they wait outside the Welcome Habitat, staring blankly at the ground with deadpan expressions.
Finally, Shaklyn 2 speaks up.
"What happened?" s/he asks.
S/He draws a breath and opens their mouth to answer, but no words come out.
It dawns on them that they really don't know exactly what happened after s/he went under.
"I... I don't know," s/he admits, rubbing their hands together for just a second. "You were dragged under ... and ... you were under for five minutes. But . . . I don't know what happened down under." They pause and choke back a sob.
"You don't have to go on if you don't want to," s/he says. "You could tell me later."
"I don't argue. I don't want to continue speaking although some part of me tells me I should. I know Shaklyn 2 is worried like one wouldn't imagine. _I'm _worried like one wouldn't imagine."
"S/He almost died," s/he says. "S/He wasn't breathing. It..." S/He shakes their head. "It was the lightning incident replayed a second time. I couldn't...! couldn't hardly move. s/he was so close to death."
"S/He'll surprise you. It's like s/he's playing cat and mouse with death. It ' s . . . I hate how s/he does it."
S/He nods. "Me too," s/he says. "I can't stand it."
