A New Era

Chapter 9: Apologies

    Crazy was panicking in the waiting room. It had been a week since he had been at Asy's little office and he was dreading the upcoming conversation.

Once he had slept some, it didn't take long for him to actually think about what he'd just done. He had been waiting for a Center guard or something to come arrest him, but nothing happened. Now it was his next appointment and he had no idea what he was expecting.

    Guards awaiting him? His brother waiting for him? Asy ready to do the same to him?

He was terrified to see and he considered just calling off the whole thing off and leaving right then.

Right as he had come to the decision to leave, the door opened. Looking over, he saw that it was Toriel in a long gown and holding a clipboard.

She looked up and smiled at him, "Crazy? Come on in!"

He felt like his soul was about to beat out of his rib cage as he walked over, refusing to look her in the eyes. She gave a small giggle (what the fuck was funny?) before gesturing for him to follow her.

They walk down the hallway, Crazy remembering parts of it from the first time. The closer they got to the office, the more sure he was that he was about to be arrested and that leading him there was more like a sick joke.

    "Go right on in," Toriel said with a smile.

    Crazy forced himself not to glare. Apparently Asy's Toriel was as insane as his counterpart.

    He opened the door, ready to hear guards call out or to be tackled and pinned to the floor. What he didn't expect was to hear Asy greet him.

    "Hi Crazy! Glad you could make it!" he said cheerfully as Crazy turned around, seeing Asy sitting behind his desk and shuffling papers around. "Come on in and sit down!"

Crazy stood in front of the door, staring at Asy. He looked completely fine. His eye lights were their usual circles, most of his bones were covered in purple bandages, and he had that bright smile on his skull like he always did whether with patients or on the street.

Asy tilted his head to the side when he didn't move, his smile never faltering and still genuine, "Is something wrong?"

    "What the fuck's going on?" Crazy asked, hardly thinking about language.

    "Your appointment?" Asy asked, quirking a brow bone.

    "No no no," Crazy said, shaking his head. "I should be being arrested by Center guards right now or you should be explaining how you just got replaced."

    "Why?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I don't see any reason why I'd have guards in my office. Most Center workers don't even know about this office compared to the main office run by Heaventale and Doctortale."

    "Are you joking!? The poison!" Crazy yelled, stomping over to the desk. "I thought I had killed you!"

    "Did you mean to?" Asy asked, true curiosity in his eye lights.

    "Of course not!" Crazy said, backing away as though being burned.

    "Than I don't see what the problem is. I just wanted to ask you why you did that," Asy said, gesturing to one of the seats. "Please sit down. Or, I guess you can stand if you're more comfortable with that."

    Crazy sat down, staring at Asy in confusion, "So you don't care that I could've killed you?"

    "I doubt you would've killed me. Undyne didn't trust the present since you looked way too nervous," Asy said offhandedly. "When she didn't hear talking with a few seconds, she came in and got an antidote to me. It was a mean poison but, as you can see, I'm fine."

    "B-but... that's grounds for imprisonment, even a recall," Crazy said, staring at Asy. "And you're just going to forget it happened?"

    "I'm not necessarily forgetting about it. I'm just deciding not to let that one moment define your character," Asy said. "I hope I don't come off as rude when I ask, but can we get to introductions?"

    "S-sure. Crazy," Crazy said, holding out his hand for a hand shake.

    "Asy! Though, you can call me Doc if you'd like," he said, taking Crazy's hand cheerfully.

    "Sooooo... do I just start talking or something?" Crazy asked, looking around the room.

    "Well, I usually ask if the patient is comfortable talking about their life or they can just tell what they think is wrong with them and go from there," Asy said. "I usually encourage the former because we'll have to talk a little bit about your past one way or another."

    "There's not much to say. I was created after The Rejects made my AU... I own a joke shop but there's nothing else of interest," Crazy said, talking off the top of his skull.

    "Hmmm... do people judge you for your counterpart?" Asy asked. "You don't have to answer if your uncomfortable doing so."

    Jeez. Talk about seeing right into your soul, Crazy thought before taking in a deep breath.

    "It happens sometimes. Not often but on occasion," Crazy said, looking as nonchalant as possible.

    "Ooookaaaayyyy," Asy said, scribbling something on a notepad. "Are there any other problems? Like... never mind."

    Asy shook his head, his smile dampening slightly. Crazy gave him a quizzical look but didn't ask.

    "So, what do you think is the problem?" Asy asked, putting his pen down and folding his hands on the desk.

    "Don't you already know?" Crazy asked, raising a brow bone.

    "I know what your brother told me. That's different than what you might tell me," Asy said. "I'd rather hear this from you rather than someone else."

    "Oh," Crazy said, looking down. "In that case, I'm fine."

Crazy have a big smile while Asy gave him dead panned look. His eyes still had a gentle look to them, so the effect made Crazy laugh more than anything rather than feel bad.

"Crazy, I understand that admitting a problem is a difficult step, but it's still the first step that I'd rather take in this session to I can prepare for the next one," Asy said before a gentle smile came over his skull. "Though, I suppose I can wait until the next session if need be."

Crazy didn't want to say anything to that. It was something he was expecting but also dreading. He had refused to think about it in the vain hope that he would forget about it and, in turn, Asy too. Of course, being the doctor here, that wasn't a possibility.

Crazy knew part of the problem. That part of his recent mood swings were attributed to his core self. Saying that out loud though didn't seem quite right to him.

He looked over to the nearest clock and saw that their time was almost up. He gave a sigh of relief before looking back up at Asy who was still waiting for an answer.

"I'd rather wait until the next session," Crazy said, starting to stand up.

Asy deflated slightly and was about to say something when an alarm went off, signaling the end of their meeting.

"I suppose I'll wait until the next session," Asy said with a small sigh. "I'll do my best to prepare. Thank you for coming!"

They shook hands before Crazy simply teleported back to his shop. He let out a breath he didn't know he had before leaning against a wall.

He wasn't going to like these appointments. Before, he didn't think he would. Now, he knew for sure.

——

Will he actually say what he thinks might be wrong, or will he stall until the time is up?

    Also, I am extremely sorry for forgetting to update this. It wasn't like I was rushing to finish it (this was written days ago), but that I forgot it was supposed to update (homework has taken my soul).

    I'm sorry again for the mess up and I'm trying to think of ways to make it up.