Tap on my window, knock on my door, I...

[bloodseal_soul]

Characters: Shirou Kamui [kamui_heaven], Alphonse Elric [bloodseal_soul]
When: Saturday, June 13th, later afternoon. After this thread.
Where: Kamui's room in Unohana's clinic.
Rating: R (Probably) for mentions of past memories of graphic abuse.
Summary: Though friends for nearly a year, there are things that Al's never had the heart to ask Kamui... like where he got all

Comments

[lostwish]

Kamui was hesitant to walk back to the clinic, absently making the choice to move slower than normal through the flooded streets. He knew what was facing him when he showed up and walked into his room there. He’d tried so hard to re-bury things, hide one particular event which he’d witnessed on a loop far too many times. The esper cringed slightly at the mere thought of having to explain every little detail of that event, trying to describe things which he’d rather never think or feel again.

He couldn’t run though. Not from Al.

Al has close to him...one of the very slim number people that he could trust to speak to about whatever he wanted. He’d called him normal and treated him like everyone else, instead of as some saviour that needed to be watched at all times in case he was damaged too early. Not that the Seals had really kept a complete eye on him, nor had they kept him truly safe but...Kamui knew they had their own wishes to fight for and he accepted that. He preferred to not have them hounding him every minute of the day.

[bloodseal_soul]

Al's eyes lifted as Kamui came into the room. Though Al could be called many things, he was always, always observant, especially in the people close to him. He could notice a rock in Ed's shoe before Ed himself felt it, just from the change in how he walked

[lostwish]

Kamui unconsciously flinched back when he heard Al hiss and then move towards him. He was aware that his shoulder was still bleeding freely, in truth he hadn’t expected it to stop with the flimsy job he’d done at bandaging the wound. That didn’t mean that he was willingly going to let someone else prod and poke at it though, he was fine and he was going to stand by that statement until the topic was dropped. He let himself be tempted into sitting on the bed though, keeping his eyes trained on the floor with a rather blank expression

[bloodseal_soul]

Nothing could have prepared Al for what he encountered when the bandages came off. He'd expected a bad wound, maybe something that would need stitches, maybe even a lot of stitches. Instead he had to swallow hard to keep from being ill

[lostwish]

The older teenager openly hissed as the other cleaned the wound, he knew that this was necessary in order to keep the wound healthy while it healed. That didn’t stop him from jerking his head away in pain though, one hand twisting in the sheets he was sitting on and the other clenching enough for nails to bite into palms. He sorely wished that he couldn’t remember feeling this pain before but unfortunately he could, namely when he’d broken his ribs and tried to sit up too fast and too early.

Kamui still didn’t regret his decision though; at least this made him feel normal. Well, normal only to the extent that he was healing as nature intended. He was a quick healer so he wasn’t particularly worried about infections; in fact it was probably possible that Al was more worried about that than him. Maybe that just proved how abnormal he truly was. He chose suffering over the quick route, he’d chosen to tempt fate against and infection, and in the start of it all he’d opted for trying to dodge the weather back instead of waiting. Maybe

[bloodseal_soul]

Alphonse knew Kamui didn't like needles. So few people did, Edward especially, and that deep-seated fear wouldn't help him now. Al made a soothing noise as he sterilized the needle and tightened the thread, leaning in to let Kamui rest against him while he sewed the wound shut. The pain and the tugs were probably minor over the pain of the wound itself, and Al finished up quickly, only making one mistake, easily correctable with an extra stitch.

He packed the wound and wrapped it, wiping off his hands before slipping a supportive arm around his friend, holding him. His shirt was ruined with all the blood, but it wasn't like he cared. Silently, he touched his cheek to Kamui's, cradling and supporting him, closing his eyes against the stinging in his heart.

What the hell had Kamui been through to make him like this? Who had hurt him so badly? Al trailed his fingers slowly and repeatedly through Kamui's hair, letting him come down from the pain a little, or react how he wished.

"I've got you," he whispered.

[lostwish]

Kamui gritted his teeth as he tried to control his breathing which was increasingly becoming hard to gain back. He couldn’t stop himself from pushing back against the support that Al was providing him with, features still very much contorted in pain although it was hard to tell which hurt more at this point. The wound stung but the needle just seemed to resurrect that many times over

[bloodseal_soul]

Kamui seemed to both crave touch and reject it, but he was shivering and hurting now, and Al'd be damned if he didn't comfort him any way he could. Oddly, though Kamui had to be in horrifyingly intense pain, Al was coming to realize that the shivering was emotional rather than from the wound

[lostwish]

The esper slowly opened his eyes as he felt the gentle touches, not really registering what exactly Al had done. He was numb all over, the previous pain now causing his skin to tingle and burn almost where pressure was, a full body case of pins and needles. He blankly watched Al for a few moments as he spoke before allowing his gaze to drift off to the side.

He was that oblivious to have missed the worry and he knew that having Al see him like this was probably serving to double that pain and distress. Kamui didn’t want to do that to Al, he didn’t want to worry and upset someone else because of his own selfish choices. At the same time he couldn’t seem to change his way of thinking, the way that he knew was true but that everyone else seemed to disagree with

[bloodseal_soul]

Al stroked his fingers through Kamui's hair. If he kept shivering like that he'd need to get him a painkiller, even if the older teenager didn't want to take them. He needed rest, and if the pain kept him awake he wouldn't heal properly.

Alphonse dug into the box, coming up with a small bottle of mild painkillers, though he frowned at that. Better would be the bottle with the vicoden he had in dresser, but that was back at his house. He wish he'd thought to bring it.

Though Al could be said to be subtle at times, even to the point of pushing off a direct approach, he was in fact an Elric and he was perfectly capable of it.

"Who made these scars on you?" Al whispered. "Were they all at once, or over a period of time...? Were they doing it for some end, or just to see you hurt?"

[lostwish]

Kamui glanced in Al’s direction when he heard him digging through the box. He eyed the bottle of painkillers for a few moments before looking away again, he didn’t need painkillers and he was willing to be stubborn about that. Besides, if it got too much then he knew what would happen, he’d slip into that place in his mind and be out cold for a week or two...probably. Either way, he wasn’t going to sleep tonight be it from painkillers making him uncomfortable or of bad memories that were to be brought back to the surface

[bloodseal_soul]

Little scratches and scars of struggling were easy to recognize. Signs of torture and restraint, however, were very different. Al pressed his lips together, still holding Kamui supportively, rather than to his body as he listened without comment.

Fuuma. Somehow, he should have known. Somehow... and this was the man that Kamui wanted to save, wanted to keep safe. Al wanted to rage, wanted to be angry at the man out of his reach, someone that would hurt Kamui so badly, and hide behind the mask of a friend.

He could say nothing, though. Alphonse was the same way with Itachi, though he knew it was no one's fault.

The corner of Al's lips twitched, and he took a slow breath. It was several minutes before he spoke, before he finally trusted his voice to come out low and gentle.

"What did he want you to watch?"

[lostwish]

Kamui could see snatches of that day drift into and out of his mind. Passing into his thoughts before he could stop them and torturing him with watching that day yet again, it was closely followed by other images or days he’s truly had encounters with Fuuma. The day he’d been trapped as Fuuma took Subaru’s eye, the day he’d purposely missed his target and ended up with broken ribs. Slowly he raised a hand to cover his face, a few nails digging into his skin without his notice

[bloodseal_soul]

Al ran his hand slowly down Kamui's back, keeping him close and trying to comfort him with his touch as best he could. He may as well have been holding a corpse for all the good it seemed to do. Kamui was stuck in the world of his memories, insensate to the present, and Al knew he was treading on dangerous ground. All too painfully, he remembered Kamui laying still and silent in bed, unconsciousness his only escape from his own mind.

"And then?" he whispered, very gently, hoping it would be the last of the questions he needed to ask.

[lostwish]

He paused for a few tense moments before saying the first description of what had happened to Kotori, how she’d died at the hands of her brother who had changed because of a choice he had made.

“She...broke... Torn apart.”

Considering the injury he was currently suffering with, the boy moved rather sharply from his position to snatch at the fabric of Al’s shirt. He shouldn’t be around this boy; everyone seemed to get hurt if they knew him. The younger boy didn’t need to be another body for that pile; he didn’t need to be another bystander that was killed for getting messed up with his business.

“...My fault.” His breath hitched before he picked up his voice a little, “If I hadn’t... If I just not been born then they’d be alive...Fuuma wouldn’t have been my twin star.”

[bloodseal_soul]

Al swallowed hard, feeling a bit sick. He didn't ask how, he didn't want to know. It was amazing that Kamui was still as sane and normal as he was, having had this happen to him, seen these things