[Stardew Valley] On the Edge - Shane

18

"Okay, now this is the ocean."

Jas explains, motioning her little arm over a blue blanket that was laid out in front of her. Aria knelt next to her, following suit as Jas walked her own dolls to the "ocean". It was nearing ten o'clock in the evening and she was clearly ecstatic to be up past her bedtime. In an hour, the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies would be taking place, marking the end of Summer. Shane watched the two from the couch with a seltzer in his grip. It's not alcoholic, but the bitter carbonation could almost pass for beer if he drinks it fast enough.

"Yeah! Then the Mayor will take a lantern and float it off. Like this," Jas rolls a crumpled paper ball onto the blue blanket as a demonstration. "And then you gotta wait and be quiet for a little. Cause if you're loud the jellies will get scared and they'll come slower." 

"What happens when they do come?" Aria prompted Jas with a smile. Shane couldn't help but smile just from watching the two interact. Aria was gentle in general, but she was especially so with Jas, engaging her and humoring her in childish conversation.

"They swim up really close. They'll bring their babies and families. You've gotta make a wish when you see the green one," Jas shuts her eyes and presses her palms together. "Like this. What will you wish for, Miss Aria?"

"What will I wish for...?" Aria repeats the question in thought, setting Jas' dolls down. Shane continues to observe as she mulls it over. For a second, he notices her gaze grow distant. If he blinked, he would've missed the way her grin fell slightly, but it perked back up before Jas could even look back at her. He found it eerie how quickly she'd switched back. "I would wish for a giant bowl of cereal." She says decidedly.

"What?!" Aria's famous toothy grin makes its return at Jas' shriek in disbelief. Sometimes Shane felt like there was an invisible tether between his lips and Aria's. Because whenever she smiled, no matter how he was feeling at that moment, he did too. Her gaze fixed onto his and she acknowledged him with a little smirk. He just blushed and looked away, taking another swig of his seltzer.

"Yeah! Like the size of a swimming pool so you could float on all of the Joja Flakes! Wouldn't that be cool?" Aria could've convinced Shane with her excited tone. Jas tilted her head as if to consider the pros and cons of floating on giant cereal in a pool full of milk. "That would be kinda cool," Jas agreed. Marnie emerged from outside, dusting the dirt and hay off of her skirt.

"Cows and chickens are all in. Ready to go, crew?" Marnie asked, looking up at the storefront clock. Jas was the first to get up, jumping up excitedly and discarding the dolls into the blanket ocean. Aria followed shortly after and sauntered towards Shane with an affectionate grin. He just glanced back at her almost dreamily. Life with Aria as his girlfriend had been so good to him. It'd been a few weeks since it was made official and he still couldn't believe she was his. She wanted him, of all people. Once he was up, he grabbed her hand in his and the four walked to the beach.

Shane didn't remember much from last year's Dance of the Moonlight Jellies apart from being dragged home from the Saloon after it ended. He hated the fact that blacking out never really erased the memories he wanted gone – just the pleasant ones.

Above the dock the moon hung brightly, illuminating everything that the floating lanterns in the ocean couldn't quite reach. All of Pelican Town's inhabitants were either on the docks or lingering nearby, the hum of their collective chatter washed out by the hiss of the waves breaking on the shore. "Do they really come up this close?" Aria asked, stepping towards the edge of the dock and peering downwards. "I've only ever heard Grandpa talk about this, it's my first time actually seeing it."

"Yeah, they do. Every year, just like clockwork – it's pretty amazing to witness." Shane answered her, catching a glimpse of her with that far away expression as she glanced below. Their hands lingered closely between them, her pinky looped loosely around his ring finger. Together, they made their way to an empty spot on the dock and sat with their feet dangling over the sea. From their spot they could see Lewis send off the torch. It wasn't long at all before everything grew completely dark, the only light source being the moon for a few moments.