Quattro - who had returned to going by Thomas, at least among his family - was cutting through the living room when he paused at the sound of his dad's voice coming from the front side of the couch.
"Yes-yes! Victory! Yield to my power, mwah hah ha!"
Yeah, ok that was definitely all kinds of wrong. Now, him just being in front of the tv wasn't strange; even after he'd stopped being completely and totally insane, it still wasn't uncommon to find him on the couch watching cartoons. It at least wasn't literally evil, so they had all learned to just deal with it (Micheal even joined him occasionally). But this wasn't quiet (or even excitable) cartoon watching. Cause, you know, the maniacal giggling wasn't exactly encouraging.
Thomas leaned over the back of the couch to glare skeptically at Vetrix right as he jumped to his feet on top of the couch (something the middle brother knew that Chris hated, not that he gave a crap, really), so they ended up face to face.
"What the hell is this? You losing it again or something?" he snapped, at least part of him genuinely afraid that this moment of sanity his father had regained was really only a moment. He didn't think he could handle going back to what their family had been when vengeance was all that had mattered.
The masked man stumbled in surprise at the sudden appearance of his son, quickly windmilling his arms to catch his balance.
"Thomas, you surprised me! You shouldn't sneak up on people, you know," he chided. His tone was almost lecturing, which at any other time would've been humorous, but right now Thomas couldn't help but be slightly relieved to hear his father's voice return more to normal (well, as normal as it could be, all things considered).
Even so, he still hated hearing the criticism, and, bristling, shot back, "Yeah? And you aren't supposed to stand on the couch, so what?"
"It's my couch," muttered Vetrix to himself, "I should be able to stand on it if I want." Despite the complaint to the absent Christopher, he still (somewhat guiltily) sank back to sitting.
Thomas rolled his eyes. He didn't actually care, not about that, anyway. "So, what ARE you doing?"
Vetrix turned back to the TV screen, waving off his concerned tone and replying nonchalantly - almost overly innocently if you asked Quattro - "Just a little online competitive," gesturing with a controller towards the screen for emphasis. He had just scrolled over a section of the character selection screen, when the small man must have had some sudden idea, because he swiftly turned back around to kneel excitedly over the edge of the couch and stare at his son intensely, grinning (though fortunately seemingly not in an evil mastermind way, actually the smile kind of reminded him of Yuma, for some stupid weird reason),"Would you care to join me?" He asked enthusiastically, his hands (including the one holding the controller) tapping against the top of the couch energetically.
"Huh?" was all he could manage to respond. It wasn't that videogames sounded unappealing, it was just such a little kid thing to do, and the fact that his father was both so enthusiastic about them plus trying to get him, a champion duelist, to play them with him was just a little bit off putting.
Standing again, Vetrix held out a second game controller, grin a bit more sly than it had been before, "Join me, my son, and together we will destroy all who oppose us!"
Thomas looked between the controller, the idling menu screen of the game, and the grinning (half) face of his father. He definitely didn't look like he was going insane again, he was missing the cruel gleam in his eye that he had used to have when saying stuff like that, but all the same…
"Well, I guess if you don't want to play, that's fine," said his father after his indecisive silence had dragged on for a bit too long, his voice sounding somewhere between disappointed and a straight up pout. "I suppose just because you're a skilled duelist doesn't mean you'd be any good at videogames. I probably wouldn't play if I thought I was just going to lose, either."
"Is that supposed to be some kind of challenge or something?!" retorted Quattro, immediately seeing the half-assed motivation ploy for what it was, but honestly, just playing a game wasn't a big enough deal that he couldn't be nudged into it (at least he wasn't being pushed into actually hurting anyone again). What the heck, videogames could be fun, and he couldn't let his winning abilities go challenged like that! "There's no way I'd be lame at some game! Gimee that!" he shouted, taking the offered controller from his father's hand, and jumping over the edge of the couch to sit beside him. The two of them selected their characters, the son with a competitive growl and the father with a mischievous cackle.
An hour later, Quinton strided into the living room, drawn by the raucous sound of the shouted dialogue of his brother and father. There were one too many curse words (Thomas), maniacal bouts of laughter (Father), and threats of violence (Both of Them) for him to remain unconcerned at their activity. Case in point, what he was hearing right now as he approached the two of them.
"Yes, yes! Very good, Thomas! You throw projectiles from the front and I'll take them out from behind! Victory will surely be ours!" There was a musical chime and a victory screen appeared on the screen. "We win!" cheered Vetrix, hopping up to stand victoriously on the couch, which immediately caused the observing Chris to scowl. He loved his father, truly, and he couldn't be happier that he had come back to his senses, but there were still just some things that made him act..well, childish, to say the least. "We're unstoppable!" he celebrated, turning towards his middle child and clearly still not noticing the presence of his eldest.
"Hah! That's what you losers get for challenging a champion!" jeered Quattro at the screen, shaking his controller for good measure.
"And what are you two doing?" asked Christopher, finally making his presence known as he moved to stand in front of the screen, and glaring levelly at them. Or, more specifically, glaring at his father's feet currently on the couch cushions.
The two gamers flinched, meeting Chris' glare. "Everyone in this family has a sneaking up on people problem," commented Vetrix, clearly trying to sidestep the issue.
"Pot calling kettle. We probably just learned it from you," inputted his middle son.
Vetrix hummed at the theory, musing on it. Meanwhile his eldest son's glare had only intensified. Putting on an innocent smile, but still standing (short height or no he was still the father, darn it, he's not going to let himself be lectured by his own son, it was his couch he could ruin it if he wanted, so there), he greeted his son blithely, "Why, hello, Christopher! Your brother and I were just playing a little game. Would you care to join us?"
Christopher did not look convinced, merely crossing his arms and arching a brow the slightest amount. "From the shouting that was happening in here it hardly sounded like a 'little' game," he observed in a deceptively passive voice.
"Oh, no, we raised our voices!" snarked Thomas in a mock guilt. Smirking, he added, "Ever hear of headphones? Or do you just like finding things to complain about?"
If anything, that only served to redirect the older brother's glare to the younger. "I think," suggested the eldest in his continued forced level voice, "You could have this 'father-son bonding' elsewhere. Perhaps outside."
"You can't tell me what to d-" Quattro started to rant. But Vetrix, who had remained standing which made him a bit taller than his middle child, laid a stilling hand on his shoulder.
"Thomas," his father spoke surprisingly calmly, "Don't be angry with your brother." Stretching, then setting the controller down, he jumped down from the couch and looked sheepishly up at his oldest son. "Christopher is probably partially right," he admitted, thinking back on his behavior of the past hour or so.
Christopher gave a self-satisfied hum.
Turning back to his hot-headed son (and now near chest level instead of face to face), he gave him a smile and continued his train of thought, "We were a great team, son, and you were truly very good at the game! But, er, maybe we should take a break." For all of his talk of wanting to act like a responsible father again, Vetrix was realizing that he hadn't exactly been acting like one, and had just gone back to encouraging his son's more damaging traits. This time at least not out of malevolence, but it had started to become the result all the same.
"Yeah, ok," grumbled Thomas in reply, easily pacified by the praise. His father obviously gave compliments more often now, but the young man still tended to treasure every one because the Vetrix of the Duel Carnival and long before had been so dismissive.
Setting his own controller down, he at last followed his father's lead, getting up and stretching as he stood. He still gave his brother a glare, though, just for the principle of it.
"Whatever. It was getting boring winning so easily, anyway," he scoffed, not willing to just give up the argument so easily. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he walked away, his father walking a pace faster to fall into step beside him.
"We should do that again sometime! It was fun!" he commented, looking up at him. A theatrical cough from behind them caused them both to look over to where Christopher was still glaring their way, the TV now turned off behind him. More sheepishly, Vetrix added, "Just maybe not sometime too soon."