dissonates | [Voice / Action]

[IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN.

...Norma likes this one. |D This will end so horribly. Also, she completely ignores the part about his name, it is unimportant.]

Just talk? Sheesh, what kind of boyfriend are you? If you wanna woo Sweetie, you gotta at least bring her some flowers! Get one one knee, take her hand, gaze deeply into her eyes...! Oh, and smile, you look like you just swallowed a bug, jeez.

...Do I look like someone who plays games?

Filters can only save you for so long. He doesn't know where you live, so just avoid him on the journal if you need extra time so badly.

[She studies him for a moment, then concludes:] Oh, yes. Do you have a favourite one?

[dsjkfhskjdf WHAT THE-]

I'm not courting her!!

[...This is not going as planned.]

No, I'm not interested in games!

[When does it ever for Asch?]

Why not?

[You'd think he would be used to this by now.]

Why isn't that reason enough? If I'm not interested, I'm not interested. That's all there is to say.

But it's so much fun to play games. Especially with all your friends!

You need friends for that.

[NOT BITTERLY SAID but. You know.

He doesn't really have that many 8|;;]

[Do you hear that, Asch? That is the sound of your doom. IT IS UPON YOU.]

Oh, my, don't you have any friends?

[Oh fffuuuuuu--]

Wh- that's not what I said!

[Well okay, it kind of is but SHUT UP]

It isn't?

[She thought she'd heard him say….]

Luke... [ She stares at him with slightly widened eyes, but doesn't at all protest when he gently pushes against her shoulder, immediately stepping back to let him in the house. She can't remember if Riku's here -- and doesn't want to find out, not right now. Wordlessly she nods and takes the hand he'd leaned against her with, and leads him to her room.

... whatever this is ... whatever it is, it can't be ... anything good. He'd never come here, not like this, not with those words and that look on his face, if it was.

Once they're safely inside with the door closed, she doesn't even sit. Just looks at him, eyes searching his face and worry creasing her brow. ]

[Luke, however, does sit. In the closest chair at that, as if he just needed to get off his feet right that instant. He leans forward and brushes his hand through his hair, lips pressed together and brow creased, shoulders tense. Everything about his posture indicates that something's wrong.

But Luke doesn't know how to say it just yet. He doesn't want to say how he was tied up in his own home, how his wings still ached from being slammed against the wall not once but twice, how... the very man who gave and ruined his life was here right now.]

[ ...

Feeling like someone has reached into her chest and is slowly squeezing her heart, Xion moves over and kneels down before him, reaching up to gently touch his face. Luke is an emotional person ... but it's not that often he gets like this. ]

Luke. [ Her voice is quiet, and fraught, and she moves her hand to cup his cheek instead. ]

[The touch seems to snap him out of his thoughts. Luke opens his eyes to look at her, an emotion which seems like distress deep within them... And then he shuts them as he reaches his other hand up to press her hand against his cheek, just... grateful for the support.

But after a moment, he brings his hand back down. Just in case she needs to flinch back thanks to what he says next.]

Master Van's here.

[ Which she does. Like she's been burned, snapping her hand back and simply ... holding it there, letting it hover uselessly. And she stares at him with a blankness that slowly, painfully slowly, turns into a deep, dawning horror. Like someone filled her gut with ice or ripped her heart right out. Her hand falls.

Van. Luke's old master. The one who... Akzeriuth...

Everything... Everything Luke had been trying so hard to fight against, everything he'd been doing so much to change, everything... they'd ever discussed about it, the ... the night he sobbed until he broke, telling her about what he'd done, the ... time in the Land of Departure, when he seemed so happy...

"I'm ... proud to be Luke fon Fabre."

Through her long silence her horror grows, until it's almost comically plain on her face. It looks strangely, too, like grief. She feels like she's going to be sick.

A million questions fill her mind. How does he know? How did he find out? Where is Van right now? Has he already spoken to-- no, he must have, or he wouldn't be acting like--

Frozen with indecision, she looks down at the floor, her eyes very, very wide. Wide and terrified. She just ... she just doesn't know what to say. After too long, in a voice just above a whisper: ]

What ... what happens now?

[Luke knows how she's reacting. Months ago he might have thought that such a reaction would be because of him, but now... now, even thought of Van doesn't cloud his changed perception of himself. Not entirely.

He can't bring himself to go to her, though, because he feels much the same way. The hand in his hair falls, until both his elbows rest on his knees, and he keeps his gaze on the floor. Funnily enough, her reaction seems to calm him down a little. At least he knows there's a reason to feel as scared as he is.]

We... Without the Score here, Master Van doesn't have a goal. The whole reason he's like... that is because of the Score. You know what it's like...

[How it practically rules over everyone's lives. How people look to it to see where to go next, and in the most extreme cases, use it to see what they should eat for dinner. How people have been sacrificed just to make it come true. And it almost cost Luke his life.]

So he isn't a threat right now. [There's a slight pause, enough for him to swallow, then frown deeply.] But we're still going to watch him. Asch and me. We know what he can do, and we won't let anything happen. If he does, we'll know about it.

[His voice seems... a little shaky, despite the resolve. A large part of his fear is what will happen to the village he's come to love, the people within it, now that Van's here to cast more puppet's strings. But he's also very afraid for himself and Asch. He knows how much influence Van has over the both of them.

It's why his hands have been gripped into tight fists since the moment he started talking.]

Edited 2011-09-17 21:43 (UTC)

[ Xion swallows hard as she listens to him talk, trying to fight down the cold fear clawing at her insides, trying to fight its way up and make her panic. This is .... as bad as bad ever gets, but freaking out won't make Van just randomly go away. ]

But ... you two, will you be safe? [ ... Luke cares about the rest of the village, but she cares about him. Both of them, actually. His occasionally awful, mostly brusque manner aside, Asch isn't ... so bad, and Xion can't help but care about him at least a little. And both boys are going to be swept up in whatever Van does...

Reflexively, she reaches out, wanting to take his hands ... and encounters his balled up fists instead. A quiet, sad noise escapes her, and she gently, very gently, sets about uncurling his fingers. Pulling them open, one by one, and finally slipping her hands into his. ]

[Luke stays quiet as Xion works on loosening one of his fists. He wishes he could uncurl it for her, but that's proving harder than it ought to be. But she manages, and he holds her hand tightly as he keeps his thoughts to himself.

Will they be safe? It's hard to tell at this point. Van wants to separate him and Asch, and Luke knows why. It's easier to manipulate one or the other when they're separated and pitted against each other.]

... As long as Asch and I are against Master Van together, I think we'll be okay. If we ever talk to him, we'll tell each other what he said and figure out if he's lying or not.

[At the same time, they won't let this overtake their lives. Asch was right; if they spend all their time watching over Van, then he's already controlling them. He already would have won.

Finally, he looks at her, and he loosens his other fist to cover the hand holding his own.]

Please don't... listen to him, if you meet him. I...

[I don't want you to be strung along in his lies, too. I don't know what I'd do if that happened.]

I won't. [ Her voice is sharp, and sudden. Not angry -- not contradicting or rebuking. Simply ... fiery. Determined. She smiles then, a bitter thing. ] I spent a whole year listening to Xemnas's stupid speeches. And Van and Xemnas... [ She pauses, shaking her head. ] The kind of person Van is ... I know that sort of person. I won't listen to him, Luke. I promise.

[ The set of he expression is unusually hard. Xion's not often prone to being fierce, after all. Such a sad, uncertain girl, most of the time. But this ... such a terrible threat, against the person she loves. Any threat to her friends would make her want to go to their defense... but this is, in a way, more terrible. This isn't a threat she can just fight. There's no Heartless here. Just words, and terror.

She has to be strong. For him. She will never, ever let Van have Luke back. Not ever. ]

[He's still scared. He's still terrified. It's probably obvious by the way his hand shakes in her grip.

But seeing how determined she is... It makes him feel a little better. No less shaken, but better. At least he knows that Xion won't listen to him, if she ever meets him... But even if one resolves to not listen to Van, it's hard to get his words out of their heads. He knows this for a fact.]

... Good. [With that, he slides down out of his chair to kneel by her and wrap an arm tight around her shoulders, hiding his face in his shoulder while his other hand still holding hers tightly. Luke knows he can't do this alone... but he does have Asch and Xion to rely on as well as his friends. Even though Tear still doesn't remember...]

A-And if I ever... you know, start to...

[Sympathize with him, start to think that Van might deserve more thanks to whatever he tells him...]

[Oh, this will be fun.]

Well of course you're not with those tactics! Or that face! Even Senny's "grrr" face wasn't as bad as yours, Chuckles. I mean, you can't look so serious around someone like Sweetie. But I guess I can help you. [Since Norma's such an awesome person.] Sweetie likes flowers and she likes cooking a lot! So try bringing her flowers next time, or maybe cook her a niiiice dinner. Or, y'know, take her out somewhere.

Oh! And if you treat Fifi real good, Sweetie will like you a whole lot, too.

[ All that ... whatever it was -- hardness, determination, drive -- falls right away from her when Luke does that. He's ... he's really scared, isn't he. She makes another, quiet noise, barely better than a gasp, and shuts her eyes, her free arm wrapping tightly around his back. She wants to cry.

It's not fair. Van ... after all this time, why is someone like him allowed to suddenly turn up here and ruin everything?

It's his last line of thought that brings her attention back. And her chest is still aching, so badly, it hurts. She ... she thinks she can get where he's going with that. She wishes she didn't. Does he really mean...?

But then ... she'd been wondering. "What if it's not me who listens to him?" ]

Luke... no matter what happens, or ... what Van ever says to you... I'm always going to be here. Right here, by your side. No one, not even him, can make me leave. And ... I'm always going to be here to remind you. About ... about everything.

[ She pulls back then, suddenly, freeing her hand from his and releasing him, sitting back on her heels. With a deep, shuddering breath, she abruptly throws her arms around him again, this time so she can circle both around his neck and cling to him very tightly, and whisper. ]

He can't have you. He can't.

[Voice / Action]

[Action]

he was killed by the idea of making supper with grune again!!

[Voice | Filtered]

Clearly a fate equal to death!

[Action]

poor bastard never knew what hit him

Shot down by an absentminded woman's kitchenfail?

or maybe he tried to ragequit and fell on the knife display

Tsk tsk, Asch. Safety first!

never a policy he was good at

The real reason he's Asch the Bloody??

Van knew. somehow, he knew.

Of course Van knew. He knows EVERYTHING about his redheads....

[action] /slides back in...

[action] y halo thar |D

[action] sup

[action] nm bb you?

[action] nm nm chillin

[action] cool cool

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