abyssdressing

[A baffled Luke is leaning down and looking at him very curiously.]

Asch? Is that you?

[ And surprisingly enough, Asuke is a light sleeper. At the sound of Luke's puzzled words buzzing and breaking though his restful sleep, one of his bright green eyes pop open and stare sleepily at Luke, not quite processing what he's seeing.

What's that about Asch? If this is Asch, this is a very mellow Asch. Or at least, a very sleepy one. ]

. . . Mn? What?

[It has to be Asch, surely. Unless there's another replica...?]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you.

[He flinches, waiting for the tongue-lashing that he's expecting to follow.]

[ So jumpy, replica. If he's Asch, the expected tongue-whipping is rather mild. ]

Dreck— Luke. Do you usually interrupting other people's naps?

[ A confused blink as who's standing in front of him processes. Oh. You.

Asuke scrambles to his feet as he stands up, the lower section of his face partially covered by his long, black scarf, and shakes his hair like a dog shaking off water, scattering loose all the leaves and bark chips that had gotten stuck in his long, red hair while he was napping. ]

[He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. Oops. But it should be okay. Asch doesn't seem to be that mad...]

Sorry...

Your, uh, clothes - are they new? I've never seen you out of your uniform.

Glad to know, dreck.

[ Asuke is giving you a confused look, bright green eyes puzzled. ]

A gift from Lorelei, actually.

Lorelei gives out clothes now? [Grin.]

You might have asked for a nicer cloak. This one's all ratty.

It was a one-time deal, dreck. [ Pause. ]

... Don't care. I'm not replacing it.

So where's your God General uniform? At the cleaners?

[Snickering. He finds that thought way too amusing.]

... [ Oh. ]

Luke, I'm not Asch.

[Blink.]

But..you look just like me. And you called me "dreck". Only Asch calls me "dreck"...

Who the hell are you? Did Van make another replica?

Thank you for stating the obvious, dreck.

[ Asuke gave a quiet sigh and a slight shrug. Maybe he shouldn't tell this Luke of a possible future that awaited him but maybe a little advice would help in the end of it all.

He had both sides of the story, after all, two points of view, two sets of memories, and two memories of what it was like to fade from existence, to die. ]

Ever heard of the Big Bang effect?

No. What is it? Tell me!

[He looks like Asch and he talks like Asch and even if something's not quite right Luke can't yet accept him as anyone else but his original.]

Did something happen to you? Were...were you Asch in the past? Was it Van? Lorelei? What's going on?

[ Urge... to... hit... derpy... replica... raising. Asuke manages to strangle the urge before he sighs.

But he's not your Original.

Really, was telling this Luke of his possible fate, being kind? It seemed cruel. But the dreck had asked and Luke had been locked out of the loop enough. ]

Let's sit down first, dreck. It's a long story.

[ Sits back down under the tree.

Okay.

[Luke plonks himself down in the grass in front of him, looking almost impatient.]

...You aren't going to babble on with a whole bunch of big scientific terms are you? I'm not an expert on fononology. I tried to read one of Jade's books once and it made my head hurt.

[ Of course, that is exactly what Luke is going to do: pick up a nearby stick and give the sleeping redhead a prod from behind. Just for fun. And to make sure he's not dead. ]

[ Response to attack from the behind with a stick; yelp, jump to his feet, hand on his sword and looking around sleepily half-awake, eyes still gunked up with sleep. ]

[ W-whoops. Thankfully Luke is still crouched down in case the irate other replica -he is one, right?- decides to take a swing. Have a sheepish wave, Asuke. ]

Uh... hi?

[ Well, his long, red hair is too dark to be a Luke's hair -no gold at the tips- and too light and spiky to be an Asch's -or at least, too spiky if Asch had quit gelling his hair back-. Have a confused, slightly bemused stare.

His hand drops away from the Key of Lorelei. Oh. A Luke. A short-haired one, thankfully.

With boobs. Which boggles the mind. ]

Ever heard the phrase, "let sleeping dogs lie", dreck?

[ How is it possible for one individual to be so confusing? Oh wait, Jade fits that bill to a T as well. ~~long-haired flat-chested one actually, but. sob. damn icons.~~ Luke's really not sure what to make of this conundrum other than a pathetic attempt at being polite so she (hopefully) won't get smacked upside the head for waking him. ]

No, I don't think so. And for all your growling, you don't really seem like a dog.

[ We just file Jade Curtiss away under a notice of "NEVER MESS WITH HIS GUY'S SHIT. EVER." Jade makes people's heads explode for their brains catching on fire. Or something. Just don't fuck with him. Ever. It is impossible to get even with Jade. They've given up trying.

But he grows on you. Like mold.

And Asuke's very existence is so very confusing. He doesn't know how it's possible either. And if you had just moved a little closer, you would gotten a swift bop on the head. Not hard to bruise, but enough to string for a short while. ]

Well, now you have, dreck.

[ A beat. ]

... Growling?

[ Wisest idea ever where Jade is concerned. The best hope you have of retaliation is failed efforts to embarrass him, like in Mt. Zaleho. Though he seemed to revel even in that...

How fitting an analogy. Maybe Jade is really a mutation from Mushroom Road.

Having dealt with Asch plenty, Luke isn't foolish enough to be within sword-range, let alone arm's length of irritable not!originals. The whole "dreck" moniker gives the impression that it is Asch, but still. ]

You know. Grrr? [ Along with the cheesy growl goes a delightful imitation of Asch's angry face. Has the replica endeared herself to you yet, Asuke? ]

[ It is entirely possible.

The whole "dreck" moniker is his way of showing affection for stupid redheaded and bullheaded replicas. ]

... Okay?

[ For a moment, the faint look of confusion on the not!original seems more suited to someone like a certain not!replica before fading as quickly as it had flickered across his face. ]

I'm not snarling at you right now, Luke.

[ Funny how it always works like that with Asches ...and Asch-ish redheads. And well, this guy has a point; he hasn't really growled or yelled at her yet even though she woke him up. Their meeting is clearly off to an excellent start. ]

...I keep waiting for it.

[ Once confident that she's not at risk of losing a limb, she stands and edges closer for a better look, leaning from side to side. ]

So, you are Asch, aren't you?

[ And as soon as she's in range, have a lightening-quick bop on the head. That's for waking him up from his peaceful nap, replica. ]

There. That's for waking me up.

[ And at that last bit, he freezes. ]

... No, that's not my name.

[ While nowhere near damaging, Luke wasn't expecting to be hit and she reels back from the smack, covering her head with both hands. So much for trusting strangers. ]

Ow! Hey, that wasn't fai--

[ Her whining is cut short by his answer and after a moment of silence she continues. There's only so many people he could be, right? ]

It's not? Then it's Luke?

[ He uncomfortable shrifts from foot to foot, the single outward signal of his unease, and his lips, hidden by the black scarf, turn downward at the ends slightly.

Well. Explaining never got any easier. ]

... I'm not Luke either.

[ And that's the goddamn problem. He isn't Luke, he isn't Asch, he's the lonely boy who Guy first met when he came to the fon Fabre manor, the kid that got split into a Replica and a Original and then become one again, the end merged result of the two lives offered up to Lorelei as payment. ]

But...

[ So many questions that she can't quite express. How and why he wasn't either one of them seemed obvious, unless she's mistaken again and he's another replica. Luke can't help snatching him by the sleeve, eyebrows knitted together. ]

Where's your Asch? And Luke? What happened to them?

[ Asuke's sea glass-green eyes blink in surprise and some other unreadable emotion at the girl Luke with hair the color of lively flames latching onto his sleeve, eyebrows drawn together in a tight line of worry.

He uncertainly reaches a hand out as if to rest a hand on the girl's shoulder, but reconsiders, closes his hand into a loose fist and drops it back to his side. Then he simply says; ]

Gone. They... still exist but... Asch and Luke are no longer among the living.

[ Asuke likes to think they live though him but the basis of it when you get down to it, is that he exists here and now and they don't, simply put. ]

[ At his rather obtuse explanation, Luke's grip loosens a good deal - not all the way, but enough that color returns to her knuckles and the faintest hint of a smile finds its way onto her face. Existing is better than returning to nothing. ]

That... doesn't make a lot of sense unless they're ghosts. Though I guess their souls could still be around even without bodies. Except that doesn't explain who you are.

[ Feel free to hit the idiot replica, Asuke. ]

[ He's a little thankful at the loosening of her death-tight grip on his sleeve and the return of color to her face, but Asuke knows that he's just...

Sugarcoating it. Putting it off. And while the urge to smack the dumb replica was strong, Asuke was not Asch and did not yet fall back on Replica abuse. ]

... I'm Asuke fon Fabre. Nice to meet you, Luke fon Fabre.

[ But Asch had fondness of hiding behind names and running from some of his emotional problems, and Luke had better about that, but still hide his issues behind a smile. ]

[ Ah well, a little bit of smacking around does a dreck good now and then. It must stimulate the brain cells to work faster than they normally do. Luke takes a step back to offer him a hand to shake, along with a sunny grin. New friend get! ]

It's nice to meet you too, Asuke.

[ Though after a moment of contemplating, she laughs. ]

Hey, your name is kind of a mash-up of both mine and Asch's, isn't it? That's so cool! I wish I had thought of that.

=003

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LJ is really playing up on me

We all suffer from it at some point

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/beats head on desk for slowness

You're not the only one

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/have to leave for the week, be back Friday, really sorry for slow

It's okay! Life has been killing my rp drive orz