bloodandbrass

[ the lack of argument or shitty comment is a surprise, but david's mollified by it, he doesn't want to fight over something so stupid this soon after sex like that. ]

[ he's a little baffled by the way evan just gets back to work, it felt like that was a lot for him too. stands and watches him for a moment, but it's probably just one of those killer "benefits." that and whatever the fuck is wrong with evan that he couldn't stop working like his entire existence depends on it. david shrugs it off and heads into the bedroom without a word, leaving the door open a crack to let some light stream in so he doesn't bash his leg against the stupid thing again as he clambers into the bed to sleep. ]

[ he's tired, although probably not as tired as david. but there are benefits to being on this side of things, and one of them is that exhaustion doesn't hit as hard. they have to be ready for a trial at any time, and however much the entity might think it's funny to toss them in at the worst possible time, it does need them to do their job. so they benefit.

evan listens as david heads into the room, and then his attention fixes back on his work. at least, it mostly does. it's been a while since things went sour, with him unintentionally pissing david off, and now that they're back on the rails he's gotten a pretty good grasp on what's different between what they have and what he has with other survivors. it's ... a little concerning.

but if he doesn't think about it, it won't be a problem. that's served him well his entire life. and when he feels the tug of a trial maybe half an hour after david falls asleep, he doesn't waste any time getting a weapon and leaving. ]

[ he's a little bit more aware of the dustiness of the room this time around, probably because they didn't just fuck in it, it irritates his nose a little but not enough to be a problem. david just lays down on his back and settles in, drifting off relatively quickly. ]

[ when he wakes up a few hours later, he just lays there for a little while. partially because he is so much more sore than he was when he went to sleep, but also some of the weirdness of this has just sunk in. this is weird, there's no getting around that. even accounting for how fucked up it is to be hooking up with a killer, or whatever the fuck evan's deal is, this is a strange situation. ]

[ he rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands with a tired groan, staring at the ceiling afterward. listening for the sound of evan working outside to try and figure out what leaving's going to look like — or rather, how much he's going to have to pretend he's definitely not in any pain at all. ]

[ there's a trial, and then another trial, and then he's back in his workshop, and then there's something out on his property, fucking around. by the time david wakes up he's still out there dealing with it.

he's been gone long enough that the fire in the forge-slash-furnace has faded down to a dull glow, leaving the workshop barely lit. the few lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling are off. the whole place is mostly shadows, hiding anything that might be a trap.

although he doesn't trap the workshop these days. he leaves what he needs to deal with trespassers on high shelves for when he catches them. it's outside, just past the door, where the traps start. what gets missed on the way in generally catches on the way out. except most people are getting good at avoiding them. it's almost pointless now.

david won't have any issues leaving, but once he's outside he'll hear the clear sounds of a struggle not all that far away. because it's the thing that is and isn't a person out there, the one nobody has a name for, caught in four traps and still trying to beat him to death or whatever it does, and evan really doesn't know how to deal with it. ]

[ eventually, david decides he's alone and elects to leave. slow and ungainly as he pads out to the workshop to gather his things and get dressed — in hindsight, he thinks as he pulls a clean shirt out of his bag, maybe he should've brought his stuff into the bedroom with him. getting dressed is quick, even if his back protests a little when he crouches to tie his laces, and david does his best to brush off the discomfort of being here alone on his way out. ]

[ he's almost out of the mineshaft when he hears it. not the struggle, though that comes through just after. what he hears is the voice, the one that makes something in him sieze in a cold panic. after this long, there isn't much that still scares david (that he knows of,) but that thing does. makes him contemplate trying to wait it out until he realises what the rest of the noise out there is. ]

[ for some reason, he'd feel bad leaving evan to deal with this on his own. ]

[ he takes a deep breath, puts on his game face, and heads toward the noise. the sight is almost as absurd as it is upsetting, he doesn't want to look directly at it, ends up looking away to evan before he's fully processed the sight of it somehow caught in four traps at once. now he's here, he really has no idea how to deal with it either. ]

There's easier ways to get me to stick around, you know.

[ he's still got jokes though. ]

[ the only reason evan's not already ash on the ground is because of the traps. both of those fucked-up legs are caught, and so is one arm that managed to get two. it keeps tripping over itself no matter how it twists and turns. but the one arm free has an axe that it keeps swinging at his head.

david's voice catches him by surprise and it's only because the bigger threat is in front of him that he doesn't turn. he's pissed about it all, though. david's not supposed to be able to sneak up on him. ]

You wanna go in there and get killed to make it fuck off, go ahead.

[ it's a snarl. he has other traps he could lure it into, since it doesn't seem to understand how to avoid them, but that's only going to do so much. he has to be able to get in range to kill it, and between the axe and the pulsating whatever on its back, he doesn't have much confidence in doing that. ]

Yeah, nah. Get killed enough by that thing as it is.

[ it twists its head around to look at david where he is just behind and to the side of evan, in its awful, trilling, almost-human (almost dwight if he pays attention) voice it says "help... can you help?" as if he's not looking directly at it. he visibly shudders and looks toward evan again. ]

[ it hasn't got out its awful... throat proboscis at least. maybe it can't use it with the position it's stuck in. ]

-- hang on.

[ it's a longshot, david's never tried this outside a trial, but those journals said something about killers being averse to light, right? why would that be different just because they're not in a trial? who fucking knows, it's been years since they found them, but david swings his bag off his back anyway and starts rummaging for a flashlight. zero hesitation between finding one and immediately shining it at the thing's sockets, hoping for the best. meg's shined these things in his eyes when she's pissed enough times for him to know it fucking hurts and is disorienting even without a supernatural weakness. ]

[ he doesn't take his eyes off the thing. being watched doesn't seem to make a difference to whether or not it attacks, but he's not going to give it even a second.

he's not afraid of it, but it's offensive, in a way. pretending to be a person so badly. even ghost face knows how to fake that better when he has the chance. then again, that might be the point. it's not supposed to fool anyone for very long - just long enough to get them in reach.

and then david's reaching in his bag and pulling out a flashlight, of all things. evan doesn't say anything, doesn't even look over at him incredulously, but inside he wants to bash david's head against the nearest tree, or maybe into a trap. it's a stupid move. idiotic. flashlights are a problem in some trials, but as max proved ages ago, light isn't always a threat, and outside trials the damn things are better projectiles than anything else -

but the thing recoils. not much, and not far, but it does back off, tripping over its trapped legs. something splits along its spine - or chest cavity, fuck if he knows anymore - but the tendrils he's expecting don't erupt. not yet, anyway. ]

That ain't gonna kill it.

Obviously.

[ he's not stupid, he knows this is just a temporary inconvenience, but the unknown recoils, disoriented and pained. that's enough for david to feel comfortable with the idea forming in his head. ]

You're gonna kill it. I'm gonna keep it from knowing where you are.

[ it's a simple plan, how could it possibly go wrong? ]

[ it takes a lot of effort to not turn around and smash david's face in. only the sight of the thing in front of him keeps him in one place. ]

Yeah? You think that's how it works out here?

[ it's true that that thing doesn't like the light - that it's turning its head, trying to avoid it, while at the same time following david and not evan. but that's just where it's looking. he has no idea how it actually sees; there's no eyes in those sockets. ]

Turn it around. Ain't going at it from the front.

[ he's not sure how he's going to kill it at all. he's not sure if that's even possible. ]

You got a better idea, I'd love to hear it.

[ he snaps in a hushed voice, practically a snarl. part of david is loudly reminding him he could just leave. he doesn't owe evan anything, and even if he did, it's not enough to put himself in the firing line of one of the few killers who still scare the shit out of him. ]

[ keeping eyes on it, reminding himself what's real, that's how to avoid getting caught out. doesn't help that looking at it is so viscerally uncomfortable that he has to fight himself to do it. ]

[ he clicks the flashlight off, just for a second. it swings at him with its axe once it can see, but david's out of reach. what's more important is making sure it's following as he carefully circles. flashlight coming back on the second he hears its back creaking, for a moment shocking it back into that blindness and discomfort. ]

[ evan doesn't think, right now, about the reasons why david's still here or helping him at all. he just takes the extra body, the extra target, and tries to work out how to do this.

it's focused on david (apparently). bones creak and skin snaps as it moves, legs twisted up even more awkwardly than usual thanks to the traps. it ran at him on all fours, which is the only reason it hit them in the first place and the only reason he's still alive. he'd never seen it do that before even if he'd heard about it. if that's what it does in trials, he's surprised david's here at all.

he waits in total silence and perfect stillness as david draws its attention away. it's not until he sees it start to try and close in that he steps forward, moving more silently than might be expected, cleaver coming up -

just in time for its back, or chest, or whatever's facing him, to snap open. the flashlight's still on but its eyes (or just one of them) must be facing him. he ducks in time to avoid getting hit full-on by the emerging tentacles, but one hits him in the face, tearing his mask off an an eyehole before he lands a blow on it and severs the damn thing in one go.

its whole body reels at that, curling backward like it's trying to protect itself. but the noise it makes is still almost human. the same noises it probably heard while it was killing people on its own, back in the world. he's not sure if it can even feel that but it sure can react, he thinks in a haze as pain rips through his head and blood blinds him. ]

[ usually its back opening means somebody's about to die, so david thinks he can be forgiven for flinching when that happens. honestly he thinks he should be applauded for not running, considering he has to fight every instinct he has not to. but it doesn't strike at him, it strikes at evan instead. can it see him or does it have some other sense tracking him or some shit? ]

[ that's a flaw in the plan if it does, because then blinding it means it only has eyes (as it were) for evan. ]

[ david processes the noise it makes with a grimace before he realises he's watching the thing huddle away from evan, down a tentacle. a lot of thoughts race through his head about the nature of this thing at the sight, but none of that is helpful right now, shelves it for now to bring up later with sable and mikaela (and probably haddie) when he can figure out how. for now, david wishes he had a weapon, but the nearest one is in that thing's fucked up hand, and if it ran through four traps without dropping it, david isn't sure he can do anything to get it. ]

You okay?

[ if he sounds concerned, it's just because he knows evan going down here means he's next, that's all. ]

[ david's words hit his consciousness somewhere, distant and fading in and out. he tries not to focus on them but rather on the thing still trying to back away, or maybe back toward david, or maybe wind up for another hit. its back is still open, but the tentacles are retracted. might be the first time anyone's ever landed a hit on it before. ]

Fine.

[ it's a stupid question, he thinks, because there's a lot of blood on his face and he can't see and his brain is half-consumed by a nebula of pain radiating from his eye. but he's not so overwhelmed that he can't take another few steps forward and slash at the arm holding the axe.

he gets in a good cut before the bone in that arm snaps itself twisting and whirls the axe down at him. he just barely avoids it. the cut didn't go to the bone but it must have severed something anyway, because the arm twists too far and the axe hits its own leg. ]

Good. 'Cause I'm gonna do something stupid.

[ if he even cast a glance evan's way, david might hesitate, but he has no idea evan's half blinded right now. he hears him say he's fine and trusts, (maybe stupidly considering the man would never admit weakness,) that he's fine. ]

[ either way, he doesn't give evan a chance to protest what he's about to do. david's a big believer in the power of teamwork, and has little issue putting himself in dangerous-to-lethal or worse situations to get shit done. to get other people out. evan's seen it, even if he's never been the recipient of it. ]

[ david takes a second just to watch the way it's moving, line up his shot before he launches the flashlight at its face hard enough an actual person would probably have to consider going to the hospital. it's not a person, but between that and evan almost severing its arm, it's at least stunned for a second. that's not the stupid part though. the stupid part comes seconds later, when david darts over the other side of it, jams his hands into its horrible back/chest mouth to grip a tentacle and pull it out. ]

[ in his head, the idea is he would hold it immobile so evan could hack it off like he did the other one — that's the only thing that's gotten a real response out of it after all — in practice? it's slippery and stronger than he expected and david still hasn't realised evan can't fucking see right now. ]

[ normally he'd snarl something sharp - everything you do is stupid - but the pain has him distracted. he can almost see out of one eye, better when he wipes the blood away, but the other - something's bad there. he can't tell as it is and he doesn't want to feel around to find out.

on top of that, the light david was shining suddenly flashes wildly, going in random directions and then rolling to the ground after a hard thud that has a squelching edge to it. now he's a little blinded too, the shadows closing back in, his darksight picking up. and he can hear something, movement. footsteps. the thing groaning and heaving and whining in two or three voices at once. and david ...

he can't really see david, except as a slowly-clearing shadow against the ugly, twisted thing in front of him. he can hear noises that make his gut churn with disgust. ]

The fuck are you doing -

[ even as evan starts to realize it, seeing the weird shiny tentacles lashing midair and against david, the thing seems to grasp what's happening. the head, its face bent out of place by the hit with the flashlight, whips around so fast the bones crackle. it drops to the ground and swings its other arm, the one still trapped up, toward david. the arm itself might not be a major problem, but the traps, heavy and metal as they are, will be.

he tries to lunge forward and drive his cleaver into something sensitive even on that thing, but he's not sure it'll be enough. ]

[ adrenaline is a hell of a thing, but with the amount of force he's putting forward, some of those aches from earlier are very adamant about reminding him they're still there. his back and shoulders burn, especially when the tentacle he's gripping wraps around an arm to try and pull him in. he's in no position to defend himself from the swing of a heavy arm either, doesn't see it coming when the traps latched on hit his body. it's only good reflexes that let him turn and brace so the blow doesn't instantly knock him to the ground. ]

[ if these injuries come to trial with him too he's gonna be pissed. ]

[ evan strikes something, and it doesn't cleave a tentacle off in one like last time, but it gets a response. david doesn't know if this thing can feel pain, but it definitely doesn't like this, tries to recoil and pull itself back inside its flesh suit, but david refuses. plants his weight and pulls, ripping that wound further open as much as he's trying to keep it still for evan to get another swing in. ]

[ shadows and figures tell him that david's still standing. he can hear the weird sounds of something in pain that aren't actually anywhere near as serious as they should be, but he can also feel, and hear, and sort of see the wracking and recoiling of the thing in front of him. it might not be dying but it's hurt.

he can hear flesh ripping as david does something, so he doubles down and tries to bury his cleaver in the exposed part of what it actually is. the third tentacle lashes out, smashes into his jaw; no longer protected by the mask, it hurts, bad enough that he feels teeth come loose.

but it didn't hit its mark. he digs the cleaver deeper in, sawing at the base of the tentacles even as the body tries to close up around the blade. the whole shell jerks and flails, and it finally rips itself away from them, the tentacles coming loose to writhe around them uselessly as the stolen body collapses.

it jerks its head back, neck opening. evan can't see the details but then he's blinded again by something bright, a purple haze in the air, voices echoing in his ears - but there's no further attack. just something hobbling and clattering away into the dark. taking his traps with it. ]

[ david stumbles back when the tentacle comes loose — thank god it already stepped in the nearest traps around here — tossing it to the ground with a snarl that says plenty about how ready he is to dive back in and try to finish this thing off. there's a part of him, fuelled by rage and bloodlust, that sees it skitter off into the dark and wants to chase it down. teach it to feel regret and make it regret coming out here. ]

[ the haze doesn't clear so much as the fog has made him really good at pushing past it, at recognising that he's lucky to still be standing. if it was just him and evan wasn't here-- ]

[ shit, evan. david looks over at him, concern rising at the state of his face. he steps over, pulls his sleeve over his hand and carefully raises it to try and wipe some blood away, try and see where it actually got him and how bad it is. ]

Didn't realise it hit you this bad.

[ evan can hear the thing vanishing into the darkness, and that pisses him off, but he's just slightly relieved, too. if it had sprouted more tentacles they'd both be dead. not that it really matters in the long run, but he's not used to getting killed outright even if david is, and it's a matter of pride, and ... honestly, he doesn't want that thing killing him.

he feels his jaw. painful, but not broken, the teeth aside. then suddenly david's in his face, wiping at the blood, and that makes him jerk back like it burned him. it's only partly because of the pain. ]

I said I'm fine.

[ except even he knows he's not. his jaw might not be broken, but the eye's gone. he can tell that much. a very light exploration of the socket tells him there's something still in there but it's ruined. it'll fix up eventually but it's different than a stab or a broken bone. ]

Don't know how the fuck that thing can aim.

[ david pulls a face at the way evan jerks back, but he doesn't say anything about it. whatever happened, he can deal with it on his own for a second. how dare he forget evan's allergic to any kind of help ever. unless it's somebody throwing their body in the way, apparently. ]

Who the fuck knows how it does anything.

[ david doesn't, and honestly he doesn't particularly want to either. he turns to grab his bag and look for wherever the flashlight landed since the battery died, but he suspects it might be under the bits it left behind and david doesn't particularly want to touch those tentacles again. wipes his hands off on his jeans just at the thought. ]

[ he does spot evan's mask while he's looking, but hesitates to pick it up if the blind asshole's gonna be this weird with him. let him find it himself, who gives a fuck. ]

[ it's a long-term allergy, cut him some slack plz.

being half blind in the darkness isn't great. knowing his luck, he'll get pulled to a trial - with both eyes back but still disoriented, still seeing wrong, and that's going to go over great, isn't it? that's the sort of thing the entity would do, seeing them work together.

he hears more than he sees david staggering away. still on his feet, at least. something's gnawing at evan, at his brain and what's left of what might be his soul: that david jumped into that fight without a second thought, just because he could.

was it to help him? or to take revenge on something that's probably incredibly hard to get revenge on? either way, he could have walked off. evan would have dealt with it (probably), but he'd be in worse shape by now (probably).

so it might be delayed, but - ]

Thanks.

[ no elaboration, no explanation. just one word as he turns to look for his mask in the dark. ]

[ that surprises david. enough he almost doesn't respond, his brain confused enough by the thanks that words are suddenly very difficult. he plays it off as just picking his bag up off the ground. ]

Yeah.

[ quick, simple. merely acknowledging it and moving on. david does, after swinging his backpack on a shoulder, go retrieve evan's mask from where he saw it. sighs through his nose as he brings it to him. ]

Here.

[ david hands him the mask. he takes it a few seconds later, wiping more blood off his face as he does so. it's cracked, but that's not new. it'll fix. or he'll fix it. or just replace it. wouldn't be the first time.

he doesn't pull it back on, though. his vision's already fucked up. no need to eliminate the peripherals at this point. ]

Next time say somethin' before you run straight into a fucking mess like that.

[ there's no real anger to that, though. maybe that thing would have understood, and maybe it wouldn't have. at the very least evan would have been able to run his own distraction, provided it didn't have eyes on both sides of its whatever. ]

Nine outta ten times, that's exactly what "I'm gonna do something stupid" means.

[ evan can be forgiven for not knowing that since he's usually the fucking mess david's running straight into, but david rolls his eyes anyway. this from the man whose response to losing a fucking eye was to tell david he's 'fine'. ]

Besides, you could've told me you couldn't fuckin' see.

[ so they both need to work on their communication. what else is new. ]

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