#;pizzawhump

[onippep]

(...)

They're still fucking going, aren't they.

(Yes. I'm sorry.)

FUCK!

(Hey-- caro--)

Shit--shitshitshitshitshit--

(Caro, please don't bite yourself...!)

FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. LET ME DO WHAT I NEED TO DO.

(Peppino.)

WHAT!

(Bite me instead.)

W--what?! FUCK no! Fuck that!

RRrrrr... (You cannot hurt me. Bite me instead. Here.)

You fuckin' sure about this--?!

I am. (Please.)

I--I-- Okay---

...

(Better... don't strain your jaw too hard...)

I'm sorry. I don't wanna be this way.

(Do not change for me. You will always be who I love.)

[onippep]

[onippep]

[onippep]

Prank wasn't sure WHAT to get his double here. Even if they are the same person, he just was never the type to give gifts or be able to come up with a thoughtful one in the first place. The man had to dig deep DEEP down for an idea. He SHOULD know himself better than anybody else. What was something he needed most?

That was when it hit him.

He walked up to his other, fists clenched with anticipation of this. After a moment of hesitation, his arms were flung around Red.

His gift...was a simple yet tight hug.

❛ Ne hai passate tante e stai andando bene. Sono fiero di te. Buon compleanno. ❜

He's trying his best to resist tearing up at his own words. He really is.

Ah, Prank! Glad you could--

Fratello...!!

[onippep]

Is it fine to talk about certain scars now?

................. Which ones. Guessing, for thematic sake, you mean these?

[gestures to his top scars]

I, uh, guess so. Pfft.

So, a little recap-- born in Italy, moved over here when I was 16. Shit happened at 19. Came back when I was 24.

[TW FOR MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE, WAR, GENERAL UNPLEASANT QUEER EXPERIENCE STUFF, TRANSPHOBIA + HOMOPHOBIA]

We lived in a super-rural area when I was a kid, so I had no idea what all of that was about. I'd find myself doing things that boys would do and I'd get slapped around for it, or never really liking girls. All my friends were boys. I had a lot of body hair for my age. It was weird to my family.

I got a taste of big-town culture from my cousins and uncles and aunts; they're eccentric, and I'm pretty sure one of my aunts was gay (she never married). I got along with her pretty well, but god, my madre hated her, pretty sure. Haven't seen her in a long time.

Bottom line, I was the "weird kid" of the family, so my parents figured (Also as Italians) to give me a brother and sister, see if they could socialize me properly. Maybe they fucked up the first time. Worth a shot, right?

While my madre was pregnant with my brother, we moved here. Maybe city life would do me good. I was thrust into a highschool barely knowing any English, and naturally flocked to the outcasts and socially awkward weirdos that would get tossed around by bullies and such. It was brutal. I met a girl that disguised herself as a boy and went by a boy's name. I met a boy that had a crush on one of the bigger boys of the school. It was a bunch of new experiences that... for some reason, even with my upbringing, didn't feel foreign or weird. It suddenly aligned with me, and I didn't really think about it until I looked in the mirror one day and wanted to throw up at how I looked. I tried dating a girl I got along with. Being a teenager sucks. That shit hits you like a truck and bleeds like an open wound that you have no idea how to stop.

Not that I had the time to find a way. I did bad in school, got held back a few years, and within that time aggressively took my identity into my own hands-- I'm not who my parents thought I was, I hated my name, I hated them, I hated everything. I got quiet. I hated myself because I wasn't the easy, good-grade getting child that was born loving the body it was in.

One day, my dad gets me alone. He asked me what I wanted to do after High School. I said art. He asked me again. I said art. He said that was the wrong answer. I asked him what he wanted me to say instead.

"If you really don't believe you're a girl, then it's time to be a man."

I thought this had good intentions until I was at the front door of bootcamp with some fresh scars on my chest, a few years of testosterone, and...

[sighs]

...

Uh, what was I-- right.

Right, yeah, I was pretty much fully out a few years after I was... discharged. I had a fling with Anton. A few women. Some men. Tried the bisexual label for a bit but found out I was just a full-on homosexual.

...Did I get the surgery before or-- no, I think I...

[blanks out for a few minutes]

...[scratches his head] I-- sorry, I think I got something mixed up. I think I got top surgery after 'all of that'. Shit's scrambled in here.

...

...Right-- I was a fully out transsexual gay man by... I think I was 35? It wasn't a huge focus of mine though since I wanted to try and start my own business. My family knew hard they fucked up with me so they kept their distance-- I let them know how much they failed me (after many years of thinking I was the screwup). Eventually they started using my new name. It was sudden, and there were no apologies.

I couldn't get my art degree, sssooo... Peppino's Pizza it is. Yippee.

Met Gus a year or so after I opened it, connected with a few of the Italian community on the outskirts of the city, uh... then I...

[pauses again]

--Sorry, this, uh, wasn't a really happy story, but I just. Wanted to say that it was worth keeping myself alive to see myself big, fat, hairy, balding, and smiling in the body I've got now. And happy with the men I've decided to let into my life to love me and this body. It's...

It's something. Better than nothing. I understand that now.

[onippep]

I'm sorry, I do trust that you know what you're doing Oni, but also WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!

...

Grey-faces are right, ya damn weirdo, the hell did you do?! EXPLAIN YOURSELF! Or I'm gonna have to get my gun and--

(It's working.)

WHAT'S WORKING?

Eeehhhhhh....!!!! [gross sniffling] ONI...! WHY'D YOU... DO THAT...!?

Hrrrmm~ (Yes. I gave carino a taste of what The Vigilante has been feeling over the past hour or so.)

Wh-WHAT?! You can DO THAT?!

(I wasn't cryin' like a baby though...)

...Should we--

(Let's... Give him a moment. You should be safe now. He has to go through all the motions.)

Right.

[onippep]

The real question is what have Red and Oni been up to? Red and his ever increasing polycule was a surprise.

[abuse mentions and whump ahead]

A lotta stuff happens offscreen but I'll sum up some major events I liked:

Excuse to Differentiate Red's Design More:

-Red's mustache got ripped off because he tried eating sap off of a crab apple tree near his house and needed help getting it off his face.

"Fallen Angel"

-Red's Halloween Transformation, "Fallen Angel", became more than a gag and became a genuine plot point of contention from his religiously fragile abusive mom.

His mom got on his ass for not being able to afford helping his siblings come home for Thanksgiving, developed into a heightened hatred for her son and transphobic/homophobic to boot, and it got so bad to the point he shut himself away and she confronted Oni at his house.

Oni scared her off by wearing Child Red's face and getting a little dramatic about it.

They have not spoken since.

-The Fallen Angel form became its utmost peak when he finds out that, in this timeline, he left CrescentLoon's oc Mitzi to die in the Tower while he was escaping it. The guilt made him spiral into a War Episode and he had to be tracked down in the forest by their house (he was armed, but the shottie had no bullets). Prank was the one to eventually pierce through it and drag him back to reality.

-Red's been doing flying lessons with little to no success from CrescentLoon's oc Mona.

Constellation Upgrade

-Another trans Peppino? Yessir. Rambler-In-Limbo's Peppino (we nicknamed Timido) became infatuated with Red and vice versa. They were quick to get together with a puppy crush from Red's side.

-Also after a strange cat-and-mouse dynamic Prank and Red had, they finally decided to get together. Red's just got some commitment issues and didn't wanna ruin anything with his best friend.

-Prank and Timido also eventually got together.

Other Things

-Oni is best buddies with Trion (BigBeastCyrus' lad) and they hang out regularly. Frog things. Connect Four has been banned in the Red household due to property damage. Oni is a sore loser.

-Greaseball's Arcade is back open at the Tower and Red's considered braving it to see if he... could... probably... work there. He's not sure yet.

[onippep]

Red. I think you should take a moment to collect yourself before you do something you deeply regret.

Remember what happened last time you rushed head first without thinking?

And to the tower, no less, where it last happened.

Apologies, I don’t mean to be dark. Do as you will. But the consequences of your actions will weigh on you heavily.

-JA

[FIVE MINUTES AGO...]

... familiar sight, isn't it? I try not to look at it. Try not to hate it. All that.

Hard not to. Even if it was just a guy with a pizza slice for a head. Stupid, right?

Here's the facts: Oni got shot. The cheeseslimes aren't supposed to be in there. Vigilante is trying to stop me. I'm going into the Tower, the thing that probably lopped off a good 10 years from my life expectancy. THAT'S WHY I'M FUCKING ANGRY. CAPEESH?

Oni isn't using force. It needs to use force. I need to get in there.

Noted.

[Breathing turns haggard]

DON'T. TELL ME. TO CALM DOWN.

I'm SCARED, I'm ANGRY. SO I'M DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT. It's like what ol' Sarge used to say to me:

You don't get results without getting your hands dirty.

Maybe I should! MAYBE I FUCKING SHOULD!

[starts running Mach-4, NOT planning on stopping]

[onippep]

Oni good timing

I'll-- I'll say! But what in the HELL was all that about just now--?!

Fakie! Your man's gone off the rails! It ain't safe to keep him here!

I-- I KNOW! (I CAN FEEL IT!)

(I HOPE IT COMES TO THAT--! THE TALKING, I MEAN--!)

RRRRRRRRR...!!!

Mister Spaghetti! Keep it together! You gotta calm down or else somethin' horrible might happen! God dammit--

(I C-CAN'T-- HOLD HIM-- FOR MUCH LONGER...!)

Oh dear god, what should we do then?!

GOOD IDEA! Fakie, you both gotta scram, you can figure out how to calm your damn boyfriend AWAY from this godforsaken place!--

(VIGI.)

Eh?!

(TOUCH MY HAND. I HAVE AN IDEA.)

We don't have time for--!

(JUST DO IT.)

WHATEVER THE HELL YOU'RE PLANNIN', FAKIE, IT BETTER WORK!

(ME TOO..!!)

(I'm sorry, amante..!!)

DID YA JUST STAB HIM--?!

[onippep]

*Standing next to Red, doing their best to comfort him*

Take deep breaths, okay? Slow, deep breaths…

-Worried flirt anon

(GRITTING) This is-- this is embarrassing you can just-- leave-- I'll be fine in a bit. Help the others clean up.

......

....Hey, Pep.

G-- Gerome? Why're you here?

I got called...

(...Fuck sakes.)

[onippep]

It's Not Anger

Oni.

...

Oni. I know you're not asleep.

...

...Listen, I just don't want my family thinking we're together. It's not, like, a personal thing against you, it's just-- super weird right now. I want you to understand.

...(You said this wasn't weird for you.)

No, no, like, my family makes it weird. If they get any inkling that we're sexually or romantically involved, they won't leave me alone about it. Both my siblings have kids, they found people n' got married, so I get bothered about when it's gonna be "my turn" and all that shit... It's tiring.

...

...Sorry. It's a lot.

...

...

... (Is it a requirement?)

--For-- for me or?

... (Is it something that would deem fulfilling to you, your family, or both?)

... I dunno. I don't really like thinking about it. There's definitely a lot of pressure from them, though.

... (There is a lot of... fear. In this family.)

That's. Quite the statement. What makes you say that?

(This agitation you have-- it's a strange... but very similar feeling to how your mother and siblings feel, but opposites in direction. It's almost like a push and pull effect, with their pull, while you push away. The energy can be tense.)

You can feel their stuff too?

(Sort of. It's like a ricochet...)

... Alright. So, what's your point?

(You fear different things. You fear their pressure, they fear for... I'm not... entirely sure, but they fear for you, that much I know.)

Ggghhh. Tell me something I don't-- wait. What?

(Done out of care, not done out of assertion. But the line gets blurry.)

.... [Rubs his face in exhaustion] ... bold of them to feel anything like that after what they've... gggh...

(What other influences may wish upon us may not be what we align with.)

Yeah. They should've gotten the message by now that whatever the fuck they want for me, I don't. I'm not really gonna be sympathetic here. [grits his teeth] So forgive me if I'm just. A little stingy. All this bullshit about starting a family so I can finally be happy or some shit-- mom's words, not mine-- has really soured me from even thinking about it.

... [turns to face him] I understand. (You can't think clearly when your kin are trying to make choices for you.)

...Yeah. Something like that.

... [reaching a hand down]...

Oni.

[wiggles his fingers] Rrrrrr. (You feel so much right now.)

W-whatever. It's just a tough subject. I can't-- I can't let them see you with me. Just for this weekend. Alright?

RRrrr... (I know. Just one thing confuses me...)

[Grimacing] What?

(I'm aware that this pressure isn't allowing you to think freely, and you're closed up. I want to ask, though. If they want your happiness... then, d--)

...

...

...

(...I make you happy, this is proven. Let's start there. Do you agree?)

[Sighing] Yes, you do make me happy.

(Okay. So, knowing this, wouldn't that... be enough? For your family? Even if it isn't in the specific terms they ask for. Romantically.)

.... God, I fucking wish.

Rrrrr. Peppino... (I wish I could help, even if it was just pretending.)

Thanks, Oni. It's just much more... complicated. And I wish it wasn't.

[rests his hand on Peppino's shoulder]

[takes it, squeezing it tightly, breathing unsteadily]

(Let's get through the weekend. For next time, we can figure out how you want to go about this when we visit next. I didn't know this would be a problem.)

[grinding his teeth] Y-yeah, well, it is. And I hate it..!

(...It's the family expectation at fault here, from the sounds of it. Rigid definitions of affection can be... limiting. And divisive. That is what I'm learning.)

[grip loosens]... mhm... ghk..

Peppiiiinnno... Peppino... Peppppiiinnoo.. [slips his arm under him and gently pulls him up into bed]

Gghghrrn.... zzz... [light snoring]

...Peppino...

[onippep]

Carefully sits a bottle of melatonin outside their window.

[onippep]

Partying

[onippep]

is he feeling alright? i know that talking about old trauma can be pretty difficult, and the feelings don't immediately go away :(

(That may be it… I’ll have to deploy ways to steer his mind back on a better road.)

(He insists this month is one of joy, of freedom, but so much of it can also remind him of the times he was not so liberated.)

(I’ll have to spoil him when we get home.)

[onippep]

Really though, Peppino, you’re the most emotional person ever. How did you think you could go through with this without feeling like shit afterward

SH-SHUDDUP..!! Th-THESE AREN'T EVEN MY EMOTIONS! ONI'S JUST A HUGE CHEATER! I'M NOT SUPPOSED-TA FEEL SO BAD!

(Hey, sonny, can I ask ya somethin' in private?)

(Hrrng?)

(Does he-- get like "this" often? The whole "I'm gonna kill everything" thing?)

(Not at all. I've only seen this once before-- while he was in the Tower.)

(Right. Havin' to storm up to this thing probably set him back to square one.)

(Mhm. Seen it once before, but felt it... a few times, while he dreams. He has not told me much, but he's got reason for it. It isn't my business though--)

STOP TALKIN' ABOUT ME! I CAN HEAR YOU!

...

You good now, Spaghetti?

Wh-whatever. Think so.

Great. Now, how about we focus on tellin'--

What's all that ruckus out there?!

IT'S VIGERT! HE'S COME TA' HELP US DEFEND OUR TURF!

ALERT THE OTHERS! THAT CHEF N' THAT WEIRDO CLONE IS BACK TOO!! IT LOOKS LIKE THEY BEAT VIGI UP REAL GOOD!!

Ah hell--

[onippep]

((I got super emo doing this one AHAHAHA i love Red a lot))

sketch too bc i love seeing his Aged features