hisapprentice | [Puzzle 018]

[For house 48]

[A typical day in this house begins with Luke up and about, making breakfast and tea. Whether Firo shows up to have any is up to him. School's back in session and he needs an earlier start, that's all. This morning is no different, Luke pulls on his sweater while walking into the kitchen, headed for the refrigerator. It's when he pulls open the door that everything gets weird - starting with the whole room losing its household vibe and becoming much more...archaeological.]

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[Incredulous adventures aside, Luke finds it difficult to adjust to the busier lifestyle that comes with school starting and warmer weather ending. It gets darker, colder, Luke grows lonelier. He's out and about in the autumn sun, off to his usual stop at the bakery (okay, okay, one of his three or four usual stops) when a brownish figure passes him going in the opposite direction.

Luke stops. Spinning left, he sees the figure retreating down the path the way he came, and though all logic tells him it can't be real, he takes off running after it.]

Professor! [Because there is no one else. It must be him.] Professor, wait! Just- hold on a minute, please!

[Luke did not realize a vision from the past could hurt so much. When Layton's back and top hat fade into a false mist and then nothingness, Luke has run himself all the way back across the village, nearer to the rec center. Out of breath and out of spirit, he sits down on a bench to stare at the dirt.

Today is awful.]

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[Luke's savvy enough not to run directly into Korra; he skids to a stop, holding his hat on his head to keep it there.]

I just- I saw someone I know heading this way! And I've got to catch up to him!

[ She glances in the direction he was running, confused. ]

I didn't see anyone go by... [ But he seems really intent on catching the person, so she nods. ]

You want help catching him?

You can't have missed him! He just went this way a few seconds ago! He's tall and wearing a top hat.

[ She gives a helpless shrug. ]

I think I'd notice a guy in a giant hat, but maybe he's... really fast?

[He is sort of fast. He can also do amazing things with a sword ~~or a pipe or a stick or~~ in his hand but those feats of athleticism always seemed stuck in emergency situations.]

I'm just as fast! He should be here somewhere, but it...it looks more like he just disappeared.

[ A true gentleman remembers his cardio? ]

Disappeared? [ Realization flickers across Korra's face at that. She's no stranger to the weird images of people flitting around the city lately but it seems like he might not be. ]

Listen, your friend... Is he living in the city right now? Have you seen him before this?

He used to live here, a while ago now...but I thought he might've, er, come back.

[This already sounds like Korra's preparing him for a gentle letdown.]

Maybe. But, uh... [ As gentle as she can manage, anyway. ]

He might not have really been there. I know people come back here after leaving sometimes [ herself included, apparently ] but there's something fishy here.

What do you mean by "something fishy"?

[He will do whatever it might take to make it less fishy and more real.]

I guess a lot of people are seeing people from back home. [ She's leaving out something important here oh wait yeah- ] ...myself included.

[ And she doesn't really look happy about that fact, either. ]

But they can't really be here- they don't seem real. They don't even notice me and then they just disappear. So... maybe it was the same with your friend.

[All the hope and air goes out of Luke, ending in drooping shoulders and a hard swallow.]

Oh.

[Coming up with something else to say is hard. So hard.]

Then I...I guess that's what happened.

Maybe. ...Probably.

[ She's doing a bad job of this. ]

Hey, listen. Maybe he's not here right now but that doesn't mean you won't see him soon. People come and go here all the time, right?

Sure they do, but...I don't really want him to, because it's dangerous here and he could get hurt and all sorts of other reasons. The only reason I want it is...a selfish one.

Hey, look. It's not selfish to want to see someone, especially someone you might miss. I'm sure they'd want to see you, too.

[Luke shakes his head a few times, managing a tiny, resigned smile.]

It's not selfish, huh?

[ She crosses her arms. ]

No way. [ And then she gives a sort of half-shrug. ]

At least, not in my book.

[For having no idea who Korra is, Luke likes her already.]

Well, I guess there's nothing I can do but take your word for it.

That's right!

[ She nods and gives him a smile. ]

And I might not know how or why these people are showing up here, but I do know a pretty great place that a friend of mine took me to cheer up when I first got here.

What place is that?

[Luke's favorite place for some cheering-up is the bakery but he is biased in that regard.]

[ Well Luke is definitely in luck, because that's exactly what Korra has in mind. Smiling, she turns and starts walking. ]

We are going to go eat cake. The most delicious cake I've ever had, probably. When I first got here I was pretty freaked out, so Wan took me to the bakery. [ And she laughs a little at that because of course that was what he'd thought to do, but there it was. ]

[Nothing gets a smile out of Luke quite like food.]

Cake is always a great idea. [There's a bit of a spring in his ensuing step, too.] Especially cake from the bakery we have here.

[Puzzle 018]

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