shslanon | Chapter 2: (Ab)Normal Days

What are you writing?

[can't read Cyrillic]

[god why does EVERYONE SNEAK AROUND HERE]

A-An obituary.

[pause]

I mean, a draft of one...

[it's a new floor! that means a new opportunity to search for soil!]

[and look, he's even comfortable enough with him to ask him a question]

Ah.

...

Um... what is an obitshary?

[why is everyone weird]

Er, like a... notice of someone who's died. It talks about who they were, what they did, what they were like... you know.

[raised by trees, in this case]

But... we don't know all those things about Tony and the others. I don't even know what their names have been... do you? O-or their Super High School Levels?

Well... She was a Fun Expert. Her name was Tony Romano, and... She was nice to everyone, so she made good relations with us all.

[mostly]

It's just to be nice. Save her memory.

[nods]

It is a good idea.

...

Do you not know about the other two?

[he still isn't entirely sure if Tony's friend really killed her, and if so, if she did it in cold blood and without regrets]

[and that boy Yuri killed... he just lost his nerves; he didn't deserve to die like that]

[he shakes his head]

I didn't know the boy... We only spoke once, I think. The girl, Pidge...

[frown]

I don't think she deserves one.

Hm... do you think she planned to kill Tony from the start?

[sits down on the chair behind the desk closest the the blackboard]

...

[wants to ask him if he is okay - if he's desparate to get out of the school, to find out what happened to whoever he received a photo of - but he can't bring himself to: what if he triggers exactly that reaction?]

[just stares at him]

[...this guy gives off such a discomforting air]

I don't know... I can't figure it out. Why she would do it... I mean, if there's a way in, there has to be a way out. Surely we can find it, we just need to... stay calm.

Hm-m.

[relieved and a bit comforted]

I think we all have to help each other now. If one of us has a panic the others have to calm him or her down.

...

But... the door through which we came in is closed now, and all the windows too...

[suddenly realises he forgot to ask him something in the chaos of the other day]

What are you called?

Right, but there has to be a key, so if we can find that...

[sigh. he leans against the blackboard, frowning]

Lumberjack. Though it feels like these titles don't mean anything anymore...

Lumberjack? I'm Jakub. And... you mean our Super High School Levels? Yes, they are no help... but I try to do what I can.

[thinks]

If there is a key I'm sure Yuri has it. Or maybe it works with a, um... an electronic s-system? And only Yuri knows the code?

[blink. he was asking his name? he thought he... already knew it]

Uh, sorry, no, my name is Lev... my title is "Lumberjack." I got confused.

[awkward]

...Either way, it sounds like we just have to figure out where he is, right? Yuri, I mean.

Oh! Sorry! Lev, I'll remember it.

[if he had already caught his name he forgot again - too much has happened in the last 24 hours]

And hm-m, if we could find out where Yuri hides... but it's forbidden to attack him. If we try he will maybe kill many of us.

[small frown]

...

What is a lumberjack?

Yeah... And we don't know how that all works - how he kills, I mean, it doesn't seem...

[pause. blink]

Er, sorry, a woodsman. I cut down trees.

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...

[feels his fury deflate]

It's--

You--

[that alarmed and confused expression... "I'm not evil"...]

[is this what a liar and cheerful killer looks like?]

...

It-- it takes so long for a tree to grow, you know? And then people cut them all down, just to make things that could be made out of stone or cement or other plants or plastic...

[thinks of his own tree and its crossed out picture and swallows]

Do you enjoy cuting them down?

[he's willing to take back what he said about him having killed Tony, but first he wants to know the answer]

[...should he lie? he doesn't know what there is to lie about]

...Not really... I mean, I don't hate it, but I don't look forward to doing it... It's just part of life.

[frown]

Do you... I mean, what about apples? Or pears? You eat those, right? What's the difference?

[shoots back immediately]

I save the seeds!!

[but the rest of what he said makes him think]

[killing and dying is part of life, that much is true... but still, no living beings other than humans cut down trees; that's unnatural]

...

[locks eyes with him, trying to see if he's a good person or not]

[but he cannot tell no matter how long he looks]

[that's because right now he just looks kind of angry and annoyed]

Seriously... Stop staring at me, you're weirding me out.

[he pushes past him, hurrying from the room without looking back. he doesn't want to be murdered]

Uh-- wait!

[he can't just run away like that!]

[speeds after him]

Hey!

You're-- you're suspicious!

...What??

[he stops and looks at him, annoyed]

How am I suspicious? What did I do? You're the one being weird about trees...!

You--

I-- I'm not--!

[urgh]

[there is no way he can explain - a woodcutter wouldn't understand, right? and now that he's a bit more focused he's realising that Lev is probably stronger than him]

...

Okay, you can go.

[frown]

I don't need your permission, you know...

[sigh. this guy is weird. he shakes his head and edges his way out of the room. he'll just... try not to hang around him as much as he can. and not get murdered for cutting down his beloved trees]

[...what kind of loser likes trees, anyway]

[stares after him]

[he'll do what he can to keep an eye on him]