he had behaved foolishly. that much he knew. especially when he had been trying so hard to behave himself. but unfortunately bad habits died hard. especially ones so far ingrained into his personality. so instead of worrying about it he would of course roll with the punches. he had been in the bed still when he heard ruslan move about. heard him have his pokemon take him around the apartment.

it was that moment that he used to slip out of the bed, pulling his silken robe tight around himself as he headed towards the kitchen. he needed to pretend to be busy. pretend to be alright. pretend to be normal. for the sake of everything. if he revealed anything outside of the strange dream zone they had been sucked into then everything would be crumbling to the ground.

so instead he took to feeding his pokemon instead. kadabra at the table and zorua on the floor eating from a bowl. only for it to transform into a small child and carry the bowl to the table as well. natu didn't eat when the others did. instead it simply watched. "kitchen." he called out with an even voice as lana called for him. trying to find where he was. he wasn't surprised that he was worried but he needed to stay calm. normal.

---

ruslan skye

He wandered in slowly, taking in the strange new surroundings he was now a guest in. Mikey moved with familiarity, no doubt having spent hours exploring every nook and cranny in the place. “M-Morning…” he said poking his head around a corner as he stared at a Kadabra at the table, and a Natu staring intently back. He blinked in surprise at the kid at the table too. He hadn’t known Victor was a father. Did that make this relationship weirder? Kind of. Was he going to complain about it? Absolutely not. [break][break]

“H-How…how did y-y-you sleep l-last night?” he asked as he stepped forward towards the table of pokemon to watch for a moment before turning his attention to his host in the kitchen. He stared intently, trying to gage any sort of distress. Tired eyes, dark circles, bed head- It’s kind of hard when he’s used to seeing the man so put together. Even now…it’s a little unnerving he got to see him so casual. Lana fidgeted finally looking away from the man. “I…don’t r-remember c-c-coming h-here…” he added with a soft laugh. Lana had zombie walked as far as Victor took him and then passed out as soon as he felt it safe enough to do so. He just dind’t remember where that was.


[break][break]

+ victor evans we-cant-unpack-all-this-right-now-john-mulaney.gif
[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

the zorua watched as ruslan came in, eyes wide as it shoved food into it's mouth. he wasn't human but ruslan didn't need to know that right now.

"are you hungry?" he suspected lana probably would be. especially after the night they had last night. they hadn't gotten a lot of time to sample the foods but he could get ruslan whatever food he wanted. "i'm... not sure." but he knew he hadn't slept well. he hadn't slept hardly at all after the nightmare had taken place. to worried that it would repeat once more and lana wouldn't be there to stop the rest of the sequence from happening.

the hiding of the body. the last thing lana needed to see was that after all.

"how about you? we had a late night." that was an understatement. "you were tired, we both were. i had my pokemon teleport us." it was too much work for him to get home the normal way sometimes. and his pokemon were used for fast travel in emergencies anyways. he wondered when lana was going to bring up the contents of his dream. all of it. or if he was too afraid.

he hoped he wasn't afraid.

---

ruslan skye

Lana tucked his bangs behind his ears as he nodded. “Yeah…I-..I don’t t-t-think I-I had f-full dinner last n-n-night…” he said trying to stay casual despite the latter half of the night trying to push its way into his memory. “Oh.” He said flatly. That didn’t bode well. Lana had passed out, but that had been purely because being afraid took a lot of energy out of you. Then again, he supposed sleeping was sort of his coping mechanism. You couldn’t be scared, or anxious, or even hungry if you were unconscious. [break][break]

“G-good. I…uh I s-slept well e-enough.” He added with a small nod. There hadn’t been time to worry about the nightmare coming back. Mikey’s lone eyeballs looked over at the other pokemon. His attention went from the Kadabra to the statue-like Natu and finally to the child. He waited until it stopped watching Lana to catch its eyes and give it a small wave. Lana busied himself finding a seat at the table that wouldn’t bother those already seated. “D-Do you…uhh…d-do you re-re-remember what hap-happened last n-n-night?” he asked, his hand in his lap as he played with the hem of the T-shirt he was wearing.

[break][break]

+ victor evans we-cant-unpack-all-this-right-now-john-mulaney.gif
[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

gently he set down a plate of food at the table for ruslan to have whenever he was ready. eggs and toast were basic but after a night like that it was better to eat something easy on the stomach. "it was a strange party." and not one he ever wanted to repeat. if he wanted to live with nightmares like that every night he would just go to sleep without his pills. "i'm not sure. i think there was some sort of gas..." it was all he could remember leading up to the events. but he also knew what lana wanted to talk about. what he was leading up to.

he wanted to know the truth about what the entire nightmare meant.

"if you want to talk, eat first. you're starving." and he knew that would give him a little bit of time to gather his thoughts about what to say. and how to say it. the zorua stuck it's tongue out at the dusclops, almost lifting up some of the food to toss at him before victor whistled, and down on the plate the food went. "also, that's not an actual child. my zorua just likes to pretend it's human." hopefully dispelling more confusion.

---

ruslan skye

He looked up when the plate was offered, swallowing as he tried to keep himself from inhaling his food. He nodded in agreement with Victor, picking up a piece of toast and beginning to duck it into the egg yolk. He ate quietly, taking large bites and barely chewing. Even if the speed was slightly controlled, it was clear he’d been hungry, shaking with it really now that he was awake. He’d spent more energy than he’d originally thought. “Y-Yeah…dreamzone m-mist…” he mumbled as he shoved more egg dripped toast into his mouth. [break][break]

His attention turned to the child currently staring down his Dusclops. The explanation seemed to satisfy Mikey as he closed his eyes and shook as if laughing before turning back to his trainer to make sure he didn’t choke. “Oh??” Lana asked, blinking slowly at his host before looking back at the illusioned child. “I-I thought t-t-they were y-your offspring.” He said for a moment. He felt relieved he wasn’t intruding on a father and child’s space at least.

[break][break]

+ victor evans we-cant-unpack-all-this-right-now-john-mulaney.gif
[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

he sat down himself with a plate. also hungry from the nights events. though he was a little bit reluctant to eat. thinking of his ex left a bitter taste in his mouth that breakfast couldn't get rid of. "we never had children. talked about it. but never actually got around to it." the zorua knew that. and on some level probably chose this illusion to create some peace for victor. he'd thought a lot about having children with his ex. adopting them. not, having them. but now it was far better off that they hadn't.

taking a couple bites he gently wiped off the zorua's hands before letting it go back to eating. if it was going to pretend to be a human it needed to eat like one as well. with fork and knife. "are you going to want more?" he'd made plenty for them all. not knowing how this morning would go.

---

ruslan skye

He tensed a little, not really expecting Victor to mention a ‘we’ in all of this. He remembered last night then. He totally remembered. He felt himself grow a little paler and kept eating as the man spoke. “O-Oh…um, s-sorry for b-b-bringing i-it up.” He offered, eyes glued to his eggs, or well, half his eggs having scarfed down the other half already. He watched him and the Zorua and how he took care of them. He had to wonder how young it really was or if it simply was pretending to be a small child. He looked over at Mikey who rested comfortably in his shadow, the ghost’s form having melted into it and simply a red eyeball on the floor. [break][break]

“Y-Yes!” Lana said, his eyes snapping to Victor, locking on the possibility for seconds. It took hi ma moment before he looked back down at his plate awkwardly, nodding his head. “P-P-Please…I’d l-like seconds in a-a bit.” He said, picking up the last of his eating with the corner of his toast and trying to shove it all into his mouth like a breakfast sandwich. He had no problem eating in tense silence, practically licking his plate and fingers clean and waiting for Victor to get his fill before speaking up again.

[break][break]

+ victor evans we-cant-unpack-all-this-right-now-john-mulaney.gif
[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

carefully he spooned some more eggs onto ruslan's plate and a few pieces of toast. knowing that he was still hungry. he was always hungry wasn't he. "you want to know the full of it don't you?" and that meant the uncomfortable parts and all.

the zorua was tired of the conversation and having finished it's food hopped down from the chair, running over to the couch to play with one of the pillows instead. victor didn't stop him. if things got out of hand then kadabra or xatu could watch over him. it was like having live in babysitters. at least when zorua got like this.

he prodded at his measly pile of eggs that remained, shoving the rest of them in his mouth and swallowing reluctantly. it would be a few days before his appetite came back but he at least needed to make a show of being normal. it was all he could do.

---

ruslan skye

Lana didn’t have it in him to look Victor in the eyes. He nodded slowly, looking at the extra food Victor had put on his plate. He’s grateful for a hot meal, first thing in the morning, He wanted to savor it, but he’d rather finish it all while it was still warm. “I-I just…” He remembered how awful it had felt, how vivid the dream had been. He’d hated the man Victor had been with. [break][break]

And then he’d watched the same man die asphyxiated. He looked up briefly as the pokemon more or less excuse themselves before turning back to Victor. “I-…I normally w-w-wouldn’t ask b-but…it looked r-real?” his voice lilted upwards as if hoping Victor would confirm it was all just a dream. That nothing like that had happened. Just a metaphor expressing pain to someone who had wrong him that Lana hadn’t been meant to see. “I-It looked p-painful but…i-it wasn’t…” he swallowed. “I-I’m sorry I-I saw…”


[break][break]

+ victor evans we-cant-unpack-all-this-right-now-john-mulaney.gif
[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

he looked away and carefully dipped into one of the robe's pockets. pulling out cigarettes he normally kept only for emergencies. something that this was and wasn't all at the same time. he felt stressed. cornered. he wanted to run or attack or anything. fight or flight was a bitch to keep under control when you were mentally ill. it was why he had been doing his best to keep lana happy.

he lit the cigarette and took a long drag of it, exhaling out his nose. the smoke burning nicely. "he was my husband. a time ago. i'd slept in due to not feeling well and didn't go to work. he brought home a coworker to sleep with in our bed." his voice was even, but the hand that held the cigarette shook lightly as he spoke. it had been a long time since he'd unpacked all of this. and never since he'd told someone.

"i didn't want you to see that side of me. but desperate times called for desperate measures." he probably could have gotten away without choking his ex to death. but he didn't have any regrets. other than lana seeing him. he didn't want to unpack the rest of the dream.

---

ruslan skye

Victor since he had met him had always been keen to take the lead and offer reassurances. They don’t come this time. He doesn’t smile, and he doesn’t hold his eyes anymore. Lana feared he was treading where he dind’t belong again. He wrinkled his nose, turning away for a moment as Victor lit a cigarette. He didn’t move away, enduring it as he listened to the man. As he spoke, Lana felt his heart sink further and further into his stomach. He felt his shoulders hunch up more and more. He stayed silent, trying not to frown too deeply as he look at Victor’s face to his shaky hand. Clearly, this was real. And clearly, he didn’t want to talk about it. [break][break]

“I-…N-No, Victor.” He paused trying to be as tactful as possible but still pale at the thought that the nightmare had been a memory, not a fantasy. “Y-You have n-n-no choice. H-He shot a-at you.” Lana said. “I…I-I’ll never u-u-understand…b-but I-I f-f-felt angry f-for you t-too.” He reached over, carefully placing the palm of his hand on Victor’s arm and squeezing in what he hoped was a gesture of comfort. “T-That was a-awful…” he added not really specifying if e meant the cheating or the asphyxiation. Probably both.

[break][break]

+ victor evans we-cant-unpack-all-this-right-now-john-mulaney.gif
[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]