I got into Harvest Moon again recently...
You can see where this led...
Partially based off of one of Muffy's heart events in HM:AWL.
Just enjoy the MuffyxJack, please. ;)
- ikaism
Who said diaries were overrated?
Muffy lay comfortably on her stomach, her legs swinging as she pondered over what to write next. She scratched her thoughts onto the next blank page as they came to her, pausing only to correct a thought or modify it in some way. For her, writing was something of a clarifier – it allowed her to focus completely on her actual opinions rather than going through the motions on an unmediated whim.
"So, that was how the wedding went. Quite a terrible finish, if you ask me…" Muffy sighed and pressed her favorite fluffy pink pen against her lips, her expression fixed in distress as she recalled the discomfort she had experienced at the social portion of one of her closer friend's weddings earlier that evening. Although her time in Forget-Me-Not Valley wasn't as long as most of the locals', it still felt as though her time away from the big city had placed a serious rift between her and her previous life. It was weird enough coming to terms with the fact that her friend was getting married, given the reputation of bouncing from guy to guy at an unpredictable ratio that had been the label so commonly associated with her and Muffy and their other friends, but it felt even more odd to hear that the rest of their group continued with the lifestyle Muffy had been known for pre-Forget-Me-Not-Valley.
"He's not that good looking, though, girl!"
"Puh-lease. I was bored that night and everyone was out of town. You know that it was just to pass the time."
"Hahahaha!" Incredulous laughter. "I cannot believe you guys are continuing those kinds of relationships!"
"Pfft, what relationships? I think your new husband has changed you. I'm glad for your marriage and all, but I'm still living that good life."
"Isn't she right, though? Settling down right about now doesn't sound bad at all."
"Muffy, you too? Don't tell me that country life you started is making even you soft!"
"Soft? What, me? I work at a bar, there's no way…"
"A bar in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Small towns aren't ideal for the real kind of fun."
"Oh, stop! Haha, you swear like that's the only good thing guys are for…!"
"When did you stop believing that?"
"Haha! …Were you joking? That was a joke, right?"
"Muffy, tell me, how many dates have you had since you moved there? And by dates, I don't mean little outings. I mean, the different men. You're a pretty little thing!"
"Oh. Um. Well… Since I've left the city…? Let's see…"
"… Something tells me that you're taking so long to answer because you can't recall a single time rather than tallying up the total number…"
"…Is that a bad thing…?"
"Muffy! Really? Okay then, at least tell me how many fine things you've been keeping an eye on!"
"Oh, um…" Muffy remembered sheepishly pushing back her mane of blonde curls and giving her slightly scandalous friend an apologetic smile. "Gee. I guess he's the only one…"
"One? Girl, that is such a let-down in comparison to the numbers you used to reel in!"
"But, you have to realize-…!"
"No. No realizing!" A long swig of drink caused an awkward silence before her friend continued. "You're a softy now, Muffy. Don't let the town bumpkinize you until you up and turn into a little goody-two-shoe bride like this one!" She flicked the newlywed of the group.
"Ow… Hey!"
"No offense, girl."
"Sure… None taken…"
The conversation went from their love lives to all of the contrasts Muffy's new life had in relation to their wilder and more revved up style of living. It got to the point where even the bride couldn't side with Muffy anymore and began to team up on her too. Although the main event had really nothing to do with her at all, Muffy couldn't help but feel that her contribution to the wedding had been giving her so-called friends a living example of what not to become and how not to go about their lives. It had left an empty twist in her stomach and a sour taste in her mouth.
Of course, Muffy had been prone to dispelling her bitter moods with alcoholic inflections in her city days, as well as her earlier stages after first moving into the Valley, but time, and Griffin's warnings to boot her from the bar if she continued with her unholy amounts of excessive product consumption, had shaped her venting into the form of staring into the streams of the Valley and allowing her anger to sync with the more violent, but beautiful, images of nature.
Muffy wasn't hard to spot once her more negative moods made an appearance- something about the absence of her usual charming smile provoked people into noticing that something was up. Although she ignored the first couple of people that came around (Rock's cocky observations and Hugh's innocent taunting were never things to address when in one of her more dangerous states of mind), it all seemed to go away when Jack crossed that bridge and gently approached her with a friendly and tentative disposition.
"Oh!" As the more pleasant memories of the day descended into her reflection, she pressed the pen's tip against the next line in the half-written page of that day's diary entry, a smile overpowering her previous gloom. "I guess the highlight of the day was running into Jack when that disaster was over." As she continued to scribble down her thoughts, she slowed to a pause and frowned. With all of the mental provoking that her friend had done, it wasn't hard to spot Jack's reoccurring presence in her diary entries now.
Had she really gone soft, as they said?
"No. No. I can't believe I'm actually considering that jumble of babbles they were going on about." Muffy huffed and continued to write about her encounter with Jack, but her concentration failed and her hand stopped its motion across the paper.
But. Jack.
Back in the old days, Muffy wouldn't dare allow herself to fall into a man's trap.
"Use them before they use you," her friends would tell her. She listened well enough, but every now and then, she made the mistake of falling too far in.
"I… really did believe it…"
"Muffy, they make you think that for their own personal gain. That's why you make them think it first. That's why you play them. So they don't get the chance to play you."
She'd thrived on those words, harder and more actively with every mistake she made. However, her sheer determination couldn't prevent her from making them again. It wasn't long until her worst heartbreak made her want to stop with any and every kind of contact that was nonpermanent in the world-
And so, she moved to Forget-Me-Not Valley.
Although she had played around a bit after that, a sort of revenge she had assembled against the male population, and meant to stop there on after, her charming demeanor had remained. It was who she had become. And it wasn't as though she disliked herself anyway; it was the dirt bags who had made her believe lies she held distaste for.
People in the Valley were different though. They didn't go by the city's dog-eat-dog rules. They were kind and considerate and attached and mindful of what mattered. Muffy loved it from the very beginning.
Yes, there were men in the Valley. But none of them were quite what Muffy was used to enchanting, and so none received more than her typical charming personality. Until Jack arrived. But it wasn't her fault that he always seemed to be so willing to help her. It wasn't her fault he visited her often and would sporadically buy her a drink or bring her a gift. It wasn't her fault that she was maybe getting a little too charmed by him.
No.
Maybe Muffy had been paying way too much attention to this one particular guy. But maybe it was okay this time around. She wasn't in the city anymore. She was in the Valley, the place with all of the nice people and her quaint but enjoyable job and tranquil imagery and highly admirable people.
And maybe she was trying a tad too hard to justify a crush.
"But, Jack did come up to me earlier today… I say he deserves a little section of his own in this entry if it's supposed to be an accurate recollection of my day…"
It didn't sound like she was justifying it at all.
She felt her face heat up mildly as she remembered their exchange and how it had significantly lifted her mood:
It was around 11 AM. She had stayed the night in the city because of how late the wedding had run, and so didn't manage to get back into the Valley until around 10:00 AM. On her way home, she realized that she would be far too stressed out to be able to regard anyone without biting their head off; she certainly did not want to unleash such an anger on her boss, so she settled for stopping by the bridge to cool off for a bit.
Muffy stared down at the streaming water, quietly watching a few fish scatter and the sides of the stream lap up at its banks. Her reflection stared back at her, moody and uncharacteristic.
"They didn't have to go so far…" She mumbled softly, leaning over the edge with caution.
"If you take a picture, it'll last longer."
"Ugh, Rock…" Muffy didn't even have to turn around to recognize the carefree blonde's voice. "Now isn't really the time…"
"I'm only kidding, Muffy." Rock laughed that semi-annoying, semi-cute laugh he had. He walked over to her and met her eyes through the water's reflection. "If I were you, I'm pretty sure I'd stare at myself all day, too!"
Muffy rolled her eyes. On any other day, she would have found this cute or nice or something along those lines, but at that moment, it was only irritating.
"You're funny."
Rock frowned and patted her shoulder once as he turned to walk away. "Sorry. Feel a bit better, eh?"
A few minutes later, little Hugh jogged by and hollered a line that was a little too close to Rock's for it to be a coincidence. Muffy withheld her impatience when Rock swung by and reprimanded Hugh, just a little late on calling off his Taunt Muffy plan. Those boys would be facing some sort of trouble later.
They went away, though, and Muffy was left simmering in her thoughts for about 5 more minutes when another, but more pleasant, person surprised her by walking up next to her and tapping her on the shoulder.
"Muffy…?"
"Oh, Jack!" Muffy smiled at him habitually. She hesitated for a moment, but then turned in the direction of home. If she could face somebody and smile, that meant she wouldn't have a fouled up mood when she came across Griffin, right? "What a coincidence! I was just coming home from the wedding of a friend I worked with when I was a secretary."
She took a few steps forward, and then continued walking when Jack matched her pace, staying by her side. "But it wasn't much fun."
The farmer to her right frowned, his light brown eyes darting to hers in an instant. "How unexpected. Why is that?"
Muffy sighed and allowed her smile to fall. "Everyone wanted to know what I was up to these days…" She slowed to a stop and frowned. Jack tilted his head at her.
"So you told them about Forget-Me-Not Valley..?" He asked, a subtle urge for her to continue.
Muffy nodded, looking away from him. "They all thought it was funny that I was working in a bar in a town like this." She shifted from one foot to the other in discomfort. "I had lived there until recently, but it was like I didn't fit in at all." She paused briefly, still focusing away from him. "I think I'm more cut out for this kind of life, don't you?"
Jack silently looked at her for a moment, and then took a step closer before saying, "I think you're better off in the city."
The astonished expression Muffy couldn't help but take on when she spun on her heels to face him forced Jack into laughter. "Muffy! You couldn't believe that! Hahaha!" He doubled over slightly and Muffy pouted at him.
"What…?"
Jack straightened up, stifling a few uncontrollable giggles. "Heh… I meant… You couldn't believe that you're better off in the city." He smiled at her brightly, his fingers barely brushing her arm. "I was joking, you know. You're better off here, of course."
Her heart skipped a beat when he didn't immediately look away, but she shook it off by laughing and replying with, "That's right! This is my home!" Before she could stop it, she blurted out, "I want to get married and stay here until I'm an old woman!"
Jack simply held his smile, maybe even widening it a little, but Muffy felt an internal twinge of mortification and hastily walked past him.
"Um, I should be getting back now. But," she kind of tugged at his arm as she walked by, taking a few steps backwards in order to look at him, "Thank you so much, Jack."
He nodded at her with understanding and laughed quietly. "Anytime, Muffy."
She gave him one more smile and turned back into the direction of home. She felt well enough to see anyone now and even happily denounce her friends' speculations if the opportunity had been available.
Muffy puffed out her cheeks and exhaled slowly, quickly shutting her diary. "That's too much thinking right now. Jack can wait." Maybe she was overanalyzing her own actions when she deemed it as a precautionary motion, but she didn't argue with herself for the sake of sanity. The last thing she needed was her friends telling her that the country had warped her mind into an unapproachable object too.
She slipped out of bed and rushed to tuck her diary and favorite pen back into their secret places at the bar and returned to the warm confines of her bed. She sighed into her pillow and pulled her sheets close around her, mumbling, "You're the only warmth I need." For now. No. Ever. No. Muffy twitched with impatience and shut her eyes with deliberate force. It wasn't time to think anymore.
How was that for a first chapter? ;D - ikaism
Leave me some feedback to help me get rid of this Writer's Block, please!
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