Asch the Bloody (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodyashes) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-06-04 07:33 pm
bloodyashes) wrote in towerofanimus2013-06-04 07:33 pm
Asches to Ashes
Characters: A surprisingly not grumpy redhead and YOU. Also, fire.
Setting: The lower forest floor, some way away from the stairs. Forward-dated to tomorrow.
Format: VAST MEH.
Summary: Burn out the old growth to make room for the new. OR, Asch one-ups Luke in the dramatically throwing away your old identity department.
Warnings: None, probably. Talk of past trauma? Identity issues? idek general Asch warnings.
[He started the fire small, but it wasn't long before Asch was throwing every branch onto it that he could find, wet or dry. It crackled, sending a spiral of smoke into the trees above, flames and glowing coals making a red glow that was probably visible from the staircase. By the time he's done, the flames are as tall as he is, the pile of branches up to his shoulder before it shifts and collapses down a few inches.
It's at that point that he undoes the clasps of his tabard - worn and familiar from years of use, years of living in uniform even before coming to the tower - and throws the heavy fabric onto the fire. The weight collapses the branches further, smothering the flames just enough to reduce the apparent amount of light. And Asch folds his arms and takes a seat on a fallen trunk, watching all the while.
If he had other clothes, he'd throw the entire uniform into the flames, but for now, this will have to do. It's not just cloth he's thrown into the flames, but an identity, everything he's been for seven years or more. All the covers, all the lies - "Asch the Bloody" is going back to the flames where he belongs, but it isn't Luke who watches. Just Asch. That's all he needs to be.
It's not long before the scent of burning leather and fabric fills the air, and he's still watching.]
Setting: The lower forest floor, some way away from the stairs. Forward-dated to tomorrow.
Format: VAST MEH.
Summary: Burn out the old growth to make room for the new. OR, Asch one-ups Luke in the dramatically throwing away your old identity department.
Warnings: None, probably. Talk of past trauma? Identity issues? idek general Asch warnings.
[He started the fire small, but it wasn't long before Asch was throwing every branch onto it that he could find, wet or dry. It crackled, sending a spiral of smoke into the trees above, flames and glowing coals making a red glow that was probably visible from the staircase. By the time he's done, the flames are as tall as he is, the pile of branches up to his shoulder before it shifts and collapses down a few inches.
It's at that point that he undoes the clasps of his tabard - worn and familiar from years of use, years of living in uniform even before coming to the tower - and throws the heavy fabric onto the fire. The weight collapses the branches further, smothering the flames just enough to reduce the apparent amount of light. And Asch folds his arms and takes a seat on a fallen trunk, watching all the while.
If he had other clothes, he'd throw the entire uniform into the flames, but for now, this will have to do. It's not just cloth he's thrown into the flames, but an identity, everything he's been for seven years or more. All the covers, all the lies - "Asch the Bloody" is going back to the flames where he belongs, but it isn't Luke who watches. Just Asch. That's all he needs to be.
It's not long before the scent of burning leather and fabric fills the air, and he's still watching.]
no subject
In fact, I'm better than I have been in a long time.
[On Auldrant, it's true, he never had any support to lean on. But this is not Auldrant, and that's no longer the case. Here, he doesn't have to be alone.]
no subject
Well, that's... good. I'm glad you're doing better.
[She doesn't really understand it, but at least he's not broken. Even if they weren't the closest back in Auldrant, that doesn't mean she wants him to suffer. ...especially since he'd apparently been helping to look after Ion while she wasn't here.
She owes him for that, definitely.]
Hey, can I ask you a question?
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Right now? There's actually glue starting to set.]
Of course.
[Nothing to hide, after all.]
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[She fidgets. If he's letting go, if he's so much happier here, he might not want to think about the past or about Auldrant. But she has to know.]
...how much do you remember about everything that's happened on our world?
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It was after Van came back at the Absorption Gate.
[If she didn't know about that? Well, oops.]
no subject
[That explains a lot. Anise fidgets, again - toeing at the ground and crossing her arms over her chest. It almost explains why he's able to be happy here. When you hit the bottom, there was only one way to go. And that's up.
...but has he hit the bottom? ...does he know what's going to happen to him on Auldrant? Anise can't tell...]
Well, I - I wanted to thank you. For looking out for Ion. Not just while I was gone, but a few days ago, too... I think it was good for him to see someone so calm during all of that.
It seems like you've grown a lot here. ...keep growing, okay? [Because if he stops, then it probably means he's dead. And even though they've had their differences, Anise doesn't want that.]
no subject
Not that he doesn't notice, and question, her fidgeting.]
And what are you hiding?
[Yeah, good try trying to get one over on him, Anise.]
no subject
[Except - she was, and still is. Hiding things is, in a way, Anise's m.o.; she'd hidden things in Auldrant, when maybe she should have spoken up and Ion could have been saved. And she's hiding things here.
She doesn't want to be the one to confirm when and where and how Asch's death happened, though.]
Geeze, Asch, you're so suspicious...
no subject
[Which is true, although it was Van's doing that made him so suspicious in the first place. It was the same suspicious nature that lead to him pursuing the truth of Van's plans and leaving.
And now, Anise? It's all turned on you. Whoops.]
But that doesn't answer my question.
no subject
[She frowns.]
Why is it so hard for you to believe I'm not hiding anything?
no subject
[Gold star, though, Anise. You tried.]
I thought it was obvious that I'd rather have a harsh truth than a pleasant cover-up.
no subject
Do you - has anyone who's been here already told you what happens after the last thing you remember?
no subject
I was the last on the timeline here for a long time, so no.
no subject
[There's another long pause. How should she tell him? ...how could he tell him? He ought to hear this from someone it would be more meaningful from.
But she finds she can't think of who that might be. Luke? No. The Luke who was here didn't know, for one thing; for another, even if the two of them had managed to work together in the end, how awful would it have been to hear The Score was kind of right; you died after all, just not at Akzeriuth from the one who had managed to survive?]
You said you're happy here, right? ...kind of?
no subject
Whatever it is, just tell me.
[Why does he have to keep saying this to people. He needs to just give a disclaimer to everyone he meets.]
If I can't handle it, it's on my head, not yours.
no subject
[She fidgets. There's no easy way of saying it, and saying it so plainly hurts. She's seen enough death recently. Ion, Arietta, Asch, countless others -
But someone has to tell him, and he's asked her to.]
...you're dead. ...so, you should... you should make the best of the time you have here.
no subject
Which, to be fair, she is.]
You say that like you expect to go back.
[If it's not obvious, he doesn't. With half a chuckle, he leans back, propping himself up with his arms on the log.]
This place makes you embrace what's here now, no matter what might be waiting for you otherwise.
no subject
[She tilts her head to the side, puzzled. If the snort wasn't strange enough, what he said was... well...]
You say that like you wouldn't even if you could. [Which seems strange to her. She's not sure that being here means Auldrant is entirely lost, even after Ruana's network post. If this place had the technology to save their souls, why couldn't they use that technology themselves to put things right?
...only, she's not sure about returning, herself. She thinks it'll be a possibility, but she's not sure she wants to. Because if she returns to Auldrant, all she's really doing is returning to a world without Ion. After getting to see him here, alive and breathing - mostly - she's not sure she can take that.]
...I know what you mean. [If she brought Ion home with her, would he stay alive? What would happen? Worrying about the future won't get her anywhere - he's here with her now and that's what matters most.] I just, wanted to make sure... you deserve to have happiness where you can find it. Even if it is in a place like this. So make the most of every day you can here, okay?
no subject
[It's simple reality for him and stated as such - he's never not blunt, after all.
The things that matter to him now are not of Auldrant - the people that matter aren't of Auldrant. He's thrown himself into it without a glance back, because as far as he can see, home is already gone.
And yet... He is happy, somehow.]
I've just outgrown it, I suppose.
no subject
[That almost sounds strange to her, but she can kind of see where he's coming from. Auldrant hadn't been kind to him. The Tower hadn't been kind, either, but if he's found some happiness here...]
So you don't ever want to go back? Not even for a visit?
I think - I think Ion would want to see you. [If Ion is able to be alive on Auldrant, anyway.] It seems like you two have gotten a little closer here than you were before.
no subject
[Not that he's sure if he would go back for one of those or not - there's a lot of things like that that he isn't sure about. It's hard, being a redhead and not knowing what you're looking for in life.]
And I suppose we have - it's not as though we were at all close, before.
no subject
[Ion seemed fond of almost anybody, after he got to know them. It was something that Anise simultaneously admired and despaired over. She knows that the Fon Master is smart and can make decisions for himself about who to spend his time with, but he could be so trusting sometimes-!
And that trust had gotten him killed... she supposes, in that way, Asch is less of a danger to her charge than she herself is.]
Did anything... um, happen, before I came here?