Victory Road IC Inbox

[neverstudied]

"Hey, this is Dr. Peter Venkman- I'm probably busy. If you're calling about something stupid done by a Dr. Egon Spengler or a Dr. Ray Stantz, I'm sorry for whatever they did. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Comments

nsfw text implied

[neverstudied]

[Venkman's awake at 2 in the morning, of course. He glances at this message- then does a double take.

Anyone in the cabin next to him on this ferry will hear him giggling hysterically while he tries to come up with a reply to this message.]

You

HOUND

I didn't know you had it in you spengs

is ray with you? did you just BOTH seduce this guy?

... and is he hot

[pkemeter]

[There's a pause as Spengler dies internally. Thanks, Venkman]

I don't know if it is that way. Yet. We were both walking down Route 29 and we decided to go together so we wouldn't freeze to death.

I couldn't find Ray. I don't know where he is, but I assumed that he's too far ahead for me to catch up.

[Another pause.]

He's got red hair. And he also shares a deep fascination with the unnatural world.

[neverstudied]

suuuuuure egon. sure. still. way to go ;-)

wait you havent found ray????? are you sure hes not frozen in the middle of the woods somewhere

red hair AND he puts up with your rambling about ghosts? huh. you do have a type then

[pkemeter]

I would hope not. Didn't Ray used to be a boy scout of some sort? Has he been in contact with you, lately?

[And then the type thing...just...confuses him.]

...I don't know what you mean.

[neverstudied]

he messaged me sometimes yesterday to yell at me about a fat bird he found

still

:-/ we dont even know if he has a way to start a fire

oh c'mon egon. even if YOU don't have a type this definitely means that redheads have a thing for you

[pkemeter]

I will message him later to see if he hasn't gotten lost.

[...]

Venkman, unless you are talking about that computer science major when we were in undergraduate studies, I don't understand where you're coming from.

[neverstudied]

???

Did you like

forget that both Janine AND Ray are redheads

I guess I can't be too surprised. i always got the feeling you didnt pay details like "what people look like"

[pkemeter]

...I thought Janine dyed her hair, but Ray is news to me. As little as I pay attention to other peoples' appearances, I would expect myself to know the appearances of my own partners.

[There's a long pause.]

Can you describe Ray's physical appearance as you remember it, please?

[neverstudied]

aw don't beat yourself up about it

you're just too focused on your spores

let's see... fluffy red hair, soft and pudgy in the middle, freckles on his back, cuter than he has any right to be

[pkemeter]

[There's another long pause.]

Oh

[That's...all that Egon sends, apparently.]

[neverstudied]

?

[Then, as the silence stretches out:]

Spengs you good

[...]

did you fall asleep?? did the guy pull u back to bed? at least give me something here

[pkemeter]

I'm still here

[There's another long pause.]

Do you mind sending a picture of yourself

again w/ vague nsfw text implied. i now understand blanks pain

[neverstudied]

[Pause.]

just to clarify

you DO mean of my face right because the fact that you started this whole conversation with "im sleeping with a man in my hotel room" has me kind of uncertain

[Jokes aside, Venkman sends a slightly blurry selfie of him in his cabin in the ferry. He looks pretty much exactly like the icon here.]

[pkemeter]

Obviously.

[...That. That definitely does not look the way he remembers Venkman looking. But his writing definitely sounds like Venkman, and for God's sake, they even talked about God being a chicken.]

Excuse me for a few minutes

[And, uh, he's going to go and try and urgently wake up the stranger currently passed out in the bed.]

[ghoststanning]

[Ray stirs awake and blinks a few times in confusion. At least he doesn’t seem grumpy about being woken up.]

Huh? What’s going on?

[pkemeter]

[Egon just stares at him and firmly asks--]

Are you Ray Stanz?

[He doesn't offer any other explanation.]

[ghoststanning]

[Blinks]

Yeah? Who told you?

[pkemeter]

Peter Venkman. [A pause.] Or, at least, someone who acts just like him and has his name but looks nothing like the Peter Venkman I know.

[He sits on the edge of the bed, eyebrows furrowed in thought. In his hand, he holds his PokéGear, staring down at the picture of Venkman. Venkman? He thinks?

After a long pause, he says slowly--]

I am...thinking.

[ghoststanning]

[Ok, that’s enough to get him to really wake up, although now he is both incredibly confused and worried.]

You know Venkman?

[And that the “Venkman” he talked to earlier might not be the real thing? That’s deeply...concerning.

Ray can’t help but look over at the man’s Pokégear, hoping to find some explaination for this.]

Hey, that looks just like Venkie!

[pkemeter]

Just like--

[Egon pauses again. He stares incredulously at the photo on his PokéGear, then towards the stranger sitting up in bed right next to him.

And then he...carefully pokes...him on the forehead? As if making sure he's solid???]

You recognize him to be Peter Venkman, then. [He taps a finger against his chin, studying Ray.] And you identified yourself to be Ray Stanz, which means...

[He clears his throat, still looking incredibly confused.]

I believe we are dealing with a case of parallel dimensions.

[ghoststanning]

[You can practically see the "???" as Egon pokes him.]

"Parallel Dimensions"? I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about at all. Do you know us from another dimension?

[pkemeter]

[Egon pauses, then straightens up a little bit.]

My name is Dr. Egon Spengler. I...believe you spoke to me about meeting up along Route 29.

[His face flushes red. His thoughts are going a mile a minute and it's taking all of his brainpower to try and actually get words out of his mouth.]

I have...reason to believe that we know each other. From different dimensions. Which would explain differing appearances.

[ghoststanning]

Egon?!

[Ray has to take a few moments to process this, both realizing that the man he's been traveling with was the guy he was looking for the whole time and that apparently parallel dimensions exists? This is a lot to take in after just waking up.

Soon, however, Ray flings his arms around Egon in a hug.]

Egon I was worried sick about you!

[pkemeter]

[Egon lets out an oof as he gets tackle-hugged. A small smile makes its way onto his face--hell, he's actually grinning right now as he wraps an arm around Ray.]

I'm glad to see that you're safe, as well. [Man, he's kicking himself for not putting two-and-two together earlier. But at least he's no longer worried about having left Ray in the snow.] Now, ah, if you'll excuse me, I have to tell Peter. I'm sure he's worried about us.

[and he sends peter the following message after about, like, five minutes of silence:]

I have discovered that the man who I am sleeping with is, in fact, Ray Stanz.

Also, parallel dimensions exist and I believe that I am from a different dimension than the two of you

[neverstudied]

[So like

Venkman's been growing increasingly concerned over the last few minutes

he's sent a few confused followup messages to Spengler, mostly consisting of a multitude of question marks

When Egon finally replies, Venkman's initially relieved- then confused.]

Spengs did you not recognize your own partner until I reminded you what he looked like?????????? do i need to give you pictures of us so you can cross reference them??? what???

what do you mean "different dimension from us"???