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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[... Asch was back.

Luke had a feeling that he was back, perhaps due to the link that they kept connected ever since they first made contact with each other in the mountains. But to actually hear his voice...

He abandons what he was doing to rush downstairs to the kitchen, and he just hovers in the doorway with his hand gripping there, as if he was holding himself back.]

Asch...!

Edited 2011-04-03 07:52 (UTC)

[Asch glances sidelong at Luke for a moment, then looks away, opening a few of the cupboards and pulling some of the contents out- food, decorations, any sort of dishes he's inclined to keep.]

Don't just stand there, start packing.

[And in clear defiance, Luke keeps standing there, if only to keep gaping like a goldfish. Once Asch's words get to him, though... Well, he blinks and shakes his head to snap out of it, only to get put into another stupor. Asch was... actually agreeing to go with him?]

... Oh. R-Right!

[Truth be told, Luke was already packing by the time Asch got back. It was... honestly kind for Jade to stay with him for the past few days that he was here, but the house still felt empty. Luke kept expecting to see Guy, and every time he had to remind himself that he wasn't there anymore, he'd have to sit on his bed, on the couch, or at the table and mope. He knew that wouldn't change. This place wasn't a home anymore.

So, he takes a step back, looking at Asch for a little longer before he turns and heads back to his room. Luke had several things to take with him, after all.]

Edited 2011-04-03 08:21 (UTC)

[It doesn't take Asch very long to pack. He fills a couple of boxes he'd scrounged from the item shop with pointless little odds and ends, belongings but not really reminders. Cups, kettle, a particular tablecloth, a painting that wouldn't make him think of anything but the painting itself. The coffee maker was left behind; he didn't want it. From his room there were books, clothes, weapons, little gifts he'd received over the last year or so, things he'd collected for their uses, rather than for sentimental value. The fon slot seal- that he tucked away, hidden beneath his clothes where Luke would never see it. He hadn't sorted out what to do with it yet.

He checked every room in the house except Luke's, obviously, making sure that nothing they might want was left behind. In the end he still only had a couple of boxes, nothing that would take any more than a handful of trips to move to their new home, wherever that would be. Still had to figure that one out.

One last stop before he finishes, though- the one he'd saved for last. He stands outside of Guy's bedroom for a long while, torn between whether to go in or to just leave. In the end, though, he pushes open the door, steeling himself. He has to see it. For his own sake, for the sake of the memories they'd shared, he has to look one last time.

Empty, of course... just as Luke had found it before. Asch stands in the doorway at first, just staring, then steps inside, walking towards the bed. He's calm, so calm, almost like a statue. There's no reason to get overly emotional, after all. It's fine.

It's fine.

And then he drops to his knees like a stone, hands grasping at the sheets on the bed, breath quickening, trembling slightly.

It still smells like him.]

[Most of his belongings were things Luke got for himself, but even the ones Guy got for him, he took with him. What Paprika told him was true - you can go on remembering, but remember the happy times. He still remembers how Guy got him the jacket with the buttons: Luke hated zippers, which he finally revealed after Guy embarrassed him publicly. The memory makes him smile faintly before he packs it away; One day at a time. He was already getting better at this "remember the happier times" thing.

He'd have to be careful with his plants. The music box, too. And all the swords he collected went into a separate, protected bag. Everything else - his bedsheets, little pictures, his journals, and other little things he had collected get packed away, too, with only a few things he didn't want anymore being left behind.

Luke heads to Guy's room next, for the same reason as Asch. Just one more look before he left, for Guy's sake... Maybe his own, too.

But then he hears that noise once he's a few feet away from the door, like something just fell... And someone's breathing growing quicker. Luke didn't have to look to know who it was.

He stops, turns and leans his back against the wall. He'd let Asch have his time alone for now. Luke knows how much he hates being seen like that...]

[He doesn't stay like that for long. The last thing he wants is to break down and crash in front of Luke, or even in the same house, and with their link in the state it's in now, he's well aware of Luke's presence only moments after his replica's arrival at the door. Only his distraction kept him from even realizing Luke was on his way there. Once it occurs to him that Luke is there, however, he pushes those emotions away, shoving them off to the side and forcing himself to rise. He'd considered taking the blanket with him, just one small token of what had been left behind, but now? He knows he has to leave it. It has to stay out of his life now, just like Guy himself, or he'll cling to it and avoid moving on. Like a child forced to relinquish a security blanket, he pries his fingers loose, smoothing down the fabric and stepping away.

And by the time he reaches the door his expression is that trusty mask again, just the way it should be.

There's nothing left for him in this place.]

[Once Asch came out of the room with that same stoic mask on, Luke pursed his lips, but that was the only hint he gave at disapproval over bottling it all up. Though he sometimes ran from such things himself, Luke still believed that letting it out really did do some good sometimes.

Starting another argument would be counterproductive, though. So, he just lets Asch pass him by while keeping his head down to bite his own tongue, and once he's sure that he isn't going to call after Asch, he goes into Guy's room to take one last look around.

How many times had he walked in here to talk to Guy? He can still see him sitting on the bed, looking up from what he was doing to smile, greet him and ask him what's up. How many times had they done that, how many times did Luke sit in that very chair beside the bed and talk about everything and nothing at all?

Guy's presence was still very much in this room even though he wasn't there at all. Instead of pushing it away, though, Luke stepped further inside, taking in everything in an effort to remember it. It was sad, yet... happy, at the same time. Bittersweet. That bed, where Guy let him sleep a couple of times...

Luke pulled the blanket off of it, curled it around his arm, and hid it behind his vest. Just a small token.

... Come to think of it, Luke hadn't really looked at the room since Guy had disappeared. He had always avoided it, and even when he was frantically searching for Guy, it was just quick little looks; all of the details had been passed over in favor of finding something more obvious. He takes the time to really take in everything; the room itself, the furniture, the closet, the...

... Sword?

This was...]

... Asch! Asch!

[...Dammit, Luke, he'd just left that room, he didn't want to come back 8| It's with great reluctance that Asch returns to glare into the room, ready to snap angrily about being called over again, but the words die on his lips as he realizes what Luke had found.

The Jewel of Gardios.]

What the hell... why is it still here...!?

[It had been hidden in the shadows, which is why Luke didn't find it the first time. He thought he'd lost it forever, again. But now...

There it was, still as shimmering and impressive as ever. Luke turned to Asch while holding the hilt in his hand, absently stepping towards him while he stared and wondered. Once he was close enough, he held the weapon out for him and spoke of his wondering out loud. If Asch didn't want to take it, though, Luke would himself. They couldn't leave this behind.]

I thought everything they owned was supposed to disappear...

[Ah, there you are. After Luke's little declaration and breakdown some time ago, and just not seeing or hearing a thing from Asch, Miyabi began to wonder just where he had gone. The words hit hard, so it takes her a moment to reply.

Gone. Not empty, gone.

Well, it's no surprise, then that she sees the smoke rising from the top of Ammy's tree, after all. She swings her legs as she sits on the branch, quiet for a long time to just watch. Should she say a prayer? It felt almost appropriate to do so... Finally, she opens her journal and asks, in a rather subdued tone--]

Where will you go?

[It's later in the evening when she goes to see exactly what he was talking about.

And the house is on fire.

Nephry stays at a distance, though, just watching. There's no good way to react to this, really.]

[Asch stares at it for a long moment, trying to wrap his head around the fact that it's there, when Guy is already gone. It makes no sense. How...?]

...You asked for it, didn't you? You asked the Malnosso if they could give it back.

[Asch doesn't respond for a long while; he's busy keeping an eye on the fire and restraining it carefully with a bit of hyperresonance here and there so it doesn't spread to the other houses. The last thing he wants is to be interrupted by a lynch mob. And naturally his eventual response is as brief as humanly possible.]

Building 2.

[It's hard to miss a raging inferno when you only live a good five minutes or so away from it. So, when he's nearly home from his little battle dome adventure, he notices the fire in the distance and ... well, Yuri being Yuri, switches directions and heads straight for it.

... When he sees the two and their cheagle standing there, just watching it, he stops. He doesn't know what's going on or why it's happening (since he hasn't looked through his journal all day), and it's more than likely none of his business, but--]

... There are better ways to move out of a place than this, you know.

[Even though it's pretty clear he's not being serious, there isn't much of a teasing tone to what he said. After all, he knows better than to walk in and start trolling around when a obviously serious situation is going down.]

[Asch glances sidelong at his new audience, unresponsive at first- merely offering a dull glare as his only indication that he'd even heard. Then he turns back to the fire, more interested in making sure it burns what he wants burned than having a snark session.]

If I had just wanted to move out, I would have done that.

[... Yeah, this is definitely a situation where snark is not called for -- therefore, he doesn't say anything about how the house will probably be back in a week or however long that sort of thing takes. No doubt Asch is no mood to hear that right now.

He takes another glance at the fire for a moment or two before looking back at Asch.]

Then why ...?

Well, yeah, but... Wait, don't tell me they think it's mine?

[Just the idea sounds ridiculous. Maybe back when he didn't know whose it was, but now...]

[No worries, she's keeping an eye on the fire as well, on her side. Even if she wouldn't be able to do much - she never managed to master even the most basic of the water skills - she'd still be right there, just in case.

Pausing to think of that, building two was close to where she used to live, with Salt, she kind of sighs. A little drastic, to do this much, but who was she to judge?]

Can I come visit you once you're settled into a room? ...Please?

[Asch might be calm about this, what with him staring passively at the fire and concentrating every now and then to make sure it doesn't get out of control, but Luke? Well, it looks like he had no part in this, considering how he has his hands on his head and a cringe set on his face, wincing just a bit with every loud noise that comes from the inferno.

Luke is the very picture of the phrase, "What did you just do?"right now.]

[Luke will answer that one. Sort of. That nearly horrified cringe on his face tells any passerby that he had no idea Asch would set the place on fire, and it almost looks like he expects the Malnosso to smite them with lightning for committing such an atrocious act. Or something.

But once Yuri speaks up, Luke seems to break out of it a little by letting his hands fall from his head and heaving a large sigh.]

Don't ask. [Really. Don't.]

[If it helps, this isn't what she expected either.

Neither of them seem to be hurt, or anything. There's that.

But Luke looks plenty surprised, as well. He didn't know this would happen?

...She still won't approach. She doesn't want to risk...angering Asch.]

I can't think of another reason. Either way, I don't care. [His gaze shifts briefly to Luke, then back to the sword for a moment before he turns and heads out. There's still a lot to do, so if Luke wants to take the sword, he'd better bring it.]

[Asch hesitates to answer once again, pausing to give it some thought. Much as he'd like to say no, she probably has been worried. If all she wants to do is see him, then he can give her that, at least. He's not exactly thrilled about having visitors, but rejecting her now would likely come back to bite him in the ass later.]

...If you have to. [His reluctance, can you feel it.]

... How could you-?

[Luke cuts himself off by gritting his teeth. Ugh, was Asch just trying to push Guy away completely? But... They can't argue. Not now. Not when Asch just came back, not when they were in the process of moving.

Once he takes in a breath, Luke follows Asch out, keeping the Jewel gripped in his hand. There's no way he's leaving the sword behind.]

[Asch ignores Luke's halted comment, leading the way back to the kitchen and fishing a notepad from his tunic. He passes it over to Luke.]

It's a list of available apartments I found. Pick one, it doesn't matter which. That's where we'll go.

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