[Stardew Valley] On the Edge - Shane

2

[a/n: hi this chapter is kind of lengthy and sad-ish]

Dealing with unnatural chipperness from Marnie and Jas so early in the morning was one thing. Shane loved Jas and Marnie, and Marnie was letting him stay with her, after all. But tolerating it at work was another.

His boss, Morris, was a fucking creep. Though he didn't like to interact with any of his coworkers, they all had an unspoken agreement to let each other know whenever Morris was watching them through the cameras. There was barely any reason to slack off, though. His job didn't require him to talk to customers. All he did was keep to himself and stock shelves, which was fine, as long as nobody bothered him. His interactions were limited to that overly cheery college kid Sam, and the shipment guys who brought the truck of goods for him to stock the shelves with.

He tugged his Joja hat on and the sliding doors opened for him. Almost immediately, the aforementioned college boy was already in his face. He was a good kid, but had hyper tendencies that Shane stopped trying to keep up with a long time ago.

"Hey, Shane my dude!" Sam greeted him with a hearty slap to his back, his mop already in hand and one earbud dangling out of his ear. Shane only half listened as Sam rambled on about how he finally landed a kickflip on his skateboard, or whatever. Sam was so approachable and impossible to offend, that Shane believed he would strike up conversation with a rock that had a smiley face painted on it. Every once in a while he bit, but today he was way too hungover and the feeling of wanting to disappear into nothingness was too strong for him to interact with Sam today.

"Anyways, did you hear? There's a new farmer coming to the Valley today. A girl," Sam continued, as if enunciating the word girl would make Shane excited or something. He wasn't excited. But Pelican Town was a small town, and anything, especially a whole new resident would be all anybody ever talks about for the next few weeks until she became old news. And Sam said girl like any woman or man would want anything to do with him romantically. It was a waste of time.

"Her name's Aria, I heard from Alex," He continued, not quite getting the hint that Shane was not in a talking about the new farmer kind of mood.

Shane just grumbled something incoherent in response before returning back to his stocking duties and putting his headphones over his ears.

—

Five o'clock was Shane's favorite hour of the day, and he almost felt happy as he clocked out and made his way over to the Stardrop Saloon. Maybe one day at five o'clock, he'd feel so happy that he'd stick his middle finger in Morris' face and walk out for the last time ever, he thought. Maybe one day, but not any time soon.

Walking over to the Saloon, the air was crisp and fresh, an aid to Shane's already fading hangover. Perfect to make room for more beer tonight. Spring wasn't all that bad. He could comfortably sit and have a cold one by the lake on warm nights, listening to the sounds of Cindersap Forest and nothing else. This was the time there would be new baby chicks in the coop, and he could show Jas how to take care of them. Coming up soon was the Egg Festival, Shane's favorite holiday. Also, his birthday was coming up, but he was less enthused about turning 29. Just another depressing year doing nothing but letting beer wash away his sorrows and fill his gut.

The Saloon on Tuesday nights were quieter than the other days of the week. And more importantly, beer was discounted on Tuesday nights. After a particularly annoying shift where Morris breathed down his neck the whole time because "corporate could show up any minute", he felt like he needed several.

"Evening, Shane," Gus greeted, looking up from shining a beer mug. He owned the Saloon and baked a mean pizza.

"Gus," Shane acknowledged him, holding up one finger, and Gus understood that meant the usual.