dissonates | [Action / Backdated to the 19th]

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[Action / Backdated to the 19th]

[The fonic link is a rather convenient tool, that much is for sure; with it, Asch can tell where Luke is in case he needs to avoid his replica- and, alternatively, whoever he's with. And in this case, it's Guy. Ever since Guy's arrival earlier this month, Asch has been mysteriously absent from the apartment he'd shared with Luke, and tonight, with Luke and Guy both out and about for the evening, he's come to a decision.

He's leaving- for good. Once the apartment is empty, he'll venture there himself, clear out his room, and leave it vacant for them to find later on. Or not find. Maybe they won't notice. Maybe they won't care.

Guy won't. He's fairly certain of that. And that- ...it doesn't bother him. He won't let it bother him.

Tsuae is displeased upon his return, of course, and Star has the nerve to try and set him on fire, but his mind is made up. Within a few hours he's packed up and ready to go. It's actually kind of sad, how few possessions he's managed to acquire over the last few years in Luceti. It'll probably only take a few trips to get it to his new place.

...Once he figures where that new place is.

People can run into him while he's in the process of moving if they so desire, though there are a couple people that, in particular, he needs to be speaking with. The area is mainly community building 2, by the way.]

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[It was a rather sudden mood whiplash. He'd had a good time at the party despite the reason everyone was there in the first place, despite the fact that Luke was always a little shy with large crowds. So he'd come back with blond in tow, grinning and laughing, only for it to fade away once he reached the apartment.

It wasn't totally obvious yet, but something was wrong, and he could tell. After a pause, a hunch, he opened the door to Asch's room -

And suddenly Luke was off, not even caring about the fact that he probably left a confused Guy behind. He bolts out of the community housing area and... stops at the bridge, hands on the railing as he just breathes and thinks for a second. Asch is gone, but he can still feel him. The link was still there; if Asch had gone back to his world, he's sure the link would be severed. Not to mention there were still a few things of his back in his room...

He walks on, at least not frantically running like earlier, and presses his fingers to his temple. He doesn't want to be caught and dragged somewhere, but he also needs to be still to even attempt to contact Asch this way. He'll try anyway, even though it hurts like this, so he has a wince on his face and is completely distracted as he tries to reach out and tap at the link. He can't open it himself, he's not capable of it. And like this, there's a light glow around his body that may get a little brighter if Asch makes contact. But all of those are things he doesn't care about at the moment.]

"Asch. Asch? Asch, answer me!"

Edited 2012-03-21 05:15 (UTC)

[Japan, even if he rarely left his room, would do so at meal times so he could catch glimpses of his strange neighbors. It helps that he knew their habits and thus just so happened to end up in the kitchen about the time Asch was usually halfway through with his meal cooking. Certainly, they never had much conversation, but he'd been happy just to share space with them.

And then Asch had disappeared.

For about a month, he hadn't run into him even on accident and thus Japan had begun to think that the man had left the building or perhaps even Luceti entirely. Which is why he's so surprised when he heads out of his room and nearly runs into the man carrying his worldly possessions with him.]

Ah!---sch...san?

[Luke's voice doesn't exactly make it through - he's stubborn, sure, but stubbornness doesn't always make a difference, and the link doesn't open that way for Luke yet. Still, there's a prodding at the back of his mind that Asch can't ignore forever, so at some point he finally relents and finds a quiet space to focus on it properly, opening the link for his replica.]

"What do you want, Luke?"

[His tone isn't as annoyed as the words might seem- he's even using Luke's name. Still, it's not a very welcoming voice.]

[Asch pauses in mid-step, lifting a brow at the man. This is... his neighbour. The twitchy one. ....Dammit, what's his name. Does it matter? Hmm, probably not. They won't be neighbours after today anyway.]

What?

[Oh snap. They've never actually talked much and now... Uh...

He looks at the luggage and his nervousness evaporates into curiosity and worry.]

....You are moving out?

[Rapunzel )with Pascal in tow) has been exploring the wonders of the rec center when she spies Asch on the road just ahead. And he's got a box!

So she prances right up to him, hair trailing behind her.]

Good evening, Asch! You have a box! [So observant.

She also notices he doesn't look very happy. Not that he was exactly Mr. Exuberance last time they met, but he seems...more tired? Somehow.]

[Luke halts mid-strike, both because of the use of his name and the extra pain that caused. He lifts both hands to his head and digs his fingertips in, and sure enough, the glow is a little brighter. He can't move unless he forced himself at this point, so he just stands and focuses for now.]

"Where are you?! Why did you...?"

[He can get why. Guy. Putting himself in Asch's shoes, if Xion left, came back, then not only didn't remember the relationship they had but was also cold to him, he'd want to leave, too. But...

Why is he leaving him? He... He can't do this, he...!]

....Yeah. [Why does he even care? Is this like enforced neighbourly smalltalk? Because he is so not in the mood for that today.]

[He frowns, lowering his head.]

...I see. That is unfortunate.

--! Ah, if it isn't too forward of me...may I ask where you will be going?

[.....Oh it's her. >___>;; Asch... well, isn't exactly happy to see her, and he isn't impressed by her stirring observational skills, but at least he's not about to snap at her for it.]

You noticed.

"...Why do you think?"

[Seriously, Luke, this isn't rocket science. Guy moves in, Guy doesn't remember anything, apartment is suddenly REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE. How the hell was he supposed to stay there? With the two of them being all friendly and chummy and Guy hovering protectively over the replica in that judgmental manner of his, after everything they'd gone through together?

It isn't fair. It isn't fair to once again have to watch Luke get everything that Asch wanted. He can't do it.]

[Someone has an answer to where that new place can be, if Asch will just stop and listen, and that someone is waiting next to his apartment door, ready to catch him on the way back out. He'd heard the packing, you see.

It would be hard not to miss Asch's absence from his apartment over the last week, and Gailardia's presence. It would also be hard for Van not to guess at why, having set at least some of those issues in motion himself.]

Leaving us, Asch? [Which is a tacit admission that he has, in fact, been living in this very building... but somehow Van suspects that won't matter much now.]

...Another apartment, I guess. [He isn't sure about telling someone who's practically a stranger exactly what his plans are.]

"I... I'll talk to Guy, okay?! I'll make him stop being so cold to you, just...

Please don't leave!"

[It was funny. It wasn't that long ago that Luke toyed with the idea of leaving himself, to find a place for him and Xion to live in. And now Asch is leaving, and he can't bear the thought of him doing so.]

[If Asch had said that he was surprised to find Van outside of the apartment as he left, he'd be lying. In truth, he's more surprised that it took Van so long to approach him. This is an opportunity he wouldn't expect the older man to pass up- a chance to get him away from the replica, to draw him over to the side of the right, or at least whatever Van's idea of right is these days.

And - while he's being honest with himself - he's not so against it anymore. A week or so ago he'd find the idea laughable. But now...

He glances back - briefly - at the apartment he'd stepped out of, then turns his gaze back to Van.]

So you were here all along.

[He can't say he's surprised by that, either, but he's nice to have his suspicions confirmed at last.]

...Ah, of course. [Right, that hesitance speaks volumes and Japan looks away.]

...It will be a shame not to see you in the kitchen anymore.

[Wait, no. That sounds super creepy.]

I-I mean, ah, I won't...say anything about where you've gone in case they ask. I...would not...do that to you.

[Oh dammit that sounds even creepier. Japan sighs to himself, wanting to just slink back into his apartment. This is why he never goes outside.]

"I can't stay."

[It's spoken with certainty, with a level of firmness that demands no arguing, though he knows Luke will probably keep trying. He's made up his mind, though. He won't be pushed.]

"You know I can't. Things have changed, and it won't ever be the same."

[Not for him, not for them. Even if he could get Guy to change his behaviour - which Asch knows he can't, you can't just force someone to appreciate your presence when you loathe them so - that wouldn't change years worth of memories. Guy isn't a stranger to Asch anymore, but he may as well be a strange to this Guy. It would be too strange, to strained. And it would just make things worse.

He knows they can't go back. He doesn't even want them to. Too much has changed.

But it still hurts, and he can't live like that. Every glance in his direction, every sharp word, every indication of favouritism of Luke over himself would be like a dagger in his chest. It's already begun, and he can't stop some of that pain from seeping into the link.

Why should he put himself through that sort of misery every day? Why would Luke want it?]

[...Hah. This guy's just going to miss his cooking, isn't he? That's how it is with strangers. Well, at least someone will miss something. That's more than he usually gets.

...Pathetic.]

I don't care if you say something to them. It's not as if you know where I'm going.

[That was kind of the point of not telling him.]

[... Of course he can't. It would be painful for Asch, painful for Guy, and painful for him. It's stupid, selfish and childish to keep pushing for Asch to stay, for Guy to be nicer to Asch and be more considerate. He knows that, he knows that...

So he doesn't say anything in the link, because he knows all he'll do is keep being a stupid child. But what he does do is, like that time long ago, push past whatever pain is in his head and move again. Running, like a damned lit up torch with a hand clenched in his hair, but he doesn't care what anyone would think if he saw him. He just follows the mark where Asch is, where the link tells him where he is, even if the location isn't exact. Even if it's more like a feeling.

He doesn't know where Asch is going to live, doesn't know who he'll be with... he didn't get to say good bye.

He has to find him. If he can't - He will not convince him to stay, but he... has to see him off. Has to know that he's... not really leaving. His whole body feels hot thanks to him pushing himself through this, yet the necklace around his neck remains cool against his collarbones. And he's relying on that right now.]

I thought it best to stay nearby. I wanted to be here when you needed me.

[And here he is, because he knows that -- despite whatever he might say -- the last thing Asch wants is to go live alone.]

Where do you intend to go now?

[sob, more like he'll miss standing in the same space as you, Asch. He's so creepy..... He looks back up, eyes earnest as he bows.]

It was an honor to be your neighbor, Asch-san. I apologize for not being of better help when able.

[He straightens.]

...If you...don't care if they know you have left, why wait until they are not in the apartments?

[When Luke goes silent, Asch at first assumes that that's the end of it, and he starts to close off the link, ignoring the feeling of dissatisfaction. It's not like he expected Luke to accept his decision easily, after all, though he hadn't expected Luke to give up so easily.

Maybe he doesn't really...

...but then he's moving, and it startles Asch enough to make him keep the link open, if only to let him watch where Luke is running off to. Is his replica... trying to track him? The very idea is absurd. Ridiculous.

...except he's... sort of going in the right direction. Asch is momentarily stunned, eyes widening, and he pushes away from the building he'd been leaning against to take a few steps, almost unwillingly, towards the direction Luke is in.

It's not possible, is it? He can't- he's just guessing- he's going somewhere else-

...right...?

Even so... he's walking. Hesitantly, cursing himself under his breath, he's walking.]

["When you needed me." When. As if he'd known this would eventually happen.

Maybe this was fate. Hah, wouldn't that be laughable? Like a Score reading, like he's destined to be separated from Luke and his path. Like there was no other life he could have led than one at Van's side.

Wouldn't Van just love that.

It's laughable, yes, and at the same time pathetic beyond measure. Almost as pathetic as the fact that he doesn't have an answer for Van's question.]

...I hadn't decided. [Which is a rather pitiful way of excusing the truth, which is "I don't know." It's a fair sign of how desperate he was to get himself out of that situation.

Being Guy's enemy again... well, at least they have something else in common.]

[Asch bristles a little at the question, one fist clenching at his side. This guy has some nerve, doesn't he?]

How is that any of your business?

[He jumps at the fist clenching, shrinking back a little as he bows deeply.]

Ah, you are right. I apologize. It is not my place to interfere in the lives of citizens that do not belong to me. Please overlook my rudeness.

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