[ the touch almost makes him jerk away, seeing the hand come up near his jaw, but he manages to stay still. david ends up reaching for somewhere else, anyway. the touch doesn't hurt. he remembers, after a few seconds, that david left a mark there. one that isn't there now, because trials don't (usually) keep injuries, even ones that aren't a problem.
not unless the entity wants it.
the return makes him scowl and move away, back to another workbench where he was busy before getting dragged off to kill and then having to deal with that thing. he really should have expected that. ]
Not gonna go out of my way to help any of you fuck me over, am I?
[ there's less irritation there than he probably feels - slightly more ... not good humored, but closer to it than he normally gets. ]
[ david struggles to find a way to lean against the workbench that doesn't hurt. ends up pulling himself up to sit with a grunt of pain at the weight he's putting on his injured shoulder. he should leave, some part of him knows this, but he doesn't feel any particular drive to go just yet. ]
You always make it sound so personal.
[ to be fair, he supposes, evan is among the killers many of them have known the longest. some people might go out of their way to fuck him over just because it's him, but mostly they're just trying not to die. it doesn't matter who it is throwing them up on hooks. ]
[ maybe evan's ego would never let him consider it that way though. ]
[ is it ever not? the whole point in a trial is for them to survive, which fucks him over. or whoever's killing. sometimes they fuck each other over, it's true, but that's usually on accident, or earned. the whole point is to make him suffer. make him be the one it draws its meal from.
it's always personal. not always in the other direction, he thinks, because he just holds a general grudge against most of the survivors, with a few bright shitheads standing out. but they want to live, which means he has to suffer.
he fails to realize how it probably looks to them. hypocrisy being his second nature and all. ]
Try and tell me you don't like seein' me standing there while you run like hell out the gates.
[ well. david pauses for a second, give that an extra second of thought. ]
Most of the time.
[ sometimes he's in a real 'fuck trapper specifically' mood about it, david won't lie. depends on a lot of things though, there's a lot of moving parts to how frustrating a trial is. if they come to in a realm where trapper already has the upper hand, or he manages to lock down a good area quick, david's about ten times more likely to go out of his way to make his trial extra miserable. ]
[ it's not even the worst he could be. david's been known to follow ghost face around so he can't use his shroud, or just spend a whole trial deactivating singularity's biopods. ]
Could say the same to you anyway. I know you have to enjoy dragging one of us away from the gates, or getting to kill us right by the fuckin' hatch.
[ a slightly snarled repetition, because he knows even if he isn't always the target, when they go for him, it's personal. or at least he takes it personally. that's the ego, really.
david's comments make him think for a second, because it's true. of course he likes that. there's a feral joy that comes searing out of the darkness when one of them, obnoxious and mocking, makes one mistake and ends up dying a foot from freedom. especially if it's because there was a trap they didn't see. and when it fucks over everyone else - when those little tricks he's picked up from other people turn out to actually have some use - it's even better.
at least, in the moment it happens. ]
Sure. It ain't personal, though. Don't matter which one of you I get.
[ the way david raises his eyebrows at that says loud and clear that he doesn't buy it, he's been on the receiving end of evan's wrath enough to feel comfortable saying it's personal at least some of the time. but he's trying to make a point here, they'll never get to it if he lets himself get caught up arguing with evan about being a fucking liar. ]
Exactly. Doesn't matter which one of you we're leaving at the gate, it's satisfying no matter who it is.
[ he turns, slightly, making sure he can see david and david can see the slight scowl on his face. he's lost the trail of the conversation, but if there was any point at which david thought he didn't enjoy what he did, then there was a disconnect somewhere way before this.
at least, he enjoys most of it. every so often things go wrong. but that's rare, even now. ]
Sure. Has to be or else I wouldn't be here.
[ he's had to make enough of his own sacrifices here that he's not going to argue about that anymore. ]
[ so they agree? he thinks. david's not completely sure what point he was trying to make anymore, but the scowl evan sends his way is satisfying regardless. ]
I'm just saying. You act like it's personal when most of the time it could be any killer standing in your place and we'd act the same.
[ yes, his ego does tell him they're targeting him - after all, if there's four of them and only one of him, who's got more of a focus?
but it's not an argument he's going to go much further with. it'll just piss them both off, and with his eye and jaw in their condition, he's not ready for a full-fledged fight. david might not be at his best but he's already proven he can take evan down with his bare hands.
and he's not ready for that. again. ]
If you can talk that much shit, you can find your way back to the fire in one piece.
Might throw your ass slightly closer back than normal.
[ he's dumped bodies - dead and just unconscious - just close to whatever counts for a border around here before. makes his life easier because they don't wake up and start harassing him straight away, or draw the demogorgon to try and eat, and makes their life easier if they're alive by giving them a quicker out.
[ david snorts as he grabs his bag and swings it onto his shoulder, wincing when it hits his back. claudette's probably gonna be mad when he gets back and she sees he managed to wreck two whole shirts. ]
Real kind of you.
[ god he hopes that thing isn't slinking around in the dark out there. or some other killer ready to get the drop on somebody already hurt, but david feels like he can deal with that a lot easier. either way he lifts a hand in a tired goodbye and heads out the door. ]
[ kinder than he could be, evan thinks, giving david a very slight nod as he heads back into the darkness and then out into the forest. no traps go off, at least. and there's no immediate snarling or screaming or sounds of fighting. nobody - no thing - waiting outside for revenge.
once he's sure david's gone, he reaches up and feels around in his mouth for another tooth that was coming more and more loose the more he talked. it's bloody and hurts his jaw to get rid of, but like hell he's going to put up with it. knowing his luck, he'll be stuck with the pain of all this shit for hours yet before his next trial.
maybe he should have let that thing kill him. maybe he should have let david kill him. would have solved the problem, at least. but neither of them needs the ego boost, or at least david doesn't.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
not unless the entity wants it.
the return makes him scowl and move away, back to another workbench where he was busy before getting dragged off to kill and then having to deal with that thing. he really should have expected that. ]
Not gonna go out of my way to help any of you fuck me over, am I?
[ there's less irritation there than he probably feels - slightly more ... not good humored, but closer to it than he normally gets. ]
no subject
You always make it sound so personal.
[ to be fair, he supposes, evan is among the killers many of them have known the longest. some people might go out of their way to fuck him over just because it's him, but mostly they're just trying not to die. it doesn't matter who it is throwing them up on hooks. ]
[ maybe evan's ego would never let him consider it that way though. ]
no subject
[ is it ever not? the whole point in a trial is for them to survive, which fucks him over. or whoever's killing. sometimes they fuck each other over, it's true, but that's usually on accident, or earned. the whole point is to make him suffer. make him be the one it draws its meal from.
it's always personal. not always in the other direction, he thinks, because he just holds a general grudge against most of the survivors, with a few bright shitheads standing out. but they want to live, which means he has to suffer.
he fails to realize how it probably looks to them. hypocrisy being his second nature and all. ]
Try and tell me you don't like seein' me standing there while you run like hell out the gates.
david: bullies your characters specifically
[ well. david pauses for a second, give that an extra second of thought. ]
Most of the time.
[ sometimes he's in a real 'fuck trapper specifically' mood about it, david won't lie. depends on a lot of things though, there's a lot of moving parts to how frustrating a trial is. if they come to in a realm where trapper already has the upper hand, or he manages to lock down a good area quick, david's about ten times more likely to go out of his way to make his trial extra miserable. ]
[ it's not even the worst he could be. david's been known to follow ghost face around so he can't use his shroud, or just spend a whole trial deactivating singularity's biopods. ]
Could say the same to you anyway. I know you have to enjoy dragging one of us away from the gates, or getting to kill us right by the fuckin' hatch.
that's why mikaela bullies him with tarot
[ a slightly snarled repetition, because he knows even if he isn't always the target, when they go for him, it's personal. or at least he takes it personally. that's the ego, really.
david's comments make him think for a second, because it's true. of course he likes that. there's a feral joy that comes searing out of the darkness when one of them, obnoxious and mocking, makes one mistake and ends up dying a foot from freedom. especially if it's because there was a trap they didn't see. and when it fucks over everyone else - when those little tricks he's picked up from other people turn out to actually have some use - it's even better.
at least, in the moment it happens. ]
Sure. It ain't personal, though. Don't matter which one of you I get.
[ usually. ]
mikaela please the cards are so mean to him
Exactly. Doesn't matter which one of you we're leaving at the gate, it's satisfying no matter who it is.
no subject
at least, he enjoys most of it. every so often things go wrong. but that's rare, even now. ]
Sure. Has to be or else I wouldn't be here.
[ he's had to make enough of his own sacrifices here that he's not going to argue about that anymore. ]
no subject
I'm just saying. You act like it's personal when most of the time it could be any killer standing in your place and we'd act the same.
no subject
[ yes, his ego does tell him they're targeting him - after all, if there's four of them and only one of him, who's got more of a focus?
but it's not an argument he's going to go much further with. it'll just piss them both off, and with his eye and jaw in their condition, he's not ready for a full-fledged fight. david might not be at his best but he's already proven he can take evan down with his bare hands.
and he's not ready for that. again. ]
If you can talk that much shit, you can find your way back to the fire in one piece.
no subject
[ he's teasing, obviously. sliding off the bench to his feet with a grunt at the way the pain winds up his side and back when he lands. ]</small
no subject
[ he's dumped bodies - dead and just unconscious - just close to whatever counts for a border around here before. makes his life easier because they don't wake up and start harassing him straight away, or draw the demogorgon to try and eat, and makes their life easier if they're alive by giving them a quicker out.
usually. ]
Or just drag you.
no subject
Real kind of you.
[ god he hopes that thing isn't slinking around in the dark out there. or some other killer ready to get the drop on somebody already hurt, but david feels like he can deal with that a lot easier. either way he lifts a hand in a tired goodbye and heads out the door. ]
no subject
once he's sure david's gone, he reaches up and feels around in his mouth for another tooth that was coming more and more loose the more he talked. it's bloody and hurts his jaw to get rid of, but like hell he's going to put up with it. knowing his luck, he'll be stuck with the pain of all this shit for hours yet before his next trial.
maybe he should have let that thing kill him. maybe he should have let david kill him. would have solved the problem, at least. but neither of them needs the ego boost, or at least david doesn't.
if he's get one from killing him at this point. ]