You Really Shouldn't

Xephos, no.

Rating: T

Warnings: blood, mentions of violence, very fluffy.

Notes: Siphos, but could be seen as platonic. Lots of use of the word "sigh". Very tired.

~~~~~~~

He was a good worker. No, scratch that--He was the best worker. He rarely asked for breaks, he offered advice on business decisions, he kept the machines running and working, Xephos was truly a great worker.

"I...I'm fine, really Turps."
"You look like an alien pincushion right now!"
"D-Don't call me that, and please put me down."

But sometimes, maybe that was a bad thing.

Sips wasn't really sure what to expect when Turps came in holding the blue-eyed spaceman over his shoulder. Turps wasn't wrong when calling the man a pincushion--arrows were sticking out all over his body and blue blood was seeping into Turps' shirt.

"Woah, woah! What happened?!" The CEO asked worriedly as they came in.

"We found a cave with a skeleton spawner in it, and spaceballs decided that getting whatever was in that chest was more important than living." Turps said angrilly.

"It's n-not that bad, really! There was only t-two skeletons and I killed them!" Xephos argued quietly, his speech muffled by being face down Turps' shirt.

"Yes, then ten more spawned and nearly killed you."
"You're exaggerating."
"And you're a heroic idiot."

Sips sighed. "Jesus, hand him to me and get back to work. I'll handle him." He said.

Suddenly Xephos' eyes snapped open and he thrashed a bit. "No, no, no! Absolutely not! You two won't accomplish anything without my help!" He argued.

Turps sighed and handed him to Sips. "Give us some credit, Xeph."

"I do, and I know you'll ruin it!" He argued, pushing against Sips' chest. The grey man rolled his eyes and dropped the long-legged man on the floor, said man hissing in pain.

"Tell you what, silk-shirt, if you can get up and operate the machinery without limping, you can stay out here." He said, noticing Turps wince as the arrows cut deeper into the spaceman's skin.

"Fine!"

Xephos pushed himself onto his knees, hissing quietly. He barely stood before wobbling over and falling down, a cry of pain echoing throughout the factory.

"Turps, get to work. I've got him." Sips deadpanned before picking the man up bridal style.

Xephos groaned (Sips was unsure of it was from pain or irritation) and slumped in his grasp. "This is ridiculous. I'm perfectly fine."

"Wanna try again, Silkshirt?" Sips smirked when he was met with silence.

He brought the man up to his office and onto his desk as he began to take out arrows. Sips sighed at the whines of pain and blue blood that came with each tug.

"You gotta be more careful, Xeph. What was even in that chest?"
"A saddle, 14 wheat, a couple iron bars and some apples."
"So, trash?"
"Pretty--ow.--much. The food was nice, though. We do need it."

Sips bandaged another wound, trying to ignore Xeph's high pitched cry of pain. "We need you more. You know that, right?"

Xephos shrugged weakly. "I'd respawn. Which may have been a better fate than this."

"You would have lost all your stuff and there's no telling if you'd actually respawn." Sips snapped. The spaceman didn't look at him. Sips sighed.,"You're alien-"

"Spaceman."

"Right, whatever. The fact still remains, though. The respawn system is always finicky for you. I know Ridge and Kirin are trying to fix it, but you just keep throwing yourself at these situations and almost die every time. Do you even realize how many heart attacks you give each of us?" Sips said angrilly. Xephos said nothing, guilt plastering his face. Sips' glare softened.

"Sorry. I just..."

"No, no. I deserve it. I need to be a little more careful." The man below him said quietly.

"Just...stay alive for me, will ya? This factory will never get finished with you killing yourself every other day." Sips smirked at him as he heard that familiar snort of laughter.

"Yes, sir." Xephos smiled.

"Come on, you big dumb-dumb. Let's get you to bed." He laughed, carrying him to an old couch that Sjin had had donated to them a while ago. The stone skinned placed him down on the couch and kissed his forehead, watching the other snort quietly in laughter.

"Goodnight, bit**." Sips said as he stood up to leave.

"Night, Sips..."

A faint glow lit up the room as he turned the lights off, Xeph's alien body lighting up the room as he drifted off to sleep. Sips smiled as he looked st his co-worker in the door crack. Xephos was definitely the best worker a guy like him could ask for.