Reunited

Okay, so let me level with you. Psyhonauts is literally the greatest thing ever.

Seriously, on a list of important events in my life, playing this game is easily in the top three. My brother got it for me some few days after it came out WAY back in 2005 when I was depressed about growing up (I was about eight at the time. It was probably one of the first genuinely nice things he'd done for me) and I've played through it at least ten times since then. Seriously it's easily my favorite video game of all time, and probably one of the greatest works of art in existence. If you haven't played it, play it. It's like ten bucks on steam and it'll blow your goddamn mind, so just play it already.

Now, without further ado, here's some Raz/Lili fluff.

"You'll write, right? You'd better right, or I'll find you, and then you'll wish you hadn't saved the world."

"Yeah Lils. I promise"

Three months.

It had been three FREAKING months since the last letter.

Raz is gonna pay.

It's bad enough I only get to see him when he comes to Psychonauts HQ for briefing, now I don't get to see his letters? If that stupid circus lets him go to briefing I don't see why they can't let him go to freaking camp!

Ugh.

My name is Lili Zanotto. I have psychic powers. My boyfriend, Raz, he's got powers too. And five years ago, he saved the world.

I won't bore you with the details, but basically, one of our teachers at this camp for psychics went crazy, extracted brains from children, and tried to use them to power fleets of psychic death tanks.

And he would have done just that, if it weren't for Raz.

A lot of things would be different if it weren't for Raz, now that I think about it. I'll have to thank him for everything he's done the next time I get a chance. After I kick his ass for not WRITING ME FOR THREE FRIGGIN MONTHS!

Well, I suppose the more accurate thing to say was he hadn't written me about anything for three months.

Because, even though I got something in the mail today, it sure as hell didn't make up for three months of no writing!

All it was was a note saying "Head here tonight. Just tell them your name. Love, Raz" There was an address to some park outside of town, and a time.

Just what the heck is that supposed to mean? Is he meeting me somewhere? Is there something I need to see? God I hate it when he's all cryptic and charming like this!

I mean- I dindn't mean to add charming to that I just-!

My face turned red and I almost ripped the paper in my hands.

"Hmm. Mail from this mysterious boyfriend?" One of my school friends asked.

"Shut it Jenny. He's real."

"And yet you never offer any proof."

"Oh, I'll have proof the next time I see him. The blood on my hands."

Whatever was at this park had better be really freaking important!

"Oh. MY. GOD!"

I got to the park. There was this HUGE tent abd all these trailers and lights and there was this big sign and it said "The Aquatos! You Will Believe That Men Can Fly!"

This was his circus. This was Raz's circus! Dammit! Why couldn't that little creep just tell me! Him and his stupid cute secretiveness! I mean- wait! I didn't mean to say cute! UGH!

… Okay, anyway, yeah it's his circus. It's Raz's circus. Where he'll doing all his acrobatics, and his stunts, and I'll get to see him… Dammit, I'm supposed to be mad at him but I'm just getting all flustered!

Well, I'm here now, so I might as well get this over with.

So I go to the entrance, and there's this guy at the door, and he's taking people's tickets. That's when I realize I don't have one. Shit. He didn't send me any tickets to this thing! All that stupid note said was to tell them my name! Oh well, it's worth a shot.

"Ticket, ma'am?"

"Uh, My name's Lili Zanotto."

The guy raised his eyebrows, and he just kinda smiled. "Lars, please show Miss Zanotto to her seat." He called.

Then this other guy came up to me and told me to follow him inside. I guess Raz had a place saved for me. God, he makes it so hard to stay mad at him!

So, anyway, I'm at my seat, and I'm looking around, and this tent is HUGE. There are like a MILLION people in here and the place STILL isn't full. I look at my seat, and I guess there's something special about it. See there are these poles that stick out of the bleachers at certain parts, and min was right in front of one. I'm not exactly sure what they're for, but the people around me were telling me how lucky I am. I notice that seats around the poles were taken but the ones right in front of them weren't so widely occupied.

I figured shouldn't think about it too much. I was gonna find out what it all meant anyway.

So after a while, the lights went down, and then the performances started coming out. The stuffi saw these people do made my stomach do backflips, and it only made it worse when I realized that most of them were doing these things without even being psychic. These guys were spitting fire and telling ferocious animals what to do and freaking swallowing swords, coughing them up and throwing them at targets with people spinning on them! It was pretty sweet.

Then, after a few hours, it got to the final act of the night; the Acrobats. That meant Raz. From the walls of the 'performance area' I guess it's called, all this black smoke started to fill the place. It all collected in the center of the grounds, and then it just started to rise. Soon there was just this big mountain of black smoke, it was actually pretty scary. But then, out of freaking nowhere, the smoke just cleared, like, instantly, and there was just a bunch of people in orange and blue ragdoll looking outfits stacked on top of each other like a tower of cards. And at the top of it, there was one performer, hand standing on a dude's head, with his legs in a perfect split. His outfit had a very specific addition to it; a pair of goggles with red lenses.

Raz.

Before I could even get over the shock of seeing him, the show began, and holy crap these people aren't allowed to be human.

They just trickled out of their human pyramid and like some kind of amorphous blob they just started stacking onto each other in different shapes. They made a star, a t-rex and some kind of bird and I couldn't figure out how the hell they managed to take these shapes without falling all over each other!

But, if you could believe it, it only got more insane. As soon as 'guess the shape' was done, they all gathered to make a person-volcano. They tacked up on top of each other, and people just started shooting out of the top of the man-mountain, and being caught in mid-air by people on trapezes. Before I knew it, the lights pointed to the ceiling, and these people were just flying, freaking flying through the air! Back and forth they just swung on trapezes, caught each other, swung on more trapezes, landed on tight ropes and just started doing more insane poses, like they were bored or something! I could make Raz out of the flying freakshow, holding onto a chain of three other people, and that's when I realized something that made my guts churn. I couldn't sense his mind. He wasn't using his freaking powers! He was in serious danger! No, of course he wouldn't, should've known he'd be too proud to use his powers while performing. That stubborn idiot!

I started to shiver in my seat. Every time I saw him fly into the air, I could feel my heart rate skyrocket. That's when I could swear it stopped altogether. The spot light was on Raz, as he shot in to the air, right in the center of the tent, and began descending head first to the ground. The other performers were all swinging toward him, all being just too far out of reach. It took every fiber of my being not to grab with my powers. I told myself it was just a part of the show. Right?

He was getting closer to the ground, and I was getting closer to losing my freaking mind! He was just inches, freaking inches off the ground before finally someone swung down and caught him! The crowd was all cheering, but I was just sitting there, shivering in my seat. My stupid boyfriend's gonna give me freaking heart attack!

Anyway after almost making my head explode, the performers went back to swinging around the tent, and then some of them started landing into the crowds, on those poles that were scattered through the audience. When they reached a pole, they climbed down and started just sort of interacting with the people around them. That's when I saw something land on the pole in front of my seat. Raz stood perfectly balanced on top of the pole, just looking down at me. All of a sudden, his body went slack and he sort of slithered down the pole like some freaky snake person.

That's when I got a good look at him and… oh man. That ragdoll outfit he was wearing was practically squeezing him, and I just couldn't ignore what I was seeing. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing the obvious muscle he's developed over the years. He wasn't hiding behind his sweater and bomber jacket anymore. It didn't help that his right arm was the only part of him that was exposed and cover with sweat. If my face turns anymore red, it's gonna catch fire.

So Raz slithers down the pole and before I know it, he's leaning forward with his legs still wrapped around the pole, and his face is right next to mine. He's got a mask covering his face, and I can't see his eyes through his goggles, but I know exacty what expression he has on. It's that smug grin he gets when he knows I'm flustered. He puts his hands behind his back and pulls out a rose, one that hasn't bloomed yet. He claps his hands together, and it disappears. Then he takes his right hand and traces along my jaw and bring my face closer to his. I'm trying my best to keep the whole tent from bursting into flames. Our faces are centimeters apart when he suddenly waves a hand between us. I move my head back as he makes these quick gestures around my head and slithers right back up the pole. I'm so bewildered I don't even realize what's just happened until I notice an unfamiliar sensation on my ear. I feel the side of my head, and notice that he put something behind my ear. It was the rose, the one that vanished, except this time, it was in full bloom.

God damn he was good.

I was just in a trance looking at the rose for I don't even know how long, when before too long, the show had ended. My heart sank in my chest. This is the only time I'll get to see him in who knows how long, and I don't even get to talk to him. I sigh and get ready to leave, when one of the ticket takers comes up to me.

"Miss Zanotto, you've been invited to meet the performers."

I couldn't nod fast enough.

I followed the guy into this other little tent, and could see some of the performers just resting or practicing for the next show. Before I could even get a good look around, I could feel the life squeezed out of me some woman who was babbling about something in some thick accent.

"I'm sorry, but, could you please put me down?" I managed to say despite my lungs being crushed.

I was placed on the ground and turned to see a tall woman with green hair and, woah look at the size of those things.

"You're Lili, yes? Please come with me!" she said cheerfully. I followed her round the tent before realizing that I had no idea who this woman was.

"Um I sorry, have we met before, or something?" I asked.

"Oh, silly me, I haven't properly introduced myself! I am Valentina Aquato. I am Razputin's mother" she said.

Oh dear sweet jesus.

"Razputin talks about you all day every day, I swear my dear!"

"Can't get the little bloke to shaddap about ya!" called a man with a thick Australian accent.

"Oh shut it Clay! That's Clayton, he's a fire spitter. And a royal pain in the ass!" Valentina called.

"Come, you should see the rest of the family, we've been waiting a very long time to meet you my dear!"

She grabbed me by my wrist and started ragging me across the tent. I gotta say, when I pictured meeting Raz's family, I didn't expect it to go quite like this. But, of course, I really should've known better than to expet any normality from a family of circus performers. While being given the 'tour' I could see all the jugglers and animal tamers all just hanging around. There lions and mokeys and all these other exotic animals just hanging around.

All I could think about was how common this must've been for Raz. He saw stuff like this every day. It's really interesting just how different our lives are. Maybe that's why I liked Raz so much. He was just so exciting.

Oh god I sound like some love-struck schoolgirl. Oh god, I AM some love-struck schoolgirl!

*sigh*

Okay, so anyway, eventually Mrs. Valentina dragged to this one guy at a weight bench. This guy was ENOURMOUS. I didn't know they made people in that size. He was at least seven feet tall and like, four feet wide, and I couldn't make out any of his facial features behind all his freaking facial hair!

"Lili, this is Raz's little brother Dmitri."

Wait. Stop everything.

Little brother?

"You're younger than Raz?!" I shouted much more loudly than intended.

He nodded, and continued lifting weights that must've been at least three tons.

"Yes he had quite the growth spurt some years ago. He's quite big for fourteen, no? He's the spitting image of his grandfather." said Valentina.

Colossus put the freaking wrecking balls back on the hooks and stood up. I became all too familiar with the perspective of an ant as he towered over me. He just sort of put his hand on my head, and patted me. I guess that was a good sign. He didn't crush me at least.

"Alas, he's not much for conversation. Shy boy." Valentina said as Goliath left to probably consume a small forest.

As soon as King Kong was off, Valentina grabbed my arm again and brought me to another part of the tent.

There were these two women who looks EXACTLY like each other juggling swords between each other.

"These are Razputin's older sisters. Kiara and Bianca."

Should've guessed they were Raz's sisters. They happened to inherit floatation devices from Mrs. Valentina.

"Oh girls! Come meet Razputin's girlfriend!" she called.

Gotta say, even though I'd been calling him my boyfriend since before we were actually together, I still blushed every time someone called me Raz's girlfriend.

So his sister look at me, and without missing a beat, they start throwing the swords they were juggling into the air.

And I could tell they were coming for my general direction.

I flinched as they planted themselves into the ground in a perfect circle around me.

The twins started strutting in circles around me, with these kind of suspicious looks, like they were inspecting me for something.

I wasn't all too comfortable with the way they were looking at me. "You know, you could just take a picture. It'll last longer." I said.

"We have to make sure you are strong. Our little brother can't be with some weakling." Said one with a stern tone.

"And we must make sure you will not harm him. Men's hearts are weaker than they are willing to admit." Said the other in a kinder voice.

"Believe me, Raz doesn't have to worry about me hurting his heart. But his body tend to take some abuse whenever he acts like an idiot."

They looked at each other.

Then they looked at me.

"Approved!" They pulled some of the swords out of the ground and brought me into a pretty awkward hug.

"Do keep our little brother out of trouble."

"Yes. He has an affinity for danger."

"Don't have to tell me."

They put me down and cantered off to somewhere else. I didn't see where because as soon as they were gone I was back on the tour.

Miss Valentina dragged me to all the cool stuff, I met some more performers. It was great, but it seemed like there was one person she was avoiding showing to me.

"Um, Mrs. Valentina, this is all really great, but is Raz around?"

She stopped and froze, like she was surprised I asked.

"Ah right, of course you would like to see him. Well, he's in his trailer over there." She pointed to a small cart on the back of the tent.

Then she knelt down put her face to my ear. "If I find you've done something to my son, all the psychic power on the world won't stop me from making you spend the rest of your life in pure agony." She said in this creepy, sing-song tone.

I got serious chills.

I ran to where Raz's mom pointed. I was excited. I was smiling. Dammit, I was supposed to be angry at him! Ugh. Why does he have to be so great?

I knocked on the trailer door, and I heard him call back from inside. "Come in."

I got in and… woah.

He was still wearing that outfit, and he was upside down, using one hand to balance on his finger, and the other to turn the pages in a comic book. On his right foot was twenty-pound weight, on his left, a ten-pound.

His mask was off, and I could already tell his hair had gotten shaggier.

My face turned so red, but then I found new vigor in the fact that he didn't right me for three months, didn't tell me his circus was coming to town, AND SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH IN SOME STUPID TRAPEZE STUNT!

"RAZ!" I shouted.

He fell over and landed on his stomach, the weights landing to his sides.

"Huh?" he asked, looking at me from his grounded position, confusion surrounding me. However, he seemed to register that it was me he was looking at, because he got this smug little grin on his face.

"Heya Lils." He says, all cool.

"Don't 'Heya Lils' me. First, you don't write me for three months, then, you don't tell me that you're circus is coming here, and THEN you risk your life over some stupid stunt and give me a heart attack! And now you think everything's just fine 'cause you wriggled your sexy little body down that pole and did a magic trick, huh?"

He just kept looking at me with that smirk, like he knew something I didn't.

What the hell was he getting at- oh. I said…

My face started glowing. "I- I didn't mean to- I mean!"

I was BEYOND embarrassed at this point.

Then Raz did something which was just all kind of unfair. From his postion of lying down on his stomach, he lifted his legs, ad placed the bottoms of his feet next to his head. He then coiled out from that position, bringing his head up from behind him and straightened out in front of me. I was too amazed by this, and too embarrassed by my own words to move when he pulled me into a sweet embrace.

I could have hit him. I was going to hit him. But, when his arms were around me, after so long, there wasn't a thing on this planet that could stop me from hugging back.

"Missed ya Lils."

"You're an ass, you know that?"

"And you still say the nicest things."

We pulled away from each other, but kept our arms around each other. Raz brough his head down to gently kiss me on the lips.

And there was no way he was getting away with it. I locked the door with telekinesis, and jumped him. He had to make up for every second I didn't see him, and then some, and I was going to make him.

"So, how was it yesterday with the boyfriend yesterday?"

"I thought you didn't think he existed?"

"I didn't, but I can see he left some evidence."

Jenny pointed to the curve of my neck, and I pulled my mirror out to see what she was looking at. There, on my neck was a reddened love bite. My face hurt it was so red.

"How far have you gone with the young man, Zanotto?"

"S-shut up!" I said.

It only got worse when I realized that Raz probably had a lot more on his body than I did on mine.

Did they did it? I'm not sure myself, you'll have to interpret this on your own. But first go play Psychonauts. Seriously, it's great.