fabrecation | 005 [Action]

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005 [Action]

[It's late in the day when Luke finally returns from his kidnapping. He's on the edge of the forest, just slightly buried under the autumn leaves, and the only sign of life is his steady breathing. It's almost as if he's deep, deep sleep, or perhaps even a coma.

But that probably won't be the first thing that others might notice. No, most prominent of all are the scratches along and around his ears thanks to his own fingernails, but also lacerations, as if made with a sharp tool. This seems to be the worst injury in sight, and the cuts are already dry, so it's not as if it's a danger.

Yet underneath a pile of leaves are his wings, and that's where the most damage is. Not only are they cracked from being thrown against the wall, but wrapped tightly around them is a thin wire. The feathers stick out rather jaggedly as a result, where they were once so smooth and well taken care of. It'll take a lot of work and patience to get all of the wire out, and it serves as a punishment for those who ended Luke's torture prematurely.

Hopefully someone will trip over him, because Luke isn't going anywhere on his own for a while.]

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[Well well. This is not what you expect to find when you're taking a walk to enjoy the fresh air and sanity.]

Luke! [not that there's much she can do for him. But she'll at least get down and clear the leaves off.]

[Of course, there's no response, not a groan or a shift in his movements or even a twitch. Hopefully, someone will come after her, too. Can Nephry lift up someone with ~~fake~~ muscles like Luke?]

[Nope. She can't even lift Anise or Ion. But when she sees his wings her eyes narrow, and after studying them intently she starts looking for the starting point of that wire. At least she can do that for him.]

[The starting point is right at the arc of his wings, and it travels down to the base at his back before it winds back up again and down to the longer feathers. Careful, Nephry; that wire is kind of sharp.]

[But it doesn't look like it goes through the wings anywhere, or anything. So she's okay with slowly, carefully unwinding it and pulling it off.]

[Thankfully, Luke's mind is elsewhere. He still doesn't react whatsoever to Nephry's treatment, and while the wire starts to come loose, the feathers slowly stretch out again, although they're still pretty jagged looking. It'd probably take a lot of care to get them looking the way they used to.

There's two separate wires, one on each wing, so Nephry has a lot of work to do.]

[When she gets about halfway done with one wing, she'll think - remember - to filter a call for help to the others from Auldrant. And then go back to de-wiring. It's easier once some of it is off, but tough to keep moving slowly so she doesn't accidentally strip off feathers.]

[One or two feathers might fall off anyway, though it'd be no fault of Nephry's. It's just the wire digging in so much that a few of the feathers were cut down at the stem.

Eventually, the first wire if off, showing the unnatural angle that the wing has to its shape. It's not horribly broken or anything, but the wire probably made the cracks even worse.]

[There's nothing she can do for that, and she's too afraid of hurting him further to try. It's easier and safer to just move to the other wing.]

[Not long after Nephry gets working on that, Asch quietly steps out of the woods and finds her there. He's surprised to find Luke's body isn't alone, but he does his best not to let it show, focusing instead on getting there and examining what they have to work with. Even from where he is, Luke doesn't look good.]

Governor Osborne.

[there is nothing but relief on her face right now]

Asch. I'm glad you're here. [he'll find her hands sort of entangled in wire, halfway through unwinding one stubborn tight coil]

[Luke is quiet for the most part, although Asch probably feels a whiplash of an emotion like someone cringing and moving back. When Luke saw his own body a few days ago, it wasn't this bad... So they decided not to leave him alone.]

"Just as I thought."

[Asch steps closer, crouching down beside his replica's injured body. He's unruffled by the appearance - he's definitely seen worse, and this week has only served to strengthen his resolve in that regard (though at the time the effect had been irritably opposite). At least Nephry's gotten some progress done on removing the wire.

He knows he can't heal the wings, but he can at least do something about the other injuries. Shifting positions, he presses his hands against Luke's ears and calls forth the healing magic Stella had helped him learn. He's not exactly an accomplished Seventh fonist, but every little bit helps.]

Have you contacted anyone?

Yes. You didn't see it? [how else are you here?] I kept it...somewhat private. I can change it if necessary. [her open journal is right there. She moved out of Asch's way when he needed to reach Luke's ears, but she's still working at that stubborn wire.]

[Gah. Gah. Luke couldn't have scratched up his ears that badly, right?]

"This is..."

[He tries to take his mind off of how bad he looks by focusing his attention on the glow from Asch's hands. That isn't something he's ever seen before, so he's naturally curious.]

"What's that glow, Asch?"

"Don't be an idiot. You've seen healing artes before."

[It's true that it wasn't exactly the same, but he'd always been a Seventh fonist. It isn't a stretch for him to know healing artes as well as hyperresonance.

And yes you did hurt them that badly 8| Stupid replica.]

I haven't check my journal. I left as soon as I felt them send him back.

You knew? ...Of course.

[she sounds even more relieved, if that's possible, and she finally has all of the wire off of Luke's wings. They still look awful, but at least they're free.]

[No he definitely did not, some of those are not just fingernail scratches 8| Stupid original.]

"Oh..."

[Hyperresonance is already hard to learn - healing artes are probably just as hard. Besides, Luke's always been a hitter, not a stand back and support type of guy. He watches with interest, but he's not about to learn that kind of thing any time soon.]

[Asch falls into silence as he works, having no desire to screw things up and blow an eardrum or something. He wasn't sure about the extent of the damage, so he works on the outer damage first. It would be smarter to leave the difficult work to Natalia.

After a moment, when the scratches have been healed and the worst of it dealt with, Asch withdraws his hands and grips Luke's wrist, pulling the body up to heft him onto his back.]

Natalia's a better healer than me. He needs to be taken back to the house.

All right.

[For now she'll follow them. If it seems like Asch wants her to get lost, she'll turn back and take the path home]

Is there anything I can do to help you right now?

[Luke would like to look back at her, to thank her, but... Well, he can't exactly do that right now. He'll have to do so later, when he can actually move in his own body again. Luke wants her to stay, because hey, he likes Nephry, but he doesn't want to be a bother to her if she really isn't needed anymore.]

"Could... Could you thank her for me?"

[There's some hesitation in his voice - after that fiasco with Guy, Luke knows that Asch doesn't like using him for communication. But... he just wants to get across that he's grateful, even if it'd just seem like it's Asch instead of him.]

[Asch pauses in mid-step, shifting his position to have an easier time carrying Luke. It's true that he still didn't like acting like a convenient method of communication, but Luke was still with him because of the choice he made, so maybe it's for the best that he continue... just for a little while.]

...Do whatever you want. Thanks for your help.

[She wants to go with them. But more than that, she doesn't want to be in the way, and Asch's default tone probably made those words sound like more of a dismissal than they actually are.]

I'll stay out of your way. ...Please let me know when he's well enough for visitors. I can think of a few who would be glad to hear it.

[After all, Anise and Ion are his good friends.]

[Luke, at least, will let them know. And Asch's response really surprised him... He didn't snap at him or anything for that request.

There's a smile in his voice when Luke speaks up again.]

"... Thanks."

[Asch doesn't respond to Luke, choosing instead to ignore and just glance back briefly at Nephry.]

I'll tell Guy to let everyone know.

[And once Nephry leaves, Luke decides to stay quiet. It's so... disconcerting, knowing that his body is right there and that his wings and ears are as badly injured as they are.

To think, if Asch hadn't pulled him out of there...

No, he won't think about that. There's still a shudder from him, but he tries not to let it bother him.]

"Guy isn't going to be happy."

"He'll be happy you're back, that's all that matters."

[Which is true enough. If Guy wants to make a big deal of it Asch isn't going to stick around to see it, anyway.]

"Yeah... I guess he will be."

[Thankfully, it won't take too long for the both of them to reach the house. Ah, what a sight for sore eyes! Well, Luke's disembodied eyes, anyway. Asch probably isn't too happy to see it.]

[And Guy was actually in the process of leaving, having caught Nephry's call and throwing aside his book to shove his feet into his boots. The door is thrown open as Asch is headed up the walkway, and Guy freezes, eyes wide and lips pursed before he rushes down the front steps and over to Asch.]

How is he? Is he still with you, or...?

[Asch grimaces and shifts Luke's weight again when the replica starts to slide; he's carried him for a while now, and the weight is starting to take its toll. It'd be nice if Guy took over :|]

He's with me. Sending him back now would just make it harder to heal him.

[And now that Guy is actually here-

... Luke feels kind of awkward. These two love love each other, don't they- No, no, no no no, don't think about that right now, focus on your body.

And that overly concerned look on Guy's face.]

"Guy..."

[When Luke starts to slip Guy reaches out to steady him on Asch's back. He waits for Asch to regain his balance before wordlessly attempting to take Luke onto his own shoulder.

The scratches were mostly healed by Asch, but Guy knows what a freshly-healed wound looks like; the skin is always pink and shiny. Something clawed the hell out of Luke's ears.]

[They're certainly not acting all love-love; if Luke wasn't still joined with his mind, Asch would have delivered Luke to Guy and been on his way with barely another word. As it is he just carries him into the house with Guy's help, beelining for the couch to lay Luke down. He's sure as hell not carting his replica up the stairs.]

Where's Natalia?

[And Guy was going to take Luke up to his room but apparently since Asch is not down with it they'll be going to the couch instead. All right.]

I'm not sure; I wasn't home for long before I got Nephry's message. Hold on, I'll go look for her.

If she's not here, there's no helping it. Get me a med kit first if you're going to leave. [Asch crouches beside the couch, rolling Luke over to start plucking the broken, bloody feathers from Luke's wings.]

What-

Stop it! [Guy flings out a hand to grab Asch's wrist.]

[Asch lifts his gaze to glare at Guy, annoyed by the interruption.] They're already broken, which means they're dead. Better to get them out of the way and heal the wings while he can't feel it than let them tear out on their own.

[Really, now that Luke's been with Asch for a constant several days, he finds himself agreeing with him. Thus, he feels a little annoyance over the interruption, too.]

"Just let him work, Guy!"

[Guy isn't going to hear that, of course, but he at least hopes that Guy backs off and lets Asch do his thing. He'd rather not be awake when the feathers decide to fall off, after all.]

Edited 2010-11-04 00:17 (UTC)

[Guy, thankfully, doesn't hear Luke and pulls Asch's hand back anyway.]

Just because he can't feel it doesn't mean you should just rip them out. It'll get sore and he could feel it when you put him back in his body.

Let me do it.

[Asch jerks back, yanking his hand away from Guy's.]

Fine. If you want to take care of it, go ahead and do it all yourself. Contact me when you want me to send him back.

Fine, I will. [Guy, for the most part, ignores Asch and grunts as he hefts Luke up into his arms. He can't carry him like this for long but he can at least make it to his bedroom down the hall.

Sometime later he might reflect back on this exchange and realize he's being a jerk to Asch, but right now all his thoughts are focused on Luke and making him as comfortable as possible, whether or not he can really feel it.]

[Asch had been about to prepare his supper - the first decent meal he's had for a while, since he'd been too busy hallucinating over the past week to risk cooking much - when he senses the sudden change in the replica's location. His eyes close for a moment, getting a feel for it, trying to determine exactly where the body had been moved.]

"...Do you feel that, replica?"

[Despite the huge revelation that Luke experienced a few days ago, he still feels a sort of content happiness as Asch sets about to prepare supper. It's a big relief to know that nothing is bothering Asch anymore, and to have him calm for once. Sure, what he found out is still weighing on his mind, but that can wait until later. Asch had been so high strung that Luke decided to just push it to the back of his mind and wait.

Now that feeling goes away and is replaced with confusion, then surprise.]

"... Is that me?"

"Looks that way. They must've gotten tired of getting no response from you."

[Setting aside the food he'd arranged to begin his meal, grabbing his jacket from the coat hanger by the door and pulling it on as he steps out of the community kitchen and heads for the door. The air is chilly, but it's fresh, giving him a clearer head and a stronger connection to his target. Luke's body was... north? Seems that way. He starts forward in that direction.]

"Are you feeling any pain?"

[It sure did take them a while anyway. Luke thinks that Asch should've brought the food with him, but oh well. It'd be a silly thing to argue about. And it's nice to see the outside without all that creepy fog all over the place.]

"Not right now, no... I guess I will when I get back to my body, huh?"

[Asch doesn't respond at first, focusing on the road ahead. The further he goes, the closer it feels, and he takes a few turns on the road a few times, halting mid-step to make sure he's going in the right direction.]

"...You'll probably need a healer. It might be better to wait until then."

[At least Asch isn't irritated enough with him to just shove him back immediately. Luke is, at least, happy for that, as while he is impatient to get back to his body, he'd rather not suffer through as much pain as he thinks there will be.]

"Y-Yeah... okay."

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005 [Action]

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I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT

YOU LIKE TO-- MOVE IT!

ALL GIRLS ALL OVER THE WORLD

I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR MAN

I LOVE HOW ALL THE GIRLS MOVE THAT BODY

AND WHEN YOU MOVE YO BODY AND MOVE IT

MOVE AND SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO

I DO NOT KNOW ANY MORE LYRICS

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER

/BOOING NOISES

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[Action]

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