Chapter 2, Page 6

You Can't Always Be The Hero

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"Joey why is he here?" Asriel asked, obviously not very happy to see Viktor sitting on the couch and rightfully so.

"I guess you're here to finish smacking me around right? Are you just here to try and get Chara back?" Viktor didn't seem to mind how agitated Asriel was sounding at the moment, he was well within rights to after what happened.

"If I was here to see her I would've asked about her but no I'm asking about you instead...I asked to talk to you."

"Well I think what you did speaks a lot more than anything you could say at this point, I don't want to hear anything you have to say to me."

"Asriel please just take a moment to listen to me...I'm not asking you to forgive me or anything I'm just asking for you to at least take a moment to listen to what I have to say...After that what you decide is up to you." Asriel just rolled his eyes in irritation and took a seat on one of the chairs opposite of Viktor.

"Say what you need to say and get it over with..." Viktor took a moment to think about how he wanted to approach this but found a bit of difficulty with what to say, it wasn't because he still had a problem with Asriel but it was rather hard to apologize properly for essentially almost killing him in a fit of anger that could've easily been resolved had Viktor actually listened for 5 minutes instead of going off.

"Well...I'm just going to come out and say that it was wrong how I reacted about the whole situation...I was just angry that I found out the source of why Chara was hurt for so long and instead of thinking about how things have changed a lot since then I went and reacted on the first thing that went through my head instead of listening to her about it...Honestly I have a feeling she was going to tell me that she never held anything against you for it and that I shouldn't be angry about something that you guys long forgave each other for..."

"Well no shit you were wrong...For God's sake Viktor you could've taken 5 seconds, 5 fucking seconds of your time to think about what I was feeling at the time before you did anything, are you at all aware of what a sociopath is? You know, those people who are completely incapable of feeling any sort of empathy for another person or their own actions? That was basically me at the time when I stuck as Flowey, it was never that I didn't want to feel sympathy, it was the fact that I was completely INCAPABLE of doing so! I could feel anger, I could feel hate, I wasn't capable of feeling love, I wasn't able to feel sympathy for my actions, that wasn't something I chose that was something that I was forced to endure until Chara actually helped me and after that I was able to sit back and realize what I had done over those years...When I was Flowey I didn't even see Chara as herself, I didn't see her as a friend, or a sister, or anything more than a pawn I could use but that wasn't because I chose to it was because I was incapable of seeing her as anything else, but you didn't understand that! No all you heard was "Oh it was his fault Chara was hurt" and instead of asking a question or trying to figure out anything else about the situation you went and you did what Viktor does, you ended up hurting someone..." Asriel's voice had gotten rather loud as he was speaking, each word coming out hit Viktor with the force of a train but in his mind it wasn't anything undeserved, in fact to him it was Asriel letting out his own anger that had built up over the last day and if it made him feel better and at least somewhat helped the current problem, he wasn't going to object to it.

"Viktor I could at least understand that you were angry, Joseph was the same way when he found out but he at least bothered to ask some questions instead of reacting the way you did, it's okay that you were angry I was angry too, Chara was angry, we were all angry once we realized what happened but we at least asked more than one question about it before we went up the fucking wall and ended up hurting someone!" At this point Asriel had stood up from his chair and was yelling loud enough that Chara came out to see what was going on, she heard Viktor's name and immediately had a bad taste in her mouth when she left her room.

"So this is your way of fixing things? Stressing Azzy out more than you already have?"

"To be fair...This is me yelling now, not because of something he said..." Viktor tried to hide the small grin that came to his face when Asriel still took the moment to defend him.

"Anyway...The point of this is you should've at least ASKED me something instead of instantly going into "smash smash me angry Saiyan mode"..." Asriel took a deep breath before sitting back into his chair, Chara just stood in the hallway waiting for what Viktor would say, she was sort of expecting him to go on another rant because of the way Asriel was yelling but he didn't, in fact he seemed unusually calm in the moment.

"You're right...I should've went into this situation with a bit more of a level head than I did...And I shouldn't have hurt you the way I did and I know it probably doesn't mean much to you but I'm sorry for what I did...And like I said I'm not going to ask you to forgive me nor am I going to expect you to but I feel I should still at least attempt to apologize for what happened..." Chara had to do a double take to make sure she heard that right, honestly Viktor wasn't acting at all like she would expect in the moment, when she saw him yesterday he was locked into a screaming match with Joseph and now today he was letting Asriel tee off without fear of him retaliating.

"...It's going to take some time alright? I'm not just going to act like things are all well and good between us because you actually came over here to apologize..."

"That's fine...Like I said I'm not expecting you to, the fact that you took the time to hear me out is kind of an accomplishment in its own right..." Chara quickly walked past the two towards the kitchen where Joseph was waiting for the outcome of the conversation.

"Joseph...Is something, I don't know...Wrong with Viktor? The way he's acting he seems...Different..."

"I mean...He apologized to me, owned up to his mistake, then comes here and does the same thing with Asriel and you think something's wrong with him?..."

"I know I should be taking this well but it's just...I'm not used to it, he's usually...What's the word I'm looking for..."

"Angry?"

"Close but no it's usually what leads to anger in some of his cases.."

"Prideful?"

"Yeah...He rarely owns up to his mistakes like this...Sure he apologizes when he makes one but not like this..."

Meanwhile back in the living room Viktor was thinking of a way to approach their other problem, more specifically Joseph's problem of whether Asriel truly forgave him for not being there.

"Asriel can I ask you something?" He just shrugged at Viktor.

"Joseph is...Rather concerned about your relationship...He told me that you seemed to come off as more angry at him over the fact that he wasn't there at the time and that you seemed to have gotten a bit distant towards him..." Asriel seemed to shift uncomfortably in his seat at where Viktor was going with this.

"Are you mad at him for that?"

"I'm not mad it's just...He said he would always be there to protect me when I needed him and in that case he wasn't and it just...I was disappointed that he wasn't there when I needed him the most...If he was we could've sorted this whole thing out without anybody getting hurt..." Viktor mulled over what he was going to say next in his head for a bit, paying attention to Asriel's body language in the meantime.

"Asriel...There was something he said to me last year that I think really fits for this situation because it was a similar scenario that he gave me...And it was something that was meant for me to take to heart and I guess now would be the best situation for me to use it, he said that at some point there would be a time where he wouldn't be around to help just like I wouldn't be around to help Chara...Whether it be intentional or not there would just come a time where we wouldn't be around to protect you guys if you needed it and it wouldn't be our fault, not for a lack of trying at least and in that case it wasn't Joseph's fault about what happened...He just wasn't there at the time it occurred and you're right if he was there we could've probably talked things out without anything getting violent, I probably would've just gotten a little angry and left it at that but there just wasn't a cap at the time until Chara came up and said something, but as far as it being Joseph's fault in any sense...He really had nothing to do with it, unless he was there, there wasn't really anything he could've done and it's not like he's psychic he didn't know I would react the way I did, for God's sake even I didn't realize I was going to react the way I did, I knew I was angry...But angry enough to end up hurting one of you guys wasn't exactly something I was prepared to deal with...All I'm saying Asriel is that I know you expected Joseph to be there for you but sometimes you have to be prepared for if he's not, and that's not saying that you have to expect him to not be there at all but like the other day there will come a time where you have to face things on your own and Joseph won't be by your side just like I won't be by Chara's...That doesn't mean he doesn't love you though or that he doesn't want to protect you, it just means something is going on at the time that keeps him from doing so, like in that case it was the fact he had absolutely no idea that would even happen considering my temper had gotten a bit better over the last year...He's really afraid though, he's actually kind of acting like I am with Chara at this point and you guys are at least still together, he's worried that you're angry with him over the whole thing and he's blaming himself for everything when it's not even his fault...I've already told him I take full responsibility for everything that's happened but he needs you to reassure him that you still love him and that you don't hold it against him...You can hate me if you want and I fully understand if you do but at least let him know that you don't hold it against him..." For a few moments the two sat there in an ever increasingly uncomfortable silence, Chara and Joseph were waiting in the kitchen for what Asriel would choose to say next, if Joseph could actually die from one he swore he was on the edge of a heart attack with how nervous he was of hearing what was going to be said next.

"I don't hate either one of you...I don't even hate you to be honest I'm just...I'm hurt by everything, I'm hurt that we've been friends for over a year and you reacted the way you did, I'm hurt that everything the 4 of us had fell apart in just a few minutes, I don't blame Joseph for what happened because you're right, it wasn't his fault about what happened and...I understand that he won't always be there to help but I guess I've come to rely on him too much...But I want you to tell me something Viktor...Did you come back here and say all of this because you genuinely care or is it just because you're trying to get Chara back and things are going to go right back to what they used to be until you lose your temper again and the whole cycle repeats itself?" The already crushing weight of the room seemed to have a few hundred tons dropped on it by Asriel's question.

"Well...I won't lie and say that Chara isn't on my mind even as we're speaking but I'm also not going to say that I don't feel immensely guilty over what I did to you and how much it hurt Joseph...You know he came to the house and we discussed a few things and I could see it in his eyes...The same exact panic that I felt when Chara said we were done and I realized that in a way me and him are a lot more similar than I thought...You know over the last year he was always telling me stories about how when he first became a vampyre that he was hot headed just like me and he jumped at the opportunity to do what he thought was the right thing...Then I made another comparison and realized that you're essentially just like Chara...Someone who made a mistake they've spent years feeling guilty about and they've been trying their hardest to recover from it and I didn't hold anything against Chara when she told me what she did...Really the only reason I did against you was because she was involved...But no to answer your question I would've tried to come over and have this conversation on my own at some point because...Well I want things to go back to what they were before, or at least as close as they could get..." For a moment it was silent once again, the quiet almost making a ringing sound in Viktor's ears.

"Heh...You know I wish you would've made that comparison BEFORE you slammed me into a window...Would've saved me having to pick glass shards out of my fur..." He heard Asriel chuckle a little bit before he noticed that he seemed to be a bit happier, he had a small grin on his face.

"So um...Are we...Okay for now?" Viktor asked, already feeling a bit exhausted from how much weight he felt was on his shoulders.

"Well...Like I said it takes time but...You're on your way Vik" Meanwhile in the kitchen Chara and Joseph were both smiling like idiots, Viktor finally let his body relax and nearly fell off the couch once the weight left his shoulders.

"Joseph...You can come out now..." Joseph strolled out of the kitchen, wearing the first smile he'd given in two days with pride, Asriel practically jumped from his chair and ran into his arms.

"I'm sorry Joey...I shouldn't have let you blame yourself for that..." For a while Viktor and Chara just watched as the two hugged each other, muttering their usual brand of sweet nothings to each other and for the first time in 2 days things felt like they were slowly shifting back to normal, there was just one more issue that Viktor had nagging at him, then he faced that problem in the form of two faintly glowing red eyes staring up at him, the look of disappointment she once had for him was gone and the familiar look of love was on her face. She reached forward towards the locket around his neck, twirling the heart in her fingers.

"That's cute...I guess you were wearing it as some sentimental thing?..."

"Did...You want it back?"

"I dunno...It actually looks cute on you, gives you a little bit of color to your usual outfit." She clicked the button on the side of it and the heart pops open, revealing the gem still snugly attached inside, she lifted it slightly to see the engraving of hers and Viktor's initials on the top of it. She shut the locket and gave it a kiss before letting it fall back onto Viktor's chest, she looked over at Joseph and Asriel again before she took another step towards Viktor, bringing her arms out and hugging around him, instantly the nagging coldness he'd been feeling since she left was gone, replaced by the constant warmth that she gave off.

"Hey Joseph...Are we good now?"

"Still on thin ice old sport...Very thin ice" Viktor wasn't sure whether to take that as a threat or not but he really didn't concern himself with it in the moment as he was too busy enjoying Chara's presence once again.

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