Mirroring the Endless Night | Elliott x Female Farmer |

10. Escapades on a Summer's Day

Warning in advance: This chapter is over 7k words long, much longer than intended, have fun :)

...

The heat had become damn near unbearable at this point in the summer.

The heat wave had arrived, as predicted the week before, and the entirety of Pelican Town was seeking out ways to keep cool. Gus, Pierre, and Joja Mart alike were selling bags of ice by the pound and rarely anybody was leaving their homes and the safety of air conditioning.

Maria however still did not have the luxury of air conditioning, but luckily for her it was only a day away. Her hot pepper harvest had grown earlier in the week and she immediately sold every fruit and ran to Robin's with her savings. She'd practically busted down the carpenters front door before begging for her house upgrade- kitchen, air conditioning, fixed pipes, and heater all included.

Robin was more than happy to agree, letting the farmer now she'd get started as soon as possible. And that's where she was, hammering away at the farmhouse in spite of the heat. The farmer had been sure to leave plenty of water for the carpenter to drink while she worked but for the most part was staying out of her hair.

Which meant that currently Maria had found shelter in the town's museum. She'd completed her chores in the early morning and made her way into town before the sun had a chance to fully rise and was now nestled into some of the beanbags with a sketchbook on her lap.

The book was old and the pages were slightly crumpled and faded, but it was one of the only pieces of art supplies she'd brought with her from Zuzu City, along with some pencils and pens of course. Overnight she'd gotten the sudden inspiration to try something, anything art related, so within the library she'd grabbed a handful of books about botany and zoology and was using the diagrams and photos within the books as references as she sketched.

Not too long into her little art session the door to the museum was pushed open and she could hear someone quietly greet Gunther. Maria couldn't stop the smile that spread on her lips as soon as she recognized whose voice it was.

A certain writer turned the corner of the bookshelves and as soon as his eyes met her own the two grinned at one another.

"Hey there, stranger," Maria smirked, "escaping the heat?"

He nodded, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner that pulled a giggle out of the farmer, "yes, I'm afraid that even with the breeze from the sea the beach is far too warm, and my little cabin is lacking proper ventilation."

"Ah, well once Robin's done with my place I'll have an AC unit, and you're more than welcome to come around whenever you need some cool air," Maria replied.

She could see a small smile tug on the writer's lips as he began to skim the shelves, "I'll be happy to take you up on that offer, though I admit I'll likely feel a tad guilty if I'm taking advantage of your living space while you're out in the fields working tirelessly with this dreadful heat beating down on you."

Maria shrugged her shoulders, "I don't mind one bit, you're my friend, it's not as though you sitting inside my home is gonna burden me. Plus, if you do start to feel guilt about using my air conditioning, I can always give you some chores to do around the farm. Would you be up for chopping down some old oak trees?" she suggested with a sly grin.

Elliott's eyes widened slightly at the notion before he chuckled, and Maria watched curiously as his fingers wrapped around the spine of a book from the fiction section, "I'm afraid I may not have the strength nor the stamina that you possess that allows you to cut down trees. Maybe a simpler task such as watering would be better suited for me."