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[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?

Edited 2018-12-27 02:35 (UTC)

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

Are you Ray Stanz?

[He doesn't offer any other explanation.]

[Blinks]

Yeah? Who told you?

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.

[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!

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.

[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?

[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.

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!

[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

[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"???

A picture might explain it better.

[A really blurry and dark photograph is sent to Venkman, but there are two obvious people in it. The first is Ray in his dorky Pikachu sweater, smiling sleepily. The second is someone Venkman doesn't recognize--a man with tall hair and glasses. He looks like he's smiling...sort of? He also looks like he's filled with existential dread.

Have fun with that.]

Would it be alright to add Ray to this conversation?

WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR

I'll take that as a yes.

[Ping! Ray is in the conversation now. While they're cuddling in the bed. Don't worry about it.]

As far as I am aware, my hair has always looked like this. Please describe to me what you would expect me to look like.

You had blonde hair in our world!

[Sorry this is a voice chat now.

Ray glances at this Egon's lips before continuing]

I think your lips are a bit smaller, too.

oh my god ok

egon im just gonna call you alright

[And he does! When Spengler answers the Pokegear, Venkman hears Ray's reply, and speaks up himself.]

Yep, lips are different, but the hair- good God, your hair's usually blonde and swirly and no one knows how the hell you get it to look like that. You still have glasses, uh- you look-

You look so different? What the hell is going on here?

...My lips?

[He sounds somewhat bewildered by this--of all things to take note of....

Okay, so, uh--that's Venkman's voice? That's Venkman, right? Because he sounds like Garfield. Not that Egon would ever say that out loud. He clears his throat.]

As I said, I believe that you two are from a parallel dimension. Which means that I am also from a parallel dimension. The fact that I had no idea who Slimer was, but you knew how I had previously talked about how God would take the form of a giant chicken. The fact that I did not recognize Ray despite us being such close partners over the years.

[He coughs. That actually probably was just a lapse in his judgement.]

You also didn't remember when I talked about the Christmas ghosts!

[He hugs Egon a little tighter, as if showing his support.]

But that's amazing! We've always wondered about the possibility of parallel dimensions, but now we have proof of it!

... Well, the other Egon and I, but I'm sure you have too!

Ray, really happy for you and you feeling validated or whatever here, but I'm still a little frazzled from realizing I've been talking to an alternate dimension version of one of my boyfriends this whole time-

Oh my God, are we even dating? Do you even remember when I kissed you for the first time at that college party? Is it considered cheating if I've been flirting with an alternate dimension's version of my partner???

[Venkman's priorities are great thanks for asking]

...I have spoken to my dimension's Ray about parallel universes upon many ocassions.

[Egon leans against Ray, trying not to lose his goddamn mind here about literally everything going on in this situation.]

I-- [CLEARS HIS THROAT] Uh, yes to both--um, dating questions. Back in my dimension we were all--I, I don't know about the cheating thing.

[As he talks, his voice lowers to a murmur. Jesus Christ, he can feel his face turning red. He sinks lower in his seat, trying to lie down on the bed next to Ray.]

Edited 2018-12-27 05:37 (UTC)

[Ray happily makes room for him before he speaks up.]

That's an interesting moral quandary! [He says, as if this is just a hypothetical question.] If the personalities emulate each other enough and you were already dating each other in both dimensions, then it stands to reason that it's not cheating. However technically, your partner did not consent to it, so it's a tricky situation there.

Ok. Egon, if you knew your version of Peter Venkman was flirting with an alternate dimension version of yourself, would you be cool with it?

[this is like the closest he can get, so]

[Egon pauses.]

...I would think so, yes. You two are very similar in personality, if not identical. The same with Ray.

[He turns to Ray, looking somewhat apologetic.]

...Sorry for not recognizing you before.

Don't worry, I didn't recognize you either. If I hated you for not recognizing me I might as well hate myself for doing the same!

But this is great! I wonder if there is anyone else here who's experienced parallel dimensions like we are.

Ok, great. Because you're pretty handsome; I mean, you're no OUR-Egon, but I can see why the other Venkman liked you.

... I heard from some girl that some people who get dragged back to their original worlds come back here later on with no memory of it; she said she thinks they're coming from different dimensions. If so, this kind of proves that theory's valid, huh?

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