towerofanimus | And happiness is -

Entry tags:

And happiness is -

Characters: Asch and Luke/open/open/Orihime
Setting: Luke's room, first morning of the event; the Graveyard, that afternoon; the music floor, the 16th, 17th, and 18th; the kitchens, the 19th
Format: AH WHATEVER MAN
Summary: An overjoyed creeper finds something he thought was lost; later, he visits the graveyard and finds something else unusual. Afterwards, piano playing and tea parties.
Warnings: ... Creepers gonna cuddle. Sorry Luke.

Luke's room -

[There was something against the edge of his mind, the feeling of an extension of himself in a way that he hadn't felt in... Just over a year now, wasn't it?

Asch is throwing himself out of bed in an instant, ignoring his coat and weapons; he doesn't even take the time to pull his shoes on properly, laces dragging behind him as he rushes up the stairs to that old, familiar room. The bed had been filled again at one point, some stranger that Asch couldn't bear to even look at, but that person was gone now, so maybe...

The name on the door is the same. He throws it open, looking to the corner for the familiar mess of red hair - ]

...You're here. You're really here.

[The joy on his face is utterly unrestrained as he makes his way to his replica's bedside, stumbling over his shoelaces and not giving a damn.]

Graveyard -

[That morning had been... strange, to say the least, so he'd felt the need to make sure, to be positive that this wasn't all some dream or Tower trick. He'd taken the time to go back to his room and get properly dressed before making this trip, but he had to be sure.

He's stood in this spot a hundred times, knelt and rubbed his fingers across the engraved letters so often they'd begun to show wear from his constant attention. But now, the headstone is blank -

What a strange sight he must be, falling to his knees in front of a nameless grave.]

[On his way out, he pauses in front of a familiar stone lion, running his hand across the carved mane. It had started out for him as a place to do honor to those no one else would mourn, but over the years, it had come to symbolize to him everyone left behind on Auldrant. He never passes it without taking a moment - ]

Flowers?

[Dried and crumpled, as though left for days, but these are... They're the flowers he left, the first time he came here, four years ago. They should have long since turned to dust.]

How the hell...?

Music room -

[The sounds of a piano being played fills the floor - not the usual faint playing of the instruments doing it themselves, but an actual player seated on the bench. The melody that flows out from Asch's fingers is far more joyful than his usual playing; he feels like he hasn't stopped smiling in days, and there's no point in trying.

Luke is here. Even if it's by some strangeness of the Tower - he has absolutely no complaints. The reverse of complaints, really; he's a bit tempted to send a present to whichever admin was responsible for giving him Luke back.

A violin adds itself to his playing. He doesn't even twitch, just sighs faintly and continues to play. Some things, apparently, were still business as usual.]

Kitchen -

[He's spent most of the morning making cookies - even after four years, Orihime hasn't lost her taste for making foods strangely, so it's probably better if he just takes care of it. It's their unbroken habit; one of the few things he used to measure the time, right after Luke had disappeared.

Asch smiles and puts the water on to boil. Some part of him knows that this won't last - the Tower's strangeness never does - but he's not going to let that stop him from enjoying what time there is. Seeing Luke again leaves him with a wholesome, optimistic feeling that he can't regret.

A tray of cookies on the table, and more on the counter; he sits down to wait.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It was almost always quiet on this floor. Over the course of the last thirty years or so, Sheba had gotten over her aversion to the graveyard and had been spending more and more time up here. It was peaceful - morbid, maybe, but peaceful.

Being up here gave her the chance to think, which she'd honestly been doing quite a bit of lately.

Since the floor was generally avoided, she didn't think she'd run into anyone. She wasn't really prepared to speak with anyone at all, so when she heard footsteps and a voice as she stepped off the stairway, she paused.

Was that...? She narrowed her eyes and peered ahead.]

...Asch?

[He'd been crouched to look at the flowers when he hears her voice - older than he expects, but it still brings a smile to his face. People's ages were all sorts of weird today, anyway. He turns to her with that smile still in place, although he doesn't pull out of his crouch.]

Sheba! ...You actually look like an adult.

[How long had she been here, to have aged that significantly?]

And you look... more like yourself, again.

[Which was odd. This was a really big difference - and after such a long time here, she really wouldn't put it past the Administrators to be screwing around somehow.

So, with very little warning, she focuses her Psynergy to allow her to read Asch's mind, looking for some indication of who he was and what he was doing here.]

...Well, what else would I look like?

[No points for saying "Luke," Sheba. He's wondering at her appearance too - Luke had been younger than he should be - ~~Damnit, admins, I finally get used to being identical to him and you go pulling shit like this~~ - but Sheba was obviously older. Decades, probably, based on how much she had aged since they arrived -

And yes, Sheba, he feels that Mind Read. Have a slight chuckle and an eyeroll in response. Age didn't change some things, huh?]

Graveyard

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kitchennnnnn

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Luke's Room (and all the shit hit the fan)

all the cuddlecreep you mean

...oh my god, Asch.

Graveyard

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