Twas the night after Christmas -

[bloodyashes]

Characters: Asch and open; later, he goes to see Jade about things [closed]
Setting: A nicely hidden corner of the upper lounge and/or media floor; hassling Jade in the library
Format: What have you, bro
Summary: Feelings about regains, headaches about replicas, yelling at Jade
Warnings: Fon Fabre temper tantrums incoming.

[There's a redhead in a beanbag chair in the corner, heels tucked in, with an old framed photo in his lap. Asch's attention is pretty much entirely on the picture, which is tilted up so that it can't be seen from any other angle. Want to see? Better come lean around his shoulder and be obnoxious.]

[He puts a hand to his forehead very suddenly, as though taken by an unexpected headache. Uh-oh, isn't the flu epidemic over? Maybe you'd better go see what's wrong with him.]

Library -

[It's as good a place to start looking as any. Asch is very pointedly not hurrying through the shelves, because it's not like it really matters anyway. If Jade can't fix this, then no one can, and at least death in the Tower isn't going to stick.

Luckily, it seems that right there is the teal uniform he's looking for.]

Jade.

[All the greeting you get. No beating around the bush today.]

Is there any way to halt fonon separation once it's begun? Failing that, is there a way to slow it?

Comments

[sacred_flamer]

[There's a pounding sound on the stairs leading up to the media room, followed by the sound of someone coming to a skidding halt. A moment later, Luke poked his head into the room, a bright smile on his face.]

Yu-sensei!? Are you in here?!

[...seriously, there needed to be a law against that much happy and rays of sunshine in the Tower.]

[It was a moment before he realized that Asch was there, and he let out a curious noise, leaning over his shoulder.]

What'cha doing?

[bloodyashes]

[;kjadhfdg;kjdf;khgt hello Luke.]

It's nothing.

[Asch folds the picture down quickly, but not quickly enough; seeing as it had come from the manor, a quick glance was probably all Luke needed to recognize it.]

[sacred_flamer]

Hunh...? Isn't that...?

[Yeah, bad move, Asch. Luke is curious now, and when Luke gets curious, things get invaded. Hopefully you didn't put that picture too close to places that should Never Be Touched (c), because he's diving for it.]

[bloodyashes]

I said it's nothing!

[Take an elbow to the face, Luke. There will be no diving into your original's lap today.]

[sacred_flamer]

Oooowww!

[Have a whine in your ear, Asch. Dammit, you are such an ass.]

Lemme see!

[...and with that, he practically tackled his sitting down original. Best social skills, these two..]

[bloodyashes]

I'm sure you've seen it a thousand times already!

[And then he had a tackling replica all over him. GDI, Luke, GDI. Asch tucks the picture safely out of the way of wayward limbs before trying to shove Luke off.]

Get off me!

[sacred_flamer]

Don't be such a jerk!

[And... yoink! Luke managed to rip it away from Asch's lap. Ah! Just as he thought; it was the same picture mother kept by her bedside...]

...wow, Jason really can be an ass.

[bloodyashes]

[When Luke grabs a hold of the picture, Asch quits trying to shove him off, and folds his arms, defeated.]

It's not something I expected to have wind up in my possession.

[Yeah that's... all he can really say about it.]

[sacred_flamer]

Well... it means a lot to you, doesn't it?

[Funny... he always saw this picture at the manor, and didn't think anything of it, because he couldn't even remember when it was made. Now that he knew... well, he kind of felt bad for being so dismissive. After a moment, he handed the picture back.]

[bloodyashes]

No more or less than anything else in that house.

[He doesn't look at Luke as he says it, although he uncrosses one arm to take the picture back.]

It's not like I can do anything to change it.

[sacred_flamer]

[Luke made a face.]

You're a bad liar. You can't tell me it's not important to you.

[bloodyashes]

[He shakes his head slightly; that's not what he said, Luke, pay attention.]

It's something I've given up. No matter how you look at it, there's no going back now.

[sacred_flamer]

[He's not sure he understands... it's not like Asch could have wanted to give up his life. Van kidnapped him...]

...I guess I don't get it, but I only know the manor. If that was taken from me, I'd probably do everything I could to get it back.

[bloodyashes]

At first, so did I. But that was a long time ago.

[There's a bit of a pause there.]

When I found out about you, I gave up. They didn't miss me, after all.

[sacred_flamer]

[...Luke flinched at that, glancing over at his original.]

...how old were you?

[bloodyashes]

When Van took me? You should know. I found out about you being at the manor about two months after you were "returned."

[He has no desire to elaborate.]

[sacred_flamer]

I meant when you went back... so... not long after...

[He glanced away. Seriously, what do you even say to something like that?]

[bloodyashes]

[Well, technically he did go back then, but...]

That's not the incident I was talking about earlier. It wasn't until after I found out about you that Van gave me the name Asch.

[Before that? He was still Luke, if a lost one.]

[sacred_flamer]

Is... that the name you'd rather stick with?

[He wasn't sure, and it wasn't exactly a conversation he was sure he wanted to have. What if Asch ever wanted his old name back? What would he be then?]

[bloodyashes]

It's who I've been for seven years. There's no point in changing it again.

[He shrugs slightly.]

"Luke" is yours, assuming you still want it.

[sacred_flamer]

Well, I'm used to 'Luke'...

[He looked back to him.]

So... thanks, I guess?

[bloodyashes]

You say it like I've done something special. Not changing our names keeps everyone else from getting us even more confused, too.

...Besides, if we let you name yourself, you'd probably insist on something ridiculous.

[sacred_flamer]

Well, I never even thought something like this would be possible...

[He paused a moment, rubbing the back of his neck.]

...I mean, how many people would think they're not who they've been told they are?

[bloodyashes]

It's not like my situation is common, either.

[It's not said with malice, just a simple statement. Asch slides the picture out of his lap and folds his arms up under his cloak.]

There's no changing it now.

[sacred_flamer]

Well, no, but we can at least try to make it better, right?

[He paused a moment, looking down at his feet.]

...you know, everything about myself was laid out bare in front of my friends here... and I didn't like a lot of it. Everything about me just sucks, and I... I couldn't even see it until myself threw it in my face.

[Luke let out a sigh, curling up so he could rest his chin on his knees.]

...on top of it, finding out what I was... you know, for a while there, I thought it meant I wasn't even human.