#everymanhybrd

“Cats are still here.” He reached down, picking up one of them as it conveniently walked by. He smiled at the small predatory animal. “You know, if they weren’t so small they’d probably try to eat you. Not like a dog. Dogs were bred to obey.”

The cat squirmed free and trotted off. HABIT didn’t spare the animal another glance, as he was focused back on the hurt look on Vinny’s face. Cursing under his breath, the entity picked up the fake child. He supposed he had told Vinny to do this.

“Alright… Fine. I’ll get this back in one piece and prove I can have some human empathy… or whatever mushy stuff it’s called.”

He regretted going along with this very quickly. The baby was pure torture. No real mortal child would ever be so needy as the robotic replica he’d been given. HABIT was fairly certain Vinny had tampered with the programming just to make him suffer. It would’ve been so easy to crush the thing and stop the wails coming from the lump of plastic but the entity held strong. He wouldn’t let something like this get the best of him, not when he was the one who wished for a challenge.

“But really, I must’ve done Evan a favor getting rid of his daughter. He should be thanking me.” HABIT grumbled under his breath as the monstrosity of a device started babbling. “What now? It got fed, changed, held… What else does it want?”

He glared at it spitefully. It had been given all the basic needs, right? What else did it want? HABIT continued staring, his mind churning through the centuries of information he’d obtained over humanity… Right, that was it! The thing was programmed to want comfort and companionship. Guess he couldn’t just leave it sitting in his general vicinity then…

“I had plans…” He quirked a brow and glanced around. Vinny wasn’t anywhere in sight. “Well, guess I could do a little ‘bonding’ with it.”

Vinny looked at the gore covered doll as HABIT sat it back in front of him at the end of the day. For a moment he was just speechless. He hadn’t expected this to go well but it was… Worse? Better? Well, it wasn’t what he thought would happen. “...Uhm, what… What happened?”

“Take your child to work day.” HABIT stared smugly at him. “I got him back in one piece, that’s all I promised.”

“So… you traumatized it?”

“Well, can you really do that to a toy?”

“If it was real the baby would be traumatized for life.” Vinny shook his head. “I-I don’t know why I bothered. Clearly you know what humans are like and you go out of your way to avoid being like one.”

“Hard to care for a dead-eyed chunk of plastic and wiring.” The entity stared up at him before turning his back to the man. “I know you think I hate you… But I wouldn’t keep you around if that was the case. I could replace you if I truly wanted.”

Vinny watched him leave without responding. If he did, he might ruin the moment. That was the closest thing to a flat out compliment he’d ever been given by HABIT. He didn’t have hope that it would last, but at the very least it showed the entity was capable of feeling some form of love and companionship.

Headlights washed over him as a truck turned the corner, water spraying over him as they drove by. Brian paused, grimacing as he watched them drive on without a care in the world. Hugging his arms against his body in an attempt to retain any remaining body heat, he once again continued walking. Eventually he’d have to find a place to rest but even if he found a town he couldn’t afford to rent a hotel. He could steal food, as he’d done so plenty of times when he’d been working under the guise of Hoody. But it looked like he’d be sleeping on the ground without any form of shelter from the weather at this rate. 

“Just like old times.” At least back in Rosswood there were plenty of abandoned structures he could use to keep even a shoddy roof over his head. 

Another car zoomed by, speeding despite the downpour. At first he didn’t pay it much mind outside the irritation of more water being splashed over him and the buffeting wind threatening to unbalance him. But then he heard tires screech, red brake lights flared to life up ahead. Brian slowed to a halt and watched the vehicle uneasily. Reverse lights came on moments before the car shot back towards him. 

Quick on his feet, he got out of the way of the speeding car and moved further into the slippery grass next to the road. He looked at the car again, his stomach lurching as he squinted in disbelief at the driver. Brian hadn’t felt fear like this in a long time. His heart was instantly hammering in his chest as he bolted for the otherside of the road, hoping to lose HABIT within the trees where the car couldn’t follow. 

He heard the engine rev and tires skid as HABIT floored the gas. Once more, headlights fell over him… but not from the car HABIT was driving. His head whipped around in time to see a sizable car barreling down on him. Their horn blared in his ears in warning, though he’d never make it out of the way in time. HABIT’s smaller car swerved into their lane, slamming into Brian before taking the other car’s front bumper to the passenger’s side. 

His body flew through the air for a moment before landing and tumbling a few feet. The pain was much worse than when he’d fallen from that ledge. Blood bubbled in his throat as he tried to get up. Through unsteady vision he could see HABIT finishing off the other driver with expert precision. The entity stalked closer and closer while Brian struggled to breathe. 

Everything felt like it was either screaming in agony or numb. Neither of which meant anything good. All he could do was lie there helplessly as HABIT closed in. “Guess this is it…”

“Were ya goin’ somewhere?” HABIT knelt down, observing the dying man. “Thought we had a good thing going on.”

There was too much blood in his throat for him to do much more than gasp and try in vain to cough it out. 

A rough hand grabbed his hair, jerking his head up to look HABIT in the eye. “After all I did for you. I saved your life, kept the Stick-in-the-Mud away, gave you a place to stay while you recovered… Even helped you settle an old debt against that fellow who left you to die.” 

His heart sank. HABIT’s voice sounded disappointed but Brian knew better. The entity wasn’t hurt at all despite trying to guilt him. No, HABIT was pissed. There was a dangerous glint to the vessel’s eye to prove it. 

“Rabbits can run all they like but I always catch them.” The facade dropped just as Brian knew it would. His eyes rolled up in his head as HABIT slammed it back against the muddy ground; the double-vision going black before tripling as he tried to stay conscious. “Don’t worry you might not get to experience all the fun Vin did when I caught him, but we’ll get another chance real soon.” 

Brian didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t know what was really going on at that point anyway. His lungs felt choked and his brain was getting fuzzy. A sharp pain was really the only other thing he registered before everything was gone.

He found himself in the ARK. Brian recognized it. He’d been there before and it was where HABIT first found him. This was different though. Unlike last time where he’d been clinging to life, he was sure he was already dead. 

No more chances to escape now. 

“I’ll give you a head start.” HABIT’s voice growled out within the dark trees and mist. 

Brian spun around in vain searching for the source of the entity’s voice. But whenever he thought he’d caught a glimpse of purple eyes or something more monstrous it was gone. 

“Run. If I catch you, I will kill you.” 

It was a promise. Not a real ‘if’ but more of a ‘when’. He swallowed heavily. Brian didn’t know if he could feel pain anymore or if he could truly die after being killed already but… he knew it was probable. Somehow. HABIT wouldn’t bother otherwise. He wouldn’t have let him die on the side of the road if he couldn’t do something much worse here. 

A rumble rang out through the forest: a low growl of impatience and warning. It was time to go. 

“Gaahhh!” He jolted in the bed, his breaths short and panicky as the memory clung to him. It didn’t help when he spotted reflective purple eyes staring down at him from the shadowy bedroom.

Taking a minute to calm down and get his bearings, he sheepishly realized it was HABIT; the entity was still holding his shoulder with one hand and staring at him with more concern than Brian thought he was capable of. “You were dreaming of the ARK again, weren’t you.”

“...Yeah.” He nodded and shifted to sit up, wincing at the dull pain it caused. He’d probably twisted his back weirdly while he was tossing around.

HABIT dropped the hand and left momentarily, returning with a glass of water before picking up the painkillers left on his bedside table. Brian took a few without complaint, though nearly choked on the water as HABIT spoke again. “Who’s Tim?”

“...He… He’s no one.” Brian assumed he’d mumbled stuff in his sleep, trusting HABIT hadn’t been in his head.

A feral growl sounded from the shorter figure. “Don’t lie to me.”

“He was a friend… It just… It didn’t end well. Tim…” He trailed off a moment before shaking off the mixture of feelings the man gave him. “Tim left me to die…”

HABIT stayed with him, soothing him until he’d drifted off.

Brian had assumed that was the end of it. HABIT hadn’t pushed for further explanations in the days since and things had fallen into their normal pace. At times he noticed the entity seemed to be in deeper thought than usual but he didn’t think much of it. HABIT often had plans forming… Usually they were things he’d rather not know about. So, he’d left it alone.

At least until the day he’d been relaxing on the couch watching some game show and saw one of the cats come in, batting around some torn fabric. That in itself wasn’t anything unusual, nor was the fact there was dried blood on it. The thing that made his heart stutter was the bright red plaid. Brian tried to tell himself it wasn’t from anyone he knew but the more he watched the cat play, the more he thought about the past few days. HABIT had been cheerier than usual after his ‘work’ and while it wasn’t unusual for him to never see the ‘guests’ they had, he did feel HABIT had been extra secretive about the current one.

He got up, numbly heading for the stairs. He had to know. Even if he despised Tim for what he’d done, Brian didn’t believe he deserved HABIT’s wrath. The stairs creaked as he walked up them. Slowly making his way to the closed door at the end of the hall, he strained to hear anything coming from within. As usual, there was nothing—he assumed HABIT was capable of ‘soundproofing’ the room with an ability of his—but Brian knew this was where HABIT was at.

Hesitation overcame him upon reaching the door. Should he knock? Should he just walk right in? Did he even want to know the truth? “I need to.”

Taking a deep breath, he reached for the knob. The door jerked open before he could grab it and he jumped back as HABIT stepped out snarling.

“Vinny I sa— Oh,” the entity stared at him. “Bri, is something wrong?”

The concern was clear, though it stood in great contrast with the splatters of blood covering him. HABIT hadn’t bothered to drop the machete he’d been using either and a nauseating feeling rose in Brian’s stomach as he saw chunks slowly sliding down the crimson surface and onto the floor. He glanced again, unable to look at the gore when he knew who it probably belonged to.

“What did you do to Tim?”

There was silence, HABIT seemed to debate something in his mind before sighing and stepping aside. Brian’s stomach flip-flopped and his feet rooted to the ground as he stepped into the room. It smelled like death. Metallic blood mixed with decay and other foul odors he didn’t wish to identify. A puddle of dark liquid splattered as he accidentally stepped in it. A shiver went through him and he was relieved that the room was at least dimly lit to avoid seeing how bad it really was.

His eyes finally focused on the slumped figure in the middle of the room. HABIT was standing behind them, his face neutral but there was a gleam of pride in his gaze. Brian realized he was waiting for his reaction. He couldn’t speak at first, the air catching in his throat. Timidly, he approached the beaten figure and crouched down. Reaching out, he slid his hand under the man’s chin and tilted his head up. Deep brown eyes met him.

Tim looked like hell—and to be honest likely had even before HABIT had grabbed him. A part of him felt a surge of satisfaction from that. Good. His ‘buddy’ deserved it after leaving him to die like that… Leaving him to suffer in that place. Brian watched Tim’s expression go through several stages as he processed just who he was seeing; disbelief, fear, anger, regret, and finally something that just said he was tired.

“How long?” He turned to address HABIT. “How long has he been here?”

“A few weeks… Think he’s got a few left in him too, don’tcha.” A savage predatory smile spread over the entity’s face as he roughly gripped Tim’s hair. “You’re a tough one. But I’ll make you br—”

“No.” He cut him off.

The smile dropped, turning to confusion. HABIT tilted his head. “He hurt you. I won’t allow that to go unpunished.”

“I think he’s had enough.” A stuttered breath breezed over his wrist. He could feel Tim’s muscles relaxing. Brian shot him a semi-cold look. He wasn’t going to let him be tortured anymore but that didn’t mean he was saving him; he was done doing that. “Kill him. Just… end it quickly.”

Mercy wasn’t one of the things HABIT was known for, he was aware of that, and he swallowed in expectation of being denied the request. A pause, and then a nod. HABIT stepped over to him, kneeling for a moment to give Brian a reassuring kiss before standing again. He wiped the blood off his hand before offering it to him to help Brian up.

“If that’s what you want.”

Tim finally shot into motion, jerking a hand out to try catching Brian as he got up and backed away. His voice was cracked and broken as he crashed unsuccessfully to the floor. “...B…Bri-an please…”

He shook his head. It was horrible this was what things had come to but he wasn’t going to spare Tim’s life. He’d watch him die just like Tim had done with him. “Maybe HABIT is wearing off on me.”

A soft squeeze on his hand drew his attention back to the entity. He seemed serious as he pulled Brian closer, whispering quietly. “You’re sure? If you want, I’ll let him live. Or, I could let him sit here and suffer. You’re the only person I’d let someone live for if you ask.”

“...No, I… I think he’s had enough. Just do it quickly.” He retreated closer to the door. “I… I want to see it.”

HABIT nodded, waiting for him to brace himself before wrenching his victim onto their feet. Tim didn’t even have time to try speaking again before severing the brainstem. It was over swiftly and, aside from the damage already done, painlessly. HABIT let the corpse fall to the floor before tossing his weapon aside and walking over to his rather pale boyfriend.