Heaven Works On Borrowed Time

Evan's just a dog

Vinny crawls into bed exhausted, terrified, and confused. Evan curls up by his side, a warm presence that shifts a few times before he settles down. Even once Evan is fast asleep, Vinny cannot help but stare up at the ceiling and think. The popcorn on the ceiling warps in the dark, creating blurry images.

Vinny, though, isn't thinking about the shapes. He's thinking about what he does now. HABIT recently has begun spending more and more time away from the house, only sending one of his people in to leave food every so often. Vinny therefore expects that Evan will be like this for a while.

What does this mean for them? He can't imagine having to handle Evan like this for a prolonged period of time- he's already enraged at the collar, the bowls, the bag of toys he didn't really look through. What does he do when Evan inevitably wants to play? The guy seems to be full animal, a playful labrador at best. Does he have to take Evan out, will HABIT let them out?

What happens now? He doesn't know. He doesn't understand what HABIT's goal is beyond messing with both of them. Vinny knows he'll record it all, like he always does, and HABIT will see it even if he doesn't - he won't - upload it to the channel. Does it just want to get its rocks off to Vinny suffering like this?

Vinny, despite his racing thoughts, does eventually fall asleep. Fitfully, plagued by nightmares. The terror of HABIT being able to control everyone and destroy everyone Vinny ever loved, controlling their lives through every step.

He's woken by two hands slamming onto his chest. Sitting up, shouting in alarm, he's faced with a confusing sight- Evan. Evan, crouching in front of him, with his arms in front of him and a toy in his mouth. He can hear Evan's excited noises, little huffs of almost-laughs.

HABIT, HABIT, HABIT keeps making it worse. Evan's just a dog. A dog who's grinning around the toy (some stupid tug-of-rope toy) in his mouth and shaking it a little. A glance at the clock confirms Vinny's suspicions. It's early, a little after six in the morning, but Vinny had a dog when he was a kid. He knows they don't give a fuck about human's schedules.

Vinny doesn't want to play. He doesn't want to give in like this, to give in to the concept - the fact - of Evan being like this. If he treats Evan like a dog HABIT will get so much more joy out of this, out of them. He'll be torn apart even further and he'll have to show Evan when, if, he ever returns to normal that he willingly did this.

It's early, he's terrified and frustrated, but he reaches out for his camera (it doesn't need charging anymore, evidently, so he keeps it on in the night as well as all day) and points it at Evan. Evan tilts his head, chuffing again, shaking the toy back and forth.

Then Vinny reaches out for the toy. He gives in, and feels sick even as he grabs the end of the rope and tugs it out of Evan's mouth. It does warm his heart to see Evan so simply, utterly happy; he makes a noise almost like a bark, and bounces back and forth on the bed.

Vinny tosses it out into the hall. As Evan runs after it, human legs and arms making his quadrupedal run awkward at best, he stands. There's no point in getting dressed when he's just going to be filming for no reason and playing with Evan. He heads to the kitchen first, finding Evan walking after him with the toy in his mouth again.

"Wait a sec, Ev," He murmurs. Evan follows him still, bumping against his legs clumsily. Vinny finds himself falling into what must be their new routine. Cereal for himself, kibble for Evan.

Kibble for Evan. He tries not to think about it as he eats his cereal, but he keeps looking over. Evan doesn't think anything of crouching in front of the bowl, eating how a dog would, but he doesn't think anything at all as far as Vinny can tell.

Vinny starts talking, without really meaning to. He doesn't know if he's talking to Evan, the camera, or to himself, but eventually he settles on staring down at Evan who stares back blankly between bites. "I don't know what to do. You can't... you can't think, can you?"

Evan huffs from his nose, moving away from the bowl and towards Vinny. He picks up a different toy from where they're strewn across the ground - he must have knocked the bag over before Vinny was woken up - and drops it in front of Vinny's feet.

"C'mon, Ev. You aren't- you aren't a dog. You're Evan. My friend, a person-" Vinny finds his words mean nothing to Evan, who just stares up with wide and empty eyes.

"Evan." Begging, pleading with a person who isn't capable of understanding anymore. Might not ever be able to understand again, unless HABIT becomes bored of this. "Evan, please... please just say something. You aren't a dog!"

His agitation gets nowhere with Evan. If anything, it only manages to push him into something even simpler as Evan makes a little urf sound, bumping his face into Vinny's legs a few times.

Evan doesn't understand, he won't understand. He can't. Vinny understands it all. He still has to deal with it without losing his mind even more. Eventually he'll give in, he knows; he just can't let HABIT see him agonizing over this. Quickly, he decides to simply give in. It's easier and they'll both be less upset over it, really.

"Fine. Fine." Slowly, he stands, looking forlornly down at Evan. He leans down to grab the toy - this time it's shaped like a bone, presumably to throw. Evan urfs again, excited; Vinny finds himself almost excited, too, to play with Evan like this. They don't have fun anymore. They're both too broken for this type of thing, but... Evan can't consider his brokenness anymore. Evan can't consider how weird it is that he's chasing the bone that Vinny throws, bumping into chairs without caring.

Vinny doesn't like this, doesn't believe that HABIT will ever fix Evan, but he knows he can't change it. It's not much of a consolation when he's beginning to enjoy this.