The panic that filled Sjin's body was an overwhelming tide during a full moon. He felt his grip on the shattered present tighten, and stood from his crouched position. Nano stood overwhelmingly confused and anxious behind him, peering behind his shoulder to attempt to get view of the cause of his sudden mood change.
As she stepped into full view of what was wrapped tightly in the farmer's hands, she draped a hand over her mouth.
"Sjin…" She murmured behind a shaky hand. "I'm so sorry…"
He shook his head, keeping his head bowed towards the gift in his hands. He felt tears brimming in his eyes, but bit his tongue in an attempt to hold them back. He coughed lowly and wiped at his eyes, raising his gaze to meet Nano's. "I'm so sorry," He then returned, and she understood why. "I've got to go fix this…" He murmured softly, and she nodded.
"I understand… Is there anything I can do to help?" She offered softly, giving him an embarrassed but sympathetic look. He stood waiting before he answering, biting his lip.
"I'll probably have to pack a bag – the journey from the farm to the compound is quite a ways away… Could you perhaps gather some of the food in my crops that are ready for harvesting? That would be a huge help, Nano." He suggested sheepishly, slipping the two pieces of log into his pack carefully.
She nodded solemnly and headed off towards the back of his garden, where most of his crops lay. Sjin, with a long and slow sigh, sniffed and shook his head. He ran inside to fetch a couple pairs of clothes as well as some other necessities – there was no telling how long he would be away.
Through piles of old chests, Sjin somehow managed to find his old flying ring and space suit. As the soft cream and orange fabric slipped through his fingers, a wave of nostalgia hit him. He pulled off his worn down denim overalls with a pang of uncertainty, and with that, fit the suit over his head and around his arms. He shifted around comfortably in the old feeling, a now somewhat confident half smile making its way to his lips.
He slipped his old Swiftwolf's rending gale over a calloused finger, adjusting it slightly. With a small flex of the wrist, Sjin hovered above the soft mahogany floors of the basement. He giggled, and then shook his head with the sudden reminder of the task at hand. There were only a couple more items to pack, and then he would be on his way.
He caught Nano waiting for him at his front door, gazing up at the clouds of the now midday sky. She held a bag filled with plenty of foodstuffs, and handed it to him with a soft grin in realization for what he was wearing. He grinned timidly, and took the sack of goods with a small 'thank you'. Once everything loaded, however, he set his pack down. Nano cast a confused glance at him, before squeaking a little as thin but firm arms enveloped her in a warm embrace.
She closed her eyes gently, wrapping her small arms around the bearded man.
He pulled away slowly from the hug, and cast thoughtful and sparkling eyes at her. "I'm so sorry, Nano," He started, but she shook her head with a soft smile.
"I understand. Thank you, though, and be sure to keep in touch." She confirmed quietly. With a giggle, she added, "You smell like dirt – and not the natural kind." He responded with a sly grin.
"That's old Sipsy for ya," he chuckled softly, and then softened his gaze once more. "I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but I can trust you'll be a magnificent host to my farm?" His smile grew as she rolled her eyes.
"Maybe, maybe not," She replied teasingly, and then gave one more quick hug to the farmer before watching him nod in a last farewell. Sjin picked up his stuff, slung it around his back, and activated the flying ring that was now secure around his finger. She showed a small wave of departure as he levitated from the ground, and headed for the nearby forest – if he could remember right, Sips Co. was due north.
A fair half hour had gone by as Sjin flew across the tops of small forest trees and above his mental route towards his old home. Occasionally he would dip a hand down to brush the tops of leaves, trying to enjoy the trip down memory lane best he could, but then slowed to an eventual stop as something caught the corner of his eye.
He made a small swerve towards the fragment of white whipping around in the teasing breeze, squinting his eyes for a better view. He cautiously approached it, the fragment revealing to be what looked like a decent sized piece of cloth.
Sjin decided that the fabric was safe to examine, and proceed to untangle it from its predicament with the stubborn branch. And, as he got a closer look, the edge of the cloth faded abruptly into a pastel blue, and…there were blood stains. Deep blood stains. Sjin furrowed his brow with confusion of what was in his hands, until understanding hit him like a wall of spikes.
Sjin's stomach dropped slightly, and he gripped the rag tightly in his fist. His apprehension reaction was a little too slow for his own liking, and with a twinge of urgency, he clenched the ring around his finger and took off full speed towards the large body of water than separated this small woods from a place he once called home.
It was sunset when Sjin grew close to the factory. Even though pressing thoughts bombarded his mind, he couldn't help but to wonder what the compound had become. Was Sips still occupying the new tower he built nearly a year ago? Where had he found enough lava to keep the geothermal facility running? Was the Tower of Power still active? Maybe he had built it up to twice its original size since he left. Maybe he found another volcano for unlimited thermal power. He wondered how many new buildings were there, who had built them, what they looked like, what they were made of… And most of all, Sjin wondered if he found any new employees. Perhaps he had found Guy's relatives and hired them at newly needed reception desks, not that guy had ever been that much of a useful employee... Maybe he didn't need sheep. Maybe he'd automated the whole system, and-
Sjin stopped dead in his tracks.
It was horrendous.
Rather, horrendous was an understatement. Buildings were now longer whole. Bits and pieces of decaying cobblestone and marble were ungracefully torn away from their home by probable endermen with no better hobby. Moss and nitre crawled its way up almost every wall. Their – Sips' once spiffy, clean, and functional compound had been transformed into a make-shift jungle town.
A wispy film of dirt and moss floated atop the murky waters of the compound's pool. The geothermal facility's long, sturdy, and lava filled tanks were smashed and empty, the spilled lava long burnt its way through the floor. Missing doors and overgrown weeds snaked up the side and top of the interview chamber. Most every building that stood ground in the complex was unrecognizable at anyone's glance, and Sjin felt his heart drop.
He slowly lowered himself down to the floor, and let his eyes wander every broken detail of the scene with a ghastly expression. The birch wooden floor seemed almost soft, most likely from rain and decay over the years. Sjin walked through the buildings with a longing touch, running his hands along every fracture in memory; every sweet remembrance that once was now rotting away with the ruined state of his home.
Sjin came to a slow stop infront of the towering figure that seemed to stand soaring amongst its deserted surroundings. His eyes scanned the towering building bottom to top, absorbing in every feature of the marble and stone building, painted pure white and gray and against an otherwise dull backdrop. An odd sensation of fear held him back from opening the door to the factory, and his fingers quivered as they brushed the cool metal handle. Sure enough, however, the door easily swung open, and his heavy dread was a broken anvil. Night had now grown steadily across the landscape.
It wasn't as bad as Sjin had first expected, waiting to meet a room in the same states as the majority of the compound. However, it seemed Sips had gone to some length in the way that he decided against leaving the last building with hope in ruins.
There was no way of telling which floor Sips had made his retreat to, or even if he was at the tower in the first place. Sjin decided to stay away from thinking about it too much; the idea of Sips being gone or lost and hurt terrified him. He made his way up floor by floor in pursuit of his CEO and boss, worry filling him with each vacant floor that passed.
Until, that is, until he reached the med bay. Gauze and ointment were sporadically tossed lazily along the tiled floor, and from the fresh smell of blood, Sjin felt a sickening feeling knead his stomach that Sips hadn't taken care very good care of himself.
How long had he been living like this…?
He did his best to fit what he could of the remaining functional supplies into his pack, case he ran into the man someplace else and he was in need of help. Sjin wearily boarded the elevator again, noticing with another grimace the fist-size dent in the speaker system. He wondered how long that had been there.
With anticipation forcing sweat down Sjin's back, the last floor of the tower dinged and the elevator doors opened with a horrendously sluggish pace. The pent house was the last place to check.
Bile rose in his throat. His heart thudded abnormally in his head and he felt like it would explode. His knees buckled and tears threatened to spill from his eyes. His pack dropped to floor. An overwhelming smell of strong beer flooded his nose, and Sjin nearly gagged over the scent.
There were clothes everywhere. Trash and empty food canisters and packages littered the floor worse than the streets of New York. The room had turned from a polished and refurbished pent house to a pig sty with black out curtains blocking any light that may have crept through on a bright day. It was an absolute mess of accumulated anxiety and isolation. It was disheartening; worrying; even depressing.
But Sjin's eyes were drawn to the back of the room, however, and the figure in the fizzed out Jacuzzi was what alarmed him the most.
"Oh, Sips…" The words fell from his mouth as he swallowed the rising bile in his throat. His feet stumbled across the occupied floor as his thoughts consumed him. Shaky and reluctant thoughts raced through his mind all within the span of a step or two, and by the time he had reached Sips' still silhouette, Sjin had about weathered himself down to nothing but pure and naked anxiety.
Sips had sprawled himself out in the hot tub, top of his stomach and below soaking in still steaming water even at the late hour. Probably about 8-10 bottles of beer floated about the top of the water, emptied and leaving an unpleasant stench in its wake. Both of his arms were supporting his head above water and across the tub's rim. With a startling flinch, Sjin noticed the lazily patched up gash on his arm. A faint sign of blood showed that it definitely wasn't sterilized or wrapped correctly, which worried Sjin that it might become infected. It was obvious Sips had hurt himself in an attempt to make an escape from the farm earlier that day. He adsorbed Sips' other features in a fleeting moment of hope.
His closed eyes and still features resembled him as if merely sleeping, and Sjin realized this was the first time he had seen his boss in a near year… And to seem him in a state like this. Hair tussled, eyes closed and drooping in weariness, and anything but a smile adorning his lips, he was clearly out like a light – and not in a good way. Sjin stood waiting, stalling the fate he would soon discover.
A couple of long moments passed between Sjin's shocked state of paralysis and his slow reach for Sips' wrists. His own heartbeat thudded against his own skull, and Sjin found it hard to try and focus in on the other's pulse, not his raging own. He found the soft part of Sips' wrist with a trembling hand, waiting with terrified anticipation whether he would get response. He gently pressed against the skin, feeling hope sink as time passed without a signal of life… Until a very weak thump, thump… thump, thump… sounded back.
Sjin wanted to cry out in relief. He bowed his head over the pale grey skin, and felt himself brush the soft skin with his thumb. He shook off his hysterical state slightly, taking the medical wrap out of his backpack. First things first – if he was going to fix Sips' wound, then he may as well have kept the CEO in his semi-comfortable state. He stood up and began to drain the water from the tub. He slipped off his shoes once the water was filtered away, and stepped inside the empty tub to get closer to his friend.
With a soft sigh, Sjin reached forward to unravel the unrealistically tight wrapping bound around Sips' bicep, and let out a gentle gasp at the deep wound that scored through his pale and grey skin.
A furrow between his brow and a rubbing alcohol soaked cloth in hand, Sjin lightly wiped down the dried blood and dirt gathered into the cut. As soon as the rag hit flesh, however, Sips' body expelled a short but effective tremor and a low key groan unconsciously sounded from the back of his throat. Sjin bit his lip in concentration, careful not to make situation worse with his patient's now more frequent struggles.
Slowly and painfully, Sjin finally managed to cleanly wrap up Sips' major injury. As for the minor scratch on his face, Sjin peeled off the bandage there with more ease. He wiped off the dirt and blood from his cheek in the same manner, and set down the supplies on the outer rim of the tub, leave the band aid in his hands. He leaned closer for a good look at the gash.
A fleeting glance upwards made Sjin realize how close their faces were. Instead of pulling away in embarrassment, however, Sjin found himself… relishing the feeling. It made his heart pump fast, but not a terrified beat. An… anticipating beat. Sjin lifted a hand to brush over the gash on Sips' check as softly as he could, the soft and cleaned skin passing easily underneath his thumb. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against his boss', savoring the rarity in being able to be this close to him.
The temptation of a kiss washed over Sjin, and the startling invitation sent his mind reeling. Why was he suddenly feeling like this? It didn't make much since to the farmer – He knew he never had this kind of affection towards Sips. I mean, sure, they had been best friends and it hurt him so, so, much to be apart from him… But, that couldn't mean anything weird.
Sjin reluctantly pulled away, and placed the mahogany colored band aid over his boss' cheek. As He let go of the greyish coloured face, it lolled backwards in a limp unconsciousness before Sjin managed to catch it at the last second. He sighed softly, and noticed that Sips was probably dry enough to get in bed. Sjin ran over to a closet area where only a few clean shirts remained, and picked out the softest one he could find. He slipped it over Sips' laid-back head (now supported slightly with a small roll of cloth that had been discarded on the floor lord knows how long ago).
With less than as much ease that was wished for, Sjin managed to somehow lift his boss carefully from his half-sitting half-laying-down position and into his own arms. It was only through a miraculous shot of adrenaline and fear of dropping the shorter man that Sjin was able to carry him to the bed. The… double bed.
After all of these years… He still keeps our beds together? Sjin thought to himself softly, rearranging the sheets swiftly after setting Sips down on the messy duvet. Soon enough, Sjin made room to situate Sips comfortably underneath the covers. He pulled the still fluffy comforter over Sips' shoulders and relished the semi peaceful look on his face.
Sjin turned out the lights, and then proceeded to feel his way to the opposite side of the bed – his bed. The bed's sheets slid in a cool roll of warmth and enveloped him in reassuring thoughts. He twisted onto his side, moved his eyes slowly across the barely visible features of Sips' face, and reached out to place a small kiss on his forehead. He resisted the urge to giggle as Sips grumbled something inaudible and incoherently.
In this moment of pure bliss, it seemed that it was just like one of the old days. As soon as Sjin's eyes closed and sent him into a peaceful sleep, Sips would be shoving him out of bed in the early hours of day complaining that he wasn't already out working. Sjin would reply with a statement of excuse, blaming Sips for being the one who usually sleeps in, and Sips would roll his eyes and offer an empty threat. They'd continue work on the compound for the day; tease the others that happened to be active in their region about being Cheaty Petes, and make innuendos until the sun set.
These happy memories are what calmed Sjin's previously panicked and restless mind…
And before long, Sjin fell asleep to the nostalgic feeling of being with Sips.
That is, until a shout awoke him.