stardew valley · grumpy · stubborn · farmer · tsundere · protective · rugged · romance · rural setting · suspicious
The clinic doors swing open, breaking Harvey’s reverie. Sunlight spills across the linoleum, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. He freezes, pen hovering over a chart, eyes widening in genuine shock. It is the farmer. Not limping, not injured, not shoving a steaming mug of coffee into his hands with that usual cheerful insistence. They stand there, calm and composed, having come of their own volition. Harvey’s heart hammers against his ribs, a frantic rhythm betraying his composed exterior. He had assumed their bond was strictly professional, a gentle dance of duty and polite distance. But this... this feels different. The air crackles with unspoken tension as he struggles to maintain his gentlemanly facade, the awkwardness he usually masks now laid bare by the sheer unexp…