Dearly Departed

Ant

I turned back to my work, but not long after I could hear the quiet snores that constituted his sleeping.

I didn't really get why he was being so stubborn. (Maybe because he woke up in a strange man's house with no idea how he got there and what may have happened to him.) I had just been trying to help him. But I guess he was entitled to some answers, considering I did just bring him here without his consent.

Now that I thought about it, I was entitled to some answers too. How did he get there? Why was he such poor condition? I didn't even know his name. But I couldn't ask him now, not when he was sleeping so peacefully.

But what would I do until then?

I had finished all my organizing and had made some simple wooden tools already. I didn't want to leave him here on his own and it was getting to be night anyway, so there was nowhere I would be able to go. I wouldn't even be able to sleep, not with him on my bed.

So I just sat there on the floor and watched and waited for him to wake up.

He looked so pained in his sleep, as if suffering from terrifying nightmares. But aside from the pain, he looked so sweet and innocent, like a child. He was different from anyone I had met, Aether or Overworld. There was something mysterious about him, like he was hiding some grave secret. Something about him made me never want to take my eyes off him. (That's totally alright. Not creepy at all.)

I must have been so deep in thought that I didn't notice when he woke up.

"Why are you staring at me?" he growled. I could feel a blush creeping up onto my face.

"I-I..."

"Oh never mind. What do you want?"

I was immediately taken aback by his attitude. Even after resting he was acting out. I was beginning to get tired of this. "Uh. How'd you end up in the woods like that? Actually. Start with your name."

He gave me an indignant glare. "Why?"

"Well, I answered your questions. Now you have to answer mine."

"It's Jordan," he sighed. At least he was starting to trust me. (Keep asking him questions. That'll make him like you even more.)

"And how did you end up in the forest, Jordan?"

Jordan stayed silent for a bit before hesitantly answering. "I... I was attacked by mobs..." This seemed like a bad answer and honestly more like a question, but I didn't want to pester him about it too much.

"So how did you end up in the forest, Ant?" he retorted, obviously recovering from the shyness he had suddenly acquired when I asked questions.

"I got kicked out of where I was staying before. It's not far from here. However, it was the middle of the night so I just built what I could. Then later I went out to collect materials and there you were, lying, unconscious, on the ground."

"You got kicked out? Ha! What did you do? Annoy them with your nursing?" I rolled my eyes. He shouldn't be saying stuff like that since he would have died had I not helped him. It also didn't help that he was lying in bed and I was sitting on the ground beside him, our positions very nurse-and-patient-like.

"I don't want to talk about it," I huffed. "It's over now anyways. There's no going back."

Jordan reached out and playfully smacked my cheek. I was glad to be getting on better terms with him. I doubted those better terms, however, when I reached up to pat his cheek too and he growled at me again. I quickly pulled my hand away and he rolled over, a glare still present on his face.