North Star Highway || Sebastian x Reader (Stardew Valley)

1 || Sanctuary

"—Aaaand, this should be the last of it. Friday sure comes fast, huh?" Said a man in his late years as he hauled a heavy package of chopped logs onto the back of his sage green pickup. The man wipes his sweat from his graying brows, turning to you with a small, yet honest grin that hides behind the tufts of his thick mustache.

"Reminds me of the good old days with your grandpa. He'd be proud if he knew how hard you've been working to restore this farm, (Y/N)."

"Pfft, it's nothing." You hastily brush his compliment off along with the debris that's been stuck to your clothes since who knows when. "I'm just doing my job to pay my respects, Mr. Lewis."

"Well if you ask me personally, I'd say you've already been doing a great job at making this old man proud."

The man, who identified himself as Lewis, lets out a hearty laugh, patting you on the back with the force enough to have you stumbling had you failed to pay much attention to him. This was a common occurrence, and even though you'd already gotten used to his fond– albeit a little too strong– gesture, today wasn't exactly a day for you to be able to react properly.

"Whoa—!" Stumbling forward, you shoot Lewis a joking glare faster than you could regain your balance. As much as he was the respectable mayor of Pelican Town, there's some moments where you find annoyance at his overly-friendly gestures. It might be because he's just an old fart, but maybe this man's trying too hard to act like your grandfather. It's almost endearing– only if you weren't just trying to end the conversation already.

"Alright, I get it, pops!" You joke at the mayor, earning another grin as he motions a small "sorry" at how you've stumbled from his familiar gesture. "I just hope my old man can rest easy knowing I've taken over his farm. Now, if you'll excuse me.."

You gesture towards the truck, catching the mayor's attention as he immediately understands the point you're making. "Calling it a day? Well then, let me know when you need more resources shipped out! I'll see you next time, Mx. (Y/N)."

Securing the back of his pickup truck, the mayor finally enters his vehicle before momentarily driving away, leaving you to your own devices as you lean against the shipping box and let out a heavy sigh.

Time to call it a day.

"7:52pm" Your watch reads as you take off your thick gloves and toss it into a bucket for tomorrow's share of labor. Despite taking care in making sure the watch doesn't get any grime or gunk, it's clearly seen better days since you've started working on the farm. You mutter, "Time to get cleaned up."

"Ugh." Another sigh leaves your lips as you make your way inside, working your sore muscles one last time to move around and stretch just to find relief from today's tasks around the farm. Just this morning, you felt like you had the energy to run several laps around the entire neighborhood, but now you find yourself resisting the comfort of the couch and instead heading to the bathroom just so you wouldn't add another chore to your to-do list. You scoff at your own words this morning. "Chop half the trees on the farm, I said. It'll be fun, I said."

Tumbling into the shower, you let yourself relax against the running water as you feel all the dirt wash off and your thoughts start to drift away from work and then to your previous life before inheriting your grandfather's farm.

Back then, all you had to worry about was your old 9-5, taking out the trash, and wondering what to get for dinner from the local convenience store. You still had responsibilities back then, but they can't compare to the responsibilities you have now with the large farm and all.

Another tiring work day tomorrow for me.

You thought to yourself. It's only been a few weeks since spring started, and you've already found yourself exhausted from how much more physically taxing it's been just to clear the farm before you could even start planting anything. As much as you've tried to alternate the work between clearing rocks, chopping trees, or just overall getting rid of debris, all you'd have at the end of the day is dinner, maybe a few minutes of television, sleep, and the next day an aching body that still needs to do more work.