IC Inbox

[armoured]

This is the IC inbox for Alphonse Elric at Snowblind.

Network name: @LELRIC

This is the place to contact Al over the Network. Contact by voice, text, or video is all perfectly acceptable, and there is no need to plot with me prior to posting in this inbox.

Comments

[ninjainviolet]

I know...

[ She lets out a sigh of her own. This place doesn't give people a lot of control over their choices at all. ]

But, I still feel bad. You're my Little Brother, Al...

[armoured]

Maybe you're big brother now, it's been so long.

[He's trying to inject a note of humour into it, mild teasing, but it falls a little flat.]

I'm never going to blame you for something you couldn't help.

I really have to update my settings to include inboxes in Snowblind...

[ninjainviolet]

It hasn't been that long!

[ Maybe not as flat as you think, Al. ]

You really aren't, are you?

[ Yeah, she's a little surprised. ]

[armoured]

I don't know, I'm not sure. How old are you, exactly?

[He's always thought that they weren't that far apart in age, but he knows from dealing with people like Ling that sometimes people look younger than they are.]

[ninjainviolet]

[ That throws her off slightly. ]

Ummm...let's see. I haven't been gone that long, and I turned twenty while I was here.

[armoured]

Oh.

[He can't help but sound slightly disappointed.]

Then you're still older than me.

[ninjainviolet]

[ She gives a sheepish smile. ]

Sorry. But are you taller than I am? I'm only 5'5".

[ She wants to make him feel better. ]

[armoured]

Of course I am! I'm nearly eight feet tall.

[In his armour body. Though his real body is bigger now too, nearly grown up without him.]

[ninjainviolet]

Eight feet? Then, that would definitely make you my Big Brother, wouldn't it?

[ You gotta love her logic on this. ]

[armoured]

Try telling that to Ed, but make sure you're somewhere far away when you do it.

[Or else she might just get punched to hell and back.]

[ninjainviolet]

[ She remembers who Ed is, but the rest of the comment confuses her. ]

Huh? Why's that?

[armoured]

Because he's really little, and he doesn't like being reminded of it.

[That's an understatement. He'd knock Al into next week for laying it out so candidly.]

You know, Sheena is an inch taller than Ed...

[ninjainviolet]

[ Light bulb. ]

He was teased about it when he was younger, wasn't he?

[armoured]

It's more that he's still teased about it now.

[It hadn't been such a big deal when he could tell himself that a growth spurt was coming.]

[ninjainviolet]

Oh.

[ She shakes her head. ]

You'd think people would stop doing that once they get older, wouldn't you? I mean, people can't really help how they look or how tall they are, you know?

[armoured]

I think most of the time it was just that people were surprised, they'd heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist and they weren't expecting him to be a short teenager.

[Ed is going to kick his ass if he ever hears about this conversation.]

[ninjainviolet]

Size really doesn't truly measure the size of a person's heart or ability, though.

[ Her voice is quiet, as she's guilty of doing the same thing. Once. ]

And I'm guessing that since he had been heard of, he's a really good Alchemist?

[ Yes! She knows this term! ]

[armoured]

Yeah, he's one of the best in the country, but he's mostly famous because he was the youngest person ever to take the State Alchemy test and get certified.

[Something a lot of people disagreed with, letting a kid into the military.]

[ninjainviolet]

How old was he when he took the test?

[ She's not surprised; Alchemy is a science, after all.

They should come to her world... ]

[armoured]

Twelve.

[Though he'd got the offer a year before that after what they did to their mother.]

[ninjainviolet]

Twelve? That is pretty young, and I'm going to guess that some older people probably weren't too happy about someone that age doing better than them?

[ Not exactly compassionate. ]

[armoured]

No, nothing like that. Nobody was ever jealous that I know of, people were just surprised that someone so young had been allowed to take the test.

[Surprise that often annoyed Ed, because it usually came hand in hand with them calling him little.]

[ninjainviolet]

Hey, if he can do it, then why not? His age really shouldn't matter.

[ She pauses. ]

Are you an Alchemist, too?

[armoured]

Definitely, but I'm not state certified.

[He probably could have been, he and Ed are similarly matched in skill, but there had been no need for them both to do it.]

[ninjainviolet]

[ And that's actually what she's thinking. ]

Because one of you had already passed the test? That makes sense.

Is Alchemy hard to learn?