[Stardew Valley] On the Edge - Shane

8

[content warning: mentions of ab*se]

After cake and other vaguely related birthday activities, Shane offered to walk Aria back to her farm. They ended up sitting at the dock and sharing a beer. He insisted to himself that it was fine because of his birthday, but it was his fourth beer and he was starting to feel that familiar, sluggish I've been drunk all fucking day post-buzz setting in.

Once a lull settled into their conversation, Shane sighed and looked into the empty Joja beer he'd just finished.

"Well, another rotation around the sun completed," Shane looked as his watch officially marked the start of the twenty first day of Spring.

"How do you feel?" Aria asked him, swishing her feet around in the lake below.

"If I'm being very honest, I didn't think I'd make it this far," Shane set the empty can down. "Just another year of self pity and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Now I'm all old and scruffy..."

Aria scoffed, toying with the tab on her aluminum can. She looked at him incredulously, her full lips set somewhere between an unbelieving smirk and a frown.

"Twenty nine's not old," She said. He gazed at her from the corner of her eye. Her age never crossed his mind, but if she was adamant about him not being old, she must not be far behind him. She, like the rest of the younger adults, had an energetic disposition that made her seem youthful. Her skin was smooth and showed no signs of age or wear from cigarettes or alcohol.

"Yeah? Well you must not be far behind then."

"Not far. I'm gonna be twenty six this year," Aria fiddled with the tab some more until she yanked it off. Shane's expression had no indications of surprise written on it. She didn't look older than him, that was for damn sure, but he didn't know she was older than the rest of the younger adult crowd in Pelican Town. "You've got like, at least two decades before you're even considered old."

"Yeah, maybe if I was healthier and didn't have an alcohol dependency." He muttered, rustling around in his pocket and producing the wrinkled card Harvey gave to him. Only one hole was punched in it, which didn't ring true to how much he'd actually consumed since then.

"I haven't even been following this damn thing like I should. Now I can check Dr. Harvey off the people I've disappointed list," He sighed. He could feel Aria's eyes rest on him. She sighed too.

"I don't think you're cutting yourself enough slack, Shane,"

His head turned at those words. "Cutting back on something that you've relied on heavily for a while isn't easy and won't happen overnight."

"Yoba, you sound like Harvey." Shane spat. It came out sharper than intended. Aria's expression didn't waver, she just looked out past the dock into the lake.

"Yeah, you've probably heard it already. But just cause it didn't work out the first time doesn't mean you've failed," Her voice was small but firm as she looked back at him. "It's progress."

He just looked back at her for a beat, mulling over what she said. Progress. After a moment of heavy silence, Shane shifted in his place. Aria was sitting closely to him - their thighs were nearly touching.

"Never thought about it like that, I guess," He admitted quietly.

"My folks didn't really believe in the whole cutting slack thing when I was growing up." He raised his left hand towards her and tilted it, revealing a small circular scar right below his palm. It'd long healed - the last time it happened had to be when he was eighteen and about to leave for college.

Aria's face fell when her eyes laid on the burn. There she went again with those big sad eyes. He looked away.

"When I fucked up, there wasn't much room for error. So I had to figure it out myself."