This one comes from @shortysus4: "AU (maybe in Zuzu?) where Callie gives Ben a dance lesson, bc I keep thinking about this concept and it's adorable to me."
Ben, for the record, is her farmer from her fantastic fic, Coffee Beans, Candles, & Keyboards (seriously, check it out! Especially if you're a June lover). Callie, of course, is the main character/farmer from my series Choices.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
With Ben not-so-subtly pining over a June who has left the valley to go on tour, Emily agrees to be his partner at the Flower Dance. Unfortunately, her attempts to teach him go... poorly. At her wit's end, she asks Callie for a helping hand. The resident monster hunter easily agrees, looking forward to the opportunity to tease their newest farmer. And if she happens to have another lesson to impart, well, Ben should be glad to benefit from her wisdom and experience.
Pairing: Ben (Original Male Character)/June (Ridgeside Village)
One day, someday
You know I will see you again
Even the stars are trapped inside, oh my
There's nothing left to hide
__
The timeline where Liam wakes soon after the events of book one, vs two years later like in the other AU's makes for an interesting reunion with Ben
Veronica Leahy – alto sax
Joseph Curreri – trumpet
Benjamin Cohen – bari sax
Joseph Giordano – trombone
Tyler Henderson – piano
Ethan Moffitt – bass
Joshua Green – drums
Day 25: "We've done this before."
Fandom: Stardew Valley
Rating: T
WC: 1,364
CW: mention of accident/injury, hospitals, surgery
references to drugs and alcohol
mention of panic attack/anxiety
Ao3 Link!
The Longest Evening: Chapter 3
On a Winter day, Ben goes to the skull mines, where he gets into some trouble. This is June's perspective on that same event.
Takes place right before Chapter 20 of CBC&K. Will make way more sense if you're familiar with the original story, and will definitely spoil parts of CBC&K if you haven't read it yet.
Written for the Fictober Tumblr’s Fictober 2025 event! (Sorry I'm a couple days late/out of order, it will happen again)
“He’s in surgery right now,” Maru explained. “Why don’t we have a seat?” She gestured to the plastic chairs in the waiting room, which turned out to be exactly as uncomfortable as they looked.
Once he was seated, June suddenly couldn’t stand to face Maru. “What happened?” he asked the floor, trying to calm his breathing.
“We don’t exactly know,” said Maru in a solemn voice. “Pam brought him in, saying that Sandy heard some kind of struggle down in the mines, and I guess the two of them worked together to get him back here. Pam was mighty proud of how many speed limits she broke,” Maru added ruefully. “Based on that evidence, I’d say he was attacked by some kind of monster down there—”
June met her gaze, a bolt of fear striking his heart. “A monster? The stories are real?”
Maru nodded slowly. “I don’t know exactly what’s down there myself, but this isn’t the first time we’ve treated someone with life-threatening injuries from those blasted mines. We’ve done this before.”
Life-threatening? June found himself unable to breathe once again as he tried to respond. “I— I…”
“Hey,” Maru grabbed both his hands and squeezed them. “As a medical professional, I’m supposed to be as objective as possible. But as your friend, well… Dr. Harvey is brilliant, and he’s very, very good at his job. Ben is in great hands, okay? I promise.”
He tried to nod, but somehow, he couldn’t move.
“Do you have panic attacks often, June?” asked Maru softly, squeezing his hands more tightly. “Here, breathe with me,” she added, exaggerating deep breaths of her own.
Truthfully, most of the panic attacks he’d experienced had been the result of a really bad trip (or the paranoia that was associated with said), and the feeling was so unfamiliar while sober that it caught him off-guard. It wasn’t his miserable lung capacity trying to suffocate him after all, but the long-neglected nemesis of his own anxiety. He tried to focus on Maru’s breaths, on counting the tiles on the floor, on reading the “get your flu shot” information sign text backwards, until the dizziness began to subside, the air began to seep back into the room little by little.
His internal prayer kept playing on repeat, however. Please, please Dr. Harvey, please help him, I can’t lose him, I don’t know what I’d do—
Something made a crackling noise, and Maru reached for what appeared to be some sort of radio device. “Maru, come join me, please,” a voice instructed on the other end of the radio.
“It’s the doc,” Maru explained, which June could have guessed. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” She disappeared through the door at the back of the office, leaving June alone in the waiting room.
He swallowed hard. Something at the back of his mind was trying to remind him how hilariously tragic it would be if something horrible happened to Ben before they’d even gotten around to… well, you know. Ugh. Not the time, dumbass. What else was there to do while he waited, though, but worry? His thoughts were so loud, as if hundreds of alarms were going off at once, bringing him closer and closer to the edge of sanity.
What if the surgery goes badly? What if he dies? What if I lose the only good thing that’s ever happened to me? How could I ever find anyone as kind, and caring, and generous? How could I even go on without him?
You’d feel better if you had a drink, you know. Or a smoke. Or anything, really. I bet there’s some oxy in one of these rooms, or at least some benzos. Just pop a few, and things would be so much easier, you’d be calmer, everything would be better, you wouldn’t feel like this anymore.
You’ll never get a happy ending, idiot. Do you think you’re some kind of main character, finding his happily ever after? It’s not a fairy tale, you’re not some princess; everyone knows you’ll just overdose alone someday, and it’ll be exactly what you deserve. You’re just a fuckup, a nobody, a junkie, a guy who doesn’t fit in—
Without Ben, you’re nothing.
After what seemed like hours, the door opened, revealing Maru. Her expression was unreadable, and June’s own heart nearly stopped. He stood, striding to meet her across the room as quickly as possible. “How is he?” June asked. Is he okay? Did he even survive?
Maru gave June a weary smile. “The surgery went well; he’s in recovery now,” she said, wiping across her forehead with the back of one hand. “He’s still asleep at the moment, but the doc says he’ll wake up soon, and then you can see him.”
“I…” June’s legs felt weak all of a sudden, and he sank down in the nearest chair. “He’s alive?” He managed.
With a slowly blooming smile, Maru nodded. “Yeah. He’s gonna be just fine.” She sat next to June and rubbed his shoulder. “He… well, it wasn’t easy. Dr. Harvey says that Ben, um, well… that they lost him for a little bit, and if Dr. Harvey hadn’t had that life elixir available, well… things might not have turned out as well.”
June felt like he was going to faint. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice wouldn’t cooperate.
“But,” Maru continued, “I told you, the doc’s the best in the biz, and Ben’s gonna be good as new. He’ll be sore and probably have a gnarly scar to show off once it heals fully, but he’s tough.” She continued running a soothing hand along June’s shoulders as he tried to allow himself to relax. “Those elixirs are miraculous, seriously. I bet he gets to go home tonight, even.”
“Come on in!” A deep voice sang from behind the door, and Maru grinned.
“That’s the doc— sounds like Ben might be waking up,” She explained. “Go through the first door on your right; I’ll wait out here and get the paperwork ready,” she added, briefly making a face.
June was up in an instant, pushing his way through the door and calling “thanks, Maru!” over his shoulder. It wasn’t far from the waiting room to the room Maru had indicated, but June found himself running regardless, until he pushed through the door to see his boyfriend, alive and nearly well; the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
Ben was lying in a hospital bed, eyes closed, wearing a deeply unflattering hospital gown (was there any other variety?), hooked up to several IVs and machines, his glasses in one hand. For a moment, June’s heart was stuck in his throat as he saw Ben laying there motionless, but he shook off the feeling as he approached.
“Ben! Honey, are you okay?” June cried, reaching for Ben even as he spoke. “Doctor, can I hug him?” He didn’t wait for Harvey to answer, however, and as soon as his hands touched Ben, landing on his shoulders, one traveling to caress his cheek, Ben’s eyes snapped open. He fumbled to put his glasses on one-handed, then burst into a brilliant, if weary, smile as he focused on his boyfriend in front of him.
“June?” Ben asked groggily, awkwardly attempting to tuck some of June’s hair behind his ear (which was unsuccessful; it was too short). “How—? Your job… the hotel…?” He squinted as he studied June’s face, no doubt disoriented.
All June could do was stare lovingly at his boyfriend, one hand still on his cheek— warm, soft, full of life, though his sideburns were in need of a proper trim. You’re here. You made it. You’re okay. You’re alive. June traced the contour of Ben’s lips with his thumb, mentally mapping the constellation of freckles that was sprinkled across his nose (even in Winter). He found himself lost in the amber brown depth of Ben’s eyes, tired and half-lidded, yet still shining with the determination to keep going, to live.
Never leave me, please. I love you.
And, just like that, the voices in his head weren’t quite so loud anymore.
Day 24: "There's not enough time."
Fandom: Stardew Valley
Rating: T
WC: 927
CW: Mention of accidents, hospitals, injury, surgery
Ao3 Link!
The Longest Evening: Chapter 2
On a Winter day, Ben goes to the skull mines, where he gets into some trouble. This is June's perspective on that same event.
Takes place right before Chapter 20 of CBC&K. Will make way more sense if you're familiar with the original story, and will definitely spoil parts of CBC&K if you haven't read it yet.
Written for the Fictober Tumblr’s Fictober 2025 event! (Sorry I'm a couple days late/out of order, it will happen again)
“That was Maru, from Dr. Harvey’s clinic on the phone just now,” Mr. Goldsworn said, a grim expression clouding his face. “I— I don’t know how to tell you this, but— but Ben’s had an accident.”
June’s hands froze on the keys, his stomach dropping to the floor and heart feeling like it had skipped several beats. “What?” He managed to say in a whisper, forcing himself to look Mr. Goldsworn in the eye. “What did you…?” His lips were trying to form words, but no more sound would come out.
“He ran into something nasty in the mines, apparently,” Mr. Goldsworn added, his voice kind yet somber. "You should get to the clinic right away, son.”
Blinking at the keyboard, June tried to parse any information through his numb brain. “But… I’m performing, I need to— I need to finish my… I can’t just…” he trailed off.
Mr. Goldsworn reached one hand to pat him gently on the shoulder. “There’s not enough time,” he said. “Maru said— well, she and the doctor, they’re worried he— that he—” Mr. Goldsworn took a deep, pained inhale. “It’s pretty serious; you should go now, in case he, well…”
June nodded dumbly. “Now. Okay. Now.” He stood, taking a moment to half-heartedly piece together some of his sheet music.
“Don’t worry about that, June,” reassured Mr. Goldsworn with a sad smile. “I’ll put on the radio for the patrons, and I’ll make sure your music gets put away safely. They need you at the clinic.”
June nodded again, stumbling away from the piano as he found his footing, before pushing his way through the hotel’s door out into the snow.
Night had fallen, the starless sky having grown dark around dinnertime, as was common of Winter in this hemisphere. June realized as he speed-walked toward the cable car station that he’d completely neglected to bring a proper coat, being still in his thin jacket, which was really more about fashion than warmth. His nerves were buzzing with anxiety, which, combined with his pace plus his natural tendency to run hot anyway, meant he was feeling warm enough to keep him going for now. It wasn’t sustainable, but hopefully he wouldn’t be out in the cold too long. There weren’t many benefits to being one of the tallest residents in the entire town (unless you called being perpetually gawked at a benefit), but long legs did make for an efficient stride, and he reached the cable car quickly.
The cable car trip down the mountain was agonizingly slow. June would have paced, had the cable car been a little more stable on its track, but he had to settle for nervously bouncing one leg where he sat while fidgeting with the buttons on his jacket.
How could he have just let Ben go into the mines like that? Now that he was thinking on it, there were stories of monsters down there, of vicious creatures capable of harming an adult human in only a few seconds. Were the rumors of flying snakes and bats with skin as tough as iridium actually true? June had assumed those were largely tall tales meant to scare children (or to unnerve young adults at Spirit’s Eve parties), and if he’d believed for a second that creatures like that actually existed down there, he’d never have let Ben—
June laced his fingers, squeezing his hands together tightly to his chest and resting his chin on his knuckles. He wasn’t religious in the slightest (much to his parents’ dismay), and who even knew if Yoba existed or not? But, on the off chance it could help, he sent up a silent prayer, just in case. Please, please, Ben, please be okay, don’t leave me, I need you, hang in there, please Ben, please be okay, I love you, I love you, Ben, and I’m sorry I didn’t say it, I should have said it, I’m so sorry, please, I know you can get through this, you have to be okay, you have to come back to me, I love you—
By the time the cable car finally reached the Pelican Town stop, June was pressed up against the door, ready to open it the instant the car stopped. He sprang out of the vehicle, racing toward town, heart pounding and lungs burning from the frigid night air as his Chelsea boots slapped the well-worn path into town, occasionally sliding on a slippery patch of snow-covered ice. Faster, he had to go faster to get to Ben, and thank Yoba that he never skipped a workout if he could help it, having built back a great deal (though not all) of the stamina and lung capacity he’d lost during his years as a smoker in Zuzu City. He’d run to get to Ben if it meant him collapsing in the town square, dammit; he’d certainly endured worse before.
He burst through the door to the clinic, Maru standing up from behind the counter as he entered. “Oh, thank goodness,” she sighed, making her way out to meet him, “I’m so glad you—”
“Where is he?” June interrupted between gasps, mentally cursing both the very existence of cigarettes and his own stupidity. “Is he okay? Can I see him?”
“He’s—”
“Please, Maru, I need—” what did June need? I need Ben. I need him to be okay. “I need—” he tried again, unable to fully catch his breath. Stupid lungs.
“He’s in surgery right now,” Maru explained before she could be interrupted again. “Why don’t we have a seat?”
