one got lucky
who: The Casker Bros setting: their tent/central park/after the punishments are handed out
Luckily, Vic didn’t have a letter to tell him to report to essentially indentured servitude, but there were so many people in the park that did that he was pretty much fuming before the day had even really gotten underway. He wanted to pace but his leg was acting up and he couldn’t so mostly he was just sitting in his worn, faded purple bean bag chair, aggressively picking at one of the old tape strips that covered the bag more than the original fabric did.
It had been vintage when he’d stolen it in the first place and now it was basically hanging on by Vic’s sheer force of will, but he just couldn’t let it go. It was disgusting and sort of smelled a little, but he couldn’t get rid of it. And right now, it was an outlet for how furious he was.
Vaughn’s luck wasn’t as good as Vic’s. He had a time to report and was heading home quick to eat as much as he could and maybe get a nap in before he had to go. It wasn’t his first offense, so he was going to be in for a brutal time. Twenty-four hours. Fuck. He got in and took one look at his brother - the brother most people assumed was his twin - and could tell something was up. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked as he dropped his bag in the corner, the one that was reinforced with old car doors salvaged years ago. He dropped down onto what passed for another chair in there. It was old, had once been faux leather but that had all peeled away ages ago. It was still relatively comfortable, however, even if the recliner on it didn’t work anymore.
“What’s wrong with me? Oh, you know, same old shit, new day. This fucking place…” He muttered, stringing together words that didn’t really point to a problem as much as they pointed to his frustration. “I mean...how can they think that they can just make people work through the day without even bathroom breaks? That’s not community service, that’s slavery.” Glaring in his brother’s direction, Vic took stock of what he looked like and frowned. He didn’t look any better than Vic did. Hell, he kind of looked worse. “...What’s wrong with you?”
“Waiting to report for slave labor,” Vaughn answered. “Second offense, full day,” he added, which he knew Vic knew, but still. He shifted around trying to get comfortable, and pulled a nearby blanket over himself. “Distract me. What've you been up to?” he asked, letting his eyes fall shut, but he was still listening. He just wanted to relax as much as possible before he had to go, so he'd be able to pull this off. He was more scared than he let on, knowing that what he did for a living was frequently illegal. People did get worked to death. It happened.
And that was the real root of his fury. His brother, forced into slavery for some complete and utter bullshit. “I can find you something,” He said, not really thinking about distracting Vaughn just yet. “Something to curb your instincts for a day. Small enhancement… I can probably get it here in an hour.”
Taking a breath, he exhaled and watched Vaughn there under the blanket and tried not to let his worry seep in too much. He knew the rules. He couldn’t even split the time with him. Luckily for Vic, his leg had acted up most of the previous night so he’d not been dinged for any wrong-doing, but it could easily have been him with a twenty four hour sentence to complete. He had to wonder if anyone who was above the credit poverty line had to report for this berserk duty or if it was just people from the park and its surrounding, destitute neighbors. And that was the main reason he’d jumped at Chase’s proposal. “I’m gonna be in a porn.”
Vaughn shrugged one shoulder. “Side effects? How bad will it fuck me up? Not sure if they screen when you report,” he admitted. He didn't want to be on something, get flagged for it and then have to pull a day and a half. He frowned a second, then peeked an eye open. “...okay...” he said, prompting his brother to go on. There was obviously going to be a story there. He'd never mentioned a burning desire to fuck for other people's entertainment before. Something had to have gone an interesting way.
Vic pulled up information in his HUD, his eyes glazing over for a moment as he searched through his connections to find what he was looking for. “Side effects are...hm, decently minimal. Maybe some numbness while it’s on and active. Always the risk of it fritzing out and screwing with your mind, but that’s anything. But in general, most people are using this to, y’know, make sure they’re lasting longer in the sack, so it’s pretty discreet already, but it works for basically any instinct. Hunger, bathroom stuff, exhaustion...Just sort of routes around what your brain is telling you your body needs. Other than that, as long as you don’t get addicted to using it, I say we get moving.”
He hid everything so he could look at his brother with clear eyes again. “Yeah, while you were out stalking that chick again, I met a porn star and got propositioned. And I’m gonna do it. He makes mad credits off this stuff.” And they could use it. They could always use it. Ultimately, his goal had always been to make them as rich as he possibly could so they could buy themselves a little security, maybe avoid things like the bullshit rules of this world, but he’d never really gotten close enough to that. The margin was just so high. But with this? Maybe.
“Okay,” Vaughn said, shutting his eyes again as Vic explained what would happen. And if it wasn't actually a drug or anything it should be okay. Hopefully. “If I get caught and die of exhaustion it's your fault,” he said in a bored tone. Then he opened his eyes again. “Have you at least made sure you won't be doing really sick porn?” he asked. “Like fucking animals or some shit?” He did smirk at the mention of Epiphany, though. That part he had a story to share, but he waited to find out about the porn thing first.
“You know I’d never put you in real danger,” He said with a smirk, eyes glazing over again as he placed the order and applied a very serious rush to it. He’d make the credits up later with Chase. “It’ll be here in forty minutes and I can get it installed in five.”
Then he refocused on Vaughn, tilting his head. “What kind of businessman do you think I am? Of course I vetted the porn.” Though not technically before making the deal but whatever. “It’s just going to be the two of us, me and him. Nothing weird, nothing sick, no animals are going to be hurt in the making of this...well technically he calls it fantasy fulfillment but it’s porn.”
“Okay,” he said. Though he had to imagine that that kind of upgrade could kill someone fast too. It wouldn't be like it actually cured exhaustion thirst or hunger, just cut out the signals that it was going on. Have it running for too long and you'd still work yourself to death, you just wouldn't be complaining about it while it happened. “Fantasy fulfillment? What does that mean?” he asked. “Thought people just ordered virtual these days. This some kind of elite old school thing? Niche market?”
Vic took a moment and sent Vaughn the link to Chase’s website so he could get a better idea of what Chase did. And the fact that Chase and Vic looked pretty damn similar. He’d also be able to see what Vic had; that there were several sections on the site based on the type of fantasy someone wanted fulfilled and the amount they were willing to pay. “He’s got a lot of different options for people. Base level virtual, more customized virtual, and then real life. Says he can charge a lot for two people, and a first time.”
It wasn't exactly Vaughn's cup of tea. Then again porn in general wasn't. He got too obsessed with real live girls, spent all his time and energy following them, learning about them. It wasn't like he'd never indulged or anything, just it wasn't anything he did frequently or thought much about. Though he knew some people were obsessed with that, for a number of both normal and psycho reasons. “Okay,” he said. “You two going to do a pretend incest show?” he asked, looking back at his brother. He definitely noticed the similar look. This guy could be their brother, and he and Vic were mistaken for twins all the time.
Vic couldn’t help but laugh a little. “He looks like us, I got that. For a minute I thought he might be a part of our extended family. He’s apparently from here. But then I thought, how could that bitch have another one of us without us knowing about it?” He didn’t actually answer Vaughn’s question, though, because he honestly wasn’t sure. He probably would if that would bring in more credits. His ultimate goal here was to make up for the credits he was lacking thanks to his less than loyal customers. “He seems smart and good at his job. I’m willing to give this a shot. Now, can we stop talking about me for a little while and start talking about you? Where’ve you been, really?”
“Because I'm sure our piece of shit father hosed down the entire park with his seed,” Vaughn offered. “Probably still does.” Asshole. There was no love lost between Vaughn and their father. “Might wanna do a DNA check,” he said. And in doing so, Vic would be able to make sure he was clean too. “Just be careful, okay?” Vaughn said, still sounding tired. “I don't want to have to go on some revenge spree or whatever if he turns out to be some shady ass fucker that played you.” When Vic asked him where he'd really been, that brought a smile to Vaughn's lips. “Down below,” he answered. “Made a personal delivery to those Temple people. And guess who I talked to?” he posed, knowing that Vic would know. Vaughn wasn't shy about sharing his obsessions with his brother. Vic had never judged him about that. Or at least if he did he was really good at hiding that he was judging. He was the only one Vaughn felt comfortable sharing that with at all.
Vic nodded to his brother, giving him a small smile back. He always looked out for him and that closeness was something he knew would never change. Vic knew that the Casker brothers would always have each other’s backs; it was the one solid truth he fully understood about the world.
It was why, when Vaughn explained where he’d been, all Vic could do was smile a little more. “So you finally stepped up and talked to her, huh? What’s she like?” This girl had been on Vaughn’s mind for a while now. If he really thought about it, maybe even longer than any of the other girls had. And at least his brother seemed happy with the interaction. At least it didn’t seem like it’d been a ‘don’t meet your idols’ kind of interaction.
“I finally got a way in,” Vaughn said. “Turns out she's noticed me before,” he said. Sure, that could be bullshit but he didn't think so. She didn't have motivation he could work out to do that. “She's...” he exhaled. “Beautiful. Naive, I think, in weird ways. Sheltered. And there's nothing quite like the rush of meeting her then getting to find out what she tastes like pretty much immediately. If it weren't for the fact that her place is basically just sheets hung up and there were overprotective people around who might skin me or some shit for touching their goddess, I would have gone down on her right there. I wanted to.”
Vic never considered that this was too much information from his brother. He’d just told him about his new venture into porn; why would Vaughn’s story of meeting his obsession be any stranger? “Okay, so she’s naive and sheltered but she, what, let you touch her immediately? Maybe you need to get her out of that subway and up onto the streets to actually get some privacy with her? Do you think she’d leave with you? What does a cult goddess even taste like?”
“Yeah, well, I plan to,” Vaughn said. “I would have tried to hook that up today, but...” he trailed off. But he had to spend a day working. “And a cult goddess tastes like heaven. Seriously, the things I want to do to her...” he smirked. “Now that would be some good porn,” he teased. “...I'll get her away from them at some point. Get some privacy.” Not sure where, but he'd figure it out. “And I'm going to do my level best to see if I can't divert a little of her faith.”
“Think you can make her see a new god?” Vic teased, lifting an eyebrow at his brother. “How you always end up with girls like this, I’ll never know. Ever consider that her diverting her faith might make her less appealing to you in the end? What part of her keeps you coming back to her?”
“I'm going to try my best to pray to me,” Vaughn said, sort of half joking. Though he kind of did want to occupy a space like that in her life. Revered like he worshiped her. And he did, in fact, worship her. He didn't have faith in any real sense, but her... yes. He paused as he considered. “I don't know. There's something about this one,” he mused. “Her eyes? She's blind, by the way. Something with her cybernetics, but she can't see what's right in front of her and it's... well. Fucking hot, to be honest.”
Vic couldn’t help himself. He shook his head and slowly forced himself up, wincing from the pain in his leg as he did so. “You’re a fucking weirdo, you know that, Brother?” He teased again. “I’m glad you and your goddess seem to be getting along so well, so soon. Just...be careful, okay?” He asked, focusing on Vaughn for a minute. “People with faith are hard.”
“I know that,” Vaughn agreed. “But I'm not bored,” he added. “Plus, what's wrong with this? Scratch that, what's wrong with what I'm doing that is weirder than you doing possibly pseudo incest porn with some asshole you just met?” he looked at Vic with a smirk. “Who's the weirdo exactly?” He relaxed, letting his eyes shut again. “Right now it's kind of adding to the whole thing,” he admitted. “I know that things can go sideways really fucking fast, but still. She wants me. I want her.”
“Maybe we’re both fucking weirdos. We never really had a chance to not be, did we?” He asked, laughing a little at his brother as he did. “As long as you’re happy, I’m good. If I can help, let me know. But right now, shut up and close your eyes. I’m gonna go get your part.” It was the least he could do to keep his brother standing throughout this punishment. He wouldn’t do well if Vaughn didn’t come back from the sewers.
“Sure. That,” Vaughn agreed. Vic was right though. They left any shot at 'normal' behind before either of them hit puberty. No wonder they were both fucked up in unique ways. He was an obsessive stalker. Vic had his own challenges. The Casker brothers weren't exactly on the level. Anyone's level. “I'm happy so far,” he said. “And thank you,” he added. He did as asked, drifting off pretty quickly after Vic helped him out. Now all that was left to do was survive the coming day.