, this floor was larger and had more turns to in which made him a little uneasy but also happy that if there was any slimes or bugs, they wouldn't immediately come at the men. 

Remus and Sebastian took turns looking out for monsters and breaking the rocks apart with Remus's pickaxe, both saying angry things about their respective family members as they did so. They made it down to the fourth floor before they came across any Slimes but this floor had transformed from the last time Remus was down here. 

The floor, walls and ceiling had been covered in green slime and were dripping in some spots. "Oh gross, what the hell." Remus said as he stepped away from the ladder to let Sebastian down and into the room. "Oh cool, Guess you're going to reach Marlon's goal for you after all." Sebastian said as he looked around, Remus was lookign at him confused, his head slightly tilted to emphasize his confusion. 

"It's an Infested floor, they happen when a large amount of slimes converge on a single floor, Me an Abby found one once, on the eighth floor, Marlon had come down and helped us get out of here and killed all the slimes we hadn't on his own." Remus nodded at the end of his explanation. "So there's just a bunch of slimes down here, greeeaaat." "Yep, now we can kill stuff though, my slingshot is helpful with these guys, punches wholes right through them." 

Sebastian spoke as he pulled out his slingshot, grabbing a handful of pellets out of his jacket pocket with the other hand and readying one. "Alright, let's try not to hurt each other though, you go left and I'll take the right, if there's to many for just one of us call out?"  Remus said as he pulled his sword out of its sheath, Marlon had given him a new one after he told him about reaching the twentieth floor, it was shorter than the rusty one but sharper and nowhere near as damaged. 

Sebastian nodded and the two made their way round the room, Remus had come across a group of four smaller slimes and one of the larger slower slimes around a bend, He lured the smaller ones away from the larger and took care of them with a few quick slashes across their faces, well, at least what Remus was assuming was their faces. They looked similar to the Junimo in the sense that they bobbed up and down and only had eyes.

Remus made his way back down the turn as he heard Sebastian's rounds hitting the ground or wall, the shape of the floor making it echo more than when he shot at the bugs from the floor above. Remus saw the larger slime and snuck up behind it, right as he slashed through its tough skin like membrane, it split up into a bunch of smaller slimes. He jumped back from the group, they followed him out into the main area. 

As Remus was backing away from the following slimes Sebastian made his way over from the other turn off path, Remus turned momentarily to ask him for help. This however would be a mistake as one of the slimes jumped at him and hit him square in the chest. He let out a yep at the acidic slime it left, burning a hole through his shirt and burning into his skin. 

As soon as the slime had hit Remus Sebastian shot off the round he had loaded and killed it as it landed back on the ground, Remus shook his head and slashed at two more of the slimes while Sebastian reloaded and fired again, killing another slime, Remus sliced his sword into the last one as a hole and ladder appeared where it died. "Shit are you alright Remus?" Sebastian said as he ran from his spot over to Remus who was now hunched over and trying to get a cloth out of his pocket.

"Yeah, my shirt took most of the damage." He said with a small groan as he got the cloth out and started to dab away the goop from his chest, there would definitely be a burn there and probably some new scaring to go with the rest of his chest scars. he looked up from his chest to Sebastian. "do can go down further if your up for it, I'll be fine, this is nothing compared to previous injuries I've had." Remus smiled to him from behind his mask as he spoke, putting the now dirty cloth back into his pocket. 

"If you're sure your okay, then yeah, but lets stick together incase there's more." Sebastian was looking at him hesitantly but made his way down the ladder, Remus following after him. They made their way through three more floors before they had found a large vein of copper, Sebastian was on lookout while Remus broke it up, filling his bag up once finished. Sebastian took his backpack off and loaded it up with what didn't fit in Remus's back before they made their way down to the eighth floor, breaking up a few more rocks as they move along the pathway to a side area. 

Remus had handed Sebastian the pickaxe and kept watch while he broke up a few more stones, he heard buzzing softly before it got louder, Remus spotting the bugs flying at the pair and swiped at them with his sword, cutting two in half and deeply cutting the third. Sebastian turned around and looked at him, ready to help if needed. "That was close." Remus said as he lowered his sword.

"Yeah, we should head out soon." Sebastian said as he turned back to the rocks he had broken up. "Hey cool some geodes, you think there's anything cool in them?" He asked as he handed one to Remus, he took it and looked it over. "Not sure, but I can get Clint to break them open, I was going to head over to his shop tomorrow after Maru helps with my internet and upgrade my garden hoe." 

Remus handed Sebastian the geode back so he could put it in his backpack. Sebastian nodded and stood up. "My bags full with this, you want to fight some more or see Harvey for that burn?" Sebastian pointed to Remus's chest, which was now more red and starting to blister slightly. "Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea, I don't really know how acidic their slime is and I don't want to find out on my own skin."

Remus replied as he rubbed the back of his head, the two made their way over to the ladder and out of the mines. It took them only fifteen minutes to make their way over to Sebastian's house. Sebastian ran inside to give Maru some quarts they had found before coming back and accompanying Remus to his farm. Once there they dropped off the stone and stuff they found, Grabbing some water and heading out to see Harvey. Remus had called him on the way over to make sure he was there.

Sebastian waited in the lobby while Harvey patched Remus up, He was scrolling his phone when a text from Abby came in.

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Abby: Hey! I'm finished helping dad, you and Remus still in the mines?

Seb: Nah, we left a little while ago, now were in the clinic

Seb: Slime jumped into Remus's chest and now he's got burns

Abby: SHit! is he okay??? not to bad right???

Abby: don't go silent on me! gimme detailssss

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Sebastian shook his head at Abigail's frantic texting before replying.

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Seb: give me time to type and i will

Seb: his shirt took most of the damage but he's got a pretty bad burn on his upper chest

Seb: he said he was fine but it got pretty blistered as we made our was from his place to the clinic

Abby: damn, well don't leave, I'll be right over!

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Sebastian sighed and put his phone back in his pocket, he could really use a smoke but he told Remus he would wait for him, Would he mind if he just went outside though? He was taken out of his thoughts as Abigail came inside, no smoke for him then.

Remus was just finishing up with Harvey when the doctor smiled at him. "Next time, come to me sooner and it wouldn't be so bad, the burn isn't to bad but I advise you not to go back to the mines until you have better protection." He spoke sternly but friendly enough that Remus could tell he was genuinely concerned for his well being. "Yeah, I'll be taking a break from the mines for a while, my Family is coming to visit and I don't want to worry them, Thanks again Harvey." 

Remus smiled to Harvey as he grabbed his mask from beside him, since he was there he had also asked Harvey for a checkup on how his eye socket and face was healing since Marlon gave him the scar cream, they had begun to fade a little more and weren't as painful but he had cut his eye socket by accidentally hitting himself while doing farm work that morning. Thankfully it was just a small cut and didn't affect him to badly.

He pulled his mask on and grabbed pulled the straps of his overall on, He had left his ruined shirt off since the bandages covered most of the scars he didn't want people to see. He thanked Harvey again as they made their way out of the back area and into the main room. Remus saw that Abigail had come into the clinic as he was getting bandaged, He waved to her and smiled. 

"Hey Abby, done helping your dad?" he asked, She smiled back at him and nodded. "Yeah a little bit ago, I texted this dork to see if you guys were still in the mines, Are you alright?" Remus nodded to her as he paid Harvey for the care. "Yeah, I'm alright thanks to Seb and Harvey, So what are you up to for this evening?" 

Abigail turned to look at Sebastian who was a light shade of pink and staring at Remus. "I was thinking why don't we grab some dinner at the saloon and play some games?" Sebastian shook out of his trance as Remus looked at him with confusion at why he had been staring. "that sounds fun, you in Remus?"

Sebastian asked as the three made their way out of the clinic and into the town square. "Yeah, but do you think Gus will ask me to get a shirt? this ones kind of ruined." Remus held up the remains of his shirt so Abigail could see the large hole in the front. "You can wear my jacket if you don't want to run home and back." Sebastian's offer caught Remus and Abigail off guard, and judging by the fact that she was also surprised Remus figured that Sebastian didn't just offer his clothes to his friends often.

"Yeah actually that would be nice, I can give it back to you when we leave." Sebastian shrugged out of it as Remus accepted his offer after a few moments of silence, Abigail was watching on in confusion. She questioned as Remus took the jacket and carefully slid in on. "Okay, what's up with you two, you never just offer your jacket or sweater or anything to me of victor or Sam." 

Sebastian and Remus both semi froze and looked at Abigail, Remus didn't say anything since the question and been pointed more to Sebastian. "There's nothing going on between us." Sebastian was rubbing the back of his neck as Remus looked between the two. "He got whammed in the chest by a slime, the least I can do after failing to help sooner is this, besides you other three are absolute menaces who wouldn't give something back for weeks." Remus laughed at Abigail's reaction to being called out.

"Come o lets just get dinner, I'm starving." Remus said as he walked in between the two and to the saloon, the other two following after him with small agreements. Even though the afternoon hadn't gone the way Remus planned he was slightly proud of the fact that Sebastian had given him his jacket to wear when his long time friends weren't given that privilege. 

The three got some pizza to share and took turns trying to get to the second level of Journey of the Prairie King, Remus had got the the first boss fight but kept dying before beating it. They called it a night a couple hours later, after Abigail had said bye to them Sebastian walked with Remus towards his farm. Remus pulled out his smokes and offered one to Sebastian, He took it with a thanks before pulling out his lighter and lighting it. 

"You're pretty good at prairie king, maybe you'll beat Victor's high score." He said as he blew some smoke out into the night air. Remus replied as he lit his own smoke. "Yeah, probably, if I focused for a few days on playing I could probably get to the second boss again but I've never beaten him." Remus had shifted his mask to the left again so he could smoke more easily. 

"Damn, you must be good then, none of us have ever gotten that far." Sebastian replied. "Nice, I used to make video's of me playing it on Youtube when I was in high school, I had like 8 million subscribers before I stopped making videos." 

Sebastian coughed on his smoke at that. "You had that many?!?!" He stopped and looked at Remus shocked, they were just by the bus stop and Remus let out a laugh. "Yeah, I was really popular but then when I got the job as a tree trimmer I didn't have the time, I posted one last video explaining what was going on and thanking everyone who had watched and subscribed." 

"Damn... wait, what was your channel name, I might have been one of those subscribers." Sebastian took a drag of his smoke as Remus now looked at him in surprise. "Silenced Duke, I didn't think I'd ever meet someone who watched my channel though, I never showed my face, It was always just gameplay with voiceover." 

"Holy shit I did watch you! my god what a small world we live in." Sebastian said as they started walking again. "Yeah, small world heh." Remus said as he blew out some smoke. As they made their way into the farm and towards his porch steps Remus butted out his smoke before shrugging out of Sebastian's jacket. "Thanks again, for letting me wear this, Abby's reaction to your offer was priceless." 

"Ha, yeah, She really shouldn't be surprised though, you, unlike the others, have been nice and not bugging me about stuff like this, plus I was overheating anyways, so it worked for both of us." He said with a smile as he took the jacket and shrugged it on himself. Remus thought about how good he looked in it and couldn't stop himself from speaking. "It looks really good on you." 

Remus froze and lightly turned red at what he said, Sebastian had also turned a bright shade of pink. "Th... thanks, I uh think it looked good on you as well." Sebastian was smiling just barely at him, Remus thought for a moment before he gulped, was he really debating showing Sebastian his face? He gulped a second time before sitting down on the porch steps, Sebastian was standing in front of him.

"Can I show you something?" He said before he could second guess himself, hopefully Sebastian wouldn't react badly.

Chapter Text

Summer 1

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Sebastian's POV
________________

Sebastian had been admittedly distracted for the last few days. He had tried focusing on his work and on the different projects he needed to finish but he just couldn't get himself to do the work. He had figured an hour ago that he might as well try something else to clear his mind, so here he was sitting on the small island that sat in the middle of the lake beside his house.

Over here His mother, Maru and Demetrius knew not to bother him, mostly he sat out here in nice weather to smoke some weed but today he was fiddling with a cigarette between his fingers, lost in thought. he sighed softly before bringing it up to his lips and lightly it, slowly taking a drag and blowing it out. 

After the other night when he had leant his jacket to Remus, He wasn't entirely sure how he felt, or truthfully what he thought at all. Remus had looked so nervous, at least as far as Sebastian could tell, he still couldn't get a good read on what Remus was feeling from only seeing his eye the majority of the time.  

Remus had asked him if he wanted to see something, Sebastian had figured he meant something on the farm, or something Rasmodius had taught him, instead though Remus had pulled out his phone and shown his a picture of himself. Before the mask, before the scars and green tinted hair, before losing on of his eyes. in truth it had been jarring...to see him without and walls and smiling so brightly. 

Sebastian puffed on his smoke and slowly blew out the smoke, watching the few fish he could see swim around the waters as his mind replayed the events of that night again.

Can I show you something?" Sebastian looked at him slightly confused. "Yeah of course Remus." He replied as he sat down on the step beside Remus, watching his movements as he pulled out his phone, opening the photo gallery and scrolling down to the bottom before clicking on one of the pictures near the bottom. 

Sebastian had watched as the pictures scrolled down, the separation by year evident as the images scrolled by, He didn't realize at first but the longer he looked at the photo the more he saw. 

I was Remus's Graduation ceremony, he was standing with his arm over someone's shoulders and a large bright grin adorning his face, the image was slightly grainy. probably being a screenshot of the original image that had been zoomed into the pair. 

Remus speaking had brought him out of his thoughts and he looked to the man beside him. "This.. was before... before the incident, I... well I..." Remus started and stopped speaking a few times, Sebastian remained patiently quiet as he let Remus organize his thoughts and words. He sighed before he spoke again.

"I know I don't look the same anymore but.. I trust you more than the others because you've treated me like you do everyone else, if not a bit friendlier than some of the others in town." Remus smiled to Sebastian as he continued.

"I wanted you to be the first person to see what I looked like before... all this." Remus gestured to all of himself as Sebastian laughed lightly at the action. He was looing into Remus's eye, the real one as he watched different emotions flash through it. Clearly Remus was nervous to show him this but there was even more worry.

Was he worried that he would react bad? make fun of him? reject him as a friend? Sebastian didn't know so he simply smiled to him before looking back at the photo.

"You look really happy, it must have been a wonderful day, who's that you're with?" He asked, maybe talking about an old friend would help Remus relax and worry a little less. Sebastian didn't know the reason for his worry but he did know he didn't like seeing it in his eyes.

Remus took to the distraction from himself quickly and told Sebastian all about his friend Jimmy, who he had nicknamed 'the Shark'. learning that had made Sebastian laugh and ask how he earned the name. Remus explained that he's know him since they were each very young children, jimmy loved sharks more than anything and had once tried to sneak into a shark tank to swim with one at the Aquatic rescue and rehabilitation center in Grampleton.

Remus laughed somberly before smiling at the photo with Sebastian watching him, He had looked so sad in that moment. Sebastian was about to say something but Remus started speaking before he could.

"After the incident that left me all scarred and broke he joined the armed forces... He...He's been away fighting the Gotoro for years now... this stupid war is pointless and going to get him killed if he hasn't already been." Remus sighed and wiped a tear from under his mask before continuing. "I haven't seen him in ages and I miss him a lot of the time. But I'm certain he will come home. He's always been lucky like that."

"He sounds like a wonderful person, maybe one day we can all play a game of pool together." Sebastian said, a soft knowing smile on his face. His own issues with the war and those he's lost to it burning bright in his mind and his heart. 

"Yeah, that'd be nice, but first you get to deal with my family." Remus made a shivering motion. "I wanted to show you one of the good pictures before my mother shows you and everyone else all my baby photos or teenage years, don't worry they already know not to show any of me without the mask on from after the incident but... I... I didn't want you to see me for the first time like that, It didn't seem fair to you after you've helped me so many times even though you don't know me very well."

Remus was smiling to Sebastian as Sebastian processed the information, the knowledge that Remus wanted to show him himself did something to his brain and stomach before he couldn't help but yawn from how late it had gotten. "Oh shit it's getting pretty late, I should let you get to bed." Remus said after Sebastian apologised and turned lightly pink.

"Yeah, thanks for showing me Remus, I don't know what happened but... I hope you can be happy like that again, you're a good kind hearted man, you deserve that kind of happy." 

Sebastian had been brought out of his thoughts as the cigarette burned him, he was so lost in thought he hadn't noticed it burn down to the filter. He butted it out fully in the dirt before putting the butt in his pocket and looking back out over the lake, he noticed Linus floating on his back towards him slowly. 

Sebastian didn't know much about the wild man who lived behind his and his families home but he knew he liked living amongst nature more than in the city. He also always noticed that no matter the town event or festival Linus had always attended and enjoyed they few people who would chat with him. He definitely knew Rasmodius as they were almost always chatting longer than he did with others.

As Sebastian watched Linus float his way over he remembered the first time the two really interacted. He had stopped Sam from destroying his tent as a prank when they were younger, and had went back after to apologise and give the man some of his mothers pumpkin soup. Since then he had always treated the wild man with respect. 

"Something on your mind Young one?" Linus asked as he floated right up to the little island. "A few things, mostly trying to sort through feelings that I don't understand all that well, being out here helps though. I can see why you like it so much Linus." Sebastian smiled his barely there smirk at him, knowing that Linus might drop some of his worldly knowledge on him.

Linus always managed to say just the right thing to get Sebastian on the right track, which he could never figure out just how he always knew something that would help but He was always kind to Sebastian so he listened carefully to what Linus would say. 

"Ah, it could be that you are wishing for change, much like the seasons we all must change in time, life wouldn't be worth living if we never moved forward or grow with the changing seasons, after all mother nature has blessed this valley so beautifully, perhaps she is sending you a message." Linus spoke calmly and quietly as he always did, Before Sebastian could respond he carried on with his thoughts. 

"Letting nature help guide you in life is a wise choice, nature knows more than any person since nature has been and always will be here, growing and changing, I shall leave you with your thinking Young one, but if you require guidance perhaps you could ask the fish." Linus laughed as Sebastian looked confused at him, and what he had said about asking the fish for help. 

Before Sebastian could thank him however he had swam off, towards the center of the lake. Sebastian shook his head with a sigh before getting up and making sure he didn't leave anything behind. He was thankful to Linus for not prying to hard, since he really didn't know how to put into words what he was feeling or thinking. 

Maybe he could go for a walk on the beach, sure Sam and his brother Vincent might be there but the beach usually helped him feel better when he was all mixed up inside. He pulled out his phone as he started the walk towards town to get to the beach, He might as well let his mother know where he is so she doesn't think he fell inn the lake. Not that he hasn't always been a great swimmer, but he didn't like worrying her to much.

After he messaged his mom he switched over to his messages with Remus, smiling gently at their prior exchange. While he didn't exactly know if he was gay or bi or anything he was unable to keep telling himself that Remus and him would only ever be friends. He didn't know how Remus felt but he knew he should talk to him about it at some point.

After all it wasn't in his nature to just hide things and hope it works out for the best. Although maybe he will wait until after Remus's parents head home, Remus had told him they would be here from tomorrow till the 5th or 6th, he didn't remember exactly but he didn't want to stress Remus out more than he already was. 

Sebastian made it to the beach and was thankful that only Willy the fisherman had been out at the time. He gave him a wave before making his way to the end of the dock where he normally sat when it was raining. He stared out into the water and relaxed almost instantly, He has always loved the sea, it felt like a second home to him. Sometimes feeling like it was calling out to him, trying to talk to him or guide him. 

He watched the water as he sorted his thoughts out slowly, figuring out that he is probably bisexual rather than gay but definitely still asexual since he knew he didn't want to have those kinds of relations with anyone. He had made up his mind and would talk to Remus about his feelings about the man and how Remus was making him feel, After his parents left as well as a few days afterwards so the masked man can relax.

As Sebastian was thinking about what Linus had said about 'talking to the fish' he saw something large come towards the dock he was sitting at slowly. "What the..?" He said quietly, hesitantly bringing his legs back up onto the dock instead of hanging over the side. Sebastian watched for a while before a large fish like creature slowly came out of the water, only it's head, right in front of him. 

Sebastian was beyond confused as to what this creature was so he just hesitantly spoke. "Hello... can I assist you?" He looked at the fish being closely, trying to imprint their appearance into his brain. The fish like being looked at Sebastian for a long time before faintly speaking. 

"You... connected...to us... being...blessed by...the god...of Void." It spoke choppily as Sebastian looked on confused, what did it mean, Blessed by the god of the void? Sebastian wasn't overly religious but he had read the stories and books while growing up out of curiosity, but he had never heard of someone being blessed by Yoba or the Void.

"You...important to us... we are... the Merpeople... will return... midnight on third day... of  summer... answer questions...then" Before Sebastian could say anything or ask the quiestions on his mind the Merperson dunked back into the water and swam away. 

Sebastian watched for a long time before getting up, he had written what the Merperson said into a note on his phone and decided that maybe he should go see Rasmodius. He knew he wasn't magically inclined himself thanks to Abigail dragging him into Welwick's tent one Harvest festival years ago. 

now that He's thinking about it though she mentioned to him that while he may not be magically inclined he did possess connections to the valley and it's oceanic inhabitants. At the time Sebastian thought she only meant the fish and plants from the ocean, mostly because he ate seafood more than anything else. Now though he was thinking she perhaps meant something more along the lines of what the merperson aid. 

Whatever the case, if anyone would have answers it would be the Wizard of the valley, Sebastian knew he would have sensed him coming so he didn't hesitate to make his way to his tower. How he bring up what had happened he didn't know but he would at least try and get some more information about the merpeople. Rasmodius was loaded on books about anything and everything magical after all, so he was definitely his best bet. 

Just as he had decided his phone buzzed in his pocket, It was a message from Remus.

Masked one: Oh yeah, Linus really does have the best advice sometimes.

Masked one: oh and I know this is short notice but my mother wants to have dinner with your family, yes all of you, I know, I know it's high stress on you. but our mothers went to high school together and I couldn't get her to back out. 

Masked one: If you can come I would like it a lot, but if not don't worry I can tell her Abigail needed you instead for something or maybe Sam being well Sam. 

Sebastian groaned at his phone before smiling at the way Remus texted, he could have sent it all in one message but he has a tendency to send multiples anyways. Sebastian thought about it before replying.

Sebastian: Yeah, that's fine, thanks for the heads up I appreciate it, just let me know when. 

Chapter Text

Summer 1
__________

Rasmodius Pov

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Rasmodius stood by his cauldron, watching the roiling bubbles and working through the complexities of the spell he was working to complete when, a knock at his door brought his attention out of his thoughts. Making his way over to see who it was, he was surprised to see Sebastian, the town carpenter's son standing there looking anxious. 

"Good afternoon young man, can I assist you with something?" He asked in his usual gruff way. Sebastian startled slightly before he spoke, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pocket as he did so. "yeah, I uhm had some questions about merfolk? and about some things one said to me earlier?" Rasmodius looked at him slightly shocked, not many would venture to his tower on just a whim for knowledge so he stepped aside to let the young man inside. 

"I am knowledgeable on many things including the denizens of the oceans," He closed the door and gestured for Sebastian to take a seat at the table near the front door, sitting down himself across from him. "They are a friendly species, the most harm that one might find when encountering one is getting splashed or pulled into the water." He Scratched his chin as he thought more, before continuing. "More often than not most find them a lucky sight as they rarely show themselves in daylight, but there are a few folks out there who believe them to be vengeful creatures bent on making those who happen upon them pay for whatever so called 'sins' they may have committed, although there are no merfolk who have ever spoken to me of situations like that." He set his hand back down on the table and looked at Sebastian, who had been listening intently before pulling out his cellular device. 

"That's good to know," Sebastian paused for a moment before placing his phone down on the table so Rasmodius could read what was pulled up on it. "Earlier I was at the beach thinking while watching the waves, and one swam up to the end of the dock I was sitting at. I said hello and asked if I could help them with anything and they said that me, Do you know what they meant when they said 'blessed by the god of the void, or for that matter is that something that has ever happened?" Sebastian asked at last, Rasmodius had read what he had written in his phone and was thinking on if he's ever heard of someone being blessed by any of the gods of the elements. 

"I cannot recall hearing of such a thing happening before, although myself and other witches and wizards have always theorized it to be possible. I do apologise that I cannot give you something more concrete, however I do possess many tomes that speak of the merfolk and other ocean dwellers if you are interested in reading them." Rasmodius offered as he leaned back in his chair, visibly seeing the tension leave the young mans shoulders. 

"Thanks, that would be helpful, do you think they'll be okay if you came along with me to meet them on the third?" Sebastian asked as he crossed his arms and leaned on them on the table. "I do believe that would be alright, I am well acquainted with the groups who live in the region so I am curious to know what they mean by both you and them being blessed by the god of the void. I'll make sure to keep my schedule open on that day."

Rasmodius chatted with Sebastian and answered any questions he had about the denizens of the seas for a while before he sent him off with a book on their language to study. 

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Remus's pov

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Remus was pulling a few boxes from the back of the truck his parents had driven in, bringing them up to his porch before going back for more, he was glad to have both his parents visiting and to have the rest of his things. Sure it would take him a while to get everything pulled out, sorted through, and put away but he was in no rush for that. Currently his mother was inside helping his father set up the green chair he ordered from Robin as well as some of the other furniture that had already been moved into the house. 

Wiping his brow with his bandana that he's taken to wearing around his neck, he takes a look around. He really has done so much to liven up the farm, and not just in the sense of his crops either, he has 3 lovely hens running around their pen over in the left corner section of his farmland. If he leaned in just the right direction then he could see Robin working away at his new barn, mostly just putting up the roof and some finishing details, She had told him when she came down the mountain this morning that she should be done today if everything goes to plan.  Going back to stacking a few of the smaller boxes before picking them up. As Remus climbed the steps to his front door his dad came around the corner from his room to grab the boxes from him. 

"Truly you have done wonders with this place My Boy, I'm certain Pops would be proud." His dad said with a big grin, then heading off to add the new boxes to Remus's room. As he shook his head with a smile at how right his dad probably is, he looks over to his mother who has been sitting on the couch taking a break. 

"Hey Ma, so I know what dad thinks, but how do you like the place?" Remus asked as he sat down beside her. She smiled warmly to him in return. "It looks absolutely wonderful Dear, but please take it easy, there's no rush to get everything moved immediately, take a break with your mother and chat. It's been far to long since we've seen each other after all." 

Remus chuckled softly at his Ma, she has always worried more about him than his brother, even more-so after the incident in castle village. "Yeah, I'll take a break Ma, don't worry. Mostly I just want to get it off the truck before it rains tomorrow." He said easily enough as he leaned back on the couch, the weather channel this morning had said it was supposed to rain for the next few days but that didn't mean he could take an actual break. There were chickens to take of after all, plus the cow he's picking up from Marnie once Robins done with the barn. 

He told his mother as much as well, with his father coming to join them in the living room a few moments later. The three of them chatting and catching up as families do, with Robin knocking on the door frame about an hour later. "Well I'm done with the barn Remus, she should hold up for a fair few decades before needing repairs." Robin said after stepping inside and out of the early summer heat.

"Thanks Robin, I appreciate you getting it done so quickly too, I'm certain my new cow will love it." Remus said as he stood up to get a glass of water for himself and his Ma. "Oh it's no trouble Remus, I appreciate you bringing me so much business. It's been a pleasure to see you transform this old run down plot of land into something so workable." She replied, an easy smile on her face. At that point Remus gave his Ma her drink before she asked Robin if she'd like to stay for dinner.

"Well that would be lovely, but my husband asked me to grab a few things on my way home and speaking of which i should head out before Pierre closes for the day. Perhaps you folks could come over tomorrow for dinner at our place?" Robin offered instead. "Oh that would be good, you can meet Maru and Sebastian, plus some of the other new faces from when you were last here. I could show you around after lunch if you guys want, then we could head up the mountain from town." Remus interjected, knowing his Ma could keep finding new things to extend their chat. 

Once everyone came to an agreement Robin headed out with a 'see you tomorrow then' before Remus texted Sebastian to give him a heads up about the dinner plans, having learned a few days prior that Sebastian despised surprise family gatherings. "Well at least now we have plans for tomorrow." Remus chuckled as his father got back to work and his mother resumed her decorating. Not that Remus minded at all where things went, he could always move things around later if he felt like it. He made his way back outside to grab the rest or the things from the truck bed. 

Not to long later the three of them headed into town to the Stardrop saloon, where his father delightedly started talking with mayor Lewis about anything and everything from the past to where they've each gone in life, Remus and his mother listening in and adding to the conversation as needed. after a little bit Remus decided to say hello to the other patrons of the bar, having noticed Leah and Elliot sitting at their normal table he headed over to them.

"Hey Remus, those your parents?" Leah asked when she saw him approach. "Yeah, their visiting for a few days and I figured Gus's cooking would be better than anything I could make at home, but they're pretty engrossed with whatever Lewis is talking about." Remus shook his head with a fond smile under his mask at how fast his parents have blended back into the community. "Sketch anything new recently?" He asked after a moment and glanced over to Elliot, "Sorry didn't mean to interrupt if you two were having a convo." 

"It's quite alright Remus, we were merely discussing our respective creative endeavours." Elliot replied with his lopsided grin that was, admittedly, cute, even if Remus wasn't interested in the other man like that. "Yeah, here's what I drew earlier today, I went for a walk in Cindersap to get some inspiration for my next sculpture and decided to sketch the Wizards tower, mostly because the morning light was just too good to pass up on." Leah turned her sketchbook to Remus so he could see the very well done drawing of Rasmodius' tower. 

Seeing firsthand how talented Leah was a thought came to Remus. "Wow, that's incredibly well done, would you be willing to sketch something for me to paint on the one wall of my house?" Leah flushed a little at the compliment to her artwork before nodding to Remus' question. "I would love to do something like that, did you have any specific subject matter in mind?" 

Remus explained his idea to have a galaxy inspired wall with a central black hole that looked like a portal to another dimension inside the middle. After he finished explaining what he had in mind he and Leah came up with a good commission price for the piece and she even offered to help him paint it after his parents went back to Grampleton. "Oh speaking of, Elliot you're a writer, yeah?" 

Remus looked over to Elliot as the other man took a sip of his drink, nodding once he set his glass back down. "Indeed, I have been working on a novel for the last few years." Remus smiled from behind the mask as the rest of his idea ran through his mind. "Once Leah has the sketch done up do you think you'd be able to take a look and write up something to be written along with the mural? I'll pay of course, if that's something you'd like to or even want to do." Remus finished a little lamely, unsure if he knew Elliot well enough to ask something like this. So far everyone in town has been incredibly kind and helpful, but he wasn't sure. 

"Oh now that's a wonderful idea Remus! you totally should Elliot, you are great with words after all." Leah said as Elliot thought of his reply. "I do think Leah is correct, that is a lovely idea, I would be delighted to help Remus. Although I must admit I'm not the best with Writing in that medium but I'm certain that with Leah's artwork I can come up with something that will both fit the mural but your vision for it as well."

Elliot spoke with a smile towards the two, as the three of them finished hashing out commission fees and when Leah would be done a rough sketch Remus headed back towards his parents who were just getting up to pay their bill. "Don't worry about it, I've got it." Remus said before heading over to Gus at the register. Once the bill was paid, Remus and his parents made their way back to the farm, doing their respective nightly routines before heading to bed. Of course Remus had let his parents take the bed in his room with him taking the couch in the living room. 

Tomorrow would be a busy day, but at least it would be fun, although maybe he should keep the 'minor forest wizard' stuff to himself lest he make his mother worry even further. After all he hadn't taken his mask off the entire day until he was sitting on the couch scrolling his phone, well after anyone from town would be stopping by the farm. Was it a bit much? definitely, but he was still too paranoid about scaring anyone to risk taking it off fully and wandering the town. maybe one day, he hoped, but then again maybe not. He looked at his reflection on his darkened phone screen and sighed. The left half of his face was still So scarred, and if he himself didn't like seeing his own face then who the heck else would. 

Remus thought about what he looked like before, not the most handsome but once he got on testosterone and his beard and moustache came in fully he didn't think he looked all that bad. But then the monsters attacked, he got hurt, burned badly enough that the skin graphs in the spots that could take a graph were still obviously visible on nearly the entire left half of his face, from his hairline down his cheek, across his nose and jaw. Sure people had told him that it didn't look to bad but so many people had still flinched when he took the mask off, to show new doctors or nurses the progress of how he was healing. At least the burns down his left side and back had healed nicely enough that he felt comfortable in a loose tank top he made out of an opal in sky shirt, that, unless people looked closely didn't look scarred hardly at all. 

Although, thinking about it now, Sebastian didn't react poorly when he had seen the small amount that he showed him after the flower dance. Then again he had only moved his mask enough that the good side was visible. With a heavy sigh as his thoughts ran around in circles, Remus resigned himself to the little sleep he knew he would be getting that night, just like with every night when his brain decides he needs to overthink everything again. 

Maybe, just maybe he could convince his intrusive thoughts to shut up long enough to have dinner with Robin's family with the mask off, but... it wasn't seeming likely in his mind.