bloodandbrass

[ he wraps the bandage firmly, covering all the wounds, making sure it doesn't come undone. evan knows how to treat an injury, even if his physical appearance might say otherwise. stepping in his own traps, getting mauled by animals who didn't die fast enough, dealing with the aftermath of doing or saying the wrong thing - he's learned. no point in letting an injury become a new weakness.

but why did he offer? it's not a question he likes to hear put to air. ]

You ain't been as much of a pain in my ass lately.

[ as if that's an explanation. it's enough of one, and probably all that david's going to get, because evan won't be able to rationalize his own actions for a while. other than wondering if maybe this just might be one more step to getting david to return the favor in a different way. ]

And I don't like that arrogant prick you dodged.

[ david narrows his eyes in thought for a moment, as if he doesn't buy it, but then he figures evan is petty enough that it's not a totally out there reason. regardless, pushing the issue would really just be a way to end up getting that cleaver embedded in his neck, and wouldn't that just be a waste of everyone's time? ]

[ he nods, fair enough, and turns to look at him properly. leans against the workbench and folds his arms over his chest, almost thoughtful for just the barest moment before his expression shifts to a smirk. ]

Sure it weren't just a reason to get me over here?

[ evan tucks in the end of the bandage and steps back as david leans away, and sees that smirk form. he almost knows what he's about to hear before it escapes david's mouth.

before all this, he'd have punched him out - although he wouldn't have let him in here for this in the first place, so maybe that's not worth considering. after the first time, maybe. or maybe not. he doesn't like the smirk, doesn't like the idea of david thinking he knows something, but maybe he doesn't like that david's grazed at least part of the truth of the matter. ]

You sure didn't wait to get here.

[ the implication: david was looking for a reason to get there himself. ]

[ david laughs, unfazed. maybe it should bother him, but when it's fired back at him like that, he just takes it as a quick retort and lets it slide off him. god forbid he spend a moment to consider the fact that he came out here on just the vaguest assurance that he'd be safe. from evan at least. ]

[ he shouldn't feel safe being here, and yet. ]

Takin' that as a yes.

[ the idea of his workshop being safe, if anyone ever had the audacity to voice it, would infuriate evan, but maybe not to the point of kicking everyone out permanently. safe from other killers, maybe not such a bad thing.

but it's never come up, and he ignores the idea. david's not looking like he's about to deliver a punch or destroy his shit. or leave. ]

Believe whatever you want. [ he shrugs and tosses the rag back in the bucket it, drops it back over by the forge and then goes to toss the broken glass and metal pieces. ] 'Course, if you ain't leavin' in any hurry, I'm sure there's ways to waste time 'til the blood loss stops fucking with you.

[ david laughs again, watches evan move about from where he's leaning against that workbench. ]

Yeah? Any suggestions then, big man?

[ he's like... 90% sure they're on the same page here, but part of him would be pretty entertained if they weren't. ]

[ he turns from the crate of broken metal and garbage, wiping david's blood off his hands, and considers his options. the smirk still on david's face. he knows exactly what the implication is. what even he realized when he outright invited david in here to deal with an injury. what's happened here before.

evan pauses before responding, watching david wryly. ]

Could pay your tab now.

[ that's only partly a joke. there's only so many ways he'll suggest someone repay him, and turning Adriana's hunting cabin inside out or caving Ghost Face's skull in are only a few the options. ]

How?

[ there's an offhand comment that david just barely catches before it comes out of his mouth — can't exactly go down the mines, can i — but he knows exactly how that would go down and he's not-- he can't do that. even if he wasn't at a massive disadvantage here, adrenaline tanking, starting to feel the pain in the rest of his body, he'd have to be ready to kill if he started a fight here and evan's temper is way too short for him to brush off a comment like that. ]

[ be kind of a dick move after evan helped him out too. ]

[ david pushes away from the table and moves over to close the space between them, looks up at that mask — that fucking mask — and raises an eyebrow. ]

What do you want from me here, eh?

[ evan doesn't notice the almost-comment, the one that would have been followed by a punch to the jaw hard enough to break something, and maybe not just the workbench. as long as he doesn't hear it, all he can do is wonder, and right now he's not in quite enough of a killing mood to think too far.

david closes the space and evan thinks about what he can say. he's always in the mood for blood, but like he said, david hasn't been that much of a pain in the ass lately. ]

Could get on your knees.

[ and that is almost a joke, because of the way he snorts after it, because he knows david's not about to do it. ]

Could go bust up all those fuckin' drones on my property, if you're up for it.

[ one hand lands on david's upper arm, pulls him in a little closer, twists it a little to push a little more difference in height. ]

Or get your ass on the table.

[ the hand on his arm cuts off every other thought in his head, the consideration that he wouldn't mind going out and smashing shit. he resists the twist of his arm instinctively, the switch from something light and relaxed — playful, almost — to angry and combative is instant. ]

[ david looks up at him, shoulders squared, lips pulled in a sneer. his side hurts a little when he straightens up properly, but he doesn't think about it, moves closer into evan's space with a growl. ]

Make me.

[ the anger is instant. it's something he can recognize. he almost braces himself for a punch that doesn't come.

is it real or is this just the way david is? could be both. he glares down through the mask, but doesn't shove him back just yet. ]

A second ago you were ready to do me a favor. Waste both our time.

[ but he might still be. ]

You need me to take it?

I don't need shit.

[ he wrenches his arm out of evan's grip, still staring daggers up at evan. he should be better than this, at holding it in, at not immediately getting fired up the second someone even hints at trying to push him around or intimidate him, but he can't help it. especially not when he thinks about last time and-- ]

[ it's really only the barest sliver of self-restraint that stops him immediately swinging. ]

But if you wanna act like cock of the walk about it- [ he punctuates with a shove. ] Then you're gonna have to make me.

[ another time, the anger would have gone straight into him, found its reflection, and fought its way out. there would have been another fight. maybe one that ended in nothing, maybe one that got one of them killed.

but evan tries to avoid thinking about what-ifs, and right now, his mood's not so bad that he's going to rise to what he sees as bait, even if it would end up being a benefit in the end.

so when david yanks himself free, shoves evan back - not that he moves any real distance - he watches david, and then laughs. it's short, sharp, and not particularly amused, but it's a laugh. ]

Nah.

[ he steps back, leans against a different workbench and folds his arms across his chest. ]

You owe me. Pay it back when you're damn good and ready for it.

[ the confusion is plain on david's face, for a moment he wonders if he got the measure of the situation wrong, but he thinks about evan twisting his arm and decides, nah. bastard should've known better if he didn't want any hostility. ]

You wanna fuck, I'm almost always up for it, ain't makin' any secret of that.

[ god knows he'll take the distraction over just about anything else, even without the fact that evan has proved unfortunately very good to hook up with. compatible in a way that should be fucking obvious in hindsight. ]

[ david's still figuring this out. truthfully he doesn't have the greatest idea of what he himself wants, what he likes, but he's not so desperately ashamed of himself-- of this that he needs to dress it up as something it's not to feel okay with it. not that he objects to wrapping it up in a little violence, but he doesn't need evan acting like he's doing him a favour if that's how it's going to be either. ]

But if you wanna act like the size of you's something special? [ he raises his eyebrows, tilts his head forward when he speaks. ] Should know better than to think that's gonna get anythin' else outta me, Chuck.

[ his own fault, really, for immediately going for violence. what did he expect david to do? back down? as if. the surprise is clear on david, but evan decides against changing his own course.

although david's constant getting under his skin does make it tempting to go for an immediate reverse. almost too tempting. ]

Thought the size of me was somethin' special as far as you're concerned.

[ innuendo more than insult, really. he knows what david meant by size, and it's not the same thing he does. ]

Not gonna fight you for it while you're hurt. Get that fixed up, we'll see where you bein' half bark and half bite takes you.

[ if he wasn't already halfway to fucking furious, the innuendo would get a laugh out of david, an amused snort at the very least, maybe a joke fired back. as it is, he's busy trying to decide which of the latter part of all that he should be more offended by. ]

Half fuckin' bite am I?

[ he licks his lips, looks at him with hard eyes, the anger in him a steady thing that's easy. comfortable. too much so, probably, because he knows he shouldn't say what he's about to, but he can't stop himself. ]

Half bark and half bite when I had you cut up out there too, was I?

[ the anger stirs, seethes, sits up somewhere inside him and strains at the leash. behind the mask, he narrows his eyes, seeing bait laid out in front of him. whether david's trying to lure him into a violent fuck or an actual fight is still up in the air, but evan tries to rein in on that, at least to some degree.

he leans in a little, still looming. still the danger he always has been, even if the cleaver's not in his hands right now. ]

You had me on the ground and you offered me a mercy kill. [ he says it like it offends him, because it does. ] Had your teeth in me and pulled 'em out. That's all bark.

[ david honestly has no idea what he wants here, all he knows is just a few minutes ago he was in a surprisingly good mood and now he's itching to see blood. of course, with david switching back can be just as fast too, but right now he feels like a dog pulling on a rope. growling, desperate for something even if it doesn't know what that is. ]

Oh-- My apologies for offerin' you a choice in how you went out.

[ sure, okay, it was for himself. stalling, looking for a reason it wouldn't just be him killing someone in a rage like he was always afraid he would one day. just lose control and tear someone apart. ]

[ sometimes he thinks he should just give into it, especially here where it barely even fucking matters, thinks about evan's lifeless body and the satisfaction that came with it, always just a brief thing before the nausea sets in. not over the killing, but the way blood on his hands and a body at his feet feels right to some fucked up part of him. like that's what he was made for. ]

[ between the way that thought makes him sick to his stomach, and the fact that he and evan have found this weird sort of civility — fragile as it is — it's what keeps the clenched fists at his sides instead of throwing a punch. no small one either, the kind that would break a normal man's jaw. david backs up a step instead, not exactly disengaging but something like it. not enough like it, because he can't stop himself from going on. ]

Won't make that mistake next time, don't you worry.

Edited 2023-11-03 03:20 (UTC)

[ the problem with david - with a lot of the survivors, really, but david's right here, right now - is that he makes the bait so goddamned tempting. every word, every movement, every little twitch of his expression makes evan want to grab his skull and slam it into the table nearby, whether to kill him or fuck him being up for debate.

but if he throws a punch, david will return it. hard, fast, and just as dangerous, even with his fucked up shoulder. if anyone's living proof that a fucked up shoulder means nothing to a punch, it's evan. and he's not really in the mood for a brawl right now - after all, the last one ended with him dead.

so he leans in closer, the rage bubbling just under his skin, mouth twisting into a snarl under the mask. ]

Good. 'Cause the next time you do, we're both gonna die.

[ he knows david can kill him, now, as much as david knows evan can kill him. and they'll make things mutual. they'll both hate it. ]

Fix your fuckin' shoulder. We'll finish this when you do.

[ not that he knows what they'll be finishing, honestly. ]

[ david just stands there for a moment, staring, seething. like part of him is searching for a way to draw it out, make it into an actual fight, however that ends up shaking out. he's so wound up, desperate for it almost, something to justify the way he feels like a pot ready to boil over. ]

[ later on, he'll be surprised about evan's restraint. right now it's just a disappointment that sits heavy in his gut. a deep dissatisfaction he's not going to be rid of until the next trial. ]

[ he backs up a step, still eyeing evan, and then turns to pick up his clothes. just the thought of lifting his arm to put his shirt back on makes his shoulder spike in pain, so david just holds them in a frustrated fist. ]

Don't know why the fuck I came out here anyway.

[ he could answer that. remind david that he ran out here on one invitation. but he also knows that'll send things over the edge, so he doesn't. there's no point in inviting a fight he isn't interested in - and that's not as difficult for him as it might seem, even when dealing with a survivor.

but david backs off just as much, grabbing his shirt and not putting it on, which just shows how bad the injury really is. evan just snorts, his only contribution to ending the conversation, and watches david until he leaves.

he doesn't remind him to keep an eye out for traps - doesn't need to, because either david's still aware enough to watch out for them, or he's too pissed off to care, in which case he can step in one. and while evan won't go after him, it'll still make life even worse to try and get back to the campfire on an injured leg on top of the injured shoulder. ]

[ david's gotten pretty good at respecting evan's space, his things. even avoids stealing from him unless he's certain this is the only place he can get something. doesn't disarm more traps than he absolutely has to to get around, and never breaks them. there's something tenuous there, a kind of mutual decency that he'd like to maintain if he can. ]

[ which is all what david would've thought before that last trial. before trapper threw him up on a hook with a terse reminder that david owes him, as if he'd fucking forgotten. maybe it was a rough one for him, or maybe david was just especially annoying that time, he doesn't know, but he does know that something about it pissed him off enough that he wasn't even afraid to die while he hung on that hook. all he'd been able to think about at the time was wishing he could just pull himself off and smash the bastard's head in with a rock. how fucking dare he. ]

[ and david tries not to carry that shit with him once a trial's over, sometimes even successfully, but this time? this time he storms over there the second he's back at the campfire. this time he makes a point to break the traps he has to disarm to get down the mine. if there was a way to wreck them so bad it would be impossible to repair or reforge them, david would with no hesitation. ]

You in here? [ david calls when he makes it to the workshop, assuming sooner or later he'll be seeing an angry trapper ready to take his head for the disrespect, but david doesn't care about that. ]

[ evan's used to disrespect. blatant disrespect, in fact, and often from david. the calm between them has been strange but, at the same time, almost worthwhile. other people close or bust or steal his traps, break into his place and treat it like their own, but david's turned that way down. not that he doesn't still trespass, but they've come to an impasse.

or they had, until now, when off in the distance he can hear his traps been slammed shut, and not just shut. he doesn't know who it is at first, because so many people do this shit over and over and over again, and it's infuriating, setting off the perpetual rage again. he finds the broken traps, and sees red, but tries to get it under control long enough to find the source.

down into his workshop. of course. cleaver in hand, the idea of a stealthy approach abandoned, he storms past his ruined traps to slam the door open and seeing - david, right on the other side.

he thinks: the trial, maybe. but he'd been pissed off. of course he'd been pissed off. and somehow that had pissed off david. if he had more focus, he might have laughed, but as it is, all he can do is stand there and seethe and wait for an explanation for what the fuck this is. ]

[ david whips around on the spot when he hears the door slam open, moments after he'd come storming in, and he's still pissed off. marches up to trapper and reaches out with both hands to shove him hard. ]

The fuck was that?

[ it's probably the angriest he's ever been with evan, not just pissed, but fucking offended. it was a rough trial, so fucking what. it happens. ]

I owe you so I should just up and fuckin' die is it?

[ it almost surprises him to have david admit, outright, that he's angry he died in a trial. the thing that happens in most trials. of course people would be pissed off about it, and david's no exception, but to this degree - most people back off after he's taken out his anger on them.

but - no. it's the circumstances. it deflates a tiny, tiny part of the anger, which is the only reason he doesn't bring the cleaver up as soon as david gets in his face.

he does, however, reach out and grab him by the front of his shirt and drag him back in for the audacity of trying to shove him. ]

Yeah. You should. After a shit trial like that, I ain't going back without someone's blood on my hands.

[ and david owes him. it made sense at the time, with the rage clouding everything around him. cognitive dissonance is evan's specialty in a lot of ways. ]

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kicks down the door to cause a problem

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