Remington approached Vezaias on the couch carefully looking very emotional. Vezaias glanced at him and opened his arms to welcome him. Remington crawled into Vezaias's arms and buried his face into his neck and silently continued to cry. Vezaias was very loving now, hushing Remington and stroking his back and shoulders tenderly. It wasn't long before Rem was asleep in Vezaias's arms. He soaked deep in unconsciousness until a pair of voices lulled him back awake.

  “I need to go to see the mad scientist.” Lux's voice was close by.

  “Then go.” Vezaias said mildly.

  “I won't go all by myself. I need Remington to go with me.” Lux pressed. He felt Vezaias squeeze him tightly. “We have to stay on our schedule. It helps me. Remington is my life proxy. He is important to my sanity, Vezaias.” Lux sounded urgent.

  “Fine.” Vezaias sighed. He felt Vezaias give him a gentle shake. “Rem, wake up.” Vezaias's sweet voice hummed. Remington fluttered his eyes open and looked up at Vezaias. “Time to go, Rem.” Vezaias said softly. Remington frowned and sat up slowly with a stretch.

  “I wish I could just stay with you.” Remington said unhappily.

  “I wish you could stay with me too Rem. I will be here waiting for you to come back. I love you.” Vezaias said as Remington stood up and took a deep breath.

  “I love you too, Zay. I will be back as soon as I can.” He felt as if he might never make it back.

  “Ava, you have to go too. Remember you have to play your role correctly and convince them Skyler is still alive.” Ava hopped to his feet from the couch and gave a very bored nod in compliance.

  “Sure, Vee, I know.” Ava said as he followed Remington into a portal followed by Lux. They all took a seat for a moment, Lux immediately lit a cigarette.

  “So Ava, You go and talk to those assholes and the girl, then go and occupy that flower headed bastard and we will see you after the briefing tomorrow.” Lux said as he smoked the cigarette.

  “You remember what to tell them right?” Remington pressed.

  “Yes, Remi, Skyler helped you try and free my father and it didn't work. Then I'm supposed to go and hang out with his girl and go to sleep then I can hop on over to see my Louie.” Ava looked very cheerful at this then he stood up and left through a portal. It was quiet now as Lux finished his cigarette.

  “I really liked your theater performance.” Lux said softly.

  “Uh, oh, thanks. I really love that book. It was difficult to enjoy it though, because I knew what would happen afterwards.” Remington said very meekly.

  “Mm, yeah that was rough.” Lux said. He paused looking distracted. “Thanks for coming here with me. I know you wanted to stay with Vezaias, but I really didn't want to go back alone.” Lux said seriously.

  “That's okay, it's probably not a good idea to stay there with him. They will get suspicious if I'm not here.” Remington said. “I need to keep my emotions in check though, because Sigil would be our next biggest threat. I just need to calm down, I feel so anxious and he will be aware of it.” Remington said, taking a deep breath.

  “Mm, yeah I think you need a distraction.” Lux said. He got up and wandered over to the bed and sat down next to Remington and put his arm around him and pulled him close. “I know you would rather be with Vezaias right now but I can help you calm down, you know.” Lux said mildly. Remington felt his face heat up as Lux ran his hand down his back then around to his thigh. The response was quick and pleasurably uncomfortable as Lux let his hand wander around. Remington shut his eye and leaned into Lux's body hoping for more. He was enjoying the touch far too much but was suddenly worried about the activity.

  “Wait..” Remington huffed.

  “I am just trying to distract you from your turmoil. Don't worry.” Lux said softly and he brushed his hand repetitively back and forth over the hardness under the fabric of Remington's pants. Remington relaxed and let Lux do the service of calming him. Lux laid him back and did all of the work. Lux enjoyed getting to please Remington who he considered his authority while they were away from what he now considered their home base. He could feel Remington thrusting and nearly ripping his hair out as things got close to the end. Lux made sure to all but choke himself to make sure Remington was very satisfied. Lux sat up wiping his mouth admiring his work as Remington lay panting and gasping looking very pleased.

  “How do you feel now?” Lux asked mildly.

  “Heh, better, much better.” Remington hummed.

  “Good, because you looked so upset. I just wanted to help you.” Lux said with a sigh. “Can we go to see the mad scientist now?”

  “Yeah…let's go.” Remington had to focus on not feeling guilty over the situation with Skyler. If Ava did his job properly, nobody would suspect that Skyler was dead, and the stand-in would take his place and that would free up Ava to occupy Lucius during the night. Remington waited quietly for Lux to count and examine his pills until he swallowed each with the water Zexich gave him.

  “How are your symptoms today?” Zexich asked quizzically.

  “Eh, not too bad. I'd say I peaked at around a six today, but it was very stressful being at the theater. Other than that I was fairly calm all day, and moderately focused. It really helps that Remington is always nearby. I'm not sure why, because I've never had anyone stick around everyday in such a long time.” Lux said mildly. Zexich could see the difference. Lux was not nearly as aloof and distracted as he was before he began the medication. He also seemed to make eye contact and interact more with his surroundings, while seeming more grounded than before. He was certainly much calmer.

  “Have you been examining your emotions like I suggested? What do you feel right now?” Zexich asked.

  “I have but it can be rough. Right now I think I feel useful.” Lux said.

  “Oh? Useful in what way?” Zexich tilted his head in curiosity.

  “I know I cannot replace Vezaias, but I think I have started to build my own place.” Lux said mildly. “I want to help Remington because he has helped me so much. When he has negative feelings, I try to comfort him.” Remington blushed at the direction of the conversation. “I wasn't sure how to do that at first, but I hope I am getting better at it. I find that I cannot ignore it when he is unhappy, even more so now that the medication is helping me focus. It hurts me to see him suffering.” Lux said meekly, smiling at Remington. Remington looked emotionally back at him. Zexich seemed to approve of this explanation.

  “When he is in a positive mood how do you feel?” Zexich asked.

  “When he is happy I am happy. I feel like I need him now. I want to go where he does, and I don't want to be without him.”

  “You care about him, and you are feeling attachment.” Zexich highlighted. Lux was quiet for a moment. He hadn't felt attachment to anyone other than Vezaias in his whole life. “Perhaps you even love him.” Remington was red and aching inside. Lux studied Remington curiously.

  “Maybe?” He wasn't sure if he should confirm this or not. Remington was bright red and fidgeting.

  “Well you have plenty of time to sort it out.” Zexich said mildly.

  What would Skyler do? What would Skyler say? How would Skyler handle this? Ava would find himself asking these questions in his mind often now over the next few hours. Having someone else's total essence embedded inside of him was uncomfortable, especially Skyler the bright and cheerful guy that he was, but it made knowing how to act like him very easy. He could recall all of his memories and utilize both his talents, which was strange but useful. Ava popped out of the portal and immediately targeted his first victim. He sprinted, feeling the thrust of Skyler's muscles that were much stronger than his own, and with speed he crashed into Maxwell.

  “I'm so happy to see you!” He shouted cheerfully.

  “Uphh, Creepy!” Maxwell staggered. “I'm glad you're here, we were very worried.” Ava stepped back wondering why the group would be worried about him. Skyler was one of their strongest members. He would have to collect this information. He tackled three more members while utilizing the talent to collect everyone's memories to give him more insight into the whole situation before a sudden meeting began.

  “Spit it out Creepy. What did you find out?” Maxwell prompted him. Ava had been sifting through Skyler's memories as quickly as he could trying to find out what he should say.

  “Absolutely nothing unusual.” Ava said, taking Skyler's serious tone that he would use during moments of responsibility. He had to dive deep into character because he was surrounded by the most important members of the group, Rocks, Maxwell, Demetri, Sigil, Zexich, and the most beautiful flower of all Lucius, as the impromptu meeting gathered everyone together. He couldn't let the flower distract him now. He had to focus.

  “Nothing at all? You mean you were alone with them and they did not once give off any suspicious vibes whatsoever?” Maxwell said flatly. Maybe Skyler would have more to say than this?

  “We went to the theater, and did our play, just as we were supposed to.” Ava said with confidence and seriousness.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “There was never an indication that either of them were trying to hide anything?” Demetri spoke up very focused on who he believed was Skyler.

  “Side from nerves before our curtain call, not at all.” This was getting stressful, but he couldn't give up now.

  “It just doesn't make any sense. I thought for sure after giving Rem back his privileges, and sending him out with more freedom that they would make a strategic move.” Maxwell said looking deep in thought. “That's why I was thoroughly against you going on stage tonight.” Ava wondered what he was talking about but didn't feel like asking for an explanation was appropriate, but luckily he didn't have too.

  “Sunshine, it would be helpful to know how you are coming to this conclusion.” Zexich said thoughtfully.

  “There are still indicators. Things that are not normal. Things that point towards Creepy Twin might not actually be dead at all.” Maxwell said seriously.

  “Oh he is definitely dead. I felt the crunch of his neck under my blade.” Lucius spoke very haughtily. Ava fought the urge to react to his beautiful voice.

  “And there is a dead body, the clean up afterwards, Remington's genuine reaction to actually seeing his dead body. We know for a fact he has not lied to us. All very authentic proof of his demise. So what indication do you notice that proves otherwise Sunshine?” Zexich said quizzically.

  “Mushroom, if you were to place a block on someone, and then you die, what do you suppose would happen to the block you placed?” Maxwell said full of seriousness.

  “I would assume it would shatter instantly.” Sigil said seriously.

  “And yet these delusional worlds have not ended.” Maxwell highlighted. Everyone began to consider this. Ava only looked serious and considered his reasoning too. He was clever.

  “So if we assume this were true, and his delusional worlds have persisted, then his corpse is merely what…..just a delusion as well? That could mean this whole place is a fabrication. How would we know for sure? That also leaves us with the question; where is Vezaias if he is not actually dead?” Zexich said. Ava looked even more serious. “And if this is all true then what exactly were you expecting to happen when Skyler went to Reality for his theater today?” Zexich continued.

  “Hypothetically it would have been like a wolf separating a sheep from the flock. With Creepy vulnerable, why didn't they seem even slightly suspicious? I expected them to make a move.” Maxwell said seriously.

  “Did you talk to Dem? What did he say?” Demetri asked. Ava quickly found the memory.

  “He didn't say much. He was unusually quiet, but other than that he was focused on the play and the music.” Ava explained.

  “Then you went to the theater, did you talk to Rem at all?” Demetri continued.

  “A little bit, he was very quiet too. I think he was nervous to go on stage until we did our first scene together then he seemed more focused.” Ava explained

  “And Lux did what? Just watch from the audience?” Demetri asked. Man these guys were relentless.

  “Pretty much. He was backstage just before and just after the play though.” Ava said.

  “And Ava? He did Vezaias's parts as the understudy?” Demetri continued.

  “Yeah, so it all seemed pretty mundane to me.” Ava said with a shrug.

  “Almost too mundane. Much too normal.” Maxwell said seriously. “What are they doing now?”

  “Remington arrived feeling very worried and guilty of something. He has quickly been relieved of these feelings into something much more relaxed and intimate, to which I believe Lux was responsible for the shift.” Sigil said seriously. Ava could not take the time to feel irritated over this.

  “And Ava?” Lucius spoke up. He almost sounded worried.

  “Ava is not here.” Sigil said. Lucius looked more worried now.

  “Why wouldn't he come back with them?” Lucius said seriously. “Did he mention where he would currently be?” He asked directly too who he thought was Skyler.

  “Not to me.” Ava said. It wasn't technically a lie.

  “Where did you go after the show? You did not come back immediately. We were worried.” Demetri said seriously.

  “Remington took me to where Vincent is trapped to show me and see if I could help figure out how to break the barrier. He is right it is much different than the one Lux was trapped inside. This one is more like a reinforced jail cell, than a believable world.” Ava said seriously.

  “So you actually saw Vincent?” Demetri asked.

  “Well, from behind the barrier, I did.” Ava said seriously. Everyone fell into consideration again.

  “We must also consider the fact that Remington is falling in love with Lux, and vice versa, this might loosen the loyalty Remington still feels towards his deceased abuser.” Zexich spoke up.

  “You know this for sure?” Demetri was serious.

  “They both have strong feelings for each other that are growing each day. Neither have chosen to accept or admit these feelings, but it is very obvious to me.” Sigil said.

  “Perhaps we should continue to be vigilant, but conclude this meeting for now. It is obvious since Skyler has returned safely without much to report that our suspicions have not yet been realized.” Zexich said thoughtfully.

  “Fine.” Maxwell looked disappointed.

  “We will meet again after tomorrow's briefing, once they have set out to do their mission.” Sigil said. Everyone began to disperse. Ava was very glad to get out of that terrible situation but he had one more objective before he would be able to return to being himself. He landed in Skyler's bedroom now wondering how this interaction would play out. Khallie immediately jumped up to greet who she believed to be Skyler, throwing her arms around him.

  “I'm so glad you're safe!” She said urgently. “I was so worried!”

  “Everything is alright Khall, you know I'm no pushover.” Ava said softly.

  “I know that I just….I was scared. I cannot raise a child alone!” She gushed with tears. Ava tried not to let this admission affect him. He quickly shifted through memories to find the moment in time, Khallie sitting in the infirmary looking over joyed and jumping into Skyler's arms as Zexich gave them the test results. She was pregnant? It wasn't very long ago that this news happened.

  “I am here Khall. Don't worry so much.” He said, trying to sooth her. It was what he assumed Skyler would do. She shifted in his arms to kiss him desperately. She was a lot stronger than she looked as things became passionate. Ava had never been with a female before. In fact he had always felt disgusted by the idea of this sort of thing, but as he was now required to satisfy her to make sure everyone would believe Skyler was still alive he tried his best to be open to the pleasure and take advantage of it, though it was not at all as satisfying as what he really preferred. He lay on the bed with her on top of him. She was enthusiastic and energetic as she pleasured herself. He gripped her hips and she bounced her soft body up and down. Ava tried to imagine something else, he needed help to move things along for himself. He was finally able to complete his pleasure with thoughts of fucking Remington as this was the best thing that he was aroused by to this moment with a female. She settled into his chest breathing heavily and satisfied. Eventually she was asleep and softly snoring next to him. He let her sleep for a while then quietly shifted to leave the bed, looking back to make sure the delusional Skyler would take his place. As long as she believed he was still next to her, even as she slept, the delusion would make it so. Ava left now back to Reality then shifting to look like himself. He didn't stay long because he was excited to finally be himself and see Lucius. He arrived in the bedroom raking out his long hair then approaching his desk to pull out his secret stash of powder. He fixed himself an extra large serving of substance to take the edge off of the stress of being someone else had caused him. Vezaias did make it clear that he was supposed to quit but this was very necessary. Ava felt the intoxicating effect take over then once he felt better he left to go to Lucius's bedroom. Lucius was aggressively glad to see him, quickly closing the short distance and trapping him into a passionate kiss.

  “Where have……you been……..I've been waiting forever……” Lucius said between lip smacks.

  “Oh you know….here and there……” Ava replied, taking full advantage of the passion. Lucius trailed his lips down to Ava's neck, nearly crushing him with his strong arms. He loved how aggressive Lucius was, and he began to make his approval audibly known. Lucius then paused and pulled away.

  “I want a real answer. Where have you been?” Lucius pressed in seriousness.

  “Are you becoming possessive Louie? Are you suddenly going to put me on a leash?” Ava said looking innocent.

  “No, that is not at all my intention. You did not arrive back as quickly as the others. I was worried.” Lucius tried to soften his tone.

  “My brother is not here anymore to keep me prisoner. I enjoyed my time on stage then I left to go and do other things. I am finally free to do what I want instead of being locked away.” Ava said, pushing Lucius back now and turning away from him.

  “But what did you do? Where did you go?” Lucius pressed.

  “Ugh, as much as I enjoy my new found freedom, my heart still hurts. I've lost the only person in the world that I ever trusted or loved. I just needed some time out.” Ava said, hugging himself and putting on a painful emotional show. Lucius was quiet.

  “I'm sorry. It is easy for me to forget that he was so important to you. You do not always seem very emotional over it. Sometimes you seem glad of it.” Lucius said softly, approaching Ava from behind. He could feel Lucius's proximity close in on him.

  “I have mixed feelings. I am glad because I am not locked up as a prisoner, and I'm free to do what I want. He would have kept me away from you. In that aspect, I am relieved. However, I loved my brother very much, he is the only one who cared for me. He is the one that raised me. He was the only one who protected me. He is the only one who tried to keep me from destroying myself. I have the same dependence on the poison that my mother loved. I crave it still and it will slowly kill me. Without Vee here to stop me, I'm sure that it will eventually take my life. I am a slave to it, and it is the only thing that seems to completely eliminate the horrible pain I've been suffering all of my life, even if only a temporary escape each time that I dose myself. Now that Vee is dead I find the pain is even worse. It is definitely going to kill me. Now if I can escape my suffering for only a few hours to enjoy my freedom before this drug kills me, then that's what I will do. So I took the opportunity to go out into the city and just exist for a while. Does that satisfy your concern at all? Or are you going to be the one to lock me up next?” Ava said sullenly. He felt the tears slide down his cheeks. He had years of practice to cry on cue. This was a beautiful performance to keep Lucius from growing too suspicious. He felt Lucius snake his arms around his waist and place his mouth against his neck after wiping his long dark hair away to expose his favorite kissing spot. Ava gasped in favor of Lucius’s tender lips on his skin. He felt hands run in different directions over his chest and down to his hips.

  “I do not wish you to succumb to this poison. Tell me…..are you influenced by it right now?” Lucius asked.

  “Mmm, I am. Heh….my body was screaming for a fix all day. I more than doubled my normal dose.” Ava hummed in pleasure.

  “Ava….” Lucius said softly. He sounded sorrowful.

  “I cannot help it. The reality of my childhood is crushing me on a constant basis and the only other person who understands what it was like is dead. You wouldn't understand. You never had a childhood as absolutely horrific as mine was. My body has always been used as a currency for as long as I can remember. I do not know any other way to feel about myself.” Ava mumbled.

  “I do not require any payments from you and I never will. That is up to you to give if you choose too.” Lucius said softly. Ava could only smile then he turned towards Lucius and let his desire take over. Soon Ava was stripping his clothes off and helping Lucius do the same, before he was suddenly bent over against the bed and being forcibly smashed face first into the mattress and begging for Lucius to be rougher, go harder, and hurt him more. It wasn't until they were both satisfied that they came to a rest with Ava laying against Lucius's muscular body. He felt Lucius lovingly raking his long hair out and rubbing his back tenderly. He couldn't sleep, the drug kept him alert and awake for hours, until it finished running its course but by then it would be time to wake up anyway. He would get up out of bed having not slept and go to follow Lucius to the gym where Remington and Lux were already busy working out. He swished his hair behind himself then hopped on a treadmill a few machines away from both Lux and Remington and fell into aloofness. He was secretly very eager to see them both, but at the same time his insight into their blossoming love was infuriating. He began to wonder if Vezaias knew about this and if it would be possible to fuck it up for both of them.