Chapter Text
(Begin dream sequence).
Verosika looked at an image of herself that appeared to be in a dark alley. She had extremely messy make up and puffy eyes from crying very intensely for a long time. To make matters worse, it started to rain.
A few seconds later, dream Verosika (as Verosika decided to refer to the version of herself she was watching) was joined by Moxxie, wearing his usual suit and bowtie and carrying an umbrella. Moxxie extended the umbrella to dream Verosika. Verosika couldn’t hear what they were saying but it appeared as though her dream self was telling Moxxie to f*ck off. Moxxie refused and the two of them walked out of the alley under Moxxie’s umbrella.
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Dream Verosika and Moxxie were now sitting in a booth at a diner. Judging by the state of dream Verosika’s face, this was shortly after the last ‘scene’. They seemed to have been talking for a while with dream Verosika being quite animated about it. Dream Verosika finished talking and seemed relieved at getting something off her chest. A waitress delivered the food they must’ve ordered ‘off screen’. Moxxie got some kind of salad while Verosika got a massive burger along with a substantial amount of fries, which she started tearing into at a rapid pace. Whether this was out of hunger or a desire to try drowning her sorrows in greasy comfort food, there was no way to know.
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The scene changed again. Moxxie and dream Verosika were in an alleyway. Moxxie was walking away from her but then she ran over, turned him around and knelt down in an attempt to be at his eye level. She appeared to be pleading with him for something but once again, Verosika didn’t hear the words.
Shortly later, dream Verosika said something that appeared to shock Moxxie and she also seemed shocked that she said it. Shortly later, dream Verosika leaned in and kissed Moxxie.
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Verosika next saw several scenes of her dream self and Moxxie together. They were having dinner, doing household work in what would appear to be their shared apartment, kissing and generally enjoying themselves the whole time.
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Dream Verosika and Moxxie were now angrily arguing with each other.
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Dream Verosika was now sitting on the floor and leaning against a wall, having spent some time crying just as intensely as she had at the start of the dream.
Moxxie walked up to her and appeared to be pleading for forgiveness. Dream Verosika hesitated for a moment then went up to Moxxie and hugged him.
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Dream Verosika was wearing a white wedding dress that was showing surprisingly little skin for her. She was standing across from Moxxie who was wearing a white suit (probably so he looked different compared to the black suit he usually wore). The two of them slipped rings onto each other’s fingers and then kissed.
(End dream sequence)
Verosika woke up the next morning, still cradling Moxxie. She got out of bed, went to the bathroom and began thinking of the dream she had last night. It was extremely weird but also kind of pleasant.
It’s not the weirdest dream I’ve ever had, Verosika thought. At least I know that this one happened because of how much I’m starting to like Moxxie and my desire for a relationship that could be considered deep. Though it's way too early for me to even think of liking Moxxie like that.
Verosika moved her arm so that her crossed out tattoo of Blitzo’s name showed in the bathroom mirror. Verosika began thinking of all the many ways Moxxie was different from Blitzo, most of them relating to how Moxxie was kind and thoughtful while Blitzo was something of an inconsiderate asshole even on his best behavior. The thought of possibly being with Moxxie didn’t seem so weird now.
But there are other things that need to be considered, Verosika resumed thinking. The big one being that he’s going out with Millie and I definitely don’t want to piss her off by trying to steal her guy.
Verosika then remembered that two of them were sort of into sharing based on what she’d heard from Milky. She also remembered Milky saying that whatever arrangement was going on between the three of them probably wouldn’t last much longer. She considered the possibility of taking Milky‘s place when that happened.
But I want more than just two f*ck buddies, Verosika thought. And I don’t know either of them, especially Millie, well enough to go past that. Also, they do work for me as my bodyguards so that would get real messy real quick. f*ck, why is nothing with me ever simple?
Sometime later, the two of them were sitting down to breakfast which Moxxie had cooked. Verosika swallowed a fork full of eggs.
“Unholy sh*t, I had no idea scrambled eggs could taste this good,“ Verosika complemented enthusiastically.
“Not the first time I’ve heard that,“ Moxxie replied with a smug grin. The two of them didn’t say anything for a while as they enjoyed their breakfast. “Is something bothering you?”
“I had a weird dream last night,” Verosika said reflexively.
Dammit, again, Verosika chastised yourself for blurting out something to Moxxie again. I know I need to work on opening up with people but there’s gotta be a limit to that and Moxxie making me completely lower my defenses without trying passes that limit.
“I was dressed in what looked like polka dot pajamas and was swinging around a city on what appeared to be a magic yo-yo,“ Verosika quickly deflected by bringing up a different weird dream that she had had though not recently.
“That’s nothing compared to some of the weird dreams I’ve had,“ Moxxie replied. “In one dream, I’m an idiotic boy who’s friends with an evil little girl and death itself.”
“That is weirder than mine,” Verosika admitted.
“I’ve got two others even weirder than that,” Moxxie continued. “In another dream, I have a skin condition that makes me green and I didn’t have horns, a tail or ears but I did have an insane robot for a sidekick. In the weirdest one, I am a robot and I’m working as mission control for some teenaged superheroes in goofy, color-coded costumes.“
There was an awkward silence for a bit as Verosika attempted to process what she heard and Moxxie took a breath before resuming.
“Even though the details on that one are fuzzy,“ Moxxie continued again, “and it was weird to the point of disturbing, I do remember feeling sad when I saw the yellow and green ones die in battle.“
“Once again, Moxxie,“ Verosika said dryly, “you have a way of putting things in perspective.“
“You’re welcome,“ Moxxie replied.
The two of them finished eating and then cleaned up. It was now time for the next part of the morning: Verosika‘s personal workout routine. Moxxie knew this was coming and brought a workout outfit with his overnight bag.
Moxxie had changed into a simple white tank top and a pair of shorts. Verosika had changed into a black top with white trims along with matching shorts, both of which tightly hugged her figure. Moxxie’s eyes widened at how well Verosika pulled off this new book. They got set up in the living room.
“Try to keep up,“ Verosika said.
A little after forty minutes later Moxxie collapsed to the floor, exhausted from trying and failing to keep pace with Verosika. This was especially embarrassing because she put on ankle and wrist weights for increased difficulty and he didn’t.
“Not bad, Moxxie,“ Verosika complimented as she continued her workout. “I can tell that you definitely tried your best and you almost made it the full hour.“
A little less than twenty minutes later, Verosika had finished her routine. She was sweating heavily and panting for breath but was in much better condition than Moxxie had been when he hit his limit.
“You do this every day?“ Moxxie asked in disbelief.
“Only three or four days a week,“ Verosika answered. “It’s very necessary: my ass does not maintain its perfect combo of plump and firm on its own.“
“Definitely worth the effort,“ Moxxie said as if he was complimenting a piece of fine art.
“I certainly think so,“ Verosika replied. “And so do my fans: often, enthusiastically and in ways that would make even Lust ring residents go ‘that’s a bit much, don’t you think’.“
Crumbs, that was close, Moxxie thought. That could have gone very badly but fortunately, she appeares to have a very thick skin about this . Heh heh, her ass could be described as thick skin, Moxxie mentally snickered to himself.
The two of them showered and changed. They got into Verosika‘s car and left to go to a firing range that Moxxie had found out about. They were going to get Verosika some practice with her snub nose revolver.
They met up with Millie outside the building that housed the firing range.
“Did ya two have fun last night?” Millie asked.
“Yeah,” Verosika answered.
“She spent the night cuddling me like a stuffed animal,” Moxxie added dreamily. “It was as great as it sounds.”
“Lucky you,” Millie replied with almost tangible jealousy.
They went inside and got set up. Verosika stood facing a target while aiming her gun. She fired and missed the center of the target by a rather embarrassing amount. Moxxie gave some pointers relating to grip, breathing and adjusting for how the revolver’s lack of barrel would affect the bullet’s trajectory past several feet.
Verosika tried shooting again and hit closer to the center of the target. She fired several more shots, each were about as close.
“Not bad,” Moxxie complimented. Verosika would never admit it but this greatly touched her.
Verosika got in some more target practice. While there was much room for improvement, Verosika felt she was off to a great start.
“You two want to join me for lunch?” Verosika asked when they left the shooting range. “I’m paying.”
“Depends on where we’re goin’,” Millie replied. “Yer not gonna insist on salads and smoothies like what ya had for lunch on our first day, are you?”
“Fortunately for you, I’ve had a craving for a cheeseburger all day,” Verosika said.
For reasons that I would rather not get into, Verosika thought, knowing that her craving was because of seeing her dream self devour one earlier.
Moxxie and Millie both thought this sounded great. Especially Millie because it disproved her fears that Verosika would force them to go for healthy over tasty.
They all got into Verosika’s car and headed out. She brought them to a place that was a notch above fast food. They went inside and ordered their food.
“You two have fun last night?” Millie asked as they all sat in a booth and waited for their order.
“Yeah,” Verosika answered. “Things got heavy when Moxxie told me about his family situation but overall, I had a great time.”
“You told her about that?” Millie asked with angry glare pointed at Moxxie. “You only told me about that last week even though we’ve been datin’ for over a year. And only cause we ran into Chazz at the party which showed that ya weren’t as free of your past as you thought.”
“You ran into Chazz at the party?” Verosika asked in surprise.
“Oh, I forgot to mention that,” Moxxie said. “I’ll go over that later. As for telling Verosika about my past, she said she had trouble opening up and I thought that if I opened up first, maybe that would help.“
“That’s fair,“ Millie conceded.
“So how’d it go with Chazz at the party?” Verosika asked.
“Badly,” Moxxie answered irritably. “He acted like our last contact wasn’t him breaking up with me by text three years ago. He figured that with my dad dead we could get back together, which was pretty fact-based considering we only broke up because he forced the issue. I made it clear that I wasn’t interested in reconnecting. He finally took the hint when Millie joined us and I suggested he leave while all his joints still bent the right way.”
“Or take him to Beelze,” Millie piped up, “and see if she could use her food magic to turn him into sushi.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Millie,” Moxxie countered. “Sushi made from him would have tasted awful.”
“Ah wasn’t gonna eat it,” Millie said. “Ah just wanted to see if it was possible.”
Moxxie couldn’t think of a response and then faced Verosika. “Oh, and Chazz and Millie hooked up once.”
“What?” Verosika asked in surprise.
“It was years before him and Moxxie got together,” Millie explained. “Not my proudest moment.”
Not long after, their food arrived. Verosika bit into her burger. She intended to savor it since she couldn’t really eat stuff like that very much.
“So Moxxie,” Verosika began in between bites. “I remember Coco saying that you were going to teach basic first aid to everyone on the crew. How’s that going?”
“Mostly good,” Moxxie answered.
(Begin flashback)
Moxxie had gotten some practice dummies for Verosika’s crew to practice what first aid Moxxie had fought them. Vortex, Coco, Apple, Kat and Ace were kneeling over the dummies they’d just practiced on.
“Very good,” Moxxie complimented Vortex. “Very good,” he said to Coco. “Needs work,” he said to Apple. “Not as good as Vortex or Coco but still good overall,” he said to Kat. He came to Ace and paused as he tried to articulate how disappointed he was. “If I had a rolled up newspaper, I’d smack you with it.”
“I have a magazine,” Apple said as she held up the item. “Will that work?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Moxxie explained. “Yet.”
“To be fair,” Ace began with a smirk, “my brain isn’t the muscle I have the most experience using.”
Moxxie quickly grabbed the magazine, rolled it up and lightly smacked Ace in the head with it.
“No,” Moxxie chastised. “Do make light of something so potentially life-saving.”
(End flashback)
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Verosika laughed at this story.
“Damn Moxxie,” Millie began. “Ah had no idea you could get used to callin’ the shots like that.”
“It seemed necessary,” Moxxie retorted, “to get Ace to take it seriously. I did apologize to him later though. For the first time in my life, I have people respecting me and it went to my head which ironically, made me unworthy of the respect I got in the first place.”
A while later, they finished their food and left.
“So Millie,” Verosika spoke up. “You okay with staying with me next Saturday?”
“Sure,” Millie answered. “But does it just have to be you and me though? Why not have Moxxie join us?”
“I’m sure Moxxie has better things to do than hang out with us,” Verosika said.
“Not really,” Moxxie replied.
“Well I’d like to have some one-on-one time with Millie,” Verosika countered.
“All right,” Moxxie relented. While he and Millie were not on the clock in regards to hanging out with Verosika, he decided to go along with what she wanted.
I’ll ask what everyone else is doing, Moxxie thought. Maybe Milky would like to go reverse mugging with just the two of us.
“Great,” Verosika said, then faced Millie. “I’m going to have a spa visit next Sunday. I want you to join me: partially to have someone have my back during the visit.”
“Okay,” Millie agreed, eager to try something new.
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Author’s notes: Verosika’s dream (minus the wedding) is a collection of scenes from this story’s inspiration, ‘Thespian and the Popstar’ by An Undead Gamer 45.
The dreams they talked about are references to other roles the people who play Moxxie and Verosika (Steven Horvitz and Cristina Valenzuela, respectively) have had. Most are kinda easy to figure out though the one about teenaged superheroes will make no sense unless you know that Horvitz used to supply the voice for Alpha 5 on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers way back when. The thing about the yellow and green ones dying are a reference to the unfortunate, real world deaths of the people who used to play Trini and Tommy: real names Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank.
