wildsaber | 01 ♪ video/action ♪ wake up sleepyhead!

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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...

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Now now, Luke. Even my foresight has its limits.

[He says with a smirk as he adjusts his glasses. Of course, it is very likely that Jade had prepared for the possibility, and could even have similar measures in place for others who are not present here yet.

He pinches at his nose and turns away as Luke garbs himself. He glances back when Luke is fully clothed.]

Is the young lord warm enough to move already? [He asks with his favorite vague undertones of sarcasm and condescension.]

[Luke makes a face at the nickname. He starts to protest, but then he remembers that he's officially a Viscount whether he likes it or not, thanks to his uncle and Natalia embarrassing the shit out of him.]

I-I'm fine! [Screw it, he's protesting anyway. He draws himself up within the jacket, his cheeks puffed out and red from the cold.] And don't call me that.

[Oh Luke. He can't help but tease you. In that way, it almost reminds him of one of their first conversation. But he waves a hand casually.]

My, my. Nobility is so touchy these days. I suppose it can't be helped. [And he starts to move.] Now, follow me to the village.

[Luke was reminded of that too, when he said it. And that just made him more embarrassed. Damn it Jade. IS THIS BECAUSE OF UNSOLICITED PHYSICAL CONTACT?

-- Probably.]

Yeah. Let's go!

[He doesn't trip this time, but he does kind of scurry to catch up to Jade so he can walk side by side.]

... Huh. These shoes are actually pretty comfortable. [Even though they're kind of damp because of his own wet feet.]

Oh? [He smirks, feeling like he's leading a red-haired duckling along. It's unusual.

The feeling of someone you knew to be gone suddenly being... there again. Alive and smiling.]

I didn't have comfort in mind when I selected them. Perhaps it's a lucky coincidence.

It's also fortunate that we don't have far to walk.

[That's pretty much exactly what it is. If Luke is feeling it, he's not saying anything.]

It's like you knew my size, too.

[This time, he gives Jade discerning look. Seriously, how?]

... Were you looking at my shoes while I slept?

[He actually chuckles at that. He hasn't had a good laugh in what feels like ages.]

You assume that I need to examine your shoes to determine your foot size. I have much more accurate methods at my disposal. [He doesn't care to specify, however.]

[Is 'slightly terrified' the reaction Jade's going for?

'Cause Luke kind of takes a step sideways. To give him space.]

Hahah... yeah, okay.

[That is the reaction he was going for, and he's simply ecstatic to witness it.

This was amusing and fun. But he'd indulged that part of knowing Luke enough. He had to talk about serious matters.]

So, Luke. Tell me the last thing you remember before waking up here.

[Luke pauses in his step, a little surprised. And then he keeps walking, but his head is ducked this time.]

... I freed Lorelei. He spoke to me and Asch, and then I...

[He doesn't continue. He feels it's pretty obvious what happened afterward. Since he doesn't know about timelines and all of that yet, he just assumes Jade wants to know Luke's last moments. And Luke, having nothing to hide, reveals them.]

[Jade winds up pausing in his step for a moment as well, as he hears the description.

That confirms it for sure. Luke has come from the same time as him. He's alive again. But what he's saying is not entirely expected, especially the mention of Asch.]

How could Asch be there with you?

[Luke chalks it up to Jade being awkward about Luke dying. Or something. He's not thinking terribly hard about this. He's perceptive, but only to a certain point. He has plenty of stuff to distract him, to make him a little more self-absorbed than usual.]

Lorelei took us down through Eldrant as it was crumbling. We went through the room where he was, so I caught him.

But... I felt Asch's presence with me before that. [A pause.] It was when we walked into Sync's trap. He stayed with me when we fought Van.

[He listens closely to try to imagine exactly what had happened to Luke after they parted.]

You found his body?

I do recall that you felt him in some manner. [It went with what he had been looking into regarding the contamination effect.] So at that time... At the end, you still felt your own presence and his?

[One had not overwritten the other. At least not yet.]

[He nods, on both counts.]

I remember thinking that Lorelei should find a way to put Asch back into his body. But that's not how it works, you know?

[He smiles sadly, painfully, and rubs at his nose.]

At least it didn't hurt.

[That's not how it works indeed.

Asch was dead. And death is permanence.

Except here.

Jade tenses as he catches that last part and looks back at him with a definite frown.]

Luke.

What happened to you? [He has to hear for sure what Luke thinks his fate was. It's instrumental in understanding this.]

[Luke doesn't meet his eyes. He's watching his feet instead.]

... I disappeared.

[Jade's still looking towards hie eyes, drawing closer to Luke as well.

'disappeared'. That could mean a number of things.]

What did that feel like?

[Maybe if he gets close enough, Luke can figure out the magic that keeps him from getting too hot or too cold. Cologne, isn't it? Damn.]

It-- it was warm. [Talking about this is understandably hard for him.] Like sinking into a hot bath.

[Like a hot bath. Not the words that Jade would associate with death... now that he had experienced it in a sense her in Luceti. He remembers cold, detached loneliness, falling away from everything... before a girl whom had been his daughter pulled him back.

Of course, Luke's circumstances are very unique. It's hard to say if the process was truly death - something connected to the big bang - or something else altogether.]

I see. And this is the last feeling you can recall before waking up in this place?

[Luke will never know. Maybe it's better that way.]

Yeah.

[He tugs on the hem of the shirt he'd been given, a little bit of a nervous habit. He doesn't want to look too terrible when he sees everyone. He missed them so much-- maybe he won't be able to keep it all together.]

If I disappeared once, do you think... it could happen again?

[He speaks a bit more somberly than usual.]

I can't tell for sure. At least not at the moment.

[He turns and continues to walk.]

But once we have you settled, I can run some tests on you, so that we can accurately ascertain your current condition.

[Luke follows almost automatically. Though his feet are moving, his mind is somewhere else. The thought of having this chance taken away from him so soon is somewhat terrifying. He doesn't...

He doesn't want to leave.]

... Okay.

[And that's all he says about it. No test he's ever gone through has given him good news. Maybe... just this once...]

Don't sound so somber, Luke. It's unbecoming of you.

[He waves a hand reassuringly while keeping the other in his pocket, eyes closed with a smug smile as he strides towards the village.]

Soon, you'll get a sense of how much more is possible in this world. Even if something is wrong, a treatment may be possible. [They even saved Ion from a miasma infection, after all.]

If you insist on sounding like you've given up already... than my, I wonder if you'd appreciate what the others would say about that.

[Jade knows exactly how to poke him.]

I-I haven't given up! I just got here. [Yeah, he's still a spitfire, especially now that he's not freezing his ass off. He's cold but steadily getting warmer and more confident, settling back into his old skin.]

I just... we've never gotten good news from a doctor's visit, you know? I can't help being a little nervous.

[He definitely missed that spirit, as irritated as it occasionally proved to be.]

Oh? I'll have you know that I'm no ordinary doctor, so you should revise your expectations. Otherwise, it's refreshing to hear you attitude. We can't allow disappearances in this world, after all.

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