Welcome to Gaia! ::

Freddie had sworn he wasn't going to set foot outside until the swelling went down and the bruises faded, but by the time the swelling went down he was going stir crazy in his barren duplex. That left the bruises to contend with once he ventured out. He was a little surprised to find the village was all but deserted, but it meant he could walk slowly without fear of anyone seeing. The horse-face freaked hit harder than he thought.

Once he spotted the tent curiosity got the better of him. He drifted that way, and it wasn't until he was close enough to hear the music that he realized it was Halloween already. All the villagers were in there no doubt, drinking and having good time like they were all freaks of nature.

"Disgustin'," he muttered to himself.

He stopped at what he considered a safe distance from the tent, where he could watch it moodily. How the hell could they celebrate anything? He rolled that question over in his mind again and again, if only to keep himself from thinking that in some warped way he was jealous. If he went in, they'd only react poorly to the uniform. If he tried to act like that was his costume, then those three he'd run into before would definitely expose him. He didn't want to go to their stupid party, anyway.

And yet he kept standing there.

Freddie was, luckily enough, still just a man. Nature hadn't been kind to him to begin with, but he was human. His big hands went out automatically to catch the girl. "Whoa!"

It wasn't until a moment later, after she screamed, that he realized a girl had run into him. He gave her the quick once over and saw she was normal and even Asian as a bonus, but damned if he wasn't in too low of a mood to even try to make the most of it. Her screaming at him didn't help things, either. There wasn't anything wrong with him, and he wasn't that bad looking... Hell, his feelings were hurt.

"Jeesus," he said. "What's yer problem?"

Figured the first normal person he'd run across would be a newbie. Freddie tried not to roll his eyes and, remembering the state of his uniform, made an attempt to make him look a little more presentable. Except for his hair, which was immaculately and copiously gelled as ever, he was starting to look a bit disheveled. A few superficial passes by his meaty hands were no match against the wrinkles and the streaks of dirt, but he tried.

"Yeah, you didn't know about him?" He glanced back to the tent as if the dragon in question might emerge if they even spoke of him. "He's a real psycho. You have no ********' idea."

The relief that came with finding out she knew the deal about the island was killed the moment she mentioned him being new.

"I'm not, I mean I ain't gonna be," Freddie snapped. As usual he said it a bit too forcefully to make it even remotely believable. He didn't have much hope left to keep fooling himself with, but maybe if he said it enough times it'd make it be true. Right, and he could try the same technique for money and ruggedly handsome looks with equal results.

"This is just some sick joke they're playin' on me is all," he sounded defeated when he added that. "That whole party's a goddamn joke..."

"Cause I worked here for years, I been nothin' but loyal an'... And it just ain't deserved." He scowled at his feet as he fell back to the dutiful employee defense. "There just ain't no call for goin' that far..."

Getting dumped in the village, yes. Getting chipped, maybe. He could still cling to the belief that he wouldn't actually change until it happened. The freaks would likely tear him apart just for being a former employee, nevermind if he egged them on, so why add insult to inevitable maiming by shooting him up full of animal DNA? Surely they wouldn't. Surely.

"It was funny when I had a gun," Freddie said irritably. He put his hand against the holster that was obviously empty. He only kept wearing it out of habit. "Now I got nothin'."

Not only was this not a good way to impress the girl, he realized too late, but he was already contradicting himself on his employment status.

"Hey, I was just doin' my job!" Freddie retorted.

Right, and how many times had that been echoed throughout history as justifcation for going along with any number of atrocities? Freddie and his D average in the subject certainly had no idea.

" 'Sides... Not like I ever killed anybody."

Of course he wouldn't, the subjects were too expensive for that. He had to admit, while kicking the tar out of people was all good fun, he couldn't really fathom ourtight killing a person, even a freak... Unless maybe it was one of the ones that went bad, that would just be self-defense. Whatever happened to that one they were looking for, anyway?

He was in a better position to find out than ever, more than likely, but the only outward sign of that realization was in the sudden shift in his expression from anger to fear. He didn't even have a gun...

"The hell I am!" He yelled at her.

There were worse people, people who deserved it more. There had to be.