"You and that furnace," said Shane. "Don't you ever get burned from sitting in front of that thing all the time?"
It was nearly the dead of night, 11pm or so. Only the furnace and a lone torch were allowing light into the room. The wall and carpet were dark colors as well, and I really liked the ambience it created. I was, indeed, sitting in front of the furnace again. He was right; I was here a lot.
He was standing by the door with a beer in his hand. I didn't really like it when he had beer, considering all it had put him through… but as long as he wasn't hurting himself or anyone else with it anymore, what could I do? But that's beside the point.
"Nah," I said, lying down on my back perpendicular to the furnace. "Gotta get this gold smelted."
"All in a day's work, huh?" asked Shane. "…Would it be weird if I said watching you work is interesting?"
"Not really," I shrugged. "How interesting is it to watch me sit in front of a furnace, though?"
"You're either in that spot or running around," said Shane. "You're always carrying so many weird things. I mean… those sun things. What are those?"
"…Solar essences?" I said. "They're… weird. They don't serve as much more than crafting ingredients."
"And the purple sun things?" asked Shane.
"…Void essences?" I replied.
"Where do they come from?" he asked. He sounded genuinely interested.
"Oh, all sorts of monsters," I answered.
Shane seemed to want to say something, but then closed his mouth. I imagined he was about to ask what I meant by monsters, but he realized he's seen the ones that come out at night. I was always slamming the door shut before one of the walking ones could get to me.
"…Why do you work so hard?" he asked instead.
"Huh?" I asked back, a little surprised.
"Sometimes, you work yourself to complete exhaustion!" he said. "I've found you passed out by the bus stop, in the yard… I found you beside the bed one time."
Something felt a bit off after he said this. "This isn't right" neurotransmitters were firing in my head. I didn't know why quite yet.
"It hasn't been that big of a problem lately," I said. "I know my limits. I even know what exact time I can go until."
"It used to happen all the time," he said.
"…Used to?" I asked, turning to face him.
When I did, I saw that he looked a tad flustered. Flustered, but trying to act casual, like someone having said something they ought not to have.
That was why things felt off.
If I remembered correctly, I hadn't fallen asleep outside my house once since I managed to get JojaMart shut down.
And if that was the case… how could Shane have found me?
And the letters… a "JojaMart representative"…
"…Shane?" I said. "Can I ask you a question?"
"…Sure…" Shane said.
"I'd sometimes wake up with a letter saying a 'JojaMart representative' found me, and that a medical team was dispatched and all that," I said. "…Was it you?"
"Me that what?" asked Shane.
"Always found me whenever I wound up unconscious outside," I said.
"Yeah," he then answered, having gotten that bit of composure back that he'd lost.
A second or two of silence. He sighed.
"Not when you ended up near-death in the mines, but…" he sighed. "When you'd passed out of exhaustion… yeah. It was me that usually found you."
"…But how?" I asked. "You would've had to-"
"Coincidence," he answered quickly. He then downed the rest of the beer in the can he was holding, threw said can out, and headed toward the bedroom.
"…But…" I started to say.
All of a sudden, I felt like a lead statue. I then yawned.
Last thing I remember from that night is reading "2:00am" on my watch.
Author's note: I don't know if this is correct or anything, but it's an interesting theory I had (now that I think... couldn't it work with Sam, too?). I could perfectly make this into a story of how Shane had always been drawn toward the new farmer somehow… or I could leave it here, with the air of mystery. What do you think?