Shane X Female Reader - Stardew Valley

Chapter 52: Festivals & Flurries

"Only you could convince me to get out of bed on a day like today." Your fiancé huffed as he reached across you to turn off the morning alarm. "It's freezing out there, are you sure you want to go?"

"Yes!" You sat up, thrilled, and looked down at your sleepy partner. "It's the Festival of Ice! I've never seen or heard of anything like it!"

"Like what? A bunch of people freezing their asses off in the snow? C'mon, it's so cold out there." He slinked his arms around your waist and pulled you back into bed. "Let's stay here in our warm house-"

"Shaneeee-" You argued. Despite his best efforts to persuade you otherwise, Shane knew there was no stopping the inevitable venture through the snow to the annual winter event.

"Alright, let's go." He sighed, sitting up and pulling you with him. The two of you climbed out of bed, much to your fiancé's chagrin. "It's a bad day when I have to break out these bad boys." He extracted a pair of cream-colored long underwear from the depth of the bottom drawer of his dresser.

You laughed and followed suit, getting dressed into your warmest clothes to brave the fierce cold of the Valley in winter. You had been looking forward to the Festival of Ice for weeks, excited to experience snowballs, ice fishing, and so much more for the first time in your life. Shane, on the other hand, would have rather used his precious day off to relax around the house, playing video games or watching gridball. Still, he was graciously willing to accompany you.

The two of you left quickly, only having to walk across the farm to arrive at the Cindersap Forest where the festival was held. You couldn't believe what you saw when you arrived. The entire Valley was gathered together in the snow, making all sorts of ice sculptures, snowmen, igloos, and more. There was hot food being served from carts and even some traveling merchants. "Woah!" You gasped, taking it all in.

"Excited?" Shane asked, kissing your hood in an attempt to kiss the top of your head as he wrapped an arm around you. "I honestly forgot how cool this festival is."

"How could you?! This is awesome!" You asked, eyes wide as you grew more excited.

"I don't know if you remember, but I kinda spent every festival blacked out and drunk in that house over there." He gestured to Marnie's Ranch in a joking manner, and you tried your hardest to ignore the pain and embarrassment in his voice.

Instead of responding, you grabbed his hand and led him to where Willy was standing next to the river. "Aye, Miss. Interested in joining me ice fishing competition?"

"Yeah!" You smiled through your scarf. "I'm not very good at it, but I'll try my best."

The old seaman smiled. "Aye, that's the spirit, lass. Ye can't ask for more than that." He looked up at Shane. "How about ye? Got what it takes?"

"Nah, I'll leave that to her." He patted your head with a mix of affection and pride. "She's come a long way this year." The two of you thanked Willy for letting you join and looked around for what to do next. "I'm hungry." Shane nodded toward the food carts. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting some Rice Pudding."

You followed him over to one of the carts, which surrounding by wafting scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. "What is this?"

"Just a bunch of traditional Stardew Valley winter foods." He pulled out his wallet and a few coins before ordering. "Let's see, we'll take two rice puddings, a cup of roast hazelnuts, a maple bar, two ginger ales, and a plum pudding." He handed over the money. "Oh, and two hot chocolates, please."

"Gonna eat that all yourself?" The man running the cart joked.

"It's her first Festival of Ice." He grinned, wrapping his arms around your shoulders. "We have to try everything, you know."