Day 69: Breakfast

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar scowled, both relieved and angry that he had woken up once again in his own bed. That lanky man who had become his new roommate on the night of his death was sound asleep one bed over.

This was coming to be the new "normal." It was infuriating.

As always, he begrudgingly followed his nurse into the cafeteria and took a seat. He preferred to file in with the majority of the patients in order to avoid sticking out, but no such luck this morning.

Scar stared at his food rather than starting in on it, despite the newly found appetite that had been lost thanks to that blasted sickness. He had a lot to think about. He hadn't managed to find Frank last night. The damn intercom had beaten him to it. And judging by Tsubaki's reaction to him, he had been out for at least a day's time. How many had noticed? Cared? It couldn't have been many.

But it was the few who did whose detection Scar was desperate to avoid.

[Eddyyyy!]

Comments

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar shook his head.

"I've been kept in the dark long enough." His race and record had preceded him at home. And he hadn't been able to get much out of Lust, either. But he wanted to know. Needed to know. He wasn't the pigheaded moron many made him out to be. Scar knew that he was involved in something deeper. What that was, though, he didn't know.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed blinked again as he remembered something he meant to tell Scar that he got distracted from. "Before I forget again, Al's a few inches shorter than you, has darker blond hair and darker eyes."

[envy_the_sinners]

"I'm sure I would be able to pick him out," Scar said quietly. Despite his lack of social skills, he had always been able to have a good grasp for people. And Alphonse was a particularly special person.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed gave Scar a sunny smile, mood noticeably brightened by talking about his brother being in his rightful body. "I know. But having a description helps."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar only nodded, lifting his head once again to check around the room.

"There," he muttered. It was obviously him. Scar could tell simply from the way he carried himself. A calm demeanor, and of course the physical description matched. He looked like Edward, just taller and leaner. Scar's eyes narrowed.

"Is he injured?"

[fullmetalheart]

Ed winced as he looked over to his brother. "He'll be alright. We both got traumatized by last night, but he'll be okay."

[envy_the_sinners]

"The monsters here are more than monsters. They know how to get to us. Each of us. Personally. Don't forget that."

[fullmetalheart]

Ed shuddered. "Great. Just what I wanted to hear. I'd like to pass on another reminder of that night tonight."

[envy_the_sinners]

"Maybe. If you're lucky." And careful. Scar needed to decide on what he would be doing, tonight. He had focused all of his efforts on Frank in recent nights, and dying had without a doubt thrown him off kilter. Perhaps...

"What were you two planning for tonight, anyway?"

[fullmetalheart]

"I have no idea," Ed admitted. "We may try for the kitchen and then the greenhouse again like we did last night. The three of us only made it as far as the Sun Room, when we ran into Murphy and then got to wake up in our rooms, however that happened."

Ed shook his head, still not sure how it occurred.

[envy_the_sinners]

"Murphy?" Scar perked up at the mention of the name. So he was still around. Good. "He's a good man."

"What is there to look for in the kitchen? Or the greenhouses for that matter?"

[fullmetalheart]

Ed looked sheepish. "Lloyd and I were still hungry." Then he hastily moved on. "And the cure for the monster-making illness can be found in the greenhouse, which is why we were going there."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar's mouth fell slightly open. For a seasoned fighter, Edward was starting to sound like a clueless child.

"You risked yours and your brother's lives because you were hungry?" What kind of priorities were those?

And the cure... Scar mellowed out at its mention. He had heard whispers of a solution, one safer than surgery. It hardly mattered to him, anymore. He was cured, or close to it. And Frank...

Well, if Frank turned up, he would go from there. But he had yet to appear at breakfast.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed sighed. "Has anyone told you how automail works? And for the record, Lloyd said he didn't get much to eat for supper."

[envy_the_sinners]

"I do not care to know how automail works. Somebody your size should be able to get away with the portions they give us. And you ate two lunches."

How could he have been so reckless? He had be warned, had he not?

[fullmetalheart]

"Actually, due to the way it works, I need twice as much to eat as most people that aren't automails do. There's a reason I ate six pancakes this morning and would have eaten more if the nurse let me," Ed snapped. "And don't call me small!"

[envy_the_sinners]

"That's completely besides the point. You cannot afford to be so reckless. Only leave your room at night for what is necessary."

[fullmetalheart]

Ed folded his arms over his chest and slumped back in his chair to sulk. "I needed that food. And we were planning to do more than just the kitchen."

[envy_the_sinners]

"I know you were, calm down." It was rare that Scar actually told somebody to calm down. But it was about time Edward grew up a little bit. Not to mention the fact that the nurses might sedate him if he were to act up too much.

[fullmetalheart]

"It didn't matter where we go going, anyway. We got attacked in the section of hall right in front of the Sun Room," Ed grumbled, settling down a little.

He still remembered his first morning and he felt no desire to repeat it anytime soon. If nothing else, because his brother might slap him upside the head for getting sedated two days in a row.

[envy_the_sinners]

"It is uncommon that the main hallway is guarded at all... never mind by something deadly." Though, Scar shouldn't be surprised. He had never heard of monsters getting into the M-A hall, either, and yet he had been ambushed by several.

"They're moving closer to the patient rooms, then." That was bad. The rooms were supposed to be safe. What if they broke through completely?

[fullmetalheart]

Ed bit his lip. "Isn't that where we're supposed to not need to worry about stuff getting us?"

[envy_the_sinners]

"Until now, the rooms have always been safe. But I was killed in the M-A hall, which is only one hall over from the dorm hallways." His fingers tightened around his fork.

"If the trend continues, we're as good as dead."

[fullmetalheart]

"...Fuck. Not good." Ed rubbed at his forehead. "I'm going to hope that the one in the hallway you were in was an aberration, because I have no idea what the hell to do if they do move closer."

Then he scowled. "I wish they didn't fuck with my alchemy. My attack on last night's monster shouldn't have taken that much out of me."

[envy_the_sinners]

"But if it is the common trend, we need to rethink our options." Strolling about at night was not going to cut it, anymore. This sickness was starting to look like a distraction from something more sinister.

But what?

"You're damn lucky you can still effectively use it." Scar was all but powerless, here.