towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

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.

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[Ahh damn, Luke, don't flinch like that. Guy withdraws his fingers with a pause, grimacing slightly before reaching back out again. It's simple, really; the only motion being that familiar ruffle of Luke's hair against his palm. It was normally just an action of boyish tomfoolery; nothing would fluster Luke more than a quick mess of his hair and a cheesy grin.

But on occasion, it wasn't meant to cheer up in such a childish manner. Nights where words couldn't calm a crying boy, or when he'd had one fall too many and was worn from the day, would find a gentler touch.

He knows comfort isn't something he can offer right now. That was dumb of him.

But...

...]

I'm sorry.

[Luke let out a breath, barely keeping back an annoyed grumble at the fond hair ruffling. He hated that, and Guy knew it too. He blew out another breath, nostrils flaring, before finally lifting his head, shooting Guy a hurt look.]

...why can't you trust me, Guy? I told you, I'm trying to be a better person. How can I do that if people won't even give me a chance?

[He exhales slowly, gaze at the ground as he lowers himself to a seat in the dirt.]

Do you need to wait for a chance to try and be something better?

...Luke, I've been around you for as long as you've been alive. Have I ever said I didn't trust you? Would I have stuck around this long if I didn't trust you?

You know what I mean, Guy!

[He gave him a desperate look, wanting so much to believe what was saying, that Guy was being honest with him. But... then there was what Asch said... and Asch didn't have any reason to lie either...]

No... you wouldn't... but I still don't understand what's going on.

I know.

[Guy's expression holds steady against Luke's own look, an unspoken request for patience behind it. If Luke wanted to understand, he'd have to be willing to listen, regardless of his confusion or hurt.]

It depends what all you're trying to figure out, I guess. You've had a lot dropped on your plate today, so I'm sure that doesn't help. It must be pretty hard on you.

Asch already dropped a lot on me... it's not just about... about Akzeriuth, it's you too! You've been keeping something from me, and it's just going to eat away at me knowing that.

[Luke sat up a bit straighter, a determined look on his face. If he couldn't handle his own best friend and his secrets, then why the hell had he survived this long in the Tower?]

Guy... tell me.

Tell you what, exactly?

That I was born a noble away from Baticul? That a war took my family away and made me change my name? You know all that already, Luke. I wasn't lying. So what else do you want?

[It's an honest question, even if it's showing just how many walls Luke is already starting to hit. But master or best friend or whatever, Guy isn't going to spill his life story onto the ground just like that.

If Luke wants to know something, then sure, he'll talk. Just give him a tighter frame of reference. Like, say, something to tell. Something that isn't "everything you haven't told me." Otherwise they'd be here a while.]

I-I don't...

[Luke trailed off, slinking back and looking away from Guy. He couldn't... really say what he wanted to hear; he didn't know. He didn't know what Guy was hiding from him, just a niggling voice in the back of his head (that sounded a lot like Asch) that was telling him there was so much more than what Guy was saying.]

[That's exactly the reaction he'd been expecting. Luke was such a boy of extremes, especially when he got his emotions into things. It was hard to reel him in to focusing on the details at hand for any given situation, and, in tandem, slightly easy to make him back away and think with the proper leverage. Yeah, it was kind of a tricky spot for Guy himself right now. But Luke has said he was trying to learn and be better. So Guy was holding him to that, whether he liked it or not.

Being a little blunt definitely fit into that.

Guy lets out a sigh, his voice losing some of its sting.]

You must have a lot of questions.

Of course I do.

[Luke paused a moment, trying to think of where to start with this one... Finally, he let out a breath, hesitantly looking back up at him.]

Where... are you from, Guy?

[He offers a thin smile before leaning back on his hands, glancing up at what excuse for a "sky" this graveyard gave.]

Originally...? I'm from Malkuth.

[Surprise, Luke, you shall now have five thousand other questions.]

Malkuth?!

[Luke's just surprised, but it does make sense; how else did Guy know so much about Malkuth, now that he actually thought about it, and didn't just buy his excuse of "visiting vacation spots" or whatever it was he told Jade. Still, it was surprising, especially since as far as he knew, they were still trying to prevent war before Akzeriuth.]

Where in Malkuth?

Hod. I was born there, back before the previous war started.

[Also before the island was wiped off the face of the planet due to said war, but that should be a tad obvious.]

Hod? But... that's...

[Gone. It was destroyed. He remembered that much from the tutors that attempted to teach him stuff. Luke felt his stomach knot up; a bad feeling settling over him.]

[He gives a nod as Luke's voice trails off.]

Yeah. It's gone.

A lot of people I knew were killed in one of the first raids. I escaped as a kid, right before war was officially declared. But I never got to go back.

So... you were part of the nobles on Hod then?

[He knew it was destroyed... and that was about it. Oh, that and the sword his father had hung in the front foyer had something to do with Hod, but he wasn't sure what.]

[That sword has so much to do with Hod, Luke. But the Jewel is such a touchy subject... there's a reason Guy hushed Pere whenever he tried to talk about it too much.]

That's right. Under the previous emperor, Hod was technically my father's land.

[Or, well... his land now, if it was even still around. Except his estates probably belonged to the government as a whole now, destroyed or not. He is, after all, assumed to be dead.]

[Luke's eyes went wide at that. Woah... granted it was destroyed, but... Guy owned a whole island?!]

...woah...

[Oh come on, Luke, Duke Fabre owns about as much land as that!]

...Haha, hey, come on, what's with the face?

[Yeah, but he wasn't his servant.]

I dunno; I guess I'm still having trouble picturing you as a noble.

Because that's really hard to picture from a manservant, right?

[That was kind of always the point at the end of the day, after all - one more day of avoiding suspicion means one more day of not, you know... dying - so it's not really surprising. He shrugs.]

It's alright. It was all a long time ago. No title, no land. Nothing to picture, really.

Edited 2013-02-10 02:37 (UTC)

Well, it's not just that... you never carried yourself like one... well, at least from what I remember.

[He let out a breath, shaking his head.]

So... why did you come to the manor anyway?

[Ahhh, and in come the harder questions. He's just gonna dodge that bullet as hard as he possibly can, please and thank you.]

Pere found the work for me. I wasn't that old, so there was only so much I could do. But your family needed you to have someone around as a playmate and attendant while you grew up. So they chose me.

Well, they needed someone for Asch.

[He just... inherited Guy, it seemed.]

So why does Asch seem to hate you so much if you were his caretaker too?

Mmm. I'm not sure it's hate as much as it is jealousy.

[Sure, it's not the only reason, but it's the most glaringly obvious one.]

And what kind of comment is that? They needed someone for you, too! Why else do you think they kept me around?