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Chapter Text

"I'll just need your assistance for a few tasks - Yoba knows Magnus is too busy to be bothered with typical monster hunting."

"He has other priorities," Lance chuckled as he idly followed Marlon into the Stardew adventurer's guild. Worn wooden panels creaked softly beneath his feet, the wear marks telling tales as old as the mines beside the building. "So, twice a week helping out with general magical needs? I'm sure that'll be fine." It would actually impede on his time to conduct research, but he had a responsibility to help the guild. Someone had to keep the valley safe, and he knew that the Stardew Guild's numbers were dwindling. He was aware that the few other combat mages with the First Slash didn't have his friendship with Marlon and many of the members had other projects to tend to as well. Lance? He could bring his research with him, mostly… and he did admittedly go stir crazy in that tiny Highlands outpost or his little room at the First Slash’s headquarters.

Lance looked around the office as Marlon led him inside. He took in the maps, weapons, and various records lying around. A particular ledger caught his eye. Aged coffee stains marked the edges and dirt colored the page. "Marlon? I know I'm not from this guild, but I thought I knew all your members. Who's Daniel? His name isn't crossed off, yet I've never met him.”

Marlon raised his head from the cavern map he had been consulting. There was hesitation, then a sigh. "Danny… he's technically a member, but he hasn't stepped foot in Stardew in a number of years now."

"Why consider him a member then?"

"Because he still hunts monsters." He walked over and closed the ledger with a snap. "Just not in Stardew."

Normally when Lance's curiosity got him into trouble, he ended up facing down a monster and he could teleport away. It might be a bit harder to teleport away from a faux pas but he had to ask, "He never transferred his membership to a different group?"

"No. If we ended his membership here he would continue just being a monster hunter - but with less pay and access. I'm not about to do that to him."

“Practically a lone monster hunter with no guild, then.”

“I wouldn't call him ‘lone.’” Marlon said, almost defensively. “He’s got a lot of friends, especially from the other guilds. True, though, that he's not really tied down to one guild.” Marlon returned to the map he was looking at. “He's been proving himself a tank of some renown, I've heard. And I’ve heard a lot about him, actually. He's up in the Crimson Badlands often but really just travels wherever he can get a bounty.”

“I suppose that's the benefit to not being tied down,” Lance nodded. “Odd. If he's that good I'm surprised I haven't met him. Does he go by any other name?”

“He always goes by Danny or his full name, Daniel Kearney.”

The name rings a distant bell. “I haven't met him, but I think I've heard of him. You said he was a tank?”

“Yes, heavy armor, giant axe - a paladin, I believe is the proper term.”

“A paladin? To Yoba?” It had been quite a long time since Lance had come across one of those.

Marlin paused, tipped his head to the side, then shook it firmly. “No, I don't believe so, actually. Not a clue who he'd be serving.” He put the ledger away, huffing as he very firmly changed the subject, “Now, your schedule…”

Chapter Text

Daniel stepped over the familiar dry-rotted threshold of the Stardew Valley adventurer's guild, his heavy scuffed boots thunking on the floor. He pushed the hood of his thick green cloak back with a grin as he called, “Marlon! I've got those void essences you wanted.”

There was a distant call of “be right there!” that prompted Danny to set the box on the counter. Emerald eyes roved around the main room of the guild, taking in the glass cases with familiar swords, the ragged bulletins pinned to the board, the pile of burnt-out pine logs sitting in the ever-burning fireplace. It was good to know some things didn’t change.

Instead of Marlon, a man with a shock of magenta hair and a blue cloak walked around the corner. Maybe some things did change. Danny started and quickly apologized, "Oh, hi! Sorry for shouting like that. Didn’t think anyone else was here.”

The man smiled back and shook his head, “It's quite alright. It's a guild hall, not a library.” He stepped up to the counter and looked at the box. “Thank you for bringing these. Marlon mentioned you were quite a skilled hunter, but I didn't expect you to gather these so soon. He needs them for some project for Magnus.”

Danny shrugged off the compliment with a, “Oh, not a problem. He can use ‘em for whatever. Marlon said that he needed fifty of ‘em, so I just took a dip in the Badlands caverns, it was real quick.”

“The Badlands? Surely hunting in the lower levels of the Pelican Town mines would have been safer?” Lance asked, taking in the scuffed, scratched, and dented kit-bashed plate armor the man wore. Each piece was probably from a separate set and linked together meticulously, patches of chainmaile filling in the gaps of the plates. He was hoping to hear an answer to the question that had been lingering since he heard of this tank. Guilt picked at him: it wasn't really any of his business, but he was curious what would keep a man plated in armor out of a little valley like this. And what about him would prompt Marlon to get so defensive?

“Yeah, I was out that way anyway though.” No dice. The armored blond paused and held out his gloved hand, exuding an aura of friendliness that surpassed even a labrador. “I'm Daniel, by the way. I don't believe we've met.”

Lance shook his hand firmly, noting the cold metal plating on the back of the gloves. “I don't think so. I'm Lance, of the First Slash guild.”

“First Slash?” Danny seemed mildly impressed, "Always good adventurers from that guild.” He looked Lance over and paused, processing this and then sighing dejectedly, “Did Marlon ask for more adventurers? Does he need help? Are things getting that desperate around here?” An almost insulted expression crossed Daniel's face. He hadn't thought he'd left Marlon in THAT much of a lurch, but Marlon probably wouldn't be honest and tell him if he did need help….

“No no,” Lance quickly assured him, “Marlon needed a combat mage for some special projects while Magnus is busy. I happened to have some free time in my schedule -” And then it clicked. “Did Marlon ask you to take a job in the Highlands, by chance?”

“Uh, yeah actually. Little contract, just to pop in once in a while. I said I didn't need a contract to do my job and it sounds like such a great place to go monster hunting, but uh… how did you know?”

Lance sighed, “Because I'm the researcher in the Highlands. I told Marlon I didn't need another monster hunter, he's wasting resources sending you there.” Lance needed a farmer, not another monster hunter. Why had Marlon been so insistent? And a tank of all things, as if Lance needed protecting.

“Oh.” Daniel paused, his armor clattering softly as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Well. That's a damn shame.”

“I apologize, this wasn't -”

“‘Specially since I already signed that contract.”

“You… did?” Lance was almost taken aback. There was a literal paper contract for this?

“Yep. It sounds like a really nice place to go, and from what Marlon told me, seems like an extra hand in the Highlands once in a while can't hurt.” The tank shrugged nonchalantly and smiled again, only a bit smug, “I trust my guild master. If he said it's needed, then my presence at the very least could help. And again, selfishly, I kinda wanna see this place. I've heard it's beautiful. But if you don't want me around...?”

Lance had to pause for a moment before admitting, “If you live up to your reputation, it can't hurt.” Now that he was done being blind-sided, he got his verbal feet back under himself and chuckled, “I don't think I'd mind seeing you around more often.”

That almost went over Danny's head - almost. Emerald eyes met amethyst and he chuckled, “Careful, you don't even know me yet.”

“Well,” Lance countered, “I trust Marlon, even if he's not my guild master.”

“Okay, fair play to ya,” Daniel laughed. He seemed prone to that, which Lance could appreciate. “Then I suppose I will be seeing ya again soon. I think… Saturday? In the Highlands?”

Lance nods. “I'll be there.”

“Good. You can show me around before I get to work.”

Chapter Text

A few days later, Danny stepped out of the small repaired boat and onto the dock at the Highlands outpost. His pack was slung over his shoulder and his hood was up, raindrops rolling off of the thick wool. Even from this low elevation, Danny could tell this place was special. The high cliffs, the distant mountains that faded into the fog, the sea of pines, all of it held a certain magic that Danny suspected was literal. The sight didn't inspire peace like the Cindersap forest, it inspired awe like Adventurer's summit. There was a surreal beauty and an edge of danger, a knowledge that he was not supposed to be there and to see such a place was a privilege, one that came with a warning label in a forgotten language.

Lance was standing by a stream outside of the outpost when Danny reached the top of the steep stairs. The paladin cocked his head to the side and commented, “Planning to fish? Or just doing some wizardly contemplating?”

A huff of a laugh escaped Lance's lips as he turned to look at Daniel. “Moreso the latter. Glad to see you made it.”

“Of course! I'm excited to be here, honestly.” Danny turned to look up at the Highlands outpost. “Pretty solitary, huh? Just one tower, I don't even see a path into the woods….”

“It's for the best. The forest is almost completely untamed, I rarely ever venture out there myself.”

“So, is the solitude good or bad?”

“Pardon?”

“Well there's not another living soul around here besides monsters, and they don't make great conversationalists. So is the solitude good - so you can study and do your research in relative peace - or bad - because surely the silence has to get to you at some point.”

A slow smile crossed Lance's lips. “I'm not here every day, so it's just the right amount of solitude for it to be good.”

Danny smiled and nodded politely, “Then I'll do my best not to impede too much.”

“Oh,” Lance realized what he meant just then, “No, no, you're fine. You aren't an impediment at all. I mean, as you can see, it's not exactly like I was studying.”

“I don't know, could be studying the fish or the river flow,” Danny chuckled. He looked over at the tower. “But if you are free for the moment, can you show me around?”

“Of course. There isn't much to show you, to tell the truth. It's a very small outpost. I'm the only one who really uses it lately.” Lance pointed to the blue flames in the sconces around the perimeter and on the tower. “one important thing to note: as long as you're in the light of these blue flames, no monsters will follow you.”

“That so?” Danny looked at the blue flames and nodded appreciatively. “That's a damn good spell.”

“Thank you,” Lance said with a proud - almost smug - smile.

“Oh, good work,” Danny laughed as he realized it was Lance's doing.

“Thanks again,” he chuckled. “It's important in the Highlands, there's such high concentrations of monsters out here. Anyway, this is the main room. I use this desk here as my study, and the ladder goes to the roof.” The front room was small, with some supplies to one side and Lance's desk against the far wall. A door on the far side of the room led to the storage room, kitchen, bathroom, and a spare bedroom. All of the rooms were small, but sufficient, and almost luxurious by some adventurer's standards.

The kitchen was oddly immaculate. The storage room was decently stocked with various supplies but minimal food, and the spare bedroom had a fine layer of dust over most things. The only thing that looked well maintained in this place was Lance's desk - and even then, maintained was a stretch. It seemed the mage was modern enough to use ballpoint pens but still indulged in enough archaic extravagance to keep a quill and ink pot on the desk as well. Or maybe it was magic ink like the kind Magnus kept losing? Danny wasn't magically proficient enough to tell.

“Not a bad place by any means,” Danny mumbled as Lance showed him around.

“No, not at all. It's perfect for research: small and easy to manage, well located, quiet.”

“So is this even really a watch tower? Like I know it's called the Highlands Outpost, but…”

Lance shrugged and admitted, “Not really. The monsters can't exactly take a boat, and nobody lives here, but it's more of a research outpost.”

Danny nodded a bit as he admired the masonry, then asked, “So, what do you need help with around here? Yoba knows I'm not a researcher.”

“Oh.” Lance rolled his eyes, again regretting Marlon contracting Danny like he had. Could that guild master not even have warned Lance first? He felt like they had called in the FBI to deal with a cat stuck in a tree and he was about to admit it was just some feline delinquency. “Nothing, really. Nothing big, anyway. These monsters here are unique. And they drop seeds, just like a plant.” He quickly added, “Now, I could kill these monsters myself of course, but they don't always drop the seeds, and it would just take too much time.” He paused and admitted slowly, his cadence reluctant, “Especially since I have reports and research papers to write and there are deadlines.”

“Of course.” Daniel nodded without a second thought, “I was never much of an academic myself, but I understand deadlines.” He grinned, “I'm happy to lend my axe! I can work on gathering the seeds while you write your papers.”

Amethyst eyes traced over Danny, trying to read him. Was this man legitimate? Maybe that was part of being a paladin, being happy to help even when it was a task that Lance didn't feel was worth asking for help with. Lance was capable of doing it… helphavjng someone else doing the hunting would be a massive relief. Lance nodded, “Well… Okay, then thank you. I really do appreciate it. And if you ever need to do anything else or like… if you need a break, then that's fine. Take your time. But for now, I have a rough map of the Highlands, along with which monsters are where…”

Chapter Text

The night had just passed its peak when Danny made his way up the trail and through the towers of blue flame. His hair was ruffled and his armor was dirty, sap and pine needles clinging to the battered metal. Mud coated his boots, with splash marks reaching up to his thighs. All three of the axes he wore earlier were in a similar state, and he politely opted to leave them outside of the outpost lest he shed more pine needles than a Christmas tree in March.

His boot thudded as he stopped mid-slink to realize Lance was still awake. In fact, it was like Lance hadn't even moved. Danny slowly began wiping mud off of his boots and cocked his head to the side as he looked at Lance. Whether the mage was intensely focused or asleep sitting up didn’t matter, Danny didn’t want to startle him, so he called, “Hey, I'm back.”

Lance looked over his shoulder and nodded. “Yes. I heard you come in.” The mage’s tone was even and polite though his sentence was short and simple. It was almost impressive how he could be so blunt but still didn’t come off as annoyed at all.

“Oh. Good.” Daniel walked over, placed a small handful of pale blue seeds on the desk, and then walked down the hallway while Lance resumed working on his papers.

A few moments later, Lance picked his head up again, his eyes leaving the ink on the pages in front of him for the first time in hours. “What are you doing?” he called in the general direction of the hallway. Stupid question, but Lance was caught completely off-guard by the smell of something… rosemary? He heard sizzling and a clatter of metal coming from down the hall.

Daniel called back in equal clarity, “Cooking! Want some?”

“Why are you cooking?”

“Because I'm hungry and want actual food, not field rations.” Danny smirked to himself, but Lance could hear it in his voice.

Lance opened his mouth to argue, then paused, now thoroughly distracted from the research on his desk. “What are you cooking? We don't even have much here.”

“You have enough, and I foraged some stuff while I was out.”

“Foraged?” Another long pause as Lance processed that, then rebutted, “You had enough time between monsters attacking you to safely forage? There was enough food to forage out there in the first place?” There was an element of bewilderment in his voice that he wasn’t used to hearing from himself. What was up with this tank?

“Safely? I didn’t say that, but yes, there was plenty of food!”

Lance sat at his desk, stunned for a moment, then shook his head and refocused on the work in front of him. How many times had he re-read the same page now? Maybe he needed to work on annotating the research by Edius Asim on the hastened growth of plants when magic energy is applied to the soil. Or should he re-read the report by Udelin Reqor on the absorption rates of magical essence in different species of plants? Why didn’t he remember reading that an hour ago? What time was it anyway? What -

He was broken from his reverie by the soft clatter of a plate being set on his desk right at his elbow. The plate was laden with roasted potato chunks with mushrooms and herbs.

“It's not fancy, but it's what we had.” Daniel said with a shrug. He had removed his armor, and was wearing just the gambeson and padded clothes

“Hang on, I didn't say I was hungry,” Lance stuttered even as his stomach growled.

“No, but I was already cooking anyway and you never answered me.” Danny chuckled, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips. “And based on the fact you’re in the same position you were when I left? I would bet all my money that you haven't eaten.”

Had he eaten? Lance paused for a long moment, then just nodded and mumbled, “Thank you.”

Danny chuckled and shrugged a little, admitting, “No need to thank me. I know what you mages are like when you’re doing research.” The tank turned on his heel to walk back to the kitchen.

As much as Lance wanted to argue, Daniel clearly had a point. And the food did smell good. Lance only hesitated another moment, then took an experimental bite. It was simple, but it was warm and fresh which was more than could be said about anything else he'd had recently.

To Lance's surprise, Danny returned with his own plate. He grabbed a spare chair to sit in and sat just on the other side of the room. “Figured since we're both awake, I'd take the time to bother you and tell you what I saw out in the forests before I can forget any details,” he said between bites. “Y'know, for your research and all.”

Lance's eyes flicked to the plate in front of himself, then to his research. He pushed his chair back and turned to face Daniel more. “Good idea. Tell me everything.”

~~~~~~~~

In the morning, Lance groaned as he looked down at the pile of papers on his desk. He had completely neglected to return to his studies, instead talking all night with Daniel about the Highland monsters; where they lived, how Daniel could defeat them more easily next time, what behaviors they each had seen, how the ecosystem functioned.

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a seat and began to re-organize his notes.

Chapter Text

After a while, Lance got up to go make himself some coffee. He stopped mid-stride as he saw a plate of pancakes beside the stove, now stone cold. A note beside them in neat, blocky all-caps, said, “For you”

Lance wasn't going to turn down perfectly good food, not when he once again hadn't eaten. He put the pancakes back in a pan, covered it with a lid, and held the pan in his off-hand, magically heating the pan to reheat the stack without burning them. In his right hand he looked at the note, analyzing the neat, almost measured-out and templated letters. The graphite was dark and slightly smudged, with a bit of a calligrapher's angle to it: thicker in some directions than others. Daniel must have brought his own pencil; Lance didn’t keep them around as he preferred ink.

With the pancakes warmed, he stopped his pondering to actually eat the meal. Luckily there was some syrup in the minimally stocked pantry. He ate quickly and cast a glance at the paperwork piled up on his desk; maybe he needed to clear his head before metaphorically bashing it against a literary wall any more.

Lance walked outside of the Outpost and paused, taking in the scene before him. Danny was sitting on the edge of the stream, most of his armor removed besides his chest plate, the rest of the metal plates on the ground beside him. His fishing rod glinted like titanium in the morning sunlight, the line barely glowing like spider's silk. As per usual, Danny still had on his gambeson and was barely showing any skin, but even just seeing him without all his armor felt strange.

Lance paused for a long moment, then bluntly asked, “You can fish?” as he walked over to stand beside him.

Daniel looked up at him like Lance had spoken an entirely new language. “... I mean, anyone with a hook and a stick can, I'm not sure I catch your meaning.”

“As in, you're good at it?”

“I mean… I'm not bad?”

“And you have a fishing rod?”

“Yeah.” Danny turned to look up at Lance directly. “Can I ask why you're getting kinda weirdly worked up about this?”

That was fair. Lance caught himself and elaborated, “It's just that there's this fish in a cavern by the mountains, and I've tried to catch one to research it.”

Realization dawned on Danny's face and he grinned. “But you ‘can't’ fish.”

“... I am rather bad at it, yes.”

Danny laughed loud enough to scare off any fish that may have been interested in biting. “Well, hell! I can get that fish for you, sure. And one of these days I'll teach you how to fish.”

“That cavern is full of monsters,” Lance warned.

Danny shrugged. “So is everything around here. Hasn't stopped me yet. And hey, if it's that bad, maybe you can just magic me to the lake inside the cavern.”

Lance paused, then realized Danny was being sarcastic, and clarified, “I can, actually.”

“You can?”

“I can.”

“.... Well I think I know what quest I'm workin’ on today, if you have the time to teleport me.”

Did Lance have the time? Or did he have a mountain of research papers on his desk? Perhaps both could be true simultaneously. A small smile tugged at his lips and he nodded, “Yeah, I have time.”

Danny took the time to put his armor and weapons belts back on, then drew in his line. He held the purple rod in his left hand, unwilling to fully pack it away when he was going to use it in just a few moments. “Okay. I’ll get this fish, you watch my back, it’ll be an easy day.”

“Especially easy for me,” Lance chuckled, “I’ll just use magic to make us imperceptible to the monsters.”

Danny rolled his eyes and grinned. “You use magic to answer a lot of problems, don’t you?” He did have respect for mages, but at this point it was getting comedic how many of his problems Lance could solve so quickly. He’d have to ask Lance to make life easier with magic more often.

“If the tool is available, why not use it?”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Lance put his hand on Danny’s shoulder and drew his sword. In an instant, the two had teleported into cold, chilling darkness. Or, it would be dark except for a slight glow coming from Danny.
Lance looked Danny over, blinked, and bluntly asked, “... Magic ring?”

“Ah, yeah,” Danny said. “Will this mess with the invisibility spell?”

Lance waved off Daniel’s concern. “No, I’ll just make it stronger. We should still be safe. Besides, I’m sure you need light to cast your line.”

“True. And you’ll need light to learn.”

“Pardon?”

“Look, I don’t want to make the low hanging fruit joke about teaching a man to fish but…you’re here. I’m here. There’s what looks like an endless lake in front of us, and I have a line. Might as well teach you while I work.”

Lance had to admit that Daniel did have a point. He nodded, “Very well.”

“And the rest of the time we’re waiting,” Daniel said as he loosened his line and grabbed some bait from the jar, “You can tell me more about your mage craft and research.”

That earned a scoff and headshake, “You… don’t want to get me started. I’ve already been told I’m too enthusiastic about my research.”

“Of course you are. That’s why you’re researching it. And I want to hear about it.”

By the time that they returned to the outpost it was well past midnight. The entire day of relaxing and talking and completely losing track of time had, to Lance’s surprise, been incredibly profitable; they had not one but five gemfish in tow. Every time Daniel had reeled in a gemfish, they had both decided one more couldn’t hurt. It was for research, after all, not only because they were enjoying each other’s company so much, that would be ridiculous. The conversations had strayed to adventuring life, places they had traveled, friends they knew, and of course Lance’s research. And after talking about his research for literal hours to a willing party, Lance felt more eager than ever to focus on his work.

So he felt rather disappointed when he got up in the morning to find another plate of pancakes cooked for him, but Daniel already gone.

Chapter Text

Lance looked out over the desert of red dust, then to Alessia. The archer had just asked how things were going for him since she hadn't seen him in a while. A week ago he wouldn't have had to pause to think of an answer, but now there was too much going on. He finally just shrugged and said, “Life keeps me busy. I've been assigned part time at Ginger Island which is the highlight of my week, but I'm also working on my own research at the Highlands outpost. It takes a lot of time, but I truly enjoy it. And I'm helping Marlon at the Pelican Town guild sometimes… Oh, speaking of Pelican Town, do you know anything about Danny? Daniel Kearney.”

“Danny…? The tank, right?”

“Yeah, heavy armored guy.”

Alessia paused, her ponytail swaying as she tipped her head to the side. Her eyes still traced along the sanguine sands while she spoke slowly. “Yeah, I remember him when we were young actually. He would come and stay in Pelican Town with his grandparents during the summers, help them out on their farm. Really sweet guy. He stopped coming back when he left for school, got a life of his own and all that. And that was around when I went to the Badlands so, we haven't much crossed paths since then except on the battlefield.” Alessia paused for a long moment, then added with a glance to Lance, “But between you and me, I always feel like he's avoiding me…. Every time he's at the Castle outpost or on the wall. He doesn't talk much to me unless he needs something specific, but he chats with the others.”

Lance felt a cold hand tighten around his throat as the thought crossed his mind: could Danny have a crush in Alessia? Danny didn't seem the type to hide that kind of thing, but maybe that was the case. And why did Lance care anyway? They had only known each other for a week - really only two days. Though, they had talked for how many hours in that cave? And Danny had let Lance ramble about all of his research and theories and travels, hell he had encouraged it and shown interest, he had responded to Lance's flirts in such light hearted and potentially equally flirtatious ways -

Alessia tipped her head to the side, dragging Lance back to reality, then hummed, “Funny, though….”

“What is?”

“Well he was just asking me about you the other day.”

-

Warm evening sunlight filtered through the freshly cleaned windows of the Stardew Valley Adventurer's Guild. Marlon was filling out some reports while Danny cleaned off his axes and chatted with Gil, catching up after having taken care of some slimes for Marlon. Marlon looked up from the papers to idly say. “It's good having you back in the valley. You're a big help around here.”

“Yeah. Sorry if I left you guys in a lurch when I left.” How many times now had he apologized? At least half a dozen. Knowing that Marlon was reaching out to the First Slash for help had been a shock.

“Oh, no, we've managed. But this is the first time since you left that there's a full stack of wood for the fireplace and all the chores around here have been done.”

That did sting a little. Had they really been so busy as to neglect upkeep? It had seemed so, since Daniel had been repairing various parts of the building every time he came by since last week. Yesterday it was fixing a door frame and replacing a window, last week was cutting down the unwanted trees and overgrowth that were making some of the paths around the guild difficult to traverse, tomorrow would be repairing Marlon's boat (again).

“Seems like you and Lance are getting along well.”

That broke Danny out of his thoughts and a small smile played across his lips, his eyes still on the whetstone in his hands.“Yeah, he’s great.” Marlon knew that look on Danny’s face from back when Danny was a teenager. Danny unwittingly continued, “He was telling me all about his research in the highlands. It’s really cool, y’know. Maybe he can find ways to keep monster populations down that doesn’t require us all risking our lives. Hell, if we learn enough, maybe we can live in peace with them, like Krobus. He’s traveled so much, too, and met all these people and monsters. And he's really humble about it all, though he does talk like a dictionary. Not that it's a bad thing, he's a researcher so it makes sense.”

Marlon teasingly said, “Sounds like you’ve made a friend.”

He shrugged and said without looking up, “Well, yeah. I always do,”

“Maybe more than a friend?”

Danny met Marlon’s eye and his gaze turned stern. “Marlon. You know I’m not about that.”

“I know you aren’t the type to sleep around,” Marlon said as he leaned in against the counter, “but I also know you certainly used to be a hopeless romantic… and it’s been a couple years now, Danny - “

“Don’t.” Daniel cut him off with an edge to his voice that was sharp as the axe in his hand.

Marlon held both hands up and even Gil looked surprised. He saw Danny’s metaphorical hackles go down as the paladin sighed. The guild master softly said, “Okay. But would it be so bad if you did like someone?”

Danny smirked and looked back down at the axe in his lap. “So, have you gotten around to speaking to Marnie yet?”

“Don’t you try to redirect.”

“I’m from a small town, Marlon, you expect me to not drag up old gossip as needed?”

“Still redirecting.” Marlon leaned against the counter. “Daniel. You’ve been in a self-imposed exile for years. From Stardew Valley and from getting too close to anyone. You have countless friends and acquaintances, but….”

“But I never liked any of them that way. I never had any interest, so your point is moot.”

“In those cases, yes. But I’m talking this case. And the future. Would it be so bad if you got… close to someone?” The tone of concern laced in Marlon’s voice forced Daniel to relent - the guildmaster was clearly just worried about him.

Danny gave up on trying to be snarky and looked up at Marlon, a weariness in his eyes as he finally just shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. That’s it, I just - I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to find out, either. Finding out is risky and uncomfortable. Truth is… I do like Lance. But if I stop myself now I think I can keep from getting any real feelings for him. Just keep things friendly, like they probably should be.”

Marlon sighed and softly said, “You’re not a bad person if you fall in love again, Danny.”

“.... Yeah. But maybe I’m not a good enough person to deserve it anymore.” Danny looked at the hatchet in his hand and back up at Marlon. “New topic, before you lay in on me, old man. I saw Alecto the other day, when I was coming over the mountain.”

Marlon stayed silent, staring at Danny for a long moment, then smiled in resignation and nodded along, “How is she?”

“Good actually! Well, I think so anyway. Given everything. She offered to enchant some stuff for me, but I think I’m doin’ fine with what I got.”

“With that patchwork armor of yours? Ha!” Marlon smiled fondly at the much younger adventurer who never took off his armor. It seemed Marlon would have to work to pry him out of the armor he’d built up over the years both literally and metaphorically. Luckily he wasn’t the type to give up easily, and bringing in Lance seemed to be helping, slowly but surely.