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)
lazybox2013-02-12 07:50 pm
bloodyashes) wrote in lazybox2013-02-12 07:50 pm
World hoppers gonn' world hop
Jumping between worlds never stopped being interesting. Starting to get a little lonely, maybe, but certainly never boring. Even calm worlds had something new to discover, although it was probably a good thing that he tended to run into other "survivors" of the Tower on this trip.
He sure would have appreciated one of those now, even if just so that he had someone to crack jokes with about monsters coming out at night. That eclipse had started not long after he came here, and was the apparent reason behind the insanity around him; dark monsters popping out everywhere, and an imbalance in the world that was sending the First Fonon into a berserk state, or at least so it seemed to his perception of things.
It was making finding enough of Sixth Fonon to do anything kind of a pain in the ass. At least he could use the Seventh to duplicate any of the others, now, and had enough of an ambient cloud of them to do what he needed. There didn't seem to be a naturally occuring source of them in this world, so he was stuck with what he'd brought with them and the few he could make with artes himself. Learning that had been enough of a challenge, thanks.
He had, eventually, made it to a town, to be promptly greeted by wonder from the townspeople. He heard the phrase "powerful Adept" tossed around in his vicinity a few times, and well - at least that gave him a starting point. So he pulled a barmaid to the side and asked about Sheba and Felix, wishing he could remember the names of their other companions.
The woman had stared at him, but after a bit of coaxing, she pointed him in the direction of some ruins outside town. And really, he shouldn't be surprised, because it was Sheba and she was always up to her neck in trouble. Sure enough, the small blond figure is exploring as usual, a weapon in one hand - it's a familiar sight, even if they've both aged a few years.
Or more than a few years, in Sheba's case, given how time seems to slide off her. And there's no telling if she's the Sheba from the Tower, but... He clears his throat, stepping into sight behind her.
"For the record, I think you're a little too old now for me to be doing your laundry."
The worst that could happen is that she zaps him for being crazy, after all, and it's not like it would even be the first time.
He sure would have appreciated one of those now, even if just so that he had someone to crack jokes with about monsters coming out at night. That eclipse had started not long after he came here, and was the apparent reason behind the insanity around him; dark monsters popping out everywhere, and an imbalance in the world that was sending the First Fonon into a berserk state, or at least so it seemed to his perception of things.
It was making finding enough of Sixth Fonon to do anything kind of a pain in the ass. At least he could use the Seventh to duplicate any of the others, now, and had enough of an ambient cloud of them to do what he needed. There didn't seem to be a naturally occuring source of them in this world, so he was stuck with what he'd brought with them and the few he could make with artes himself. Learning that had been enough of a challenge, thanks.
He had, eventually, made it to a town, to be promptly greeted by wonder from the townspeople. He heard the phrase "powerful Adept" tossed around in his vicinity a few times, and well - at least that gave him a starting point. So he pulled a barmaid to the side and asked about Sheba and Felix, wishing he could remember the names of their other companions.
The woman had stared at him, but after a bit of coaxing, she pointed him in the direction of some ruins outside town. And really, he shouldn't be surprised, because it was Sheba and she was always up to her neck in trouble. Sure enough, the small blond figure is exploring as usual, a weapon in one hand - it's a familiar sight, even if they've both aged a few years.
Or more than a few years, in Sheba's case, given how time seems to slide off her. And there's no telling if she's the Sheba from the Tower, but... He clears his throat, stepping into sight behind her.
"For the record, I think you're a little too old now for me to be doing your laundry."
The worst that could happen is that she zaps him for being crazy, after all, and it's not like it would even be the first time.
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And Asch is here, too. The goodbye in the Tower hadn't been the end. She makes a small noise and starts to lift her head from his shoulder, but when she realizes that no, her tears haven't stopped yet, she buries it back into the fabric of his tunic again.]
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to worry you.
[Her hold on him tightens, just a bit - like she's afraid that if she lets go, he'll vanish.]
But I'm here now. And I'm... not going anywhere. Not on purpose. But if I ever do... I'll always find my way back. Always.
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He's a lot better at not crying, but he's not letting go, either.]
It's fine. It's all fine. You're here and you're safe.
[He's heard of people living together around here, of course, but not of someone who just wakes up in another person's house. But like he said, he's not going to kick her out. She'd probably starve if he did, anyway.
At that thought, he starts to laugh, his shoulders shaking in her arms. The only other option is to cry, after all. It takes him a couple tries to catch his breath in the sudden bout of hysteria, but he finally manages to force out - ]
If you'll let go for a minute, I'll go make breakfast.
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And you're safe too.
[She can ask him about the scars later. Right now, all that matters is that they've both survived. They're free of the Tower, they're safe, and it can only get better from here. She wants to believe that with all her heart, even if there is still some lingering doubt. She's lived in fear for too long to instantly have all her worries washed away, but she's desperate to believe that things will be okay here.
His laughter confuses her - she doesn't understand what's so funny. Maybe she could, but she doesn't want to risk trying to read his mind and finding that it's not really him, or something. When he speaks, she slowly loosens her hold on him and takes a step back. She looks a little hesitant to do so, but she still does it, and then she smiles.]
Do you want any help with breakfast?
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Today is the first day of the rest of your life, said one of the books he'd found on the bookshelves here, and he feels like it, right now. He finally lets her go, shaking his head.]
No, it's fine. ...If you can give me five minutes to change clothes, though, that would be nice.
[Since hey he did just kind of fall out of bed here. Glancing down reveals it's even worse than usual, thanks to the hug - he's a rumpled mess.]
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I'll be right outside, in the hall. I'm not going anywhere.
[It feels important to her to say so - she's not going to just stand here and watch him change for the sake of being close (the thought makes her cheeks flush a light pink and she's glad she's already looking away), but it feels wrong to just step outside so soon after they've been reunited.
Still, he does need to dress. So she opens the door and steps out quickly, giving it a small push to shut it - not enough to slam it, and it may not even close all the way because closing it just seems too final, but she's no voyeur. He'll have privacy while he changes even if it doesn't close the whole way.]
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Another minute or two until he's nudging the door open, a jacket over a button-up shirt and real pants over his socks. He's left the top undone enough that she can see plenty of his neck, though, and he's left the gloves off.]
Alright, let's go.
[The kitchen's up the hall and off to the side - he doesn't know how much if at all she's explored. He does pause for a moment near the bathroom, a little surprised as he looks at the door across from it. That wasn't there before. Oh well.]
You probably shouldn't eat too much, though. These are our real bodies and they haven't eaten in a long time; if you slam your stomach with too much suddenly, you'll just make yourself sick.
[Somehow this sounds like the voice of experience.]
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He's not even showing much skin, now. His new clothing suits him well. But Sheba looks off to the side and nods, taking care not to let her gaze linger on any one place for too long as she follows him to the kitchen. She doesn't want to make him feel uncomfortable with her staring - it's just that she still has a hard time believing that this is really happening.]
I'll be careful. [And then, because she simply wouldn't be Sheba if she didn't - ] I guess you weren't so cautious when you first got here?
[She's teasing him, but the mischievous tone of her voice is somewhat lacking. The reason for that becomes obvious all too quickly, though; as she follows along behind him, she reaches out for the back of his jacket to get his attention.]
...um, Asch... what happened to your hands? ...and your neck... I've never seen those scars before.
[She's seen him suffer injuries that could leave scars like those, but she hadn't thought the Tower had left them... And as he'd said, these were their real bodies. Those things had happened to wireframes.]
Is there something dangerous going on here, too?
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[His tone says he doesn't regret it now, and he'll do her the favor of looking a little puzzled at the blush but not saying anything. At her question, he reaches up, awkwardly rubs a hand along the scar around his neck.]
No, there's nothing dangerous here. It's almost too peaceful, if you grant exception to a few people with shrill tempers.
[The trade-off for a tolerable Dist is that there's now two of him. It takes a long time for him to continue, finally dropping his hand away from his throat.]
I wanted them.
[If Sheba's looking close enough, the scars across the back of his hands are obviously the shape of fingers themselves - her fingers, if she cared to put her hands over them.]
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I probably would have been the same way, if I got here first...
[Especially if there were fruits readily available. The glamoured food of the Tower, no matter how good it was made to taste, had nothing on real fruit.]
There aren't any monsters or anything? [She sounds a little disbelieving.] And no one's tried to make you play a game, or... [She doesn't know for certain how time passes here, but if he's been here a long while, and there's been no sight of anyone conducting experiments or playing games...]
...you did? [She looks down at his hand when it drops from his throat, and sure enough, she does reach out to take it - to lightly run her fingers over the scars, and then, when she realizes how close in size the marks are to her own fingers, to rest her hand over his. She looks up into his face, her expression one of mixed concern and... something else. Sentimentality, maybe.] But these are from when I... [She doesn't want to say "killed you," but that's what she means. Her gaze drops a little lower to the scar on his neck, and she swallows hard.] ...and isn't that from the time we went down the elevator...?
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No, nothing. I've been here about a month; some of the others who've been here longer think we've stumbled into the domain of some kind of infant god, but if that's what it is, it's far more benign in its play that Ruana was.
[He lets her take his hand, folds his other one over hers.]
It grants wishes, supposedly, if there's something you want badly enough. I had to test it for myself.
[He squeezes her fingers a little.]
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That's a relief...
[If it's true that there's no danger, then maybe this is okay, even though it isn't Weyard or Auldrant or either of their worlds. Maybe this is a real rescue mission, and not the mockery of one that the Tower had been. They had real bodies again, they had more time, and even if their worlds are still the wastelands they'd seen in the Tower, they have more than a year to figure out how to set everything right.
She looks down at their hands, and then up to Asch's face again.] And these are exactly what you wanted? It didn't hurt you all over again to receive them, did it?
[In the Tower, he might have had to relive each and every one of those scars... She bites her lip and returns the squeeze.]
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I woke up and they were there. Itched a little, that's all.
[Kind of like healing burns normally do, really. It didn't feel real, until he had those scars on his hands, like his whole time in the Tower had been an elaborate dream instead of a deadly out of body experience. But his scars, and now Sheba - they're both reassuringly real.]
The place itself seems to be genuinely helpful, but you understand why I don't trust it.
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At least now you've got someone to watch your back. [Assuming Asch could trust that she was real and not some sort of illusion. After the shadow children, Sheba's not sure if she would believe it quite so easily, but he's had time to get used to this place already.] Unless you've already found people to do that here? [A grin.] Is there anyone I should meet?
[A new world meant new people. And here, they didn't seem to be confined to a single tower - they could be much more spread out. And more space meant there was the potential for many more people than they'd ever met in the Tower to appear.]
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[It's got a bit of his usual grumpiness to it; he's still slow to trust even if he's learned how to do so in theory, after all.]
The place seems to be some kind of second home for people who were already taken from their worlds once; there's a version of Dist here, and I know he was never at the Tower.
[A slight snort. He's not very fond of Dist, but - ]
He's managed to be more successful at meeting people than I am. Obviously something changed him, wherever he was.
[The kitchen is neat and orderly, excepting a few dishes in the sink that Asch was too tired to mess around with the night before. He taps at a piece of machinery built into the counter near the sink.]
Convinced him to build this to wash the dishes for me, though, so I can't complain too much.
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[She doesn't sound as grumpy as he does - the words are said with a small smile. It's an immense relief knowing that there's someone she can trust here.
The name "Dist" sounds familiar, but only in that passing way of a name she's heard briefly in thoughts but has never discussed. Sheba nods slowly as she considers what Asch has to say about him and about the place that they've now found themselves in.]
Any length of time in a place that's different from where someone grew up will change them... At least, that's what I think.
[Doubly so when the new place was an entirely different world. Wherever Dist had been, it might or might not have been as traumatic as the Tower, she just doesn't know. But whether it was full of horrors or not, it would have had an impact. In fact, if it was one of the nicer other worlds she heard about during her time at the Tower, that might explain why he's better with meeting people than Asch remembers. A trial by fire is good for building bonds of comradeship; a second chance at a normal life is good for slowly building more natural bonds.
She laughs delightedly and examines the dishwasher, resting one hand on it.]
Oh, that's great! Washing dishes by hand isn't much fun... [The worker units had been one of the nice things about the Tower, with the way they'd handled mundane tasks for them.]
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[There's the sound of him sorting through pans - somehow, as ironic as it would be to have oatmeal, he doesn't think it would go over very well. Somewhere there's a mixing bowl - ah, there we go. Pancakes will do.
In the meantime, there's a bowl of fruit on the counter; Asch grabs a pear and takes a few bites of it to tide himself over.]
He's actually tolerable to hold a conversation with, now. Before, we usually left him alone in his workshop for as long as we could justify.
[There's no mention of who the "we" is, but the rest of the God-Generals, along with a sample of Dist's usual behaviour, is clear in his thoughts if she decides to take a look.]
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It's good that he's changed for the better now. [Her gaze follows his hand to the bowl of fruit and then lingers there. She sounds a little distracted when she speaks again as she looks through the bowl.] But why-- oh!
[And then she sounds absolutely delighted.]
You have pomegranates! These are my favorite! [Forget being careful with her eating. She grabs a knife and skillfully cuts the pomegranate into halves so that she can get at the seeds; soon enough, she's contentedly picking them out from the halves and munching on them.
Her first real food in so long. She's happy as a clam, really.]
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Asch measures out some flour and dumps it into the developing batter, stirring it with half a mind as he talks.]
He's nearly twice my age, but I honestly never though I'd see him act like an adult.
[He pauses stirring, leaving his whisk against the side of the bowl as he goes for a frying pan.]
He has a boyfriend, now. They're perfect for each other in the most obnoxious way possible.
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Sometimes, it's the oldest people who act the most childishly. [She tilts her head to the side, thinking.] Did I ever tell you much about Kraden? He was so old, but sometimes he just acted like a huge kid.
[Especially when werewolves and ancient civilizations were involved.]
It's good that he's found someone! Don't you think? Finding people who are special to you is one of the best things that can happen to someone. [A small smile.] I'm happy for them... even if I haven't met either of them, yet.
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[Because he's been here a month and hasn't gotten screeched at, it's a miracle. Whisk whisk while the pan is warming.]
I'm sure you'll meet them soon enough. I wind up seeing them quite a bit for one reason or another.
[He doesn't respond to her question - he's sure she already knows, after all, and if she doesn't, then the smile on his face when he turns away to ladle the first scoop of batter into the pan makes him obvious.]
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You'd be surprised.
[Another few pomegranate seeds to munch on, and she keeps smiling - she's not completely sure why, but Asch's smile when he turns to ladle the pancake batter into the pan makes her cheeks flush faintly.]
I'll be looking forward to it, then. I've been wanting to meet more people from Auldrant.
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I'd say that you've never met Dist, but like I said, he's calmed down quite a bit.
[Luckily he's paying more attention to the pan than her face and so misses the blush; time to flip pancakes wheeeeeee.]
This is the first time you've had the chance to meet another of the God-Generals, isn't it?
[Admittedly, he and Dist are Team Traitor, but it still counts.]
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Yes, it's the first time. [It was probably fortunate that she'd met Asch before meeting Dist. If she had met Dist first, she might not ever want anything to do with anyone who shared the same title as him.]
None of them were ever in the Tower... at least, not while I was there. [Maybe there were some before - or some after, since she's apparently been out of commission for a long time - but she'd certainly never met any of them.
A pause, and then, more quietly - ] Is he as smart as you are? I don't want to say something foolish and sound like an idiot if he knows a lot...
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[Taking that pancake off and putting it on a plate to the side before pouring the next one.]
Jade created the theory behind fomicry, but Dist was the one who assembled all the machines and things that made it work. He's as much a genius in his own way, but Jade's much more tolerable on a daily basis.
[He gives the remaining batter a quick stir to keep it from clumping. Surprisingly, Asch's voice isn't at all sour as he continues talking.]
When Jade judged living replicas unethical, Dist high-tailed it with his notes. He found Van, joined the Oracle Knights under him in exchange for a lab to continue his research, and the rest is history.
[His history, specifically. He flips the pancake.]
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[Another one she'd never had the chance to meet. She would almost be annoyed by it, if not for the fact that meeting them would have meant spending more time in the Tower, and that's not something she really wants to do.
Now if only the rest of her friends would appear here, too... She wonders if the Tower's world is out there somewhere, and her friends are still trapped on it. Or did an entire year pass while she was out of commission? What happened to everyone who was there who isn't here? She finds that following that line of thought makes her stomach churn, so she deliberately turns her thoughts away from it.]
Dist sounds like he's very... [Opportunistic.] Resourceful.
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