October 28, 2022

Lock walks in and goes to the fridge. Oleander walks in, "So... how are you?"

Lock looks over "Oh, I'm ok" she grabs the jug of milk and drops it on the floor without hesitation as she keeps searching through the fridge.

Oleander watches the milk thud to the floor. "Why'd you do that*?"

"Do what?" She closes the fridge and gets out a box of cereal as she drops it on the floor.

"Why are you dropping stuff on the floor?"

Lock looks up and then down as she sees them both on the floor "Oh my bad."

"It's okay. Are you sure you're okay?" Oleander down in one of the remaining chairs at the kitchen table.

"Yeah I'm good, just a habit I guess" She picks them up and sets them on the counter.

"That's fair. What's your name by the way? I didn't catch it"

“I'm Lock. What's your name?" Lock gets out a plastic cup.

"Oleander- I said yesterday-" They say casually, not upset.

"What's your favorite color?" She pours the milk in the cup.

"Hm... purple probably."

"Do you like cats or dogs?" She puts the cereal in the cup.

"I like both."

"What is your favorite season?" Lock puts things away and goes to walk to the table as she just drops the cup of cereal on the floor and looks down at it.

Oleander watches. "Are you sure you're okay?" They get up to help clean up "Also I like fall."

"Yeah I'm ok" She nods and starts cleaning it up.

Oleander nods and helps.

"What's your favorite music?" Lock seems to be asking questions from a list of questions on how to make friends online.

"Uh..." Oleander seems to think about it. "What's yours?"

Lock pauses "uhm...I don't listen to many songs. The disembodied face was singing a pretty good one in my window at night though"

"The.. what???" Oleander blinks in confusion.

"I'm pretty sure it was just Cole, he has an amazing singing voice"

"Oh... interesting... Do you have a favorite season?'

"Garlic powder is pretty good"

"No like, the weather?"

"I like rain, it makes Blair mad"

"That's... fair. Um... got any more questions?" Oleander gets up and starts preparing cereal for Lock.

"Why are you purple?"

"You mean my hair??"

"Yeah. Are you Luna's brother?"

"Um, no. I just dyed it."

"Oh ok, what's your email so you can subscribe for more articles?"

"Uh... dont have one." They say, sitting back down.

"Welp that's all the questions it has"

"Oh I see. Are you... reading off something?" They look confused because she doesn't seem to be holding anything.

"Oh uh yeah. Im part phone so I can search things like that"

"Youre part phone? How so?" Oleander asks curiously.

"There's a phone in my neck"

"Oh. I see. Does it... hurt?"

She shakes her head "Nah, only thing that hurts is the emotional toll of not knowing to what degree you can consider yourself a living human being and not reliant on a technological uprising living like a parasite within you…But other than that, it's alright"

"Oh." Oleander makes the polite cat face, "I see"

"So what's some things about you?"

"Um... well... I was raised in a cult, serve a being that could be considered a god and I like swords?"

"Did you know people can die?"

Oleander nods.

"Have you seen someone die?"

"Yes."

"Did you kill them?"

Oleander looks away, "Yes.”

"Did you enjoy it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

They tap their hand on the table. "I didn't want to do it"

"Then why did you?" Lock still smiles.

"He made me." Oleander says, sounding far away.

"Step closer you're getting kinda quiet" 

Oleander doesn't respond, staring at the table absently.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't want to..." They mumble, staring into space.

Lock is quiet a long moment "...And what's your favorite number?"

"Zero..."

Lock is quiet again for a long time, "Sorry."

"It's okay..." They say back, staring at the table.

"So what's your plans for today?"

Oleander shrugs. "Nothing really... what are yours?" (edited)

"...Not dying?"

"Fair enough"

"So what got you here?" Lock is clearly struggling to make conversation.

"What do yu mean?"

"Uhm just like how?"

"I got attacked by a monster and ran here for help"

"Is the monster going to kill us all?"

"No, I went back and killed it after"

"Is killing like a normal thing here?"

"Yeah." Oleander shrugs

"Oh...ok" Lock gets up from her seat "I'm uh..." She glances around before looking back at him "What do I do?"

Oleander shrugs. "You could watch tv? Talk to people? Go for a walk? Anything really"

"...do you want me to do anything? You looked upset, maybe we could do something fun?"

Oleander looks up at her, offering a little smile. "Sure,, got anything in mind?"

"Anything you want at all."

"We could go for a walk in the woods?"

"Yeah that sounds great"

Oleander smiles and stands up. He notices the badges on Lock’s tail have seen better days.

"Can I change your tail bandages? They need to be renewed-"

She looks over at them "Oh- uhh I forgot about those, I think I can do without them" Lock starts taking the bandages off. Oleander watches to see how the wound looks. Lock has a few razor burns where they had shaved her fur. It looks like a thin rat tail at the moment. The end of the tail has white stitches so they are easier to see on the darker skin. Lock puts the bandages in the trash. Lock then speaks up "Now I've never walked around here before so don't rely on me for directions."

"Don't worry, I've taken a lot of walks around here." he pauses, eyeing her tail. "You sure I cant put new bandages on for you?"

"Fur is gonna be growin back in anyways, it's gonna get itchy as bleep" Lock heads over to the door and holds it open for him.

"That's fair." Oleander goes through the door and heads into the backyard as Lock follows. "So, how old are you?"

Lock follows, avoiding stepping on any leaves "17 but I turn 18 sometime in November"

Oleander nods. "Cool. I turned 17 in June."

Lock snickers some "heh, I'm one year older"

"More like 7 months" Oleander huffs jokingly.

"Don't worry, you'll be older than me some day."

He looks at Lock in confusion. "Huh?"

"...what?" Lock looks over, now walking slightly beside him but still a step behind.

"You said I'd be older than you? What do you mean?"

"You know, you'll hit your next birthday and you'll be older than me"

Oleander shakes his head. "That's not how it works"

"...oh...thought it would be funny" Lock mumbles as she looks ahead again.

"Oh-" Oleander flushes in embarrassment. "Sorry I didn't realize you were joking…" He laughs a bit nervously.

"No no no, you're fine. They usually don't..." Lock sighs "So uhm. You walk often?"

"Yeah. Do you....joke often?" He says with a smile and does little finger guns.

"I can, do you need me to? Like do you like jokes?" She awkwardly finger guns too thinking it was a wave or something.

Oleander shrugs. "If you want to, I don't mind either way"

“Sounds good Purp"

Oleander bursts into laughter. "Purp??"

"What? You not like it?" She looks over at him.

"No, I like it." He smiles happily. "No ones ever given me a nickname before…"

"No one at all???" She sounds a bit baffled.

He shakes his head. "Not a good one really. Been called insults before though,,"

"Have you ever been called a kangaroo on a pogostick?"

"Nope"

"..." Lock stares a moment before look back at the ground "Yeah me neither, weird"

"Its okay if you have, you're from a different world, right? There's bound to be differences."

"Is being a human boring?"

Oleander shrugs. "I guess so compared to everyone else. I don't have much issue with it though."

"Do you get cold without fur?"

"Yeah. I wear enough clothes though so it cancels out usually"

"Oh ok, that makes sense...what's wearing pants like?"

Oleander shrugs. "What's not wearing pants like?"

"...I'm not sure...normal I guess?"

"Yeah..." He hums, trying to think of a conversation topic. "Wanna get into deep topics? Like possibly traumatic stuff?" Oleander asks.

"If you want to sure" Lock does a weird step just to avoid a leaf.

"But do you want to? What you want matters too"

"Uhhm...I don't know. Guess I'll find out"

"Alright,, just tell me if you dont want to answer. Are your parents around?"

"Not around here but mostly yeah"

Oleander nods. "Do you like em?"

Lock stays quiet.

"Its okay if you dont. I wont judge" He says, looking over at her.

Her shoulders relax a hint "yeah I don't"

"Thats fair. Want to say why?"

"She's a bit selfish. Always talking about how she looks"

"That's fair. I dont know my parents but my caretakers were annoying. Always arguing and stuff."

"What would they argue about?"

"Money and the best way to make me the best Chosen and what offerings to give Der Großmann and stuff..." They sigh and rub the back of their neck. If Lock looks, there's a burn scar of a circle crossed out there.

"Yeah m-" Lock stumbles and falls face first when trying to avoid a leaf and losing her balance. Oleander catches her before she hits the ground, bringing them face to face. Oleander blushes hard. Lock freezes up as her face turns a bright red. Oleander drops her, too flustered to remember to set her back up. Lock falls back in the leaves and quickly scrambles back up on her feet. She dusts the leaves off in a nervous hurry.

Oleander stands back up and buries his face in his hands. "I’m so sorry-"

"You're fine! You're fine, I uhh, I just lost some of my balance." She nervously laughs before clearing her throat "So uhhh, I guess that's what happens when you lose half your tail."

"Oh- does it mess with your balance?" He rubs his cheeks a bit to try and make the blush go away, looking at the woods absentmindedly.

"Uh yeah, I mean I'm a red panda, I'm used to a miles worth of tail to help out."

"Huh, I see. I can't really imagine having a tail... maybe we could like.. get a prosthetic? To help with the balance..."

"Are you kidding? Fur extensions are pointless. I'll just get used to being like this."

"Oh, okay. Sorry..." They smile a little nervously. "Mind if I ask how it happened?"

"Some guy at a camp was trying to do a magic trick when he cut it off...happened like...yesterday? I think?"

"Oh... I don't think it was yesterday? I think you were still injured yesterday. But I'm sorry that happened."

"I dunno, it was recent or something"

Oleander shrugs. "Fair enough." He pauses. "Do you like being here?"

"Uhm...yes?"

Oleander nods. "Me too…" He messes with his hair. "Uh… what's your favorite color?"

"I know my thing is being orange and all but I kinda like yellow. It's different"

"Yellows pretty,," Oleander smiles. "Falls really pretty. With everything dying and stuff"

"I like fall cuz the leaves crunching and covering the sidewalks gets on my mom's nerves"

Oleander chuckles. "Fair enough. Sometimes I like sitting out here and watching the animals do their thing. Feels peaceful…"

"What animals are there around here?"

"Squirrels, deer, mockingbirds, groundhogs, blackbirds, coyotes, bears, stuff like that."

Lock smiles "I do miss the smell of Halloween bbq"

"Oh? People barbecue on Halloween?"

"Where I'm from, yeah. Usually coyote meat"

"Oh, cool. Is it good?"

"I dunno, never tried it"

"Maybe we could try it together?" He smiles.

"How much sugar is in it?"

Oleander shrugs. "Who knows"

"No no no, I need to know"

"I don't know personally"

Lock nervously fidgets her hands.

"We'll find out though. Im sure I can look it up"

"Yeah" Lock stays somewhat quiet

"Are you okay,,?"

"Yeah I'm ok, I'm ok"

"Alright,," He offers a smile to her

She awkwardly smiles back. A branch nearby snaps. Oleander's head snaps in the direction of the snap and a hand goes to his sword.

Lock pauses and looks over "Heh?"

Oleanders on edge, like an animal waiting to see if they should run. A scarecrow dressed in a shirt and pants stuffed with hay steps out. It's hands are covered with hay stuffed gloves and its feet are the end of the sticks for it's legs. Its head is a hat stuffed sack with a simple happy face design on it. It hears a hat to help hold it's makeshift hair in place. Oleander waves hesitantly. The scarecrow steps closer, seemingly ready for any quick movements.

Lock slowly takes a step back "What the bleep is that thing?"

"Um.. not sure..." Oleander steps back as well. "Can I help you?"

The scarecrow sprints at Oleander to tackle him. Oleander tries to sidestep The scarecrow slides as it skids to stop and turns to face him again. 

Lock is a bit startled and doesn't move much, "How is it moving???"

"No idea-" Oleander draws his sword, watching the scarecrow carefully. "Come get me bitch"

Scarecrow goes to sprint at him again. Oleander swings, trying to cut Scarecrows torso at a diagonal. The fabric of the shirt is torn as some hay spills out. Scarecrow goes to grab Oleander’s arm. Lock gets her hatchet off her own back.

Oleander struggles to get his hand free "GET OFF-"

Scarecrow flicks the glove off the other hand revealing a wooden stake as her wrist. Scarecrow goes to stab his shoulder. Oleander tosses the sword aside and grabs the arm, trying to hold it back so they don't get stabbed. Lock is watching them both and gets ready to throw the hatchet. Scarecrow is struggling to add more force. Oleander grunts and throws Scarecrow away from him. Lock throws the hatchet as Scarecrow is thrown The hatchet barely misses Oleander's face and bounces off a tree by the handle. It sticks scarecrow's shirt to the ground with the blade. Lock freezes in place "-My hand slipped I swear..."

Oleander watches Scarecrow. "Its okay- just be careful where you're aiming-" He puts his gauntlet up to shoot Scarecrows chest. A large hole is left and scarecrow is practically cut in half. Scarecrows legs go limp as their upper half is shaking as if in pain and unable to get up. Lock slowly walks over to Oleander's side while watching the scarecrow. Oleander swallows, regret boiling up in his chest. He takes out his phone.

"Wwhat do we do?" Lock stutters.

"I... I don't know... finish it off maybe?? I dont think it can talk..." Oleander seems a tad shaken.

Lock nervously steps closer and takes the hatchet back.

Oleander sets his jaw and approaches. "I can do it Lock.."

"I-is this right???"

The scarecrow continues writhing in pain.

"I don't... know... but it'll probably die anyways- It's better to end it so they don't suffer..." Oleander hesitates before putting the gauntlet to Scarecrow's head.

Scarecrow stares at Oleander. Lock turns away. Oleander stares back, then fires. The entire head is gone as it all goes limp. There's a faint feeling of bad luck.

Oleander looks to Lock. "Im sorry I just- It attacked me-"

"No no that uh. That makes sense" Lock sounds a bit shaken up.

Oleander steps back and grabs his sword. "We should... go home..."

"Lead on" Lock puts the hatchet away on her back.

Oleander extends a hand to Lock carefully. Lock hesitates and goes to take his hand

He holds it gently, "I'm sorry that happened."

"I'm sorry you had to do that" she says a bit quietly.

"It's okay..." He debates adding something but was too scared for Lock's possible reaction.

Lock stays quiet for a long while before speaking up some "I'm uh. I'm also sorry you had to do that other one too"

Oleander looks down. "I... I want to tell you something but I'm scared youll see me differently..."

"I mean. I guess I have a few things like that too"

"I wont see you differently. At least not in a bad way,,"

"Ok then I won't see you in a bad way either"

He smiles then says, "I um... I was chosen to be a sort of tool for a god? Uh... he's made me kill people and monsters... I dont enjoy it... but if I dont do it he will kill me." Oleander says with a sigh.

"Sounds like Cole" Lock snickers some.

Oleander blushes. "Yeah... we aren't all that different I think..." He rubs his neck. "I’ve.. I’ve killed more than I want to admit.."

"Man we must have REALLY walked far out here"

Oleander chuckles as Harmonia’s house comes into view. "I guess so. Are you hungry?"

"A bit yeah"

"Anything you want to eat?"

"Not particularly. Haven't had many good foods"

"I can try to make something good. How does spaghetti sound?"

"Never had spaghetti before"

"I can try that..”

Lock walks into the yard and holds open the kitchen door for Oleander as they both head inside.

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