025 [Action]

[fabrecation]

[Sunset of the 21st. After looking in his diary several times to make sure of the date, Luke has practically memorized the exact time it happened. This is the day, and the time, that he and Xion confessed to each other, without the influence of the experiment, and shared their first kiss.

This is the place, too. Luke leans on the railing of the bridge nearest House 14, staring out ahead of him and obviously lost in his thoughts. Even though this is the day, and even though they had been making plans to celebrate it, Luke's sure that Xion won't be able to now. Not with everything that's happened.

Still, that doesn't mean he can't find his own way to celebrate. It isn't much, though; he just leans on the bridge and twirls a blue iris idly in his fingers. Later, past sunset, he'll make his way to Seventh Heaven for the first time in quite a while, only to practice the piano. He's been away from it for a good while, so he's just a tad rusty. But he still manages to get over it after a song or two, and he doesn't mind, for once, if anyone else is there. He'd even be happy to chat it up with someone, whether on the bridge or in Seventh Heaven.

He does seem a tad cautious, though. He hasn't been here for a while for a reason and all.]

Comments

[fabrecation]

[... He brings his hands together and stays silent for a moment, only because of how much that reminded him of that time. Down there in the cells, when Van told him his plan - the fake plan, the one that would easily bring Luke to his side, told him he needed him...

Luke never knew he was lying right through his teeth. Not until Akzeriuth happened.]

... Van's the only other person who ever said that to me. Back when I thought he actually wanted me to be at his side. [He shuts his eyes, and he can't help smiling a little.] But... yeah. I know. I know that now. Still, I... Heh. It's... It feels weird to hear that. A good kind of weird.

[meteorical]

Hey now, I'm not Van. [But she just moves to rub his shoulder a bit.] A good kind of weird is better than a bad kind of weird.

...so what are you doing about Van being here now?

[fabrecation]

[His smile grows slightly thanks to the shoulder rub, and he glances at her to show his appreciation for it. But bringing up Van again just makes him look down at the river once more, smile gone again.]

... I still don't know. All I can do is keep an eye on him and make sure no one goes through the same thing I did. [His left hand curls into a light fist, and he opens it up to look down at it. Heh... This is where he saw right through it just a couple of weeks ago.] That I'm... still kind of going through.

[meteorical]

[That's good, because she's not removing her hand just yet. He looks like he needs all the support he can get.]

...can't you just let people take him down like some of the other villains around here?

[fabrecation]

It's not like he's done anything wrong here. And without the Score, he probably won't do anything wrong. Not to the village at large, anyway.

[He frowns down at the river. It frustrates him, knowing that he can't do anything...]

Maybe a part of me thinks he can change, even though I know he can't. Maybe it's just some kind of stupid hope. Maybe a world without a Score could be... I don't know. Better for him.

... But that doesn't change the fact that he's spent years manipulating and using everyone around him. He's so good at it that no one can even tell. [It's another reason among a few more that he doesn't want to tell people. If he says those things about Van? He'll just act like he was innocent, or maybe that he did wrong yet wanted to repent, and he'd be so good at it that everyone would believe him.]

[meteorical]

...does Van know you know as much as you know?

[fabrecation]

Like... what I am and stuff, or...?

[meteorical]

Yeah, all of that. Does he know that you know?

[fabrecation]

... Yeah. Of course he knows. Because he spent most of that time manipulating me. I mean... It's the only reason he made me.

[He turns his head away slightly, his eyes narrowing slightly with bitterness.]

[meteorical]

...but there has to be a way you can outsmart him enough to come out on top. It's not fair he he has the full and only advantage.

[fabrecation]

How am I supposed to outsmart him when he hasn't even done anything? [He pauses, then lets out a long sigh.] Other than use me to figure out how filters work...

[meteorical]

...wait, you still don't know how to use the filters?

[fabrecation]

No, I know how. [He can't help a half smile; even though he feels used thanks to that incident, he still feels a sense of victory as well.] Because of that, he taught me how to use them too, and he didn't even know it.

[meteorical]

I'd say maybe he's good for something then, but that might be giving him too much credit.

[fabrecation]

Mm... I guess it means I'm still learning from him. [...] Or maybe it just means I'm finding a way to fight against whatever he tries to do. I'd like to think of it that way, but...

[But his affection for his master, that feeling that's still there even after all this, really makes him want to think of the former.]

[meteorical]

...but it's hard because you can't just immediately reverse everything you were raised to believe, right? [She's getting a little better at reading you, Luke.]

[fabrecation]

... Right.

Van was my master for seven years. My teacher, the one person I thought liked and understood me more than anyone else.

[His head turns away slightly, and his shoulders loosen, as if drooping.] It... It's a lot harder than I thought to accept that all of that was just a lie.

[meteorical]

Is there someone else that you can trust more than Van? Someone else that likes you and understands you just as much?

[fabrecation]

Yeah, of course. [It's said without hesitation, his shoulders straightening again and his head lifting up.] I've learned that already. Van... He doesn't know me at all now. There's are so many other people who do, on Auldrant and here.

[He pauses, then glances at her, his face slightly flushed thanks to what he has to say.] Like you.

[meteorical]

[...FFFFF Luke you are so cute, Kairi can't even stand it sometimes.] Exactly.

You want to know what I think? I think that as long as you remember you have so many people here that know the real you, it'll get easier to forget about Van and break away from the type of relationship you two once had as master and student. It won't be easy, of course, but easier. Does that make sense?

[fabrecation]

[He's silent, looking down at the river again as he mulls her words in his head. And... well. She's right. It's how he got this far, knowing that he could cling to the confidence of others, and then rely on he himself. Not trust Van's words, the words of a man who despised him for what he was. He'd even stopped using the word "Master", had stopped thinking about him most of the time. He could even walk into Seventh Heaven and not feel... quite as terrified.

So, he looks at her with a smile, and he reaches out to wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her to his side in a one-armed hug.]

... Yeah. It really does. [His arm loosens a bit, though he keeps it around her.] I think I'm starting to break away from him already. It's hard, but... I'm liking where this is going so far.

[meteorical]

[She's not going to push him off either, figuring he could use the support and reaching up with one of her hands to pat the arm around her shoulders.]

And it's just going to get better. You know...you're actually one of the stronger people I've met here. That's saying something. Give it a few weeks and it won't be more than a memory.

[fabrecation]

... Heh. I wouldn't say I'm stronger than anyone else around here... [He says as he wipes at his nose and loosens his hold fully. He'll start walking now, towards Seventh Heaven, at a slow pace. Kairi can follow if she'd like, either all the way to the restaurant or part of the way.]

[meteorical]

[Eh, she might as well.] You know I don't mean physically, right?