dissonates | [Action /Voice]

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[So it's been almost a month. A lot has happened in that time, most of which Asch would much rather have avoided. But there's little helping that; it's common knowledge that life will kick you around even when you're already down, and he's used to it by now. Luceti has made him complacent over time, and this past month has been a very rude awakening. It's time to move on and stop pretending he's someone else.

So with the mask of dismissal very carefully reconstructed and back on his face where it belongs, as soon as the village starts to quiet down and the effects of the experiment fading, Asch returns from the mountain at last. His first trip is to the shop to leave his camping gear there, not wanting to carry it all the way back to the house. Instead he finds a crate and takes it to Good Spirits, raiding the back room (whether the bartender of the night likes it or not) and grabs a few bottles of the very strongest liquor. It probably looks like he's going on a drinking binge, and after all that's happened, who could blame him?

But no. Next stop is House 5, to come home for what he's decided will be the last time. He heads inside, calling out as he deposits the alcohol on the kitchen table-]

Hey, replica! We're leaving, let's go.

[After that it's time for packing. Then moving to a community building- the closest one, a safe distance but not too far, either. There's very little that he wants to keep, after all. Finally, a comment left in the journal this evening, to avoid a crowd-]

House 5 will be gone tonight. Don't interfere.

[And true to his word, thanks to well-placed tinder, matches, and a crate of hard liquor, House 5 will be a raging inferno around sunset this evening, with Asch, Luke, and Star the cheagle watching it burn to the ground.

Feel free to bother him at any time during all of this, if it tickles your fancy!]

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[Luke had tried for small talk at first, but upon hearing Asch's responses, or lack thereof, he settled down and let their trips be silent. He claimed a room and set the box down, only having time to open up the box before he ran out after Asch. Jeez, he was in a hurry...

Back at the house is one last trip, and Luke stands with Star on his shoulder as he surveys the house. Mostly empty, save for stuff they didn't want or need.]

Well... I guess we're ready to go.

...Almost. [Asch stands quietly for a long moment, studying the house carefully, then he gestures for Luke to wait, stepping forward to return to the house. There was one more box left- the alcohol he'd pilfered from the bar. It only takes about ten minutes to crack open a handful of the bottles, trailing the contents from one room to the next. He pauses in Guy's room - memories there, still, and he doesn't fail to notice the missing blanket.

...Tch. He'll let Luke get away with it for now, if he wants to cling so badly. Asch is done with it. He breaks the top off of a bottle of vodka and pours the entire contents on and around the bed, leaving a second, full bottle beneath it. This room is the one he wants completely gone, after all.

He circles back around to the kitchen, leaving a bottle scattered here and there for extra fuel, but the majority are emptied completely. Once he's satisfied that the house is good and ready, he steps back to the entrance, pausing in the doorway just long enough to mutter the incantation of a fonic arte under his breath. Once the arte is cast and the glyph begins to fade beneath his feet, he faces forward and heads outside, shutting the door and stepping over to where Luke and Star are waiting.

And a moment before he reaches them, Explosion shakes the house for the second time in its recent history, and the fire begins to spread furiously as he turns to watch it burn.

He doesn't want a single wall standing by the time it's over.]

[Luke had noticed that small ball of light falling from the sky, the usual beginning of the Explosion arte, but he could only watch, not quite realizing what it was until it was too late.

All of the vodka that was spread without Luke's knowledge makes the resulting Explosion... well, cause an explosion. It's enough to make Luke yelp and fall back to his bottom, and for Star to let out a startled "Mieu!" and skitter away from them to a bush across the pathway. The windows break, the whole foundation shakes, and in no time, the entire house is covered in flames.

There went several months worth of memories... Though it was probably years for Asch. Still, this was- this was utterly drastic, and Luke stares with a gape, dumbstruck as he sits there with his mouth hanging open. After a moment or two, he slowly stands and raises his hands to his hair. Were they even allowed to do this? Surely there was some kind of rule against it.

And- Dear Yulia and Lorelei he was not expecting Asch to set the whole damn house on fire.]

Okay, thank you. I'll be there soon.

[And, as promised, Miyabi arrives in decent enough time. She actually stopped by the remains of house five, just to look at whatever remained, and put a few flowers there. Just in memory of what she remembered. It'll fix itself, she had to remind herself - to keep from getting mad. It'll fix itself. It'll be new and fresh again.

...Rejuvenated.

Finally, when she arrives, she hesitates by the door, before knocking. Just once. Asch's reluctant tone made her wary of seeing him, but...well, she wanted to see him. The idiot left too much, without telling anyone. It wasn't something Miyabi liked. She had it happen too often to count, so...]

...probably.

[Probably not. Not like he remembers this place, now. Or loving Asch. Or Good Spirits. Or her. That's the worst part. It'd be easier somehow if she could think of Guy at home going Damn, I kinda miss that place. But...

...nope. She goes to say something inane like it's better this way and can't bring herself to say it. It's a pretty stupid sentiment. Instead, she shifts and turns, intent on heading home. But she can't go without saying something.

Her voice is low and thick with suppressed hurt.]

I'm sorry, Asch.

Huh?

["Really close"? ... Oh, did he mean they were good friends or something? Yeah, he knew that already. Geez, was Asch that sensitive about who he's friends with that Luke has to be all whispery and awkward about it? Weird, man.]

... Oh, yeah. I figured they were. They seemed like it, anyway.

[... From the little he's managed to catch over the journal from random glances, anyway-- Oh wait, he sees where this is going. He pauses for a moment.]

Wait, then that's why he ... [Yuri glances back at the fire for a moment. Was the house being burned down as a way of forgetting Guy or in memory of him or something? ... Yeesh.]

[Much as he'd have liked to hide out in his room for the next few days, he'd already told Miyabi she could visit, so when the door knocks he reluctantly heads over to open it and let her in. He probably looks terribly deadpan, but he won't let himself show much else.]

[Her tone catches his attention a little; he's not exactly sympathetic to the pain of others, but at the very least he can acknowledge it.]

It doesn't matter. We'll all be sent back eventually- we're just waiting longer than he is.

[She had steeled herself, put on a brave face to try and perhaps cheer the two up, but seeing Asch with such a linear expression - and after a month of not hearing hear nor tails of him - her resolve crumbles away. Miyabi cracks a big smile and begins to just...giggle. Loudly. And very sudden;y wrap her arms around Asch.

She missed him. She really, honestly did miss him. And she was so afraid of people leaving her without a word, that she had put on a mask to hide it. From even before coming to Luceti, the thought of losing those she cared for was something she always frightened her, ever since Issun... But well. Seeing a friend's face was enough to cheer her up, despite the somber mood.

Sometimes you really just have to laugh and smile in these cases.]

It's good to see you again, Asch.

[...That is most definitely not the response Asch had expected, judging by his startled stare. He doesn't return the embrace- actually, it takes a good amount of self control to keep himself from shoving her off, and he only tolerates it for a moment before pushing her back. She's laughing, why the hell is she laughing!? Is what he's going through so damn entertaining? Does she expect him to just smile back and accept it? Dammit...!]

[Ah, this was bad. She did something wrong, then? ...No. No, she didn't. Missing him, and being happy Asch even came back wasn't wrong. He just perceived it wrong, and there was no one to blame for that. It must still hurt. And then the house... Honestly, what a thing to do. And why? You can't just hope to forget something you already know by getting rid of it, especially if it was something, or someone, you cherished.

But that's not her place to say right now. Instead, she steps back, bows her head, and apologizes.]

...I'm sorry. I was just really glad to see you after so long. I was starting to really miss you.

[...]

I know.

...Where are you going?

[...Grumble. Always so weird, Miyabi. Asch looks away uncomfortably, hand lifting to grip his opposing arm, fingers clenching in the fabric.]

It's better that I wasn't here.

[Even though he missed Guy's last few weeks in Luceti- ...no. Even with that, it's better that he'd left. By staying, they might've gotten into more fights, said worse things to one another, and he-

...Guy still hated him, so... there was no reason to stay. Right? It's better... better this way. He just has to keep telling himself that and it'll sink in eventually.]

We've moved to the second community building. That's good enough for us.

[Whether or not living with the replica will end in disaster? That's a question he doesn't know how to answer yet.]

[She won't ask more than that. If she feels the need to track Asch and Luke down later, knowing the building is good enough. For now, giving space is... better for everyone involved.]

Take care.

[And she'll move past him, heading for home.]

Better for who?

[It's not said with sarcasm, or bitterness. No ill-intent meant at all, and her tone simply suggest quiet confusion. Who would want to be alone, away from everyone and everything, for so long? Especially after feeling alone when someone you care about leaves...being alone is never the best solution. Not forever.]

Better for everyone. A real home isn't something that suits me anymore. [He didn't belong in one- not with Guy there, the way things were. He probably never did. And it wouldn't feel right with Guy gone, either. He hasn't had a home for ten years now, so why let himself get complacent and pretend like he deserved one? It's stupid. Better to have a temporary lodging- a little apartment, just like in Daath. A room to hold his belongings and a place to eat. That was all he ever needed.]

[Miyabi makes a soft, humming sound, thinking. Luceti most certainly wasn't something she considered a home - or at least not a good one - but then she always called the tree that grew here "home". Ammy's tree. And even if this place isn't "home", she still had fond memories, and people that she cared about here.]

I...I don think it would be better if you left. [She shuffles uncomfortably, thumbing a loose seam on her clothes.] And it all really depends on what you consider home. I guess for me it's a place where your friends and family are. In Nippon, that'd be my village, Ponc'Tan.

...But I have people I consider friends and family here, too. That includes you, Asch. So it wouldn't be better for me if you were gone, and I know there are more people who feel the same.

You don't understand. [His tone is more snappish than he'd intended, though when he realizes it belatedly, he doesn't bother to apologize or correct himself. There's no sense in hiding or lying about how he feels about all of this.] You can't possibly understand the situation we were in.

I don't? [Likewise, Miyabi knows there was sarcasm, and a bit of a bite to her own words, but it's mainly from the irritation of what she remembers each time someone she knew left. Three times she could easily remember, though there were many more. Kushi, Ammy...and Issun from back home.]

What do you think I wanted to do when Amaterasu went home? Without a word to me. [It doesn't matter that she can't speak. There are other ways to communicate and Miya knows it.] Then Kushi, without a word. I didn't find out until weeks after...that I was the only one left from my homeland. Both the sight of the mill and the cheery tree made me sick for a little while, actually. I even wanted to cut the tree down.

[And gods, did that thought disgust her, even now. How would Ammy feel if she came back and her tree was gone, because her friend cut it down? She didn't want to think about that, nor of her two friends leaving. Miyabi could feel tears in her eyes and turned away, pursing her lips to try and push the breathlessness away.]

...I said I wouldn't stay long. I'm sorry for intruding, but thank you for letting me see you again. I-It was nice.

[Asch doesn't respond; did she come here just to judge him, to look down on him for what he chose to do to the house? Does she think that just because a loved one went home, her situation and his were the same? It's not- it's still not. To spend years loving someone, and to have it end like that- that mutual cruelty, that favouritism, that hatred- how could that be the same? What did she expect when she came over here? Smiles and relief and thanks?

At least she knows her friends loved her before they left. At least she can go back and see them again. This was the only chance he had, and now it's over.

And Guy still hated him before he left. Everything he thought had changed... hadn't. It's not the same at all.

He doubts her last comments are sincere, but he merely turns away, remaining silent. He's weary enough to not want to argue about it right now.]

[So many things she doesn't know, perhaps never will, but she'd never judge. Judging someone is petty and cruel, and Miyabi would rather avoid it if she could. Though sh is beginning to think her visit was more than just wanting to see him again. Maybe to try and comfort him a little - which she failed at - or to try and get Asch to understand that he wasn't as alone as he thought.

Ah, she doesn't know, but she did enjoy seeing Asch again, even with the weight of somberness hanging over them. It was just nice to know he was still here. That's enough, right?

Miyabi wipes at the corners of her eyes and looks back at her friend, then just goes. She wanted to speak with Luke a little, too, but she's imposed on their generosity for long enough. It's best to not linger any more.]

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.../throws Meme onto the fire

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BURN GOAT BURN

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/toasts marshmallows |D

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