abyssdressing | (no subject)

[Sup, residents of the dressing room? If you're out and wandering today, you may find one(1) bitty replica doing the same thing as you. He has escaped from the inn via someone leaving the door open, and he's decided to explore and see everything for himself. Of course, he has no idea what kind of dangers he might get into or the stress he might cause. Luke's just interested in getting out of that inn and seeing what there is to see on his own.

The boy can walk, though a little awkwardly, and he'll try climbing up on benches and play balancing games with himself. Once that gets boring, he'll jump off of there and land on his feet, though fall to his hands and knees. Asch taught him not to cry over such useless things, though, so he stands and is off again, completely ignoring the grass stains on his pants. Next, he'll bend down near the side of the trail, where a bunch of pebbles lay. He turns them over in his hands a few times, then... puts them in his mouth. Huh... They don't really taste like much of anything, but the texture is pretty interesting.

Feel free to catch him at either of these times!]

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[Asch crouches down, steeling himself against Luke's caterwauling. He gently takes one of the little replica's hands in his, holding it firmly, but gently. He tugs Luke into his arms, sighing and trying to calm the anger that was welling up.]

Luke. Stop a minute. Come on, just listen.. [He waits for a moment of quiet between the screams, rubbing his fingers along the back of Luke's hand in a pacifying gesture.] You did something wrong, something bad... Do you know what you did? Tell me what you did bad, Luke. If you can tell me, and apologize and...p-promise not to do it again, I'll give you back your...Bear.

[Or whatever the animal was. Asch still couldn't figure it out. No book had a species quite like Luke's doll. He just assumed it was a made-up creature for children's amusement.]

[Asch's gestures and actions manage to bring Luke's screaming down to hiccups and quiet little whimpers, and he stares up at Asch with overly bright eyes, tears still falling down his cheeks. What... he did? He'd done something bad, he knew, but... what?]

I don'... I don' know.

[It's said as Luke lowers his head and hides his face against Asch's shoulder. Even if Asch was scary before... He was still his biggest source of security, the one he'd always go to when he was scared or sad. That would never change. He loved the man taking care of him, even when he was scary and angry.

But how is Luke supposed to learn his lesson if he has no idea what the bad thing he did is? How is he supposed to get his Bear back? Asch told him he can't have it if he can't tell him what he did...]

[Asch sighed, and let himself slump as he slowly calmed himself down, rubbing Luke's back and petting his hair. Stupid little dreck...working him up so much, and making his worry...stupid, stupid, little dreck. Asch pulled Luke back, taking him into the kitchen to wash his face clean with a clean cloth.]

...You ran away. Without telling me! I didn't know where you were, Luke. Would you like it if I suddenly went away? Or if your bear suddenly went away - and you didn't know where either of us were? It'd make you feel afraid, right?

[Asch knew it would, and he hoped this tactic would work with such a small child like his replica. He didn't want to spoil him, but Asch had been so afraid when he got out, and then he started to cry because he was so upset...agh. It was hard, taking care of the little boy, but Asch didn't want to treat him coldly either. And especially not like he treated his replica before.]

[Luke hiccups as he's taken to the kitchen, and he mulls over what Asch said. Asch would leave sometimes, right? It's not like Luke wasn't a stranger to that, so why...? Then again, when that would happen, the older Luke would be there to babysit and play with him. Luke was usually having too much fun to worry about where Asch went, even if he didn't know where he was.

So... yes, he can see Asch's point. Especially if Bear went away... especially both of them. Just thinking about it makes fear rise up, and he presses himself a little closer to Asch while he looks up at him and nods, biting his lower lip. Yes, he would feel afraid...]

[Luke's actions alone, even though he nodded, spoke loudly. Asch held the boy close, hushing him and even discreetly rocking him in his arms. He wouldn't even leave Luke like he said. Not ever, even if this nexus tried to take him back. There was no way, now, that he'd leave Luke to fend for himself. Asch had nothing to go back to on Auldrant, after all. There was nothing left for him but death.

So he'd stay, and teach his little replica how to live and act and be strong. A small smile dawned on Asch's face, and he tucked Luke's head under his chin, where he could feel safe and protected. Asch felt guilty for thinking he could give up Luke, and even now he was afraid of screwing something up, or reverting and lashing out against the replica - like he was used to - but...he didn't. Luke had been with him for some time now, and Asch had done nothing wrong so far. This was his only slip up. That's not too bad...right?]

...I won't leave you, Luke. Not for longer then a day or two. But you...you need to tell me when you want to go somewhere, so I know you won't disappear.

["Disappear" is still a big word that Luke doesn't know, but he can get the gist. He presses himself closer still, still hiccuping quietly. All that fear he felt when Asch described him and Bear being gone... was that what he felt when Luke went away to play?

It was so strange... Luke had been secure with the knowledge that Asch would know where he was. After all, he always seemed to know. Even when Luke was about to do something bad, Asch would yell from the other room like he knew.

But... Luke really does feel bad about all this. Especially when Asch puts it in perspective like that. He had ducked his head to make it easier for Asch to rest his chin on it, and he keeps his gaze on the ground as he speaks up quietly.]

... I-sorry.

[Shushing the young boy gently, Asch nuzzled his hair and, without thinking it, brushed his lips against the top of Luke's head. He'd been so scared...so afraid of losing Luke, but he was here and he understood and he was sorry. So, Asch can't be too upset with his little replica. He sounded genuinely sorry, and seemed just as scared and upset as Asch was before.

Brushing back Luke's hair with a smile, Asch pulled away to retrieve Luke's toy and hand it to him, kneeling down to drive the message home. He really had to get this into Luke's head so it wouldn't happen again ~~too soon~~.]

Good. Here, your Bear. [He rubs the Giet doll's face playfully into Luke's, like a sort of playful nuzzle.] Just...don't run off without telling me, all right? ...Promise me.

[Ugh, Asch hated promises. Promises were always broken. Always. But maybe Luke would keep this one. He was young, and impressionable, and innocent. Asch could...hopefully trust him.]

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