Looks for the Light

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Making the Most of It | Adam and Molly

[ranchstory-adam]

"My father used to own a farm" he explained. "We had to sell it when he died so I could go to school… I used to work with him on it all the time, so I kind of have the experience to a degree’

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"I'm sorry for the loss of you father," Molly said somberly. "It's great that you had that experience on the farm, though. If you don't mind me asking, what did you go to school for? And did you manage to buy back your father's farm?" She tilted her head to the side in curiosity.

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Making the Most of It | Adam and Molly

[ranchstory-adam]

He made a mental note about the rosy cheeks, but nodded with a smile. “Yeah… Twins. Born recently. They’re a handful” he said with a little laugh. “It was only recently we just got to get some sleep actually… The last few weeks have been hell on earth. Feed them, eat ourselves, work, feed them again, put them to bed again, work… Deal with them waking up, feed, change, work… Ugh”

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"Yep, it sounds like a lot of feeding and work, but no sleep." Molly smiled. Nope, she was definitely not ready for that. Then again, who ever was? The funny thing was though... Adam didn't look much older than her. She wondered about his age, but she supposed it would be rude to ask. It's just that he seemed to have accomplished so much compared to her. Running a farm, raising a family... 

"Heh, you'll have to give me some tips sometime. I lived in the city all my life, so I'm a total newbie at all this." 

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Making the Most of It | Adam and Molly

[ranchstory-adam]

Adam smiled a bit. “Yeah, I kind of guessed. I’ve been doing this a couple of years, got a nice living, a few animals, doing good with crops… Trying to raise a family. I’m in Castanet for supplies and to explore some”

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Molly cheeks brightened to a rosy pink as he mentioned a family. "Oh? That's amazing!" She chuckled a bit. "You got some tykes running around? How old are they?" Adam must have had quite the successful farm if he could raise a family on it. Molly herself never considered having to support anyone but herself, but she supposed she ought to think about it if this farm thing turned out to be long-term. (Which she hoped it would be.) 

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Hot Chocolate, Warm Heart | Kai and Molly

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"Yeah. I just wish I could’ve treated her better." He ran his hand up his forehead, pulling off his bandana slightly to reveal short, dark brown hair sticking up underneath. He took it off the rest of the way, letting his short, unkempt hair out, and held the bandana in his hands.

"Well, still," he grinned up at her, his mood restored. "It was great while it lasted. And that was all I could ask of Nani." He leaned forward, cheerful as ever. "So how about you, Molly? What did you do before farming?" He was interested to hear what kind of life she had led and, perhaps, what had made her pick farming.

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Watching Kai remove his bandana reminded Molly that she was still wearing her own Winter clothing (save for her gloves). Considering that she wasn't planning on going anywhere, she decided she could get more comfortable. Grabbing the little ball of puff on top her hat, she pulled it off in one swift motion, causing her already fluffy hair to fizz around her face. She unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and folded both articles of clothing neatly on the table. 

"My life wasn't nearly as exciting as yours, I'm afraid. I was nurse," Molly explained. "I worked 12 hour shifts at an ER three days a week and went to school the other three." She chuckled. "I wouldn't recommend it for anyone, but at the time I thought it was what I wanted to do."

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A Date for Dares | Aria and Molly

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Aria  blushed, a pang of hurt striking her heart at the mention of her parents. She didn’t want to look weak by revealing that she was alone now, especially not to someone she had just met. “Well thank you, I really try hard to keep this place up. It’s my home…” And the only part of my family that I have left, she thought. “Why wouldn’t I take pride in it?” She beamed, thinking it was time to show Molly the rest of the town.

"The Mayor takes really good care of everything in this town, and he wouldn’t stand to see me let the farm go to ruin. He helped my dad build the school, too." Aria changed the subject as she walked back to the elevator. "The whole town is beautiful, and the scenery surrounding it…" she held down a snicker, thinking of the climate-oriented locations, "is everything you could ever want."

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Smiling, Molly followed Aria back to the elevator, this time stepping into the machine with less concern for her safety. 

"Oh your father built the school in this town? That's really impressive." It was a bit odd to her that a farmer would build a school, but in small towns like this she supposed it wasn't unheard of for people to have multiple jobs and responsibilities. 

The elevator lifted them to the top floor of the barn once again and Molly was hit with a cooler temperature, reminding her that while it was warm and dry in the basements, it was still in the middle or winter outside. As they exited the building, Molly turned to Aria and smiled.

"I'm sure it's much nicer here in the Spring time. I can't see much of anything when everything is covered in snow." She let out a laugh. "Thank you again for showing me around."  

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Hot Chocolate, Warm Heart | Kai and Molly

[summer-summerboy-deactivated201]

"Where to start," he mused, leaning back in his chair. He closed his eyes, remembering the first time he laid eyes on Nani. No, the other Nani… his Nani.

"She was docked at a port, unused and lonely. I could practically hear her calling my name. Kaiii," he imitated a woman’s lonely voice. "Kaiii. So of course I had to check her out." His eyes slowly opened. "She was so beautiful. She was a sailboat with a gorgeous mast that reached to the sky and when the light hit the sails.." he sighed, unable to describe it perfectly. "It was like she came alive. I visited her every time we docked and became good friends with the guy who owned her, Nicholas. Everyone called him Nick though."

"But then the company I was working for went out of business. I made my last rounds around the port, saying goodbye to all the workers and the boats. And when I came to her, I knew I couldn’t just leave her there."

"So I talked to Nick and he set me up a special discount. I gave him a down payment from my earnings and then paid off the rest as the years went on." His grin was back as he remembered the day he had wrangled that discount out of Nick. It had been hard, and he had to give the old man a lot of fish to sweeten the deal, but it had happened.

"Unfortunately," he sighed, frowning, "my luck wasn’t all that great this past year. Nani needed some new parts and I didn’t have the money to get them for her. So I had to leave it like that, making makeshift repairs as best I could, but it got too much for her. She sank." He looked away, sighing again. "I escaped but.. there was no way to save her. She’s at the bottom of the ocean now." He leaned back, slumping in his chair slightly; the story seemed to have taken a toll on him.

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The expressions on Molly's face mimicked Kai's unconsciously as she listened to his story. They shifted from pride, amusement, disappointment, and finally to broken-hearted as it came to a close. Well, she certainly wasn't expecting this tale to end in tragedy. 

"I'm sorry, Kai. Nani sounded like she was a very special ship." Molly was never sure how much her consolation helped, but it always came easily to her. She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the wooden table, catching herself from giving him a hug, or even just a pat on the shoulder. While Kai seemed open, you could never be sure how comfortable people felt about being touched. 

"If it's any help, I think it was better that Nani got to go out and sail with a captain who really cared for her rather than stay docked for a couple of extra years. You always risk failure when you decide to venture out into the world, but is staying sheltered doesn't help you gain anything, either." She gave a smile, though it wasn't a particularly happy one. "It's no better to be safe than sorry."    

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Hot Chocolate, Warm Heart | Kai and Molly

[summer-summerboy-deactivated201]

"Do I look like a bad guy?" He laughed. Noticing her finishing the last of her drink, he nodded to it. "Would you like another? While I regale you with the tale of my beautiful Nani?"

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Molly grinned, glad to hear a genuine laugh from him. "I'm not sure I know what bad guys look like. If you do, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me; it would save me a lot of grief." She glanced down at her empty cup, considering his offer for a moment. "No thank you. I think I splurged  enough just on my trip here. I need to save money for a hot chocolate tomorrow, too." Chuckling, she smiled back up at Kai. 

"Now let's hear about your beautiful Nani."

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A Date for Dares | Aria and Molly

[arias-adventure]

"Oh really? That doesn’t surprise me one bit, you seem to get along really well with the monsters… err- animals. You have that natural aura~" Aria hoped that she hadn’t noticed that little slip. She swept up some droppings into a barrel used for composting, and generally busied herself straightening up things while she listened to Molly, her cheeks dimpling with pride when she asked for her advice. 

"Well," Aria started, not exactly sure what to tell her. "My dad did most of the work here, but he started from scratch just like you~" She tapped her chin, thinking of any advice to give. "Since it’s winter, there’s not a lot you can really do but prepare for spring. Make repairs to any damaged buildings, stock up grain for the animals. If you’re short on funds, I suggest mining. You can increase your skill and strength for the hard work on the farm, and make money by selling your finds~"

Aria itched at her nose, and swept a strand of hair behind her ear, “I’ve never been asked for advice before.”

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Molly nodded, watching Aria work and mentally taking notes. She was so sure of herself with what she was doing and around the animals. Molly was positive she would just stumble about her own barn without knowing heads or tails what she was doing for a good while. Here though... everything was so organized.

"Started from scratch, huh? Nice to know I'm not the only one in this situation." The suggestion about mining caught her attention. Huh... the idea never occurred to her. Fishing, maybe. But mining? Didn't most people leave that kind of stuff to the professionals? Then again, selling metals and other rare gems did seem more profitable than fish. Molly was pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed Aria's bashful expression. Chuckling a bit, she offered her a grin. 

"Well you better get used to it, young lady. You and your family are running a lovely farm here, and you can bet that people will be flocking to you for advice when you take over. It's easy to see how intelligent and resourceful you are." 

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Making the Most of It | Adam and Molly

[ranchstory-adam]

Adam smiled as he shook her hand. “I’m not from around here, no. Just visiting. I live on a farm past the lake, I usually take a boat to get here”

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Molly's eyes brightened. "Oh, so you're a farmer as well?" She let out a laugh, puffs of white air filling the air as she did so. "That's great, so am I! Er, if you couldn't guess that, is." She scratched her cheek as she smiled. Didn't she already mention that she just moved onto the farm? Anyone could guess that she was a farmer. 

"So Adam, what brings you to Castanet?" 

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Hot Chocolate, Warm Heart | Kai and Molly

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"But just deciding to get a farm when you know how much work goes into it is an indication of how dedicated you are, I think. Or it means you’re really dense." He laughed. "But that’s obviously not the case." He smiled charmingly at her. "I didn’t know a thing about sailing when I first started to learn. Now I like to think I’m pretty good. What do people say…" he paused, brows furrowing. "Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something?" He shrugged, sure that his meaning got across. "Something like that."

"And I would never dream of judging your farm. It sounds awesome, really. Like my old boat. She was a chatty thing. Her engines were always humming, the doors creaked, the waves pounding against the hull, how the winds hit the sails. Everything was unique to her." He sighed, thinking how much he really did miss her. "I miss her," he finally finished, chuckling weakly.

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The corners of Molly's mouth turned upward into a thin smile. "Thanks, Kai. You know, you're not such a bad guy." She took a final swing from her mug before the last of her hot chocolate dripped into her mouth. Seeing as she wasn't going anywhere with the snow still falling outside and she wasn't quite ready to retire to her room yet, Molly leaned back into her chair as an indication that she wasn't planning on going anywhere despite being finished with her drink. 

"You never did tell me what happened to you boat," she prodded softly, her eyebrows lifting slightly and opening up her face up. Kai seemed legitimately upset about whatever happened, even though he tried to laugh it off. She gave him encouraging smile, on that she hoped conveyed that he could talk to her, but he didn't need to if he didn't want to.    

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A Date for Dares | Aria and Molly

[arias-adventure]

Aria ruffled the animals’ heads, making her way to the feed-shoot to get some fodder for them. She smiled, pleased that Molly was taking things so well. “Toodles, Bear, Rodger,” she sounded off, “and Grubba over there seems to have taken a liking to you.” She was very proud of her animals, her father and her had trained them to be very friendly.

Aria sprinkled some fresh hay over their breakfast and watched Molly pet Grubba, who usually was standoffish.

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A wide grin made its way onto Molly's face as Aria mentioned that Grubba took a liking to her. 

"I love animals," she explained as she continued to pet Grubba's head. "It's one of the reasons I decided that I should give farming a try. I can't really afford any cows or chickens yet, but I'm hoping I could save up enough money to get my first animal be Spring." Molly glanced up at Aria, realizing that this was the first time she actually mentioned her own farm.

"I run a farm back on Castanet Island. It's not as nice as this one yet, but it's a good plot of land." She chuckled and stood from the ground. "Apparently it's not the smartest thing to try and start up a farm in the middle of Winter, but I'm glad I did because it'll give me the chance to settle in and meet some people. Any advice for the newbie?"   

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Making the Most of It | Adam and Molly

[ranchstory-adam]

Adam, who was taking a walk around the area to explore some, jolted in surprise when the woman came up to him.

"Nope, just looking around. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before though…" Adam replied, holding out a hand. "I’m Adam"

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Molly smiled and slipped her gloved hand into his, giving it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you Adam, my name is Molly." She laughed a bit when he mentioned not seeing her around before. 

"I'm not surprised, I just moved onto the farm a few weeks back, so I'm still pretty new." She let her hand fall back to her side. "Are you from town? I've made some rounds to introduce myself to a few people, but I don't think I've seen you." 

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Go talk to 3 strangers and offering them a treat of your choice.

"Oh! I'd rather give treats to friends than strangers..." Molly looked at her shelf and smiled. "But I suppose it's a swell way to make new friends!" 

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[ Truth ]: Do you believe in an absolute truth? Or do you believe that truth is subject to interpretation?

"Facts are facts and there's no changing that, in my opinion. How you dress up those facts could affect your interpretation, but there's no changing the core reality."

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Dare: Ride your cow into a different town.

"Hehe, sorry, but I don't really have any animals yet. I don't think I would be too keen on riding them anyway unless they were a horse."

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[Truth]: Can you think of a secret of yours that you've been hiding from someone? How important is that secret to you?

"No, I don't have any secrets that I'm actively hiding from anyone. At least, I can't think of one right now..." 

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Truth of Dare?