Chapter Text
Venti carefully set Oliver down onto the left side of the hammock before slowly drifting down to settle on the right side next to him.
"I can't believe you ate over three bowls of your favorite soup," Oliver chuckled, shifting to make himself comfortable. He watched his boyfriend gracefully float the rest of the way into the hammock.
Venti giggled once he was fully settled, turning to Oliver with a bright smile. "Well, I had the extra mora! I wasn't exactly hungry, but I just wanted to taste more of my favorite dish~" His smile turned slightly sheepish. "But maybe I did overdo it... Even though I'm a god, I can still get overstuffed in this form." The bard rested a hand over his corset, patting the tight fabric. "I gotta take this off. My tummy is literally straining in this..."
Deliberately, he chose not to use his wind to remove the garment. Venti had a mischievous idea—he wanted to see exactly how Oliver would react to what he was about to do.
Reaching behind himself, Venti gently undid the strap holding his Vision. He placed it down near his hip, keeping it close. Then, after stealing a quick glance to make sure Oliver's eyes were fixed squarely on him, he pulled the corset off entirely, tossing it lightly on top of the Vision strap.
"Ahhh, there we go~," Venti sighed, arching back into the hammock. In his frilly white shirt, his stomach protruded ever so slightly from the heavy meal. "Maybe I really did eat too much~," he hummed, patting his rounded middle and shooting Oliver a teasing look.
Oh no... that entire display was making Oliver melt into a puddle. "I-I... e... a..." His brain short-circuited, entirely incapable of forming actual words.
Venti fought to hold back a burst of giggles. He yanked the hem of his frilly shirt up, taking it from being tucked in his pants. "Like, look at this," he prompted, gazing down at himself. "It's so round! I definitely went overboard~" He gave his stomach another rhythmic pat. Slowly, his fingers traced their way to his belly button, teasingly ghosting over his navel as he arched his back. "Ahh~ Look, it's even deeper than usual~" Then he fingered it deeply inside, biting his lip.
Oliver couldn't take it anymore. "EEEE!" he squealed, practically zipping away and covering his burning face as if he'd just witnessed something forbidden. While it was no secret between them that he had a profound fondness for stomachs, the bard was being incredibly bold today, dishing out these teasing gestures completely unprompted.
What was new anyway, with his bard?
"Pffft!" Venti snorted into his hand, unable to contain his amusement. "Oh, look back over here, you dork~ I did say you could listen to my tummy, didn't I?" Keeping his shirt pulled up, he patted his middle once more. "Come on! Lay your ear on it, just like you did that one morning, my little windblume~"
Oliver slowly peeked through his fingers at the bard. Venti possessed that insufferable, teasing glint in his teal eyes—the specific glint that promised to make Oliver's heart pound like crazy. "Ugh..." Oliver grumbled playfully, shyly shifting his way back down the hammock as it swayed gently in the breeze.
He cast one more glance at Venti's belly before lying down, marveling at how the usually slim midriff was now visibly sticking out, completely filled with three large bowls of Buoyant Breeze. His gaze drifted back to Venti's navel. Catching the look, the bard smiled warmly and playfully wiggled a finger inside his belly button again to tease him further.
Oliver blinked, glancing up at Venti's face. Of course, he was smirking, but it was a light, profoundly warm expression.
Finally relaxing, Oliver got comfortable and rested his head directly against his boyfriend's stomach. He pressed his ear flat to the warm skin, eager to catch any little noise echoing from within. As Venti began to gently run his fingers through his hair, Oliver let his eyes flutter shut.
Glerrrgg~
A little gurgle came bubbling up from deep inside Venti's stomach. Oliver had his eyes closed, but his cheeks dusted with red.
"Hmm~ you liked that one, didn't you~?" the bard teased softly.
Despite his shyness, Oliver muttered, "Yeah."
More bubbling sounds came from inside of the bard's stomach.
Blorrergg~
Oliver snuggled closer against the comfortable warmth. The growls weren't particularly loud—just a chorus of busy little bubbles, nothing that intense for someone to have eaten over three bowls of soup.
Gloroo-ooerr-glerrr~
That one sounded a bit different. It was bubbly, but with that heavy, wet, and slushy resonance that never failed to make Oliver's heart race. Venti immediately noticed the subtle shift in Oliver's expression.
"Oooh~," he teased smoothly. "Was that the 'wet and sloshy' sound my little cutie talked about~?"
"S-Shut up," Oliver mumbled into the skin.
Venti just snorted affectionately.
Turning his head slightly, Oliver pressed a soft, warm kiss to his boyfriend's stomach before settling back down. A deep calm washed over him, completely comforted by the rhythmic rumbles and the sensation of Venti rubbing his head.
"Goodnight, Ollie," Venti smiled softly. "Sleep tight."
~~~~~
Begin send back.
System reboot commencing.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
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Error....
.... Reconnecting...
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Begin send back.
System reboot commencing.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
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Error....
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Begin send back.
System reboot commencing.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
~~~~~~
"Mrf—" Oliver mumbled to himself as the grogginess of reality hit him. He was waking up in the chair again. He let out a dry cough and fluttered his heavy eyes open. "Ugh... I seriously gotta wipe my eyes, and I fucking can't..." He instinctively tugged at his arms, giving up almost immediately. The heavy clamps still held him entirely immobile.
He planned to just lay back and wait for the chair to kick back online and send him back to Genshin. But then, he heard someone...
"Hey... are you... Did you wake up?"
The voice rang out from the oppressive darkness. Oliver blinked hard. Was it the kid from the chair in front of him? Had he been pulled back, just like him? Millions of thoughts rushed through Oliver's mind at once. Maybe that 'Richard' kid's chair was completely broken now, and he was getting sent back here constantly.
But no... the voice was coming from the left, near the door.
It wasn't Doctor Barclay. IT sounded nothing like him. Oliver couldn't see fully into the dark room, but he could just make out the silhouette of a figure standing by the door.
"W-Who's there?" Oliver asked cautiously.
"Give me a second," the voice replied. "I'm going to turn on the light, so be prepared, okay?"
Oliver narrowed his eyes in suspicion but followed the instruction, shutting his eyes tightly. Even through his eyelids, the sudden flare of the overhead fluorescents was blinding.
Carefully, he cracked one eye open. Then the other. Blinking away the harsh glare, he focused on the figure at the door.
"Hi," they said simply.
It was a boy. A teenager, at most.
"I—?" Oliver blinked, utterly bewildered. Who the fuck was this? And why were they just casually walking around? For a split second, he assumed again that it might be 'Richard', but a quick glance at the chair directly in front of him proved otherwise. Under the harsh lights, he could clearly see the other boy still slumped limply in his transfer chair.
So that scratched off this new guy of the list of being him.
"W-Who are you?"
The boy cautiously made his way over to Oliver's chair. "Hi," he repeated awkwardly. "I was... uh, in Extraction Room 2. I was the only transfer chair in there." He looked around the room for a moment, taking in the few other transfer chairs lined up against the opposite walls. "This is Extraction Room 1. Well, apparently. That's what the sign outside said, anyway." He outstretched an arm, offering Oliver a handshake.
Oliver just looked down at the boy's hand, blinked, and slowly looked back up at his face.
The boy quickly retracted his arm. "Oh! Haha," he chuckled nervously. "Can't exactly shake my hand, can you?" He coughed into his fist. "Sorry..."
"Who are you?" Oliver demanded again.
"Oh... Well, I'm August," the boy said softly. "August Barclay."
Oliver blinked once, processing the name. "August Barclay?"
August nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I'm Doctor Barclay's son." He looked around the sterile room once more. "I don't understand this... Dad said he didn't have any more of these... This doesn't make any sense." August looked back down at Oliver.
"Okay, let me get this straight," Oliver said, holding August's gaze. "You're telling me that Doctor Barclay is doing these experiments on his own children?"
"Well—" August rubbed the back of his neck defensively. "I did volunteer. But... I lost contact with Dad while I was in the world I got sent to. I was able to talk with him from within the world at first, but then I couldn't anymore." August let out a heavy breath. "It was hard, but with the help of... uh, someone I met in the world, I was able to shut down the machine and force myself out." He shook his head in disbelief. "This isn't even the same building I was in."
Oliver wanted to ask just a few questions. The biggest one: how exactly did this kid manage to shut the chair down from within the world? If he could get that information, maybe he could pull off the same trick with Venti's help. He would just have to formulate a solid plan the next time he was inside the warm water of the tub.
Oliver wanted to press for the answer, but his skepticism held him back. He couldn't fully trust this kid yet—whether it was because he was the son of an increasingly shady scientist, or simply because he was freely walking around a secure lab while Oliver was still bolted down.
"Why are you here, then?" Oliver settled on a different angle. "Why don't you just leave? Fetch us some help? Sorry to break it to you, kid, but... your dad is kinda... shady. I'm starting to think he's kidnapped most of the people in this room."
August nodded grimly. "Yeah, I'm starting to question things too. Something isn't right." He glanced back toward the door. "And about me fetching help... I can't leave the building. Like I said before, I don't recognize this place at all. I was in a small room before. Inside our house. But this... this is a full-on lab facility. I haven't explored much, but..." August looked back at Oliver, his expression tight.
"I've been outside. Well, out in the hallway, at least," he said, pointing toward the door. "Like I said, this is Extraction Room 1. I woke up in Extraction Room 2, according to the sign on the wall."
"There was an Extraction Room 3, too, but the door was locked tight. I couldn't get inside."
Oliver blinked. "Extraction Room 3?" He looked down, his brain racing. Shit. That meant there were more people inside this building. Doctor Barclay had more possible victims.
August kept talking. "If you make a left out of this room and head down the hallway, there's a break room. For workers, I'd assume. And then there's another room with a giant portal rim..."
Oliver's eyes widened sharply. "A portal rim?" he interrupted.
The boy nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't connected to anything. Well, I think it wasn't. I don't know how the hell it works, you know? It could be wireless for all I know. But there was a sign on it that said 'Unfinished.' Apparently, it's an experiment designed to connect to..." August furrowed his brow, struggling to remember. "Something about a game hallway... I don't know. It was as if the portal rim was supposed to breach into something else entirely. I'm not sure."
"Every time I wake up back here, it's some new bullshit. What the fuck is going on?" Oliver mumbled bitterly.
Hearing him, August shook his head. "And that's not all, either."
Oliver shot him a tense look.
"When you asked why I didn't just get help... the front doors are completely locked. And if you're wondering if I can lock-pick them or something, I can't. There aren't even any handles," August explained. "There was a window, though. A small window. So, breaking it wouldn't do any good, because I wouldn't be able to fit through it unless I was the size of a cat."
Oliver absorbed the information. "Oh. Well, yeah, that's out of the question then. But what did you see through the window? Was it the front door? Did you see outside?"
August nodded. "Yes! I could see outside! Though... all I saw were hills and hills of snow."
Oliver stared blankly at August for a long moment.
Snow?
Snow?!
Oliver's face scrunched up in utter confusion. "What?" he muttered.
August shrugged helplessly. "I assume you're from the same town as me? Well, at least the same state, I hope. California, right?"
Oliver slowly nodded his head.
Yeah. California. The state famous for not having hills and hills of fucking snow near L.A.
"Wait, wait, wait—" Oliver squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stave off a headache. "So that means we're not in the same place at all. Like, whatsoever. We're probably not even in the same state. Fuck, we might not even be in America anymore!" He snapped his eyes back open, glaring at August. "You must have a phone on you, right? If there's service, maybe you can pull up Google Maps and figure out our exact location."
August's expression fell, and he offered an apologetic shrug. "Sorry, I don't! I know for a fact I had my phone in my pocket before I got into the transfer chair. But when I woke up and got out, it was gone."
Oliver sucked his teeth in frustration. "Fucking Doctor isn't stupid..." he muttered darkly. He refocused on the teenager. "You need to tell me how I can shut off the chair from within the world. I don't usually remember anything about this place when I'm inside, but—"
"Oh, you don't?" August asked, surprised. "Funny... I did."
"Well, I don't. Not usually. But when I'm around a certain temperature, I can. The avatar is weak to it. Plus, I can get my... uh..." Oliver blinked, hesitating. "...friend..."
Sorry, Venti, Oliver mentally apologized.
"...to help me. Or, at least, find a way to help me."
August tilted his head. "So, you want me to tell you how to do it?"
Oliver nodded fiercely. "Please. Yes!"
"But you just said you wouldn't remember."
"I will remember when my body heats up when I'm back. So please tell me,"
August gave a single, firm nod. "Okay. Get ready, because it's kind of a lot to take in. And getting to this specific place within the dimension is an incredibly tedious task. It's not easily accessible at all to outsiders."
Oliver braced himself, nodding for August to continue.
~Begin Send Back~
The violent gasp that ejected from his lungs was deafening.
"Oh, fuck!" Oliver gasped out. He frantically whipped his head back toward August, about to scream at him to hurry the hell up, but it was already too late.
~~~~~
Begin send back.
System reboot commencing.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
~~~~~~
Error....
.... Reconnecting...
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~~~~~
Begin send back.
System reboot commencing.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
~~~~~~
Oliver slowly opened his eyes, wincing as his vision adjusted to the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy of leaves above him. He blinked gently, watching the green branches sway lazily in the breeze. He could hear the cheerful chirping of birds in the distance; one even fluttered onto a branch just a few feet away.
Staring up through the leaves, watching the birds dart across the brilliant blue sky, a profound sense of calm washed over him.
Beside him, he heard faint snoring. He turned his head to see Venti facing him, still alseep, one arm draped lazily over his chest.
Oliver couldn't help but smile, as he gently rested his own hand over the bard's.
Usually, Venti was awake long before him in the mornings, but it seemed those three massive bowls of Buoyant Breeze had thoroughly knocked him out.
Oliver's smile softened, allowing himself to simply enjoy this quiet, peaceful moment nestled so closely beside his boyfriend.
Then, he heard a sharp ding.
Suddenly, a piece of paper materialized in thin air directly above him. It started as a cascading stream of glowing numbers that rapidly condensed into a solid, physical object.
Slowly and gently, the paper fluttered down through the air until it landed squarely on his stomach.
Oliver propped himself up on his elbows, staring down at it in confusion. He plucked it off his belly. It was completely blank. Then, he flipped it over and found a block of text.
The Dimension Node. That is what you need. It's a hidden section inside ALL of the worlds of the Fictional Universe. It's a code room that can alter the dimension and change it to your will. If you're worried that YOU can mess with it, don't worry, you cannot. Only the dimension's Holder can. But, you will need to find the Holder of the dimension to even access the Dimension Node in the first place. I see that you are in Genshin Impact. Maybe the Holder is one of the Archons. Once you're there inside the Node, the only thing left for you to do is disconnect the chair. Once that happens, you can unlock your straps. — August
Oliver gripped the paper tightly, his eyes darting over the bizarre words again and again. Reaching the end, he looked past the note, staring blankly back up into the leafy canopy.
He looked back down at the paper—specifically at the signature.
"WHO!?" he whispered, his face a mask of utter bewilderment. "Where did this even come from?" He blinked rapidly, looking around the peaceful swaying branches. "Did it just fly in on the wind and land on my stomach?"
But then the memory clicked—it hadn't blown in from anywhere. It had literally materialized out of thin air as a string of numbers.
He glanced over at Venti, who was still snoring softly, entirely oblivious to the strange thing that just happened.
"I'll ask him about this during breakfast," Oliver decided quietly. He carefully folded the paper and shoved it deep into his pocket. Then, seeking comfort, he snuggled back down against Venti's side, pressing a quick, affectionate peck against his boyfriend's sleepy lips before letting his own eyes fall shut.