( If this place turns out to be anything like Ian's home, not just dying is gonna be the new standard. Showing up in New Amsterdam made him feel like himself — himself from before, when the world made sense and he was actually a person. This place is starting to feel a lot more like the himself he'd been during those last eighteen months, and that's...

Something to deal with later.

Lance fixates on the voice, Ian fixates on the scrabbling. One of those is a more immediate issue, the other is the end goal. )

Could be.

( He murmurs, sounding almost distracted. )

...but a lot of things have voices.

( Rats, for instance, are plenty good at shrieking too. )

Listen, if too many of them come running out and it gets overwhelming, don't try to fumble with the gun and the shield at the same time. If you can hold it, I can aim over your shoulder.

( Which will make a fantastic stand for the rifle, but it'll be fucking awful for Lance's ears. That's inevitable either way, though, if he has to start shooting. )