[ Settling back into a routine feels weird. It's always felt off, obviously, but remembering the fence and the hospital brings it to an entirely new level. David's never been particularly great at acting, either, and the end result is that he looks mildly paranoid or annoyed 24/7.

The sentiment seems justified when he walks out of the candy store just in time to watch a monster tear apart an old lady. ]

Jesus— [ He throws the bag of candy he's holding directly at it, as if that's supposed to distract it or slow it down. All it does is get the thing's attention, and David flinches backwards when it twists on its meaty haunches to stare him down.

He forgets entirely about his powers until it moves. The second it does, instinct kicks in; David reaches out with one hand, focuses, feels the satisfying coil of his power that's like teeth sinking in — then he yanks, and the misshapen figure lifts off the ground before streaking sidelong into a nearby parked car.

He doesn't get a chance to follow-up. Pain screams through his head at precisely the same moment the monster's body pulverizes the car, and David folds over, hands pressed to either side of his skull. ] Christ.

[ He's been here before. Not him, exactly; there's a muffled sense to the memories, a blinding red filter. But the sound of human beings screaming and the sight of bodies being sliced apart are memories that stick, and the familiarity of it twists the clean adrenaline of self-defense into something bitter and uncomfortably personal.

He's weaker, though. There are a lot of reasons for that, and one of them feels distinctly post-Pines. But he doesn't have a Cary here to fix it, and he doesn't have the luxury of thinking through it himself when the town's having a meltdown.

What should be an exercise in putting monsters through a psychic blender turns out to be an exercise in barely dodging certain death. The telekinesis is only good for one solid hit every few minutes, and the rest of the time he's scrambling for a place to hide. Teleporting is less of a drain, but he's still awful enough at it that the steering's off. Odds are he'll accidentally come back into phase in front of someone as they're trying to navigate the streets or the buildings, flickering into tangibility with no warning and a bloody nose that won't quit.

Which is all to say: maybe you're minding your own business when a monster gets thrown in front of you. Maybe David teleports right into your path while you're making a run for it, or he shows up behind you while you're hiding out in a locked room. Anywhere's fair game. ]