(no subject)

[sacred_flamer]

Characters: Luke and open.
Setting: Graveyard - Floor 48
Format: You pick.
Summary: Luke just had a massive info dump dropped on him, and now he has to try and figure himself out all over again.
Warnings: SO MANY GODDAMN FEELS.

Saber had escorted him back to his room after that whole... madness that went down in the middle of the hallway, but it wasn't like Luke could do anything at the moment. He felt... hurt, crushed; like something had smashed his insides to bits and all that was left was a pasty goo dripping out of his ears. He laid on his bed and rolled around for a little while, but it didn't do anything to assuage that feeling.

That was why he headed out, up to the forty-eighth floor where the graveyard was. He'd been meaning to for awhile -- he needed to check for Tear's gravestone after all -- but he hadn't exactly been willing to actually do it. Right now, though, he needed the peace and quiet away from everyone else... and when he finally located her grave marker, he sat down before it, curled up on the crowded, cold earth with a sigh.

...he will kill ten thousand people. That's what his future on Auldrant held for him.

Guy, his best friend since forever, was really royalty, and was hiding a secret from him that he "didn't need to know."

Just how much didn't he "need to know?"

He wanted to curl up and cry again, but he had already done plenty of that. Now he knew; he was a murderer, and ignorant, selfish murderer, and it was far too late for him to do a damn thing about it. How wrong he was about himself... he would have hated to see his Shadow now.

Luke let out a sigh as he huddled himself into a ball, able to feel Amnon against his chest from the cheagle's usual hiding place under his coat.

"Tear... I wish you were still here," he finally murmured softly. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I don't know how I can fix this... please, help me..."

He curled himself up tighter, burying his face in his knees.

Comments

EVERYTHING HURTS, NOTHING IS BEAUTIFUL

[relinquishing]

[He'd stayed away from the dormitories the minute he'd been commanded to leave the hall. Far away, wandering the Tower without any purpose at first, letting Luke have whatever space he felt he needed, while Guy himself was left with a sense of frustration he couldn't bother to let go of. There was too much that had been said and yet hadn't been said. There was too much that could have been warped out of context. There isn't an inch of him that regrets jumping to Luke's aid after Asch's poor choice of words, but to see Luke shy away with such a vivid expression of hurt...

Guy wasn't sure how to feel about it. He wasn't sure he wanted to put words to it. He'd rather put the edge of a blade through the side of a tree or through the arm of something that reached out of a darker tower floor. It wasn't that he wanted to be a person who resorted to deceit as often as he did, but it was awfully hard to see why the opposite would do any good when this was the kind of situation that presented itself for the sake of honesty.

He wouldn't hold it against Luke if he hated him for any of this, no matter what he ended up finding out. But regardless of what Luke chose to believe, Guy knows he hadn't lied. A shame it felt somewhat empty.

He'd given it some time before heading up to the graveyard. Luke had never gotten back to him about whether or not he'd spotted Tear's name among the gravestones, so it made enough sense to take a detour and actually get something accomplished rather than wallowing too far into anger. He tracks the names quietly, eyes skimming over the stones...

He doesn't even need to see the name to know which one is Tear's. He can see the flare of red from a distance, and for a long moment, he considers just turning around and leaving. Let him be. Leave him alone. Give him more time, let him come to you.

...

His approach is slow and quiet, arms crossed tightly as he speaks up with a cautious voice.]

...Luke?

Sob. DX

[sacred_flamer]

[Luke let out a noncommittal noise, not exactly in the mood to talk to Guy so soon after what happened. That didn't mean someone didn't have something to say; a large lump made its way around Luke, crawling its way up to the back of his neck. Enjoy the sight of big brown eyes and fluffy pink cheagle ears sticking out from the neck of Luke's clothes, Guy.]

Mieeeeuuu!

[That is not a friendly cheagle noise.]

[relinquishing]

[The little pink fluffball is definitely not Mieu and not familiar, although it sounds angry enough for Guy to shut his mouth immediately, glancing from the cheagle to the back of Luke's head and back with a rueful expression. He wasn't here to be a threat. Hell, he wasn't here to be anything other than a watchful eye.

Despite the cheagle's growlings, Guy takes a few more steps forward, treading casually and without another word, only stopping when he's close enough to reach out and put a gentle hand against the crown of Luke's head.

Well, if the cheagle doesn't bite him, that is.]

[sacred_flamer]

[The cheagle let out a warning noise, but Luke reached around and put a hand on his head, giving him a shove back down his jacket.]

Pipe down, Amnon...

[The cheagle backed down, but even still, there was a pair of eyes watching Guy as he got closer. Luke flinched when Guy put a hand on him, not quite shying away, but the urge to do so was pretty damn tempting. That only made him feel worse; he shouldn't have to worry about his best friend like this...]

[concept_killer]

[You could color Satsujinki here curious. He knew depression when it was around and while look was in the room, it definitely was heavy. When Luke had left, he followed a little later. Mostly to make sure Luke wasn't going to go do something stupid. Satsujinki would know, he had done that kind of thing plenty of times himself.

But he walked onto floor 48 a little later and listened in, probably being invasive but he didn't mind too much.]

Fix what? How you're feeling right now?

[Because he certainly seemed broken.]

[sacred_flamer]

[Luke jumped slightly at the sound of his other roommate, looking up in surprise. Seriously, how did that kid get around? He would have thought he'd use a stick or something to tell when he's about to knock into something, but...]

...yeah, sure. Something like that.

[Broken didn't quite cut it.]

[concept_killer]

[Getting around without sight is an acquired skill made simpler with special abilities.]

Something tells me it's a little worse than that. I'd say I don't mean to pry but I obviously am so what's up?

[sacred_flamer]

I just... found out some stuff, and it's hard for me to deal with it right now.

MISTAKEN IDENTITIES GO?

[alae]

Dark Pit headed back to the graveyard. He really didn't know why he liked this place so much - maybe because it was quiet.

... The sound of someone muttering to themselves was a break in that, though, so he headed over to see what was going on.

"Tch. Asch?" Wait. No. He looked more like an idiot and less like an ass. Also, his clothes were different. "... Uh. Wait. No."

Excellent... and story of Luke's life. XD

[sacred_flamer]

Luke let out a faint noise, lifting his head to look at the... angel? He didn't think those things actually existed.

"No... I'm Luke," he murmured.

[alae]

"Right. The other one. Hmph."

He leaned against one of the more sturdy grave markers. "What are you doing in the dirt?"

[sacred_flamer]

...and he already didn't like this guy. He totally sounded like Asch with wings and a slightly less crappy attitude; last thing he needed right now.

"Just some stuff from home that I don't know how to deal with."

[doublechecks]

[...He was just walking through the graveyard, doing a cursory inspection of those from his home that's not in this place- Of course, only a few of them were noticeable, but at the very least the number's not inc-

Ah- Euphie's gravestone must be a new addition today. It matters not to him right now, but he's pretty sure that Suzaku would receive a blow from it-?]

...Hm?

[The tell-tale sign of red stopped his thoughts for a moment, and as he approached it, it became clear that said person is actually his roommate.]

Well, this is a rare sight.

[Sort of. While he's seen Luke being depressed before, he's never seen him in this bad of a situation before.]

[sacred_flamer]

[Luke lifted his head, reaching up to wipe at his face. Yeah, like he really needed to give Lelouch another excuse to quietly mock him. He let out a breath after that, keeping his arms curled up close to his chest.]

Hey, Lelouch.

[doublechecks]

Hey.

[It's just a simple greeting, but he noticed the small action Luke did before he actually spoke, likening it to someone who had been crying a few moments ago.

When he spoke, it's not in his usual teasing tone.

It almost sounded like he's...

Concerned?]

Did I happen to miss something?

[sacred_flamer]

[Luke let out a shuddering sigh, shaking his head.]

Not really… just Asch being Asch.

[Among other things.]

[warriorscribe]

It was hard to come down here. But, for the sake of trying, he worked to keep the graves clean.

He wasn't in the best of shape when he found someone mourning, the way he'd found people when this floor had first appeared. Someone familiar. Had he learned his name...? No matter. Enoch dusts off the grave next to Tear's, to give Luke time to register his presence, before kneeling down quietly and pushing the hood of his cloak back.

"Are you all right?"

It was more nicety than question. He was curled up in a ball and talking to a grave, of course he wasn't all right.

[sacred_flamer]

Oh... right, this guy. Er... hell, he couldn't remember if he ever got his name. Whatever.

"...I'll live."

Because he would; it sucked and he hated this so damn much, but he'd get through this.

[warriorscribe]

"That you will...but may I be of some help?"

Enoch couldn't just get up and leave him like this, not in good conscience...

[pitiedthefool]

[It's ironic, considering that Yu often frequents the graveyard to simply leave paper cranes on some of the tombstones with names on them in a way to say he wished them luck, wherever they were. However, this time he stopped in his tracks. Why was there a red porcupine in front of one of the tombstones-?

Oh, it's just Luke.

... He walks over, calmly listening before simply calling out to him.]

...Luke.

[sacred_flamer]

[Luke flinched at the familiar voice, shuddering slightly. He knew it was Yu, he could hear the slight difference in his voice compared to Guy's, but it was a small comfort. Hesitantly, he lifted his head, swiping at his eyes.]

...hi, Yu.

[It took a supreme amount of effort not to call him sensei. He wanted to, he wanted to believe that trusting Yu, or anyone, was okay, but...]

[Ten thousand people died.]

[Asch's words still rang in his head, made all the more potent because of the fact that he knew it was his fault. His ignorance, his dependence on someone he thought was even more precious to him than Yu was.]

[If he couldn't trust himself with Van, who could he trust himself with?]

[pitiedthefool]

[...Yeah, that was enough of a hint that something was wrong aside from the floor he found his friend on. The concern was likely written all over his face as he knelt down beside him.]

Want to talk about it?

[If not, he was just going to stay with him. Kid looks like he could use a friend right about now.]

[bootsweremadeforcasting]

Jade had heard from Guy, the news about Tear's death. She was a fellow soldier, and the Tower was unpredictable as it was dangerous. Her death was saddening, but...

Well, Jade didn't love dwelling on it.

He found himself heading up to the graveyard and looking for her grave. It took a bit, but eventually he spotted Luke and could infer it was her grave. He wondered how to approach. Most people he knew always seemed to be coddling and speaking kindly, but Jade couldn't bring himself to do that. So, he just walked over, hands in his pockets until he knelt down next to the boy.

His mind was blank to what to say, so he just sat quietly, contemplating the Tower, the grave, the situation..

[sacred_flamer]

Luke was silent as well, and appreciated that Jade didn't try to make some lame attempt at comforting him. That would have been weird, and probably not at all comforting. To be honest, the silence was actually better than actually speaking. Still, he had too much on his mind to stay silent for very long.

"...Jade?" he murmured faintly. "Are you from after Akzeriuth too?"

After all, Jade was the only one that hadn't really established what point in time he was from. May as well find out now.

[bootsweremadeforcasting]

Jade remained quiet even after Luke spoke. He knew that sometimes... information was best kept to himself. Sometimes it was best to keep others in the dark. His words had weight with the boy, now. Circumstances as they were, Jade was from Auldrant and maybe that was enough.

"I am."