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cadere-art · 9 months ago

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A sample of common crops of Uanlikri, with a focus on crops grown on the Ojame archipelago.

More information under the cut.

Grains

Several types of grains and grain-like crops are cultivated in Uanlikri. Of these, the four major types are millet, sand rice, swamp rice, and amaranth (not depicted).

Millet and sand rice are heat-loving and drought tolerant, with sand rice requiring especially good soil drainage but being more cold hardy. They are the main staples north of the Kantishian Mountains. Millet is favoured in the wetter Basin region, and sand rice in the dryer, more mountainous western regions, and both are grown equally in the continent's hot and arid northern desert.

Swamp rice is another important staple of the Basin region: though cultivation is complexified by its extremely heavy water requirements (swamp rice only grows in marshes or riverbanks), the complex river deltas leading to the Basin's inner seas are ideal for its cultivation and have been heavily modified to create artificial wetlands where swamp rice can be grown. Some strains of swamp rice have good cold hardiness allowing them to be grown south of the Kantishian Mountains. Swamp rice has also been selected for salt resistance: it is an especially important crop in the cold brackish marshes of the Cianji river and in the hot saltwater marshes of the Ojame Archipelago.

Amaranth is primarily cultivated in southern regions of Uanlikri. In the southern Basin region, they are a supplemental crop, but up in the mountains and in the cold lands south of the Kantishian, amaranth is the main staple. Mountain amaranth is especially frost resistant and able to survive nightly summer frosts in the Kantishian's high plateaus.

Red oats, known in the Ojame archipelago as uciwici, is a locally important crop grown in eastern coastal regions. Red oats is sensitive to extreme temperatures and does poorly in continental climates, but its extremely high salt resistance and ability to grow in poor soils make it a crucial crop by allowing cultivation to extend to otherwise marginal areas such as sandbars, coastal dunes, and other poor, rocky and sandy soils. It is appreciated for its purple grains with a naturally slightly salty taste, and for its decorative red foliage which retains some of its colour when dried, making it useful for basketry.

Ferns

Other grain-like crops grown in Uanlikri are seed ferns. Seed ferns are distantly related to true ferns and cycads. Two species are cultivated in Uanlikri: a climbing seed fern grown South of the Kantishian and which produces large numbers of small orange seeds attached to the underside of its fronds, and a caytoniale tree fern which produces modified fronds with large, round yellow seeds instead of leaves and is grown in the Upper Basin and Great Lakes region.

Climbing seed ferns are extremely prolific with a seasonal harvest on par with grain fields and well-keeping seeds with high nutritional value. The seeds are bitter with a taste somewhat reminiscent of burnt almonds and citrus peel, and are usually parboiled before cooking to remove some of the bitterness.

Caytoniale seed ferns are less prolific but are perennials. The seed envelope is also quite bitter, but the seed flesh has a pleasant neutral flavour and a crunchy, sticky texture not unlike that of meringue. Seeds keep well on the tree, but go bad quickly once harvested unless they are properly processed: seeds meant to be kept are parboiled, smoked, and ground into flour, while seeds meant for short-term consumption are either hulled and ground into flour, or hulled and grilled, often to be eaten as snacks alongside grilled insects.

True ferns are commonly consumed as greens, especially young fern shoots (fiddle-heads) and equisetum (horsetail) ferns. Antioles are less sensitive to the toxins in ferns, and parboiling of fiddleheads is often done but not strictly necessary unless consumed in great quantities.

Legumes

Legumes grown for food are historically rather rare in Uanlikri prior to the conquest of the Western Peninsula by the Senq Ha Empire. There are only two important legume crops in Uanlikri which are native to the continent: the grosbean, and the wax pea.

Grosbean is a vine which produces short, rectangular pods containing two to three large beans. The beans are exceptionally large, very colourful, and have a somewhat chalky texture. They used to be a staple in the Basin region, but have been mostly displaced by more palatable varieties introduced by Senq Ha colonists, though they are still grown for jewellery.

The wax pea is short, somewhat vine-like plant producing smooth pods containing a single unpalatable, extremely waxy pea. Though they are edible under duress, wax peas have never been grown as a food crop. They are instead highly valued for the wax which can be obtained by boiling the peas in a slightly acidic solution.

Other legumes (not depicted) have grown in popularity in the two centuries since and are now commonly eaten in most regions.

Roots and fruits

There is a great regional variation in the crops grown for their greens, roots, and fruits. This section should be treated as a sample of a sample, focused more closely on crops grown in the Ojame Archipelago.

Fruits

There are several species of ginkgo in Uanlikri, all of which produce elegant foliage and edible nuts. The nuts stink and their skin can cause rashes, so they are to be manipulated with caution, but their creamy flesh is much appreciated for its strong cheese-like flavour, which confers a pungent taste to salty and sweet dishes alike.

Bird cherries are small, cherry-like fruits that grow on trees and bushes. Most bird cherries are tart and astringent and are used for a touch of tartness or in jams and other preserves. Some cultivars produce very sweet cherries. The seeds of most birdcherries are mildly toxic to antioles.

The arils of a few yew species are eaten by antioles, especially as a gooey prepared delicacy or in jams. All other parts of the yew plant are extremely toxic to antioles, and the arils must be consumed with extreme caution. Because of this, it is illegal to plant yews on the Ojame Archipelago and especially in Ranai, but due to the extreme longevity of these trees, there are several ancient yews in the city of Ranai which are important landmarks and sources of yew arils.

Various citrus are grown and used throughout the Northern parts of the continent: most are acidic and bitter, though there are also sweet varieties. In the citruses of Uanlikri, green is associated with sweetness, yellow with bitterness, and orange with acidity.

Sumac is an important culinary crop in the Ojame Archipelago: sumac fruits are processed for the production of malic acid, a popular flavoring and crucial ingredient in the traditional Ojame ceviches.

Mothberries are named after their pale blue flowers in the shape of a butterfly. It is a drought resistant plant originating from the northern regions of the continent and cultivated for multiple uses: its tuber and leaves are aromatic and medicinal and its fruit is very sweet.

Roots

Root vegetables of all kinds make up an important portion of non-staple crops throughout Uanlikri.

Fur yams are floury and sweet, with edible and prolific leaves with a distinctly "green" taste.

Gourd roots, named after their shape, are crunchy, aromatic and sweet, with leaves used as culinary herbs.

Reeds are an all-around essential plants, with young shoots eaten as greens, roots eaten as a staple by coastal and marshland peoples, and its dried leaves and stems essential materials in basketry.

Orange onions are one of the many varieties of alliums cultivated in Uanlikri. They are the most popular alliums in Ranai. They are potently sulfuric and milden considerably with cooking.

Sweet and pearl radishes (are not radishes) are different cultivars of the Uanlikri radish (not a radish) with crunchy, fresh-tasting and slightly bitter leaves and small starchy tubers which produce very fine starches.

Spindleaf yams are plants with strangely shaped, aromatic and medicinal leaves somewhat reminiscient of sage and a juicy, crunchy tuber with a slight, mustard-like bite.

These are just a sample of grains, ferns, legumes, greens, roots and fruits eaten in Ranai and elsewhere on the continent of Uanlikri. Many of these plants have a large number of regional cultivars, and each region has a variety of local plants they grow or gather which are not broadly eaten elsewhere.

#worldbuilding #art by me #uanlikri #antiole world #speculative biology #speculative botany #also this took forever to do. not kidding #very fun though #unfortunately this does not really count for 'tober bc it's been done for a couple days. alas

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serpentface · 7 days ago

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UPDATED IMPERIAL WARDIN FOOD POST

(Note that many foods aren’t 1:1 with real world equivalents but will be labeled with their real world equivalent if it’s Basically the same thing in form/taste).

STAPLE DIETARY BASICS:

Maize is the most important staple grain throughout the majority of the region (and much of the northern hemisphere in general). It has been cultivated here for about two thousand years and some wild teosintes are native (can be found on both sides of the Mouth seaway), though it was not domesticated here and Probably originates close to modern-day Bur.

The main maize type grown here is comparable to field corn. It has a taste and texture resembling choclo, being starchy and somewhat chewy (the kernels are not as large though). Most strains are hybridized with wild teosintes, though mostly not by intentional cross breeding. Maize is usually consumed in nixtamalized form using lime. This is habitual, both as a matter of providing better nutrition and better taste, and plain corn tastes a bit unusual to the palate (though is used in some sweet preparations). Corn smut fungus is also intentionally allowed to propagate and is widely eaten, though consumption of fungi is otherwise rare.

Barley is a close second, and has been present in the region longer than maize. The landrace here is particularly hardy and tolerant of poor, dry soils, and it can be grown further from the alluvial soil that maize thrives best in. It has a lower yield compared to maize, however. This strain is a winter barley requiring periods of cold after planting to grow. This makes it valuable as a staple, being potentially the first crop ready in any given year (depending on conditions it might be harvested a few months before maize), though it does not fare well in sustained freezing temperatures and may fail in a bad winter. Some summer barley types are present but grown at a more limited scale; it's unclear whether these represent two separate introductions or a novel mutation.

Two types of yam are widely grown and very important to the diet, referred to as the red yam (regarded as the best in flavor, but more delicate) and the white yam (regarded as poorer, but a significantly hardier crop that can be grown throughout most of the year). Both are mild starchy root vegetables (not sweet potato), though the red yam has a richer flavor and is subtly sweet. Both are cultivars of the same plant, which may have been domesticated in this region.

Lentils and legumes are the other core cultivated part of the diet. Chickpeas and cowpeas are most widely grown, and often comprise the majority of protein in a person’s diet. The mung bean is a relatively recent crop adopted in trade, and is primarily grown in the wetter northwest.

Potentially available grains/fruits/vegetables/etc (regionally varies, not including some misc edible wild greens):

Rice, cabbage, lettuce, onions, garlic, chili peppers, peas, olives, koli (cactus-like fruiting plant), camiche (tree with edible seeds, seedpods, leaves, and flowers), stone pine, dates, anuje palm (produces edible sap), pistachio, figs, nara (lime-like orange citrus), melon (a mildly sweet, cucumbery variant with edible seeds), apples, pomegranates, breadroot (wild plant comparable to prairie turnip), dirruca (similar to an autumn olive), groundcherries, acorns, amaranth, wild mustard, and maga (root vegetable with a potato-y texture and cabbage-y taste).

Of these, cabbage (more specifically a cabbage-esque brassica cultivar, it's a little different), onions, garlic, chilis, olives (mostly in the form of olive oil), camiche, and koli are the most important staples.

Potentially available spices/herbs/flavorings (some native/long-naturalized, many originally obtained via trade and native grown, some exclusively imported):

Cumin, saffron, wild saffron, coriander, thyme, sesame, poppy seeds, sumac, chilis, a couple wild mints and sages, rose, hyssop, turmeric, ginger, and firebug (a small insect that can be dried and crushed to impart red coloration, though imparts very little flavor), bode (an aromatic wild plant used similarly to bay leaf).

Livestock:

Cattle are of utmost importance as livestock. They provide milk, blood, meat, leather, bone, dung for fertilizer and fuel, and labor. Aside from the obvious dairy, blood drawn carefully from live cattle is a common part of the diet (mostly used for sausages and soups), though actual slaughter occurs rarely as cattle are tremendously more valuable alive than dead. Bull testes are eaten fairly frequently as a byproduct of gelding, and are considered superior to those harvested from a slaughtered bull.

Horses produce milk, meat, fertilizer, and textiles. All horse types here show dual-purpose selection for wool and milk, their meat is of secondary importance. Horses are slaughtered more frequently than cattle, however, as they mature more quickly and breed more prolifically (usually giving birth to two foals at a time).

Fowl can be kept for eggs and meat. Domesticated chickens and ducks are widely kept, and the tarne pheasant was first domesticated here. Some wild ducks/geese and ibis are kept in semi-tame contexts to be easily harvested for meat and eggs.

Khait are rarely eaten (or milked for that matter) in the Wardi cultural sphere, though there are no outright proscriptions against their consumption in general. Their main utility is as mounts and beasts of burden, and slaughter is usually an act of desperation or an opportunistic use of an already dying animal.

Among the Wardinae or 'south Wardi' population, the salutachin dog type is kept for meat, which is a matter of minor cultural differences surrounding of taboos against eating animals considered 'scavengers' (a label applied subjectively) or potential maneaters. The name basically means ‘yam dog’, referring to their exclusively vegetarian diet of mostly yams/maize/barley. They're considered a delicacy and eaten mostly for weddings.

Chul aren't kept at very large scales (as they provide little while alive, save for manure) but are still present in many villages as a source of meat that is almost entirely self-sufficient and can essentially be fed on garbage. Scavenger taboos are not applied to their meat in spite of their notable propensity for scavenging (this is at least partly on the basis of them being hoofed animals), though their meat isn't particularly favored either (outside of just-weaned calves, which are considered delicious).

Beekeeping is a common practice, often as an extension of fruit farming. Bees are kept in clay pot hives and mostly utilized for honey and wax. Bee larvae are sometimes eaten after honey is harvested, but are but considered to be a 'peasant food'. Insects are otherwise extremely rare in the diet and only tend to be eaten out of desperation, though it's common to get some minor victories out of destructive locust swarms by eating them (still considered peasant food).

Alcohol:

The techniques for distillation are not present here, though alcohol content derived from high-sugar ferments can get fairly high. Most alcohol is fermented with naturally occurring wild yeasts and fungus on the surface of the fruits/grain rather than actively introduced yeasts, thus can produce highly variable results from batch to batch.

-Wine is consumed mixed on a near-daily basis, usually with water (though more fancy preparations may use rosewater or un-fermented fruit juice). Consumption of unmixed wine is usually reserved for semi-special occasions. Grapes are not grown here and all wines derive from other fruits, with date wine being the basic standard. Other fruit wines are common (kolis fruit being most popular and practical), and wines based on the fermentation of camiche flowers (with dried dates or honey to supplement) are traditional and part of mid-spring holidays. Most vinegars are made from further fermentation of wine.

-Grain-based ales made with barley are most common, though maize (or a combination of the two) is also utilized, as are a few wild grass seeds. The traditional ale style here uses malted grains which are dried before fermentation, with higher quality ales being dried and smoked over wood (camiche, apple, and oak being 'best quality'). A distinction is made between 'smoked ales' (selectively wood-smoked), 'dung ales' (refers to malts dried (not smoked) over standard dung fuel fires, though is sometimes a tongue in cheek description for any low-quality/cheaply made ale), and sun ales (sun-dried malts).

-Mead tends to be the highest ABV beverage consumed recreationally. The style of honey harvest introduces beeswax/bees/larvae into the ferment, which can result in a higher alcohol yield (due to the wax floating to the top and creating a more anaerobic environment late in fermentation). Mead is generally consumed watered down like wine, sometimes with milk/whey and often spiced. The same word is sometimes used to describe alcoholic beverages made with anuje palm syrup (usually distinguished as 'mead' and 'anuje mead'), though the two forms vary in taste substantially.

-Amenwematse: A special high ABV mead-ish drink made by fermenting maize, loads of honey, and a paste of boiled herbs + tobacco. It's considered essentially different from other alcoholic drinks via its ritualized production, and its consumption is reserved exclusively for religious purposes. It is used to assist in inducing trance states/gaining mental fortitude (and lowering inhibitions) for rites, particularly in cases in which one must be transformed (such as Odonii or Etadinii taking on the aspects of animals) and/or must undergo a harrowing task (such as being a teenage bullfighter who needs to bring down a wild bull aurochs with a small knife, and knows dying in the process is considered an acceptable outcome). It is intended to produce a mild altered state without actually dulling the mind or becoming inebriated (it's forbidden for non-ceremonial use and tastes pretty damn bad anyway, if you want to get plastered you just drink plain old unmixed mead or wine).

Fishing:

Most of the contemporary sedentary population is clustered around the coasts and rivers, and fish may provide most dietary protein in these contexts. Oily fish tend to be favored over whitefish overall, though the latter are preferred for soups. Shellfish are widely harvested and may play a major role in coastal commoner diets; they tend to be considered a low class food but lack the stigma of 'peasant/famine foods'. Spearhunting large marine reptiles is done by some coastal communities on a subsistence basis, but has no major industry surrounding it. Adult yotici (known to be kinda freaky and smart but not known to be sapient beings) are sometimes spearfished, though are among fish eaten with caution due to a potential for ciguatera poisoning.

Hunting:

Sport hunting is a pastime for nobility, but subsistence hunting is often important to the diet of inland pastoralists and is an opportunistic source of meat for agricultural peasants who will very rarely get to eat their own livestock.

Hare, rabbit, several gamebirds, gazelle, aurochs, buffalo, anara (semiquatic rodent), and nechoi (piglike animal) are the most common targets. Crocodiles tend to be culturally exempt from food taboos around eating maneaters (in spite of killing and eating the most humans of any predator by a LONG SHOT; these taboos mostly apply to non-hoofed mammals and birds, or to singular animals known or suspected to have actually eaten a person) and are often actively hunted for food and to reduce populations near settlements. A type of softshell turtle and a couple species of snakes are considered delicacies.

Preparations:

Meat:

Most meats are smoked and salted, though largely as a matter of practicality for preservation rather than taste (fresh meats are generally preferred when possible). There is an overall cultural revulsion towards consuming raw meat/fish, though consumption of some raw seafood is common in Wardinized Jazaiti subcultures and in Erubinnos (the latter owing to the practice being brought by Yuroma-speaking migrants). Most organ meats are readily consumed, with the liver in particular being seen as a delicacy among most animals. Meat from the head (including brain and tongue), shanks, and feet of an animal gets 'offal' status and is considered peasant food (often quite literally, being the share allotted to peasants after slaughter). Taboos exist against eating the heart of any animal outside of very specific ritual purposes; this organ is expected to be respectfully discarded (doing so appeases the animal's spirit, not doing so can get you cursed by it).

Swallows:

Swallows are a dietary staple and essentially used as utensils. They’re composed of cooked grains/starches that have been strained of most liquid, pounded into a soft doughy texture, and shaped into balls. These are served with most meals and used to scoop up food by hand, and are usually unseasoned. Most swallows are made from yams, though maga, thick mashes of cooked grain, beans, or a mix of ingredients are also used opportunistically.

Bread:

Most breads are unleavened flatbread. A very simple maize flatbread is shaped into small, thick discs and fried in oil (olive or sesame) and eaten on its own or with other meal components placed atop it (this is common as a street food in urban settings). A type of very large barley flatbread is made from dough mixed with olive oil or rendered fat and cooked on a griddle (usually a stone) and usually used as a food delivery mechanism in group settings, with pieces being torn off to scoop up the rest of a meal. Higher quality leavened breads are made by actively acquiring yeast via soaking bran in wine, but in practice barley dough is often just allowed to sit out and leaven naturally via airborne+its own yeasts.

Non-dairy/alcohol ferments:

-Peledyo: fish sauce made by fermenting partial/whole fish bodies with salt and water (usually at a ratio of 25% salt 75% fish). Similar sauces made with oysters/shrimp/etc are also referred to as peledyo (if maybe specified as 'oyster peledyo' or etc). The most ancient _ traditional form is made with freshwater fish and has a distinct flavor from that made with oily marine fishes, though the former is mostly homemade and the latter is mass produced. This is a dietary staple and often used in favor of salt alone to season dishes and sauces.

-The solid portion of the peledyo ferment is also consumed, usually as the base of a meal rather than as a seasoning. It is mostly eaten as a porridge stirred with grain, or worked into a soup. This fish paste is traditionally colored red via firebug, and will have a whitish-grayish color on its own that is considered a bit unpleasant.

-One food item is made from mashed cooked grains that have been fermented in whey, shaped into little balls, and dried. These are most commonly eaten in soups or on their own as snacks, and have a strong cheesy-umami flavor.

-Wainyotago: a fermentation of maize or barley dough that is usually eaten as a porridge, sometimes on its own or as a swallow. The name itself literally derives from 'rotten barley', though is applied to maize doughs as well (and is not technically rotten).

-Bean paste: a fermentation of beans (chickpeas or cowpeas), often mixed with sesame or melon seeds. It's kept as a more preservable form of cooked beans and often eaten on bread, and considered somewhat of an acquired taste (often very strongly flavored and a little slimy).

-Corn sauce: a dark salty sauce made from fermented maize, similar in taste to soy sauce. This is a staple in the Burri sphere and less regularly consumed here (where peledyo is generally preferred for salt+umami flavoring), though is more common deep inland where fish sauces are less accessible.

Dairy

Dairy is massively important to the diet, and rates of lactose intolerance are low in populations native here. Most people eat dairy products on a daily basis. It is usually consumed in more preservable states as yogurts, kefir, and cheeses, though plain raw milk is used for drinks and is the absolute standard offering of libation in religious practice.

Cheese: Several styles of cheese are made, mostly from the milk of cattle (horsemilk is less favored for cheese (though its easier to produce cheese with it than the milk of irl horses)). A simple paneer type cheese is made with cow or horsemilk curdled with an acid (vinegar or nara fruit is most common), which is often eaten in soups. A soft cow milk rennet cheese is eaten similarly, most notably as a big glob in the middle of a pepper/onion soup. Hard cheeses are less favored overall, though are still produced for their preservability (often mixed with herbs). Moldy cheeses (with the exception of the rind) are culturally considered to be repugnant.

Kefir: forms of kefir appear to have developed independently west of the Blackmane mountains and are an ancient part of the diet. It's especially favored in the winter, when the weather may be cold enough to allow it to chill before consumption. It is usually fermented overnight in skin bags and served as a drink in several styles, sweetened with honey or anuje, salted, or spiced. A horsemilk variant is slightly preferred over cow milk for its stronger taste, and has a (very low) alcohol content due to the milk's larger quantity of sugars.

Yogurt: a type of yogurt-like ferment is usually made from cow milk. It is eaten as-is, or further strained and salted for a more preservable product, or alternatively churned to produce butter (this is a rare practice). It is rarely eaten on its own and is mostly used as a base for sauces. The most standard form of spicy sauce in Wardi cuisine is a mix of yogurt, cumin, garlic, and chilis (of varying capsaicin content), often colored red or gold with firebug/saffron and sometimes acidified with vinegar or nara juice.

DINING:

Most meals are eaten by hand, and spoons are the only utensils used (and even then mostly used for the process of cooking; soups are typically sipped from the bowl). Full meals are taken seated on the floor around low-lying tables from which the food is served, while informal snacking and drinking is done seated on chairs or couches. Small basins of water are used to rinse the hands as needed throughout the meal.

There are two formal mealtimes in a given day, being a breakfast and dinner (anything in between is snacking). These are ideally social occasions and should be held with every member of the household present. Both will be fairly substantial meals, with dinners being the largest. There is no hard distinction between 'breakfast foods' and 'dinner foods', though the accompaniments are distinct, with breakfasts usually being taken with kefir or tea and dinner being taken with wine. Sweets or fruits are usually eaten between savory courses in fancier meals, though for the average person (who does not regularly experience multi-course meals) they're usually served alongside dinner or as midday snacks. Dinners are often had fairly late (~7-8pm) and intended to be the closing part of each day, to be held after one has finished all work and bathed and just before going to bed.

A full meal will usually be placed in the center of the table. At the most basic, it will generally consist of a main dish, swallows or bread to eat it with, and mixed wine (just water if times are tough). In a household setting, the male head of house is served first, followed by his wife, followed by any sons/other men and then daughters/other women (this too going by generation). If guests are present, etiquette requires the hosts to serve them first, but for the guests to not start eating until the head of household has taken his first bite. It's customary to save some of your swallow/bread for last so that you can scoop up any remaining sauce from your plate, as it's somewhat rude to leave one's plate unclean (especially as a guest). When possible, pipe with tobacco or broülje is often passed around to everyone present after dinner (in part considered to aid in digestion).

#some lore has changed since the last one. Big one is that my previous conceit that beekeeping is rare here is weird given that I #had also established honey being really important to medicine and basically every society surrounding this one does a little beekeeping

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axololtls · 10 months ago

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kofi

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junimosity · 4 months ago

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⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆Steam Your Nerves⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

pairing: HarveyxF!Reader

summary: after a painful harvest, you schedule a walk-in at Harvey's clinic to express concern of an old shoulder injury. his prescription? a trip to the hot springs to help you with some physical therapy.

w.c.: 3.8k

warnings: suggestive content (MDNI pls), fluff with a hint of something at the end, harvey makes a DAD JOKE *sirens blare*, mentions of minor injuries (i am not a medical professional), probably medical malpractice?

divider by @strangergraphics

Just a few more swings.

The late August heat was seething through every pore on your body as you swung your scythe. Just a bit more wheat left in the field until you were ready to preserve it for the winter. You could see the end of the bed approaching, but Yoba, did it feel like a gridball field away.

“Shit,” you groaned out as you maintained the right posture, swinging the tool back. That all too familiar peak season twinge sent a jolt from beneath your shoulder blade and down your arm. You couldn’t stop yet, but that old pain was seriously becoming less bearable. Swing and recoil, swing and recoil, you couldn’t help but bite down on your jaw with more force than your movements.

The end of the bed came, and you were finally able to put the heavy tool down, grabbing your harvest bin to collect the final stretch of grain for the year. Well, almost final, if you included the amaranth that was due for a harvest in about a month. Lugging your harvest bin and scythe up to your storage shed, you couldn’t help but dread the feeling of doing that for a whole entire day again, not with the state of your shoulder.

It had been a long while since you first noticed it; the pinch of a nerve hidden deep beneath your muscles on your right shoulder. It usually wasn’t too bad, but this time every year it always made an unwelcome appearance. You hung your harvest up to dry before checking the time, letting out a rough sigh of dissatisfaction.

Nearly half past two. A record slow day for you, something that you knew would only worsen if you didn’t tackle the issue at hand. You wouldn’t be able to get all of your crops out of the field before they overgrew at this rate. Searching through your overall pockets, you slipped out your phone, scrolling through your contacts before selecting your doctor’s name.

You bit at your lip, frustrated by the predicament you placed yourself in. It was a Friday, barely an hour left of the clinic’s working hours. If you had any chance of getting a walk-in, you’d have to drop him a call. But to see him in this state-

Harvey wasn’t exactly just a doctor to you. You’d come to share a lot of different aspects of your life, spending free time at the park, a glass of wine at the saloon on the weekends, you’d even run into him at a few live music shows in Zuzu City. This blurred the lines a little, something you’d subconsciously wished for since the first day you moved to the valley and brought in your medical records.

A line you hadn’t crossed, however, was showing up to an appointment without the courtesy of a shower and a clean pair of clothes. You hadn’t run into him in public at all without a little effort. But today, you’d spent the whole summer morning harvesting- clothes covered in chaff, soil, and dust, and body coated in a thick layer of grime.

Staring at his contact with a grimace, you weighed your options; face another week of high season labor without attending to your nagging pain and with the financial repercussions of a potentially failed harvest, or let your hot doc see you a little gross. Knowing you didn’t have a choice, you pressed the number, bringing it up to your sweaty cheek to hear him pick up within a single ring.

“Pelican Town Clinic, this is Dr. Harvey speaking. How can I help you?” Shit, he clearly had time for a walk-in if he was working the front desk.

“Hey, Harvey,” you spoke casually, forgetting the formalities with your exhaustion. “It’s farmer (Y/N). I was wondering if you had time for another patient today?”

“Hey there! Yes, of course. It’s been slow today. What’s the matter?”

“Long story short, I think I've got some sort of shoulder injury. Pinched nerve, torn rotator cuff or whatever, I don’t know exactly what, but it’s starting to get in the way of my work.”

“All-righty…” he drew out, clearly grabbing your file as he spoke. “Okay, I’ll get your chart filled while you make your way over.”

“Thanks, I’ll be there in a few.” You sighed, hanging up before he could respond. Quickly ducking into your house to change your shoes and at least wash your hands and face, you grabbed your wallet and headed into town.

It was only a few minutes before the end of the day when you stepped in, bell signaling Harvey to walk out the interior doors to greet you in the lobby.

“Hey, made it just in time. C’mon back.”

“Thanks, I’m so sorry I came so late. It took me a lot longer to finish today than it should’ve.” Harvey held the door back open for you, leading you into the back.

“I can understand why. Don’t sweat it, take a seat and I’ll get your vitals.”

“Alright,” you sighed, placing yourself on the exam table, cringing a little at the thought of the dirt you’d probably leave behind.

“So, tell me where the pain is.” Harvey directed as he busied himself with your blood pressure.

“Like, somewhere deep under my right shoulder blade. I can’t reach the spot with my hands to show you, but it's kind of above the center of it?” You tried to describe, lack of anatomical knowledge failing you. “It gets really bad this time of year.”

“This time of year? How many years?”

“Pff,” you blew through your lips as you tried to remember when it first started. “Jeez, since before I moved here for sure. Probably since college.”

“College?!” Harvey yelped, dropping the stethoscope from his ears. “You can’t be serious.”

You shrugged your shoulders in response, wincing a little at the pain.

“I haven’t had the time to get it checked out. My first few years here required a lot more of my time. Now though,” you trailed off, feeling a little ashamed for having held off on treatment. “I don’t know…”

“Better now than never. May I?” Harvey gestured to your back and you nodded, turning slightly so he could access your shoulder better. “Tell me when I’m close to it.”

“A little closer to the center, a bit- there,” you sighed, a little flow of relief at the notion of finding it as he pressed his fingers up against your shirt.

“Ah,” he noted, coming back around to face you. “This is a pretty common injury, pinched nerve for sure. It’s a bit inflamed right now, probably from all your hard work. I can print out some stretches and exercises you can do until the swelling goes down in a day or so, at which point I’d recommend you apply heat when you can. Have you finished most of your work for the week?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so. Definitely got in the last harvest needed until this upcoming Monday.”

“Good g-,” he responded with a choke. “Take it easy until the inflammation goes down, don’t try to lift too much, and definitely don’t overcompensate with your other side. If you really need assistance, don’t be afraid to reach out. I know you can’t just stop your work, but you’ve got a whole town worth of willing helpers.”

“Thanks, Harvey,” you offered a half smile, admitting the defeat of needing rest during your busiest month. He helped you off the exam table and brought you back to the front, printing out a quick few pages from a file he’d already had open on his computer. Stapling them together, he grabbed a post-it and jotted something down.

“If any of the exercises don’t make sense, feel free to drop me a call on my cell phone. I’ll be around all weekend.”

“Oh, thank you,” you responded, a little raise in your pulse at having his personal number. “I’d hate to disturb your weekend.”

“Knowing you, we’d probably end up running into each other anyway.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” you laughed tiredly. “How much for the visit?”

“You’re good to go. I’m not going to charge you for a print out…” Harvey laughed you off, guiding you to the front door before you could make any further complaint.

“Oh, are you sure?”

“Positive, (Y/N). I have to usually beg you to come and get checked out annually. I’m going to consider this one a blessing.”

You laughed gently, careful not to agitate your shoulder further before waving goodbye with your free hand, taking a moment to roll back the pained shoulder after he retreated back into the clinic. Wincing immediately, you looked down at the pamphlet, giving the exercises a go the whole way home.

Sunday evening rolled in so very slowly. Your shoulder, although no longer screaming out in pain, remained a good deal sore as you sought out only your bare minimum tasks. You were counting down the hours until you could finally go to the baths, not wanting to further the inflammation with heat too early. As soon as five o'clock came around, you darted up, your pre-packed bag of your swimsuit and flip flops finding itself over your good shoulder as you headed out the door and up the mountain switchback.

The steps were the most exercise you’d had in over a day, going to show just how quickly a lack of work would affect you. You were going over it in your head again and again; you could not afford this injury. You never could from the start, everything requiring such immediate action. You could’ve taken care of it over one of the many winters you’d spent in the valley, but Harvey always seemed so busy during flu season that you never wanted to pester him with such a little thing. Not when he was always so generous. If he’d let you off that easily, you could only imagine how much work he did for free in the busier months.

The bathhouse was just up the next set of steps, your back aching mildly as you tried your hardest not to move your arms for momentum. You could hear the rushing water as you summited the steps, out of breath and eager to let yourself float amongst the steam. Inside, you changed gently, grimacing as you maneuvered your way through the straps of the top. Flip flops equipped and swimsuit haphazardly tied, you reached for your bag- fuck. You’d left the exercise guide in your living room, having used it during your lunch. In defeat, you closed the locker of your choice and slowly walked over the damp tiles into the bathhouse.

Beautifully empty, as Sunday evenings tended to be. You kicked off your shoes at the poolside before stepping in slowly, one toe testing the temperature and flicking it off at the sudden heat.

Suddenly, a door sounded from across the pool, sending your foot all the way in with alarm. You seethed for a second as you adjusted, looking over to see who entered from the other side.

Fogged glasses and green swim shorts adorned your doctor, the light from the pale blue pool reflecting off of him.

“Harvey?” you laughed out. Unbelievable. He really spoke no lies, you two were guaranteed to run into one another the moment you both had free time. “Is that you?”

“Hah!” a sharp laugh sounded from across the bath. “I should’ve known!”

You stepped in further, shaking your head with a small laugh. Shocking coincidences began to feel like routine, one of you always ending up near the other. Your heart rate jumped up a good twenty beats per minute or so; he’d probably tell you off for it, too.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got a bum shoulder as well?” you called, breathing sharply as the hot water poked your torso.

“More like preventative measures for me. I haven’t seen you here before.” He waded in after removing his glasses by the poolside, a bit faster than you could manage. You could tell he came often by the way he practically jumped in.

“Neither have I. I don’t make it up the mountain as often as I should.”

“Ah. I usually find myself here on Tuesdays after aer- uh, getting some exercise in.”

“Harvey, we go to aerobics together.” You tried to get in deeper, but you couldn't quite make it past your waist before Harvey waded his way over to you.

“Shh,” He raised a finger, earning a quip of laughter from you.

“Who are you hiding it from at this point?”

“The hill’s… they have eyes…”

“Oh my Yoba,” you giggled, having walked right into his dad-joke trap.

“Once you get in it’s not as bad. C’mon,” he glided to you from beneath the water, a wet hand reaching up to grab one of the ones you were subconsciously holding up beneath your chin, covering your chest. You extended your right hand out, attempting to take his, but the moment your weight shifted you collapsed, shoulder zapping you. “Shit!”

“Whoa there,” You fell into Harvey, grasping at his shoulder with your left hand as he guided you into the water, no splashes made. “Shoulder still giving you this much pain?”

“Y-yeah,” you twinged, the mixture of the sudden heat and residing pain disorienting you. “I’ve been taking it easy, I promise.”

“Hey, hey,” Harvey soothed, letting go of your weight and letting you find your own footing. “I believe you,”

“I’ve been doing the exercises too, all of them! I’ve been trying to memorize them but I left the pamphlet at home, I’m so sorry.”

“(Y/N), why are you apologizing? I believe you. You don’t need to defend yourself.” He reassured. “Just relax. You coming to the hot springs tells me you’re taking this seriously, not that you’d need to prove anything to me.”

Your neck immediately released a season’s worth of tension. He was right, you didn’t have anything to prove. The manic mindset of your injury equating failure; that was a Joja mentality. It seemed all those years spent behind a desk couldn’t be undone by a few on the farm.

“Thank you, Harvey,” you smiled at him. “For everything. I can’t even go to the bath without your help.” He lifted his chin, a chuff escaping his mouth in a mild version of his laugh from before.

“That’s not true. It’s just another happenstance. By the way, you should probably skip aerobics this week.”

“That’s for sure,” you responded, subconsciously reaching your hand over your chest to the top of your shoulder, clenching your jaw as you couldn’t quite reach.

Harvey’s face contorted in an unfamiliar way- his lips pursing and moving to the side as his brows furrowed. You caught his glance, about to ask what was up when you realized it- you’d never seen him without his glasses. Your hand fell into the water slowly as you looked into his eyes, finding them glued to your collarbone- no, shoulder. Definitely your shoulder.

“Do- do you need a hand?” he asked, eyes meeting yours after lingering a moment longer. Your eyes flashed, cheeks heating from the steam. “Sorry, I just, I know a few massages that might help. Nerve compressions…”

“Nerve compressions,” you repeated, nodding your head with permission. “Sounds, uh, sounds good.”

“May I?” Harvey’s hands breached the water, beckoning you to turn around. You nodded again, this time turning, making sure any lingering hair fell over your left shoulder. “Let me know when I’ve found it again.”

“Mhmm,” you nearly purred, hearing him wade just a little closer as his warm hands found your skin. He didn’t have to search, not really, as he placed his hands upon your shoulder and immediately slid them into place. “Right there,” you whispered.

“Right,” he confirmed, gently pressing his thumb into the space beneath your shoulder blade. Your neck arched back slightly, chin feeling the steam from the pool beneath you as it greeted the ceiling. “Let me know if I’m being too firm.”

“No, you’re good. Firm is good.”

“Alright, whatever you say,” he confirmed once again. Pressing in deeper, moving his hands this time, you let out a sharp sigh, being oh so careful not let any true vocalization out. Any hint of it would be greatly exacerbated in that echo chamber of a hot spring. He continued, moving up with his fingers, the steam keeping your skin slick beneath his trained hands.

Your head fell forward, no longer able to hold back the immense relief as each push of his hands felt less and less painful. It was like he was moving the pain out of your muscles, sending it on its way through your bloodstream, the cluster of muscle loosening.

“Yoba’s sake, I can feel how tense you are. When was the last time you were up here?” Harvey wondered aloud, albeit lowly.

“Yikes, maybe my first year here? After the rockslide cleared?”

“As your doctor, I’m going to encourage you to make a trip a little more often. And as your friend, I’m going to tell you to come up here as often as you can. You’re loosening up so easily after just being in the water for a bit.”

“You sure it's not the ‘nerve compressions’?” you bantered.

“I’ll let you be the judge of that,” he softened. You could feel his breath on your neck- if it weren’t for the toasty waters, your hairs would be standing taller than the mountain you sat atop of.

“Oh, fuck,” you groaned, bringing up a hand to slap over your mouth immediately afterwards. Harvey had just found the real core of the nerve, smoothing it out with one go. He eased up, but didn’t fully stop, as you turned your head ever so slightly to see him sucking in his lips and holding back a grin. “Please don’t laugh,”

Your plea broke him, making a breathy chuckle fall through his lips as you turned back around and placed your head in your hands.

“Don’t worry about it, please. It was just sudden,” Harvey continued, feeling you tense up beneath his hands again. “Hey,” he consoled, moving even closer to try and comfort you.

“It’s totally fine, I just surprised myself as well,” you squeaked out.

“I’m not going to judge you, (Y/N). I just want you to feel better,” he pushed your hair back over your shoulder, it having fallen back when you looked at him. “I want you to feel good.”

Looking out at the pool from your hands, you took in a steady breath.

What a thing to say…

Your body responded before you could think of a response, hands dropping back into the water and shoulders straightening for him. How obedient you were to his wants.

“Good,” Harvey squeezed the top of your shoulders before continuing back to the one at hand. “You’re doing great.”

“Mm,” was all you could offer in response. “Ah,” you let out a little more as he found that spot again, working it so well that you found yourself moving along to the same rhythm of his hands.

“Right there?”

“Yes, shit, Harvey,” you called gently, the release of your pain so good that you couldn’t care anymore. “Right there.”

“Good, good,” he croaked out, his voice… was his voice shakier than yours? You could hear him swallow dryly behind you.

“Wait,” you spoke, stepping forward in the water a little before turning back around, finding him riper than a cherry. “Harvey…”

“I’m so sorry,” he backtracked. “If it was too much, we don’t have to-”

“Harvey,” you tried to stop him, stepping forward as he stepped back.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,”

“Harv.” You commanded gently as his back found the edge of the pool. “You…” you tried to find your words as he scanned your face, blushed from ear to ear. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

He stared at you for a moment, the small hint of fear and shame on his face shifting into curiosity before he shook his head no, ever so slowly.

Fuck it.

You took another step towards him, dangerously close to his face.

“Hmm?” you hummed in the same tone of your previous question. .

“Not at all,” he answered back with a hush, features finally relaxing as your shoulder had before.

“Good,” you breathed, taking yourself just an inch from his lips before looking up at his eyes again, then back down. “You were doing so good.”

You placed a kiss on his lips, and he melted. He sank a little into the water as you wrapped your arms around his neck, his own finding their way to the small of your back to pick you up ever so slightly. You couldn’t help but moan into his mouth the way you had aloud before, silently begging for this outcome the moment you saw him enter the other side of the pool.

He greeted the sounds with his arms tightening around you, hands gripping to you like you could wash away in the spring if he let you go. Your lips broke apart, letting you gasp for air as you looked into his wanting, needing eyes.

“Are you in pain at all?” he asked, placing your feet back to the bottom of the pool before bringing a hand to your cheek. He wasn’t begging with those beautiful hazel eyes. He was checking on you, making sure you were being taken care of. Your heart seized momentarily as you let out a little sigh of exasperation.

“No, not at all. Not right now.”

“It might take some time for it to fully go away,” he continued, eyes focused just on yours, not your shoulder. He was nurturing you, not just your injury. “Let me help you around the farm this week. I know what you're going to say, but you don't have to worry about the clinic It’s the slow season for me, I don’t have anything scheduled. I want to help.”

“How could I even think of saying no to that,” you almost cried out, the internal weight of the situation lifting off of your pained shoulder. “Of course you can, Harvey.”

“It would be an honor. Plus, I’d finally get to see you work in those overalls you wore on Friday.”

Your jaw dropped at the bravado, a laugh finding its way out before Harvey pulled you in for another kiss. You happily obliged, feeling his smiling lips greet yours. His hands found their way beneath your thighs, lifting you up with ease beneath the water and beginning to move.

“Where are you taking us?” You laughed out, watching as he carried you through the spring.

Harvey smiled to himself, stopping for a moment to look back at the doors before pressing forward with a kiss to your collarbone.

“The next room,” he whispered, “a private bath.”

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