[Voice]

[dissonates]

[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!))

Comments

[dissonates]

[THEY WHAT]

...Your world has a very twisted idea of what qualifies as historical artifacts.

[Horrified. He is just. Horrified.]

[herotypical]

[ wow. she knows you're rude but... ]

It's just a fairy tale. It's not like we actually make a habit of pea-slumbering in my world. Or I sure as hell know that I don't. But -- different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[dissonates]

I would hope not. It would make far too many unfortunate implications about your society.

[...hold on a second-]

...Fairy tale? You tell children about this!?

[herotypical]

...Sometimes.

[ it's just a silly tale; she doesn't understand the fuss. ] I wouldn't say it's the most popular princess-based fairy tale. The one with the frog smooching is probably more well-known.

Probably.

[dissonates]

...They put frogs in bed too?

[WHAT KIND OF WORLD DO YOU LIVE IN, BUFFY]

[herotypical]

No. They kiss them. Sans tongue, though.

Thank God.

[dissonates]

[.....

He never wants to visit your world. Ever.]

...I don't think I want to hear your fairy tales.

[herotypical]

Uh-huh. Need I remind you that -- earlier -- you promised that you'd listen? Today?

[dissonates]

[...shit]

I never promised anything. I said I would, but it wasn't a promise.

[herotypical]

...Close enough. You're obligated to listen.

[dissonates]

I could close the journal right now if I wanted.

[herotypical]

But then you'll never hear the tale of how a pesky little vegetable managed to crown a princess!

Or...are peas fruit? I never can remember. They're still disgusting, either way.

[dissonates]

[.....

.....

.....

o h]

...V... vegetables, I think...

[herotypical]

Vegetables, then. I'll trust you on that.

[dissonates]

[Okay, yeah, he's just going to be grateful he dodged that bullet for a while.]

...Your premise still doesn't make sense, though. What's the story about the- ...vegetable?

[herotypical]

Apparently it's the one true way to figure out if someone's a princess or not. Stick a pea under seven mattresses and if she still can't sleep, she's just prissy enough to be royalty. I don't know. It's just a story.

[dissonates]

...That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.

[God forbid Natalia ever hear it and get silly ideas in her head...]

[herotypical]

Really? Of all the stupid possibilities that fly through the air in this place and this is the most stupid?

[dissonates]

[He considers that for a moment, really mulls it over, rolls it around in his head a few times. Pea = prissy = princess.

....]

Yes. Without a doubt, it's the most stupid.

[herotypical]

Clearly, you've never heard about Rumplestiltskin.

[dissonates]

[What the hell kind of name is that...]

Definitely haven't.

[herotypical]

It's the one where the girl's gotta guess the little imp-troll-loser's name and why would anyone ever guess that one, I don't know...

[dissonates]

Why would anyone bother to guess an imp or a troll's name? They're only good for killing.

[herotypical]

Well? You can find out for the low low price of letting me tell you the tale.

[dissonates]

[...SIGH. He's going to be stuck listening to fairy tales all day, isn't he.]

Fine, tell it, then.