Day 69: Sun Room

[envy_the_sinners]

[From here]

Scar lumbered into the sun room, hair still damp from the shower. He had been sure to be as quick as possible. The damn communal shower was miserable.

He settled down in one of the couches, his shoulders drooped and eyes tired. What the hell had happened out in the courtyard? One moment, he had been fine, and the next he had been completely deaf. Had something been done to him when he died? His ears were fine, as far as he could tell.

At least he could sit in a comfortable chair in the sun. The small luxury was something he would never take for granted after camping in the wilderness and the sewers of Central for years. There was too much on his mind, too much to keep track of. The simple knowledge that Frank was dead was enough to sap the energy out of him. He was too tired to even be angry.

[Alphonse!]

Comments

[armoredsoul]

Al had decided to stay in the Sun Room after lunch, lounging on the sofa he and Ed had napped on before. He'd had his eyes half closed while he rested some more, but happened to spot Scar out of the corner of his vision. After looking again to be sure it was him, he smiled widely and stood to head over to him.

"Scar! Brother told me you were up and around again." He took a seat next to him, pulling up his feet to sit crosslegged in the cushioned chair. "I'm glad to see you again."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar looked up at the sound of Alphonse's voice. It was strange, hearing him without the metallic echo. But it was him, whole and in his proper body. A great mix of emotions welled up in Scar's chest as he saw the boy up close. He was okay. Whatever insane idea Scar had come up with to save his life had worked, and now somehow it had been taken one step further.

But he was here, of all places.

What did it mean? Scar could not speak for the other patients he did not know, but what was the likelihood that of all the people pulled from Amestris would know each other? What was their common connection?

For now, though, Alphonse had his attention.

"You as well." It was good to see him, outside of the context they were now living in. "Especially given your new... circumstances." Scar had never been good with words. But he was pleased for Alphonse's return to his proper body, and he wanted the boy to know it.

[armoredsoul]

Al smiled, nodding in understanding. "I am too, even if it wasn't on mine and Brother's terms. It's been a little overwhelming, when I let myself actually think about it." He looked down at his hands, flexing them. "I get startled sometimes feeling my muscles working, or the blood flowing in my veins. And it's...really nice, to be able to sleep again." 'Nice' was an understatement--it was an oblivion he'd longed for ever since that first night in the armor, an escape from the world an his thoughts.

He looked back up at Scar, his smile gentle and tinged with sadness. "Thank you for giving me the chance to be able to. I won't pretend to be okay with how you saved me, but you still gave your life for me. Thank you."

[envy_the_sinners]

A hint of genuine softness crossed Scar's face, if only for a moment. Something tightened in his throat.

"It wasn't... You don't have to thank me," he said quietly. There had been no question in what he should do. As soon as there was a chance Alphonse could be transmuted to be saved, his decision had been made. Alphonse deserved to live, more than anyone else who had been in the desert that day as far as Scar was concerned.

The Elrics lived for each other. He couldn't forgive himself if he let that connection break.

[armoredsoul]

"Of course I do. You could have left me there, but you decided to sacrifice everything you'd been working for for my sake." Nevermind all the complications behind their respective motivations and history--what Scar had done for him was an amazing gift that Alphonse was determined to repay in some way. It wasn't in his nature to accept that sort of thing without any other thought.

To be honest, ever since he'd learned about Scar's past and the truths behind the Ishbal war, he'd wanted to save the man from his self-destructive path of revenge. He could see a lot of himself in him, if broken and fractured by the horrors of his life, and could sympathize with his thoughts and feelings--he'd said before he could well have gone down the same path in his shoes, and that hadn't changed. If there was a chance to let him heal from his trauma, Al wanted to give him the help to do so.

[envy_the_sinners]

"It's more than that." Scar couldn't explain why he'd had to do it. Or- he could. He just couldn't guarantee himself that he wouldn't grow emotional about it. After everything that had happened recently, all leading up to the brothers' appearance, it was very likely.

Even just Alphonse's sincere recognition of what had happened was causing the corners of his mouth to turn down, his eyes to feel heavy.

[armoredsoul]

Al frowned, concerned. "What do you mean--"

And then suddenly, he was not where he had been. It was a house, but not one he recognized. There was a chill to the air--not a physical cold, but one of murderous intent focused solely on him. He stumbled up to a standing position, looking around wildly. "S-Scar? Scar!"

He didn't know that it was all in his head, of course, which was rather the point.

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

Reasonably intelligent conversation was one of the Institute perks. Ryuuzaki was a nerd, complete with an inexplicable monomania over turning his body into a pretzel when he thought no one was looking, but he didn't care if other people had their own hobbies. So that was cool.

What was lacking was people to just hang with. Strategize, gossip, sure. Basically, co-workers, without the slightest possibility of awesome office parties. Tonight might fix that, if anyone else showed to Ilia's shindig.

[Ilia]

[avengingfists]

[from here]

Ilia's first move once she finished up her shower was to head for the bulletin board. A few more patients had responded since the last she had checked. There was even a note from Lana, which Ilia replied to as quickly as possible. That done, she had the rest of the afternoon to herself.

Ilia moved to one of the chairs that was vacant and sat. Immediately one of the kittens left to roam ran over and began swatting at her leg playfully. Smiling, she picked it up and scratched behind its ears. The grey color of it was almost blue, and she was reminded of Roddick... Looking up, another guest of the institute was nearby and Ilia had no qualms about making some conversation. At least it would pass time until dinner. "Had a good day so far?"

[toxicspiderman]

"On a scale of phone banking to a holding cell in Delaware," S.T. said, looking like he was giving it real consideration, "I'd put it at waiting in line for tickets to a show that probably sold out over the phone an hour ago. The possibility of something actually happening is just non-zero enough that everyone hasn't gone home." He'd never actually had to phone bank. He'd come in to GEE later, as enough of a big shot that he could rally the troops and bring pizza and then go be flashy in the harbor to get at least one yuppie to dig out his satellite phone and call in from his yacht.

It all meant Sangamon was used to impossible odds, and he said so. "I'm an eco-activist. Spitting upwind in an acid rainstorm is what we do. But when we lose we know it. None of this falling asleep halfway through the ballgame and not even being able to pick up a paper with the scores in the morning."

Well, there was the body count. Shitty way to keep track, and half the people had cheat codes. Just not the people he wanted to see alive. Even Two-Face, who didn't get to be permanently dead, since the only people who stayed dead in Batman were his parents.

[avengingfists]

Ilia chuckled. Clever guy, huh. She had to wonder how he would do in a battle of wits versus someone like Rose, but she pushed the image aside before thoughts of the lost girl left her empty. "Could be worse, I guess. Boredom is better than action here, since action often leads to a syringe happy orderly."

"I'm a sort of eco-activist, too," Ilia said with a shrug. "Personally, I don't take losing sitting down." Though she was sitting down right now, but that was a different point entirely.

She waved to the chair nearby. This could be interesting. "Been here long then, I would assume?" He seemed familiar, even if she didn't know him. Just a common face seen around the institute since he arrived.

[toxicspiderman]

Someone else who knew what the words eco-activist even meant. The dead-eye stares were worse than the sneers at the poor deluded duck-squeezer who thought he could make a difference. Then again, the Institute grew back missing wings like an earthworm on steroids. Conservation politics were kind of irrelevant when conservation of matter wasn't even on the table.

"It's harder to throw someone out of the Capitol when they're sitting down, actually." Basic non-violent resistance training. The drum full of fake-toxic sludge just helped. (Faking the toxic, not the sludge. Good old dirt, with only the usual dose of heavy metals found anywhere that pre-dated unleaded gasoline and post-dated cars.) He threw himself into the chair. "A day was too fucking long. It's been a month or so."

[mirrorimage]

[From here.]

When she finished her shower, Nina migrated into the Sun Room. Her long hair was still lightly damp but it was nice to be clean, she had to admit - even though she always seemed to wake up fresh and clean in the morning no matter what had gone on the night before.

The first thing she did, of course, was check the bulletin board. There had to be something interesting there.

[redcladidealist]

[From here.]

There was one major flaw in Lloyd's initial plan to hole up in the showers as long as the nurses allowed, and that was the fact that there was nothing to do. Sure, there were other people, but talking to other guys when one or both of you was to bathe was a level of awkward he didn't want to get into. Sheer boredom drove him out long before the allotted time was up, at which point his nurse promptly collared him and took him to get fresh bandages to wrap the wounds on his neck.

Once that was done and he was released into relative freedom, the brunette scanned the Sun Room for anyone he knew. Oh, hey, there was Al. The younger boy seemed to be busy talking to someone though, so Lloyd gave a mental shrug and headed over to check the bulletin. He'd spoken to Al at lunch. There wasn't any pressing need to interrupt his conversation.

Distracted by his own thoughts, he didn't quite pay enough attention to avoid bumping into another patient who was already standing in front of the board.

[mirrorimage]

Nina was just as transfixed, and she felt quite startled when she felt someone brush up against her. "Oh!" she said, jolting a little bit, turning to see who she'd run up against. It was someone she didn't know. She thought she recognized him vaguely, though, and he certainly looked friendly enough.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she said. The apology was half-automatic but no less sincere for it. She glanced at the young man next to her curiously before letting her eyes scan the board once more.

"Were you looking for something specific?"

[redcladidealist]

Just as startled, Lloyd jerked a half-step back, then flushed a little sheepishly. "No, it was my fault. Sorry about that." At least she didn't seem angry.

Glancing at the board again, he nodded, pointing to a series of notes. None were folded, though the second to last note was carefully torn off at the end. "I was just arranging to meet up with someone. It looks like he saw my last note."

Then, because he was curious and because it seemed fair enough to ask her in turn, he turned to look at her again, tilting his head. "What about you?"

[mirrorimage]

Nina nodded, understanding. "The same," she said. "I was making sure no plans had changed. Well, and I think it's important to keep up with what's going on around here. You never know when someone might say something interesting." Something she might need to know. Something that she didn't know already. Information was a valuable commodity here, and Nina wanted to gather as much of it for herself as she could.

[redcladidealist]

Lloyd nodded, too, getting what she was saying. "Yeah. Someone posted a map before and I copied what I could from that. I only kind of skim the other stuff, though." He rubbed his neck. "It feels like I'm reading people's private conversations if I go digging through all the notes." Not to mention that he didn't always have the time to do that, depending on what the nurses had them do, or if he found someone to talk to. Some shifts he was at more loose ends than others.

"I'm Lloyd, by the way," he finally thought to introduce himself. "Who're you?"

[seekingmystrength]

[from here]

Most patients had already gone from the showers into the Sun Room and taken their places where they would, leaving Kurogane's options for where he could sit more limited. Eventually he found an unoccupied couch off in a corner and headed over to it. He slumped down on one side of the couch and watched the door, wondering if the magician would actually follow, and if he wanted him to.

You cut it off and left it behind...

He'd heard those words, even with his retreat from the showers, and was somehow conflicted in what he thought of them. That the act had been something he'd done willingly was more acceptable than what had happened here, yet at the same time bothered him for how he'd have gotten to the point of making that decision. Kurogane had always chosen to leave the past as what it was, however this place was making him deal with the future, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

[behind_my_smile]

[from here]

It didn't take long for Fai to appear in the doorway of the Sun Room. It was obvious Fai was still uncertain if he should be there or not as he entered. The eyepatch once again in place, his hair damp but tied back again, Fai looked as put together as he always did..except for the serious expression on his face. It was a far cry from the normal smile.

He walked towards were he saw the ninja sitting and paused just beside the chair. He stood there, making no more to sit quite yet.

[seekingmystrength]

Kurogane watched as Fai came into the room and over to him, knowing well that leaving like that had confused him. He wasn't usually the one to avoid speaking, just as Fai wasn't usually the one to pursue it.

"The showers aren't a place to talk," he said in case Fai hadn't realized as much. If he wanted to bring up serious subjects, then they could at least be clothed and out of earshot of others. "I hadn't expected that you would want to though."

[behind_my_smile]

"Normally I wouldn't. I just.." What did he want? He wanted Kurogane to understand why he had changed perhaps..Why he was a different person then the one this Kurogane knew. "What happened before I came here was important. I'm not the same person that you know..and most of that is your fault."

There was a soft laugh and some of that teasing tone came back as he said those words. He had to make this Kurogane understand that their lives were more intertwined then just a blood pact. They had each sacrificed for the other.

[seekingmystrength]

"You want me to take the blame?"

Kurogane knew he didn't have the details, and because of that wouldn't be able to understand completely, but that was what he gathered from those words, however teasing they sounded. Fai wanted him to know that it had been because of Kurogane's decisions and not his own that he was different somehow. But there were too many problems with that.

"Remember that I haven't done whatever it is you remember, and because of this place, I might not even do the same once I get out of here and back where I'm supposed to be."

He needed to keep his focus on what was going on now instead of worrying over what might happen later if he was to manage any kind of understanding. Fai could tell him anything, and yet none of it would matter. He had don't a thing, nothing beyond Rekord that this Fai would know of, and if nothing more, Fai needed to understand that much.

Taking his attention away from Fai a moment, Kurogane gave his arm a glance, thinking again on what he'd been told. If he'd taken the responsibility for keeping Fai alive through blood, then giving up his arm was about the same - some decision he'd made that had kept Fai alive. "I might be able to understand enough," he eventually said, trying to find the words to explain himself, "but you can't expect me to understand everything."

[behind_my_smile]

"No..I blamed you for awhile after Tokyo, but I no longer blame the you of my time for anything." Fai finally sat. He was going to have this conversation. He had to. Perhaps it was selfish of him to want Kurogane to understand what has happened to him without the full story. There were still some things he couldn't bring himself to say.

He stared at his own hands, unable to actually look at Kurogane as he spoke. If he did then he might run. And he couldn't afford to run any longer. "Too much has happened between your time and mine to really understand everything. It would be unfair to think that you could."

Fai closed that eye, distancing himself even more. "I actually appreciate what you've done now. Giving up my magic was a small price in comparison to what you've given up for me..but it's all I had to give." There is a soft laugh but there is little humor behind it. "I probably couldn't say these things to the Kurogane of my time." What made this different? Was it because this one didn't know all the things he had done? That he felt he had deserved death because of them?

"Just understand that I am different from the one you know and hopefully that's a good thing. I've become better because you made me...or at least you will. I don't believe our futures will change because of this world." If they would..then Fai wouldn't be here like this.

[seekingmystrength]

"I already know that!"

And by this point, hearing Fai repeating what he already knew was only aggravating him further. Both of them knew that there were things the other didn't know, and even if he did, wouldn't understand. Did Fai think he hadn't understood that much? "What I don't understand is why you think you have to keep reminding me."

If Fai had been through what he'd said, then regardless of the reasons behind those events, he should have known better. Because they were things Kurogane knew he would have done, whether in the past, present, or future. He didn't need told.