"There wasn't a moment where it was ever in doubt, for me," Asch says, and it's nothing but the truth. He doesn't know if he could have treated Luke like anything other than his brother if he'd been prepared, but as it was, his reaction parsed 'Luke' first, 'human' second, and 'from a different world' a significantly distant third. "It's his feelings on it I'm worried about."

Luke seemed open to it, if nothing else, which is good, because Asch isn't sure how he would have reacted otherwise. Dio's words about the preciousness of comfort hit home farther than the other man probably intended them to, however.

"I don't think he's had an easy time before this, either," Asch says. "I know he's had trouble with his world's version of someone I murdered for hurting my Luke, if nothing else." And now that he's adjusted to it enough to not panic, yes, there's a flicker of rage under those words.