Stardew Valley Story Collection!

A Chance Encounter

Summary:

Sebastian had never been one for social situations.

And yet here he was, sitting beside someone he had met just hours before. The worst part? He actually enjoyed the Farmer's company.

A/N (1):

my first sdv fic!!! hope you like it and that nobody's too OOC :3

cross posted on FF.net and ao3 (across-violet-skies) :)

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Sebastian had never been one for social situations.

He didn't mind being alone in his basement, in fact he found it quite endearing. He was content with the way things were, his semi-consistent routine keeping his life somewhat in check. He would wake up sometime around noon, drink a Joja cola while working on whatever coding project had captured his attention for the day, then head out to the lake around sundown to have a smoke. To his credit, Sebastian would go out on Friday nights, heading over to the local saloon to play a few games of pool before heading back to his basement.

And then things changed. It was early spring, and Sebastian was in his room, working on some mundane project that would never go any further. It was late afternoon, the smell of roasted cauliflower (his half-sister's favorite, of course) and unidentified meat wafting from upstairs. The scent itself wasn't very appetizing, but it reminded Sebastian that he hadn't eaten yet that day. He pushed his chair back, standing up and cracking his back before heading up to the ground floor of his home.

As expected, his family was sitting at the dinner table, all three of them giving him a glance before choosing to ignore his presence. It didn't bother Sebastian; he'd prefer not to have to interact with anybody anyway. He would just grab some food and go. Simple.

He dug through the fridge, frowning as he came up empty. All that was stocked were fruits and vegetables, plus a mostly-empty milk carton. Sebastian closed the fridge, sighing. This sucked. He couldn't wait until he had saved up enough to move to the city...

The front door burst open, disrupting Sebastian's thoughts. A stranger walked into the kitchen, smelling faintly of soil and saltwater. His family seemed to recognize the stranger, greeting them with smiles.

"Sebastian, have you met the Farmer yet?" His mother questioned, gesturing toward the stranger in their kitchen. He made eye contact with the Farmer, offering up an uncomfortable half-smile. He vaguely remembered Robin telling him about someone moving into the old abandoned cottage west of town... he supposed this farmer must be the newcomer.

"Oh... you just moved in, right? Cool," Sebastian murmured half-heartedly. The Farmer stared at him, nodded once, then began rustling through their bag. Sebastian was uncomfortable, unsure of what this strange person was doing, and why his family didn't seem to care. Was this normal? He didn't know.

The Farmer pulled a flounder out of their bag, holding it out triumphantly. They had an excited smile on their face, offering the fish to Sebastian's family.

"Thank you, but we already have something to eat." Robin dismissed the gift gently. "But you know, Sebastian really likes sashimi..." The Farmer's gaze settled on him, stepping closer to hand the dark-haired male the fish.

"Uh..." Sebastian hesitated, swallowing thickly before accepting the flounder. He gave it a once-over, decided it was a decent gift, and looked back up at the Farmer. "Thanks, I like this." The Farmer grinned, waving happily as they left. Sebastian let out a sigh of relief, still confused at the strange encounter.

"Sebby, the Farmer is really nice once you get to know them. Quiet, but really friendly," Robin explained, gaze traveling down to look at the flounder, then back up to her son's face. "They mean well. Do you need help preparing that?" The subject was changed quickly, and Sebastian shut it all down.

"No. I got it," he mumbled, turning away to prepare the fish. It was fresh, for sure, and it actually looked like a quality fish. Plus, it was flounder- Sebastian's favorite. How did the Farmer know? It had to be a coincidence. He made himself some sashimi, bringing the dish down to his basement room to enjoy the meal in the comfort of his own space. As odd as the Farmer was, Sebastian found himself feeling grateful they had shown up. At least now he got to eat something he enjoyed.

The sashimi was good, and Sebastian found himself in a lighter mood as the sky darkened, bringing nightfall soon after. He could hear his family upstairs, all heading off to bed. This was around the time he would usually go out for a smoke, so he tiptoed up the stairs, careful not to wake anybody, and snuck out the front door.

Sebastian stood on the edge of the lake, taking a drag of his cigarette. He felt the smoke fill his lungs, holding it for a second before exhaling. He heard the bushes rustle near him, quick to turn his head toward the source of the noise. Much to his surprise (and slight dismay), it was the Farmer.

"Uh..." Sebastian glanced to the side awkwardly, every bone in his body telling him to run back to the safety and comfort of his basement room. Still, he stayed. "I don't really know you," he stated bluntly. The Farmer nodded, stepping closer so that they were standing right beside Sebastian. They remained silent, however, so the dark-haired male just turned away, continuing to smoke.

As the last puff of smoke left his body, Sebastian put out his cigarette with a sigh. The Farmer was still there, now sitting in the grass. They seemed tired– which made sense, considering it was around 2 am– and barely made any move to get up as Sebastian started to walk back towards his house. Sebastian slowed his pace, glancing back at the Farmer. They were still sitting along the water's edge, utterly exhausted from whatever they had gotten up to during the day. It looked like they weren't planning to get up anytime soon.

Sebastian huffed, turning back to get the Farmer. If it had been any warmer outside, he would've just left them out here. But it was early spring, which meant the temperature was unpredictable and still a little chilly. Definitely too chilly to sleep outside on the grass, he decided. He gave the Farmer a slight nudge, muttering under his breath about how stupid it was that he was doing this. The Farmer didn't move, and Sebastian grumbled to himself as he went to scoop up the sleeping farmer. He carried them inside bridal style, his untrained body shaking slightly from the weight of another human being in his arms.

As he stepped foot inside his house, Sebastian briefly considered putting the Farmer on the floor and leaving them for one of his family members to deal with in the morning. However, a glance at the sleeping form in his arms changed his mind, and Sebastian instead found himself staggering down the steps to his room, doing his best not to knock the Farmer's limbs against the walls as he made his way downstairs.

He set the sleeping farmer down on his couch, half-heartedly draping a blanket over them before trudging off to bed himself, sinking into the familiar mattress. His eyes fluttered shut, and sleep found its way to him more easily than it normally would. Sebastian fell asleep peacefully, curled under a heavy blanket. He would sleep well tonight.

~

Sebastian woke up to find an empty room, no sign of the Farmer ever being there except for a small object sitting on top of a neatly-folded blanket. Curious, the dark-haired male dragged himself out of bed, quietly walking over to where the Farmer had spent the night. A clear, beautiful piece of quartz sat atop the blanket, a small thank you from the newest resident of Pelican Town.

Sebastian found himself staring at the quartz, transfixed by the Farmer's uncanny ability to give him the best gifts. Sebastian knew he had a strange taste in gifts too, which made the perfect offerings just that much odder. Still, he was grateful. Despite only knowing the Farmer for less than a day, he liked their presence. It had been strangely calming to have them there last night, even if he had been a bit unnerved at first.

Yeah, he was glad to have met them. He might've even been a little disappointed that they weren't still here. Still, somewhere in his heart Sebastian knew that would not be the last he saw of the unusual farmer.

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A/N (2):

thoughts? I have more ideas if anybody wants to see more Seb/nb player (probably not smut cause pretty much all of the available fic is smut and I want more variety)