paradisalost | Thread; Incomplete

Current Music: Assemblage 23 - 30KFT

Entry tags:

Thread; Incomplete

Who: Edward Elric [

metalalchemy], Alphonse Elric [

soulalchemy], & Alfons Heiderich [

rocketeering].
What: After finding out Alfons is alive, Edward invites him over to where he lives with Al. Awkwardness ensues.
When: March 28th; Early Afternoon.
Where: Room 708 [Elric's Room].
Rating: PG-13

Honestly. When he had wandered outside, this place had looked big, but not this big. Fifteen floors up to reach Rosette, fifteen floors down to get to the kitchen, and then all around town to explore and learn as much as possible. Now it was seven floors back up... And his body was doing it's damnedest to make sure his newly restored life was going to be as short as possible.

When he finally reached the seventh floor, Alfons took a break and sat down on the top step, leaning against the railing as he coughed into his hand. It would be best if he didn't see Edward and meet Alphonse for the first time while he was having a fit like this. With the addition of nerves, it probably would just end in him bleeding on their floor or something.

After about five minutes, the coughs subsided, and the young man rubbed at his sore chest a bit before he stood up and wandered down the hall, flipping the journal back open to double check which room Edward had directed him to.

There was an awkward moment as he stood there, staring at the door numbered 708, before he forced himself to lift a hand and knock.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

To say that Ed had been a bundle of nerves probably an understatement. To have Mustang here, and Envy here... was shocking enough. But Alfons as well?

He'd never actually confessed it to Al, but he felt so guilty about Alfons' death. He'd died making sure that Ed could get back to Amestris, and Ed hadn't even stayed in his own world for a day before returning to the Germany side of the Gate. Deep down, Ed had always been afraid that, if Alfons had lived, he would have been so angry at him for throwing it all away.

Except for Al. Al had followed him, and that made being stuck in Germany bearable.

When the knock came at the door, he actually jumped. Al had been down in the library when Alfons had contacted him over journal, and wasn't back yet, although he likely would be soon. He hurried to the door and pulled it open, and tried his damndest not to stare, but smile instead.

"Alfons..."

Seeing his face again made Alfons' throat close up, which really wasn't a good thing considering his chronic problem with lack of oxygen, but it wasn't bad to induce another fit. As it was, he just had...some trouble forming words.

It had been a year for Edward, but not nearly so long for Alfons... To him it had only been last night, on a cold November night, but in that short time he had accepted that he would never be able to see him again.

There was a lot to compute at once. Edward standing there. That arm was definitely not a prosthetic. The automail he had mentioned? And... "...Your hair..." was the best he could babble out, and immediately his cheeks heated in embarrassment. So Edward was wearing it in a braid. Big deal.

"I mean. Hello."

Edward self-consciously flushed a little. Not long after he and Al had been reunited, he'd gone back to wearing his hair in the braid at the base of his neck. He had been a little disturbed that Al had taken to wearing his hair in almost the exact same ponytail as Ed himself had while in Germany. He felt Alfons' eyes study him, and had to remind himself that he surely appeared different.

"Hello," Ed replied mechanically, for this seemed to be going as awkwardly as he'd predicted.

He looks exactly the same...

"Uhh... come in," he said. He usually wasn't the one for cordial host duty. He never was.

With a polite nod, he hugged the journal to his chest like an absurd kind of safety blanket as he stepped inside, gaze lingering on Edward's alien automail in passing. He was sure to keep his distance, though... It had been a year for Edward, really, so who knew what was going through his mind?

Honestly, Alfons was happy to see him, but he felt so nervous that he was paling by the moment as he finally looked around the room. "Is...he here?" The one who stole my face? The one you never stopped talking about?

Thought that were better left unsaid, really. Alfons' jealousy was illogical, and he rightly knew that, but he still couldn't help those dark thoughts in the back of his mind, far beneath the relief that Edward had finally found happiness with his brother.

"No," Ed said, then hastily reconsidered how that sounded. "I mean, he's here, in the castle! He likes to read, he just went down to the library to pick up some new books. This place has it's own library, it's actually huge, but I'm sure you've noticed if you've been walking around--"

Ed cut himself off from babbling. What had gotten into him? "He'll be back soon. I didn't get a chance to tell him yet, because I didn't want to leave the room in case I was still gone when you got here and thought... well, that wouldn't have worked well."

Ed noticed that Alfons looked pale; moreso than usual. Was it just because he hadn't seen him for so long? No, he was clutching that journal awful tightly as well.

"Alfons...? Is something wrong?"

Liked to read? That was something the Elrics seemed to have in common, anyway. The thought would have made him smile if Edward's continuous ramblings didn't make him feel even stiffer.

Something wrong? Edward's younger brother didn't even know he was here. How would he react upon meeting him? How was Alfons supposed to react.

"...N-no," he croaked, then cleared his throat to steady his voice, turning to set the book on the nearest desk. Then, he smiled and glanced over. "Just happy to see you again."

"Are you sure?" Ed said, concerned. Had that illness followed him to Paradisa? Ed wasn't sure of that irony -- to have Alfons returned to life only to have him waste away under the coughing sickness?

"Same," Ed said, swallowing. Perhaps it was just sinking in for the first time that Alfons wasn't dead, that he was here and alive.

Impuslively, Ed hugged the taller blonde in a tight grasp. "I'm sorry, Alfons. It's my fault you died, and... I didn't even take what you gave me. A way to stay in Amestris forever. And I gave it up."

Maybe Alfons would be angry. He could be angry with all due justification for being angry, too. But Ed wanted to apologize before that.

It was at that moment that Al stepped into his and his brother's shared room. While down in the library, he had found an interesting book that he thought Ed would like, and had hurried up to their floor. But, as soon as he stepped over the threshold, and saw Ed hugging someone that looked... No, that's not right, he though.

Al blinked, extremely confused. Hadn't his brother said... His brother was...

"Brother?" Al inquired, his mouth open wide in shock. The book in his hands fell to the floor with a clunk.

Edward wasn't normally the sentimental type, especially when it came to physical touching, so the hug actually shocked him speechless. It was warm, and new, and probably the best he would ever get, so he wanted to take a moment in revel in it, wrapping both arms around the other to return the hug.

Then his words seemed to actually make sense. Hadn't...stayed in Amestris? "Wait, you--"

And the door opened, and Alfons' inquiry was cut short. He looked up into eyes that seemed all too familiar, and yet disturbingly different. Shorter, though that could be blamed on age. Darker hair...eye color that mimicked Edward's a bit...only dimmer...

If Alfons had been pale before, he was ghastly white now. He had been nervous about meeting Alphonse, but he was too shocked to say anything, and it looked like the younger Elric was in a similar state of mind.

"A-Al," Ed stammered, releasing Alfons. Oh fuck, this couldn't look good by any stretch of the imagination. With a quick, apologetic look at Alfons, the older alchemist went to his brother and took Al's hands in his own. His golden eyes all at once uncertain and pained and chagrined.

"Al, I was going to tell you as soon as you got back. I've only known for about half an hour now. This... this is Alfons Heiderich. It seems Paradisa has brought him here, too."

Practically holding his breath with worry, Ed led Al into the room and up to Alfons. "Alfons, this is my brother, Alphonse."

Al glanced between his brother and the other individual in the room. His brow was furrowed lightly, and he frowned, but nodded. "Brother?" he asked softly, almost under his breath so that only Ed could hear him.

Frowning all the more, Al turned to Alfons, and bowed lightly. "It's nice to finally meet you, Alfons-san. Brother mentioned quite a bit about you." There was a slight bite to the tone of Al's voice, despite it still being soft. The younger Elric turned to his brother again, a question in his eyes. "I thought that, um... you had..."

Well, he had been expecting some tension, but it was getting increasingly hard to breathe. The idea of Edward talking about him at all was flattering, but Alphonse's tone certainly wasn't. It was that curt politeness that...

...Alfons himself had used on many occasions with some situations.

Ugh, this was like looking in a backwards mirror. Clearing his throat and trying to quell that itch in his chest, he smiled a bit and bowed his head in response. "And he spoke...endlessly about you. I consider it an honor to finally meet you."

Then, came the inquiry, and Alfons' smile faltered, azure gaze clouding a bit as he averted his eyes. "...I suppose this place doesn't care to respect the sanctity of the dead."

To say Ed was surprised by the role reversal was... an understatement. He'd never really heard that tone from his brother, at least not in anything that Al cared to admit. Usually he was the one who was understandably... curt.

"Alfons apparently just arrived," Ed said. The two lookalikes were engaged in some sort of passive-agressive thing.

He gave them seperate yet identical looks, something along the lines of, I'm sorry, I know this is awkward. But try to understand how he feels...

Giving his brother a look that said You've got some explaining to do, Al sighed softly. He swallowed down the jealousy he felt (it was silly, after all), and nodded.

"Do you like it here? I know it's a little weird, but Brother and I met some nice people," Al asked, smiling lightly.

Alfons would be on his best behavior... The last thing he wanted to do was upset Edward, and really, Alphonse sounded like a terrific person. Better than me, anyway.

Still, talking to him was incredibly grating. Perhaps because it was violating several laws of nature and physics? "I...suppose." Stepping back to be polite, he turned his head to cough lightly into his hand.

"I just got here this morning, and am still...rather confused, but it's nice to see a familiar face." He paused. "Edward's face, I mean." Another cough, followed by a flush of embarrassment.

"But this place isn't so bad, really... I could get used to it."

Ed gave his brother a look that replied, I will. I don't know if I can explain why I was hugging him when you walked in, but I'll try my best.

Still, maybe he could still smooth things over. Ed gestured to the small table with chairs in the corner. "Well... why don't we all sit, and Al and I will try and get you caught up to speed on things, Alfons. This is a pretty weird place. If you thought my stories about Amestris were unbelievable..."

He and Al had taken to keeping some tea and instant coffee in their room, so they didn't have to trek down to the kitchen if they wanted a hot drink while they were reading. Most people would've required a kettle or something, but Ed and Al were not post people.

He spooned the dark crystals into two cups -- Alfons drank his coffee black, just like Ed did -- and adding a teabag to Al's cup, Ed clapped his hands together and placed them on the nearby pitcher of water. There was a snap-arc of blue alchemic energy that lit the room for a moment before fading out, and then Ed poured the now-scalding water into all three mugs before bringing them over.

"Here..."

Al nodded to Ed, allowing the subject to drop for the time being. As his brother moved to preform alchemy on their drinks, Al couldn't help but relax a little. Ed was doing something that usually he did, and it felt nice to know his brother still thought about him, even in tense moments like this.

Smiling at his brother, Al brought the hot cup to his lips and quickly took a gulp. He savored the heat that quickly burned his taste buds along with the dark taste of the tea. Then, he set his cup down again.

"Which reminds me, Brother. Somehow, quite a few ducks got into the castle! I saw one on the first floor, and it was so cute! Do you think we could have one?"

Ducks? How could they talk about ducks?! Edward had just used magic! There was a steaming cup of coffee in front of him almost as soon as he sat down! That didn't happen. Sure, pirates, ghosts, and resurrection, but instant coffee?

"You--" Alfons was trying not to gawk here, but it was incredibly difficult. Then, something clicked, a memory of stories Edward had bogged him down with.

"Was that alchemy?! Oh, wow." He picked up the mug to taste test, and winced at how hot it was, but quickly smiled. "Do something else!"

"Al," Ed whined, "a duck?? Don't ducks shit everywhere? Even a kitten would be better than a duck."

Then he realized Alfons was staring at him. The reaction was so unexpected that Ed actually laughed, not even a smug or cocky laugh, but a genuinely pleasant one. He'd almost forgotten how Alfons had used to catch him off guard like that.

"So you were listening when I told you all those things," the alchemist chuckled, blowing the steam off his own cup. He never understood the point of drinking it when it scalded your mouth. "Yes, that's alchemy. I always figured that, deep down, you believed that I was making it all up."

Alfons wanted him to do more alchemy? "Uhh..." he said, a bit lamely. "Well... all right." Although he was quick to add, "Al's an alchemist too, you know, just as good as I am."

"I'll do something, Brother!" Al chimed in. He got up from his chair, and reached into the pocket of his red cloak to withdraw a pair of white gloves. He slipped them on, and shot a grin at Alfons.

"Castle? Can I have some dust please?" the younger Elric inquired the air. Immediately, a small pile of grey dirt appeared on their table. Al slapped his palms together, and held them over the dirt. Another glow of blue alchemic energy filled the room, and once the light had died, a small figurine of a rocket sat on the table.

Al pushed the figure towards Alfons, and smiled kindly. "Brother told me you helped him with rocekts, so he could get back to me. Thank you for helping him."

Alfons' jaw was practically scraping the table at this point. Dust had come out of nowhere! Was that part of the alchemy? No, Al had asked for it from...the castle? Obviously Paradisa held magic of some sort, so that much was understandable.

But it was much more fascinating to watch a human being accomplish such feats. When the little model rocket appeared, Alfons lifted his hands and clapped appreciatively. Then he blinked and tilted his head, glancing from the rocket to Alphonse.

"Sorry? You must have heard him wrong. I..." He trailed off, and his brow furrowed. He couldn't...remember. "I helped him with..." The teenager slumped back inhis seat. "...Um... Give me a moment..."

"Alfons?" Ed said, tilting his head in concern. How could he have forgotten his lifelong passion -- oh.

"It's the castle, Al," Ed said in an undertone to his brother. "That must have been what it took from Alfons when he came here. He doesn't remember rocketry."

Sighing and turning back to the German, Ed said, "Alfons, you used to work on rockets, back in Munich. You're actually quite an accomplished scientist on the subject. You may not remember... sometimes when people come here, to Paradisa, they lose things. Memories, abilities... it seems to be random. But in any case, you've studied rocketry your whole life... and you used that knowledge to help save mine."

He looked at the shorter haired blonde, wondering if that would spark any memory at all.

A sympathetic frown covered Al's features as he turned to the other man. "You don't remember any of that? Oh, goodness... Brother, what will we do? Can you help him get his memory back somehow?"

The younger Elric nodded emphatically as his brother spoke. "If it wasn't for you, Alfons-san, we never would've been reunited! We owe you a lot!"

It was obvious that this was very important to both Ed and Al, but nothing was ringing any bells. He honestly might have considered them blatant liars if he didn't know Edward better, and there was that large gap in his memory. "Rockets...in Munich...mm..."

This was upsetting. Alfons didn't like knowing that in exchange for his life, he had given up memories. He didn't care what the memories were, he just didn't like knowing that they had been taken from him.

Still, as much as this was upsetting him, he tried to smile, and cleared his throat. "Well if I don't remember...it couldn't have been that important, right? It's...no big deal. I really didn't do much of anything..." He didn't think. "Edward was the one who wanted to get home so badly."

Then why had he been shot? That he remembered. The memory alone made him wince, and he quickly stood up, coffee mostly untouched. "I think I'm going to go. Thank you for being so hospitable."

Ed was taken aback when Alfons claimed that not remembering rocketry wasn't a big deal. He had to remind himself that it was the castle's fault, not his, and that there was always a chance that the castle might later give those memories back. So he forced a smile and nodded. "Well, we'll see if things change later. But you're right... no sense in getting upset about it, right?"

Yet Alfons had seemed to come to some upsetting realization, standing and claiming he had to leave. "Alfons, wait! You don't have to leave..."

Unless they were making him uncomfortable. Dammit, Ed thought. For a moment there, I actually thought that things... were going okay.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thread; Incomplete

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject