[and once upon a yesterday]

[bloodyashes]

Characters: Asch and various; see individual prompts
Setting: Cafeteria kitchens, any day the first half of the month [open]; 81st floor lounge, any day 11th-15th [open to everyone except Sheba]; the beach floor, afternoons 16th-18th [closed to past, semi-close CR]; Asch's room the morning of the 21st [closed to the two Lukes]
Format: You guys know me by now.
Summary: Cooking lessons with Jenna! And... anyone else who might want to eat; FRIENDSHIP; VAN GIVES ASCH FEELINGS so he blows up sand; DYING IS SUFFERING.
Warnings: Mentions of psychological/emotional manipulation in the third prompt; aftermath of death in the last.

[Cafeteria kitchens]

[It's that time again! Riki's menu is far better than his predecessor's (as usual), but that doesn't mean Asch is satisfied with it. So it's not too uncommon to find him down here again, stirring or sauteing or something, no cookbook for reference more often than not.

Whether you're here because you want to learn something, want to filch some of whatever he's making, or some other reason, the brief breaks he takes to put pans in the oven and dishes in the sink are probably the best times to snag his attention.]

[81st floor]

[Friendship is a tangled mess. So are friendship bracelets.

It seems childish, to be sitting here on a beanbag with a pile of string in his lap, but if children can do it then it shouldn't be this hard to learn!

Of course, it doesn't help that every sound of footsteps has Asch snapping his head up from the small chain of knots tied to his boot-garter, eyes seeking out the source of the sound in a brief panic. Losing his train of thought that way has already left him backtracking an hour's worth of work. There's a book of knots and more string dumped onto the couch next to him.

Ironic, that the Lucky Pepper Sheba forced on him last week seems to have made him lucky enough to avoid her.]

[Beach, floor 62]

[He doesn't know what to do with himself for a couple hours after the encounter with Van. Asch is a ball of pent-up aggression, stomping his way around everywhere, and his usual haunts are no comfort.

Eventually, he winds up here on the beach, determined to fuel this energy into something useful. And hell, why not the thing that made him useful in the first place?

Even if it isn't a real hyperresonance, it feels real, and it requires just the same amount of calm and clarity to control safely. It's a way of forcing himself to not be emotional about it, a way to expend his energy without doing something terribly stupid, and he needs the practice, anyway. The first few lines are jagged, the motion of the glowing gold slow, but eventually it smooths out, the waves gently washing away any evidence of the first few attempts. On a whim, he tries a curve, a squiggle, a string of letters - hyperresonance and the sound of the waves make an oddly soothing combination.

Luckily, no one's going to miss the sand.]

[Asch's room/fonic link]

[He wakes up and it's okay. He remembers drowning, remembers bubbles leaving his throat, remembers Natalia's smile, but it's okay. He's back and he's safe and -

he is not o k a y

And this time, there's no one showing up to help keep him steady. This time there's nothing to do but writhe in his own skull. And this time, the hallucinations are starting, just the vague sense of someone, something standing over him, waiting -

The poor unfortunates that share his fonon frequency (both of them, because he doesn't care) will first feel it not so much as a headache, but almost like a mouse scrabbling at the walls of its cage. get me out get me out get me out is the only thing that comes across with any clarity, but there's plenty of panic and a deep-seated flash of terror in the message.

...You may wish to go check on Stupid Redhead Senior, guys.]

Comments

Cooking lessons. We said the 4th, didn't we?

[flamingjustice]

[As agreed, Jenna is in the kitchen in the afternoon, having spent most of the morning gathering fruits and vegetables and small animals (rabbits, mostly, from the forest floor where they aren't warped creatures) from around the tower. It is undeniably awkward to be taught to cook by Asch of all people but, it will be worth it in the end.

She walks right in and puts her supplies on a free space on one of the counters.]

Right, let's get started.

that we did

[bloodyashes]

[He's expecting her, but that doesn't stop him from blinking in surprise at her arrival - or rather, all the things she brought along.]

I thought you wanted to know how to make a cake.

[You don't put rabbits in a cake Jenna.]

[flamingjustice]

I did. Do.

[She is immediately defensive, mostly because she feels like Asch is judging her. In his defense, he has good reason to.]

But I thought I would try making other things, too. We used to eat rabbits in Weyard and she liked them a lot... or, the one from my Weyard did. [She can't get used to the idea that the Sheba here is from some other world exactly like Weyard, only with the smallest of differences.]

Beach floor, 16th

[seekinganswers]

[Since encountering Van, Sheba has wondered about how she should warn Asch. She knows, from conversation and from invading his privacy, that the man is a touchy subject for him, and for good reason. But he deserves to know, so as soon as she parts ways with Van she sets off to look for him.

It isn't until much later that she finally finds him on the beach. She doesn't need to read his mind to know that he's probably encountered Van already; just watching him is indication enough, and she lingers on the stairway for a few moments, watching as he hyperresonates the sand away.

She wishes it was possible to make Van disappear that easily.

Finally she clears her voice and steps off the stairs to approach him, some of the remaining sand crunching under her boots.]

Asch...

[bloodyashes]

[An arc across the sand - it looks like something that belongs in a passage ring, briefly, when he adds a few letters to it, but then it's all washed away by the waves.

Asch is silent for a while, but he does lower the hand he was using to focus his hyperresonance and lets go of the resonating that causes him to glow.]

...He's here.

[He doesn't specify who. Even if Sheba doesn't know, hasn't seen the man herself, it's not like he would react this way for anyone else.]

kitchens

[fionnuisce]

[Waver was generally just minding his business, keeping to himself and making tea on the other side of the room. But if the occasional glances were anything to go by, he was terribly curious (and maybe a little jealous of) Asch's cooking skills. Unfortunately, no one had ever taught Waver himself just how on earth to cook, and about seven times out of ten he was horribly inept at any attempts.]

...What is it you're making, if it's not particularly prying to ask?

[or 'holy shit i've been in a laboratory for days and forgot to eat, help me']

[alchemizes chicken salad and a sandwich for... a chicken sandwich!]

[bloodyashes]

[Oh it's a science dude. He sounds like a not totally evil science dude, but you never know.]

Just frying up some chicken for a sandwich. Why?

[In the language of the kitchens, that why usually winds up translating as "are you hungry." Asch looks away to pull out a knife and start slicing up the cooked chicken into something more managable than a full breast.]

Mindlink/room redhead party

[ambassadorasshat]

[You and your mindlink can go straight to hell, Asch, because Luke doesn't like waking up to headaches or mystery terror that's not part of anything he was dreaming about. Not that he likes that either, but it's worse when it comes from without.]

Wha...Asch?

[At least he has an idea what's going on--he's received a few foncalls from his Asch before--but his body doesn't quite catch up to his brain until a few minutes later, and so it takes him those few minutes to stumble out of his room and down the hallway. He starts to knock, then reconsiders and just goes in, heading straight for Asch's bed when he spots him.]

...Asch? What's going on?

+1 to redhead party

[desireforchange]

[Fortunately, he isn't woken up.

Lately, he hasn't been able to sleep. So far, the only thing that even remotely helps is reading... which is actually what Luke is doing, at this time. Well, "trying" might be the better word.

Just as he approaches the window to give himself enough light to read the book he's practically stolen from the library, a familiar sensation prods his mind. Him already having been awake (and him already having had this happen many times), likely caused it to hit him fastest. Startled, Luke drops his book. That feeling...

Luke puts a hand to his forehead, frowning. It's familiar--...and very unwelcome. Thoughts and feelings that aren't his own force their way into his mind. Not that he doesn't know whose they are. Really, that's the problem, right now. Put simply, something is wrong with Asch.

The fear... panic... words. Yeah, something definitely happened. Ignoring the fact that it will likely wake his roommates, he moves to the door and flings it open. Asch doesn't get scared like that. Even when Luke had felt Asch die back on Auldrant, he had not received a message like that. No, something about this one was... painfully different. Luke had not even bothered making sure the door closed, and he is moving down the hallway.

He's there by the time the brother-version of himself is entering the room; and, without hesitating, this Luke's following right behind. He doesn't care about whether, or not, he's been invited. Deal with it, Asch.]

What happened??

Floor 62

[sageprincess]

[Zelda doesn't normally wander this far from the floors the elevator services. Really, she doesn't normally wander at all, given the Tower's dangers. But she's been working day in and day out in the workshop with Doctor Brown and the collar fluid for nearly a month straight now, and Goddesses above she needs a change in scenery.

She thinks of Tetra's praises as she makes her way to the beach, but finds her thoughts being derailed as she notices a familiar figure already occupying the floor.

Is Asch... writing with magic?

She watches silently for a moment, noting his intense focus in his task, before clearing her throat to hopefully alert him of her presence without startling him.]

... Is this a bad time?

yaaaay

[bloodyashes]

[A couple more swirled letters - hyperresonance isn't nearly as fast as a pen, and he's going to finish this for sure - before the glow fades around him. When it does, it's like someone cut the string holding Asch up - his arm falls to his side, and his good shoulder slumps to match the one without muscle to hold it up.

He can't manage anything like a smile, but hopefully his expression at least says she's not unwelcome.]

I've had a hell of a day, that's all.

[The waves wash away the first part of his sand scribblings, leaving only of the sacred flame across the beach for the next wave.]

Kitchen

[miseris_socios]

[Asch isn't the only person in the kitchen not totally satisfied with what they have. Ken's standing in the kitchen too, working on defleshing some kind of overlarge squirrel. It's got a long burn mark on the side, but that doesn't seem to matter.]

[He sets it down for a moment to rest his hands and looks over at Asch.]

What are you making?

[bloodyashes]

[Asch doesn't look in Ken's direction until the question is asked - when he hears the voice, he glances, then gives the kid a more thorough look-over.

Huh. Not a lot of people around here who could skin their own meat. Congrats, Ken, you've made a good first impression.]

I was going to bread some of this chicken, but I'm not really sure from there.

[Too bad there's no pasta.]

The 81st Floor! We'll say the 13th.

[gradosfinest]

[So that happened. And now it was time to catch up.

After an unexpected and more than slightly jarring trip back to what's left of her homeworld, Amelia found herself with plenty of thoughts that needed sorting out in her mind and either a place to relax and do so or a well timed distraction from that. And the 81st Floor Lounge generally proved to be a good place to find either of those things, so that's where she was headed.

Two steps off of the elevator and she could tell right away not much had changed, a quick glance around telling her that the lounge was mostly empty at the moment, although she did spot one person she thought she recognized. Hell if she knew what he was doing, but it couldn't hurt to at least say hi, right? With that she started to wander over in his general direction, managing a smile and a wave.]

Afternoon, sir! A quiet day I take it?

[Hell, the last time she'd talked to him had been in the cafeteria, shortly before they all went down to the admin levels. Hopefully he'd had better luck than they did.]

[bloodyashes]

[The wave is not returned; did anyone actually expect differently?

He's not sure why she's calling him sir, either - it puts him in mind of his time in the Oracle Knights, and sours his mood a bit.]

Quiet enough.

[Pleasantries done, he turns another knot over in his fingers before tightening it down.]

Beach

[alae]

[He hadn't even been looking for Asch, but when he passes the beach level and spots him in the sand, he has to stop and head over to him. He jumps off and lands a little ways from him, walking towards him carefully. His sandals crunch in the sand, so he's not too worried about startling him. Still, he calls out when he gets close.]

... Asch?

[You okay man? 8( ]

[bloodyashes]

[He's not really doing the okay thing, no.]

What is it?

[He sounds really tired.]

Cafeteria

[no_longer_a_king]

[It's the sight of red hair and the smell of good food that draws her in, though Arturia knows she should probably stay away after the episode she recently had. The last thing she needs are more reminders of Shirou. Not when she's actively trying to let go, if only to stop being a potential liability.

But it's just Asch, whom she's seen around Zelda enough. They've barely exchanged more than a few words with one another. While she is surprised to see him cooking, it is nice to see it's only him.

Part of her wants to go and leave him be, but then she reminds herself that, no, this man is close to Zelda as well. Should they not get to know one another better? At least hold a decent conversation beyond simply being polite? There had been a time when she knew the names and face of everyone in Camelot, whose population was certainly larger than the Tower's. Surely, it can't be that hard to learn a little more about the people who are already here?

So she approaches him and tries to feign some ease. If he does not wish to speak with her, she will have no hard feelings about simply leaving.]

What are you making?

TMW you almost forget past CR with Saber Alter

[bloodyashes]

[Well, his face is easily learnable, considering that there's three copies of it in the Tower now. Asch looks up from chopping potatoes into small chunks.

Oh, it's the other Saber - the one he usually saw around Zelda. The other disappeared a while ago, and they certainly don't have the same kind of aura. Maybe she won't be a nosy saboteur in his life the way the other one was.

He can be pleasant, for an Asch value of pleasant. His voice is clipped but not angry.]

I was thinking a pot pie of some sort.

[He slices a few more potato chunks and slides them to the edge of the cutting board.]

Floor 81, September 15th. If you meant it was closed to both Shebas I'll rewrite my tag.

[jeweloftolbi]

[The pepper might have made him lucky enough to avoid one Sheba, but did it make him lucky enough to avoid another? There is another Sheba wandering about the tower after all, and this one comes not from the elevator but from the stairs. One could only watch the circus for so long before it got dull.

This redhead's face looks like the Luke she met. Going by what she saw in Luke's mind, he must be Asch. She was wondering when they would meet, since all attempts at mind reading others who know the other Sheba have led her to believe that they are close.

Funny, Luke's thoughts hadn't made Asch seem the type to spend his time relaxing. Then again he doesn't seem relaxed, with the way he looks towards any sound. What on earth is all that string for? It can't hurt to ask.]

Are you making something?

NOPE but he's gonna panic

[bloodyashes]

[ASJLKSGHADG SHIT IT'S SHEBA

FUCK FUCK FUCK]

- Hair ties, I'm making hair ties!

[He's a really bad liar when put on the spot like this. If she tries to mind read, first it'll be obvious what's really going on, and then second will be that he doesn't yet know that there's two Shebas around.

oops?]

Floor 81, September 12th, I'll probably be posting on Floor 62 later though

[attheclocktower]

[Whatever their reason had been for coming to this floor (it hadn't been too important anyway, just training and taking a break from her collar-fluid guarding duties), Xion forgets it as soon as she looks up and sees someone familiar among the comfortable seats.]

Asch! You're here too?

[She hesitates, then looks over her shoulder. The significance of both Asch and Sora being in the same room dawns on her fairly quickly. They'd never... met. Though Asch knew about Sora... and been surprised by him.

The moment passes though, and she reaches out and grabs Sora by the hand to tug him over in Asch's direction]

[derping]

[At first he just stands still, looking in confusion from Asch to Xion. The guy looks kind of familiar - like someone he's probably seen around a few times - but he's pretty sure they had never talked before. Does Xion know him...?

Sora becomes more certain of this when Xion begins to lead him over there. She probably wouldn't walk up to a stranger like this, and he couldn't see him dragging him along, either. They must be friends, then!

Now confident of this, Sora happily lets Xion lead him over to Asch.]

Uh, hello!

[Because having no idea who you are is no excuse to not say hi.]

Floor 81, 11th, ignore this if it's too late/think there will be paradoxes

[warriorscribe]

*When the long-haired man seems to startle at his passing, Enoch glances down at him where he might have passed without a thought. He wasn't necessarily on his way to anything in particular, just anything at all he could occupy himself with. Conversation and potential work qualified.*

I'm sorry, did I startle you?

*He thinks that it's probably better he work on a floor that isn't an elevator stop, but he might have his reasons.*

no totally cool! I was just busy with event things

[bloodyashes]

[Enoch maybe not recognize him, but Asch recognizes the man, and his expression is a little more sour than it was before. He shakes his head.]

I'm keeping an eye out for someone in particular.