[Stardew Valley] On the Edge - Shane

11

"Just a little further, Shane! I see something up ahead - Gas station? Yoba? Salvation?"

The pair would've been pulling into Pelican Town by this hour, returned back to the lush valley along the dirt path towards Aria's farm. Instead, both of their backs were pressed against the edge of the cargo bed and pushing the little red truck that Aria promised would get them back to the valley safely.

Surprise, surprise - it didn't.

Not much further ahead from them in the darkening desert glowed what looked like a gas station and a small rundown inn next to it.

"Well, I'm getting my workout for the year," Shane grumbled as they pushed the poorly truck along the long stretch of road. Aria sighed - well, it was more of a labored grunt as she swiped sweat off of her brow. The combined strength of a former gridball player and a farmer who'd only recently started practicing her hand in combat was only enough to move the vehicle a couple of feet at a time.

As they pushed, the wind started to pick up. It began as a tame breeze which Aria and Shane both paused to savor, letting it cool them down from their unexpected labor. But then it quickly picked up, mussing their hair and flinging sand into their eyes as they continued to push. The breeze turned into a violent gale as they finally reached the gas station.

"Hi there sir, is there a mechanic around here?" Aria asked with not a ton of hope in her breathless voice. It was a quarter to eight already and most mechanics were probably closed for the night.

"Y'all came in the nick of time," The older gentleman behind the register calmly told her, observing the two's disheveled appearances. The embroidered name tag sewn onto his shirt read "Joe". He completely disregarded Aria's question while his eyes did not lift from the newspaper he was reading.

"Road's about to be no good to drive on. Dust storm's coming in from the west. Won't be clear till the morning."

Aria bit the inside of her cheek in thought and glanced out of the storefront window. What once was a picturesque lavender desertscape had been dominated by a muddy whirlwind of tan. She was almost scared to see the look on Shane's face when she realized what this meant.

"I'd grab your snacks, beer, whatever and then get in as soon as possible if I was you," Joe drawled, finally glancing up at Aria."It's hot during the day out here, but gets real windy and bitterly cold at night. Don't want windburn on that pretty face, do ya?"

Aria shrunk back, sighing and looking up at Shane, as if prompting him to try to get an answer out of him instead. Although this would've been a perfectly reasonable thing to be annoyed at, it'd been a day with virtually no other annoyances. In fact, it'd been a pretty damn good day - he was sure that under regular circumstances, he'd definitely be pissed.

"And where do you suggest we stay since our car's broken down and there's no mechanic in sight?"

–

"Couch pulls out into a bed - don't pinch your fingers in the springs. TV turns on with the remote but the cable gets spotty in dust storms." Joe explained once he opened one of the inn doors to reveal a room that looked like it belonged on the set of a horror movie.

Dingy yellowed walls and mysteriously brown carpet that crunched when it was stepped on welcomed them. It didn't look like brown was its original color. A small green couch was nestled into the corner and the bed was pushed to the far side of the room, directly under a ceiling tile that was heavy with some dark fluid.

"This is a hell of a way to get customers..." Aria muttered only loud enough for Shane to hear as Joe demonstrated how to turn the shower without immediately getting scalded with hot water. A grin crawled onto his face at her comment.