chocolate and sprinkles
Story: Timeless { backstory | index }
Title: The Right Reasons
Rating: G
Challenge: Chocolate #1: loyalty/trust
Toppings/Extras: sprinkles
Wordcount: 446
Summary: After they are fired, Robyn Walshe and Victor Blackledge discuss right and wrong.
Notes: Robyn always tries to make me laugh during supposedly serious scenes. Also: just showin' off my icon... ;)
“I’m just... I’m really sorry, Vic,” Robyn said, putting her face into her hands as she sat on the bench next to him, fingers kneading her forehead. They were out in one of the many artificial parks of Britannia City and the sky was darkening. Next to her, Victor Blackledge turned to her questioningly.
“For what?” he asked, puzzled.
“It’s my fault you got fired... that we both got fired... I mean, I convinced you to do that stupid helicopter thing and Newson... hurt you... and I’m just really sorry.”
There was a small silence as a breeze made the fake leaves around them rustle knowingly.
“Don’t be sorry,” Victor said gently, leaning forwards and somehow magnetically pulling her gaze to his stark grey eyes. He was smiling, just a little. It was enough. “I can always rely on you to make sure I do the right thing.”
Robyn gave a tired half-laugh. Not this again, her expression seemed to say.
“No you can’t,” she said. “You can’t rely on anyone. You don’t need to. Goddamn, Victor, you don’t have to do what people say all of the time! You’re perfectly capable of discerning right from wrong. You’re one of the kindest people I know. Trying to please everyone all the time is what keeps getting you into these messes.”
With a wrinkle of his nose, Victor looked down towards his lap where his pale hands were curled.
“Blackledges don’t have a sense moral judgement,” he said. “I read it.”
Robyn almost wished she had been in the middle of drinking something so she could have spat it halfway across the park.
“What? That is total bullshit, Vic!”
“Why would Father engineer us to have any shred of moral decency at all?” Victor asked, frowning. “We were... created to do his dirty work, to fight in those horrible wars. It would hinder him to have us deciding what was right and what was wrong. We’re not even meant to have opinions. We’re not really human...”
“Good grief, Victor,” Robyn snapped. She stared hard at him. “You don’t really believe that, do you? Please tell me you don’t. People wrote some stupid, untrue things about the Blackledge Children when you were all discharged... they’re ignorant and pathetic. Don’t listen to them. And... stop calling him ‘Father’. He was not your father. He was nothing like a father. OK?”
Victor smiled politely, obviously not convinced in the least but warm all the same.
“You’re really nice, Robyn,” he said. He looked down at his hands. “I’m glad you’re my friend.”
Just then, Robyn wanted to cry for all the wrong reasons and a couple of the right ones.