[ evan stays as close to dead weight as possible throughout the whole process. his shoulder heals, very slowly. and as expected, eventually, the pain wakes him up.
waking up in an unfamiliar place is nothing new to him; the entity doesn't always bring him back home in the aftermath of whatever knocked him out or killed him. but this place is familiar. just enough to confuse him as the pain throbs through him. it takes a while for the not-quite-hangover to fade away enough that he recognizes the room, which then presents the problem of how he got here because he doesn't sleep in here.
he sits up and gets off the bed, slowly, but something about the way it sounds when he moves is different. a glance back confirms that's because david is still on the bed. that he doesn't remember. it'd be less concerning if they were naked, but as it is?
the stitches in his shoulder remind him of the fight. the smell of brandy that spilled on his waders reminds him of what happened next. but after that it's nothing. did david actually drag his ass in here? why?
he opts to not wake him up and demand answers. the sight of blood trailed along the floor into the room says enough. instead he heads back out into the workshop to try and clean up some of the mess, because things generally don't improve in here. it's not a trial ground. he can get aggressive once david wakes up. ]
[ first of all, david barely stirs when evan gets up. typically he's a light sleeper, but he's tired. it's not the most tired he's been in the fog, not even here, but it's a heavy kind of tiredness. and evan left a warm spot on the bed that david subconsciously rolls into now that there's space enough on the bed for him to stretch out. ]
[ it doesn't take much longer than that for david to wake up though, the change in pressure on the bed maybe. or maybe it's just enough sleep. whatever it is, he groggily gets up (so probably not enough sleep then,) not even registering that evan's not on the bed, and walks out to the workshop to see what's going on. mostly if the mess is as bad as he remembers. ]
[ he gave up on cleaning up most of the blood. just the pool by the door. the rest of it will get ground into the filth of the workshop, or covered up, or maybe even fade out with time. there's other stains - blood, and other things - for it to blend into.
the rest he's taken care of by the time david comes back. he's left the wire stitching as it is. that will handle itself, painfully; the hook always comes back with time. for now he's free of it, if not the rest of the metal.
evan looks over at david as he wipes the remaining blood off his hands with a filthy rag and considers his options. 'thank you' is out of the question. ignoring him probably is, too. getting angry right away isn't going to do any good. ]
Coulda left me there.
[ an opportunity for david to explain himself or lead to further questions. or maybe give evan a chance to get pissed off again. anything works. ]
Imagine someone comes down here, sees you like that, takes the easy kill.
[ which could, for a moment, sound like david cares about evan or something, except he follows it up with: ] After I spent all that time sewing up your fuckin' shoulder? Fuck that.
[ he only half believes david would be mad about his stitching going to waste, but he also doesn't really think about what the other reasons would be. doesn't really want to, either. ]
Coulda left me on the floor in there, then. Bed's barely big enough for me.
[ only partly true. it's a big bed. but he still takes up a hell of a lot of room on it. ]
[ he shrugs a shoulder. he could've but he didn't, david doesn't really see the big deal. he put an injured person to bed, that's a normal thing, isn't it? ]
[ the look he gives david is plainly unbelieving - he knows for a fact what a pain in the ass it is to haul him around when he's unconscious, or even half conscious - but he doesn't push it. ]
[ it was neither restful, nor comfortable, and david's not gonna lie about it, but it still beats whatever he can get by the campfire so he's not gonna complain either. evan would probably just say it's hos own fault anyway, and david's not interested in that fight. ]
[ evan snorts, which isn't really a laugh this time. of course it wasn't worth it. too late to take it back now. ]
Been worse. Be back to normal by the next trial.
[ that is to say, impaled and always painful. this isn't really a reprieve. still, he's not going to be outright ungrateful, even if he's not going to thank david. ]
[ "fucking animals" narrows the list considerably, but there's some middle ground between person and animal with killers out here. plus who knows if evan even meant it literally. ]
[ he also knows there's shit out there he's never seen, but david doubts that something came from way out in the fog, got evan, and then scarpered off back into the darkness. funny as that would be. ]
Said it was an animal, but I doubt Ripley's cat came and fucked your shit up.
[ as far as he's concerned, there's only three animals here: maurice, the dog that just showed up, and the fucking demogorgon. the dredge and the black insect thing are something he can't understand and neither is that ... thing they dealt with before, but neither one is an animal. whatever else roams in and back out again doesn't get in his way. and as much as he'd like to say some of the other killers are basically animals, he knows they're human. or were human. it's an insult to animals to try and put them on that level. ]
Don't think it even knew how bad it got me. Just kept slashing and kicking and got the wrong handhold.
[ the xenomorph's just a big bug, evan. and an apex predator. what's not to understand. ]
[ anyway, david grimaces at the mention of the demogorgon. he hates that thing almost as much as he hates listening to aestri and steve argue about how the demogorgon is a whole ass other thing like it matters. it's a big, awful, alien hunting dog monster with portals and it sucks. ]
Doubt it's that smart.
[ it's smarter than your average animal for sure, but picking out a specific weak spot like that seems a little beyond it. or maybe david just hopes that much. ]
evan makes a begrudging noise of agreement - no, it isn't that smart. it eats, as far as he's concerned. that's all. and he was in the way. or maybe he was a bad choice for a dinner target. ]
Course I did. Just about cut its damn head off after it got me.
[ half pain, half rage. more than a little bit of overall response to trespassers, even animal ones. it's another killer. the same rules apply. ]
See if it's smart enough to learn where not to go next time.
[ he's not going to guess on how much intelligence is going on in that eyeless mouth-head. marginally more than ghost face, at least, but that's not a high bar to cross.
he moves the bucket with the bloody water back to its corner. ]
Brandy wasn't bad. Who'd you steal it from?
[ this isn't to give him away, for the record. it's so he can go get more. ]
Give you my supplier and you don't need me anymore.
[ it's partially teasing, because evan's always made a point of not asking before, but it's also true. why would evan trade with him if he could just go get the stuff himself, probably with significantly less trouble at that. he finds it hard to picture evan having any particular worry about shit like checking behind the counter at autohaven or the kitchens in springwood houses. ]
[ plus, now he knows evan has a preference. that's valuable. ]
[ evan gives david a look - one of suspicion, slight disbelief, and annoyance, but there's something else under that, too. not exactly dark, but implying something. ]
Only for that kinda booze.
[ in truth, he'll drink almost anything. but he's not going to push it if david's really trying to keep his secrets and not just fuck around. he can get better stuff just by talking to caleb, and he's pretty sure that didn't come from the saloon.
he figures david needs an excuse to come down here, still. some of them do. ]
[ in truth he doesn't remember exactly where he got it. has a good idea, but it's a bottle that was sitting around for a while for a whole host of reasons. only a couple people at the campfire even like brandy, timing never worked out, etc, etc. so it didn't feel like a particular loss handing it over to evan. ]
[ he shrugs a shoulder. ]
Don't really remember if I'm honest. One of the neighbourhoods I think.
[ so haddonfield or springwood. more likely the latter since he's less worried about freddie than michael, goes there more often, but he couldn't say for sure. ]
[ evan grimaces. two people he doesn't think so fondly of, although he doesn't think fondly of ... almost anybody. but someone who is, and isn't, a ghost, and a goddamned dead silent black hole of a person, aren't people he wants to deal with if he doesn't have to.
it'll at least keep him from looking for his own. for now. ]
Figures.
[ the blood's (mostly) cleaned up; the workshop is (mostly) back to normal. evan himself isn't in the worst state, but he knows he'll be back to his worst before long. ]
[ he watches evan work — he's working without any problems, so david takes that to mean he helped and not that he would've just healed up on his own. ]
You happen to secretly be a vodka guy? Decent bottles of that turn up more often.
[ if there's any such thing as a "decent" vodka, (there is,) david can't really picture evan drinking it. not to enjoy anyway. sees him more with scotch or brandy or gin. the kind of shit assholes with too much money drink with a cigar while ranting and raving about how hard they worked for it all. ]
[ there's not much alcohol he'll say no to, actually, as long as it's - from his perspective - suitably masculine enough. most of it is. wine is hit or miss. vodka tends to hit hard, but that's fine.
he knows the survivors hoard the stuff where none of them can reach it, because any distraction from the nightmare is something to be valued. that david's willing to share some of it is surprising, but then again, they probably can always just get more. ]
[ "oh noo, my booze cellar didn't come with my whole estate," what a ridiculous problem. it's insane how much shit most of these killers get, so david's never once felt guilty about stealing from them. the only reason he doesn't bother taking from evan now is to preserve the peace, he certainly wouldn't hesitate if things changed. ]
Weird it brought this whole fuckin' place but not that, though.
[ meanwhile skull merchant has a whole wine cupboard. ]
[ not even remotely. a large, large chunk of it - most of the actual land is here. but there's pieces missing. this is supposed to be a mine, after all, not his workshop. and the most significant part of the estate is missing, for the most part.
[ of course, it's all kind of constantly falling the fuck apart, but from what little he knows david would think that's kind of more on evan then the entity. though it's fucked it brought his place in that state to begin with. ]
Probably figured that was enough. Not like it's goin' out of its way to really understand anyone here.
[ evan pauses in his various little tasks and smirks, just slightly. it's not out of humor or amusement or even whatever sarcastic thought he might have in mind. it's almost automatic. the acknowledgment of what this place is, and that he's just as stuck here as david and the rest of them. ]
No. No point. Don't think you or me ever tried to understand an animal, huh?
[ he does know some thing about this place, and one is that whatever the entity is, it's outside any of them. anyone human. anyone even slightly human, or imitating human. trying to grasp it would be like an ant trying to grasp humanity. it's been made clear to him, many times before.
he reaches out and picks up a mask - not the usual one, just another one hanging off the wall - and adjusts the strap that should hold it in place. ]
Bet you've got people waitin' on you back at the fire.
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waking up in an unfamiliar place is nothing new to him; the entity doesn't always bring him back home in the aftermath of whatever knocked him out or killed him. but this place is familiar. just enough to confuse him as the pain throbs through him. it takes a while for the not-quite-hangover to fade away enough that he recognizes the room, which then presents the problem of how he got here because he doesn't sleep in here.
he sits up and gets off the bed, slowly, but something about the way it sounds when he moves is different. a glance back confirms that's because david is still on the bed. that he doesn't remember. it'd be less concerning if they were naked, but as it is?
the stitches in his shoulder remind him of the fight. the smell of brandy that spilled on his waders reminds him of what happened next. but after that it's nothing. did david actually drag his ass in here? why?
he opts to not wake him up and demand answers. the sight of blood trailed along the floor into the room says enough. instead he heads back out into the workshop to try and clean up some of the mess, because things generally don't improve in here. it's not a trial ground. he can get aggressive once david wakes up. ]
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[ it doesn't take much longer than that for david to wake up though, the change in pressure on the bed maybe. or maybe it's just enough sleep. whatever it is, he groggily gets up (so probably not enough sleep then,) not even registering that evan's not on the bed, and walks out to the workshop to see what's going on. mostly if the mess is as bad as he remembers. ]
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the rest he's taken care of by the time david comes back. he's left the wire stitching as it is. that will handle itself, painfully; the hook always comes back with time. for now he's free of it, if not the rest of the metal.
evan looks over at david as he wipes the remaining blood off his hands with a filthy rag and considers his options. 'thank you' is out of the question. ignoring him probably is, too. getting angry right away isn't going to do any good. ]
Coulda left me there.
[ an opportunity for david to explain himself or lead to further questions. or maybe give evan a chance to get pissed off again. anything works. ]
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[ which could, for a moment, sound like david cares about evan or something, except he follows it up with: ] After I spent all that time sewing up your fuckin' shoulder? Fuck that.
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[ he only half believes david would be mad about his stitching going to waste, but he also doesn't really think about what the other reasons would be. doesn't really want to, either. ]
Coulda left me on the floor in there, then. Bed's barely big enough for me.
[ only partly true. it's a big bed. but he still takes up a hell of a lot of room on it. ]
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[ he shrugs a shoulder. he could've but he didn't, david doesn't really see the big deal. he put an injured person to bed, that's a normal thing, isn't it? ]
Wasn't really much extra effort at that point.
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Get enough sleep?
[ a bottle of brandy's worth, at least. ]
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[ it was neither restful, nor comfortable, and david's not gonna lie about it, but it still beats whatever he can get by the campfire so he's not gonna complain either. evan would probably just say it's hos own fault anyway, and david's not interested in that fight. ]
How's your arm?
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Been worse. Be back to normal by the next trial.
[ that is to say, impaled and always painful. this isn't really a reprieve. still, he's not going to be outright ungrateful, even if he's not going to thank david. ]
It got lucky. Caught me at the worst spot.
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[ "fucking animals" narrows the list considerably, but there's some middle ground between person and animal with killers out here. plus who knows if evan even meant it literally. ]
[ he also knows there's shit out there he's never seen, but david doubts that something came from way out in the fog, got evan, and then scarpered off back into the darkness. funny as that would be. ]
Said it was an animal, but I doubt Ripley's cat came and fucked your shit up.
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Demogorgon.
[ as far as he's concerned, there's only three animals here: maurice, the dog that just showed up, and the fucking demogorgon. the dredge and the black insect thing are something he can't understand and neither is that ... thing they dealt with before, but neither one is an animal. whatever else roams in and back out again doesn't get in his way. and as much as he'd like to say some of the other killers are basically animals, he knows they're human. or were human. it's an insult to animals to try and put them on that level. ]
Don't think it even knew how bad it got me. Just kept slashing and kicking and got the wrong handhold.
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[ anyway, david grimaces at the mention of the demogorgon. he hates that thing almost as much as he hates listening to aestri and steve argue about how the demogorgon is a whole ass other thing like it matters. it's a big, awful, alien hunting dog monster with portals and it sucks. ]
Doubt it's that smart.
[ it's smarter than your average animal for sure, but picking out a specific weak spot like that seems a little beyond it. or maybe david just hopes that much. ]
You kill it?
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evan makes a begrudging noise of agreement - no, it isn't that smart. it eats, as far as he's concerned. that's all. and he was in the way. or maybe he was a bad choice for a dinner target. ]
Course I did. Just about cut its damn head off after it got me.
[ half pain, half rage. more than a little bit of overall response to trespassers, even animal ones. it's another killer. the same rules apply. ]
See if it's smart enough to learn where not to go next time.
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No way it thinks all that is worth comin' out here after that.
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[ he's not going to guess on how much intelligence is going on in that eyeless mouth-head. marginally more than ghost face, at least, but that's not a high bar to cross.
he moves the bucket with the bloody water back to its corner. ]
Brandy wasn't bad. Who'd you steal it from?
[ this isn't to give him away, for the record. it's so he can go get more. ]
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[ it's partially teasing, because evan's always made a point of not asking before, but it's also true. why would evan trade with him if he could just go get the stuff himself, probably with significantly less trouble at that. he finds it hard to picture evan having any particular worry about shit like checking behind the counter at autohaven or the kitchens in springwood houses. ]
[ plus, now he knows evan has a preference. that's valuable. ]
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Only for that kinda booze.
[ in truth, he'll drink almost anything. but he's not going to push it if david's really trying to keep his secrets and not just fuck around. he can get better stuff just by talking to caleb, and he's pretty sure that didn't come from the saloon.
he figures david needs an excuse to come down here, still. some of them do. ]
I'll just guess.
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[ he shrugs a shoulder. ]
Don't really remember if I'm honest. One of the neighbourhoods I think.
[ so haddonfield or springwood. more likely the latter since he's less worried about freddie than michael, goes there more often, but he couldn't say for sure. ]
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it'll at least keep him from looking for his own. for now. ]
Figures.
[ the blood's (mostly) cleaned up; the workshop is (mostly) back to normal. evan himself isn't in the worst state, but he knows he'll be back to his worst before long. ]
Bring s'more next time.
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[ he watches evan work — he's working without any problems, so david takes that to mean he helped and not that he would've just healed up on his own. ]
You happen to secretly be a vodka guy? Decent bottles of that turn up more often.
[ if there's any such thing as a "decent" vodka, (there is,) david can't really picture evan drinking it. not to enjoy anyway. sees him more with scotch or brandy or gin. the kind of shit assholes with too much money drink with a cigar while ranting and raving about how hard they worked for it all. ]
[ not that david knows anyone like that, mind. ]
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[ there's not much alcohol he'll say no to, actually, as long as it's - from his perspective - suitably masculine enough. most of it is. wine is hit or miss. vodka tends to hit hard, but that's fine.
he knows the survivors hoard the stuff where none of them can reach it, because any distraction from the nightmare is something to be valued. that david's willing to share some of it is surprising, but then again, they probably can always just get more. ]
None of my shit came with me. Gotta make do.
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[ "oh noo, my booze cellar didn't come with my whole estate," what a ridiculous problem. it's insane how much shit most of these killers get, so david's never once felt guilty about stealing from them. the only reason he doesn't bother taking from evan now is to preserve the peace, he certainly wouldn't hesitate if things changed. ]
Weird it brought this whole fuckin' place but not that, though.
[ meanwhile skull merchant has a whole wine cupboard. ]
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[ not even remotely. a large, large chunk of it - most of the actual land is here. but there's pieces missing. this is supposed to be a mine, after all, not his workshop. and the most significant part of the estate is missing, for the most part.
he feels like that was deliberate. ]
Guess that woulda been too much effort.
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[ of course, it's all kind of constantly falling the fuck apart, but from what little he knows david would think that's kind of more on evan then the entity. though it's fucked it brought his place in that state to begin with. ]
Probably figured that was enough. Not like it's goin' out of its way to really understand anyone here.
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No. No point. Don't think you or me ever tried to understand an animal, huh?
[ he does know some thing about this place, and one is that whatever the entity is, it's outside any of them. anyone human. anyone even slightly human, or imitating human. trying to grasp it would be like an ant trying to grasp humanity. it's been made clear to him, many times before.
he reaches out and picks up a mask - not the usual one, just another one hanging off the wall - and adjusts the strap that should hold it in place. ]
Bet you've got people waitin' on you back at the fire.
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