Intoxicated (Stardew Valley)

Chapter One

THE NEXT FEW days went by quickly, something I was not accustomed to. When working for Joja Corporations, time seemed endless. It was like a never-ending cycle of the same constant routine. But with life here in the Valley, everyday was something new. An adventure.

As it turns out, I was pretty decent at this farming lifestyle! I successfully planted the parsnips that Mayor Lewis had gifted me and made sure to water them regularly. I continued to expand my farm and buy new spring speeds, even putting wooden fences around them. My muscles would ache and my head would spin at the end of the day, but the work was worth it.

The one thing I dreaded the most was socializing. Robin had advised me to introduce myself to the town, as they all had been wondering about my arrival. But being sociable wasn't my forte — I never had time to make friends when I lived in the city.

And so I had made it a mission to talk to everyone. It was difficult when everyone had their own day-to-day schedules and followed a set routine. It was next to impossible to find a certain person while also trying to trek myself through the forests and the stone paths of town.

Eventually I had found most people, whether it be in their homes, near the mountains, or deep within the tall trees. There were a few people I had missed, like the figure rumoured to be living in the dark tower toward the west, and Marnie's nephew. Not meeting the former was understandable—I didn't dare venture to that side of town yet—and the latter was because apparently, he was always busy.

After watering my plants for the day, I walked toward Town Square and saw Alex standing outside his house. I spotted him immediately with his tousled brown hair and green varsity jacket.

I approached him and he smiled. "Mae!" He had a gridball between his hands. I had to admire his dedication to sports and dreams of becoming an athlete. He was quite a flirt, though.

"Hey," I greeted and stood beside him, watching the day unfold.

"What do you think of my new haircut?"

I looked at him and saw that his hair was slightly trimmed, but it was still a flop, and he definitely used too much hair gel.

"It's nice," was all I could really say. "It suits you."

We stood there in comfortable silence. Alex then broke the silence and I assumed he was going to say some sort of conceited sentence, until he asked, "Have you talked to everyone in town yet?"

"No," I said sheepishly. "There's Marnie's nephew. No idea who he is."

Alex made a clicking sound with his mouth and glanced toward the right. "You mean Shane?"

Ah so, that's his name. I made a mental note of it in my head.

"Speaking of," Alex said. I followed his gaze and saw a familiar shade of blue heading toward us. "I'm surprised he's not drunk. You know, the usual."

I gave Alex a confused look and he explained, "He spends most of his days in the Saloon drinking. He and Pam are known as Pelican Town's Drunks. He's on his way to work right now. Now would probably be a good time to introduce yourself."

He gently grabbed my arm and pushed me toward Shane's direction. My eyes widened in shock as I found myself walking towards him. I heard Alex whistle and return back to throwing the gridball in the air.

As I got closer, Shane's features started to get distinct. He had unkept hair that seemed like a dark shade of purple, and I wanted to smack myself for having the sudden urge to try to rake his hair to look somewhat decent. Under his eyes, I could recognize dark circles from the lack of sleep. He had a trace of stubble underlying the bottom of his mouth.