And happiness is -

[bloodyashes]

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.]

Comments

[2/2]

[idol_support]

[...Oh, no. Tower admins, are you being huge jerks again? It can't be a Jason month again, since that was last month...right? Plus this doesn't seem too bad...so far, anyways.]

...What do you mean, "time shuffling"?

[bloodyashes]

Exactly that. Everyone's time periods got flipped around - you and Luke have only been here a little while, but I've been here four years. And Sheba said she'd been here thirty.

[He rubs at one temple, knocking a few strands of hair loose to fall in his face.]

If you don't believe me about the CD, I've got a copy in my room I can show you.

[1/3?]

[idol_support]

[THIRT-

THIS IS THE SOUND OF HER BRAIN BREAKING AT THE IDEA OF BEING TRAPPED HERE THAT LONG]

[idol_support]

[...Oh, gods. Just...WHAT EVEN, Tower Admins? WHAT. EVEN.]

[3/3]

[idol_support]

[But okay, this is okay. It won't be forever ...or will it..., and Rise is nothing if not adaptable. And hey, you didn't get the chance to see parts of the future like this every day, so why not make the most of it?]

...Sure! I'd really like that. *chuckle* Maybe I could even borrow it--I wanna listen to it, too!

[Because yeah, she has gotta hear this.]

Now you're just doing that to increase the comment count o/

[bloodyashes]

[Yeah, he's just going to let her shit bricks and get herself together without saying a word. When she finally speaks up, he grins.]

Wouldn't that cause a time paradox, though?

[He slides the cover down over the piano keys and starts getting up anyway.]

Oh well, whatever. Come on.

[Yeah he doesn't give a shit about the Tower's space-time integrity.]

lol Hey now, I can't help that I love me some iconspam. |D

[idol_support]

Why would listening to that CD be any worse than just meeting you like this in the first place? Besides, it's not like the Tower could really get all that much weirder.

[Oh, how little you know, Rise.]

[bloodyashes]

Well, you'd be listening to yourself...

[He shrugs at her before turning towards the staircase.]

Honestly, at this point I don't even let the weird bother me. By Tower standards, this is benign.

[idol_support]

No worries~ I've had to do that plenty in the past, and if it's good material, it'll only make sure that I definitely record the CD-- [...eh what the heck, he's letting her have her way, so she'll throw him a bone here] --when I go back to the past, I mean.

[She'll keep pace with him, following just a half-step behind. He's got those swords and wears them like he knows what he's doing, so if there's trouble she'll offer what support she can, but let him handle the actual fighting.]

You're telling me! At least there's heat and we aren't stuck in a bunch of crazy costumes this time.

[bloodyashes]

Well, I guess that's one way to ensure that it gets released.

[He chuckles a bit before frowning at her mention of the events.]

I've run into worse than that. There was a couple days when everyone's weapons attacked them, for a start.

[idol_support]

Yup! I don't see why I wouldn't--we'll definitely have the time for it anyways, at least in between all the weird stuff that happens every month or so. [And then, a thought.] Hey...how long ago did we release that CD? I mean...how old was I then?

[...Well, the costumes thing was worse than just being stuck in them, but Rise doesn't particularly want to think about that month. So.]

People's weapons attacked them? Oh brother, how did the admins pull that one off?

[......And...did a Persona count as a weapon since it was technically part of herself? Plus Kanzeon wasn't a fighting type, so...]

What happened to the people who don't carry weapons?

[bloodyashes]

It was about a year and a half ago, so... two and a half years from where you are now.

[It'd taken a while to arrange - and yes, he does feel a little guilty about conscripting Guy and Luke into helping him move the piano down to the media room.]

And who even knows. We're pretty sure it was a Ruana thing, but...

[At the question, his face lightens again.]

You guys got off easy, that's what. As I recall, we wound up locking a bunch of swords in one of the jail cells so we could sleep.

[idol_support]

[Two and a half years... Somehow, that makes it seem just a little more real, the fact that they're stuck here. They can't go home, and they won't find a way out, even years later. Still, Rise's not really one for showing her sadness to just anyone sorry Asch, you're not even Rank 1 in this S.Link on her end of things~ |D so she keeps her response lighthearted-sounding.]

Wow, I wonder how much I've improved by now... And yeah, that does sound like a Ruana thing.

[The you guys part means she was one of the ones who dodged that particular bullet...still, she can't help but wonder.]

But...what if someone's mind was their weapon?

[Thinking of Senpaiiii, and everyone else too. D:]

[bloodyashes]

[No need to beat around the bush, Rise, he knows what you mean already.]

Your Personas weren't affected. They're not really normal weapons, and I don't think you could entice something like that to attack itself, anyway.

[No more than he'd attack Luke at least by being out of his mind and oops there's that smile again.]

Any weapons they carried were effected, but as long as they weren't actively summoned, there was no danger of that either.

..She's getting so many smiles..it's gonna be her MISSION to get Real Smile outta him post-event. XD

[idol_support]

[...Well, with what Yu had told her about Strega's Personas, she wasn't so sure, but she's not about to go running her mouth about that. She's just glad that her friends weren't hurt in some off-the-wall way during that event.]

...Heehee, was I that obvious? [She was and she knows it, lol.]

Good thing it wasn't a Jason month, huh, or else a bunch of monsters would've probably attacked at the same time! [Rise, don't give them ideas.]]

GOOD LUCK RISE

[bloodyashes]

You're always worrying about the rest of us.

[Perfect team mom to Narukami's dadishness. At least as long as she stayed out of the kitchen. Now that was a nightmare.]

Well, that's Jason. The minute the nutrition bars show up, half the Tower goes into hiding.

IKR...(but Asch should probs be worried about the lengths she would go to in order to achieve this)

[idol_support]

I can't help it--I love you guys!

[Still that bad at cooking, huh? GOOD TO KNOW SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE...wait no it's not D: JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T APPRECIATE A MATURE FLAVOUR DOESN'T MEAN SHE'S A BAD COOK, K (•◕ˇ｡ˇ◕•)]

Ha! I bet that makes him pretty mad. He doesn't seem like he'd be a very good loser.

[bloodyashes]

Same thing you always say, Mom.

[Tease tease. And yes, Rise, even when time is normal, he's older than you.]

At least he's fairly predictable.

[Let's not talk about Jason months please no]

[idol_support]

"Mom"? Hey now, keep that up and I'll send you to your room!

[...Not that she isn't kinda doing that right now anyway. And HEY, only by one year! o(≧o≦)o Though Auldrant years are more than twice as long as Earth years, aren't they, so...]

Yeah, in a 'what's the worst possible thing that could happen, OKAY let's do that!' sorta way.

[...Whoops, she might've been channeling Yosuke-senpai there just a bit. But YES, SUBJECT CHANGE PLZ, anything else, EVERYTHING else, other than Jason and his months of jerkassery.]

So, how long have you been playing the piano? You're really good!

[bloodyashes]

[He waggles a finger at her.]

And where do you think we're going, exactly?

[He chuckles and walks on, glad to drop the subject of Jason.]

I started learning not long after I came here. It gave me something to do with my time besides yell at Luke.

[Yeah, they hadn't always gotten along. He'll be the first to admit that.]

[idol_support]

[Have an impish grin in return.]

To get that CD, or else I'm grounding you!

[Well, Asch doesn't seem shy or angry about it or anything, and he's the one who brought it up, so Rise decides to go for it and ask about his relationship with Luke.]

...So...you and Luke...

[She'll ask some specific questions if you need her to, but she's giving you an open-ended lead in here to say whatever you want regarding the both of you, if you feel like it.]

[bloodyashes]

You can't ground me, I'm a legal adult.

[Again with the finger wagging. His smile changes somewhat when she asks about Luke - instead of a grin, he simply starts beaming.]

He's my other half. Always has been, even if I didn't always see it that way. [He shakes his head slightly - that was kind of understating it.] We've never really had a simple relationship.

[idol_support]

Oh yeah? Well just wait until your father gets home!

[Pfft, she's just running with the joke now. And ooh, looks like someone's a big fan of Luke, aren't they? Though that even if I didn't always see it that way is a bit telling, and definitely something to file away for future--uh, or is that past--reference in this case...]

...So...you're kinda like twin brothers, but not exactly?

[Care to explain this not-simple relationship a bit more, Asch?]

[bloodyashes]

What's he going to do, take away my network privileges?

[Because why the hell not, he's running with it too. Good luck trying this next week Rise.

At her question, he shakes his head slightly.]

Not that that's not what most people think by now, but it's not really accurate. More like, we were once one person, and Luke was created from fonons that were pulled out of me.

[After a moment, he sighs slightly. That doesn't really express it, but...]

I warned you it was complicated.

[idol_support]

Yeah! Plus nothing but nutrition bars for a month!

[lol Oh, wait... ffffffff JASON, ARE YOU THE DADDY DOES THAT MAKE DAX THE GRANDPA WHO SPOILS US ALL AND RUANA THE CRAZY AUNT lol IDEK forgive me plz, apparently I must be on crack]

So that's what you meant by "replica", huh...

[She doesn't really understand the technical aspect of it(and what the heck are "fonons"?) buuut...the emotional one she can probably grasp, after further conversation anyway.]

Yeah, it sounds pretty complicated all right.