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01 ♪ video/action ♪ wake up sleepyhead!
[The feed shows a nice view of absolutely nothing. There is, however, the sound of someone spitting. Very lovely. He just woke up with a mouthful of dead rotting leaves. His day is off to a great freaking start, that's what.]
Ugh, nasty! Ow--... ow... ow. [Don't let the nonchalance fool you. He's realizing he's alive. Taking in a deep breath, and letting it out.
He's alive.
... And also FREEZING COLD. But wait until he finds a way home! This is impossible, but maybe-- just maybe--]
Hahah... jeez, it's c-c-cold. Am I in K-Keterburg or something?
-- Hey, what's...
[And here's when he brushes the journal off. Hello, there's a half-naked redhead getting up close and personal, and turning it upside down, and then shaking it out a bit. What is this strange and mystifying technology? It sure as hell isn't his journal.]
Weird.
[Feeling something tickle his shoulder, he reaches over to brush it off. And then he notices the wings, red with gold tips just like his hair. He has wings. This is not a drill. Luke drops the journal in favor of screaming like the grown man he isn't.]
W-what the hell is going on!?
[NO LUKE DON'T PULL ON THOSE--] —OW! [Yeah, that hurt more than anything else in his life. Now he's curled up over his knees again, trying not to cry. He almost blacked out there.]
G-guess they're real...
Ugh, nasty! Ow--... ow... ow. [Don't let the nonchalance fool you. He's realizing he's alive. Taking in a deep breath, and letting it out.
He's alive.
... And also FREEZING COLD. But wait until he finds a way home! This is impossible, but maybe-- just maybe--]
Hahah... jeez, it's c-c-cold. Am I in K-Keterburg or something?
-- Hey, what's...
[And here's when he brushes the journal off. Hello, there's a half-naked redhead getting up close and personal, and turning it upside down, and then shaking it out a bit. What is this strange and mystifying technology? It sure as hell isn't his journal.]
Weird.
[Feeling something tickle his shoulder, he reaches over to brush it off. And then he notices the wings, red with gold tips just like his hair. He has wings. This is not a drill. Luke drops the journal in favor of screaming like the grown man he isn't.]
W-what the hell is going on!?
[NO LUKE DON'T PULL ON THOSE--] —OW! [Yeah, that hurt more than anything else in his life. Now he's curled up over his knees again, trying not to cry. He almost blacked out there.]
G-guess they're real...
1/2 [VOICE??]
He didn't want to forget Luke. Really, Guy doesn't see how he ever could.
Worn and weary from a mission nearly an Auldrant month long, Guy's last desire is to be social. He wants to go home, wave off Peony's prodding and Jade's trolling. Maybe sneak through the bedroom window and soak himself in a shower for a while. Maybe the sky wasn't actually blue.
He at least has managed to get in through the window. But curiosity works with common sense to get him to scan his journal, sprawled out on his bed with exhausted interest...
...And the sound of that voice is like a bolt of lightning to his warm nerves. Gloved fingers clench at the binding of the book, a million thoughts flying through his head, all coming to one conclusion. Luke was here. Luke was here.
Alive.
Screw his own privacy.]
Luke--!! [A forced pause - he wants to chide, to call the boy an idiot and tell him to stop messing with things that could hurt him. But it all goes out the window.]
2/2 [voice/action]
There's a clumsy bit of crashing from the back room of House One as Guy hefts himself back out the open window, breaking into a dead run as soon as his feet hit the ground. No point in using the video, but hope he doesn't mind some jostled voices from his magical book.]
Luke -- Hey, if you hear me, stay there! Don't go wandering off!
[voice--> action]
Guy? Guy! You're here, too!
[SOMEWHERE. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS BOOK. He clutches it as if that will help.]
Okay. I won't move. I think I hear a river...? But the rest is just woods. I don't think I've been here before.
[voice--> action]
It's because you probably haven't been here. Don't worry about it.
[His mouth presses tight as he slows his pace, stopping near the central point of the river. Luke didn't remember. That meant no memories of what happened before. No Xion. No Asch. No dark days at the hospital recovering from wounds that should have killed him, or withered evenings at home with barely enough energy to survive his next breath.
It may be cruel, but for Guy, this is a second chance. This is a Luke that won't have to live through those kind of memories. Not while he has anything to say about it.
Okay okay okay priorities:]
Hey, are you close enough to see that river? Try to get closer to it, and watch your step.
[voice--> action]
He's also making 'fvvvvfvvv' noises in order to keep his teeth from chattering.]
Watch my st-- oof!
[And there he goes, landing face-first in a crunchy snowbank.]
Uh, found the river.
[voice--> action]
[Don't mind your best friend's immediate tone of alarm at hearing you fall over. Until he sees Luke for his own eyes, guess who is going to assume the absolute worst.
He's tense in his detour to go try and rummage for a coat, too focused on the journal.]
Luke, come on, talk to me - are you alright?
[voice--> action]
Yeah, I'm fine. I haven't tripped like that in a while. Don't worry, snow's pretty soft. [He bites back a shiver.] I'm at the river. Want me to wait here?
[He can find a stump to chill on, or something.]
[voice--> action] I'M A LOSER WHO LOSES
Ahh, that'd be best. Don't go falling in, alright? You'll just get sick.
[voice--> action]
[He finds a spot out of the snow and curls up, knees to his chest, with the journal open across his thighs. It's not terribly warm, but at least he's not sitting in the wet snow.]
Hey... Guy?
... Thanks for waiting for me.
[voice--> action]
Or was it, maybe, the Luke who had vanished? The last memory Guy had, watching his best friend erupt into a shower of golden light, Xion weeping madly where his body once sat.
"You're going to live again! This isn't the end, do you hear me?! Don't you dare give up!!"
...
Painfully thankful that the video isn't running, the blond forces a smile.]
Hey, what kind of best friend would I be otherwise?
...I'm guessing you remember everything, then.
[voice--> action]
Well... yeah. For me, it's only been a little while since I said goodbye. How could I forget all of that?
[Uh oh. Uh oh. DAMAGE CONTROL TIME OH GOD.]
[voice--> action]
[WHAT A GREAT TIME FOR AN ASCH JOKE HAR DEE HAR. It helps him keep down the fact that this conversation is already taking a turn he doesn't feel comfortable with.
His steps slow a bit as he keeps following the riverbank.]
I told you something, the last time I saw you. Do you remember that?
[voice--> action]
[He pauses. Guy sounds like he's fishing for something, but Luke can only think of one thing that would be that important.]
'When you come home, I'll teach you not to hide things from your friends.' Or... something like that.
... Are you mad?
[voice--> action]
He doesn't want to think about it, but it now burns at the front of his thoughts, tying his tongue for a few moments, forcing him to keep marching through the snow even though his surroundings feel practically nonexistent at this very second.]
...Nah, don't think that. You weren't exactly the best liar.
[voice--> action]
But you're right. I do hide things, sometimes. Even if I thought it was justified... it was because I was scared, too.
... I'm sorry.
[voice--> action]
since you're not dead you can feel it now rightGuy's laugh is a little hollow in response, audibly forced.]
Aah, don't be. Please.
...It's why people do a lot of things, Luke. Why they hide, why they fight... Because they're scared.
[He swallows thickly.]
...Because they don't want to die.
[voice--> action]
"I don't want to die. I don't want to die-- I don't want to die!"
He'd just started to learn how to live when he was told the news. He remembers sitting on his bed, with Tear there, watching him struggle with his mortality and his trembling fingers. Is this a second chance, or just putting off the inevitable? Whatever the answer, this isn't something he can decide right now.]
I know. I know, but I... I didn't want to make everyone sad. If everyone knew, then I'd see it when they looked at me. And then I'd remember and get scared again.
... I didn't want our last journey together to be like that. I wanted it to be a happy one.
[voice--> action]
[For a moment, it might sound like Guy's completely choked up, the silence drifting uncomfortably and almost unnaturally. And, for a second, it might be because that is exactly what is happening.
It might make Luke upset when it stretches on too long into quiet static, but he won't realize the silence was Guy's grip loosening on his journal, dropping it straight into the snowbank as he breaks into a run towards the flicker of red against a bare back that he recognizes far too well.
He doesn't call out his name, only crashes through the snow nonstop until his hands are reaching out, arms gripping Luke from behind like the boy would disappear again if Guy ever let go. His weight and momentum may nearly topple them both into the snowdrifts, but for the moment, the blonde doesn't care, trembling with rage and happiness and the grief he so desperately refuses to let come to the surface with this horrible reality now confirmed. He doesn't want it to be true. He doesn't want this.]
That wasn't our last, you idiot...
[His arms tighten, forehead pressing against Luke's shoulder.]
Don't you dare ever say that again.
[action]
Guy? ... Guy?
[His expression darkens. Maybe he said too much. Even if it was the truth, he thought... hiding things-- he thought it would be worse. He just wanted Guy to understand why he did what he did. But maybe that was the wrong thing to do. Maybe he should've kept his mouth shut.
His lip trembles, and he sucks in a breath-- and that's it, because the next thing he knows, he's being knocked out of his defensive position. His feet dig into the snow, just barely keeping him upright. His air is gone, from shock or Guy slamming into him or both. And there's also the wings, which are still pretty sensitive. Thankfully, neither of them got tweaked.]
Guy! I...
[His best friend's words are so soft and yet so vehement. Yeah, he definitely said the wrong thing. But even so, he can't take it back. He just has to keep going, somehow, even if this isn't the way he imagined keeping his promise to Tear. To everyone. As the shock wears off, he finds himself trembling very faintly, as if something is shaking him to the very core.
Yet... he's smiling. Despite how scared and sad he is, he's trying to smile, because he gets to see his friends again. One way or another. He gets to be real.
He leans his head against Guy's affectionately, since he can't really do much to return the hug when he's being clung to like that. He hopes Guy confuses the shaking for shivering. He doesn't really know how to explain the dizzying mass of feelings caught in his throat. He finds the fabric of Guy's sleeve and twists his fingers into it, appreciating the familiarity, trying to be strong even when he wants to give in.]
Sorry, [he murmurs and squeezes his eyes shut. A tear escapes, finds its way down past Luke's chin, and eventually flees into Guy's sunny hair.] I'm sorry. I-I didn't want it to end there. I wanted to keep going. I wanted to...
[action]
[It's sharp - maybe a little too sharp - but the rush of Luke's emotion begins to trigger old habits, the servant with his master out on an unlucky winter's day. Guy keeps a hand on his shoulder, squeezing him hard before the pressure is replaced by the fabric of a coat against his bare skin.
The blond doesn't hesitate in maneuvering the teen into the jacket as he talks, his expression firm yet refusing to look Luke in the eye, speech stilted in that familiar parental fashion.]
You're here, aren't you? You're walking and talking, rambling about stupid stuff. Just like you always do.
Right now, you're alive. Don't go talking about an end.
[action]
He's been strong until this moment-- so strong, in fact, that he'd forgotten he could cry. And now that it's started, he doesn't want a part of it. It makes him feel stupid and probably look stupid too. He wants to greet his friends with the smile he couldn't really pull off when he knew he was dying, but now he's going to look puffy and childish. He doesn't want them to worry anymore.]
Sorry. [He sniffles, already ruining the sleeve he now possesses with tears.] I just keep saying that. But you're right... I'm okay. I'm okay, so...
[... He feels so dumb. He opens his mouth to say something else and ends up making a funny noise, which of course makes him laugh out of embarrassment. His face is so red right now, it's ridiculous.]
I don't know why you're not mad at me. I mean, even I get mad at me. I'm pretty dumb sometimes.
[action]
You say that like I wasn't around you for your whole life. Give me some credit.
[Is he mad? Yeah. He's also a lot of other things. He's thrilled. He's confused.
He's horrified.
But if he can keep that behind the normal facade, then let Luke think what he wants to think. It will keep him calm. To focus on the master keeps the servant's thoughts aside - a strange comfort when things needed to be done.
Gloved hands move to fix the jacket's collar, pausing just long enough for the blond to reach up and wipe the dirty trails of tears from his best friend's face.]
Just don't go getting caught up in what you can't change. Alright?
[action]
He squeezes his eyes shut as Guy wipes his face. He's all shades of embarrassed and it makes him duck his head a little.]
Y-yeah.
[He bites his lip briefly.] It's just... I was able to deal with it when no one knew. But now... No, maybe I didn't deal with it after all.
[He pushed himself so hard.]
I can't run from it. That's why I just kind of... lost it.
[action]
[He knows Luke knows, but speaking to drill the fact into the boy's head has never been an easy thing for Guy to pass up.
His lips quirk a bit as the redhead ducks down, letting his shoulders drop with a gentle sigh.]
Maybe you couldn't run from it. But having to stand up to things you can't run from doesn't mean you have to do it on your own. You've got people here that care about you an awful lot, you know. Don't go thinking that they consider you a burden.
[His smile thins a bit despite the quiet tone he chooses. He wouldn't have given Luke a second chance if he had considered him a burden. He wouldn't have come back for him when everyone else thought him a lost cause, he wouldn't have fought on his behalf, he wouldn't have followed him to the edges of a battlefield.
He wouldn't have let him keep up that sort of painful, painful lie. Because Luke was never a burden, and even the assumption makes Guy's knuckles tighten against the fabric of the redhead's coat.]
[action]
[That smile makes his stomach twist a little. The lecture, really. He feels so dumb. Right now he's a burden because he's half-naked and he doesn't know anything, doesn't remember anything, but he knows that isn't something he can help.
It's different from dying. He didn't want to make everyone sad. He didn't want everyone to feel like they had to act differently, like he might break down at any moment.
He takes in a deep breath, lets it out. He's collected, or at least as collected as Luke can get. He's starting to feel a little more like himself. It's evident in the slight upward twist of his mouth.]
You ran all the way out here to meet me and give me clothes, and I got snot all over you, and you're still saying I'm not a burden?
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