Work Text:
He had realized it after being the first to die in the first Round of the day.
His form, his body, was stable. It was exactly as he had left it, the way he made it, left lying at his desk at the HQ in a puddle of his own exhaustion. There wasn’t anything wrong with his body, it was fine. Small and humble as Builderman preferred, even if the jokes about his height could get rather annoying. The consequences of being involved with giants.
But it wasn’t fluid.
He couldn’t change his pallor with a thought, and grow new limbs with ease. He was bound to this earthly form, his essence trapped inside.
It was painful, if only mentally.
However, Builderman had never been one to lay about and lament his woes. He preferred hard work and labor to sitting and thinking about how miserable he was. If he did that, he’d never get anything done!
So it was on that day, while everyone was preoccupied during the Round, that Builderman decided to get some work done.
The cabin they had all been brought to was a sad excuse of a building. There were endless holes in the roof, the windows were cracked and barely holding on, and he was pretty sure a strong breeze could knock open the doors. Plus, there was definitely mold and mildew he’d have to remove.
All in all, a good project for an emotionally avoidant construction worker.
He started with the floors, replacing them with new wood entirely that he had gotten from the respawning trees that made up their landscape. Easier than trying to deal with the water damage that had set into the floor.
Once that task was done, he turned to the ceiling, and the roofing. There were so many holes, he decided to just replace the roof in its entirety, just a minor project. The interior ceiling was mostly just the underside of the roof with some rafters, of which he needed to replace a few of them.
He still wasn’t satisfied, but unfortunately he couldn’t completely tear down the walls of the cabin and replace them without bringing the whole building down. He did reinforce and replace a few of the less weight-bearing walls in the interior. The reinforcements were for the weight-bearing walls, of course. He couldn’t have the whole place coming down on their heads in the middle of the night.
The upstairs balcony needed new railings, and the stairs needed to be rebuilt. How had he almost run out of tasks by now?
Standing in the newly repaired cabin, Builderman couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied. They had a hub, a place for them to return to and socialize after Rounds, but they had nowhere to really sleep. Sure, they could stay in Dusekkar’s mansion of a cabin, but it was different living somewhere based on hospitality than it was to have their own space entirely.
A small cabin for each of the Survivors would be a great distraction!
It was around this time that the Survivors made it back to the camp, but Builderman was a bit busy with cutting down several trees. He had left a note in the main cabin for the others to stay inside, he didn’t want anyone getting hurt during construction.
He was already halfway done with the first cabin when Shedletsky and Dusekkar came outside. Builderman could feel their eyes on him, watching as he worked on the roof. He’d be done shortly.
They tried to talk to him, most likely to make him take some sort of “break”, but their words were ignored.
Shedletsky’s attempts to physically pick him up and pry him from his work were also ignored. If there was one good thing that had come out of the Rounds, Builderman’s ability to dodge a large predator trying to grab him was certainly one. Eventually, his partner admitted defeat, and left Builderman in that tree he climbed in order to get away from the large Avian’s grasp.
Sure, he could easily climb it and pick Builderman up by the scruff of his hoodie, but then Builderman would wiggle out of his hoodie and run back to the warm embrace of his tool set, which thankfully was brought with him to this Realm.
It just wasn’t worth the effort.
For some reason, Builderman didn’t participate in the next Round, far too busy constructing the second small cabin. He did take a break after Shedletsky’s retreat, and worked on the rundown secondary cabins that were already built. They were just as bad as the main cabin, but much smaller, so it didn’t take as long. It was totally a break! Dusekkar even watched him with extreme judgement in that fiery gaze.
He was so good at being emotionally stable. He was absolutely nailing this.
The third and fourth cabins were built just as quickly. He was on a roll right now, and it was during the construction of the fifth cabin that he finally noticed Two Time had ventured outside.
Luckily, they seemed disinterested in his work, sticking to the small makeshift garden they had started making a few days ago. They were watering their plants, already half-grown due to how odd the growth speed of plants were in this Realm. Maybe he’d make a nice fence for them, later, if they didn’t jumpscare him again by appearing behind him and talking about their false god.
The chances of them doing that were particularly high. He’d probably make the fence anyway, when he was done with the cabins.
Back to work!
~~~~
“Wow…. You really-really, um, really built all of these, in-in, in one day? Mr. Builderman?” Noob said with awe, staring at the line of newly made small cabins. Builderman gave a firm nod, taking a small amount of pride in his work.
“Pick ‘em out and decorate them to your likings. I’m happy to help if y’all need it, as well.” He explained, the small group nodding and making noises of affirmation.
They swarmed the moment he stepped aside, everyone beginning to pick their own.
Guest 1337 hummed softly to himself as he carefully placed his meager belongings in his new cabin. They were all pretty barebones, with only a simple bedframe made out of wood in each. Decorating and furnishing would be up to the occupants.
Luckily, they had learned they could take things from Rounds only a few short days ago.
The next Round was a frantic one, as the Survivors began darting around, ignoring the generators and even the Killer, 1x1x1x1. Everyone wanted to get their hands on some actual furniture, if the way Noob was clutching a mattress was any indicator.
The poor Killer mostly watched on in confusion, as her targets clutched random, large pieces of furniture, and stuffing smaller collectibles in whatever pockets they possessed. Watching Chance sprint after Two Time, who had stolen some sort of small cube toy from him, was admittedly pretty amusing, so 1x allowed the mayhem.
She did stab Shedletsky on sight, however, and kept her distance from the other Admins. Builderman and Dusekkar collected decorations in his honor, and to spare everyone his pouting.
The amount of things at the Winner’s table was, frankly, impressive for a singular Round. Admittedly, Noob’s mattress took up most of the space, and a short debate immediately broke out over it.
Noob claimed the rights to it, as they had brought it back, and no one contested them. However, no one particularly wanted to get squished by a mattress, and so an order was established for acquiring more. They would each individually pick out a mattress when available during the Rounds, and the next in line would take their pick home, if they survived the Round of course while lugging around a large mattress.
Teamwork in mattress retrieval was promptly added on.
The next day had a small horde of bright eyed Survivors crowding Builderman, who had been calmly whittling on the porch outside of the main cabin. Everyone wanted to learn a new way to pass the time, and to help spruce up the area, and Builderman was an eager teacher.
And a strict one. Chance was on thin, thin ice, due to goofing off during the lessons.
All in all, Builderman was proud of his work, he decided, while whittling at some wood in privacy for once. He was working on some plates, as the few that came with the main cabin were of poor quality, and steadily running out.
Several people had been startled and dropped a plate already, and he wasn’t sure how much longer they’d last. Best to make some silverware, as well.
“You’ve been busy, the past few days.” Shedletsky cooed as he sat next to Builderman, nearly making his next pass of the blade slide in the wrong direction. A small glare was enough to have Shedletsky sheepishly scooting away by an inch or two, enough to let the smaller have room to work.
“I suppose, yes.”
“And if more Survivors arrive, will you work till your demise?” Dusekkar’s voice floated just as much as the man himself, sitting on Builderman’s other side much more politely.
“‘Course not, I’m fine.” He scoffed, keeping his eyes on the wood and knife.
“With your history? Buddy, you’re lucky we don’t pin you down to get you to sleep!” The Avian laughed, and Builderman rolled his eyes.
“I’ve never needed that, and it’s not like I need much sleep, either.”
“While quite true, a lack of sleep tends to make you rather blue.” Dusekkar rested a gentle hand on Builderman’s tense back. He kept his gaze locked downwards.
“I’m fine.” He reiterated. Neither of his partners were particularly convinced.
“Sure you are, Builds. Sure you are.” Shedletsky chirped, wrapping a large wing around both Builderman and Dusekkar.
The three went silent, the only sound filling the air was the scrape of Builderman’s knife against wood.
He was fine. He had to be.