Vik hugged Reece without thinking much about it of course. He was never good with girls. But he also didn’t have any inhibitions interacting with them.

Vik had seen blood and gore, injured himself and others for the most mediocre of profits, and seen the not-so-pretty face of life. He wouldn’t be nervous around someone just because they happened to have something different between their legs than him.

So Vik hugged her in a platonic way, to comfort and soothe her. He caressed her back while staying silent. His hug was gentle and comforting. His touch was non-intrusive. And his mind was thinking about various things at once while he did that.

Reece wasn’t expecting something like this. All of a sudden, she found herself getting embraced by her crush and was stupefied because of it. She stopped crying and decided to prioritize processing the butterflies that started popping in her stomach. Her arms hugged him back involuntarily.

“You calmed down now?”

​ Vik caressed Reece’s back once more before asking her. He was starting to notice that the girl was wearing a pleasant floral perfume. It wasn’t too loud or too mellow. Just enough to get his attention when he hugged her.

“Yes… I’m sorry too. I… I was…”

Vik chuckled when he understood why the girl was saying sorry. He patted her back and broke their hug. He then made Reece look in the eyes before speaking up.

“It’s fine. Next time… just ask me.”

Vik didn’t know if this was a dream or not. Or whether this was an illusion in Oasis. But he could feel that the girl had no malice for him.

Reece took some time to process Vik’s response. When she did, she opened her eyes wide in surprise before having another tinge of redness on her cheeks.

This time, it was Reece who hugged him back. They were in extreme proximity to each other. So the hug came naturally and easily for her. Even more so because Vik had initiated it the first time.

“I’m so glad. Why… Why were you acting so aloof to me all this time?”

With a small voice that would have been unnoticed if Vik wasn’t hugging her, Reece spoke. The latter didn’t understand. But he also felt that he did not need to speak this time.

Vik felt that there was a missing piece of the puzzle he wasn’t aware of. So he asked to confirm.

“We are not in Oasis, are we?”

Reece got confused by Vik’s response. She didn’t know what to say except that it must have been due to his peculiar habits.

“How many times did the captain tell you not to experiment within Oasis so much? It has messed up your mind.

And why have you been talking in this subtle Russian accent ever since you woke up? What has gotten into you?”

Vik didn’t understand Reece’s question at first. He then looked at Reece with a confused expression only to see that she was equally confused.

Only now did he realize that he was speaking in English. His subconscious mind had chosen to speak the language after seeing the things around him. But his conscious mind was slow to catch up.

Vik then looked into Reece’s green eyes as she was staring at him eagerly. In her eyes, he saw his reflection. Or what should have been his reflection? And yet again, there was something odd about it.

Vik brought Reece closer and looked into her eyes keenly to watch his reflection. But he soon found out that this was not enough. He quickly pushed her a bit back and started observing his arms.

‘This… this is different.’

Vik commented to himself before feeling his face with his palms. Reece’s confusion grew even further as she watched him observe his own body with a shocked expression.

Vik quickly got up from the ground and looked around him. He began looking around the room for something. He finally found the mirror that was placed above the small wash basin in the corner.

Vik quickly got there and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He shook his head in denial and slapped himself before looking at the reflection once again.

‘This… this is the guy I saw at the time of the crash. What the fuck is happening? Why am I standing here looking like him?

This… is not Oasis.

Did the attack fry my brain?’

Vik’s mind was running haywire. His expressions told Reece that he was in dire need of something and he wasn’t sure where to look. She quickly got up and walked near him. She held him and hugged him from behind before asking him hurriedly.

“Eren, what’s wrong? What’s bothering you? Tell me.”

Vik felt like the gravity had been turned upside down when he heard the name. Listening to that name had become the trigger for his brain to start playing strange memories in his mind.

Vik’s eyes dilated as he felt short of breath. He again felt like he was losing control of his body. As if his mind was going to implode due to all those memories flooding into it.

Vik was losing his balance. And he would have fallen to the ground if it wasn’t for Reece hugging her from behind him.

“Eren… Eren… what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?

I’ll call in sick for both of us.”

Reece’s panicked voice could be heard behind Vik. But he wasn’t in his right mind to pay attention to it. He was in a misery of his own.

Vik grabbed his head with both of his hands and let his entire body weight fall on Reece. If she wasn’t a Meta, she would have lost her footing with him by now.

“Fuuuuuck. I… I need to fucking lie down. He… help me.”

Vik finally managed to stutter. Reece, who was getting antsy because of Vik’s condition, understood what Vik wanted and immediately got to it. She also observed that Vik was using a foul language he hadn’t used before. But now wasn’t the time to ask that. She supported his body easily with her enhanced body stats and guided him to his bed.

“Eren… Eren… don’t worry. I’ll call someone to take a look at you, okay?”

Reece said with part worry and part panic on her face. She was about to leave. But just then, she felt that there was a hand grabbing her by the writs. It was Vik’s. He was trying to prevent her from going anywhere.

“No… No, don’t call the cops. Don’t fucking call anyone. I… I’m fine. Just let me rest a bit.”

Vik said and made Reece stop in her tracks. A hustler’s worst nightmare– someone calling cops on them when they were incapacitated. Of course, he was unaware that there were no cops in Elysian cities.

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