[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;

[truthget]

Looks that way. [And it comes back to the fact that he hates, hates, hates waiting around for things to happen. Patience isn't his strong suit, that's for sure.] Ahh, to hell with waiting! Hang on, I'll call her. [Aaaand time for that handy journal message!]

action;

[truthhides]

[ AND AL WILL SIT AND BE A GOOD MONKEY. ]

action;

[truthget]

[WHAT A GOOD MONKEY YOU ARRRRRRRE.

And it isn't until later - after all the visits, journal chats, and walk home - that Edward finally gets them back into their room and sets Al safely on the dresser, flopping wearily on the bed.]

Hey... you think we should we tell somebody about this?

Re: action;

[truthhides]

[ he'd been hoping he would have changed back by now. just - poof, a suit of armor on the table, rather than a rather alarming looking monkey. the malnosso were certainly vindictive...

he looks down the straight line of vision - and the soul frowns, though the monkey's expression doesn't change. ]

No... If this is only a temporary thing, then we can just say I've been gone until I change back. [ he's thinking about the heavier things.

martel. dorochet. winry's kidnapping... it wouldn't be fair to make them deal with anything more than they already had to right now, even if the two chimera being here would only really affect him and Greed.

the eyes clack shut. what would he say to them? dorochet had tasked him with protecting the girl... and he hadn't been able to keep her safe from her ow recklessness. ]

action;

[truthget]

[Temporary... how temporary is the part that worries Ed, but there's no point in making Al worry needlessly. It's likely that he already has enough to fret about.

And speaking of which-]

...Are you going to meet with them?

[After he changes back, anyway.]

action;

[truthhides]

[ that thought is going to keep him awake (har har) later on in the night. no arms means no ability to turn the pages of the stack of books he's been meaning to return.

it's going to be a long night. ]

Yes. [ he has to. ]

action;

[truthget]

[Which is exactly why Edward's going to pull as many all-nighters as he can physically get away with until Al's back to normal.]

They wouldn't blame you for what happened.

[Not that he knows them well enough to say that with certainty, but... well, they hadn't really given off the vibe of being completely terrible people. They'd kidnapped Al, and that was by no means forgivable, but everyone has their own reasons for what they do. After all that's happened since then, the experience in the Devil's Nest seems so much smaller now. And thinking back, that had been their first clue about the true nature of Fuhrer Bradley and the military, so it hadn't been a wasted time, either.]

action;

[truthhides]

I know.

[ but they trusted him. on some level, he knows that they chose their own destiny that day... but he blames himself for not being strong enough to protect them. ]

action;

[truthget]

[Edward has no real response to that; what Alphonse experienced in the Devil's Nest is beyond him, a cruelty that he can barely even fathom. To have someone die within your own body is-

...the blood had been bad enough. If their positions had been reversed, he can't imagine being as well-adjusted as Al, was. His brother was just too damn strong.

Pushing aside his thoughts, Edward sits up, leaning forward to peer at the stack of books on the bedside table. He'd made a point of bringing something new every time he visited the library, so they had quite the collection by now.]

Hey, Al- what're you reading now?