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@veraciousfarmer
fishy-old-man replied to your post: OOC : Omg sorry I’m so late coming back … things...
ahhh you and rick left around the same time and everything kinda halted x_x but we’re glad you’re back! we’re trying to recruit new members still :3
Lol did we? Oops. orz Yay for the continual recruitment. xD I hope others join soon!!
OOC : Omg sorry I'm so late coming back ... things happened and yeah ... BUT I'M BACK NOW! THE FIRST (OFFICIAL) MEMBER OF CH.
[Magic!Anon]: Need a change in perspective? Well, you're in luck! For the rest of the day, you're only 3 inches tall. And you thought you were short before...
"W-w-w-whyyyy? How am I supposed to get any farming done!?"
Hey Neighbor || Cecily & Soseki
It was curious that she was only growing flowers when she said she also kept her crops for herself. Hopefully, she did not eat flowers. The mental image of the blonde farmer munching on sunflowers made him chuckle. But her next words caused him to frown.
"That’s too bad," he sighed, following her to the table. "My mother was a florist. I learned quite a bit about flowers from her. I think it’s wonderful that you grow them; it shows that you have a gentle heart." He smiled and took a seat at the table, waiting for her to sit first before doing anything else.
"This looks absolutely delicious though. I feel so lucky; an old man like me being able to try a beautiful woman’s cooking. How lucky~"
Cecily spared him a curious stare when she heard him randomly (in her opinion anyway) begin to chuckle. Had she said something amusing? She didn't think so ... but perhaps she was still lacking in the humor department. An embarrassed flush once against spread across her cheeks at his compliment, but she was happy he said the soup looked good.
"T-thank you ... but it really isn't that much. I just hope you enjoy it, is all."
'Ah! I forgot about the drinks.' Cecily glanced over at Soseki, wondering what would be acceptable to offer him. Was water too plain? Perhaps he was the type of person who preferred to drink things with flavor. She had tea leaves she grew herself, but maybe he didn't like tea ... her brows furrowed together in thought, gazing intently down at the meal he had brought for her as she took it out of the basket.
"Uhm, So-" It was still so awkward calling him by his first name, so she decided that she might as well try to avoid using his name when she could help it. "W-what would you care for to drink?"
Coop Carpentry || Cecily & Rick
Of course she’d laugh. Rick forced a laugh of his own, crossing his arms and rocking on his heels anxiously. How embarrassing, how totally and utterly embarrassing, that his stomach would growl so loudly at the mere mention of food! He looked down at his feet, feeling his face grow hot.
"French toast?" he looked up, for a moment forgetting his scarlet face, "Yes, please! Ah, I-I mean thank you!"
He followed her inside, still somewhat hesitant about entering a complete stranger’s home, thought slowly warming to the idea. Perhaps it was her kindness, or maybe it was the sweet aroma of scrumptious french toast that seemed to fill the whole room. Rick sat at the table he was led to and clasped his burned hands before him, gazing down at the gloves of gauze covering his hands. Looking at them, he suddenly remembered what he come for in the first place.
"Well, I own a poultry farm down in Mineral Town, and I was wondering if it wouldn’t be too much trouble if I could, ah, contract you to build me a new coop? I have the money for it, and I have it, ah, right…"He unclasped his hands and looked around for the small purse of gold he had brought with him. However, at the quick, sudden movement his burned fingers screamed with pain. Rick suppressed a groan and reached more slowly into his pocket, finally withdrawing the precious coin. He set it on the table and carefully opened it, the thick gauze on his hands making them clumsy and slow. After he managed to get it open, he showed the little bag’s contents to Cecily.
"If you need more, I could always pay you back in Mineral Town. But a henhouse isn’t that much, is it? I could even help you!" He tried to give her a thumbs up, but he only grimaced at the unwanted movement. "Ahaha… well, I guess not but… anyway! I’d just need a decent-sized coop, Not much else, really. Any, uh, questions?"
As she listened to Rick explain about the job he wanted to hire her to do, she took the time to grab another plate from the cabinet. Sky blue orbs moved to the corners of her eyes to sneak a glance at him, slightly put out by how frantic he was to produce money - as if she were the type of person who really needed such a thing to persuade her to make a decision. While it was true that times were hard, and the more money one had the easier life they could lead, Cecily found that she was perfectly comfortable with her questionable income she currently received.
'Do I perhaps ... seems greedy to him?'
Even if the boy couldn't pay her up front, money was never a reason she'd turn down someone's request. Once she was confident the french toast cooked enough to be edible, she turned off the stove and place three pieces on each plate. She wiped her hands on her apron before opening a drawer in front of her and grabbing out a butter knife, cutting each slice of french toast into triangle halves before putting a bit of butter in the middle of the plate. Next she grabbed a pinch of powdered sugar from the bag close to her, sprinkling a dusting of it across the toast.
"U-uhm ..." Rinsing her hands off in the sink, she made sure to get all the powdered sugar off her delicate fingers before drying them and grabbing the two plates to move them over to the table. She set one in front of Rick and placed the other in front of the chair across from him, sadly gazing down at the purse he held out to her. Gently, in an almost tentative way, she closed the pursed and nudged it back into Rick's bandaged hands, sparing him a small smile before move to grab the syrup on the counter. "You don't have to worry about the payment ... that's more than enough. Ah, is orange juice okay? Or would you like something else to drink?"
So, he wanted her to build him a chicken coop; that request was much simpler than she had expected. It would be only too easy to build a chicken coop - after all, she had helped her grandfather build his own when he was still alive. Now all she had to know was how big he wanted it. He told her he ran a poultry farm, so Cecily assumed it would have to be big ... well, bigger than her tiny coop at least.
"How many chickens would you want it to house exactly?"
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Summer has come to an end, and now Autumn has moved in to take its place. While this Summers harvest wasn’t as good as I would have liked it to have been, it was definitely a successful one. I managed to harvest ten dozen flowers – four dozen Sunflowers, three dozen Red Roses, and three dozen Hydrangeas. If nothing had wilted this season, then I would have harvested twenty-five dozen flowers; 40%, however, failed to grow to maturity. The roses were the most vibrant of the bunch, and of course sold the best at 925 apiece; with Sunflowers coming in second at 840, and Hydrangeas bring up the rear at 544. Altogether, I made a profit of 93,204; which, considering last season’s profit of 73,560, is a drastic increase. For Autumn, the crops I’ve decided to plant are Green Peppers, Carrots, and Spinach. Hopefully they’ll fare better than their summer companions.
Yesterday marked the end of the Harvest Festival. It was very eventful, to be completely honest. Aside from becoming well acquainted with Soseki and Maya, I also met someone else from out of town – Rick. He’s rather, erm, strange I suppose. He has the brightest flaming red hair I’ve ever seen, with thick glasses over stormy blue eyes and such a tall figure my neck got sore by simply looking up at him! He was sort of awkward in his speech, and had terrible burns on his hands. Well, the reason we had met was because he had come to me in order to request I build him a chicken coop. Apparently it had been burnt down in a fire, which explained why his hands were so burnt. I had at first thought I wouldn’t be of any help, seeing as I’m not that skilled of a carpenter, but after hearing the details of his request I reconsidered. Now all I need to do is gather up the materials and meet up with him in his home town.
Well, it’s getting rather late. I feel sort of bad for not logging in as much information as my last entry, but I have things to do early in the morning and need to get to bed. Hopefully I’ll have more to report next time.
Friends, Farms, and Festivals | Cecily and Maya
Following after Cecily, Maya watched the bees, her eyes darting from one to another as she expected the insects to suddenly attack. She thought that as she and Cecily neared their hive they would grow more aggressive; she was prepared to run at a moment’s notice. Instead they reminded docile, even uninterested. Maya’s breathing seemed to even out and her shoulders dropped into a more relaxed position.
She continued to walk behind Cecily, and nodded at her advice. Fortunately, none of the bees seemed to be in danger of landing on her. Maya stayed back a comfortable distance from Cecily, wanting to give her enough room to work. But when she motioned her closer, Maya approached the hut curiously and easily peered over the shorter woman’s shoulder. Her mouth went slightly agape as she stared at the clear, light honey.
"It’s so pretty…" she whispered softly before letting out a giggle. "We’re going to use it primarily for desserts so the sweeter the better!"
Cecily nodded in understanding and as grabbed a covered bucket sitting beside the bee hut they were currently standing before. She decided that simply harvesting one hut for the time being would be enough; after Maya left, she’d do the rest. Popping the lid off the bucket, she removed the soft bristle brush and the scraper knife she kept inside it before reaching inside the hut to pull out the first of ten frames. With the soft bristled brush, she swept off the clinging bees – making sure to be careful around their delicate wings – watching as they buzzed indignantly away as if annoyed at being brushed off their comb. Once all the insects were swept off, she placed the frame over the bucket and used the scraper knife to remove the honey on both sides.
She did this nine more times; placing the frames back inside the hunt once she was finished. After all ten frames had been cleaned of honey, she closed the hut, placed the lid back on the bucket, and motioned for Maya to follow her back into the shed so that she could filter and prepare it.
“I usually get two jars per hut, so once I finish filtering this you’ll be able to take it back with you.”
They rounded into the shed, Cecily leading the way to another bucket that sat on the far right side. She took off her gloves and hat, waiting for Maya to do the same before taking her gear and the white suit back to the trunk to put inside.
“After harvesting, I have to filter the honey in order to get out all the things that don’t belong in it.”
For the next several minutes, she used a spoon to scrap out all the small pieces of honeycomb that had gotten into the honey; and after she had removed the floating white pieces, all that was left was a dark liquid sitting in the bucket. She moved the bucket over to a water jug with a filter on top sitting next to her, and slowly began pouring the honey into it.
“Would you mind handing me two empty jars from over there?” Cecily asked, pointing to a stack of empty jars placed on top of the work table behind them.
Hey Neighbor || Cecily & Soseki
She reminded him of his grandparents with how formal she was. It was common to only refer to someone by their last name in his culture, unless you were just very close, and his grandparents had tried to instill the same formality into him as they raised him, but his grandpa gave him up as ‘too western’ by the time he had started living with him. Still, she was just too cute when she blushed like that.
He decided to ease on his teasing, though, and continued the conversation. “Oh, I agree,” he said, nodding. “There are so many chemicals they put into those foods. It’s really not good for your health. That’s why I prefer freshly caught fish. And fishing itself is very relaxing.” Of course, that was assuming that you lived in a nice area where there wasn’t trash or chemicals in the water. Thankfully, Echo was just such a place.
"What are you growing right now," he asked curiously.
Once she was satisfied that soup was ready to be eaten, she turned down the stove and moved towards the cabinet she kept all her dishes in – grabbing a bowl from the lowest shelf before answering Soseki’s question.
“Right now I’m growing Summer flowers. Sunflowers, Red Roses, Hydrangeas; they all had five fields to themselves. However …”
She gazed sadly down at the bowl of soup she had prepared for her guest, motioning for him to follow her to the table so that they could finally eat.
“A little under half of them have wilted. It’s very hard to watch them die so quickly. I wish I could do more for them … but there’s only so much I can offer them.”
Cecily sighed softly, removing the cover off the basket in order to peer inside. A grateful smile spread across her face when she recognized the grilled fish dish.
“Seems we both fancy fish today. Well, shall be dig in?”
Friends, Farms, and Festivals | Cecily and Maya
Giving a quick goodbye wave to the animals, Maya followed after Cecily with an excited sort of smile on her face. She was trying to focus more on the fact that she was about to try something new and fun, rather than think about how it would have to do with… bees. But bees were cute in their own little way, right? With their back and yellow stripes, and the way they spread pollen and helped flowers grow… In that regard they were really helpful! Perhaps bees were simply misunderstood.
Maya had little time to ponder about bees and their reputation, because before she knew it, they were inside a shack. Most of the items stored in it and the building itself seemed to be new, but still somewhat worn at the same time, as if it was used many times in a short period. As Maya looked around, she expected it to be at least somewhat dusty, but in actuality found that the whole place (like the rest of the farm) was almost completely spotless.
"If this place is a mess then I don’t know what you would think about the Inn!" Maya giggled to herself. Maybe they should hire Cecily to help with the cleaning instead. She watched as the other blonde crouched down in front of a trunk and returned with some clothing. Maya took the gloves and the veiled hat before blinking down at full-body suit Cecily was also offering to her. She hesitantly reached out before she realized that Cecily didn’t have a suit herself.
"W-Well if you’re no wearing one then I think I’ll be fine," Maya said with a smile. Then again, Cecily had her overalls and boots to protect her legs, while all Maya had was a pink dress and flats. Still, she didn’t want to look silly with that full body suit, or seem overly paranoid about the bees. If Cecily said that the hat and gloves were adequate covering, she would trust her. Maya handed back the suit to Cecily and slipped on the gloves and hat. Instantly, she seemed to brighten. With the mask and gloves…
"Heehee, we kind of look like superheros!" Maya laughed. Spreading her legs and putting her fists on her waist, she struck a pose. "Ready, Freddy!" Maya cheered, practically glowing with confidence.
Cecily giggled at the other girl’s silly antics, placing the body suit down on a bench in order to put it away later. They looked like superheroes, huh? To Cecily, they looked more like scientist. She waited patiently until Maya was ready before leading the girl to the swarming beehives. Whether their presence went unnoticed by the buzzing insects or they simply didn’t care they were approaching their hive, Cecily didn’t know. They simply buzzed lazily around the flowers, gathering up their nutrients before hopping to the next.
“Try not to swat them away should one land on you,” Cecily advised, opening the top of the beehive and peering inside, “it might be problematic should you injure one unintentionally.”
With a simple wave of her hand, she motioned Maya closer; pointing down into the hive where bee’s sat on the sticky honey leaking from the combs.
“You see how light the honey is? It lets me know that it’s ready for harvesting. The lighter it is, the sweeter it’ll be; but there are uses for darker honey as well – should you not like its sweetness.”
Coop Carpentry || Cecily & Rick
So she wasthe woman he had been looking for. ”Ah, so I found the right place! I’m Rick McLeod. A pleasure,” said Rick, a bit flustered by her formal bow. Not at all familiar with such a gesture, he bowed back, holding a hand to his face so his glasses wouldn’t fall. Almost before he had time to straighten his back and continue speaking to her, she starting talking again.
And his face instantly fell.
"Oh, then…" he let out a sigh, wanting to kick himself for getting his hopes up. He had found a dozen carpenters and every single one of them had turned him down. Had he really believed that some girl from a small town would build him a brand new henhouse? But, maybe to this carpenter a coop wasn’t that big of a project—
— wait, what did she just say? Had she just invited him, a total stranger, inside her home… to share a meal with him? He stood and stared, eyes wide, at the strange Cecily. Maybe she had lived in this tiny little village all her life and hadn’t gotten used to the idea of strangers. Maybe she was just extraordinarily generous and polite… or extraordinarily naive. Rick assumed it was a combination of all the above.
However, he was not so eager to intrude upon a neighbor’s meal — even if he hadn’t so much as nibbled on anything yet that day — and was just about to decline her offer when his stomach emitted a sound not unlike the roar of a great beast. He stood still as stone as the loud rumble of his empty stomach lingered on for what seemed to him like an eternity. After a moment or two, centuries for Rick, it gradually died down to a low growl.
Incredibly embarrassed, Rick crossed his arms as if to try and muffle the desperate cries of his empty belly. He then said quickly, “A-ah, that is very kind of you! I… I hope you don’t mind if I take you up on that offer!”
Cecily blinked once, twice, and then a third time at the unexpected noise of his eager stomach demanding food. A delicate hand rose to cover her mouth as if to try and stifle the giggle that broke free from her lips - obviously, his stomach had answered for its master without his consent.
"Please, come in and make yourself at home. I hope french toast is alright."
She stepped aside so that Rick to enter her home, easily directing him to a table placed close to the kitchen portion of the room as she made her way behind the stove to finish preparing the meal. She was a bit relieved she had a tendency to make too much for herself to eat, now she wouldn't have to keep him waiting for very long in order to make another portion.
"So, Mister McLeod, what sort of project are you looking to do?"
She asked, wanting to get as much information about the request as she could so that she wouldn't have to turn him away unnecessarily. If it was something she'd be able to do then she would be more than happy to lend a hand; however, there were still things she couldn't do by herself, even if she wanted to.
Friends, Farms, and Festivals | Cecily and Maya
"N-No, I’m perfectly fine! Really." Maya did her best to smile through her anxiety. She didn’t want to look like a giant baby in front of her new friend. Besides, Cecily collected honey all the time, and it didn’t look like she had a single sting on her. Maya glanced towards the bees as they made lazy loops around their huts. There was nothing to be afraid of. They were perfectly harmless.
"Protective covering?" Maya’s neck snapped in Cecily’s direction. Sure, there was nothing to be afraid of, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t take some precautions!
"Sure! If it’s not too much trouble." She smiled sheepishly, thanking the Goddess that Cecily kept extras just in case. "It’s not the bees in specific I don’t like… Creepy crawlies in general kind of make me nervous." That was an understatement, and Maya conveniently didn’t mention how scared she was of the stingers. Still, it’s not like Cecily needed to know that.
Cecily nodded with a smile, motioning for Maya to follow her as she began moving towards a shed stationed close to the farm house. Opening the large wood doors, she stepped inside and reached for the light switch she knew to be located somewhere to the right. Once she felt it under her hand, she flipped it out and watched the light bulb flicker to life over head.
"I apologize for the mess. Please just wait a moment and I'll retrieve the covering."
Her feet lead her to a trunk resting near the back of the shed. It was obvious the trunk was frequently use, there wasn't a single spec of dust on its surface as the trunk itself looked well worn. Opening it, she gazed inside before reaching down to grab the items she thought would be most useful. She returned to where she left Maya a few moments later, carrying two veiled hats, two pairs a gloves, and one full body white suit just in case her guest wanted to go all out.
"The head ware and gloves will keep you adequately protected, but if you feel that they aren't enough you can use this suit as well."
Cecily managed an encouraging smile at the slightly taller blonde, handing over the materials before putting on her own hat and gloves.
"Once you're ready, let me know and we'll get going."
Coop Carpentry || Cecily & Rick
The rumor had to have had some sort of foundation to it… or at least Rick had thought so. As he stared down at the remarkably short woman, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was at the wrong ranch. The woman before him was more than a head shorter than he was and what with skin as white as a sheet, didn’t look like she went outdoors much, let alone care for a ranch or build an entire town. She reminded him a little of Popuri.
He blushed slightly at her gaze, not knowing quite what to do. Rather than ask who he was or why he was there, she was apparently content to merely stare at him. It was slightly unsettling. Hesitantly, he raised a hand in a half-wave, as he had no idea what else to do in his rather odd situation.
Then she spoke. A wave of relief rushed through him at her words. ”Oh, ah, yes actually! … if it’s not too much trouble, that is!” He tried his best to flash her a friendly smile, but as soon as he attempted it he knew it had fallen short. Far short. He probably looked like an idiot. With a nervous laugh, he continued, ”I-I heard there was a carpenter in this town, and I was directed to this ranch. Are you, uh, Cecily by any chance…?”
"Yes'sir. My name is Cecily Bray; it's an honor to make your acquaintance."
Cecily gave a small, respectful bow in his direction. He was looking for a carpenter? It wasn't really a surprise he had sought her out for that reason, but she wasn't confident she'd be able to accommodate his request. While it was true that she had lent a hand in building buildings in Echo Village, if she hadn't of had help then she was doubtful the village would be as prosperous as it was now.
"While it's true I have some experience in carpentry, I'm not sure how much help I will be if you are requesting me for a large job."
Her gaze wavered slightly in shame - it was completely unprofessional to turn away someone's request, especially if that someone travel a long way to ask for her assistance. The palm of her left hand rose to cup her cheek, a habit she had obtained recently when her mind wandered off in thought. Perhaps it would be best to invite him in after all, she contemplated, then she'd be able to hear his story.
"Would you like to come in and rest? I'm currently fixing a late breakfast, if you haven't eaten yet you're more than welcomed to join me. We can discuss the details of your request while we eat."
Hey Neighbor || Cecily & Soseki
He chuckled as she stumbled over her words to simply call him by his first name. The way she blushed was cute too so he couldn’t help but tease her more. “You’ve made this old man’s day. Makes him feel young again. Being called by his first name by someone young and proper.” He grinned playfully.
"And so smart too. It’s good that you keep crops for yourself. If you wouldn’t want to eat them, why would others? And I’m sure it cuts down on costs too." He nodded, half wondering if he should start a mini-garden of his own. But that was a lot of work that he just didn’t have the energy for.
"P-please don't tease me ... I'm not used to acting so informally ..."
Her voice adopted a slight whining quality as she forced out the words, her attention focused on stirring the soup within the pot with a wooden spoon while added small, cut up chunks of fish. Honestly, Cecily was beginning to figure that a man's fondness for teasing a woman was a natural stereotype. In the majority of the books she read (which, to be completely honest, were in fact members of the romance genre) it seemed that the male protagonist seemed to have a tendency to tease the female protagonist. From her interaction so far, Cecily would agree hands down that books were more attuned to reality than she had originally thought.
"Yes, it helps me conserve funds for the management of the farm; and their much healthier than store bought items. Besides," she spared him a small smile before quickly turning her attention back to the pot, "I think that freshly grown ingredients taste better than prepackaged ones ... especially the ones I worked so hard to grow in these desolated fields."
Friends, Farms, and Festivals | Cecily and Maya
Nodding, Maya tried to keep up with what Cecily was saying. Her speech sure was… formal. It was like she was talking to teacher or a robot or something. The thing was though, Cecily didn’t look like she was much older than Maya. In fact, she looked a little younger since she was smaller than her.
"You can lighten up a bit, Ceci!" Maya giggled as the other woman hopped over the fence. Once she was in arms reach, Maya placed her hand on Cecily’s shoulder and gave it a firm pat. "We’re friends, right? You don’t need to talk to me like that." Maya practically beamed down at Cecily. It never occurred to her that they had just met and that the two barely knew each other. As far as she was concerned, this was the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship, so they might as well scrap the formalities and get to the fun part already.
However, the smile soon slipped from her face as Cecily mentioned coming with her to collect the honey. Instinctively, Maya wanted to say that she would stay at the house; she hated all forms of insects, especially bees. However, her grandmother always did say it was important to know where your ingredients come from… all great chefs were in tune with their food sources, and what did she like making (and eating) more than sweet desserts? Furthermore, when else would she get an opportunity to harvest honey?
"You… said they were well mannered?" Maya asked in a small, hesitant voice.
'C-Ceci? Friends?'
Cecily was unsure of what to say in her current situation, so she opted to simply remain silent. A smile, unsure smile turned up the corners of her lips when she felt the other girl's firm pat on her shoulder. Was becoming friends as easy as simply saying you were friends? The blonde haired beauty wasn't quite sure; after all, she didn't really have anyone she considered a friend. Of course, she liked everyone in the village - but was liking someone the same as saying you were friends with them?
"I-if you insist."
It wasn't hard to notice the change in demeanor once Cecily offered Maya the chance to come watch her harvest the honey. Did she perhaps say something that was terribly frightening? Sky blue orbs studied Maya worriedly, the sudden paleness in her skin causing the young woman to think she had suddenly taken ill.
"Are you alright? Would you like to go inside and rest? You did travel a long way, so you shouldn't push yourself."
Cecily blinked when she thought over Maya's latter question. Wait, was she perhaps frightened of the bees?
"Yes, but I still keep a few pairs of protective covering to use while harvesting. The bee's in this area are typically less aggressive than those found in other areas, but they can still get a bit protective over their hive. If you like, I wouldn't mind lending you some protective covering."
Hey Neighbor || Cecily & Soseki
"No offense," he said, "Just this old man gets so depressed when pretty young women called him Mr." He sighed dramatically, hair falling in front of his face.
"Well, the city is.." he waved his hand as if searching for the word, " well, it’s an interesting place. Narrow roads, lots of cars, lots of stress, everyone hurrying. Hectic. Fast-paced. No time to stop and admire nature." He brushed his hair back. "I worked there for the several years. It was fun but I don’t really have the energy to go back to it." He wondered if she had heard of how he had gotten sick. He didn’t think it would make big news or anything, he was only a semi-retired reporter with a few published books, but she had said she was a fan. Perhaps just of the book, though, and not him.
His brown eyes watched as she cooked the food. Observing people was a bit of a past time for him he supposed. He was reminded of the chef he had interviewed who had introduced him to a whole new world of spices and showed him how they could change a dish in an instant. He had always admired cooks after that and had even started cooking himself a bit more. “Where did you learn to cook,” he asked curiously.
"I understand," Cecily assured him, her face heating up once more at his compliment, "I apologize for my indiscretion, Mist-ah, erm ... Sose ... ki."
Uwah, it was so weird to address her admired author so casually; in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but worry if it really was okay. Well, he did say it was okay to call him by his first name ... still, it was a bit embarrassing. Maybe because he was older than her that she felt she had to put titles to his name; she had been raised like that at any rate. So, was it really okay to be so informal even if he insisted she be?
And why did he have to keep complimenting her? Honestly, much more of it and she'd look like a tomato permanently! But ... it wasn't that she minded too much; she was just bad at receiving compliments.
She listened closely as he described the city to her. The place sounded a bit scary, to be honest; from what she could gather, it was nothing like her little farming village. It couldn't be too bad, she countered, after all, Soseki said it had been fun while he was there. Her head bobbed once more in an understanding nod. She had head he had taken ill and been forced into an early retirement, but the girl never really paid much attention to it. She was much too busy running her little farm to care about all the gossip in the world.
"I'm mostly self taught," Cecily told him once his question reached her ears, "though I did learn a bit from my mother; which, I assume, is normal for most girls. I grow most of my own ingredients and keep a small portion of the crop harvest every year. It would seem bad to sell off products I wouldn't use myself, wouldn't it? So because of this, I've taken quite an interest in cooking."
Coop Carpentry || Cecily & Rick
It was difficult to find a professional carpenter nowadays, and even more difficult to find one who knew the slightest bit about keeping animals of any kind. Gotz would have been the man to go to, but his little cabin in the woods almost seemed abandoned. And so Rick had set out on a seemingly hopeless quest to find anyone, absolutely anyone, who would even attempt to construct a coop for him.
His journey eventually took him to the small village of Echo some miles away from Mineral Town. Rumor had it that a young rancher there had built almost the entire town from the ground up, and though it seemed far-fetched, he was desperate and was willing to investigate.
When he reached the ranch, he noted that whatever malady draining the life from the earth in Mineral Town had infected Echo as well. It wasn’t too obvious, but being a farmer himself, he could tell that this rancher’s crops — flowers, it seemed — were faring just as well as his corn back home was: not too well.
Nervously, the young man walked over to the farmhouse’s door and knocked lightly on the sturdy wood. ”H-hello?” he called through the door, ”Is this, uh, Cecilia — …I mean Celia— …no, wait, Sicily— …Italy? No, that’s not her name, you idiot! Tch…!” He withdrew his hand from the door and tried his best to remember what the rancher’s name was. Unable to jog his memory, he let long a long sigh. ”I-Is anyone home…?”
Cecily was just in the middle of fixing a late breakfast when a knock alerted her that someone was at her door. Her sky blue orbs moved up to gaze at the door questioningly as if the inanimate object would simply tell her who was on the other side of it - obviously, no such thing happened. Making sure to turn off the stove before going to greet her visitor, she quickly walked across the rather small stretch of her dining room in order to open the door.
The small woman was met with the chest of a rather tall man, her eyes blinking curiously at it before slowly craning her neck back in order to look the man in the eyes. The first thing she noticed was the white hairband protecting his face from a mane of unruly, vibrant red locks and a pair of large glasses placed in front of stormy blue eyes. Never before had she seem him in Echo Village, and his appearance nearly enticed so much confusion that she almost forgot what she had opened the door to do - greet her visitor.
"Ah! G-good afternoon, sir. Is there anything I can assist you with?"
Her voice was soft and a bit on the quiet side, but she made sure she sounded polite all the same. Her hands folded neatly in front of her as she waited for him to speak his piece; though she was beginning to wonder if she seemed rude for not inviting him inside. Wasn't it normal to invite visitors into your home? She wasn't quite sure; people from Echo Village (at least Dunhill anyway) tended to let themselves in - but it wasn't like she minded too terribly much. However, since Echo didn't get many visitors - with her farm hardly ever getting visits from people out of town - Cecily found she wasn't quite sure what to do.
'I suppose I'll have to ask Dunhill about the proper etiquette regarding situations like these later.'
