dissonates | [Voice]

[Silence.

There's too much of it. It burns into his mind, the echo of emptiness in the corner of it, that ache he can't seem to brush aside no matter how he tries to distract himself. He's tried going outside, he's tried burying himself in that braille stuff Xion gave him, he's tried striking up conversations with his housemates (even the animals), but he runs out of things to say far too quickly and in the back of his mind it's always there. The silence, the echo. The fact that something is missing.

Dead.

And then he's had enough.

The journal's camera is partially obscured when the feed flickers on, and what it does show is his face - eyes, a flash of red hair, his bangs down - just enough to make it seem like he's not quite himself. His voice, too, is softened; it's not as open and friendly as Luke would have been when greeting the village, but it lacks the usual anger or pent-up frustrations of the socially-awkward soldier. If anything it sounds... hushed, weary, tinged with a bit of desperation. He needs this. Whether or not he wants to do it is irrelevant.

It hurts. The silence hurts, more than last time when Luke had been sent home, and he honestly hadn't thought it would.]

Tell me about your day. Tell me a story. Talk about anything. Today I'm listening.

[He might not care. He might not be nice about it. He might not even remember it later. But he'll listen.

He just needs to hear something, so he can forget about the nothing in his head for a while.]

((Asch is blind, so all tags must be voice/action or he cannot respond to them!))

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[He sounds so sad, maybe she can help cheer him up? A story is something she can do.]

There once was a poor boy who lived on the streets. He always would cause trouble and mischief just so that he and others could live their lives day to day. The boy would steal from the rich and give to the poor. Sometimes he would get caught and was put in prison, but this never deterred him.

"Why must you break the law?" The knights of the city would say.

"For justice," the boy would explain.

Then one day, in a fateful encounter, the boy met a princess who lived in the castle. She was lonely and longed to go past the castle walls, but her father would forbid it.

With compassion the boy held his hand to her. "Come with me and let me show you what the world is like."

Taking his hand, the princess put her trust in this stranger and escaped with him into the city.

He showed her many things, and for the first time the princess knew what freedom was like.

During their adventures the princess and the boy soon fell in love.

However, back home the king and the knights were desperately searching for the princess, and one day found them. They seized the boy and asked of him. "Why did you kidnap the princess?"

This time he replied, "Why did you lock her away? You gave her nothing but sorrow, but I gave her love and the will to decide for herself."

The princess then begged for the life of the boy, for such a crime was punishable by death. When her father refused, she told them. "Then take my life instead, so that he might live."

Astonished by this, the king was moved, for he could see that his daughter truly loved the boy. The boy was released and a short time after, he and the princess were married.

And they lived happily ever after.

The End.

Edited 2012-07-10 00:17 (UTC)

[...Wow, he can't fathom that ever happening. Maybe it comes from being a royal. Or- more like being a pessimist.]

Sounds like wishful thinking to me.

I use to always dream of something like this happening in my life. Dreams come from wishing, and hope springs from dreams. And what would life be without hope? So, there is nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking.

[This conversation feels familiar, and she's giving off the impression of being an idealist... great.]

You can live a life without hope. It's just that most people don't want to.

[...]

You're not in that situation, are you?

[Why would anyone want to live that way? That's so sad.]

[Whoa, there, lady.]

That's a personal question to ask someone you don't even know.

[You were the one that brought it up, Asch. Not to mention you kinda just gave yourself away. Not that Estelle is going to realize this right away, though.]

I'm sorry.

I should have introduced myself first. My name is Estelle.

[Yeah, she kinda missed the point there.]

[Just a little. Her name is familiar, though.]

...Hm. I'm Asch.

[This doesn't mean he's willing to explain himself, though.]

[So much for good first impressions. That's okay though, Estelle isn't that nosey anyway.]

It's nice to meet you, Asch.

Where are you from?

[He didn't seem to like her story all that much, and so... might as well just talk. Even though he didn't seem to like talking much either.]

[Poor Estelle, she's just too nice for this guy.]

My world's called Auldrant.

[Estelle doesn't give up that easily.]

I'm from Terca Lumireis.

Now we know each other!

[w h a t]

No, we know one another's names.

[There is a big difference...]

Well... it's a start, isn't it?

I guess. [Does this mean he's being wrestled into a friendship? Because he will fight.]

[Well this wasn't going very well was it. Estelle paused, trying to think of something.]

Would you like another story? One you would like better?

She has no idea what he likes though.]

...You can try, if you want. Your call.

[This whole thing has been a "volunteer yourself" experiment, really; he's just not willing to share his own feelings or experiences with strangers. Hell, he rarely shares those with friends.]