Obviously, Vic wasn’t going to sneak a peek, but he did raise a brow at the other man’s actions, shaking his head and blaming it all on how stupidly drunk he happened to be.
[break][break]
Left all on his own, it was then when he finally bothered noticing what the house actually looked like...
[break][break]
It was huge, and as he walked to the living room, the pink-haired man wondered why someone who lived in a house like this would spend his nights drinking at a place like that bar. Did Claude really live all on his own in this huge house? If that was the case, Vic couldn’t help but think that that sounded like a very lonely life...
[break][break]
The younger man returned; heading straight for the kitchen as if he had forgotten there was someone else there. But, Vic followed, for a second worrying that maybe Claude had suddenly decided to keep on drinking for whatever Arceus-forsaken reason.
[break][break]
”Should you really be making coffee this late?” was what he found himself asking instead, leaning against the doorframe. Normally, he wouldn’t have said anything at all, but this was getting unhealthier by the second. Claude needed to rest, and having coffee in the middle of the night while drunk wasn’t going to do him any real favours in that regard.



[break][break]

+ claude anderson

”Ah… well… I’d like to think you’d do the same for me if I was in your place,” he explained, chuckling at the other’s gesture even though he was well aware Claude was likely the kind of person who wouldn’t even think of doing something like that.
[break][break]
It didn’t matter anyway, since it was not the actual reason why Vic was doing all that. He just wanted to make sure the man got home safe and sound, always being one who was willing to help those who looked like they needed a hand. Also... he just remembered how much it sucked to get that drunk, even if the last time he had done as much he had been around twenty-two and dealing with a bad breakup.
[break][break]
The man’s house was nice. Much nicer than Vic’s own barely-furnished apartment, that’s for sure. But, the pinkette barely paid this any mind, instead being more preoccupied with making sure his inebriated companion didn’t fall...
[break][break]
”Stay the night, it’s dark outside.”
[break][break]
This was different from before, and while Vic wanted to protest and say he’d go back to his hotel, he also knew the other had a point. It was late, and dark, and he was beginning to grow really tired after this long night. ”Hmm… Alright, but I’ll sleep on the couch... Do you need any help getting to your room?” In his experience, houses like this one always had something like fancy stairs that were a drunk man’s tripping hazard.


[break][break]

+ claude anderson

Truth be told, Vic hadn’t thought anything of what the other boy was telling him sounded easy, but he also had no frame of reference when it came to things like those. To him, at worst, being sick meant a couple of days in bed with a fever and feeling too nauseous to eat most things he usually loved, but even then that had only happened a handful of times in the short life of the teenager.
[break][break]
Was there really something like being sick all your life? Did that mean Alex had never known what it was like to live without having to worry about all that? Thinking about that made Vic sad.
[break][break]
”But… None of that is your fault, they still shouldn’t be treating you any differently…” He understood why Alex’s parents may have preferred girls if the boys always would get sick, but it still seemed silly to him that they treated Alex so differently because of it. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t asked for any of this. If there was one thing the boy had come to learn about his friend in the time they spent together, that was that he clearly envied the way his sisters lived, and that he wished he weren’t treated so very differently.
[break][break]
”Mmm… Alex… Are you gonna be okay?”




[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov

Vic had done his fair share of work for pokémon reservations. In Galar, in Alola, and even now that he lived in Hoenn. It was something he enjoyed doing, so of course he was more than willing to help when help was needed, even if he himself didn’t work for or was at all involved with the organization in question.
[break][break]
Of course, there was also the fact that Mint had been the one who asked him to help, and it was known that the pink-haired man was generally always willing to help his friends.
[break][break]
Making sure the Slowpoke got to the reservation safely, that’s what they were doing today.
[break][break]
By the time he showed up, all of the adorable Dopey Pokémon had been loaded onto the back of a pick-up truck, Vic greeting both his friend and the stranger with a smile: ”Hey! Are we ready to go?... Oh! I'm Vic, by the way, Mint said you could use the help. Nice to meet you!” And, did this situation raise any red flags at all? Honestly, no. After all, in the man’s experience with pokémon rescue and conservation, sometimes things couldn’t be done all professionally and fancily. Sometimes, there weren’t the resources. Sometimes, all one had to work with was a pick-up truck and a handful of people with good intentions…
[break][break]
”Aw, you’re all so cute!” Petting one of the Slowpoke, he jumped onto the back of the truck as well. ”What’s the name of the reservation they’re going to, again?”




[break][break]

+ siobhan burke & mint frost

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It was kind of funny to him to see Alex hesitating so much to eat the cake pop, but that was probably because Vic himself was so used to his mum’s fondness for making everything look like cute pokémon. Their food, some of the patterns of their clothes, the decor in their house, the hedges in their garden, and heck, sometimes she even made their pokémon wear cute outfits that resembled other pokémon. His own Growlithe had ended up a victim of her antics more than once, and Vic always found it way too fun.
[break][break]
”Yeah, it’s red velvet! Mum made those since it’s my favourite flavour,” he explained with a smile when the other boy said it reminded him of one of his cookies, Vic then bringing his own cake pop to his mouth and biting it without hesitation.
[break][break]
And, as he enjoyed what was supposed to be his dessert, he listened to his friend, his brow furrowing ever-so-slightly as he attempted to understand exactly what Alex was saying here. He didn’t have enough blood? How was that possible? Did that really happen to people? Maybe it was just something really, really rare...
[break][break]
”Ah…” Vic began, but he paused, unsure of exactly what he wanted to respond. ”...Has it always been like that? Does it hurt?” Those were the right questions to ask when someone was sick, right? Though, honestly, what he really wanted to ask was why they couldn’t just put more blood in him and fix all that...
[break][break]
In his defense, it was a valid question to wonder about.



[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov

”She’s alive.” Well, thankfully, or all those screams would have gotten really concerning, really quickly.
[break][break]
Vic nodded along with the man’s words, his gaze wandering over to the electric pole where the Skarmory had been attempting to nest. ”Yeah, that’d be for the best, huh? I wonder if she had any eggs up there though… It’d be a shame if she were to abandon them…” He squinted, trying to get a better look, a hand placed over his brow in an attempt to block away the glare of the sun. He couldn’t see them. Not from where they were standing, at least.
[break][break]
The solution was obvious to Vic.
[break][break]
”Oh! Do you think I should climb up there to check it out?” There was a grin. He was asking, but honestly, it wasn’t as if the man’s input would change much, would it?
[break][break]
Probably not, since Vic’s next actions were to give him a hearty pat on the back and then walk towards the electric pole as if he hadn’t just been almost attacked by a pokémon.
[break][break]
His Dragapult, who had been preoccupied with helping the still-shocked good samaritan when his trainer got attacked, wandered over towards him. But, even though he had a very capable pokémon who could float right through the air right there, and he could have also summoned a flying type, the man chose not to rely on either of these, instead beginning to climb up the pole as if this were the most obvious choice in a situation like this...

[break][break]

+ samuel carter (i'm sorry vic's dumb like this lol)

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Vic hadn’t expected anything in return when he had given the cake pop to his friend, but when the cookies were offered and Alex insisted upon it, he couldn’t help but grin at him. ”Oh! Sure, that’d be great!” It was the obvious thing to do, right? He would often exchange food like that with the rest of his friends, since a lot of them (mainly girls, but also a few of the boys), would go on about how envious they were of how cute his lunch always was.
[break][break]
”Hmm…” He took a moment to decide, finally plucking out of Alex’s hands a cookie that was covered in both M&Ms and chocolate chips, then immediately taking a bite. ”Shoooo good!”
[break][break]
It was hard to fully enjoy it though, because as prone to positivity as Vic may have been, the things Alex was saying were really beginning to worry him. What was actually going on? What had this other person done to make him so wary of talking about his troubles?
[break][break]
”Alex, we’re friends! If you don’t want me to tell anyone, I won’t.” It was true, because while Vic wasn’t good at keeping his own secrets (likely to overshare as he had always been), when it came to his friends’ it was different.



[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov

”Uhmm… Just some veggies, apple slices, and a couple of cake pops.” He tilted his lunch box slightly so the other boy could have a look. Carrot and cucumber had been cut into a small pile of orange and green stars, next to it resting some classic bunny-shaped apple slices. The pièce de résistance was the cake pops though; they had been carefully wrapped and arranged so they would stay in one piece by the time Vic had his lunch, and out of all things, they were decorated to look like two little Drifloon.
[break][break]
”Here, want one?” He asked, picking one up and offering it to his friend, a smile on his face.
[break][break]
Vic finished his sandwich then, but he could do no more than look at the other boy. What did he mean by that he was used to it? Did things like these happen often? Was that why Alex was so pale and why he didn’t even participate in P.E class? Because he was sick or something?
[break][break]
Maybe, Vic was actually smarter than what most people thought. Or, maybe, it was just so obvious that, with enough clues, even someone like him could figure it out.
[break][break]
Still, he just nodded, lavender gaze fixed on Alex. “Sure... What is it?”


[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov (dem cake pops thooo)