[Action /Voice]

[truthget]

[The week had passed with a certain degree of... something surreal, fake, imaginary. Edward can remember the white room, the gate, but most of all, the emptiness of it all. No Truth, no second gate, no Al. He'd been completely alone. And even his own body had felt as fake as the seemingly endless room; it was detached, uncomfortable. As if- as if

Comments

action;

[truthhides]

[ al doesn't remember a whole lot of the past week... well, correction. al remembers literally nothing of the past week. whispy thoughts and dreams of white don't count... and when he awakens, he feels still. well. feel is a strange way to word it - he's not as mobile.

There's a clang, clang, clang - but it's not from the shifting of his limbs. it's from the metal objects in his hands which bang together every time he moves his arms. clang clang cla-

... Fur?

???

!!! ]

W-what is this!? [ he's on the bedside table. ]

action; 1/2

[truthget]

[Nightmares are always just as exhausting as a night without sleep, so the first thing Edward does after waking is sit up and hug his knees, trying to get his bearings back. Or rather, that's what he'd like to do- but he very quickly discovers that it's impossible, because only one arm and one leg seem to be able to cooperate. A quick jiggle and a follow-up examination, and he notices the problem: the nerves aren't connected. Great.

Cursing under his breath, he slumps forward, gripping his forehead. No time for this. He has to check on the others. Greed, Winry, Hughes... Al...]

action;

[truthget]

[And then he hears the clanging. And the voice. Al's voice! He turns, eyes widening, a smile starting to cross his lips, opening his mouth to greet his-

.....

Brother? Where is he?]

Al?

action;

[truthhides]

[ CLANG CLANG CLANG...

w-why can't i stop my arms? why can't i walk? this is some kind of insane nightmare fuel. ]

Brother! I'm - [ ... why is ed so much bigger than him.

why...

is that a lamp? WHY IS THAT SO BIG?! ] on... the table?

action;

[truthget]

[Oh god oh god oh god PANIC MODE]

What the hell happened to you!? You're a monkey!!

[OH GOD IS HE STABLE, WHERE IS THE BLOOD SEAL, WHY CAN'T HE MOVE HIS BODY WHY IS HE A MONKEY]

action;

[truthhides]

A monkey!? [ CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!!

the bloodseal is totally in the battery pack ha-ha oh malnosso, your sense of humor never fails to amuse.

oh he can stamp his little feetsies and move in a circle - THIS IS NOT MOVING FORWARD ]

action;

[truthget]

[Edward hastily grabs Al-monkey and turns him this way and that, eyes wide, searching for the seal. It's not visible at first glance... crap, where is it then!?

Also sorry for the sudden shaking, Al, one-armed Ed is hardly gentle.]

I don't see it... how are you attached to this thing!? And how were they able to move your soul!? The gate wouldn't open when I tried the transmutation before!

action;

[truthhides]

[ RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE!! ]

S-stop shaking me, Brother! [ if he could get dizzy, he would. ]

action;

[truthget]

[Edward pauses at that, nearly resting the monkey in his lap to get a better look at it before rethinking the idea (too weird, with his brother in there) and setting Al on the table again, shifting closer to poke at the back panel.]

I think it opens up the way the armor did... hold on.

[Pry, pry, pry... is that velcro? Definitely weird. But it opens up after a bit of wiggling, and he peers inside.]

The seal's in the back! ...It's really small, though. How did they...?

action;

[truthhides]

[ al attempts to shift his field of vision to the place in question... but his head just twitches back and forth and the cymbals start clapping again. it takes a awful lot of willpower to make them stop. ]

I don't remember anything. [ ... he vaguely remembers what could have been a dream, but... maybe this is punishment for what they tried.

.......................................

if he's stuck like this he's never going to stop weeping on the inside. ]

action;

[truthget]

I don't remember much, either.

[Just the gate, and a whole lot of waiting, and a whole lot more of nothing.]

You were carried off by those robot things... but I don't know how long it's been since that happened. This is messed up, Al.

[He sets Al back on the table so they can face each other, visibly uncomfortable.]

action;

[truthhides]

I remember that much... [ and you're okay, thank goodness. the next time we have a bad feeling we're not doing anything.

he tries to move again - and that's useless. the cymbals just clang together again. but he notices a certain something is missing from this scene... ] Where's Winry?

action;

[truthget]

[Edward glances around, the thought just occurring to him. Have they been out too long? Or maybe she's not visiting right now.]

I don't know, I woke up at the same time you did.

[He reaches over, gripping his automail.]

She must be okay, though- I've got my automail back. That means it's been a few days, maybe a week.

action;

[truthhides]

[ still... in a place like this, anything could happen in a few days. ] She'll be back soon, then. [ he a little more confidently that he feels.

how is that creepy, unblinking stare treating you bro. ]

action;

[truthget]

[Not too well, actually; he can't really look Al in the eyes. Because they're terrifying.

Hard enough the first time to come to terms with the fact that his brother was a suit of armor- he doesn't want to start thinking of Al as a monkey toy on top of that.]

Hope so.

[But he'd be happy if you came back for real too, bro.]

action;

[truthhides]

[ it could be worse. he could be another nightmare inducing monkey... he's hoping this is temporary. well, no, he's telling himself this is temporary because he doesn't want to deal with it.

... ed's taller than him. ]

I guess we're stuck here until then.