Wake up, Mr. Robot

Valli had to admit that Gask had taken that rather well. He hadn't panicked. He hadn't screamed or bowed or recoiled.

Bowing probably would have been the worse. Yes, Valli was part god, but no, that didn't really change anything. It didn't make him a god. It didn't change anything, not really.

"To be honest, being exhausted is probably one of the better reactions. People arrive in the islands all the time unaware that the supernatural exists, and the range of reactions when faced with demons and monsters and angels and gods is... varied. Being exhausted and needing time to protest is normal. I could show you to your room, if you'd like?"

Gask sleeping would give Valli some much needed time of his own to process. He was still running because that was his job--to continue regardless of mental stress and compartmentalize until he had time to unpack--but that didn't make it easy.

"Your room is your bedroom - where you can sleep and keep your things, and decorate if you'd like."

Valli's position in the world with regards to Gask was not clear at the moment. What was he, exactly? A mentor? Technically he'd never been anything but, and yet Valli couldn't help but feel terribly uncomfortable with the whole thing. Gask had been his superior in the simulation, even if not directly. He'd been in control, and Valli had looked up to him in a way. It felt strange to have things reversed, even though he should have known to expect it.

"I'm not going to say you can't today," Valli said. "But it would probably be a bad idea. I think... I think getting you settled in your room might be best, and then we can eat breakfast and go walking tomorrow. I'll show you the library."

Maybe the library would help. Maybe it would help him understand why Valli had brought him there.

The worst of the tension seemed to have faded away. There were still a lot of issues--and being realistic, there probably would be issues for months to come--but there was no more threat of immediate danger. Gask knew the truth, and Valli accepted he'd been an idiot to try and hide it from him.

He should have told him from the start.

"Your room is over here," Valli said, gesturing towards the opposite side of the apartment that Gask had run down. "You were in my room over there. Your room used to be my office, but-" Valli paused, realizing he'd left that out. Did Gask even understand the idea of a job? After a moment's thought he decided that he must, because people in stories had jobs all the time.

"I work as a therapist, by the way. At the school, but also at my own officer, so turning it back into a bedroom was just a matter of moving everything back to the office."

Which, if nothing else, would probably help his absolutely disastrous work/life balance.

Valli pushed open the door to reveal a modest and rather undecorated room. He'd left it fairly bare, doubting that Gask would care for decorations, which meant the entire room mostly amounted to a wooden dresser shoved up against one wall, a bed in the center with more blankets then Gask was probably used to, and a bathroom with all the required toiletries.

It was a bit of a relief to see Gask reaching out to touch things. It meant he was checking the environment, establishing it in his own mind as real. As his. As something that existed.

It was a good sign.

"Yes," Valli confirmed. "Therapy sessions happen at the school, or in my office. I simply kept the office here as a place to store things and to read. I didn't use it much, and it's easy to keep them at the office."

Gask still seemed confused, but he was already doing better then Valli had assumed. After the blow--his cheek still smarting--he'd assumed the worst.

"Yes," Valli said. "You can have all the time you want. If you'd like, I'll make some food and call you in an hour or so to eat."

Assuming Gask agreed, Valli'd quietly excuse himself and go to do just that... with a short stop in the bathroom to see how his face was going to look in the morning.