[Iiiit's explorin time]

[bloodyashes]

Characters: Asch and Luke/Sheba/Guy/Jade/whoever else
Setting: New floors time! Spread across the first few days of the month as needed.
Format: Look can I just permanently say I don't care; starting in actionspam I guess.
Summary: Exploring the new floors, and also everyone and their mindreader talks about fonon separation, ahoy!
Warnings: Aside from the usual redheads yelling, talk of death, near-death, and depression.

[Floor 100 and descending - open, probably the first or second]

[Anyone who decides to take the trip down from the dorms into the new floors will find Asch just off the staircase on floor 100, staring at whatever it is he's seeing. He takes a step forward, hand raised as though to open a door or a gate, before turning away with a disgusted expression and stomping further down the staircase.

Care to go after him?]

[Other floors, via elevator]

[Given how much the Tower's expanded, it only makes sense to take the elevator down to explore the lower sections of the new floors. Unfortunately, the elevator is also used by virtually everyone in the Tower, which means running into some people he does like, and some he doesn't.

Luckily, he doesn't know how to work that door close button. Be stuck in an elevator with a grumpy redhead, y/y?]

Comments

[Other Floors Via Elevator]

[bootsweremadeforcasting]

[Jade's finally been moving about and exploring the Tower since he's been awake. Unfortunately, last time, he hadn't had much time to wander about and nose around. When the Elevator arrived, Jade was surprised to see Asch.

He stepped on, hands in his pockets and not bothering to press any of the buttons. He'd just see where Asch was going.]

Does the Tower gain new floors often?

[Other floors, via elevator!]

[seekinganswers]

Wait, hold the door..!

[She didn't see Asch clearly as he entered the elevator, but she's not far behind him, darting down the hallway to catch up.]

[bloodyashes]

Hell if I know.

[He jabs a finger into the lowest of the new buttons. Go from there until he finds some familiar floors.]

I've been here as long as you have, even if you spent most of it napping.

[bloodyashes]

[Luckily, he's pretty good at recognizing voices, and so he swings an arm into the closing doorway to hold it open. Lucky the Tower doesn't stick blades on the door to cut off the arm of anyone who tries that.]

Going somewhere?

[Hello mindreader not-friend you're not coated in blood this time, stay that way.]

[seekinganswers]

Thank you!

[She smiles as she makes it into the elevator, then does a double-take as she recognizes his voice, just moments before she looks up to see his face.]

Oh, Asch... I was thinking about checking out some of the new floors. [She wrinkles her nose, then drops her voice a bit, perhaps worried that the Administrators might be listening.] They just had to go and add a whole bunch of new ones right when I was starting to get a feel for the layout of this place...

100

[hachitaro]

[There's a small figure watching Asch from the stairs. As he turns, there's a flicker of movement, before a young man stands there instead.]

... You okay?

[He's not talking about what he sees there.]

Elevamator

[egotrigger]

[Someone else heads into the elevator on floor eighty-one, looking a bit tired out. Allelujah's been awake for a few days, and he's starting to reach his limit... he needs food first, though. He smiles slightly at the other person already inside the elevator. No reason to be rude, after all.]

[bloodyashes]

I think just about everyone's been doing that the last few days.

[He shrugs slightly.]

Hopefully, the place doubling in size isn't a regular occurrence.

[Otherwise there soon won't be time for anything but exploring floors... Then again, documenting them might be a good idea, anyway.]

[bloodyashes]

[Smiles? Please, he doesn't smile. He's not glaring, though, so that's a start.]

Been exploring?

[bloodyashes]

I don't see how it's any of your business.

[A bit of a hmph - whether the answer's yes or no, you're not going to get anything out of Asch about it.]

[seekinganswers]

I'd be concerned about anyone who didn't at least look around a little... [She shrugs as well, and then nods in agreement with him.] Yes, I hope that too. It's a little disorienting to suddenly have twice as many floors as we did before.

...I hope the kind of food they've got in the cafeteria this month isn't a regular occurrence, either.

[Because seriously? Gross.]

[hachitaro]

Hey, hey. I was just asking.

[He holds up his hands in a gesture of 'whoa there'.]

Sorry. Didn't mean to offend you.

[egotrigger]

[It is indeed!]

Yes, I have. There's a lot of interesting new places to see.

[bloodyashes]

[At the mention of the food, he chuckles.]

Is that a tactful way of asking me to do your cooking, too?

[bloodyashes]

Anything particularly deadly you'd like to share?

[Because hey, forewarned is forearmed.]

[seekinganswers]

I don't know how tactful it is if you've figured it out already!

So, where were you headed? Any particular floor?

[bloodyashes]

...I'm not offended. I just don't want to talk about it.

[The glare is kind of his default setting, sorry bro.]

[bloodyashes]

It's more that Luke already asked me for lessons.

And I was going to start from the sixty-first, since that's where I left off before...

[And oh boy, was exploring floors with Jade the best experience of his life or what.]

[seekinganswers]

Oh, lessons would be a good idea... [You should definitely teach a cooking class, Asch. Definitely. Because having Luke and Sheba in the same room as sharp kitchen tools is a wonderful idea.] Any chance I could talk you into teaching me, too?

[She's quiet for a moment or two, trying to decide whether or not to invade his privacy-- err, read his mind. But then she shrugged it off. His face said it clearly enough.]

Would you mind company? I haven't been to those floors yet either, and it's better safe than sorry around here, I think. I won't make you take me with you if you'd rather go alone, though!

[bloodyashes]

I don't have a problem with it.

[That's an answer to both questions, by the way.]

I'm not sure I could handle two students at once, though. Especially when one of them is Luke.

[Guess how the last time he tried to teach the idiot something went. Go on, guess.]

Plus apparently he intends to bring Guy along, so... [Frown.]

[seekinganswers]

Really? Thank you!

[She smiles brightly at him and manages to keep from giggling too much. From what she's seen in his head already, Luke learning to cook from Asch of all people is a disaster waiting to happen.

But the giggles die out and her expression becomes a little more serious as Asch continues. The frown says quite a bit already - she doesn't need to read his mind to know the prospect of Guy tagging along bothers him at least a little bit.]

...well, two's company and three's a crowd, so I guess four would be something along the lines of a riot, right? [Her smile is smaller, but definitely sympathetic.] If you want any help handling them, you know where to find me.

[bloodyashes]

Well, it means you'll come begging me for dinner less in the long run...

[Still frown.]

I can handle Guy, but he's not a person I'd like to blackmail. Life would be easier if he'd just tell Luke things himself.

[seekinganswers]

Oh, I see, you're trying to get rid of me already!

[She can't quite keep up the teasing tone, though. She bites her lip.]

Tell him... what sort of things? Or is that sort of stuff private?

[bloodyashes]

It's... complicated. Guy was my best friend before Luke replaced me, but he actually came to the manor to murder me, because my father slaughtered his family during the Hod War.

[The elevator dings to a stop, the doors opening slowly.]

When Luke "lost his memory," Guy was the one assigned to raise him. The two of them are as close as you'd think, and Guy would never hurt Luke willingly, but there's an arte on his arm that could activate and cause him to re-experience those feelings of revenge. Luke doesn't have any idea about the whole thing.

[He steps out of the elevator. Sheba's smart, she can fill in the blanks.]

[seekinganswers]

[That was complicated. Sheba steps out of the elevator after Asch, her expression a little downcast. To find out that your best friend had originally befriended you to murder you would be excruciating... to see him befriending your replica and protecting him, even moreso.]

That's horrible... for everyone involved.

[Including Asch. Based on prior conversations - and prior forays into Asch's mind - she has a sneaking suspicion that Van, or someone under his control, may have something to do with it, but... it seems like a touchy subject, and she doesn't want to make Asch dwell on it for too long.

She just doesn't know what to say, though, and it's written all over her face.]