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Open RP Post
If you would like to play with Alphonse, whether we have met or not, please feel free to respond to this post using any of options provided.
General/Fluff
1. First meetings
2. Both guests at a third person's party
3. Dinner date
4. Broken down train or bus
5. Lost and needing directions
6. Cake in the rain
Sad/Serious
1. Injured (either you or Al)
2. Nightmares
3. Remembering bad memories
4. Fighting overwhelming odds
5. Fighting each other
6. Confessing dark secrets
Random/Wildcard
Any other scenario is welcome, I will roll with it.
General/Fluff
1. First meetings
2. Both guests at a third person's party
3. Dinner date
4. Broken down train or bus
5. Lost and needing directions
6. Cake in the rain
Sad/Serious
1. Injured (either you or Al)
2. Nightmares
3. Remembering bad memories
4. Fighting overwhelming odds
5. Fighting each other
6. Confessing dark secrets
Random/Wildcard
Any other scenario is welcome, I will roll with it.
2.2 | oh be gentle sobs
he swears he can almost taste copper, the acrid stuff biting at his throat, stinging his tongue. he doesn't thrash much but mumbles, grips the quilt over him tightly, clenches his jaw. it's only when the creature in the damp, dark basement growls something thick and raspy that his eyes snap open, air rushes between his lips and he's wholly awake.
he sits up slowly, brow sticky with sweat, braid loose and fraying. he forgets that Al can't sleep, can't dream the same way he can. forgets that the suit of armor sharing a room with him is far more than that, as he tries to rub sleep out of his eyes. he rubs hard at his brow, attempting to will the shaking breaths and trembling fingers away. ]
Jeez.
what is gentle
In the early nights, as Ed lay in feverish dreams after surgery, Al tried desperately to switch off and sleep too. He went through endless nights of feeling trapped, claustrophobic, and utterly panicked. It had taken a long time for that feeling to fade away and melt into a simple hollow sadness for what he has lost.
And now...
Now he barely remembers what it feels like to dream, and that somehow hurts much more deeply than anything else.
He is moving before Ed has even fully sat up, wrapping his fingers firmly around both of his brother's shoulders to hold him steady.]
Brother? I'm here, it's okay...
apparently not this thread.
he nearly jumps when Al's hands come to his shoulders, and just like that he tries to stomach the strange, trembling fear that has gripped him. the journey to repair what they have done is not even close to its end, and that makes the sinking feeling worse.
but then there's Al -- sturdy and steadfast, and any lack of hope or faith that Ed felt before slowly begins to dissolve. if anything, he had to make it to the end for him. to get his body back. ]
Hey, Al. [ he reaches a hand up, metal on cool metal. ] I'm fine, really. Couldn't sleep, that's all.
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[Al's voice couldn't be flatter if it was a deflated balloon, he isn't even trying to sound like he believes Ed. He leaves his hands on Ed's shoulders, even after his brother has fully woken up, as if to anchor him somehow in reality.]
You looked pretty asleep to me.
...Maybe you should talk about it?
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[ but there's no conviction behind his voice, not the fiery sort of response Al may well be used to. what's worse is how well Al knows him, and how easily it is for the mask of indifference Ed uses on occasional to come crashing right down.
he lets out a sigh, shoulders slumping a touch. ]
There's nothing to talk about, nothing we haven't already said about her, Al. [ because he's not sure he can bring himself to say "mother" or "mom" right now, not when he can still taste copper from biting his own tongue, can still hear the rasp of sound in the back of his mind. ] It's just the same dream, over and over.
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[It's not fair.
What hurts the most isn't that Al is incapable of sleep, it isn't being unable to taste, it isn't even the inability to cry. It's the unfairness of having to watch Ed shoulder the pain of what they both did all alone. It's his older brother who endured the agony of losing his limbs, and the excruciating fight to learn how to use automail limbs. It's Ed who feels every twinge, every ache, and every bone jolting pain when those limbs go wrong. It's Ed who has had to endure so many nights of nightmare laced sleep, and Ed who has cried oceans in the grief of all they've been through.
And yet Al has shouldered none of that. Through it all he's simply been there, hollow, unfeeling, unable to take his rightful share of the burden.]
...I'm sorry, Brother.
[It slips out before he can stop it. A small and sorrowful whisper of guilt.]
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Ed can feel pain, can eat and dream and sleep -- Al is left to his thoughts in and out of every hour, not a day of rest. and that's his fault. he should have taken care of his brother, should have known it wouldn't work, that the folly of two boys wouldn't be enough. ]
Al, no.
[ he shakes his head, braid falling loose, hair spilling into his face, across his shoulders and the metal fingers that grip him. ] What're you apologizing for, huh? [ he lightly elbows his brother with his automail arm, clinking the metal chest plate of the armor. ] I was the one dreaming, you know. I mean, there was Winry, and milk and if she calls me pipsqueak one more time--
[ he's trying, because Al has nothing to apologize for. ] Don't you worry, Al, okay? Besides, we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow, plenty to worry about then. [ by then he'll have shaken the shadows out of his mind, he'll be able to breathe a little easier. ]
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Mm.
[He finally releases his grip on Ed's shoulders, forcing his own voice into some crude semblance of normalcy.]
She's right, you know, you should drink your milk.
[Don't talk about the pain, the healthiest coping mechanism ever.]
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Oh come on, Al, not you, too! [ he groans, shifting his position in bed to look up at Al. sometimes it's easy to picture the bright eyed boy instead of the armor. he flops back on the bed, arms and legs sprawled out. ]
Besides, you wouldn't know what to do if I was taller than you! And I will be, one day, just you wait and see! [ he grins, snickering to himself, but it fades as easily as it arose. half-metal boy and a suit of armor. what a pair they made. ] I'll get your body back, Al. I'll find a way.
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[Teasing melts into fondness, which in turn banishes the last of the sorrow from Al's voice. They might go through a lot, and they're only human so their struggles are bound to take their toll, but Al has never lost his hope.]
But not just my body, okay? We have to get yours back too, I want us both to be whole again.
[He won't let Ed make a martyr of himself for this. They are both broken, and Al will make sure they're both fixed. Silence falls between them for a while, until Al finally speaks again into the gloom of the dimly lit room.]
Hey, Brother? What's the first thing you're going to do when we're back to normal?
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[ it's started raining outside, thick dark clouds filling the sky, the droplets pattering on the window. he'd get their bodies back, of course, but if the exchange meant only getting Al's back? that would be enough. Ed had a working arm and leg, automail to replace the others. he could survive. when the silence falls he looks outside, his thoughts drifting until Al speaks again. ]
What? [ he turns back to look at Al, grinning broadly, trying to dispel the strange sadness that's gripped him. ] Well, give you a real pounding with both of my good arms. Finally win against you, little brother. I'll be the champion of all Resembool. Then maybe race you -- your body and my two good legs. But if you come back taller than me, then we'll have real problems!
[ he holds up one fist, shaking it in jest. ] Then they'll still call me pipsqueak and small and tiny and you'll just be Al and where's the fairness in that? [ a huff. ] What about you, Al? What're you going to do?
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Hm. You mean after beating you in the fight and the race?
[He thinks for a solid thirty seconds. It's a tough choice.]
Definitely eat a whole cream cake to myself!
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W-what?! You can't beat me, Al! I'm your older brother, I'm supposed to win! And I will! [ he flails his arms broadly for emphasis, but pauses when Al mentions the cake. of course, eating, sleeping, dreaming, all of these simple things that Ed takes for granted. ]
Well, I'll find you the biggest cream cake in all of Amestris, okay?
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[He can practically feel his stomach grumbling with anticipation, even though he knows that's far from possible. It's just a phantom sensation, like the moments when he's sure his throat is blocked with the need to cry, or when he feels his heart stop when Ed does something dangerous.]
Do you want to know a secret, Brother?
[He leans in closely, voice a whisper and full of suppressed laughter.]
I think I want to get fat.
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[ he leans in to listen to the secret, but the suppressed laughter is a dead give away. his own laugh comes bubbling up out of his chest, bright and loud. ]
You want to get fat? I won't stop you, but maybe you should think a little bit more about that before you do, huh? I'm not going to cart you around, after all.
[ he stretches his arms behind his head and flops back onto the bed, a smile spread across his face. ] But I guess I won't stop you. Just don't get fat on cake only, there's chocolate and ice cream -- tons of things you can get fat on. At least make sure you have an impressive list of things, first!
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Of course not! You know I still have my snack book, and it's getting pretty full.
[He fishes it out and opens it to add 'cream cake' onto the bottom.]
I wonder if Granny would make me some of her stew.
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Oh man, Al, we'll just have to get you another one soon won't we?
[ he grins, resting his cheek on the cool metal of Al's arm. ] I'm sure Granny would make you some of her stew, why wouldn't she? She loves cooking, and I bet she'd even enlist you to help. Just hang in there, Al.
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[His voice is still calm and warm, but firm nonetheless.]
I'll just write smaller, I don't want another one.
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Alright then. [ he smiles, looking down at the long list of food items. of course there's so much that Al would miss, that Ed doesn't even think twice about. his eyes are growing heavy again and he bites back a yawn. ]
I'll get you two of everything on the list, maybe even three, when we get your body back. Then you'll be nice and fat and I can roll you all the way home for some of Granny's stew. I promise, okay?
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R-Right...
[He curls his fingers into a fist and makes a small bump in the air.]
...You should get some more sleep, Brother. You have to take care of yourself.
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[ he laughs a little again, an easy smile in place where the firm grimace had been before. ]
Yeah, well, I have to take care of you, too, you know. I slept a lot already. [ he rises from the bed, stretching his arms as far over his head as he can, wincing when he feels a tiny shock of pain in his right shoulder. the rain always did make the stumps hurt. ] See, I'm rearing to go, Al. Nothing can hold me back. Ready to get out there and fight, and research and --
[ and there's pain in his leg, the same sharp pinch from before and he stumbles a little, teetering and very nearly falling over. ] Maybe not. [ a tired, but silly grin. ]
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You're pushing yourself too hard, you're really going to get hurt if you keep this up. You need rest, and now it looks like you need maintenance too. Maybe we should head back and see Winry for a few days?
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It's just the rain, Al. I get a little creaky when it starts to storm. Moisture and pressure change. I'm fine, I promise.
[ but Al's probably right -- he should go back to Winry, it's been some time and he's likely overdue for a tune up. ]
We can't go back, Al, not yet. I'll be fine for a little while longer. It's just the storm. It'll pass. [ but that doesn't stop him from returning to the bed to sit down, wincing as he bends his knee, rubbing at it. ]
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[He's only lecturing to get a rise out of Ed, and thus hopefully distract him from the pain and the melancholy that's gripped his poor older brother since he jolted awake.]
You should listen to her more often.
that icon is hilarious.
It's not my fault that evertime we go out someone's trying to kill us! I didn't exactly put a sign on my back you know, Al. "Look! Here's the Full Metal Alchemist. Please try to rip off his metal arm, that's his favorite!"
[ he huffs and points at Al. ] And you. Siding with her? You can't side with her, you're my brother! If I listened to her I'd be... she'd make me drink milk. [ he sticks his tongue out, making a face. even the idea of drinking milk makes his stomach churn. ] Traitor. [ he folds his arms over his chest, quietly fuming. ]
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