A soft yawn met Sjin lips as the sound filled the semi-silence of fresh dawn. The birds chirped cheerily outside the bedside window, and Charlotte slept restfully at his feet. She stirred with a stifled 'mew' as he sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"Morning, Charlotte," Sjin hummed sweetly, and reached to give her a rub behind the ear. She happily scampered off the bed, presumably to wait for breakfast. A giggle left his lips as he swung his feet over the side of the bed and glanced out the window. The sun rested lazily on the horizon, readied and waiting for a brand new day.

Such a day, Sjin realized with a bubbling giddiness, should be celebrating by taking the day off! No dealing with the machinery and bees; stress and trees, just… relaxing. And, as he gratefully basked in this satisfying realization, he sat back in bed; the covers wrapped around him, and enjoyed the sunrise in the first few moments of his birthday.

It had to have been at least a half hour or so of peacefully swimming in his own thoughts before he felt something nudge his feet- Charlotte - awaiting her breakfast, probably. Sjin smiled down at her and removed the covers from the bed for a second time that morning. He got up and out of bed with a long and well needed stretch. Sauntering downstairs in an almost dreamlike state, he fed both pets and wandered back up to the bedroom to put on some actual clothes and get ready for this hopefully uneventful day.

It didn't take that long for Sjin to slip on his denim-dungarees and run a comb through his surprisingly cooperative hair (for once), so he gave his reflection a quick grin in the mirror and strolled out the front door. The mahogany doors. Mahogany Doors.

As soon as he took a step out the door, Sjin was greeted with lots of small packages, letters, and bundles of flowers littered at his feet. A wide grin lit up his bearded face, happiness bubbling up inside. He closed the door gingerly behind him and sat down on the door step – what other way could there have been to enjoy the small gifts than outside?

And, now that he truly appreciated it, the day was gorgeous. The sun shone timidly but respectfully; not too blisteringly hot, but not too cool. The wind blew teasingly at his face, and the scene of his farm looked almost too picturesque to be true. There wasn't a single cloud that penetrated the sky's perfect shade of blue. Various crops and trees danced and swatted at each other in the wind, and the entirety of the view was outstanding.

After snapping out of his appreciative daze, Sjin looked back down at the small gathering of gifts surrounding his bare feet. His eyes scanned lightly over all of them – not that there were too many, and if there was an estimate, there were approximately ten in all. A couple cards from 'Dew and Lalna, a standardly sized wrapped gift from Xeph, More cards from Lomadia and Nilesy, nothing from Nano (which was a bit odd, considered they'd been living next to each other (and still did) for how long?), and…– Something from Rythian? That was probably a trap or the equivalent of a booby prize, he assumed with a bittersweet grin.

Sjin took a double take and checked between and under everything he had received, but slowly his wide grin dropped to a confused frown as stunning blue eyes fluttered almost frantically around the small pile of 'loot'. There… was nothing from Sips. He paused for a moment, retrieving his restless hands helplessly to his side.

He decided to brush the thought away with the shake of his head. It wasn't that big of deal – Sips was probably busy working around the Sips co compound. Speaking of, it was another thing that Sjin hadn't really thought about lately…

Well, He'd never been that good at lying anyway. To be honest, Sips had been on his mind constantly ever since he'd left. It'd been almost a year since Sjin left the compound for the farm life, and he didn't think his time at the farm could've been replaced so easily, but… he missed him. Sjin missed him more than he thought he'd ever missed anything in his life, and there had no explanation for it.

Sjin let his mind wander once more as he gazed up at the first sight of a small cloud that morning - it didn't stay for long. In his recent thoughts about the old CEO, he embarrassedly sorted those thoughts into, as Sips would probably put it, the 'you're a dumdum' file. These included things such as worrying about if he would've been better off staying there, if there was something he should have said, if Sips was glad that he was gone, if Sips even missed him at all…

But that's all really dumb, right?

The subject had been kind of a guilty taboo for him, as it always and still had given him guilty thoughts and even the occasional nightmare. Sjin decided on unclear thoughts about Sips and the decision of his leaving, and often pushed them aside when they sprung up. So, like previous endeavors, he pushed the subject to the back of his mind and averted his gaze back to the gifts in front of him.

Sjin leafed through the 'happy 12th birthday' cards with the numbers crossed out, as they were obviously inaccurate and made for 10 year old girls. Now that he thought about it, he was having certain questioning thoughts about of all the cards available, why would they choose… Oh well. Most of the cards had short little notes in them, mostly from the girls like Lomadia, Minty, and Nilesy, other than a few select cards which had crude drawings (cough*Rythian*cough) on them. With a cross between a sigh and a chuckle, Sjin set the cards aside and picked up the only wrapped gift he had received- from Xeph. A wave of uncertainty passed through him as he realized Xephos was the only one who had gotten him a physical something- he hoped that Xeph wasn't trying to say anything indirectly…

A shudder passed through him at the thought. He shook his head – that was the least of what he needed right then, to be honest. And, with an 'eager-enough-to-look-hungry' glance, Sjin unwrapped the paper so neatly packaged around the present – he would feel guilty if the wrapping was torn up and ruined.

And, after delicately removing the wrapping, he gasped in surprise at what was underneath. The shiny new machines shone the dazzling sunlight, and Sjin felt his heart fill with the excitement of a young child as he wrapped his arms around it – careful of the small red bows on top. Xeph had gotten him brand new Planters and Harvesters! A high-pitched giggle escaped Sjin's lips, and he thought he would explode. With another shot of glee, he realized it had come with multiple upgrade tomes so he could adjust it to the size of the plantations that he worked on.

Sjin ran inside and placed the new gifts down carefully – he had wanted auto farming supplies for a very long time, but had never gotten around to build them. All he had to do was craft and attach a couple of universal cables, and he could automate farming as easy as that!

Sjin practically skipped back outside to gather all of the letters, and brought them back inside; setting them upright on the mantle so he could glance at them on rainy day. He knew for a fact that they would light him up.

With a happy sigh, he took one last look at the letters and gifts surrounding his mantle – it reminded him of Christmas with a sudden pang, and in a moment of drunk-like happiness, he started to hum 'I believe in a thing called love'. His soft humming filled the silent farmhouse with a kind of relief, and he walked out back through the door to do some touching up on some of the crops around the farm – not because it needed to be done, but because it calmed him, and he quite enjoyed it.

Bundles of flowers, wheat, and various types of starches and fruits filled his pack quickly, and after replanting and watering all of them with care, he took a rest near a shady tree.

"Touching youu, ooooooooooooooh!" Sjin screeched gleefully, the audacity of his off-pitch singing almost deafeningly impossible. "Touching mee-"He was suddenly cut off by a small giggle from behind. With a flinch, he whipped around towards the small black haired figure grinning mockingly at him.

"N-Nano!" Sjin exclaimed, a light pink dusting his cheeks as he stood up quickly and brushed of his knees. He cleared his throat and giggled a little. "How, uh… Exactly how long have you been, uhm-"

"Long enough," She laughed and stepped closer, an almost strange shy aura coming off of her. Sjin didn't really think much of it, and stepped closer to meet her. "Anyway, happy birthday, man!" She greeted with a wide smile on her face.

"Thank you!" He replied and glanced over the farm with admiration, in a similar dreamlike state to that of that morning. "Goodness, it's so pretty out today,"

"Just like you to say something like that," She mumbled under her breath, and Sjin almost didn't catch it.

"Hhm?" He inquired, absently turning back to her. She shook her head quickly and divided her attention to the hands behind her back.

"So, I uh," She started, and trailed off as soon as she began. She brought out a small gift from behind her, with a small rose on top of it. "I got you this, for your birthday," She mumbled, her smile dropping a little and a blush covering her cheeks. "It isn't much, I just thought-"

"I'm flattered!" Sjin exclaimed, as oblivious as ever. He lifted the small thing from her grasp, and took the rose taped on top. He ran it under his nose, and breathed in the scent with an appreciative sigh. "It's really pretty," He murmured thoughtfully, and slipped it into his dungaree pocket.

"It is," She agreed softly. Sjin smiled as he began to unravel her gift. It revealed a purple painted watering can, shiny and new. The shade of purple nearly matched the shade of taint crawling up her arms, as well.

"Ah! Is this new in the pack?" He asked with a surprised grin, and she nodded proudly.

"Yup! It makes crop growing exceed ten percent faster! Basically like bone meal in a can!" She informed proudly, and walked over to the nearest crop bed. Sjin followed her, anticipation making his limbs almost ache. She held the can over his crops tenderly, and they responded almost immediately. Leaves and stems grew and bloomed in an almost magic-like manner, and Sjin was absolutely awestruck.

"Awh!" He murmured in a hushed tone. She giggled again. "That's so cool, here – let me try!" He urged, and she happily handed it over to him. The same thing happened; Plants and crops sprung to life and grew up from the ground almost magically. Sjin set the watering can down on the frame around the small plantation, and placed his hands lightly on his hips. "Wow, Nano. Thanks so much!"

She didn't respond immediately. "Well," She started, and Sjin gave her an inquisitive look as her cheeks tinted with a light pink. "There's one more thing I got you," She murmured softly, and Sjin looked down at her, her empty hands, and then around the farm with a confused glance.

"What? I… I don't see anything else here," He started questioningly. Nano looked at him frustratedly until he met her gaze again, and when he finally did, she took a frighteningly close step towards him. "I-

Sjin felt small hands reach up and pull the collar of his white shirt down, forcing him to crash lips with the dainty pair waiting below. "mMph!" He grunted with surprise as she kissed him, the nervousness and doubtful regret obvious by her body language. His eyes opened wide and he reluctantly shut them tight. Sjin quickly began to panic.

I.. I- what do I do?! I'm flattered, but I don't-

A thick, dull CRACK filled the air with a sickening thud.

Sjin tore away from Nano's lips as she did, both of them nervously glancing towards the area where the sound came from. Sjin didn't notice how red her cheeks were, as his were probably the same embarrassing shade.

Without a single exchanged word between the two, they both quickly dashed off to the scene, near the front of Sjin's house. They slowed to a trot and looked around for the source, but found nothing.

But there, Sjin suddenly spotted, was… Some sort of wooden figure. He wearily approached it, kneeling down before examining it closely. It was shattered in two main pieces, apart from the small splinters that littered the surrounding ground. When put together, the two shapes of wood formed a heart – and there was something engraved in it.

As Sjin read the sloppily engraved words, 'To the biggest babby, the finest Sips co. birthday present', His eyes widened in a sort of horror as only one word came to mind.

"Sips…"