Chapter Text
Gem's head bumped against the glass window of the bus, feeling the vibrations of its jostling bounce against her head. She'd do this all the time as a kid, laughing with friends on the bus as she rested her head against the window. That same nostalgia was the reason she was coming back here in the first place. The bus ran over a stone in the road, shaking Gem a little and forcing her to sit upright again. She was returning to her childhood farm, escaping her terrible job at Joja.
The Joja corporation was one she wished never to return to, it was a soul-sucking industry which made her hate herself for joining. If she could meet herself three years ago, about to leave for an employment interview, she would've shaken some real sense into her.
At the time, Gem had left the farm she was raised on, in search of a big city job. Now, she realised the scummy corporate hellscape that was city jobs, and vowed never to submit herself to that torture ever again.
She reached into her backpack on the ground, holding the very few belongings she actually cared to take back home with her. From within it, she pulled out a terribly opened envelope with a letter safely stashed inside. She stared at it for a moment, thumbing over the paper before placing it back in her bag in order to grab her water bottle.
Her family had finally decided to retire from farm work, and were now living across the country. It was perfect timing, really, Gem needed this restart. Maybe it could soothe her itching soul and finally reunite her with the land she was brought up on. She could talk to old friends, live a peaceful life on her own, cultivate the land, tend to animals and escape Joja for good.
At least, until she actually arrived in Stardew Valley.
"Oh. My god." Gem spoke as she stared upon the absolute mess that was her home farm. Fruitless trees encased the land, their branches strewn across the dirt and their stumps creating many obstacles across the earth. Large rocks jutted out of the ground, a mix of tons of different colours and types of stone imbedded in each one. Weeds encased the soil with a mossy blanket, fields of untamed grass coated the landscape.
She physically cringed at the sight, this was most certainly not what she had been hoping to see. Luckily, there was still something she recognised standing proudly near the entrance. Her childhood house.
Of course, the roof didn't look as sturdy as she remembered and the paint was a dull red, the wooden walls were slightly damp too. But it was intact, and she was 99% sure it wouldn't collapse on her in her sleep, so that was all that mattered! She could just fix it up herself once she earnt a bit more money anyways.
Gem sighed, stepping forward onto the grass with her backpack slung over her shoulder, surveying the work ahead of her. It'd be a lot of tireless days of chopping wood, smashing rocks and cutting weeds, but that kind of manual labour was nothing new to her. It was practically in her blood.
She looked down, and noticed some tracks in the ground. Weird. She squatted down, hands brushing over what appeared to be tire tracks. Also weird, was somebody here? Why would they even try to drive through here, couldn't they see that the farm was inaccessible for cars?
She grunted as she stood back up, deciding to follow the trail and see if she could find the perpetrator trespassing on her land, maybe tell them not to bring their car around here as well. She passed underneath trees and through patches of tall, overgrown grass, pricking her uncovered legs and causing brambles to stick to her shorts. Despite this, she trekked on, determined to discover who had driven through her property.
But, there was no way anyone could manoeuvre a car through this, if she had challenged Joel to do it, he'd back out in knowing his car would most definitely be damaged in the process. Either someone was clinically insane, or it wasn't a car they were dragging through here.
"Oh, oh! Gosh dang it. I need to- ugh. Stupid wheelchair, stupid ditch..." A man said nearby, she could hear the struggle in his voice as she approached.
"Hello? Are you okay?" Gem called out, hand against a thin tree as she neared the voice.
"AH! Oh, geez you scared me- wait! I need a little help over here!" The man audibly jumped as she spoke, and she moved quicker towards the sound as he clearly stated his need for help. Still following the tracks, she continued on until she saw a person in the middle of a large patch of grass.
There was a man in a wheelchair sitting there defeatedly, back to Gem and wheelchair slightly dipped to the side.
"What happened?!" She asked as she quickly made her way over to the man, watching as he turned around with relief.
"Oh, miss. You are truly my saviour! I was out on a little expedition through my new farm and for some reason I decided to venture through the tall grass here! Now since I'd already made it past many other perils beforehand I thought I could conquer this one... and yet I rolled straight into a ditch." He sighed dramatically as he recounted his tale.
She approached him and gripped the handles on the back on his wheelchair, looking at the man sat on it. He had many scars coating his entire body including a large one that ran down one side of his face and past his neck, along with slightly pointed ears. He had a red feather earring hanging from one ear and a lot of smaller, emerald earrings too. His messy brown hair had a swoop to the side, and he had emerald green eyes.
Gem couldn't help but notice he wore a red suit with a dark green tie, buttoned up neatly with a white shirt underneath. It looked... expensive. What was this kind of guy doing on a farm? Wait.
"Hold on, what do you mean your new farm?" She exclaimed, the man just looked up at her with slight confusion on his face.
"Ah, maybe you haven't heard yet. I recently bought this farm! My name is Scar Goodtimes, it's lovely to meet you!" He stuck his hand, also coated in scars, out to shake and smiled broadly at Gem. His sharp canines made him look almost devil-like, despite the genuine kindness laden in his smile.
"I... uh. Yeah, I'm Gem. Gem Taylor." She reluctantly let go of one of his wheelchair handles and gently shook his calloused hand, grabbing the handle again and attempting to carefully pull him out of the ditch his left wheel was stuck in. "This is, kind of my childhood home...? I thought my family left me the property myself so I could live here?" She said confusedly.
"Oh." Scar winced at Gem's words. "Well apparently they didn't let you know that they kind of sold it to me a week ago." He tried to keep the air as light as possible by providing an awkward smile. She finally heaved him out of the hole in the ground, sighing with strain as she watched Scar grab his wheels and skilfully spin around to face her.
"So you're a farmer then? And you were planning to come back here to live on Scardew Farm?"
"One, yes, I've been farming since I was little. Two, I was, and I've sold my apartment so I literally have no where to go now. Three, Scardew Farm?!" Gem answered, "My family never named this place, sure, but Scardew Farm?!" She practically squealed before regaining her composure. Scar chuckled.
"Too egotistical? I couldn't think of anything better, my bad." He continued to giggle for a moment before looking up at her with a small smirk.
"Say, how about we both help each other out here?" He started. Gem raised an eyebrow.
"I just pulled you out of a ditch, but alright." She half-joked, following the scarred man as he began to wheel away, back to the main area of the farm.
This Scar guy, didn't make the smartest investments, to Gem at least. A run-down farm in a small town with an overgrowth that makes it almost impossible for him to get around, what did he see in this place?
Though, she returned here herself. Maybe it was the challenge that came with owning such a place that Scar liked, as did Gem. Ah, well then who was she to judge?
This strange man may get her.
"So, as you can probably tell, I have no farming experience whatsoever." Scar started, they were sat on the porch outside of Gem's (Scar's (their)) house, a clear show of the mess in front of them. "However, you have grown up farming, and know pretty much everything there is to know about it, I presume?"
Gem shrugged, "Pretty much. So, what are you proposing?" Scar put his hands together, smiling.
"Well! I must tell you all about why I bought Scardew Farm in the first place!" This seemed to be the start of a ramble that Gem wasn't sure she could escape. "I, Scar Goodtimes, am a renowned merchant with a vastly successful business, and many business partners to boot! But I yearn for a more simple life, Gem, one where my life doesn't revolve around my business." He theatrically spoke.
"You do know that your life will instead revolve around farm work, right?" Gem started, "Which is arguably more work-heavy than running a business." Scar looked back at her.
"I'm aware, but I am a hundred percent ready for the endeavour! I just don't want to be cramped in a massive office building for the rest of my life." He plainly stated. Gem smiled.
"Me neither." Maybe they were going to get along after all. Scar cleared his throat.
"So! Since I own this land, and you are an excellent farmer with no where else to go, I propose that I let you live here, under the conditions that you teach me everything there is to know about farming!" He grinned, showing off his devilish canines once more.
"There isn't really a loss to this deal, huh?" Gem chuckled, now holding out her own hand for Scar to shake. Scar looked briefly taken aback before reaching out and shaking it firmly.
"Wow, you didn't even think about it!" He snorted. Gem rolled her eyes.
"It's pretty simple, it's either I accept the deal, or I go back to suffering in the city with no apartment. It doesn't require much thought, Mr Goodtimes."
"Fair enough. I look forward to working with you, Gem!"
"Y'know what? Me too."
...
"So what're we gonna do about the bed situation, Scar?"
"I call top bunk!"
"There's not even a bunk bed in the cabin!"