high_seas | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Crew of the Shepherd + anyone who would be around
What: I want caaaandy!
Where: The ship and all around (catch-all event thread)
When: 9th onward

The Shepherds had picked up several new crew members in recent days, but it seemed that the world they were now in had seen fit to share with them another new addition: the presence of bowls of heart shaped candy strewn about the ship.

It seemed shenanigans were about to be afoot.

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The replica continued to sit for a moment, the puzzled expression growing even firmer, "Huh? Miss you?"

Okay, his head was actually starting to hurt. First, he was told by Tear that a fairly large amount of time had passed without his recollection of exactly...what had happened during that time. Then, it turned out the kid that had tackled him to the floor already knew him. All after being spirited away to some strange world.

...Talk about one hell of a week, so far.

Luke moved to stand before reaching up to scratch at the side of his head. He studied the kid's face a bit more, and...nope. He'd definitely never seen the guy, before, in his life. That he could remember, anyway. Also, he was still at a loss for why he'd felt so compelled to just...hug him, "Sorry, I'm not really sure what's going on here, but...I can't recall us ever meeting. And...

He frowned a bit, eyes moving to stare at the deck, "I'm also not really sure why I couldn't stop myself from hugging you," he started, then let his voice lower as he appeared to be drifting into thought, "...It felt almost like something was controlling me."

WELL...

It wasn't the first time he'd been literally forced into doing something he didn't want to.

"Uh, yeah? I mean, you are Luke, right?" Asbel tilted his head a little to one side, but it didn't help much. This had to be the same guy. He'd never forget someone's face. "Jade's friend...? You were part of the crew, but then you kind of up and disappeared. I guess you've gotten a haircut since then, huh?"

Maybe Luke really didn't remember. It wouldn't have been the first time something like that had happened with one of his friends. And at least he wasn't yelling at him or complaining about there being nothing to do on the ship.

"Controlling you?" Uh... "If you wanna know the truth, I'm really not sure why I tackled you, either. It just seemed like I was supposed to be playing the part of a tiger, you know? Man, that was weird..." Pausing to scratch his cheek, Asbel then extended a hand.

"Well, whatever. If you don't remember right now, that's okay. My name's Asbel Lhant. I'm here with my little brother, Hubert."

"..."

Brow furrowed, he paused a moment. Finally, he just...shook his head. Because, well, he was definitely void of any memory of ever having being there--especially when his hair was longer. As far as he knew, he'd been back home the duration of his time with longer hair. Of course, he also had been pretty sure the last thing he'd done was free Lorelei. But, then, Tear went and mentioned that a decently large period of time had passed since then.

"Sorry, it...doesn't ring a bell. I'm pretty sure I've never met you, before," he said as he offered an apologetic smile, "But, yeah, I...do know Jade."

His smile blended with the addition of even more confusion. The kid knew that he knew Jade. That he was friends with Jade. And he was supposedly part of the crew before. Luke could only scratch at the side of his head as he finally just decided...that there was really no point attempting to figure it out, any time soon. At the younger-looking redhead's mentioning that he, too, had no idea why he'd tackled Luke--

Well, he could only give a tilt of his head at first. So...he'd done something without having a reason to, as well? Okay, so...it was more than just one of them doing things without meaning to... He began to think on that, but was momentarily distracted by the introduction.

"Well, you...already know my name--," he started with a bit of a sheepish laugh, before extending his own hand, "--but nice to meet you, Asbel. And...I come from the same world as Jade, Anise, Tear, Guy, and Asch."

Okay, it felt weird introducing himself that way. Man, he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to specifying that he comes from the same world as specific people...

It really was Luke. Which was fine, but the part that really stumped Asbel was why he was being so, well, nice. It almost seemed like he was a different person. Maybe whatever had gotten Luke to hug him was still messing with his head and making him all different.

"It's okay. And anyhow, I'm sure we'll get along just fine." So long as Luke didn't treat him like a child, anyway. Asbel shook his hand once, then let go. "Yeah, Jade's pretty cool. He's gotten us out of some serious trouble. And I know Anise, too. So...the rest of those people you mentioned are friends of yours who showed up? Must be nice!"

Asbel tapped a foot as a thought came to him. "Since we're both doing things without meaning to, we should probably try to figure out what's going on. Last time people got all funny, it didn't end too well."

And Asbel would quickly come to learn that...

...No. It had nothing to do with the candy. The Luke that was being nicer than his long-haired counterpart, was just a nice guy. He'd certainly never aim to treat Asbel like a child. After all, he was kind of used to dealing with Anise. As young as she was, she'd pretty much fit in with the group. There was also the fact that Luke was sort of humbled by the fact that he was technically young enough to be called a child, himself.

He smiled at the boy's words, and then paused. Glancing to the side, he let out a 'heh'-like sound, a hand reaching to scratch at the back of his head, "Well, most of them are. One of them would probably act insulted at being called a friend."

To the mention of them trying to figure out what was going on, Luke nodded, "Yeah...I agree."

Then he paused, hand resting on his hip as he looked at the deck a moment. Hm...maybe they should start with finding a common factor in all of it? If that was even possible. After a couple of seconds, he looked back at Asbel, "Well, what did you do before feeling the urge to tackle me?"

"One of those, huh? They're probably just trying to cover up the fact they doesn't have a whole lot of friends to begin with. Maybe it embarrasses them or something. Or maybe they think they have to act tough." Asbel crossed his arms casually. "Whatever the problem, friendship should never be taken as an insult."

"But let's see..." His foot tapped a rhythm on the floor as he thought back. "Before I tackled you, I was watching for a good opportunity to tackle you. And before that, I decided I should probably look for a good person to tackle, and before that..." And then it hit him. Asbel let his arms drop and then snapped his thumb and middle finger together. "A-ha! Before that I'm pretty sure I was checking out the candy. I might have eaten a couple pieces since it was just sitting around and all like last time."

There's a soft chuckle at the 'think they have to act tough' bit. Well, it's much deeper than that, with Asch. Still, there's no point in going into his original's business. Holding a smile in place, he just decides to go along with it. So, with a nod and light smile, he says in a somewhat sheepish tone, "Heh...yeah. Maybe."

The light smile then matched his tone at Asbel's recounting the events. Well, that's not quite what Luke wanted to know... Yeah, this might take a while...

Well, to Luke's surprise, it doesn't take as long as he'd begun to expect for his question to properly be answered. The replica blinks and gives a slight tilt of his head. Candy...? There's a pause as he thinks back to the candy he had eaten, "Wait, really? ...I had some of the candy, too."

He folds his arms over his chest, then moves to place his forefinger and thumb to his chin in thought. Well, they have that part in common. It can all just be a coincidence, though, right? There's no way candy is able to dictate their actions to that degree.

...Or, he would think these things, if he weren't on some strange world looking for some shards just to get back home. Funny how a detail like that can change a person's entire perspective.

Geez, the guy's okay. Asbel'd feel bad messing with him now. So instead of teasing him, Asbel decides that from here on, he's going to try to help Luke out. If he really doesn't remember anything from before, then there's a ton of stuff for him to learn about the ship and everyone on it who isn't already friends or "sorta-friends" with him. The eleven-year-old returns the smile, the gesture completely unassuming and without judgment.

"Yeah, positive. Because some of the others thought it was a bad idea, and Hubert was going on about cavities and stuff."

While Luke contemplates the situation, Asbel digs around in one of his pockets and reveals a handful of the candies. Yeah, he totally hoarded some of it, what are you guys going to do? The only candy Asbel's gotten recently was thanks to Gaius, and he'd feel bad pestering the guy too much.

"So you think it's these? The food didn't do anything before, but maybe they really have a curse on 'em this time."

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