paixaorpg | Reuniting [Active]

Entry tags:

Reuniting [Active]

Character(s): Jade Curtiss, Luke fon Fabre, Guy Cecil
Content: A reunion.
Setting: Iriela Apartments
Time: Week 34, mid-day
Warnings: None.

The mingling feelings of annoyance and relief were not new to Jade, not when it came to Luke and his eternal bodyguard. That was the downside -- one of many, if he was honest -- in feeling a certain sense of attachment to people. How long had they been here, in this dangerous new world without a Score? What did that mean for Auldrant? But at least there were familiar faces. And Luke, alive and well...

Opening the door to the building he'd discerned as Iriela, he glanced around the lobby, searching for the blonde spiky head of the man who said would be waiting.

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Guy was making his way down the stairs, playing over events in his mind. Others... had come back after they'd left too. There were also instances of amnesia amongst those that returned -- much like it seemed to be in Jade's case. It was troubling, but still, having the Malkuth Colonel around again had more advantages than not.

However, there was still the timeshifts to consider, also...

He made is way into the lobby finally, surprised to see his comrade already there. "Hey! Jade!" he called over, waving with a smile.

And there Guy was, the same friendly, seemingly innocent smile on his face that he almost always had. It was like being transported back in time, as if nothing had changed and they weren't away from their world. "Gailardia Galan Gardios," he said musically, his smile widening. "To look at you, it's like you don't have a care in the world." He held out his hand to grasp the other man's forearm, leaning in somewhat uncomfortably close. The low lights of the lobby reflected off his glasses, his smile almost predatory.

"You must be having a great time here. A celebration every night, mm?"

"Huh?" it caught him off guard -- hearing his full name coming from Jade like that. He was sure that the surprise was written clearly on his features, too. In Guy's timeline -- his secrets hadn't been revealed yet, but as he'd learned from Luke, in the future, everything would be exposed, one way or another...

His awkwardness was pushed to a new level as the Colonel leaned in for a greeting, causing the swordsman to lean back, producing an awkward sort of laugh. "Well I wouldn't go that, far, ah heh... I mean, Paixao's not has horrible as some places I bet, but... still not quite the ideal spot for something like that!"

"How nice to be able to shirk responsibilities and worries without a single moral crisis," he replied lightly, patting Guy on the shoulder. "I know idiots don't catch colds; I guess they sleep well at night as well." Jade walked past, thankfully letting up his assault to take stock of their surroundings. The lobby was shabby and lacking in elegance, but it seemed solid enough. In new territory, security took priority over anything else.

"Let's see our cute little Luke, shall we?

"That's a little -- harsh," he added, though it was in good humour. He knew it wasn't doing them any good to jut sit idly by, but... the question as to how to get things done exactly -- he was hoping maybe Jade could shed some light on, now that he was here.

As he turned to take the stairs back up, he muttered to himself, "it sounds so creepy when you say it like that... -- Oh!" he seemed to perk up again, glancing over his shoulder as he led the way, "It might seem a little strange to ask but... what exactly were you doing before you, uh, got here, Jade?"

Hands behind his back, Jade walked with the purpose and confidence of a man accustomed to order and authority. Following Guy up the stairs, he glanced sharply up at him at the question. "What do you mean? I was in Malkuth, of course. After we'd ended Vandalesca's threat, we went out separate ways." He narrowed his eyes slightly behind his glasses.

"Is there something I should know?"

Ended Van's threat, huh? And then he'd called him by his full name... So it was obvious that Jade was from the future, also. He paused on the steps and frowned, "Time... works differently here in Paixao. When I first heard it too it sounded a little far-fetched, but, then I met up with Luke. I almost couldn't believe it, he seemed so different but... it turns out that the last thing he remembered wasn't the same thing I did. This place... seems to be able to defy space and time."

If Jade felt any particular shock or surprise at this news, it didn't show on his face. Instead, he closed his eyes and shrugged. "We've been brought to an entirely different world. After that news, I can't say I'm surprised by anything else. We're in dangerous territory, Guy...and perhaps I'd best keep any further information from your future to myself."

He smiled suddenly, lifting up a finger. "Spoilers, after all~♥"

Guy made a face, and was about to protest -- no matter what, just like he'd told Luke and Tear that time -- they were still themselves! But, realizing it was Jade he was dealing with of all people, he just admitted defeat with a quiet chuckle.

He took another step forward, opening the door to the floor and making his way down the hall to his and Luke's apartment. He gave the door a gentle knock before he twisted the knob, and swung it open. "Here we are," he chimed happily, "home sweet home."

Having heard more than one person coming up the stairs, Luke had figured out pretty quickly it was probably Guy and Jade. He was waiting there near the door when Guy opened the door, allowing Luke to hear his comment as he did.

"I don't think I'd call it that," Luke said in response to Guy before looking past his long time friend to settle his gaze on Jade. There was... nothing different about him in the slightest. He looked no different than he ever did, thus it didn't reveal much of anything, except Luke already did have an inkling given Jade's response that perhaps he was from a similar time as Luke was.

"Hey Jade."

There he was. Luke fon Fabre, that singular replica...no. The singular man. He'd never known just how much his actions and struggles had changed Jade, and as far as Jade was concerned, he never would. There was more feeling in him now than he'd ever care to admit, seeing Luke alive and well. In Jade's timeline, it was believed he had died, making an ultimate sacrifice -- not just for replicas, but all of Auldrant. That didn't stop them from hoping against hope that he'd somehow survived, and now here he was.

A more emotional man might have at least taken Luke's hand in a handshake, but Jade simply smiled after a beat. "Luke. I'm glad you're here." And frankly, to those who knew him, that was more than he said of most people.

Guy has a satisfied grin on his face, as he closed the door behind them and put his hands on his hips, watching the reunion between Jade and Luke with bemused interest. In his own timeline, he wouldn't have thought that the Colonel would have been so welcoming, especially since Jade hadn't seemed too impressed when he'd made the decision to remain at Aramis Spring until Luke and Tear had surfaced.

Lots of things... must have changed. And really, the blonde was relieved. Proud even, perhaps. "Those weren't quite the words I was expecting from you, Jade." he laughed, poking fun at the man's 'show of affection' if it could even be called that.

Luke certainly had come to know Jade well enough to instantly recognize that Jade really was glad to see him. The feeling was, more or less, mutual. "I'd have rather 'here' been Auldrant, but I'm not really complaining. I'm just glad to be anywhere, really."

Guy probably wouldn't understand what Luke meant, but Luke was sure Jade would. He now was almost positive they were from a similar time, to have received a greeting like that from Jade.

"It's good to see you, Jade," Luke added. Yes, Jade had been here before, but Luke had never actually seen him. He had just spoken briefly over the journals, then had never heard anything from him again. It had almost felt like he'd dreamed it.

Jade did indeed understand the words behind Luke's statement. He lowered his head and adjusted his glasses, the light reflecting off them and shielding his eyes. "No need to be jealous, Guy," he replied lightly, turning and granting him a wide, charming smile. "I'm sure you'll always be first in Luke's heart~"

He moved into the room and strode leisurely to the window, his bearing as confident as if he was walking into his own house and had been here all along. "Now then...you two wouldn't still be here if there was an obvious way out. I assume you've done all you can to uncover the mysteries of this place?"

"G-geh!" Guy flailed, then resigned himself to the torment again, his shoulders heaving with a sigh. "Th... that's not what I meant..." was his weak defense, as he tried to laugh it off and move forward with the conversation.

"Well... there's more to it that it seems. It turns out -- the city here is just one of the floors. Apparently it's an entire castle. Some of the other floors have been unlocked, leading to completely different worlds. Turns out that some of them are even the homeworlds of some of the other prisoners, here." He frowned, a hand positioning himself under his chin.

Luke had, for the most part, missed his friends from Auldrant, even Jade. He was ready to re-evaluate that feeling already.

The red head wasn't sure how to even begin to react to that one. Luckily the subject was very quickly changed. With silent gratitude, Luke nodded to Guy's explanation. Luke hadn't really thought of them as being prisoners, but... Guy was right. That's really what they were, wasn't it?

"It's one complicated prison."

Jade turned, the light from the window forming a faint aura around his silhouette. "If we're prisoners, it begs the question as to what we did to be here in the first place. From what I've seen, there's no real common element among the groups of people taken here." He lowered his head slightly, his red eyes looking through the room as he considered the options.

"I'll want to visit each 'floor', if that's indeed to be believed, as well as make myself available to some of the more powerful people here. If we can discover how they've trapped us here, it's only logical to assume we'd discover how to escape."

"There's rumours... I mean, it's not much to go by, but... I've heard some things about an 'organization.' I haven't been able to find out much about them yet... but it's something. Apparently they're the ones that made this place possible... brought us all here..." But Jade was right. There didin't seem to be a common ground for all of the people that found themselves in Paixao. They seemed to come from all walks of life... Some with friends, and some alone...

"It might be a good idea, if we can get some information at least. We'll have to be careful about it, but... visiting some of the other floors might be the best place to start," he nodded thoughtfully, bringing a hand up to his chin.

Luke nodded in agreement to Jade and Guy's words, but his thoughts were still on the first thing Jade had said. Luke had been here the longest of any of tem and met a lot of different people. Maybe he wasn't the most observant of people, but even he definitely couldn't see any pattern in those who were taken. They were just all so different from each other.

"...Unless that's the point," Luke said suddenly, speaking his thought aloud. Realizing what he'd said was completely out of context, he quickly added. "Uh, that is... Why there's no pattern to who's brought here. Could the point be to bring lots of different kinds of people here?"

He nodded at Guy's words before Luke speaking up took their attention. Eyebrow raised, Jade listened in silence, lowering his gaze in thought once Luke was done. "Yes...yes, that could be possible. As to what end, well, this Organization or whoever don't seem particularly concerned with the details of their little experiment. Perhaps they're just tossing it all together and seeing what sticks."

Smiling a small, grim smile, he glanced at the two other men. "Which means we could already have found a weakness. If they're this disorganized, they're misinformed. And that means we can exploit them in turn."

"In that case, we might as well stock up on supplies," Guy chimed in again. "I'm not sure how useful most of the things in these shops are... and most of the time it doesn't seem as though were even that welcome, but -- if we plan to go any further, it's a good idea if we're prepared for whatever could be waiting for us."

He considered for a moment, then chuckled to himsef -- "Sort of funny to think of an Organization that's not very organized, heh."

"I don't think I've heard any shops or anything on floors above, so supplies would be a good idea," he said, agreeing with Guy's suggestion.

Leave it to Jade to have already found a weakness to exploit, but he really was right. Luke had certainly not had any impression from anyone that the Organization were organized, though there wasn't a whole lot more he knew about them, save that they had once run some kind of experiments, he thought? He'd need to think on if there was anything else, since he was sure Jade would grill him about what he knew soon enough.

"As you two are already acquainted with this city, I'll leave the mundane duties up to you." Jade unclasped the collar of his jacket, casually making himself comfortable as he headed to a room at random. "If there's nothing else, I need my beauty rest," he said, apparently making whatever room he was heading for his, regardless of previous ownership.

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Reuniting [Active]

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