Personal Shadow
This story is dedicated to Timothy the Paper Clip.
Summary: Maybe having a personal shadow isn't all that bad…
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss, or any of the game's characters.
Now, before you read this, I want you to know that I have never played Tales of the Abyss. I wrote this for a friend and got most of the information, such as Luke and Asch's personalities from Wikipedia. I apologize if it seems out of character.
--
"Stop following me, dreck!"
"No! Why do you hate me so much!?"
Asch gritted his teeth. The replica was being a pain in the ass. First the brat took over his life, replaced him. Now, the damned replica was trailing him! It was like having a personal shadow. A personal shadow he did not want.
Ignoring the replica, Asch quickened his pace.
The replica was not deterred. Still, the clone followed him.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!"
Asch felt the hand on his shoulder and before the other could react, he violently spun around and purposely let Luke bump into him.
Asch narrowed his eyes. The replica was walking on extremely thin ice.
Luke rubbed his nose, a pout on his face.
"What's your problem?" He asked, looking up at Asch with a childish scowl.
"You're my problem, dreck."
The pout was back.
"Stop calling me dreck! That's not my name!"
"Neither is Luke!"
Asch turned away from Luke, who stood in a daze, unwilling to comprehend what Asch just said.
You have no name. Luke is MY name! Not yours.
Luke's hands clenched at his sides. He was his own person, not some secondhand copy! He would prove to Asch that he was an individual, not a clone.
"I'm not just your copy! I'm my own person, Asch!"
Asch whirled around to argue against that statement, but before he could even open his mouth, something he least expected happened.
Luke kissed him.
The replica's eyes were closed, the opposite of Asch, whose eyes were wide open, his eyebrows raised as high as they could possibly go.
Luke leaned away, a smile on his face.
"Does this prove that I am my own person?" The tone in his voice was eager.
Asch snarled, his upper lip curled, "This just proves you're an idiot."
Luke frowned, sure that the stunt he just pulled would prove he was an individual, acting on his own.
"But – why can't you accept I am not just your copy?"
Asch couldn't take it anymore. The dreck just wouldn't give up!
"You stole my whole life away from me! My family, my status, my name! Besides! Why is it so important to you what I think!? You spoiled brat!"
Luke faltered. Why did he want Asch to think of him as individual? He lowered his gaze, suddenly unsure of himself. Why did he want Asch to like him so much? What was the other teenager to him anyway?
Asch scowled. What was wrong with the brat? Surely he was stronger than that? A couple of well placed words were having too much of an impact on the replica. The kiss as well, Asch didn't know what that was about but he wasn't willing to think about it. Doing so would make things more complicated than they already are.
"You don't know me."
What? Asch didn't need to know the dreck in order to realize that the boy was spoiled and selfish.
"I know enough to realize that you are selfish and spoiled."
Luke flinched, keeping his gaze lowered.
"I'm trying to change. I don't want to kill people."
Asch snorted, "Too late for that."
"Please!" A pause, "I just want to be forgiven!"
"Being forgiven isn't enough!"
A sniffle. The brat was crying. Crying! Damn it, what was with the replica? He normally wasn't so emotional.
Asch sighed. He was leaving before the brat made him do something completely out of character.
--
Several days had passed and still Asch couldn't get the stupid dreck out of his mind. A light blush spread across his face at the thought of the kiss the two had shared. "No!" Asch shook his head, trying to push thoughts of the dreck to the back of his mind. "I should not be dwelling on this!"
Ever since the confrontation, Asch had purposely avoided the dreck, not wanting to face the replica.
"I'm acting childish," He thought with a scowl. "This is ridiculous."
Steeling himself, Asch opened the door to the room where he knew the replica would be.
"Dreck," He called to the other boy.
Luke scowled, echoing the look Asch had on his face only moments before.
"What do you want?"
Asch frowned.
"I wanted to apologize."
The look on the dreck's face made Asch sneer.
"Don't get me wrong, dreck; I'm only saying this so I stop worrying."
The dreck smirked,
"You were worried about me?"
Asch recoiled slightly and scowled,
"As if, dreck!"
Luke furrowed his eyebrows, moving closer to Asch.
"But you just said –"
"Forget what I said!"
Luke frowned,
"I really don't understand you, you know."
Asch sneered.
"As if I want you to,"
As they were talking, Luke had moved closer and closer to Asch, causing them to be only a few scant inches away from each other. Asch involuntarily thought of the kiss again, causing that dammed blush to spread across his face once more.
"You're blushing."
"Don't state the obvious, dreck; and no, I'm not."
"But I can see it."
"I don't care what you see! I'm not blushing!"
Luke smirked, and Asch found his eyes drawn to the lips of his replica.
Damn it all,
Luke was jabbering on about something, but Asch wasn't listening. Those lips kept moving and Asch couldn't help himself.
He grabbed Luke's head, causing the boy to stop talking. Before Luke even knew what was happening, Asch had brought their lips together.
Asch's eyes were closed and his eyebrows were scrunched slightly.
Luke's eyes widened before closing as he began to respond to the kiss.
I hate that I love you.
I know.
The End.
And that's it…hoped you liked it.