First Arte; ["Accidental" Video/Action]

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[Jade was rather calm for someone who’d just woken up from a cocoon in an entirely new world. He wasn’t confused, nor jumpy, nor any of the normal things one would expect. Instead he walked about with a smirk, adjusting his glasses periodically when he stumbles across something of interest. Before he’d even left the cocoon, he’d already scrolled through the feed on the video phone, read the pamphlet that was so kindly provided, and (somewhat grudgingly) even placed the necklace around his neck. He’d already taken a stroll around the city, studying the people, the landmarks, mostly keeping to himself unless he was called out.

To any passers by, it may look as if he’d been around for ages, simply by how at ease he appeared. However, this was simply a facade, in case anything in the city was hostile in nature. He had many questions, most earnestly about the necklaces. They were to prove he wasn’t a fake, hmm? Yet, he didn’t want to broadcast such sensitive inquiries all throughout the city, even though it did seem the one sure-fire away of communicating to as many residents as possible, and quickly, which could be useful. In fact, this could be a golden opportunity to gather more information about this place, but he didn’t like that fact that he wasn’t aware of who would be listening. After a silent moment, Jade ‘accidentally’ switched on the video recorder.]

Ahhh… I do wish they would include a map upon arrival. I’m so horribly lost. If only my sight was what it used to be… [Jade trailed off forlornly, but to anyone listening intently he didn’t sound concerned at all, and through the video feed he clearly didn’t look lost, lounging about on a bench in the park. He even had a bowl of steaming hot soup. And a drink. To go. Fancy that.]

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[Jade was… surprised to see Luke, to say the least. The last he saw of him, well if you could call it him... Needless to say, this Luke wouldn't have been the one he was expecting. Yet, Jade shook off the shock the moment Luke's first words were out of his mouth. There was really no denying it. This was the Luke they'd come to know and tolerate. Or, that was what he'd been made to think.

…Alright, perhaps he thought better of him than that, but he'd never been one to admit it. At least not with any sort of frequency. In fact, the… Could he call it relief? Happiness? Perhaps that was the simplest way to explain it. He kept the happiness he was experiencing close to his chest. Luke being here should not be possible, not at all, but Luke had no need to know that. Instead, he responded to Luke in kind.]

Ahh Luke, is that truly what you think of me? I'm not like you youngsters you know. I don't have the stamina I once did… [Complete and utter lies. Jade was fit as a fiddle relatively speaking, and thirty was by no means old, but Luke of course, knew all of that.] Likewise, it seems I should've expected to see you prancing around. As eager as ever, are we?

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Yeah, yeah... [The grin softened into more of a general smile, one hand reaching to scratch at the back of his head. Yeah, that was definitely Jade, alright. Always with the jokes about his not-so-very-old age...Which was refreshing, to say the least. It'd been annoying, at first, yes. Like he'd told Gaara, however: to care about someone is to accept everything about them. Jade's sense of humor was probably how he dealt with things, and was something Luke had grown used to. Or maybe it was more than just that?

Well, 'you don't realize how much you care about a person, until they're gone', right? Or, in his case, 'until you're gone away from them'. Whenever he wasn't fighting for he and Takasu's lives, back in that hotel, he'd spent a lot of time thinking about all of his friends.

Things were changing really fast, in the current world, at least. In a good way, even. First Tear, then Jade. Not to mention, he still had Takasu. And, he was becoming friends with Gaara, Ishtar, Jounouchi. If there was anything he never wanted to be, it was alone. Maybe the Genessia place wasn't so bad, after all.

A part of him didn't want to return to Auldrant. He couldn't help but wonder what would become of him, were he to appear back in that world. Then again, he wasn't sure what was going to happen to him in THAT world. The theory of whether, or not, death was permanent hadn't been tested, just yet. He knew it wasn't a done deal back at the hotel, but... Well, as Gaara had said, there was only one way to find out.

He gave a glance to the side, smile turning sheepish.]

Well, I just got off of work- ["Off of work" were the words he'd been hearing people use. That was the first time he'd been able to use them, though, and it had felt a little- well...strange, coming out of his mouth.] -so, I guess I have some energy to burn?

[Looking back to Jade, he let his smile soften somewhat.] By the way, Tear's here. And, there are a couple of people I'd like you to meet.

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Normally people are tired from a long days work. If they've done their jobs properly, anyway. [It seemed like scolding, but there was amusement in his voice. You never could tell with Jade. Oddly enough, Jade continued to be surprised. So this Luke had gotten himself a job, and he'd completely brushed off the fact that Jade had referred to his movements as 'prancing'. Interesting. If he was a fake, he was either doing a fantastic job, or he was indeed real… because somehow Jade had the feeling that Luke had grown a bit more since they'd last spoken.

The way he saw it, there were two options: one, Luke was indeed a fake. Sent here to make Jade drop his guard, for some unseen nefarious purpose. Of course, that would be a waste of a great deal of time, resources, and energy, especially considering whoever had brought them here could have simply kept him under lock and key, and had the power to not only capture him without him knowing, but somehow transport him here. Not to mention a great risk, considering how long they'd traveled together.

Option two, they were both "real" and the idea that others could somehow be "fake" was planted to cause doubt and mistrust between the citizens of the city, especially those who have originated from the same place. It would also be a useful decoy to hide their true purpose. This was by far the more plausible option. That, and the fact that Luke kept looking at him as if he'd been gone for a very, very long while, where a fake would be trying to hide any differences between how he would remember Luke and himself, was what made Jade decide to believe this was his Luke, at least until he had further evidence to the contrary.]

Tear is here as well? How very odd… [He have to track her down too, and come to the same conclusions.]

I wouldn't mind becoming more acquainted with the people in this city, but I believe they can wait until after I've finished my lunch. [Jade pointedly shifted on the bench, and with a slight nod, indicated that Luke should sit down.] I have this curious feeling that you have a lot to tell me.

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[Honestly, Luke hadn't even paid any mind to the "prancing" comment. With so many other things on his mind, that's the last detail to worry about. But...Okay, that remark implying he hasn't been doing his job properly? That did earn a bit of an exasperation within his smile. Hey, he was just glad to even have a job; and, besides, he actually liked where he worked.

Luke probably would have a million theories running through his own head about...fakes, and whatnot- if he hadn't gone through the hotel period, first. He'd quickly dismissed any doubt about Genessia being real--or the people being real, even--after he'd remembered that transporting between worlds was a possible thing to experience. Between prior experience and current evidence, Luke had decided he'd simply follow Takasu's advice. To top everything off, he still had that same feeling that served as a reminder of his fonons separating. That...was still there.

...And, it hadn't helped that- well, he'd had a recent experience with having to use Artes; and, since that day, the feeling had increased. Become more apparent, and more difficult to ignore.

Luke had to work extra hard to keep his face steady during those thoughts and worries. Not that he had done a very good job. He nodded to the mention of waiting until Jade was finished eating, and sat down next to the brunette.] Alright.

[Luke wasn't surprised at the mention of the 'curious feeling', and could only scratch at the back of his head.] Heh...well, you're definitely right about that...

[Where to start, though? ...Well, at the beginning, right?]

After setting Lorelei free, I was pretty sure...that'd be it. I was wrong, though. Instead of vanishing, I woke up in some place called California. I was stuck in this hotel with a bunch of other people, all from different worlds. It was...kind of like here, only- [His expression darkened just a bit, and he was suddenly having to look away.] Well, really, it was...nothing like this place. Every fourteen days, the sun would go down and not come up for another fourteen days. It sounds unbelievable, I know. I wouldn't believe it, if I hadn't been there. But-

[His head turned so that he was looking at the ground. He swallowed, holding a blink a moment longer than necessary.]

During that...time, the staff would turn against everyone. Heh...I didn't even have a weapon, while I was there. I made do with what I could find, but- in the end, it wasn't enough. I learned...that death wasn't permanent, there. [His tone became a little bitter, with that last sentence.] My friend, Takasu, and I were killed by some of the kitchen staff. Then, when the sun returned, we woke up. It was like it'd never happened. The staff, they...seemed to not even remember any of it. They all just... smiled, like nothing was wrong! Like nothing had even happened!

[Then, when he realized he was yelling, Luke blinked. His heart was racing. That was the first time Luke had expressed any serious anger, since he'd left the hotel. Maybe it was because he was with someone he felt comfortable expressing that, around? After all, Jade had shared things with him, that he'd yet to really share with other people- that Luke knew of, anyway. Closing his eyes, a moment, Luke exhaled.]

Well, we were only there a month. [To him, since months in Auldrant are sixty days, not thirty.] But, it'd felt like much longer.

Then, we...woke up, here. Minutes later, we ran into Tear, and... Well, we all just decided it'd be better to become functioning citizens of this place, until we learn more about it. If we fight and struggle against it, whoever brought us here, would probably work harder to hide secrets, right? [Ideas Luke had obtained from the things Takasu had said.] Heh...

[With that, Luke finally glanced back over at Jade. A forced smile rested on his lips, a likely poor attempt to mask any worry.] So far, I've only had to fight once. So, the place seems fairly safe. Well- I can't help but be a little glad about that, since...

[Nobody can blame a guy for being glad about something that could be extending his life, right...?]

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[Jade would've been happy to keep eating while Luke was speaking, if the information contained hadn't been so… delicate. To his credit, Jade had listened quite intently, all stupid smirks and smiles gone, taking everything that Luke had said seriously. Luke was aware of his fate and… well, it seems he'd faced death, in one form or other, even on top of that. How very troublesome.]

[When Luke had raised his voice, Jade gained the nagging feeling that anyone else would've offered comfort in some shape or form. Jade, however, did not. Or could not. He let Luke continue, waiting until he had said all he needed to say. Until he'd had some air to breathe.]

Luke, I must say I'm… [Here, Jade paused, wondering idly if it was best to say all he thought, and immediately decided against it. But he did continue, voice just a bit softer than was usual.] … impressed. You've handled this quite well.

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[As his brow tenses, Luke's eyes widen. He'd never expected to hear Jade say something like that, really. Well, now that he's thinking about it, he's really not all that surprised. He's...flattered, to say the least. To have Jade compliment him is nice, since...

...Well, Jade had been the last one to accept his change. He and Anise were the last two to forgive him and believe he'd changed for the better. Never had Luke given up on proving to them...that he'd become a better person.

So, to have Jade telling him that he's impressed by something he'd given his all to live through, it is an incredibly big deal. In spite of this, he forces his expression to soften and he shakes his head.] Heh...Thanks, but a lot of credit goes to Takasu. At the hotel, he's the person I kept focusing on protecting. Even with how it turned out for the both of us, I still held onto my drive to survive...because of him being there. Then, when I arrived here, it became that much easier to move forward, after learning Tear's here...

[He can feel his face redden at talking about her in that way. He has to turn his head to the side, face away from Jade. Certain other parts of Luke's personality have grown, in regards to a certain Seventh Fonist. Guess who's admitted to being in love with Tear?] I was able to not dwell on the past having, because of them.

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That fact that you can admit that it wasn't entirely your own doing, only further demonstrates the progress you've made. [Still, Jade was a bit vexed to hear that Luke still wasn't entirely driven to protect his own life for its own merit. He found himself pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation at the notion of it. Of course, he may have been reading too far into it. Perhaps… Wasn't it Luke who'd decided he wanted to live?]

[But that was a conversation to be had at a later date. Especially noting the color that had arisen in Luke's face. In an instant, his devilish smile was back in place, and Jade went back to his lunch, but not before marking the change.]

My, my… Have the seeds of love finally blossomed?

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[Well, he had been wanting to protect himself, as well, of course. It was just a matter of him clinging to that guilt he was currently feeling. He'd let a helpless guy die, after practically promising to protect him. Plus, some of the growth he'd managed back on Auldrant had been messed with, in that hotel.

In all reality, Luke had never...truly had time to deal with anything he'd found himself facing, on Auldrant. For Luke, it had always been about moving forward, never looking back. Luke might have become someone considered better than who he was, but he was still nowhere near perfect. He still didn't completely think things through, and he was still bound to mess up when it came to trying to do things solely for others. Which...he tended to do a lot of, no matter how it was looked at...]

...?!

[Luke blinked and quickly turned to look back at the colonel.]

H-how did you... [Oh, come on, who was he even kidding. Of course Jade had figured it out...Luke quickly looked to the ground, face never altering in coloration.] W-well, uh...yeah. Guess...that's the best way to put it.

[He let out an awkward laugh, reaching up to scratch at the side of his face.]