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. ]
[ 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. ]
[ 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. ]
[ 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. ]
[ 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. ]
[ 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. ]
[ 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. ]
[ as far as he's concerned, everything david does is stupid, but. ]
I could see. Just not half. Had worse around here.
[ technically true, but nobody's ever blinded him in an instant like that. and nobody's ever been so ... that thing. he can deal with egos, psychopaths, people losing touch with humanity, even the fucking demogorgon. but that thing? nothing even comes close. even the dredge at least has the grace to look inhuman.
his eye's still leaking something, maybe blood and maybe not. he grimaces as he wipes at it again and fresh pain ripples through his face. ]
[ that just gets a raised eyebrow and a "uh-huh" out of david, but he doesn't push back more than that. evan doesn't know how to trust or rely on other people, this place hasn't humbled him like that. if anything it's pushed him in the exact opposite direction. that's why he says he's fine when he's clearly fucking not even though it would be extremely helpful to maybe say he just lost a whole fucking eye. that's why it bugs him not knowing what david's about to do. ]
[ that's how david sees it anyway. not in so many words, more a vague sense that kind of amounts to the same idea, but he knows it's something he doesn't have the energy to push evan on right now. ]
Not exactly gonna say "hey I'm gonna jump this thing and try to grab it" where it can hear, am I?
[ it might, actually. evan's just so irritated and enraged on seeing it (not afraid, of course he's not scared of it, obviously) that he assumes it's got the mental capacity of the demogorgon, or the xenomorph, or the dredge. just because it can parrot human speech doesn't mean it understands anything it's saying.
he has to believe that, because he can't believe anything else. something like that has no right being intelligent. ]
Don't throw the goddamned flashlight next time. Almost blinded me completely doing that.
[ there's at least some capacity to understand in there, david's sure of that. david's been killed by it plenty, and the things it says when doing the deed itself aren't coincidence. there's just no way. ]
Rather not take my chances on that one.
[ though maybe he can concede that he should've turned the flashlight off before he threw it. he won't, dismisses evan's comment with a wave of his hand because he is not accepting criticism at this time. especially not from a man who won't even let someone take a look at his wounds. ]
[ evan snorts, even if it hurts. every word hurts, actually, but his eye's too obvious an injury to admit to a lesser one, like a fractured jaw.
he spits out a tooth into the grass regardless, and looks at the weird blackish blood on his cleaver. ]
Better not be back. Ain't losin' more traps.
[ he doubts he'll find them later, or at least not in one piece. just more work to do. he flicks some of the blood away and turns back toward the workshop, where he'd much rather be at this point. ]
[ david thoughtlessly walks just behind evan, using the way he walks to tell him where's safe to step. if he doesn't have to think about it, why would he. ]
Its whole thing is playing on people's sympathy, or going after people who've been thinking about it. [ at least that's how it was explained to him, but some people have a flair for dramatic storytelling that can make the facts of it hard to parse. ] Doesn't exactly make you a prime target.
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[ 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. ]
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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.
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[ 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? ]
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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. ]
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[ 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. ]
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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. ]
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[ 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. ]
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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. ]
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[ 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. ]
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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. ]
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[ 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. ]
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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. ]
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[ 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.
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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.
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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. ]
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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. ]
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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.
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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. ]
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[ 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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[ as far as he's concerned, everything david does is stupid, but. ]
I could see. Just not half. Had worse around here.
[ technically true, but nobody's ever blinded him in an instant like that. and nobody's ever been so ... that thing. he can deal with egos, psychopaths, people losing touch with humanity, even the fucking demogorgon. but that thing? nothing even comes close. even the dredge at least has the grace to look inhuman.
his eye's still leaking something, maybe blood and maybe not. he grimaces as he wipes at it again and fresh pain ripples through his face. ]
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[ that's how david sees it anyway. not in so many words, more a vague sense that kind of amounts to the same idea, but he knows it's something he doesn't have the energy to push evan on right now. ]
Not exactly gonna say "hey I'm gonna jump this thing and try to grab it" where it can hear, am I?
[ okay, maybe he can push a little. ]
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[ it might, actually. evan's just so irritated and enraged on seeing it (not afraid, of course he's not scared of it, obviously) that he assumes it's got the mental capacity of the demogorgon, or the xenomorph, or the dredge. just because it can parrot human speech doesn't mean it understands anything it's saying.
he has to believe that, because he can't believe anything else. something like that has no right being intelligent. ]
Don't throw the goddamned flashlight next time. Almost blinded me completely doing that.
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Rather not take my chances on that one.
[ though maybe he can concede that he should've turned the flashlight off before he threw it. he won't, dismisses evan's comment with a wave of his hand because he is not accepting criticism at this time. especially not from a man who won't even let someone take a look at his wounds. ]
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he spits out a tooth into the grass regardless, and looks at the weird blackish blood on his cleaver. ]
Better not be back. Ain't losin' more traps.
[ he doubts he'll find them later, or at least not in one piece. just more work to do. he flicks some of the blood away and turns back toward the workshop, where he'd much rather be at this point. ]
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[ david thoughtlessly walks just behind evan, using the way he walks to tell him where's safe to step. if he doesn't have to think about it, why would he. ]
Its whole thing is playing on people's sympathy, or going after people who've been thinking about it. [ at least that's how it was explained to him, but some people have a flair for dramatic storytelling that can make the facts of it hard to parse. ] Doesn't exactly make you a prime target.
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david: bullies your characters specifically
that's why mikaela bullies him with tarot
mikaela please the cards are so mean to him
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