yousayyes | Victory Road IC Inbox

Please stop making up excuses for the donkey. A few weeks from now, when she starts kicking holes in hotel room walls 'cause you fed her a few minutes late and we're crouched under a desk trying not to get stomped on, I'm gonna remind you of this moment.

[He watches Brookie for a moment longer, before shaking his head. He uncrosses his arms and takes Winston's hands in his again, grinning.]

Hey- I can make fun of your shitty parenting later. I've got eight months to fill you in on, and I think that'd go a lot better in my room at the inn here, and not in the middle of foot traffic.

[A beat.]

Especially since I kinda feel like I'm gonna die if I don't get my hands on ya.

[There it is.]

Ray, do you think I'm That easy to steal away?

Actually, no- you're completely on the money. I'm your archetypal passive romantic lead and Peter's the love interest that won me over with his dashing looks, impeccable wit, and outrageous stash of cat cash. We were both young fools who rushed into a wedding to marry our family's fortunes together, and now decades down the line I'm trapped in a loveless marriage with him, kicking myself as I hopelessly pine after my two equally handsome but significantly less loaded suitors, and wondering What Could Have Been...

"My dearest Raymond and Egon, I must deeply apologize to you both. Were I to have the chance to rewrite the pages in the book of my life, I would have made it so that I had confessed my feelings towards you while I lived... but alas- you must discover I requited your affections only after my passing. Through this posthumous note I've left to you both, after succumbing to The Plague."

...we're in Viridian.

[Yeah it's gonna take a good minute to soak all that in.]

>:-(

Dang it.

I knew Venkman took you away from Pallet town.

I just really miss you, Win! :-( I love you so much and I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!

I miss kissing you and holding you in my arms and watching game shows with you.

I know, I'm just teasing... (Also I'm working my way through all the genre fiction they have here right now.)

Look, I just don't want you to feel like you have to compete with Pete for me. ...you don't need to do anything but be YOU, Ray, and I'll be happy to love you for it all the same.

(And the second you find me in the library I'm giving you full permission to drag me to the nearest TV set and we'll marathon quiz shows together. Doesn't matter what else I'm doing at the time, I'll drop it for you.)

You're the best, Win. :-)

I still have a day to go before I reach Viridian but the moment we get there I'm gonna cuddle the hell outta you and watch a bunch of quiz shows. And of course show you all my beautiful children.

;-) I'm going to destroy you at the Pokemon themed ones.

Well, you got me there. No way I can give answers to question categories I don't know the first thing about. Unless I get REAL lucky with my guesses.

But that might be fun in its own way- you calling the shots... me learning new things through all the trivia... no butting heads over who's right for once. Just spending time together with you and the kids.

...I've been meaning to ask but all your "children" are Pokemon, right? Not actual kids. [He'd like to think the gang would wait for him to be present before signing adoption papers. ...he'd also hope they'd have the foresight not to adopt anyone in a dimension they don't intend on staying in.]

[Winston almost wants to argue that- for all Brooklyn's done so far- she hasn't resorted to kicking... Yet. ...but he hesitates to talk back once his hands are taken by Venkman.]

[Clumsily sliding one of his hands away, he quickly brings the ball out from his pocket again and calls Brookie back inside so he can be sure she's contained for the moment. ...both to prevent her from wreaking chaos while they walk through the crowd, and to keep her from overhearing anything Venkman would want to say to him when they finally have some alone time at the inn.]

...I take it that means you won't even spare me a minute to tie my shoes. [He gives a small, nervous smile as he interlocks his arm with Peter's like they're about to walk down the aisle together.] Well- go on and lead the way.

Well, if you insist...

[He leans over to kiss Winston on the cheek again. Roach, who has had a grand total of eight months to get used to Venkman- six of those with Venkman around his partners most of the time- makes a sound almost like a sigh. If he could roll his eyes, he would. Still, he chitters a good-natured farewell and just... Walks off in another direction.

Venkman really doesn't supervise his Pokemon.

Speaking of unsupervised Pokemon, Bond watches from the inn's rooftop as Venkman leads Winston along- similarly unphased. Like Roach, she decides her job here is done, and takes off to the outskirts of town. She'll probably be back later. Probably.

Venkman doesn't say much on the walk from the docks, though the grip on Winston's arm and the look on his face say enough. And when they get to the inn and he pulls out his key, the way he fumbles with it for a few seconds says enough. And when he gets the door open and tugs Winston in after him, kissing him again before the door can even close all the way- his hands gripping the back of Winston's head like a vice, like he still can't believe Winston's here- that says enough.

And when Venkman pulls away to catch his breath for a moment, and there's very clearly tears brimming in his eyes- maybe that says enough, too, or maybe it needs a little more light shed on it. Hard to say. Winston probably hasn't seen Venkman actually cry much- if ever- and even seeing a hint of him tearing up is a rare occurrence.]

[It's about two thirty-four in the afternoon, which means that Winston is about to be interrupted by Egon bursting into the room, holding a strange spherical device that looks almost medieval in nature. Wires and alligator clips seem to go in every direction from the device like some sort of wild electronic hair.

In an unconcerned tone, he says--]

Winston, do you have a moment? I need your brain.

[Winston's lying on his side, sunken so comfortably into the couch cushions that he doesn't even so much as flinch at the sound of Egon busting through the door. He shifts his eyes slightly to acknowledge Egon's presence, giving a brief glance at whatever it is he's holding in his hands.]

Is it gonna stay inside my body, or are you taking it out. [He quips, dryly, as though he doesn't have a preference.]

Preferably, you'd keep it inside your skull. Makes the whole process less messy. Can you follow me to the other room, please? It's where all my equipment is.

[He gestures for Winston to follow, retreating back down the hallway to the kitchen, which had been convered into the makeshift laboratory.

As Winston draws closer, he might suddenly hear--well, not hear--but he'll get the distinct feeling of something else intruding on his brain. It's not malevolent by any means, but it does seem curious. Floating, foreign thoughts of "dad? new dad?" and "glasses serious egon" pass though his mind.

Eventually, these thoughts can be easily traced to the other being in the room--a floating green blob that doesn't resemble Slimer in the slightest, but is definitely a slimy baby. Kölliker, Egon's Reuniclus, twitches her ears and extends a feeling of delight.]

< new dad?????? >

[The feeling of something else speaking into his mind is a little alarming at first- not necessarily because of the sensation by itself, but the fact it's happening without warning. However, Winston is nothing if not adaptable, so once he's aware of these thoughts being implanted into his mind, it doesn't take long to adjust to them existing alongside his own personal introspection.]

[At the moment, he can't help but wonder what this is all leading up to- and what it has to do with the device Egon approached him with. Why he needs his brain... if it even has to be Winston's brain to begin with. What the repetition of "dad" is supposed to mean.]

[Then he catches sight of Kö, this weird little floating goo baby, and while her presence only raises more questions, he can't help but feel a small smile cross his lips seeing this thing.]

Aw... who's this little buddy, Egon? [He rests his hands on his hips, fondly looking between the two of them.]

< Kölliker. >

[What follows is a mental imitation of Egon's voice, accompanied by brief flashes of curiosity, baby-like burbling, and an image of a textbook Egon once read about the purpose of the mitochondria.]

Yes--that's Kölliker. She has telepathic abilities, as you can see. She was sent to me when I first arrived to this dimension. Apparently, she is descended from the Pokémon starter that the other Egon had upon arriving here.

[He says this like he's talking about the weather, and doesn't explain what he means by..."other Egon". Egon approaches a toaster-sized machine on the table and starts fiddling with the dials. He holds out the weird device from earlier for Winston to take.]

Please put this over your head.

[Kö, meanwhile, floats over to Winston and reaches out her gooey hands to touch Winston's face. Just to get to know him.]

< you dad? >

Aww, but friendly competition is half the fun of our times together! :-) But I guess I'll have just as much fun showing you the ropes ;-)

They're Pokemon but they're my actual kids! Here take a look.

[Ray posts a picture of a really happy Mimikyu, waving at the screen with his little tendrils. Hi new dad!!!]

Come on, you know what I mean! There's a world of difference between it being human kids or monster kids. ...mostly that we've got WAY more experience taking care of monsters.

[Although the kind of "taking care" they're known for back home is admittedly entirely different from the kind of "taking care" they're doing here.]

Aw that's cute, it's dressed up like a little Pikachu. Did you make the costume yourself?

Edited 2019-08-30 06:25 (UTC)

[Winston blinks his eyes a bit after receiving Kölliker's mental projections, slightly disoriented by the images suddenly implanted in his mind.] What do you mean by the o- [His words stop abruptly and he quickly makes a sharp and unnatural subject change mid-sentence to course-correct.] ...telepathy. Does it work both ways, like she can see what I'm thinking, too? Or is it just a one-way street?

[If he had to guess, he'd assume it's the latter. Because he's not sure why a telepath would need to ask questions if they could find the answers in people's minds themselves. ...although, admittedly, he's fuzzy on the details of how telepathy works, so who knows. Could be completely wrong about that.]

[As for the question himself, he's... not really sure how he's supposed to answer that, so he just quietly smiles and nods at her.]

[...which is roughly the same way he's reacting to being told to put this weird device on his head. Taking it in his hands and slipping it on, carefully brushing away the loose wires to make sure they don't get trapped between his hair and the inside of the helmet. He silently eyes the machine with some minor apprehension.]

...so, were you planning to tell me what it is I'm being tested for, or was that something I needed to ask for myself?

Both ways. It took some practice to get her to stop digging through other people's brains without permission.

< : P >

[Egon grimaces slightly. Back when Kölliker was a rowdy teenage Duosion...well, he's somewhat glad that Winston wasn't here to witness his awful parenting skills.

The Reuniclus floats away from Winston, apparently content. She hovers by the machinery and begins fiddling with the knobs and buttons. Winston can probably pick up on various snatches of thoughts she's projecting, though most of it is somewhat incomprehensible. Flashes of emotions--curiosity directed towards Winston's presence, excitement about Science™, and anticipation.

It takes a moment or two for Egon to realize that Winston has asked him a question, and his face flushes ever so slightly.]

Oh. I'm taking the measurements of your neural oscillations. I've done it with Venkman and Ray. There seems to be an interesting difference in data between dimensions--something like a "marker" left by being native to that dimension, I presume. Much like markers for blood types.

[He gestures towards Kölliker to turn on the machine, and a dull buzz becomes audible. Beyond that, however, there isn't any sort of sensation intruding on Winston's brain--that is, beyond Kö's thoughts. Kö begins tapping at a kid-sized computer keyboard with almost cartoonishly large keys, writing down the data that appears on a nearby readout.

Egon is silent. Perhaps small talk would help Winston feel more comfortable?]

How have you been adjusting to this dimension?

[While Winston would be perfectly content to just sit and listen to Egon talk, he's not going to turn down the opportunity to get a dialog going with him.]

Oh- uh... pretty well, all things considered? Let's see, I caught a Pokemon for myself over in Viridian forest... been stopping by the library to brush up on the fiction and mythology of this universe among other things... getting back in the swing of watching gameshows with Ray again now that we're all together... as far as getting spirited away into a whole new dimension goes, I'd say this is a pretty good deal?

...I mean, yeah, I'm still not sure how okay I am with the people here letting toddlers run wild with superpowered monsters, I won't lie about that. And... Peter brought up something about a "time flux", which... on the one hand- I'd want to hear more details of what kind of chaos goes down during it, so I can know what to expect and how to mitigate the damage done.

On the other hand, I have a feeling I already know the answer to "What can you do when time itself starts acting up?"- and I'm afraid it's gonna turn out to be, "Not much!" [He lets out a shy reserved chuckle, which is partly laughing at his own joke and partly relieving the tension of existential dread brought on by this line of questioning.]

[...of course, there's still a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Something telling him that nobody should get too comfortable here, or get too attached to anyone they've met in this world, because either of you could be taken away as unpredictably as you arrived.]

[He knows better than to express that specific concern out loud to Egon.]

Edited 2019-09-11 21:44 (UTC)

[Egon nods slowly, falling quiet as he walks over to the table with all the weird machines and tenuously scientific technology. He doesn't look like he's going to continue with the conversation until he finally speaks--]

No one can die from extreme injury in this dimension, apparently. I'm sure we'd all be safe from any ills the time flux launches towards us.

[It's been fifteen years, and he still doesn't really know how to carry a normal conversation with his partners.

Kölliker peers curiously at Winston, then floats over to him to extend one of her gel-like arms towards the other Ghostbuster. She's curious, and wants to know more about him.]

< you like smart glasses scientist dad? >

I know that, but you say it like there's not a million other ways for things to go wrong. What if... you lost your research notes, or your spore collection, or your equipment collapses, or... or something-

[The question Kölliker confronts him with is disarming enough to make him stop positing his own hypotheticals to Egon.]

...I- yeah, of course I do. [He self-consciously shifts in his seat, starting to wonder if he's been falling short in expressing this.] Why wouldn't I?

[There's a quizzical feeling that enters Winston's brain, reflected in Kölliker's twitching "ears".]

< Curious . Askin Things. >

[She just wants to know!

....Winston might also get the distinct feeling that she's trying to prod through his memories. Egon raises an eyebrow.]

Kölliker. Don't do that.

[The Reuniclus withdraws, giving Egon a petulant expression.]

[Winston makes a mental note of Venkman's lax supervision over his pokemon. That'll be something worth keeping in mind depending on how hostile the other members of his roster are. Might have to remind him to put them back in containment before they wander off again. ...in fact, he feels like he should say something about it right now, but...]

[It can wait.]

[Preoccupied by his elation at Peter's presence, a familiar sense of stability that's deeply welcome after how off-balance he's felt these past couple days... for a moment, Winston can believe that despite everything, he can still rely on Peter to be the same he's ever been.]

[Seeing that watery glint in his eyes stops that particular stint of cognitive dissonance dead in its tracks.]

[...he still hasn't been able to internalize the amount of time they've spent here. He's not sure he'll ever grasp it. But if Winston felt he should stop himself from trying to fix someone's troubles because they're beyond his understanding, he wouldn't have signed up to be a ghostbuster in the first place.]

[He kisses under Peter's eyes, silently acknowledging the tears in a way that also reinforces that it doesn't in any way diminish his feelings for him.]

Still hard to believe this is happening, huh? [He asks with a reserved tone, speaking the words in a way that reveals the intent behind the question isn't simply meant to reveal Venkman's thoughts, but to share his own.]

[He grimaces slightly at the kisses under his eyes- not because of the kisses themselves, but because it means Winston very clearly sees he's tearing up, no matter how hard he tries to hide it.]

... Yeah. Christ-

[Venkman's grip changes and his head drops to bury itself in the crook of Winston's neck, and for a long moment, he's quiet, trying to think. When he does speak again, it's disjointed, and he sounds a little choked up.]

... I knew you'd get here eventually. That we couldn't- we'd all be back together again. We'd have to. Remember that time we- we all risked our lives to drag Egon back from the Netherworld- come back with him or don't come back at all? Same for you. We could never really live here without you. Wouldn't really be living. But there was nothing we could do, here, to get to ya. Nothing except wait.

And we would've waited forever if we had to. But God, waiting is awful when you can't do anything to speed it up. Or even know when you'll find what you're waiting for.

[A slow, shuddering breath. The vice-like grip of Venkman's arms around Winston relaxes slightly.]

You're worth it. Always are.

[He presses a kiss to Winston's neck, and straightens up again to look him in the eye.]

Fuck, it's good to see you again. Feel you again.

[For a good chunk of the day, Ray acted like he had no idea what day it was, as per usual. A few hours ago he tells him that he has to go to work at the Pokemon Center, however, just now Winston will get a text from Ray.]

HEY WIN!!!🤗🤩🥰

Wanna meet up at that cute little cafe you like near the gym for lunch in a few minutes? 🍴🥪☕ My treat!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[Please say yes don't leave the boy hanging.]

[Oh, Winston's gladly playing along with the pretense that this is an entirely uneventful lunch invitation. Totally unprompted. Suggested for no particular reason. Entirely coincidental that it's being done on October 4th, which happens to be his birthday.]

Sure thing❣️

Didn't have too big a breakfast this morning, so I'm up to being treated today. 😘

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