Asch ~*~ Canto 017 (Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!)

[x_bloody_asch_x]

Who: Asch, whomever
Where: Roaming around Somarium
Style: First or third; be consistant
Status: OPEN! Feel free to wish the redhead a happy birthday.

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[x_bloody_asch_x]

Asch had been wandering pretty aimlessly, and was rather surprised to find himself near the middle of Espoir. He paused a moment, considering... before taking the path that would take him through the center of town to get to Raven's tavern. Hey, he was eighteen now! He could get a drink from the old man without the slightest bit of protest or so he hoped.

He froze as soon as he approached the town square, however. At first he thought it was someone else; just like Fuu had looked so much like Natalia, this person had to be some other lookalike. No matter how many times he blinked or rubbed his eyes, however, this Lelouch did not look any different from the Lelouch he knew... and he found himself swallowing rather loudly, embarrassed and angry and relieved all at once. Embarrassed, because Lelouch was probably annoyed at all the messages he had left him; angry because he hadn't had the decency to reply to any of those damn messages. And the relief? Well... after the monsters and everything else, it was a relief to see Lelouch still alive.

Asch took a deep breath to steady himself, before approaching the raven haired young man, stopping a small distance away.

"Hello, Lelouch."

[yougotgeassed]

Lelouch turned around when he heard his name, rather surprised that anybody would be out walking around since he hadn't seen anybody all morning. Ah... To his surprise it was Asch the Bloody - somebody he hadn't seen in quite some time, nor had he heard from him either. But, this did not seem to bother Lelouch very much.

"Asch, my, it's been some time since I last saw you. Please, do sit down! We must spend some time catching up" Lelouch said with quite a smile on his face.

[x_bloody_asch_x]

Asch allowed himself his own private smile at that, though still a little annoyed that he didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that he had tried to get in touch with him. Still, seeing Lelouch smile? Yeah, that was more than enough to get him to move over and sit beside him.

Still, he had to say it. "I'm surprised you didn't get any of my messages."

[yougotgeassed]

"...You sent me messages?" Lelouch questioned.

He flipped open his Dreamberry and looked through his messages and there were none from Asch... or from anybody else, for that matter. He found this to be rather strange, but decided not to dwell on it. Changing the subject, Lelouch decided to try and have a decent conversation with Asch.

"Mm... What brings you out here, today?"

[x_bloody_asch_x]

Asch couldn't help but peek, half expecting to have to embarrassingly explain the numerous messages (especially the more frantic ones that he had sent during the nightmare). He didn't get a good look, however, and... Lelouch didn't seem to mind, if the quick topic change was any indication. He cleared his throat, leaning back against the bench.

"Well, it's Christmas today," he replied, "as well as my birthday."

[yougotgeassed]

Lelouch raised his eyebrows slightly, "Your birthday? Ah, well happy birthday, Asch. How old are you?"

[x_bloody_asch_x]

"Eighteen," he replied, leaning back and looking up at the clear blue sky. A moment of silence hung in the air, before he finally spoke again.

"It's... weird. I was never supposed to see this day. I still don't know how to react to it."

[yougotgeassed]

Lelouch sat in silence next to the young man for a moment thinking about what he had just said. He had similar feelings, though he was rather positive they were not about the same sort of situation. Lelouch, rather curious, decided to ask Asch to elaborate. He needed to know more about these people in Somarium.

"Ahh... Would you mind telling me a little bit about that? It's rather unfortunate to hear such words come out of your mouth, Asch. To think that you were not going to live to see your eighteenth birthday - such a travesty and a waste of human life."

[x_bloody_asch_x]

Asch raised an eyebrow at that, biting his lip. He... yeah, he could...

"On my world, people believe the Score, which tells the future of our world, is absolute," Asch began. "You saw the one dream I had... of when Van kidnapped me, and replaced me with Luke. He had to do that, because the Score called for my death at seventeen."

He paused a moment, closing his eyes. "Even though I was removed from that... I doubt I would have lived much longer than was foretold."

[yougotgeassed]

"Asch, you mustn't let something control your life like that. You should build your own future and shape your own destiny. That is something that you and only you should control. If you don't have control of that, you should take control using any means necessary," said Lelouch.

To those who did not know about Lelouch's past, his words would seem nothing more than motivational. However, to those who knew Lelouch well, they would see a reflection of his own life in what he was saying to Asch.

[x_bloody_asch_x]

"I know that," Asch murmured softly. "Before Luke and I came here, we were fighting to get Auldrant away from the Score. Van... he wanted to do the same, though his methods were extreme; we all knew that the Score was something that we could not depend on any longer."

He looked down at his hands finally. "Still... even saved from my fate... I'm still dying."

[yougotgeassed]

Lelouch smirked slightly at what Asch said, "But Asch... Aren't we all dying? Don't we all meet a fate of death?"

He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, "Everybody meets the same fate, though some meet that fate earlier than others. It's how you handle yourself and how you control your destiny while you are alive that determines when and how you finally meet death."

He smiled at the red-head sitting next to him, "Asch, even I am dying."

[x_bloody_asch_x]

Asch had been about to tell him that his death was probably going to be less than pleasant, but the smile and Lelouch's last words made him stop at that. He stared at him, a small frown of concern on his face.

"What do you mean?" he asked softly. "What's wrong?"

[yougotgeassed]

"Nothing is wrong" said Lelouch, "Rather, I know by what means I shall die. I've planned it all out perfectly. I've discussed the entire sequence of events down to the blink of an eye with my Knight."

A faint smile crossed his lips, "And... I know that everything I have planned has been carried out successfully."

[x_bloody_asch_x]

Asch stared at him, a part of him appalled about how easily he could speak of dying, as if it were nothing more than the final level in some twisted game. He looked away after a moment, rubbing his forehead; at least his problem held the possibility that he could be cured, assuming such a cure could be made before he finally just vanished. Still...

After a long moment, he snorted softly, shaking his head. "Quite the pair we are," he murmured softly. "Dead men walking."

[yougotgeassed]

Lelouch laughed a little bit at Asch. He couldn't help it. Things had really been put into perspective in Lelouch's life, especially with Suzaku telling him how things had progressed since his arrival in Somarium. Some people, though, just didn't take control like he did - Asch seemed like one of those people.

"I guess we are dead men walking if you think of it that way. Though, maybe you could also try making the best of your current situation. We seem saved from our ill fate while in Somarium, right?"