log; complete
When; May 31st [Starts before midnight. Ends 5 AM city-time].
Rating; PG-13 [Blood, language, pseudo-death].
Characters; Alfons Heiderich [opfern] & Edward Elric [chrysopoeia].
Summary; After watching the movie they agreed on a couple days before, Ed gets distracted with books and ends up spending the night. Things do not end on a happy note, as Alfons is woken up in the middle of the night by the curse.
Log;
ALFONS; He had thought once that watching Cirucci was something of a hobby. A rather easy hobby, as she enjoyed being watched, so he didn't have to hide it. Edward, however, didn't seem to like it unless he was trying to show off his alchemy or some other genius trick. When Alfons watched him normally, he could tell it made his friend uncomfortable, so he had to be careful. In that, it was much more like a sporting event.
And because he had to be sly about it, it made it even more fun. It was easiest when Edward was lost in a book, because as he'd teased him about before, the alchemist was incredibly single-minded about things. After watching that horribly creepy movie earlier, Alfons had wanted something to take his mind off that awful alien, and convincing Ed to stay had been all too easy. He had a plethora of books that hadn't yet been touched, and after a few minutes of picking and choosing, they had settled in their spots for a couple hours.
Honestly, he wasn't really sure how Edward had ended up at his desk, but he wasn't going to complain. His bed was comfortable enough, though he needed his reading glasses in the dim light, not wanting to turn the lights up for fear of waking the girls up in their room. They probably weren't asleep yet, but one could hope. He did try his best to make sure they had normal lives.
While Edward was still catching up on modern rocketry, Alfons had taken a different route. Physics. He had his own reasons for this, and he was very invested, but having an Edward Elric not five feet away was horribly distracting. At least it was a pleasant distraction. He had this whole watching thing down to a fine art. He knew the warning signs that told Ed was about to look up and over, so he could always look away in time. And he could recognize the softest of sighs Ed would let out for some reason, telling him he'd looked back to his book, which meant Alfons could look back at him.
Since he was behind him, it wasn't the best of view, but it was better than nothing. There were still plenty of things to note. By now he knew what to look for. He knew when Edward's right leg fell asleep, because he would try to shift around in the chair without making it creak, stretching out his leg and then letting it fall to the side a bit more than before. When his shoulders hunched, even though Alfons couldn't see it, he knew very well the blond was chewing on his lip because he couldn't understand a problem. When that didn't work, and Alfons loved when that didn't work, Edward would begin muttering out the lines under his breath. Alfons could understand the words, but he wasn't listening to those. He was just listening to the husky tone, and was reminded of things in the past he knew he ought not to think about. Not anymore.
It was torture. Pure torture. But he wouldn't trade it for anything.
EDWARD; True enough, the metaphorical carrot of knowledge had swung pendulum-like before his eyes and were it an out and out dangerous situation he would have exercised a degree of control and denied himself. But it was Alfons. That was always the excuse when he fuelled the addiction for knowledge; it was Alfons and they both had shared the same spark of interest, the same swelling feeling of excitement and the same sense of amazing satisfaction when everything fell into place like a magnificent puzzle. Of course, Alfons knew him well in that respect.
If Ed took the time to consider just how well Alfons knew him then it may have created a worm of thought to emerge in his mind and unfurl itself slowly spreading into areas of how, and when, and... why. Aside from the talents that had made his and his brother's names famous back home Ed would have never been able to fathom it on his own. And Alfons hadn't known all the details of Edward and Alphonse's deeds in their original world which in itself would make that why question even greater.
Fortunately for them both, in a way, Edward was completely immersed in the words of the book, oblivious to both the fact he was being watched and to the way it was being conducted. If he'd known he was a subject of mental sport there was a high chance that Edward would have become flustered, partly insulted but mostly annoyed at himself for not noticing before. But again, there was no such danger; the text was easily entrancing him, even as he shifted himself back to sit upright for a moment, shoulders rolling to click out some muscle discomfort. In one shoulder at least, the other gave faint metallic sounds from the action, but the satisfaction was there regardless as he exhaled. Turning then, his left arm flopped over the back of the chair, looking at Alfons suddenly.
"How many times have you read through this one, Alfons?" It was said in a manner that made it obvious he was tired, eyes looking heavy and voice a little fainter than usual, but the drag and desire to continue devouring the contents of the book was clearly maintaining him somehow like a kind of literary caffeine.
ALFONS; By the time Edward had turned to look at him, Alfons had already tipped his head down to divert his gaze to the pages below, unable to even remember what sentence he had been on, but that wasn't really necessary. He knew how to look occupied. When Edward spoke, he slowly looked back up as if he'd truly been interrupted, then darted a glance towards the book in front of Ed. He had to strain a bit, pushing up on his elbows, but he could make out the color of the binding well enough to remember.
"When I first got it, I had to read it two times before I made much sense of it. That was almost a year ago. The problem is that it's building off of equations that the reader is already supposed to know about, because it's the second part of a pair. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the first half, but I do have a book that might be helpful." Slipping the bookmark between the pages he'd been 'reading', Alfons rolled over and swung his feet off of the bed before stepping over to his book case. By now it was crammed so full that all the shelves were double stacked, and he had to pull out one after the other to see which books were behind the newest ones.
It took him a couple minutes, but he finally located what he was looking for. A heavy text on scientific equations--utter gibberish to the casual reader. But he knew Edward would make sense of it quickly. It made a loud thump as he dumped it down on the desk in front of Ed, making a point of closing the book he had just been trying to read. "It figures you would try to jump ahead, but read this first. It will make the rest much simpler."
EDWARD; To many, the sight of such a heavy lump of text equations hitting a desk like that may have sent a feeling of despair into the pit of their stomach. But not Edward, the fact there was something to go with the first book made his eyes light up once more, newly awakened as he leaned over to inspect the book.
"Ha!" he explained briefly, thumbing through a few pages casually before letting the main weight of the book fall back to expose the primary section once more "This will make things a little easier at least. I don't think I'd be able to play fill-in-the-blanks at this time of the day."
He flashed a grin back at Alfons, still looking quite sharp and away from the large shot of equation espresso before him as he turned his attention back to the texts. He found himself standing to read for a time as he'd drawn forward to examine the second book Alfons had given him, but after a short while he lowered himself down into the chair once more without really noticing, a hand resting on each book and his fingers acting as page markers as he flicked back and forth between the two.
Time seemed to just melt away to him and become irrelevant when he was studying something like this. There wasn't the feeling of near desperation that drove him as before to find answers, but the desire to learn remained and that much was clear.
At a point, he couldn't possibly have defined how long, he lifted his head again, resting a hand on the back of his neck and exhaling a light groan as he gave his eyes a break from the words to eye the wall near the desk for a time. Again, he glanced around to Alfons, this time slightly lowered, both hands gripping the back of the chair as he offered his best I'm-going-to-ask-you-for-something~ grin and once more broke the silence.
"Hey, Alfons...?"
ALFONS; Alfons had finally stopped his intent Edward Watching, if only because he was learning more about physics for a reason, and he knew he had to buckle down and pay attention when he had free time at home or he would never get anywhere. So when Edward turned to ask him something, Alfons didn't look him, but he could actually hear the smile in his voice. With a sigh, he flipped backwards a few pages to try and catch a footnote he must have missed.
"I'm not making you coffee unless you plan on drinking it in the kitchen away from my books."
EDWARD; A slight pout crossed his lips as his head lowered a little further as if he'd been tapped on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. Not be deterred however, he sat up again and smiled once more.
"I won't spill it!" He lifted his hands then, clasping them together and giving his best attempt at a pleading look "I'll be good~ I promise. You just make coffee better than I do, the way you make coffee tastes a lot better."
He paused then, thinking as though he'd forgotten something important before shifting in the seat a little and adding "...please?"
ALFONS; Alfons had already lost the battle the second he looked up to see Edward actually pleading with him. Still, the rest was a nice touch, and the please as an afterthought made him smile a bit. Making quite a show of sighing and closing his book again, Alfons sat up with a shake of his head. "Begging, flattery, and manners. You certainly know how to pull my strings." As he stood, he needed to stretch a little to help loosen up his stiff muscles before he slipped his glasses off and set them on the corner of the desk.
"But if you spill it, and your alchemy can't fix the damage?" The rest went unsaid, but the sharp gaze combined with the venomous little smile hinted at what might come should Edward dare make a mistake. He then turned and headed out of the room towards the kitchen, stepping lightly down the hallway in case the girls were sleeping. Fortunately he didn't mind making coffee, because he had been falling asleep as well, not to mention utterly struggling with the material at hand.
EDWARD; Edward gave a mock wince at the look he was given as warning, grinning still however and uttering a little chuckle as he shifted around in his seat to watch Alfons go, calling softly after him so as not to wake the other inhabitants of the house "Thank you~"
It was only right after all. While Edward wasn't an expert on manners as a rule, he had invaded Alfons' space, stolen his books for a time and requested coffee. A thank you was something easy to give to him.
Stretching his arms high above his head and giving a low moan as he felt his taut muscles and joints grumble under his skin before slumping forward over the desk, arms folded over the first book he'd been glancing over as he sighed through his nose. It was a strange contented feeling that passed over him in that moment, mind removed from the location itself and the enemies that had followed him there, or he had followed perhaps. His eyes slipped closed for a moment as he smiled, deciding not to fall back into the learning trap until Alfons had returned, but somehow his blinking became closer, more difficult to open his eyes again once they fell closed and before he knew it a comfortable darkness settled over him, using the book as a strangely comfortable pillow against the desk as shallow breaths fanned over the page beneath him.
ALFONS; He'd had to carefully watch the kettle to make sure to catch it before it tried whistling, since that would have been loud enough to wake up the whole apartment. When he was finished with brewing and pouring the coffee, Alfons took an extra moment to wash out the coffee press, not wanting to leave Franca that mess in the morning. Finally having two mugs ready, he turned off the light and headed back down the hallway to his bedroom, only to stop in the doorway to stare.
Surprised? ...Not so much. If Edward had been requesting coffee, then he must have been incredibly tired. And it certainly wasn't the first time the alchemist had fallen asleep over work. The only difference was...this wasn't work. Ed didn't need to sleep there. But when he was that tired, sending him home would have been reckless and insensitive.
After glancing down to the steaming coffee and setting the two mugs on top of his dresser, he gently shut his bedroom door before padding over to his desk to rest a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Edward?" A pause, and he leaned over to peer at his face, hardly able to see it through his arms and hair. With a tender smile, he reached to brush back those golden bangs, murmuring again. "Edward... Wake up. There's a bed not five feet behind you."
EDWARD; From the moment Edward's head had fallen to his hair being lightly touched he had no memory at all, and really even as his golden eyes opened blearily he was clearly not completely there. He stared at Alfons for a while, blinking slowly and heavily before smiling sleepily and leaning his head more to one side.
"I wasn't asleep," the automatic reply from someone who clearly was "I heard everything you were talking about." His eyes closed once more, lips parting in a soft yawn before attempting to blink a few more times.
"What's that?" He asked as he nodded toward the coffee, apparently having completely forgotten his request of the other boy but still smiling with a strange tired, sort of cute kind of smile. Naturally, he wasn't trying to wind Alfons up, it was just what sleep did to a person.
ALFONS; It had been a long time since he'd gotten to see Edward this sleepy, and it was a treat he had missed. Not that Alfons could claim being any more alert when woken up, but he doubted he looked as adorable as Edward always seemed to. "It's coffee. But as tired as you clearly are, sleep is what you need." Hyping him up on caffeine when he was this out of it would probably have dire consequences such as rambling a thousand words a minute about absolutely nothing.
He'd seen it before.
Turning to the desk, he slipped a book marker into the two books Edward had been trying to make sense of before closing them. "You can use my bed. I don't think you should try to walk home like that."
EDWARD; Of course in Edward's sleepy state he viewed the kind act of page marking as a gesture that may result in Alfons withdrawing the books from him completely. He shifted quickly then, folded arms flopping over the texts protectively as he gave Alfons a slight scowl. It wasn't the usual firm and unyielding scowl however, just an attempt to stare the other boy down which, considering how tired he was, wasn't that intimidating in the slightest.
"I'm not tired, Alfons. Really. I just want to keep reading a bit more, that's all!"
He shifted slightly then, resting his chin in his palm and trying not to yawn too obviously.
"Besides, I'm not kicking you out of your bed. When I get tired I'll find the sofa or something. Or go home, if it's morning." Said as though he thought by some fluke he'd be able to stay up that long. But really, the idea of him even finding his way to the sofa was laughable in the state he was in. Anything on the floor could have been considered something of a landmine that may have resulted in a pile of Elric crashing into the floor.
ALFONS; Alfons raised an eyebrow at that. "Because you going home when you're even more exhausted in a few hours is much better than going home now. I don't think so." Leaning back over, he made a point of lifting up Edward's arms to tug the books free. "And I'd rather not have you wake up the girls because you couldn't see well enough to avoid stepping on the cat's tail or something." He knew Ciro was probably sleeping with Franca or Meme, but that was hardly the point.
Finally yanking his texts free, he shook his head and slipped them into the bookcase. "After you get some sleep I'll let you take these books home, all right?" He turned back around to take Edward's hand off of his desk so that he could try and pull him out of the chair. "We can simply share the bed if you're so keen on not forcing me onto the sofa. It's not like it will have been the first time." Although Alfons hardly used it with as much time as he'd spent at the factory, they had been forced to share a bed when Noah had moved in with them in Munich. ...And that bed had been much smaller than the one he currently had.
EDWARD; There was a slight whimper and a lifting of arms in a bid to try and recapture the books being so cruelly taken from him but his movements were sluggish from feeling sleepy and with a dejected pout he had to let it go. The raised arms slumped over the back of the chair as he peered at Alfons pitifully as if he had just stolen a cookie from under his nose.
"...but I might kick you..." He mumbled, head lowering onto his arms upon the chair as he closed his eyes, looking like he may in fact try to fall asleep balanced like that "And then you'll kick me out... And then you'll be mad that I slept on the floor... But--"
His arm whipped out then, a finger pointing accusingly at Alfons as he raised his head once more suddenly to glare at him "--it'd be your fault!" And he remained that way for a while, apparently attempting once more to stare Alfons down.
ALFONS; What gibberish was he spouting now? "I'm not going to kick you out, since that would contradict everything I've been saying up until now. And besides..."
The smile he offered then seemed much more innocent than the teasing glimmer in his eyes as he tried to give Ed a good yank out of the chair. "I've grown fairly accustomed to your sleeping habits. I can take a kick or two."
EDWARD; There was little protest to being pulled forward. Edward felt his weight being pulled from the chair, teeter for a moment on his feet before taking a stumbled step forward to feel himself clumsily slumped against Alfons. Were he in a clearer state of mind, more awake, more alert and without the mass of freshly obtained information swimming through his head then he may have advised himself to provide Alfons with some personal space considering what had been uncovered during the curse. There should have been warning bells, but he was honestly too tired to think on it.
"But I have a different leg now," he muttered against Alfons' shoulder, eyes closed as his shoulders sagged a little "Automail will most likely hurt more if I hit you with it by mistake. I can't fix wounds with alchemy. Or make gold. Don't ask me to make gold, okay, Alfons?"
His thought process didn't have to make sense. If he remembered it in the morning he would surely never want to show his face again for a very long time.
ALFONS; Edward might not have looked it, but he was heavy, mostly thanks to the damned automail. Stumbling back a bit at the lean, Alfons reached up to grip his shoulders to try and hold them both steady. He almost pointed out that he had slept next to Ed when he had his automail several times, but had a feeling that would just make things much too awkward. This Edward didn't remember that, after all. "I'm not going to ask you to make gold. Promise."
Glancing down, he felt his throat go dry. He hadn't had him this close and so still in so long. The urge to simply hold him there was strong, but he finally gave a gentle push to put a few inches between them, breath unsteady as he tried to turn Edward so that he could sit him on the edge of the bed. Crouching down in front of him, Alfons began untying his shoes so that he could wriggle them off, followed by his socks. Next was his waistcoat, which took a little longer than necessary to unbutton partially because he was pretty tired himself, and partially because having Ed in such close proximity was incredibly distracting. ...And also because the other blond couldn't sit up straight right then to save his live, and Alfons had to keep tugging on him to keep him steady.
EDWARD; Luckily for Alfons, Edward didn't seem to pick up on the subtle changes in breathing and body language. It was debatable as to whether or not the empathically impaired alchemist would have completely noticed at the best of times though, of course.
Shifting a little in a stubborn feeling of suddenly wanting to curl up and sleep overwhelming him, Edward pushed a hand over to Alfons' forehead lightly as if him messing around with clothing like that was a huge hindrance to the end result of rest, though he sort of paused, lingering there for a time before smiling a little. And it wasn't a cocky smirk, not an overly excited 'Look what I've just learnt!' grin, nor was it crocked from sleep. It was a strangely calm and rare warm smile that occasionally graced his lips. Despite his sharp temper, his harsh glares and stormy scowls Edward was intrinsically a good person.
"It sort of feels like back in Munich in a way, doesn't it? Leant over books and then crashing out, huh?" He gave a faint chuckle, eyes closing for a second as he lowered his head "Did you ever decide if you actually hated this place or not, Alfons?"
ALFONS; He started to shut his eyes at the light touch, only to quickly open them back up at the question. Flustered at the smile Edward was offering up, he finally finished unbuttoning the waistcoat so that he could go about slipping it off of the young man's arms, needing to swat his hand away to accomplish that. "I don't hate it. Bad things do happen here...but they happened before, too." In fact, from the 'history' books he read after arriving, things only got worse after he died.
After draping the waistcoat over his chair, he pulled the physics book off his bed so that Edward could crawl under the covers. "I care about the people here. This is my home now."
EDWARD; So far Edward had been spared discovering the truth how history had unfolded from not long after he could recall Alphonse's memories being returned to him. Honestly, it might have read like some horror story that may have honestly scared him more than that damn movie they'd watched. He watched through half-lidded golden eyes as Alfons padded back and forth between the bed and chair at the desk, moving himself back then to pull the sheets back a short way and slide between, giving a small sigh as he did so before glancing back over to the other boy once more.
He wasn't exactly waking up, but at least he wasn't as incoherent as he had been after being almost literally peeled away from the desk. His blinking was slow, his breathing a little heavier, but on the whole at a particular angle he looked deep in thought instead of sleepy. He shrugged then, rolling over onto his side with his back to the other blond.
"I guess it could be worse." He stated shortly "I mean, if I'd randomly been transported to some other world then I'd have a tough time finding someone to make me decent coffee in the middle of the night, right?" He kept his head tilted down slightly and his eyes closed, attempting to hide a playful but tired smirk.
ALFONS; Watching Edward act so lethargic was only making Alfons more tired, so he took his time trudging over to switch off the light. "Coffee you don't drink anyway," he teased right back as he rubbed wearily at his eyes. Not having the energy to bother actually changing clothes, he just wrestled out of his suspenders and untucked his shirt to get comfortable.
The bed creaked as he flopped down next to Ed, glancing over to see he still had his hair tied back. "You're going to give yourself a headache if you sleep like that." With a roll of his eyes, he carefully reached over to a give a chiding tug to the hairband before gently unwrapping it to let his hair fall free.
With a sigh, he shut his eyes and forced himself to think about something as utterly boring as possible. "Goodnight."
EDWARD; "I would have drank it..." He muttered into the pillow mostly as Alfons flicked the room into darkness. It took a short while for Edward's eyes to adjust to the sudden change but it was rather easy to tell where the other boy when he felt his weight on the bed, his head turning a little to try and make out his outline.
The contact to his hair made him tense slightly, not in an overly defensive way, more it was from a kind of surprise from the action itself. It had been a while as he could recall since any hands other than his own had touched his hair and there was something distinctly relaxing about it being freed like that from a means other than his own hand. He wasn't sure why such a fundamentally simple gesture had caused such a thought process but there it was.
Out the corner of his eye he watched Alfons settle down, or seem to at the very least, in many ways blissfully unaware that he was most likely causing the young man a great deal of emotion discomfort but there was that selfish streak in Edward that made him obscenely grateful still to know Alfons was present in the City, dead or otherwise. He couldn't bring himself to voice such a view, he was still unsure how to approach a lot of subject with Alfons as clearly a lot had come to pass in the time he'd been in the City before Edward. A lot. With the number of enemies Edward had in the City, despite the occasional clash, it was nice to have genuine friends and as he continued to peer at Alfons a small smile crept to him lips once more. "Yeah, goodnight, Alfons." There was a little pause then before he cleared his throat once more "And thanks for the coffee." The fact he didn't drink it was clearly irrelevant.
ALFONS; There was a soft rumble in response reminiscent of a chuckle at the thanks. Even if having Edward in one of those 'so close and yet so far' scenarios was stressful, it was familiar enough to lull him to sleep rather quickly, one arm draped over his face with the blanket only halfway covering him, since the weather was so much warmer now. He slept so soundly that there were no dreams to recall, and when he woke up once more, the coffee that had once been steaming on his dresser now sat there cold.
Why had he woken up? Straining to look at the clock next to Edward, it blared 5:00 back at him. Much too early to be getting up. The bizarre burning sensation in his chest made him immediately sit up, though, and he wondered if it was another coughing attack. It felt...different. The rather sudden and sharp pain in his back alerted him to something far more dangerous than one of his normal fits, and he shoved the blanket off of him so that he could scramble out of bed. Something was wrong, and the pain and nausea was enough to knock the wind out of him.
When he moved to clutch at his chest, he was confused when he felt something wet.
EDWARD; Exhausted though he may have been, no matter how sound asleep he may have been the feeling of Alfons getting up so suddenly was enough to make Edward sit upright as well. Maybe it was the fact that certain feelings on the air felt different when something was genuinely wrong or maybe it was just gut instinct, whatever it was it had Ed wide awake and staring at Alfons with a strange curious look. When it was quite obvious that this wasn't sometime like late night leg cramp or the desperate need for a glass of water Edward pulled himself up quickly from the bed to stand beside the other boy.
"Alfons? Hey, what's the ma--" He stopped himself mid sentence, picking up a rather strong scent that he knew very well. Was Alfons bleeding? From what? It didn't make sense in the slightest. Moving around to the front of him then to try and get a better look Ed swiftly deduced that it was too damn dark. A flick of the light switch would fix that of course but while it would make things easier to see it seemingly wouldn't make any more logical sense than before as Ed frowned in utter bewilderment. "What the--? What happened, Alfons?"
ALFONS; Alfons was too shocked to even register Ed's voice at first, not even looking up until light flooded the room, having to blink rapidly as his pupils adjusted. When he looked back down, he could actually see the blood on his shirt and the palm of his hand, the pain in his chest became much more acute all of a sudden. There was something very familiar about this. His head was fuzzy, and there was a ringing in his ears when his knees buckled.
"Damn it," he choked out as he fell.
EDWARD; "Alfons!" The panic was definitely there as he Edward moved quickly to try and brace Alfons' fall, his eyes wide and panicked mostly because his brain couldn't make sense of what had happened. Even knowing about curses didn't prepare the citizens for them - there was very rarely a warning for such events after all and the connection just wasn't instantly formed. All Ed was registering at that time was Alfons was bleeding from a wound to the chest which seemed to just happen. There was a moment where he thought he should check the apartment to see if there were any assailants within the place, but again it didn't make sense in the slightest.
Gritting his teeth as he tried to refocus his mind to something more productive Edward quickly forced himself to remember that if he stalled too long Alfons would bleed to death just life before-- Just like... before? His heart seemed to skip a beat then and a cold shiver run down his spine. No, he couldn't let Alfons die again. Pushing one hand against the wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, his other hand attempted to roam around on the desk and find a means of getting a message onto the network or the hospital or something. Surely Alfons' laptop was there somewhere... But it was then it sure as hell wasn't easy to access from the floor with a hand feeling around blindly like that. Uttering a short sharp curse, Ed moved to quickly but carefully lean across Alfons to the bed to grab the sheet and yank them roughly to them, bunching up the material and pressing it down firmly to the wound "Alfons? Hey, Alfons? Can you hear me still?"
ALFONS; He expected to feel the impact of the floor, but instead there was someone to catch him this time. It made it easier and less jarring, but it didn't lessen the pain any, nor the weakness. At least this time he didn't have to worry about feeling colder, since he was already room temperature. The buzzing in his ears got louder whenever Edward spoke, but he couldn't seem to make out the words.
Squinting, he tried to focus on his face to try and read his lips, but that wasn't helping any. His brain was still having trouble figuring out just what was going on, but he knew he was bleeding, and he could see that his sheets were getting stained with it. The familiarity of the wound finally hit home, and there was a sharp intake of breath as he shut his eyes. At least this time he wasn't alone. He was just sorry Ed had to see it.
"It's okay..." he whispered, just barely able to get the words out. "It doesn't hurt. It doesn't." He was trying to think of something more meaningful to say, but there was just nothing there as the consciousness left him all too swiftly, and his head dipped back. It had been fast the first time, too. Not enough time to really pray or any of that religious garbage.
It was a good thing he didn't believe in God.
EDWARD; Time seemed to freeze right then and there, simple things like breathing and blinking somehow became second place to the strange numbing sensation that came from watching Alfons' head tilt backward that way. His stomach clenched then as he realised rather harshly that the wound had killed him. The fucking wound that had no explanation to it at all. This was perhaps the third time Edward had been informed of Alfons' death one way or another, but it was first time he'd been right there for it. It made the guilt of being helpless all the more sickening. His head was reeling, vision oddly blank for a time as suddenly time smashed back into progression. Lurching forward, both arms curled tightly around Alfons' shoulders as he found his own shaking heavily and his chest burning with a strange pain that made it difficult to breath.
It had to be the City's strangeness. There was no other reason he could think of for it and the more he tried to think on it the more he wondered if he wanted to take back what he'd said about the place not a few hours earlier. "...damn it..." he choked to no-one in particular before hiding his face against Alfons' collarbone and biting back a distressed kind of sob "Damn it!"
When his mind calmed down he'd need to see about getting Alfons to the hospital because as painful as the situation was he had to remind himself that the dead walked around in the City. It didn't make seeing them die any fucking easier though. Especially not friends.
Rating; PG-13 [Blood, language, pseudo-death].
Characters; Alfons Heiderich [opfern] & Edward Elric [chrysopoeia].
Summary; After watching the movie they agreed on a couple days before, Ed gets distracted with books and ends up spending the night. Things do not end on a happy note, as Alfons is woken up in the middle of the night by the curse.
Log;
ALFONS; He had thought once that watching Cirucci was something of a hobby. A rather easy hobby, as she enjoyed being watched, so he didn't have to hide it. Edward, however, didn't seem to like it unless he was trying to show off his alchemy or some other genius trick. When Alfons watched him normally, he could tell it made his friend uncomfortable, so he had to be careful. In that, it was much more like a sporting event.
And because he had to be sly about it, it made it even more fun. It was easiest when Edward was lost in a book, because as he'd teased him about before, the alchemist was incredibly single-minded about things. After watching that horribly creepy movie earlier, Alfons had wanted something to take his mind off that awful alien, and convincing Ed to stay had been all too easy. He had a plethora of books that hadn't yet been touched, and after a few minutes of picking and choosing, they had settled in their spots for a couple hours.
Honestly, he wasn't really sure how Edward had ended up at his desk, but he wasn't going to complain. His bed was comfortable enough, though he needed his reading glasses in the dim light, not wanting to turn the lights up for fear of waking the girls up in their room. They probably weren't asleep yet, but one could hope. He did try his best to make sure they had normal lives.
While Edward was still catching up on modern rocketry, Alfons had taken a different route. Physics. He had his own reasons for this, and he was very invested, but having an Edward Elric not five feet away was horribly distracting. At least it was a pleasant distraction. He had this whole watching thing down to a fine art. He knew the warning signs that told Ed was about to look up and over, so he could always look away in time. And he could recognize the softest of sighs Ed would let out for some reason, telling him he'd looked back to his book, which meant Alfons could look back at him.
Since he was behind him, it wasn't the best of view, but it was better than nothing. There were still plenty of things to note. By now he knew what to look for. He knew when Edward's right leg fell asleep, because he would try to shift around in the chair without making it creak, stretching out his leg and then letting it fall to the side a bit more than before. When his shoulders hunched, even though Alfons couldn't see it, he knew very well the blond was chewing on his lip because he couldn't understand a problem. When that didn't work, and Alfons loved when that didn't work, Edward would begin muttering out the lines under his breath. Alfons could understand the words, but he wasn't listening to those. He was just listening to the husky tone, and was reminded of things in the past he knew he ought not to think about. Not anymore.
It was torture. Pure torture. But he wouldn't trade it for anything.
EDWARD; True enough, the metaphorical carrot of knowledge had swung pendulum-like before his eyes and were it an out and out dangerous situation he would have exercised a degree of control and denied himself. But it was Alfons. That was always the excuse when he fuelled the addiction for knowledge; it was Alfons and they both had shared the same spark of interest, the same swelling feeling of excitement and the same sense of amazing satisfaction when everything fell into place like a magnificent puzzle. Of course, Alfons knew him well in that respect.
If Ed took the time to consider just how well Alfons knew him then it may have created a worm of thought to emerge in his mind and unfurl itself slowly spreading into areas of how, and when, and... why. Aside from the talents that had made his and his brother's names famous back home Ed would have never been able to fathom it on his own. And Alfons hadn't known all the details of Edward and Alphonse's deeds in their original world which in itself would make that why question even greater.
Fortunately for them both, in a way, Edward was completely immersed in the words of the book, oblivious to both the fact he was being watched and to the way it was being conducted. If he'd known he was a subject of mental sport there was a high chance that Edward would have become flustered, partly insulted but mostly annoyed at himself for not noticing before. But again, there was no such danger; the text was easily entrancing him, even as he shifted himself back to sit upright for a moment, shoulders rolling to click out some muscle discomfort. In one shoulder at least, the other gave faint metallic sounds from the action, but the satisfaction was there regardless as he exhaled. Turning then, his left arm flopped over the back of the chair, looking at Alfons suddenly.
"How many times have you read through this one, Alfons?" It was said in a manner that made it obvious he was tired, eyes looking heavy and voice a little fainter than usual, but the drag and desire to continue devouring the contents of the book was clearly maintaining him somehow like a kind of literary caffeine.
ALFONS; By the time Edward had turned to look at him, Alfons had already tipped his head down to divert his gaze to the pages below, unable to even remember what sentence he had been on, but that wasn't really necessary. He knew how to look occupied. When Edward spoke, he slowly looked back up as if he'd truly been interrupted, then darted a glance towards the book in front of Ed. He had to strain a bit, pushing up on his elbows, but he could make out the color of the binding well enough to remember.
"When I first got it, I had to read it two times before I made much sense of it. That was almost a year ago. The problem is that it's building off of equations that the reader is already supposed to know about, because it's the second part of a pair. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the first half, but I do have a book that might be helpful." Slipping the bookmark between the pages he'd been 'reading', Alfons rolled over and swung his feet off of the bed before stepping over to his book case. By now it was crammed so full that all the shelves were double stacked, and he had to pull out one after the other to see which books were behind the newest ones.
It took him a couple minutes, but he finally located what he was looking for. A heavy text on scientific equations--utter gibberish to the casual reader. But he knew Edward would make sense of it quickly. It made a loud thump as he dumped it down on the desk in front of Ed, making a point of closing the book he had just been trying to read. "It figures you would try to jump ahead, but read this first. It will make the rest much simpler."
EDWARD; To many, the sight of such a heavy lump of text equations hitting a desk like that may have sent a feeling of despair into the pit of their stomach. But not Edward, the fact there was something to go with the first book made his eyes light up once more, newly awakened as he leaned over to inspect the book.
"Ha!" he explained briefly, thumbing through a few pages casually before letting the main weight of the book fall back to expose the primary section once more "This will make things a little easier at least. I don't think I'd be able to play fill-in-the-blanks at this time of the day."
He flashed a grin back at Alfons, still looking quite sharp and away from the large shot of equation espresso before him as he turned his attention back to the texts. He found himself standing to read for a time as he'd drawn forward to examine the second book Alfons had given him, but after a short while he lowered himself down into the chair once more without really noticing, a hand resting on each book and his fingers acting as page markers as he flicked back and forth between the two.
Time seemed to just melt away to him and become irrelevant when he was studying something like this. There wasn't the feeling of near desperation that drove him as before to find answers, but the desire to learn remained and that much was clear.
At a point, he couldn't possibly have defined how long, he lifted his head again, resting a hand on the back of his neck and exhaling a light groan as he gave his eyes a break from the words to eye the wall near the desk for a time. Again, he glanced around to Alfons, this time slightly lowered, both hands gripping the back of the chair as he offered his best I'm-going-to-ask-you-for-something~ grin and once more broke the silence.
"Hey, Alfons...?"
ALFONS; Alfons had finally stopped his intent Edward Watching, if only because he was learning more about physics for a reason, and he knew he had to buckle down and pay attention when he had free time at home or he would never get anywhere. So when Edward turned to ask him something, Alfons didn't look him, but he could actually hear the smile in his voice. With a sigh, he flipped backwards a few pages to try and catch a footnote he must have missed.
"I'm not making you coffee unless you plan on drinking it in the kitchen away from my books."
EDWARD; A slight pout crossed his lips as his head lowered a little further as if he'd been tapped on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. Not be deterred however, he sat up again and smiled once more.
"I won't spill it!" He lifted his hands then, clasping them together and giving his best attempt at a pleading look "I'll be good~ I promise. You just make coffee better than I do, the way you make coffee tastes a lot better."
He paused then, thinking as though he'd forgotten something important before shifting in the seat a little and adding "...please?"
ALFONS; Alfons had already lost the battle the second he looked up to see Edward actually pleading with him. Still, the rest was a nice touch, and the please as an afterthought made him smile a bit. Making quite a show of sighing and closing his book again, Alfons sat up with a shake of his head. "Begging, flattery, and manners. You certainly know how to pull my strings." As he stood, he needed to stretch a little to help loosen up his stiff muscles before he slipped his glasses off and set them on the corner of the desk.
"But if you spill it, and your alchemy can't fix the damage?" The rest went unsaid, but the sharp gaze combined with the venomous little smile hinted at what might come should Edward dare make a mistake. He then turned and headed out of the room towards the kitchen, stepping lightly down the hallway in case the girls were sleeping. Fortunately he didn't mind making coffee, because he had been falling asleep as well, not to mention utterly struggling with the material at hand.
EDWARD; Edward gave a mock wince at the look he was given as warning, grinning still however and uttering a little chuckle as he shifted around in his seat to watch Alfons go, calling softly after him so as not to wake the other inhabitants of the house "Thank you~"
It was only right after all. While Edward wasn't an expert on manners as a rule, he had invaded Alfons' space, stolen his books for a time and requested coffee. A thank you was something easy to give to him.
Stretching his arms high above his head and giving a low moan as he felt his taut muscles and joints grumble under his skin before slumping forward over the desk, arms folded over the first book he'd been glancing over as he sighed through his nose. It was a strange contented feeling that passed over him in that moment, mind removed from the location itself and the enemies that had followed him there, or he had followed perhaps. His eyes slipped closed for a moment as he smiled, deciding not to fall back into the learning trap until Alfons had returned, but somehow his blinking became closer, more difficult to open his eyes again once they fell closed and before he knew it a comfortable darkness settled over him, using the book as a strangely comfortable pillow against the desk as shallow breaths fanned over the page beneath him.
ALFONS; He'd had to carefully watch the kettle to make sure to catch it before it tried whistling, since that would have been loud enough to wake up the whole apartment. When he was finished with brewing and pouring the coffee, Alfons took an extra moment to wash out the coffee press, not wanting to leave Franca that mess in the morning. Finally having two mugs ready, he turned off the light and headed back down the hallway to his bedroom, only to stop in the doorway to stare.
Surprised? ...Not so much. If Edward had been requesting coffee, then he must have been incredibly tired. And it certainly wasn't the first time the alchemist had fallen asleep over work. The only difference was...this wasn't work. Ed didn't need to sleep there. But when he was that tired, sending him home would have been reckless and insensitive.
After glancing down to the steaming coffee and setting the two mugs on top of his dresser, he gently shut his bedroom door before padding over to his desk to rest a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Edward?" A pause, and he leaned over to peer at his face, hardly able to see it through his arms and hair. With a tender smile, he reached to brush back those golden bangs, murmuring again. "Edward... Wake up. There's a bed not five feet behind you."
EDWARD; From the moment Edward's head had fallen to his hair being lightly touched he had no memory at all, and really even as his golden eyes opened blearily he was clearly not completely there. He stared at Alfons for a while, blinking slowly and heavily before smiling sleepily and leaning his head more to one side.
"I wasn't asleep," the automatic reply from someone who clearly was "I heard everything you were talking about." His eyes closed once more, lips parting in a soft yawn before attempting to blink a few more times.
"What's that?" He asked as he nodded toward the coffee, apparently having completely forgotten his request of the other boy but still smiling with a strange tired, sort of cute kind of smile. Naturally, he wasn't trying to wind Alfons up, it was just what sleep did to a person.
ALFONS; It had been a long time since he'd gotten to see Edward this sleepy, and it was a treat he had missed. Not that Alfons could claim being any more alert when woken up, but he doubted he looked as adorable as Edward always seemed to. "It's coffee. But as tired as you clearly are, sleep is what you need." Hyping him up on caffeine when he was this out of it would probably have dire consequences such as rambling a thousand words a minute about absolutely nothing.
He'd seen it before.
Turning to the desk, he slipped a book marker into the two books Edward had been trying to make sense of before closing them. "You can use my bed. I don't think you should try to walk home like that."
EDWARD; Of course in Edward's sleepy state he viewed the kind act of page marking as a gesture that may result in Alfons withdrawing the books from him completely. He shifted quickly then, folded arms flopping over the texts protectively as he gave Alfons a slight scowl. It wasn't the usual firm and unyielding scowl however, just an attempt to stare the other boy down which, considering how tired he was, wasn't that intimidating in the slightest.
"I'm not tired, Alfons. Really. I just want to keep reading a bit more, that's all!"
He shifted slightly then, resting his chin in his palm and trying not to yawn too obviously.
"Besides, I'm not kicking you out of your bed. When I get tired I'll find the sofa or something. Or go home, if it's morning." Said as though he thought by some fluke he'd be able to stay up that long. But really, the idea of him even finding his way to the sofa was laughable in the state he was in. Anything on the floor could have been considered something of a landmine that may have resulted in a pile of Elric crashing into the floor.
ALFONS; Alfons raised an eyebrow at that. "Because you going home when you're even more exhausted in a few hours is much better than going home now. I don't think so." Leaning back over, he made a point of lifting up Edward's arms to tug the books free. "And I'd rather not have you wake up the girls because you couldn't see well enough to avoid stepping on the cat's tail or something." He knew Ciro was probably sleeping with Franca or Meme, but that was hardly the point.
Finally yanking his texts free, he shook his head and slipped them into the bookcase. "After you get some sleep I'll let you take these books home, all right?" He turned back around to take Edward's hand off of his desk so that he could try and pull him out of the chair. "We can simply share the bed if you're so keen on not forcing me onto the sofa. It's not like it will have been the first time." Although Alfons hardly used it with as much time as he'd spent at the factory, they had been forced to share a bed when Noah had moved in with them in Munich. ...And that bed had been much smaller than the one he currently had.
EDWARD; There was a slight whimper and a lifting of arms in a bid to try and recapture the books being so cruelly taken from him but his movements were sluggish from feeling sleepy and with a dejected pout he had to let it go. The raised arms slumped over the back of the chair as he peered at Alfons pitifully as if he had just stolen a cookie from under his nose.
"...but I might kick you..." He mumbled, head lowering onto his arms upon the chair as he closed his eyes, looking like he may in fact try to fall asleep balanced like that "And then you'll kick me out... And then you'll be mad that I slept on the floor... But--"
His arm whipped out then, a finger pointing accusingly at Alfons as he raised his head once more suddenly to glare at him "--it'd be your fault!" And he remained that way for a while, apparently attempting once more to stare Alfons down.
ALFONS; What gibberish was he spouting now? "I'm not going to kick you out, since that would contradict everything I've been saying up until now. And besides..."
The smile he offered then seemed much more innocent than the teasing glimmer in his eyes as he tried to give Ed a good yank out of the chair. "I've grown fairly accustomed to your sleeping habits. I can take a kick or two."
EDWARD; There was little protest to being pulled forward. Edward felt his weight being pulled from the chair, teeter for a moment on his feet before taking a stumbled step forward to feel himself clumsily slumped against Alfons. Were he in a clearer state of mind, more awake, more alert and without the mass of freshly obtained information swimming through his head then he may have advised himself to provide Alfons with some personal space considering what had been uncovered during the curse. There should have been warning bells, but he was honestly too tired to think on it.
"But I have a different leg now," he muttered against Alfons' shoulder, eyes closed as his shoulders sagged a little "Automail will most likely hurt more if I hit you with it by mistake. I can't fix wounds with alchemy. Or make gold. Don't ask me to make gold, okay, Alfons?"
His thought process didn't have to make sense. If he remembered it in the morning he would surely never want to show his face again for a very long time.
ALFONS; Edward might not have looked it, but he was heavy, mostly thanks to the damned automail. Stumbling back a bit at the lean, Alfons reached up to grip his shoulders to try and hold them both steady. He almost pointed out that he had slept next to Ed when he had his automail several times, but had a feeling that would just make things much too awkward. This Edward didn't remember that, after all. "I'm not going to ask you to make gold. Promise."
Glancing down, he felt his throat go dry. He hadn't had him this close and so still in so long. The urge to simply hold him there was strong, but he finally gave a gentle push to put a few inches between them, breath unsteady as he tried to turn Edward so that he could sit him on the edge of the bed. Crouching down in front of him, Alfons began untying his shoes so that he could wriggle them off, followed by his socks. Next was his waistcoat, which took a little longer than necessary to unbutton partially because he was pretty tired himself, and partially because having Ed in such close proximity was incredibly distracting. ...And also because the other blond couldn't sit up straight right then to save his live, and Alfons had to keep tugging on him to keep him steady.
EDWARD; Luckily for Alfons, Edward didn't seem to pick up on the subtle changes in breathing and body language. It was debatable as to whether or not the empathically impaired alchemist would have completely noticed at the best of times though, of course.
Shifting a little in a stubborn feeling of suddenly wanting to curl up and sleep overwhelming him, Edward pushed a hand over to Alfons' forehead lightly as if him messing around with clothing like that was a huge hindrance to the end result of rest, though he sort of paused, lingering there for a time before smiling a little. And it wasn't a cocky smirk, not an overly excited 'Look what I've just learnt!' grin, nor was it crocked from sleep. It was a strangely calm and rare warm smile that occasionally graced his lips. Despite his sharp temper, his harsh glares and stormy scowls Edward was intrinsically a good person.
"It sort of feels like back in Munich in a way, doesn't it? Leant over books and then crashing out, huh?" He gave a faint chuckle, eyes closing for a second as he lowered his head "Did you ever decide if you actually hated this place or not, Alfons?"
ALFONS; He started to shut his eyes at the light touch, only to quickly open them back up at the question. Flustered at the smile Edward was offering up, he finally finished unbuttoning the waistcoat so that he could go about slipping it off of the young man's arms, needing to swat his hand away to accomplish that. "I don't hate it. Bad things do happen here...but they happened before, too." In fact, from the 'history' books he read after arriving, things only got worse after he died.
After draping the waistcoat over his chair, he pulled the physics book off his bed so that Edward could crawl under the covers. "I care about the people here. This is my home now."
EDWARD; So far Edward had been spared discovering the truth how history had unfolded from not long after he could recall Alphonse's memories being returned to him. Honestly, it might have read like some horror story that may have honestly scared him more than that damn movie they'd watched. He watched through half-lidded golden eyes as Alfons padded back and forth between the bed and chair at the desk, moving himself back then to pull the sheets back a short way and slide between, giving a small sigh as he did so before glancing back over to the other boy once more.
He wasn't exactly waking up, but at least he wasn't as incoherent as he had been after being almost literally peeled away from the desk. His blinking was slow, his breathing a little heavier, but on the whole at a particular angle he looked deep in thought instead of sleepy. He shrugged then, rolling over onto his side with his back to the other blond.
"I guess it could be worse." He stated shortly "I mean, if I'd randomly been transported to some other world then I'd have a tough time finding someone to make me decent coffee in the middle of the night, right?" He kept his head tilted down slightly and his eyes closed, attempting to hide a playful but tired smirk.
ALFONS; Watching Edward act so lethargic was only making Alfons more tired, so he took his time trudging over to switch off the light. "Coffee you don't drink anyway," he teased right back as he rubbed wearily at his eyes. Not having the energy to bother actually changing clothes, he just wrestled out of his suspenders and untucked his shirt to get comfortable.
The bed creaked as he flopped down next to Ed, glancing over to see he still had his hair tied back. "You're going to give yourself a headache if you sleep like that." With a roll of his eyes, he carefully reached over to a give a chiding tug to the hairband before gently unwrapping it to let his hair fall free.
With a sigh, he shut his eyes and forced himself to think about something as utterly boring as possible. "Goodnight."
EDWARD; "I would have drank it..." He muttered into the pillow mostly as Alfons flicked the room into darkness. It took a short while for Edward's eyes to adjust to the sudden change but it was rather easy to tell where the other boy when he felt his weight on the bed, his head turning a little to try and make out his outline.
The contact to his hair made him tense slightly, not in an overly defensive way, more it was from a kind of surprise from the action itself. It had been a while as he could recall since any hands other than his own had touched his hair and there was something distinctly relaxing about it being freed like that from a means other than his own hand. He wasn't sure why such a fundamentally simple gesture had caused such a thought process but there it was.
Out the corner of his eye he watched Alfons settle down, or seem to at the very least, in many ways blissfully unaware that he was most likely causing the young man a great deal of emotion discomfort but there was that selfish streak in Edward that made him obscenely grateful still to know Alfons was present in the City, dead or otherwise. He couldn't bring himself to voice such a view, he was still unsure how to approach a lot of subject with Alfons as clearly a lot had come to pass in the time he'd been in the City before Edward. A lot. With the number of enemies Edward had in the City, despite the occasional clash, it was nice to have genuine friends and as he continued to peer at Alfons a small smile crept to him lips once more. "Yeah, goodnight, Alfons." There was a little pause then before he cleared his throat once more "And thanks for the coffee." The fact he didn't drink it was clearly irrelevant.
ALFONS; There was a soft rumble in response reminiscent of a chuckle at the thanks. Even if having Edward in one of those 'so close and yet so far' scenarios was stressful, it was familiar enough to lull him to sleep rather quickly, one arm draped over his face with the blanket only halfway covering him, since the weather was so much warmer now. He slept so soundly that there were no dreams to recall, and when he woke up once more, the coffee that had once been steaming on his dresser now sat there cold.
Why had he woken up? Straining to look at the clock next to Edward, it blared 5:00 back at him. Much too early to be getting up. The bizarre burning sensation in his chest made him immediately sit up, though, and he wondered if it was another coughing attack. It felt...different. The rather sudden and sharp pain in his back alerted him to something far more dangerous than one of his normal fits, and he shoved the blanket off of him so that he could scramble out of bed. Something was wrong, and the pain and nausea was enough to knock the wind out of him.
When he moved to clutch at his chest, he was confused when he felt something wet.
EDWARD; Exhausted though he may have been, no matter how sound asleep he may have been the feeling of Alfons getting up so suddenly was enough to make Edward sit upright as well. Maybe it was the fact that certain feelings on the air felt different when something was genuinely wrong or maybe it was just gut instinct, whatever it was it had Ed wide awake and staring at Alfons with a strange curious look. When it was quite obvious that this wasn't sometime like late night leg cramp or the desperate need for a glass of water Edward pulled himself up quickly from the bed to stand beside the other boy.
"Alfons? Hey, what's the ma--" He stopped himself mid sentence, picking up a rather strong scent that he knew very well. Was Alfons bleeding? From what? It didn't make sense in the slightest. Moving around to the front of him then to try and get a better look Ed swiftly deduced that it was too damn dark. A flick of the light switch would fix that of course but while it would make things easier to see it seemingly wouldn't make any more logical sense than before as Ed frowned in utter bewilderment. "What the--? What happened, Alfons?"
ALFONS; Alfons was too shocked to even register Ed's voice at first, not even looking up until light flooded the room, having to blink rapidly as his pupils adjusted. When he looked back down, he could actually see the blood on his shirt and the palm of his hand, the pain in his chest became much more acute all of a sudden. There was something very familiar about this. His head was fuzzy, and there was a ringing in his ears when his knees buckled.
"Damn it," he choked out as he fell.
EDWARD; "Alfons!" The panic was definitely there as he Edward moved quickly to try and brace Alfons' fall, his eyes wide and panicked mostly because his brain couldn't make sense of what had happened. Even knowing about curses didn't prepare the citizens for them - there was very rarely a warning for such events after all and the connection just wasn't instantly formed. All Ed was registering at that time was Alfons was bleeding from a wound to the chest which seemed to just happen. There was a moment where he thought he should check the apartment to see if there were any assailants within the place, but again it didn't make sense in the slightest.
Gritting his teeth as he tried to refocus his mind to something more productive Edward quickly forced himself to remember that if he stalled too long Alfons would bleed to death just life before-- Just like... before? His heart seemed to skip a beat then and a cold shiver run down his spine. No, he couldn't let Alfons die again. Pushing one hand against the wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, his other hand attempted to roam around on the desk and find a means of getting a message onto the network or the hospital or something. Surely Alfons' laptop was there somewhere... But it was then it sure as hell wasn't easy to access from the floor with a hand feeling around blindly like that. Uttering a short sharp curse, Ed moved to quickly but carefully lean across Alfons to the bed to grab the sheet and yank them roughly to them, bunching up the material and pressing it down firmly to the wound "Alfons? Hey, Alfons? Can you hear me still?"
ALFONS; He expected to feel the impact of the floor, but instead there was someone to catch him this time. It made it easier and less jarring, but it didn't lessen the pain any, nor the weakness. At least this time he didn't have to worry about feeling colder, since he was already room temperature. The buzzing in his ears got louder whenever Edward spoke, but he couldn't seem to make out the words.
Squinting, he tried to focus on his face to try and read his lips, but that wasn't helping any. His brain was still having trouble figuring out just what was going on, but he knew he was bleeding, and he could see that his sheets were getting stained with it. The familiarity of the wound finally hit home, and there was a sharp intake of breath as he shut his eyes. At least this time he wasn't alone. He was just sorry Ed had to see it.
"It's okay..." he whispered, just barely able to get the words out. "It doesn't hurt. It doesn't." He was trying to think of something more meaningful to say, but there was just nothing there as the consciousness left him all too swiftly, and his head dipped back. It had been fast the first time, too. Not enough time to really pray or any of that religious garbage.
It was a good thing he didn't believe in God.
EDWARD; Time seemed to freeze right then and there, simple things like breathing and blinking somehow became second place to the strange numbing sensation that came from watching Alfons' head tilt backward that way. His stomach clenched then as he realised rather harshly that the wound had killed him. The fucking wound that had no explanation to it at all. This was perhaps the third time Edward had been informed of Alfons' death one way or another, but it was first time he'd been right there for it. It made the guilt of being helpless all the more sickening. His head was reeling, vision oddly blank for a time as suddenly time smashed back into progression. Lurching forward, both arms curled tightly around Alfons' shoulders as he found his own shaking heavily and his chest burning with a strange pain that made it difficult to breath.
It had to be the City's strangeness. There was no other reason he could think of for it and the more he tried to think on it the more he wondered if he wanted to take back what he'd said about the place not a few hours earlier. "...damn it..." he choked to no-one in particular before hiding his face against Alfons' collarbone and biting back a distressed kind of sob "Damn it!"
When his mind calmed down he'd need to see about getting Alfons to the hospital because as painful as the situation was he had to remind himself that the dead walked around in the City. It didn't make seeing them die any fucking easier though. Especially not friends.