"Timor - Echo - I've never felt anything towards my own parents... But with you, there's... something." He tapped his chest, almost unconsciously, as he spoke. "A spark of... Sympathy? Regret? Affection...? I can't be sure. I may be capable of manipulating the emotions of others and bending them to my will, but I'm a stranger to my own heart."

File 01: Mixed Feelings

It was love at first sight.

Probably.

No, definitely.

...Maybe.

Wait, was it?

Is love meant to be... so damn warm?

Lux screwed his mouth into an absent frown, his default expression when he cared little for the reactions of others around him. This was new for him, being thrown so easily into a frenzied storm of conflicting thoughts, and by a child, no less.

Well, to be fair, the boy had certainly reached puberty, though he'd yet to fill out in any significant way, all sharp angles and gangly limbs. He topped out at five-foot-seven (at the most, Lux added to himself) and was likely underweight, seeing as his clothes hung off his compact frame in such a way that he resembled a toddler playing dress-up. His complexion bordered on sickly, his blue eyes seemed flat as glass; if Lux hadn't been made aware that the boy recently passed his physical examinations he would have dismissed him to the medical ward without debate.

"You're Echo, I presume? Maksimov Echo?"

The boy stood at attention, snapping his heels together, head back, shoulders (the bony things) squared. Very much like a soldier. Lux would have to coax him out of the habit if he was going to serve as his student; a soldier's mentality simply wasn't... flexible enough for their line of work.

Lux pushed off the wall and circled the boy once, twice, attentive eyes flicking up and down, taking in all that could be seen of him. Echo endured the scrutiny without complaint, his dead eyes tracking, Lux's movements, subtle though his impassive surveillance was. That was good; that skepticism would serve him well out in the field. Lux had no need for a lifeless statue as his pupil, either.

________

"Have you ever wondered why it was we were thrown together?"

"No."

"...not even a little?"

"No."

_____

"Without something to tether me to this world, once I was cast aside by the World Government... I may have left it."

"You're kidding... No wait, you don't kid. Right. But..."

"What's a puppet cut loose from his strings, Silas? Lifeless, immobile. My only purpose in life was to obey orders - it still is. Whitebeard understood that when he met me. He gave me something to occupy my meaningless life with - protecting him and his crew.

"I owe my life to Whitebeard, now he's gone. I owe my life to Portgas D. Ace. He's gone too. I'm a stringless puppet once again."

"You've carried on for two years, Echo.