Night 70: M1-M10 Hallway

[repelling]

After exchanging radio numbers, Uryuu picked at the salad in relative silence. Once sure he really couldn't be bothered with another bite, he set about arranging his things for the night. The sound of the intercom stirred his attention, and he looked up, waiting for the static. As ever, a nice addition to the atmosphere. He could still appreciate that, despite himself.

Grateful, indeed. Nook or cranny probably referred to the newly found passage in the library, which stirred Uryuu's curiosity further. Tomorrow, perhaps, unless Kratos-san did the unexpected and really did call. The very thought had his mouth curling with dry amusement, which failed to reach his eyes, narrowing with irritation. The doctor's spiel was the usual, and yet...

"Someday," he groused, "I'm going to put an arrow in that man's throat."

Uryuu said it, but did not swear -- not to his pride as a Quincy, not to anything. Not because he doubted he could, but because it wouldn't be practical in the moment. Much as he would aim to maim, not kill, to make speaking impossible, that would be a problem. They would want him to speak, after all.

As gratifying as imagining that future was, it only wasted time in the moment. The door unlocked, and almost simultaneously, Uryuu felt the pressure of the spirit particles filling the air. He reached, seeking Inoue-san, and felt nothing like. Pressing his teeth together, he nodded to Tsurugi-kun (expecting him off) and stood, to set about changing into the uniform. It was an obnoxious thing to have to choose, but unfortunately, better than the sweater and ill-fitting pants he'd be forced to wear during the day. Placing the toy radio in his pocket alongside the key ring and two pens, he lifted his pillowcase turned bag(with its two sweatshirts, journal, and his room radio) and slid it over his shoulder.

Wasteful as it was, he left the bat in the closet. Vantas-kun seemed to have disappeared as well, and it had never properly gotten to Inoue-san. Tonight it would just get in the way. Ready, he started into and down the hall, clutching his flashlight switched off.

[ to here ]

Comments

[fullmetalheart]

Awesome, saved by Al getting distracted. Ed's just gonna be quiet and get back to organizing shit on Al's desk. Best plan, yes.

[gald_digger]

Anise wasn't sure what was so confusing about it. "Huh? I mean, obviously, it's the 46th of the Shadow Decan..." She trailed off, wondering how that could be unclear, when it started to click. "Oh! Maybe it's different here?" It would make sense, when she stopped to think about how people determined the lengths of months and years in the first place.

"Well, whatever! That's not really important. 047, right? If I get a chance, I'll try and call you!" With everything settled, Anise made her way back to the hall, giving the brothers another bright smile before making her exit. "Good luck with the alchemy stuff!"

[to here]

[armoredsoul]

Al didn't have much chance to respond before Anise took herself off, smiling and shaking his head as he closed the door behind her. "I should write down her radio number before I forget. It'll be good to have a list of everyone's numbers to reference."

[fullmetalheart]

"Yeah, go ahead and do that," Ed said, as he finished organizing things. He's waiting to get yelled at, but he would also like it if Al took his time about getting around to doing so.

[armoredsoul]

Al takes his journal from the desk and jots down a note, then looks over to Ed. "And why did you forget the radio? We had talked about testing them tonight!"

[fullmetalheart]

Ed groaned and thunked his forehead down on the desk. "Because I got distracted!"

[armoredsoul]

He shook his head and set the journal back down. "Well, no point in going back to get it now. What did you want to try making with this stuff first?"

[fullmetalheart]

"Um. Stink bombs?" Ed said, raising his head again.

[armoredsoul]

Al snorted, grinning and picking up one of the bottles. "We'll need sulfur compounds, then."

The boys worked for decent amount of time on their little grenades, winding up with ten each of stink bombs and a weak sort of flash-bang grenade, each chemical contained in a small sealed bottle. Al yawned, feeling worn out from the drain of using so much alchemy. "This place sucks. We should have been able to do more than this."

[fullmetalheart]

Ed also yawned. "Yeah. I wanna get out of here."

Then his mind wandered off on the subject of getting out and he frowned a bit. Given that problems he's caused for the both of them, there was a part of him that wondered if maybe he deserved this.

[armoredsoul]

Al eyed his brother for a moment as he fell silent, frowning. "...Brother, is there something you wanna talk about?" Maybe he could get him to talk about what had been bothering him at the ice cream parlor.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed shook his head. "Not really."

Not that he really expected Al to leave it alone.

[armoredsoul]

Of course not. If he doesn't badger Ed like this, it'll just get worse.

"Come on, you were acting weird at the ice cream parlor, too. You know you can trust me." Al sat down at the foot of the bed with a worried expression.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed sighed and pulled out the chair at Al's desk to sit on it, looking down as he clasped and unclasped his hands. "The acting weird in town was because of you reminding me that it had been years since you could eat ice cream."

[armoredsoul]

Al sighed, reaching over the desk to take his brother's hand. "Brother, you shouldn't blame yourself for that. I had every chance to stop what we were doing, but I didn't take it. I'm just as much at fault for what happened to us. You don't need to beat yourself up for what we've been through."

[fullmetalheart]

Ed pulled away from Al. "I should have listened to you."

[armoredsoul]

Al's brows furrowed, and he stood up to go over to Ed and put his hands on his shoulders. "And I should have tried harder. We can argue this forever, Brother, but it still doesn't justify you taking fault for all the things I've been without! I've never once blamed you for putting me in the armor--you saved my life doing that! If we hadn't been taken here, you would have found a way to get me my body back, I'm sure of it!"

[fullmetalheart]

Ed's shoulders hunched in, as he continued to not look at Al. "What if I didn't?"

[armoredsoul]

Al shook him for a moment, trying to get Ed to look at him. Tears pricked at his eyes, and his voice gained a rough edge from holding them back. "You would have! I know you wouldn't have stopped trying, not for anything! And even then, I still had you, Brother. That's all I ever needed, was for you to be with me. I mean it."

[fullmetalheart]

Ed finally looked up and his own eyes are bright. "I wonder if maybe I deserve this for doing such a crappy job."

[armoredsoul]

Al scowled, looking right into Ed's eyes. "Brother, if you ever say something like that again, I'll punch you. You are the best brother I could ask for, and anyone who says otherwise can answer to me."

[fullmetalheart]

Ed bit his lip, resisting the urge to protest.

[armoredsoul]

Al sighed and leaned forward to hug Edward close. "Don't do this to yourself, Brother. None of us deserve to be trapped here, okay? Especially not you."

[fullmetalheart]

Ed bit his lip harder as he leaned into the hug.

[armoredsoul]

Al just held his brother for a while, wishing he could just rip all the stupid guilt out of his brother's head.