Day 21: Lunch

[totallytheseme.livejournal.com]

Hikaru and Kaoru had been so caught up in their little game that they initially hadn't heard the intercom go off. The new "ding" system was far less jarring than the old SCREECH, and as such, wasn't as easily heard, even in a place as quiet as the library. All too soon, the nurses came to separate the twins and take them to the next activity--lunch.

It only felt like a few minutes since breakfast, somehow, and yet Hikaru was starved. The lunch selection was ridiculously Americanized food of the "Pan Asian" genre, as bad as when his family had wanted Japanese food in California and had gone to the "nicest" restaurant in the English language guidebook. He cringed visibly when the surly cafeteria worker poured sauce on his rice--which was supposed to be plain--but...food was food, and he wasn't feeling terribly picky right now. At least it smelled all right.

One of the good things about being the first one into the cafeteria was having his pick of the tables. Hikaru chose one of the larger ones, saving seats for Kaoru, Tamaki, and (in a fit of hopefulness) Haruhi.

He hoped they'd come soon. He hated being alone.

Comments

[the-clown-king.livejournal.com]

"Why are you laughing?" Tamaki looked horrified. How could Adelheid be so cruel as to laugh at him in a time like this?

"This is horrible! Elena knew what I was doing! And she kissed me! She... and I... and people are telling me I have to marry her because she's in love with me and I pledged myself to her but it wasn't like that and I can't hurt her!"

This was a disaster. Being a knightly lord was much harder when it was real! He'd gotten himself in a fine mes. And Kyouya wasn't around to fix things for him. He had to be a man and do what was right. No matter what. That was what knights did, after all.

"What?!? No! I've never had a lady raise a hand to me! Er... not like that, anyway. I was pushed down once but that... that was different...." Eclair hadn't wanted to hurt him. "Maybe she's like that because she likes you! Girls do that, if they want your attention." Tamaki announced. It made sense in his mind.

[grosse-sklaven.livejournal.com]

"I laugh, because I've never imagined a world where women could be what you're talking about." He stopped laughing, but his lopsided grin didn't disappear; here they were, all three of them completely hopeless in this one matter that should have come naturally. It was so sad that laughter really was the only recourse for the tallest one; Edward was a genius alchemist, Adelheid was a prodigy of the martial arts, and Suou Tamaki was a lord... and here they were, clueless.

...if Eric laughed as hard as he had over Adelheid falling off a wall, he could only imagine what the man would do if he could see them now.

"Edward has it right; unless everything's spelled out to them beforehand, they do get angry and that can lead to many unpleasant things. Up to and including beating someone to within an inch of their lives, or further. Though it isn't always about 'love' that such things are done, of course, but just to illustrate the point."

Seriously, this situation was so convoluted, and yet Adelheid saw the matter rather simply. If Suou wanted out, he had to be a man and take his lumps, and be done with it. "Suou, it may not be possible to do this without hurting her; if you lie, then the hurt is only postponed, and it will be even worse later when she does find out. The best course of action truly is to determine what you feel about her, and let her know, immediately."

A pause, then he added, again with all seriousness, "Otherwise your body may never be found. Elena is apparently quite skilled at hitting her targets, from what she said on the board. Such women can be very dangerous."

[lost-metal.livejournal.com]

"Maybe she's like that because she likes you! Girls do that, if they want your attention," Tamaki had said. Ed mulled that over a for a minute. So Tamaki was saying that if girls liked you then they'd hit you to show their affection.

What the hell kind of sense did that make? "Well if she's doing that because she likes me, then how am I supposed to know that? All I see is her hitting me! I'm sure anyone sane would think the same." Girls were fucking weird. Ed got attacked a lot so how was he supposed to tell one kind of being attacked from another? Why couldn't they just say what they meant?

Still, back to the problem at hand. "Well, if it's any help, I don't think getting married is an option in this place. And if you come from different worlds then it's probably not practical anyway."

[the-clown-king.livejournal.com]

"Ladies will sometimes act out if they want attention. Did you pay her lots of attention? Maybe she just wanted you to pay attention to her...." Tamaki had known girls like that. They didn't resort to violence, but if they were jealous or feeling abandoned, they lashed out sometimes.

"And... I really don't think Elena would hurt me. I think... well, she's more likely to cry. I don't want to make her cry! But I don't know how I feel about her." He folded his arms. "Oh, someone told me there's a chapel here and everything, I'm sure they do weddings." But he really wasn't banking on the idea of marrying Elena. If he married anyone....

"Why are girls so confusing?"

[grosse-sklaven.livejournal.com]

And once more, Adelheid found himself in agreement with the other two at the table; girls were just confusing. Scarily so, at times; they seemed to have no respect for logic or reason, and especially in Adelheid's experience, the safest course of action was to bend to their will and hope for the best.

...at least Suou was certain Elena wasn't going to hurt him. Adelheid, however, was not so certain.

"I agree with Suou, Edward; if you weren't paying 'enough' attention to her, she might have done that to make sure you would focus on her for awhile. At least, that's what it would seem like to me." To be honest, it sounded a lot like what happened in his own world at times. Which was just a little disconcerting.

After a bit of a pause, he slowly shook his head. He had some problems with girls back home as well- he had the scar from one to prove it- but nothing like what he was being told about. "Both of you have my condolences."

"I'm not entirely sure if they would do weddings or not, especially considering that both of you are supposed to have 'conditions'. Be that as it may... the fact that you don't know what you're feeling does complicate matters. On the positive side, it may mean that she isn't entirely sure of what she's feeling, herself." The tallest teenager rubbed his temples; his thoughts were going back to the tylenol in the doctor's bag, and how much he was going to need one at this rate. Relationships were so troublesome, so entangling, so draining. He didn't think that he'd ever want to have one. Not with someone confusing and illogical, at least.

"As for that last question? They just are. It's something we must put up with." A bit of resignation at that; Adelheid had accepted, long ago, that women were going to be the driving force of his life, one way or another. First it was Rose, then Dante... now, he felt a bit lost; if it wasn't for his overwhelming need to get out and return to Rose, he'd have been completely hopeless. But the hope of return buoyed him up again and again; that was one thing girls were good for, at least.

[lost-metal.livejournal.com]

When the hell had this become an interrogation? Ed scowled at both of them. "How am I supposed to pay her attention when she's in some backwater village miles from anywhere and I'm a) in the military and b) half a country away most of the time?" He crossed his arms and looked at them stubbornly. "And she's not interested in men, just in the damn automail." He grumbled unintelligibly for a couple more moments before seeming to calm down again.

He had to agree with Adelheid on that last bit though. "Girls just don't see things the same way we do. Just... make sure they know what you're saying otherwise they think you mean other things." That's what he tried to do at least. If he just said exactly what he meant than it worked... sometimes. Although he wasn't sure if his own knowledge applied to this kind of situation.

[the-clown-king.livejournal.com]

"No wonder she felt the need to act so forcefully!" Tamaki said. It all made sense in his mind. "She felt abandoned, left behind, cast aside in favor of your glaorious career and travels! Didn't you bring her gifts? Send her trinkets? Letters?" You couldn't just leave a woman and expect her not to be upset about it!

Somehow, the conversation had shifted to be all about Ed.

"Anyway, I suppose I'll just talk to Elena next chance that I get. I'll simply... be honest with her."

[grosse-sklaven.livejournal.com]

Adelheid certainly didn't know how the conversation had shifted to the other blond's problems, but it amused him anyway. But it was still odd, as well; offering advice was one thing, this was approaching something a bit different. Something outside of his experience, and moreover something he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to discuss.

So he softly said, "If she truly felt that way about Edward, then she would have understood that he had no choice in the matter. Nor would she have wished for him to choose between her and his goals." He knew why Edward had been so busy, after all, and for him the choice Edward had made was the correct one; Alphonse deserved no less than that, and surely the girl would have understood. So he offered a slight smile to the other warrior; interrogation over, so far as Adelheid was concerned. Besides, it wasn't like he knew (or wanted to know) enough about that situation to speak more thoroughly.

Tamaki, on the other hand? A slight nod met that last comment, even though Adelheid couldn't quite get the horrifying possibility of a battered and repentant Suou Tamaki out of his mind. Surely it wouldn't come to that, would it? Elena wasn't that kind of woman! ...he hoped. "That's the best you can be. I only hope that it will end pleasantly for both of you."

[lost-metal.livejournal.com]

"Huh." Ed sat back and pondered that for a minute. He didn't exactly keep in touch, but that was because he'd been so busy and Al came first. Al always came first. It wasn't as though he didn't care about Winry. He did, she was like a sister to him! More like him than Al was in some ways, but he could't do anything until Al was restored anyway. "Doesn't matter anyway. She isn't here thankfully," he mumbled.

He returned Adelheid's smile gratefully glad that he wouldn't be questioned anymore. Winry was just Winry and that about covered it.

"It'd be silly," he began quietly, "to get nasty over something like that in this place." He looked at Tamaki firmly. "If you like her, then she must be a nice person, so I'm sure it won't be too bad."

He sighed when the intercom sounded and stiffly pushed himself to his feet, trying to ignore the aching in his chest and arm. "I'm going to stay in the sun room and not move," he said, smiling wryly. Might even manage to get some sleep or something.