The Non-Human Society

Chapter 94: Chapter Ninety Three – Renn – A Pond’s Quiet Ripple

Sometimes I felt... young. As if I was but a child, and had so much still to learn that it seemed impossible to do so.

That old witch had made me feel this way often. She had spoken about sciences, religion, and all the things that I had no knowledge about at the time. She had taught me to read, and that had felt like such a monumental achievement... yet all it did was make me realize how much more I had to learn.

Yet here now, before me, it wasn't a book that was making me feel this way.

It was instead two men working on a small dock, without saying a word to one another.

Vim and Trek were hammering freshly cut boards. Vim was waist high in the water, standing a few feet out into the pond... which honestly was a little too big to be a pond. It'd take me half an hour to run around it, at least so it seemed.

But most of the pond was covered in flora. Large cattails covered nearly all of the pond's edges, with only a few sections free of them. Other than them, there were also other plants. There were large blades of grass, flowers, and stuff that almost looked like vines were also mixed in.

It was a nice pond, honestly... but not so unique that I could completely understand the man's fixation upon it.

A small cabin had been built not too far from the pond, and it was undoubtedly Trek's home... yet it looked a little worn down. A little old. A little... drafty. One of the windows looked missing.

When Vim and I had arrived this morning, Trek had been cutting wood and preparing it.

Without even saying hello, Vim had immediately joined Trek in repairing the dock. I wasn't sure how it had happened, but half the dock had broken and sunk into the pond. One of the first things Vim had done was pull all the broken wood out of the pond, it was now stacked in the distance. It was glistening from the water, and covered in enough gunk that it was clear it had been submerged for some time. Maybe months.

Had Trek been working this long, or had he simply started around the time he expected Vim to show up?

Something told me it was the latter. Especially since he seemed as able and skilled with the hammer as Vim was.

I sat on a large fallen log. One that undoubtedly would eventually be chopped up and used as well. It had been sitting here for some time, based off the way the log looked. It had already been stripped and cleaned, there was no bark or limbs upon it. It felt... a little too smooth. A little too dry. Odds were it had been sitting here for months as well.

Trek really had been preparing for this moment.

A loud clunk drew my eyes back to the pond. I watched as Trek and Vim set one of the boards down and went to nailing it to the pier. They worked swiftly and easily... as if they had done this before. And not just once or twice either.

The sight of the two men working was one that kept the eyes. And it wasn't because both of them were nearly naked, since they were working in the water, but...

What was such a relationship like?

Vim shows up, without notice or request, and then without a word goes to help. I knew no matter what Trek would have been working on, or doing, Vim would have aided him. Without question.

What was it like to have someone like that? To rely on them so easily?

Even if Vim would help me like that, I'd... I'd honestly find it uncomfortable.

I'd feel silly. It'd make me feel very conscious of myself and him, and would make me want to thank him somehow.

I'd feel indebted. As if the scales weren't balanced. Yet it wasn't like that with Vim and the rest of the Society.

He arrived. He helped. He left.

To them it was as natural as the sun and stars.

Which honestly probably meant I hadn't properly adjusted yet to being in the Society.

I sighed as I stood from my seat. I had no intention of helping the two, mostly since they seemed to be working at a pace that was beyond me. I'd just get in the way, and slow them down... so instead I supposed I could find something else to do.

Surely he wouldn't mind if I cleaned up his house or something? Cooking, maybe. Would Trek or Vim get upset if I went into his house without asking? Vim had gone in and out a few times, to get supplies...

Slowly walking to the house, I made sure to keep an eye on Vim as I did so. He glanced at me, but just once. He looked away after a moment, which told me that I was fine.

Vim wasn't afraid to make it a point that I was making a mistake, after all.

"Still, how big of a dock does he need?" I asked quietly as I walked up to the pile of freshly cut lumber. The stack of wood was nearly as tall as me.

It was hard to tell how big the dock had been originally, thanks to it having been so broken... but surely it hadn't been that big?

What was the dock for anyway? I didn't see any kind of boat anywhere, not even a small one. And even if there had been one... although the pond wasn't too tiny, was it big enough for such a thing?

Walking around the pile of lumber, and then the area that was now full of sawdust and shavings of wood, I walked up to the house. It didn't have a porch, but it did have something of a canopy. Although I doubted its effectiveness, since it looked like it'd fall off the house at any moment. Some of the nails that held it up were sticking out and looked as if they were barely hanging in.

"Maybe Vim should help him rebuild the house too," I said as I peered into the broken window.

It was indeed broken, or rather simply missing. There was no glass anywhere, not even fragments could be found on the ground around it.

The inside of the house looked somewhat normal. A bed, a table with a few chairs. A small kitchen area in the corner, near a large open fireplace.

Glancing back to the pond, I saw the same thing I could hear. They were still hammering the boards together.

"Hmph."

Was it Vim that was the odd one, or Trek, I wonder? Were they not going to say a single word to each other the whole time?

Entering the house was easy. The door had been propped open. As I entered, I noticed... an odd lack of smell.

Did he ever even come in here? It smelled devoid of life. Especially for one of our kind, who usually had a more distinct smell than humans did.

Once inside, I went to cleaning up a little. I didn't try fixing anything, which was difficult for me. Just like the frame of the house, the stuff inside were worn down too. Dressers were leaning; the bed had a broken leg and was held up by a box. The table was somehow the only thing that didn't seem needing repairs.

I spent an hour or so cleaning, and eventually ended up lighting a fire as to cook something. The man obviously did live here, since there were stores of food. Dried meat, pickled vegetables... even spices lined one of the shelves.

While I cooked I occasionally glanced out the missing window. Sometimes Vim and Trek were together, hammering away at the dock... other times they were separated. Vim spent a good hour on the large log I had been sitting on earlier. Every so often Vim or Trek would return to the house, either to grab something or cut and shape the wood nearby.

By the time most of the food was done cooking, that log I had been sitting at had disappeared.

Putting the plates of food onto the table, I felt myself smile at the sight.

It had been a long time since I had cooked anything. Lately Vim had been the one to cook, or he and I had gone elsewhere to eat. He seemed to enjoy eating at taverns.

"Smells good at least," I said. Better than the smell of cut wood that was stinking up the place.

Putting the fire out, I hesitated as I listened to the last crackles and pops of the fire... and nothing else.

No more hammering. No more sawing.

Standing up, I peered around the window and saw the two men on the dock.

They were done.

Already?

Hurrying out of the house, I felt... a little silly as I stared at the two men.

They were standing near the end of the newly built dock. It was a little wider and went deeper than I had thought it would have. It went well out past the foliage and cattails.

For a few moments Vim and Trek stood there, staring out at the pond... appreciating their handiwork. And then, with gentle slowness... Trek sat down.

I blinked as Trek sat down at the edge of the dock, hanging his legs over the edge. I watched as his broad shoulders rose upward as he took a deep breath... and then he slowly released it.

A content sigh.

Gulping, I stepped forward and strained my ears. I no longer wore my hat, and they weren't that far... yet I heard nothing. But surely they were saying something? Surely they were talking?

Yet they weren't. They were as silent as they had been since we got here.

For a few solid minutes, I studied Vim who studied the pond. Then he glanced down at Trek... and simply nodded.

Vim then turned, stepping away from the duck and dock and headed towards me.

My eyes grew watery as I realized that was it. This was it.

He was going to tell me we were going to leave.

"Vim..." I whispered his name, afraid to break the silence the two had so willingly created.

"Did you cook something?" he asked once he was in front of me.

I nodded.

"Good. That was nice of you. Get your stuff. Your hat too," Vim gestured to my head.

I nodded, even though it hurt to do so.

"We're... we're leaving...?" I asked softly.

"We are."

"But..." I looked out to the pond. To the man who still sat there, at the end of the dock. "You didn't talk yet," I whispered.

"We spoke enough," Vim said calmly.

They hadn't said a word.

Hesitating, I shuffled my hands around as Vim went to gather his clothes. He seemed dry already.

While Vim got dressed, I grumbled and didn't know what to say. "Are... are you sure?" I asked. What about his house? It was about to fall apart.

Vim chuckled as he slipped on his shirt. "He's fine Renn. Trek is content. That man could die tonight, and will now do so with a smile on his face. He needs nothing else. You should be jealous of him, not concerned," Vim said lightly.

I sighed and realized he was completely serious. We were leaving, and doing so now.

Hurrying into the house, I quickly gathered up my stuff. My backpack, my hat... my jacket...

Pausing before the small table that was now littered with steaming food... I groaned as I took one of the small strips of meat.

Putting it into my mouth, I hurried out of the house and found Vim was already walking away, heading back to the path we had used to come here.

"Vim..." I groaned with a mouthful as I went to follow him.

Vim ignored me as I looked back to the pond. To the man who sat there, alone.

With a sigh I mentally said goodbye to him.

This was going to take a lot of getting used to.