Chapter Text
David groaned as he opened his eyes, why did his head hurt so much? He looked around and saw a familiar blonde man in the corner, he had a bit of hope until he saw the grim look that was on Daniel's face. He looked at the man's clothes, he was wearing David's only spare outfit. Daniel walked over, looking at David with a smug grin. He had a yellow shirt wrapped around his neck, but David could tell it wasn't his. "Finally, you're awake! I need to make sure I've got the voice down" Daniel did a perfect impression of David, who had tape over his mouth. Daniel walked out with a bottle of red hair dye.
Max was asleep on the cot in his tent. He woke up to David shaking his shoulder, "Good morning Max! I hope you're ready for a day of fun!" he cheered. Max looked at him once she heard a crack, since when did David's neck crack? He rubbed his eyes and got his hoodie, it was probably nothing. He looked around the tent, Neil was still asleep and snoring his head off. Nikki was gone, but that was the usual.
He got a bottle of water and poured it into his Mrs.Coffee and got the coffee grinds. He growled softly to himself, he was running low and David wouldn't be in a rush to get him any more. He used the rest and put the filter in. He sat on the cot and watched as the coffee pot started to fill up, it was somewhat calming to watch it every day. He got his mug and filled it up with the hot liquid. He sat for a moment, watching as the steam escaped from the mug.
After Max finished his coffee, he grabbed a small blue bag. Inside was his green toothbrush and toothpaste. He knew, if David was in a good mood, that he would wait for Max to brush his teeth. Although Max hated to admit it, he enjoyed the morning routine. He liked standing next to David and getting praise for flossing and using mouthwash, it was the small hint of encouragement every morning that made it to where he didn't want David to die a slow and painful death.
Max saw David walk out of the bathroom and slumped slightly, but he got everything done quicker than usual, skipping the flossing and mouthwash. He would at least have David come over to try and sit with him, so Max could tell him to fuck off. He knew David would walk away with a small smile as per usual. Neil was already waiting at the table with Nikki for Max, and Max let the small frown on his face fade into a slight smile. He looked as David walked over to Dolph, who happily let David sit next to him. He decided he wasn't hungry and gave his food to Nikki, who was finished with it quickly.
Max pulled Neil behind a tree during a lesson on how to knit a perfect replica of a pentagram, "Have you noticed that David's been acting a little weird today?" he asked, but Neil shook his head, "He's been paying a little less attention to you, but that's probably because you're always telling him to fuck off. Maybe you should try to be a bit nicer if you want him to go back to normal," He told Max, who sighed, there was no way in hell that was going to happen.
Max spent the rest of the day trying a small amount to get David's attention, each attempt failing more than the last. He asked about David's new watch, expecting a long and boring story, but David just rubbed his hair and told him that he didn't remember. The next attempt was a little less subtle, pushing Space Kid down a hole dug by Dolph, but David just hurried to rescue the fallen camper. He just tisked at Max then went back to his daily activities. The last attempt was just sitting next to David, which got him talking, but Max didn't feel safe like he often did with David.
Max went to bed on time, but he didn't get a blink of sleep. He got up and sneaked past Neil and Nikki, expecting to see David with a canteen full of hot cocoa for him on nights like this. He knew that David would wait for him, or any other camper, every night with hot chocolate. He walked around, but David wasn't in the yellow lawn chair waiting for a camper. He sighed softly to himself, had he really broken David? He saw footprints and started to follow them, they lead to the pier.
Max had expected to see David sitting with his feet in the water, but instead he saw Gwen. He walked over and sat next to her, and she looked at him, tilting her head. She knew sometimes he couldn't sleep, but he would always go to David because he would give the small boy some tea. She tried to say something, but before she could even get a word out, he interrupted her "Shut the fuck up, I'm just here because I wanted to get away from Neil's god awful snoring" he said in a sharp tone.
Within the first hour Max left Gwen to be alone and read the book that was next to her. He decided to peek inside of David's room while he was sleeping, just to see if something was up. He opened the door as quietly as possible and heard a crack, but he just assumed it was because of the old floorboards. He walked to the drawers and found nothing of interest. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. He flipped on the lights to see hair dye and shrugged "I didn't know David dyed his hair..." he put the dye back in its place and snooped around a little more.
Under the sink he found a few things of interest, like a large amount of rat poison and a variety of knives. Max had seen David work with knives before, but he had never seen him use rat poison. He remembered how a few days before, he had watched David beg Gwen not to put it out when a camper had seen a mouse or something. He closed the cabinet and walked out after shutting off the light. He grabbed a few packets of hot chocolate on his way out, maybe they could help him sleep.