yousayyes | Victory Road IC Inbox

Nope. But I do keep accumulating birds and cats in this place. Cats I get- birds, not really. But I've decided to lean into it. If I'm gonna keep winding up with 'em, might as well make the most of it, you know?

[Roach continues to stare at Winston, rumbling softly from deep in his throat.]

... Anyway. This is Roach. He's a "Golisopod", and he's a big goddamn baby. [Upset chittering. Venkman rolls his eyes again.] You are. You used to crawl into my shirt when you were scared, and it'd freak me the hell out. [Grumbling and huffing.] And this- [Venkman overexaggeratedly gestures to Winston.] - is Winston. He's my other partner you hadn't met yet, 'nd I love him. So don't squish him. Be polite.

[... Watching Venkman have this conversation with a giant isopod is probably very surreal for Winston.]

[The way Venkman's managing to hold an actual back-and-forth conversation with Roach immediately reminds Winston of how Ray and Janine have somehow become capable of deciphering Slimer's speech. ...but that's a comparison he doubts Peter would appreciate- so he's keeping it to himself.]

[Meanwhile, he goes to reach a hand back into his pocket, pulling the Pokeball out again. If Venkman can get this used to hanging around a bug bigger than himself, then hopefully Winston can at least test the waters with introducing him to his own starter.]

...well, while we're already getting acquainted-

[When he presses the button on the ball, the ray takes the shape of a mudbray. It on its feet between the two ghostbusters- announcing its presence with a loud, ungraceful honking noise.]

This is my mudbray, her name's Brooklyn. ...Brooklyn Supreme. Brookie, say hi to Peter.

[Brookie takes one look at Venkman. She snorts with her teeth bared in some sort of mocking grin, before turning her attention towards her owner, bowing her head down to his feet so she can attempt to untie his shoelaces with her teeth. ...Winston just sort of passively looks down at her with a tired smile as this is unfolding.]

Aw... look at that, Pete- she wants to learn how to untie knots.

[He's goddamn right that Venkman wouldn't appreciate that little comparison. And he'd argue it's less of a conversation, and more generally understanding how his Pokemon will react to something he's said. Roach doesn't like his cowardice pointed out, so clearly the upset rumbling is some sort of protest. Easy. If Roach was trying to convey that little Timmy fell in a well, Venkman would have no damn clue what he was saying, except that maybe someone was in trouble.

As for the Mudbray, Venkman watches her little introduction and knot untying demonstration with a slight frown, his eyebrows progressively going further and further up towards his hairline.

Flatly:]

Oh, no.

You've already let her get spoiled, haven't you.

What-? No way, she's not- I didn't spoil her...

[Despite her owner's visible distress over Peter's observation- Supe herself remains entirely indifferent to this accusation and to Venkman's existence as a whole, now working on undoing the shoelaces on Winston's other shoe.]

Like... okay- so on the first day of the cruise, she might've pulled a tablecloth down so she could lick the hors d'oeuvres off the floor. But I didn't just let it slide! I helped the staff clean up when I was sure she was done eating- and from that point on I made the effort of taking the initiative to grab food for her whenever I went by the table, so she wouldn't have a reason to do it again.

...and then the next day, when she kept running around trying to sneak in front of anybody she saw walking down the hall- well, I thought she was just fooling around, but someone tripped over her and she laughed real hard about it. ...I don't think she knew how dangerous it is to do that, but it's not like I could let her loose on everybody else, so that's when I kept to only letting her out in my room, so then she'd only be tripping me and that's fine because I could expect it-

...but I still felt bad about closing her off in one room so I made sure to bring her more food to make up for- [His face falls, the problem starting to dawn on him now.]

...oh.

[. . .]

Winston, you didn't just take a few pages outta Ray's book, you plagiarized the whole damn thing.

[He sighs, shaking his head. Roach peers curiously down at the little donkey as Venkman crosses his arms.]

It's fine. We've all got at least a couple Pokemon who're spoiled brats. Or just assholes in general. You just hit the lottery with getting one as your starter.

... You still got lucky, though, 'cause at least she's not a Psychic or Ghost-type.

She's- [sigh] look, I know she's a handful right now, but I don't wanna be too hard on her...

...we just met and the past few days were at sea. I was the one with the agency to make the decision to board the boat in the first place, and even then, I still got stressed out on the ride. I can't blame her for... for acting out a little, looking for some excitement.

Still... she won't get better if I Pavlov her into thinking she gets food for misbehaving. That's on me. But you never know, she could be a lot more relaxed in the right-

[Brook lets out another loud honk, grinning when Winston flinches at the noise.]

...circumstances.

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.]

[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.]

[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.

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