Cole took to wandering like a leaf to the wind.
The center of the city, strange as it was already, made him woozy. Made him feel unreal. Too real. Like being torn in two, but not knowing which half would still be "him". He sought himself outward, away from the strange faces and stranger contraptions, weaving past each and every person that passed him by-- none the wiser to his existence. He felt out of place, stained leathers and linens standing in stark contrast to the denim and cotton that the populace took to dressing in.
He sought himself outward.
Towards a great something in the distance. A bone-hard ball of something bubbling; resentment. No, sorrow? Regret? Cole was like a moth to a flame. He couldn't stay away.
The playground, though not entirely abandoned, had an absolute permeation of loneliness. Had it not been for that something radiating from the blonde boy on the seesaw, Cole might've just passed it by. But no, that boy was his sole reason for having gone this way in the first place-- at least, he thought it had been. He couldn't tell when his free will had receded and given in to the instincts of compassion. No matter. What mattered now was--
A boy with the same face, similar name, but different; chasing after the impossible. Why can't he take off the armor? Why can't he remember? Why does he give himself so easily? Why, why, why--
... this child. He was a child. Varric had told him, ‘please, kid, mind yourself around them. Can't just say what comes into your head. They're... more delicate.’ So...
So Cole minded himself. He kept the words firmly inside himself-- the words that weren't his, but weren't really the boy's either, something shared now-- and instead opted for.
"Hello." The spirit sat crouched before Lucas, knees almost up to his own chest, wide eyes staring with an almost-curiosity at the young boy. "... Can. May I join you?"