Sydney glanced up from his reading with an innocent look of curiosity - it was well past midnight, and the man who had just stomped irritably into the living room was rarely awake this late, unless he had just returned from the castle. He hadn't been there since the night before, however, and to anyone with Sydney's talent, it was obvious what his problem was. "So... the bear is having trouble hibernating, is he?"

"Cut the crap, Sydney." Viktor's reply was harsher than usual as he flopped down on the sofa, glaring at Sydney, who sat in the chair in the corner, appearing perfectly innocent. "If you're anywhere near as good as Hardin says, you know why I'm out here talking to you."

"I don't read hearts on a whim," Sydney told him dryly, "but you're so agitated that yes - I do know. You're broadcasting surface thoughts every which way, so quickly that I can barely keep up."

"So...?"

"I can't tell you anything, Viktor."

"Bull." Viktor's frown grew deeper. "What, is it against your creed or something?"

"No - I honestly can't tell you anything," Sydney repeated. "When I look into a person's heart, I see what they feel."

"That's the point," Viktor snapped. "I don't know what I feel! That's why I'm asking you to tell me! C'mon, Sydney - what do I feel for Flik?"

Sydney met his angry look evenly, despite the fact that Viktor was perhaps twice his size. "You feel confused."

"Damn it! Give me a break here, will ya?"

"Or vice versa," Sydney suggested. "You asked what you feel, and I see you feeling many things all at once. Many of them conflict with each other."

"Like...?"

"Hmm..." Sydney gazed at him thoughtfully. "For starters, you feel that Flik is more important to you than anyone else in your life."

"Yeah, yeah, I told him that." Viktor calmed a little bit, seeing that Sydney was cooperating finally. "And...?"

"You don't like the idea of being in a serious romantic relationship with him." Sydney smiled vaguely. "But then, you don't know anyone else that you'd get involved with... and you've grown as comfortable with the physical aspects of your relationship with him as with the rest of him. But again, you think he wants more..."

"And do I want more?"

"You don't know, and therefore neither do I."

"Damn it..." Viktor grimaced, putting his head in his hands. "What the hell can I do...?"

"You could try talking about it with someone who doesn't have any real stake in it, who would be objective."

"Like...?" Viktor lifted his head to see Sydney's eyebrow raised, and a small smirk upon his lips. "You?" He couldn't even fathom the idea of talking to Sydney about something like this. He'd never seemed like the sort to be a good listener, what with all his sarcastic commentary and the occasional show of temper... but then, he was a religious leader of some sort, a high priest. And it was obvious that he was far more complex than Viktor had ever seen.

"All right, fine," he said, after thinking it over. What was the worst Sydney could do if he spoke openly anyway? Tell Flik? He'd already tried to talk to Flik about some of this anyway, though Flik's reaction had troubled him enough that he gave up. Sydney could laugh, or judge him? Somehow, the look on Sydney's face, surprisingly quiet and patient, told him that wasn't going to be a problem. "...Like you said, he's really damn important to me, whatever we are. He's been my best friend for years. I don't want to hurt him."

"And how do you fear you would hurt him?"

"Well, if I'm thinking of this as just a casual thing, and he's thinking of it as a relationship, wouldn't that hurt him?"

"Not if he doesn't know."

Viktor regarded Sydney's serene expression with disgust. "You're saying I should lie to him?"

"No, I was just making a point. You can't be hurting him yet, seeing as you haven't decided. If you do decide that this is the situation, and you tell him... then it might hurt. But for the time being, you're doing the best you can to avoid hurting him, am I correct?"

Somewhat surprised, Viktor stared at the mage. "...Right. Yeah... But then, even if I decide we're madly in love," he continued in frustration, "love like poets write about and in stories that are told for centuries, I... he's so screwed up," Viktor grumbled. "He's still got this thing like he's somehow responsible for Odessa's death, and he thinks he's going to kill me too, just by caring about me. It's stupid, but he really seems to believe that."

"Then perhaps you need to show him that that's not the case."

Viktor chuckled without real mirth. "That's a little harder than it sounds. No one lives forever, and besides - I'm always pulling stupid stunts that could get me killed."

"I'd think the solution would be obvious, then," Sydney said with a slight smile. "Stop doing these 'stupid stunts that could get you killed'. If even you admit that they're foolish, you should be able to avoid them."

"But if I stopped pulling stupid stunts, I wouldn't feel like myself," Viktor said with a grin. "Being reckless is part of who I am - he seems to like that part of me, really." The grin faded as he thought about it. "But if I do manage to get myself killed one of these days, I know he'll get all freaked out and decide it's his fault, just like he did with Odessa. And I won't be there to slap him back to his senses - he could lose it completely. ...He could decide to follow me and her." Resting his chin in one hand, Viktor sighed heavily. "And I really don't believe in that whole 'reunited in death' thing, so that would be a really bad idea on his part. Damn..." Glancing up at Sydney, he found the mage peering at him with interest. "...What?"

Sydney gave him a slight, secretive smile. "You have a bit of a death wish, don't you?"

"Whaaat?!"

Sydney nodded as he took in the incredulous expression on Viktor's face. "Hmm, genuine surprise. Is it because you didn't expect me to notice? Or because you yourself didn't notice until now?"

"Because I didn't notice... I think." Viktor frowned, thinking it over. He always had been the one to take the big risks, and the first to admit, without fear or hesitation, that his chances of returning weren't so good. He'd volunteered for most of those duties, and not for the glory - he'd also spent the last several years of his life chasing after a seemingly immortal creature that could take out an entire city's population with a word, who few people even believed in. "What the hell...?"

"There could be plenty of reasons, I imagine, given what I know of your past," Sydney told him. "The most obvious, of course, would be the guilt of being away by chance when your hometown was destroyed, and your family with it. Even getting the vengeance you longed for was not enough, was it? It could not bring them back... And since you completed the mission you devoted your life to - which you half-expected to kill you anyhow - you have no idea what you're living for, do you?"

"Okay, just... shut up," Viktor muttered, growing unnerved. "This isn't what I wanted to talk about. We were just talking about Flik..." He grimaced, realizing something unpleasant. "Seems like if that's true, then it doesn't go so well with Flik's paranoia about me dying on him."

"Or on the other hand," Sydney suggested, "maybe Flik's concerns are exactly what you need to keep you from doing anything overly rash."

"I'm not suicidal, Sydney," Viktor growled. "Even if I don't really have much left to do in my life, it doesn't mean I'm out to do myself in."

"One thing you do have left in your life is Flik," Sydney continued. He gave Viktor a slight smile. "Is he enough to make it worthwhile?"

Viktor thought about this for a moment. "Hmm. Well... thanks," he muttered finally.

Sydney raised an eyebrow. "You will not answer?"

"I don't know the answer," Viktor admitted. "But it's something to think about." He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "I didn't expect this from you, you know - I just wanted answers."

"As usual. Patience for contemplation is not one of your virtues," Sydney said, almost fondly. "And the heart is not the area you usually devote your energy to, is it?"

"Nope, not for a long time." It wasn't something he'd have expected Sydney to take kindly to either, after the way he'd behaved for so long, and the calmness of Sydney's words tonight had seemed almost uncharacteristic of him - Viktor had even spent an afternoon, some time ago, trying to joke Sydney out of his depression over the situation with Hardin.. Of course, Viktor had become aware from his talks with Hardin that Sydney had been known to wear even more masks than he had in his entire life. "Uhm... Sydney..." he began, uncertain of whether he was prying, "how is everything with you and Hardin, anyway?"

Viktor knew Hardin often thought of Sydney as angelic and beautiful, but Viktor had never really seen it himself, as any beauty Sydney had was generally lost on him thanks to the cynicism. But this time, when Sydney looked at him and smiled honestly, without bitterness or malice, Viktor could see it - he looked nothing short of radiant. "Everything is wonderful," Sydney told him, for once looking completely at peace. "Absolutely wonderful."

Viktor couldn't help but smile back. "That's good. Hardin deserves to be happy for once, you know?"

Sydney laughed softly. "And I don't?"

He was just teasing, and Viktor knew it. "Nah, not after that thing with Syl," he teased back, then realized that perhaps he shouldn't have brought that up.

Fortunately, Sydney just laughed again. "I might agree - but then, John is perhaps even worse than I."

Viktor cocked his head curiously, grinning; he hadn't heard anything like this. "Oh, really? What'd he do?"

"Nothing he'd appreciate me talking about," Sydney replied, his smile turning mischievous. "But you might ask him yourself... after a few drinks, for best results."

"Heh, I'll have to give that a shot," Viktor smirked, getting to his feet. "Thanks - guess I'll talk to ya later."

Sydney didn't need to ask where he was going, of course, as Viktor grabbed his jacket from the closet by the front door. "Good luck."

"That's one thing I seem to have plenty of," Viktor told him cheerfully as he left.

Half an hour later found Viktor standing at the foot of Pinwhelia Castle, staring up at Flik's balcony above him. He'd thought ahead this time, and brought rope - he couldn't remember if there was a conveniently placed trellis or not, and even if there was, he didn't suppose it would hold someone built like he was. And as it was so late, he was fairly certain that no one would be up to let him in any normal way, but he was determined to see Flik. So he just had to get a rope up there to that balcony... and loop it around something so that he could secure it again at the bottom - there was no way to secure it up there.

Taking a rock from the ground, he tied it to the end of the rope for added momentum and tossed it hard at the balcony, hoping to loop it around the edge of the railing. He missed the first time, and the second time it just landed on the balcony, forcing him to yank it back down again before he could give it another try. The third time, it also landed on the balcony, but instead of a distant thud, he heard a muffled curse, and winced as a moment later, he saw a shadowy figure leaning over to look down at where he stood, still holding the other end of the rope. "...Vik?"

"Er... sorry," he called up softly, with a sheepish chuckle. "Guess you weren't in bed, huh?"

"Well, I was, then I heard something land on my balcony," Flik called back, his faint voice noticeably ringing with mock irritation. "Idiot... hey, I'll be down in a second to let you in, okay?"

"All right." He really was an idiot, Viktor supposed as he left the rope where it had fallen and headed for the side door of the castle.

A few moments after he arrived, the door slid open and Flik stepped out into the starlit night. He was a little rumpled, proving that he had indeed been in bed, and not dressed for the slightly chill weather at all. Crossing his arms across his chest for warmth, he eyed Viktor with exasperated amusement. "What brings you out here in the middle of the night, without any warning?"

"Heh, I'm something to be warned about, huh?" Viktor grinned.

"Well, you usually do bring disaster of some sort. For instance, getting hit by a flying rock tied to a rope."

"Er, sorry about that..."

Flik smirked. "So... what's going on? Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Viktor muttered. "I couldn't sleep, so thought I'd drop in and see if you were still up..."

"I wasn't having any luck sleeping myself," Flik admitted with a sigh. "So you don't have to worry about having woken me up - not that you probably would anyway."

"You never know." On an impulse, Viktor decided it would be too much effort to try to explain himself, and so he simply reached out to Flik, wrapping his arms tightly around his friend's slender body.

Flik squirmed for a moment in surprise. "What's this for?"

"Do I have to have a reason?"

"Well, no, I guess..." Flik laughed quietly and reached his arms around Viktor's waist under the jacket he wore, holding him just as close. "I guess you don't, but I'm curious..."

"Nothing, really." Viktor smiled as he rested his head upon Flik's shoulder. "Just felt like doing this."

"...Okay..." Flik wasn't upset by this at all, but still a little confused. "You think maybe we should go upstairs, if we're going to be all..."

"Nah, this is fine," Viktor told him. "This is all I need..."

Flik's baffled smile softened, and he squeezed Viktor tighter. "If you say so, Vik..."