Hermits United. Meet up every 10 years and swap stories about caves. [Mostly for Emily, but OTA MTW]
((vague quasi-spoilers under cut))
The problem with being safety conscious to the point of paranoia; broken; crazy; and used to living in buildings with lots of locks, seals, and blood tests is that when you're dumped into a fairy wood where you're expected to live in a little unsecured cabin that's in a compound that thinks "a tall wooden fence and a gate" is security is that you're not going to be very comfortable.
Once Shaun actually found the compound, found out there was nothing required of him and that he could get food and basically avoid all people, he decided that would be the best plan. So he chose a cabin a ways away from most of the other occupied cabins, took apart the smaller of the two beds in his, stole boards from one of the more dilapidated cabins nearby, and boarded up the windows. A couple people attempted to be friendly early on, and he was surly and probably unnecessarily rude to them, but he hadn't been bothered since, so he couldn't quite bring himself to care.
Still, he's been talking to George a lot, sometimes loudly, and looks more than a little ratty and scruffy when he comes out to get food. It's bound to make at least one of the more protective souls a little concerned.
"You really need to stop being a hermit."
Also his dead sister, apparently.
"George, this place is a death trap," Shaun protests, though he doesn't look at the strange, brown-eyed version of his dead sister that he could swear is sitting on the edge of his bed as he paces.
"You're driving yourself crazier being cooped up in here by yourself!"
"I'm not by myself, I've got you."
"I'm dead, Shaun," his hallucination says sternly. "You need to stop trying to pretend I'm not."
"I know you're dead, George," Shaun answers with a not-too-stable laugh, still pacing. "I had to put a bullet in you after they killed you, remember?"
Hallucinatory George doesn't answer, apparently frustrated with Shaun's determination to be a crazy hermit. Shaun keeps pacing. It's not like anyone's going to knock on his door to check on him or anything.
The problem with being safety conscious to the point of paranoia; broken; crazy; and used to living in buildings with lots of locks, seals, and blood tests is that when you're dumped into a fairy wood where you're expected to live in a little unsecured cabin that's in a compound that thinks "a tall wooden fence and a gate" is security is that you're not going to be very comfortable.
Once Shaun actually found the compound, found out there was nothing required of him and that he could get food and basically avoid all people, he decided that would be the best plan. So he chose a cabin a ways away from most of the other occupied cabins, took apart the smaller of the two beds in his, stole boards from one of the more dilapidated cabins nearby, and boarded up the windows. A couple people attempted to be friendly early on, and he was surly and probably unnecessarily rude to them, but he hadn't been bothered since, so he couldn't quite bring himself to care.
Still, he's been talking to George a lot, sometimes loudly, and looks more than a little ratty and scruffy when he comes out to get food. It's bound to make at least one of the more protective souls a little concerned.
"You really need to stop being a hermit."
Also his dead sister, apparently.
"George, this place is a death trap," Shaun protests, though he doesn't look at the strange, brown-eyed version of his dead sister that he could swear is sitting on the edge of his bed as he paces.
"You're driving yourself crazier being cooped up in here by yourself!"
"I'm not by myself, I've got you."
"I'm dead, Shaun," his hallucination says sternly. "You need to stop trying to pretend I'm not."
"I know you're dead, George," Shaun answers with a not-too-stable laugh, still pacing. "I had to put a bullet in you after they killed you, remember?"
Hallucinatory George doesn't answer, apparently frustrated with Shaun's determination to be a crazy hermit. Shaun keeps pacing. It's not like anyone's going to knock on his door to check on him or anything.